[His own frustration that he can't protect it. That he's not as strong as his father. His pure relief that someone worthwhile, no, someone better will have it. That it shows what Whitebeard wanted to see before he died. The shape of the future.]
[He wants to say his Pops would be pleased by that, because he would, but it didn't fit and he knew that wasn't why Straw Hat was doing it, and hell that was part of the point.]
[Marco looks up at the stars, silently asking his father for a little more guidance.]
You're not what I expected.
[He never was. He was almost, but then something would throw Marco off completely. As Ace's little brother, he was unsurprised how much Luffy and Ace were alike, except Luffy was more like Garp and Roger both. But as the bearer of the hat, the carrier of Ace's will, he was something else entirely again.]
I wish I could offer you better help, but you probably know better than I do the struggles we now face.
[Shanks made a bet for the future. Was this the future he gambled for? Or was it just that he trusted however Straw Hat's path led would be for the better?]
I was there right after Roger died, eh? Me, Jozu, Pops, Teach and some others.
[His eyes narrow and voice softens, but only in volume. In tone it gets harder.] I will never get that image out of my head.
The slavers were everywhere, yoi. Kids couldn't go out into the streets without getting kidnapped, and even King Neptune and his soldiers couldn't secure any lasting peace. I have never hated pirates as much as that day.
[He leans his head back against the wood and looks up again.] Pops was grooming Ace to be his successor, you know? Because Ace has the same dream, and Pops saw a lot of potential in him. He asked me about all the islands we were protecting back then. Because if Ace wanted to go for Raftel, it was going to be a lot harder to keep those things safe or watched.
I still don't know how to take it now. I'm not helping Ace's dream, and I still can't keep all the islands safe.
[Monotone deadpan, no emotion on the surface.] Then again, I can't even keep my brother from being kidnapped by slavers either. That's why he joined us. That's why he came to the surface, to the New World. To be a fishman in a crew that would kick all slavers in the teeth. [Whether Namur let himself be captured to free the others, or just because they got the drop on him, it's all the same to Marco. Marco failed to protect him, and that was the problem.]
no subject
[Stares a little longer.]
[There's no words for all of it.]
[His own frustration that he can't protect it. That he's not as strong as his father. His pure relief that someone worthwhile, no, someone better will have it. That it shows what Whitebeard wanted to see before he died. The shape of the future.]
[He wants to say his Pops would be pleased by that, because he would, but it didn't fit and he knew that wasn't why Straw Hat was doing it, and hell that was part of the point.]
[Marco looks up at the stars, silently asking his father for a little more guidance.]
You're not what I expected.
[He never was. He was almost, but then something would throw Marco off completely. As Ace's little brother, he was unsurprised how much Luffy and Ace were alike, except Luffy was more like Garp and Roger both. But as the bearer of the hat, the carrier of Ace's will, he was something else entirely again.]
I wish I could offer you better help, but you probably know better than I do the struggles we now face.
[Shanks made a bet for the future. Was this the future he gambled for? Or was it just that he trusted however Straw Hat's path led would be for the better?]
I was there right after Roger died, eh? Me, Jozu, Pops, Teach and some others.
[His eyes narrow and voice softens, but only in volume. In tone it gets harder.] I will never get that image out of my head.
The slavers were everywhere, yoi. Kids couldn't go out into the streets without getting kidnapped, and even King Neptune and his soldiers couldn't secure any lasting peace. I have never hated pirates as much as that day.
[He leans his head back against the wood and looks up again.] Pops was grooming Ace to be his successor, you know? Because Ace has the same dream, and Pops saw a lot of potential in him. He asked me about all the islands we were protecting back then. Because if Ace wanted to go for Raftel, it was going to be a lot harder to keep those things safe or watched.
I still don't know how to take it now. I'm not helping Ace's dream, and I still can't keep all the islands safe.
[Monotone deadpan, no emotion on the surface.] Then again, I can't even keep my brother from being kidnapped by slavers either. That's why he joined us. That's why he came to the surface, to the New World. To be a fishman in a crew that would kick all slavers in the teeth. [Whether Namur let himself be captured to free the others, or just because they got the drop on him, it's all the same to Marco. Marco failed to protect him, and that was the problem.]
Give 'em hell, eh?