His Firecracker Her Rock

Chapter 6 - Marco Polo

Chapter 6 - Marco Polo

"This way!" Luffy shouts as he rounds another corner chasing after a hooded figure. It's been two days since he and Ace arrived in Bluebell. They noticed Rayleigh's ship easily enough and patiently waited for Dawn to return to it. Only she never did, instead, this person in a cloak tried to board her ship.

"Luffy wait!" Ace yells as he narrowly misses running into a shopkeeper who was idly sweeping in front of his store. Ace had begun to worry something happened to Dawn after the very first night she did not come back to the ship. As Ace rounded yet another corner his heart stopped when he no longer saw Luffy. "Shit!"

"Marco!" Ace shouted hoping Luffy would respond like he used to when they were children. They hadn't done it in years, not since Sabo had died.

"Ace?" Marco, Ace's friend and crewmate queried from across the street. Ace had never seen Marco look so disheveled. His eyes were red, and the dark circles around them stood out boldly against his already pale skin which made him look even more exhausted.

"Marco?" Ace said, his voice dripping with surprise and concern.

"You okay buddy?" Marco questioned him. "You did yell my name right?"

"No...well yes, I was looking for Luffy and-" Ace started before Marco interrupted him with a laugh, "Oh say no more. You'd be surprised how often this happens,"

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Ace asked as the two walked away from the busy street and down an alleyway to have more privacy.

"I'm tracking down Blackbeard's crew," Marco said with clenched fists, "I know Captain told us not to avenge his death, but that fiend destroyed everything we worked for,"

"W-wait...are you serious?" Ace stuttered in surprise.

"He crushed our dreams, and stole Captain's devil fruit power!" Marco continued, his voice filled with fury as he began to breathe heavily.

"Then you're planning on fighting him. Even if it kills you?" Ace couldn't believe his ears. After the lecture Marco gave him for going against Captain's orders he just goes ahead and does it himself?!

"I have to. A lot of our crewmates agree with me too," Marco says as he takes a pleading step towards his friend. "We could use your help..."

"I almost lost Luffy going down that path," Ace takes a step back while shaking his head. "Had I listened to Captain none of this would have even happened,"

"That's not true and you know it, he would have come after us no matter what we did!" Marco shouted as he gripped Ace's shoulders more firmly than necessary.

"Then why fight him? Why go against our Captain's dying wish, his last order?!" Ace yells back as he pushes Marco off of him. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Marco scoffed.

"I-i, I thought you of all people would understand..." It was Marco who couldn't believe his ears this time.

"You thought wrong," Ace muttered, his head hanging low. Marco shook his head in response as he held back a tear watching in disbelief as his former crewmate walked down the alley and took a turn disappearing from his life.

Ace wasn't sure if he made the right decision or not. He hated the plan his former crewmates made. He wouldn't stop them though. He understood more than anyone the kind of pain they were in. Losing family was the worst, it made a person feel empty inside. Ace used to fill that void with anger, but it was never enough. It wasn't until he met Whitebeard he realized the only thing that could heal that kind of pain was the very thing that caused it; love.

"You're a lot more mature than you let on," Dawn said with her chin resting on the back of her hand as she lay on an awning above a fruit stand. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and the simple black outfit she had on was looking a bit more gray with all the dust and dirt that had clung to her.

"Heh thanks, kinda learned the hard way," Ace murmured his voice void of emotion, clearly worn out from that emotionful encounter.

"Who was that guy Luffy was chasing?" Dawn asked, remembering the bizarre spectacle.

"We thought it might have been you," Ace started with furrowed brows. "They tried to board your boat earlier,"

"Nope, I've been up here all morning," Dawn yawned in response as she lazily stared down at him. "It's probably just another bounty hunter, apparently a hoard of them saw me disembark my very first day here and now they won't leave me be,"

"They will once I'm through with them," Ace leered as he gripped his fist. Although he played it off as if he was merely joking Dawn could hear the seriousness in his voice.

"Wow a real knight in shining armor, or should I say flaming armor?" Dawn jested, glad to see a smile back on his face.

"Either way I'm still your knight," Ace smirked as Dawn's face blushed lightly. "Need help getting down from there? We need to go find your brother,"

"We?" Dawn questioned with a quirked brow. Last she checked staying away from Luffy was what was best.

"Well it is your fault he's lost," Ace laughed at her grumbling. And although he offered his hand to help her down he wasn't expecting her to actually use it. But when she jumped down rather ungracefully and even sucked in a painful breath while landing Ace realized something was wrong. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Dawn lied. It was obvious to Ace that she was in fact not okay. There was a thin line of sweat on her forehead and judging by the way she was limping she was in a lot more pain than she would want others to know.

"Then why are you limping?" Ace crossed his arms and took a step in front of her blocking her way down the street.

"I kinda...got shot,"