I wrote something happier! Once again, thanks to lunarshores for beta-ing!

Marco walked down the street. His nose caught the scent of delicious food, wafting out of many of brightly-colored food stalls.

He didn't know how Thatch had gotten wind of this festival, considering it was at least 50 miles away from home. And he didn't know why he had agreed to come here with him. Probably because Izo wouldn't have let him hear the end of it if he hadn't.

There was nothing overly interesting going on. Music was blaring from the speakers attached to the buildings. Marco couldn't even hear himself think over the sound of it, accompanied by people shouting.

It was getting dark now. Marco had no idea where Thatch had gone off to, and he didn't bother trying to look for him in the sea of people. He just kept on walking, hoping to find something that would catch his eye.

After a long while, Marco found himself seeing the last few food stalls. Beyond that point, there was the night sky, lit up only by the torches stuck into the ground to form a big circle, surrounded by people.

Intrigued, Marco rushed over there. He heard a woman reprimanding a crying child.

"Shh… the show's about to start."

He looked past them to see a young boy, no older than 15, walk around and start putting out the torches. When he was finished, he walked to the center of the circle.

"Hi, guys! I'm Luffy, and this is my brother, Ace." He pointed to someone far behind him. "Welcome to our Fire Dance!" The kid shouted, before turning on his heel and walking toward the back of the circle. Well, at least it was the back from Marco's point of view. Though, now that he took a closer look, it was the only part that was completely devoid of onlookers.

All of a sudden, he saw a flame come to life and a boy, probably no older than 18, walked out into the circle. He wasn't wearing anything but baggy black pants with a flame pattern climbing up one of his legs. Even his feet were bare. His face was illuminated by the torch he was holding in one of his hands. Gray eyes shone brightly, and his dark as night hair gleamed. He swept his eyes over the audience, and he bowed low.

When he straightened once more, Marco had to fight hard to tear his eyes away from the boy's rippling muscles.

Music began to play. It was soft at first. The fire performer lifted his right hand, the one with the burning torch, leaned his head back, and brought the flame to his mouth. Marco watched in shock as those delicate lips almost closed around the burning item. The performer removed it from his mouth a second later and proceeded to lift his left hand, in which, as Marco only now noticed, he held a second, unlit torch. He also took it into his mouth. Upon removing it, Marco noticed that it, too, was now aflame.

Ace turned around to face his brother, who had come forward with three more torches- one in his mouth and two in his hands. Ace started juggling the two he was holding, and one by one, Luffy threw the rest of the torches his way. Marco watched in awe as the performer threw them into the air and caught them once again with practiced ease. After about a minute of this, Ace threw the torches back to Luffy, who put them out as soon as he caught them and dropped them to the ground. The younger boy then proceeded to walk over to his brother and handed him burning poi*.

The music sped up, and once more, Marco watched, transfixed, as the dancer started waving them around to the rhythm of the song. The poi were swung in circles around the performer's body, and, in the light of the fire, Marco made out a sheen of sweat covering that toned body. The flames twirled this way and that as the dancer started moving. He swayed his hips and moved his shoulders up and down with each change in the poi's position. The balls of fire soared through the sky, weaving intricate patterns of red and orange.

As the music slowed down, Marco's eyes slipped down to the dancer's torso again. Ace's pants had slipped dangerously low, and looked like they were just barely covering his ass. Absorbed with what he was doing, the performer didn't seem to have noticed. Marco couldn't help but look on as, millimeter after millimeter, they slid down lower and lower.

And then the dancer stopped moving. Marco raised his eyes to look at that freckle-adorned face. Ace's lips were slightly parted, and he was breathing slightly heavier than before. The blush that adorned those cheeks was barely visible in the darkness.

He looked past Ace to see Luffy come forward again. Ace handed him the still-burning poi, and in turn, his younger brother gave him a bottle of… something, a burning torch, and a cloth.

Marco couldn't help but admire them for not being afraid of the fire.

Luffy went back to where he'd been standing for most of the show. Marco watched in slight disbelief as Ace opened the bottle and drank its contents. No, not drank. His throat didn't move, so he hadn't swallowed. Ace then put it down, so that he was left holding only the remaining two items.

He looked to be waiting for something. Marco noticed the music had almost completely stopped by now. When the last notes faded into the silence, he saw Ace tilt his head upwards and bring the torch up, about a foot away from his mouth.

He blew the liquid he had been holding in his mouth over the fire just as a dragon's roar sounded. The flame stretched for at least two yards up into the air, lighting up the night sky far more than any of the previous acts. For a while, all that Marco could see was the red and orange of the gigantic breath of fire. When it diminished and eventually subsided, he could once again see the performer, who lifted the cloth to his lips to wipe away the remains of the fuel. Then, he bowed.

People started cheering and clapping. Marco himself was only staring at the performer uncomprehendingly. The act had far exceeded his expectations. Luffy walked over to his brother once more. He waved his hands a bit to encourage the crowd to quiet down.

"Thanks for watching the show! My brother never ceases to amaze me, either, no matter how many times I see the show. See ya later!"

The people started leaving. Marco stayed behind to catch one last glimpse of the performer, before walking off in search of Thatch.

It was only an hour later, when he slipped his hand into his pocket, that he noticed that his wallet was missing.

*Poi are a pair of roughly arm-length chains with handles attached to one end, and a bundle of wicking material on the other.