Birds of a Feather

by InsaneScriptist

When working for Gingotts lands you in a different world, a Veela has got to do what she has to do to survive. Still it is surprising to thrive after meeting the Whitebeard Pirates, or maybe not. Birds of a feather flock together after all. HP epilogue compliant. Written in 100 word prompt format.

1. Chapter 1

A/N; For the damn plot bunny that won't let me work on BV in peace. This is not the sole bunny either, but one of the shorter ones.

Beta'd by the lovely Umei no Mai who without this would have far worse grammar.

Summary: 'When working for Gingotts lands you in a different world, a Veela has got to do what she has to do to survive. Still it is surprising to thrive after meeting the Whitebeard Pirates, or maybe not. Birds of a feather flock together after all.'

Warning: Harry Potter epilogue compliant.

Birds of a Feather

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1. Beginnings

Working for Gringotts had improved her English most certainly. She still had an accent, as she likely always would when not speaking her native language. Finding Bill during the Triwizard and then later marrying her wizard and having children with him was a witch's dream come true. Her wizard was still handsome, more so for being so courageous. Scars such as those did not diminish him at all.

After all, he accepted her Veela-quirks so she didn't mind his psuedo-werewolf ones.

2. Middles

The trouble with having the home to just themselves was that they had gotten used to having their children underfoot. Their various nieces and nephews would visit but those were short intervals of noise and inane daily chatter. The first year all of their children were gone they found themselves inexplicably longing for summer despite the daily chaos that was certain to happen with that many red heads in the same place visiting and bringing friends or significant others.

3. Ends

After that first year where they found that sex couldn't replace the ache of missing their children, nor fill the emptiness of the house with just each other they looked towards work. Both were employed by Gringotts and between them could work in any part of the world that had a project or branch. This worked until their children had all graduated Hogwarts. Still, they had moved on and the two had found an acceptable rhythm for living their life, learning and working.

Fleur sometimes wondered if it had been like this for her own parents after both she and Gabrielle had flown the nest.

4. Outside

Ruins, caves, concealed lovers hideaways, temples and tombs were found all over the world. Goblins didn't like to admit it but they relied on wizards for several things. They had to. It was written into the treaties, much to their displeasure. So the Goblin Nation could only deal with muggle world through wizard-kind except when it came to monetary matters which would fine them slightly. Still enough of a fee was placed on those exchanging muggle money for galleons to allow them to still make a profit.

This didn't mean much but Fleur while knowledgeable was not a qualified curse-breaker. She was hired to deal with clients and translate for clients who didn't speak the language of business to the degree that they'd negotiate with goblins without having the specifics explained in a language they understood better. Translating and negotiation was Fleur's job, even while out in the field. So her language skills were excellent, when negotiation or dealing with contracts.

This caused few complications since a few places covered in wards and such were known to react to any bit of active magic when she wanted to stay with her husband out in the field and they did have people without an allure to translate as needed; including her husband. This often turned her into a glorified fetch-and-carry girl, holding lanterns lit with matches bought from the muggle world. Languages had become a bit of a specialty for Fleur over the years, as it did not require curse-breaking qualifications but was still a vital skill for any curse-breaking expedition.

5. Inside

There are numerous protocols in place to protect curse-breakers, goblins and others of the team. Breaking these often means death, or serious injury but to top it all off it will also lead to being instantly fired, which meant no pension for surviving family members to benefit from if the worst should happen and usually a lot of fines and the rightfully feared goblin justice for 'trespassing.' Still even following such protocols can sometimes cause issues such as what will happen if the temple had light sensitive traps.

Retrospectively, Fleur had to admire that kind of practical cunning.

6. Hours

The temple had flung her to what she assumed was either a holding cell or inner sanctum. Considering the lack of bones she doubted the holding cell theory. It truly didn't hold water when she noticed the altar in the fringes of light. Bill would be frantic but she would wait for him. It is what protocol dictated.

7. Days

After a period of what felt like days she finally set about to exploring the set of chambers, wand and lantern in hand. There was no natural light and thankfully no creatures. There was however a pool of still clear water, a room that was once a bed chamber or so she guessed and the altar. Just her luck to be shunted towards such cloistered quarters. She had looked for traps, tricks and other prepared surprises and found nothing.

She found no exit either. Not even a window.

8. Weeks

There are some people out there with an astounding sense of time who could measure accurately to the minute or even second. Fleur was not one of them even if her Veela heritage should have her up with the sun. She slept, drank water conjured from her wand -the pool had been determined to have magic of a sort she couldn't identify- and then later from the pool. Hunger did not have a large effect on most magicals as they could use magic to sustain themselves for just a little longer.

What Fleur and Veela did have was an astute sense to know how those they had bonded with and those that they had brought into the world were no matter the distance. Her Bill was dead. She felt herself shatter.

Veela do not do well with grief, never mind how stressed she was already. There was a true risk of self-immolation. A trip on the rough stone floor brought on by weakness from hunger into the pool fixed such an issue, as the lantern burned brightly on the alter.

9. Months

She woke on a beach, and knew then that something inexplicable except by magic had occurred. The sun was low on the water, but still not high enough to erase the stars from the sky. Having been around the world with her husband she had long since grown to know all of the night sky. This was not her sky. The second thing that occurred to her was that she had nothing on her at all. The third was that she now could get food even if water was uncertain.

Fleur was a Veela capable of using human magic, much like her mother and daughters. Being wandless was no handicap to catching the breathing mollusks, and skittering little crabs. Were Fleur more conscientious and not pressed to new limits she would have been more self-conscious of her state, but she not cared one jot that the food was put between her beak and not her lips. Hunger sated, the transformation reverted and clarity returned to her thoughts. She could see nothing on the island that said people lived there so all she could hope was that she could survive long enough, stay sane enough so that when people -if they even lived in this world- would rescue her and not an avian savage that would burn the world in her outrage.

10. Years

Survival took a while for Fleur to get the hang of. Thankfully she had her avian form to fall back on when it came to guarding a tree she had claimed as her roost and to kill, skin and cook any beast that thought she was an easy meal. Skinning what appeared to be a small blue leopard with her talons was not an easy task, nor was fashioning clothing -she had to figure out a way to tan the skins and improvised with a large spiky turtle shell, wood chips and hot water. She slowly and then rapidly started expanding her range of tools, building an actual shelter in her tree and preparing rations for days when it wasn't wise to try and obtain more food. The small, spring fed creek had some clay that made for a poor attempt at pottery but was still functional enough for cooking purposes.

Her days were spent focused on survival, preparation for tomorrow, making her nest cozy, making tools and generally being too busy to think about her English home. Her nights, those she didn't collapse in exhaustion from the day's labors were spent in mourning for not only her husband but her family and her children. It was a pattern that could have lasted for years and if Fleur was honest -it may have.

The island was warm enough that a concept of 'winter' didn't exist. The only 'seasons' were Hot, Humid and Monsoon not, Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter.

11. Red

Veela are magical beings capable of flight. Fleur didn't fly away from her island because she had no idea of where she was to go. Even the birds on the island didn't fly away so she could follow them. So instead her avian form saw use in flying her to and from her roost, later nest and then home, killing animals and pests alike, and as a convenient way to start a fire and cook. Fleur had grown used to seeing her talons and beak be red from killing and when she found further inland that they wouldn't alone suffice she made weapons. Spears were handy and easily manufactured.

Red was now a welcome sign as it was a sign of her continued life.

12. Orange

Fleur had never liked the color orange as a witch and liked it even less now. She had roosted instinctively so that the sun would wake her and then later she could never not rise with the sun. Orange was a color she loathed no matter how pretty the sun was on the water. The sun had scorched her fair -and far too human- skin mercilessly causing it to darken beyond mere vanity levels, had made her choke on the humidity as it raised the temperature to sweltering and was a merciless torment day after day.

13. Yellow

Yellow was the color of the eyes of most of the beasts here -at least the predatory ones, even if they were otherwise wrongly colored. Tigers are either white or orange with black stripes. Not cerulean blue and creamy yellow with dark green stripes. Those first few frantic nights were spent high up in her tree and those yellow eyes circling her. Those eyes belonged to some pack-like lizards that she sent running with handfuls of fearful instinctive fire. Later she learned to kill them and cook them.

She took great pleasure in it.

14. Green

Fleur adjusted to surviving on the island with an ease and pace that would have others in similar situations green with envy if they had the time and resources to spare a few moments to feel it. Fleur's time with the Gringotts exploration teams had subtly taught her how to survive in many environs even if she had to struggle without access to those spells. She had her Veela heritage to fall back on for a number of things people would struggle with.

At least visiting the beach after a good storm had passed had proved signs of intelligent inhabitants of the world since tools, trash and broken things washed up on occasion.

A lush green and almost tropical island was almost easy to adjust to after time in South America's rainforests. Having this knowledge augmented by her Veela heritage allowed Fleur to move past surviving and into thriving.

15. Blue

Fleur hated orange, so it is no surprise that she favored blue fire. It was hotter and prettier and held together better when thrown so that with practice on those lizard packs she had worked out a way that her pretty blue balls of fire would explode on contact with their hide.

Harmless bluebell flames they were not -the flames made in her avian form were for destruction only at this point, but with practice she had managed to make some everlasting bluebell like flames that she placed in clumsy clay dishes as a way to light her way to her nest should she not be able to make it back before the sun had set. This caused her to later further experiment with exactly what fire could do.

The results were truly surprising when augmented with half-forgotten knowledge. She then proceeded to forget every limitation that she had been told about.

16. Purple

The first few weeks of hunting larger game, those that she couldn't take down with talons or flames, Fleur felt like one big large ugly purple bruise. Her muscles ached, her bones ached and even her scraggly but well washed hair ached. Things roasted alive did not taste good for they were not cooked well, nor could they be preserved properly so that they were edible later. Roasted alive game was also not something that could easily and quickly be rendered and used as she needed and wanted. So she learned to hunt and do so like a hunter instead of a bird of prey or as a witch.

17. Brown

Fleur was wearing it. It was the color of dirt, mud and other crud she washed off when should could spare the time to do so. It was the color of her tanned leather clothing that she had fashioned by using her talons as a cutting instrument for both sewing cord and pieces. As she gained skill she used the leather to make more things -scraps became stuffing for a pillow, while furs became her bed. There were days she yearned for proper shoes but she had no idea how to make stiff leather and so she made sandals. She was not the fashionable witch she once was but she was still a woman that appreciated accessories -so she made them as colorful as possible with scales, shells, fur and feathers.

The fur on her clothing had been burned and scrapped off. It was hot enough on the island naked, never mind wearing fur clothing. Still the idea of clothing was more comforting than needed as it was warm enough that she could do without it -and sometimes did especially during the more humid days.

18. Black

There were days when only hunger and practicality spurred her from her nest as grief nearly choked her, if her residence could be called that anymore. The porch was halfway on vines but the nest was mostly on a large flat branch. Her nest originally began as a web of living vines, with smaller picked vines, branches and packed in with mud from the ground. A few straighter branches were stuck in the muck that was then cooked with a fire ball in hand creating a weak cement like mixture. These became first her walls once vegetation was weaved through them and then a little work and finesse created a roof.

It wasn't perfect -far from it- but it was her nest and shelter until she got the bright idea to burn into the tree to create a room large enough that she could crawl into and expand so that a storm would be unlikely to leave her without shelter again. The amount of ash created was immense and Fleur feared she'd never be clean again but she did get her room in the tree and more. Dedicated washing rendered her hair to a greyer version of her silver-blond hair but at least it wasn't black.

19. White

Most people do not know this about trees but the most active parts of it are the roots, the cells beneath the bark and the leaves. Photosynthesis is important but as a tree grows larger parts of it can die as nutrients can only diffuse so far. Typically this is the center that suffers and it's commonly known as heart rot, especially when facilitated by fungi. The heart of the tree is also the toughest part of the tree usually as this is where all of the tree's waste products are usually stored.

Fleur had burned into her tree in a specific way -down and forward. This allowed her continue her work as the fire smoldered as she reduced parts of it to charcoal dust. Fleur never suspected that she had lit the equivalent of a ground fire in the rotting heart wood of the tree. Due to the lower levels of oxygen in the tree due as a result of her covering the entrance with a fur, the potentially life-threatening fire never went far or out of control and died a quiet death. The traces of where it burned showed up nicely against the white wood of the tree even as Fleur further excavated on those days not fit for hunting.

20. Colourless

Fleur remembers when her nails used to be painted clear, but now they're far from that. There are white marks where shes has hit the nail against something, dirt under them and possibly blood that hasn't washed out from something she's killed.

Her colorful nails were proof of her being alive no matter how disgusting they might appear.

21. Friends

Fleur first spots other humans and one blue man that looks to have gills wearing weapons or not as they laugh and joke like friends carrying barrels. She waits like death above listening to their chatter. It takes a while for Fleur to understand what they're saying -they're not using French or English but what sounds like Japanese even though none of them look a thing like the Japanese she knew from her world. Not her best language but not her worst either.

They seemed to be heading for the spring to fill up on water which means they'll likely see the evidence of yesterday's kill. Fleur allows herself to think what strange ship they're sailing on since there's no uniform, joy-riders wouldn't leave their home area and comes to the conclusion that this strange group of seventeen people -including the fish-like man in traditional Japanese clothing- are part of no official military. The strange cross symbol with the upside-down arch is shown either tattooed upon their skin or on their clothing except for the fishman shows that they're part of the same group and the ease they joke around with each other shows that those wearing the mark are no slaves of the fishman.

22. Enemies

Fleur watches her potential enemies with curiosity. They have to walk through the dense undergrowth on an animal trail but of the group of seventeen only three stand out as potential threats to her -the ginger with the strangely protruding hair, the blue fishman and the sleepy looking guy with the cross symbol tattooed boldly on his chest. If this group proved to be her enemies or tried to capture her she'd gut and immolate them first.

23. Lovers

Veela are known for being incredibly beautiful which is only enhanced by their allure. They're also known for transforming into harpy like avians and throwing fireballs when angered. This is something that anyone could find out. There were lots of other details that weren't made public about Veela. Traditions and specifics that weren't to be shared with outsiders.

Due to their allure there are all sorts of rumors surrounding their prowess as lovers, tales involving scandalous seductions and secret trysts. Some of these are true while others are empty boasts. Worst is that most Veela while undoubtedly sexual beings, most are loyal once that partner or partners are selected. The criteria of the partner varies but a proper bond is a wonderful fulfilling experience so the idea of being captured and turned into a sex slave is something every sane Veela fears worse than death. Something that Fleur was not keen on allowing to occur should they even attempt it. She'd sooner kill herself than allow that.

24. Family

The Whitebeard Pirates are the largest floating family on the seas. Filled with scoundrels, rascals, rift-raft, con-artists, unfortunates, socially incompetents, sob-stories and unwanted children of the seas it is the love that Pops has for them all no matter the back story, species, gender or strength that binds them all together. It's not a family without quarrels, nor is it without joys or sorrows.

25. Strangers

It's understandable that when an untransformed but still armed Veela is finally noticed by the pirates that had previously been examining the dried blood pool from yesterday's kill that nothing was quite so unexpected as for Fleur to meet a group of strangers that day. To be fair the pirates weren't expecting her either. Nor were they expecting how devastating her smile was either.

26. Teammates

Later no one is sure what started the melee that ensued but Jinbei sending water at the attacking woman was not a good idea since it was neatly vaporized by a blue blaze of fire, exploding into a heavy, choking steam. The pirates huddled facing outwards as Thatch and Marco try to subdue her without killing her. It would have been easier for Marco without Thatch as the forth division commander kept getting distracted by how pretty she was.

In Thatch's defense, she wasn't wearing much, but a leather corset and skirt covered more than most bikinis.

27. Parents

Edward Newgate, better known to the world as the feared Yonko Whitebeard was not worried about his children he had sent to get fresh water from an out of the way island that was still one of his but certainly not inhabited the last time they were there. Between Marco and Thatch they wouldn't let any harm occur to their brothers. Jinbei joining them to speed up the search for fresh water and allow them to find edible animals faster was practically overkill for any potential danger on that island.

28. Children

His two commanders looked incredibly sheepish as they reached the Moby Dick carrying either a fully grown wild child or a survivor of some accident at sea. Likely the latter as most wild children were too frightened or curious to be as insolent looking as she was. Nor did they dismiss his height so easily.

"Soap?" She asked.

Whitebeard laughed as one of his adopted daughters led this woman to the baths.

29. Birth

Cleaning up properly with soap and hot water in the shower was a heavenly experience for someone that had been scrubbing clean with sand for who knows how long. She scrubbed her skin pink, glad she was naturally without unseemly hair, and thoroughly washed her hair. The clothing was a good fit if somewhat simple. The women on board the pirate ship -Fleur knew they were pirates by the bones on the sail, though pirates were largely a thing of the past in her own world- proved courteous by providing a hair brush, scissors and other amenities. A quick mani and pedicure, followed by struggles with the hairbrush and scissors returned her hair to a more tolerable and with time certainly to be glossy state.

She washed away her grief, uncertainty and old regrets and was reborn Fleur Delacour -proud Veela.

30. Death

Fleur Weasley had died when her Bill had died. She had no idea what happened to him -an accident, murdered, suicide or being unlucky in his search for her in that temple. Fleur Weasley was destroyed in that temple and killed by the transition to this new world. Veela were not phoenixes, but after returning to something resembling civilization and getting clean she sure felt like one.

31. Sunset

She could see the hated orange of sunset when she emerged from the baths, dressed in the skimpy shirt and soft knee-length trousers. There were a couple of gasps from those in the hall, especially from the one who had lent her the supplies to clean up with. She needed no reminders that she had certainly not been at her best after her ordeal.

32. Sunrise

Marco had thought that their unexpected find would still have been sleeping in the guest room by the time sunrise came around. Finding her sitting on the rail glaring at the sunrise was not expected.

"What did the sun ever do to you yoi?"

"Wake. Sleep."

"Ah." Their guest was clearly not a morning person.

"Need things."

"We searched for where you were living but didn't find it."

She smirked then and jumped over the side.

33. Too Much

Marco had acted on instinct to hurl himself off the ship. He had a lot of practice catching brothers that had playfully and not so playfully been thrown off ship. Finding out that she was a bird zoan explain her fondness for watching things from above and why they couldn't find her shelter or any trail of it -flying leaves no trail.

34. Not Enough

His zoan transformation was into a phoenix -made of fire and thus bright enough to be easily seen. Hers was more subtle -she had clearly gained bird features but she wouldn't be showing up to any look out nearby. The sun might be rising but the jungle canopy would block out a lot of light. An avian a phoenix might be, provider of its own light even, but able to see in the dark he could not.

35. Sight

Thankfully there were little wisps of curious blue fire to light the way while he navigated through areas a bird his size was not meant to go. He spotted a collection of them closer together and stopped there when he realized that the other lights had the same purpose as those that led him here -a guide.

36. Smell

This clearly was a nest of some sort but he saw nothing that suggested she slept here. Certainly she cooked, dried and smoked her kills here but the leather was tanned and that was certainly not done here judging by the lack of smell.

37. Sound

Marco changed that judgement of where she slept when he realized he heard human footsteps on stairs when there were none to be found. A large piece of fur he had dismissed as scrap or a cushion had blocked his eyes from seeing the entrance in the low light.

Now that was clever.

38. Touch

Marco found he didn't get much of a choice in following her as her hand dragged him into the tree's surprisingly well lit tunnel that was filled with those odd blue flames and hand carved. The amount of time it would have taken to carve this out staggered Marco.

39. Taste

The air inside the tree held a hint of smoke on his tongue but before this went any further he had to ask, "What's your name? I'm Marco."

"I..." She began, before stating, "Fleur."

"Fleur." Marco said as tested the name on his tongue and to see if he had pronounced it acceptably. All sorts of people wound up in the New World so sometimes certain names were not pronounced the way you thought they should be. She nodded and so they moved on.

40. Sixth sense

The tunnel in the tree seemed to last longer than it did due to how narrow it was especially since it wasn't meant for a man of his taller and wider dimensions, but the cavernous room it led to showed that this woman had clearly been here for over a year if not several more in order to carve it all out, much less furnish it. His own sixth sense told him that this room was not the only one but just the only 'finished' room. Lit with those curious ever burning blue flames Marco could see the decorations burned and carved into the wood change in the flickering fire light.

41. Shape

Getting all bent out of shape over the little things was a sure-fire way to end up a stressed pirate, something Thatch had no interest in becoming. Still according to a look-out, the distractingly pretty lady had been up and had Marco taking her to the island again. Likely to pick up a few things of importance from where she had stayed on that island.

42. Triangle

Seeing Marco fly back carrying something was something that Thatch practically expected. Marco tended to be something of a pushover when new people joined their family for a few weeks. A few mental rings akin to the triangle used to signal food was ready to the crew alarmed him that Marco was not carrying everything on his talons -she had her own things in talons of her own too.

43. Square

It took Thatch a minute to realize something wasn't right like a square peg in a round hole. He was pretty sure that her ability involved crazy blue fire and being distractingly pretty. Wait, that was at least one devil fruit ability already...

Thatch wasn't sure if it was fate or irony that caused Marco to meet quite possibly the only other avian mythical zoan in existence.

44. Circle

Getting the story out of their new guest took work due to how her language skills had eroded while on the island and what skills remained were high class business formal and not pirate casual slang or nautical terminology. It was a lot of going in circles but the gist of it was that her husband had died -the specifics weren't mentioned at all- before she had gotten to that island and the wariness around certain people meant that they had likely been attacked by pirates. She had no idea exactly what happened to her in-laws or her children except that if someone had attacked them they would have fought. On the bright side she wasn't trying to kill anyone now, which was nice of her.

Thatch still had a few subordinates upset about their burns no matter how pretty a woman did it. It made him wonder how such scum managed to capture such a woman since he was pretty sure he knew how she had escaped.

45. Moon

Their unexpected island find was certainly attractive, and like the moon she caused men to do all sorts of strange things when exposed too long. Curiously she was still grounded after at least a few years all alone on that island, and actually a lot older than she appeared. Thatch was not the person wondering how she managed to look in her late twenties at the oldest when she was over forty. The medical personnel did a thorough examination after she was cleaned up and determined a number of oddities that were blamed on her unknown devil fruit, but the very faint stretch marks did prove she had at least one kid.

Fleur was not going to tell them exactly how old she thought she was because they'd never believe that she was a little away from fifty, even the pirate doctors who had to poke, prod and examine her. She reluctantly allowed them to give her vaccines, even if they had to use needles.

46. Star

Watching the evening's stars fade as the sun came up quickly became one of Fleur's favorite things to do on the Moby Dick, the pirate ship she had found her way onto. For all that they were pirates most of them didn't seem to be too bad in terms of personality, character and honor. Some were worse perverts than others and a few required a few casual smacks to the head on a frequent basis to prevent them from professing bad poetry, sappy lines and outbreaks of drooling, which their crew-mates were delighted to provide as necessary. A few others required more than that but a few burns were educational.

Thankfully this allowed her to determine the hierarchy of those on board. The fish-man was a frequent visitor named Jinbei, the man with the strangely styled hair was Thatch and then there was Marco, who was just under the Captain in terms of authority but surpassing his Captain in terms of knowing his crew, all thousand several hundred of it and the staff. There were others that were theoretically equal to Marco in authority, but their deference showed otherwise.

This often resulted in Marco being busier than most other pirates with few moments to himself as others were constantly clamoring for his attention. Still when it was too early for all but those unlucky or those wanting to be up at night to be asleep and neither could sleep, they gravitated towards each other. After a few conversations, in which Marco determined the extent of her knowledge -not much- but she hadn't been much interested in the sky before.

Marco was the one that taught her the night sky, with unexpected patience and a relaxed smile on his face when she said something slangy wrong.

47. Heart

Fleur felt her heart mending as she found her place on the Moby Dick. For a time she had flirted on the edge of guest status. This wasn't much but it protected her from having to do ship-chores or other work if she didn't feel like it as she adjusted to having people around her again. It also meant that she was free to go without strings from the Moby Dick and leave them all behind her.

Marco often accompanied her on her initial shopping trips but when he couldn't, he'd send a few of his subordinates to tail her in order to prevent unwanted trouble from overly pushy men. This allowed Fleur to do many things but most important was learning how much things were worth and what certain things were without appearing to be a mentally deficient child or crazy woman. Fleur had missed haggling. She had a small stipend for personal essentials but for larger purchases she had to sell those hard won skins and furs which meant she wanted the best price for them.

Unexpected was the fact that sometimes various professionals dragged her along to negotiate prices in bulk for them. The crew was massive and needed an appropriate amount of supplies for their upkeep.

48. Diamond

What truly cemented her worth to keep on board was that she was what Jozu said was a diamond in the rough. As her language skills were built up -non-native dialects and slang had confused her terribly- and friendships were made despite the allure's isolating effect, she proved it when the typically reckless idiots attacked the fleet and a rare desperate idiot made it aboard the paddle ship she was on and she burned him from the inside out to prevent the idiot from taking one of the ship's nurses hostage. The idiot had wrote her off as not-worth noticing due to wearing the same uniform for the day.

Fleur however was not as 'rough' as Jozu said -just ignorant and naive about this new world she found herself in and its inhabitants. Her combat technique and skills were clumsy when it came to human enemies as they had been polished and refined on animals. It was understandable as Fleur had been a witch -witches fought using spells from a distance. Fleur was still a Veela -as a species they were easily ired pyromanics with wings and other avian features. Veela were not human, nor were they dumb enough to be beasts. However Veela were very different beings compared to humanity. Fleur was far closer to what her ancestors were like than what she had been before.

The instinct was always there -now it had been brought to the surface to be honed and made deadly. She had delved into the mysteries of fire-based magic and had learned to use her knowledge to hunt in the most efficient methods she had available. Fleur was not rough, just a bit unpolished.

49. Club

"Tell me, how would you like to spar." Fleur says one morning to Marco.

Marco could have been knocked over with a feather when normally not even one of Jozu's clubs could do such a thing. Fleur had been a guest and sort-of crewmate for a while, generally working either as a nurse or a rigger once she learned the knots. She actually knew how to heal things like broken bones with her abilities making her an unofficial nurse and wasn't blood-shy either for all that she muttered in a foreign language as she did it. Further talk with the doctors and nurses said that she clearly knew the basics and in some areas further beyond that but only had issues in translating that knowledge. She at least was keen to correct any lack of knowledge. Her work as a rigger was more sporadic, but being able to turn into a bird meant the dangers of working the rigging were much reduced as falling from the spar was unlikely to cause damage, no matter how dramatic the sway or how dangerous the winds.

Fleur notable avoided most confrontations, but was not shy to burn those that violated her personal space, nor in acting in defense of others. Marco continued to weigh the pros and cons of doing so, as he wanted to against what he was needed to do. This kept his mind busy enough that he didn't react to the warning his haki gave him.

Not getting the response quickly enough she attacked, talons connecting solidly into his body. So Fleur's morning lessons shifted from the stars to combat. Stars were there for wishing and to show the way but what good were wishes when they'd never come true? What good was finding your way when was your home was under a different sky? So Fleur using the pragmatism survival had taught her learned to fight as best as she could.

Fleur developed a reputation for having a nasty kick and being wickedly fast with a lance on ship. Then she went without the lance and just used one made of fire instead for all that it was no less solid.

50. Spade

Whitebeard or Pops as he preferred, had a lot of wild, reckless and crazy children. All of them were adopted but some took it better than others. So when Pops abducted and adopted a young and up and coming super rookie and his crew only for said super rookie to try and kill their old man, well there were a number of betting pools set up. It wasn't the first time Pops' preferred type of adoptees tried to off him.

Fleur was quite happy to win a few of those bets with her off hand comment about 'stubborn little boys not understanding until they were beaten a hundred times or more.'

51. Water

Ace had slowly adjusted being a part of the Yonko's crew. Even so he had a lot of frustrations to work out as he adapted and took to setting the nearby water boiling under the guise of training. Thanks to his narcolepsy he kept odd hours so some days he'd flick little snaps of fire as if they were fireflies and others times he mimicked the sun in going down.

So the first time he tried something like that on the main ship and not on one of the paddle boats he was understandably confused to be attacked by a harpy lady armed with blue fire.

52. Fire

Veela were creatures of air and fire so finding a nocturnal Veela was impossible. This did not mean that they were 'morning people' however. Fleur had adapted to the lack of sun in England then had spent a lot of time in other more sunny climes but she was not and never had been a morning person even as a child. On the island it wasn't so bad but Fleur liked to look as best as she could which meant she needed sleep. She enjoyed those extra minutes spent resting before she absolutely could not stand to lounge in bed anymore. She knew about the orange loving pyromaniac that the Captain had abducted and adopted.

He however didn't know that while his odd training hours weren't known to most of the ship, Fleur had been a guest and had never moved out of her room. This meant she was sleeping reasonably up high and had a window. Waking up early due to an idiot boy messing around before dawn easily angered her swiftly enough to force her avian transformation and attack.

53. Earth

Marco was certain that this was a spectacle found no where else on this world at any other time if only because of the rarity of the abilities being used. Ace's mera-mera fruit was at least documented. The only thing they learned about Fleur's was that she got her abilities from her grandmother, and her grandmother obtain hers from her maternal ancestors which neatly explained why such a devil fruit was undocumented if it was kept a family treasure and secret. Waking up to find two pyromaniacs intent on roasting each other or beating the fire out of the other while yelling all manner of insults just made Marco realize it was going to be one of those days.

54. Wind

The wind under Fleur's wings was wonderful. The blue fire in her hands felt cool while the thermals from the rude boy's flames kept her aloft without much exerted effort. A full-blooded Veela would sprout wings from their shoulders like an angel but any mixed bloods that were Veela enough to transform had their arms transform into wings. Previously Fleur would have thought that putting a part-blood against a full-blooded Veela would have the part-blood lose as those arms would have been used for both flying and fighting with fire.

However her time on the island had taught her the obscure art of pyrokinesis while using and then later playing with fire. If this little boy made of fire thought he was going to best her... he had a lot to learn and a willing teacher if he didn't mind getting burned while playing with fire on this side of the ship.

After all, this little boy might be made of fire -logia- but that didn't mean he couldn't get burned. Even Veela could get burned if faced with dark enough magic but from sheer heat? The Veela race would have died out if they couldn't withstand the heat of their own fire.

55. Spirit

Marco was certain that while Fleur had the control of her flames needed to not burn down the ship, Ace did not. Thankfully Fleur was over the water so the threat of the ship burning into cinders was much reduced. Still, while he approved of her getting more combat experience she could at least find a nice deserted island or even a sand bar to get into a fire fight with the recently joined super-rookie and not do it on or near the wooden and flammable ship.

This in mind, he flew a nice interception and locked talons with Fleur as they fell into a spinning flight. They don't disengage their entangled talons and instead circle the ships in a dizzying display of aerial acrobatics. They landed flush faced on the deck, where Fleur ignored Ace and disappeared into the depths of the ship while Marco ignored Ace and went for a fly to get some time and space to think about what doing that meant and what he was going to do about it.

Such as if he were going to honor the spirit of such a flight since they both knew what that sort of flight meant.

56. Breakfast

Ace was confused at breakfast. Why was that harpy on ship and who was it? Spying Thatch nursing his drink as if he had overdone drinking last night and finding the world fuzzy he decided to be brightly cheerful and annoy Thatch with his questions about the newest mystery he had found on this ship. This lasted until he face-planted on the table from his narcolepsy.

Thatch eyed the currently snoozing pirate warily amused. Wouldn't Ace be in for a surprise to find out who that 'fire-flinging harpy' was? Teenagers finding out that the alluring woman they were drooling over and watching from afar was old enough to be their mother never got old. She certainly was mature enough for that. Ace also finding out that every male's walking wet dream turned into that harpy-like creature would also be worth paying gold for. Thatch knew from watching Marco and Fleur's spars that Fleur had enough control to selectively turn parts of her feathery. That Ace didn't recognize her in her hybrid form was not unexpected -her hair darkened and the beak distorted facial features- and should be capitalized on.

57. Lunch

Fleur thought about skipping lunch as she had breakfast. After the dizzy, talon-locked flight she had been more giggly than a school girl and as stupidly happy as she had been on her honeymoon if not more so considering the mess that occurred after her wedding to her Bill.

Veela were loyal to their chosen partners but partners were not for life should something unfortunate happen and thoughts of that flight caused heat to pool in places it hadn't for years and reminded her that she hadn't been with a man for several years. Her husband had not been her first but she had thought him to be her last, and the expected emotional pain was less than expected now that she thought about her late husband.

58. Dinner

Determined to obtain at least something for lunch caused her to run into the man that had just reawakened her sexual appetite.

Marco may not have had a phoenix to research his zoan form from but he had other birds and that made him more knowledgeable than his brothers about birds than he'd care to admit to. This knowledge included mating habits, including those of predatory birds, such as whatever-it-was that Fleur turned into. He didn't know exactly what Fleur turned into as a bird that controlled fire or could spew it from her beak like a dragon was unknown -bets ranged from a siren to a harpy to some unknown bird that was easily irritated- but he did know that her avian form was a raptor as did anyone who saw how sharp her beak was. Marco also was adept enough to spot flustered behavior and knew what that meant considering how in-tune with her animal instincts and desires Fleur was.

"So dinner off ship?" He asked. "I'll fly."

His answer was an enthusiastic kiss on the lips and a comment of letting her get changed to something suitable.

59. Food

Marco had long since picked up that Fleur was fond and knowledgeable about the finer things in life. So taking her out to a low-class place wasn't to be done. Nor did he have time to call for a reservation at a place that would suit someone like Fleur on one of Pops' islands.

Instead he did things like a pirate. He used the favors some of the chefs owed him to get them to prepare a picnic on short notice, stole a good bottle of wine and glasses that he was surprised they had -his ship brothers were far from gentle and wine glasses were notoriously frail. The chefs had thoughtfully included a blanket as well. Cheeky bastards.

60. Drink

Privacy on a ship is notoriously hard to come by which is why they were having their date off-ship. Fleur hadn't dressed up much -a hat, pale sundress that women would wear to the beach and sandals held on by ribbons and Fleur couldn't look less like a pirate if she tried. They hadn't tried to sneak off, nor hide what they were up to so the gossip was sure to stir up trouble in their absence.

The island they were picnicking on was one of Pop's on the uninhabited side that was full of dangerous and unstable cliffs which made it difficult to get to unless a person could fly. Still it was a wonderful spot with a rare view.

So they ate, drank and talked. Fleur's language skills had recovered to a reasonable level so it wasn't a chore to decipher what she meant and it was even fun to find the word when she couldn't, as there was quite the difference in the formal language she defaulted to and the slang he grew up speaking. Marco wasn't sure if it was him realizing that he loved this woman or Fleur's alluring presence in combination with the wine but he certainly felt drunk.

Drunk enough to thoroughly kiss this woman.

61. Winter

Marco's kisses were certainly adept in further dragging her slumbering libido from its long hibernation, sending far more warmth to parts of her left untouched except for washing since her husband's death.

The French were a sensual people and lines of poetry flashed through her mind and none had words that were able to describe how wonderful this was or how desperate she was that this sexual thawing continued.

62. Spring

The food had long since been eaten and plates packed away, so all Marco had to do was move the bottle and glasses into the basket and lay Fleur out on the blanket once she was out of the sun dress held up by the simple knot behind her neck. Deft fingers used to far more complex knots made quick work of the lazy knot allowing him to see all of Fleur.

"What a treasure you are." He breathed out in awe.

63. Summer

Finding out that she had nothing under that sundress was strangely arousing, more so than he was comfortable admitting to himself since she had rode him here instead of transforming herself. It was still less arousing than the sight of her skin and wearing only a smile. She quickly divested him his shirt, loosened his sash and trousers as they let their ardent passion burn hotter than a summer's sun.

64. Fall

The first time they joined their bodies was after Marco worshiped every bit of skin he cared to and more as he wanted their first time to be something more than wonderful. That was after she had him nearly falling to his knees with her tongue. Marco may not have known her previous husband or what Fleur really turned into when she transformed but the widow clearly knew what she was doing, what she liked, and was likely willing to experiment with the right incentive. Marco had never previously been jealous of a dead man before but there was always a first time for everything.

65. Passing

Sneaking back on board the Moby Dick was not something Marco had had much success with in the past. His avian form was made of fire and was bright enough to be easily noticed in poor light or at night and there were too many pirates on the deck during the day to not get noticed. Fleur's form on the other hand didn't produce light and made for much easier sneaking since they had just glided down from above the clouds. Whatever she turned into could glide nearly as quiet as an owl, although that could have been the result of practice.

Once on board there was a different problem that Marco had not anticipated.

"Which quarters?"

"Yoi?"

"A passing interest, this is not."

Marco had no objections to pursuing whatever this was further. He hadn't intended it to be a fling either, as that would disrespect their friendship and the lady herself too. "My quarters."

66. Rain

Rain misting against Marco's windows greeted them next morning. It wasn't commonly know that most birds adjusted their sleeping patterns based on the light available. This carried over to avian zoans somewhat and was muddled further by the human circadian clock. So the pair of lovers woke at a time when the light would be peaking in but wasn't. Today was a day that just begged for to be spent in bed, wrapped up in a lover's warmth.

So they did just that and more.

67. Snow

Knocking pounded Marco's door, and then the locked was tested before someone else knocked and the voices outside the door got into a scuffle. A third person knocking on the door added his voice into the confusion.

Marco and Fleur were not amused to have their afterglow interrupted. They were less amused when the history of abuse his door had suffered showed and the wood frame holding the lock in place broke allowing the door to swing open.

The three in the hall were instantly frozen as if they had been tossed into snowdrifts.

68. Lightning

Quick as lightning there were apologies for the broken door, a stuttered summon for Marco that could clearly now wait, and an appreciative glance of Fleur's frame. The apologetic lady-pirate dragged his staring comrade away before he started drooling. The door was closed after them.

"Are they men? Not little boys that haven't seen a woman?"

"Don't mind them, yoi."

"Why do that? I have a man here and I intend to ravish him."

"Shouldn't I, the notorious pirate, do the ravishing?"

"Try it." She challenged.

69. Thunder

Pop's booming laughter reminded Marco that the old man did know everything that went on in his ship, and while Pops would usually keep such relationships private, getting 'caught' changed that.

Fleur seemed to not mind the attention she gained from everyone around the two of them and once her lips met his Marco didn't mind either.

70. Storm

The Whitebeard Pirates partied like a storm. Lots of noise, lots of light and lots of alcoholic beverages shared, splashed and chugged like dry ground after a drought. Also like after a storm, those still standing took care of the resulting mess and damages.

Some of them did anyway. Marco was busy cursing as Fleur tormented him with tongue and hands before they attempted to reach paradise without leaving Fleur's room.

71. Broken

Marco had taken to sleeping in Fleur's room until his door frame was replaced or the various wood workers came up with some solution that wouldn't have his door hanging open and banging on the wall. Those that slept nearby would complain enough to make sure of it. Placing a chair under the doorknob was not a permanent fix and was not conductive to the mood. It was not the first time his door or the door frame had been broken but Marco suspected rotten luck on the first day and conspiracy after that since it wasn't fixed within the week. Pirates and subtlety were not synonymous at all.

Marco's quarters were larger than Fleur's but part of his room had been filled with sailing paraphernalia and years worth of accumulation of various items making it seem smaller. Fleur's room was far less cluttered in comparison and delightfully feminine in subtle ways. Marco remembered helping her carry in the animal pelts but he wasn't sure what exactly happened to them since then, but he didn't exactly mind.

She had kept that corset, and gotten several more that made him less inclined to wonder about things he didn't really care about.

72. Fixed

Ace wasn't certain what he'd done to deserve being glared at angrily by both Marco and his lover who was the object of any number of fantasies on board including some of his own.

"Can you train on the other side of the ship? Fleur's room has a wonderful view of this light show yoi."

"What happened to curtains?" Ace asked. He had checked that all of said curtains were closed, seeing more than he would like to admit to about some of his ship-brothers, just as to avoid a repeat of being attacked by that harpy. He wanted to find out who she was but not like that.

"Too thin." Then Fleur smirked and Ace realized that meant trouble.

73. Light

According to Fleur if he was going wake her up by playing with fire then he should at least be taught how to do so properly so he'd stop playing with it at odd times and waking her up. Asking for proof of her supposed fire mastery saw Ace meeting the harpy lady again. Marco wished for a camera. Marco totally understood why Fleur called Ace adorable.

"First lesson, what is fire?"

"Heat?" He asked back.

"It's light and heat. Energy. Both the amount of heat and light can be varied to produce all manner of effects. A fire that burns underwater, to one that doesn't burn at all to being an invisible blast of heat that melts metal instantly."

"Fire can't do all of that!"

"Normal fire can't, but if you know how, apply the knowledge correctly who knows what is possible? You could even create your own signature flame." Blue fire lit up in her hand, illuminating the darkness. "See the color? It says it is hot. Feel the fire and it is not. It will not heat or burn anything that is not directly above it." Ace did as directed, feeling a little foolish but he could feel a coolness at the base of the fireball in Fleur's hand and warmth at the top. "Such things are made possible by mastering the first two lessons."

74. Dark

Ace was completely in the dark when it came to the properties of light as a particle, the colors that the human eye saw and how this actually tied into as a lesson about mastering fire. Finding out that people had a limit to their visual light range and that if a fire burned pure and hot enough that it wasn't visible was the first lesson.

The second made his brain hurt as she explained the properties of light as a wave of energy and how depending on the frequency or wavelength it did different things and how that meant he could theoretically do things that honestly he knew he'd never would have thought of previously. He had considered them to be things that couldn't be done with fire as he had previously understood of it -block den-den mushi broadcasting signals, give tans, work as an x-ray projector or send invisible but not immediately deadly rays of light.

As Ace was a fire logia he had to amend his definition of 'fire' to even consider these uses. This first meant that he could also learn to control his fire so that he could have it in any color irrespective of how hot it actually was, to make it have different colors and even effects that were not known in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

Fleur who could generate fire if not as much as Ace, preferred blue flames for everything obvious, which was explained as easy to see and thus test things with, known as dangerous and prevented people from stupidly getting in her way. The lesson and demonstration also highlighted exactly how dangerous Kizaru could be if he bothered to learn all of this concerning light.

To Marco this proved to him that her devil fruit abilities were clearly well documented and explored by those that had previously had such abilities. Such a massive volume of information suggested many, many generations of investigation, hard work and intense secrecy. Secrecy, a high level of general education in most areas and the way she carried herself said far more about her background that she did.

75. Shade

The third lesson was something of a review of the first two a few days later in the early morning light. Ace had incentive to answer the questions correctly because she had threatened to burn his hat -not in those exact words but the threat was well understood. It came with a practice exercise too as she demonstrated with a sun-hat how 'fire' could be used to not burn objects and strangely enough used to lift and make her hat do strange, erratic movements until it landed on Thatch's head without even a flicker of heat to burn Thatch's hair. This was a lesson in learning how to control heat and light irrespective of each other, compounded with the next lesson -willing fire to have a new property such as solidness. Marco had pitched in telling how this would help him later on, which made the logia scowl at the prospect of more lessons.

Ace was certain she had another motive than just teaching him. She clearly wanted him to burn his hat during practice. What was wrong with orange anyway?

76. Who?

It was bound to happen eventually. That is, Fleur getting her first bounty poster. She wasn't the most active of the pillaging pirates on ship. Actually she didn't do much pillaging at all but she helped out with minor things where ever necessary -she even had her own nurse uniform as a result because one of the stranger things she could do with fire was fix bones- but she had proven to be a serious defender of the ship itself and would attack those who attacked first.

77. Where?

The incident that brought her to world attention was when the marines were running a blockade on an island that was a favorite retirement spot of Pop's older children as the marines were searching for and killing those sons and more sympathizers if they could. It was one of the steps in 'liberating' an island from the pirates or those who didn't agree with the World Government. Usually the island was softened up by several more warships, high ranking officers and maybe a Shichibukai but it seems that the 'scouting' party was too overzealous by half which alerted those loyal to Pops that something was wrong and prompted them to send for help.

78. What?

What happened is that Fleur asked for permission to wipe out the slowly approaching blockade by herself as a demonstration to Ace about what she was teaching him about fire. Most people were confused about that -the majority didn't know that Fire-fist was getting lessons about fire in the first place. Ace was a logia. He was fire. Why would he need lessons?

How conjuring a massive hurricane like wind storm that tossed marine warships about like toddler toys during a tantrum related to those lessons was something no one could figure out while watching. Never mind how a warship was then split in half, sucked down slightly only to be spit out in a bubbling geyser related to 'fire' lessons either. Marine warships had a sea stone coating!

Pops only laughed, because here was someone who had actually mastered their abilities in like those of his generation had and was teaching that bratty son of his to do the same. Most fruit users nowadays were brats that thought having a few special abilities made them dangerous.

79. How?

Was easily explained although only those that studied the weather truly understood how the tornado was formed beyond spiraling hot air and even they were a bit lost on how much heat the 'lance' of heat that sliced the warship in half had to melt through the war-ship's metal shell. The effectiveness was clearly seen and some of the bubbling was a 'side-effect' of the angle. The geyser was because she burned the water under the ship to cause an explosion of steam.

80. Why?

Most of those on ship accepted her obvious reason, even if those that had previously seen a lesson in progress knew there was likely some other reasons -likely a personal reason- to use such a show of force. Fleur clearly wasn't capable of sustaining such force currently, since she was clearly tired and not in the mood for celebrating no matter how much such a decisive victory deserved it. This led to a new theory of what had happened to her late husband and the idea that he was a victim of marine 'liberation' forces. Previous wariness around certain pirates was written off as good sense and possibly as them having a resemblance to those that did it.

81. When?

When was the main motivating reason for her overly violent response, not that she shared that information with anyone. This was a day that she'd have preferred to not leave her room at all so she could mourn. It was the anniversary of the battle of Hogwarts, where when treated for spell damage the potion had induced a miscarriage to a child she didn't even know she had inside her. Next was the fact that her eldest daughter who she'd never -bar a miracle of magic- see again was born that day.

Due to the blockade situation she couldn't mourn and grieve like a witch so she did it as a Veela and burned her sadness to fuel the flames.

It left her feeling rather empty afterwards.

82. If

Ifs were a constant on the Grand Line where surprises lurked behind every wave and were survived through strength, luck and foreknowledge. That was just the life of a pirate that wasn't the Captain who in turn held responsibility for keeping them all alive and whole.

As his things migrated to Fleur's room and only his junk was left in his cabin, Marco had to wonder if their relationship was going to ever prompt Pops to use his Captain powers to make their relationship more official than lovers.

83. And

It wasn't like he was getting younger either. He had been with Pops for over two decades -approaching three- and was one of the few that remembered him before his signature mustache was grown. His devil-fruit allowed him to stay in peak fighting condition no matter the physical abuse he took but that didn't mean he was going to live forever because if it was, Marco would never have gotten the fruit in the first place. Besides, he kinda liked the idea of being married to Fleur and having a proper claim on her.

84. He

He asked.

85. She

She said yes.

86. Choices

The new second division commander was shopping with the sixteenth's commander, looking at fabric and other things he needed Izo's help in choosing from since growing up with mountain bandits did not prepare him for such things.

"So why curtains?"

"One of my favorite practice spots is situated just right so that if any of my fire gets too bright it'll wake them up." Ace replied. That Marco and Fleur were not happy to be roused from snuggling went unsaid along with their favorite way of dealing with annoyances tough enough to handle the punishment -a solid kick, possibly with talons. Ace preferred Fleur's more fiercely clawed kicks over Marco's absurdly strong ones even if Fleur was getting better at actually hurting him when he became his element. It seemed that no one had taught Fleur to not fight fire with fire and it was dismaying to know that it was working. He was made of fire! It shouldn't be able to hurt him!

"That makes sense and is sweet in an awkward sort of way."

"Thanks I guess. Now which blue do you think Fleur would like best?"

"What blues are most dominant in her room?"

"Blue is blue. Does it really matter?" Ace asked, completely serious and slightly concerned.

"You heathen child you." Izo said in such a way that his 'delicate' sensibilities were affronted at the thought.

"Why is such a simple gift so difficult?!"

"Actually knowing what you're going to get them as a wedding present puts you ahead of a lot of pirates." Izo commented, relenting slightly.

87. Life

Life was very interesting and hectic for a while as the big bash was planned, prepared for and occurring. Fleur and Marco soon realized that they should have quietly prepped the chefs for a feast, dressed up a little and had Pops marry them.

Now their own wedding had spun out of their control, Pops was allowing it since his children -this title extending even towards the forty plus allied crews to give an idea of the scale of everyone who was making themselves involved- were having fun and Pops was keeping an eye on them to make sure the bride and groom didn't see the craziness as a reason to leave and elope until the wedding mania had passed.

88. School

The wedding ceremony was held in proper silence so that the couple's vows with a pirate twist could be heard by those withing hearing distance. The second that was over a cheer was heard loudly as pirates celebrated. The band struck up a song that was not the sort that allowed his less coordinated or his drunker ship-mates a chance in hell of actually dancing successfully.

It was far from Marco's first choice as the first dance a husband and wife should dance, but they succeeded to the surprise of many.

Fleur enjoyed dancing and had taught her man how to dance, something that Marco had enjoyed more than he thought he would and not just because of it making his wife happy.

89. Work

The amount of stuff that had been left unattended during his honeymoon absence did not surprise him. His fellow commanders were good at lots of things but there was a reason that Marco's door lock had eventually broken the frame and not for the first time.

Marco was vital to running the fleet. Most of the commanders had previously been pirate captains themselves so they knew how to do their job they just weren't the best at communicating they had already done it to each other all the time which quickly ended up as a logistics nightmare with an excess of some supplies and a lack of others and who knew what else. Pops theoretically did this but in practicality it was the old man's weakspot and why Marco quickly transitioned into running the fleet while Pops was in command of it.

"Do you need help?" Fleur asked, eyeing the piles of reports with well-concealed amusement.

"Much appreciated, yoi."

90. Home

This strange new world was very different and odd compared to her English home with Bill and her children that she was separated from. After leaving that island and the home she had carved out with her own two hands she had found a new one on a pirate ship.

When she had joined the crew she was not fond of some activities but the rough celebrations and characters had grown on her like the exploration teams she and her Bill had worked with as had the friends she had made on board. A fair number of them were on the medical staff

The Moby Dick was now her home and she wouldn't leave it and would defend it with all that she had.

91. Birthday

Most of the time birthdays were not widely celebrated on Whitebeard's crew. This was largely due to the size of it -one thousand, six hundred and some odd men meant that while they could easily celebrate someone's birthday every day it would interfere with general operations of the ships and fleet. It was preferred to have someone sober in the upper reaches of the rigging after all.

There were exceptions since some of the crew didn't know their birthday, hadn't claimed a day for it either and then there were those that didn't want to celebrate their own birthday for other reasons.

Pop's birthday in contrast was highly celebrated. It was the bright idea of someone who didn't know how old Fleur really was -or didn't believe it- that brought up the idea of getting Pops grandchildren which caused everyone in ear-shot to look at the pair of love-birds on board as Pops laughed heartily. Fleur had just smiled, but Marco's face had been photo-worthy.

92. Solstice

Fleur was not a very religious person, but clearing out the skies by working with the second division commander so that those that celebrated the solstice could celebrate the night properly allowed her to teach her student with the idiot hat the wider and somewhat-obvious applications of fire. The obvious ones were for controlling the weather somewhat, such as what they were doing now.

If some idiot was tossed overboard then she could teach him the subtler ones. The water was certainly cold enough for the medical use of heating and Ace could appreciate the prank value of heat when applied to hair. Giving Thatch ringlets would be amusing.

93. Thanksgiving

Marco and Fleur were not young mentally despite however young they appeared. So it is no surprise that their ways of thanking and appreciating each other wasn't with fancy gifts or big splashy displays or smothering the other with physical affection like some selfish young couples did to show affection for the other.

Such appreciation was shown in a manner that had been established to work for them. Marco had taught her about the stars, the sea, the weather, the arts of combat and everything and more he had learned as a pirate. Fleur taught him how to appreciate, how to dance, subtleties in all sorts of things and eventually some of her native language.

Finding out that Fleur was likely from one of those rare islands that refused to give up their traditional language and culture even if they gave lip-service to the much larger and more powerful forces in the world explained Fleur's struggle to master the most common language on ship beyond the slang. It was always harder to learn a language you hadn't grown up with. This also explained her seeming gaps in education such some of her literacy issues which had been more towards archaic formal than a lot of what was typically used.

94. Independence

Being married would not prevent Fleur from being perfectly capable of protecting herself, however nice it was to be looked after. This was something Marco understood from the start of their relationship and even before that.

Zoans as a rule tend to adopt characteristics from whatever they turn into. So seeing either Marco or Fleur take a quick wing around the ships was nothing new even after their marriage. A bird's eyesight was superior to most telescopes too. Unlike Marco, Fleur usually brought along a den-den mushi and stayed higher in altitude and out longer even after checking the perimeter of the ships. The den-den mushi was a faster way to send back news of any approaching ships and being off ship meant she could have privacy to contact her children or relatives. That's at least what most of his ship-mates assumed.

In reality Marco knew that Fleur knew what had to happen to have happened to her family since they were dead or not able to communicate with her and the den-den mushi was there more as a way to call him as needed when she decided that she wanted more practice at some of the more dangerous pyrokinetic arts so as to properly teach lessons on fire for Ace. There were days he loved his wife's independence, as her independent nature was vital to her personality and days he hated it as he could not help but worry for her, but mostly he loved her, which was the most important part.

95. New Year

Some things are inevitable such as the passing of time, the changing of seasons and the pulling of the tides of fate.

The Whitebeard Pirates fighting the pirates that had the yomi-yomi no mi is one of them.

The pirate obtaining that devil fruit is not.

So as Thatch complained to Marco about missing out on such a find, Teach quietly murdered a former Spade Pirate turned Whitebeard Pirate and vanished off of the ship.

96. Writer's Choice: Promise

The second division commander was understandably furious. He had passed that fruit on to one of his trusted long-time subordinates only for that subordinate to be murdered from behind.

The Whitebeard Pirates were pirates so they risked death and injury frequently from any adventure. To have their refuge, their beliefs shattered about the sanctity of their family was another blow, especially by such a man that had been one of them since his teenage years.

What made this incident so agonizing for the young commander was that it was another subordinate of his that did such a thing, a man that most of the fleet could recognize on sight and knew by name due to the length of time he had been part of the crew -Marshall D. Teach.

Fleur could understand the young man's need for vengeance as well as the Captain's concerns and desire for patience but she also knew better than to try and dissuade Ace from his chosen course. Yelling protests at a young man that wasn't and would not be listening would do no favors to anybody.

Instead she handed the narcoleptic commander a den-den mushi, told him that she would be calling and told him that he was free to use the cursed fire that she had him promise to not otherwise use unless the situation was dire. Teach was a man that deserved no less than complete annihilation along with whoever had joined such a monster. It took a special kind of evil to wait, plot and carry through actions that would wound so many emotionally.

Such actions stunned the crew into collective silence which allowed Ace to make a quick exit with a wicked smile on his face, and Fleur proved she had a better measure of Ace as a man than they did by pointing out that Ace was too stubborn and prideful by half but at least now they'd know where he was at and what he was up to. It would be only after his anger had cooled that he'd listen to reason but for now if her student was determined to do something stupid they could at least be smart about it and keep an eye on him.

More than a fair few pirates felt like they had been scolded for being stupid.

97. Writer's Choice : Akagami

Apparently Akagami Shanks had something to talk about with Pops. What that reason was no one knew as no one had seen the letter the Yonko had sent to Pops since he had ripped it up and let the wind take it. Marco had warned her about Akagami's presence causing a loss of consciousness from those with weak wills but hadn't quite believed that he had such a range as to knock those loitering in the halls outside the infirmary she had just left. A quick peek back in proved that most of the medical personal inside was made of sterner stuff than those pirates in the hall.

Thankfully all attention was on the redhead, as he climbed onto the Moby Dick and walked towards Pops. This didn't last long as her Marco spoke up on behalf of his unconscious crew-mates. Her amusement rose when the redhead propositioned her husband to join his crew and was refused.

The other captain seemed a bit disheartened by the immediate refusal until he brightened. "Ah, that's right. You got married. I should ask her to join too."

"Please do not proposition my husband like that." Fleur commented as she weaved her way through a number of pirates to said husband.

Seeing Akagami's confused face was worth a small laugh from Fleur.

"Your poster does you no justice." Akagami declared, looking at 'Karura' Fleur accessingly and then at Marco. Those close enough that were awake could see him wrestling with the idea of someone like her marrying Marco. They had seen that expression often enough before and during and after the wedding before the couple had winged off for a few weeks. The scruffy, unshaven, laconic career pirate and the poised, aristocratic blond who was as pretty as any mermaid? Even some of the crew still had trouble with the idea of such a pairing. Whatever issue Akagami had with the idea was quickly dealt with faster than most had.

"So since-"

"No." They both denied him.

98. Writer's Choice : Curses

Seeing the clash of wills that the two Yonko's had split the sky was something that Fleur would not forget. Still Akagami quickly left after that as he had said his piece but not before inviting Marco out for a drink and jauntily hopping over to his own ship.

"Troublesome man." Fleur commented from beside her husband.

"That's not the only one we know. How's Ace yoi?"

"He had a nice lead that he was exploring last call. I was going to call earlier but I stopped by the infirmary for a bit." She dug into her pockets for the den-den mushi.

A quick call later patched them to Ace.

"Yoi, Ace."

"Marco," the second division commander answered tersely. "This may not be the best time. Teach and his crew are dead -they were going to target Luffy- but that may have made me lose control over the fiendfyre and-"

"If my stupid apprentice kills himself with his own element I will not be amused." Fleur's voice cut in with the tone of voice that all children fear to hear from female authority figures.

"My own attacks and baelfire didn't work on Teach!" Ace retorted. Marco tried not to smile at the slightly desperate self-justification.

"I will be expecting a call back once you put it out." Fleur mentioned before ending the call. The silence hung heavy for a few minutes.

"Kill himself?" Jozu asked curious about how dangerous fire would have to be for a man made of it to die from it.

"Baelfire and Fiendfyre are cursed fires. They're imbued with specific attributes and will. Baelfire wounds do not heal. It is a parasitic fire that eats flesh while it attacks the nerves specifically, beyond the usual burns fires give. Nasty, incapacitating but not usually used for killing. Fiendfyre is almost alive and desires to consume everything. Like any living thing it desires freedom and will turn on any too weak to control it. It is very difficult to use properly in a fight, and even after the fight is over it will still want to consume all. It is a last-resort and usually forbidden for good reason because there are easier ways to commit suicide."

The commanders were relieved that Ace called back soon after that. Ace was promptly forbidden from ever using fiendfyre again -something he agreed with after he had toasted a quarter of the island during his fight and reduced another quarter into molten slag while struggling to put it out. His ship had been trapped in the molten island slag so as soon as he got it out, he'd be heading back. Thatch had asked about the status of the devil fruit that had started this whole mess but Ace was pretty certain it had either been burnt or buried under island slag.

99. Writer's Choice : Nest

Ace had known his sensei for a few years now and Marco for a bit longer than that since he had only properly met Fleur after she had first attacked him. So he was pretty sure that the two of them nesting in the crow's nest of one of the shorter masts like that was not normal. Fleur was partially in her hybrid form -her full bodied form was some sort of huge eagle- while Marco was happily strutting on the rail fully phoenix-shaped. If it hadn't been first thing in the morning Ace would have suspected there was alcohol involved. Lots and lots of alcohol as neither were light-weights.

Deciding this needed a wiser and more experienced mind to deal with he obtained Thatch and Namur both of whom were similarly perplexed if far more annoyed to be up this early. As a group they decided a more thorough investigation was needed and they turned to a game of rock-paper-scissors to determine who exactly would deal with those two. Thatch lost and quickly started to climb up the ropes only to be tackled to the deck by a flaming bird. Marco then flew back up and resumed his strutting. Ace half suspected he'd crow if a phoenix could crow.

"This is clearly some crazy zoan thing." Thatch declared from his indent on the deck.

"I'll go get Pop's then." Namur decided. The fishman wasn't exactly certain but it looked like Marco was celebrating something.

100. Writer's Choice : Magic

Marco and Fleur's first child was born in the early morning on April 6th like a normal human child despite various childish expectations of the two of them incubating a clutch of eggs. The little girl also properly nursed like a newborn and was not fed like a hatchling which was more disturbing to consider as some pirates had entertained that notion. The girl had Fleur's silvery blond hair and Marco's eyes and was promptly named Dove.

Pop's interaction with his newborn grandchild was more than a little hilarious to watch as the large man claimed the little girl was impudent like her mother for claiming his birthday as her birthday too, even if it was adorable enough to have half of the crew wrapped around the newborn's finger in an instant. The other half of the crew were knew better than to spoil her, having had siblings or those they considered such.

The fact that Fleur even had a child at her claimed age made people very suspicious about it until someone thought that while Fleur was not a phoenix it was possible that like Marco her devil fruit caused her ageing to slow. It's not like they knew that many other mythical zoans to compare to and Fleur wasn't saying anything about it.

It was later that they realized that the kid had inherited the parent's powers when the little girl of three years turned into a dove and burst into blue flames flecked with gold much like her father's own.

Marco was not the only one wondering how that happened as his wife laughed with joy.

"Magic, Marco. Magic." Fleur explained as she kissed him.

Marco figured that was as good of an explanation as he was going to get.

---

A/N: 100 word prompts are hard, but easy at the same time. This plot bunny was gnawing on my mind.

Explanation time for why certain things work like this that weren't explained in story:

8. I don't buy into the whole Veela-mating bond and if they don't they die or other veela bond crap-it's stupid and demeaning and usually used as a plot-device to get Malfoy and Harry to have mpreg inducing sex. Having an emotional bond enhanced by magic to know the general state of the other person -plausible. As for how Fleur ended up in another world... magic. Magic makes things very odd at times since looking at certain incidents like Voldemort's resurrection being something he researched how to do because becoming body-less occasionally happens enough for there to be methods to chose from.

10. Fleur is on that island for precisely three years, eight months and nine days. Solitude takes it toll on the human mind -thankfully Fleur is part Veela.

21. Fleur isn't stupid and if there's one thing that survival makes people do is gain critical thinking skills, time management and pragmatism. Surviving a war does that too.

22. Why the commanders and Jinbei didn't sense Fleur -they're not really concentrating/looking and on an island that hasn't seen humans in ages animals haven't learned to fear humans. Not to mention that Fleur is more curious and assessing than actually intending to do something which is where most people that use observation haki notice things.

25 & 26. Fleur is part Veela and far more in-tune with her Veela side than ever before, nor is she consciously reigning in the allure either.

31. Fleur is a vain woman and tried her best to stay clean but looking fabulous isn't a priority when nobody is there to look pretty for. In short she was pretty after her ordeal and getting cleaned up notched that into gorgeous and later stunning.

36. Tanning skins stink, especially depending what they're tanned with.

45. Men still do stupid stuff around Fleur due to the allure. Due to OP being all about will-power and most of the pirates being out of puberty they're not reduced to complete fools. To be specific about Fleur's age here -she was at least 17 during the tri-wizard and was married by twenty and it is widely assumed that she had her first kid before she was twenty two. (JKR never gave Fleur a birthday.) So assuming she had all three of her kids within five years means she was around 28 after her son was born. So add in the seventeen years until her youngest graduates makes her at least 45 before the accident. Fleur at this point in this fanfiction is 49 due to OP's time ambiguity aka the day she left and the day she arrived was not the same day. Being magical she ages slower and being pretty makes her seem even younger.

50. Ace is unlikely to be the only kid Whitebeard has ever adopted that tried to kill him. He is however been noted as the most stubborn about it.

60. Most of the Whitebeard Pirates are of the opinion that Fleur's ability to communicate has suffered from her isolation on the island. Alcohol and the allure are a potent combination.

74. Kizaru's laser beams are bad enough and something Dr. Vegapunk has studied enough to weaponize into the Pacifista. At least Kizaru's attacks are made of the visible spectrum of light. As for how Fleur knows this -it was mentioned at a full family dinner from Hermione or she might have stumbled across the information elsewhere. Hermione is most likely. There's only so much quidditch, work and home stories that can be told before a limit is reached. Plus Hermione's the one that would bring up the electromagnetic scale over dinner if someone brings up the right topics.

78. Would a cannon Veela/Fleur be able to realistically do this? Likely not, but we know from Nami's weather stick that OP's weather can easily be changed by three shells that absorb heat, chill and electricity because those three dials are what power the clima-tact after Skypeia. The flame dial is used to enhance weapons but also is used to cook food so energetically it doesn't make sense but it does work in the OP world. As for the heat blade -magic and will. Fleur is part magical creature so while the mechanics of magical power aren't explained in HP, the 'core theory' is easily understood. Now what makes magical creatures different is that all of them is magical so Fleur has the magic in all of her body and has been working it for years. Her will has been honed and sharpened by her experiences on that island so Fleur can make 'an awesome heat lance of doom' but she's highly unlikely to spam such attacks. Unlike a core that just needs to wait to be refilled so magic can be used again, Fleur using too much magic could kill her.

81. I've read a few stories of Fleur having such a thing occur but most of the time it doesn't explain why since I'm pretty sure to actually use a spell to induce a miscarriage means they have to know she's expecting -so potions. Some are mentioned as addictive and even toxic in some cases so it isn't a stretch to say that they could potentially cause miscarriage.

83. Marco's age isn't mentioned in the wiki but he's been with Pops for over two decades, was likely fully grown when he joined so he's at minimum in his forties and possibly in his fifties.

88. Birds have lots of different mating rituals. Some build and decorate nests, others have mating dances and some are tests of suitability such as the twirling claw-grasping flight. Fleur is a veela and looking at Bulgaria -the country that had veela as mascots for their quidditch team and is likely home to most of the species- it seems likely that Veela are more predatory than a phoenix. While nothing in the HP wiki mentions phoenix mating habits and it is possible that such things would not carry over to the OP world but yeah, Marco enjoys dancing more than he thought he would.

93. Due to OP being a Japanese creation everyone speaks Japanese. English also gets some use -often in signs and such which showed it was there and people know it or some of it. Then we have someone like Robin and Sanji who have named attacks in a different language. Then there's the Amigo pirates and other hints of not Japanese cultures so that leads to the conclusion that different languages exist and are not commonly used. This could likely be attributed to the World Government's institution favoring Japanese in the first place.

95. Ace and Thatch have a wonderful friendship but now Ace is better with his flames, so he's able to get to the fruit faster and he then passed it on. That guy then had the choice of what to do with it according to the rules that govern the Whitebeard Pirates.

97. Fleur's bounty name is revealed. In Japanese folklore Karura are huge fire-breathing birds that hate/eat dragons/serpents. Go wiki them and while you're there wiki Veela and Vila. It is the collective belief that Fleur is out of Marco's league being too classy for a life-long pirate. Like it is the collective belief that Fleur can't be as old as she says she is. Most people think their relationship is due to them both being birds.

98. There are few magical fire spells that are known in HP. There's incendio, the fire-whip, the bluebell flames (they only burn things directly above them) and there's fiendfyre. Sure a variety of ways to use each but for a cursed fire that doesn't have such a high likelihood to kill the user -I went with baelfire. It is still a cursed fire (bael = evil) but it is not capable of turning on the user or consuming everything like fiendfyre. As for fiendfyre killing Blackbeard -his logia powers would not help there and Ace might have made them a little too strong due to his brother complex. Hence why Ace had trouble putting them out too. Fiendfyre first ate at his haki-armor to protect himself and then when Teach realized he was getting hurt he lost concentration and was consumed.

100. Fleur is magical and while working with her magic in OP it has strengthen it, so she is going to be living longer now than she was before -provided she doesn't die before then, which is possible. Unlike Marco or Dove, she can't regenerate. Well...

101. Yes, there are going to be more chapters.