[damnit. He was being cool about this. You couldn't have let him be cool about it? He supposes it's a fair trade but-- it makes him sigh a little. He closes his eyes and accepts it, holding Marco's shoulders for a moment, feeling a bitter kind of relief go through him and the tug of the truth deep in his gut.]
Good.
[he raises his hands to Marco's jaw and opens his eyes to look into his commander's]
I'd be lost without you, Marco.
[Ace isn't enough. He loves Ace dearly but he couldn't live in this world with a broken Marco. He knows himself well enough to realize that he's not strong enough and the darkness would definitely overtake him then and he wouldn't want to stop it. Maybe it's selfish to hold on so hard, but he was still a pirate in the end.]
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Good.
[he raises his hands to Marco's jaw and opens his eyes to look into his commander's]
I'd be lost without you, Marco.
[Ace isn't enough. He loves Ace dearly but he couldn't live in this world with a broken Marco. He knows himself well enough to realize that he's not strong enough and the darkness would definitely overtake him then and he wouldn't want to stop it. Maybe it's selfish to hold on so hard, but he was still a pirate in the end.]