Things went back to normal after Garp left. They all had a newfound appreciation for Ace's stubbornness and determination knowing she'd never given up on her dream of being a pirate even after growing up under Garp the Fist's attentive eye.

After a week or so they were throwing another party on deck, this time to celebrate Atmos' birthday. Ace had her book out and was scribbling away, taking the time to laugh and cheer with the people around her.

Marco walked over and though he didn't try to sneak a peek this time he noticed that instead of a picture, this time the page was covered in words. "What are you working on?" he asked.

Ace glanced up, greeting Marco with a grin. "Just catching up on the last couple of months. A lot has happened, you know."

Marco tilted his head, confused. "Is that a journal, yoi?"

Ace tensed a little, realizing she'd said more than she really intended to. She sighed. She might as well tell them, it wasn't exactly a secret, just more of a tender subject.

It was still pretty early in the afternoon so thankfully no one was too drunk just yet which meant a lot of people had started paying attention to their conversation, all eager to learn more about their new sister.

"It's not a journal," she said, closing the book and stroking the cover. "I told you before that Luffy and I had a brother named Sabo," Marco tensed a little, worried he'd overstepped somehow, but Ace continued easily, though she looked a little sad. "We all dreamed of being pirates. For a while we planned on all being on the same crew but then we realized we all wanted to be the captain. None of us were willing to serve under each other which was when we realized we would all be on separate crews. We didn't let that stop us, though. We made vows to set sail when we turned seventeen and that one day we would all meet up on the Grand Line as captains of our own crews."

Ace had a far away look in her eyes and a fond smile on her lips. The crew was all listening very attentively, enjoying this softer version of the hothead they already loved so much. "After we made our vows we shared our dreams with each other. Luffy wants to be the Pirate King, I wanted an answer, and Sabo?" she paused slightly before continuing, "Sabo, more than anything else, wanted to be free. He wanted to go wherever he wanted and do anything he wanted. He wanted to see the world. He told us that after he did he would write everything down, all of his adventures. He wasn't sure if he would try to get the book published or if he'd just share with us."

Whitebeard smiled softly. He didn't like the melancholy in Ace's voice but he liked hearing about happy and peaceful times in the girl's childhood when she ran around with her brothers.

"When I set sail after I stopped at one of my first islands I saw this book and I thought maybe I could do it. I got this tattoo," she gestured to her arm, "to keep Sabo's memory alive and bring him out to sea with us, why couldn't I try and bring his dream too? I bought the book and I was so excited to get started and then I sat down and I just stared at it for hours." Ace laughed lightly. "I was never the bookish one. That was Sabo. He was so mouthy and good with words and he would have written the most amazing book ever. All I could think to write was that I found an island and it was cool. I got so frustrated and I just started doodling on the page without meaning to. I liked drawing, it was a good way to calm down when I got angry when I was younger. I started drawing a clearing on the island. When I saw the picture I kind of realized that I can't write Sabo's book. I'm not Sabo and I can't write like him. So I started writing the book like I was talking to Sabo and Luffy, telling them about my adventures. Honestly, this thing is a bit of a mess." Ace laughed again. "Most of the important places we visit I end up drawing, I go into a lot of detail about the people I met, how I recruited my crew, the things I learn about them, if there are any good restaurants, if I had any good fights and if there were any jerks I beat up. I added my crew's bounty posters as they joined and every time the bounty went up. This is everything that's happened since I went out to sea, it's not how Sabo would have done it, but this isn't Sabo's story, it's mine."

Marco looked at the book with a great deal more respect and fondness. He'd had no idea it meant so much to the girl. A lot of the crew were staring at it the same way. He reached over and ruffled Ace's hair, knocking her hat off her head in the process.

Whitebeard looked at his children fondly. "Would you care to share a bit of your story with us, daughter?" he asked.

Ace looked up at Whitebeard in surprise. She saw the warmth and affection in his eyes and blushed, opening the book to near the front. She landed on a sketch. She held the book up for them to look. "This is from one of the first islands we went to after I recruited Smalls. It's where I started the treasure hunt."

"Treasure hunt?" Thatch asked, curious.

Ace nodded. "Back when we thought we were all going to be on the same crew we called ourselves the ASL Pirates. Whenever my crew and I spend some time on an island I find a nice place and I carve A and S into the tree. When Luffy becomes King of the Pirates I'm going to give him this book and he's going to have to find where I hid the carvings so he can add the L."

Marco raised an eyebrow. That was actually really sweet.

Several of the crew (mainly led by Thatch) started cooing at the sisterly love, so Ace flipped to a different page closer to the middle of the book. She landed on a page full of a text and she winced a little. "Ah, perhaps not this one." She muttered. Deuce, curious, leaned over and looked, getting a stormy look on his face when he recognized the island.

Marco was starting to get a little concerned that something bad might have happened, but Ace just glared at Deuce indignantly. "It was not my fault!" she shouted.

It looked like most of the Spades had figured out what she was referring to and started grumbling, crossing their arms and glaring.

"It wasn't!" she insisted, turning to face Pops and the commanders. "Some people," she said pointedly, "need to learn that sometimes things just have a way of happening around people and just because it happens around that person does not make it that person's fault!"

Deuce just grumbled. "Freaking Ds."

Marco was more curious than concerned at this point. What in the world were they going on about?

Ace saw their confusion and elaborated. "It was right after we entered the New World and we were exploring. We found an island that wasn't on any of our maps that we had so we decided to explore." Ace looked at the deck, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Apparently people in the area made a point of avoiding that island for a reason."

"And why is that, Captain?" Saber said, voice dripping in discontent.

Ace winced. "There…may have been a local tribe of indigenous people who didn't really react well towards the outside world. They were a little hostile towards us until I used my devil fruit. That's when they decided to raise me up as their Great Goddess of Fire and worship me."

Marco blinked. There was no way he'd just heard what he thought he'd heard. He exchanged bewildered looks with the rest of the crew and knew that it wasn't a mistake. That apparently wasn't all as CiCi, the Spade's tiny shipwright, growled out, "And?"

Another wince. "And they decided the reason I was in a mortal body was that my crew had someone bound my divine essence to mortal flesh and the only way to release me from my fleshy prison was to sacrifice the crew in my honor."

Marco thought for a moment that his brain might legitimately be broken. Surely Ace was just lying at this point. These things didn't just happen. Not even to Ds! Teach had been a member of their crew for years and nothing like this had ever happened to him.

And apparently the tale still wasn't ever as this time Deuce growled, "And?"

This time Ace turned bright red and yelled at them, "Oh, come on! It's not my fault they were cannibals!"

"What?" Thatch asked, echoing many people's sentiments. Marco just rested his head in his hands, trying to stave off the headache. "I don't even want to know." He grumbled.

"Gurararara!" Whitebeard laughed. "Never a dull moment, eh Brat?"

Ace just started grumbling under her breath, picking up her book and storming off. Marco didn't even try to call her back. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear about her past adventures if this was the kind of thing she got up to in her free time.