Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

"How's the tea?" A black haired man asked Marco as he sat quietly sipping his tea, Aiko beside him. The raven haired woman was currently suffering from the unfortunate lack of caffeine in this godforsaken place, rubbing her forehead on the table as she groaned out as if she were experiencing actual physical pain. Now that he thought about it, she probably was. He knew that the woman just didn't wake up in the morning without a cup of coffee, he was the same… though he just hid it better. Much better.

"It's tea." Marco replied, peering at the man with his usual half lidded eyes. "I detest the stuff."

The man grinned in return, giving a somewhat apologetic look at their lack of coffee stock. They didn't have much money, so coffee beans were a luxury that they unfortunately could not afford. The man shot a look at Aiko who was practically dying from the lack of caffeine before calling out to the other men.

"Guys." The man said, head tilting slightly upwards in an 'up there' gesture. All of them seemingly knew what the man meant because they began to discuss among themselves.

"It's your turn to buy!"

"What? No way! I went last week."

"Well I went before him!"

The black haired man suddenly looked at Marco just to see if he was willing to do what everyone else had quickly shook their heads at. The Phoenix raised an eyebrow, placing a hand on Aiko's head to try and get her to stop rubbing her forehead on the table like a petulant child, before replying, "I'm not doing anything, yoi."

"It's not hard I promi-"

"I'll do it."

The entire hall silenced as they saw Ruhi raising a hand. Each and every man in the room –minus Marco- getting a knowing look in their eye.

"I knew you were in love with the sales lady!"

"HA! Nice! Now Ruhi can always be the one to do it!"

"Do what exactly?" Aiko's voice suddenly interrupted the chatter as they all turned to look at the woman with very amused grins decorating their faces.

"Buy food, of course!"

"Hmmm…" Aiko hummed, chin in her hand as she let the Phoenix thoughtlessly play with a strand of her hair. "Hey hot stuff. I wonder what you'd look like in a dress."

"I'm not into role play, yoi." Came the instant reply.

Aiko sent the man a glance from the corner of her eye. She could feel the men around them listening in on their conversation, but she didn't mind all that much. It's not like they were her crew. "Not even Marine and Pirate?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you really that into it, yoi?"

"Nope." She answered with a shrug, "I've just never met a man not interested in it."

The blonde only rolled his eyes at her reasoning, watching as she stood up from her position, giving his shoulder a light squeeze, before going over to the men talking enthusiastically.

Marco watched from the sidelines as Aiko interacted with the men in the small dining hall, they had all collectively agreed that Ruhi would be the one to cross dress today to go out and buy food from the nearby shop, since they were running dangerously low on bread and other cheap foods like fish and rice. Marco's trained eyes noted how Ruhi seemed to put on the long dress with relative ease, signs that he was very used to it, he somehow had a new found respect for the young man. That dress did not look comfortable at all. Especially with the way it squeezed his waist trying to give the man an hourglass figure. After donning the dress, Ruhi wore a cloak over his shoulders to try and hide the masculine physique as much as possible before bending with some difficulty to slip on flats.

Next was the makeup, Aiko had all too gladly ordered the man to sit down saying how the guys here didn't know how to do it properly.

"I know how to make a man weak." Marco heard her say as she took out a few brushes and sent a wink his way. "Leave it to me."

"Somehow…" Ruhi muttered, "As a guy, making another guy weak is just…"

The Phoenix commander carefully watched Aiko as she began applying something to the man's face. He hoped she didn't make him look like one of those okama that he'd sometimes come across. He shuddered at the thought, last time he had seen an okama was when he was walking around with Ace, the okama had them began chasing them all around town. He was alright with Izou, but some of the other okamain this twisted world were even able to make him cringe in horror. At least Izou didn't try to chase and kiss him.

He watched as she worked, mind drifting to what she had said to him back in their shared room last night. He was taken slightly aback by her words, but she had assured him that she was, but a child back then. Though he didn't know why such a thing mattered, a child's love was still love and whoever it was that she treasured in her purest form would have to be one hell of a guy. Aiko was a bit too strange to fall for the ordinary joe.

'Your first love?' Marco asked, interest more than piqued as he patiently waited while she tried to perform an adequate response.

'Hmm…' She gave him a small grin, 'Another story for another time.'

He rolled his eyes, 'Why not now, yoi?'

'Because…' She watched him lift an eyebrow at her, 'It's a looong story.'

'And we have plenty of time,' Was the retort on the tip of his tongue, before he bit it back. He was still curious, in fact much more interested now that she avoided the topic, but he'd get his answers sooner or later, they were going to pass by the island anyway. Marco could be a patient man when the time called for it and this was one such time. So he dropped the subject, body relaxing under her touch, he'd let the answers come to him.

It was only a matter of time, after all.

He observed Aiko's face turn from concentrated to satisfied after a moment of inspecting her work, stepping away from Ruhi as she brought a mirror up to his face.

The man seemed utterly mesmerized staring into his expression, before he let out a horrified scream. Ruhi turned around to face the others. Marco's eyes immediately saw the rosy cheeks, smooth features and popping eyes, the man looked like a doll. Those porcelain ones that were too precious to touch.

"EHHH?! WHO ARE YOU?!" All the men screamed out at the same time.

"It's a TRAP!" One of the men yelled out.

"WHY WEREN'T YOU BORN A GIRL?!"

"How are we sure he isn't?!"

"You're right! He puts on that dress like a pro."

"Somebody check!"

"WAIT! STAY RIGHT THERE! I'M GOING TO GO GET THE CAMERA!"

All of the men were busy gaping and teasing the blushing Ruhi as Aiko grinned at the sight. Glad for the distraction as she brought honey eyes to meet disinterested ones. She had felt the weight of Marco's intense gaze for quite some time now. An unpleasant weight, but somehow his gaze always gave her a protected feeling as if nothing in the world could touch her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, silently questioning the reason he was staring at her so intently.

But then Ruhi stood in front of Aiko, forcing her gaze away from her blonde companion. "How do I make a woman fall in love with me?"

Aiko looked at the man with a questioning gaze and eyes filled with determination stared back at her.

She pointed in back of him. "Why not ask that fine specimen of bird over there?"

"Oi." Marco said to her in a warning voice as he walked up to the two, stopping a few steps behind Ruhi who was right in front of Aiko. The two pirates unintentionally caging the man in between them. As Ruhi stood there in between the lingering tension, he had the sudden feeling of being normal. The very air around the strange couple before him seemed to crackle and get brighter as they got closer together.

"Oh? Did I say something wrong?" Aiko said in an innocent voice.

"Hmm… I'm not sure, yoi. Try repeating it and if something happens you'll know." Marco's voice rang out full of challenge and that slight hint of deepness that had her shivering. She hadn't heard that particular tone in a long time, that tone full of sinful promise.

Aiko didn't even think twice, or at all was more accurate, she opened her mouth about to say the words. "Why—"

Ruhi cut the woman off, "I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it, Marco-san."

The two pirate's eyes widened.

"Yo! Ruhi, you IDIOT!" The men scolded.

Marco just stared down at the shorter man. It's not like he was going to hurt the woman, maybe trap her against the wall or throw her over his shoulder for a while, but he wouldn't hurt her. Right now, she was nakama. Couldn't this kid read the mood? Then again, this was probably why he needed woman help in the first place.

The blonde scratched the back of his head, preparing to give the oblivious man some pointers.

He thought back to the stupid things Thatch had once told him, the man had a habit of going after those ordinary civilian women, easily wooed by a bad pirate. Marco himself was never really into it, the whole nice girl thing made for a boring lay in bed, he chatted up well toned fighters. Now Ace, that hot head was a totally different story, the freckled man went after the absolute ice queens, saying with that abnormally large grin that they were the best, albeit more than a little crazy at times, but still the best. The three of them were the most womanizing among the commanders, the other two more so than Marco himself. But their womanizing had gotten even Pops' angry at one point, especially when a crazy woman had stalked them for six whole days.

But if she was the clerk they bought their supplies from then the woman would no doubt be an ordinary village girl, which meant he'd have to use Thatch's brilliance on the subject. "Women like that… Not all, yoi. Just… most," Marco clarified first before proceeding back to his original train of thought, "Village women huh…?"

Everyone was silent as the blonde retreated into his mind. The man trying to remember all those stupid conversations with the late Thatch, trying to without feeling that tightness in his chest over the loss of his brother.

"They like compliments, gifts, a little mystery and aloofness, yoi. They want to be able to talk to you, confide in you and all those other things women seem to like doing." Marco thought over his words, "Basically, yoi. They want you to be a woman in a man's body. Except on top of doing the jobs of a woman, you have to be a man too. Which means gifts, paying for things and compliments. Lots of compliments." Now that he had said it out loud, in solid words, he realized why Thatch had always needed a wingman. How in the world did normal women expect a man to do that much? No wonder Thatch had dubbed most of them as crazies. At least Marco could get by with just his smooth tongue, he had a new found respect for all men with civilian women.

Or then again it could be that he was just too lazy to exert that much effort, the only woman he had ever taken out to eat was Aiko. He looked over at the woman, gifts and compliments, huh? He'd never try such a move on Aiko, if he had she would've shot him down before the first words were uttered.

Aiko was a bit surprised at the man, she thought Marco would say something along the lines of how he went after her, but it was totally different. Did he observe that, heard or had he tried it himself on another long ago? She somehow doubted the last one, the man was too lazy for something like that.

Marco never bothered with anything that wasted his time.

"But…" Ruhi spoke up, trying to digest the information. "I don't want to be a woman… I Just… I want to be myself around her."

Ironic, seeing as how the man was already dressed as a woman. Marco would bet Beli that he was more attractive right now than the woman he so badly desired.

"That should be sufficient, yoi." He deadpanned.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Aiko laughed loudly at Marco's quick comeback, the Phoenix never failing to amuse her with his words. "Don't tease the kid, Phoenix."

"Is that how the two of you got together?" Ruhi asked Aiko.

"Hmm…" Aiko moved her eyes to meet Marco's steady gaze. "Who knows…?"

There had been some kind of silent agreement between the two, to never speak of the night they had met. That memory was something only meant for the two of them. Their little secret that they kept behind closed doors, much like the rest of their relationship.

"Alright then!" Aiko suddenly said, shooing Ruhi out the door, the man stumbling a bit in his long dress and cloak as he hurriedly slipped on girlish looking shades. "Out you go." She ordered, "Don't ruin your make up and don't come on too strong, you don't want her to think you swing her way!"

"W-Wait! What does that mea—"

The sound of the door slamming completely blocked out the rest of his sentence. Leaving him alone in the silent hallway leading outside.

Aiko -on the other side of the door- looked at the men in the room with a questioning look in her gaze as she asked a question even Marco himself wondered what with all the men hiding in secret basements.

"Do the women of this island swing that way?"

Marco and Aiko roamed the city, keeping careful track of the time, so that the mist didn't suddenly start to follow them around. The two donning thick cloaks that some of the women of the island wore so as to blend in better. Marco also had a pair of shades over his eyes, allowing him to see. As they looked around, Aiko wondered why it took time for the mist to begin following them, maybe it took a while to identify the genders of people? Did that mean the mist was alive?

The two pirates firstly tried to go back to the docks to check on their ship, but the mist seemed to cloud anything beyond the last building of the town. As if trapping the two pirates, Marco carefully held the umbrella over him and Aiko as she moved towards a small alley that they had been staring at for the past fifteen minutes. Women had been coming and going through there even though it was pitch black, which would usually mean that it wasn't a very friendly place.

Aiko took a step towards the alley, leaving the safety of the umbrella Marco held firmly in his hand. He didn't bother following her, there was no need. Nor was there a need for him to voice any concerns about such a place, he knew she wouldn't listen anyway, he wasn't her Captain nor her superior, all attempts to order the Red Hair Pirate would be for naught.

So, instead, he took a peek out at the setting sun and the mist that looked to be creeping up towards him and said, "I'll go ahead, yoi."

Aiko nodded, tightening her gauntlets, feeling her Haki channeling to a point that she could control.

"Follow my Vivre Card, so you don't get lost on the way to the castle yoi." The Phoenix advised, he didn't want to have her getting lost in the mountains because she didn't follow a piece of paper. If something happened to his raven haired companion while he was around her, Red-haired Shanks and the tougher members of his crew would probably pick one hell of a fight. He and Aiko were supposed to look out for each other, after all. In fact, he didn't even understand why he was travelling with a Red Hair Pirate in the first place, this wasn't their problem. If anything, he just guessed that the one armed Yonko was just worried for Fire Fist and so –like the meddlesome pirate he was- sent the woman with him. Ace was Strawhat Luffy's older brother and from what he had heard from the second division commander, Shanks' was rather fond of the rookie. But, did that fondness carry onto Ace who was from a rival crew? From Aiko's presence on this mission, it probably did.

In any case, Red-Haired Shanks was an odd man and Marco knew that even though he was whimsical and seemed reckless all of his moves were –to some degree- calculated and carefully thought through. He never willingly disrupted the balance of the world and if he were taking action to help retrieve Ace that meant something bad was going to happen in the near future. Even Pops' had said he had a bad feeling and his Pops' instincts was something Marco trusted to the utmost degree.

He couldn't begin to understand Shanks' helpfulness with a Whitebeard Pirate dilemma, but he knew that even though the one armed man sent one of his more favored subordinates to aid them, there was no way Shanks' or his crew would accept it if the woman was hurt in any lasting way. Which was why he needed to look after her.

At least, that was what he told himself.

"You should tear off a piece and hide it in case you drop the Vivre Card, yoi. Give me a call when you're on your way to the castle."

She rolled her eyes at his attitude. "Worried, Phoenix?"

Aiko watched his eyes spark with a nameless emotion, gone before she could identify just what it was. "Always, yoi."

"I can take care of myself, I'm a Red Hair Pirate after all."

Marco gave her a cocky grin. "That's exactly why I'm worried."

She gave him a small frown, before taking another step towards the pitch black alley. "I'll meet you at the castle then, be careful, Phoenix."

"Roger." Marco answered with a sadistic grin, his fingers itching for a fight. When was the last time he had gotten to all out destroy something? Not since the Marine Base they had trashed.

She waved a hand back at him as if telling him to just go already.

Stepping into the dark alley, she only found a few crates. Tapping a gauntlet clad hand on one, she found it to be empty. Seeing as how, her light tap had shaken the whole lightweight crate. She tapped her heel on the ground in front of her, the sound creating a barely perceptible echo. Tapping once more and this time using Kenbunshoku Haki, she noticed the entire floor beneath her was hollow.

Quickly moving the crates, there, below was a staircase leading deep underground. She took a few careful steps down to find an entire path lit by torches, some of the torches were dying out already. Which probably meant someone would be coming by soon to replace the sticks. Following quickly, she found that it led straight to a lone wooden door.

Because that wasn't strange.

Nope, not at all.

No sound could be heard, but her light steps. Even as she stood behind the door things were eerily quiet.

She grasped the knob with one hand, slowly turning it as she pushed the door wide open. Her hand immediately going up to shield her eyes that were momentarily blinded by the sudden brightness that invaded her senses. She could hear the sounds of movement in the small room. If it was a person or a machine, she couldn't identify, but once she felt that her eyes had adjusted well enough she slowly lowered her hand.

Her eyes widening at what she found.

Marco stood there for a moment longer watching Aiko's retreating figure and just hovering around the alleyway listening for any signs that the woman had gotten into trouble. Only a steady stream of silence followed though and once satisfied he dropped the umbrella he had been holding to the ground.

Passing women looking in his direction in confusion, before that puzzlement turned to shock as he dropped the cloak onto the floor, exposing a purple jacket and a tattooed chest. The effect was instantaneous. All the women running into nearby buildings at figuring out that he was indeed, a man. Marco paid them no heed, summoning blue flames as he shifted into his hybrid form and took off into the sky.

Meanwhile, a woman donning a long dress as she bought food supplies from a nearby stall witnessing the entire scene. Her hold on the just purchased sack of rice dropping, grains spilling over the wet cobble road. Mouth agape in shock, even as she ran with all her might towards the direction of the castle.

Marco took a moment to feel the cool wind on his face, careful not to let the sunglasses fall as he flew high in the sky. He broke through the mist and dozens of clouds, glancing down to see the island, the place would have been beyond beautiful if the rain didn't constantly beat down upon its inhabitants. His eyes trailed over the mountain, it took up more than half of the island, Marco flew over the entire thing, eyes trying to spot a castle. He didn't have to look far though, because the castle he saw was huge. Not visible from the village, but from his view in the sky the thing was monstrous. How could people actually live in such a huge place? He just didn't understand, living in such a big empty place, wouldn't it be extremely scary at night?

The castle was a big pink thing amidst the green of the forest. It stood out like a sore thumb as he inspected it carefully, parts of the castle were already withering away and it had an overly weeded garden. The entire West wing was crumbling, which meant that the Queen must've taken residence on the East part of the castle. Marco descended somewhat and saw that the mist didn't come near the castle, in fact it barely reached half the forest as if something prevented it from moving any further. Though the mist didn't come near for whatever reason, the rain was still beating heavily down, Marco was completely drenched after just a few seconds of flight.

He looked down at the village once more, noting how he was about to take out Rice Kingdom's ruler and probably change the whole way they did things just because of a bitter Queen.

He'd have to take the Queen's crown with him or some other such souvenir to show the rest of the crew.

No doubt, his mates would love to hear about a place where all the women were virgins and all the men didn't know how to talk to a part of the female species without looking like total airheads.

Grinning slightly to himself as he descended lower and lower, once he was directly above one of the castles many balconies he dropped his hybrid form and let himself free fall. Landing on his feet in a crouch as he dropped down. He felt the place out with his Haki, finding that he couldn't, just like with the mist this place seemed to block out his Kenbunshoku Haki. Just how did something block out Haki in the first place?

He'd have to be careful.

There were no guards stationed outside though, were they all just hiding inside or did the Queen live by herself in such a huge place. He doubted it, she was a Queen after all. At least one servant would be required. His mind briefly wandered to Aiko and if she'd be following him soon, but he shook her out of his mind. He needed to focus on finding the broken hearted Queen moping in here and convince her to at least let him and Aiko leave and at most get rid of the annoying rain completely surrounding the place.

He felt his pocket for Aiko's Vivre Card checking it for a moment to make sure it wasn't slowly burning or anything. She said she'd call when she was on her way to the castle, he'd give it forty five minutes. If she hadn't called him by then, then he'd go after her, but right now, he had his own mission to do. Taking long strides forward, he grasped the doorknob of the double doors that led into the castle.

Opening it easily, the thing wasn't even locked.

Security was lax.

Or so he thought.

Because at the next moment a dagger broke his sunglasses before going right through his head and going through the open door behind him. If he had noticed it a second later then- no, actually… If he hadn't been a Mythical Phoenix then that tiny blade would've killed him. His mind briefly thanked every God out there that he had eaten that disgusting fruit so long ago and that he wasn't a Paramecia or a typical Zoan user.

Half lidded eyes shining with an intent to kill so strong moved from looking outside in the direction the small dagger had flown to meet the surprised eyes of the one that had thrown it. The thrower clearly didn't expect the thing to go right through his head. It was a good thing the castle interior was dry because the blonde just lost his means to see.

"That hurt, yoi." Came Marco's voice as he saw the man quiver in slight fear, before grabbing another knife. The Phoenix gave a sadistic grin, this kid lived in Paradise, did he think he could harm a New World pirate without Haki? Or did the man not recognize him? Sometimes it was a real pain, not being recognized in Paradise that is.

Without another thought, Marco propelled himself forward, eyes glowing and grin getting even more sadistic as he flew at an inhumane speed towards his target. Kicking his face and making him fly out of the room and into one of the castle's many hallways. The sound of the man breaking his bones on the wall creating a resounding echo all throughout the palace, which alerted its guards because not even five seconds later Marco heard rushing footsteps coming towards where he currently was.

Marco took lazy strides outside of the room and into the hallway, only to see dozens of guards blocking both sides, closing him in. He briefly wondered why the guards were men if the Queen absolutely loathed them, but put that thought aside as he shifted into his Phoenix hybrid form. He could tell that the sudden showing of his talons put most of the men on edge.

Grinning viciously, he gave them a look Aiko would've undoubtedly called creepy, had she been there.

"So…" Some of the guards gulped at the tall blonde standing confidently, "Who's first, yoi?"

A/N: Heres the next chappie, because no one wants my omake DD: Hahaha, just kidding. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites. More people read my other story, but I get so much more feedback from this one which inspires me to write for it. I mean I barely update the other one, which is kinda sad. Welp, Happy early New Year my dear readers!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!