Marco was deeply asleep when the guards began to talk loudly, waking Lin up.

Lin strained to listen, trying to catch every word of the guard's conversation.

"Are you sure?" one guard asked his companion, doubt evident in his voice.

"Yes, tomorrow afternoon they will come for the kid in the red jacket," the other replied, with a tone of certainty that sent a chill down Lin's spine.

"That 's good news. Those two are very annoying. No matter how many times we punish them, they won't stop talking. Maybe without one of those two, we can finally have some peace," commented the first guard, almost with satisfaction.

Lin tensed up. Marco was the one in the red jacket. Anguish washed over him as he thought about what that conversation meant. He struggled not to make a sound and silently crawled towards the bars, his heart pounding.

"And who was our savior?" asked the guard, showing slight curiosity.

"A world noble, Saint Cherry," replied the other guard in a grave voice.

Lin remembered that Marco mentioned his sister was a Fenghuang. If she was really looking for him, she might be able to save him from the shop or a king.

But a world noble would mean the end for his friend and the last survivor of The Fenghuang.

Lin knew it was time to do what he did best, play pranks. This time he would trap them all.

But before carrying out his clever plan, Lin decided he needed a quick nap to be at his best. So he laid back down, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, preparing his mind for the mischief he was about to unleash. Marco's life depended on it, and he couldn't afford to fail.

[...]

[...]

[...]

"Lin?" Marco woke up startled, only to find his friend deeply asleep. Lin's silly expression was even more ridiculous with a booger hanging from his nose.

"Lin! Wake up!" Marco shook his friend hard, jolting him awake.

"I'm awake! Liling, I promise I did my homework before going to sleep!" Lin woke up confused and hysterical, letting out a scream before realizing he wasn't at home and her sister wasn't scolding him.

"Oh, hi Marco..." said Lin, rubbing his eyes and with a silly smile on his face. Marco rolled his eyes, exasperated by his friend's eternal distraction.

Hours later, Lin had a brilliant idea.

"It's called switchies, it's about switching roles. Whoever breaks character first loses," Lin explained enthusiastically, his eyes shining with excitement. He was sure Marco would love the idea, it seemed too fun not to want to play.

"That sounds boring," replied Marco, crossing his arms and frowning.

"What did you say?" Lin asked, incredulous. There was no way he actually thought that, right? It was his best game yet!

"It's, B. O. R. I. N. G." Lin felt each of those letters hit him like bricks.

"It's not boring! You only say that because you're probably bad at acting!" Lin shouted, feeling hurt.

"Maybe I don't need to be good to play such a boring game," replied Marco with a mocking tone, further provoking Lin.

The two continued arguing for a while, until finally Marco decided to give in. "Fine, I'll play, but only if you promise to stop shouting."

Lin smiled satisfactorily."But first give me your jacket," he said to Marco, reaching out his hand.

"Why?" Marco asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"To get into character," Lin replied, rolling his eyes as if it were obvious.

"You don't need it to do that," said Marco, still doubtful.

"Yes, I do!" Lin responded somewhat frustrated. Marco, resigned, nodded and handed it over, realizing that if he didn't, Lin wouldn't stop bothering him.

"Now let's start," said Lin, adjusting the jacket proudly and assuming a dramatic pose.

"So I ate a snake because I thought it would be delicious, my sisters had to pull it out when I started choking," Marco imitated Lin, making the silliest face possible, exaggerating every gesture.

"Hey, I'm not like that!" protested Lin, offended.

"Yes, you are," replied Marco with a mocking smile.

"I'm not!" Lin insisted, growing more upset.

Their shouts quickly turned into laughter, laughing at their own antics and the game. However, their laughter was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Let's start over, forget that I broke character," Lin whispered to Marco, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Which of you two is Marco?" asked one of the guards.

Marco was about to respond when Lin interrupted, stepping in front of the guard.

"I'm Marco," Lin said, staring at the guard.

"Come with me," ordered the guard, pointing towards the exit.

Before Lin could move, Marco grabbed his arm, whispering in his ear, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Not losing the game," declared Lin with a defiant smile. "I hope you don't give up either."

The guard watched the interaction with growing impatience. Lin gently freed himself from Marco's grip and began walking with the guard, his steps firm and determined, until he was out of Marco's sight.

Some time later, someone came to fetch him, but it wasn't his sister or his friend. A king had managed to buy him.

"The order is to burn your throat, but how will I hear your screams?" the king confessed as he ordered him not to speak in front of anyone else.

Marco nodded, following the king to his castle. He continued playing his friend's game, because deep down he still hoped he could see him again.

"Hey, Marco! Do you want to hear about the time my sister Lilin used me for one of her rituals and almost possessed me with an evil spirit?!" Lin's voice could be heard.

"Of course," replied Marco, returning a smile. It was only then that he realized there was no one there. For a moment, he had sworn he could see and hear Lin in his cell.

But it was just his imagination.

The following days were an endless cycle of suffering. The king used him as a toy for his tortures, only to leave him alone again in his cell.

"Poor little bug on the wall, with no one to love him," Marco sang as he hugged himself. He tried to remember his friend, his sister, but with time, their faces became blurrier. "No one to wash his clothes, no one to tickle his feet." Tears flowed endlessly as he tried to finish the song. He could barely make it to the end.

"Poor little bug on the wall..."

The cold and darkness of the cell became his only companions. With each passing day, his memories faded more and more.

At one point, Marco forgot everything except his name, losing the game without even knowing it. He had no clarity about his age, only knowing that he aged slowly and that at some point he would stop.

Days and nights blurred together, becoming an endless mix of despair and loneliness.

One day, his owners took him on one of their boat trips. That day they were attacked by pirates who took him as part of the loot. As his captors fled, they were attacked by another pirate ship. The captain of that crew, seeing him among the pirates, rescued him.

"What's your name, kid?" the man asked Marco.

"It's Marco, yoi," Marco replied.

Marco didn't know the reason he said that word was because, deep down, he still hoped to hear his sister call his name again. Maybe it was the last thing left of her in the void that was now his mind.

Our minds have peculiar ways of protecting us from emotional harm. Marco's mind had hidden his memories and his trauma, forgetting almost everything that made him who he was.

Whitebeard noticed this and did his best to help young Marco become someone again. He provided him a home on his ship, a place to heal and discover his true strength. The days on Whitebeard's ship were tough, but filled with camaraderie and purpose.

And that someone became a strong person, strong enough to be a commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. With time, Marco found a new sense of identity and belonging, learning to trust and fight for his new family.

After all, Whitebeard had given Marco what he didn't remember losing, a family.

"Haruta! Thatch! You're in big trouble!" exclaimed Marco, his voice full of concern and love for his brothers. Perhaps, sometimes, he worried too much.

"Marco, you shouldn't obsess so much over paperwork, it's just that, paperwork," his brothers often said. But for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking that something bad was going to happen if he wasn't responsible.

"We are all children of the sea," he used to remind himself.

Even so, he knew that if something happened, they would be there to support him. He had everything he had ever dreamed of having, and yet, he felt like something was missing.

When Ace joined the crew and began to share things about his life, Marco couldn't understand why he felt so nostalgic. He didn't know that the meals Ace made them try were the same ones Aika used to prepare for him. He didn't know that many of Ace's stories were similar to the ones Lin had told him about his life before the invasion.

But now, everything made sense.

"Marco, you're back!" said Lin, watching Marco regain consciousness.

"Lin, is that you?" Marco asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm fighting alone, a little help wouldn't hurt!" Lin replied, evading the questions with a nervous smile.

Marco quickly joined the battle, feeling the adrenaline rush as he fought alongside his first friend.

"Commander Marco, sorry for interrupting your sleep" Doflamingo said with a malicious smile, his voice dripping with mockery.

"Watch out! He didn't come alone!" Lin shouted.

Marco barely dodged the bullet, something that surprised him greatly.

"Did you really think I would come alone? I've heard rumors about Fire Fist personality. If they're true, that means he's on his way..." Doflamingo said, his smile widening as his gaze locked onto Marco.

Lin had also realized the situation as he tried to keep up with the unexpected reinforcements of the lunatic.

Doflamingo directed an attack towards the roses with deadly precision.

Lin stopped the attack just in time, his eyes filled with determination.

"What do you think you're doing?! Leave those roses!" Marco shouted, as Lin stopped to extend his arms in front of the roses, protecting them with his body.

"These roses were what made you remember, right? They mean something to you, to me, to my sisters, to my people," Lin said as he put on his helmet, his voice trembling with contained emotion. "His people have taken too much from us. I have taken too much from you. That's why I can't allow them to take something important again!" Lin shouted, transforming into his Phoenix form with an explosion of flames.

Lin flew in circles around the island at impressive speeds, covering the entire ring with his flames, even the rose bush. The sight was impressive, a dance of fire that illuminated the sky.

Finally, he stopped in front of Marco, his chest rising and falling with the intensity of the moment.

"I'm a fool who can't unleash all his power for fear of destroying the place I swore to protect," Lin said, ashamed, his voice barely a whisper.

"When I met you again. I thought you hadn't recognized me or that maybe you resent me and didn't want to acknowledge me. But then I realized you didn't remember me..." Lin admitted, a tear escaping his eye as he spoke. "I keep avoiding the subject like a coward," he added, placing his arms in the fire as he confessed his reasons.

"Why, Lin?" Marco hadn't realized he was holding his breath until that moment. His heart was beating hard, as if trying to understand everything at once.

"Because I took away your freedom!" Lin shouted as the fire grew so much that it could no longer be seen where it ended. The intensity of the fire reflected the passion and guilt he carried.

"ETERNAL HEALING FLAMES!" Lin roared as he merged with the blue flames. He barely maintained a physical form, it was only a matter of time before he was consumed by the flames.

"Stop this nonsense, you didn't take anything from me!" Marco retorted, once again not understanding what his friend was trying to say.

"The flames that have covered the ring are healing flames that cannot be extinguished." Lin pointed to one of the damaged areas, showing how they were recovering. "These will only affect the environment, so you will be able to fight at your full potential without damaging the ring," Lin said, looking Marco straight in the eyes, his gaze firm and determined.

"The reason they cannot be extinguished is because they use all the life energy of the bearer. It won't be long before I finish merging with them, so pay attention, Mr. Boring," Lin said, almost completely made of flames.

Even so, he approached Marco and hugged him, his heat enveloping him.

Lin's flames intertwined with Marco's, allowing him to see Lin's memories as if they were his own.

In those memories, Marco saw the conversation of the guards, Lin's sacrifice, and the exchange. Lin had been handed over to a red-haired woman known as Cherry.

Cherry sought out her sister, with whom she ended up making a deal to regain her freedom. Apparently, her sister had promised to surrender herself as long as her brother was free.

Lin was released and soon reunited with his sisters. He tried to look for Marco, but was stopped by his sisters who refused to allow it.

"No, means no, Lin," Liling told him, firm and protective.

"But I took his place! I wasn't supposed to be the one who was set free! He at least deserves to know that his sister did go for him!" Lin said through tears, his voice breaking.

The memory stopped and Marco returned to the present, where his friend was still trying to help in every way, even when it cost him his life.

"Tell my sisters I'm sorry for being a pain in the ass," Lin said with a laugh, a laugh that mingled with the flames that consumed him. "And Marco, thank you for being my friend. I'm sorry I was a complete idiot until the end." Lin finished, his voice growing weaker.

Soon, there was no trace of the person who had once been Marco's first friend. All that was left was a gigantic blaze of blue fire. The island was covered in a glow that spoke of sacrifice and friendship, a testament to the love and loyalty that Lin had carried to the very last moment of his life.