[2 Years Earlier]
Marco was leaning against the railing of the Moby Dick, looking up at the sky, when Thatch ran up to him.
"Oi! Marco!" he shouted to grab the first commander's attention. He looked over at his longtime friend questioningly.
"Guess where we're headed?" he said with a grin. A smirk crossed Marco's face, knowing that his friend would only be this eager to inform him of their destination if they were going to one place.
"A tropical island?" questioned the second division commander that was seated by Marco. Marco shook his head.
"Tell me, Ace," he asked the younger man. "Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?"
***
Josie perked up when she heard the bell to her shop ring. She looked over at the doorway and felt her heart leap when she saw the familiar blond head of hair and purple jacket.
"Marco!" she shouted, making her way toward him and embracing him warmly.
"I brought you a customer," he told her. She looked over to the other man, not having realized that he was there initially. Marco had a way of capturing her full attention when he was around.
"Oh, hey. You're new!" she told him as she took in his boyish appearance. "Welcome to Josie's Tattoo Parlor. I'm Josie."
"I'm Ace," he said with a toothy grin.
"He's new, but he's already a commander," said Marco. Josie's mouth dropped open slightly.
"What?!" she shouted. "Already? How? You must be crazy strong then, huh? It took Marco like forever to become a commander. You'll definitely surpass him then. Oh, this is so exciting!"
Marco couldn't help the smile that formed on his face at her ecstatic babbling. He had missed this. He had missed her. So much.
Ace looked on in curiosity. He wasn't exactly sure what this woman was to the Whitebeard pirates, but there was something in the way that his fellow commander was looking at her. He looked at her like she was the most important thing in that room—or maybe in more than just that room.
"Alright," said Josie. "You're gonna get a tattoo?" she asked him. "I'm basically the Whitebeard pirates' unofficial honorary tattoo artist. I've been doing tattoos for these guys for almost two decades now. I was the one that did Marco's, actually."
Ace briefly looked over at Marco's tattoo before looking back at the woman and letting his eyes take in just exactly how heavily covered in tattoos she was.
"Wait," said Ace. "Almost how long? How old are you?" Then he turned over to Marco. "How old are YOU?" The two of them just looked at each other and smirked.
"Alright," said Josie. "Come here, freckles. You want the whitebeard symbol?"
"Hey, don't call me that!" retorted Ace, but Josie just laughed it off. The two talked over what Ace wanted and he decided on getting the symbol of his new captain on his back.
"You have so many tattoos," Ace had brought up at a point.
"And I'm proud of every single one," said Josie.
"How many do you even have? Is there actually even any skin that isn't covered?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," she replied and sent a wink his way. The two laughed at their own silliness. But when Ace stopped laughing, his eyes met Marco's, which were sending a warning his way. Ace simply raised an eyebrow questioningly at the man.
Once Josie had gotten everything ready to tattoo Ace, she sent Marco away claiming that he would distract her because his presence was distracting. He reluctantly obliged and left, but not without sending Ace another warning look. A look that told him that he should be careful with what he did and said. About halfway through the large tattoo, Josie stopped for a quick break and Ace decided to use their time alone with each other to get some answers.
"Umm," he started, "is there something going on between you and Marco?" he asked her. She looked at him with a startled expression.
"Why would you ask?" she inquired.
"It's just—the way he was looking at you; and earlier, he gave me a look like I should back off."
"How was he looking at me?" Ace noticed how her eyes were pleading, but he wasn't sure for what. Maybe she wanted to hear a certain answer, but he didn't know what she wanted to hear. So he just told her the truth.
"Like you lit up the room," he told her. She sighed a heavy sigh.
"No," she said. "There's nothing. There could be, but…" she trailed off. She looked up at Ace, sadness evident in her eyes. "It wouldn't work out. He's a pirate. He won't stay and I won't leave. So it wouldn't be fair to either of us." She forced a smile onto her face, but Ace could see the pain behind it and it broke his heart. He decided not to push the topic further and let her continue with her work in silence.