TrafalgarLawXKikoku: Thank you ._.; I should not like making him suffer so much and yet... I do. OTL

sam-free15: Thank you, I will ^w^

XxFire-PhoenixX: Yes, I suppose he did :).

Imperial Mint: Thank you ^o^!

Jumpingbeans480: Thank you! So do I. :D

An Eternity to Perish

Chapter 2: …But Then There was Reality

Half a year later Ace had almost forgotten about the encounter with that strange man. It had all been so surreal and weird. Ace had told a few friends about it, but most of them had agreed that he must have been so drunk that he had imagined it all.

And maybe that had really been what had happened. Maybe he had just hoped that there was someone who had wanted to take care of him after everything that had happened. But in the end he had to accept the fact that he was on his own now.

But a few things had just simply stayed unclear. If that Marco person had not been real, who was it that had saved him from that pervert at the bar? Or had he imagined that as well? And how had he gotten home then? Maybe he had taken a taxi or the bus? Doubtful.

But if that person had been real, how had he known his name? How had he known where he lived? How did Ace know that person's name?

In the end nothing really made any sense and the whole incident remained a mystery. But he did not really have much time to dwell on it.

Shortly after his mother had died he had to move out of their house. Luckily his parents had not been exactly poor, so he had been able to afford a small flat for himself without having to worry about working beside school, or he probably would have needed to quit anyway.

At least his maybe-encounter with that stranger had made him feel more calmly. Although he could not explain why that was, somehow he had felt more at ease after that night.

That's why he had managed to finish school even after everything that had happened. He had thrown himself completely into it. The work had distracted him, as well. At least accomplishing something had felt good, too, somehow. And when he had been accepted at his preferred university he had been thrilled.

But somehow even now, when his life was finally taking a turn for the better and when he had decided that his encounter with that man must have been nothing but a dream, he sometimes caught himself still thinking about him.

And the strangest thing was that sometimes, when he was asleep, he found himself dreaming about the man he had called Marco. And the dreams made no sense at all. Sometimes they were about the sea. And it was beautiful and vast and it made him feel so free that sometimes he doubted that his dreams were really just dreams.

And sometimes he dreamed that he was kneeling at the edge of a cliff and before him stretched a battlefield that went on for so long that he could not see anything beyond it. From those dreams he often awoke panicking. With his heart racing and tears rolling over his cheeks and a feeling of dread that made him feel more uneasy than he had ever felt before.

And in all those dreams, Marco was present. Sometimes looking at him like he was the most important thing in the world, with a love reflecting in his eyes that Ace could not possibly understand. And sometimes with such fear and sadness like he had just lost everything that had ever been important to him.

But those at least, were really just dreams. And nothing about them was real. That's why he simply shrugged it off as a side effect of all the stress he had had lately.

But at his first day of university he was about to understand that nothing about these dreams was absolutely unreal.

His first lecture had been exciting and he had met people he actually liked and could talk to. But in their lunch hour he had to excuse himself, because there was something he still had to do. Just fetching some forms he still had to fill out.

But as he reached the correct door he realized that according to the office hours that were printed on a sheet of paper that was glued to the door, the office was currently not occupied.

Ace shrugged his shoulders and knocked on the door anyway.

But there was no reply.

He looked behind himself and then down the corridor to his left and right to check of there was anyone he could ask about it, but he was seemingly alone.

Well, he really did not want to come back here tomorrow, so without further thinking about it, he reached out with his hand to try and see if the door I front of him was locked or open.

And to his surprise the door was actually open.

He entered the room slowly.

"Sorry, but there's currently no one here to –" A harsh, male voice started to say and then abruptly stopped as Ace stepped into the room.

Ace startled and stopped in his movement. "Ah, I'm s-sorry, the door was open and I just…" He was about to leave again, suddenly feeling completely embarrassed for simply entering the room, when he looked up to check who he was currently talking to.

When he realized who was in front of him, he was so shocked that for a moment he simply stood there, eyes wide open and his mouth gaping.

"Marco…?" He finally said slowly and quietly. His hand left the door handle and the door closed automatically behind him.

For a moment there was an unpleasant silence between them.

Then the man behind the desk seemingly recovered himself and replied. "Who?" He asked, but his voice was too high and Ace could see that he was just as surprised to see him as he was.

This man who was standing there with a stack of papers in his hands was most definitely, without a doubt the man from his dreams. The man who had saved him that one night when his mother had died. The man he had once encountered as a kid.

His face looked completely the same and he still had that very distinct hairstyle. But he was not wearing his weird clothes anymore. Instead he was wearing a plain, black suit and glasses. He did look different, somehow. But Ace was completely sure that this was the man. It had to be him.

"It's you, right? You're Marco?" He started to blurt out a stream of questions. "Don't you remember me? From half a year ago, at that bar? You drove me home, remember?" He was almost tumbling over his own words, not really understanding himself why he felt this excited.

"You must be confusing something." The man said dryly. "I don't know you."

Disappointment spread through Ace like a wildfire. The man must be lying, he thought. He probably had not expected to meet him here and he did not want to talk to him.

Who was this man, though? Why would he deny knowing him? Especially after helping him out like that half a year ago. There was something fishy about this whole situation, but Ace could just not put his finger on what exactly it was.

"But just now, it seemed like you knew me when I came in here." He tried again.

The man looked him over once more and thought about it for a moment. "I don't." He finally stated plainly. And then, putting his papers down on the desk in front of him, he went over to where Ace was and tried to lead him to the door.

"Now, if you would please come back during the office hours. I would gladly help you out, but I was just here to collect some documents. The people who normally work here are not in on Mondays I'm afraid." He explained matter-of-factly as he opened the door for Ace and waited for him to leave.

Ace stepped through the doorway, somehow feeling completely defeated. Was he really wrong? Although he had seen this man so often in his dreams, could there really be someone that just simply looked like him and nothing more?

Before the door closed behind him he turned around once more, looking the man before him directly in the eye. The same deep, brown eyes he had looked into that night, he thought.

"But you kissed me." Ace finally said, his voice sounding almost desperate.

The man was startled for a moment, but he recovered quickly. "Sorry." He said and he almost really sounded like he was apologizing. "But it's not me you are looking for."

And then he closed the door.

Ace starred at it for a long time. Part of him hoping that the man would open it any moment to tell him that he was just fooling around with him and another part of him was simply too petrified to move even an inch from where he was.

Was he really wrong? Was the man who had saved him truly not real in the end? Maybe, when he had been a kid, he had seen this man on the street. And somehow, when his mother had died and he had been dead drunk, he had projected his wish, his hope for someone who was there for him, onto this childhood memory and he had made this man his savior. But in the end it had all just happened in his head. None of it had ever been real.

But then why could he not shake the feeling that the man just now had recognized him? And yet, why would he act like he did not know him? Okay, maybe their encounter had not been the most favorable, but Ace would have liked to at least thank him for what he had done for him.

And while he stood there he, completely absent-mindedly, touched his fingertips to his cheeks and he was almost startled when he found that he was suddenly crying.

He remembered his dreams. The one with the battlefield. He remembered the man calling his name so desperately above all the noises of the raging war.

He should not act like he did not know him. It was not fair. Who else but this man was able to explain to him what all of this meant? Who else could tell him why he was feeling the way he was and dreaming those weird things that felt so frighteningly real if not the man who appeared in almost all of his dreams?

…

When Marco had closed the door behind him, he pressed his back against it, his lips escaping a deep breath he had not realized he was holding in.

He had definitely not expected to meet him here of all places.

It was good that, apart from that one night, Ace had probably not remembered anything else.

He felt a light sting at the thought, part of him wishing that Ace would remember and yet another part of him scolding himself for even thinking that when he, himself knew best what would happen if Ace actually did remember.

He had to stay out of Ace's way from now on. He could no longer be careless like this. Every meeting was a risk he could not take.

After all he had sworn to protect Ace. No matter the consequences for himself.