Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Aiko pointed to herself, "Last I checked I wasn't a man." She looked down at the still crouching Marco, his hair and clothes getting wet from the rain. She could see the mist clearly and when she had put her hand through it, the mist ate it up. There was absolutely no way this mist was just trapping the blonde Phoenix commander. "So why does the mist trap me too?"

"Because…" The man blushed red and even though he had on unbelievably thick rimmed sunglasses, Aiko could still see it perfectly. He averted his eyes, the ground suddenly becoming extremely interesting. "You've been tainted."

"Tainted?" Aiko asked, one eyebrow raising. Tainted? With what? She hadn't even touched anything on this island.

Was it because she had touched the mist?

"U-uhmm... y-y-you w-were" The man pulled at the fabric on his neck as if trying to air himself out from sudden heat in the cold rain. Though the temperature was perfectly fine, Aiko could see the man's blush spreading to his ears and undoubtedly to the rest of his body. "T-tainted by a man."

Aiko stared at him blankly for a few seconds, all that could be heard was the heavy rain beating down on them before realization dawned on her and she let out a bright laugh. Marco who was still crouching had a full blown grin on his lips as he stood back to his full height. His hair and clothes wet from the downpour, though Aiko noted that his hair somehow seemed to defy every law as it still stayed in perfect place even when completely soaked.

"So, you mean to tell me, every woman I've seen until now was a virgin?" Her eyes were expressing complete mirth as the man looked up at her. "Even that really old granny I saw?"

"Uhmm…" The man was at a loss, not knowing what to answer. Didn't this woman know that the fact that she had been tainted by a man meant she was forever cursed by the God that resided here? Forever punished? Yet she had an amused grin on her face.

"To die a virgin." Aiko shook her head at the thought.

Marco let out an amused grin and muttered, "Is it too late for me to say sorry, yoi? As one that tainted you."

She grinned at him in return. "I don't regret all those times one bit."

He smirked, ego slightly boosted at her open admission. Before he could retort though, the man said hurriedly, "So the two of you are together? It's rare for a woman to disregard her position and be with a man, but… not impossible I suppose."

The two didn't bother correcting the man. It was too much of a hassle to explain the dynamics of their relationship to a man that obviously didn't' get out much. Poor kid had probably lived all his life on this cursed island. The fact that he was wearing those thick sunglasses meant he saw the same bright lights Marco did and his views on how women should act meant he had grown up here, she felt for the kid. Really felt for him. Growing up here must have been terrible, then again he probably didn't know any other way to live.

"We aren't really from around here, yoi." Marco muttered, subtly bringing the topic back to their previous discussion, "Which is why we need to get back to our ship."

The man's eyes widened. "Where are you from then?!"

His yell seemed to attract some attention, seeing as how the town women openly glared at them before going into their homes or nearby buildings. Aiko raised an eyebrow at their behavior, so they knew there were men on the island? What did they find so bad about them? It would definitely do them good to have some men in their obviously unfulfilled lives.

"We should talk somewhere more private." The man muttered as he led them through the alley and to an underground passage. "My name is Ruhi."

Ruhi brought the two pirates to a dimly lit room, the only furniture being two beds and a small nightstand in between them, on the nightstand stood a large plain white candle, its flame flickering and giving the room an eerie feel. Turning to the two pirates behind him, Ruhi said in a clear confident voice, the complete opposite of the nervous wreck he was when he called out to the two in the town.

"You can open your eyes now." He tilted his head to Marco who still had his eyes closed as he, himself took off his thick shades.

The blonde commander didn't need to be told twice, eyes snapping open right away to eat up his surroundings. Moving over the man in front of him, then the dark room before settling on Aiko who was giving him a cheeky grin. Though their faces and the room were fine, the clothes the two wore were still unbelievably bright. Though Ruhi's more so than Aiko's.

"How is it, Phoenix?"

He looked around some more, to get his eyes used to actually seeing things again. "Better than before, yoi." He looked towards Ruhi, focusing on only the man's face, because for some reason his clothes were still shining unbelievably bright. "How can I see in here?"

Straight to the point.

"The rain." Ruhi replied, looking straight at Marco's lethargic gaze. "Everything non-living it touches blinds men." He made a motion to his clothes, wiping some of the droplets of rain off. "Sorry about this, I'll change."

Marco once more tried to look at the man's clothing, only for him to immediately bring his eyes back up, though the man dried it somewhat it was still unbelievably bright especially in the dark room they were currently occupying. Marco also noticed how Ruhi kept his eyes focused on his face as well, eyes completely avoiding Marco's somewhat wet clothes now that he no longer donned his shades.

Ruhi continued, "It's okay at first, but the more you look around…" He let the sentence hang, there was no need to elaborate.

Marco recalled how when he first stepped onto the island he had no problem opening his eyes, but after just a few minutes of looking at the pink surroundings he couldn't open them without blinding bright lights and searing pain assaulting his pupils and giving him a headache even his infamous blue flames couldn't cure.

"Why only men?" Aiko asked, "And what's with the mist?"

Ruhi seemed to fidget under Aiko's gaze.

Not used to speaking to a woman.

"There's a castle up in the nearby mountain where the women of the village go to pray and give their offerings. It's where the Queen resides." Ruhi explained pausing for a moment to make sure the two were following what he was saying. "It's said that sixty years ago this island was once a Summer Island. The Queen –princess at the time and beloved by everyone in the Kingdom- was supposed to marry a prince. But days before the ceremony, that prince went off to elope with a commoner from a neighboring country and ever since then the Queen has hated all men, never leaving her castle as she nurses her broken heart. The Queen separated the men from the women and created laws that were meant to punish us."

Aiko raised an eyebrow at the story.

Were there really such bitter women out there?

That was just… crazy. It was no wonder that Prince had left her.

The Queen was a total whack job.

"And no one rose up against her, yoi?" Marco asked the man, his face as neutral as ever.

"They did." Ruhi's gaze turned dark, his eyes darting to the floor as he recalled the stories told to him by his father. "They fought against her, but when they were to storm the castle a heavy rain descended upon them, this rain blinded every man. Those that were somehow able to escape before losing their eyesight got lost in a heavy mist that surrounded the entire island." Ruhi brought his gaze back up, Aiko didn't miss the pointed stare he gave her, only anger in his eyes. "Eventually, the women came to worship and abide by the laws. Not standing up to the Queen, they took it in stride and now are afraid of the men they come across."

"So men are allowed to roam freely?"

"Yes, but to an extent. After an hour or two the mist always appears. Trying to lead us to the Mountain and get us lost." Ruhi's gaze turned back to Marco. "Do you see why you won't be able to leave this island now? Every man that has stepped foot on this island has never left. It's impossible. You're now stuck in the Queen's misty trap… forever."

There was a moment where the two pirates just stared at the younger man before them, Ruhi staring right back.

The two pirates took a long moment to let the man's words sink in.

Trapped.

On this island.

Forever.

Then, a moment later, Marco's steady gaze moved to meet Aiko's.

"Seems we'll have to pay the Queen a little visit, yoi." Marco said simply, completely ignoring all of Ruhi's negativity.

Aiko sighed deeply, the thought of the spoilt, selfish Queen invading her mind. Crossing her arms, she replied in an exasperated tone. "I hate spoiled nobles the most."

The Phoenix just rubbed the back of his head, "So do I, yoi."

"And what's with that story? It's so cliché." Aiko complained with a small pout forming on her lips, "I was expecting something more interesting. What a letdown."

Marco gave the woman a grin, tangling one tan hand into her raven locks. The action had her pout turning into a sly smile.

Ruhi was momentarily flabbergasted, mouth gaping and eyes wide before coming to his senses and yelling, "WHAT?! WAIT! WAIT!" He looked at the two in shallow anger. "Didn't you hear what I just said?! How can you leave?! The rain blinds you, plus the MIST!"

Marco untangled his hand and just gave the man his usual blank look. As if the Phoenix couldn't care less. He probably didn't.

"Well, that's why I've got her here." He pointed a thumb at Aiko. "Plus you said the mist is trying to lead us into the mountain."

"TO GET YOU LOST IN IT!" Ruhi yelled, losing his cool at the hard headed couple before him, that didn't seem to understand or didn't want to accept the reality of their situation. They were powerless against that Queen. Their best bet was to wait for the woman to kick the bucket and pray that the rain and mist somehow would disappear.

Marco just shrugged completely unaffected.

"It's a castle, meaning it should be large enough to be seen from very high up." Marco thought about their ship, they wouldn't be able to find it until that mist cleared and to do that they'd need to go to that castle. No matter how tedious of a detour it would be. "It's not like mist goes all the way up into the air, yoi." The Phoenix said simply, watching from the corner of his eye as Aiko tried to dry off her clothes with a handkerchief.

"And what are you going to do? Just fly up into the air?" Ruhi shot back sarcastically. His face becoming slightly red at the two aggravating travelers and their inability to listen properly.

Marco just grinned in reply.

"Something like that." Aiko answered for him, before pointing at herself, "Is this better, Phoenix?"

Said Phoenix looked down at her and her nearly dry clothes. There was only a faint glow left, barely noticeable. He nodded slightly, "Perfect as always, Hon."

She waved a hand in between them. "Oh please, hot stuff. You're making me blush."

"And after all that teasing out in the rain earlier, I thought you didn't like me, yoi." He teased, one already impossibly arched eyebrow moving even higher to give her a look.

"Strong and arrogant…" She gave him a grin, "That's the type of person I like most y'know?"

He rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore the small jab directed at him in her words.

"Ehem."

They both turned to Ruhi, who cleared his throat to get their attention as he stood there awkwardly staring at the bickering couple. Was this how men and women usually interacted? Even though they were together? He had only seen one other couple in his life, but they were somehow, more lovey than these two. Or was this just how people from other countries were?

"Where are the other men, yoi?" The blonde commander asked, face that impassive mask again.

"Ah… They should be eating now. There are only a few of us in this hideout. Most hide in the nearby forests." Ruhi explained. "We don't stay together, food is hard to get in forests. Even harder in village situated hide outs like this. We know numbers are good, but it's just too many mouths to feed."

"So, how do you get food then, yoi?"

Ruhi's face turned tomato red at the question. "Uhm… me and the boys… We…" He averted his gaze and said in a small tone, "We put on a dress and buy from the village." It came out all in one breath and after the words left his lips, his mouth immediately clamped shut.

Most people would not have heard the man's mumble, but Marco and Aiko were not most people.

The two pirates were silent for a moment, making sure they had heard the young man correctly.

"AHAHAHAHHA!" Aiko's laugh rang out, Marco with an amused grin next to her. "Are you serious? That's too much." She held her stomach and wiped a tear from one eye as Ruhi blushed even more at the woman openly laughing at him in amusement. "So that mist doesn't chase you when you're dressed as a woman?"

"It does… but as I said it usually takes about an hour or so to start creeping up near us." He looked at the woman in front of him, her eyes shining with mirth, as he tried to defend himself. "We wear it because the women let us buy from them if they think we're gi—"

"Yes, yes." Marco cut Ruhi off with a wave of his hand as he placed a hand on Aiko's shoulder, in a silent 'that's enough' gesture. "You don't have to explain to us."

Aiko's laughter soon died down as she gave Marco an unbelievably huge grin. "We should play dress up too, Phoenix."

The blonde gave her a look that had her grin spreading even wider. "I'd rather we not do any action involving putting on clothes around each other, yoi."

"What if we do role play, hmm?" Aiko asked, that womanly playfulness permanently laced into her tone.

Marco lifted an eyebrow at her suggestion, before saying in all seriousness. "As long as you don't call me daddy, yoi."

She laughed slightly before rolling those honey eyes at him, grin turning mischievous. "I thought I'd be the one doing the spanking."

He smirked smugly at the woman. "Not a chance."

"Umm…" The two turned to look at Ruhi, who interrupted them for the second time in the span of less than twenty minutes. How the hell was he supposed to react to being totally ignored by the two? Not once, but twice in one day. They somehow had the uncanny ability to completely disregard his presence and move into their own separate world, a world full of innuendos and suggestive words. No matter how he looked at it, this couple was weird. In that they spoke as if they couldn't wait to put their hands all over each other, but what they did was the total opposite. In fact, they seemed to take care not to touch each other too much. Actions careful around the other.

But, even if they were odd in that aspect, he could see the complete trust they had in the other, it was just in the way they talked. The way they could say absolutely anything knowing the other would provide their utmost attention, knowing how one would always be looking out for the other. He had no doubt that they trusted each other with their very lives.

Was that also a part of being in love?

He hoped he could experience it one day for himself.

Ruhi brought his head up to look at the two in front of him. Marco kept his face blank, the perfect picture of disinterested as Aiko smiled up at him. But Aiko could see the slight glint in the commander's eyes.

"Would you two like to meet the rest? They should be having the usual late night drink right now." Ruhi continued.

Aiko looked at Marco's perfectly composed face one more time, before nodding to the younger man.

"What? No way!"

"I'm serious! Saw it myself!"

"Lies! It has to be!"

Ruhi opened the door to the kitchens, where the voices of his comrades could be heard. Once he stepped through the door, someone immediately called out to him.

"Yo! Ru—" All chatter came to an abrupt halt when everyone saw the two newcomers walk in behind their scruffy looking companion. Eyes seemed to attach themselves onto Aiko, all wondering what the hell a woman was doing there. After a few moments of awkward stare downs, Marco took a step in front of her. The action seemingly breaking all the men out of their daze as they immediately turned to Ruhi for answers. "What's the meaning of this?"

"These two are Aiko-san and Marco-san." Ruhi quickly introduced, "They're from a different country."

All of their eyes widened.

Before grins broke out onto their faces.

"What? You should've said so!"

"Welcome to Hell!"

"I'm from the outside world too!"

"Hey! Tell us all about it! You guys will be here with us for a while after all!"

The two were quickly seated and handed drinks as they were bombarded with questions. Both speaking with their eyes to each other as they fabricated a story about them being small time alcohol merchants, married for a decade. Aiko was a bit surprised at their welcoming nature, but soon realized it was because some of the men here were actually from nearby islands and just ended up stranded here, thus making travelers like them more than welcome. Though they were a bit wary of Aiko at first, not knowing how to interact with a woman, that quickly changed after a few drinks and watching how she and Marco interacted.

Ruhi had fallen asleep some time ago in his spot a few seats over, no doubt having had too much to drink. Which wasn't all that much, from what Aiko could tell as she observed his slumped over figure.

"I've been wondering actually…" Aiko began, "I saw children in the village. Girls. How'd that come about exactly?"

Marco gave a barely perceptible grin at the Red-haired pirate's words. Was she really so interested in how they reproduced without men?

"Ah! Adoption." A black haired man across from her answered. "They adopt girls from nearby islands."

Well, Aiko certainly wasn't expecting that.

So, the women of the island actually had some form of contact with the outside world? There was no way those women went out and adopted those children on their own, they seemed much too sheltered for that. Were those pirate ships she saw out on the docks bringing children to this island then? In exchange for what exactly? And with all these men here brought up the question of, why did that man hating Queen not purge all these men from her Island or make them slaves or something?

Marco broke her train of thought as he asked his own question. One that probably should've been asked hours ago. "This Island, yoi. What's it called?"

"Hmmm? Oh! This place was one known as Rice Kingdom." An older man, who looked to be in his mid-fifties answered, "That Mountain where the Queen lives is actually full of rice fields. It's the main trade of this land, well… was."

Marco looked at the men around him, the difference between them and him was that there was no way he'd be tied down to this place just because of some rain and simple mist. Plus the fact that he could always call Pops', but his pride as first division commander would never allow that. Even Aiko, he knew that if she for whatever reason suddenly stopped calling that idiotic Captain of hers for more than a day, he'd immediately come looking for her. Marco swore the Red-headed Yonko was just itching for any excuse to see his subordinate again.

After Aiko found out all she wanted to know, she caught Marco's eye and gave the man a serious look, to which he just nodded slightly.

Standing up the two excused themselves from the little party that had formed around them, saying they needed a break for the night. The men all too happily agreed, knowing just how hard it was to be forever stranded on some island and let the two go easily back to the room Ruhi had brought them to when he first showed them in.

An hour or so later, after the two had taken time to themselves to freshen up in the shower and relax they talked about what they needed to do. A conversation they both didn't really want to have after such a bad day.

"So…" Aiko began as she sat down next to a sprawling Marco, only donning his capris as he spread out as best he could over his small twin sized bed. Her back against the side of his taut chest as she carefully polished the Log Pose in her hands. "Shall we relax here for one more day before going out on our adventure?"

He looked at the Log Pose in her scarred hands. "You mean attack the few hours before that sets, yoi?"

"Exactly." She answered simply.

"I don't mind." He muttered, bringing his eyes to rest on her form. If she wanted to wait another day that meant she was interested in something here. "Are you interested in the pirate ships we saw back in the docks?"

She nodded her head slightly, placing the Log Pose on the nightstand by the bed, before moving to run her hand up and down the blonde commander's tanned chest. Her fingers tracing the dark blue tattoo that he always kept proudly on display for the whole world to see.

"I'm not sure if they're actually getting the children from orphanages, but Joker has slave auctions all around the Grand Line and I know that a life here is better than being a slave." She continued to trace his tattoo as she spoke, eyes completely focused on the dark blue ink. "I'm interested to know what they're paying those pirates. It can't be Beli, the rice fields in this city aren't taken care of anymore. The women here don't have the hands of field workers."

Marco closed his eyes at the woman's words.

She had a point.

And he should be focusing more, but there were just two problems with what she was saying. First, it didn't matter to him all that much, this islands affairs weren't his concern. His mission was to get Ace, everything else could stay on the back burner. As a Whitebeard Pirate, brothers came before anything and everything else. Second, how in Roger's name was he supposed to focus when she had her hand trailing up and down his chest?

Instead of contributing to the topic, he muttered, "You're not playing fair again, yoi."

Though he made no move to stop her hand and neither did she.

"Hmm?" Aiko gave him her best innocent look, but her eyes were shining too playfully for it to come off as even a little genuine. She teased in a sultry voice. "Why? What are you thinking about Marco?"

He tried to suppress a groan and to his dismay, failed epically. His throat making an almost feral like sound as the blood rushed to an entirely different part of his body at the sound of his name leaving her lips. He mentally sighed, how long had it been since he had gotten laid?

Too damn long.

"Don't be a tease, yoi." He said lowly, half lidded eyes meeting her amused ones.

"Never." She shot back instantly.

"Then again…" Lazy eyes trailed over her form above him. "I don't mind being toyed with."

His body suddenly seemed to be hypersensitive to her touch. A simple touch on the chest and roll of her tongue over her lips had his mind reeling to nights spent years ago back when they didn't have a care about the consequences of sleeping with someone from a rival Yonko crew. When everything was alright, things like consequences didn't exist as long as they were satisfied when the sun finally rose signaling that morning had come.

Aiko would admit that she had no problem keeping her hands off the man when in public, but alone with him half naked was just too much for her. Hell, for anyone. And just how could he say that she wasn't playing fair? He was the one that wasn't.

Grabbing her hand with his much larger one, he brought it to a halt right over his tattoo. Letting out a strangled sigh as he squeezed her scarred hand, thinking of days long past when he'd without a second thought reverse their positions and she'd be writhing beneath him.

"Makes you wish we were back in the past, huh?" Aiko said giving the blonde commander a small grin.

He didn't bother responding, she already knew his answer to that particular question. The past. Back when Thatch was still alive and he could look forward to those rare nights they'd find in each other's company. Ace was back on the ship and he lived in relative peace, in the company of his family as he waited for the day they'd run into each other.

"The next island." He said instead, completely changing the subject. The past was just that, the past. It wouldn't do him any good to dwell on it, if Marco had learned anything in all his long years it's that he always had to keep moving forward, even if he didn't know which way he was facing. Marco's observant eyes caught on to Aiko's sudden tensing at his words, no doubt she wished to avoid such a topic. "Why was it erased, yoi?"

Aiko looked down at the first division commander and his unwavering gaze. When he gave a look like that, it easily intimidated all those brave enough to meet it. She knew Marco wasn't stupid, he'd want answers, especially if that island could be a potential threat to them, they were passing it after all. "It's a pretty normal island." Aiko began, watching Marco's eyes flash in curiosity.

"But?"

Aiko gave him a grin that could have rivalled Fire Fist Ace's.

"It's where I met my first love."

A/N: I keep telling myself that I'd write more chappies for my other stories, but Marco and Aiko are soooo nice to wriiite about... My poor other stories T_T Anyway, It's almost X-mas! ADVANCED MERRY KALAMA TO YOU ALL! (If any of you don't know, Stitch said Merry Kalama once and that's where I got it from)

AS ALWAYS PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEWWWW!