Ghost of the Past

Chapter 1: Confession

There was a faint smell of alcohol in the air. There were still lights glowing in the near distance, allowing the raven-haired man, who was standing on deck of the strongest pirate's ship in the world, to make out the outline of the village he had just been to a few minutes ago. There were still voices of laughter getting through to his ears and even if they were distant, he knew that the other members of his crew were probably going to continue partying for the rest of the night.

It was a short, calm period in which the Whitebeard pirates had decided to take a break on a remote and peaceful island whose inhabitants had no problem with their customers being pirates. And it was not a place that was usually frequented by the marines, either. So all in all, it was the perfect island to spend some free time on, allowing at least part of the crew to do whatever they wanted for a little while.

That, of course, mostly ended up in them having huge parties at which everyone just had a good time drinking, picking up women and generally just forgetting their worries for a while.

And that was exactly what Ace had been doing. He hadn't been commander of Whitebeard's second division for long and he was still trying to adjust to his new role. And there were other things that still weighted heavy on his mind, as well. So just for this one evening he had decided to drink and forget about all of it for a while. Sadly enough, it hadn't worked as he had hoped it to work. And somehow, the more he had drank, the worse he had felt. There was a knot in his chest that just didn't want to loosen up, no matter what he did. So, giving up on his plan, he had murmured a shallow apology to his companions and gotten up to leave, ignoring the confused looks his friends gave him.

But just as he had exited the place and started to walk away from it, he heard the door behind him open again. He had turned around, curious as to who might be following him and his eyes had widened a little in surprise at the blond man that was now coming over to where he was standing. He was swaying a little in his walk and had a faint smile on his lips. Something Ace had rarely seen on the usually so serious man. "What's wrong, Marco?" He had asked curiously.

"I'm coming with you, yoi." The older man had replied, quickly closing the distance between them with unsure steps. Ace could tell that he was drunk. In fact, he had been observing him all evening long and wondered why he would drink so much, when usually on these occasions he would have just stayed aboard the Moby Dick to do the paper work that had usually piled up.

Lately, Ace had caught himself watching the first division commander more often than he would voluntarily admit to. In fact, it had been part of what was bothering him. Something seemed strange. For some odd reasons he couldn't understand, he had the feeling that the older one had been trying to avoid him for some time now.

At the beginning Marco had been very kind to him, making sure to help him whenever he needed help. He had spent a lot of time with him, mostly talking, making sure that he was doing fine in his new surroundings. Sometimes they had been standing on the Moby Dick during one of the two's night shifts and silently watched the sea together. Occasionally, when Ace had asked the blond very nicely, he would turn into his phoenix form and take the younger one for a short flight around the ship, or over the sea. They had even been on one or two missions together and Ace had really come to like the older man. But things had changed. Nowadays Marco would barely even notice him. Only talking to him when it was inevitable and whenever Ace wanted to visit him in his room, he'd find the door locked and Marco inside ignoring him or telling him that he was busy working.

Then sometimes, during meal times, or when they were all sitting on deck of the ship he would feel Marco's gaze resting on him. But as soon as he would look up and their eyes met, the older one would quickly look away, focusing his attention on something else and acting like he had not been watching Ace.

Ace had been pondering about it a lot. If maybe he had done something to anger his superior, but he had been unable to come to a conclusion. So for obvious reasons he had been more than surprised when Marco of all people suddenly decided to accompany him back to the ship. But maybe, he thought, maybe this could be his chance to find out what was going on.

The two of them didn't talk as they were making their way back to the ship. They were just silently walking side-by-side. Occasionally their arms or hands would touch by accident and it would make Ace jump a little inside, but he didn't dare to put more space between them.

The situation seemed weird to him. There was a strange kind of tension in the air. He could clearly feel it and it made him very uneasy. Then, when he finally brought up the courage to take a quick glance at the older man beside him, he found, to his surprise that Marco was still smiling. And somehow it seemed like a more genuine expression than anything he'd seen on him for a long time.

But that didn't help stop the feeling of uneasiness in his chest. So when they finally reached the ship, he stopped and looked around nervously. Somehow the cold night air had helped cool down his head a little, so at least the influence of alcohol on him was not so prominent anymore and he was very glad for that. Rather hesitantly he finally looked up to the blond, but Marco seemed to be ignoring him and instead his eyes were scanning the sea that lay beyond them. "I... uhm..." he started, still unsure as to what to do or make out of this situation. "I'm going to bed then." He said at last, but his voice was surely betraying him, making it easy for the other one to hear Ace's uneasiness out of it.

"No." Marco simply replied and Ace looked at him in confusion. "Stay for a bit, yoi." The blond finally added, still smiling. "It's a nice night. I like this. Haven't had much of a chance to talk to you lately, yoi." Ace could tell that Marco was still affected by the alcohol. He had never been one to talk so much, especially unasked. He was slightly slurring his words, too. And hadn't it been his fault that they never talked anymore? Did it really take the influence of alcohol to get the older one to stop ignoring him?

Marco had never been much of a drinker and he had been ignoring him a lot. Maybe there was actually something behind this. Maybe he just needed to count one and one together... He tried to focus on the thought. What could be bothering him so much that he would even get drunk over it?

He didn't get more time to think about it though, as he felt a hand firmly gripping his the next moment. "Look, yoi." The older one said, excitement resonating in his voice. With his other hand he pointed upwards to the sky. "A shooting star, yoi. Did you see it?" Almost like a child, Ace thought, as he slowly shook his head to signify that he hadn't seen it. It made Marco pout at him in disappointment and Ace couldn't help but smile at all of these expressions that were so unlike the first division commander he had gotten to know in the past. "Did you wish for something?" The raven-haired man asked, his voice had a mocking undertone that the other one, however, failed to notice in his current state. By now Ace felt more amused by this whole situation than anything else, the uneasiness he had been feeling just moments ago had almost completely disappeared. Just the fact that Marco was still holding his hand – and squeezing it slightly at this question – made his heart beat a little faster in anticipation at what might still happen with things being like they were right now.

"No." The older one replied shortly. The joy had suddenly been drained out of his voice and this change made Ace feel a cold chill pass through his body. "There'd be no point, yoi." Then all of a sudden, the blond was smiling again, but Ace could tell that this time it was different. This time it was not a genuine smile, it only expressed sadness. A kind of sadness he felt that he couldn't possibly understand or relate to. He swallowed audibly. And even though he was sure he wouldn't receive and answer, he asked nonetheless. "Why not?" His words were nearly a whisper.

The older one turned around to look at him. Their eyes met and Ace didn't dare to look away – let alone blink for even a second – or he felt like he might miss something that was important, or startle the other one into not wanting to talk to him about this anymore. Even though he himself wasn't sure if he really was comfortable enough with the situation as it was right now. "There are wishes that cannot be fulfilled, Ace." Marco said, his voice serious. And the younger one couldn't help but notice how he had lingered on his name for just a second too long.

"I once swore I would not do this anymore." Marco's face was an impenetrable mask, making it impossible for Ace to guess what was going on at the moment. But it made another wave of uneasiness sweep through him. And still he didn't dare to say a word or back away even the slightest. But the things he was overly aware of at the moment were Marco's stern gaze that was fixed on him, their hands that were still touching, leaving him with an ongoing tingling sensation and the fact that the older man's cheeks were slightly reddened. And Ace could not tell if it was caused by the alcohol or not, only that not even once had he seen him like this in the past.

"Y... you're acting weird, Marco." He finally dared himself to say, but it only made the other one chuckle slightly. "Yeah." He agreed, eyelids fluttering shut for a second, just to then look back at Ace as intensely as before. "Just... please bear with it for this once. Please." And this time his words sounded like a plea and Ace was sure he notice a desperate undertone to the other one's voice. So when Marco pulled him closer, tugging Ace's hot body against his own, much cooler chest, Ace found himself unable to resist once more. And while his eyes widened in surprise, Marco's hand let go of the younger ones and instead found its way to Ace's back, holding him in place and making sure there was no longer even an inch of space between them.

And the next moment, Marco's head dropped onto his shoulder. And then they stayed like that for a while, none of them moving. Ace barely dared to breath, his heart was beating rapidly in his chest. And only after he had overcome the initial shock, did he move his own hand to the back of the man that was clinging to him as if his life depended on it and patted his back carefully in a comforting gesture. All the while his glance was directed at the sky, observing the star-filled firmament with his pitch-black eyes, wearing an unreadable expression on his face.

As if awoken from a dream, Marco jumped a little at the sudden touch of the hand on his back. He lifted his head just a tiny bit, until his lips were nearly touching the base of the younger one's ear. Ace could feel the blond's breath tickle his skin. Marco's next words came heavy and slowly. Quietly. They were shyly spoken, but there was not a splitter of doubt in Ace that they were meant completely honest.

"I fell in love with you."

Ace swallowed hard, but otherwise didn't move. It was true that he did not doubt Marco's words. But the older man was drunk and this situation was just too unreal for him to be able to fully grasp it yet.

So as he didn't react, Marco pushed him away a little, bringing enough space between them for him to lift his own head and be able to look Ace in the eyes again. As if he was searching for the tiniest bit of a response from the younger man.

But as he found none, his hands found Ace's arms instead to hold them firmly. "I'm not doing this anymore." Marco said in his husky voice, more to himself then to the other one, and again Ace didn't understand, however, he didn't fail to notice that Marco's words were still heavy from alcohol.

The raven-haired man swallowed hard, finally able to somehow comprehend what was going on. It made fear find its way into his eyes. "M... Marco?" He managed to squeeze out between his lips, stuttering and just in time as he was pulled closer again, their bodies touching once more.

Marco slowly closed his eyes and without saying anything else anymore, his lips went on a search for the younger ones, bumping against his chin first, then the corner of Ace's lower lip, until finally he found what he was looking for and their lips merged.

A surprised gasp was all that left Ace. His eyes widened. Marco's lips were rough and tasted like what he'd been drinking all night. But somehow he couldn't stop himself from giving in to Marco's approach. And he felt like it wasn't really himself who suddenly decided to close his eyes and return the gesture much more eagerly than he had wanted to. His hands soon found their way to the blond hair of Marco, carefully entangling his fingers in it, caressing the head of a man that surely only did what he was doing because he happened to be too drunk for his own good. And yet he didn't care.

The only thing he found was that his mind had gone blank and he didn't dare think about the situation anymore. Because this right now just felt too good. And those lips that were eagerly moving on his felt too right. And his bare chest touching the colder skin of Marco was somehow too comforting for him to let go of, now that it had come to this.

Then, only a moment later it was Marco who broke their kiss. And leaning his forehead against that of the younger one, he looked at him breathlessly. But there was still a tiny smile on his lips and Ace couldn't help but return it.

But just the fragment of a second later the smile on Marco's lips suddenly vanished and realization hit him hard in the face. He let go of Ace's arms and stumbled backwards. His eyes wide in shock of what he'd just done. "I... I'm sorry..." He mumbled, his lips trembling at the words. He lifted his hand to them, covering his mouth, as if he was fearful any more words he didn't want to say might come out and then swiftly turned around to leave, almost tripping over his own feet, so unsteady was his walk.

Ace was left behind, standing on deck of the Moby Dick. Unable to comprehend what had just happened. His eyes fixated on the last spot he had seen Marco on, right before the blond had turned around a corner and left Ace's field of vision.

I should probably apologize for not updating my other stories. In fact, since I moved in with my boyfriend I haven't really felt like writing at all. So instead of waiting until I feel more like updating an old story, I decided to try to break this writing block with a story that's been on my mind for some time now. I hope people will enjoy it!