[Marco's really torn on beating Ace up, or just hugging him more. It's not Ace's fault he's a dumbass so beating him up for being a dumbass in order to prove that they aren't mad at him for being a dumbass... doesn't really work.]
[More hugs get.]
You... [Marco doesn't really expect Ace to get it. He feels like he's said it before and he'll keep saying it, just like he just promised, but it still might not sink in. How could he get through to him?] What did I say before?
None of us were ever mad at you, Ace. The first words out of Vista and my lips were "How could we let this happen?" We.
When you think it's all something you did wrong, you're underestimating us. And you should know better. We're strong too. We've got a lot fame to our names, a lot of capacity to do better than we did. Do you understand?
No one blames you. They didn't blame you for going after Blackbeard, we didn't blame you for not being able to kill him, we didn't blame you for getting turned over to the marines. Do you blame us for not being able to rescue you? Do you blame me for getting punched by your grandfather? Or getting stuck in seastone? Do you blame Jozu for losing his arm? Or Vista for being too busy distracting Mihawk from your brother to keep charging straight like we all said we would?
[He takes a deep breath. Ace's whole life Marco feels like he's been brainwashed. So many people who wanted to blame him for his existence, blame Roger's actions on Ace, punish him for things he wasn't even alive for... of course Ace does the same. And yet, it's still exasperating to the phoenix. If it was an outsider blaming Ace like that he'd kill them. So it doesn't make it acceptable for Ace to do the same as them either.]
Ace, if someone else said what you just said about you, I'd kill them. Seriously, you wouldn't be able to hold me back from that. Don't get me wrong, I don't want you to hide these things, but I cannot understand. What makes you think those idiots have a point?
Even pirates who would want to kill Pops given the chance still know that it wasn't ever your fault. Even fucking Crocodile knows that it's Blackbeard and the marines.
[action]
[More hugs get.]
You... [Marco doesn't really expect Ace to get it. He feels like he's said it before and he'll keep saying it, just like he just promised, but it still might not sink in. How could he get through to him?] What did I say before?
None of us were ever mad at you, Ace. The first words out of Vista and my lips were "How could we let this happen?" We.
When you think it's all something you did wrong, you're underestimating us. And you should know better. We're strong too. We've got a lot fame to our names, a lot of capacity to do better than we did. Do you understand?
No one blames you. They didn't blame you for going after Blackbeard, we didn't blame you for not being able to kill him, we didn't blame you for getting turned over to the marines. Do you blame us for not being able to rescue you? Do you blame me for getting punched by your grandfather? Or getting stuck in seastone? Do you blame Jozu for losing his arm? Or Vista for being too busy distracting Mihawk from your brother to keep charging straight like we all said we would?
[He takes a deep breath. Ace's whole life Marco feels like he's been brainwashed. So many people who wanted to blame him for his existence, blame Roger's actions on Ace, punish him for things he wasn't even alive for... of course Ace does the same. And yet, it's still exasperating to the phoenix. If it was an outsider blaming Ace like that he'd kill them. So it doesn't make it acceptable for Ace to do the same as them either.]
Ace, if someone else said what you just said about you, I'd kill them. Seriously, you wouldn't be able to hold me back from that. Don't get me wrong, I don't want you to hide these things, but I cannot understand. What makes you think those idiots have a point?
Even pirates who would want to kill Pops given the chance still know that it wasn't ever your fault. Even fucking Crocodile knows that it's Blackbeard and the marines.
Do you blame us for not being able to save you?