Chapter 6
Thatch POV
*next morning*
Together with Izou and Haruta I was on deck with pops. We talked about what might have happened to Tiara. Neither of us could really explain how she got on this uninhabited island. I kept asking myself why she had drawn Shanks and how she knew Ace's little brother. Maybe she was friends with him? She must have had some kind of contact with him, because she knew that they were brothers. But since they were not really brothers, so they didn't have the same name and it wasn't easy to know that they saw each other as brothers, the little one must have told her that. Ace didn't know her so she couldn't know it from him. And then there was the guy she usually only drew topless. What kind of relationship did she have with him? I was about to ask Haruta for her opinion on this since she had seen the drawings as well when Ace came running frantically. "Have you seen Tiara?" he immediately asked. "Shouldn't she lie in bed or you make sure she lies in it and doesn't leave her cabin?" I wanted to know from him. "Well, the thing is, when I woke up she was gone. Since she loves the sea, I thought maybe she went on deck to watch it." he told us. Now, that can't be true. "I knew he couldn't take care of her." Haruta laughed and received an offended look from our firefist. "Please my children search her and bring her to me, if she is all right, otherwise please bring her to the Doc first." Pops gave us the order. Where could she be? "When did you last saw her?" I asked Ace. "Where you brought her the tea. We talked a little bit more and then I fell asleep." he said. "Let's have a look in the infirmary and the galley first. Maybe she wasn't feeling well and wanted to see the doc or was hungry." I told him and we split up. I sent Ace to the infirmary and I went to the galley. She wasn't in the galley or in the kitchen and none of the people in the galley had seen her. When I left the galley I met Ace again who told me that she was not in the infirmary either. "I'll check the training rooms and then I'll check the deck again." he informed me and disappeared.
No, she won't be in any of the training rooms. She didn't even know where they were. On the way to her cabin, because I wanted to see if she was back in her cabin, I thought about which places she knew. There were not so many, because she only came on board yesterday. The deck was clear as she spent most of her time there yesterday, then there was the infirmary and the galley where she wasn't and her and Marco's cabin. Wait a minute Marco's cabin, of course. But should that be true? Why would she be with him? Last night before we went to bed he said she ignored him. Besides, there was the incident with him, so she's unlikely to go to him. But I noticed that I hadn't seen our little bird anywhere today and normally Marco was one of the first to wake up. I just decided to have a look. Even if she wasn't with him, he could help us with the search. When I entered his room I was quite amazed. Tiara was in bed with Marco. What did it mean? What else had happened that night? Marco said that she ignored him just before we went to bed. So why are the two of them cuddled up so close together in his bed? She was lying on the side with her back to Marco, who had apparently pulled her towards him and he had put his arm around her to protect her. Not even a piece of paper would fit between them. Because it was rare enough that Marco gets a lot of sleep I decided not to wake them up and to go back to Pops to tell him that I had found Tiara.
On the way to the deck I wondered about what I had just seen. Marco was not one of those people who was looking for a woman on the islands where we moored to have some fun. To be honest, I have only seen him with one woman for as long as I have known him and never again. That Marco lets the girl get so close to him is amazing. After all, she is a stranger to us and Marco normally doesn't let anyone sleep in bis room, not even on the floor. Ace, Izou, Jozu and I are usually the only ones who are allowed to enter his room. "No one has seen her? Did you look everywhere? I have to find her before Marco finds out I lost Tiara." I heard Ace whining as I stepped onto the deck. "Where is Marco anyway?" Izou then asked the others. I guess that was my cue, I thought and I had to grin. "I guess you're out of luck, Ace. Marco already knows that you didn't take care of Tiara properly." I said and everyone looked at me. "Whaaaaaat? Damn, how come the pineapple knows that already?" Ace despaired as he thought that he would get a punishment from Marco. "Where's our little bird? I haven't seen him today." Haruta asked. "When I was in his cabin he was still in bed sleeping." I answered her. "If he's still sleeping, how could he know that Ace didn't take care of Tiara and we can't find her?" Izou asked and looked at me a little confused. "That's easily explained. I found her ..." but I didn't get any further because I was interrupted by Ace. "You found her? Where is she? Why didn't you bring her?" he bombarded me with his questions, too.
Now Pops also joined in, who had only silently followed our conversation so far. "Quiet, Ace! Where did you find her, son? And is she okay?" "Yes, she's fine. She's asleep in Marco's arm." I answered his questions. The others looked at me in shock. "Ha ha, good joke, and now the truth." Izou said. "This is the truth. I was surprised myself. When I noticed that I had not seen Marco today I went to his cabin to see what was wrong with him and to tell him that we were looking for Tiara. But when I entered his room I saw them lying in his bed." I explained to him. "You can look for yourself if you don't believe me." I added. Izou just nodded and went off. Haruta and Ace followed him. They're not really going to check now, are they? But I could understand them somehow. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't believe it either. Since Marco never shows interest in a woman or lets one near him the situation is something very rare. "So Marco let Tiara sleep at his place." said Pops and pulled me out of my thoughts. "Yes, I find it strange. He was so strange even before we went to sleep. Totally lost in thought that he didn't understand anything anymore." I explained. "It's been ten years now. Maybe she will work a miracle and Marco can finally leave everything behind him and forget about it." Pops said thoughtfully. True, the incident was already 10 years ago but Marco could never really get over it.
Tiara POV
Some voices woke me up. When I opened my eyes, I was immediately greeted by 3 wide grinning faces belonging to Ace, Haruta and Izou. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you overboard right away for waking me up." I asked the three slightly irritated. Can't they let me sleep in peace? "I don't think you're in a position to throw us overboard because you're just a guest." Izou replied to me and didn't lose a second of his grin. "Maybe she doesn't, but I do." I heard Marco's voice next to me. "What are you doing here?" Marco wanted to know. When he asked, he was calm. Too calm. You could see that the three commanders were just realizing that they were in trouble, because the smiles disappeared from their faces. But Ace quickly found his grin again. "We just wanted to see if it was true that you were cuddling together." answered Ace Marco's question. "Oh, look at that Tiara turning all red. Did we interrupt something between you two?" Haruta laughed now. "Out!" Marco said in a tone that didn't allow any argument. What surprised me a little bit was that the three of them really disappeared. "Sorry, they are annoying sometimes. Everything okay with you?" Marco asked me and I just nodded. My thoughts drifted to what had happened last night.
*Flashback*
After Marco didn't react to my knocking I just went into his cabin. The moonlight shining through the porthole made it easy to find your way around the room. I went to his bed and looked at him. He had not noticed me yet, nor could I leave without him knowing I was in here without his permission. But I had to sort this out. So I gathered up all my courage and quietly said "Marco". Why I said it quietly I didn't know myself. Had I hoped that he wouldn't notice and then I could say that I had tried? Suddenly I was grabbed by the wrist, pulled down and pressed onto the mattress. Marco who was kneeling over me realized only after a while who had just woken him up. "Tiara?" he asked confused but still held me tight. "I... I... I'm sorry... I knocked, but you didn't answer. I, um, I wanted to talk to you." I stammered. Great, I sound like a shy little schoolgirl trying to tell her crush she loves him. Fucking focus, Tiara. Slowly he let go of me and sat down next to me. "What do you want to talk about at this hour? Doc said you should rest." he wanted to know. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." I gave a little shyly of myself. "You didn't wake me up. I was just a little preoccupied." he explained. "Umm I ..." I started and I didn't really know what to say. "I wanted to ask if I could sleep with you. Umm I mean sleeping next to you." I told him after a short break. Surprised and slightly irritated he looked at me. Okay, first I ignored him on deck and now I want to sleep with him - no wonder he is confused. "Well, actually I didn't come for that, at least not in the first place. I wanted to apologize to you for ignoring you earlier, that was wrong of me. But this is all so strange to me and somehow I can't fall asleep with Ace in the room. I'm just a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. Not knowing what happened, why I was on that island, it's all a bit much." I gave him a more detailed explanation of why I just walk into his room in the middle of the night. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have pushed you like that. But I just want to protect my family and that's why I went too far." Marco apologized to me which surprised me very much. "I know that you just wanted to protect them all and that's what I like about you. It would have surprised me more if you hadn't tried to get something more out of me. It wasn't the questions you asked that made me uncomfortable, but rather the way you asked them. Your behaviour had changed from nice to threatening within seconds which just scared me a little at that moment. Please give me some time to get used to the situation and I will answer all your questions." I told him and looked him in the eyes. His eyes were so beautiful. This blue reminds you of the sea.
"We should get some sleep. The day was exhausting enough for you and the Doc said you need a lot of rest." said Marco and pulled me out of my thoughts. "I do not mind if you sleep here. So I can at least make sure that you really rest and don't go back on deck." Marco said and lay down. After a short hesitation if this was really the right decision to sleep next to him I lay down too. I turned to the side with my back to him. "Sleep well and thanks Marco." I whispered. It felt strange lying next to him. I still didn't understand if all this was real or just a dream. Marco seemed to sense how restless I was because after a while he pulled me to him and put his arm around me as if he wanted to protect me. The blue flames of his phoenix flamed up briefly, which fascinated me and actually calmed me down. "Sleep tight Tiara." Marco whispered before I finally fell asleep.
*Flashback End*
"I take a quick shower. You wait here, please. As soon as I'm done, we'll go to the doc and get you checked again, so we can see if everything's okay." Marco told me and got up. Why did he have to bring up the shower? Thanks to my little too good imagination I now imagined him standing in the shower.