The sound of gunshots had Marco out of sleep and in his clothes at the speed of light, his force pulling his freckled lover off the bed and on the the floor.
He rubbed his head, "Ouch, Marco what's-" but before he could even mumble anything else, the Phoenix was out the door.
Thatch shot up from the bed as well and shook his geisha awake, "Zo, we got trouble." he said, the words making the raven haired man shoot up to dress and grab his weapon as well.
Thatch, messy, undid hair and all, raced out the door and Ace looked over at Izo to see the man struggling to bend over to grab his gun.
Ace pulled his shorts on, thankful that the crew was used to his half nakedness already, and walked over to him, handing him the rifle off of the floor.
"Izo, I don't think you should-" he started.
The pale man pounded his lower back with a fist, letting out a hiss of breath, "Trust me Ace, I've been in battle in worse conditions before. Come on."
Outside stood Marco and Thatch, yelling orders at divisions everywhere atop the upper deck, for they were under attack.
What idiotic Pirate crew thought it was a good idea to attack 1) late at night when Oyaji is asleep, 2) in the middle of Ace's afterglow with his lovers after mind blowing sex yet again, and 3) oh yeah, the freaking Whitebeard Pirates?
The two raven haired men walked up to their lovers, Thatch taking a double take at the one in a dark orange kimono, "Izo, get back in the room, we got this." he hissed.
Izo gave him a look like the chef just asked him to jump off a cliff, "What?"
Thatch was starting to get irritated, "I said get back in there! You're in no shape to-"
Izo jumped over the railing to begin shooting at enemies who tried to climb aboard, his accuracy never faulting, completely and utterly ignoring the 4th division commander's warnings.
Curses flowed out of the man's mouth like a river and Marco transformed, blue flames flickering in the night sky as he dove down to start attacking enemies.
The sound of a weapon being swung at him made the fire man smirk, the sword whizzing right through his head.
The confused rogue looked at him in question and he stabbed Ace right through his chest, a small ring of fire surrounding the blade. He grabbed it and pulled it so hard that the pirate lost his grip on it and stumbled forward, the same sword he wielded just a moment ago being only inches away from his neck.
Ace gave him an raised eyebrow and without a fight the scared man jumped overboard.
Sword resting on his shoulders, Ace peered down at the bottom deck to see that most of the enemy had been wiped out, not that he was surprised.
A particular flash of orange caught his eye as he saw a large and burly man with a thick beard kick Izo dead in his back, making the geisha fall over.
"Izo!" he yelled kicking it into high gear when a pistol was pushed into his jet black hair.
The pale man scrambled towards his gun which was within an arm's reach until a large booted foot kicked it out of range.
The man's low and gruff voice made the ground shake, "Call for help little lady."
Fire burned in his brown eyes, "Like hell I will."
Another attempted blow to his head and Ace was down, fighting off a determined enemy trying to stab his neck, "Guys!" he tried but his calls were swallowed by the sounds of battle.
The terrifying sound of a cocked pistol made Ace turn to see Izo with a bloody lip and a gun pointed at his forehead.
"Wonder how much recognition I'll get for knocking off one of the old man's kids?" The pirate growled.
Why wasn't he moving? Ace closed his eyes tightly, afraid of everything that was about happen, how just like that, all his happiness was going to be ripped away from him.
"Thatch!"
The world was moving too slowly as Izo's voice, trembling called out for the 4th division commander, said man came instantly, bringing his blade down to cut the enemy's head clean off his shoulders.
Ace stared at the scene like a bad dream and watched as blood fell down like rain staining the chef's -or what was left of his- clothes.
Ace watched Izo stare at Thatch's hand stretched out for him, his body wracking with tremors, his chest heaving with short pants.
His slender hand smacked the gesture out of the way and he shot up before anyone could even ask if he was okay, storming down the hallway, footsteps as loud as a thunderstorm.
Ace lethargically played with an apple slice as his two older lovers quietly discussed the events of last night.
"I tried to go to his room right after but the door was locked and he wouldn't answer it." Thatch sighed, his hair not even up in its usual pompadour, indicating that this was definitely an issue that had the chef on edge.
"Why are you surprised? He was scared, Thatch." the fire user peeped.
"Yeah, I know. But I don't know why it makes me feel… I don't know...good, that when he's literally staring death in the face he calls out...for me." The man said with a warming smile at his lips.
"Yeah well it made him feel weak." Marco mumbled.
"Marco…" Ace scolded.
"I mean come on guys, this is Izo we're talking about here. Izo: the man who doesn't need anything from anybody. The man who's always been capable of handling himself on and off the battle field, suddenly in a position where he has to call out for help. Like a damsel in distress."
"Marco." Ace repeated.
"No, he's right Ace." Thatch said playing with his facial hair, "He's completely right."
"Goodmorning Commander Izo!"
The three men turned around to see the radiating crossdresser gracefully strolling into the kitchen in, as usual, a beautifully make robe that hung off his broad shoulders.
He smiled, "Goodmorning Haruta." he said cheerfully giving the young boy a hair ruffle.
His brown eyes glanced up directly at the table with his three lovers who tried their best to turn around as if they weren't just staring at him.
He shook his head and glided over there, pecking Ace on his freckled cheek, "Goodmorning baby." he whispered softly in the boy's ear.
Ace blushed and watched Izo whisper the same thing in Marco's ear, the blonde smiling in response, mumbling words of affection back.
The two men held their breath as Izo stood above Thatch, "Goodmorning Thatch." he said as if he was straining the constant tone in his voice.
The man's forest green eyes widened at the formal greeting and he looked up at his lover who simply smiled down at him.
Thatch grabbed his pale hand and kissed the back of it, "Goodmorning Izo." he purred.
The blank expression on the geisha's face left a sour taste in Thatch's mouth and he couldn't help but to shoot up and follow the man out the room when he suddenly snatched his hand away and sped out the room down the open walk way.
"Izo!" he called out, "Izo!" he tried again.
The pale man swiftly stopped and turned around, catching the chef off guard.
"Yes Thatch?" He said.
"About last night-"
Izo turned and started walking away again, "I do not wish to speak about last night."
Thatch grabbed his wrist making him stop, "Well I do."
Realizing that there was no fighting his frazzled mate, Izo shook his wrist from his grasp and stood firmly, his arms crossed, "Alright, what is it?"
"Last night...when you called out for me, why are you acting like it's such a bad thing?" Thatch panted.
"Because it is." Izo mumbled.
"Because what?"
"Because it just is." he spat.
"Because what, Izo?!"
"Because I don't need you!"
The man's voice rang through Thatch's ears and pierced his heart, pale hands coming to his face instantly.
"Oh my God, Thatch I didn't...I didn't mean it like that baby, I just," he let out a sigh, "I just don't need you to be worried about me. I don't need you to think I can't handle my own in any given situation." he explained.
Thatch grabbed him by his shoulders, "Izo, I don't think that. Nobody here thinks that you can't handle yourself."
"But last night-" he started.
"Forget last night! Izo, you were scared. I can bet you all the money in the world that each and every last one of these men on this ship has been truly terrified once in their life, wishing that they had somebody to call on. I know I have…" he laughed nervously.
Izo stared into those gorgeous green eyes, "It's okay. I know you can take care of yourself Izo. I just want you to understand that I'm always, ALWAYS, here to catch you when you fall."
Tears welled up in his eyes and he jumped into Thatch's arms, large hands rubbing gently up and down his back.
Thatch could feel the smaller male's body shaking viciously and held him even tighter.
"Thank you…"