Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

A few days had passed with no trouble and at the moment, the stars were twinkling brightly in the night sky above them, the push and pull of the waves acting as a natural lullaby on the silent ship, the night air was cooler than normal, they must've been approaching a Winter Island. She would love to stop, but they were following the Vivre Card and unless they really needed food or anything they wouldn't be stopping anytime soon.

She was freezing, donning only her comfortable nightgown, she was only out here because she was waiting for the Messenger Gulls to deliver the newspaper, when out in the extreme conditions of the Grand Line, the Gulls didn't keep a specific time and since it hadn't come in the morning that meant she had to wait for it now. But if that damned bird didn't come soon, she'd go back inside to the warmth of the ship. Rescanning the dark skies, speak of the devil, she spotted one high up, it would have gone unnoticed were it someone with weaker eyesight. Aiko waved it down as it was flying by and it immediately descended, letting her take a newspaper in exchange for some Beli. Handing the bird what it was due before it took off back into the night, she began reading the paper as she made her way back to their room.

She dug through the many wanted posters that came with the newspaper, there were many rookies out in the world right now and it seems they were growing at an alarmingly fast rate. Both in power and in reputation. No doubt they'd cause problems when they got to the New World. She read through each headline carefully, a particular one making her smile. One her crew was probably holding a banquet over right now.

'Strawhat Pirates Take Down Shichibukai?'

'Big Mom: A Hungry, Hungry Hippo'

'X-Drake Leaves the Marines?'

'Rearranged Body Parts?'

'Eustass Kidd: Uncontrollable Temper'

She skimmed through the other topics and tried her best to focus on Luffy's article, but to no avail. The headline of the paper nudged at her, no matter how hard she tried to shove it in the back of her mind.

Opening the door quietly to their shared room, the small light coming from the small lamp inside illuminating the area just enough for her to see everything. She glanced at Marco who was already fast asleep and spread out on the bottom bunk, she envied him. He just seemed so… comfy. He was sleeping shirtless his bare chest rising and falling slowly with his legs and arms strewn about, the blanket he never used, once again balled up to the side unneeded. Totally relaxed and free from all worry, he didn't usually sleep like that, during the first few days of their journey he always seemed to be on edge and could never get more than a few hours of sleep. Though the sleep deprivation must have been catching up to him now, seeing as how he had fallen asleep right after supper. She quietly placed the wanted posters on the small round table in the middle of the room before going to sit beside his form on the oversized bunk bed, newspaper still in hand.

The small movement seemed to rouse him from his slumber though, as he peeked an eye open to look at the outline of her blurry back against his torso, his eyes adjusting to the dimness of the room. He saw the large newspaper she was holding, seemed she was too preoccupied with the headline to notice that she had woken him up. If it was still dark though, that meant it was nighttime, then why was she reading the newspaper? How long had he been sleeping?

As if sensing his no longer sleeping self, she turned her head and gave him a small smile, whispering to him as if he were a child that had woken up from a nap and would fall asleep faster if she talked in a lower voice.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" She didn't wait for him to answer, "You should go back to sleep, it's almost one AM, I'm just finishing this up." She gestured to the newspaper in her hand.

Marco didn't move at all from his position, opting to stay put, it was just too comfy to ruin. "Anything interesting?" He asked, the haziness of sleep slowly disappearing from his mind.

He felt her hand rub up and down the length of his bare chest, sometimes stopping to let her fingers trace his tattoo before resuming their slow route again. If this was supposed to make him sleepy, it was only partially working. Her hand continued its steady trek as she read the headline of the day's newspaper.

"Marines? The Common Enemy" She began, "Recently, an unlikely pair has been spotted on Harpy Island in the New World," There was a picture of them walking towards the harbor where they had hidden their ship, how did Marines even get their hands on this kind of stuff? She also had to wonder if Daiki and Ren were the ones who had confirmed who they were, but she somehow doubted it. Those two seemed like the trouble making types, there was no way they'd simply bow down to the demands of the Marines. "The First division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates: Marco the Phoenix and the Red-haired pirates' Killer Punch Aiko."

"Not much can be said about this unlikely pairing that are rarely ever seen leaving the sides of their Captains, let alone their main ship. Are two of the New World's Emperors allying with one another? Are these two leaving the pirating world to elope together? Or are they off to war? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain, this isn't the first time they've gone off together to pursue their own individual tastes."

She showed Marco a picture at the bottom of the page, it was of the two of them, Marco looked like he was about to lean in and kiss Aiko senseless, they looked young there the picture was taken back in the bar they had met all those years ago, the one that had led to a very, very impulsive night. How in the world had the Marines gotten something like that? All his mates were probably laughing at him right now. No doubt, the laughter would start up again when he got back to the Moby Dick. Just great.

"This isn't a newspaper, this is gossip." She frowned at the paper in her hand, her other hand still preoccupied with stroking his bare chest, not that he was going to ask her to stop.

"Well, they only put that on front because of our crews, yoi." Marco muttered.

"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "Still… it's a bit annoying." She dropped the paper to the floor at her feet with a dull thud.

He shrugged as best he could in his position. "It's not really something to worry that much about, Hon, we're out to get Ace, that's all that matters." She nodded slightly at his words, so deciding to change the topic to something lighter, he made a gesture to her hand stroking his bare chest. "Couldn't resist, yoi?"

"It was too tempting." She smirked at him.

"Then do I get to feel you up too?"

"It doesn't work like that, phoenix." She grinned at him. "I'm still sizing you up. But I can tell why you're so eager, I was probably the best you ever had, right?" She gave him a wink.

"You wish, yoi." He replied, not wanting to push too much into that topic and instead letting her have her win. It was night, they were in bed and if he wanted he could pin her beneath him right this moment. The mood was too good to be having one of their usual banters and nothing good would come out of getting too close. Even their stupider, younger selves knew that. This wouldn't amount to anything, except needless pain and worry on both sides. They had to keep this their fun little game.

Aiko also backed a bit away when she felt the atmosphere, her hand on his chest slowing before coming to a complete stop, so as not to look too unnatural. In the dim light, Marco could see her eyes shining, caught between hesitation and some other nameless emotion.

"Time for bed, huh?" She asked suddenly.

Marco grinned, summoning one of his bright blue flames to his hand and letting her admire it, she always seemed to love looking at them before going to bed.

"Goodnight." She mumbled before standing up to climb up the bunk, they'd usually switch beds every day or so because they both seemed to like the bottom bunk better. He admired her form in the dim light, lithe form covered by her nightgown. Roger, which god did he piss off to deserve this kind of torture, this never ending temptation?

She quickly climbed up and after some rustling around with the sheets as she tried to get into a comfortable spot, he heard her as she finally steadied the bunk steadying with her, ready for bed.

Sitting up and sighing to himself, he rubbed the back of his head with a hand. His brain apparently thinking it was a good idea to keep the tingling sensation of her hand running up and down the length of his chest at the forefront of his mind.

"Night, yoi." Marco called back, now very much awake.

A/N: Please read this!

Alright guys this is more of just a fluff intermission thingy. Cause, well, I felt that I skipped their first days together and went right on ahead to bring them to the first island, so this is to make up for that.

But, have no fear, the next chapter will actually be longer like my other chapters and involve more plot, this, I promise.

As always, Please Revieeeeewww!