"Oy, you have time for me today or what?" Marco asked, seating himself at a barstool where Sora was wiping the table. He had plopped himself down next to Ace, who, surprisingly, wasn't sleeping in until lunch. The two men greeted each other with a handshake, turning back to Sora.

"I always have time for you," she said, smiling at Marco. Ace stifled a cough, taking a long swig from his mug of orange juice. "What's up?"

"I was thinking you could take me up on that rematch," he suggested, cocking his head back confidently.

"Oh, you mean I get to spank you again," Sora teased.

"I went easy on your last time."

"Don't give me your excuses," Sora said, waving him off. She reached behind herself to untie her apron. "Eiichi," she called, but the waiter just laughed.

"Go ahead, I got things here," he told her, smiling.

"I'd die without you," Sora said honestly. Eiichi was Sora's childhood friend and took care of the bar when she was away, which, when the Whitebeard Pirates were here, seemed to be everyday. But the older man never seemed to mind. She turned back to Marco. "Let me change, and I'll meet you at the usual spot."

Marco stood up and cracked his neck and knuckles. "I'll be waiting, Fuurin."

"Ah, shut up," she teased, and headed for the stairs. "Want me to grab Jozu guys too?"

But the blonde was already leaving. He waved his hand. "Already told them, they're coming."

"Sweet," she said, and faced Ace as though having forgotten that they had just been having a conversation before Marco came. "You wanna come, too?"

"Yeah," Ace said, nodding. He actually wondered if Sora would rematch with Marco. He definitely wanted to be there to see that. The strongest division commander versus the old second division commander; it was bound to be interesting and quite entertaining. Ace was curious to see the abilities of the only female on the Whitebeard Pirates. "I'll go with Marco. Meet you there?"

"Meet you there," she agreed, and bounded up the stairs, her footsteps louder than a stampede. The door slammed behind her and Ace couldn't help but chuckle. She seemed excited.

"How was last night?" Marco asked Ace as they walked together. Ace had no idea where they were going.

"It was fun," Ace said, smiling as he shoved his hands in his pocket. He had Sora had stayed out quite late; by the time they returned from the ice cream shop, the bar was empty. But they stayed awake for a little longer as Ace helped her clean up before finally retiring to bed. His cheeks actually ached a little from laughing too much. She was definitely weird, but it was one of her quirks. He enjoyed being around her.

"That's really good to hear," Marco told him, smiling in return. "It's really been a while since I've seen her happy."

It was the second mention of it being a while since Sora had been happy, and Ace couldn't even imagine a time where she wouldn't be. She was so bright; she was the sunshine itself. But nevertheless, Ace felt pride swell in his chest, glad that he could make her smile.

"I like her," Ace told Marco. Neither of them really understood what Ace was trying to imply, whether it was as a friend or much more than that.

But Marco seemed to take it as the latter. He laughed a little to himself and shook his head. "Don't get your hopes up," he said gently. "She's very sweet but sometimes the things she can do can send a man mixed signals. It's not like she does it on purpose," Marco added. He sighed and shrugged. "It's one of her quirks; it's why there is no other woman like her."

Ace was tempted to ask about why it seemed Sora used to be sad, but he decided against it. He would ask her when the time was right. Ace had spaced out as the two of them walked in silence, and when he looked around him again, he was standing on a ridge, the sea below them, waves crashing against the rocks. The grass that carpeted the ground was dented in some places with either craters, or long streaking lines.

"Where are we?" Ace asked, glancing aroundd him. He saw that the town was at the base of the ridge far below.

"Sparring grounds," Marco told him. He gestured to the ground, how some of the grass was uplifted, exposing dirt, and the craters made the earth look like the dark side of the moon. "Those are from last time."

"She won?"

Marco nodded. "She won."

"I'm surprised," Ace said honestly.

"Don't underestimate her. I'd be out of a job if the woman was like, ten years older. She became the second division commander pretty quickly," Marco said, nodding as though regressing back to that time.

"How long was she on the Moby Dick?"

"She came on board when she was about sixteen. Hadn't eaten her fruit yet but she was a swordsman back then. Trained by a marine," he explained. Ace was fine with that brief excerpt; he wanted to hear more from Sora anyway.

"What's up, bitches?" called a voice from behind, and Marco and Ace turned to see Sora jogging up to them, Jozu, Thatch, Izou and Curiel behind her. She was dressed in the same bikini top Ace had seen in her wanted poster, and the hollow metal rods were strung around her neck. She was wearing her signature gray shorts and knee high lace-up boots.

She stood in front of them, a hand on her hip after she flicked the hair out of her face. "Ready for a beat down?" she teased, making a face at Marco.

Marco gestured to the weapon in her hand. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

Sora lifted it. It was held like a gun – it had a handle, and a barrel – but where the shot would have been launched was instead a blade that curved downward, like a scythe. "It is my…gun scythe," Sora stated as though Marco was supposed to have known this.

"You literally made that up just now."

"I did not."

"It's stupid. You can't hit me with that anyway," Marco said, waving her off jokingly.

Sora held out her free hand. "I've been practicing with it, and I'll bet you anything that I can land a finisher on you with my gun scythe."

Marco raised an eyebrow. "If I win?"

"I don't know, what do you want?" she asked. She had obviously not thought this out.

"What do you have to offer?" he asked in return, smirking. She shrugged as though telling him to choose whatever he wanted. "How about a date then?"

Sora laughed and Ace felt his stomach clench. "A date? That's it?"

"That's it," Marco said, shrugging. "And if you win, I'll buy you three dozen andagi."

"So, if you win, you're going to buy me dinner?" Sora asked, cocking both of her eyebrows and laughing. "And if I win, then we don't call it a date and you still buy me food. It's a win-win, Phoenix," she told him, and he shook her hand instantly before she could change her mind.

Ace seemed to watch in slow motion as she moved past him. If Marco won, then he would have not only won the match, but won a date with Sora. Ace swallowed a lump in his throat.

Sora and Marco stood facing each other, eyes locked. She had placed her gun scythe into the earth, leaving it there so her hands were free. Izou held a gun up in the air, grinning. "Go!" he shouted and fired a shot.

Sora disappeared and the next time Ace saw her, Marco was blocking an airborne kick. Then he heard Sora's necklace blow in the wind that exploded from her movement. It was the sound of wind chimes, the hollow metal sound ringing through his ears. Marco flipped her off him with ease and they stood again, facing each other as though nothing had happened.

"You got faster," Marco commented, blue flames disappearing from his arm. He had needed to change to phoenix to block that attack.

"Why, thank you," she said, bowing. Ace noticed that her hair was billowing slightly and looked down at her feet. The grass she was standing on was tilted outwards, as though being blown in the wind. And then Ace saw the small gusts around her feet. "Ready for me again?" she asked, and if he had blinked, Ace would have missed it. The gusts around her legs exploded as she shot forward; she was propelling herself with sharp bursts of wind.

She lifted her foot to send a round kick flying at Marco's face and at the last second, Ace saw it again – the explosion of wind – and her foot accelerated, slamming into Marco's forearm before Ace heard the sound of the wind chimes again. Her movements were fast, but they were sped up even more, so much so that she seemed to be beating the speed of sound.

Marco shifted his arm and wrapped his hand around her ankle, violently swinging her around and into the earth. She seemed to have been anticipating and the gusts appeared around her wrists as she flipped, slowing herself down and flipping again upright. Ace was completely amazed. She used wind to not only speed herself up, but to slow herself down.

Marco grinned. "You did learn some new tricks."

"I have time to practice," Sora said, her voice aloof as she shrugged. Sora held her arms out as though she had nothing to fear. She cocked her head slightly, confidence splaying over her delicate features. Ace felt the hair on his skin stand, Sora's resolution rippling across his own body. He knew that the other division commanders standing at his side could feel it, too. "What are you waiting for? Come at me, bro."

Marco cracked his knuckles, chuckling. "As you wish." He spread his arms, his limbs becoming enveloped in bright blue flames and he took flight, closing the distance between himself and Sora quickly, launching a kick at her face. She lifted her arm to block it, and Ace saw her be pushed back ever so slightly, her feet creating streak marks in the grass.

The wind around her arm intensified and she pushed Marco off and leapt after him, her arm cocked back for a punch. Marco caught it, not even fazed by her speed or strength and swung her around again, sending her flying towards the earth. Because of the propulsion of her wind, she landed on her toes mere seconds behind Marco swung down an axe kick to the spot she had just been standing in.

He rose to the air again and she launched off the ground, she cocked back for another punch, and Marco smirked, ready to catch it, but instead she whipped around towards her back, firing a hook kick that landed, sending Marco hurtling towards the ground. The watching division commanders shielded themselves from the explosion of wind and rubble with Marco's landing.

Sora grinned down at Marco, dusting off his jacket. She was still hovering midair, and flipped herself upside-down, crossing her arms over her chest. "I love flying," she said, floating around in circles above Marco. She stopped so that their faces were aligned, but hers was upside down. Sora gazed into his blue eyes, smiling. "Don't you love flying?"

"You should take this more seriously," he said, pulling his arm back to punch her in the face. Sora protected herself, blocking his fist with both hands, but flying backwards anyway, laughing.

"It sucks that to fly, I have to have the wind around me," she contemplated, floating around in circles again. Ace could feel it, the strong, cool breeze against his skin. "Otherwise I would just fly away and fly forever," she said, her voice sounding airy as Marco trudged toward her.

"Hey, you gonna fight me or no?" he called up to her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah," she told him, and laughed. "Just thought you would have given up because I mean, this isn't even a challenge. You can just buy me andagi now and call it a day," Sora teased with a wink.

"Why don't you take me seriously? You know I'm the first division commander."

"If I were like, ten years older, that would have been meeeeeeeeeeee," Sora said, flying around Marco, who just rolled his eyes. The other division commanders just laughed. Sora was weird.

"But you were born ten years too late, and so it's not."

"But it would have been."

"Shut up, Sora. You said we'd rematch. Can you ever take anything seriously?"

Sora landed on the ground and stared up at Marco, who was nearly a head taller than her. "You gonna take me seriously?" she challenged, her hands on her hips. Marco smiled. She had noticed that he hadn't even used a part of his full strength yet.

"Yes," he said, putting a hand on her head.

"Good," Sora replied, satisfied, and in an instantly, knocked off his hand and slammed her elbow into his chin, sending him flying into the air and then crashing to the ground. She leapt backward and swung her arm out in a sweeping motion, firing a thin blade of wind Marco's way. He swiftly enveloped his arm in blue flame to block the attack. Sora charged while Marco was still kneeling, and he flung his body around, swinging a kick at Sora. For the first time since the match begun, Sora didn't have time to dodge and took the blow square in the face, flying at the earth. She hit the ground hard, and rolled on the grass for a moment before flipping herself back on her feet. She tilted her head from side to side, grinning at the man. "Now, that's more like it."

Spreading his arms out and covering them in blue flames, Marco sped at her, and she was able to dodge this time, darting just out of the way of another assault before trying to land another elbow in Marco's back. But he was faster and swung around, slamming his arm into her like a clothesline, and the woman collided with the ground once again. Marco lifted his leg for a finish axe kick but she rolled out of the way and fired more blades of wind at him. Marco lifted his wing for protection but when he lowered it, she had closed the distance between them, ducked under his arm and fired and uppercut into his stomach, her own arm propelled by wind.

Marco felt the wind behind knocked out of him as he bent over from the strength of her punch, and she took that opportunity to flip around and kick him again, sending him to the floor. By now much of the grass was dented and there were craters lining the earth, plants uprooted. It was so fast paced that Ace could barely keep track. He did notice however, for very brief moments, she moved her right arm over the corner of her left waist, and then moved in for an attack. It was like she kept forgetting that there was no sword at her hip. Marco didn't seem to notice it, though, and never went in for that shot.

"She's amazing," Ace voiced his thoughts aloud.

Jozu chuckled and slapped the second division commander in the back. "Told you. Her and Marco have always fought on par. Well, not when she first joined us. For the past six years she's been getting better and better. Marco trained her while she was still a pirate so they're quite even now, though. But she gets upset whenever he heals," the big man added with a chuckle. Sora's scream from the fight confirmed this, when Marco changed his arms to wings again, healing the bruises on his arms.

Izou nodded in agreement. "It would have been interesting to have her as first division commander, but she ran your division just as fine. She was also born about ten to fifteen years too late," the man told him. He sighed and shook his head. "A very strong woman. It's a shame she had to quit."

"How come this is the first time I'm ever hearing about her?" Ace asked, realizing that everyone knew about Sora except for him. On a crew with over 1,600 people, how was that even possible? If he was so strong and so beautiful, and a division commander, why had Ace never even heard her name before?

Thatch shrugged. "After she quit four years ago, she asked us not to talk about her."

Izou nodded in agreement once again, shielding his face for a moment from the explosion of wind coming from the battlefield. It seemed like Sora was actually getting agitated; she let out a war cry as she charge Marco again, who had just turned full-phoenix to heal himself completely. "It would be disrespectful to not abide to her wishes, wouldn't it?"

"But she was so great," Ace said, turning his face back to the battlefield, watching the way she moved when she fought. She was strong but she wasn't wild; her moves were graceful, timed, purposeful. She was obviously not going into the fight without a strategy, without thinking of every possible move Marco could counter her with. "Why wouldn't she want people to talk about her legacy?"

"She wasn't in it for fame," Curiel chimed in. "She had things she needed to protect. Just like all of us. But then she decided it was just better to stay here and protect those things, instead of always being out at sea with us. We tried to convince her otherwise, but she had already made up her mind."

"Sora hasn't left dry land for four years," Izou said, flicking his eyes back to Sora and Marco. They were on the ground now, full out throwing punches and kicking, taking hits and returning them. Ace could hear the sound of their clashes all the way where he was standing. He turned back to Izou, processing what the man had said.

"Like, ever?" Ace asked, incredulous. Although he was a devil fruit user and a pirate, and the sea was indeed a dangerous place for people like him, Ace couldn't live without it. If there was no ocean, then there was no point of even living. It was freedom, it was peace, it was adventure, it was mystery. It was everything that he could ever ask for out of life. To hear that there was someone who confined themselves to land? It was ludicrous.

Izou shook his head, strands of hair falling around his pale face. "Never set a toe in the water. Not even on beach days. I mean, we have days when we all go to the beach to hang out, but she doesn't join us for a swim or anything." Izou shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest.

"A pirate that hates the sea?" Ace couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Odd, right?" Thatch chimed in, smiling slightly. "But that is what makes Sora the way she is. Maybe one day, though, she'll come surf with us again," Thatch hoped, and the other men smiled at the thought, as though the memory were a distant, distant pastime.

There was a loud thud from the battlefield and the men turned to see Marco sitting on Sora's stomach, his hand wrapped around her throat. But Sora's arm was also lifted, pressing the silver edge of her gun scythe against Marco's neck. They were both breathing hard as the dust settled.

Izou moved a few feet closer and smiled a little. "Sorry, we weren't watching," he laughed, waving his hand. "I guess it's a draw."

"What?" the two called simultaneously.

"I pinned her. I pinned her. I'm pretty sure I win," Marco reasoned, not bothering to get off Sora's stomach.

"Um, gun scythe, hello?" Sora added, nodding her head as much as she could at the weapon that was pressed against Marco's throat.

Izou shrugged. "Sorry, we were talking."

"One of you had to have seen it," Sora urged, looking at each of the division commanders. The men all shook their heads, laughing. "Oh, my God, this is why I asked you guys to come!"

"Wait," Izou said, the smallest of smiles tugging on his thin lips. "Was the bet even about who wins the match? Or whether or not Sora lands a finisher with her pretend weapon?"

"It's not a pretend weapon," Sora pouted. "I made it myself."

"Pretend weapon," Izou teased, waving her off.

Jozu laughed loudly, throwing his head back. "It's whether or not Sora could land the finisher with the gun scythe!" he remembered, the rumbling of his body shaking his shoulders as he laughed.

"But it's a draw, so both of you landed finishers," Thatch trailed, grinning also, understanding what Jozu was saying as the look on Marco's face changed to disbelief.

"But Sora wins," Ace finished, grinning.

"OH, HELL YEAH," Sora screamed, lifting her head as much as she could so she could get as close to Marco's face as possible. She dropped her weapon and Marco let her up slightly, rolling his eyes. "UNH, I WON, BITCH!" she cried, sticking her face right in Marco's. He flattened his palm on her face and pushed her back, chuckling.

"Match is a draw," he reminded her.

"But I won the bet," Sora shot back, giggling as she lifted into the air slowly, wind swirling around her legs. She held her arms out. "I am the greatest warrior of all!" she said, using the manliest voice she could muster. The men all laughed, shaking their heads at her silly antics.

Marco grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to the ground, chuckling as he shook his head. "Fine, fine, andagi it is," he said, ruffling her hair.

Sora did an over exaggerated fist pump in triumph of her win, and the group headed back to the town.