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“Are you happy to have this old fool as your father?” Edward “Whitebeard” Newgate inquires in a raspy voice as Ace kneels in front of him, exhaustion present in both of their faces and voices.
The question takes Ace by surprise. Surely their past two years together had told the old man the answer to that question by now. Ace and Whitebeard have grown extremely close since Whitebeard adopted him right around the time Ace turned eighteen, always confiding in one another and aiding the other when needed. Not to mention, Ace had loudly proclaimed in front of all those in Marineford, no, the entire world watching his public execution that Whitebeard and Whitebeard alone is his father. Portgas D. Ace cannot allow his father to have any doubts about his love and respect for him, not after all they have been through and the lengths Whitebeard has already gone to in order to save him from the clutches of the Marines.
Whitebeard has taught him more in their two years together than Monkey D. Garp could have dreamed of teaching him in a lifetime had the young, freckled man have followed in his adopted grandfather’s footsteps as a Marine. Whereas Garp taught Ace how to fight with his fists and the start of strategy, Whitebeard taught Ace how to fight with his mind and his Devil Fruit powers, teaching the man many call “Fire Fist” how to always think at least three moves ahead of his enemies. Ace has flourished under the tutelage and love of his adoptive father, quickly rising to become one of the most feared and simultaneously revered pirates in the New World.
Thus, there is no hesitation regarding Ace’s answer to his Pops.
“Of course, Dad!” Ace shouts after what feels like a lifetime of reflection, tears staining his cheeks as his Pops laughs heartily.