Sometimes I like to write strange things, writing my favorite characters blind is one of my favorites ^_^

This started because Setsuyume was a dear and wrote me a MarcoAce Rec list and dammit now the couple is on my mind all the time. Also one of the fics featured Blind!Ace so I was like, "Hmmm I wonder what would happen if Ace was always blind? BlindPirateAU? HELL YEAH!

Dedicated to: Setsuyume and EstellaKaleo cause Setsu got me into the damn pairing and Estella is my baby~ ^_^

Edited: 09-15-2014: Added about a thousand words? Made it more detailed for sure, and a little more believable XP

You would think that the idea of sailing on open waters would be utterly terrifying to someone who cannot see. That would be obvious, with no idea where you are heading, and not being able to see things coming at you, it's just common sense to stay on land, where it is safer. Of course Portgas D. Ace is not a normal person.

He wasn't born blind, but became so rather gradually starting with fuzzy vison when he was about four and getting progressively worse as the years went on, until the age of 10 and his vison was completely shot, no fuzzy shapes, no kind of outlines, just darkness.

He was surprised for maybe a few seconds but Ace knew this was coming, so he didn't freak out, not like his brother, Sabo. Might have something to do with how nonchalantly Ace mentioned it over breakfast, but no matter how unaffected Ace was, Sabo flipped absolute shit, ranting and raving through breakfast about stupid brothers and mentioning life-changing information like it was the weather.

His other brother, Luffy, on the other hand, just kind of looked at Ace funny and asked if that meant there would be more meat left for him. Needless to say the youngest brother got a rather nice punch from Ace for that.

Sabo and Luffy both already knew that Ace's vision was bad; they just thought that he needed some glasses and then would be fine. The two just didn't realize that it meant Ace was going blind.

What truly worried Sabo was how Ace would fare in the jungle with this newfound weakness, didn't want Ace to die after all. And when Sabo brought that up after their first meal, Ace worried about it as well. He had gotten up and to breakfast without too much trouble but he knew their home, he walked it every day, it stayed the same, sp how would he survive in a place that was constantly changing?

The two elder brother's decided not to chance it that day, in fact they didn't dare enter the forest again for another few weeks, choosing instead to devote their time into training Ace in his other senses, hoping they would increase in sensitivity and make-up for Ace's lack of sight.

Those few weeks saw more visits to town and the Grey Terminal, Sabo holding Ace's arm gently to steer him if he ever needed to, and for that first week it was often needed. The training progress was slow going and Ace was getting frustrated, he was perfectly fine in the house but once he left, the world became an unknown, and it was terrifying.

The ray of light, so to speak, in Ace's dark world came in the surprising form of his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp. The marine visited maybe once a month and this visit came with revealing that Ace was now blind, a worrying thing to tell your strict marine grandfather. Ace was afraid Garp would call him less than a man, a weakness, unworthy. The man didn't. He shed a tear but told his grandson that they would overcome this minor inconvenience to the youth becoming a marine!

Garp stayed with them for a full week, giving Ace all his attention and helping the boy master using his ears, and other senses to determine where things were placed or where people were walking. And Ace succeeded. When testing himself in toen, he was able to walk and move about like he could actually see, dodging people and looking at them in the face when they deemed to talk to him.

It was amazing; Ace could pretend he wasn't broken, if not for his hazy eyes. Someone always figured out he was blind because of his eyes. Which is why he rearranged his hair and his bangs to where the his bangs hung in front of his eyes, now no one could tell that Ace was far from normal.

Even with his newfound ability to walk amongst others, his brothers were positive Ace was going to give up on his dream of piracy, or even sailing in general. That resulted in an epic fight between the brothers. Ace was never going to give up his plan for freedom, but Sabo and Luffy just wanted their brother to be safe, and piracy was by no means safe.

The fight among them lasted almost a week and a half but eventually Luffy and Sabo gave in and conceded that Ace couldn't be restricted his freedom, didn't mean that Sabo had to like the other's decision.

Fast forward 7 years, a lot of drama, and more issues with Ace's handicap; Ace is finally ready to set out on his quest for freedom. He hugged his brother, and said his good-byes to the townsfolk and the band of mountain bandits, and hopped into his small ship and waved as he set off. The only things he took with him were the sack Sabo had bought him a few years back stuffed to the brim with food and necessities, the crazy orange hat Luffy got him as a parting gift, a few pairs of shorts, his loved boots, and a single yellow, currently unbuttoned, shirt.

The first month was distressing for Ace. He could do most of the sailing by himself, feeling for the direction of the wind on his skin, and determining the nautical direction he was sailing by feeling along his compass, but Ace was still not used to sudden appearances; he almost fell overboard when a seagull landed on his sail arms, freaked him out something fierce. So when Ace reached the first island, with a large marine base, by the name of Shells Town, Ace's first bit of business was to find a first mate to help him sail and to keep him calm.

It was rather difficult finding someone on the marine island who would be willing to sail under a pirate flag, but he found one. And sailing became much easier after that, especially with the Mera Mera no Mi he stole from Shells Town's marine base. The fire freed Ace. For the first time in over seven years Ace could see, by becoming fire and spreading it around his body he was able to obtain impressions of the area around him in his mind. Not to mention that fighting got a bit easier as the fire lead him to his enemies.

His first mate and the ragtag crew he collected were all very protective of him, despite the added protection of the Mera Mera no Mi. They were also the only ones Ace told of his blindness, he kept his weakness to himself otherwise, keeping up with his childhood habit of covering his eyes with his bangs.

They sailed together for a year, Ace becoming known throughout the seas as Fire Fist Ace, his crew, the Spade Pirates, becoming well known for their protectiveness of their captain. They were happy, sailing as they were, their beloved captain leading them, and being more free than they ever were before they were recruited by the blind fighter and his overly protective first mate.

Of course this all did have to come to an end, fate had a way of not allowing Ace his happiness to last; first with his declination of becoming a Shichibukai when asked by the government, and second by his decision to hunt down his father's old rival, Whitebeard. Which then lead to a horrible fight with Jinbe, a fishman Shichibukai. The fight lasted almost five days both fighters giving their all, resulting in neither of the two fighters being able to move after, which in turn declared the match a draw.

And somehow during the fight, the Shichibukai had discovered Ace's weakness,, his inability to see. It was the third day of their fight, if Ace remembered correctly, when his fire faltered out for a moment and Ace wasn't completely able to dodge the fishman's next attack. Jinbe had powerful deduction skills even in the midst of fights, so discovering Ace's blindness wasn't such a huge leap to make.

Ace respected that the fishman did not hold back at all, even after he found out Ace's secret. Ace didn't even have to ask the Shichibukai to not reveal his so called weakness; Jinbe merely told him that he wouldn't impart any knowledge about Ace to anyone, after the fight.

Of course not a few days later, Whitebeard came upon Ace and his crew, curious about the upcoming captain who went toe to toe with their favorite Shichibukai. Without even thinking about it Ace separated himself from his crew, demanding they get away while he holds off Whitebeard, a laughable statement if Whitebeard's loud guffaw was anything to go by. The fight wasn't that long, and of course the protective Spade Pirates refused to let their beloved captain be taken by himself, who knows what the man would do to the blind captain.

That's where this story truly starts; with a bandaged up Ace, in a small room on the large ship, the Moby Dick, slowly coming to consciousness, a strange man with a red pompadour sitting in the chair next to his bed.

"Wha?" Ace spoke out warily, his fire flaring around him lightly letting him know that he wasn't in seastone cuffs. Which was odd considering he was a prisoner, right? The crew obviously knew he was a devil's fruit user, he used his abilities on Whitebeard after all, so wht wasn't he cuffed?

"Hey! Finally woke up, did ya?" The voice was deep and Ace swung his head around to stare blankly at the person it came from, hopefully…He didn't know but he didn't want his enemy's crew to discover his lack of eyesight, they would take advantage of him and that weakness for sure.

"Who the hell are you? Where am I? What did you do to my crew? Why am I not shackled?" Ace fired one question after another, his fire flaring around his head and the room, giving Ace a decent layout of the place, so when he escaped he would know where the damn door was, rather important information to know.

"Woah buddy; calm down, one question at a time." The jovial man laughed quietly moving to uncross his arms and set them on his legs, preparing himself to answer the younger's questions. "My name is Thatch, I'm the fourth commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. You are in one of the private rooms of the Moby Dick, Pop's ship. Your crew is fine, but on another ship cause they kept trying to break you out. And you aren't shackled cause there is no reason to restrain our newest brother, is there?" The man, Thatch, smiled at Ace, the fire allowing him to "see" that with light flickers towards the man, not threatening but exploratory. His response shocked the younger, such was showing in his fire's dance around his head, flicking to the ceiling and pulsing.

"Interesting ability you got there; never met a logia type who could do that." Ace didn't respond to that, his fire curling around him like a cat, protecting it's master from the unknown. The fire user was having problems comprehending exactly what Thatch had just told him. Newest brother? What kind of utter bullshit was that?

"What the fuck do you mean, newest brother?" Ace's voice was quiet, as threatening as he could make it, but the jovial man seemed to ignore his tone and just answered the spoken question, his cheer never leaving his voice.

"Pops took a liking to ya, said you would be a great son." Thatch's smile widened, not at all expecting Ace's next action.

The blind male reacted harshly to the sentence. Jumping out of the bed with surprising agility for someone so recently injured; his body flying towards Thatch's. Ace's hands wrapped around the elder's neck, his hands wrapped tightly but not squeezing the air out quite yet, his body weighing down on the man as Ace straddled his torso.

"I. Have. No. Father." Ace spat out, his brow furrowing and his fingers tightening their grip. Thatch coughed, the air leaving his lungs now and he swung his leg around to kick Ace in the ribs but Ace's fire reacted, pinning the offending leg to the wooden floor, burning the appendage as it did so. Thatch let out a startled yell in response, the burn shocking him like nothing ever had. And Ace was more than content to choke the life out of this man and then burn his body to ash.

But to Ace's complete surprise the door swung open with a bang, and a tall man with a strange blonde haircut stood there, his hand on the door, his breathing heavy as he looked at the scene he came upon with bright blue eyes. Ace's head snapped up and his black hair that almost always hung in his eyes flew out, exposing the pale irises, causing the teen to briefly panic and lower his head to once more cover his eyes before he instinctively jumped back, not knowing who or what this threat was.

As the newcomer leant down to help his comrade stand, Ace's fire proceeded to make a barrier around him, caressing him and rubbing up against his cheek and neck. Ace kept backing up until his back hit a wall and then he compressed himself, thrusting his shoulders forward and retracting his neck, his hands coming up to the ready position on either side of his body, prepared to light either of these two on fire, if the need arose.

"You alright there, Thatch, yoi?" the new man spoke, his deep voice sending a shudder right down Ace's spine, tickling his eardrums in a way they never had before, instantly sparking the teen's curiosity.

"Yeah, Marco. Just fine, just said something he didn't like is all." Thatch laughed out. Accepting the hand the newcomer held out for him, Thatch hobbled to an upright position, not putting any pressure on the leg Ace burnt cause dammit that hurt! The kid could deal some serious damage with those abilities.

Ace's face faltered for a moment, shocked that Thatch wasn't angry at Ace for attacking him like that. It wasn't normal for someone to react like that was it? Was this guy all there in his head? Most people Ace burned normally tried to attack him afterward.

"Well he moves surprisingly well if he was able to catch you off guard, especially when he's injured, yoi. Maybe you should go topside and brush this all off, maybe get a few nurses to check out your leg? I'll watch Fire Fist, yoi." The blonde spoke, his voice lowering to speak to Thatch, his eyes never leaving the muscled black-haired teen huddled up against the wall, a wall of flame separating them thinly.

"Yeah! Great idea, Marco!" Thatch was all smiles again at the thought of those sexy nurses, even though he cursed more than a few times as he hobbled his way out the door. I mean dammit that fire was hot, and fuck did the burn hurt!

Ace and the man with the shudder-inducing voice, Marco, were the only two left in the small space and the silence was almost overwhelming to the fire wielder. Of course the silence had to be broken at some point. And it had to be the Whitebeard pirate who did it, slamming the door shut suddenly. Scared Ace almost to death and his fire reacted accordingly, lashing out at Marco and protecting it's master, as it has always done.

Marco not moving away from the flames shocked Ace, who wouldn't move if fire was coming at you? Ace was positive this guy could see, he had never met another blind person, let alone a pirate, so he couldn't be blind. Of course the flames that reached out from the man to meet Ace's own shocked the breath right out of him. These flames weren't hot, and seemed affectionate, almost loving as they brushed against Ace's more volatile flames.

Ace's own flames' reaction shocked him even more, calming instantly and almost curling around the softer flames trying to get as close as they possibly could. This…no one else could have the Mera Mera no Mi…why did this guy have the ability to control these odd flames?

"Wha-why?" Ace questioned, his voice faltering an hesitant, his fire disconnecting from the stranger's and retreating to it's master, knowing the teen needed comfort more than the fire craved the other flames. The man just chuckles, his voice vibrating it's way down Ace's ears and making the teen squirm.

"No worries, Fire Fist, I ate a different fruit. This is just a well-liked side effect, yoi." The man had a really nice voice and every time he heard it he melted a little inside, so Ace needed to be careful around him. The warm voice and delicious vibrations could all be a trick to lull him into a false sense of security so the man could take the teen out himself.

"How did-Why am I here?! Why are you keeping me here?!" Ace was scared. For the first time in a long time, Ace was scared of a person, afraid of this man and his soothing voice and comforting fire, afraid of the kindness he has received so far, what do these people want from him?! What purpose could this possibly serve?!

"Stop worrying so much about everything, yoi." The man sighed, rubbing his hand through his wisps of hair, looking at Ace kindly, his fire retracting into his body. "We aren't going to hurt you. You are safe here."

"But why?!" Ace yelled frantically, his head raising, hair fluttering around his head with the fire's heat. "Why are you doing this? I'm your enemy!" Ace screamed, his fire flaring and pushing his bands up, revealing his unusual eyes to the other man. But Ace didn't realize he did any such thing, trapped in his mind as he was, until he heard a sharp intake of air from the direction of the man with the soft flames.

Ace's head snapped up, his fire lowering as he did so, his face contorting in a classic definition of horror. His mouth was frowning yet slightly open, taking in air at an exponential rate, his brow furrowed, and his hazy eyes squinted.

Ace was well and truly freaked now. This man, his enemy, no doubt saw his eyes. He, he knew Ace's weakness, he would tell the crew! It would spread! Everyone would know! Everyone would know he was broken! That he was led than a man! Less than a person!

Ace's inner freak out cause him to pay little attention to the happenings of the room and the next thing he knew, a firm chest was pressing him to the wall, a warm soft hand cupping his cheek gently. Ace took in a sharp breath and froze as the hand moved to tilt his head up, Ace's fire pulsing out now to caress at the man's skin, was he ever buff.

Ace didn't stop the man's movement in anyway, clenching his mouth shut as the hand shifted his head to where he was looking up at the man, eye to eye. The foreign hand on his face then proceeded to brush away his black shaggy bangs that were still covering his filmed over eyes. Ace's response was to shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to give this guy any confirmation of his obvious suspicions of Ace's handicap.

"Open your eyes, yoi." Stupid commanding voice, stupid adorable speech tick, Ace cursed as he clenched his eyes closed for a brief moment, before he gave up and slid his eyelids open. Allowing the taller pushy man to see his ugly filmy eyes, the proof he had a weakness that pitted him lower than the average man.

"You-" Marco halted for a moment as Ace tensed his body, bringing his fire around to circle the elder's neck in warning. Marco ignored the threat and continued on with his statement.

"You are an impressive pirate, yoi. You have a high bounty, you were invited to the Shichibukai, you have a loyal crew, and you are a powerful fighter to boot." Marco's voice didn't change in pitch, didn't falter in anyway, didn't give Ace the clue he was searching for that would claim this man a liar. Why was the elder complimenting him like this? Ace's bottom lip trembled lightly at his own thoughts, his fire brushing his cheek in comfort, but still Marco continued on.

"All this, and you are blind."

So? What do y'all think? I rather like it~ this is sort of a teaser~ depending on how it's received I'll post the rest of the story~ I am gonna write more for it cause Setsu is a dear and wants to read more ^_^

So some quick notes I know someone is going to ask:

why is the fire life-like?

Well first off, I really like the thought of Logia abilities being alive, like a protective guardian, and secondly Ace is blind and to compensate for that his fire becomes "alive"

He can see with his fire?

I sort of based this off of Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, she can "see" with her earthbending so why can't Ace "see" with his fire?

Any other questions just ask ^_^ I promise I will answer them XD