"Aaaand we're here!" Thatch leans over the guard rail to take a good look at the island they've just docked Moby Dick at. The harbor is bustling with activity and there seems to be just about all sorts of stores and shops, perfect for restocking food and supplies.

"Finally! I've been itching to get off this ship and stand on real solid ground for a while," Ace excitedly joins the man on the deck.

"What, you don't like us enough?" Thatch pouts.

"That's not what I-"

Thatch grins and messes Ace's hair up, "Aww look at you. Haha!"

Marco just smiles at the two. "Get ready then."

Ace perks up, "You going too?"

"Not sure," Marco peers in the direction of their captain's cabin at the far end. "Gotta report to Pops."

"Oh uh..."

Marco looks back at Ace.

"Would you mind if I… ask for a quick favor to drop me by that hill over there?" Ace points to a highland some distance away from the docks.

Marco blinks, "Drop you?"

"Yeah, you know, fly me over," Ace grins optimistically.

"You can't walk?" Marco instinctively glances at Ace's legs.

"Oh no I'm fine," Ace waves a 'no' with his hands, knowing what Marco may mistakenly worry about. "I'm just thinking of shopping, stocking up some stuff, or like a lot, so maybe a head start would save some time." He puts on a hopeful look, "It'll probably only take a minute?"

Marco slightly raises an eyebrow and Ace responds with an attempt at puppy eyes.

"You just wanna see him in zoan form don't you?" Thatch pokes at Ace teasingly.

"Thatch!"

Marco rolls his eyes a little, albeit with a little smile, and turns towards Whitebeard's cabin, "Enjoy yourself."

"Marco!" Ace can't believe he just failed again.

Thatch hangs an arm over the boy, "Well, I could walk ya there. Or we could race?"

Ace sighs, not sure in disappointment or frustration. "I'll just take the Striker." Still somewhat pouting, Ace grabs his bag, brings out his personal boat and hops onto it. "I'll be back in the evening."

"Get me a souvenir, yea?" Thatch grins at him.

Ace sticks his tongue out at the cook before driving his boat in the direction of the hill, along the skirts of the island. He has only gone for maybe half a minute when he feels a small gust of wind from behind him, and turns his head to see a blue phoenix soaring past over him. He was enthralled, and for a moment he just stares at the beautiful creature in silence, until it finally dawns on him what this means.

"MARCO!" Displeased at the fact that Marco actually ditched him, Ace continues to shout his name in all manners until he carelessly steers into a rock jutting out of the water, flips… and splashes in.

When the shouting abruptly ends, Marco peers back only to find Ace madly flailing in the water. He would palm himself in the face if he could but right now the boy's life is in his hands. Who would have guessed that the heir of the pirate king would go down in history as the guy who perished himself by accident?

Marco turns back quickly to scoop, precisely, the drowning boy up with his claws, and then he flies back to Moby Dick where he puts him down on the deck. Thatch who has actually witnessed all that is laughing his ass off with very little guilt.

Ace coughs up the water that almost got into his lungs. Marco morphs back into human form as soon as his feet land on the deck and kneels over to pat the boy on the back, not saying a word. Thatch continues to laugh, though, to which Marco responds only in a word "Oi..."

As soon as Ace is able to catch his breath, he glares at Thatch whose only defense is "You should have seen the way you were screaming. It's almost cartoony the way you plopped into the water, you can't blame me for laughing. Besides, I wasn't worried." He points a thumb at Marco. "We know he'd save your ass."

That sets off the reminder.

"MARCO!" Ace lunges at the first division commander. Caught by surprise, he loses his balance, wincing a little when his head hits the wooden floor but mostly what he registers is the boy's angry voice. "You ditched me!"

Marco blinks at him, noting their awkward position. "I didn't."

Ace grabs Marco's collar, "You flew as soon as I left!"

Marco sighs mentally, "It's Pops' order."

"To ditch me?" For a moment Ace wonders if he should attempt murder for the 101th time on the big guy. Of course, he doesn't mean it.

Marco moves a hand to rub his temples, the volume getting to his head, and props himself up to shift Ace's weight off him. "To survey the area".

Thatch squats down beside them watching intently, as if he's enjoying a live sitcom. "You know he's in charge of that."

"I know!" Ace furrows his brows. "That's why I asked if he could drop me by the hill!"

The young man shows no sign of intention to get off Marco's legs while Thatch continues to watch them whilst chewing on a leaf stem. A few seconds pass by quietly with just the breeze blowing past them.

Marco turns to Thatch, "You wanna go get the Striker?"

"On it!" Thatch is quick to respond. As soon as he gets up he signals for a couple guys and goes off to drop a boat. Now that the silence is broken, Marco slips himself out of Ace's weight and gets up. Ace follows suit. He's about to say something again when Marco starts off first, "You should be more careful."

Defensive instinct tells Ace to frown deeper, "What?"

"If I'm not around and you lose your life, Pops would be devastated." Marco's look of concern is genuine.

"I-" Ace finds himself at a loss for words. He isn't fooling around but it's a fact he was careless, even if he insists it wasn't totally his fault. He doesn't mean to potentially devastate their father but... does that mean Marco wouldn't be? He's still working his head for an unembarrassing response when a sneeze finds its way out of him. "Achoo!"

Marco's expression softens as he smiles, taking off his shirt and covering it over Ace's shoulder. "Go get dry before you fall sick."

Feeling defeated somehow, Ace holds onto the shirt and proceeds to walk to his room, leaving a trail of wet foot prints. Marco watches him go and notices Ace's pants slipping off him from the weight of the water, his hip bone and the tip of his butt crack quite visible. He almost chuckles but doesn't. "You might wanna keep your pants up."

Ace blushes almost immediately and holds onto the hem of his pants tight before hurrying to his room. This wouldn't have been embarrassing had it been anyone else, what with the entire crew of brothers, but this is Marco and he can't quite place why it makes a difference.

Marco remains on the deck, resting his arms against the guard rail and looking out at Thatch who's still on his way to fetch the Striker. He silently greets any of his brothers who walk past him, most of them excited to get off the ship. "Not going into town?" one of them asks him. "Later," he'd say.

Moments later another one of his brothers comes by looking for him. "Hey Marco, Ace's calling for you."

He straightens his back. "What's wrong?"

"Don't know. Was just told to call you ASAP."

Marco makes his way to Ace's room and knocks on his door, to which Ace opens just slightly, poking his head out.

"You called?" He figures he's likely naked behind the door.

"Yeah, um... you remember when I said I was gonna do some shopping?"

Marco looks at him with an unreadable expression, but Ace knows he's listening. "Well... I ran out of undies..."

It's a little hard to hold this one in so Marco lets the smile of amusement show on his face. "I'll get some for you." He proceeds to leave.

"Wait!"" Ace opens the door a little more and poking his head out further. "Are you going to town now?"

Marco retains his look of amusement. "Unless you want to stay that way till nightfall."

"I mean," Ace sheepishly scratches his head. "Can I just borrow one of yours?"

Marco blinks at him, unable and not quite willing to picture the boy in his underwear. "…You still have my shirt?"

Ace blinks back, "Oh, yeah." He leaves the door, grabs the purple shirt on his bed and comes back in hurried footsteps. "Here."

"Thanks," Marco slips his shirt on quickly and then pets him lightly on the head through the partially open door. "Be a good boy. I'll be back in fifteen." And off he goes.

"Wait! I wanna go with you!" Marco waves a hand at him without looking back. "Marco, please!"

Outside, Thatch has retrieved the Striker and is rowing back towards the ship when he sees Marco hop onto the guard rail. "You leaving?" He shouts across the water.

"Just getting something."

"Without Ace?"

Marco replies only with a little smile, not that Thatch can see it, as he morphs into the flaming bird and flies his way towards town. Thatch sighs to himself, knowing he'd have to handle their disappointed baby brother in the meantime.

It's 327 days since Ace joined the Whitebeard family and he has not once gotten a ride on the phoenix he so admires.

Note: There's a sequel to this titled "359 Days Later". You can either copy paste the bottom URL and replace that portion on your browser address bar or search through my other works.

/s/11311045/1/359-Days-Later