When Marco was younger, he'd been alone. His race was largely solitary and nomadic, and running across someone else of his kind - even on the small surface of their planet - was rare. He'd always been delighted to see them, delighted to share his travels and companionship, but it wasn't until he'd been much older that he realised his company wasn't exactly wanted.

And then he'd run into Rouge and her mismatched gang of beings like him, and beings like her. Many of Marco's people made up the group, but Rouge and her people, he was later to learn, came from a galaxy only a few light years away. Their genetic makeup was at once incredibly similar and incredibly different, and both groups of people had come together to learn.

To stop feeling so alone.

They were different from the rest of Marco's people, like him. Their markings were shown or obscured on their own fancy, rather than kept respectfully in the open until a large burst of emotion hit. They asked questions, gazed at the stars, and dreamed of something more than their own planet.

It was Rouge's people who first suggested the idea of making a suit powered by their natural radioactive states, so they could leave the atmosphere without having to worry about feeding. It was one of Marco's people who made the first break through. By this point, they'd long since stopped being Marco's people, or Rouge's people, and had started to become one mismatched group.

A family, though Marco hadn't learnt the meaning of the word till much later.

It took years for them to carefully develop the suit, working together and striving towards one common goal: the stars.

But then, just as they were finishing it, they were betrayed. One of their allies, terrified of attracting the attention of anything that lay beyond the sky of their world, told everything to any he could get in contact with. They stormed through Marco's home, destroying anything that looked suspicious. Rouge's ship, with Rouge and only half her people aboard, had taken off shakily, and Marco had prayed in terror until it cleared the horizon.

He'd been the one to grab the suit and sprint for it, almost caught but narrowly managing to find gaps and places to hide,suit held close to his beating heart.

He knew enough about their plans to figure it out, the tenacity of a stubborn adolescent to help him, and though it took weeks he carefully mended the broken parts and put it together again.

And then he'd put it on.

It felt so strange to have his energy regulated that he almost took it off again, but the desperate wish to escape held him strong above all else. He'd tried to figure it out, but it was only by accident that he threw the cloak behind him and had the sleeves transform into a set of glowing wings. Breathless, he'd taken to the sky-

Then crashed, soon after.

He'd spent the next few weeks following after feewoak and trenbar, trying to figure out how they used their wings, and he slowly got better at it. His confidence had been shaken by his first, dreadful fall however, and it wasn't until desperation forced him to act that he finally took to the sky.

They'd found him again.

He'd flown from the planet, pushing past exhaustion for hours, until he finally collapsed against the outside of a small, unmarked vessel.

Luckily for him, the man inside was none other than Whitebeard, who'd taken him in and cared for him until Marco's health recovered. Even after that, however, they continued to travel together, now used to the other's presence.

Whitebeard wanted a family. Marco didn't want to be alone.

It worked out well for both of them.

They hadn't found out until much later that though the suit gave Marco a range of ways to channel his natural abilities, it didn't stop the radiation he emitted.

It didn't stop him from hurting Whitebeard. When the realisation hit that he'd poisoned Whitebeard, even by accident-

Oh, Marco detested himself, his existence, his very being. The fact that he'd been born a species so unstable.

Whitebeard had never blamed him for it, a fact Marco hadn't understood until he was much older. In fact, Whitebeard had offered to adopt Marco, and had bought Marco his nanotech earring, designed to protect others from his radiation. They'd lived together in peaceful harmony, and then Marco had caught rumours about a strange lady with the name Rouge.

He'd begged Whitebeard to find her, and Whitebeard had tried his best, but it wasn't until Roger had started to become a household name that Whitebeard managed to track him and Rouge down.

Marco had almost sprung at her in delight as soon as he recognised her familiar smile, and they'd talked for hours, letting Whitebeard and Roger slowly make their own introductions.

It'd so long since he'd last conversed in the language of home that when Rouge started speaking to him in it, he couldn't hide a teary grin. His name sounded different, not as smooth as when Common changed it, but the familiarity of it all made shivers run down his spine.

Even hearing the suit's proper name in his language was strange. He'd almost forgotten it. Much like the others he'd merely reverted to calling it the Phoenix suit, liking the way the letters rolled off his tongue.

And hiding the fact that its true purpose was something else altogether.

By the time Whitebeard wanted to leave, he and Roger had become friendly rivals, and Rouge had promised to stay in touch.

Soon after, he and Whitebeard started collecting their own crew, claiming planets and staking out a section of the stars for their own. Whenever a new sibling joined them, Marco's heart would swell with pride, ready to see the wondrous things they would do.

It was wonderful to be a part of, wonderful to be the first part of a legend that only grew and grew.

Then he'd heard about Roger's death. He'd mourned for his friend, and mourned even more for Rouge, who'd lost her best friend, and tried not to think about how he'd feel if Thatch or Izo or any one of his siblings were taken from him.

That was the day he'd promised to never let anyone ever hurt the Whitebeard crew. That he'd hunt down and rip apart anyone that even came close to it.

And so watching Akainu now, knowing there was nothing he could do to save Ace but scream at him to move-

The last thought on his mind was that he was breaking his promise, but the first thought he had as Akainu's fist plunged straight through Ace's chest, finally destabilising him entirely, was a breathless, anguished no.

He could feel energy spill from his body, flickers like fire in the corner of his eye,but that thought only made his heart shatter more, cracking and falling to pieces.

Swirling blues and glowing yellows streamed from his back, and Marco curled even further, trying to stop the power he could feel escaping into the air.

He had to get back under control, he couldn't let himself fall apart like this-

But telling himself what he had to do was easier than actually doing it, and his body refused to listen to his commands. He couldn't rely on his nanotech anymore, the earring stolen from him by Blackbeard, and though he'd modified the Phoenix suit in an effort to control his powers, it wasn't working.

Ace's brother let out a choked sounding gasp, his fingers fluttering above the hole in Ace's back that was slowly growing, and all Marco could think about was that if he could just get over to Ace he could do something-

Gold and red sparks flickered above Ace's back, his body breaking down, and Marco's vision was only filled with Akainu and his vicious grin as he reeled back to deliver another punch.

"Get them out!" he roared, shoving down his heartbreaking agony and launching himself forwards, letting his form flicker around Akainu's punch before delivering a swift kick to Akainu's chest.

Akainu skidded backwards with a growl, and Marco landed in front of Luffy and Ace, refusing to look backwards. He could only hope that his family had listened to his order, because he couldn't turn.

He couldn't stand to look over his shoulder and confirm that Ace's body really was breaking apart.

Luffy's hiccuping sobs met his ears, a plaintive, heartbreaking cry filling the air, and Marco fought the urge to curl up and clutch his chest, feeling the sound echo in the hollow space where he'd thought he'd kept his heart.

Wasn't it funny to think that he'd given it to Ace, unknowingly, and now Ace's own heart was-

Akainu struck again, and Marco thanked the heavens for the distraction, lashing out viciously with his talons and preventing Akainu from getting close to Ace and Luffy again. Even though Marco's form was fluctuating wildly, more energy than person, he still had enough sense to hold himself together, desperately.

"Stay away from my sons, Akainu!" he heard Oyaji yell from behind him, and then the sky sounded like it was cracking, a boom that could swallow the planet they were on and even more easily devour the people trapped upon the planet's surface.

They'd been so, so close when Blackbeard had entered the Prionic system, and the set of strange streams that linked a set of Starfleet controlled planets, but then again, Marco had been so close to Ace and had still let him be taken away, chains twined tight around his bloody forearms.

So close, he thought, trying to keep Akainu from Oyaji, but then Kizaru was coming from nowhere, his energy trying to contain Marco's, and Marco screamed when he saw the now familiar bubble of magma tearing through skin.

" Oyaji! "

He wasn't the only one who'd shouted, couldn't even hear his own voice above the furious, heartbroken cries of his siblings, but he could see Ace trying to fight back the encroaching flicker of flame that ate away at his skin, tearing past the unmarked skin of his back and all Marco could think about was that quiet night under the stars, I'm getting my tattoo on my back , and Ace had to survive, he hadn't even got a chance to bear the Whitebeard mark with pride-

The last of his body dissolved like it'd never been there, and Marco felt it when Ace's fire slipped towards the stars, when the energy that had made up Ace merely-

Vanished.

He didn't remember them getting out.

He didn't remember Shanks' terrifyingly angry arrival, the truce and silence that'd befallen the battlefield. He would've thought that those memories would be the most predominant, but what he remembered most clearly were tiny, idle conversations.

"Where's home?" Ace asked, leaning against the rail and staring at the stars, and Marco shrugged.

"Here," he answered, and the answer made Ace snort and knock his shoulder.

Ace's bracelet rested innocently in front of him, gleaming red and white against the dark wood of his desk, and Marco, though he knew it was useless, prayed for the flicker of gold.

A knock on the door broke him from his thoughts, and Marco jolted, his eyes refocusing.

"Commander?" he heard someone call through the door, and then it swung open, letting Vel step through, a den den mushi cradled in his palms. "There's-"

Vel paused, teeth scraping against each other as though he were chewing the words. Marco watched him fight uselessly to spit out what he wanted to say, then gave up, settling the den den mushi on his desk.

It peered at him blankly as Vel quickly escaped the room, and Marco straightened in his chair, trying to convince himself that having a staring conversation wasn't the most interaction he'd had with another being for weeks.

"Marco?"

His heart stopped.

"Marco, it's me-"

"Ace?" he whispered, felt the name pull something inside him that hadn't even started to heal.

A breathy laugh of relief echoed across the line, crackling faintly, breaking up the words. "Stars, Marco, you've no idea how glad I am to hear your voice."

"But- but you-" he stammered, gripping the edge of his desk and dragging scratches into the wood.

The snail dissolved into static, only the brief snatches of Ace's voice filtering through, and Marco couldn't- he couldn't-

"And I guess it's stupid, and there's so many- there's so many other things we need to do but- I need to tell you. I mean, I forgot, and you said it so many times but I- I think I love you, too."

The pull turned into a yank, spilling Marco's insides out of the carefully constructed containers he'd put them in, after the battle had ripped him to shreds.

A brutal laugh escaped him, angry and bitter, and it hurt, gods, did it hurt.

"You-" he said, and his hand tightened around the small snail in front of him. "You got one thing wrong in all your information gathering, you star-damned shifter," he spat, and the line echoed back his words, the being that'd stolen Ace's voice blissfully silent. "Ace didn't love me. I think I loved him, with all my heart- but- Ace never loved me."

There was an aborted sound at the other end of the line, but Marco didn't wait for more words to come through and rip him apart. "Let me grieve in peace, " he said, and the words dissolved into a half-plead before he slammed down the mouthpiece, cutting off anything else the imposter wanted to say.

Marco didn't know what he'd do, to keep remembering Ace's voice.

He curled forwards, hand pressed to his aching chest and trying to fight back the sudden surge of memories that threatened to drown him, the taste of smoke and sweat on his tongue, desperation a note held heavy in the air, the last words he'd ever heard Ace speak-

"If I- if I don't get out- I just want to say I think I-"

"You'll get out, Ace. Didn't I promise?"