Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Marco watched as Aiko haggled with a man for a few crates of vegetables, it seemed that when they had said the storage room was 'filled', they meant meat and no other basic necessity for cooking, Marco grinned remembering the irritated look on Aiko's face when she had seen the never ending crates of Sea King meat before demanding that they go and get supplies. So, a few days after leaving for their mission they took a little detour -from following Fire Fist Ace's Vivre Card- to the beautiful Harpy Island. A summer island, filled with beautiful women and men, renowned for its sweet candy tasting sake and red light districts, and its international animal was the llama. An island protected by none other than the Yonko Big Mom.
It was a great place for pirates, especially renowned ones, nobody got in the way, well, then again, it was an island full of crime and illegal happenings. Still, this was the New World, Marco and Aiko walking down the streets together caught attention. People must have thought the two great Yonko were plotting something against Big Mom, they'd be watched carefully on this island. Actually, judging by the looks people were giving them they already were. He just hoped the needless attention would die down once they reached the first half of the Grand Line, which judging from the newspapers showcasing Blackbeard on one of the islands happily eating away at some pie- if they saw it, Ace must have as well- Ace was on his way to the first half of the Grand Line, if he wasn't there already, they had a long journey ahead of them.
Marco sighed.
Watching Aiko grin happily at the man that was placing two large crates filled to the brim with fruits, fish and vegetables onto a large cart, the man complete with red cheeks and a shy grin that had Marco wondering if he recognized who the woman before him was or if he really was that stupid. Marco stared at them listlessly, that man wouldn't have been grinning if Aiko hadn't told him to walk around and keep a little distance until she bought everything because it would have been way too suspicious if the two of them were together.
"Better people to think the almighty Phoenix Commander just wanted to have a good time in the Red Light District than two commanders of different crews working together about to blow up Big Mom's turf." She had told him, complete with wink. So, here he was, watching a man blushing and stuttering in her presence as he loaded a cart that Aiko would most likely make the "Almighty Phoenix Commander" push.
Thinking back to the past few days, he had found out many things. Such as, Aiko's seemingly perfect relationship with sleep. They had a good thing going. She could take nap after nap after nap and still be able to fall asleep at night. She hated any and all things mocha. With a passion. And she had never been to Fishman Island. What kind of pirate –no, person- never goes to Fishman Island?
"Hey, tough guy!" Marco was snapped out of his thoughts by Aiko who was waving a hand in his direction signaling for him to come closer.
"What is it, yoi?" Marco asked, stopping a few feet in front of the dark haired woman. The man that had been so captivated and blushing moments before suddenly stood up straighter at her sudden calling for Marco, he had to suppress a smug grin at that.
She pointed a thumb at the cart, "You think you can handle it?"
Grabbing the wooden handle at the very front and giving it an effortless pull with one hand, the entire cart moved with no problem whatsoever. "You make me stay away then call me when you need the heavy lifting done." He remarked lazily, lethargic eyes meeting hers.
"I said you could walk around on your own, you're the one that chose to follow me. Can't get enough of me Phoenix?" she teased complete with wink.
"I like that you're coming up with conclusions, yoi." He smirked, avoiding the first half of her sentence.
"Just reading between the lines" She grinned back.
Aiko moved her head to the side, looking behind Marco at the dozens of women staring at the broad shouldered man's well-built back, all with varying shades of red on their faces, before giving him a stunning smile.
"You're a heartbreaker, Phoenix."
He lifted one eyebrow in that manner of his.
Aiko already knew the next word that was going to come out of his mouth, that little word was the typical response.
"I'll take care of yours."
Her eyes widened in surprise for a split second clearly not expecting that, but then again she probably should have, Marco was unpredictable after all. She schooled her expression back into a careless grin.
"Aww, stop it." She waved a hand between them as if to banish his words. "You're making me blush."
He shrugged.
"Let's get going then, Phoenix. This island gives me the creeps."
So she had felt it too?
His face turned serious for a moment. Though it was hard to tell, since his face usually portrayed boredom and never gave anything away, though if Aiko looked close enough, by the way he was concentrating he was trying to use his Haki to pinpoint the location of whoever it was that had the audacity to stalk two pirates like them. It wouldn't be anyone weak, someone confident in their skills of putting up a fight or had someone big backing them up. If it wasn't that than someone able to get out of their sights and run away as fast as possible at any given time.
Marco couldn't seem to pinpoint who he wanted to though, there were too many people. And most of them had their eyes on the unlikely pair. So, there was no way to tell.
Deciding to not waste anymore time, Marco began pushing the cart filled with crates of supplies, it would've been difficult for a normal man, but pirates in the New World weren't exactly normal.
"This is a lot." He commented, though he understood the reason for all of it. They would be on sea for a while and not make any stops on islands along the way, they were going to solely follow the Vivre Card. This was after all, a mission.
Aiko was about to open her mouth to respond, no doubt with another innuendo, but as they arrived at the small secluded harbor where they had left their ship, she stopped. Two little boys were there, seemingly wanting to go up on the vessel, which to the kids probably looked huge.
"Woooow." The shorter boy yelled. "This must be a pirate ship!"
"No way." The other shot back.
"But, Reeeen! They wouldn't give us so much money just to go look at some fishing boat!" The small boy gestured his too skinny arms at the ship once again, "And look! It's docked all the way here! Who else would dock here, but PIRATES!"
Damn, the kid was loud.
Aiko looked over to Marco, who was lazily watching the kids, waiting to see if they would reveal more about someone supposedly paying such young children to do their dirty work.
"It's way too small for a whole crew and look," He pointed to the white sail. "No Jolly Roger. It's probably some fishing boat, we should do what we need to do, Daiki, before the owners come back."
The two kids circled the ship with their eyes to try to find a rope to help them climb up, but to no avail.
"Why the heck aren't there any ropes to get up?!" Daiki yelled clearly frustrated.
"Maybe you didn't look properly on your side!" Ren shot back, upset as well with the lack of entrance to the ship.
"Or maybe there is no rope up." Marco suddenly intervened behind the two children, whose faces paled at the voice that sounded way too close for comfort.
"Hahahahaha!" Aiko laughed loudly at the pale expressions of the two. "I told you, Phoenix. You're creepy."
The two kids turned and watched the two older adults, the man behind them was unbelievably tall with blonde hair, tan skin and a weird tattoo on his chest, along with strange clothes. The woman who was giving the man a happy grin was almost the polar opposite, pale skin and dark hair, but even then they could tell the two seemed to be in a completely different league of human.
"Well, what are two kids doing on our ship I wonder?" She gave the two of them a friendly grin that had them blushing shyly immediately.
"N-nothing!" The one called Daiki if she heard correctly yelled out.
"We just thought it was really, really cool!" Ren said, trying to make the lie sound more believable.
Marco lifted an eyebrow at the two, who gulped at the Phoenix commander's questioning gaze. She didn't blame the kids, the man was intimidating, what with his self-confident stance and highly reassured gaze.
She gave the two another friendly grin that had them relaxing again, you learn to master it when your around Shanks for any period of time. "Well, were going to head out now." She crouched down in front of them and put a finger over her lips. "So, could you two just keep quiet about what you saw here. It wouldn't do for the two of you to get mixed in with the wrong crowd."
Ren nodded slowly, but it seemed her words went right over Daiki's little head because he said in what he probably thought was a whisper, but was still fairly loud, "Are you a pirate, lady?"
"Hmmm…" She hummed, thinking over what to say in her head. "Are you scared of pirates?"
He shook his head.
"Then I'm a pirate."
He gave her one of the widest grins she had ever seen, the kind that rivaled a little kid she had met ten years ago, if she recalled correctly Shanks had been rather fond of that kid.
"Take me with you pirate lady!" Daiki all but screamed in her face.
"Oi, Daik—" Ren started, but she cut him off.
"No way." She flat out refused, sticking her tongue out at him right after in a way that had Marco grinning.
"Not a chance, kid."
"When I'm older, I'm going to have a ship like yours lady! And sail around with Ren! Like the two of you!"
Her eyes widened for a second before she smiled happily at the two. Ren looked as if he wanted to protest. "A crew of two? How sad."
"There are only two of you though." Daiki said confused.
"We've got an even bigger crew and an even bigger ship with a real Jolly Roger." She said to the star struck Daiki. "And there's no way I could be in the same crew as the flaming turkey over there." She gestured with a thumb towards Marco.
"Oi, oi." The phoenix commander said slightly annoyed at her words. "She wouldn't have what it takes to get to my rank in the first place." He said addressing the boy.
"Eh?" She had a small tick appear on her forehead at his cocky words. "Don't you think you should rephrase that?" She stood from her crouching position and turned towards him with a twitching smile, "Eh, phoenix?"
His feet were spread as wide as his shoulders and he answered with an easy tone. "Last I checked I was the first mate, yoi." He gave her a smug grin just to piss her off.
She felt her Haki itching to be let loose and smash that smug pigeons face in, but she heard the sound of Daiki's yelling once more. "WOW! You're thee first mate?!" She swore the kid had stars in his eyes.
Marco grinned kindly at the young boy, so he could be kind huh?
He pointed proudly at the large mark on his chest, symbolizing who he was.
"You know this mark, kid?"
Both of them shook their heads.
"This is Whitebeard's mark. Know it well, if you two plan to become pirates."
Realization seemed to dawn in their eyes and excitement quickly replaced it.
"Now, now, phoenix." Aiko grinned at him. "Don't go corrupting them."
"They'd find out sooner or later." He shrugged, completely disregarding the fact that these two were here to get information out of them. He'd give it willingly, who knows what the people that ordered them to do this might do if they came back with no dirt. Well, the world would find out sooner or later anyway that the two of them were travelling together. The marines had some crazy stalkers in their ranks that always seemed to get the best photos and all the info.
"Are you part of Whitebeard's crew too?" Ren asked her.
"Afraid not." She replied and pointed towards the blonde man. "I'm this guys' enemy."
Ren seemed to understand quickly though, the fact that there was no Jolly Roger on the ship registering in his mind. Daiki on the other hand…
"Ehhh?" Daiki muttered confused, "Then why are you two travelling together?"
"We've got a few things to settle." Marco interjected then and there, even if he was willing to give out his identity, no way in hell was he going to give out any vital information concerning their mission.
Daiki and Ren suddenly exchanged knowing glances before looking between the two with wide grins on their faces.
Ren held up his left ring finger and said, "So, it's like this, huh?"
Marco and Aiko's eyes widened a fraction before they both grinned.
This cheeky brat.
"No way, kid." Aiko waved her hand in front of her, completely banishing the thought. "This guy's way too old for me."
"She says that now," He grinned at the two boys, "But a few years ago, she seemed willing to do whatever I wanted, yoi."
The two boys had blushes on their cheeks, embarrassed by the banter that they had inadvertently started in their attempt to make fun of the two much older pirates.
"Ohh, don't confuse then and now, phoenix." She said slowly, seductively. "You were in your prime." She trailed her eyes over his still very well-toned body, it was amazing, how well he aged.
He trailed his own eyes over her liking every bit of it, but for the sake of argument he sighed as if there was a tragedy, those lethargic eyes coming to life. "So were you, hon."
She gave him a threatening smile, a warning to choose his words carefully. Not like he would listen. "Please, phoenix." She flashed him a stunning smile. "You know you want this."
"I don't know." He shook his head at her and gestured with his eyes to the island they should have departed twenty minutes ago. "This place is known for its red light districts."
"What is your number I wonder?"
"Now that's a trap." He said seriously which she grinned at. "There's no way in hell I'm telling you that."
"Wow, phoenix. That many huh?" She paused to look at him straight in the eye. Her bright honey colored eyes catching him immediately. "Or that little?"
'Trap.' He mouthed towards her.
"U-umm…" Daiki and Ren tried to intervene.
She set her attention back on the two awkwardly fidgeting kids after giving Marco a look that clearly said 'this isn't over'.
"You two." She called seriously all of a sudden, it had the two kids looking up at her quickly. "Tell whoever it was who we are." She ruffled their hair, "Don't go getting into unnecessary trouble and stay away from those kinds of people."
"Take us with you!" Daiki yelled loudly. "I want to sail and become a pirate too!"
Marco gave a small grin as Aiko continued, "If you want to become a pirate, then hurry and find us, I'm going to look forward to it."
"Y-yeah!" The two kids yelled at the same time.
Aiko pointed at herself, "I'm Aiko of the Red-haired pirates." The two boys eyes changed when they heard the crew. "And that over there is…" Marco somehow managed to get the crates along with the giant wagon on their small ship already and with one leap landed quietly on the deck of the ship, the act making the kids eyes widen even more. "A show off." She finished laughing.
But Marco seemed to hear her because he immediately scolded Aiko in that tone of his, "Introduce me properly, yoi."
"Marco the Phoenix, First division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates." She said breathlessly and grinned at the two boys before jumping up herself and waving in goodbye, "He's cute, right?"
The two laughed and said in clear voices, "We're gonna become pirates and even beat you guys!"
"It's great to have an unattainable dream." Marco muttered, making Aiko laugh and nudge his side.
The two kids ran off, to God knows where as Marco let the sail down and she undid the rope, heading once more towards their fiery destination.
A man put down his telescope when he saw the ship set sail.
"Sir, they've just left the harbor." The grunt saluted towards his superior, who was busily chewing dozens of candy all at the same time in his office.
"Killer Punch Aiko and Marco the Phoenix travelling together, huh?" He muttered to himself as he looked at the bounty posters of the two big names. "Just what do they plan to do? Have Whitebeard and Red haired formed an alliance?"
"What should we do, sir?"
"Follow them of course." He clicked his tongue, not at all liking the idea of tailing such powerful commanders.
"Y-y-yes!" The man saluted and ran off to relay the order.
Taking another handful of candy and chewing on it a little too harshly, he grabbed the nearest frilly polka dotted pink Denden Mushi and dialed her number. The Denden Mushi ringing for ten agonizingly slow seconds before a particularly irritated man answered.
"Hello? It's me, I need to speak to Mama."
A/N: I'm sorry for the wait for this chappie, college had been keepin me busy, not to mention the fact that Microsoft was messing up on me, so I had to reinstall the whole thing.
In any case, as always Please Revieeeewww!