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It was a warm and pleasant day on deck of the moby dick. The sun was shining on the empty deck, the crew nowhere to be seen. In the distance sounds of fighting and explosions made the quiet sea a little less so. The cause of the explosions was yet another clash between the whitebeard and roger pirates and most notably between their respective captains, Gol.D Roger and Edward Newgate known more commonly as Whitebeard. These battles had become a sort of routine for the men with neither ever truly coming out on top and this one was no different. The fight had only lasted a few hours but by now it was abundantly clear that they were still even in power and that there would be no victor. This however didn´t stop them from going all out for the fight, Roger using enough haki to seriously damage all infrastructure, which had previously been emptied of the pirates living there, and even break quite a large chunk of the volcano on the isle. Whitebeard wasn´t letting up either of course destroying several of the ships surrounding them with the power of his quake-quake fruit. In short: both men were more than happy to give everything they could to defeat the other. The only reason the fight was prematurely stopped is the sudden arrival of a plethora of navy ships which quickly became the main focus of the pirates.
After a few hours of fending off the ships Roger suggested throwing a feast, a proposal Whitebeard happily agreed to. And so a four day feast and celebration began.
On the second day of said feast Roger pulled whitebeard to the side and led him to a remote location on the other side of the isle.
„What is this about Roger?“ Whitebeard asked in his usual slightly amused tone.
„I have something to proclaim Newgate! Something that will shock even you my friend!“ Roger said with a large smile on his face.
„Well? What the hell is it?“ Whitebeard said clearly amused. Usually he wouldn´t distance himself from his sons in this manner but this was Roger and he knew he could trust him.
Roger stretched his arms as he always did while saying something important.
„I have an illness Newgate! An illness no medicine in the world can cure! An illness so grave that no man no matter how strong can survive it! I will die in a few years!“ Roger said laughing
Whitebeard was in shock. Here was his best friend and rival, the man he had been fighting for years that he was going to die in a way one might proclaim an engagement to a woman or the acquisition of a new ship. Whitebeard could do nothing but stare as a deep rage built inside of him.
„And what exactly do you expect me to do with this Roger? Feel sorry for you? Give in and finally enter that crew of yours? Is that what you want?“ Whitebeard said in a commanding tone
„I thought you´d be glad to hear this Newgate! You´ve finally won! You´ll outlive me!“ Roger said with a look of shock on his face
„Happy!? I´m supposed to be happy that my friend is dying!? Roger you´re even more of a fool than I thought!“ Roger looked on in awe as Whitebeard got up to leave
„Newgate wait!“ Roger shouted. Whitebeard hesitated for a bit before continuing to walk away clearly greatly insulted by Roger.
As Whitebeard returned to the feast he had a bit of time to think about what had just happened. He himself didn´t understand why he had reacted in such a way. It was completely unusual for him and he knew Roger only meant good. He figured it was less anger and more so sadness. Sadness that the only man he had ever loved treated him like nothing but a rival. Whitebeard had given up all hope of getting together with Roger after he and Rayleigh had adopted shanks. He held no resentment towards Rayleigh or the boy. It wasn´t their fault he had been too much of a coward to let Roger know of his true feelings. Despite his towering appearance Whitebeard was inexperienced in terms of love and especially telling Roger, the only man he was truly an equal to. He had loved Roger for decades ever since they first clashed on a cold and desolate winter island. He remembered it very well the first time he saw Roger´s smile. So bright it was blinding so full of ambition and hope for the future. Whitebeard knew at that point that he could never reach the level of Roger never truly. So he gave up. As he reminisced he felt tears roll down his face. He decided the best course of action would be to simply keep going keep living as he had been and try to forget about Roger and grow old alongside him. But that´s exactly where the issue lies. He would never grow old alongside the man he loved. Would never get to experience his love. Subconsciously he used his devil fruit to tear down the tree he had been leaning on falling to the ground.
After this he wiped his tears away and returned to the feast. He told vista he wasn´t feeling too good,blamed it on having eaten something wrong and finally returned to the moby dick. He would not leave the ship for the remaining duration of the feast shedding many more tears during this time eventually just pretending it never happened at all.