𝘖𝘯𝘦-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 ♡

Ⅲ.『 Our Fire 』

A/N:
I reposted this in my 'MarAce one-shots!!!' collection, but I won't delete it from here. (With some minor changes and corrections) If you're a fan of the ship, I say check that collection of mine too! :) [November 16, 2023]

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❲ Marco x Ace ❳

〈 Marco's POV〉

When our fires met,

I knew you were the one.

When your smile shined so bright,

I knew I couldn't let you go.

When you looked at me so gently,

I knew I wouldn't take it anymore.

So, I let my control loose.

I let my fire play,

You let your fires met mine.

And we created those beautiful purple fires.

Our fire.

It was a nice day, sunny and without any signs of a storm. It's nice being in Paradise, although I kinda miss the excitement of New World. Well, whatever. We'll all miss Paradise's weather after going in New World. I was leaning on the railings, enjoying the sun shining on my skin, when he, Portgas D Ace decided it was a good time to attack Pops.. Why was he doing that anyway? He's so stubborn. And it doesn't help that Pops is as stubborn as he is! He is so persistent on wanting him to join the family.. But I wouldn't mind. The teen is an interesting one. He's young, but strong.

But.. I wasn't ready for it when his fires met mine. On that same day, we had a marine attack. It wasn't often, but it still did occur. There were some stupid marines who thought it would be a good idea to try and take Pops's head. Unpredictably, the marines were strong. But not strong enough, they are never strong enough. They did cause damage, though. And Ace fought as well. I don't understand why he fights when there's a challenge, he just blabbers about 'it would ruin his name'. But, it's interesting watching him fight. I was going towards him beating the marines in my way. I didn't even notice it until our backs bumped. What happened next, it really confused me. My fires.. they were reacting to.. Ace's? But, why? It has been forever since my fires acted up. The phoenix wasn't listening to me, again, after so many years. But, why now? Right after Ace's fires touched my skin. What's that, some kind of universal message? But thank god it happened while we were under attack. Meaning I have an excuse for myself that my phoenix is acting up. They wouldn't even notice, which I'm thankful for. Maybe Pops will notice? He knows how it is when phoenix acts up. Whatever, let's just get this fight over with.

The fight was over a few minutes later, nothing too bad happened. Just some of our brothers were injured, some scratches, so nothing bad. I can see everyone enjoyed a more challenging battle, compared to other idiots who challenged us. As soon as the battle ended, Ace was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't injured, probably tired. So I guess he went to sleep or something. There were even times when he abnormally fell asleep. Well, whatever. I had to go to Pops, though. So, boredly (as always) I started walking towards Pops's throne.

"My son, I see this one lasted longer." Pops said when I approached him with a nod.

"Yes, yoi. It's nice having a longer battle from time to time. I do miss New World though. Idiot rookies would pick on us, yoi." Pops laughed heartly and agreed that he did miss New World. He then looked at me suspiciously. Did he notice?

"A little while ago your aura felt weird, Marco. Almost like the old times. Is something wrong?" Ah, I knew it. It's impossible hiding something from Pops anyway. He somehow knows we're hiding something. But, sometimes doesn't ask what it is unless it's needed.