SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO

"She probably should not drink anymore," Izou said, covering his mouth with his hand as he tried not to laugh. Sora had stripped down to her underwear and was strutting around the room like she owned the place. She already wore just a bathing suit top, so she had just shed her shorts to expose black lacy underwear. In celebration of her official decision to become a Whitebeard Pirate, they had thrown her a party and allowed the younger woman to drink alcohol.

But they had forgotten that she was quite small and had never drank before, and therefore was unable to control herself. She had become drunk within the first two hours.

Marco took a sip form his scotch. "Probably not," he replied. He shrugged. "But let her have her fun. As long as she doesn't do anything too stupid. She doesn't realize she's on a ship full of men."

Thatch chuckled. "I don't mean to sound like a perv or anything, but she's pretty hot, don't you think?"

Izou laughed, slapping Marco on the back. "Of course Marco thinks so. He's been trying not to stare at her all night!"

"False," Marco said, rolling his eyes.

Izou ignored him. "I know you're the all mighty first division commander, but don't go taking advantage of our sweet little Sora. Keep her pure! She told me she's still a virgin, you know!"

The other men choked on this, feeling a little awkward hearing about the younger woman's sex life.

"I'm not doing anything," Marco assured Izou, shaking his head. "I am staying here and drinking, just like all of you so quit with the Sora jokes."

The division commanders glanced up at the sound of cheering to see Sora standing on the bar counter, pounding another bottle of beer. The crewmen all laughed as Sora began to babble on about something incoherently. She eventually ended up passed out under one of the tables, but the night continued. Marco was the last one to leave, as usual.

"Oy, get up," he told Sora, kneeling down to shake her shoulder. He was a little light headed; he had drank a lot of scotch, and rum, and beer, and sake, and whatever else they had on board. Damn Sora for wearing that underwear and acting like a stripper when she was drunk. "Wake up, Sora."

"Ken, it's too early, go away," Sora groaned, swatting Marco away and rolling over.

Marco swallowed a lump in his throat. Had she just called him Ken? He ignored the ache in his chest and nudged her again. "Come on, wake up, the floor is dirty. Go sleep in your room."

Sora groaned and crawled out from under the bed, and Marco helped her off the ground. He let her go and she wobbled, falling over the table, giggling, and he sighed, putting his arm around her waist to help keep her stable. He helped Sora move from the room, but she tripped over her own feet, only to erupt into giggles. How was it possible that she was still drunk even after sleeping through dinner?

He moved across the deck, leading her to the cabin she shared with some of the other division commanders. "Here, go inside, drink some water, and go to sleep," he said. "We're going to ban you from drinking if you keep acting like this." Marco let her go, and Sora stumbled for a moment, but Marco caught her waist, Sora wrapping her arms around his neck to avoid hitting the deck. "Use the wall," he told her, moving her so that she was leaning against the wall for support.

But Sora didn't unwind her arms from around him. Before Marco even realized it, they were kissing, their lips crashing against each other, fighting for control, tongues swirling, Marco pushing Sora up against the wall of the cabin with a loud thud. His body tingled from her touch, her thin fingers running across his chest as though trying to bring him closer and then traveling back up to wrap around his neck and head, shoving him against her. Sora let out a soft moan into his mouth as his tongue delved into her mouth, taking control.

Shit, he thought, regaining his composure. And then he pushed her away, keeping both hands on her shoulders. He struggled to catch his breath, and the shallow rising and falling of Sora's chest indicated she was having the same problem. "You should, um, go to sleep," he said, and lifting a hand to pat her head like usual.

"Okay," Sora breathed. "Sorry."

Marco took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. He led her to the door and pushed it open. He needed her to leave before he was unable to control himself. "It's…fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," she said again, crossing the threshold into the cabin. "Good night."

"Good night." Marco closed the door behind him and then pressed his back to it. He lowered his head and shut his eyes tightly, using one hand to massage his temples. What the hell just happened? He dragged his hand down his face and over his lips. He could still feel the tingling feeling of her own lips moving with his. He didn't even comprehend what had just happened. Why did he suddenly feel this way? Why did he want to do that again?

He exhaled and shook his head. No, he definitely could not be thinking like this. Sora relied on him, she depended on him and she trusted him. She was drunk; that was the only reason why they kissed…right?

Too much thinking. Marco had a tendency to do this sometimes. Lately, all his thoughts have been focused on trying not to think about Sora.

That had not gone too well. He sighed and lifted himself off the door, heading towards his own cabin. He decided it was best to just forget about it.

"Owwwwieeee," Sora moaned, making a face as one of the crewmen drilled needles into her arm. "Oooooowwwwwwwwwwwww!"

"Oy, don't make sounds like that. You're gonna make all the men in here hard," he teased her, wiping away the ink with a gloved hand. The other crewmen who were watching laughed. Three more months had passed and Sora was getting her tattoo done today. It was Whitebeard's bright purple Jolly Roger on her arm. She was finishing it up by getting a sleeve of tribal markings that danced up her entire arm and tapered towards her collarbone. It had been a couple hours already.

"Shut up," Sora laughed.

"You think you'll take the second division commander slot soon?" he asked, coloring in more of the markings on her arm.

Sora shrugged. "I don't know." Every once in a while, Whitebeard offered her the job again, but Sora turned him down.

"Later," she would say. "Let me prove my allegiance to you."

She had proven it to everyone, though. Just by choosing to stay aboard the ship was proof in itself. She had such a strong opinion about not wanting to be a pirate and keeping her hair long that it was a surprise to everyone when she decided to stay and chopped off all her hair. She cleaned and hung out with everyone, went on advance parties to get supplies, and helped cook.

"I haven't even done anything yet. I don't think I deserve the spot," Sora said.

She heard the familiar laughter of a crewman she had met on board. "You're more than qualified for the position, lass," said a rather large, burly man. He had dark skin and thick black curly hair and a scruffy beard. He grinned widely and Sora could see his missing teeth.

Sora laughed, brushing him off. "Oh, I bet you say that to everyone, Marshall. Why don't you take the job?" Sora wondered if Whitebeard had ever offered that kind of position to Marshall D. Teach. Sora was always flawlessly polite to him, but for some reason, he was the only one on the entire ship she felt like had bad blood. There was something fishy about him, and she just knew it.

But he was aboard the Moby Dick and therefore, was nakama, so she never did say anything about it to anyone. It was disrespectful, especially to a man who was nothing but friendly to her. He was a veteran – he had been with Whitebeard for decades. It would look bad if a newcomer like herself expressed her true feelings.

However, she knew that if the time ever came where he stepped out of line and disrespected anyone on the ship, Sora would be the one to personally deal with him. Nakama. That was a strong word. She realized that she would respect and honor that term until she died – it was the greatest honor she had ever received from anyone. She would not tolerate a person throwing around that word.

The man burst out laughing again, shaking his head. "Not interested in that sort of thing."

Sora laughed. "Maybe one day—ow, fuck, Taka," Sora said, shooting a playful glare at her tattoo artist. He grinned sheepishly, wiping off more ink only to drill in some more.

"Hey, you're actually getting it done," Marco said, coming into the room. He ruffled her hair, grinning down at the woman. Perhaps choosing to forget about their drunken accident was the best choice he made. She didn't mention it – probably because she didn't remember it – and he had pushed it far from his mind as possible and told no one. He was, however, planning on doing something sweet for her tonight. Maybe a nice dinner, just the two of them, or a walk on the beach. He wondered what she would do if he made a nice gesture to her. Would something happen between them? Marco didn't know and he had been thinking about doing this for three months. He just needed to wait a little longer. He needed to wait until tonight.

Marco peered around to see her tattoo. "Ah, a sleeve?"

"I'd get mine on my chest like you but I don't think I could show it off," Sora joked, sticking her tongue out.

"What? You should have totally got it on your chest; we'd allow you to show it off," Thatch piped in, appearing next to Marco. Sora rolled her eyes at the men.

"We're going to head out to grab more supplies soon. We're approaching another island," Marco informed her, acting nonchalant. "Did you want to come?"

"Yes! Hurry this shit up, Taka. I've been sitting here for like four hours," Sora pleaded teasingly, and the man chuckled.

"I can finish this later," he offered. Sora glanced at her arm. He had finished the Whitebeard Jolly Roger and the tribal designs had already finished on her collarbone and trailed all the way down to her elbow. She only had about half more to do and she was thoroughly impressed with his work. Her skin was a little puffy and red, and Taka wiped the blood away.

"Really? You have time to do it later?" she asked, her eyes glimmering.

Taka chuckled and nodded. "Tomorrow, same time. It'll take only a few more hours." He handed her a roll of gauze. "Here, just in case it starts bleeding or something."

"Okay!" Sora said, and hopped up as Taka pulled his needle away. She stuffed the gauze into her shorts pocket. "I want to go shopping!"

"Let's go, then," Marco said, gesturing to the door.

Sora had gotten used to life on the ship already. She was glad with the decision she made. Marco had asked about it after the meeting had ended on the day she decided to stay. "I thought you had things to do?" he asked, grinning. He ruffled her hair as usual.

"I do. But the great thing about dreams sometimes is that they can change, or take a new form," Sora said, smiling. Her eyes had still been a little watery, but now she was just teary because Whitebeard had accepted her on the ship and called her family. "I think…I'll be okay if I do those things here, with all of you."

It had been better than just "okay"; it was the best decision that she had ever made.

Sora hopped out of the dinghy, wading through the sea until she reached the sand. "Mmmm, before shopping can we go to lunch?" Sora asked, turning back to look at Marco. "Your treat?"

"Fine," he said, shrugging. Together with Thatch, Izou, and Jozu, Marco and Sora led the way into the town.

"Oy," Thatch said, gesturing to her arm.

Sora looked at it to see blood and ink dripping down. "Oops," she said, pulling out the gauze from her pocket. She tore off a piece and wiped her arm, tossing it into a trashcan.

Thatch made a face. "I'm pretty sure that's not what you're supposed to do." He took the roll from her and she grinned sheepishly as he tied it around her arm. "Leave it on there for now."

"I guess maybe it's better to hide it now, too," she said, shrugging. The flesh around her new ink was still raw, so it stood out. She glanced around and pointed at a bar. "I smell barbeque! Let's go eat!"

Sora darted towards the place and the older men just chuckled, following behind. They enjoyed her company. She was much younger than them and so full of energy. She did make them tired at times, but they had fun together with Sora. The four men followed her into the bar she wanted to eat at to see her standing frozen.

"Ken?" she breathed.

A man sitting at the bar turned at the sound of his name. He had long white-blond hair tied over his shoulder, tiny freckles dotting his face. He was dressed a marine uniform but was obviously off duty because it was loosely done, some of the buttons opened and the tie hanging messily around his neck. He swallowed his drink and his green eyes widened. "Sora? Sora, is that you?"

"Holy shit! Ken!" Sora cried, and ran at him, the man catching her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

Ken pulled away, his hands on her cheeks. "Aw, man, look at you! You've really grown up!" he stroked her short hair and grinned. "Your new hair is so cute."

Sora was unable to control her smile. "I like your new hair, too. I guess you didn't listen to me when I said to cut it, huh?"

"And you didn't listen to me when I said to grow yours out," he said, placing a hand on top of her head. "Man, it's really great to see you, Sora. You've grown into such a beautiful woman."

Marco watched Sora blush. This was obviously the man Sora had been searching for. He didn't realize that when she said Ken, she meant Takamune Kenjiro, the Meitou of the Marines. He was a swordsman that rivaled some division commanders on Whitebeard's ship.

"What're you up to here? I didn't get any mention of anyone else being here today. Whose division are you under?" Ken asked, still smiling.

"Division?"

"Ah, never mind, we can talk about work later," Ken said, waving her off. Marco realized that Ken thought that Sora had become a marine. He saw her shift uneasily. Ken noticed the gauze wrapped around her arm and the designs on her collarbone. "Wow, you're pretty gutsy, you got a tattoo? What's it of?" He pulled off the gauze. Sora made a motion to back away to dodge Ken's fingers, but she moved too late, and he pulled off the loosely done gauze.

Ken froze upon seeing the bright purple insignia on her arm. He recognized it immediately. "You're…a pirate," he said, his face completely neutral.

Marco, Thatch, Izou, and Jozu exchanged glances. This could get bad. They prepared to assist Sora in anyway possible. Regardless of who he was to Sora, this man was a marine. Not just any marine, too, but Takamune Kenjiro. Just by knowing his name the four men knew that although Sora had grown during her time on the ship, she was in no way even near close to being able to take down a marine of his skill.

Sora shifted so that she was hiding her right arm. She averted her gaze to the ground. "Ken, I-I'm sorry, I—"

Ken laughed, patting her on the head. "Jeez, what are you saying sorry for?" he asked, using the gauze to rub off some of the peeling ink and blood. He grinned at her shocked expression, gesturing at the tattoo. "Wear this proudly. Otherwise, why even get it?"

"You're not…mad?" Sora asked quietly. "Or disappointed?"

Ken looked incredulous. "Why in the world would I be mad? Or even the slightest bit disappointed? It doesn't matter to me."

"But you're a marine – you're supposed to—"

Ken waved her off. "Yeah, who gives a crap what I'm supposed to do?" he said, still smiling. "You're important to me, Sora. We grew up together. You're my best friend. That is the only thing that matters, okay?" Sora was speechless and Ken glanced up, noticing the four men standing at the door. "Are these your nakama?"

Sora smiled, looking back at them. "Yeah."

Ken gestured to a big open table. "Let's have lunch together." A little wearily, the four men followed Sora and Ken to the table. "Hey, my name's Takamune Kenjiro," he said, holding his hand out to all four pirates.

They shook hands with him and told him their names, unsure. Why was a famous marine so calm about sitting and having a meal with Whitebeard pirates in a public place? But as weird as it seemed, none of them could sense any kind of ulterior motive from him. He wasn't trying to capture them, or trick them; he genuinely wanted to know them.

Together, the marine and the five pirates had a rather fun lunch. Sora recalled her time on the ship, and Ken caught her up to date with everything that had happened in the marines within the past five years. Even Marco was surprised at how quickly Ken had ascended the ranks. He was twenty-one and already a captain who had made a name for himself. He watched Sora become captivated with Ken and couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"I'm actually on vacation," Ken said with a smile when Sora asked what he was doing here.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Sora asked, looking a little weary.

Ken waved her off. "Don't even worry about it, princess," he said, ruffling her hair. There was a bleeping sound coming from his pocket and Ken held up a finger in apology, pulling out the little snail. "Yo."

"Taichou, where are you?" asked a voice from the other end. The man sounded worried as the snail seemed to be flailing around. "The meeting is about to start!"

Ken grinned sheepishly. "Ah, my apologies, I'll be there shortly." He hung up and smiled at Sora, fixing his uniform and tie. "Okay, I'm actually here on a sort of retreat for my division, but I'm considering it a vacation."

Sora rolled her eyes at this and Ken stood up. "It was really great meeting all of you and I hope we can do this again," he told the other division commanders, who nodded in agreement. He pulled something else out of his pocket and handed it to Sora. It was a den den mushi. He smiled gently at the woman. "I'd really…like to see you again, Sora. Or talk or just— anything. I missed you so much while I was away and I'm not planning on letting you leave my side again. Please contact me when you have the time. If you're staying here for a while, I'd really like to take you out to dinner and catch up. Futarikiri." Just the two of us.

Sora blushed and smiled broadly. "Okay. I don't want to get you in trouble, though—"

"Stop, I don't care about that," Ken said, smiling. He placed down money on the table to pay for the entire check and turned back to Sora. "You are the most important person to me. So, stop being ridiculous."

Sora grinned. "Okay."

Ken leaned down and placed a tiny kiss on her cheek, before waving to everyone and hustling out of the bar. Izou poked Sora in the shoulder teasingly as the girl was still blushing. "You are so cute. You're in love with him aren't you?" Izou was, as usual, straight and to the point.

"I am not," Sora said, but was unable to look at him in the eye.

"Oh, you're adorable," he said, rustling her hair. "He seems like a very nice, genuine person. I approve."

"Stop," Sora complained, and the division commanders laughed as she turned pink.

"You should call him after his meeting," Izou said, standing up. He raised an eyebrow. "You're going to call him tonight, right?"

Sora smiled. "Yes."

A/N: Okay, honestly, anonymous reviewer, I believe that if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say it. I'm not trying to become a professional author, and it is beyond me why someone who hates the plot of my story would come back and check on my reviews and reply to someone who left me a positive one. This is a fanfiction. When I write fanfictions I try to stay as close to the original plot as possible so a lot of what I write is restricted, and honestly, and I write for fun. If you don't like it, then please just don't read it. If you want to actually read an original story that I actually wrote then go to my fictionpress. My original story Little Less Obvious has received over 700 positive reviews and has been nominated for romance awards in the online group Some Kind of Wonderful. Let me put in another reminder that I am not trying to become a professional author. I just do it for fun, so please, anon, step off. If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone else who has been reading! Blue Skies has received almost 4,000 hits in less than a month and I really appreciate that! Thanks for all the support; I'm glad there are people who love an Ace x OC pairing as much as I do. Also, the quick sketch of my OCs (Sora, Kohaku, and Ken) are linked finally in my profile part, if you wanted to take a look at Sora guys in an "anime" style. Thanks again~~~~~~~~~~~~