And here we go again!

Fist the standard warning list:

fem!Ace/Marco. AU, of course. Post Marine Fort Arc, though Ace will survive the whole story.

The constant confusion between Ace's/ Anne's name is intended. You'll understand sooner or later.

Disclaimer: All Oda's. Though he would have called fem!Ace Ann. I prefer Anne, because it's just more common than Ann.

And now Enjoy!

In the end, no one could really remember how they got out of Marine Fort. It had been one big chaos of running and retreating, of taking care of the wounded and wrapping blankets around the dead. Shanks had helped them a lot by ending the war. For Oyaji, though, it had been too late.

Marco sat on a cliff and stared over to the yellow submarine, in which the rookie Trafalgar Law was trying to somehow save Ace from certain death. The commander of Whitebeard's first division had been pacing up and down in front of the ship before, but then Vista had barked at him to (and this was a quote) fucking sit down already because he was making everybody even more freaking nervous than they already were.

When the rookie stepped out of the inner rooms of his ship, he was wiping clean one of his surgery utensils. Marco stared at him intensely, waiting for whatever the young pirate was up to say. There was no way the phoenix would be able to cope with it if Ace was dead. The young man was his nakama, his brother and one of his best friends.

After Blackbeard had killed Thatch and Ace had left to hunt for the traitor, the Moby Dick had become unbearably quiet. Though Vista and Haruta had tried their best to cheer the crew up from time to time, it was just not the same without the two commanders.

The mere thought of truly loosing Ace now – after all they had gone through to save him! – made Marco shiver. He continued to watch Law calmly clean his tool. It let him hope. If he had bad news, he would have told them strait away, right?

Trafalgar Law stepped over to Marco, naturally accepting the first division commander as the new leader of the Whitebeard pirates. The rookie sighed heavily and looked down on the blond man. "He will survive it. It'll take him some time to fully recover, but I guess that was to be expected… He's awake, if you want to see him." Marco nodded and immediately stood up. When starting to walk over to the submarine, Law held him back.

"There's something strange with your… brother. Don't blame it on me if you don't like it, 'kay." Another nod and Marco jumped onto the yellow ship. Stepping into the inner rooms, the phoenix softly called Ace's name. A low voice led him into a dimly illuminated room with two beds.

In one lay the rubber boy, still unconscious. In the other, partially hidden in the shadows, half sitting, half lying was Ace. The blanket had slid down and now barely covered the fireboy's crotch. Marco frowned. Had the younger man always had such a curvy hip? The phoenix's let his gaze wander higher.

His eyes went wide and a short gasp escaped his lips. He heard Ace chuckle, the voice higher than Marco was used to. He moved a little closer, trying not to stare at Ace's naked torso. "I know… I was pretty shocked myself." Ace's voice sounded. Still too fucking high, Marco thought. "I fear I'll have to adjust my name. Ace doesn't sound very female, right?" God knew how Ace managed to keep his cheery self up…

The first division commander had seen a lot. He was used to a lot. He had seen his captain and chosen father die only hours ago and somehow managed to stay relatively calm. Hell, Marco had even managed to keep his crew somewhat organized after the war. But now, right here, right beside Ace's bed, he got panic.

Grabbing for the bed, the phoenix tried to steady himself but failed miserably. Just before he completely lost his balance and made a very un-marco-like acquaintance with the floor, a slender hand grabbed his arm and dragged him onto the bed. The blond held out an arm to support his weight so he would not land on the still injured pirate lying there.

The broad grin in Ace's face was still the same as always. So were the freckles. The rest was different. The Mera Mera no Mi user's features were softer; the lips had become full and got a darker red shade than before. Ace looked at Marco with a mischievous gleam in the big brown eyes. "Mind lending me your shirt? You know I usually don't wear any so..."

Blushing slightly, Marco snapped out of his shock state and handed the shirt over. Looking away immediately, he patiently waited until he was sure that the raven-haired pirate had properly covered his bare chest. Then Marco met Ace's gaze, an almost invisible blush still covering his cheeks. He let his gaze wander quickly over Ace's body, noticing how surprisingly well his shirt snuggled around Ace's new curves. When he realized that he had started staring, he forced himself to meet the other's eyes again. Out of the sudden, the younger commander's look changed.

"Marco..? Hey, stop staring at me like that. It's not like I did this on purpose, okay?" Ace's voice trembled. The usually so self-confident pirate was now looking at Marco with an almost pleading look. The phoenix swallowed hard. It almost felt as if Ace was looking for acceptance – once again. But god, since when did this touch him so much?

The blond pirate sighed and then smiled at the younger commander. "Well, I guess we really need to choose a name for you, yoi?" Ace looked down on his hands and murmured something incomprehensible. Marco looked at him questioningly. "My father had told my mother two names. One was Ace."

"And the other?" he asked bluntly. The phoenix wanted to know, really did but he had to be careful. If he pushed too much, the boy wouldn't continue. He was already surprised that Ace talked about Roger at all, especially after what happened in Marine Fort. "He said to Rouge, if their child would be a girl, she should call her Anne. Gol D. Anne…" Ace's voice was only a mere whisper. Looking so unsure of himself, Marco's heart ached by the mere sight of it.

Ace felt as if he was back on square one again. He felt as if his whole personality had been burned away by Akainu's attack and left only a pile of ash. The commander of the second division - Whitebeard's son – didn't exist anymore. From Law he knew that his tattoo, too, had been burned. A mark that should have lasted all his life - gone. The person that had been Ace, didn't exist anymore… Not for him. All that had made him the person he was was gone. Sabo, his tattoo, his father.

He had grown to be a person that he could look at in the mirror. But now he didn't even look the same anymore! Everyone knew about his bloodline now. He was branded as Gol D. Roger's son and would never get rid of this ever again. The Marine had made it clear that all that he had done as a pirate was worth nothing compared to the crime of being the Pirate King's son. All those years he had tried to become someone else than Roger's son – wasted. "Who am I..?" he whispered. Would his nakama even accept him as part of their crew? It was his fault that Whitebeard was dead. He had killed his father…

"You are my brother and my friend." The soft voice woke the other pirate from his dark thoughts. "Welcome back in the family, Gol D. Anne." The blond carefully placed a hand on Ace's shoulder. A small smile tugged at Marco's lips when he saw the others unbelieving look. "You're still our nakama, your name or inheritance doesn't change this."

When Ace realized that Marco was really serious about this, that he was accepting him even with his bloodline, with all he had done and even with his sudden new appearance, he couldn't hold back the tears. Hiding his face in a fare too fragile hand, he silently sobbed. "Thanks" he whispered.

Marco only shook his head at this, still smiling. He took the crying Ace in a soft embrace, rubbing the younger pirate's back. While Ace slowly calmed down and finally fell asleep, the fist division commander stared out of the window.

Ace's body was warm against his chest; the fragile body of a woman. Sure, Ace would still be as tough as hell, but Marco was looking down at the other commander worried. The marine would be a fucking pain in the neck as soon as they would discover that Ace had survived. They had believed him to be dead (or as good as); otherwise they would never have accepted to hand his body back to the Whitebeard pirates. And god knows why, Marco suddenly felt an even stronger need to protect him. He was his younger brother still and he would always protect him.

But having Ace in a woman's body woke an ancient instinct in the commander - the instinct to protect her at all costs. Unconsciously he ran his fingers through the raven black hair. Marco looked down on Ace, his smile turning into a mask of pained realization. Someone would need to go and buy cloth with Ace. And hell, he already knew exactly whom the crew was going to choose for that job.

Sighing, Marco lay Ace down on the bed, looking down at the sleeping pirate. The fabric of his purple shirt was wrapped tightly around Ace shoulder and the phoenix knew exactly that he would have to come up with a reasonable explanation why he was lacking a shirt. He would at least try to keep Ace's secret for a while otherwise the other commanders would show up at his bedside only to see some curves! Being a pirate had certain disadvantages...

With a last affectionate glance to his friend, he walked out of the room.

The other commanders had apparently heard that Ace was awake and now all stood or sat by the yellow submarine, waiting. So much to his brilliant plan to notspread the news about Anne. Marco sighed heavily and approached Jozu and Vista, the commanders standing closest to him. "Listen guys, there's something we need to discuss. Before I don't get a proper advice, no one will go to Ace." The two men gave him a puzzled look, but started to walk away from the group.

"And you," Marco said to the crowd of pirates: "Ace is sleeping. He still needs rest. So do me a favor and don't disturb him, yoi."

The commanders stared at him confused and watched him walk away. The phoenix gave Law a nod. He was convinced the rookie would make sure that Ace would get his rest.

A few meters away from the main crowd, Jozu and Vista waited for their new leader. It wasn't yet officially agreed that Marco would take over the position but to be fair, there was no other option. No one except the current first division commander was actually capable to keep the crew together.

The phoenix casually walked over to them. Sitting down on a stone, Marco sighed heavily, burying his face in his hand. His whole appearance slumped. Vista raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

The blond looked up and decided to just get it over with. "Portgas D. Ace is kind of… no longer part of the crew." Raising a hand to stop their protest, the commander continued: "For reasons we have not yet discovered, he is not even male anymore." Even Marco's raised hand wasn't enough to keep the two men quite anymore. Or well, Vista wasn't able to keep his mouth shut anymore. "So what you're trying to tell us is that we have now a woman as second division commander?" The phoenix merely nodded.

There was a heavy silence, finally broken by Jozu: "And what's… her name?" The blond had to admit he was surprised. Jozu was usually a very quite person that hardly ever said a word. Though Marco had to admit, this really was the only question that he could have asked without causing a huge and rather pointless discussion. "We settled for Gol D. Anne."

The phoenix hadn't believed that the two commanders could look more shocked than they did before. But they did. Jozu's usually motionless expression had changed to one of utter disbelieve. Vista was at a loss of words, which was about was unusual as Jozu showing emotion. Marco smiled. It didn't really surprise that they were a little out of it. After all that had happened choosing Roger's name was quite unusual. Though on the other hand, it fit Anne's situation pretty well.

"Oh and Vista, someone will need to go shopping with her. I want my shirt back, yoi." This was enough to crack the tensed situation as the fifth division commander made it very clear that this job was going to stay with Marco. The blond smirked humorlessly. As if he hadn't seen this coming.

"And now where do you need our advice?" asked Vista with a grin. The first division commander sighed heavily. "I have no clue how to break the news to the crew. Besides we need to finally find replacement for Thatch. And no matter which commander will take over the lead of the crew, he will leave another gap!" The other men nodded.

Jozu completely ignored the first of Marco's problems and only made a comment on the more pressing issues. "So we need commanders for fist and forth division." The phoenix head snapped up and he stared at the other commander in disbelieve. "Who said I'm gonna take over Oyaji's position?"

"Seriously, who else would be able to? You're the only one that is able to hold the crew together. Beside, you've been leading it mostly on your own. Oyaji was just sitting there and enjoyed the show." Jozu replied and didn't sound the slightest bit unsure. And suddenly Marco found himself overwhelmed by the trust his brothers put in him. A small smile crossed his features. "Thanks, I guess."

"I think we'll have to go down to fifteen divisions. We just lost too many men. And like this, we will only need to find one more commander." Vista added. A pained expression appeared on his face when he talked about their lost nakamas. In a fair world, they would get the time to mourn properly. But in this world of absolutejustice, there was no place for mourning pirates.

Marco thought about the idea and silently agreed with it. They had lost so many; they had to restructure the crew. Taking a deep breath, the phoenix decided to share an idea that had only just come to his mind a few minutes ago. "What would you say if we gave the first division to Anne?"

"Well… We'd have to ask the other commanders first, but I guess the idea is not too bad." Jozu said. "And he would be close to you, which will help guarantee his safety." Marco nodded. The commanders would have to vote, but he thought it should be working.

The three of them fell silent again, each musing over their own sorrows and pains. Marco felt his composure falter. So many things had happened. So many dead. The immense trust his fellow commanders put in him and the pain over the loss of his nakama where overwhelming him, undermining his ever calm personality. Tears burnt at the corner of his eyes.

Before the first tear run down his cheeks, the silence was interrupted by a high-pitched scream. "Ace! You're alive!"

Then, and this let Marco flinch: "Why do you have boobs?"

I know, Ace is rather emotional in this one. But just think about one thing... women are used to the hormones running through their blood and can (usually) control them quite well.

Ace isn't used to it.

And waking up and discover that you are female (in addition to all that happened in Marine Fort) is a little too much even for a freaking tough person like Ace.

I'll upload this story once a week, usually Sunday midnight CET.

Wednesday I'll start uploading a Kid/Law story, also on a weekly basis.

Read and Review please - thanks!