Stay with me
Notes: A big spoiler and maybe not so much from Ep 966 of the manga. IZO STAYED BECAUSE HE WAS IN LOVE WITH MARCO AND NOBODY CAN MAKE ME CHANGE MY MIND. And I upload this because I want to and because I can. This ship needs so much more love.
Thank you for reading.
"Come on boy! That way you will never grow!"
The booming voice hit Marco's eardrums but he still smiled. He didn't feel like drinking anymore, but it was hard to refuse amid the screams and that crowd of rampant pirates. The big, burly man hit him on the back, almost knocking him out of breath, but he couldn't remember his name. Actually, he didn't remember a lot of names of Roger's pirates.
On that island that took Shirohige's pirates attention because of the noise, everyone there had been with the Gold Roger pirates for almost four days. Three days of intense battle and the last of a pleasant truce. Marco didn't understand the need of the captains to clash their weapons as soon as they saw each other, but he supposed it had to do with the type of relationship they had. However, there was a small detail that had Marco a bit distracted from the party among the crews.
The old oyaji spent a long time drinking and talking to Roger. Along with them was also Kozuki Oden. That man who had become one of their own since they left Wano years ago. He was part of their family. Still, word had spread that, for some reason they didn't quite explain, Oden would be boarding Roger's ship for a year.
It was something shocking and unexpected. They never thought that a brother of theirs would leave when landing on that island, although the most affected was Edward Newgate himself. Marco still couldn't figure out if the old man was upset that Oden was simply leaving or that he had chosen to go with Roger. Maybe both.
As far as he knew, Oden was leaving with his family. He would miss seeing Toki and little Momo and Hiyori. In that case, would the others leave too?
Maybe the cat and the dog would. They looked very curious about what Oden was doing, although he would certainly miss sharing the ship with Nekomamushi and Inuarashi.
Marco didn't want to think about the uncertainty he felt at the thought that he would leave too.
After years of companionship, being pirates and brothers together, were they really going to part away? An imaginary goodbye passed through his mind where they promised to see each other again, but the sea was too big and he knew that this reunion could take years and not even happen. He wasn't ready to say goodbye so soon, even if it was selfish of him.
What was wrong with wanting to keep seeing him?
As much as he wanted to deny the situation in a childish way like oyaji was doing, Marco knew he couldn't stop them from leaving.
He decided to get away from the party for a few moments and walked around the small island, right on that side where the noises and screams were lost, leaving the sound of the sea as the only music. It was already dusk and it was nice to feel the softness of the sun on his skin as his bare feet kicked the sand with each step.
He only stopped the instant he saw him.
Apparently he was not the only one who wanted to get away from the boisterous tumult.
He watched Izo for a few moments, who seemed thoughtful as he walked along the water's edge. He blinked very slowly, as if he didn't want to miss an instant of that scene, until he decided to get closer.
"Hey, did you get bored of the party?" He asked when he got close to him and Izo's eyes locked on him, but he instantly gave him a smile.
"It seems I'm not the only one," he replied with sympathy in his voice.
He remembered in a vague way when he first met Izo in Wano, how distant and serious he was. Even when Oden joined the crew and Izo followed him, he was always reluctant and annoyed at having to be there. However, time softened him and he adapted to that life as a pirate.
Like Oden, Izo was a person who never left Wano and had no idea what the outside world was like. Marco felt his chest fill with joy when he saw how those eyes shone with excitement at new discoveries on the Grand Line.
He didn't want to miss out on those moments, and thinking about it worried him a bit.
Shirohige's problem was losing a brother when Oden leaves with Roger. Marco's was losing… a brother? A crewmate? He didn't really know what to call it. Maybe all those ways were correct, but there were also others that had not yet come to mind.
"The old man keeps throwing a tantrum over Oden," Marco said, shrugging his shoulders and glanced at Izo, noticing his thoughtful grin. "What do you think about that?"
He heard him sigh when he said that question and looked out to sea. Marco couldn't help but lose himself again in his crewmate.
When he met him, he was surprised that a man could look like this. He didn't know if it was a thing in Wano or what, but Marco was amazed to find out that Izo was actually a man. Perhaps that uniqueness that he had attracted him. He was not a woman, but he was not a man either —at least the definition of masculinity that Marco knew when he was barely fifteen when he first met Izo— per se. He was all that and at the same time something very different. Whenever he thought about that, he would get nervous and his chest would clench with the anxiety of not finding a clear answer to his thoughts or why he felt that kind of thing.
Still, a very clear idea formed in his mind as he thought of the possibility of Izo leaving with Oden, but Marco wouldn't dare to put it into words.
"That he's an idiot," Izo said in exasperation at the thought of Oden and Marco laughed. "But no one can stop him when something gets into his head."
He agreed. In those years traveling together, he had also noticed all those details about Oden and would miss him. However, Izo still didn't answer what he wanted to know.
"And you?" He finally asked. "What will you do?"
"I don't know," he mentioned after a few thoughtful moments. Izo began to walk to the edge of the shore, wetting his toes with the water that caressed their skin. "I don't think that trip is for me."
He understood what Izo was referring to. In those years, he went from being a samurai to becoming a pirate even though he didn't want to do it at first. After all that time, he had begun to live on his own beyond his devotion to Oden and now he thought of himself, beyond protecting his lord.
"You could stay with us," Marco suggested, following him as they walked along the beach but didn't dare look at him directly. "You know, you're part of the family…"
He wanted to use that as an excuse, although he wasn't really lying. Izo had made his place among that group of pirates and no one could deny him that. In that case, he could stay if he wanted, although he didn't really know what the man wanted.
He got no response beyond a soft laugh that caught his attention. Izo didn't say anything to him. He just stood in front of him with the water up to his ankles.
"Hey," he spoke, cocking his head in intrigue. "Doesn't it hurt to be in the water?"
He blinked a few times at that and instantly shook a smile. A couple of times he had explained how his fruit worked and why he couldn't swim, but nothing happened just by getting his feet wet.
"It would be a problem if the water got to my knees," he replied, and Izo nodded, then looked at him maliciously.
Suddenly, he felt himself bathe in water, as if an unexpected rain had fallen on his head, but it was only Izo who kicked the water with great force only to soak him and annoy him. The samurai's laughter reached his ears, but Marco wasn't planning on leaving it at that.
Without realizing it, he ended up running Izo along the shore of the beach. This man was quite fast, but Marco spread his wings and caught up with him. He surrounded Izo's body with his gleaming feathers in a blue that illuminated the afternoon and that silly moment. He wasn't even sure when they ended up on the ground spinning in the sand, laughing and breathing hard at that little game.
Marco could only focus on Izo and ignored everything around him that was not him, his soft laugh or the hug they had not stopped sharing.
His back got wet when he hit the damp sand on the ground, but he didn't care. He looked at Izo without moving, and Izo also watched him from above. The hands of that samurai rested on his chest to lift himself a little and Marco felt nervous when he noticed that body so close to his. He felt his face heat up, but he didn't move an inch. Instead, he just stared at him.
Izo's black hair had come loose and fell softly brushing Marco's face, tickling his dyed red cheeks. He looked at his face, his fair skin adorned with tiny traces of sand, his red lips as bright as an apple. How could he stop looking at him? If he was so much more beautiful than any man or woman he has ever met in his life and thinking about it only embarrassed him more.
Izo looked at him with warmth in his narrowed eyes. One of those strong and soft hands slid up to Marco's hair caressing it as he smiled.
"Would you like me to stay?" Izo asked, watching him closely.
He swallowed hard at those words. He couldn't lie, not with that pair of those beautiful, seductive, fierce eyes fixed on him.
"Yes," he said in a clear voice that seemed only to widen the smile on Izo's face, but that didn't seem to be enough for him.
That samurai slid over his crewmate's body in a feline way that managed to make Marco's skin crawl with fear, because he had no idea what to do. He gasped when he felt Izo place a leg on either side of his hip and his heart nearly skipped as that smile leaned closer to his face.
"With the crew?" He asked almost in a whisper and caressed Marco's face in a very soft way. "Or with you?"
That question almost made him explode.
Izo was looking at him in a tantalizing, sensual way, but Marco also felt that it was some kind of test. Could it be that this man suspected that he ...? Was it that obvious what he was thinking? He felt even more sorry, but he didn't back down.
"Both," he answered seriously and he could see surprise in those dark, handsome eyes. "I want you to stay… with me."
For a few moments, he waited for Izo to say something to him, but he didn't. Words were unnecessary in those moments. That samurai leaned towards him and Marco thought that he would not mind dying at that moment, because at last he could taste that red mouth that he watched so many times in fascination.
He felt awkward because Izo's mouth seemed to know what to do while he just followed him with no idea how to kiss. He hadn't been interested up to that point. However, the anxiety and adrenaline rushing through his body were overwhelming. He wanted to kiss Izo and not stop. His hands sought to tighten his waist and one of them went down caressing the soft fabric of the kimono until it reached one of the slightly bare legs. He wanted to kiss and touch, which Izo noticed, but didn't bother.
As soon as they pulled away, the samurai laughed at him.
"How eager," he murmured on his lips, still smiling. "We will have time for everything."
Marco hardly noticed that he felt agitated again and licked his lips wanting to have another kiss. However, Izo's words distracted him.
"You promise?" He asked, feeling a bit silly and Izo caressed his face again, nodding.
That meant he would stay in the crew, with him.
He was barely able to contain the emotion that ran through his body. He hugged Izo with great force, so much so that they shifted position again in the sand and he sought to kiss him once more. If he stayed, it meant they could do all of that as many times as they wanted and Izo's lips said yes.
Not far from the shore, among the bushes, a couple of people mill about, wanting to see what happened there without being discovered. However, both Marco and Izo seemed too distracted to notice anyone there.
"Be quiet, Buggy!" Shanks snapped angrily and his friend motioned for him to shut up as well.
"You're the one making the noise, you fool!" That boy looked at his companion annoyed and then poked his head back over the hidden plants. "I told you Marco had a girlfriend."
"He's not his girlfriend," Shanks snapped wearily. "He is not even a girl."
"Oh no?" Buggy looked again and looked at his partner in disbelief. "Well, it looks like it to me and he's pretty."
"You're a fool," he sighed because there was no point in discussing something so simple with him. "Rayleigh will kill us if he knows we're here."
"That's right," a voice snapped from behind the children, and their skin froze with fear.
The two of them turned scared upon seeing that man's gloomy look and gulped because they knew they were in trouble. However, neither of them said anything because they instantly noticed that there were other people next to Rayleigh.
"See, friend?" Roger, who had leaves on his head and flowers pretending to be camouflage, mentioned as he spoke to Kozuki Oden at his side and patted him on the back encouragingly. "Your samurai is very comfortable with Newgate's boy, you don't have to worry."
"It seems so," Oden said thoughtfully as he held a tree branch above his head trying to hide himself in a very precarious way. "I had no idea that Izo got along so well with Marco, but that's good news isn't it, Shiro-chan?"
Edward Newgate next to them just sighed.
Oden would go with Roger and his family would accompany him, it was final, but he was a little worried about Izo. He didn't want to drag him back to another place where he didn't want to be, so he wanted to let him choose his own path. Both Izo and Nekomamushi and Inuarashi had grown used to that pirate life and found a path to walk. That made Oden happy and he could decide to walk away in peace to accomplish his goal. Shirohige, for his part, had no problem embracing that boy as one of his children, but he still hadn't forgiven Oden or Roger for that betrayal.
"He'll be much better off without you," Newgate snapped and Oden laughed.
As tense as things were, he knew that their family relationship had not been broken.
"Let's go drink!" Roger suggested and the children celebrated.
"No, you guys are in trouble for spying," Rayleigh recalled.
"It's not fair, Ray-san!" Shanks protested, pouting. "It was Buggy who wanted to come see Marco's girlfriend."
"Lies, you wanted to see too, you redheaded liar!"
Everyone laughed at that fight and forgot to pretend that no one was there.
"Easy, Buggyjiro," Oden mentioned, patting the boy's head. "You will already have your girlfriends or other things."
"I don't think so," Shanks denied. "You look so ugly with that nose."
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY NOSE?!"
They laughed again and were about to leave, but the moment was interrupted by a stone that struck right between Oden's eyebrows causing the man to fall back almost unconscious.
They all looked in shock at the direction that stone came from, as if it were a bullet, and saw Izo very angry looking in their direction. Immediately, everyone felt embarrassed and ready to run.
"DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME, IZO?! Oden snapped, getting up with a great blow and blood falling from his forehead. His voice was only muffled by Roger's laugh.
"That was the idea!" He yelled back. "What the hell are you doing there?!"
Neither knew what to say.
The children were the first to run screaming 'It was their fault!' and the adults followed instantly.
Izo just sighed in stress. He didn't feel like going out after them and killing them properly. Maybe he would do it later, although he would leave Oden alive out of respect for Toki-sama and the children. He would not forgive the others.
Beside him, Marco just laughed as he approached.
"You have a good aim," he pointed out excited by that accurate blow with the stone. He should exploit that talent. "We better go back."
He dared to look for Izo's hand to pull him and return to that scandalous bustle. Their fingers intertwined and they both smiled. It didn't matter what happened or where they were, because they would continue like this, together.