◖ ʜᴇᴀʟɪɴɢ ◗
a/n: yes, almost double update. I got inspired.
You looked down, and with wobbly hands, you held his buff arms, but you didn’t pay attention to that. He heard a sob, and then another, he heard droplets fall on the floor and lastly, he saw your body shake as you cried. Marco saw you leaning on him as you cried in relief, and he smiled, patting your head.
Hugging him fully, you let out all the feelings you hid through all these years under slavery, behind a strong facade and avoiding any kind of harm that would hurt your mental health any further, such as harassing you sexually. No one will take your purity unless they’re the right one.
And, funnily, it felt right to be in this stranger’s arms. As you finished crying, you slowly pulled apart. He was kind enough to hold you and be patient to let you take your time. You were looking down, kind of ashamed that you cried in front of him, until you felt a warm fabric on your shoulders.
Looking at the purple and big shoulders, your eyes went up to his strong figure standing up. That’s when you noticed how ripped this man was. Your eyes shone a little and Marco barely caught that.
The blond man held his hand out and hesitantly, you grabbed it and slowly, he pulled you up and your legs almost gave up if it wasn’t for him holding your forearms. “I’ll help you.” And he just swapped off of your feet to hold you in bridal style.
You held your hands on your chest, processing what he just did. You looked at him, and then at the floor. You squealed in surprise when he began to walk out of the darkness, and when he stepped on the deck, the sun blinded you. With your hand, covered almost with the long sleeve, you shaded your eyes for a second.
Adjusting to the sunlight, Marco noticed that you had red marks around the places where the shackles restrained you. Without noticing it, he lights up his body with blue flames, scaring you.
“Y-You’re on fire!”
He saw your distress, and he did his best to calm you down. “No, no, no! It’s okay yoi! It’s only my devil fruit! See? It isn’t hurting either you and I, right?”
You slowed your breath, and looked at the blue and yellow flames surrounding the both of you. With curiosity you touched it and played with it as he observed you. “It’s- It’s warm…”
“And it heals.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Look.”
With care, he placed his hand on your wrists and with ease, the burns were fading. She looked at the process with wonder lingering in her blue orbs. Marco could feel like he was taking her out of her closed self, or at least distracting her from her mind. Either way, he was helping her.
He then healed the ones on her ankles and lastly, your neck. When his hand touched it, something triggered you and with an unknown strength, you pinned him down. Your right foot pinning his left arm, your left leg restraining both of his, and your left hand restricting his right one.
Marco was surprised to see you this hostile. He looked at the masses of floating water behind you with the shape of sharp double-edged spikes. It was very threatening and the thought that it could be possibly made out of seawater could kill him on the spot if he does a wrong move.
The phoenix caught what was happening. Your breathing was hefty and hurried, barely catching any air. He could see your cloudy eyes.
You couldn't see a thing, but the man under you wasn't the blonde one anymore. It was one of them. You wanted to kill him, but your body hesitated, your heart hesitated.
“Sweetheart, I need you to calm down yoi.” He said. With the lack of reaction, he guessed that you couldn’t hear him.
But you did, and she came to realize that this was an illusion that your mind played you. This wasn't real, but his voice sounded muffled for a while.
“Hey, sweet cheeks, do you hear me yoi? How many people are around?”
You slowly lowered your right hand that was ready to strike down to his face, focusing on his black orbs even though you saw it all blurry by the memory. “I-I think i-it’s ten, including you and m-me.”
“Good, you’re doing great. Now, how many sails are there?” He felt the pressure on his arms and legs fading.
“U-Um… Th-Three- No! Four sails…” and you took a deep breath, closing your eyes. You took a few minutes to yourself, to get back to the real world. “... I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, it was my fault too. I didn’t ask you if you were okay with me touching your neck. I guess I triggered something yoi.” Marco assured you, patting your left thigh. “Okay, can you get off, please?”
“Sorry, sorry…” you got off and looked at the previous spikes turned into spheres after you went back to your senses. You looked at them, feeling nostalgic somehow.
The purple shirt on you was flowing with the wind, and it showed your cursed mark of slavery. You snapped the jacket close and pulled the zipper up, so it doesn't open again.
Marco caught how uncomfortable you were thinking about that, and asked you. "What's your name?"
"Me? I'm Y/N, but they call me the Sea Monster for a reason. You?"
"I'm Marco the Phoenix, 1st-"
"First division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, I know. Thank you for saving me."
"How do you know me? "
"I have ears, you know? Like, to listen. I heard about you when those pigs read the news. " She made the spheres return to the sea in a single movement. "... Being isolated makes you hear things about how quiet the place was… "
Another fail. He made you feel uncomfortable again, way to go Mr. Pineapple! He mentally facepalmed and scolded himself for being an idiot. Guess he didn't learn a thing from the past.
"It's okay though, I have heightened senses, so that's probably why. " You turned to him and placed your hand on your neck. "Can you-... Can you heal it, please? "
"Of course. " And he healed it immediately, without touching too much. He looked around and still the people were unconscious. "Damn, you really knocked them out yoi."
"... It wasn't my intention."
"Is this the first time you use it? " He looked at you impressed.
"... No, I already used it before. I didn't notice that I used Conqueror's out of feeling."
He lifted a brow. "Why? "
"I guess… I was reminding myself about something… " You shook your head to clear your mind and had a bit of difficulties with eye contact. "... Now what? "
"I will take you to my captain. "
"M’kay." You didn't pay enough attention until you processed the information again. "Wait- you what?"
"I will take you to my captain. "
"You're crazy. " And he shrugged his shoulders. "Unbelievable… I’m going to get killed!” Placing your hands to your head, you squatted down to hide, turning yourself into a ball.
Marco on the other hand, he chuckled at your reaction and placed a hand on your back. He was used to this kind of reaction but yours, he found it amusing. Brushing your back, he tried to comfort you. “Come on, it’s not that bad yoi. You’re with me, so that’s already fine.”
He just got a sad groan from you. The blond man sighed. “We should go now. You are exhausted, and I need to still treat those old wounds.” And you looked up at him.
“... How do you know that?” You mumbled at him.
“I’m a doctor, it’s natural that I know that yoi.” He crouched down before you.
“What… are you doing?”
“Giving you a ride. You can’t walk any further, as I said before, your body is exhausted, and you need to rest and eat. Regain all the strength you lost” He kept crouching down before you and stepped closer to him.
Surrounding his neck with your arms and getting on his back, he placed his hands under your legs and lifted you up. You squealed a little. “Try to hold on tight, I’ll be as gentle as possible.” and you nodded.
The blue and yellow flames surrounded the both of you, and instead of seeing your human savior, you were on a majestic mythical bird. You were awestruck at the creature and held on to him tighter when he took off. The wind brushed your hair out of your face.
Looking back at the forsaken place you were stuck for almost half of your life, you wanted to do something about this, even though it involved the lives that were in there. You didn’t care. After all, it was the Navy, just a bunch of traitorous humans.
“... Marco.” he hummed in reply, telling you that he was listening. “... Could you stop? I need to sink that ship…”
The phoenix looked at you with a brow lifted, but complied and halted in the air, flapping his wings to keep flying. He observed you look at the World Government’s vessel, and the aura around her felt cold. Suddenly, a whirlpool was forming under the ship and immediately sank the ship, leaving no trace of your crime.
Marco looked at you from the corner of his eyes and saw how that strange and freezing cold air disappeared. You were back to your calm and composed self.
What surprised him is that the whirlpool came out of nowhere, and he guessed that you were the one who did it as your nickname was Sea Monster. Your abilities were tied with the sea, he knew now, and he should be careful to not get on your bad side. Which it was very doubtful as he was the only one you trusted the most at this time.
“We can go now…” you told him, and he nodded, looking at where the ship was before sinking quietly.
The blue flaming bird flapped his big wings and finally headed to where he last saw Moby Dick. It’ll be a long way for you, but with his blue fire active and around you, could distract you as it slowly heals the small and superficial injuries in your body.
.・゜゜・
As the blue phoenix was flying in clear skies, you were encountered with such peace inside your heart that you couldn't believe that you were actually out of that hell you put yourself in, but it was for a great cause.
The flames that surrounded you were calming, warm, and it made you feel like you were, again, in a certain someone's arms. It brought you back some memories that you thought had been forgotten.
You couldn't help but smile a little. The sensation was so light, it lifted a heavy burden from your tired shoulders. Your arms, that were around your savior's neck, tightened its grip a bit and nuzzled on his flaming back, becoming attached to it.
Marco observed you rest a little on his feathered body. He couldn't help but show a little grin seeing you healing and radiating happiness around you.
Today, he made someone happy, and it felt great. Tomorrow, who knows?
The blue phoenix flapped his wings faster, not bothering you, and he saw the ship not so far. He turned his head to you a little.
"Sweetheart, we're almost there yoi."
His voice woke you up, and feeling light-headed, you looked at their massive ship. You guys were almost there, and you sat up, startled. You didn't want to face the Strongest man alive. Nope, not today.
But of course, it was inevitable.
Wait… sweetheart?
You blushed at the nickname he decided to call you. It was unexpected and too sweet, you weren't used to this except for that one a certain red haired man used to call you.
Shaking your head from unnecessary thoughts, you looked at the ship with the head piece shaped like a while. You found it cute, and immediately wanted to sit there. Old habits die hard, don't you think?
Marco flapped his wings a bit quicker to soften the landing. He let you get off first before shaping back to his handsome- I mean, his human self again. The tanned hands of yours gripped his jacket covering you tightly as you felt many eyes on you.
It was uncomfortable as you were isolated for so long that having a lot of people around you felt strange, but you could sense some nostalgia behind it. Yeah, the life of a pirate was coming back to you.
What surprised most men around the deck was the fact that Marco brought a girl all bruised and dirty, wearing his iconic purple jacket, and hiding behind his back like a child.
The man with a goatee neared them, curious about the female that his brother brought on the ship. His steps weren't unheard, and you turned your head fast at him and cowered behind the blonde, grabbing his arm.
"Hey Marco, who's this chick?" He asked, pointing towards you.
No human interactions today, please.
The mentioned looked at you in the eyes and felt your small fear. He pouted a bit, still going unnoticed, and patted your head for comfort, which you were grateful for.
"This is the Sea Monster you wanted so much to meet, Thatch. " He answered, lifting a brow at him.
"WHA-?!"
"Oi! Keep it down!" He punched his head, grabbing more unwanted attention from his crewmates. He felt the uneasy air around you.
"Ow! Okay, okay! But, how?!" He whispered, dumbfounded while looking at the frail figure of yours hiding behind Marco.
"Right now, it's not the time yoi" With his hands, signed you to hop on his back again, and you did as he adjusted you. "If you have time to ask, you have time to cook. Get her something to eat, she's starving yoi. "
The blond went to the infirmary with you behind. You looked back at them, and you couldn't help but wave at the auburn haired man with the goatee. He waved back at you excitedly with a big smile adorned on his face.
It made you giggle.
Soon, you saw him disappear to another room. Guess it was to get your savior's request done. Your arms were around his neck as he was holding you up by your thighs. It made you feel certainly bothered by the burning mark you had in your right thigh, and he was feeling the scarred burn.
It made you feel ashamed. But in his point of view, he touched it as much as he could to feel the depth of the scar and if he had the possibility to heal it off, make it disappear, so you could walk around freely with no mark holding you back.
He took notice that he was recently concerned more about you than himself, and people who were near to him. He cleared his mind from intrusive thoughts and arrived in the infirmary.
Inside the room, there were a couple of beds in there, and he sat you down on one of them, near the door. He stood back up and went to get his medical supplies.
Pushing a chair with his foot because his hands were occupied with the objects he had in his arms, he left all of it on the bed beside you. He didn't waste any more time and began to treat your badly healed wounds.
You would hiss and twitch at the slight pain you felt, but you held it inside as you observed him do his job as a doctor. It was fascinating to you how quickly and efficiently done his work. Marco finished and stopped to look at your right thigh.
It was that cursed mark.
It made you frown, and the blonde saw it. He sighed and pushed his jacket up to reveal the nasty burn scar. You couldn't help but look away.
Then, you felt a soft fabric above it, and you looked down. Marco had treated it like a normal big slash with the gash and bandages. He patted your thigh and smiled at you kindly.
"This way, no one will see it." He stood up and placed all the stuff back in its place. "I'll go get clothes for you."
He was about to leave through the door, and you felt the energy of a few females in the ship. You thought that he was going to give you some of their clothes, but to be honest, you didn't like tight clothes. "Wait!"
He turned around to you, lifting a brow. "Yeah? "
"Um… can it be baggy clothes? I- I don't feel comfortable with tight ones… " You almost mumbled the last part, but he got your message and nodded.
"Be right back. " And he closed the door.
Without anything to do, you laid down on your side, facing the door and cuddled in Marco's purple jacket. It had a beautiful shade of lilac when the sun cast down from the window.
You were confused and curious about why he didn't take his clothes from you yet, you were fine with the ragged and worn up fabric you call clothes, and the mark was covered, so it wasn't for your need anymore.
Clearly, it was a mystery for you, but you wouldn't waste this opportunity to sleep with the warm sensation that brought to your body along with that aromatic scent of sea breeze and tropical fruit that lingered in the jacket.
Shutting your eyes closed, a new dream came to you. This time, without voices tormenting your small nap.
This time, without feeling loneliness.
.・゜゜・
Thatch walked down the hallways with two plates full of nutritious food for the newcomer. He was quite happy to see that you were rescued at the right time, and waved back when he did. Had a feeling that you were very friendly, despite the unfortunate lifestyle you had.
Pushing the door of the infirmary open, he was about to say something loud to get your attention, but saw you sleeping peacefully under the warm light of the sun. Your little snores were cute, and he did his best to not squeal like a girl when they found something cute.
He placed both plates on the table near your bed, and took a seat to wait until you woke up. Personally, the auburn haired man wanted to see your reaction as you ate his food.
One of the best things a chef could witness is the satisfactory expressions a client makes when eating their food. It makes them proud and their hard work worthy.
The chef crossed his arms, leaned on the back of the chair and waited.
Until he heard the door open again.
He turned his head around to find the vice-captain with a white jacket as a replacement because the purple one is being used by you.
As you requested, he brought baggy clothes that he found in his closet that he didn't use anymore because it didn't fit or something. He placed them at the end of the bed you were resting on and leaned on the wall.
"Did she just fall asleep yoi?" Marco asked him, admiring you under the sunlight filtering through the window.
"Nah, she was already napping when I got here." Thatch answered, placing his hands behind his head with a smile. "So this is the Sea Monster, huh? "
"She is yoi. "
"Where-"
"She was the one who used haki. I found her chained in a Navy ship yoi." He cleared his doubts before he could ask. "If you had seen how she looked when I found her, you would have thought that she was dead. "
Thatch turned his head to him, shocked. "Really?" And he just nodded in confirmation. "Damn, those government dogs really have it low."
"Right?" Marco's dark eyes focused on your thigh. "You see the bandages on her thigh, yoi?"
"Yeah, why?"
The blonde man lowered his voice in case someone was hearing them. "Under there, there's the mark of the tenryuubito."
"Your point? Every slave that went under those nobles have it." Thatch looked back at him.
"Some dipshit dipped it down for too long to the point she lost a bit of muscle tissue yoi."
For the first time in his pirate career, he saw the rage and frustration reflected in his brother's dark eyes as he looked at your sleeping form. His arms were crossed, and he could see the tight grip of his hands. Slowly, he frowned.
"And I can't heal it."