From Caged Marines to Whitebeard Pirates

by Kanra Nakura

When Blackbeard was caught in the action of stabbing Thatch, a fight ensues, causing Marco to be thrown to the sea in his Phoenix Form, hearing the laughter of the traitor and the cries of his siblings as he submerged. Locked in a cage and kept as a pet bird for the Tenryuubito for months, Marco was saved by Marines under Monkey D. Luffy. Full Summary in the First Chapter. FemLuffy

4. Chapter 4

~An hour before Sunrise~

"…san~ …. up….die-san~ ….wake up…. Birdie-san~" Marco stirred; his eyebrows furrowed at the noise that was followed with a giggle. "Birdie-san, wake up~"

'So annoying, yoi.' He thought, releasing an annoyed croon.

"Shishishi! You really need to wake up now, Birdie-san~" Marco frowned before opening his eyes slowly when the noise was accompanied by gentle touch in his head.

'Wha…?' He thought as he tried to register the black blurry image in front of him.

"Finally awake, Birdie-san?" Luffy giggled, seeing the bird opening its eyes slightly. She was seated at a chair that was placed in front of a small round table, which is placed in front of a window, and the box that she used to place the rescued bird was placed on top of it, with the flaps open. Luffy waited, giggling, as Birdie-san slowly lifted his head above the flap and looked at her, then at the room dazedly. After a while, his gaze went back to her, blinking slowly. "Birdie-san needs to wake up properly." She whispered as she lifted the bird from the box and put him in her lap.

Marco blinked as he tried to gather his thoughts, from what happened last night up to how he ended in the lap of the marine. He felt the marine pat his head again, and then one hand patted his chest, more specifically at where his mark is located.

'No!' He thought, immediately pecking the hand, albeit softly, not wanting for the Marine to mess his feathers that he had arranged to cover his Oyaji's symbol and then saw it. 'Not now, when I have the chance to be free, yoi!' He continued pecking at the hand. He was so focused on removing the hand that he didn't notice the reaction of the Marine, it took a while but then the First Division Commander had realized that his savior's hand isn't moving anymore nor twitching in pain. Marco paused, his beak still poke on the Marine's hand, and look up from the corner of his eyes, which widen a bit when he saw the female marine merely smiling at him in understanding.

"I notice something on your chest you know when I was watching you," Luffy stated. "And I also notice how you took care of hiding that thing, so don't worry about me messing it. Unless you want to, I won't move the feathers away, and I will pretend that I didn't even see it. Additionally, I will help you hide it until my doctors will allow you to leave our base." She finished, not even bothering to remove her hand away.

'Are you serious, yoi?' Marco thought to himself, before moving away from her hand to twist his neck to look at him. He then released a soft confused croon, making her giggled. 'What kind of marine are you?'

"We're leaving this place today," Luffy stated, as she continued to pat the bird's chest arranging the feathers and hiding that purple thing she noticed as promised. Though she had an inkling feeling on what it is and who this bird is, the chances of her handing him over to the marines are zero, even if it was a direct order. Besides, Birdie-san is not a bad guy and (should she be correct of course) he's protecting them. "So, we might be able to remove the seastones nails from your body three or five days from now, depends on the sea and wind." She stated as her hand, that was patting the avian's head earlier before the pecking attack, went to the area where the nail is, flinching together with the Phoenix when she touched the seastone nails that are surrounded with a slight tender skin.

"I could remove the nails, but I rather have someone with experience to remove it for you so that we can avoid any complications," Luffy added, finally removing her hands from the bird and laid one on the window sill beside her as she turned to look outside, while the other hang limply at the side. "Add with the fact that you're surrounded with seastones before… it might take you a while to leave our base. But I think staying with us is better than this place, nee~ Birdie-san?" She smiled, turning her face at her companion, tilting her head to the side.

'Yeah… I prefer marines, as long as they don't imprison me in Impel Down, rather than the Tenryuubito, yoi.' Marco thought, blinking and trying to imbed the smiling face of his savior, surrounded in darkness with only a few torch lights to brighten the place, in his mind. 'I also prefer to know how will you get me out of this place or how you're even here.' Marco narrowed his eyes trying to tell the marine what he wants via facial expression. Said Marine hummed as she took in his face.

"Shishishi." Luffy laughed quietly and then patted Marco's head again. "Be patient, Birdie-san. We can't rush escaping from this place nor can we rush on removing the seastones." She said, looking back outside.

'Not what I want to know, yoi.' Marco thought, sulking inwardly before deciding to settle down the very, very, comfy lap of the marine. Tucking his wings and then wrap his neck around his body, before laying his head on top of it, Marco watched and waited with Luffy for the sun to rise. Unknown to Marco, when he tried to make himself comfortable, Luffy had her eyes closed, listening carefully for the voices that she and a few selected others can hear.

"Leave! Leave!"

'Hmmm…'

"Save! Save! Leave!"

'Patience…' She thought, humming quietly. 'Patience…' When she heard nothing more, Luffy opened her eyes revealing warm blue eyes and a flash of white appearing behind her head. Luffy and Marco watched as the first ray of sunrise began to appear from the horizon, by then Luffy had less than 2 hours to prepare for her departure. With that in mind, she picked up the dozing First Mate of the Whitebeard Pirate from her lap, before standing up and place him on the chair she just evacuated and moved away.

Marco shakes his head awake when he was laid down at the chair, and went to watch the Marine, who was humming a bit loudly than earlier. That was when he noticed that Luffy was still wearing the clothes she wore when she rescued him. From the corner of his eyes, Marco saw more sun rays appearing before his attention went back to the Marine when he heard some clothes rustling, what he saw made him squawking in shock. Upon hearing the noise made by the other occupant of the room, Luffy paused from removing the dress from her shoulder, and turn to look at Marco, who had one of his wings to cover his slightly blushing face, blinking in confusion.

'What the hell, yoi?! This is not the first time I saw a naked woman!' Marco thought, before the image of Luffy stripping her dress and revealing her slightly pale body, and laced undergarments.

'Shit!' He cursed. Marco knew without a doubt that should he be in his human form, he would be drooling (not that he would admit it), blushing heavily, or watch with a blank face, not even bothering to hide his face. His eyes would shamelessly watch the Marine strip if she decided to do it in front of him, probably even lick his lip. After all… it's been decades since he last spent a night with the opposite gender, being the First Mate of a huge crew truly take a lot of your time. Shaking his head, Marco lowered his wing after a couple of minutes and slowly look at the Marine, releasing a loud trill when she was merely inches away from his face, crouching.

'ARE YOU PLANNING TO KILL BY A HEART ATTACK, YOI?!' Marco screamed in his mind, though he pretty much wants to scream it at the marine, who seems to enjoy in shocking him or, at least, make him lost his composure. 'HOW DID YOU EVEN MOVE WITHOUT ME NOTICING OR FEELING YOU WITH MY HAKI?!'

"Shishishishi." Luffy giggled, as she watched the bird calm down and glared at her. "Sorry, sorry."

'You're not even sincere with your sorry, yoi.' Marco deadpanned, and by the snickering noise he heard the Marine had made, his face showed exactly what he thought. 'Yoi…' He then laid his head back to down to his body, with the intentions of giving Luffy the cold shoulder, which seems to be impossible as the moment she began to move, his eyes went back to her, and fortunately for Marco, the Rear Admiral is already dressed in a reddish pencil skirt with a slit on her left leg, said slit ended in her mid-thigh, and a yellow, long sleeve, button-down, collared shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to the Rear Admiral's elbow, and a few buttons on the top were undone, showing a bit of her cleavage, and on the left side of her breast is an embroidered pink rose, with bubbles(?) surrounding it. Said Marine though had already stood up, deciding to leave him alone, and began to look for her cape, which she found laid down on the bed. Luffy was about to put her cape over her shoulder when suddenly there was knocking on the door, making her looked at it while the rescued pirate froze.

'Shit!' Marco thought, then looked at the Marine, who was already looking at him, giving him a small smile before moving towards the door. 'Are you opening the door when I'm out in the open, yoi?! Won't you be found out?' He thought, but then the door was opened revealing a male servant, and a guard, the former was carrying a tray while the latter had his back turn on them.

"Your Breakfast, Rear Admiral." The servant said, reaching out the tray while looking at the ground. Marco, who didn't move even a muscle when the door open, snapped his head, releasing a not so quiet trill, to look at the Marine who freed him from his cage.

'R-Rear Admiral?' He thought before realizing that he moved and even created a noise! Swallowing, Marco risked glancing at the door from the corner of his eyes, hoping he hasn't been found out and foil his chance to be free but neither outsiders made any movement or noise of acknowledgment that he was heard, which is weird, because normally people would look at anything that will make any noise or movements even if it's for a second, but they seem to only focus on the Marine only.

"I thought I will be having breakfast with Saint Rokudo?" Luffy asked, looking at the tray with disdain.

"Saint Rokudo has left a few minutes ago, saying he had a business to attend to." The servant said.

"Business? During this hour?"

"I apologize, Rear Admiral. But that what he said to us." Luffy looked at them before hesitatingly grabs the tray. "Do you need assistance in packing my Lady?"

"No need, I only bought one set of clothing with me. I can handle things from here." She said, before slamming the door in their faces, not even bothering to wait for their answers before heading towards Marco, more specifically, at the table beside him. She harshly put the tray down while throwing the box to the side, shocking the phoenix, even more so when she screamed in frustration and going as far as slamming her hands beside the tray. This made the phoenix to jump slightly and croon softly, never expecting the Marine to react like this.

'Does this have… to do with her thinking of having breakfast with the Saint?' Marco thought, watching as the Marine stopped screaming and began to pant heavily before crumpling down. He croons again, standing up from his spot and took a step forward, all the while stretching his neck towards her and leaning his head to the side. That was when he saw her eyes, that had held warmth earlier, shrouded in fear and defeat.

'I thought I'll be safe,' Luffy thought, ignoring the confused noise and look the bird is giving her. 'I should have heeded they said instead of lingering.'

'What's wrong, yoi?' Marco knew that Luffy couldn't understand him, but he tried and even dared to nudge the currently fragile Marine, who decided to inhale deeply. He moves his head away and took a step back when she stood up before they both looked at the food, though the Avian Devil Fruit user had to stretch his neck again just to see it. He found nothing weird on the food, it was just a tea, poached eggs, bacon, sausages, and toasted bread. Marco did saw something black sprinkled on top of the food…. ground pepper perhaps?... and the tea had a purple-ish color swirling around. Hearing the Rear Admiral inhaling deeply, Marco turned back his attention towards her and notice that she was picking up and putting the box to the bed. Once that was done, his female companion had gone towards him, reaching out and gently lifted him, whispering.

"You need to be quite, Birdie-san. It won't do us good if you made any noises and then they'll found out that you're here. Especially when I'll lose focus." Marco frowned, looking at her with confusion.

'I already made noise earlier and they didn't seem to realize that I'm here.' Marco mentally told her. 'But what do you mean when you lose focus, yoi?' He released a soft trill when he was laid down inside the box, trying to understand or hinting to her to at least explain what's going on.

"Shh! Please don't make any more noise, Birdie-san, please?" Luffy pleaded, giving the bird her best puppy eyes. It didn't take long for her temporary companion to agree, as he looked away from her, making her smile and gave him a half loaf of bread, the only one remaining from the batch that she had stolen from the kitchen last night to which she had eaten a few before and after rescuing the bird. She then put a small bowl of freshwater inside the box, looking at each side to ensure it's steady and won't spill when Birdie-san will drink from it, before sitting down beside the box and looked at the Mythical Fruit User.

"Eat, Birdie-san," Luffy said, looking gently at Marco, who continued to watch her before he looked at the bread and hesitantly pecked at it. Luffy sighed softly in relief when the avian had decided to eat more with gusto but still slow to avoid any sickness that will surely happen should he ate too fast. Seeing that Birdie-san was having fun with his breakfast, Luffy looked back at her own 'meal' with all the hatred she could muster despite the fear and defeated emotions she felt. She closed her eyes, before standing up and then proceeded to her wardrobe and pulled out one of the dresses that she won't feel awful when destroyed, and seeing that it was a black, backless dress with a slit on the side and the front is a stitched symbol of the Tenryuubito, from the chest area down to the waist. Seeing that, Luffy didn't hesitate to wear it over the clothes she's already wearing and then proceeded to sit back at the spot she vacated.

Marco was nearly done eating when she sat back down beside his box, he didn't look up immediately wanting to finish his meal in case they will leave without any warning. It was only when he was drinking his water, his bread finished, and in his stomach, did he look up, which is a mistake. Marco snorted into his water, seeing the female marine suddenly wearing a dress with the symbol of the Tenryuubito over her first clothes.

'What the heck, yoi!?' The First Mate of the Whitebeard Pirates screamed inwardly, shaking his head and tried to gather his mind on what the symbol means with its attached to a dress. When nothing comes into mind, Marco turned his narrowed eyes towards the Marine, trying to understand what her role or who is she towards the Celestial Dragons. Said Marine, merely giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"You need to be careful when drinking, Birdie-san." Luffy teased but said birdie glared, even more, making her sigh. Her once jolly aura dispersing, which was noticed by Marco, who blinked, before looking seriously at him.

"I need you to trust me on this." She stated, as she reached to the side and then dragged a sheer blanket towards her. "Whatever happens, whatever you hear or feel…" She raised the flaps on each side of the box and used the blanket to cover it over the top. "Don't make any noise. Don't even react…"

'What are you doing, yoi?!' Marco released a loud trill, flapping his wings, stopping the marine from covering the box completely as he didn't want to be blind or didn't see things clearly with a marine, even if said marine is helping him.

"You promised!" Luffy said harshly, which made the bird paused shocked at her tone. "You promised to never make any noise! So trust me on this, covering this box is for your own good!"

Marco slowly lowered his wings, realizing that he did promise that but he was more shocked that she had scolded him rather harshly. She was always gentle with him, so it was shocking that she was like this so suddenly. The marine didn't even wait longer for she already covered his box with the blanket, while he can still see the room, it was semi-transparent, the only clear one he can see are the silhouettes. He tried to remain calm, and trust the marine, who stood up and headed towards where her breakfast is located. Marco followed Luffy, making sure to move softly and then pecked at the side of the box that was blocking the view in front of him. Stopping once he created a hole big enough for him to see, even though the blanket is not making him see more clearly, the phoenix devil fruit user can make out the silhouette of the marine eating the breakfast given to her.

Once she had covered the box with the blanket, Luffy closed her eyes, inwardly apologizing to the avian she rescued for how she treated him just now, though she promised herself to still apologize to him later when they're safe. She opened her eyes before standing up, finally deciding to be done with it so that she and the one she rescued can leave this accursed place. Sitting down and then reaching out a pair of trembling hands towards the fork and knife, Luffy began to cut her meals in huge pieces, stabbing a cut piece of egg, bacon, sausages, and bread with her fork and then putting them in her mouth at once, the Angel chewed swiftly and then swallowed, despite not being chewed properly, she then immediately let go of the utensils and covered her mouth. Trembling heavily when her mind registered that she tasted something that is certainly should not be included in any meal, slamming her one hand to the table when she suddenly felt weaken on the inside.

'Shit!' She thought as she felt immense pain inside her, whatever it was that's added in her meal (other than the thing that she knew was in her meal) had brought her a lot of pain, more so than the once she felt and had before. After a while, she stopped trembling and lowered her hand, waiting for a few more minutes to calm down before continuing to eat. This time making sure no more meals are left on the plate, wanting to experience the pain twice or, if possible, once only, damn the consequences. Once swallowing, Luffy put a closed fist hand in front of her mouth as if to stop herself from coughing what's in her mouth and then drinking her tea at once when she no longer felt puking her meal out. Luffy slammed the teacup down and panted heavily through her nose. It was quite for a while aside from the soft shuffling noise Marco is creating in the box before Luffy finally surrendered and coughed out blood, glad that the dress caught the blood so that she can burn it. The Female Rear Admiral covered her mouth with her hand again and tried to stop the blood pouring out even more, but she lost as she suddenly fell sideways to the floor.

Marco knew something was wrong when the marine eats her meal, hearing the utensils fell to the plate made him nervous, seeing her silhouette slamming a hand to her face and the table added more. He was so tense that he felt leaping over towards the Marine when she continued eating.

'Why are you acting like that?' Marco thought, seeing the silhouette drinking from the teacup which was then slammed down. 'What is the fuck is wrong, yoi?!' he screamed, his wings rising, suddenly feeling threaten… but it's not his life that he wanted to protect, no, he wanted to protect the marine. Whatever it is that's happening to Luffy, it's giving Marco a feeling of her being threatened, and he doesn't like it one bit. Not. One. Bit. And then… he saw something spewed out from her mouth, followed by her coughing.

'Is she vomiting?!' Marco thought with horror and fear, literally sticking his face to the box and cursing that he can't burn the blanket away. He then felt his heart skip a beat… no, fuck that… his heart nearly stopped beating when the marine fell to the floor, the silhouette even showed him that she was trembling and jerking whenever she coughed.

'WHAT THE FUCK, YOI?!' Marco screamed, nearly breaking his promise to never make any more noise. The air was tense, Marco waited for Luffy to get up, to stop jerking and coughing, to ripped this damn blanket from his box, and he knew… oh, how Marco knew, that this experience will be added to his mental list of the time where he hated waiting.

The occupants of the room didn't know how many minutes had passed before Luffy had finally stopped making any noise or jerking movements. This calm Marco but not seeing if the Marine is awake or worse… dead… still made him tense. Luffy, however, was merely blinking tiredly, looking at the pool of blood that had surrounded her before glancing up at the covered box in her bed. She knew that Birdie-san is waiting for a sign of her being alive at most, she's not naïve to think that he didn't do anything to the box, and as much as she liked to do something for him, Luffy's tired, so, so tired that she felt sleeping for the whole day and leave for her crew tomorrow, which is bad… super-duper bad.

One, they might see her temporary companion as she couldn't use her abilities to protect him if she slept. Two, if they found out that he is freeing him, and if they saw whatever it was that the Avian was hiding and knew what it was, they will probably punish her, favored marine or not. Three, her crew would worry as she told them that they will be heading for Fishman Island, today. Though they will wait for her to arrive before leaving, the problem is, if she didn't call them now, but later today (which is probably by late afternoon) and then told them that they'll head out tomorrow, they'll freak out, forced her to give them an answer, and will probably take revenge, Tenryuubitos, World Government and Marines be damned, no one is allowed to mess with one of them.

Four… she promised to Birdie-san that she'll free him from their clutches. She already broke plenty of promises she made with her important people, she'd rather die than break this one. Thinking about the Fourth reason why sleeping is bad, Luffy lifted her right arm slowly and waved once before letting it fell back to the floor, luckily her arms fell above the pooling blood beneath her and making her sleeves safe from any bloodstain.

Marco sagged in relief when he saw her silhouette moved a hand to wave at him, though he was worried when it fell back to the floor, at least Marco knew that she's fine and that's enough for his heart, for now. He sat down and then glanced at the table where his savior plate is, frowning in suspicion. He's starting to get an idea what was in her meal and he didn't like what his brain is conjuring, should he be correct then… he'll kill whoever did this, whether they are Tenryuubito, Marine, or another Pirate Crew… he will kill them and he's sure his family will help him. If he's wrong… well… he'll just investigate what happened to her.

With 45 minutes left to prepare to leave Mariejois, Luffy finally decided to stand up, grunting in pain, willing herself to fight against the things that are inside her, the things that made her weak and injured from the inside. Doing her best to avoid the pool of blood on the floor, Luffy swayed to the side as she forces her knees to stop trembling before slowly taking a step forward, followed by another. In each step she took, as she heads towards the bathroom, become easier and easier as her devil fruit finally acted up again. Luffy glance at the clock in her room, as she put a hand on the wall and lean against it. Meanwhile, Marco tried to keep the marine within his sight as she walked away, frowning deeply at her slowness, and deep inside, worried for her.

'15 minutes fighting against it, and another 5 minutes before my strength started to come back.' Luffy thought as she continued towards the bathroom, using the wall to assist her body. 'New Record but… unsatisfactory for them.' Soon Luffy was already inside and began to wash her hands and face, before deciding to wash her hair with the hand shower on the bathtub, scrubbing thoroughly and watched as pink-tinted water went down the drain. She then grabs a towel, which was laid down a the stool beside her, and immediately pat it on her hair before wrapping it around the said hair. Standing up straight, she then ripped the bloodied dress by the middle and steps over it, kicking the dress away to the side, and looked at the mirror in front of her, sighing in relief when no blood is seen on her shirt and skirt. Luffy then grabs a pair of black leather glove that was hanging on a bar beside the bathroom counter and immediately wore it, pulling the edges to make sure it fitted her hand in every corner. The Youngest Rear Admiral then pick up the dress between her thumb and index fingers and walk out of the bathroom, her body fully recovered, and throw the dress over the bloodstain on the carpet.

When Marco saw Luffy came out from the bathroom, walking easily as she had before eating that accursed meal, the worry he felt had dissipated. Though he did notice that she was dragging something behind her, he guessed it was for the floor, and seeing that she throw it at the location where she fell, Marco knew that he was correct. But then… he saw her raised one of her hand, palm up, followed by a white flash appearing above it. Said flash blinded him for a few moments, forcing him to move away from the hole. And while Marco shakes his head, trying to remove the white spots from his sight, the marine had turned and walked towards his box, a trail of smoke on the spot where the dress is. Wrenching the blanket from the box, Luffy blinked and smile gently when she saw him shaking his head.

"Sneaky bird." Luffy chided softly before lifting the said bird's head with both hands and made him look at him, shaking her head when she looked at the watery and dazed eyes. "You shouldn't watch what a woman is doing when they don't want you to see it." She gently rubs the bird's eyes, who merely released a soft trill, followed by an annoyed one when he registered that he's being scolded by the Marine when he's simply worried for her, with her thumbs. Luffy giggled as white flames appeared whenever her thumbs rub the phoenix eyes and then disappearing once she lifted her thumb. After a few more rubs, she removes her hands, moving away from the bed, and waited for Birdie-san to open his eyes, which he did after a few moments. Said avian flaps his wings as a sign that he's happy and can see everything clearly now, he glances at around the room before settling to the Marine, who was leaning at the wall in front of him with her arms wrapped around her mid-section, smirking, and before giving her a stinky eye.

"What?" Luffy blinked, her smirking disappearing, before tilting her head to the side. After a while Marco finally looked away from her, unable to withstand her sincere confusion and innocent facial expression she's wearing.

'You seriously didn't know that you scared me?' Marco thought, releasing a heavy sighed through his beak. 'It's like you thought that the people around you didn't care about you, yoi.' He then grumbled, ruffling his feathers, before stretching one wing open and began to preen. Luffy blink at his sudden desire to preen, though she did notice that her rescued bird is trying to glare at her from the corner of his eyes, she merely tilts her head, even more, wondering why.

'Based on my experience, preening… is when stressed or worried… huh…' Luffy smiled uncertainly, straightening her head. 'Guess, I'll never know.' Shaking her head, Luffy moved away from the wall, taking Marco's eyes fully away from his feathers and followed her movements. He saw her going towards the window, and then opening it, letting the breeze in and sweep around her room. Marco paused from preening, lowering his wing, straightening his neck, before letting the wind brush against his unclean feathers and then feeling it slowly leaving the room carrying some… dust? Ash?… with it. Looking at the floor, Marco blinked in astonishment when he saw it clear from any signs of stain, not even a sign of wetness.

'But… I was pretty sure she vomited earlier, yoi.' Marco thought, glancing at the marine once in a while. While Luffy leaned against the window sill and let the wind do as it please, smiling. Marco released his breath heavily through his beak and decided to let things be, as he will find out what is wrong with this Marine. And seeing that he'll be staying with her for a while… well, that's plenty of time.

'I'll just stalk, sneak, or spy on her if I didn't get the answers I wanted by the time I'll return to Oyaji, yoi.' Marco added as he went back to preening his wings, not seeing that Luffy was spying on him from the corner of her eyes the moment he released his breath. She snickered quietly, moving away from the window and ripping the towel from her hair, dropping it on the chair, as she went to grab a comb from a single column dresser, with a mirror attached to it, located near the bed. Luffy combed her hair, humming, while Marco kept on preening going as far as relaxing when he heard her humming. He was so focused and relax that he didn't notice a transparent red mist surround the room before it was gone a second after it appeared. Luffy then sighed, straightening her clothes, wrapping the choker that was on top of the dress around her neck, then tying her hair into a half ponytail. When she was done tying her hair, it was at the same moment someone knocked on her door. Marco perked up from his preening, lowering his wing, and look at the door, while Luffy looked at the mirror for a short while before heading towards the door. She then opened the door where they saw the servant and guard from earlier, which made Marco frowned in displeasure while Luffy merely lowered her eyelids until they hooded her eyes before stepping back and let them in the room. The sudden movement made Marco blink and look at her, shocked.

'You're letting them in when I'm in full display, yoi?!' He thought, though, like earlier, the two subordinates didn't even acknowledge him. The servant merely went to grab the tray, while the guard was talking to Luffy, who was leaning at one of the pillars of the bed's canopy, writing something on his notes. His frowned deepen upon seeing them talk so quietly that he can't hear even though they were a few feet away, he tried to heighten his hearing but he still can't hear them. It was as if the two of them were trained to speak very softly or to understand and read the lips of their companions. Seeing that he can't eavesdrop at them, he sighed, his shoulder slumped before he sat down and hang his neck and head over the flap where he created a hole, intending to merely watch the servant that was looking around the table. This made Marco raised an eyebrow when the servant had a disappointed look before grabbing the arrange tray and headed to where the Rear Admiral is.

"Excuse m—" He started only to be cut off by Luffy.

"If you're going to ask on where the stains are, I already removed them. For evidence, you can check the towel by the chair and in the bathroom. That should be enough." She said, glaring at the servant, who had his eyes stared dreamily at her, while the guard snorted amusedly. Marco, however, raised his head slightly upon hearing stains and smirked.

'So she did vomit, she just… cleaned it up? How is that possible?' He thought. 'To clean something in mere seconds? Is that her Devil fruit?'

"Of course, my Lady." The servant bowed after a few moments and went to grab the said damp towel, which had a pinkish color on it, from the chair, and went towards the bathroom.

"I'm glad that my interaction with Ayato amused you, Takumi," Luffy said dryly, narrowing her eyes at the guard, making Takumi blush and clear his throat and bowed waist-deep.

"I apologize, My Lady." He said. "It's not every day that someone cuts off Ayato from speaking, other than the Elder and Saint Rokudo of course, and made him act like that." He said, straightening his body while Luffy scoffed.

"Glad to be of service." She murmured, making the guard bow his head, pocketing his notes, and then waited for the Ayato to appear, which he did after a few more moments. The towel folded on top of the tray, the servant nods at the guard, who nodded back, and turned to the door, while Takumi looked at Luffy and bowed.

"Will be leaving then, My Lady." He said breathlessly, Luffy hummed, her eyes closed. Takumi turned and left the room, closing the door as he does so. When they were out, Luffy could hear them bickering and even fighting over something. She shakes her head and turns to look at the other Devil Fruit user in the room, only to freeze in shock upon seeing him sitting and leaning beside her, specifically, besides the canopy, she's leaning at, smirking.

Marco was amused, he moved earlier after thinking about the devil fruit of this marine in front of him, but she didn't even realize that he move nor did the guard and the servant. He even flapped his wings slightly to alert them of his presence but they didn't even budge. Their attention was only towards the Rear Admiral or each other, and while that benefit him, he felt something inside him tremble in fury at the thought of them focusing their attention at his savior. He can only think of two reasons why they focused on her, one, it could be because of her devil fruit, or two, it could be because her mere existence, aura, had demanded them to look at her. So while their attention is towards each other, he moved and then leaned against the canopy, looking at the guard, glaring. While it couldn't do much, he felt better that he knew his face. Maybe when the time comes, he will beat this guy and the servant up for having their weird expression whenever the marine is not looking at either of them. He puffed his chest when heard the guard talk to Luffy as he was running of breathed and then saw how his hand twitched before turning to leave the room, the servant also had the same expression when looking at the Rear Admiral when they turn towards her as they left the room. He exhaled through his beak and look at the Marine wondering when she will realize that he was there, smirking amusedly. Luffy didn't disappoint as she froze. It was a nice change for a while.

"Very funny," Luffy mumbled and turn to the dresser and pulled out one of the drawers, grabbing the clothes she wore when she arrived. Marco jumped lightly towards her, still on the bed, and watch as she flitted from the dresser, then to the table, before standing beside his box and headed back to the dresser. He watched as Luffy lifted the bowl of water he's using before throwing it to the floor, smashing it into pieces. He blinked at the sudden actions, even more, when she picked it up and wrapped it with multiple layers of paper. Looking over the bed, the First Division Commander flinched back when the Marine stepped on it multiple times, barefooted.

'What are you doing, yoi!?' He squawked, after a while, Luffy stopped, panting. She then opens the papers and upon seeing the bowl's crushed appearance that is beyond saving, throws its remains to the garbage can, before crumpling the papers and throws it after the bowl. Marco ruffled and puffed his feathers, making Luffy look up and look at him.

"What?" She asked, making him released an angry and worried trill, followed by him doing hopscotch on the bed. Shaking her head, Luffy turned and grabs her clothes, and put them inside the bag that was suddenly there unless of course, your not Luffy... because for the Young Rear Admiral she made the bag had appeared out of nowhere. Upon realizing that his audience was distracted, Marco sat down, wincing when he felt a slight twinge from his wound.

'I forgot about that, yoi.' He thought with a frown. Luffy turned and look at the bird, who was looking at his wing with slight confusion. 'Guess I was so focused on Luffy that I forgot this wound.'

"Birdie-san," Luffy called out, making said avian look at her. "Bare with the pain a little longer, we're leaving this place now." She finished and then grabs Marco from the bed and turn towards the bag. Luffy carefully puts Marco inside the bag and then put her Marine cap, that she never used outside the Navy HQ, above him, before flipping its cover gently. Marco blinked in astonishment upon seeing that the inside is a lot bigger than it is on the outside, however, while it's big enough for him to be put into, he can't stand up. He can at least stretch his neck to look at the opening left on the side of the bag. Marco then turns to look on his back where the Marine cap is laid at, frowning in distaste at the sight, before deciding to focus on the outside seeing the Marine had moved.

Luffy lifted the slings of the bag and let it hang from her right shoulder, grabs her cape, and then swiftly put it over her shoulders. Turning at the mirror to check if the cape had covered the bag, she then moved away and left the room, putting her right hand at the end of the front sling as they were covered with a transparent orange mist. Luffy didn't even bother to close the door seeing the guards are standing beside the said doors. The guards waited for her to passed them before they went and closed the door to her room and followed after her. Marco looked at around, trying to see where they are heading, or as much as he could see with how limited the opening is. It was quite between the group, even Marco tried to breathe as quietly as he could, in fear of having them alerted that's he's inside. It wasn't long before Luffy was out of the mansion and into the courtyard where there is a line of guards creating a pathway for, saluting once she appeared. The Rear Admiral paused looking around, while Marco tried to understand if his savior is merely just a Rear Admiral or if he's missing something important. Upon seeing less Tenryuubito roaming around, Luffy relaxed slightly and then continued to walk, with intentions to head directly to the terminal of the Bondolas. The present Tenryuubito watched her walk away, desire in their eyes, even if she looked so cold and emotionless. The Angel was about to sigh in relief when she saw the terminals. Glad that no one is trying to stop her.

"Luffy-chan~" She flinched inwardly.

'Spoke too soon.' She thought before turning to look at Saint Rokudo, who was walking towards her between the path the guard had created, smiling. Marco frowned upon seeing the Saint, especially when one of his guards is carrying something covered with a blanket.

'Shit,' He cursed inwardly upon seeing the blue feathers between the edge of the blanket and the bottom of the cage, immediately he knew that it's his former cage. 'We're we found out?!' He screamed.

"Saint Rokudo," Luffy said, bowing her head before straightening up. The said Saint grabs a lock of her hair again and began to breathe in her scent. His eyes taking in the appearance of the Rear Admiral, the tied hair, yellow collared shirt, her skirt, and the black knee-high boots she's wearing. Seeing that she only had her cape on her shoulder, not even a bag, the blonded saint thought she probably left some of her clothes behind to which he swore to check it out.

"Leaving already?" He asked, Luffy merely blinked at him. "You didn't even say Good-Bye." He mumbled

"I was told that you had business to attend to. Why should I wait for you to finish it?" Luffy asked, making the Saint snort amusedly and laughed loudly.

"Indeed." He grinned leery, before gesturing at the guard, who was holding the cage. "But I believe that this would let you stay for a while longer." At that, the guard took a step forward as they had Luffy's full attention. The Tenryuubito grinned as his fellow kin began to gather behind him and once the guard was beside him, he grabs the blanket and ripped it away with a flourish, revealing the Fake Marco the Rear Admiral had put inside last night. Luffy faked her eyes to widen in awe as she took a step forward towards the cage.

"You… Did Saint Jason agreed on letting me have this?" She whispered excitedly, while Rokudo tilts his head up, smirking, and arrogantly said.

"Of course. He could never deny a 'request' of the Grandson of the Elder." At that Luffy looked up from the corner of her eyes.

"I thought he said 'No'." Luffy received a chuckle from that statement.

"It seems he just needs time to think it through." Luffy giggled, making whoever heard her blushed, before her attention when to the bird. As she went to touch it, Luffy decided to finally end being happy about receiving this 'gift'. She was inches away from touching 'Marco' before she paused and looked at it intently, the nobles and guard around her watched with bated breath, though wondering why she isn't doing anything. They were answered when Luffy stood up and turned to look at him.

"You're giving me a dead bird?" She asked harshly, making the blond-haired saint blink multiple times, his smirk slowly fall from his face.

"WHAATTT?!" He shouted, stepping closer to the cage and gestured for the guard to open the cage. Luffy stepped back and crossed her arms across her midsection while putting most of her weight on one of her legs, smirking inwardly as she watched them open the cage, flustered. When it was open, Rokudo had another guard grab the bird, which was obeyed, gritting his teeth as the animal is unresponsive when it was grabbed. The moment the bird was out, they all saw how it was very limp, the guard didn't even feel it breathing. Desperate and wanting for the angel to stay a little while longer, Rokudo shakes the arms of the guard rather harshly so that he can shake the bird awake without touching it. Luffy inwardly winces at the rough treatment 'Birdie-san' is experiencing, before outwardly shaking her head in disappointment.

"It looks like we're too late then," Luffy stated, as the shaking stop and the bird was still limp, no signs of being alive. "I knew that it won't last long without any food or water, but I didn't realize it would be this soon." She then turned away from them, and continue to walk towards the Bondolas. Saint Rokudo with an ugly expression on his face, turn his head to look at her and immediately gave chase.

"Wait, Luffy-chan!" He said and started to walk beside Luffy. "Maybe it's not too late yet. We can probably bring the bird back to life!" He chuckled. Luffy stopped and looked at him in the eyes.

"Once a life has been taken, Saint Rokudo, you can't get it back. If it could be returned then those Slaves that I've played with before should be here." She said Rokudo gritted his teeth, looking away from her eyes, and instead he looked at the ground. Luffy then hummed in thought, before lifting his chin and make him look at her again, seeing the defeated look in his eyes, a look that she only saw once in a while, Luffy grinned.

"Thank you for doing this though." Rokudo was about to smile when Luffy struct where it hurts, well… she's not sure if it hurt him so much but it's worth a shot. "At least by doing this… I never had to visit Saint Jason to request for him to give me the bird… and I don't have to come back here just to get the bird should he agree." She ended her statement with a giggle and then left them all alone there. The nobles didn't bother to look at the Saint as they favor watching Luffy leave than the depressed male. Luffy's guard bowed at the blond-haired noble and then followed after the Marine.

'She could have come back…' Rokudo thought. 'If she went to Saint Jason, who I will make sure to agree, she could have come back here to take the pest away. Sure, she would found it dead, but… she could have come back and stayed here for days!' He then growled and turned to look at the dead animal.

"THROW THAT THING AWAY FROM HERE!" He shouted, pointing at the guard who immediately nodded and left, fully intending to throw the dead body to the sea. He then looked at the rest of the guard and ordered. "GATHER SAINT JASON'S THINGS AND PUT IT IN MY STORAGE ROOM! FROM NOW ON HE IS STRIP AWAY FROM HIS TITTLE AS A TENRYUUBITO!" Gasps could be heard from the nobles around him, it was one thing to voluntarily declined the title of being a Celestial Dragon or even the Noble title, it was another when being stripped by the Grandson of the Elder or by one the Elders.

"HAVE A DEN DEN MUSHI READY! I WILL INFORM HIM OF HIS NEW STATUS. WHATEVER HAPPENS TO HIM AFTER THIS IS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS! HE COULD CLAIM HIMSELF AS NOBLE, KING OR PIRATE! BUT HE IS NO LONGER ALLOWED TO HOLD THE TITLE OF TENRYUUBITO AND IS BAN FROM STEPPING FOOT IN MARIEJOIS! SHOULD HE DID SO THEN HE AND THE PEOPLE WITH HIM ARE TO BE SHOOT ON SIGHT!" With that, Rokudo whirled around, his cape whirling as well, with very intention to head back to his mansion to report to his Grandfather, who will have his declaration approved immediately. Guards running around to do what he declared, the other nobles trembled slightly in fear before heading back to their homes to stay inside there for a couple of days.

Luffy, along with her guards, was already inside one of the Bondolas and looking at the sea through the window, smirking when she heard the shout of the Saint. The guards behind her murmured at one another, which made her looked at them with narrowed eyes, making them stop and stood up straight. She then hummed and took out the choker she's wearing and hide it on the inside pocket of her cape. Meanwhile, Marco blinked, unable to believe what just happen and what he just heard, he would never have thought that someone could do that, who is he kidding? These bastards are Tenryuubitos so he could have probably done it without the rest of the world knowing.

Additionally, the First Division Commander tried to think of how the Rear Admiral is treating his presence. When they stepped out of the room, and the mansion, the Marine acted like the bag was there, but when they were heading towards the terminal, Marco saw how she slowly removed her hand from the sling and then lets it hang limply at the side. That was when the Saint arrived and the start of the Marine ignoring him, not knowing why the First Mate of the Whitebeard Pirates tried to think of a reason why, especially, when that Rokudo didn't even question of her having a bag hanging on her shoulders.

Marco was jostled from his thoughts when he felt the Luffy moved, looking through the opening that was given to him. He then froze, his eyes slowly widen upon seeing the sea again… he finally sees the SEA! After months of being caged, he finally saw the OCEAN! And soon… he'll be back with his family, with his brothers, with his… pops… Tears started to appear in his eyes, before he lifted them, head tilted to look at the Marine, who rescued him.

'Never thought a day will come where I'll be indebted to a Marine, yoi.' He thought, snorting. He then went to look around, trying to absorb what he is seeing. He saw some Marines loitering around, some guards and nobles. When his view was suddenly focused on the sea, Marco tried his very best to avoid making any unnecessary movements or even showing his excitement.

"Safe Travels, Rear Admiral!" He heard the guards shouting, which made him blink.

'Safe Travels? There's no ship to travel with, yoi!' Which is true, all Marco could see is the endless sea, no ship around the port. He waited for Luffy to make any noise, but she only muttered one word and they were… Wait, were they FLYING?!

"Geppo," Luffy muttered, before kicking the air and walk through the sky. When she was sure that they were far from the Red Port, the transparent orange mist surrounding them disappeared as she lifted her bag to her chest and open the cover. "It'll be nice to feel the wind between your feathers right, Birdie-san?" She giggled, watching the bird shake his head and look around.

'How is she…?' Trailing the question off, Marco looked behind them and smirked upon seeing her kicking the air. 'Ahh… Geppo… and here I thought her devil fruit can make her fly, yoi.' He thought, then blinking in realization, before sighing in defeat.

'Devil fruit… she probably used devil fruit earlier in the Mariejois to avoid being asked about the bag… and she probably used devil fruit to create a fake me, yoi.' He then released an annoyed croon, which made Luffy stop moving forward remain in that spot while still using one of the Rokushiki.

"What's the matter, Birdie-san?" She asked, blinking as she lifted the bag to eye level. Seeing the bird's partially lidded eyes, she knew that he was unimpressed with something, and then hearing him screeched, before gesturing himself using his beak and then her, made her flinched back. Luckily, she was able to keep using Geppo despite the sudden movement.

"I have no idea what you just said…" She started slowly. "But seeing how you kept on gesturing to yourself and then me… I guess this has to do with a devil fruit… Specifically mine."

At that, Marco stopped and looked at her, surprise that she manages to understand that when he was just doing random actions about her not letting him knew that she will use her devil fruit. She must be very smart or he just didn't give her that much credit.

"Sorry, Birdie-san," Luffy said, sighing as she let her bag hang again. "But no one is allowed to know about the kind or type of Devil Fruits that I have… other than my crew, the fleet admiral, admirals, and the Gorosei. Sorry." With that said, Luffy continued on her way. Letting the bird do what he wanted, he could look at her or the endless sea. Right now, she needs to meet with her crew so that she can be as far as possible from the place she just left. Meanwhile, Marco blinked at her… did she just indirectly told him that she's might be, perhaps, a secret weapon of the Marines? What? If the Fleet Admiral, the Gorosei, didn't want her to spread her devil fruit ability then, she might be a weapon… or very important to them that they want her to hide her ability… perhaps even her identity too. For all the times the First Commander read a newspaper, he never once, encountered a name Luffy or Rear Admiral Luffy. Hmmm… Suspicious, suspicious.

'Pops needs to know about this.' He thought, sighing, before deciding to focus on being free again. It wasn't long before he slowly falls asleep, and when Luffy checked on him, she chuckled. Before focusing putting more power to her kick to head directly towards Sabaody Archipelago. When the island was in her sight, she reached into one of the inner pockets of her cape and took a vivre card, she looked at it for a short while before following its direction. While Luffy knew where her crew and ship, she can't help but check the vivre card whenever she's heading to their meet up point. She already experiences bad things due to the sudden changes of the rendezvous point, so having a vivre card always helps her, and she got used to using them. It wasn't long before she found the ship and by then it was nearing Tea time. She knew that the crew members, who are on lookout duty, had already seen her and had informed the crew as they had started to gather around the rails of the ship, making her smile.

"REAR ADMIRAL!" They all shouted, making her laugh as she finally landed, finally relaxed.

"Hey, guys." She said, looking at each one of the crews present on deck, before looking at her First Mate, who was walking towards her.

"Welcome back, Captain." Zoro greeted, Luffy merely nodded and looked around the ship, seeing that it was coated, she turned to Robin, who was sitting near the stairs that leads to the Navigators room of the ship, reading, but when she felt her Captain staring she closed her book and stood up, giving Luffy her full attention.

"Are we good to go?" She asked. Robin nodded.

"Yes Captain, every crew who went with us to the Marineford is here in the ship. Supplies had been given to us in Red Port and we also resupplied here." She reported.

"How are things in the Grooves?" Luffy asked, turning to look at Yu, who was leaning on the mast before straightening up when she looked at him.

"There are no New Slave Auction or Human Shop that had opened without our… 'permission' captain, though the old ones had mentioned to the spies that slave traders have been giving them children to auction, children that are ranging to 9 years old and above. Due to your rules here, they, the auctioneers and sellers, denied them. The Slave Traders who sold them were captured by them and the children were returned to their parents. The Marines, who saw the pirates acting up again had captured those and hold them in imprisonment until Vice Admiral Garp arrives here in a few days." He reported.

"Are you sure that the auctions and human shop didn't accept the children?" Luffy asked. Yu grinned darkly, making her do the same.

"Of course, Captain. Those who did are immediately… closed, permanently, after all." Chuckling, she then looked at her crew, who seems to have fun during their one day stay in Sabaody.

"SET SAIL!" Luffy shouted, making her crew to cheer and waking a certain bird, who flinched and lookup. Marco's eyes widen upon seeing Marines less than 30 around him scattering, following her orders, and had started to activate the bubble coating of the ship. He pecks Luffy's hand softly making her look at him with a raised eyebrow and then patted his head.

"Everything is fine." She said.

'No, it's not! Coating means going underneath the Red Line, and Underneath the Red Line is the Fishman Island. Humans, especially MARINES, are despised there, yoi!' Marco screeched, gaining the attention of Luffy crew. Seeing a blue feathered bird, screeching inside the bag of their captain made them raised an eyebrow before they shrug their shoulders and continued their pattern to head down to Fishman Island. Meanwhile, Luffy chuckled as Zoro, Robin, and Yu went towards her, observing the bird, who finally realized that he caught the attention of the Marines, making him sweat. 'Shit… they saw me, yoi.'

Bending down to her waist, Robin tilts her head to the side, examining the bird, who tried backed away from her, before glancing up at her Rear Admiral.

"Luffy?" She said, silently asking for an explanation just like the males behind her. Marco blinked when they didn't call her by her Rank Title, but focused on their conversation. Thinking can come later. Luffy kept quiet, her eyes closed, and when they were submerged under the sea, did she opened them and answered the question.

"A person who had experienced freedom but was taken from it." She said, making their eyes widen, before focusing back at the bird, who tried his best to regain his composure and be the First Commander of the Strongest Man in the World he is before he was caged. "We also need to have Chopper check on him. Seastones in a body is just asking for infections." She added, making her audience to look at her, before nodding with determination.

"Head down Faster!" Zoro stated, walking towards the navigator room.

"Our stay at Fishman island will be short! We will stay there long enough to get additional supplies or get the request from our chefs, doctors, and fellow G-6 base Marines! We got a code yellow on our hands!" Yu shouted as he headed to where the helm of the ship is. Luffy smiled before turning towards the door that leads to their quarters and the infirmary, Robin following behind her.

"So, we will be paying a visit towards the Royal Family and then will be leaving immediately, is that right, Luffy?" Robin asked Luffy hummed in agreement, while Marco was blinking multiple times.

'What? A Marine visiting King Neptune and his family?' He thought. While Marco and his Captain are always in contact with the Royal Families, they never knew that they were being visited by the Marines, but considering that it's been a while since they visited the Fishman Island, nearly two years, so a change might not be that surprising… no this is surprising! A Marine is friends with the Merfolks!. He'll check this out and maybe have his Oyaji have them visit the island so that they could get the whole story.

"How are they?" Luffy asked, snapping Marco from his thoughts.

'They, yoi?'

"Terrified, we haven't told them everything as we still haven't passed the Red Line, yet. But we put them in a temporary coma so that they can rest without any stress." Robin answered, making Luffy frowned.

"While I don't recommend that, we don't have a choice if that's the case." She mumbled before stopping. "I'll be talking to them once we leave Fishman Island, so make sure that they'll be awake by then and tell the twins to be there… and Yu." She ordered, Robin nodded. Luffy then turned to the door beside her, opening it, a sign that it was her room before pausing and looked at the Older Raven-Haired woman.

"Oh, and please tell Gin to have my tea and snacks ready. I'll be having the... médicament course." This, of course, made Robin froze, looking at Luffy with wide eyes.

"Mé-médicament…" Robin then trembled as she bit her lip tightly, which made Luffy smile sadly and touch the bitten lip.

"It's okay Robin. Just tell Gin that and I need plenty of it, I haven't eaten properly in Mariejois." Luffy told her, Robin inhaled deeply and nodded. "Oh, and Birdie-san will be having the same. But make sure it's soft biscuits and fresh, cold water." With that said, Luffy turns and entered her room, Robin watched her for a while before taking a step forward and asked.

"Are… are you eating dinner with us?" At that Luffy, who was about to close the door, paused and looked at her sadly.

"I can't." She denied, closing her eyes. "But I will tomorrow morning, so they better be prepared." She then gave the older woman a wide grinned, lifting the heavyweight on Robin's chest.

"Okay, Captain."

"It's Luffy, Robin." Luffy giggled as she gently closed the door and locked it. She then headed towards the bed and put her bag their gently, before sitting on the floor to look at Marco, who was frowning at her.

"You got any idea what our meal will be?" She asked, Marco merely pecked at her hand which was laid on the bed, making her giggle. "You like pecking my hand, don't you?" She teased as the bird squawked.

'Of course, I got an Idea! I have an idea of what was in your meal earlier, yoi!' Marco screamed, just as Luffy shakes her head gently and pat his head.

"Snack time will arrive soon, so we better freshen up."

~Nearly half an hour later~

When Luffy said Freshen Up, Marco knew that the marine planned to help him with preening and, maybe do something about his wound, but he never, ever, thought that she would bring him with her inside the bathroom… wrapped with only a towel to cover her body. And, oh what a body it was…

"AH! Birdie-san, your nose is bleeding again!" Luffy screamed, fortunately for the said bird, she was fully dressed, wearing only a white a-line, spaghetti strap, ankle-length dress. Said nose bleeding bird was laying down on his stomach on the bed, his whole body spread out, cheeks flushed, and doing his best to avoid looking at the Marine, who was sitting at the bed and wiping the blood from his nose and beak with a wet towel. But not looking at the Marine, made the phoenix remember her being naked, teasing him, and submerged in a tub that's flowing around like a wave. Then there's him, Marco, laid down on a chair near the said tub being preened by the gentle and expert hands of a naked woman. Something that never happens before… Also… it's, totally, not Marco's fault he saw the Marine naked with droplets of water dripping down from her body when she stood under the shower… nope… not his fault…

"Mou… I made sure you face the wall and placed far away from the steam and heat when I stood up in the shower to avoid this… maybe I should open the window next time." Luffy mumbled, making Marco blush even more. Okay… he mayhap peeked at the Marine when he has moved away… but it was not his fault she was sexy!

'Shit, yoi.' Marco grumbled, closing his eyes in embarrassment. Luffy merely tilts her head to the side, frowning in confusion. It wasn't long before she heard a knocking on the door, which made her stop wiping the bird's nose and stood up. When she saw Gin behind the door with a cart of food in front of him, she smiled and move away from the doorway, letting him pass through. Gin grinned at his captain, pushing the cart into the room, and blinking upon seeing a bird in his captain's bed, with marks of blood drops on his nose. He blinks multiple times before snickering when he saw a damp pinkish towel hanging on the edge of the bed and manages to connect the dots of why the bird is bleeding.

"Captain… did you took a bath with this devil fruit user?" He asked as he stopped the cart beside the bed.

"Yup!" Said Captain chirped. "Did you know he's a devil fruit user because of Robin, Gin?"

"Your encrypted messages will always be understood by us, Luffy." Gin said, making her smile gratefully. Hearing him or the others say her name and not by the title that was acknowledged to her by the Marine, had made her heart warm, for it means that her crew cares for as Luffy.

"I know." She said. "Thanks, Gin." She bowed her head, making Gin do the same, before he left the room, closing the door while Luffy went to lock it. Marco, who was silent the whole time, slowly stood up and went to the cart, his curiosity growing the more he spent more time with the Rear Admiral. It wasn't long before he and Luffy were eating the meal Gin created, and just like she ordered, the First Division Commander is eating soft biscuits and fresh cold water. While it was small, it was enough for Marco to feel full, but not sick. The Rear Admiral also had her biscuits for her meal, but what he mostly saw are stuffed bread and rolls, she also had tea for her meal. While it wasn't a small amount, like the one in Mariejois, it wasn't also huge like the ones his ship-brothers, specifically, Ace and Sabo, ate. So seeing her, someone who admitted that she hasn't eaten properly in that accursed place, eating a medium amount of food is… well… slightly concerning. The second division commander would probably eat more than what she's eating, but why is he comparing her to those two anyway? Ugh… he misses his family.

Luffy had just finished eating and was about to push the cart when they heard knocking on the door. Marco blinked but the Rear Admiral continued on her way when she opened the door, Marco saw the older raven-haired woman standing in front of it, carrying some pillows and blankets on her arms and her back. Looking closely at their guest, Marco found out that she looks familiar, even the name, he just didn't know where.

"Hi, Robin." Luffy greeted taking the pillows from Robin's arm, before putting them on the chair beside her and then the blankets on the older woman back. The phoenix blinked multiple times upon seeing a pair of arms attached on Robin's back, before inhaling deeply and tried to think rationally and not screeched or squawked like he's been doing the passing days.

"Your devil fruit is surely handy, eh?" He heard Luffy giggled, which made lower his head in shame.

'Of course, of course, it's a devil fruit, yoi.' He moaned inwardly and tried to tune out the chatting females. 'Get a grip of yourself, Marco! You're the first mate of the strongest man in the world, so act like it, yoi!'

It wasn't long before Luffy finish talking with Robin, closing and, locking the door immediately. She then turned and put the blankets on top of the pillows before turning towards the direction of the window which is beside the bed. Marco watched her slid the curtains close and then lifting an overlapping part of the wall and remained floating, tilting his head down, Marco saw a slanted bar attached on it in each side.

'A folded table… attached on the wall?' He thought, blinking. He never saw that kind of table design on any marine ships they boarded before. 'I wonder what other secrets this ship has… hmmm…' It was then he saw Luffy dropping the blankets and pillows she went to gather from the chair on the floor.

"Can you help me choose?" She asked, before lifting two blankets and pushed it towards Marco's direction. Marco sniffed through the blankets, stretching his neck, smelling only lavender from both blankets before turning to look at Luffy, who smiled encouragingly. Sighing in defeat, Marco stood up and step closer to the blankets, nuzzling on one blanket that was merely plain soft yellow, before doing the same to the apricot orange blanket. The moment Marco touched the blanket, however, he froze and look at it more before stepping a lot more closer, nuzzling it as he does so. Luffy had to let go of the blanket too so that Marco won't have to keep on standing as he tried to, basically, merge into the fabric. She chuckled at that before deciding to let him keep it. Seeing that, she, now, knew he likes the softer ones. Segregating the blankets and pillows into two groups, one for her and one for Marco, who had the softest blankets and fluffiest pillow that is free and available on the ship. She then laid out the blanket and pillows that belongs to Marco on the wall folding table like a nest, making sure that it'll be comfortable to Marco, who had finished in nuzzling on the blanket and had decided to watch the Marine dazedly.

Luffy, who was also watching him from the corner of her eyes, chuckled. 'He's so content with that blanket.' She thought finally finished in arranging the nest, before turning to the bird and lifted him away from his spot. Marco gave a protesting croon but was shush by Luffy who grabs the blanket and arranges it into a circle, before grabbing Marco again, cradling him like a cat. She then made sure to touch his face and neck, before laying him down in the middle of the nest she created, arranging his body so that his head laid above the circled blanket, stepping away and smiled at him.

"You can sleep now," Luffy told him, before turning to fixed her bed, Marco blinked, his body fully relaxed with him nearly being covered with the scent of Lavenders and before he knew it he was asleep. When Luffy was done with her bed, she looked at Marco, smiling when she found her asleep, before turning to look at the window and merely saw the darkness of the sea. She then heads out to the deck, smiling upon seeing her crew still looking around them with awe even though it was pretty much dark to see anything. It wasn't long before a yellow Kraken came out, making her giggle in delight.

"Surume~!" Luffy greeted happily, while said Kraken wave one of his tentacles. The other marines present on the deck cheered upon seeing their giant sea animal friend. Surume, delighted on seeing his human friends and savior, did a fast spin in front of them before he circled the ship and gently grabs its body with his tentacles and lead them down further the sea.

"Thanks, Surume! We'll give you some meat when we arrive at Fishman Island!" Luffy said, leaning at the railing to look at the Kraken who merely waved at her. The crew grinned at one another before following their Captain position and watched as they passed through many sea kings, or just enjoying the view of the dark sea. Gray and Yu, who were leaning at the mast the whole time, smirked at their crews' antics. Because no matter how many times they saw it, the awe of seeing things that Pirates usually see is still there and they are lucky to have Luffy as a commanding officer.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Hearing the sparking of noise electricity, all of the crew members turn to look where it comes from, blinking at what they saw before they smiled and return to what they were doing. Gray and Yu, however, moved away from their spot and went towards where their Rear Admiral is.

"Everything okay, captain?" Yu asked, making her giggled, ears twitching when the male marines turn to look at it.

"Yup! Just need to fix my hair and possibly sleep in the den." She said, as an orange-colored thing swish between her and Yu, while the electric noise keeps ongoing. Gray laughed at that his group leader's stupefaction expression when the thing hit his nose. The black-haired marine sighed as he rubs his nose, glaring at Gray when he continued snickering, it wasn't long before Yu snickered as well seeing the dark blue-haired Marine was smack in the nose as well.

"Sorry, Captain," Gray mumbled, rubbing his nose, while said Captain giggled.

"I'll be in my room then, see you tomorrow~!" Luffy said, before pausing on her way towards the door. "And I thought to never call me captain?" She grinned at them, showing them her sharp fanged teeth.

"Habit," Yu said. "We'll try to lessen on calling you Captain, again, Luffy." Luffy merely gives them a sweet, sweet, smile.

"Make sure you do~" She then continued on her ways, soft bell ringing as she walks away and the electric noise slowly disappearing. The crew waited for the bell to no longer be heard before they sighed in relief and despair.

"Training?" One of the Lower Ranking Marine asked.

"Training." His friends confirm, making them groan.

"LT. COMMANDER!"

~With Luffy~

Hearing her crew screaming towards Yu, made Luffy laugh. She's not mad that her Vendetta Marina called her by her Rank Title that she had when they met, but it was fun messing with them and giving them training that she knew they could handle easily. And while she could let them off the hook, it's been months since she had training and sparring with her crew, so… sparring it is. Opening the door of her room, Luffy never bothered to open her lights as she can still clearly in the dark, she then grabs a brush and sat down on her bed before using it against her hair.

Luffy ignored the electric buzzing noise that can be heard once in a while when she suddenly remembered her temporary roommate, thus her eyes flashed and turned into Clear Blue before turning back to their original color and the buzzing noise was gone. Unknown to the Youngest Rear Admiral, however, Marco was already waking up, but when he opened his eyes, he was in a catatonic state, merely blinking at the shadowed form of the Rear Admiral. His mind registered the Marine brushing something in her lap in dark, nine(?) thick and nearly pointed things swishing behind her and she also had something in her head as well… something triangular.

'What, yoi?' Marco thought before deciding to sleep it off, his brain is still not processing the registered image and before he knew it he was asleep, Luffy following after two hours. And the two occupants of the room were dead to the world.

~The next day~

Marco blinked his eyes, as he slowly tried to register where he is and feeling refreshed, finally being to sleep with a full stomach. Seeing light coming through the curtains, he moved his neck, leaned his head through the window, and lookout. His eyes widen upon seeing the Fishmen and merfolks standing near the ship and talking in groups with some of the Marines. He absorbs what he is seeing, glancing from left to right, before turning to look back around the room, but when he found out that there is no Rear Admiral around, and that he is alone in the room, he immediately looks back outside. That was when he saw near the gangplank the Female Rear Admiral, talking to… KING NEPTUNE?! WHATTT?!

'Shit… this is giving me a headache yoi.' Marco grumbled, realizing that all of the Citizens in this Island are in friendly terms with the Marine he's sailing with. Heck, he even saw one Marine and Fishman wrapping arms around each other's shoulders. 'What is happening here…?'

~With Luffy~

"I'm glad you visited again, even if it's only for a short while-Jamon," Neptune said after Luffy told him that they were only staying for a short while.

"I know… I also apologize that we couldn't visit as much as we could," Luffy said, bowing her head. "For some reason, the World Government is trying to tighten their leash toward me, sometimes calling me to head towards Mariejois or visiting the nobles around the New World." At that, Neptune frowned and lifted her head with one of his fingers.

"No need to bow, my friend." He said. "Do you have any idea why they are doing this?"

"No." Luffy shakes her head. "But I fear on my next visits everything will change. And the changes will be all directed to me."

"Is there something we can do?" The King asked Luffy looked at the ground before looking at his eyes directly.

"Secure the happiness of your people. And… let my crew stay here should something terrible happen to me." She said the huge Merman's eyes widen at the selfless declaration, before nodding solemnly.

"Of course." He agreed. "Members of your Crew have made quite a friend with my people so that is no problem-Jamon." Luffy giggled at that.

"Of course, I've trained them well." She said, looking around the place with the King. It wasn't long before they heard the giggling of children and then Luffy was suddenly on the seafloor with a soft thump.

"LUFFY-SAMA!" The children shouted as they covered her body with theirs. Luffy laughed before looking up and grinned widely.

"Shirahoshi!" She yelled, making those who heard her looked up and wave upon seeing the Princess riding her pet shark. In her room, Marco's eyes widen upon seeing the princess outside of her tower.

"Luffy-sama!" Shirahoshi shouted, said Marine grins widen more upon seeing her brothers clinging to her hair.

"Ah! Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, Manboshi!"

"Luffy!" The brother greeted as they all landed on the seafloor. The Rear Admiral giggled shyly suddenly missing her own brothers. The princes and princess immediately went and talk to her, asking questions to which she delightfully answered. Neptune watched them like a father would, happy knowing that he, his family, and his people had this amazing relationship with this particular group of humans. Yes, it's a small group of humans but big things come from small things and his Queen would have loved this. As they talked to one another, no one, excluding Luffy but she mostly knew because of her Haki, knew that Marco fell to the floor of the room with a soft thump. He landed with his wings spread, which made him wince in pain, before foregoing the pain and tried to gather his mind from the scene he just saw. They visited Fishman Island a few months after Ace and Sabo 'officially' joined the crew, at that time the Princess is still in the tower and there are still hostile auras with the other Fishmen. They couldn't visit anymore after a week of staying there, Big Mom and Kaido were attacking a few of their protected islands, but they do remain in contact with the Neptune Family and Jimbei… they never received any information with Marines coming on the island and are in friendly terms with them. Maybe they should have visited them during those two years? He really needs to have Pops visit this island so that they could get the answer they (he) needed.

'I want to be with my Family, yoi.' Marco moaned. 'I'm used to my family's insanity or logic… but my mind can't comprehend the insanity nor the logic when it comes to this Crew, yoi.' Crocodile tears silently fall from Marco's eyes, and he laid there for a couple of hours before he heard a noise of a cart being pushed. He turned and stood up, jumping to the bed, which was a lot softer than it was yesterday, before jumping back to the nest Luffy made. It wasn't long before the door open and Luffy, wearing the clothes she wore when they left Mariejois, entered soon after, pushing the cart towards him.

"You're finally awake!" Luffy stated this statement made Marco blink in confusion and seeing that made Luffy giggle. She stopped the cart in front of him before walking towards him, bending to her waist and knees, resting her hands on the latter. "You missed breakfast and lunch. We're leaving Fishman Island already." She told him, Marco frowned at the sudden rush of wanting to leave the island as he was grab and transferred to the floor. If Luffy ever saw him frowning, he was ignored as she went to prepare his meal, which is just a light soup. Luffy dipped her pinky finger on the soup to make sure it wasn't too hot before turning to the other Devil Fruit user in the Marine and laid down the bowl in front of him with a small wooden table. Luffy hummed as she fixed his nest, while Marco slowly drinks the soup. It was long before she was done when she is she turned to Marco, who was halfway down from finishing his soup.

"Birdie-san," Luffy called out, sitting on the floor sideways. Marco paused and looked at her, tilting his head upon seeing a sad and concerned look on her face. "Can I see your wound?"

The First Mate of the Whitebeard Pirate looked at the place where the said wound is before looking back at the Marine. Luffy waited patiently for his answer, smiling brightly when he lifted his wing, revealing the head of the seastone nail surrounded with an expanding round skin, when she touched it, the smile Luffy wore drops upon feeling it's tenderness.

"That's bad," Luffy mumbled, glancing at Marco. "Do you feel any pain?" As an answer, the avian merely flapped them, wincing after the third flap.

"Thank you," Luffy smiled and then stood up, immediately walking towards the door. "You can continue drinking your soup." She added, looking at the pirate over her shoulder, before leaving and letting the door shut itself.

"I WANT US FULL SPEED AHEAD TO THE SURFACE!" Marco heard her screamed. "OUR GUEST WOUNDS IS SLOWLY ESCALATING!" This made him looked at the said wound, wincing when he saw how bad it was. The infected skin was nearing his wing, and if he was an ordinary bird then he might not be able to fly if they don't remove the nail on time. The more Marco thought about the wound and how they will remove it, did he remember one thing.

'My fire will work again if the moment they remove the seastone nail, yoi.' And that is bad, should his flared his fire with a group of marine doctors or vets, they would surely capture him. The Rear Admiral said that he'll help him, but should she found out that his the First Mate of the Strongest Man in the World, she would surely capture and surrendered to the Marineford. Who wouldn't want to miss a chance of declaring a war against his pops? Surely not them.

'I need to stay awake when they remove the seastone, yoi. I need to force my phoenix to never use his flames until it's safe.' He thought. He absently drinks his soup while thinking of ways of staying awake and bearing the pain of having the nails removed that he forgot to think about the shadowed image he saw last night when he was sleeping. 'Shit, yoi.'

~With Luffy~

The Rear Admiral watched as they quickly moved towards the surface, frowning in concern with the wound Birdie-san had. And her experience of having an infected wound near the wings is a painful and awful thing. Hopefully, her doctors will be ready to receive them when they arrived. Though if that avian is the person she thinks he is… then… would his avian form help him despite having that nail lodge in his body for months? She never experience having something lodge in her body for weeks, let alone months. She needs to keep him here until she's sure he is okay to fly safely back to his family, and maybe only have Chopper operate on him. Robin can help with her devil fruit and she won't say anything to anyone.

"Luffy," Robin's voice called out, making said marine to look at her, smiling. "The ladies are awake." She nodded in response while Robin went towards the Navigation room, before heading towards the infirmary, though she did pause in front of her room, thinking whether or not should she check on her guests, before shrugging and continued on her way. When she arrived at the door of the infirmary, Hana, Mina and Yu were already there waiting for her. Luffy gave them a soft smile before she opened the door and entered, followed by the three members of the Vendetta Marina. The four slaves that Luffy took from the Tenryuubito were sitting on their beds, gripping their respective blankets tightly, trembling as the Rear Admiral went closer to them and sat down at the chair in front of their beds. Observing the women in front of her, taking in their appearance. One woman laid down on the bed positioned at the left side of the room was a red-haired with green eyes and pale skin. On her right side was a brown-haired woman with onyx eyes and slightly tan skin, then there was a black-haired lady with pale blue eyes and the last woman on the right was a blond-haired woman with black eyes. Luffy was proud of her crew when she saw the bruises and wounds healing efficiently, that they manage to do it right without the doctors or nurses to help them.

'Though it seems medical training will be implemented again.' She thought before inhaling deeply.

"Hello." Luffy greeted, giving them a warm smile. The women flinched in response, but this didn't deter the Marines from smiling at them. In fact, this encouraged them to continue, wanting to explain to them before they arrive at the island.

"You don't have to be afraid," Hina said, standing beside Luffy as she looked gently at the women. "We're here to help but we would like for you to answer some of our questions."

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Mina immediately added, seeing their fearful expression. "We won't force you." They waited for the women to answer when they receive a nod, Luffy's smile widens a bit more.

"Alright. We'll start with something simple." She said. "I'm Luffy, this are Hina, Mina, and Yu."Four pairs of eyes followed her finger when the Rear Admiral introduced herself and members of her crew.

"May we know your name?"

Silence…

"Do you have any family searching for you?"

…

"…We have no one…." The red-haired woman answered. Luffy smiled at her.

"No one?" She asked when she saw them nod their head, she sighed. "I know we said that we won't force you on answering, but we don't appreciate you lying to us." The woman who spoked, flinched, scared that the Rear Admiral found out that she was lying. They were all quiet for a while before the blond-haired sighed and answered.

"I… I have a family." She said the other slaves look at her in shock, but the woman continued and even braced herself as if waiting for punishment. "I have a mother and father waiting for me on an island in South Blue."

"Do you know the name of your island?" Hina asked. While she and her crewmates knew that the reason she answered them was due to the fear of being punished for not answering, she's willing to use that fear to get the answers they needed. Healing and assuring them comes after.

"What will happen if we tell you?" The black-haired woman asked. Luffy smile and stood up, heading towards them.

"First… we will remove your slave brand." She answered, shocking them. "Next… we can either get your family or lead you back to your island which will be placed under my protection or the protection of someone much stronger than me."

"Wha—?!"

"And Lastly, you will never be found or sold as a slave again." By then Luffy was already sitting at the bed of the sla— ex-slave, who answered their question.

"Th-that's not possible." The Brunnette ex-slave told her, tears starting to drop down from her eyes. "Slaves brand can't be hidden, nor can they be removed."

"And who's to say you're not lying?" The red-haired suddenly asked. "You were with the Tenryuubito and they worshipped you! We saw how they reacted when you there! So how can we know you're not lying to us? That you're not asking information from us because you want to give them more slaves?!" They were silent and as the silence grew, the slaves were convinced that the Marines were lying before hearing the Rear Admiral hum.

"Well, you hate the Marines, so we can't tell you to trust us or have one of our crew tell you that we aren't lying. That would be like… bias." Luffy pointed out, her crew nodded in agreement and the former slaves agreed inwardly.

"So how about this…" The Raven-haired girl then stood up, headed back towards her crew that was standing in the center, and turned to look at them. "Once you're fully healed and our doctors finally allowed it… you can ask the slaves we rescued whether we are honest or not."

"Sla-slaves you rescued?" The black-haired slave asked Yu nodded towards his beloved Rear Admiral.

"Our Rear Admiral here, rescue slaves from Tenryuubitos, abusive Kings or even from simple abusive Nobles. Even the people who are a prisoner of pirates and slave traders, she rescued them." They all looked at the Rear Admiral who merely smiled. "The base that the Marine gave us turned into civilization for the people who had their freedom taken and had no place to return to or didn't want to return to."

"We also have a sister-base, unknown to the Marines, in the South Blue Sea. The slave who wants to be far as possible from Mariesjois will be sent there." Hina added, making her twin answer the remaining explanation needed.

"The reason why the Rear Admiral is in Mariejois is to check if there are any slaves that can need to be saved, like you. She mostly focused on tortured women and children, sometimes men if they are used as a pleasure slave. She pretends that she'll be training or dispose of those slaves when in reality she was rescuing them, the report of the slaves dying under her hand was merely her excuse. Because in truth, they were all residing in our base or the sister-base."

"Why not rescue us all at once?" The blond asked.

"Mariejois is near Marineford, should the Celestial Dragons know about the blasphemy our Rear Admiral is doing, we can't save you all at once and when you reach the ship it'll be burning down to the ground," Yu answered. "We can't do what Fisher Tiger had done nearly 20 years ago, the idiots learn from their mistake, so we have to do it quietly,"

"There are nobles who 'helped' the slaves, but… they're not that obvious," Luffy stated, making her crew hummed in agreement. The slaves merely frowned in disbelief which made her laugh.

"Alright, we'll go and let you process this. Then, once we're in the base and rested you can ask the slaves we rescued whether we are truthful or not. No one will lie there, nor will they harm anyone unless it's for training. And the slaves won't be biased about their own opinion as I'm not the only person who rescued them after all. They all knew my name, but some hasn't met me, you can try asking them." They didn't wait for a response, they merely turned and left the room, leaving the slaves, who were looking at each other, in peace. When Luffy close the door, she immediately looked at the three members of the Vendetta Marina.

"I want you three to serve their meals, tend to their wounds, and only the three of you." She ordered. "I don't want to overwhelm with so many faces coming in and out."

"Yes, Captain." They bowed, though Luffy frowned in disappointment before realizing that the slaves can still hear them talking, thus the reason for them to call her by the title, this made her sigh.

"Also… Hana and Mina, they are your responsibility the moment we arrive at the base, lead them to the base's infirmary ward. Your duty as their warden will end when they decided to stay or head back home. After that, it will be the normal Process, understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The twins saluted at making her nodded, before she and Yu went towards back to the deck, while the twins went to their room to call the nurses in their base about their newly acquired ward.

"I'm glad you didn't assign me to watch over them," Yu stated, making Luffy chuckled.

"I'm not cruel enough to let you worry about them when you have someone far important to worry off." She said, making the Lt. Commander smile and mumble a soft thanks. The moment they were out, Luffy exhaled heavily in relief upon seeing the sea brightening from the sun above.

"We're about to reach the surface, Luffy," Zoro stated, walking towards them with his arms crossed over his chest. "We might reach the base two days max."

"Thanks, Zoro," Luffy said, looking around her ship and smile widely upon seeing her crew looking so happy of being in the New World again, their home.

"I would never think to see the day where Marines would think the Second Half of Grandline as home," Gray mumbled, standing beside his leader, while Peter leaned against him, his arm around Gray's shoulder.

"You got to admit, if the Paradise Marine saw them like this they would think we're crazy! And we only started to live here for like… a year and a half." He said, his superiors nodded in agreement.

"That said… I hope you have prepared your training regiment for them," Luffy grinned at her commanders and leaders. "I have mine planned already~" She sang out and skipped towards the Figurehead of the ship.

"Wha—"

"Is she…"

"LUFFY!"

"Shishishis!"

~With Marco~

Marco felt something familiar the moment they burst out from the sea, the feeling of being home. That is when his brain processed something that he should have processed when they descended towards Fishman Island. The base of this Rear Admiral is in the New World! He's in the same part of the sea where he was separated from his family! This made him wonder though… how did a Tenryuubito manage to acquire him? How come a Rear Admiral had a base in the New World? Did they passed this base before or… it was newly implemented. Before he could dwell in his thoughts once more, the door open making him looked at the person. Seeing that it was Luffy, Marco's brain snapped. Luffy flinched back, taking a step back as the avian screeched angrily at her.

"What?!" She asked confused, but Birdie-san continues to screech. Tilting her head in confusion, Luffy tried to hear what the voice is saying and when she did heard and understand, she chuckled and merely head towards her bed, avoiding the flapping wings of a frustrated bird.

"Sorry, sorry." She giggled, grabbing her blanket and throw it over Marco's body, who squawked when she wrapped it around him.

'Are you treating me like a hatchling, yoi?!' He screamed in his mind when he was all bundle up and laid down on her lap as she sat on her bed. 'I'll have you know I'm the First Mate of the Strongest Man in the Sea! I'm a Whitebeard Pirate, not a hatchling, yoi! Stop that!' Marco then snapped his beak towards the hand that was petting his body, said hand immediately move away before returning to its spot but the beak decided to repeat it's action. Luffy giggled happily, deciding that this was a game, snickering every time Marco missed her hand. It wasn't long before the bluebird lost his energy, when he did Luffy fell to her bed sideways and laid Marco down, leveled to her head.

"We'll be arriving at the base soon." She mumbled, patting his head down to his neck and body. "We can finally remove it and a few days of healing you'll be free again."

'I can't wait, yoi.' Marco thought, finally relaxed, eyes close and accepting this thing going on around the Rear Admiral. Besides, her petting is nice.

"I wonder…" The Raven-haired marine dazedly said. "What's it like….?"

'Hmmm?' Opening one of his eyes, Marco saw the Marine looking at him in daze and deep in thought, while the petting never stopped. 'What's it like what?' But Luffy never continues her question. She just kept on petting him until he fell asleep and her following soon after.

~Two days later, G-6 Base~

Luffy smiled finally seeing her beloved base, even if it was given against her will. Marco was wrapped with a blanket, covering him from the view of the others but not his sight. Robin was standing beside Luffy, while the twins had their ward standing behind them, fully soft clothed and not the infirmary scrub nor the ones they were as a slave. The women seemed to like their clothes, as they kept on touching it in awe. As per usual, Marines were saluting on the docks and ports, their 'civilians' waiting behind the Marines wanting to know if they brought some people they rescued or just to merely see their loved ones. The boys were already commanding their men, leaving the Girls to rest as they already have their assignments given to them. When they were finally docked, Zoro looked at Luffy nodding, making her do the same.

"Let's go, Robin." She said. "Zoro will handle them and will meet us in my office with the others."

"Of course, Luffy." The older raven-haired woman giggled and followed after her captain with the twins doing the same.

"Take care boys~," They said at once, said boys merely laugh and waved at them.

"LUFFY!" A childish voice called out catching the attention of the Marine. Looking to the side, Luffy smiled in delight upon seeing a familiar reindeer running towards them.

"Chopper!" She greeted. Said zoan jumped at her but was caught by Robin, which made him look at them in confusion as he wanted Luffy to catch him. He observed the Rear Admiral intensely, blinking upon seeing something bundled with the blankets wrapped in her arm. Chopper's eyes widen immediately in realization.

"Is that my patient?!" He asked, receiving a nod in response from the two raven-haired gals. He nods back and squirmed against the arms of the Hana Hana no Mi user. Getting the message, Robin let him go and they watched as Chopper leaned down to peak through the blanket, stepping back upon seeing blue eyes glaring at him. His eyes slowly teared up, before snapping out of it and looked at his Captain.

"Let's bring him to my office." He said, before turning to look at the twins. "You two lead then to the infirmary ward, the others have already prepared beds for them."

"Yes, Doctor." The twins saluted, smirking teasingly at Chopper, who frowned at them.

"Calling me Doctor isn't making me happy, bastards!" Laughters followed after the declaration.

~Chopper's Office~

Luffy was humming as she put Marco on the bed that's available in Chopper's office, then slowly removing the blanket from him.

"What's with the blanket, Luffy?" Chopper asked as he prepared the things he needed to remove the cursed seastone nail from his patient. He turned to look at his captain, who was petting their fellow devil fruit user, said user seems to be enjoying having his captain's attention base on the bliss expression he had on his face. Can't blame him, Luffy gives plenty of love towards them and she had nice hands enough to them fell asleep.

"I just thought Birdie-san doesn't like it being seen by a lot of people," Luffy answered as Robin stepped out from the bathroom carrying a basin filled with water. "He already suffered under the hand of Saint Jason for who knows how long, I rather not have him be seen as if he's something to be displayed or gawked at."

"Hmm… Saint Jason…" Chopper mumbled as he began to grind some leaves while Robin leaned on the wall in front of Luffy, who was sitting on the bed while Marco was lying down on her lap.

"AH! SAINT JASON!" At the sudden exclamation Chopper made, all of the attention went to him.

"Chopper?" Robin asked, as the doctor jumps down from his chair and went towards a table stand beside the bed, grabbing some papers and gave it to Luffy.

"We receive these letters from the Navy HQ the other day, the news coo arrived right after you told us that you surfaced here in the New World." Chopper said as Luffy grabs the newspaper with one hand as the other continued to pet Marco before allowing him to nuzzle against it. "Saint Rokudo has exiled and terminated Saint Jason's status as a Tenryuubito, approved by the Five Elder Stars. So now, that person is a simple noble here in New World."

"Do you know which Island?" Robin asked as she bent down to her waist to read the paper beside Luffy. At that question, Marco, who realized that he was still touched-starve during his stay on the ship, perked up and paused on nuzzling Luffy's hand, which was then moved to rest down on top of his body.

"Pretty sure he's on his private island, the one near ours... wait does he even know our base?" The reindeer mumbled.

"There are plenty of Islands near us and I don't think so." Robin pointed out before grabbing the papers Luffy hand towards her.

"We'll just scout the islands. His status as a Tenryuubito may have been revoked but he could still be noble. And we still need to obey them according to the Law of the Marines." The Rear Admiral stated as she looked at the window.

"But what made Saint Rokudo revoke Jason's status?" Chopper asked out loud as he went back to grinding some medicine. Luffy merely smirked, while Robin laughs.

"Pretty sure it has to do with our guest." The Hana Hana no Mi user pointed out, but Luffy merely made a shushing gesture.

"So… we will know at the meeting?" Chopper asked as he went towards them, finishing the medicine and ready to be used.

"Pretty much, shishishi." Luffy giggled, before looking at Birdie-san, who was leaning down on her palm, eyeing her Head Doctor with distrust. "Don't worry, Birdie-san. This is Chopper, he's our Head Doctor and Veterinarian. Chopper, this is Birdie-san, your patient." Luffy introduced, making said bird to look at her.

"He's very much neutral, Chopper is willing to heal Civilians, Marines, Pirates, and Slaves as long as they don't hurt him or us," She added. "He'll remove the nails with Robin's help. I'll be here during the whole procedure and will be there until you woke up. Okay?" It took a while before Marco finally nodded and turned to look back at the doctor.

"You can tell me if you're in pain. I'm a reindeer but I ate the Hito Hito no Mi, allowing me to talk to animals and understand them." Chopper told him, making the Pirate tilt his head to the side before nodding. Luffy stood up and laid Marco down on his back in the middle of the bed, and his wings spread. Hands immediately appeared on both sides of his wings and a pair near his feet, shocking him, but he didn't react other than releasing a squawked and jerking. He then felt Luffy's hand on his head, looking up, the First Mate of the Whitebeard Pirates saw the Rear Admiral sitting above his head.

"It'll be fine." She said and watch as Chopper readied a syringe. Robin, who was standing at the foot of the bed with her hands crossed in front of her chest, frowns upon seeing a purple mark on his chest.

"Luffy… is that—?" Robin whispered so softly that only her beloved Rear Admiral can hear but she was cut off.

"Robin…" Luffy called out softly, trying her best to not distract Chopper, who either didn't saw the mark or ignored it, from giving Birdie-san the sedative. Said Bird had his head laid down the side, eyes on Chopper. Robin looked at her Rear Admiral and saw her shake her head as one hand laid down on the Phoenix neck and the other fixing the feathers on his chest when Chopper moved away. When Marco had his eyes closed, Luffy stood up and gestured for Robin to follow her near the windows and let Chopper do his miracle.

"Luffy… is that…?" Robin asked again, Luffy merely shakes his head.

"I had an idea about who he is. But I told him that I will pretend that I didn't see it and that I will help him hide it from the others."

"But… if he is who we thought he is…"

"We'll let him go. I am not risking the life of my crew for a war where we had no chance of winning." Luffy said, making Robin smile. Her concern is not about whether disobeying the orders of the higher-ups. Her concern is about the life of her precious crew who will surely be in danger should their leaders will try to prove themselves to the world again. Robin's captain already sacrifices plenty of things for her crew and loved ones, she doesn't want the rest of her chosen family to suffer as well.

"Of course, Captain." Robin bowed her head, making Luffy smile before they went back to the bed. The young raven-haired marine smile grew when Chopper is slowly pulling the nail out, though the puss was dripping out. One of Robin's hand had brought Chopper a steel tray to put the nail on it, while Luffy went back to calming down Marco, which is pointless seeing he was asleep, but it was better than her merely standing and doing nothing. It wasn't long before Chopper had finished in removing the abscess, cleans and removes the dead skins, and stitching the wound, he then went on bandaging the wound and then the leg that had the slave brand of the Tenryuubito.

"Thank you, Chopper," Luffy said once he was finished, said Doctor merely smiled.

"Your welcome! Though if he's staying with you, you need to give him a proper bed." He said, making Luffy and Robin giggled.

"Bed only? Not going to lecture me on how to do it right?" Luffy asked. The Reindeer to shake his head.

"You're the doctor of this crew before me, so I know you knew what to do." He pointed out, making Luffy laughs before turning to Robin.

"Then, Robin…"

"Bring the biggest and fluffiest Dog Bed there is for our guest, got it Luffy." Robin cut off smiling gently at her Captain, who winked at her before she went to their guest and gently wrapped him up with the blanket again.

"We'll have our meeting once, Birdie-san is awake. I'll use the white den-den mushi to call you," Luffy informed them as she heads out of the room. "Have our chefs prepare some meal too, Chopper!"

"Okay! I'll give them a list of food to cook for our guests too!" Chopper shouted back. Smiling when he heard the shouted 'Thanks' from his Rear Admiral from the hallway. It was quite between the remaining Marines before Chopper turned to look at the Older Raven.

"Did something happen to Luffy in Mariejois?" He asked, Robin merely looked at him with sad eyes, making him sigh. "Is there anything we can do for her, Robin?"

"Being with her is already helping Chopper," Robin said, crouching down to his level. "And… I'm hoping that Birdie-san will also help her once his free."

"She deserves more, Robin…" Chopper sobbed, making the former to grab him.

"I know, Chopper, I know…" Robin mumbled, hugging him tightly. 'I hope you can help us… if not us, then our Rear Admiral… I hope you can help Luffy from this cage the World Government had created just for her, Birdie-san, or as you are known, Marco the Phoenix.'

---

TBC

A/N: I'm sorry to my readers who are reading Blood Revelation... Inspirations didn't hit me this month, almost the same reason for updating this chapter on the last day of the month. I tried searching for inspiration for BR but it didn't come. :( Additional note, I might not update for the Month of September for both Stories. I need to search for a new job, lost mine when our country ordered a lockdown. Stay safe guys! and I hope you like this story ^_^

Status:

Chapter 5: For re-editing

Chapter 6: Outline 15%

Reviews:

Akakuro dan Bbbfang: Here's the next chapter~ Thanks for reading and reviewing~

Guest: Hi! Yes, this story is cross-posted on AO3, even in Wattpad, both under the same title, but different usernames. AO3 is Sane_Allen12345 and in my Wattpad I'm Riren. Thank you for loving my story and I hope you like this chapter~ Thanks for reading and reviewing~

Kok: I hope you like this chapter~ Thanks for reviewing~

swee2iepea: Luffy's devil fruits is something I hope you like, I'll be dropping hints of what her DFs are as the chapters go but not that much. Luffy's smart here in my story, but whether she will realize the plans of the Tenryuubitos and act against it... well... I'm not going to reveal it hahahaha. It just involved her brothers, their crews, and her future lover. Hope you like this chapter, thank you reading and reviewing~

Phoenix-Fire-Queen: Thank you so much~ I'm trying a new style of writing, since before I always type the thoughts of the character either by the next chapter or on a later date as if it was a flashback. Hope you like this chapter, and thank you for reading and reviewing~

Yaoyao: Your very much welcome~ I just love the thought of Luffy and Marco being together~ I hope you like this chapter~ Thank you for reading and reviewing~