A/N Hey guys! First off, Happy New Year! Welcome to 2013 :D Second, this is my first Oneshot ever, so I hope you guys like it!

It's a bit of a sad one, but it's so sappy it makes you wanna hug Ace :')

Enjoy!

The S is Silent

The Moby Dick was quiet, a rare occurrence since they had acquired a certain murderous firebug. Every day the teenager went after their captain, and to be honest it was getting rather monotonous, but for some reason there hadn't been an attempt on the Old Man today, and it was almost afternoon tea time!

Thatch was confused. And a confused Thatch is never a good thing, because he had this rather annoying habit of bringing his confusion and annoying Marco about it.

Marco sighed, stretching leisurely and folding his arms behind his head. He was currently reclined on the roof of the Captain's quarters, enjoying the peace and quiet of a sunny afternoon.

"Oi, Marco!" an annoying, shrill hiss reached his ears, and Marco's peaceful smile dropped off and, though he would deny it, a small pout darted across his face before it smoothed into an indifferent mask. Turning, he opened one eye and glanced at his fellow commander. Thatch was half on the roof, legs and waist hanging over the edge as he looked at Marco with a perturbed expression on his face.

The worried look on Thatch's face peaked Marco's interest, and a raised eyebrow prompted Thatch to speak.

"Um, well... have you seen Ace today?" Thatch asked, strangely serious for the usually carefree man.

Marco blinked, then considered the question. No, he hadn't actually the seen the little brat. Huh. Weird.

Thatch took his silence as a 'No', and frowned, biting his lip. "You don't think he... I dunno... fell asleep, fallen off the ship and drowned, or... something...?" he trailed off at Marco's raised eyebrow and incredulous look. "Was just a thought...? But seriously, do you think something's wrong?" Thatch ran his hand through his hair and frowned in thought.

"You haven't seen him all day?" Marco asked, sitting up and turning his full attention on his brother. Thatch shook his head in the negative, and Marco frowned. It wouldn't do to have the brat planning something big and destructive; he was getting tired of all the holes he kept finding around the ship.

"Do you think you could have a look for him? I have to go help out in the kitchens," Thatch asked, looking at the phoenix hopefully. Marco groaned internally at the ridiculous puppy eyes Thatch was giving him, mentally noting that there was genuine worry behind the look.

"Fine, I'll go find the brat," he grumbled, levering himself up and lazily stretching. Thatch gave him a thankful smile, and disappeared below the edge. Muttering to himself, Marco transformed, and took off into the air. Flying around the ship, the phoenix observed all the normal hiding spots he had seen the kid in, and others that were less obvious.

If a bird could frown, the phoenix was doing so, and it was definitely displaying annoyance at a current lack of any fire-wielding teenager. He had flow around the ship twice, and hadn't found any sign of the boy. Thatch's drowning theory was starting to sound more likely by the minute.

Scowling, Marco swoops upwards, catching an updraft and gliding above the ship. Looking down, he noticed a small figure crouched on top of the roof of the crows nest. Narrowing his eyes, Marco eyed the figure, and then, certain, he angled his wings and flew down. Noting that the boy didn't even look up from where his face was buried in his arms, Marco transformed once more just as he touched down. Eyeing the teenager, Marco noted that he wasn't wearing that hideous shirt, revealing the entirety of the tattoo many of the crew members were curious about.

A S C E

It was a strange tattoo, almost as if the tattoo artist had accidently misspelt the youth's name and then tried to rectify it. Looking the rest of the boy over as he sat down, Marco leant back and waited.

Ace didn't move for a long time, and if it wasn't for the rigid set to his posture and trembling frame Marco would have thought he was asleep. And when he did finally speak, it was so quiet Marco had to strain to hear him.

"Why are you here?" the boy's voice was rough, the words muffled.

Marco almost shrugged, but realised the kid wouldn't see him, so with a sigh answered verbally. "Haven't seen you round today. Thought you might be planning something. Thatch thought you were dead," he added, glancing at him for a reaction. A small smirk touched his face at the tiny snort he received.

"M'not plannin' anything," Ace mumbled, still hiding his face.

"Then what're you doing all the way up here?" Marco asked curiously. Ace didn't reply, instead finally lifting his head and turning to look at him. Marco took in the red eyes and sad expression, the lack of the bright spark of defiance that had drawn Whitebeard to spare him.

It was horrible.

"Did you know, it was on this day, exactly a year ago I got this tattoo?" Ace suddenly said, abruptly changing the subject. Marco blinked, but took it in stride. He glanced at the inked letters, reading them once again. "Most people think the artist stuffed up, y'know, because the 'S' is crossed out. But I got it like that on purpose. To remind me."

"Remind you of what?" Marco asked, curious now, only for the topic to change once again.

"You know how you guys are always asking me to join you? To be accepted as a brother?" Ace asked, tone monotonous and not giving away what he was thinking.

Marco blinked in surprise, but nodded to prompt Ace to continue.

"Well, y'see, I'd be a terrible brother. I can't do anything right when it comes to family," he said bitterly, reaching up and covering most of his tattoo. Marco noted this, but ignored it.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've always failed my family!" Ace snapped, glaring at the commander. But as quickly as his anger came about it faded, and he slumped once more. Marco kept quiet, silently prompting the kid to continue. "I've always been a failure to my brothers...I could never protect them..." Ace whispered.

Marco 'ahh-ed' in understanding, beginning to suspect why Ace was so off.

"And that's why the S is defaced. Because you couldn't protect them."

Ace froze, then looked at Marco, expecting to be ridiculed, but found a soft, understanding gaze directed at him.

"You think you failed them. And you may have, but I don't think you would be capable of failing someone you truly care for. It's not in your nature," Marco smiled at Ace, then stood, dusting off his pants. He glanced at the boy over his shoulder, finding a shocked pair of eyes gazing at him from a face that looked too young and vulnerable.

"You can't have failed them, whoever they were. Because I would be damn proud to call you brother."

When Marco transformed to fly away, he pretended not to hear Ace's near silent whisper.

"You were right, Sabo..."

A/N Hope you liked it :) Kinda annoyed me that I couldn't find anything about Ace's tattoo! I mean, it's obviously about Sabo, so why does no-one take advantage of it? :(

Anyways, Ace, Marco, and Thatch are totally my favourites of the entire One Piece story :) No competition! Unless you wanna bring the Strawhats into it...