The new chapter ladies and gentlemen :) Please let me know what you think about it (theories and everything are always welcome too :P)

Beta'd by Aerle and Thérèse, thank you!

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Chapter 8: We're not friends

I stared out of the window, still not sure what to do with operation Princess. It was already two days after I'd seen Izo talk with that guard, but it still bothered me. Of course; I found out I couldn't trust him. But that I didn't want to work with him anymore, didn't mean I couldn't keep seeing Vivi. After all, I promised to visit her again and she couldn't help it that Izo was a betrayer. I just didn't have to take Izo with me anymore.

And then there was this other thing. Well, person, actually. I didn't know why, but I kept thinking about that Marco guy. There was an air of mystery around him, that interested me, I guessed. I looked at Thatch, who was reading a book. "Hey, Thatch, want to solve a question?"

He looked up. "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you come up with a devil fruit that can handle fire?" I asked. I hadn't told him about Marco yet, somehow it felt like my little secret that no one needed to know of. Well, at least the second time I saw him, which was the first time he really saw me. I had told Izo and Thatch that there had been someone who had almost caught me the first time, but nothing specific. I didn't think I even mentioned his name.

Thatch shrugged. "Sure, someone with a body of water or sand…"

"No, not a Logia type," I added. "Besides, we already know someone with sand abilities."

"Well, at least you know you shouldn't pick a fight with him," Thatch joked.

No shit, I wasn't planning on fighting the prime minister any time soon. Unless he wanted his chairs back, because he would have to fight me for them.

"But it must be something you don't know yet?" Thatch continued. I nodded and Thatch seemed to think harder. "But no Logia you say? Hmmm… I think I've heard of the Atsu Atsu no Mi once, which can control heat, so the one who uses that would probably be immune to flames."

"Yeah, that could be it. I can't immediately think of another Paramecia that could stand fire, can you?" I smiled. That was a really good suggestion!

"Well, I think you're overestimating yourself a bit. I can't think of one that could handle stand fire directly, but that doesn't mean that no one with such power can win in a fight with you." Thatch raised his eyebrows a little amused. "I have known people with Paramecia powers who could have defeated you with one finger."

I snorted. "Yeah, sure! Give me an example of someone then."

Thatch shook his head. "The man I had in mind isn't alive anymore."

"Easy enough for you to talk then, if he can't prove it anymore." I rolled my eyes. Really, what could they have done to me anyway? "But it must be the Atsu Atsu no Mi then… I mean, Zoans are pretty much ruled out."

"Not necessarily," Thatch brought in.

I looked at him curiously. "Like what? Even animals with a thick skin can be roasted." Then I thought of something. "Though… maybe some reptiles with scales could hold for a few seconds. Or fish, because they're wet? But who the hell eats a fish fruit in the desert?"

"That was not really what I meant, though," Thatch said and looked into my eyes. "Ever heard of Mythical Zoan fruits?"

My eyes widened as the first option of such a fruit went through my mind. "That's it! That's so awesome, though! But I can imagine why the government would want to put a ring on that." I jumped up. "I gotta go."

"What?! Where are you going?" Thatch asked confused.

"To the palace," I said as I put on my boots and ran towards the stairs.

"Wait, why? Take me with you!" the genie tried.

"Sorry, can't, it's too dangerous!" I shouted back, already being halfway down the stairs. I jumped down the last stairs, not having the patience to wait any longer, and started running.

It was only a few minutes later that I sat on top of the wall surrounding the royal gardens, again. I took a moment to overthink my actions. Maybe I had been a little too enthusiastic. I didn't even know whether Marco worked today or where to find him. And with all the guards around, I couldn't just run around through the palace until I found him either.

So there was actually only one safe option left. I quickly scanned the gardens, saw only a few guards, but noted that they hadn't seen me. I jumped and landed right behind a nearby tree. It being the third time I came here already, I began to know my way around. Swiftly I moved from tree to tree, until I was close to the palace tower where Vivi's chamber was. When the coast was clear, I jumped up and landed a few yards higher, on her balcony.

I sighed disappointed when I saw that her windows were closed, as were her curtains. Or… not completely. When I looked closer, I saw that the glass doors were slightly ajar and there was a gap between the curtains as well, probably to let the air flow through the room. I tried my best to peek through that small opening, but I could only see a really tiny part of the room, which didn't tell me anything about if anyone was inside, and if yes, who, since I only saw an empty spot.

I kept staring, thinking of what my options were. I could take the risk and break in, but that wouldn't do if there was someone else inside the room than the ones who knew me. I flinched when suddenly someone stepped into my view, but sighed when I realized it was just the person I was looking for. However, that didn't mean I could just barge in. I didn't know who else could be in the room, after all.

I focused on my forefinger, letting the tip heat up and burst into flames. Carefully I sent the flames through the opening between the glass doors, and formed them into the words 'are you alone?'. There were times when I was glad I had learned how to write when I was a kid.

Only a few seconds later, the curtains were pushed aside and the door was opened. Marco folded his arms in front of his chest. "You've got a lot of nerve, coming here again, yoi."

I smirked and stepped inside. "Are you alone? Where's Vivi?"

"I was about to ask you that." Marco placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking further into the palace, making my heart skip a beat. Which was kind of weird, since it didn't really surprise me that much.

I pushed the hand off my shoulder, but the touch made me feel weird in my stomach, and for some reason it took a little longer to break the contact than was strictly necessary. "I don't know," I answered quickly, to get rid of the weird feeling. "I haven't seen her in days."

"But you're here now," Marco stated. "So you had promised to meet her, yoi?"

I shook my head and sat down on the princess' bed. "I came for you."

Marco stared at me, his expression unreadable. "For me?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking," I smiled excitedly. "And I've got a pretty good idea of what your devil fruit is."

"Really now?" Marco said, still not seeming very surprised nor impressed.

"Yes, my guess is that you've eaten a devil fruit from the Mythical Zoan type." That was the moment when he raised his eyebrow just the tiniest bit and my smile turned into a wide grin. "I knew it! You are a dragon!"

An amused smile formed itself on Marco's lips, but then he began to chuckle. The chuckling continued until the man was actually laughing.

I knew he was probably laughing at me, that I had said something incredibly stupid, but I couldn't help but like the sound of it. It was also the first time I had really seen Marco display any real form of emotion. Somehow it made him look more human.

When Marco was finished laughing, he shook his head. "I was not a dragon."

I huffed. "Then it's the heat controlling fruit."

To my surprise, Marco sat down next to me on Vivi's bed. "Wrong again." His face went back to its normal, emotionless expression. "But you seriously came here to accuse me of being a dragon?"

"I…" I shrugged. "It wasn't a very weird guess, you know. A dragon can handle fire and it's not a logia type." Somehow, the fact that he was now sitting next to me made me a little nervous. He was being way too friendly for someone who worked in the palace. "But you could just tell me what powers you used to have."

"It doesn't matter, yoi." Marco lay down on the bed, with his hands underneath his head. "I can't use them anymore so why bother talking about it?"

"Because I'm curious," I said honestly. There wasn't really a good reason why he should tell me, but I felt like I really needed to know.

"You know I could just catch you and lock you up, right? Like I'm supposed to do with the likes of you," Marco said, but didn't make any attempt to act upon his words.

"And yet you don't." I lay down as well, on my side, so that I could look at Marco, who stared at the ceiling himself. "I wonder why."

A quiet sigh escaped Marco's lips. "Vivi could use a friend like you. I'm not very fond of the way they treat her, wanting us to keep her inside the palace at all costs." He turned his head to look at me. "And I'm beginning to think I might have been wrong to think you're here to get into her bed." He eyed the mattress on which he was laying, probably realizing it was the very same bed he was talking about. "Well… you know what I mean, yoi."

I huffed again. It was about time he realized that. "I'm glad you've come to your senses, but what made you change your mind?"

The corner of Marco's mouth curled up the slightest bit. "Just a feeling that she isn't really your… type."

I raised my eyebrows. "What the hell do you know about my type?"

Turning his head back to look at the ceiling again, Marco said, "You tell me, why is it that you don't like her?"

I frowned. "I do like her, just not like that. Because… just because. I don't feel attracted to her. Do I have to have a reason for not liking everyone?" I was really confused by the question and it made me slightly nervous.

"So there have been people you liked like that? Or… are you already in a relationship with someone?" Marco asked.

"No!" I didn't really get why he was asking all these questions. "No, I don't have a girlfriend. But that doesn't mean I've never liked anyone… there are enough pretty girls."

"I didn't ask if there were pretty girls, yoi. I think Vivi is pretty as well, don't you?" Marco said, looking slightly amused. "There is a difference between thinking someone is pretty and being attracted to that person."

Well, he did have a point. I had seen a few girls of which I thought they were really good looking but… I had never been in love with any of them, or even had a crush on them. "Yeah, so? What does this have to do with you knowing that Vivi isn't my type?" I felt a little as if I was being interrogated or something, but I didn't know with what purpose.

Marco sighed. "Nothing. I'm probably not the person to talk to you about this."

"What even is 'this'?" I said a little paranoia.

"Would you look at that, Carue," Vivi's voice interrupted them. "Who would have thought I'd find two men together in my bed one day?"

I looked up lazily, my mind still too focused on what the hell Marco was aiming at, but the blond stood up immediately, straightening his uniform. "Princess Vivi, I'm sorry, I was looking for you when I found him."

The princess walked into the room, followed by her pet duck, and giggled. "Yes, that sounds like a good reason to lay down with him." The duck quacked as if to agree with her that it was indeed not a reason at all.

Did I imagine it, or did I see just the tiniest blush covering Marco's cheeks? However, Vivi didn't seem to want to put him in the awkward situation of explaining this, because she continued quickly. "But I'm happy to see you're friends. That was not something I expected."

"We're not friends," Marco and I said in union.

He continued, "I realized he might not be such a bad person after all, and I thought you could use some company. Just… let's keep this our secret, okay?" He walked towards the exit of the room. "I'll leave you two alone now." Before he reached the door, however, he turned around. "Oh yeah, Ace," he looked straight into my eyes, making my heart skip a beat. "If I find out you betrayed my trust, you will have to bear the consequences, yoi."

I'd had a pleasant conversation with Vivi, after Marco had left, in which I had explained different aspects of living as a thief in the city. It seemed to intrigue her, so I was happy to tell her whatever she wanted. Except for where I lived, of course. I wouldn't make it too easy for the government, even if I trusted Vivi. She was just a little naïve, so you never knew when someone was clever enough to get the information out of her.

But the short conversation I had had with Marco wouldn't leave me alone. I didn't understand at all what he had been talking about. He suddenly knew Vivi wasn't my type? But he wasn't the one to talk with me about that? It made me incredibly confused and thinking about the conversation made my heart beat a little faster, though I wasn't sure if that was because of the topic of the conversation or the person bringing it up.

I walked into my tower, but after a few steps I felt something was wrong. It was too quiet. It had never been so quiet since I had stolen Thatch's lamp. I stood at the bottom of the stairs, listening carefully. No sound. No singing, no sounds of Thatch being busy cooking – something he did a lot – no genie talking to himself, nothing. Of course Thatch could just be reading a book or something, but the feeling in my gut told me that wasn't the case. Somehow Thatch was noisy in everything he did. But right now, the silence was deafening.

My heart jumped when I did hear a sound. The sound of shoe heels clicking on the stone floor. Those were definitely not Thatch's steps – even when he made the effort of walking instead of floating. So there was an intruder.

I let my feet turn into fire so that I could ascent the stairs without the risk that my feet would make a sound. I was on the third floor when the sound suddenly stopped. I held my breath and slowed down. Cautiously I went up the last stairs.

A shot sounded and before I knew it, a bullet went through my chest. Without a second thought I sent a fire fist in the direction the shot had come from.

A flash of purple just avoided my fire. "Oh, it's you," Izo said as he checked a strand of hair to see if it had burned.

"What the fuck?! Of course it's me! I live here!" I shouted at him.

"It could have been an uninvited guest," Izo shrugged as he put his gun away.

"Like you?" I said angrily. "What the hell are you doing here?!" I checked my chest, but noted there was no pain and no hole. So Izo had been bluffing about the seastone bullets. Good to know.

"Why, I came to visit you," Izo sat down on one of my chairs as if he owned the place.

"Get. Off. My chair." I was furious. How dared he come to my home as if everything was just fine.

Izo raised an eyebrow. "Why? You've got two of them. Or… have you brought someone?"

"I said get off my chair." I let my eyes wander around. Where the hell was Thatch? Had Izo stolen the lamp? Only after a second or two I saw an unfamiliar, small cabinet standing in the corner of the room. That had to be the genie's doing.

Meanwhile Izo had stood up, his hands in the air as if to surrender. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was your sacred chair."

"You can stop your dumb act," I warned him. Like I was still going to fall for that. "I know what kind of game you're playing."

Izo seemed to be thinking very hard, but then barely visibly shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't follow you there." His eyes begged for an explanation. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you work with the government. I saw you being all friendly with that city guard!" I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "So you'd better get the hell out of here and never show your face to me again."

"Ace!" Izo almost looked offended. But I already knew he was a great actor, so there was no way I was going to fall for that. "How dare you accuse me of working together with the government? And you really need to give me more to go on, because I still don't know where you got that silly idea from."

"What was it… two, three days ago? You were talking to that captain in the black market area. You showed him that candle stand I gave you," I clarified. I didn't really know why I gave him a chance to explain, instead of kicking him out, but maybe I subconsciously hoped he wasn't that bad after all. Suddenly I realized something. "How did you even know where I live?"

"I followed you one time, to see where you lived." Izo sighed. "But I'm guessing you saw me with Smoker."

"I believe you called him Smokey."

Izo nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's my sort of nickname for him."

I closed my eyes. So I was right not to trust him. You don't give nicknames to people you barely know. "Then I know enough. Get out."

"No, this is a misunderstanding. We're not friends and definitely not working together." Izo placed a hand on my shoulder and I immediately shot him a deadly look, which made him withdraw his hand. "Will you please let me explain?"

"You literally said he couldn't arrest you because he cared too much for you." Seriously, how was he going to explain that if they weren't at least friends?

"No, no, no, I didn't say that." Izo chuckled. "Though I like that idea." When he saw my raised eyebrow, he quickly continued. "Okay, I have a bit of a history with Smoker, but that's really not important. And I'm pretty sure he hates my guts sometimes."

"If he really hates you so much, he could have just arrested you and locked you up, right? Or beat you to death or something," I suggested. I'd never met a guard who wouldn't do that to a criminal if he had the opportunity.

"Smoker isn't like that!" Izo defended his – by lack of proof of the opposite – friend. "Anyway, it's a bit difficult to explain, but there is some sort of agreement between the government and me. And that's the reason that, as long as I don't do anything too criminal, like committing murder or something, they cannot arrest me. If they were to break that agreement, well, you could say all hell would break loose."

I looked at him as if he was stupid. Really, did he expect me to believe such a vague story? "What kind of agreement is that? And why should the government make deals with a thief?"

"That's a long and difficult story. One I would rather not tell, actually. But believe me when I say I feel a passionate hatred towards the government and I would never ever do anything that could work in their benefit."

"You did shoot those two palace guards, though. Seems like murder to me. Or at least an attempt at," I pointed out. After all, he'd said that that could be a reason to get arrested.

"That was self-defense. Besides, nobody knows it was me who shot them. Unless you told the cops." Izo looked at me as if suddenly I was the one who was working together with the government.

"Don't give me that look. I couldn't even get close to a guard without having one chasing me. I can't get into friendly conversations with them." I didn't know whether I should believe Izo's stories. On the one hand, I didn't trust him at all, but on the other hand, if I trusted Thatch, I should trust Izo too. After all, Thatch had made sure my home would be protected from the government. So the fact that Izo was standing here now should be prove that he wasn't working for the government.

I sighed and tried to relax my body a bit, as it was still in defense mode. "Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I am delighted to hear that." Izo smiled broadly. "So can I sit on your sacred chair now?"

TBC~

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