After Ace was gone, Thatch asked what had happened, and Marco told him what Ace had. Thatch scowled, but was also perplexed by the behavior. "Teach doesn't really seem like one to act like that. I wonder why? I mean, I get why there are some who still have reservations, but not to purposely piss him off. It's strange." Marco agreed. He was confused from it, too.
"And Teach didn't deny it, so Ace wasn't lying in any way. I hope everything is fine. So, how you holding up? About going to Fishman Island?" Marco asked, sitting at the bar counter while Thatch worked on the last batch of pumpkin pie ingredients they had until they reached the island tomorrow night.
Thatch frowned, looking at the floor in sadness. "I just hope everything is okay by the time we get there," he said softly. "I don't want to find everything in chaos, with more people dead." Marco sighed and agreed. "How do you think Princess Shirahoshi is doing?"
Marco rested his chin on his hand, and said, "Probably not well. She had to miss her own mother's funeral out of safety precaution. This Hody and Vander Decken are assholes. I'm surprised they haven't stopped their actions after hearing we were coming to help. Since they're so persistent, I won't be surprised if we have to kill them all.
"But given just how many there seems to be, it would be akin to a genocide. And I doubt any prison could hold all of them. At least, any prison besides Impel Down, that is," Thatch said. He went back to baking the pie they both knew was for Ace mostly. The man couldn't stop giving him sweets.
He sighed and Thatch said he couldn't wait to be back on land, even if it had only been a handful of days since they were last on land. "Marco, has there ever been this kind of thing? Where we have to help an island ward off people on that island?" Thatch questioned, putting the pie in the oven.
"Yeah. A long time ago. I think you weren't there that time. It was really messy. The people who were there for that are more nervous. By the time we got there, pretty much everybody was dead. That's the terrible thing about how long it takes to travel. The world isn't just gonna wait for you to get there," Marco said softly.
Thatch sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. Both he and Marco were in bad moods. Marco said he was going back to finish his book, having left off when Ace told him about Teach's disrespectful behavior. He passed the man in the hall, who didn't make eye contact. He was clearly angry at himself or them. Well, Marco knew Teach could be an idiot but he wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to risk getting trouble again. Probably mostly because he couldn't imagine being sober for so long.
When he got back to the library, he continued to read his book.
-x-
Ace was pacing on the railing when the island came into sight. Marco assumed he was nervous. He'd never been at a human place. Besides the ship, where the people were open minded enough to accept him and knew where he came from and what he was. Marco was worried about his pacing, not wanting him to fall overboard.
But then he did. "Ace!" Marco shouted, and Ace managed to claw himself up the side of the ship. Marco flew down and grabbed him, carrying him back onto deck. He was wet, all of his fur matted down. He looked a lot smaller when he wasn't fluffy. "Are you okay?" Ace was shaking, but nodded.
"Was scary. Say Ace can't swim, but can swim. Thought would drown," Ace said. Marco picked him up to take him inside and get dry. Ace was holding onto him, limbs wrapped around him, the claws digging in but not painful.
Marco took him to the nearest bathroom and got a towel for him. He took the towel and dried himself off. "You okay?" Marco asked the faupta softly. He looked so small and meek, holding his ears down flatter. His second arms were wrapped around himself. He nodded, though he clearly wasn't okay. Marco hugged him. "You're okay. Maybe no more pacing on the railing?" he said, trying to lighten to mood.
"Won't pace anymore," Ace agreed. He shivered a bit, still wet, and Marco walked with him, cozied up in a blanket. They were reaching the island, but Ace could have something warm first. He set Ace down on the table, the small faupta still bundled up in the towel like a blanket. It was big enough to be a blanket, though.
Marco took the kettle and made him some hot chocolate quickly. He sat at the table while Ace drank the hot chocolate. The blonde wanted to change the subject, so he asked Ace if he could do math. "Math?"
"Yeah," Marco said. "Like one plus one equals two. Or two times two equals four." Ace cocked his head, saying he didn't know that stuff. "It works with numbers."
"Numbers? Ace not know what that is." It wasn't surprising, but he did wonder if Ace skipped over hearing numbers before. Like the numbered divisions. But he knew the commanders' names. He didn't use their ranking, but the leaders' names. "Maybe I can teach you sometime." Ace nodded, and finished his hot chocolate fairly quickly.
He made Marco chuckled when he said he liked the "sweeter" hot chocolate more. All of the extra touches Thatch put in. The marshmallows, whip cream, chocolate sprinkles. He went overboard. He pampered Ace completely. It was kind of funny.
Once the ship came to port, Ace was nervous to go on land, but also excited. It would be a short visit. The wagon was already out, ready to get supplies. Marco and Thatch would be taking one wagon while the other two would be taken by other commanders. Everyone had their own duty, all mostly to restock and supply their ship. Running low on food quicker, probably, due to the split meals between the night shift workers and the day time ones. Plus Ace ate a lot, and had already completely ransacked one storage room on his first expedition onto the Moby Dick.
He had rarely turned invisible once he got comfortable there. Marco sort of forgot about it. Even though it had been a little over a week, it felt like Ace had been there longer. So, he was going to be in the wagon under a blanket, peeking over the side to look around. Pops decided this way was better. He got to see the human world, but wouldn't be seen and freaked out about.
He was pacing back and forth in the wagon, peeking his head over the sides. "Gotta stay in one spot, okay?" Thatch said patiently.
"Okay," Ace replied. They could see his tail moving around a lot under the blanket, but he'd chosen he right corner. His eyes were barely above the wall of the wagon. He looked so small there. The wagons were huge since they had to carry a lot, and making so many trips would be annoying. So the strongest of the crew pushed the wagons. When they finally were docked, Marco and Thatch's wagon went first. They weren't the only ones working on it. They would move the wagon while others bought the supplies needed. Thatch and Marco would just pick it all up, making the process smooth and quick.
Ace looked at everything with wide eyes. He darted to the other side of the wagon to look over that side, and since it was empty, neither commander told him to sit still. It was windy, but the tarp stayed over Ace just fine. He didn't say anything as they made their rounds through the town.
Marco heard him sniffing, probably smelling new scents. Nobody saw him, so he was able to observe peacefully. He behaved perfectly, staying on one spot once humans started to be around. He just looked like a sack in the corner of the wagon. Thatch had a check list while Marco did the pushing.
He was strong, so it wasn't tiring. It was easy. They finally got to the first shop, where Teach and Erza were waiting, Erza one of Teach's friends in the second division. They had the crates full of apples, which lasted a long time. The four lifted the crates inside. One of them accidentally landed on Ace's tail, who started to screech about it in pain.
The nosies caught attention of those around as Thatch hurried to lift it up. Marco lifted the blanket up to see if Ace was okay, and he had big fat tears coming from his eyes. He pulled the tarp off more and saw Ace's tail was clearly broken. "Ace! Oh, I'll take you back to the ship," Marco said.
Thatch said they'd take care of the rest. Marco picked Ace up, wrapped in the tarp. He was crying the saddest little cries that didn't sound human at all. "You'll be okay."
"Hurts!" he cried. Marco hurried him inside once they got on the ship. Nobody was on deck, everybody out to restock as quickly as possible. He hurried into the infirmary, and shouted for any of the nurses. He set Ace on the bed, and Whiskey hurried in. She saw the crying Ace, and asked what was wrong.
"A heavy crate was set on his tail. I think it's broken," Marco said. Ace was still crying. The head nurse frowned sympathetically and said they would get an x-ray of it. Marco stayed, waiting for the x-ray and still hearing the cries. Poor Ace. He must be in a lot of pain. The wails were heartbreaking.
Marco hadn't suffered a broken bone in decades, so he didn't know the pain he was in. The x-ray didn't take too long, and the bed was wheeled back out of one of the adjacent rooms. "His tail is fractured, but it's not a bad break," the woman said. She had a list of books and supplies to get. Apparently she wanted this but was going to have the stocking done first. "Please go get these items. I'll take care of Ace."
Marco didn't want to leave, but he trusted Whiskey to help Ace. Marco nodded and left in a hurry, wanting to get back. He ran out on deck, and Pops asked what was wrong, seeing the frantic look on his son's face. "Ace broke his tail. I have to go into town for stuff, I'll be back soon," he said and ran off of the ship and to the store.
A veterinary clinic. He found one, and bought multiple books, for dogs and cats, and then various medications and creams. When he was told he needed authorization to get such things, he pulled the pirate-card, and said he was getting these things. She saw his chest and screamed, running back inside.
He swiped things off the shelves and took a bunch of the books on display. He tossed the sack of money on the desk and ran. Looking at the supplies, he'd gotten quite a lot. Ace wasn't human. His body wasn't human, he wouldn't have human remedies for everything. His mind was more human, but he had six limbs, huge ears and a tail. He wasn't anywhere close to a human body.
When he got back, Ace was still hiccupping while his tail was wrapped up. He dumped the things on another bed, and asked how the faupta was. "Hurts," Ace replied. There were still tears in his voice, but he wasn't sobbing anymore.
"You have to be careful when moving it, okay? It'll heal fine on its own, but we'll give you some pain medicine, okay?" Ace nodded, still hiding his face in the sheets. Marco asked why he couldn't heal himself. "Ace can't," he said simply. Marco rubbed his scalp soothingly. So much smaller than anyone else on the crew. "Did it on purpose!" Marco asked what he meant. "Mean human put box on tail on purpose!" The phoenix had not seen Teach put the crate down on purpose, but he could see why Ace was upset. He didn't doubt him, not now. And if anyone was to blame, Ace would choose Teach.
He didn't know Erza and knew Thatch wouldn't hurt him. Teach had already been disrespectful to him. "We'll figure it out later. For now, just take it easy. Don't move your tail too much."
"First time on island and is ruined," Ace bemoaned. Marco said this shouldn't count. They were only stocking up, not doing anything interesting or fun. He said that they would explore on every island after they resolve the issue on Fishman Island. Ace sniffled, still hiding his face in the sheets.
After a bit, Thatch came running in, asked if Ace was alright. "His tail is fractured. Do you know who put the crate down? Ace says it was Teach." Thatch confirmed this, but that it really looked like it had been an accident. Marco glanced at Ace, wondering why he was silent, but saw he'd fallen asleep on his stomach.
"He was crying. It was so heartbreaking," Marco said. Thatch sat down on the nearest bed with all of the hastily grabbed animal objects and books, and said that it was hard to remember that he was so young sometimes. "Yeah, it is. It's stupid. He's so small and child like, why would we forget that?"
Thatch replied, "Maybe because he's so resilient. Doesn't really act like a child." They were speaking quieter now. Marco said he should go help with the stocking, and asked Thatch to stay with him for now. The chef agreed. On his way out, he passed Pops, who didn't ask anything and just headed inside.
Marco went to the storage room with the foods Thatch's group had collected in that wagon. Marco listened to the conversation between Teach and Erza, desperately not wanting to hear Teach had done it on purpose. "I really didn't mean to do it. I dislike him, but I didn't mean to hurt his tail," Teach said. He sounded pretty sincere. Marco let out a relieved sigh.
He walked in to help out with storing things in the right place. Teach asked how Ace was. "His tail was fractured. What was in the crate that was set on top of it?" Marco asked. Teach pointed to the crate that had at least ten watermelons in it. No wonder it broke, the thing was very heavy.
Marco hoped the tail would heal quickly. But was scary to think their Ace was just as weak as a normal animal. To have his tail broken from something heavy being on it. And it sucked he couldn't heal himself. That didn't seem fair at all. So, his tail would have to heal on its own. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard, but none of them had any idea. After all, not a single one of them had a tail.
After everything was stocked, the other groups as well, the ship sailed off. After while, Ace came out of the infirmary, but was walking funny. Thatch was there to keep him from falling over. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's high off of the pain medicine. I'm going to just take him to sleep," Thatch said, not an ounce of humor in his voice despite Ace's huge pupils and wandering around aimlessly until he picked up the little faupta and brought him to his room. Pirates looked confused or concerned when he was brought past them, limp in Thatch's arms.
When they got to the bedroom, Thatch set Ace down on his side, very careful with his tail. Marco tucked him in and they left the room, Ace asleep already. Both men sighed, upset that Ace's first outing had him injured. A broken bone sucked. But at least he could still walk. He just needed to be very careful with it.
Whiskey said it should heal quickly based on other animals and their situations with broken tails. Marco was glad they were taking his health seriously by requesting all sorts of books. He had gotten as many as he could, being in a hurry so he didn't read the titles. When they went to the galley, Teach was in there, eating a cherry pie.
Ace didn't like the cherry pies, so he didn't eat those. Just the rest of the sweets Thatch made. Thatch frowned, but hid the expression. Marco knew both of them were irritated with Teach, even though they both thought it had been a genuine accident. The fat man looked up and asked if he was feeling any better.
"He's asleep. Got high off of the pain medicine. The tail should heal quickly if he's gentle with it," Marco said. "He thinks you did it on purpose." Marco wasn't going to lie. Teach sighed and said he hadn't meant to. He had been annoying before, but had genuinely not meant to crush his tail.
He pointed out that he was under the tarp. So he didn't see his tail under it. And that was correct, he had been hidden. So, this time, Marco took Teach's side, not that he'd shoot down Ace's suspicion. He'd speak to him about it once he was feeling better. Marco left the galley to go check on the other storage rooms, see if they'd been restocked properly.
When he was going to the one that had repairs for the ship, he saw Ace standing in the hallway looking at the ceiling. He was swaying a bit. Marco looked up and saw there was nothing on the ceiling. Not even a lamp he might be looking at. "Ace?"
Ace turned around, looking sleepy. His pupils were huge. "Ace, why don't you go back to sleep?" he offered in a soft voice, walking closer. He said in a misty voice that there was a bug he had to kill. "Why?"
"It tell Ace is Ace," Ace said. He was completely out of it. And he looked tired. It would be best for him to sleep. But he didn't want to sleep, and said the bugs were in his bed. Since things were more calmed down, the ship already left the port to the next island, he could tell Pops was back in his throne. Maybe the faupta would sleep with him.
"Why don't you go stay with Pops?" Marco suggested. Ace looked up and around. Apparently the offensive bug had gone away. He agreed to see Pops. He didn't call the man "Pops", but "Pop". Nobody thought anything was wrong with that. Marco picked him up when he swayed a bit.
He made sure to not touch the tail. It had broken in the middle, not the base so there was no nerve damage, thank god. When they got outside, Marco walked Ace to the throne. He was very light. Weighed less than Stefan had. Whitebeard frowned when he saw Ace not asleep. Marco set him down on the man's thigh.
"He's having trouble sleeping on his own. So maybe he'd sleep okay here," Marco explained simply. He thought it was funny that Ace imagined that a bug had offended him. Pops agreed, and let Ace rest on his lap. He looked dazed for a bit before the little creature closed his big eyes and drifted to sleep.
The captain frowned at his injured kid. He saw Ace as a child, just a very different one. Ace stayed asleep for many hours, even during a call with Neptune, an update. Things were still escalating, but had slowed. Everyone was on their toes, though. Frightened about what might happen to the country if things got any worse.
Vander Decken was still attacking the princess. They were taking too long. Marco sighed once the call was over. "We can only go as fast as the wind takes us, son," Pops said. Everyone out on deck was put in a bad mood from the call. It felt bad to not be there when they needed them. Pops was very stoic about it, not wanting to upset everyone more by showing his own worry and discomfort.
Marco could see it easily, though.
-x-
Another week later, and Ace's tail was healed. He still blamed Teach for it, but the two did their best to avoid one another. The wrappings were taken off of his puffy tail, and he cautiously moved it around, feeling it was all better. He smiled and jumped up twice in happiness before jumping off of the bed in the infirmary and zooming out of the room.
Whiskey took the wrappings and disposed of them. Marco smiled and thanked her for taking care of him. "Of course. It's our job to take care of everybody. And he helped Pops. We can never neglect him for that reason alone." Marco nodded and left. But Ace was running back in his direction and stopped in front of him.
"Bath? Want to take bath," Ace said. Marco nodded, asking which one he wanted to take in. He wanted the biggest bath tub. But he also wanted a private area. He wanted to relax. So, he would use the captain's bathtub. Pops was fine with the smallest using it. So he walked with Ace to the captain's quarters and got the big bath going. The water would only be filled halfway because Ace was so small in it, so it didn't need to be filled all the way. He made the water nice and hot, and then laid out a normal sized towel in front of the tub. Ace climbed in and melted in the water. He turned on his back and floated on the surface, his arms curled in. He closed his eyes.
Ace seemed to be able to swim, which was odd for a devil fruit user, of course, but they really knew little about his species as a whole. So maybe that was what made him different. Marco left the door open, and wished Ace have a nice bath. What he got back with a little hum while the faupta floated in the warm water, clearly enjoying himself.
When he came out and into the galley for some milk, he was all poofed up from the bath. Haruta was there but Thatch wasn't, so he poured Ace a glass of milk that he drank easily. The youngest commander was happy that Ace was getting along with him better. When the glass was empty, it was put in the dishwasher.
Then Teach walked into the galley, and Ace glared at him before turning around and leaving out the other exit. Well, Ace would never like Teach, but as long as they avoided one another, it should be fine. Not everyone would get along. Still, the two higher ups had not told anyone about Ace's power to heal many of Pops' illnesses. It didn't feel the right time.
The next day, Marco came across a very strange sight. Ace was on Vista's shoulder, looking happy. Apparently, Vista had just gotten done polishing Ace's claws so they were all shiny. "Ace likes the shine," he said. Marco started laughing and Thatch did, too. Vista didn't look embarrassed to his credit.
"He saw me polishing my swords and got curious," Vista explained simply. Ace asked of they liked his shiny claws.
Thatch snickered and Marco said, "They're very nice looking. I'm sure they'll be really shiny out in the sunlight." Ace jumped off of Vista's shoulder at this and ran outside. Vista chuckled and stroked his mustache. He said it was like having a little kid aboard sometimes. The other two commanders nodded.
"I wonder how he'll react to the trip down to Fishman Island?" Thatch mused. "It would be dark and he'd be in a more confined feeling space." Marco didn't know how he'd react. Maybe he'd like it. He liked the dark, after all. They were going to be at another island the next day. It had been almost three weeks since Ace came and he already fit very nicely.
Marco was very glad that he wasn't treated as a pet. That had been a worry at first. That they'd offend him and he'd want to leave but had nowhere to go. They hadn't seen any reactions from other people not on the crew. At least Marco hadn't. He'd left with Ace quickly when his tail got broken in the wagon.
Luckily, he wanted to try again on another island. It was a protected one under Shanks, so there would be no ruffian pirates or anybody they could consider dangerous. The Whitebeards had a civil relationship with Shanks' crew, so they were fine with letting one another land on their islands. And the people that lived there knew not to worry about the other yonko crew.
The Whitebeards and Red Hair pirates were the only yonkos that roamed the New World. Kaido and Big Mom ruled over territories and generally stuck to those places they've claimed.
Ace was excited to try another island again, impatient about the pace the ship was going, even though sailing through the night let them get places faster. Ace didn't really have a frame of reference about them going faster than usual, though.
When Marco went outside, he found Ace showing Pops his shiny claws. The captain was laughing, but Ace clearly didn't take offense. Vista smiled about it. Ace was growing on others besides Marco, Pops and Thatch. But still, Kingdew didn't like him and Ace hated Teach. Well, you couldn't have everything.
That night, Marco being on a day shift with half of the commanders, he woke up to a scratching on his door and Ace saying his name. At first, Marco thought he was dreaming but decided he wasn't when the scratching continued. Marco got up and walked to the door, hair a mess from being sleepy.
He knew it had been Ace, but he wondered what the problem was. "What's up?" he asked when he opened the door. Ace had a blanket draped over him, and looked sad. He had a bad dream, but was tired. He didn't want to get up. "Do you want to sleep in here?" It was pretty obvious that was what he wanted, but he asked anyways. The faupta nodded, and Marco moved aside to let him in. He chose to sleep on the comfy chair in the corner. He turned on the desk lamp at the lowest mode as a nightlight.
Ace curled up under his blanket, big eyes watching Marco get back into the bed. The little one fell asleep first. When Marco woke up the next morning, Ace had left, though the blanket was still there. Marco hadn't heard the door open or close, though. And Ace wasn't in the bathroom. So he was very quiet when he left.
The sun was shining through the porthole as Marco got up and dressed in clean clothes. When he left the bedroom, Namur was heading to bed, one of those on the night shift. Marco looked forward to seeing all of his brothers again. He wasn't fond of the night and day shift schedule. He didn't get to see half of them, after all. Pops alternated, but mostly stayed up during the day.
Since he got healed from Ace, he wasn't as exhausted anymore, which was nice. He was just overall feeling much better. It seemed everybody was busy thinking about other things when Jozu was the only to notice that Whitebeard was having oxygen less. The nurses were still skittish about it and wanted him to do as he usually did sometimes at least. Being medical practitioners made them more wary of "magic" or whatever Ace had done.
He found Ace in the bathhouse, attempting to dump bubbles into the water he'd filled up halfway. Marco entered and showed him the best method was to our the bubble mixture in while the bath was being filled. "This way the bubbles come up bigger and faster."
Ace dumped too much in, so much that when he climbed in he could barely be seen, but he liked it and thanked Marco. And also thanked him for letting him sleep in his room. "No problem," Marco said lightly, and left Ace to his bubble bath, where he could just barely hear the water sloshing as he knew Ace was playing. He was so cute sometimes.
When Ace came into the galley during breakfast, which was some pirates' dinner, he went to the station Thatch put his food tray at. It had all his favorites, and was low to the ground so he could pick it up much easier than if he had to jump onto the counter. He picked it up and carried it on his back.
Marco took the tray for him and set it on the table that he then jumped up on to eat. "How was your bath?" Marco asked. The faupta said it was good. He only left once the bubbles ran out. Thatch smiled at it. They were in the middle of talking about the stop at the next island. They still had more than enough supplies, and were only stopping because they needed to replace the water purifier. It was broken, and they would run out of fresh water if they didn't replace it.
"I have an idea about how to bring Ace onto the island without causing any scene. We can put a blanket on him so it looks like he could be a dog or cat. Not that we would ever think of you in that way," Izo said quickly before Ace grew angry. "Just for convenience this time," he added.
Ace wasn't happy with the idea, but didn't protest. Just frowned while he ate. He couldn't hold forks or spoons, so he just ate with his hands and then wiped them down afterwards. He didn't seem to shed at all, so fur was never in his food from his hands.
Pops said that was a good idea. Would make things easier. They'd only be there maybe two hours at most, with nobody leaving the ship but Ace, Marco and Vista to buy the water purifier. Ace was excited, no longer grumpy. His anger had only lasted a minute or so. Throughout the day, when he was awake and not napping for hours on end, he couldn't keep still.
"Ace hopes it goes gooder - better - than last time," he said when sitting on Pops' knee. The captain agreed, saying he wanted Ace to be safe and healthy on his trip to the island. It would be short, but breaking his tail had taken just a second. A couple hours could do something bad as well. Marco asked Ace if he was afraid. "No. Not afraid, worried it will be ruined, though."
When Teach walked out with a cherry pie in his hand, Ace's dark eyes narrowed at the man. Whitebeard asked if anything more had happened with Teach. If he did anything to Ace lately. "He not like Ace and Ace not like him. Glare at each other," he said. So nothing bad had come from it. And Ace recognized he glared, too. It wasn't just Teach giving him nasty looks.
Nobody tried to convince him to like the man. It he did some day, that was fine. But his opinion was his opinion and nobody was going to try and force him to be friends with somebody who doesn't like him either. Ace took Marco's attention back to the present and asked Pops what the blanket would look like.
"Does it matter?"
"Ace doesn't want to look stupid." Whitebeard laughed and promised they'd use a nice looking blanket. The faupta approved and laid down to nap in the sunniest spot on Pops' leg.
The day they were landing for probably the shortest amount of time they'd ever done before, Ace had a shiny black "poncho" on. It was made to fit him. Had a hood and made it hard to see he had six legs and not four. He was excited, even if he didn't like the poncho. Marco and Vista had the money to buy the industrial sized water purifiers.
He ran down the ramp and stood at the base waiting for his two guides. Ace walked between both of them, the two making sure to keep him safe. Nobody wanted another accident. They walked into town, slowly so Ace could smell everything, look into the widows of shops, the hood over enough to block his face in shadow.
He stayed away from other people, but when he came into contact with another dog, on its leash, he froze. After all, he'd never seen an animal like a dog. Not in person. Marco and Vista stopped to let him investigate. The dog was interested, too, but then they went their separate ways. Marco was walking on pins and needles about nobody saying they should have Ace on a leash.
While the faupta would understand in the long run, he would no doubt be offended in the short term. But their trip to the store they got directions to went smoothly, if not slowly. Though both commanders were patient people. And when they did get to the store, Vista stayed with Ace outside. He had the little creature in his arms and looking through the shop's window.
Marco was in the middle of paying when a child and his parent walked in. The kid asked, "What is that? A weird dog!" He was young, and pointing out the window at Ace. Vista adjusted the poncho so it hid all of Ace but the tail.
"He's a mix," Marco said simply. "You won't find another dog like him." He brought out the two very large filters. Vista put Ace down and the two of them carried the things. Maybe it would have been smart to bring a wagon. "Stay near, okay, Ace?"
"Yes," he said.
"The dog talked!" a girl screeched. She was maybe six and went running at Ace, who hissed at her menacingly. Her dad grew angry, and the pirates couldn't be threatening to them as Whitebeards. Being negative towards Shanks' protected citizens would not be a good look.
"Are you gonna let it disrespect my daughter?" he demanded. Vista pointed out that Ace was uncomfortable with her rushing at him. "You're not gonna apologize for its behavior?"
Marco was about to tell him there was no point to apologize, as neither had done anything wrong and they should just move on when Ace told the guy to shut up. Then he trotted back to Vista. The man was in shock, didn't move but had wide eyes as the two pirates and Ace walked back to the ship.
The two commanders let out relieved sighs when Ace was back on the Moby Dick. "Well, that went well," Vista said, and Marco chuckled. The moment they were back on the ship, Ace pulled off the poncho and ran to Pops to tell him about the outing and the mean man. When he said he'd just told him to shut up, the captain laughed. Neither pirate had expected him to attack anybody, but being disrespected with a human-like mind would cause anybody to retaliate. Ace just didn't do it physically, luckily.
They got the new equipment set up and the shipwrights inspected the old ones to see if anything was salvageable before dumping them. Marco went back outside and saw some people at the dock with hunting rifles. It was weird to threaten the Whitebeards, but they never pointed their guns at them. Maybe they thought that they could walk all over them. Well, if they attacked, they would defend themselves and would not be the ones in the wrong.
But then it clicked. They probably were after Ace, who was napping. Pops looked worried, too. Marco wondered if it would be better to just have Ace be himself and perch on somebodies shoulder. One of the well known ones. It was scary since Ace wasn't overly tough and couldn't heal himself. So he was vulnerable.
Probably the weakest of them. Well, he was like the baby on the ship. Nobody would let him get hurt. He was in a great mood after he woke up, telling the others about his time on the human island. Of course nobody really thought it was a fun time, but at least he enjoyed it while he could. Only about an hour of it.
But Thatch made a special cake for him regardless, celebrating his day out. It was rare to see Ace so happy that he was smiling widely. He didn't usually smile even when he was happy. Not because he wasn't happy, he just didn't smile. But it was nice while he did. His teeth didn't make it creepy or unsettling to them. So nobody had a problem with it.
-x-
The Whitebeards skipped the next island. They didn't land on it. Ace watched it pass them by sadly. Everyone wanted the journey to be over so they could get back to normal. Tired of the split ship. They were also worried about their protected island. Fights had finally broken out when one of the Fishman Pirates had shot a guard.
They still had at least three days to make it there after skipping one island, sailing nonstop and stopping for nothing. Ace was the only one seeming unconcerned, though he didn't seem to like the tense atmosphere. Even though he'd just gotten there, he could tell things were tense. And there wasn't much he could do about it. The clock was ticking faster and faster.
Marco was just glad it was tense, but nobody was taking it out on one another. They were all tense for the same reason, they understood one another's reason for being cold and hard and snarky. Ace didn't like it, but took the hint from everybody and didn't get snappy. He did growl at Teach when he got in his wide personal bubble, and Teach sneered back. They had a silent standoff and Thatch came up and distracted Ace by giving him an ice cream cone.
Thatch had figured out a way to successfully distract Ace from things, and that was with food. If somebody was just trying to get him to move on from something, it was difficult depending on what it was. But food overcame all.
Marco was watching Thatch teach Ace how to fish, who did terribly. He was able to use his claws like fingers, but they weren't good for handling delicate objects. Like utensils. He could use them in other ways, but not things like that. So he was getting very frustrated. Finally Thatch just had him prop the fishing pole against the railing and throw the bait into the water instead of casting it. He dropped back down and held the pole down with his back legs while looking over the side.
"How Ace know when pull back?"
Thatch patiently said to pull when the line gets tugged. "If the pole moves suddenly, even a little, it means you probably have a bite! Then you pull it back and catch the fish," he explained patiently. Ace nodded and continued to look over the side. Thatch was fishing, too, looking content. But Ace was impatient.
Marco chuckled under his breath as Ace continued to show signs of impatience and irritation. "Ace bored. When will fish bite?" Thatch laughed and said he had to be patient. "Ace not good at that. Not at all." Marco snorted from afar, and Ace turned around. At the sound. The first mate walked over and said patience was for people who worked on it.
He was told that Ace didn't want to work on it because it sounded boring. Then he gave up on fishing and went to Pops to take a nap. Marco and Thatch laughed while Marco took up Ace's pole in case he decided to come back and work on it again. "You gotta admire his honesty," Thatch mused. "I look forward to the time after Fishman Island. After we help them out. Then we can see all of our brothers and not sail during the night. And the stress will be gone by then, too, hopefully."
Marco nodded, leaning his forearms against the railing. "Then Ace can run around and jump on couches at night again." Thatch looked confused. "When he first got here, the first or second night, I found him jumping on the couches in the library at 3:00 in the morning." Thatch snorted and shook his head.
His pole tugged and he was bummed about how light it was. He wanted to catch a shark, apparently. The chef made one flip of the wrist and easily pulled his catch out. "Well, this definitely isn't a fish," he said, holding a dark blue devil fruit. Marco's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Haven't fished one of these out in two decades. That one we sold because it was so stupid. The munch munch one," Marco said. He asked for the fruit, and was handed it. It seemed Ace had either not been sleeping or woke up when he ran over, asking what it was. What kind of fruit.
"Doesn't look like any fruit Ace seen before," he said, inspecting the devil fruit in his hands. He wasn't stupid and didn't try to eat it. Thatch said they did indeed not look like normal fruits. Ace stood on his back legs to hand the fruit back to the owner. "Are you eat it?" He could speak and understand human language pretty well, but still made mistakes every now and again. Nobody unnecessarily corrected him.
The three walked inside to go to the devil fruit encyclopedia. Ace trotted in between them, looking up at them while they talked. "Depending on what it is. I would eat it after the Fishman Island visit. I don't want some fruit to debilitate me where I'm completely useless," Thatch explained.
"Is there a fight?"
"It's a high chance that there will be a fight of some magnitude. How else would we get it through the enemy's head that they won't cause trouble or they'd get the wrath of the Whitebeards?" Marco wondered. He looked at Ace and asked him what it was like when he ate his devil fruit.
The faupta looked to be thinking hard about it. "Was with mama and ate it and then was all alone." The two pirates had their faces fall. Marco apologized for him. Ace said there was no point in being upset over it now. It was sad. Just accidentally eating a devil fruit made his family abandon him.
He knew he might be being insensitive about it, and asked if he missed his mama. Ace nodded. "Not like be alone. Make Ace sad. Mama was nice and then was gone. Not see her again."
Thatch stopped walking and crouched in front of the faupta and said, "Well, you won't be alone with us. You don't gotta worry about us leaving you alone." He hugged Ace, who was hiccuping. They made him cry. Thatch picked him up and said, "Why don't we find out what this fruit is? Hope its not something stupid." Ace didn't reply but buried his face into Thatch's chest while they headed to the library.
When they got there, Marco fetched the book while Thatch and Ace sat on one of the couches. Ace seemed to have composed himself was just now interested in the devil fruit. Marco sat down on the other side of him so he was between the two commanders. He opened the book and flipped through, finding the logia section. "'The dark dark fruit. It allows the user to create and control darkness at will, making the user a darkness human'."
Thatch said, "Sounds spooky." He didn't seem afraid, just interested. Marco read that it was very powerful, a "special" logia type. And it was said to be evil. "Maybe I'll make it so it's not evil. Having a devil fruit sounds real interesting. But I wish it was a flying zoan. Flying sounds awesome." Ace disagreed, saying it seemed scary. "I'd like to fly. Would be convenient."
"Is there a swim one?"
Marco thought for a moment. "You know, I don't know. Not recorded. But there are all sorts of zoan types. Mythical, like me, ancient, flying types, carnivorous types. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an aquatic type somewhere out there. But it would be interesting."
"Ace want to be water dragon, like in story Thatch say," he said. Thatch and Marco smiled. Being a water dragon would indeed be cool. But Ace could never have that, since he already ate a devil fruit. "Would be weird look dragon." The chef snorted, and said that might be true. He took the book and Marco was surprised that he was choosing to eat it.
He wanted to try something new. "It doesn't mean I'll give up my swords, though. Maybe I can have swords of darkness! Oooo~" Ace snuffled a laugh. His laughs always sounded like muffled sneezes. They were adorable.
The faupta said, "Ace like Jozu fruit most."
"Not Marco's?"
"Birds not supposed to be on fire." Thatch started laughing and Marco pointed out that phoenixs were mythical creatures. They were like magic, so that was why he was on fire. "But heal part is help. Ace wish he could heal himself, but not able."
Thatch looked surprised, and Marco realized he didn't know. "Ace can heal other people to some extent." Marco looked around before telling Thatch the truth. "Don't tell anybody. We don't want anyone thinking Ace will just heal them because he could." Thatch was shocked, but then grinned and took Ace under the arms and held him up, thanking him.
He was uncomfortable with this and wriggled to be let down. He then went to the other side of Marco. Thatch asked if he didn't like that. Ace said it was too sudden. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to upset you. I won't do it again, promise. I'm just happy that you did that." Marco was impressed with his patience. That he didn't pout or mope about Ace not liking that affection.
"Forgive. Not do again, though." Thatch promised he wouldn't, and Ace moved back to the spot between them. Then he asked something surprising. "Ace a Whitebeard right?"
"That's right." Ace looked at Marco's chest, and they both waited for him to speak, even though Marco was sure he and Thatch knew what he was going to ask.
He finally said, "Ace not want tattoo, but show in other way." The three brainstormed about what they could make him wear or show. He didn't want a collar, even if it wouldn't be as a pet. Marco could see others thinking he was a pet, though, that way.
"What about a stamp? One that would last awhile, but could be washed off?" Thatch offered. "I'm sure somebody could make one for you. Or maybe an armband of some sort." Marco nodded, agreeing with those options. Ace didn't wear shirts. Even if he did, they'd need to be designed just for his body. So the faupta decided on a stamp. A black one. And he would want it put it on his first shoulder.
Marco put the book away and Thatch pocketed his devil fruit, which he'd keep with him so nobody got the bright idea to steal it. Marco would ask for a stamp to be made later. Ace said he was going to take a nap, and went to his bed. He didn't seem tired, but he decided he wanted to nap, so he would.
"He's so damn precious," Thatch said once he was out of sight. "I'm glad he likes being here enough to want to show he's part of the crew." Marco agreed. Who knew he would end up like this? "I do wonder why he doesn't turn invisible anymore, though. It had been helpful before."
Marco answered, "Maybe it only is for defense. If he's scared or something." They were walking back out deck, the further they got from Ace, the more the unease and uncertainty came back. Only two days until they reached the Red Line and then half a day to coat the ship and then a couple hours to descend.
When they made it to Pops, Thatch told him about the devil fruit and how Ace wants to be able to show he's one of them, too. Whitebeard smiled at that, and it wasn't long before a stamp mold of the jolly roger was made. Those who were involved were consumed in the project, making it perfect. A distraction was very welcome.
It seemed this made everybody happy, that Ace wanted to prove to the world he was one of them, for it wasn't long before everyone were making things for him. New furniture for his tiny bedroom, new beds they could put places he wanted to sleep at, anything as a distraction.
Marco checked on each project, entertained and feeling fond of how much they all accepted Ace. Besides Teach, that is. "What's going on?" he wondered. So Marco told him about their flurry to make things for Ace while he napped. "Why?"
"They heard Ace wants something to show people he's one of us without getting a tattoo." Teach asked if Ace was going to stay that long. "Seems that way. He doesn't have anywhere to go now, and he doesn't seem to want to. We're happy to have him, even if you aren't." He said the last bit a little coldly, unable to help it. Teach didn't reply, but walked away a bit awkwardly.
When Ace trotted outside, he had a cookie in his mouth. Must have gone into the kitchen. He went to the railing and ate the cookie more. "Ace," Pops called. The faupta turned around, his floppy ears moving too and went to the captain. Whitebeard pat his lap, and Ace climbed up. "Your family made this while you were asleep."
He handed him the rubber stamp. It was a nice size. Marco gave him the little package of permanent ink that would last awhile. "So fast! Ace only just ask."
"These fools wanted a distraction so they went on a building spree for you," Marco joked. Ace was surprised with how the base was made. Thick and rough. So even his not so delicate fingers could hold and use it. The littlest member dipping in in the ink and then pressed it to his arm, but it slipped and smeared.
He frowned in irritation, but then attempted the other side which worked. It was nice that Ace didn't rage. He didn't throw fits like even some of his adult brothers did. He looked at the black mark and seemed pretty satisfied with it. "Ace like, thank you."
"You're very welcome," Pops said. "Now, we're getting closer to Fishman Island, and we need to teach you some rules. You have to behave a certain way down there. Everybody does, even myself and the commanders." He then told Ace about the tense relations between fishmen and humans. Ace didn't really seem interested. He wasn't a human, after all.
So he asked what he should do. "Ace not human. What he do there? They get made at Ace, too?"
Marco was sitting on Pops shoulder with Ace on his knee and commented that people would be more surprised with him than offended. But that he had to show respect if it was given to him. The Whitebeards didn't allow people to walk all over them. If someone started a fight, well, they started it. The pirates weren't instigators, tried not to be. But they wouldn't run from someone.
"If they rude to Ace? Then what do?" he wondered. A good question. Marco looked at Pops, who had a thinking face on. He settled with just leaving the scene. It wasn't running away, but abandoning a useless problem. Ace didn't fight, didn't attack. If an argument would end up turning physical, might as well stop that before it happens by leaving the situation. "What if they try to hurt Ace?"
Whitebeard asked, "Can you turn invisible at will? How you did at first?" Ace shook his head and said it only reacted when he was scared. Marco wasn't surprised by that. "Have you ever fought?"
"Everyone leave Ace alone if he hiss or growl. Ace do that to them, too? And what if not leave Ace alone?"
"Then you have permission to use self defense," Pops said firmly. "Even if it hurts someone, you defend yourself, okay?" Ace looked surprised at how stern he sounded, but he nodded. Marco was glad the captain was being firm about this. Ace's claws could easily kill somebody, but they'd rather he kill someone than die himself. They wouldn't lose him, and would take any measure to keep him safe.