Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

The words took a moment to register in their minds, but when it did the effect was instantaneous and Diego could tell because the atmosphere suddenly weighed down on the four there, it was so heavy that he was actually starting to have trouble breathing, consciously reminding himself that he needed to take deep breaths. The two pirates before him stood with an intent to kill in their eyes, now seemingly very interested in every word he uttered. No doubt, the thought of two impersonators out there would garner all kinds of unwanted attention and as an added bonus ruin their reputations.

"You mean that building I saw a mile away burning?" Marco asked, expression dead as if the person before him wasn't an old friend. "And did you say subordinates, yoi?"

Regis gulped at the threat laced into the blonde commanders' words. How had he not seen how frightening the two before him were when they were at his part time stall? Were all pirates like this? He looked towards the woman standing next to Marco, that grin gone replaced by a cold expression.

"Subordinates…" Aiko muttered angrily under her breath, something only Marco with his close proximity could hear, before addressing Diego with a tone that only grew angrier and louder the more she spoke. "Stole, you say? Do you know what they told their subordinates? How did they join? ARE THEY SAILING UNDER SHANKS FLAG!?"

Aiko was starting to see red.

Do anything to her and she'd play it off, that was something that took time for her to learn. Something Shanks' instilled in her brain, but this just wasn't one of those times. This wasn't just some petty little thing that she could ignore and laugh off. Impersonating someone was horrible, but to impersonate her and ruin her reputation, mock her skill with such a petty fire of a no name island, to assume that someone could fill her shoes. This was a direct insult to the pride of a red-haired pirate, to her family, to Shanks… He was the man that had saved her. Picked her up and given her a home and a family. What the hell did that person know about her?

'Stay away from her.'

'Don't look at her, you'll get a disease.'

'DIE!'

'Filthy trash of the street. Hurry up and die already.'

'WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?!'

Aiko shut her eyes to drown out the voices.

'Hey, kid. That was really cool, so you can't control your Haki, huh?'

How dare they, if they sailed under her Captains flag she'dfucking kill them.

'Me an' him are nice guys, so don't you worry your pretty little head. We'll teach ya how to do it properly. But first, sit down… IT'S A BANQUET!'

She felt a hand land on her shoulder.

Opening her eyes to see lazy eyes staring at her with an oddly scrutinizing gaze.

"Everything okay, yoi?"

"Yea." She muttered, taking a brief look at the two wax sculptors standing in front of the ship just staring at her with unsure gazes. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves down before continuing, "Do you know where those two imposters are?"

"No, but they'd most likely be to the South of the village. Were in the East side of the island right now." Diego explained carefully. "There is a big wall dividing this place and the other half, here is where mostly nobles live, but there are also a few more normal citizens. To the South… well…"

"The thugs, yoi." Marco finished. "All those unwanted scum." He looked towards Aiko, "Seems we went to the wrong side."

She shrugged slightly.

"Let's go start our search then." Aiko said irately.

Marco stared unwavering at her, before shaking his head and responding in that ever calm voice of his. "No."

"What?"

"You stay here, yoi." He stared at the woman's face, taking in every feature under his observant gaze. "You're angry, I'll come get you when I have a lead." He looked towards Regis and Diego, "You two, watch her."

"Wait, Phoen-"

Before she could retort, he shifted into his Phoenix form and flew off.

"That stupid, god forsaken, pineapple headed, arrogant, self-absorbed, smart sexy assed, egotistical FLAMING TURKEY!"

The father and son watched how for the past two and a half hours the raven haired woman in front of them shouted whatever came into her mind about the First Division Commander that so quickly left without giving the woman a chance to speak. But, they also noticed how even with all her whining and shouting, she didn't leave the ship. At all. Not even to parade through the sand of the beach because with the insane amount of pressure she was stomping her heels on the wooden deck it was a wonder it wasn't breaking, not even a scratch on its smooth and polished surface.

"I'm gonna kill him. He thinks cause I slept with him that I won't do it." She stomped wedge heeled shoes so hard on the deck, she was sure the steel plates below were slowly being dented. "He thinks that god damned creepy smirk of his will prevent me from ripping his fucking head from his shoulders. Phoenix healing be damned."

The two flinched slightly at the dark words leaving the woman's mouth.

"Now, now…" Diego said, finally speaking up and throwing to her the bottle of sake Marco had thrown back at him mere moments before taking flight. "Have a drink and let's just wait patiently. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

She gave him a fierce glare even as she caught the bottle effortlessly with one gauntlet enclosed hand, before she reminded herself that she needed to grin at the man, not try to push him away. Shanks would be scolding her right now if she didn't calm the hell down and there was nothing more annoying than being scolded by an overgrown child. She took three long and deep breaths, getting her temper under control before giving the two men before her a dazzling, friendly smile.

"Sorry." She muttered. "The man just pisses me off. I don't like being left behind."

"GAHAHAHAHA!" Diego laughed, motioning for his son to come and sit down next to him, they had taken a seat right in front of the medium sized ship on the cool sands of the beach. The sun had long since set, the pale moon giving off a faint glow as the sea reflected it perfectly. Lighting up what would have otherwise been dark, lonely shores. "What are you two doing all the way out here anyway? I've never seen Marco-san leave Whitebeard's side."

"We've got an important mission." She said, taking a healthy swig of sake straight from the bottle. Regis' eyes widened slightly, the woman was drinking it like water. "This is good stuff, where'd you get it?"

"GAHAHAHA! You have good taste!" Diego was grinning ear to ear at the woman. "It was part of the payment from the noble whose wax sculpture I made."

"Hmm…" She took a look at the bottles label. "Is it really okay for me to be drinking this?"

"Go ahead. Go ahead." He waved the entire topic aside, clearly it wasn't something he wanted Aiko to dwell on. "You're a friend of Marco-san."

She gave him another grin. A grin the two couldn't help but keep their eyes on. "You're a good guy, old man."

"WHO YOU CALLING OLD?!"

She laughed happily before taking another swig.

Was this woman a fish? Drinking at that pace could not be healthy.

"Ahh! Sake makes me miss my crew! We'd drink this stuff daily."

"DAILY?" Diego questioned, clearly wondering about the state of this woman's liver. Alcohol this strong… daily? Just how much pocket change did the Red-haired Pirates have? Strong, quality sake was expensive. "Ahh, Red-haired pirates do like to party." He added as an afterthought, was there some kind of special thing in alcohol? Did it make you stronger or something?

The woman was still donning that overly huge grin. "You met my Captain right? I'd love to see it… his sculpture."

"It was a lifetime ago, I've even got one of Lucky Roux." He looked straight at the woman's shining honey eyes. "Yours and Marco-sans is a masterpiece though."

"Really? You have his whole sleepy look and everything down? No joke?" She tried to imitate his usual bored face and failed epically. "The man's a charmer though, when he's arrogant." She placed a finger on her lips. "Oh, but don't tell him I told you that."

"GAHAHAHAHA!" Diego laughed again, how long had it been since he laughed this much? "Now that I think about it, what were the two of you doing together on Hand island?"

She winked.

"It's no fun if I kiss and tell and the egotistical man isn't around to react." She shrugged. "Then there's absolutely no point."

"Is that so?" He said grinning widely. "How long have the two of you been together?"

"Together?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's not like that, old man. We're just a man and woman that slept together a few times." She waved the hand that wasn't holding the bottle to and fro. "Though that was back when we were a decade younger."

Regis choked on his own saliva at the woman's response. A decade? Really? How old was this woman? He knew Marco was fairly old and didn't at all look it, was this woman the same age? Did he hit on a woman that could possibly be two or three times his age? God, he wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and never come out again. And wait… had she said slept together? As in… sex? He mentally shivered at the thought. Then why weren't they together if they had already gotten that far? They looked pretty close when they bought supplies from him, but nowhere near that close. As if some imaginary boundary stood between them.

"Here, hot stuff!"

She threw the bottle at Regis, who was caught off guard. The bottle jumping up and down in his hands for a bit before he was able to steady it. Of course, not without getting a face full of sand first that had the woman laughing once more.

"WATCH IT!" The young man yelled up at her.

"Have a drink. That look on your face is way too uptight." She said, as if it were normal to be handing teenagers' alcohol, though for her it probably was. But, he kind of questioned the way she said it, because it was as if it wasn't directed to him at all, even though he was the one she threw the bottle to. It was as if she were talking to a spot well past him and not actually him.

He looked at the bottle and was amazed that after her two swigs, only less than half of the entire thing remained. What was wrong with this woman? Were all pirates like this? That was a crazy amount of alcohol to consume in the span of a measly ten minutes, how in all the Blues was she still standing? If it was him, he'd be out cold after this much especially since this particular sake was strong and not to mention expensive. Hadn't she ever heard of the word savoring? Sake like this didn't come around every other day.

Wait.

If he took a sip from this wasn't that like an indirect kiss?

He blushed deeply.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

The woman was old, yes, she didn't look it, but that didn't change the fact that his first kiss would be with an older woman, a pirate at that and he had no idea just where her lips had been in her questionable lifetime. He mentally slapped himself for thinking such stupid things, she didn't seem to care that she was about to share an indirect kiss with him after all. But she could quite possibly be the Phoenix Commanders' woman, but then again she did say they were just friends.

He shook his head, clearing it of all his ridiculously stupid thoughts, looking at his father from the corner of his eye for a split second to see if he had any problem with him drinking, when his father didn't do anything to stop him, he gave himself a mental 'just do it.'

He lifted the bottle with a slightly unsteady hand and was just about to take a sip, when it was nicked right from his hands in one swift motion, he didn't even register the action until it was completely gone from his tight grasp.

Eh?

He turned to see the Phoenix Commander, hand on one hip and the other on the bottle as he was busily drinking up all that was left in big healthy gulps. His entire head thrown back so as to down it faster. A trail of sake running from his mouth and down his throat was visible, the spilled sake sparkling in the moonlight. Wait, when she had said 'hot stuff' had she meant the Whitebeard commander? His face exploded once more in a dark shade of crimson. So, she wanted him to hand it to the blonde man?

'Okay, if a hole would open up and swallow me whole then that would be great. Actually it would be prefect. Anytime now, hole. I'm so ready.'

When Marco was done, he brought the bottle down from his lips and wiped at his mouth before uttering the very same words Aiko had said when she first tasted it. "Good stuff, yoi."

Both Diego and Aiko grinned. Regis had his head down, dying from embarrassment at his mistake, but no one really seemed to notice anyway, so there was no reason for him to be embarrassed. Marco even raised a questioning eyebrow at him before he started shaking the now empty bottle in his hand.

"Hon, yoi." He called out to the woman who had been so angry and ready to physically hurt the man not even an hour ago.

"Hmmm?" She hummed in question, cradling her chin in one hand and leaning on the ships railing. All previous anger forgotten after the alcohol and conversation worked its magic.

He waved the bottle at her. "You barely left me anything, yoi. What's with that?"

She grinned and pointed a finger at Regis. "He drank it."

Was she trying to get the revered Phoenix commander angry? Actually, judging by the teasing grin on her face, she probably was. Regis was about to protest, before Marco said clearly. "Liar."

She just smiled down at him. Didn't even try to defend herself against his truthful accusation.

"I missed you too, Phoenix."

"Oi, lay down on the sweet words. This is why people get the wrong idea whenever we're together, yoi."

"They're just jealous."

"GAHAHAHA!" Diego laughed at the bickering duo, "You two were like this too, back on Hand Island. Good to know, things don't really change all that much."

"This woman's stubborn."

"This man's stubborn."

The two answered at the same time, looking at each other for a brief moment of awkward silence, before Marco spoke. Bringing the conversation to another direction.

"Anyway, I found where they're staying for the night. They plan to leave tomorrow at noon, yoi."

"Hmm… Relaxed aren't they?"

He shrugged indifferently, face still the perfect picture of composure even after consuming almost half a bottle of alcohol. "Seems they took a lot of the country's cashback from all the velvet they sold in the past year. Millions of Beli, no doubt. They really were impersonating us, scaring people shitless too, yoi. They got their subordinates by gathering random no name thugs and some lower level pirates, saying they'd lead them into the New World or some other such nonsense."

Aiko raised an eyebrow. "Mmm… Lower level pirates?"

"20-50 Million. Nothing big, yoi."

"That's not big?" Regis questioned, completely interrupting the flow and pace of the two pirates talking so seriously before him.

"Small fry like that, yoi?" Marco shot Regis a confident grin, he had the air of a man that owned the world. It was no wonder Aiko-san found him appealing. Few had such an aura, even fewer could pull it off so perfectly. "I'm Marco the Phoenix."

Even though he had only said his name, even though it sounded so completely arrogant. Regis didn't doubt the power behind it.

The two seasoned pirates walked towards where their doubles were supposedly staying for the night. The streets of the lower half of the Island were nothing short of scary. It was the type of place you really didn't want to live in, let alone have a family in. But it seemed people did have families here and they'd fester and rot one by one in this hellhole. This place was a dump. Its buildings were old and breaking apart, whores and all kinds of perverse men paraded and roamed around the streets, especially since it was already dark. Nighttime really brought out the worst kinds of people. Everyone moved as if they owned the place, people spoke as if they knew everything the world had to offer, perhaps they did. What more was there to learn about the world than right in its deepest darkest pits after all?

A whore latched herself nonchalantly onto Marco's front, her bosom right up against his chest and looking to pop out of the small corset she wore any second now. This was the third time this happened already. He declined with his ever bored expression that brought a pout to the woman's lips before, with all the grace of a cat, he quickly strode right by the woman before she could notice. Already far away before she could even turn around to call out to him.

"You must have so many diseases, Phoenix." She looked back at the woman they had so casually side stepped before thinking for a second, "Wait. But won't you just be cured? I mean, Phoenix healing and all."

"Doesn't mean I want to have dirty sex, yoi."

"Riiiight." She winked at him. "What was that with me then?"

He rolled his eyes, noticing the amount of men leering at the woman beside him. He really hated this place. Glaring fiercely at the men, seemed to deter them though.

"This way." Marco said, turning and motioning with his head to a large wooden building resembling an inn. It had a small sign in front that had the words 'SageBush' in big bold blue letters. This particular building actually looked cleaner than the rest and it was quiet. Too quiet for an inn that was probably housing all kinds of ruffians. Was this a trap?

"This place feels… off." Aiko muttered.

Marco just shrugged at her words, face and posture perfectly at ease as always. "It's fine, yoi. Or do you think I should be protecting you? I didn't think Red-haired Pirates were so weak."

She brought her eyes to meet his, they were practically smirking at her with challenge. "Well, we have to downplay our game a little, to give you Whitebeard Pirates a fair chance."

He didn't show it, but Aiko just knew she had struck a nerve. "You shouldn't lie so much, yoi. It's not a good habit. Men tend to avoid lying women."

"Now, Phoenix…" Marco swore that AIko was practically purring, the amusement in her voice was all too obvious. "Be it lying or whatever, anything having to do with me…" She gave him a mischievous grin. "Isn't that your specialty?"

He rolled his eyes, wanting very badly to kiss that grin right off her face, but he knew of another way. Instead of replying, he gestured for her to go first, "Ladies first."

She raised her eyebrow a bit at the small smirk on his face, but didn't question it. The man was planning something, there was no doubt in her mind about that. Anyway, he had said for her to go first, but didn't make a move to open the door, so with one firm push of her hand. The door hit the adjacent wall with a resounding bang.

Everyone in the fine establishment stopped for a second to stare at the guests that opened the door so rudely and the two stared right back. One with an ever bored face though amusement was playing in his eyes and the other with unbelievably wide eyes and mouth slightly ajar as if she were about to speak.

Aiko whirled around towards Marco, who grinned easily at her.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Aiko yelled at the blonde man as she pointed to a half-naked woman serving drinks to an overly fat man.

"Mmm?" Marco replied nonchalantly. "A brothel, yoi."

"Oi. I can see that! My point is, why you didn't think it necessary to tell me?!" She gestured to the people still staring at them as if they suddenly grew extra body parts.

"Sorry." He said the word in such an unrepentant tone, even Shanks in his best mood wouldn't have believed him.

She was definitely going to get back at him for this.

Whirling back around towards the scantily clad –and completely nude- men and women in the room, wait… was that a group orgy on the other side? She shook her head, she really didn't want to see this.

Aiko placed a hand on her forehead and sighed exasperatedly at this whole situation. "We're looking for-"

"Who are you?" A man cut her off, pointing a chubby finger at her before asking the prostitute next to him. "A worker here? I'd like to order her."

"Uhh.. No, sir. She isn't." The whore explained, "But… I'm still free for the night."

Marco and Aiko took a good look at the man the whore was trying to… well… whore herself out to. He had a beer belly with shoulder-length blonde hair, a bad looking red tattoo on the side of his large stomach and a… purple jacket.

Wait.

Was this…?

Aiko was patting a blankly staring Marco's arm as she exploded with laughter. Who cares if this guy just asked if she was a whore and if he could buy her for a night. Was this guy really… She took a look at him again, blonde hair and all, before having another manic fit of laughter.

"OI! WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT WOMAN?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" The man yelled, well, at least he had the overconfidence down. "I'M PHOENIX MARCO, FIRST DIVISION COMMANDER OF THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Aiko was practically in tears as she held her stomach, the only support holding up her weight was the blonde commander next to her, who was not at all pleased by the situation. Judging by the man's death glare that could send the worst criminals of Impel Down running with their tails between their legs. Did people really believe that fatso was Marco? One of the most powerful men in the world, renowned across every sea, Whitebeard's right hand man. Were people really this retarded? She was starting to lose faith in humanity. "At least he has the size of your ego down… ne?" She nudged Marco with her elbow.

Marco placed a large tanned hand on her head.

"Want me to burn your hair off?" He muttered darkly at her.

She paled.

"OI!" A random pirate with two large clubs yelled. She identified the pirate, he had been on the news recently, small time. Some random back article, that most only read when bored beyond belief, but both she and Marco read through the whole newspaper. They needed any and all the information they could get after all. This man was Backslash Byro 48 Million Beli. "Don't go laughing at the Commander."

"Yea!" Another yelled in agreement, he was wearing a steel plate all over his body. If she recalled correctly, this man was Ivory Tower Kozu, 32 Million Beli. "Do you wanna die?! HUH?!"

"What's going on here?!" The high pitched voice of a woman suddenly screeched as she came walking in, sandaled feet stomping as if the world had pissed her off simply by existing. "MARCO! TELL THEM TO SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"ONEE-SAN!"

"THESE TWO ARE TO BLAME!"

"You two! I'm Killer Punch Aiko, I know you want me, but I don't sleep with random people, especially women. Got it? So get out of this place!"

Marco and Aiko's eyes were met with the sight of a very short woman donning a skirt, fingerless gloves and a light blue mid-riff baring sweater top that exposed a large stomach with a poorly done Jolly Roger mark on her back. Her face was twisted into a sneer and she had plain black eyes. Aiko took the time to rove her eyes up and down the woman's form. There was no way in all the four blues and the grand line and for Roger's sake, she DID NOT look like that!

She took a peek at Marco who had a full blown smirk gracing his features. He was definitely holding back laughter.

"At least she's got your personality down, yoi."

"Tsk." Aiko looked away displeased.

"Anyway…" Real Marco spoke up, pointing a finger at the fake Aiko. "First of all and this is from experience, she does sleep with random men, from cheap questionable bars too."

"Oi, Phoenix." Aiko called dangerously, something the man ignored as he continued as if she hadn't even spoken, everyone in the building had their attention on him.

He then took his time and pointed at his own fake with a small smirk on his face. "I don't pay to sleep with women. Especially one I've already had, yoi." He said it in his usual neutral voice, Aiko didn't know if the man was defending her, being a smug bastard or asserting his claim over her in front of everyone here. Either way, the way he had phrased those words had her fists aching to punch him.

"SHUT UP! Don't you two know who I am?! HUH?!" Fake Marco stood with all the confidence of a man that knew he wouldn't be hurt. He gestured with a fat hand for the men around him to attack. "GET THEM!"