[Oh. Marco's so pinged by this, thanks to Ace. And man, surviving beyond the others even when you don't want to is just one of Marco's phoenix things.] Revenge is for the living, but because of the dead. There's the matter of who you're getting revenge for... and not losing sight of everything else that makes it important.

And sometimes, something that looks like an obstacle may not be at all, it could be a friend. Ace was... [There's a pause and a genuinely fond grin.] He kept trying to kill our Pops up until the day he adopted Pops as his father instead. By the same token, I thought Doma would be an enemy of the crew forever; someone we'd have to kill to keep him out of the way, but instead Ace talked him into becoming our ally and he became a best friend and huge help. Jinbei and Ace were as close as hell, but they met by fighting for five days without break before the crew could get out there.

Things aren't often what you might expect. I have this problem myself. Shanks annoys the hell out of me, and he does it on purpose... but he also helped me make a memorial for Ace and my Pops after the war. Hell, he made sure we even were able to bury them since the marines wanted them for trophies.

Just don't be afraid to look at something in a completely different light I guess. Making mistakes in the past are going to happen, but learning from them is the only way to get stronger.

And thank you. With stakes this high, I'll be sure to.