Ace and Sabo are gone // Written, Action

[fierybluebird]

[The first few times Marco tries to find his voice, he can't. This is what Robin, what everyone tried to warn him about isn't it? And he didn't listen. He always refused. Even if his father had been here and told him the same things, he wouldn't have listened to him either. At first he tries to seek solace in the rooftop, the memorial for his Pops, but today, not even that is enough. Where can he go other than "home?" And home is no longer CH3. It is still Luceti, scattered throughout his loved ones, but other than Leanne, that describe CH3 now.]

[He opens the journal and tries to speak, but he can't. So he winds up writing instead.]

Happy Post-Valentine's Day to anyone. I hope many happy couples found each other and no one was too disrupted.

[His hand shakes, and then clenches and the pen breaks. Too angry, so much rage. He uses the bottom half of the quill as best as he can to write more.]

My little brothers, [A long pause. He looks up at the flag and... it's not enough. Nothing is.] are both gone. Even knowing that every single day they had here was extra time, and as grateful as I am for that, they deserve more. I can't tell you they've gone to a better place, because they haven't.

[The last thing Sabo saw before his death was fire. And Ace died crying and smiling at the same time.]

But they're in good company I guess.

[Good company? He was jealous of them, still, even now. He had a huge fight with Ace about it, but he was jealous. Ace was jealous that Marco could be with the living, and Marco was jealous that Ace could be with the dead, could protect someone he loved that deeply by dying for them, something Marco never could. It was a dumb thing to be jealous about, but even knowing how infantile it was, didn't make it go away. It's a good time to go get a new pen. So Marco jumps down and goes to the item shop, finds a pen and right there, in middle of the shop, sits down on the floor and continues.]

I've lost a lot of nakama before, but Ace's affected me the worst. He brought with him a new era. He saved the man who will be the New Pirate King and renounced the world's idea of villains and heroes. [Marco sets the book and pen down so he won't break them again and it's all bit before he picks them back up.] In legends, phoenixes are supposed to herald the changing of eras, but I hate it. Mankind's eras in my world are tragically majestic things, but what use are they to an individual?

I'm not going back to the apartment for a long time. And I might move when I'm ready. I took the important things with me, but I'm not going back there.

Luceti is still my home. Make no mistake, I'll fight forever for my right to stay and the right for anyone else who wants to stay. I always will. That's who I am.

[He needs to talk to people, to try to comfort them in the wake of Ace's absence, in the wake of Sabo's, but all Marco wants to do is fly away. It's too cowardly though, so he won't. He wants to switch into phoenix form and stop feeling anything, but that's also cowardly and he know Robin's been trying to break him of the habit.]

If you think you can find me, you can try, otherwise, say the word and I'll come find you. No promises about the state I'll be in.

- Marco

Comments

[Written]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei...knows that feeling. She remembers what it was like losing Usagi. And what it was like losing Harry. And...she knows that he needs someone.

Prayer is in order. And she's already getting out paper.]

Marco-san, come to the shrine, please.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

[He doesn't reply, just goes. He takes a deep breath outside... and goes in.]

Sorry.

For Mr. Dresden. [He's not normally so formal, but he didn't say anything back when it happened. Between everything with Robin, and trying to manage everything else, he wanted to give it time... and then it was too late. Which was always how it went around here. Fuck.]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei doesn't say a word, she just stands up and throws her arms around Marco. She's not normally one for displays of affection like that. But...after Valentine's day, and Harry, and...she knows what Ace meant to Marco. And Sabo too. Losing family. Family that...couldn't come back. That was just...it was awful.

And even if it wasn't what she'd normally do, she knew he needed that.]

written;

[entreats]

[ .. Ace is gone..? Sure, it does sting her a little, she always did like talking to the guy, he was.. kind, not to mention it was good to see him and Marco being so close -- but it's why she can imagine the kind of pain Marco must feel right now, she's felt it so often too with people close to her disappearing. But he comforted her when Battler and Kyrie disappeared, right? So the least she can do in return..

It's very rare for her to be polite or even actually say 'please' but in this case it might just be a little justified. ]

Please come over? You know where. [ Since it's where he last comforted her, so.. ] Outside the house is fine.

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

[He shows up there without a word, just flies down in phoenix form and switches to hybrid with phoenix wings along the way to wrap her up in a hug.]

Sorry, eh. I know he was your friend too.

[entreats]

[ That's.. not really what she expected, just getting a hug like that right away. And it's enough to make her eyes widen for a moment in surprise, but she trie to swallow it right after. ]

M.. moron, I didn't call you over to comfort me! You're the one who deserves comfort right now! [ Ange will forever be Ange, so she just shouts it at him, but.. then she (slightly relunctantly since HER TSUN CAN'T HANDLE THIS) slowly moves her arms up to hug him in return too. ]

[Action]

[uccellodifuoco]

[Marco sent a message through the journals? What message? What journals? Ikki doesn't bother to even check them. He didn't know Sabo, and he knew Ace only a little bit, but he knows Marco and he knew they were important to Marco, so, at the very least, he always kept an eye on Ace. Despite all the powerful Cosmos that are in Luceti, it's not hard to notice the absence of one you're used to check on everyday. It's not hard for him to realize that Ace is gone, the same way he realized that Selphie was gone both times. And so is gone the smaller Cosmo that was at Marco's place, Ikki's guess is that it means that Marco is alone now.

For the first time, he realizes how bad this is, to be friends with both a marine and a pirate. Because part of him wants to offer Marco a place for whenever he's ready for it, but he lives with Smoker so it's not an option, and he likes to live with Smoker. At the very least, though, he can still give support to the pirate. He's sure that Marco is going to try to force himself to comfort everyone without bothering for taking comfort himself. Assuming he doesn't just fly away from everyone to hide and mope. It's what Ikki would do at least, though he's not much of a comforting person to begin with.

Still, Ikki keeps his usual routine for most of the day, talking to Kotomi through the journals first thing in the morning after he realizes what happened, taking out Hyoga, working at the bar... Always keeping an eye on Marco's Cosmos, to know where he is and only when it seems he's mostly done with visiting people around, Ikki leaves everything he was doing, picks a small bag and flies to where the other phoenix is.]

[Action]

[fierybluebird]

[Marco's at the library, moping in the sailboat section. Sabo used to hang out here all the time, and it was one of the places Ace didn't, seeing as books are so flammable and all. So for now, Marco is just reading, trying to keep numb, and stay relatively someplace people could hypothetically find him if they wished to seek him down. Aside from which, it's still in a pretty public place, so it forces him to keep up the act, to hold himself together instead of falling apart and leveling a mountain in rage and sorrow, guilt and anguish.]

[Action]

[uccellodifuoco]

[To Ikki this is the proof that Marco is stronger than he is, because he definitively wouldn't be able to do this. Or care to try to keep up the act and hold himself together. The most he can and has done is to close himself so much that it just doesn't matter to him if they are gone or not. Convince himself that the reason why he's upset is because he's still trapped here, not because they left. That and avoid thinking of them, though it's not an easy thing to do.

The blue haired man walks across the library in silence, making a beeline to where he knows Marco is. When he arrives, though, he realizes that he sucks at comforting people, because he has never allowed himself to be comforted, so what could he know about that? He can't even make a pathetic attempt at it. Maybe it would be better to leave the other alone until he's recovered, let Marco deal with things his own way.

He ends sitting besides the other.]

For a moment I thought of letting you deal with this crap on your own way. But if the roles were reversed I doubt you would leave me alone that easily so...

[Consider yourself pestered, Marco.]

[deathsdoctor]

[A slow aching sigh. Ace was there for him when Bepo left. So Law will repay that favor to him, and speak where he usually remains silent.

And there goes two more...]

Marco...

[fierybluebird]

Are you still at the Battledome?

[deathsdoctor]

Home. Come on over.

[This is after his outing with Itachi, so Law's not going anywhere for the rest of the day.]

[Video]

[song_princess]

[No words can she think of saying... No words except something else can have the same effect. A slow but deep breath is taken before she closes her eyes to sing.]

[Video]

[fierybluebird]

[He listens with his own eyes closed, still refusing to cry.]

Thank you Leanne.

[Video]

[song_princess]

You are welcome.

[Slowly reopens her eyes.]

Where is Marco? [Let her come and give you comfort.]

[Nothing but Marco's gonna gatecrash anyway SO \8|/]

[bubblywishes]

[Norma stops listening after the first sentence about Ace and Sabo is out from his mouth. ...No, that's not it. Her body just refused to work properly after that. She had heard it in his voice, and felt the warning signs of her body begin to perk to alertness, but Norma had no idea she'd fall this hard. She sits up in bed, with her journal on her folded legs, and stares blankly at the ceiling. Gone. Gone. Not one, but two. And...from what little did make it into Norma's head through the ringing in her ears, Sabo's no better off than Ace is. And he was just a little--!

She sniffs, and that's all it takes for the tears to begin falling and falling, continuously and without end. She wants to say it's not fair, she wants to yell and scream and kick, but Norma just doesn't have the energy to. Her body's shut down aside from feeling the heavy weight of Marco's words. Gone. Gone to die. It felt like only a little while ago that she was laughing and talking to Ace, joking and having fun. And now he's been taken away.

The back of Norma's head bumps against her wall as she slumps, then kicks her journal away lazily and slides down to curl up on her bed. She should probably lock her door, so no one bothers her, but she really, really doesn't ant to move. It's been one thing after another. She thought the worst was that damn Shift, but this...this is something else entirely. She may not go into work for a while. A long while. Hell, she may not even leave her room for that amount of time.]

[THAT NIGHT]

[fierybluebird]

[Marco flies in through the window and just covers her up in phoenix wings. He can't cry, can't let himself cry yet, and he just desperately wants to make sure Norma won't disappear out from under him.]

I'm sorry.

[THAT NIGHT]

[bubblywishes]

[The night finds Norma in much the same state as she was prior, a numb and rather drippy mess. She's stopped crying, for the most part, but her eyes are still red and puffy, and she only spares a glance in Marco's direction when he arrives. She half expected him to, and it's not like she doesn't appreciate the gesture and the company right now, but she just can't really respond to it. Most of her's shut down, consumed by a crushing sort of grief.

Was she stupid to think it'd last? Or lucky...to have had it last this long.]

[Written]

[hollower]

[Perona was a little distressed when she cam upon this message that day. Not just because Ace was gone, but because Marco said both his brothers. And she knows who else he was talking about before the name was even uttered. She holds her breath as he goes on speaking, but as she listens, Perona begins to piece together Marco's word choice, and something cold and jagged scrapes painfully against her chest. No, no, no...that can't--! She knew of Ace's fate, but Sabo...no, he's just a little boy! Just a child!]

What becomes of Sabo-kun?

[She knows, Perona knows despite not wanting to, but she wants to see or hear it. Confirmation. She needs to know - as his friend, she thinks she deserves that right.]

[Voice]

[fierybluebird]

A tenryuubitto shot him.

That's how the world government operates.

Ace and I want revenge for our family, but we have to get it from the whole world sometimes.

[Voice]

[hollower]

[Wow, that...that certainly wasn't what Perona was expecting. She's only a little bit surprised, though. Those Imperial sacks of shit go to great lengths to make themselves as loathsome as possible. Ridiculous...as if she needed another excuse to hate authority figures. Perona seethes, quietly, grinding her teeth together and breathing hard before she finally answers back, in audio.

She's trying desperately to hide how frail-sounding her voice is. It's hard. She's angry. She's angry and sad and wants to stick it to those fucking bastards the moment she gets home, but she won't even remember and that only makes her angrier and sadder. Ugh!]

...I see. Thank you for telling me. You have my condolences for your loss, Marco-san. [And she means that sincerely this time.]

[voice]

[toujoursfluer]

[So they are both gone. Gone in more ways than one. And yet he still fights to stay in a way she doesn't understand. If Ace were here...or Sabo and yet, these people are not his nakama. They can't follow him home or fight by his side. There is no reason for him to linger here--because all he will do here is miss what he has lost and worry for what he can't yet do.

Still, for now, she will do what she can--though there is nothing really that can alleviate that kind of sorry. Life or death, Luceti never really changes.]

I am here whenever you need me.

[voice] / [Locked]

[fierybluebird]

[Robin, unfortunately, is the only one he'll break down to.]

I'm so weak. I have to go on, I have to protect people, I promised, and that's what Ace, and Pops, and everyone would count on me to do.

Why?

Robin...

I don't get it, eh?

Why do I have to bother with them? Why is this life better? I just want to run away and then I'll never hurt, but I'll never be happy either. I hate this so damn much. I can't protect them without being the phoenix, but I can't protect them enough with it either. And it never ends.

[written][Loki's still kind of influenced by the white chocolate so he babbles a lot]

[not_a_troll]

Marco, the word 'nakama' is unbeknownst to me but your writing tells me it is something important.

Just keep in mind that it is for the best when friends, b.f.f.'s and brothers leave. Even though it can be quite painful and sometimes it makes you wander off to their quarters to see if they have returned all you wish is to weep really loudly until gross snot comes from your nose. A lot of gross snot. I am sure you are aware of how gross snot can be. Or aren't you? Are you aware of that?

Regarding the feast of Valentines I have given great advices to everyone. And everyone has been able to find their significant other because of that. Oodles of love and hearts were the results of this. I have had my first kiss. I mean, not entirely. It is a complicated matter. I should not speak of it. Speaking of speaking, is there anything you wish to speak about? Is Ace your bro, for instance? Has your great nakama-ness been sealed by the fist of bro? It is utmost sad to lose a nakama friend of the bro-kind, you see? That is how I feel about Ben as well. Ben has been my bro in mischief. I miss him. Quite a lot.

Best regards,

L. Laufeyson

PS: A pirate king? Is there a ruler of pirates? Is his throne made out of bottles of rum?
PPS: This intrigues me.

[written] Adorable XDDD

[fierybluebird]

Nakama is used in my world to describe crewmates. Among pirates, this is the closest possible word, much like family. Even if disagreements are had, nakama will always watch and guard each other's backs. In my case, my nakama are all my brothers, because we were adopted by my father, our captain. Ace is my youngest brother, other than Sabo, whom I adopted here, he was already Ace's brother from when they were ten. And they sealed that with sake, which is another pirate tradition.

Ace and I have sealed our "nakama-ness" by his tattoo. Even when it was burned off, he got it replaced. For my family, the tattoos show that we are part of the crew in a way that cannot be removed. He and I have also shared more things together than I've shared with anyone other than my father, who is extremely important to me.

I was extra glad Ace was here because he died in our world and I wasn't able to save him. Sabo is also dead. Thus, it is not for the best that they are gone, and I cannot forgive that. They were both murdered, and Luceti was the only place they got to have extra time.

I'm sorry about Ben, Congratulations on your first kiss! but with luck, perhaps you'll see him again, I hope.

The first Pirate King was Gol D. Roger. He wasn't the ruler of pirates, so much as acknowledged as the "ultimate" pirate because he was able to achieve all the things pirates want from life, most notably, freedom. He made to the end of the Grand Line and back, which no one else was ever able to do, nor have they done since then. My Pops was friendly rivals with Roger, and millions of pirates have been trying to duplicate the feat and become the new Pirate King ever since. Before my Pops died he believed Ace's little brother, Luffy, whom Ace died protecting, would have the best chance at achieving this dream. Ace very much wanted to see this dream come true, which is another reason I wish he was here in Luceti.

- Thank you for the regards
Marco