Chapter 5
RedSnow15

Welcome to another (hopefully) lovely chapter! I hope that you enjoyed last chapter and I hope that you will enjoy this one. One the bright side I didn't lose followers/favorites when I switched the rating and genre so I must be doing something right. Alright so onto the disclaimer and then the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

"I-I need to talk." His voice came out weaker than he would like. He hopes that the signs that he has been crying has disappeared. The person on the other side sighs softly before opening it wide enough for him to go in.

"Come on yoi."

He slides past and Marco closes the door behind him. When he lights the candle he sees the room is exactly the same as last time he came here, except the sheets on the bed have been thrown back. The older man once again clears off the table so it is free of papers. Ace takes a seat after the other motions for him to do so. Marco asks if he wants a drink, but he declines.

"So what is it?" He asks once he takes the seat opposite of him.

Ace becomes flustered when he tries to think of where to begin. He could always start at the beginning, but that wasn't when he became truly confused. Marco just stares at him, waiting patiently. There are bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and he suddenly feels bad about waking him up. Wait. . . Why should he feel bad? After all, he is the enemy. This could work in his advantage. He could use the lack of sleep against him. His reflexes will be slower which means he will gain the upper hand. However, he has been nice to him. That would be one rude way to repay them by killing their first division commander.

He groans outwardly and drops his head against the table. He shouldn't be thinking like this! He should just want to kill them. Simple as that.

"Forget it. Sorry for waking you."

He makes his way toward the door. When he reaches out for the knob a hand grabs his wrist. He turns around shocked for a second. Marco still stares at him with the same expression as always. He looks down at his feet suddenly embarrassed. He shouldn't have woken him in the first place. He should have dealt with his problems himself. Why should he care anyways? A finger on his chin snaps him out of his thoughts. Forcing his head up to look at him Marco peers at him closely. Their faces are close to touching.

"What are you doing?" He asks after a moment. His eyes narrow in suspicion. Marco doesn't answer him for a while. he pulls back and lets go of him.

"You've been crying." He states. The grip on his wrist slackens lightly, but doesn't release.

"No I haven't." He responds a little too quickly. He pulls away from the other and Marco lets him go. Ace retreats two steps away.

"Your eyes are bloodshot and you have a rasp in your voice."

"Whatever." Ace crosses his arms, but doesn't step away.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"I told you it could wait until morning." Marco raises an eyebrow.

"If it could have waited until morning then you wouldn't have come tonight." Ace hates the fact that he is right. "So what is it yoi?"

Maybe he should tell him. Would he really listen? If he didn't want to then he would have let him leave. He sighs and puts his hand on the back of his neck. Why is this so hard?

"I'm confused." He says after a moment.

"I could assume that much." Ace gives him a dry look. "What about?"

"Everything. I guess." He sighs and lets his arms drop to his side.

"You guess? Sounds like you're not sure yoi."

"I shouldn't be talking about this with you." He makes to leave again, but Marco stops him, this time by stepping in front of the exit.

"Why?" Ace stares at him as if the answer is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Because you're the enemy!" He shouts, not trying to be quiet even though he could wake people up. "I should be talking to my crew, but they are making friends with you!" He pushes him back slightly. Marco doesn't say anything. "You are supposed to be the enemy, but you treat me like I'm one of your crew mates. We're not! I have tried to kill your captain, but you are still nice to me! Why?! It's not supposed to be like this! I-I was supposed to kill Whitebeard! This isn't supposed to be how it ended up. It got so complicated." The last words come out in whisper and he sinks to his knees. He yanks at his hair desperately wishing he could pull it out so he could feel something to distract himself.

He only realizes that he told Marco basically everything a few minutes later. He curses himself silently for being to stupid. For being able to be manipulated so easily. Why does he have to be so foolish?!

"You know yoi, enemies are only enemies until you make them your friends. Perhaps you should stop making the world out to be so black and white and add some gray." Marco puts a hand gently on his arm. He pulls him up and Ace relents. "Perhaps," He lifts his face up again by hooking his finger under his chin. "if you would stop thinking of everyone as your enemy you could live a little easier. We aren't trying to kill you, or even anger you. Pops wants you to join the crew. So does everyone else. Your crew didn't join ours. However, they are making friends with us. You don' have to join the crew, but you could at least be friends right? When we stop at an island you can leave with your crew, get yourself a new ship and start over."

"Why are you so nice?" Ace asks after a pregnant pause. Marco releases him again and gives him a lopsided smile.

"Because I consider you my friend. Even if you don't think the same for me."

Friend? The word sounds foreign in his head. Especially coming from a Whitebeard pirate. The closest thing he has ever had to friends is his crew and his brother. Ever since this whole thing started he was beginning to rethink the whole idea of friendship. Friends though? With Marco? One of the Whitebeard pirates? Does he really mean what he says? Does Marco really think of him as a. . . a friend? It's absurd. They have to be joking with him. He sounded so sincere though. Maybe he is being honest. Maybe the situation isn't as black and white as he always thought it was supposed to be. If he is right then maybe they really aren't his enemies.

"Why would you think of me as your friend. I tried to kill you captain. . . And I broke some of the railing." He added the last part suddenly remembering that he did in fact break it in his anger.

"But you didn't kill him and that was simple thing our shipwrights fixed in less than an hour."

"I can't believe you!" He throws his arms in the air for emphasize, "I attempted to kill your captain. That should be more than enough for you to kill me." Marco smirks at him again, as if he's laughing at him silently.

"You're too serious Ace. You didn't kill our captain so we didn't kill you. Simple as that. Now try to loosen up a bit and get some sleep."

He turns and opens the door for him. The light from the hallway is much brighter than the one the candle provided. It makes him squint slightly. Nevertheless he exits the room.

"Thanks." The door shuts after the word falls from his lips. He wonders for a moment if he actually heard him.

The sun feels refreshing on his skin. After he talked to Marco he went back to his room and fell asleep. Now it's nearly noon. He hasn't seen anyone of any significance to him all day and it's irking him to no end. The one time he actually wants to talk to someone no ones around. He looks around the main deck again, seeing no one he recognizes. He wears his normal clothes again.

Growing impatient he decides to go look for someone. When he rounds a corner he knocks into someone. They both stumble back slightly. When Ace looks up he sees that it's his first mate. The man has dark hair and wears a loose white shirt with brown pants. A sniper is straped tight on a band across his back. He seems shocked to say the least.

"C-Captain." He greets after a moment. Ace smiles back in a friendly way.

"Hey, Charles."

"I haven't seen you around the ship. Not that is a shock. It is a big ship." He laughs and then falls back into an silence.

"So, what have you been up to?" Ace leans against the wall behind him. Charles seems shocked by the casualty in his tone.

"Nothing really. I was just talking to some of the Whitebeard's crew about when we are going to reach an island." Ace simply nods.

"Make any friends?"

"Excuse me?" He raises an eyebrow at him and Ace elaberates.

"With Whitebeard's crew. Have you made any friends?" Charles scoffs at him.

"Nice one Ace." He laughs at what he thinks is a joke. When he doesn't react with his usual smile he stops and stares at him for a moment. "That was a joke right? Come one you can't be serious Captain. You're the one who hates this crew more than all of us put together and your asking about wheather we made any friends?"

"Yes. I am." Charles stares at him in a disbelieving manner.

"No, of course not. Anyways I found out that we should reach an island by next week if they continue on this course without delays." Ace nods to show he heard him.

They fall back into a comfortable silence. Ace stares at the sea for a while. When he turns his head Charles hasn't moved, but is simply looking around as if he wants to say something, but doesn't.

"What is it?" Ace's question pulls Charles from his thoughts. He opens and closes his mouth several times before answering him.

"You seem more relaxed than I would have thought. I mean, you're on an enemy ship with no way to get off unless you want to drown. Is something wrong?" Ace can't help, but laugh at that. It feels good to laugh after such a long time being stretched too thin.

Of course Charles would think that something is wrong with him. It is true that he did despise Whitebeard and his crew greatly. However, Marco's words last night made him think about everything. They didn't tie him up, nor his crew. They gave him hot meals, not that they were sastifying, but still. Also, they saved his life when they could have just let him die. Even after he destroyed part of the railing and made three attempts on their captain's life they still treated him like a friend. Not even that. But their nakama.

It made him think that they really aren't as bad as they say. However, even if they are nice to him he can't join their crew even if he wanted to. After all, who would want their greatest rivals son as part of their crew.

"Captain?" Charles snaps him out of his thoughts. He remembers that he was asked a question.

"I'm fine Charles. You should go make friends with the other crew though. They aren't as bad as I thought they were." Charles stares at him as if he had grown another head.

"This is coming from you! I can't believe this. A month ago you thought about nothing but taking Whitebeard's head and now you are telling me to become friends with them?!"

"Yes." Charles shakes his head at him.

"Unbelievable." He tells himself more than to Ace. He suddenly turns toward him with an accusing air. "What made you change your mind?"

"Someone pointed out that things are not as black and white as I use to think they were. You should tell the rest of the crew to make friends while we are still here. I'll find you later, promise."

Charles stares at him a moment longer before walking off to do as he told him. Ace looks back at the ocean with a content smile on his face. Half of him can't believe he just said that, while the other part sighs in relief that some of the stress has left his life. It felt good to talk to someone familiar. Now that he thinks of it he could have talked to him a little longer, but oh well. In a week he will get to talk to Charles, and the rest of his crew, as much as he wants.

He hears clanking of footsteps approach him and he at first thinks that they would just pass by. However, when they didn't he turns to see Izo.

"We never finished yesterday." He says in a form of a greeting. It takes Ace a moment to remember that he was talking about their question game that they had started. "If I remember correctly it is your turn."

"What were you doing before you joined?" Izo smiles like a child eating sweets.

"I preformed."

"Preformed?" Ace can't help the curiousity in his voice.

"Yes, I danced. On a stage. I was quite good at it too. I could teach you." Ace gives him a weird look before shaking his head.

"No thanks." Izo feigns dissapointment for a moment before changing back to normal.

"You said you had family. Brothers or sisters?"

"Why so interested in family?" Izo shrugs before answering.

"Family is a very important thing to have. So, brothers or sisters?"

"Brothers." Izo seems satifiyed with that answer and doesn't pry for more. Yet. Ace glances around seeing nothing of signifigance. He turns back to see the other staring at him expectantly.

"What did you think of Gol D. Roger?"

Izo doesn't seem to be expecting this question and is shocked for a second. Ace doesn't care though. He wants to know. No. Needs to know. They were rivals, so what did they think of him.

"He was a good man. Lively untill the very end. Our fights never got boring. His crew was always full of excitment. He went head to head with Pop. They never did beat one another. He truly deserved the title of 'Pirate King'. Now it's Pop's turns to take the title though. I do hope that he rests peacefully." There was a glint in his eye when he started speaking, but now it is dulled. Replaced with something else. Could it be sorrow?

He doesn't know what he was expecting, but he definitely wasn't expecting that. Roger was Whitebeard's greatest rival. Their clashes were legend. Yet here is on of the division commandors speaking about Roger with the upmost respect. Almost as if they were friends.

"I don't understand." Ace furrows his brows. Izo turns his head a little.

"Don't understand what?" He asks as if he truly has no idea what he is speaking of.

"Roger was your enemy. Yet you speak of him as if you were his friend." To his suprise the older chuckles.

"No Ace. Roger was our rival, not our enemy. There is a great diference between the two. When you get older perhaps you will understand."

A moment passes in silence while Ace lets Izo's words sink in. He had always thought that enemy and rival were the same. Suddenly they are not? It doesn't make sense to him. If you are someone's enemy you are also their rival, and the same the other way around.

"Your turn." He breaks the silence.

"Why the sudden interest in Roger?" Of course he would ask that. It would be curious to anyone else.

"Just curious about the Pirate King." That has always been his answer, it seems to satisfy everyone. Although, Izo doens't seem to be convinced.

"Very well. I didn't expect you to give me an honest answer anyways."

"How did you know I was lying?" He seems shocked. He had always thought he was a good lier, yet someone can see through it. He has to know how.

"I didn't." Ace scowls, hating being fooled by such a cheap trick. "What's your favorite color?" Ace is shocked for a second. He had been expecting Izo to ask him about the truthful answer. Not something as mediocre as his favorite color.

"Red. What do you fight with?"

"Guns. I don't have them on me at the moment. Obviously. I will when we reach the island though." Ace simply nods, wondering how strong he really is if he only uses guns. "Come on. Lets go to the mess hall. We can continue later."

Ace follows him after a moment. When they enter Izo leads him over to a small group. He doesn't pay attention to who. He is busy scanning the hall for his first mate. He doesn't see him though and turns back just before he runs into Izo's back. He sits and Ace takes his place beside him. Looking around he sees Thatch sitting directly on the other side and another man that he doesn't recognize. He has dark skin and a black beard that just covers his neck. He seems to be laughing heartidly with Thatch.

"This is Teach. He's in second division." The darker man gives him a cheery smile.

"So you're Ace. I overheard one fo your crewmates talking about you."

"Yeah, I'm Ace. Which one?" He asks curious as to which one was talking about him. Teach shrugs though.

"I don't know, you better stop asking so many questions and start eating before it's all gone though."

When he looks down he notices that the plates in the middle of the table, that were once full to the point of overflowing, has been deteriorated to half. He takes some food, mostly meat, and starts to eat. When he looks up he notices Thatch looking at him weirdly.

"What?" He asks after swallowing.

"Are you okay?" The question shocks him a little. Does he look sick?

"Yes. Why?"

"It's just that you're eating like a civilized person."

Thatch starts to laugh loudly when Ace gives him a dry look. He forgot that he knows that he normally just inhales his food. The other two joined in, not really getting the entire joke, but thinking it was funny anyways. After a moment, Ace can't help but chuckle a little at their antics.

If he was still acting the same way he was a week ago he would have gotten angry and either would have attacked them or stormed off. Although now he brushes off the other crew's antics. When he thinks about it they are not so different than his own crew.

After lunch they had seperated. Teach going off to talk to some of his division, Thatch saying that he had kitchen duty. Only Izo stayed with Ace. They walked around the deck. Only stopping near the front of the ship. They stand next to the figurehead of the gigantic whale.

"Shall we continue?" Izo asks after a while of just peaceful silence.

"Was that your question?"

"Was that Yours?" Ace smirks a little. He leans forward until his arms rest on the railing. "Why the sudden change in behavior?" He can't say he wasn't expecting this question. He cranes his neck to look at him.

"Someone pointed some things out to me." He answers with a shrug.

"Was it Marco?" Izo turns around and leans against the rail so he is facing the deck.

"How did you know?"

"He does those kind of things."

They return to their peaceful silence. Forgetting about their game. Everyone is so much nicer than he thought they would be. He had expected them to be rude and torture people just for the fun of it. They turned out to be the complete opposite though. It's kind of nice. They are all a really big family. The thought makes a question arise.

"Why do you call Whitebeard your father?" Izo turns toward him having a gleeful glint in his eye.

"To put it simply, because he calls us his sons." When Ace doesn't say anything he continues. "I suppose it makes us feel wanted." He says after a moment of thinking. "To the rest of the world we are just outlaws who deserve to die. Unwanted. It's nice to have someone that won't judge you or care about you flaws to call a father."

That answer had been more than he expected. He had thought that Whitebeard just wanted to be called that. Nothing more. That answer makes an odd feeling arise in his chest. He really hasn't felt this feeling except for with Luffy or with Sabo. It's strange. He can't really put a name on it. It's not love. It's different than that. To know that someone wouldn't judge him for his past if he did join this crew. However, that doesn't mean that he would accept Ace like he did with everyone else. After all, he is the son of one of their greatest rivals.

"I have to go." Is all Ace says before running off without waiting for a response.

It only takes a few minutes to find who he was looking for. He stood next to Whitebeard leaning against a large box. Whitebeard sat in a very large chair drinking out of a sake bottle while observing the deck. Whitebeard is the first to notice him coming this way. Marco only takes notice after Whitebeard tells him something. Marco walks leisurely toward him.

"Can I talk to you? In private?" He asks once he gets close enough. Marco raises an eyebrow.

"Sure yoi."

He leads him below deck, no doubt to his room. However, they stop in the hallway, a little ways past the staircase. No one is in sight.

"What is it?" Ace ponders if he should really ask him. He decides against it though. If he is the first commander that could also mean that he is Whitebeard's first mate. Which would mean that he would know him better than anyone else.

"What did you think of Roger?"

"That's what you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes." He crosses his arms. Marco gives him a questioning look before answering. Other than a few words he gave the same answer Izo did. "What if Roger had a son?"

"What about it yoi?" A door opens and they wait a few minutes until the footsteps fade.

"What if?" Maybe he shouldn't have asked this, but it's too late now.

"He would have a hard life. Lots of people still resent Roger and they could resent his son as well."

"And you don't?"

"They aren't the same person yoi. Whatever the father did should not effect the son. The father's crimes should not be the child's punishment. . . You ask a lot of questions yoi. Something you want to talk about?" Ace shakes his head. "Then lets go back to the deck."

He follows him only half paying attention. He really didn't expect that answer from one of his rivals. He is the first person that said that. Everyone he has ever asked had called him trash and unworthy of living. This is the first time someone had said that he shouldn't be blamed. The first time someone made him not feel horrible for feeling alive.

They reach the deck and Marco makes his way back to Whitebeard. Ace goes in the opposite direction. Would that be Whitebeard's answer too? He doesn't know. Well, he will just have to find out.

His palms are sweaty and hsi heart seems as though it is trying to escape from his chest. It was either to tell him than he thought though. He doesn't dare to look at him though. He waits for answer. When it doesn't come he peers up enough to look shyly through his bangs. Whitebeard stares at him for a moment as if contemplating. Ace braces himself for when he attacks. However, it never came.

"Weren't you two enemies?" He asks after a moment of dreadful silence, his voice barely audible, "You're not going to throw me out?"

"When you said you had something to talk about, I thought it would be bigger than this." Ace looks up at him. Stunned. His mind wasn't able to comprehend this. They were enemies, he is his enemy's son. Shouldn't he throw him out? Before he can speak though, Whitebeard continues, "It doesn't matter who your parents were. Everyone is a child of the sea." Whitebeard starts laughing loudly. He actually has the audacity to laugh. After a few seconds Ace smiles at him.

For once in his life he doesn't feel unwanted. All his fears fade away. Could he really join this crew? At first they seemed horrible, but when he looks back he realizes he was the one that was acting foolishly. They weren't trying to hurt or kill him. If they were he wouldn't be here by now. He realizes that Whitebeard has stopped laughing.

"So, will you take my name? Become my son?" Ace smiles.

"Yeah, I will." He stands to leave. Before he closes the door he looks back at the older man who was still sitting leisurely in his bed. "Thanks. Pops."

So I got the name Charles because my sister was watching "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in the other room. If you were I got that from. I'm pretty sure you weren't, but just in case. You never know.

I would just like to thank all my lovilies who have followed, favorited, reviewed, and just read my story. Thanks so much. I want to give a special thanks to "Undead Artist" whose reviews helped so much and will help in the future. (I feel like I'm giving a speech at the oscer's or something. . .).

I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and the over all story in general. I hope that you will future storys of mine in the future. So thanks, again, for reading.