A/N: I do not own One Piece.

A/N: English is not my first language.

This letter: Flashback, or important remarks

She was not there.

The battle between marines and pirates had started over an hour ago, an hour of a large variety of explosions and screams and cursing no matter where you looked, and had Whitebeard's crew known another division was going to assist Garp on this one –most probable, against said man's wishes-, they would have taken out their guns a lot sooner instead of wasting so much time recharging. There were as many marines as pirates when two divisions came together, but brown hair and honey eyes were nowhere to be seen. And when Marco said nowhere, he meant it down to the very last word.

It had started off strangely enough, when they had hurried on getting their supplies when they realized the amount of marines nearby but Kaede had not make an appearance- He wouldn't mind admitting he had been waiting for a familiar voice to call him with a laugh, or for crewmates to inform they had seen her somewhere, anywhere, maybe wandering the streets or busy dragging another pirate's sorry ass due to some kind of order. Marco had even been waiting for Thatch to circle him while singing something about 'his girl' waiting for him somewhere near the port, because the Commander of the third division had picked up their habit since the very beginning, and after a couple of years, when he realized that their interactions were indeed strange, he was the first one on saying Marco should be grateful for having found his soul mate with such ease, because, honestly, where could you find someone who was willing to drink with you all night at a bar in some random island because it was her day off and she didn't need to try and kill you right there? Someone that had actually, in Thatch's humble opinion, eaten a devil fruit so to be on the same terms as Marco?

Nowhere!

'It has to be a gift from heaven!'

The blonde pirate already knew Thatch's logic was hopeless, but even for him that was simply ridiculous. Kaede had not ate that Tori Tori no Mi to be with him, she had ate it so she could kick his ass in his own game, and the virtually unfair part of all that was how damn good she turned out to be at it. Not that Marco was anywhere near admitting that to anyone, not even his father, not even himself.

But if having his annoying friend start ranting about that again would have made the waiting easier, then hell, he would have it. The man had been looking for her while fighting, positive that she wouldn't bear to see their rule number one being broken in front of everyone to see in the most obvious way possible- Marco knew she wouldn't bear to see her crewmates fighting with him, or at least trying to, nor the bruises and broken noses those sorry marines were sporting. But there were no reddish feathers coming at him like angry bees to someone that had disturbed their nest, there was no sign of the short brown hair that wasn't really short anymore –he definitely wasn't keeping track of that-, and all of that summed to the obvious fact that in general terms, there was absolutely no sign of Kaede.

And he couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening.

In every single fight for the last four years, either of them was the one to actually start it followed by their captains, on in her case, the crazy old man that had even more guts than the crazy lady herself. She was always eager to fight, to fight him, and Marco was more than okay to answer her feelings with equally eager ones. But now that wasn't the case.

There was no one pouting.

There was no one calling him Peacock.

There was no laugh.

There was no smile.

There was none of the things she wasn't supposed to do for, in front or because of him in the first place, the things that she did anyway no matter how crewmates were suspicious enough to label her as some sort of traitor.

But most importantly, because he couldn't care less about that kind of opinions, there was no Kaede.

It was like she had been nothing more than a ghost, a twisted memory of someone he had known in some island long ago or from a really sick dream of his.

But he didn't like that idea either.

Because he was more than sure that she was real.

And by the end of the fight, Marco was positive about another thing: Something had happened to Kaede. But it was not like he could come up and ask one of the ones he supposed to be her friends like he could come and ask her, so he did the only thing he could think of doing. Mock someone.

"What about your little Lieutenant? Was she too scared to come out and play?" He smirked, standing in the railing of one of their ships with his arms still transformed in his phoenix form, blue flames dancing around him while he looked at the Commodore whose name he had already forgotten, knowing that man would be the only one with enough guts to answer him, since Garp was not close enough at the moment. The Marine kind of growled at him, gripping his sword tighter until his knuckles turned white, but the Commander continued to smirk without moving from his place, convinced they were too stupid to notice it was a forced gesture "It's strange to not see that Danielle brat trying to act like a grown up and fight with us, not that I'm complaining though, she was annoying as hell" He didn't exactly like the words that were coming out of his mouth, but to understand why he even needed to act like that you should first know it was the only way to provoke the Commodore, enough for him to tell Marco what he wanted to know.

"Then you shouldn't worry, pirate, since you won't be seeing Lieutenant Commander Kaede for a very long time"

And even if he got to know that she got promoted, you can be sure as hell Marco didn't like that answer either.

"We expect much from you, Lieutenant Commander Danielle D. Kaede"

She stood in front of the man's desk with hands clasped behind her back, firm as an statue as he proceed to write in some kind of paper that even if she tried, she couldn't see from where she was standing. It would have been possible for holes to appear on the back of her head due to the intensity of the stares she knew he was getting, and there was no need of checking who it was, since it was obvious who else stood in that room- Bakainu had been sitting on the sofa when she got to that office looking for all the world like he had been waiting for her to step inside, probably wanting to see the results of his little experiment since there was no possible way he wasn't the reason why she was there in the first place.

There was no way of knowing why Ahokiji choose to sit on the coach, though, no reason why he looked so interested on what was happening.

"Your superiors had said that your tactics as well as your strength is something that they are proud to have amongst their lines" And that, certainly, was Garp's work.

"I'm most honored to hear that from you, Fleet Admiral Sengoku" To speak respectfully was a must and a thing most marines get used to pretty quickly, so there was no actual problem on applying such thing in front of the highest rank inside the Marines; she had a problem, though, when it came to not twitch at the stares or when she noticed her new attire was rather itchy and way too tight for her liking. Kaede preferred the simple uniform that she was allowed to wear even when she got promoted the first time around, but even she could say it was not a brilliant idea to dress like that in a place like that. She had received her new uniform while in the ship she was almost literally forced in on her way to the Headquarters, and you could say it was when she started to get this strange, funny feeling that had developed until resembling a tornado inside her stomach right now. Because, sure, she had been scolded by high rankers before –Admirals, for crying out loud- but just what hell was she doing in the Fleet Admiral's office?

She had done nothing that bad in the past few months, right? She had not killed any other Marine –Though Bakainu was this close-, and she had not disobeyed anyone as of yet. But even when she had done nothing terribly wrong, promoting her made absolutely and completely no sense, even Garp had said before she parted.

"However" And that was when the scolding was sure to start, so she was surprised when there was no major changes in his facial expression, like he thought whatever she had done was not bad enough to be worth of his anger- And she almost felt the need of calling bullshit at that, but she needed to remind herself that Sengoku was no Bakainu, so she didn't really had a reason to "They had told me about all your confrontations with certain pirate as well. Pirates are nothing more than scum, Lieutenant Commander, you shall remember that from now on every time you fight against one; to let them escape is not an option anymore. I understand that this kind of thinking may have come from Garp since you had been under his command for almost five years now, and if that's the case then I hope is not too late to fix it" His face remained the same even when his eyes narrowed a little at that. And maybe it was that small gesture what made her understand what was happening.

"You are to stay here at the Headquarters under the guidance of different high ranks that will help you focus on your development; I've decided you are going to take a break of the sea"

I've decided you are not going to get the opportunity to disgrace the Marine any more with your actions concerning that pirate.

It almost was as if she could hear the words loud and clear, though he had not said it. But he had meant it, and when it came to her that was quite enough.

Because she already knew it- She would be a fool if she didn't.

It was not something new at all.

It was not something that she didn't notice before.

In fact, she had known it since the first time she met him almost five years ago.

Therefore, there was only one way she could answer Sengoku's words when he raised his eyebrow at her close to stunned silence. She was aware of her face, but he was the one with a clear view of her expression, he was the one with years upon years of experience under his sleeve.

"Am I clear?"

So then, she smiled, and she hoped her salute was enough for him not to notice or to not pay much mind at how forced it was. There was nothing to say- There was nothing she could say against it. It was an order from the most absolute person she could ever face, the only person she couldn't go against. Not this time, probably not ever.

"Yes, sir" She kept her smile as still as possible, pressing her feet down into the floor with maybe a little bit too much strength, sinking in her own misery she could likely sink in the ocean. Maybe Garp could be proud of her and her reaction, since it was not as bad as it could have been, or maybe he would be mad at her, because he had praised her honesty above her combat skills or her academy grades. There were many options. But even if he scolded her when the news reached his ship, it would be okay. In the end, it was her own fault, for believing in something that was not possible "As I said, it's an honor"

She already knew it.

But it was not like knowing it made the insides of her chest stop aching.

There was no way a pirate and a marine could be friends.