And here comes the second chapter!
And yes, Anne goes shopping.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Mainly because I could torture my poor Marco a little XDD
I know, I'm evil. But seriously, after a few comments, he deserved it. He so deserved it!
Disclaimer: Oda owns them all, still.
Only warning I'll repeat: The constant confusion between Anne and Ace is fully intendet.
Enjoy!
The commanders' heads snapped over to Marco, who was still sitting with Jozu and Vista. The phoenix sighed heavily. The rubber boy had successfully taken over the task of spreading the news.
Marco shook his head in exhaustion. He needed sleep. The war had eaten up most of his energy and then the shock of Oyaji's death, the worry about Ace's life and then Anne..! And of course he was currently in charge of the whole crew. He had to protect and lead them. The phoenix felt the weight of his responsibility heavy on his shoulders.
Haruta was the first of the commanders finding his voice again. "Is there something we need to know, commander?" A devilish grin spread on the other pirates face and Marco knew very well that he was not going to get out of this easily. After Ace and Thatch, Haruta was the commander up for causing most trouble.
Before Marco could answer, though, a voice from the submarine let the commanders' attention shift. "HEY! You're not supposed to get up, you stupid woman!"
Despite the rather awful situation, Marco smirked. "Seems like our dear Anne is not so different from Ace, yoi." With these words he stood up and walked back over to the yellow ship. The moment he arrived, a tall and feminine figure stepped out of the inner rooms.
Anne had knotted the ends of Marco's shirt together to prevent it from hanging loosely around her body. Ace's black pants were far too big for Anne's fragile form, but with the orange belt wounded tightly around her hips, it seemed to work out quite ok.
Anne grinned at the other commanders, the trademark grin they all knew from Ace. And even though he shouldn't, Marco couldn't help but stare at his nakama in awe. Dear god, Anne was one smoking hot woman. And Ace's broad, cocky grin made her look just adorable. Hearing the catcalls from behind, the phoenix snapped back to reality and forced himself to remember that this was his younger brother. Jozu hit the idiot that just couldn't shut up hard over the head, sending the other commander flying against the next tree. "Fuck, Jozu! That was unfair…"
Marco decided to ignore the bickering and returned his attention to Anne. "As far as I'm informed, you should be laying in your bed. Mind explaining me why your not, commander Anne?" Putting the stress on Ace's new name, Marco looked up to Anne. The woman turned her head around to face the phoenix. A small smile tugged at her red lips. "I got bored. And after I figured out how to properly wear this, I thought I can show myself to public."
The first division commander smirked and waited for her to jump over and join them. Then he noticed that Anne hesitated. Between the submarine and the coast was a small gap. A distance Anne usually should have been able to jump over easily. But of course, Anne was still wounded. Marco jumped onto the boat to help her the same moment Law stepped out of the submarine's inner rooms together with the rubber boy.
Luffy let his eyes wander over Ace and grinned. "Looks like Nami's trick worked pretty well with pineapple head's shirt… Au!" Marco had smacked the boy. "Careful what you say. And what you advice other people to do with my property, yoi." The commanders laughed. Shaking his head Marco shot them some icy glances, after which they calmed down.
"Want me to bring you over onto the island?" Marco asked in a low voice. Anne blushed slightly, feeling stupidly helpless. Seeing the inner conflict displayed on the woman's face, the phoenix smiled. "They're gonna make fun of me, not you."
Anne had to admit, Marco had a point there. Grinning she gave the phoenix a nod. She didn't know what she had expected; probably that he would kick her over the gap. Therefore the pirate let out a little cry of surprise when Marco lifted her onto his arms and jumped.
The raven-haired woman instinctively flung her arms around the phoenix's neck. Marco's skin felt comfortably cool against her own. While flying through the air, Anne noticed that the other commander was bringing them down a short distance behind their nakamas.
After their landing, the phoenix carefully let go. For a brief moment, Anne was standing a little too close to Marco. The older could still feel the heat she radiated, looking up at him with those dark brown eyes. The first division commander felt his heart speed up as he met her gaze.
Noticing that something was strange, Anne tilted her head and looked up at the phoenix, looking almost too cute. Marco closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Stepping back he brought a little more space between them. "You ok..?"
"Sure…" Marco said with a smile. It was forced and he was well aware that they both knew it. In the meantime the other commanders had closed up to them and were now undressing Anne with their eyes.
The blond sighed. That was another thing he had foreseen. Trying to think of a way to escape the other pirates he said: "How do you feel..?" The woman looked at him with a questioning look. Marco smirked and tried to hide his embarrassment. "Well... we need go buy you new cloth, yoi. I really like that shirt, you know?" Anne laughed and said: "Well, I guess I should be ok for a little shopping. Is there a town on this island?"
Without answering Marco changed and turned his back to the woman. Invisible for him, Anne smiled and climbed the phoenix's back. The burning feathers caressed the skin of her face as she pressed her nose into the plumage. Wrapping her arms around Marco's neck once again, she took in the smoky odor of the zoan creature. Then the phoenix took off and Anne forgot to breath. She felt the wind brush through her hair and smelt Marco's natural taste mix with the salty air of the sea.
Her heart ached from the feeling. It was freedom in it's purest form and regardless all the awful thing that had happened only hours ago, Ace felt his head become light. His smirk widened and he started laughing. This was beyond anything he had ever felt.
Anne had never heard of anyone who had been granted a ride on Marco's back. And thinking about it, she couldn't remember anyone that was close enough to the first division commander get this privilege. Well, maybe Thatch.
They flew over the forest into the direction of a small town that Anne could make out in the distance. She couldn't explain why, but she felt extremely safe on Marco's back. The woman could feel Marco's muscles correspond to every move the phoenix made. She felt the flaming feathers move in the wind. Curiously she wondered if her own fire would hurt Marco in this state.
They had never tried it out and now she really wanted to know. As she didn't want to risk her flight to end early, she kept her flames under control and didn't try anything.
Meanwhile Marco tried his best to convince himself that he was doing this to give Ace some time to get used to his new form. He didn't do this because he wanted to spend time with him; or her. Whatever…
Then the phoenix realized something and therefore had found a distraction from his inner conflict. Vista would probably be a pain in the ass from the moment they returned! Hearing Anne's overjoyed laughter help a little, too.
Below them, on the clearing at the coast where the yellow submarine anchored, a crowd of rather surprised commanders gathered around a completely and utterly shocked Vista. Everyone wanted to know the same thing: Had anyone ever seen Marco letting someone ride on his phoenix's forms back?
Vista's answer to this was clear. He had seen it only once, but it had happened in secrecy, and he had sworn to never tell anyone about it, not even Oyaji. Once four people knew about it, today, only two of them were still alive. And it had happened years ago, long before Ace had joined the crew.
Well, this was getting interesting very fast. Vista grinned, what caused another wave of questions. But for once, the commander kept his mouth shut. Besides being a loyal friend, he knew that Marco would kick him to the moon if he let so much as slip a word about that matter.
The flight was over too soon for Anne's liking. She loved the feeling. And while they were walking up the main shopping street, she said to Marco: "You know; I'm actually jealous of you." The commander arched an eyebrow at his young companion and waited for the rest of the comment. "I wish I could fly with my devil fruit ability. It's the most amazing feeling ever."
Marco stared at her for a moment then he smiled. "Don't get used to it. I never let anyone ride on my back." Anne looked up at him, pouting. The phoenix swallowed and was sure that this woman would probably be the exception to this rule. Oh, scratch that; she was for sure going to be the exception. And he was never gonna hear the end of it, if Vista realized that.
Anne walked over to one of the shops, staring at the window. Marco stepped behind her and peeked over her shoulder. A low whistle sounded. The woman whirled around, coming to a halt with her face only inches away from Marco's. The furious look in her eyes surprised him a bit. Anne opened her mouth, shut it again and turned back around.
The shop window displayed a pair of short black jeans and an orange top. Following a (stupid) impulse the first division commander bent down and murmured into Anne's ear. "If it fits you, it will sure make your life as a division commander much easier. They will follow you, just to get a better look on your ass, yoi."
Anne blushed heavily but didn't turn around again. She looked down on her feet and suppressed a desperate sigh. "I'm still Ace, you know. Somehow at least… So please stop making those remarks, Marco. I'm not one of those women you can get for one night when we're stopping by at an island." She made a step to the side and walked past the shop.
Ace had liked the clothes, really did. But fuck! Even though he felt like a woman (and Ace had quickly discovered that this also included clothes and shoes and getting nervous at the sight of men like Marco, though that guy was not even particularly handsome, right?), somewhere deep down Anne could not forget that she was technically a man.
The next shop held more practical clothes: Long, loose trousers and similarly loose shirts. Anne checked the prices and thought them pretty reasonable. Ace used to spend a lot more for his favorite jeans, but as long as Anne didn't know what exactly she needed, these cheep things would do the trick.
Marco had followed her with some steps distance, mentally slapping himself. How could he..? She was his nakama, his sister. And even worse, she was Ace. She walked like him, smiled like him, talked like him.
But god, she was still so different. She moved her hips in such a feminine way when walking, her smile seemed to have this seductive touch and her voice was soft. He stepped behind her once more, looking at the clothes Anne was looking at now.
"Anne…" he said carefully. She flinched. Apparently the raven-haired woman hadn't heard him coming. But she didn't turn around. "Those clothes look awful, I'm serious, ok? And I can see it in your face that you don't like them either." Marco looked at Anne's face mirrored in the shop window and saw tears in her eyes. Whipping them away quickly the woman turned around. She made sure to take a step back in the process, so she got a bit more space between them. Gol D. Anne stared at him angrily and now Marco could clearly see Ace in her.
"Ace, I'm sorry. Wasn't too clever of me… It's ok if you don't want the others. But those" and he gestured to the clothes in the shop window: "you're not gonna buy either." The phoenix lifted his hand and carefully brushed a lock of black hair behind Anne's ear. She looked up at him with an uncertain look. Marco grinned. "No matter what you'll say, I liked the other clothes."
Anne smirked. "I'll so let you regret this." And judged by the devilish gleam in the woman's eyes, Marco was quite sure that he really would regret it. When the second division commander grabbed for his wrist and dragged him back to the first shop, the phoenix got a rough idea of how bad it would be.
The lady in the shop gave Anne a friendly smile and then let her eyes wander hungrily over Marco's exposed torso. The phoenix ignored her and started to look around. Anne spotted the shirt from the shop window and picked it up, taking a few other pieces with her to the change room.
Anne might originally be a man but this didn't mean that she lacked the feminine instincts. And these instincts had told her, that Marco was reacting in a certain way to her new gained curves. She would so let him regret his stupid remark!
Besides, Ace decided, if he was already stuck in this body, he could also get some fun out of it. Getting himself some decent outfits was certainly part of this. He had noticed the looks the other commanders gave him. Marco was really behaving, hardly any staring. Sure, he had been shocked. And sure he was still male, which meant that he naturally reacted to Anne's body in a certain way.
With a weak smile Ace looked at his body, the body of a woman. Whatever force had caused this, had a good taste. His curves were nice, but not exaggerated. Yep, Anne looked hot. Adjusting the shirt he was trying on, Ace stepped out of the change room.
The phoenix, who had hardly paid attention to what his nakama did, turned around when Anne's soft voice called his name. She had chosen the short black jeans from the shop window, but combined it with a long-sleeved, fair blue shirt. The stretchy fabric was hugging her curves and the short jeans made the slender legs look even longer. Marco swallowed audibly, trying not to stare too much. He was actually really dreading the next outfits. Turning around to change, Anne smirked. This worked better than she could have hoped.
Marco's assumption proved true, when Anne showed him the next few outfits, one shorter then the other. Slowly, the phoenix truly realized what he had done. Trying to distract himself from the seductive view his nakama offered, he looked through the shop. An evil smirk crossed his features and he picked a piece of clothing from the rail. There were always two to play a game...
"Hey Anne, mind trying something on for me?" Marco asked through the curtain in front of the change room. "Sure.." The first division commander threw the piece into the change room, guessing by the surprised yelp, he had hit Anne with it. Smirking he leaned against a wall, waiting.
He had noticed that the raven haired woman chose pants only, so Marco had decided to give her something she'd been avoiding all the time.
"Hey! I'm not going to wear a dress – ever!" Anne snarled from behind the curtain. The phoenix chuckled. Jackpot! "Come on, Anne. I came shopping with you, which turns out to be a really exhausting experience. Do me that one favor, yoi." And, he added in his mind, you were acting like a freaking tease all afternoon.
The curtain was dragged aside, showing a very embarrassed Anne, wearing the dark red summer dress Marco had chosen for her. So she had already put it on when started complaining. His plan had been to make the woman blush, which had worked out just fine. The thing was that his plan had also kind of backfired on him. The second time this day Marco let out a low whistle, which forced Anne to shoot him an angry glare. "Anne, I'm serious, 'kay. You look fantastic!" The woman gave him a strange look and was turning around to change back to her original outfit. But Marco was not going to have any of this. Grabbing Anne by the waist he held her back. "Ace, please. Leave it on. It suits Anne, really."
Yanking free from his loose grip, Anne turned to grab the clothes she wanted. And she desperately needed a minute to get rid of the stupid blush. And the motherfucking butterflies*…
Ten minutes later, they were leaving the shop again. Marco had his shirt back and Anne had kept the dress on. The woman was still a bit red, though. The phoenix waited in a bar while Anne visited some shops of which Marco really didn't want to see her trying the merchandise on. Well, maybe he wanted to; but only a little bit. Shaking his head violently, he decided to walk around the shops close by.
By the end of the day, the two commanders carried along three bags with cloths, shoes and other small thingies a woman needed from time to time. "And now how exactly do you want to bring all that stuff over to the others?" Anne grinned broadly. She had quickly accustomed to the dress. Marco still hadn't. This woman was just too hot for her own good.
Shoving the thought aside, the phoenix changed and let Anne climb his back once more. Gripping the bags with his talons, Marco took off, carrying them back to their waiting crew.
The commanders had calmed down a little. Vista and Jozu had decided to bring up the topic of the restructuring and now they were all engaged in a tough discussion about the replacements. They basically had agreed on everything already. But this didn't stop the discussion. They now had to discuss the possible effects of the new structure. And to tell the truth, it was distracting them from the overwhelming pain.
Marco carefully placed the bags on the ground before landing. Anne was sliding off his back making sure that the dress covered her body at every moment. The first division commander changed back, gently placing a hand at the small of Anne's back, leading her over to the other crewmembers.
Kuriel turned his head when he heard the two approaching. Other heads followed quickly, jaws dropped at Anne's sight. Marco smirked, meeting Vistas disbelieving gaze. Haruta grinned manically, literally ripping the raven-haired woman's clothes off with his eyes.
"Anything important happening during our absence?" the woman asked; annoyed by the ongoing staring. Jozu nodded, seemingly untouched by Anne's new appearance. "We settled for a new captain, as well as for the new leaders for the first, second and fourth division."
Anne frowned, suddenly feeling very unsure and asked: "I thought you would leave the second division with me..?" Vista shook his head. "You'll lead the first division." He signed the two commanders to come over to a table-high trunk on which a familiar black book lay. It contained the structure of the Whitebeard pirate crew as well as the names of all crewmembers.
On a once blank page, the new crew structure spread before Marco's eyes. He had been elected as the new captain; no surprise after what he learnt this morning. Anne had been assigned as first division commander, taking over the phoenix's old position. Jozu would move up. The sixteenth division had been closed, leaving room to move everyone from Vista on up one division. The only empty position now was the third division commander.
Anne didn't argue about her promotion. She was actually quite flattered by the trust of her crew. Though she felt rather uncomfortable with the new responsibility, she trusted in her new division to support her. She hoped that with their help, she would somehow manage to meet her captain's expectations. A challenge that was not easy to fulfill. Marco had been a perfect division commander, and he would be a good captain.
"Who do you suggest for this position?" After she had asked the question Haruta stepped forth. "We settled for my current deputy. He is quite young, a devil fruit user and shows first signs of Haki. His name is Arashi."
Marco sighed. He had met the boy a few times and he strongly reminded him of Thatch. Not from his looks, though. "Do you trust him?" "I put my life in his hands more than one, captain." Haruta answered, looking at Marco challengingly. He would not let anything come against his subordinate. The phoenix nodded. What could he do? There was no way he could ever be one hundred percent sure of the kid's loyalty. After taking a deep breath he looked from one commander to the next.
"Is there anything that speaks against this new structure?" No one said a word. Marco knew that he should now finish the process. He was the new captain after all. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to say a word. Taking over Oyaji's position was an honor that was for sure. The phoenix couldn't explain what kept him from forming even the smallest word now. It just felt strange and somehow wrong.
"Then I'd say, were done here. Right captain?" Marco's blue eyes flew over to a softly smiling Anne. He answered it with an almost invisible nod and finally found the strength to speak. "Then this is the new structure. Organize your new divisions accordingly. Should there be any trouble, please let me know."
He would have to thank her later. She had just saved his ass! He felt the small paper wrapped item heavy in his pocket.
*motherfucking butterflies: picked from a Harry Potter fanfiction I read. Author: WrittenAnonymous
First I'd like to thank you all for reading, following and adding this story to your favourites!
Special thanks go to the amazing people that left a review! They mean everything to me.
So the crew got her new structure. I know it is fast, but please think about how difficult it will be for Whitebear's crew to survive.
They need to act because they are vunerable now.
Poor Marco.. It's not going to get better for the new captain, though.
More emotions to come soon... I'll post a mini-preview (one or two sentences) via Tumblr on Wednesday evening CET. - .com
Next chapter will be up next week, same time!
Read and Review Please! - Thanks.