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All his life, Ace grew up with words of hate towards his father and himself. At one point, he even started believing them.
Those whispers around him when someone mentioned that man’s dreaded name. Words detailing how they’d kill that man’s son had he had one.
He thought that once he went out to sea, he’d finally be away from those words. That he’d finally cut all ties with that man. That now he’d be free. But that wasn’t the case.
The Pirate King.
Gold Roger.
The Oro Jackson.
Those words never left him even though no one knew his relation to that man.
The only one who knew, besides his family, was Deuce.
Perhaps, he wasn’t thinking of the repercussions of staying quiet when Deuce had mentioned Roger not being Ace’s father. Or perhaps he wanted another person to know, even if it would make that person hate him. Although his immediate reaction wasn’t a good one, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
The only person who knew his secret. The only person who knew to comfort him, to put a hand on his shoulder when that man was mentioned. It was nice.
But Ace had never been the one to help him. It was always the other way around, so he didn’t know what to do.
Deuce was standing there, eyes lost in the distance. He knew that look very well.
Dissociation.
That word left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He’d only been on the receiving end, though. Never the one on the outside, looking at another person experiencing it. Is this how he looked when it happened to him?
How did Deuce do it?
He put a hand on his shoulder and whispered “Deuce”
His gaze was still far away.
He stood next to him and put a hand over both his shoulders, another one in front of him, and sat him down carefully. He didn’t resist.
“Deuce”
He blinked.
“Deuce, listen to me. Breathe.”
He glanced at Ace and did as he was told.
Eyes closed, in and out.
When he opened his eyes again, he was fine.
“Wanna talk about it?”
He looked at him and gave him a strained smile “Maybe later”