Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Running Up That Hill
By : yinneko23
Category: +M to R > One Piece
Views: 11948 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or make any money from this fic.
Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
�Marco,� Whitebeard said, glancing at a tall blonde man with horrible color coordination, �take care of your new brother until he settles in.�
Ace bristled as the man sighed and looked at him, taking in his torn clothes and the bruises marring his skin, mouth set in resignation.
�You give me the worst orders, yoi.�
The old man laughed. �Because you�re the best man for the job. This job in particular.�

-
It hadn�t been what he�d hoped for, the moment of their reunion. The next Ace sees of that Smokey guy, he�ll find some way of returning his painful interruption tenfold - seriously, if Ace was anyone else his face would�ve been scratched to hell - but for now he puts it out of his mind.
Luffy is here. Luffy is here, and looks almost exactly as she did three years ago, only older, taller, stronger. Luffy is sitting in an alley below him, head swiveling back and forth, lost like the idiot she�ll always be.
Luffy is alone and Ace has missed her.
He launches himself from the roof as Luffy glances upwards and shades her eyes, entire goddamn body lighting up at the sight of him. Ace has been missed too, it seems.
Giving her no time to think, he pins Luffy to the rough brick wall with hands and mouth, reveling in the way she shivers beneath his touch and how her lips part immediately to demand more. Ace slips his tongue inside to twist playfully with Luffy�s; even her taste is familiar.
Luffy twines the fingers of one hand with his, her other snagging the cord of his hat to pull Ace nearer still, though with their every curve pressed together he can imagine only a single other way to be as close as Luffy wants. Ace groans at the thought, hikes her vest up at the side to get at the smooth, warm skin he�s been craving.
Three years is far too long to go without this.
It�s great, it�s wonderful (how could it not be?) but while the feel of Luffy at home in his arms is absolute heaven, there�s the nagging problem of her chest. Her disturbingly flat chest.
�Luffy,� Ace says, voice raw with a reluctance Luffy clearly shares as she chases his lips across the tiny distance he created. He can�t resist letting her take another kiss before the desire to see if Marco guessed right surges back full force. �Luffy, hold on a moment.�
Ace draws further away, ignoring the sharp whine of protest Luffy gives; it dies when he beings unbuttoning her vest, replaced with an eager smile. Her hands, now on Ace�s shoulders, dig in with blunt nails to urge him on. And while Ace sincerely hadn�t intended to have Luffy in an alleyway where anyone could see, it�s becoming harder to hold on to all the reasons why that�s a very, very bad idea.
When the vest falls open to reveal tightly bound bandages, Ace breathes an internal sigh of relief. Marco had guessed right after all. Still, Ace is curious to know who gave Luffy the idea to bind her chest - it�s certainly not the sort of thing she�d come up with on her own.
He�s about to ask when Luffy starts pulling at the bandages, unraveling them slowly as she searches for the end. Ace hastily grabs her wrists because it really is a very bad idea to get naked in broad daylight, doubly so when there are Marines actively hunting for them. �You have a ship, right? A ship with comfortable horizontal surfaces behind closed doors, so just wait a -�
�Don�t wanna,� Luffy says, and tugs the bandages down with an air of finality. He wants to be mad that she�s ignoring the advice of her dear older brother, but Luffy wraps her legs around his waist and grinds, urging his head down to rest against breasts Ace has been dreaming of - Marco�s brilliant, but this is an area in which the man is naturally lacking - and Ace is gone. Perhaps he�ll regret it later. For now his control is so much sand in the wind.
Later, after helping Luffy back into her bindings and brushing the dirt off his carelessly discarded shorts, Ace tells her about Whitebeard and why he�s here in the first place, asks her to join their crew even though he knows what her answer will be. He only tries because he can�t shake the thought of introducing her to Marco, how warm and crowded his bed would be that night�heh. It�s something to look forward to when Luffy reaches the New World.
�Anyway,� Ace says as they emerge from the alley, �why are you binding your chest?�
Luffy scratches at a fading bruise Ace had sucked onto the arch of her shoulder. �Huh? Oh, this is because my boobs were getting in the way when I fought. They got bigger after you left.�
Ace had noticed.
�I kept complaining and eventually Dadan suggested I try this. The bandages are way more comfy than bras.� Luffy scrunches up her nose as if she�s talking about the bane of her existence. She�d always hated the things. �But now I�ve got another reason, shishishi.�
Grinning madly, Luffy tilts Ace�s head to whisper against the shell of his ear; to his credit, Ace only cries a little despite laughing so hard his knees hit the ground. He drags Luffy down to crouch beside him on the pitted cobblestones, tosses his arms around her neck and squeezes.
�Luffy Luffy Luffy,� he chants, �you are insane, and I mean that with all the love in the world.�
She kisses him on the cheek to say she understands, lips lingering over a vivid patch of freckles. �Usopp agrees that it�s an awesome prank idea, though he doesn�t think I�ll be able to keep it a secret long enough. Chopper too.�
�Anything can happen, but I�ll be kinda sad to see it go to waste.� Ace stands, steering Luffy towards the sea and where her ship may or may not be anchored. �Usopp and Chopper, huh? Tell me about your nakama.�
As they walk, Luffy happily chatters away about her crew. Ace listens carefully as she talks about them, but Luffy describes each with equal affection until she mentions her swordsman, his massive scar, and how it tickled the pads of her fingers when she touched it.
�Zoro, he�s the one with green hair?� Ace asks, trying to recall the brief glimpse of Luffy�s crew he�d gotten before his fight with Smokey. Tall, broad, handsome in a rough sort of way�
�Yep.�
�Any good in the sack?�
�Yea- waaaaaaait, how�d you know?�
�Brotherly intuition,� Ace says, smug.
Luffy elbows him in the ribs, ducks beneath Ace�s attempt at a headlock, and says, �Zoro is really really strong! He bleeds a lot and it gets lost all the time and Nami beats him up for it, but he�s gonna be the best swordsman ever. Just wait and see, Ace.�
�I take it he�s after Mihawk.�
�Mihawk?� Luffy frowns for a second, then lifts a finger in revelation. �Oh yeah, the gold-eyed old man. He gave Zoro his scar, but said nice things about us too, so I guess he�s not a bad guy.�
�You met Mihawk? No. No, of course you met Mihawk.� Ace sighs and ruffles her hair. Luffy drew the most absurd attention, like a danger magnet - Shanks and Mihawk, princesses and god knew who else.

Bet Pops will love her, he thinks.
�What about you? I doubt your bed is empty, Ace.�
Ace grins wide and wicked. �His name is Marco.�
�A guy? So that�s why you were touching my boobs a lot.� Luffy laughs, and Ace makes sure to catch her head this time, straw hat knocked askew as he knuckles her skull until she begs for mercy.
-

Ace remained rooted in the doorway, taking in the sparsely furnished room. The oddest thing about it was the large wooden platform protruding from the far right wall, piled high with blankets and pillows, yet there was also a bed.
One bed.
�We�ll be sharing, yoi,� Marco said, striding towards a dresser and pulling out a box of matches to light the slender blue candle. Without conscious thought, Ace flicked his fingers so the candle burst into flame before Marco even had the chance to get a match out. He raised an eyebrow. �Useful.�
Ace flushed, not having meant to be in the least bit helpful to anyone who sailed under Whitebeard. �What the hell do you mean, sharing? I hope you don�t mean we�ll both be sleeping in that bed.�
�I could just give you the floor, brat.� Marco turned to give Ace a once over, face shadowed by wavering candlelight. �But you look like you�re about to keel over so I�d say you need a good night of rest. Which you certainly won�t get on the floor, yoi.�
�What about that?� Ace pointed to the platform. �What�s it for?�
�Sleeping.�
�Then why don�t you just go up there?� Marco ignored him, shrugging off his shirt and folding it over the desk chair. When he began tugging loose the blue sash around his waist, Ace had finally had enough, stomping inside and letting the door swing shut. �Hey, answer me!�
Marco didn�t stop removing his clothes, but said, �It�s easier to keep an eye on you if we�re sharing, yoi. Though if you have any common sense in that spoiled head of yours, you�ll give up on trying to kill Pops.�
�I won�t stop.� Ace said, reluctantly beginning to peel away his own sweaty, ragged clothing. He was in desperate need of a bath, but damn if he would ask where he could take one. Either he�d figure it out on his own or he�d go without.
Marco took him by the shoulders, hands gentle but unyielding as he steered Ace towards the bed, pulling back the sheets and shoving him down so he bounced on the firm mattress. He following Ace in, crowding him against the wall so there was almost no space between their bodies. Ace scowled and tried to push at the other man�s chest, but Marco couldn�t be budged, even when he pushed at him with all his - admittedly flagging - strength. He couldn�t remember ever being so exhausted in all his life.
�Not used to sleeping with someone else, yoi?� Marco asked, watching Ace struggle with an expression of distant amusement that grated on the younger pirate�s nerves. Fine, if that�s how they were gonna play, so be it. Ace hadn�t been planning on using his ability, but he grit his teeth and forced his tired body to produce fire enough to threaten, expecting Marco to at least shift away and give him a little room to breathe.
But he almost choked on his own tongue as red flames were met with blue, Marco taking Ace�s burning hand and not smothering his fire but letting their flames twist and mingle together. No matter how hotly Ace raged, he could not extinguish the dancing cerulean.
�What are you? What Devil Fruit do you have?� There couldn�t possibly be another Mera Mera user, so where did Marco�s flame come from?
�I�ll tell you in the morning if you stop squirming and sleep like a good brat, yoi,� Marco smirked. Ace allowed his fire to die out, but there was no way Ace would do what he asked. He snarled and managed to get an elbow in Marco�s ribs.
�At least move over a little! I barely have space to breathe.� To his surprise, Marco seemed to relent, scotching closer to the other side of the bed. What Ace wasn�t expecting was an arm thrown around his waist as soon as he shifted onto his back.
�H-hey!� Ace protested, but there was no real anger behind. He was realizing just how soft the mattress felt beneath his aching body. Unconsciousness tugged at him.
�Just making sure you stay where you are. Pops will still be here in the morning if you feel the need to go after him again, yoi. One night of peace won�t make any difference.�
Ace frowned. He really didn�t want to lie under a pirate who could just as easily kill him in his sleep if he so choose. Before he could try protesting again, that godforsaken narcolepsy crashed over him. Ace ended up passing out, more warm and comfortable beneath Marco�s secure weight than he�d ever admit, even to himself.

-
�What�s he look like?�
�Hm?�
�Marco. I wanna know what he looks like!�
�I�ve got just the thing,� Ace says, rummaging through his pockets as he tries to remember which one he�d - ah, there they are.
The pieces of paper are folded one inside the other, and the innermost piece slips between Ace�s fingers as he digs them from his shorts. It catches on the hot desert breeze and goes skittering across the pavement. Luffy snatches it up before Ace even has the chance to ask her to.
She opens it, snickering at the familiar picture staring back at her. �You carry my wanted poster around?�
�Normally it�s on my wall,� Ace says, not in the least bit embarrassed. Everyone he knows and quite a few strangers have seen that poster, forced to sit and listen as he proudly rambled on and on and on about his younger brother and the obscene amount of trouble she�d caused. Marco probably knew more about Luffy than she did by now.
While Luffy grins at her picture, attempting to duplicate the expression she�d been wearing at the time, Ace unfolds the second poster. Marco the Phoenix is emblazoned across the page.
Luffy trots over when he holds it out for her inspection, but only blinks at it before raising her black eyes to Ace�s own; her brow furrows as she considers him intently, leaning in close so they�re nearly nose to nose. Ace is used to Luffy�s peculiar brand of scrutiny, yet can�t for the life of him guess why he�s the focus of it this time.
�You carry his too?�
�Well, yeah-�
�Do you have any others?�
�Of course not, why would I-?� Ace is interrupted by an achingly sweet kiss. When Luffy pulls away, her lips are quirked in a lopsided smile that seems to say I see, good-natured and oddly knowing.
�Lu?�
�You�re so cute, Ace,� she says, and takes Marco�s poster from his shock slackened fingers for a better look.
-

�Why don�t you just give it up, yoi?� Marco asked a week later, dabbing at Ace�s dripping cheek while the other pirate absolutely refused to hold still or stop grumbling and growling threats under his breath.
�I have my reasons,� Ace snarled, twisting his face from between Marco�s steadying fingers. �Stop it already. I don�t want your help!�
�Too bad,� Marco said, calm and unflappable as always. �You�re going to get it, yoi.�
Ace made one last half-hearted effort to escape from the gentle attention to his wounds, the result of yet another attempt to end the old man. His clothes were soaked with water from being thrown overboard. Sea salt streamed from his hair and stung his eyes.
Every time he was saved by one of the men on this ship, he hated himself that little bit more.
�Why don�t you bastards just lock me up? Wouldn�t it be easier for you?�
�And ruin our favorite entertainment?� Marco smirked. �I don�t think so, yoi.�
Ace hissed as Marco swabbed a cotton ball full of alcohol across a deeper cut. �Aren�t you at all worried that I might actually succeed? That somehow I may end that old man�s life?�
�No,� Marco said simply. �Pops is too strong to be killed by anyone. Especially someone who doesn�t really want to hurt him in the first place, yoi.�
�What the hell are you talking about?� Ace asked as Marco smoothed a plaster across the last of his injuries. �Of course I want him dead.�
�Really?� Marco lifted his lips in a half smile that was becoming disturbingly familiar to Ace, for all that he hated it, and ruffled a hand through Ace�s wet hair. �To Pops, to everyone on this ship, it seems more like a beloved son going through a rebellious phase, yoi.�
�I am not his son! I�m not any man�s son!� Ace snarled, and finally managed to shove himself clear of Marco�s grip. The first division commander continued to watch his tantrum with amusement.
�Calm down, brat. I was just telling you what Pops thinks of all this.�
�Well, I don�t give a fuck. That old man can think what he wants, but one day I�m going to surpass him. I�ll do what my pathetic excuse for a father couldn�t!� Ace froze, the fingers of one hand digging into his lips as if to seal away a spew of words that desperately yearned to be set free.

That piqued Marco�s curiosity, but he wasn�t going to ask. He wouldn�t get a straight answer out of the mistrustful pirate anyway.
At least, not yet.
�I don�t know what sort of past you have, or whose blood flows through your veins,� Marco said, choosing his words with the utmost care. The way heat spread across Ace�s face told him he�d hit the nail on the head. �We all joined Whitebeard�s crew looking for a fresh start, a place where no one would judge us for whatever sins we committed�both real and imagined. We serve Pops because he gave us a home, yoi.�
Ace seemed to curl into himself, eyes squeezed tightly shut and body suddenly pliant beneath his touch, and when Marco wiped at a stray trail of blood with the pad of his thumb Ace did not pull away.

-
Dinner is exceptionally lively that evening. Ace meshes with the others so extraordinarily well it�s as if he�s been sailing with them from the beginning; whether that�s because he�s Luffy�s brother or due to his own innate and bountiful charms, Zoro can�t decide.
Everyone is perfectly at ease around their temporary nakama. Except Zoro.
The first time Luffy ever mentioned Ace was also the first they were together physically, not long after they�d met. Just one thing - �Playing a game! Ace called it �seduction�.�

Zoro didn�t think it unreasonable to have taken that to mean �Ace� was the person who taught Luffy how to kiss and touch and�everything else. But when she�d introduced Ace as her brother, the swordsman had assumed his guess was wrong.
Then Luffy returned to the ship and Zoro could tell at once that she�d had sex - that unique tousle, the kind he saw only after he�d been running his fingers through Luffy�s hair, and a mark on her throat he hadn�t left. Ace showing up not long after sealed the deal.
That they�re siblings barely blips on his radar. There�s a story behind it, he�s sure. No, it�s the fact that Ace is Luffy�s older brother and is therefore accompanied by the nature of all older brothers: to beat the crap out of anything and everything that tries to lay hands on their little sisters.
Ace will occasionally catch Zoro�s eye and grin the grin of a boy sharing his best kept secret.
Zoro wonders if he�d be safer swimming.
-

The twinge in his stomach was growing nearly unbearable, but Ace would wait until late, when everyone but the drunkest of the crew were sleeping or otherwise occupied in their rooms to steal anything to eat. He sure as fuck wasn�t going to ask for food.
The stars were out in full force tonight. Ace tried to distract himself from the hunger gnawing at his gut by counting them or playing connect the dots or searching for whatever pattern crossed his mind: meat; Luffy, huge smile firmly in place; the beautiful and brilliant extended wings of a bird soaring undisturbed through the sky, master of all�
Marco had told Ace his Devil Fruit was a Zoan, one that allowed him to turn into a phoenix of all things. Yes, Ace knew about the legendary birds that burned across the world until they burst into flame and were reborn from their own ashes. He just couldn�t believe Marco had that sort of power - the older pirate had refused to show him anything but those mysterious flames that raged while harming nothing, warm to the touch but not unpleasantly so, even for an ordinary human.
Not at all like Ace�s fire, which seared a path of destruction whenever he used it. Marco could heal. Ace could only harm.
His stomach growled raucously, straight up demanding to be fed, and soon. Ace pressed a hand to his abdomen and cursed under his breath and hoped to heaven and hell no one was around to pity him.
But God hated him, utterly and without remorse - Ace felt a quiet displacement of air, and when he turned to look Marco stood not five feet away, arms crossed. He hadn�t heard any footsteps.
His stomach, useless chunk of digestive system that it was, decided now would be the perfect time to gurgle as nosily as possible.
Marco said nothing, simply observed Ace�s black eye and bleeding arm and swollen lip in silence. Ace let the so-called phoenix do as he wished - he�d been trapped on the Moby Dick for a month now, and though it stung his pride something fierce, Ace had to admit there was nothing he could do if Marco wanted him for something. The way he�d been living had never allowed him to fully recover from his fights with Jimbei and the old man - he ate only what he could steal, spent all his energy attempting to end Whitebeard, slept only when his narcolepsy hit.
Except the nights Marco pinned him to the bed and demanded, voice low and dangerous, that he get some rest; those times, Ace slept the day away.
�Come here, yoi,� Marco said, breaking the stillness. Ace wasn�t sure how long they�d simply watched each other as exhalant sounds of revelry rose and fell in the background, but it was long enough that he stumbled to Marco�s side, not bothering to protest when he slung an arm around Ace�s shoulders for support. Anyone else and Ace would have pulled away. But Marco was�Marco was�
Ace refused to think about what Marco was.
Marco led him away from the deck and inside, where the roars of laughter rang out unhindered. Ace resisted for a moment - he had no desire to join in the festivities - but Marco squeezed lightly at his ribs and directed them instead through a door. As it swung shut all the shouts were abruptly muffled to the point that Ace could tune them out if he chose.
They were in the kitchen. A few chefs still milled about, occasionally adding spices or whatever to a bubbling pot but mostly taking long pulls from their mugs of ale. One hard glare from Marco had them scattering like leaves in a storm.
�I�m not hungry,� Ace muttered as Marco began laying out a bowl and plates laden with bread and butter and jam. He tasted whatever was cooking in the pot and apparently found it to his liking because he ladled a considerable serving into one of the bowls.
�I am,� Marco said, settling himself on a stool and reaching for a spoon. �But eating alone is no fun, yoi. Even if you don�t want anything, would it be too much trouble for you to keep me company?�
��I guess not.� Ace seated himself across from March, ignoring the delectable scent of the soup and how soft those bread rolls looked. Marco tore one in half and dipped it into the butter - honey butter, Ace could damn well smell that too - eyes closed as he chewed.
The bowl was nearly empty when Marco said, �There�s too much for me,� and pushed the plate of bread towards Ace. �You know it�s irresponsible to waste food on the sea, yoi. Help me finish this so I won�t get scolded.�
Ace just stared blankly at the pile of bread sitting in front of him until Marco said, �Please?�
�It was different if someone else asked him. Right?
So he took a hesitant bite, and then another and another and another until the plate was bare and Marco had refilled the bowl and offered that to him as well. It wasn�t until Marco gently pressed a cool, damp cloth to his puffy eye that Ace realized his cheeks were wet.
�Why am I crying?� he asked, too shocked to censor himself. He paused with a spoonful of broth halfway to his mouth, both dreading and hoping Marco would answer.
Marco guided the spoon to Ace�s mouth with his fingertips. �Only you can know that, yoi.�
-
It�s curious, how Luffy is in high spirits one second and quiet the next. Something had caught her attention, and Zoro watches with interest as Luffy reaches out to touch Ace�s tattoo - specifically, the crossed out S.
Her eyes go sad and distant with recollection, the expression of someone lost in old memories. For Zoro, who�s used to his captain living firmly in the moment, this is a first. Whoever or whatever the S reminded her of must have been very special indeed.
They know nothing of Luffy�s past. Big brother Ace was a surprise. Zoro couldn�t say where Luffy came from or why she�d become a pirate if his life depended on it. He knows her straw hat is some sort of promise between her and Red Hair Shanks, her dream is to be Pirate King�and that�s it.
Then Zoro realizes he doesn�t know anything about anyone but Nami and feels uncomfortable for getting curious in the first place. If it�s important, Luffy will tell him. Them.
Zoro frowns at himself and the unusual direction in which his thoughts are wandering. Across the deck, Luffy bends down to brush a tender kiss across the S, smile returning as Ace cradles her in a painfully fond, familiar embrace. When Ace sees him looking, he meets Zoro�s eyes over the top of Luffy�s head, gaze open and unsteady. For a moment, he almost seems tired.
Luffy has first watch that night. She disappears into the crow�s nest, Ace following shortly after.
-

Ace came awake slowly, cozy, limbs weighted with the satiation of a good night�s rest. Eyes half-lidded and blurred, brain groggy and sluggish in its attempts to fire up, he didn�t at first notice that he was not alone in the bed. Marco sat on the edge, smoke curling from the cigarette dangling between his fingers.
This was unusual, a deviation from their normal routine - Marco slept beside him at night but left long before Ace woke in the mornings, sheets gone cold - and Ace could only stare dumbly at the first division commander and wonder why he was here now.
Marco�s gaze swiftly relocated from Ace to the window when he realized the younger pirate was awake.
�What is it?� Ace asked softly, nothing but genuine interest behind the question. His fuzzy mind was still struggling to get itself going; he couldn�t really work up the coherency necessary for indignation and anyway, he kinda liked Marco. A little bit. A really very tiny bit, unassuming understanding and ceaseless patience and easy smiles notwithstanding.
�Oh, fuck it.
Marco turned back to him, eyes coming to rest purposely on Ace�s exposed bicep. Ace looked too, at the stretch of marked skin and the four letters inked there, only one of which held any meaning. �Drunk, yoi?�
�Completely sloshed,� he said, and then it occurred to him that Marco was referring to the crossed out S, what would appear to be an alcohol fueled mistake to anyone but himself and a girl on the other side of the world. Ace lay there, surrounded by warmth and the acrid smell of tobacco and said, �But deliberate.�
The phoenix raised an eyebrow but didn�t ask and for that reason alone Ace open his mouth and let the words spill off his tongue like blood from a wound. �I had a brother. By oath and not blood, but my brother nonetheless, a boy I knew for years. I can�t count the number of times he kept me from killing myself.� Ace took a deep breath. �Sabo was�he came from a noble family, but that way of living was full of misery and loneliness and one day he reached his limit - even though Sabo was only ten years old he set sail as a pirate, searching for a better life.�
Here, Ace struggled to continue. Marco snuffed out his cigarette, lay next to him, and in his silent show of support Ace found the strength. �He died in the attempt.�
Marco was gentle as he traced the crossed out S with a thumb wreathed in blue flame. Heat radiated from the place he touched, a soothing fire that burned though Ace knew it could not hurt - his body prickled with the urge to answer that flame with his own, not out of fear or anger but something else entirely. Ace grit his teeth and hid his reddening cheeks in the pillows.
�Everyone on this ship is family. I consider all of them my brothers, yoi,� Marco said. �No one can replace the brother you lost, but what Pops offers is a chance to make new ones.�
�Brothers are fine and dandy. It�s a father I don�t want.� Ace huffed and rolled to face the wall, determined to go back to sleep and pretend this conversation never happened. It had nothing to do with how close Marco was, how dangerous and immediate it felt. Nothing at all.

-
They�re curled up in the crow�s nest, cocooned in a nest of blankets to ward off the cold desert night, and Ace is talking about Marco again. Marco�s eternally lazy expression, Marco�s gentle healing flames, Marco�s calming voice and the unfairly sweet quirk with which he ends his sentences. Marco this. Marco that. Marco Marco Marco.
Maybe it�s because Ace is so used to talking about Luffy - now that he�s talking to her he can only think of boasting about his own nakama. But that just isn�t true, Ace has to admit. Now he has the chance, his mind is full of nothing but the man who�s been his near constant companion for almost two years.
Luffy patiently listens to it all, though that may be because she�s more than half asleep, eyes occasionally drifting shut and head resting heavily against his chest. For now her eyes are focused on him, once again gleaming with that oddly knowing spark. When Ace stops speaking to frown at her, Luffy simply smiles back. Suspicion nags him; Ace won�t let her change the subject this time. He wants to know, damn it.
It�s not as if what he�s doing is strange. Luffy herself had gone off on many a tangent about her crew while bringing Ace up to speed on her adventures: Nami�s obsession with money and all the trouble it gets her in, Usopp�s harmless lies, Sanji�s inability to resist a flash of cleavage, even her�s. The immense love Vivi holds for her people. How Chopper still watches their Jolly Roger wave in the wind, as if the reindeer can�t quite believe he�s really a pirate. Zoro, who naps in the sun and lets Luffy snuggle inside his haramaki without complaint.
�Luffy, what the hell are you grinning about?�
�Ace is cute.�
�You said that earlier! Look, if you�re insisting on being sneaky�� Ace squeezes Luffy�s hip to let her know his patience only extends so far. If she doesn�t fess up soon, he will resort to tickling.
�Marco.�
�What about Marco?�
�You love him,� Luffy states.
Ace blinks and says, �I love you,� but it�s not a denial. Yes, he loves Marco. He loves all his brothers, his father�
And he knows that isn�t the type of love Luffy meant. She might as well have said in love. That Ace was in love with Marco.
The words feel natural and right as he turns them over and over again in his mind. Marco, who he can�t stop talking about. Marco, whose wanted poster he carries wrapped up in Luffy�s own. Marco who shares his bed. Marco, the reason Ace opened his heart to a new family and a new father.
Marco, responsible for the vast happiness Ace has gained. Marco Marco Marco.
How had he not noticed?
�I know you do,� Luffy says, and Ace startles, having forgotten he�d said anything. �But the way you love Marco is�different. He gives you different things than I do. He gives you a different feeling. And that�s okay! Right, Zoro?� Luffy turns a conspiratorial grin on the swordsman, who�s upper body had popped through the hatch. He�d come to take the next watch.
�Hn?� Luffy kisses him, and Zoro permits it for a few seconds before elbowing her out of the way. �Oi, let me up. I�m freezing my balls off dangling here.�
She moves back to make room. Zoro hauls himself up, and there�s a hilarious moment when his eyes widen as he realizes Ace has just seen he and Luffy kiss. Even more hilarious is the wariness in his expression, like he expects Ace to attack him�oh.
Ace watches in amusement as Luffy climbs into Zoro�s lap and the swordsman tenses in response, cautiously settling his hands on Luffy�s arms but not daring anything more. Luffy, having none of that, squirms and drags those hands down to curve around her waist.
�Is Zoro here different for you, Luffy?� Ace will ease the poor guy�s worries, but first he wants to know for sure.
�Uh-huh,� she says, pulling at the blanket still draped across Ace�s shoulders. He obligingly shifts closer, allowing Luffy to tuck it around Zoro as well. Ace leans against the swordsman�s side. It�s pretty cozy with the three of them, and he remembers a winter ten years past when he and Luffy had shared a blanket with another, a boy with blond hair instead of green.
As the minutes pass, Zoro gradually relaxes into their warmth. Ace yawns and takes Luffy�s hand beneath the blanket. This is as good a place to sleep as any. Later, he�ll teach Zoro all about proper Luffy-care.
-

When reports of a string of islands came in and plans were made for shore leave, Ace wasn�t sure what to do with himself. This was the first time the Whitebeard flagship had docked since he�d been taken aboard. He could run. He should run.
Even if for some mad reason he decided not to get the hell away (which he would, far far far away, though the other side of the whole damned world wouldn�t feel far enough) what exactly was he expected to do? Stay on the ship like the prisoner Thatch insisted he wasn�t? Maybe they�d put him on watch duty or something equally ridiculous just to keep him busy. Well, Ace wasn�t having any of it. First chance he got, he�d slip into the crowd, never to darken Whitebeard�s doorstep again. Hopefully.
He was sitting on Marco�s bed, craftily planning a master escape that involved less stealth than it probably should, when the phoenix leaned through the open doorway and said, �Oi, let�s go.�
Ace frowned, suspicious. �Go where?�
�To town, yoi.� Marco rolled his eyes, grabbed Ace by the wrist and hauled him from the room. �There�s somewhere I want to take you.�
�You�re interrupting my escape planning,� Ace complained, ignoring Marco�s unimpressed snort and how feebly he resisted as they emerged on deck. It was bustling with activity, eager pirates dashing every which way in an effort to finish their duties that much more quickly. �Who says I won�t run?�
Marco stopped then, laid a hand on Ace�s chest and bent down to whisper against his ear, in full view of everyone, �You can�t get away from me, brat. Not even if you wanted to.�
Goosebumps on his arms and neck, cheeks growing hotter by the second, Ace breathed deep and had himself a moment. God, did Marco realize what he was doing to Ace�s poor body? For a moment, he wondered; then Marco slung an arm around Ace�s shoulders and steered him down the dock, lazy half-smile back on his face, and Ace let it go. Marco loved picking on him, after all.
�I bet your fire isn�t stronger than mine,� Ace said, crossing his fingers that the older man hadn�t noticed him reacting. �It�s not even hot.�
�Perhaps not. But healing isn�t all I can do, yoi.�
�Right. Your supposed birdie form, which you still haven�t shown me. I don�t believe you.�
�Patience,� Marco said, patting Ace briefly on the head simply because it drove him crazy. He was rewarded with a petulant glare. �You�ll see soon enough.�
�What does that mean?� Ace asked. Marco refused to answer, but then they entered the town proper. It caught his interest, so Ace would forgive him just this once.
Less than the town itself, it was what the villagers were wearing that Ace found so fascinating. Some were in plain clothes, nothing you wouldn�t see anywhere else, but the vast majority were decked out in brightly colored kimonos - the patterns were varied and lovely; koi and dragons and blossoming flowers, sharks and lily pads and swirling stitches of blues, red, white - and Ace stared openly as Marco continued to guide him through. They passed a stand from which the mouth-watering scent of takoyaki emanated, but Marco wouldn�t stop, even when Ace dug his heels in for real this time and his stomach grumbled loudly.
�I�m hungry, damn it,� Ace whined. �Can�t we eat before you drag me wherever it is we�re going?�
�You�ll get food there, and it�s not too much farther. Just hold your tongue for five minutes, yoi. Unless that�s impossible for a brat like yourself,� Marco smirked.
�I�m not a goddamn brat!� Ace growled, and maintained a pretentious silence as they walked, eventually leaving the small village behind them, just to prove he could.
Eventually they found themselves on a path surrounded by trees, paved with smooth, in-set stones of differing sizes and shapes. Ace trusted Marco enough that he didn�t think even for a second that the first commander was leading him somewhere secluded to do away with him; his mind helpfully supplied images of what else they could do away from prying eyes, and Ace pinched viciously at the skin of hip to banish them. The chances of Marco doing those sorts of (naked) things to him were even less likely than being strangled in the middle of a forest.
Ace could accept his attraction to the older man and didn�t bother feeling guilty for it. He loved sex, just like Luffy - both had come to crave close physical intimacy, which wasn�t entirely unexpected for a couple of teenage pirates - and while a large portion of his heart would always be exclusively Luffy�s no matter what life served him, they�d seen no harm in sharing their bodies with others if the desire was there. Even Marco being male had only earned a short, mild freak out.
No, what worried Ace had nothing to do with his body and everything to do with the part of his heart not tattooed with Luffy�s name. The part that had, in a magnificent display of subtlety that Ace hadn�t known he was capable of, become attached. Emotionally. To Marco, to the godforsaken Whitebeard Pirates�it was the part that ached when Marco smiled at him, as he became aware of all the reasons Whitebeard deserved the nickname �Pops�.
It was the part - that treacherous part - which whispered maybe you should stay as Ace laid awake at night, Marco breathing softly at his side.
The more he wanted to stay, the greater his determination to escape�
�was what he�d like to say. Ace never really had been one for drawn out denial.
Except staying meant having a father.
And he just�he couldn�t�

Could he?
- 8
- 9
- 10
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Running Up That Hill	By : yinneko23 Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 11948 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or make any money from this fic.

Running Up That Hill