" Ai, where are you going?" Marco said leaning over the side of the ship to see the blunette in a medium sized boat with a large fan on the back of it.
" Shit!" Ai growled jumping slightly. " You are way to sneaky sometimes! Did you know that?"
" What are you doing?" Marco asked once again, a cheeky smirk appearing on his face.
" N-Nothing!" Ai said hurriedly, a guilty look evident on her face.
" Not trying to sneak away on your own before the rest of us were ready now are you?"
" Noooooo!" Ai said attempting to hide her apparent guilt. " Of course not! Just making sure my boat is ready to go, that's all…" She noticed the smug-know-it-all look on the First Commander's face. " Okay fine! You caught me! Just wipe that stupid look off your face. How did you know?"
" Of course I knew you were trying to sneak off by yourself and head to Isla de Flores by yourself. I did help raise you you know." Marco joked before suddenly becoming serious. " Like it or not you're going to need some help here, no one here wants you to go there alone. You need to start relying on others more, especially those under your command. You can't ask them to trust you if you won't trust them."
" Trust has nothing to do with it." Ai said looking away.
" Then what is it about?" Ai almost replied when she heard a loud mumbling sound.
" What's that sound?" She asked, eyes wide in alarm.
" Nothing…"
" Marco…what did you do?"
" FIIIIIIIIIIINE!" Marco said lifting a rope up to show a bound and gagged Ace struggling for freedom. " He would stop trying to escape as we made him pack for the trip."
" Is that normal rope? How is he tied up still?" Ai asked curiously. " Can't he just set it on fire?"
" It would appear that he's not that bright." Marco said, hauling Ace onto his back before hoping down into the boat. " Are we all set?"
" Yeaaaaaah." Ai said looking around, quadrupling checking things were correctly stowed and accounted for the way she always did before a trip. " As far as I know it is."
" Well if we need anything we can always stop at a market on the way there." Marco said coolly, tying Ace's ropes to the side of the boat securely. " Ready?"
" Yeah, you know I could have been halfway there by now if I didn't have to wait for you two."
" Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep whining and I'll toss you in the ocean." Marco said sitting across from Ace, arms slung over the side of the boat lazily, one leg crossed over the other. " Let's go already." He grinned over at Ace who was still glaring over at him.
" Fine," Ai said pulling out her flute and assembling it as she sat at the main chair in-front of the giant fan. " Hold on tight." She brought the instrument to her lips and began to play a soft tune.
Ace felt a soft breeze begin to kick up around him just as the fan behind Ai began to slowly spin. He noticed that as the melody began to kick up so did the speed of the fan. Marco reached over and untied the boat from the Moby Dick and the boat darted quickly away.
Wind blasted him in the face as he fought to keep his eyes open, barely able to keep them at a squinting level, tears streaming down his cheeks. " First time on a Air Streamer?" Marco asked grinning over at him. " This boat was designed to use wind to propel it forward. So it's basically perfect for Ai. She asked the shipwright to design this for her.
" The only thing is is that the balance on these boats are extremely delicate. They tip over easily. So try not to go nuts and capsize us, alright? I don't feel like dying with you two."
" Could you be quiet?" Ai asked, pausing in her tune. " It's hard to concentrate with you blabbering on like that."
" You know you don't have to play that thing to keep the boat moving, we can flip the autopilot on." Marco said boredly. " Not that I don't mind hearing you play but you'll eventually get tired."
" It's fine," Ai said, her voice somewhat distant. " We'll make better time if I give us this little boost."
" Just let me know when you get tired, I'd rather you not pass out from over exertion."
Hours passed by and Marco had eventually untied Ace after the amusement of seeing the teen fidgeting and attempting to undo the ropes himself. " Seriously Ace, you could have just set them on fire or just fazed through them. You are a Logia type after all."
" Shut up." Ace grumbled, a pink hue on his face. He didn't want to admit it himself that he hadn't thought of doing something so obvious.
" Ai…how are you doing there?" Marco's voice pulled Ace out of his thoughts to see the girl's eyes starting to droop.
" I'm fine…" Ai mumbled sleepily. Marco reached over at yanked the flute out of her hands.
" Break time, kiddo." He said a commanding no-nonsense tone.
" Hey!"
" Don't start! You've been at that damn thing for ten hours."
" Marco! Give me my flute back!" Ai growled low, the exhaustion suddenly gone from her face.
" Only if you put it away for a while!" Marco said unfazed by the angry aura being exuded from the girl.
" Give…it…back."
" That doesn't work on me, brat! Now take a break or I'll tie you up like I did with Flame Brain over there."
" Leave me out of this argument."
" SHUT UP, MORON!" Ace's counterparts both yelled over at him before returning to their glaring contest.
" What's it gonna be, brat?" A long silence fell over the three of them, Ace's eyes nervously flicked between his two companions. Remembering quickly what Marco had said earlier about the boat being easily tipped, hoping that a fight wouldn't break out.
" Fine." Ai said finally, crossing her arms in a child-like way. Marco handed her the instrument back finally, face locked in a stern expression. Ai took it hurriedly and placed it back into it's pouch at her side.
" Now switch seats with me, kiddo." Marco said making the girl get up from the main chair. Grumbling under her breath, Ai flopped into down on the bench across from Ace.
" All that over a flute." Ace said in confusion. " It's a flute."
" Shut up, Freckles." Ai said poutingly. " You don't know anything."
" Obviously." Ace grumbled before noticing the exhaustion returning to the girl's face.
" Get some rest, Ai." Marco said, messing with a switch on the side of the main chair, causing air to be sucked into the fan, moving the boat forward. " You'll need to be at full strength tomorrow."
" We're that close?" Ace asked curiously.
" Isla de Flores is at the top of the second division's territory. We were actually somewhat close to it when we left the ship this morning." Marco said boredly, glancing over at the teens. " It's a such a tiny island, barely a spot on any map really."
" So why would someone attack it?"
" Because it's easy pickings." Marco said boredly. " Why would the Marines send a squad out to defend such a small island with barely an economy when there are so many more promising places to protect."
" Why would Whitebeard make it part of his territory then?" Ace asked noticing Marco become uncomfortable and shift his gaze to a finally sleeping Ai.
" Everyone deserves to feel safe." Marco said finally.
" So what's up with that flute of hers?" Ace asked, watching the sleeping girl. When she wasn't running her mouth she was actually kind of cute. " Why did she get so pissy when you touched it earlier?"
" Pops gave it to her shortly after she joined. From the way she reacted it must have been the first gift anyone had ever given her."
" She had never been given a gift before?" Ace asked, even he had been given a gift before. Granted not many, and they were mainly from Luffy…and they were mainly headaches and all manner of gross things, but he had at least been given things.
" Apparently she hadn't." Marco said. " I remember seeing the pure happiness in her eyes when he handed her that flute…she's taken extremely good care of it ever since…it became her treasure."
" Treasure…" Ace whispered quietly, taking in those words.
" Most people consider treasure to be silver, gold or jewels…not Ai…and not the Captain."
" …how old was she when she joined the crew?"
" My guess was she was barely eight." Marco said. " Course she was really small even then so it was hard for us to tell. I don't even think she knows how old she is."
" What happened to her parents?"
" What happened to yours?" Ace tensed up nervously, glaring angrily over at the First Commander. " Don't dig into someone's past if you don't want others to do the same with you." Ace looked away angrily.
" If you want to know more about her then just ask her." Marco said, crossing his arms and staring ahead. " But don't come crying to me if she hits you so hard your freckles go flying off." Ace found himself flinching at the very thought of being hit that hard, knowing very well that she'd do it too.
" Why?"
" She doesn't like talking about her past." Marco said glancing over to Ai, noticing the girl was shivering. " Already? Quicker then normal." Reaching into a small chest beside the fan he pulled out a thick and heavy blanket.
" What's that for? It's hotter then the devil's ball sack out here." Ace asked watching Marco placing the blanket onto Ai and tucking it in around her.
" So? She's obviously freezing." Marco said returning to his chair. " She's been like this ever since Pops brought her onto the ship."
" Always?"
" She's never able to get warm. Thatch used to find her shivering in her bed or on deck, all day, everyday."
" I haven't noticed her doing that before now."
" She's gotten better at dealing with it as she grew older but if pay close enough attention you'll notice it." Ace found himself staring at the sleeping form of Ai, noticing the slight shivering that was she was still doing.
" Just get some rest, Ace." Marco said quietly. " I have a feeling that you're going to need it."