Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Omake
The heart has its reasons which reason knows not
…
Eight years ago
…
"So, we're visiting Elbaf soon…" Thatch began.
It was midday out in the Grand Line, sun high in the sky with not a cloud in sight. Even the usual volatile sea was calm. Now, usually pirates would be out on the deck on days such as these, but not today. Today Marco was spread out on the bed in his private quarters with Thatch occupying the seat near his writing desk, the two brothers talking about trivial matters as they wasted the day away waiting to land on Elbaf -the land of the giants- or something worthwhile to do came up.
As for the reason they weren't out on the deck enjoying the rays of the sun was simple.
It was just way too sunny out.
Heat was good, as pirates they loved sunny weather, but today was just horrid. As if the sun was trying to physically melt them like they had done something to offend the damned ball of fire which is why they, along with most likely every other member of the Whitebeard Pirates could be found somewhere inside the ship, be that the mess hall, private quarters or in random hallways. Marco felt bad for the rookies on the ship that had deck duty today, they'd be suffering from major sunburns.
"We haven't been there in a long time, yoi." Marco replied moving to stretch out more on his large bed, preparing to take a nap and not even sparing his pompadour haired companion a glance. "Their food portions are too big."
Thatch grinned widely at his lazy companion, before replying. "We won't be there for a few more hours, so you can starve yourself the rest of the day in preparation."
"Or a light snack, yoi." Marco muttered, mind drifting to food.
"You could always ask one of the nurses to bring it to you here or even have them cook it, y'know? They are always willing to help. Especially if the mighty first division commander is the one that needs it."
Instead of a proper response, Marco just hummed in reply.
Thatch's grin grew even more, he knew the Phoenix commander was on his way to taking a nap, perfectly content to sleep the rest of the day away, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the heat. The man's lack of verbal replies and lethargic glares was his way of politely telling the brown haired commander to get the fuck out.
"Too bad there won't be any women there." Thatch muttered, changing the subject, the only women there were giants and even he wasn't that kinky. If he was lucky maybe he'd find a nice normal human girl stopping by or travelling. "You think there might be? Or any interested in me?"
Thatch watched with his grin forever in place as Marco sighed loudly because of the pompadour haired man as he blatantly ignored the Phoenix's not so subtle hint that he wanted to be left alone to sleep in peace. Marco forgot how much his fellow commander loved to talk, especially when he was bored. Sometimes he wished that Thatch had another commander other than him to torment, especially when he wanted to relax.
"What's with the girlish enthusiasm, yoi?" Marco teased his mate, because let's face it. He did sound somewhat like a girl just then.
Thatch gaped at the blonde, faking an offended look before shooting back. "If someone didn't ruin most of my 'get laid' plans then I'd probably be a satisfied man."
"Don't blame me." Marco shot the man a look. "You've just got a bad eye for women, yoi."
"You could at least be a good wingman." Thatch muttered, but Marco heard it as clearly as if he had said it in his usual voice.
"I help when I can, yoi. Why not ask Izou or Jozu? You know Pops' always has me doing something."
This was very true.
Marco would help Thatch when he could, but since the years he had been promoted to first division commander, Pops' had him in charge of various other tasks such as listing supplies, distributing funds, assigning jobs to other members and a lot of other things. These may seem mundane and easy, but when added together it kept him quite busy, while he usually had free time when they were sailing, there were no women for Thatch to woo. Well, except the nurses, which Marco really didn't want to help his fellow commander out with. Sleeping around with the nurses of the crew would only lead to problems, problems he didn't want to deal with if a less than favorable situation should arise.
"Plus, I promised to help Vista once we get to Elbaf, yoi." Marco continued, "He's looking for some swords for the newbies."
"Whaaat?!" Thatch pouted plentifully, grin immediately dropping. "I thought best friends came first."
"So, still Vista, huh?" Marco gave a smug grin.
"Oh, that hurts." He held his heart in mock pain. "After I kept your little secret acquaintance with a certain Red Hair Pirate too."
Marco immediately shot him a look that had Thatch giving off a smirk in triumph, knowing that he had reeled the Phoenix Commander in. Thatch had kept quiet about the blonde man being on such intimate terms with a woman from a rival Yonko crew. The only two people he had not expected to see walking together around Hand Island. He kept Marco's secret for all these years, sparing him from loads of endless teasing and torture from the rest of the crew. Though, Thatch did bring it up on occasion just for the sake of winning an argument or to get something out of the usually disinterested man that he desperately wanted.
"I was wondering why you did." Marco said as his lethargic eyes never left Thatch's happy ones. "Are you blackmailing me, yoi?"
"Who? Me?" Thatch gave the blonde his best innocent smile, though his smug eyes betrayed him. "Never."
The Phoenix Commander raised one impossibly arched eyebrow even higher before he rolled his eyes, an action that Thatch could never get used to. He always did that whenever he mentioned that woman and the action was so completely foreign to the usual lethargic expression the blonde man usually donned.
"Alright, I'll help, yoi." Marco said with a sigh, head angling back into a more relaxing position. "Now, let me sleep."
"Yea, yea." Thatch replied with a wave of his hand. His voice clearly pleased at the outcome of their little conversation.
As he stood though, there was a quick rasp on the door.
"Come in." Marco called to whoever was on the other side.
The door immediately flew open to reveal someone from Marco's division, the man was panting as if he had ran a great distance. Though the Moby Dick was huge, so he probably had. The man's voice came out in a panic, eyes darting to acknowledge the Fourth Division Commander before focusing on the still relaxing Marco.
"Commander Marco, Commander Thatch! All commanders have been requested on deck."
Both Marco and Thatch raised an eyebrow at the man. Must have been one hell of an emergency for the presence of all commanders to be requested by Pops'.
"We've spotted the Red Force in the distance."
Aiko stood on the deck next to Lucky Roux and her Captain. All the Red Hair pirates were currently looking towards the much bigger Moby Dick, they hadn't expected to run into the Whitebeard Pirates. Not at all. Shanks had just suddenly said he wanted to visit Elbaf and the crew quickly agreed with their whimsical Captain. None expecting to actually run into the Whitebeard Pirates, even though Elbaf was dangerously near Whitebeard territory. Now that she thought about it, her Captain's sudden urges to go places would no doubt get them all killed one day.
"Whoa, look at those glares." Aiko heard one of her mates mutter.
"They haven't even offered us booze." Another one of her mates mumbled back, Aiko quietly chuckled to herself at what he said. Red Hair pirate traditions, no matter what anyone said, they were the absolute best.
Red Hair pirates were friendly after all.
Especially when booze was part of the equation.
Looking carefully towards the deck of the Moby Dick, Aiko could see each and every Whitebeard Pirate giving them a death glare that would've sent lesser men six feet under. She could make out Whitebeard's commanders scattered around the Moby Dick's deck and Whitebeard himself, drinking copious amount of sake as he sat next to a few nurses worried for his health. The revered strongest man though, was only looking at one Red Hair Pirate and that was her scarred Captain, who looked right back with a grin on his face.
A heavy weight was suddenly felt all around. Pieces of the Moby Dick and even the Red Force chipping away, some of the men from Whitebeard's crews hitting the ground unconscious. Aiko watched as the Whitebeard Pirates tensed up, ready for a fight, she just shook her head at the display of Haoshoku Haki by her Captain. She could tell he did it as a warning, those nasty glares being sent their way weren't pleasant after all.
Then as swiftly as it had come, the weight lifted and Shanks gave the rival crew an overly friendly grin.
"Well, nice seeing you here." Shanks' voice carried over to the Moby Dick, tone pleasant and eyes only expressing happiness at seeing the opposing crew. Though, Aiko didn't know how he did it, but his tone carried authority and hidden danger even as kind as it was.
"And what's a brat like you doing here?" Whitebeard's voice boomed, some of the newbies on the Red Force visibly flinching in the large man's presence.
"I wanted to visit the land of the giants!" Shanks replied simply, tone not caring that he had knocked out some of Whitebeard's crew.
"OI! Akagami! You're dangerously close to our territory, yoi!" Marco yelled over, stepping up to the railing of the Moby Dick to glare even more menacingly at the rival crew, by his side was fourth division commander, Thatch. The Phoenix's voice as hostile as could be as he donned his usual indifferent mask. But, despite his face, it was obvious to all he was more than a little peeved at the sight of the rival Yonko. The fact that Marco wasn't too fond of the red headed Emperor wasn't much of a secret. The first division commander openly showed his hostility and absolute distaste towards the Yonko not only because he was a rival, but because of the man's tendency to randomly enter other Emperor's territories.
There were territories for a reason.
Shanks' eyes moved to Phoenix Marco, he understood that they were more worried about them invading their territory again, than starting a fight. The Red Hair Pirates weren't known for starting fights after all, unless provoked that is. They were just looking for his word that he wouldn't cross the borders, once they had it Shanks was certain most of the hostility would quickly dissipate.
"We're only here to visit the land of the giants. Entering your territory isn't on our minds." Benn Beckman was the one to answer the first division commander's silent fury. Speaking as a first mate to a first mate. Marco's eyes scanned the deck, noticing the large amounts of booze the Red Hair Pirates had been taking out, before they spotted the Moby Dick. They looked to be preparing for a large banquet in the land of the giants.
"You heard Bennie." Shanks further confirmed with a nod of his head as he looked at Edward Newgate, waiting to hear what the man had to say. He gave another friendly grin, "We're going to have a banquet, would you like to join us?"
"EHHH?! CAPTAIN!" Most of the Red Hair Pirates yelled.
"Hmm?" He looked back at his crew in that usual manner of his, as if he were doing nothing wrong. "What's the matter?"
"OI! Captain! What do you mean," One of her mates tried to imitate Shanks' cool way of speaking, "'What's the matter?' They're WHITEBEARD PIRATES!" Other lower ranking members in the crew seemed to agree, nodding in unison with the mate brave enough to speak up.
"It's better to eat with more people." Lucky Roux suddenly interrupted as he lifted a large chunk of meat up to the Whitebeard Pirates before taking a bite into it.
"Exactly! Loosen up a bit!" Shanks yelled to his flabbergasted crew, then brought his attention back up to Whitebeard.
"Where are you heading after Elbaf, brat?" Whitebeard asked, once more making sure he wouldn't invade their turf for the sake of putting the minds of his men at ease.
"Hmm…" Shanks took a moment to think before responding, "Yukiryu Island."
"Really?!"
"NICE!"
Simultaneous excited yells from Shanks crew could be heard. Yukiryu was a Winter island under Shanks' protection, they'd usually go there to hang out and have fun. Not that they needed an island to do that, but if partying was done on an island, it somehow felt like an adventure. Knowing they could go out and explore instead of being confined to a ship.
Whitebeard seemed to approve of the rival emperor's answer as he nodded slightly.
"Just don't start any trouble on Elbaf, brat. We're headed there as well." He looked at his sons, "What do you say to a banquet my sons?"
"YEAAA!" Most of them yelled in excitement.
"GUARARARARARARARA!" Whitebeard's laughter echoed all around, "Do you hear that, brat? I hope you brought good booze."
Shanks and the rest of the Red Hair pirates grinned in return as the Whitebeard commanders visibly loosened up at their Captain's words. Each of the crews scrambling around their respective ships to break out food and alcohol in preparation for their landing on Elbaf. Shouts could be heard as orders were yelled out. Aiko watched from the sidelines along with her fellow higher ranked mates as the newbies of the ship were told to do most of the chores. She really did feel bad for them. Being a newbie on an experienced pirate ship must've been harsh.
"I can't wait to drink some booze." Aiko said, stretching her arms.
"Captain's rubbing off on you." Benn replied as he lit up another cigarette.
"Nope. I think I got it from you." Aiko gestured to the bottle in his hand, he only grinned in reply, blowing out a puff of smoke right at her face. The action had her frowning.
"Aiko-chi!" Lucky called, "You should eat more too!" He held up his big piece of meat to further prove his point.
"I'd rather not have a fat Aiko." One of the mates yelled as others yelled in agreement. All momentarily stopping their work to reject Roux's idea.
"Get back to work!" He just yelled back with a pout on his face.
She was about to say something when a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder, she turned slightly to see a grinning Yasopp who tilted his head towards the Moby Dick. Aiko followed his gesture to see the Phoenix commander speaking to Fourth Division Commander Thatch near the railing of the Moby Dick. Obviously sticking around to keep a close eye on their movements. Quickly rolling her eyes at her grinning mate -Yasopp had caught the two of them back at Hand Island a few years prior and used every waking moment to torment her about it- she moved from under his hand to go do what he wanted.
He'd tease her endlessly for this, but at least he didn't' tell any of the crew. Shanks would freak out if he found out about her and the hostile Phoenix commander having a thing.
Walking up to the railing of the ship she looked up towards the two commanders.
Thatch, the first to see her, grinned slyly.
The grin had Marco's already arched brows rising even higher as his fellow commander elbowed him playfully and gestured down towards the Red Force. From his constant nudging and teasing grin, Marco already knew who would be there when he looked down, but when he turned to look at the raven haired woman his eyes still lit up in surprise for a moment before he promptly concealed it behind that disinterested expression.
"Phoenix." He heard her call as she gave him a happy smile.
Said Phoenix, bent his upper body down, crossing his arms over the railing of the Moby Dick as he looked down at the woman on the much smaller ship.
"Killer Punch." With a nod of his head in acknowledgement and ignoring his fellow commander that was giving him a smug smirk, he gave her his usual bored stare. From his Kenbunshoku Haki, he could tell that no one had noticed the two, most of the crew too busy hauling out supplies in preparation of what would be a very large banquet.
"Now, don't look at me like that." She said, placing her hands on the railing as she tip toed, as if it would get her closer to the Phoenix on the much larger ship. "Did you miss me?"
"Always." Was the instant reply, the Phoenix completely disregarding the amused snicker that left his pompadour haired companions mouth.
"Will you be treating me out to dinner again, hot stuff?" She asked with a small smile, hiding the laugh at the sight of the the Fourth Division Commander's obvious enjoyment at the situation between her and the blonde.
"If I can get away from this banquet, yoi. It's hard being firstdivision commander." He replied in a smug tone, plus an infuriating smirk just to piss her off.
But she didn't take the bait.
Instead focusing on a different part of his sentence.
"I can think of other hard things too..." Aiko began, voice trailing off as she stared up at the Phoenix with a far from innocent smirk of her own. The glint in her eyes were daring him to retort.
"Then why don't we just skip dinner altogether, yoi?" He shrugged slightly, "And you can show me what else you're thinking about."
"Hmmm… I don't know, Phoenix. Exploring Elbaf is high on my agenda." She gave him a look that would have had other men swooning. Thatch had no idea how Marco could resist it so much. "Unless you'd be willing to walk around with me. What do you say?"
Thatch watched Marco think over her suggestion. This really was gold, seeing his usually lethargic mate going about trying to get close to a woman that Thatch hadn't introduced. He knew the Phoenix Commander could get laid whenever he wanted, but it was still rare for him to go after a woman on his own. Usually Thatch had to force him to go because if the Phoenix wasn't going about doing his duties or hanging out with his mates, the lazy man was sleeping. Watching the two of them felt refreshing for the brown haired commander.
"I don't know, yoi." Marco gave the woman another shrug. "Will I get a prize after?"
Aiko rolled her eyes at him.
"He means 'yes'." Thatch suddenly interrupted the banter between the two enemy pirates.
Marco and Aiko both turned to look at the pompadour haired man, who only grinned amusedly at the two.
"Fourth Division Commander Thatch, right?" Aiko asked, watching said man's eyes light up, happy that she remembered him. "I'm sorry I ruined your plans with the Phoenix back on Hand Island." Her eyes went back to looking at the blonde commander. "We hadn't seen each other in a long while and had… a lot of… catching up to do."
Thatch waved the apology aside easily, not even upset about the matter since that incident had given him so much fuel to use against his mate. "I can imagine. Though Marco never told me just how you two met."
Marco rolled his eyes.
Thatch watched the action carefully, it was still so rare for him to do that.
"It's a long story, yoi." Marco replied as his eyes went back to looking at the raven haired woman below him.
She winked at the Phoenix commander in response.
"AIIIIIIKOOOO!" The voice of Shanks suddenly rang out across the deck. Aiko turned slightly to see her Captain hurriedly looking around for her, he had a bottle of expensive sake in his hands.
Giving the Phoenix above her one last look she said, "Find me when we dock?" With a small nod towards Thatch she left to go to her panicking Captain, who had apparently been looking for her for quite some time.
"Roger." Marco confirmed –his usual response when asked to do something- before she was out of earshot.
The two commanders watched her walk away for a moment more as she went up to her Captain who shoved a large bottle of sake into her unsuspecting hands with a laugh, before Marco was suddenly elbowed on the side by a smirking Thatch. The blonde sighed at what he knew was about to come.
"So what does whiplash feel like?" Thatch teased with a grin.
"I don't want to hear it, yoi." Marco muttered, walking away to go get something to eat.
Thatch though, followed right behind, "Should we be seeing the Red Hair Pirates more ofte-"
The Fourth Division Commander never got to finish that sentence because his face was shoved into the ship's deck.
Marco sat on a crate a bit away from the two docked ships as he watched his crew conversing with a few of the giants they had met before on the extremely large island. Many of the giants were surprised to see two Yonko visiting their island at the same time, but quickly let it go when they saw that they were on friendly terms and were even preparing a banquet large enough for the entire island to enjoy. The Phoenix commander had finished up his duties early and now sat waiting for Aiko, who he'd know would come and find him sooner or later using her Haki. He told Pops' that he'd be out exploring for a while and that he had his DenDen Mushi on him in case he needed something done. Marco just hoped that he'd be able to walk around without one of the other commanders catching him, especially not Izou.
"Ready?"
Marco turned at the sound of Aiko's voice, the woman stood before him with an excited gleam in her eye. He nodded slightly about to stand up when Thatch walked up to them, hiding something behind his back.
"Hey, you two!" Thatch said with a smile.
Marco ignored the greeting and went straight to the point. Moving his head in a silent gesture towards his mate's hidden hands. "What are you hiding, yoi?"
Thatch just grinned.
Marco narrowed his eyes slightly in return.
Aiko looked at the fourth division commander then to the first. Eyes moving between them wondering what their silent communication was about. Before she could ask however, Thatch showed his prize. It was a large black camera.
"No." Was Marco's instant reply, the word leaving his mouth so fast, Thatch's grin immediately dropped.
"Hmm…" Aiko looked at the camera in Thatch's hands. "I want to."
The grin was immediately back and he raised the camera up to take a quick picture of the woman before him as she gave him a bright smile.
Click.
"At least someone is being cooperative." Thatch shot a look towards Marco, who just stared back at him with that uninterested gaze.
"You too, hot stuff." Aiko suddenly said to him, bringing that indifferent gaze to rest on her. Marco gave her a look that screamed fuck no. A look she completely disregarded as she walked up to him and grabbed one of his hands, bringing it up to her cheek and placed her other hand onto his chest.
She whispered, "I'll give you a nice present later." Then smiled up at him.
He was about to retort saying how he'd never hear the end of this from Thatch if he took a picture with her.
But…
Click.
They both immediately turned to Thatch who had taken his chance with the two distracting each other to steal a picture. He shot Marco an innocent look before saying, "Oops."
"Oi." Marco's blue flames were suddenly all around him and in that moment Thatch chose the only option his brain provided and fled as fast as his legs could take him away from the irate Phoenix commander. Instinct to flee kicking into overdrive as he just… ran. Preferably towards Pops' or another one of the commanders. Marco sighed, torn between wanting to chase his traitorous mate and keeping Aiko's hands all over him. In the end, she won because he'd be able to hit his mate with a nice haki infused kick whenever he wanted.
"AHAHAHAHA!" Aiko laughed at the sudden turn of events. "Is he always like that?"
"Unfortunately." Marco replied with a slight hint of disappointment in his tone.
"You're scary, Phoenix."
He raised an eyebrow at the woman, but didn't retort as he brought his gaze back to the direction the brown haired commander had fled off into, undoubtedly towards Pops' or some other commander that could protect him from his attacks for a while.
Aiko took one more look in the same direction, seeing Yasopp from the corner of her eye giving her a knowing grin. Had he been watching this whole time? She frowned slightly at the thought. Making it a point to ignore her fellow mate as she squeezed Marco's hand that was still resting on her cheek to get his attention before motioning with her head towards the large town.
The two taking a step into the wonder that was Elbaf.
Purupurupurupurupuru…
Purupurupurupurupuru…
A lazy hand from across the thrown about sheets moved to pick up the small transponder snails receiver, as the man's senses slowly adjusted to the foreign surroundings.
Purupurup—
Kacha.
"Hello, yoi."
"Marco!" Vista's voice came out, "Where are you?"
"Hey! Jozu is calling for you, lemme talk to Marco." The phoenix commander heard Thatch from the line.
As they talked amongst themselves, Marco looked to the left towards the small clock on the nightstand, why in the world was Thatch calling at six in the morning. What was the brown haired commander evendoing awake? The blonde groaned slightly, he hadn't gotten any sleep, an hour or two at most and then his mates for once in their lives suddenly decide it's okay to wake up early?
Just… NO.
He made a move to sit up only to stop immediately when he looked to his right, eyes coming face to face with a large pair of breasts that he followed up to see Aiko sleeping soundly.
Right.
He remembered now.
He had fallen asleep in between those.
Giving himself a self-satisfied grin, he decided laying down there for a few more minutes wouldn't be too bad.
"Oi, Marco!" Thatch's voice rang out, he could still hear partying in the background. That explained what his mates were doing up. So they were still partying, huh? He reluctantly turned his back on the glorious view of Aiko for a moment, so that he could get as close as possible to the receiver. He didn't want to talk loudly and this way he could somewhat muffle Thatch's voice. Aiko seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
"Something the matter, yoi?" Marco said as quiet as possible, so as not to wake up the still sleeping Aiko. "Are we leaving the island soon?"
"What? No way. The party's been on the entire night, it looks like it'll continue for a few more hours. Hey! Guess what? There were human women here! Nice, right?" Thatch said happily, "Anyway, everyone's wondering where you are. I've got a woman here for you too, so come by. We're heading to this inn at the center of town with Jill! It's smaller than the rest of the buildings and made for humans, so it'll stand out!"
Marco was about to respond that he wasn't in the mood, when he was cut off by his own name.
"Marco." Said man heard Aiko's sleepy voice call out as she crawled the short distance towards him, he felt her hug him from behind and move somewhat on top of him, so that her cheek was resting comfortably on his bicep. The feeling of her breasts and soft body pressing up against his wasn't good for the current morning problem he was having. Especially when his cock suddenly painfully throbbed in excitement at the next thing that came out of that sinful little mouth. "Let's play some more."
The line was suddenly silent for a moment.
Then…
"Oh, you sly bastard."Thatch's voice rang out.
"And here I thought I satisfied you well enough a few hours ago, yoi." Marco replied, completely ignoring his mate on the other line. "Wasn't eleven enough for you?"
She shook her head, eyes closed as if she still wanted to sleep. "Not from you."
"I'm STILL HERE!" Thatch yelled into the receiver, ignoring the looks Jill and some of the women suddenly sent his way. "And here I was worried for your sex life! But this was why we didn't see you all nigh—"
Kacha.
Marco promptly hung up, already turning around and pressing his lips against Aiko's in a searing kiss as she let his hands freely roam the expanse of her naked body. Their tongues moving against each other in a fight for dominance which he eventually let her win, as he moved to lay on his back with Aiko carefully straddling him.
"Won't they be looking for you, yoi?" Marco asked, he didn't want to suddenly cut the little game they were about to start short just because her mates were wondering where she ran off to.
She shook her head slightly, hair a bed headed mess. "Yasopp's covering for me."
He didn't need to be told twice, one hand moving up to squeeze and pinch at the nipple on one breast before slowly caressing downwards to tap the Jolly Roger tattoo near her hip. It was the exact same action from when they first slept together and she grinned when he did it. Letting her hands roam the expanse of his chest.
Marco brought his eyes to meet hers, the thought of who she did this with in the years they spent apart from each other coming to his mind for a brief moment, before he banished the thought completely. Thoughts like that didn't matter, instead he focused on the woman in front of him, taking note of all the marks he left just a few hours ago.
"Are you just gonna eye fuck me?" She said with a little smirk on her lips.
"Are you just gonna sit there and do nothing, yoi?" He challenged. She immediately bent to place a kiss on his jaw, his neck, then trailed her lips down his chest until they hovered right over that very erect part of his body that was just aching to be tended to. His eyes watched her in anticipation, wanting so badly to just grab her head and forcefully move her.
His feral groan could be heard throughout the floor as Aiko gave him a mischievous grin and a look that promised only the sinful.
Evening of that same day as Aiko and Marco ate in the small cafeteria of the inn they had decided to spend the day away in, they were greeted by an unpleasant noise.
"What are you two doing here?!" Thatch came in with a brunette in back of him that Marco didn't recognize.
The Phoenix raised a questioning eyebrow.
Thatch was his best friend and all, but the amount of times he interrupted something or just happened to be where he and Aiko were, was just too damn high. If he didn't know better it was as if the universe was trying to tell him that he should be spending more time with his mate.
"We've been here all night and all morning and all afternoon, yoi." Marco responded, taking another sip of coffee and skipping the pleasantries.
Aiko though was apparently up for pleasantries as she greeted the two as they moved to sit across her and Marco. "Evening."
"Ahh! Good evening." The brunette with Thatch muttered, her cheeks a bit red because the two in front of her knew just what she did with the Whitebeard pirate last night. She looked towards the raven haired woman next to the blonde, was this woman also a pirate? She shook her head at the thought. That was impossible.
Thatch carefully examined the two pirates in front of him, they both looked fresh from a shower and had that way too obvious after sex glow. A small pleased smirk on both their faces as they ate. Well, Aiko ate, Marco was already done seeing as how there was an empty plate in front of him and now he only had a large half empty mug of black coffee in his hand, while his other was wrapped around the dark haired woman, so that she was flush against his side as she ate a plate full of pancakes.
Pancakes?
Did these two just get out of bed?
Judging from the coffee in Marco's hand instead of the usual evening drink, he guessed that the answer was 'yes.'
"Marco, Aiko." Thatch suddenly said, before motioning with his head to the brunette by his side, "This is Kaya."
"Nice to meet you." Aiko said as Marco just gave an easy grin in acknowledgement. "So where are you from?"
"I'm just passing through on my way back to Sabaody." Kaya replied, glad that the woman was speaking to her, it was a bit strange being in the presence of two Whitebeardpirates.
"Sabaody, huh? That's a long trip."
Kaya grinned sadly, before asking, "What about you Aiko-san? Are you from around here?"
"Eh?" Aiko grinned awkwardly. "Something like that."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Thatch laughed, grinning and pointing a hand at Aiko. "Please, dearie. You're not fooling anybody. Kaya this woman's a pirate."
Kaya only had a surprised look on her face.
"What?" Aiko said innocently as she took her last bite of food. "I do live around here. I mean the Red Force is right there in the docks."
Thatch laughed again and Marco just sighed, the fourth division commander noticing how the blonde would look up at the clock every other minute or so. It was clear the Phoenix's mind was elsewhere at the moment.
"So does that mean the three of you live on the same ship?" Kaya asked.
"Actually, Kaya," Thatch began with a grin, "This woman is our enemy. She's part of a different crew."
"Eh? Then? How?" Her eyes went from Marco to Aiko then back again. Curiosity about the dynamics of their relationship shining in her eyes.
"It's just a little fun, yoi." Marco answered, "And we make it work…"
"Somehow." Aiko finished for him.
Just then, the clocks built in bell suddenly rang, signaling that another hour had passed. Thatch watched as Marco took another brief look at the clock, as if making sure it was actually 7pm. His face a perfectly composed mask of indifference that even Thatch couldn't read.
"Seven already, huh?" Aiko muttered, downing what was left of her water and getting up, only to stand behind the Phoenix and wrap her arms around his neck in an affectionate manner. "That's my cue to leave. We're going to be setting sail in half an hour." She explained to the two in front of her.
So that was why his blond mate had been glancing at the time.
"Leaving already?" Thatch said giving the woman his best disappointed look before brightening up and suggesting, "You should come visit the ship sometime, Red Hair Pirate. We don't bite."
"I beg to differ." She replied, gesturing with her chin towards Marco. "Isn't that right pineapple head?"
That had Thatch laughing loudly to which Aiko just grinned in response. Marco only rolled his eyes at the two pirates that decided it would be a good idea to gang up on him. Aiko nodded her head one last time at the Fourth Division Commander and his brunette companion in silent farewell. Both brunettes nodding back, before Kaya quietly excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Aiko watched for a moment as the young civilian left, before squeezing the tanned blond in her arms one more time. She said in a fond tone, "It was nice seeing you again, hot stuff."
"You've been a pleasure, yoi." She rolled her eyes at his choice of words, still the same even after all these years. But… That was what she liked about him.
"I'll take that as an 'I'll miss you.'"
"Always, yoi." He muttered, holding one of her arms that was wrapped around his neck and placing a quick open mouthed kiss on it, before saying in a louder voice. "I'll see you soon, Killer Punch."
"Until then, Phoenix." She said with a delighted grin, placing a kiss on his temple and squeezing him one last time, before letting go and walking out the door without so much as a look back at the two Whitebeard Pirates. Disappearing as quickly as her and her crew appeared. Gone from his grasp once again.
Once she left, Marco released a frustrated sigh as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, isn't someone in a foul mood." Thatch began as he saw his mate's rare behavior. "Even though you must've just had one of the longest lays of your life."
"I can't do it, yoi." Marco said in a low voice as if talking more to himself than to Thatch and completely ignoring the pompadour haired man's words.
'Can't do what?' Thatch thought, 'Own up to those growing feelings?'
"That woman…" Marco somehow tried to explain, not really sure why he was even talking about this in the first place. "Isn't one night stand material, yoi."
"Then what is she?" Thatch asked simply. Was this the moment? Was the time finally here? The day when Thatch could say that the Almighty Phoenix Commander had succumbed to the charms of a woman?
It's not like Marco didn't know what he was feeling, he knew quite well actually and that was the worst part. Because he knew what would happen if he allowed such unasked for feelings to continue growing. Knowing that one day he might have to kill her, the thought that if ordered to or if war were to ensue between their Captains he'd have no choice but to hurt her. The thought that she'd be out there on a different ship away from him, on some other island, having some other adventure, being surrounded and protected by other men would always be at the back of his mind.
Knowing that they'd only be able to see each other during rare times such as these.
He couldn't live like that.
Falling in love with someone from a rival crew was always a bad idea. But, at least he still had time to stop these feelings from growing any more than they already had.
"A woman from a rival crew, yoi." Marco finally answered his mate's question.
"Oi. Are you sure about that, Marco?" Thatch asked, trying to see through his mate's composed expression.
'NO.'
He promptly ignored that traitorous voice in the back of his mind.
The first division commander just nodded, before standing from his seat and leaving enough Beli on the table to cover all their meals. "I'll be on the ship, yoi."
Before he could leave Thatch threw two pictures on the table between them. Marco quickly glanced down at them, one of a grinning Aiko and the other was the stolen shot Thatch had taken. He had been slightly agitated by it before, but now he was a bit glad that his fellow commander took the picture. He didn't need to know why, he just was.
Grabbing the two photos with a hand, he stared at the one of Aiko for a moment longer. Was he even allowed to keep something like this? They were just together for fun. Whatever relationship they had going on felt so much more real if he kept this. But, he really couldn't bear to throw it away, he quickly decided in his head that he'd give it to Aiko next time he saw her. With that in mind, Marco sighed once more, giving his mate a quick nod in appreciation, before turning on his heel. The Phoenix thinking back to what he was going to do, before they caught wind of those annoyingly loud Red Hair Pirates and that pesky woman that he was trying oh so hard to get out of his mind. A hard thing to do, since her touch still practically lingered on his body.
"I'll be sleeping in the ship, yoi." He said with a hand raised in farewell.
And with that he left just as quickly as the woman before him.
A/N: People, people, please stop asking when they're gonna have sex. C'mon people, I'm not writing a porn fic; if you wanna read that then go read some lemons. Please understand that I don't want to kill the tension between them. That tension is like... the life of this story.
Shout outs to those that reviewed the previous chappie! I PMed you guys!
To those anonymous reviewers: (If you have an account pls tell me cause I ramble in my responses!)
-Nora: Thank you for your compliments, dearie. I will keep this story as canon as possible, so he is 39 in my story. Don't worry, when I reveal Marco and Aiko's age I'll gladly post a timeline of events or something, so that you could see it properly and not get confused. I won't be talking about Aiko falling in love with Shanks, but I have been thinking about inserting some Red Hair Pirates/Aiko and Whitebeard Pirates/Marco moments. But, I don't quite know where yet and I don't have any ideas for them at the moment XD Thanks for your first review, I appreciate it, I hope you'll continue to support me. :DD
-Knyttet: By steamy you mean M-rated romance, I'm going to disappoint you for a while. If you mean actual typical romance, I don't think that fits with how I portray Marco's character, don't expect too many lovey-dovey going out of his way to be cuddly and cutsey scenes. I think it's too OOC. Sorry, and thanks for your feedback!
-Alice: Kid Pirates? What? Aahahahaha XDD Well, Shanks is just so... lovable :D Thanks once again for your continued support, I appreciate it dearie. College or fanfic... hmmm... I'm trying to juggle it all. *sigh*
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!