They've always said that the nice boy never gets the girl. But what about the girl who wants the nice boy? He always seems to be looking the other direction, towards that girl who complains about being unable to find a nice boy. The same could be said on Whitebeard's ship.

A girl—no, a woman stood near the front of the ship. Her eyes were focused on the first division's commander: Marco Phoenix. He was talking with one of Pop's nurses, joking and flirting with her. It brought a sour taste to the woman's mouth. She turned away to stare out on the ocean. Her arms leaned on the railing as she fought to clear her mind. She was a skilled swordswoman; she needed to have control over her emotions at all times. The sound of approaching footsteps had her tensing.

"Hey, Erika," Thatch called out happily. When she didn't answer, he stopped next to her in confusion. "Erika? Hello-o?" He waved his hand in front of her face. She smacked it away with a frown. He grinned again. "I thought you were frozen or something. Why don't you come join us? You always sit in the corner."

"I don't want to play your games, Thatch." She tried brushing him off.

He threw his arm around her shoulders and said dramatically, "Don't you care about your sweet brothers? You need to share your attention with all of us, not just the sea!"

She twisted out of his grip and shoved him to the floor. She landed on his stomach and they started fighting, though more playfully than anyone would have expected.

"Thatch, Erika, stop fooling around." Marco had walked up to them, a small frown on his face. His arms were crossed as if the two on the ground had done something wrong. Erika did as she was told, brushing her black jeans off as Thatch got up.

"Why'd you stop us?" he whined slightly, a smile working its way into his voice. "Erika was finally paying attention to the rest of us."

Erika huffed. Marco gave her a small glance before looking back at Thatch. "You get carried away when you do things. You'd probably end up making her destroy half the deck."

Erika's cheeks burned. As ridiculous as it sounded to others, the three knew it had happened once before. Thatch had attempted to get her to come "play" but only succeeded in making her mad. The ones who had watched it happen were entertained until Marco had put them all to work fixing the damage. Erika crossed her arms and faced away from both of them.

Marco refrained from sighing. "If you want her to pay attention, then come up with an actual game instead of fighting her."

Thatch pouted like a child before grinning. "Tag!"

The deck was suddenly in a rush, pirates running about and tackling each other before running away again. Each time one of the men got close to Erika, she twisted and dodged out of the way. The game eventually turned into "Chase Erika" and at least fifteen men were trying to catch her now. She used all of the tricks she learned while fighting to get away from them all. At one point, she ran straight past Marco, laughing with the feeling of freedom.

"Oi! Marco! Why didn't you grab her?" Thatch complained between breaths.

As Marco opened his mouth, Erika looked behind her. "He's too slow to catch me."

He heard the challenge in her voice. He smirked and his arms turned to wings. "Want a bet?"

She squealed as he dove at her. She changed directions at the last moment and he missed. "That's not fair!" she shouted up at him.

He paused in the air for a moment. "Then you'd better move faster."

His own smirk brought one to Erika's face. She took off once again with Marco in close pursuit. She skid around the corner, Marco following her every move. Erika grabbed a mast and swung around to change directions quickly. Marco rose up into the air, spinning, and dove back down towards her.

Just as she thought she had escaped him, she turned around to look. His form appeared in her vision. Her eyes widened, but before she could move away, he transformed his arms back to a human and grabbed her. They fell to the deck, Marco on top and Erika beneath him. He smirked as he moved his hands up to hold her wrists. "Now you can't escape me," he chuckled lightly.

Erika looked up at him. Her cheeks warmed at his proximity. And his hold on her arms felt… possessive.

"Marco! I can't believe you caught her!" Thatch ran up to them, a huge grin on his face.

Marco's grip on her loosened and she pulled out from under him. He gave her a glance. "Were you doubting me?" he accused.

Erika walked away from them. Her hands were shaking slightly. She hated herself for thinking, for even considering, that something was happening. She ran as soon as the shadow of the hallway hid her from the deck. Tears were beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes. All she wanted to do was find her room and never leave again.

For yonakaneko.

This one didn't end as happy, but I enjoyed writing it. Let me know if you have any requests.

-Levvi