A Black Heart Does Not Always Stay Black

The Lasting Effects

"That was hard," Haruta said when they left the infirmary to let the boy(s) get some rest. Jozu looked to the side, and asked, "Which part?"

The smaller commender sighed, and put his hadns behind his head. "Talking badly about the traitor, watching Pops bow to someone else, seeing Luffy ill like that, seeing Ace and Sabo so angry, staring at Pops with hate. Even if that hate wasn't directed at him. All of it."

Marco turned to his two brothers, and said, "Pops was in the right to bow. It was our job to make sure our crew is trustworthy and we royally fucked up. They deserved as sincere apology as we could give, even if it wounded our pride a bit."

Whitebeard laughed, though it wasn't joyous like usual. "There is nothing wrong with bowing when necessary. I was not bowing to an enemy, but to three children that were under my care, that I failed. There is nothing wrong with what I, and you all, did. I was proud when you moved aside your pride and bowed as well," the captain said in a triumphant brag. "Looks like I didn't fail on all of my children."

Marco and Thatch both stopped and turned to look at Pops, having been the only two to hear that last murmur. "You haven't failed any of us, Pops. We're adults, we aren't those three. We know enough to know what right and wrongs are. You may be our father, but Teach is not a child that simply made a mistake. He betrayed us, was rotten from the start. None of us noticed, it's on all of us," Marco said in a determined voice.

"Enough. I don't wish to talk about it anymore," the captain said, though he wasn't angry at his children for trying to comfort them. But, it did wound his pride more than bowing, having his children have to be strong for him. It was the other way around, always. He was the father, the mentor.

Maybe Marco was right. Maybe it wasn't his fault, but it was still on his decision that Luffy almost died. He recruited Teach as a kid. Surely, he couldn't have been rotten the whole time? But, Whitebeard had been a loving and nurturing father to all of his children, so he couldn't see a reason Teach would want to kill him other than to look strong in the world's eyes.

What a foolish thing to do. Edward Newgate would never understand those that put anything before their family. He may be an odd pirate, not caring for treasure or the One Piece, but he would never understand people who wished to be alone.

He glanced down and looked at Marco, who didn't look happy, but didn't look upset. Comparing the Marco he found all those decades ago with who he was now, Whitebeard felt nothing other than pride for him and his growth. Maybe Whitebeard didn't do so bad. After all, he made Marco learn how to smile.

That was enough to make him feel he had been a good father to his sons. Teach aside, he was as good a father as he could strive to be. And he would continue to do so, hopefully going to teach those children to smile just like Marco. Especially Luffy, to have him and his family heal the scars in his heart.

-x-

Marco stood in front of his former-brother's cell, staring at the traitor with flat eyes. He wondered how someone could be so rotten that he'd kill his own family. Or at least, plotted to. Marco wanted to torture him now, but he would save it for Ace and Sabo. After all, their brother was the one who was almost murdered.

Teach was unconscious, and Marco looked at his wounds with absolute pity but also sick satisfaction. Luffy's power had not just destroyed his legs. Marco had been a pirate a long time, and had seen many gruesome and disturbing things, but really, out of his forty some on years, never had he seen something so utterly agonizing.

His bones were shredded, the flesh that was left over was dangling by strips of muscle. The bones stabbed through what was the mush of the fat in his legs. It looked like a giant dog got ahold of him and he was the chew toy. And it stunk, too, meaning it was getting infected fairly quickly. Maybe there was something in Luffy's monster form that added something to the injury.