Marco was excited when he got back to the room he was staying in; almost giddy. His body was nearly shaking with adrenalin. It had felt amazing to stand against Akainu even if it was in a small way, and he knew who gave him the power to do so; Ace. It was his fire, his power, his strength that had allowed Marco to stand up and say what needed to be said, and had protected him. He wanted to call Ace at that very moment and talk to him and tell him everything that happened, but he couldn't. Ace and everyone back home was most likely fast asleep by now. He'd been forced to attend a very long and tedious feast after the ceremony, where most people avoided him. The few that did speak to him, he suspected were spies constantly trying to ask him probing questions, which he deflected easily. Oyaji taking him to meetings had given him that talent, at least.

He couldn't call now, and he should be thankful that Ace was asleep. He knew that he would need he rest more than Marco needed to speak with him at that moment. Hopefully his emotions hadn't been so giddy that they kept his mate from sleep. He knew he needed to calm down and sleep so that he would be well rested for whatever came tomorrow, but he was full of energy. He wanted to fly and fight, neither of which he could do now.

So, Marco sat back down on his borrowed bed and crossed his legs. He set one of his elbows on each respective knee and summoned up the flames to his hands. At first, both hands were cloaked in his familiar blue flames and he wondered if there was something wrong. Had the red flames been a one-time thing or if there wasn't some kind of trick to it. He sighed in annoyance and frustration and threw his hands to his face with a groan. He needed to retrace his steps, so to speak, he couldn't actually relive the moment. It most likely didn't have anything to do with where he was or what he was doing anyway, if is assumption that the flames were Ace's was correct.

Marco paused and smiled, he had been thinking of Ace when the flames first heeded his call. He had thought of Ace to seal his focus and to ease the pain of healing, and Ace's flames has answered him. Perhaps that was the trick and the truth of it. He wondered though, how had he been able to call on powers that belonged to Ace and not him? Even as mates, that wasn't possible, or at least it shouldn't have been as far as he knew. He didn't know how it had happened, but it had.

He cleared his head and tired again this time focusing on Ace and the memories they shared, again the flames answered him. He frowned though, without knowing how it worked he worried if he wasn't actually stealing strength and power from Ace at the moment. As much as he wasn't to test out the new flames and how much control he had over them, he dismissed them. He didn't want to hurt or tire Ace by accident. He couldn't use Ace's flames anymore, before he knew if using them had any consequences for his mate.

He summoned his own flames back and crafted a ball of them, he tosses it back and forth between his hands while he thought, hoping to calm himself enough to sleep. He had established that he could summon the flames again which was an important step. However, he needed to know if Ace was tired or harmed when he summoned them. He knew that this had something to do with their bond as mates, but it wasn't something that was normal by any means. As far as he knew no one else was able to share powers just because they were mated.

Perhaps there were records of something like this happening somewhere else that he could look into. However, if it wasn't common knowledge, the most likely place such information was kept wasn't likely to be accessible to him. There were things that the royals would rather the general populace not know about; such information was kept in Royal Libraries that only the royals of each nation had access to. Marco hadn't been able to access the Earth Kingdoms Royal Library because, even though he was a royal, he wasn't from their nation. Oyaji might know something about this, so he would need to check with him the next time he called about this specifically.

Nervousness settled in his stomach. He couldn't have stopped revealing this new power to Akainu and the other Fire Nation Council Members, but it still didn't play to his strengths that they knew about as soon as he received the power. If they knew about it they could plan for it, which spelt trouble for Marco. He wished that the power had revealed its existence in a more opportune way, but he knew there was no merit in worrying over it now.

Should he risk sneaking into the Fire Nation Royal Library, there was a chance information about his species was stored there as well? Marco shook his head and remember that he had made a promise to Ace that he would do his best to stay safe and planning on breaking into the Royal Library wouldn't help him keep that promise. However, there were other ways to gain that kind of information. He thought back to his earlier conversation with Smoker in the remains of his parents' residence. He smiled slyly to himself; if he could make Smoker switch sides there was a good chance that Smoker could gather such information for him. Getting to that point would be difficult but if he could make Smoker assist him, it would go a long ways towards winning the war to come.

Perhaps he should start a little smaller though, Smoker seemed to be extremely careful and would definitely not support him immediately, so he should focus on a way to gain his trust without direct involvement with him. Akainu would notice if he got close to Smoker too quickly and that would only put them both into jeopardy. No, Coby and Helmeppo were a much safer place to start. They may know something useful about Smoker that could be used to turn him over to their side as well. Yes, he could start with them and then work his way up one step at a time if he had to.

The main way he could do this was by proving that his plans for the Fire Nation was much better than Akainu's plans for it. His family had be quite fair to the public and tried to protect them from Akainu's insanity, or so he'd been told by Thatch. It was a good strategy, although it had led to his family's death he was different. He would fight back if he needed to. The populace was divided; he'd seen it at the rally, they were tired of suffering because of Akainu's selfish and cruel methods. He would show them that he offered a better solution; one his family had proposed long ago and that he would fight for it. He could show them that while Akainu was his enemy, they were not. In doing so he would crumble Akainu's nation out from underneath him gaining the support of allies along the way.

He decided his first task was to find out if the powers hurt Ace when he used them. If they didn't that meant he could heal as many people as he wanted from now on. Afterwards, he would need to go out in the public and heal as many people as possible, all while Coby and Helmeppo was guarding him, hopefully this would start to erode their confidence in Akainu and make them instead give it to him. He knew he would have to train them to be less obvious as to their intentions, but he was sure they could at least gather gossip if not more important information. From there they could tell him any rumors about Smoker and his true allegiances. Smoker would be the real trove of information he was looking for, as long as he found something he could hold over him.

Jimbei could also play a large part in bringing Smoker toward cooperating with them. He had worked with the Fire Nation quite a few times and there was a chance that he also had some information that would prove useful to their goal. He was still a few days off until he arrived though, so Marco knew he should start acting on his other plan before that just in case Jimbei didn't have any information that would help him.

Marco yawned. Now that he had his plan laid out his body was making its exhaustion know. He allowed his fire to fade away and curled up underneath the blankets to sleep for the night. He knew the next day would mean going out in the public even if his body and instincts made him want to stay inside and fashion a nest, even though he knew any nest he made here would never be used. He could already hear the comments and teasing he would endure once he started nesting back home. Such thoughts were the ones that lulled him to sleep; thoughts of family, of Ace, of home.

…

When Sanji stirred from sleep early in the morning to start breakfast, Zoro growled and was not inclined in the slightest to let his mate leave the bed. As Sanji stated to sit up Zoro wrapped his arms around him like wire cables and gave him a nip on the side all while his eyes remained closed. Sanji's expression become unimpressed with a tinge of annoyance. Since they had received the news of the pregnancy, Zoro had taken the habit of coddling Sanji; which was something the blond couldn't abide by.

"Oi, Marimo, let go of me, I need to go get started on breakfast before the others wake up." Sanji demand lowly in a whisper.

Zoro grumbled incomprehensively but released the blonde. Sanji stood up and started gathering his clothes for the day while the green haired swordsman opened one eye to watch in appreciative awe. Zoro wouldn't admit it out loud but he enjoyed watch Sanji dress, or undress. Sanji's movements were slow and graceful as he added each piece on one at a time, and Zoro could never be sure if it was natural for Sanji to look this appealing or if he was purposefully trying to entice him. Zoro thought it would've annoyed him at first, when Sanji would start to cover up that smooth pale skin that Zoro had been touching not so long ago. He'd imagine that he would just want to tear the fabric that was obstructing his view away, and he did to an extent. However, he also felt pleased as Sanji covered his body with so many layers until almost none of his skin was visible. It made him privileged and proud that only he could see most of his mate's skin and that everyone else could see so little of it day to day. It was only to annoying that the clothing would also obscure any love marks he had left during the night. Then again, everyone who knew them already knew they belonged to each other.

Sanji could feel Zoro's gaze on him as he always could when he was getting ready. Sometimes it would distract him enough that he couldn't stand it anymore and would delay to give and receive his mate's affection in other ways. Today however, he wasn't in the mood and his mind was already going through the recipes that he would be using that day, so his mate would just have to wait. Still, it made him feel proud and loved to still have Zoro stare at him even after they had been mated for a while now. After all, it was nice to know that he still held his mates interests even though they saw each other naked day after day.

It was while he was buttoning up his dress shirt when Sanji heard the sound of metal scratching against wood. Sanji held back the snicker that he knew wouldn't please Zoro, but he couldn't stop from smirking as he turned back to where his mate still laid. Zoro's face had become bright red which contrasted his hair and the white of the sheets to a comedic level. Green cat ear with black stripes and armored tips were flat on the top of his head. And, though Sanji couldn't see it, Sanji knew that his mate's bladed tail was hanging of the bed, swinging and creating the sound he'd heard earlier by dragging across the wood of the bedframe. Zoro quickly hid his head under the covers in embarrassment, but the sound still continued.

Zoro silently cursed his demonic nature and its habit of unleashing its form whenever he saw anything he wanted whether it was his mate or booze or in the midst of battle. His parents had told him that his nature would reveal itself whenever he was 'hunting' but Zoro found it more annoying that helpful. This was all because he was born a cactus-cat; a large armored cat that roamed the desert cutting open cactuses with its bladed tail and drinking the fermented drink inside. If he shifted all the way his demonic form looked like an armored green tiger, but the fact that his tail and ears could appear whenever he desired something had caused more than its fair share of embarrassing situations. However, both of them knew that if it wasn't of that condition of Zoro's nature, there was a chance that they would have never become mates in the first place.

Zoro hadn't been at all inclined to go to the Baratie when it had first moved to the town where they had all lived. In fact, he couldn't have cared less about the new restaurant; it was Robin who had insisted they go, and Sanji had been the reason. Robin had told them all that there was a rumor that a male kitsune worked and lived at the Baratie. She had explained to them that male kitsunes were extremely rare and that ninety eight percent of all kitsunes were female. Kitsunes were noble demons from the light nation and that even though they could have fire powers they shared many more genes with other light nation demons rather than fire nation ones. Being the kind of person Robin was, she had wanted to see a male kitsune first hand and everyone else, especially Luffy, had want to see what kind of food the Baratie had as it was also rumored to be a high quality restaurant. Luffy had decided that they would go as a crew and Zoro wouldn't be one to say no, seeing as there was most likely alcohol at the Baratie.

At first no one knew that Sanji was the kitsune they were looking for, after all not many people wandered around have any part of their demonic form showing. Sanji had shown them to their seats and not even Robin had considered that he would be the kitsune. To Zoro, he had just seemed like an idiot as he doted on the girls even after Robin had told him that she was recently mated to Franky. He merely continued to treat them special after congratulating Robin and Franky. It annoyed Zoro but Nami had told him to shut up and seemed to be taking advantage of the blonde's attention.

However as the dinner continued on just a rowdy as most of their meals were, Robin started to get slightly depressed that she couldn't discern which employee was the kitsune. She had come with that in mind, so Zoro didn't blame her for wondering if rumors were just falsehoods spread to increase the popularity of the new restaurant. They could hear that many of the other patrons were wondering the same thing in the conversations they could overhear. Yet, Robin decided that it would be tactless to ask upfront, especially since the food was good enough to make up for the lack of the male kitsune. However, Luffy was never known for having tact and as soon as Sanji came back to their table, he couldn't hold back his outburst.

"OI, Isn't there a male kitsune that works here?" Luffy asked in a very loud an excited voice that had most of the other patrons turning to hear the answer out of shear curiousity.

"Ah, I guess no matter where we move those kind of rumor follow us." Sanji responded, "However I'd much rather have people come in for the food rather than something like that."

"Ehh," Luffy whined, "I love the food but Robin really wanted to meet the male kitsune. There isn't one?"

"There is," Sanji smiled while he spoke charmingly. He turned and addressed Robin directly, "Robin-chawn did you really come here because of that. I guess it would be pretty disappointing if that was your goal and it wasn't accomplished."

"I'm sorry Cook-san, I didn't mean to discount the restaurant by caring about the rumor." Robin apologized. "I'm a historian and an archeologist and male kitsunes are so rare that I couldn't help but want to see one in person."

"No, no, there's no need to apologize, Robin-chawn." Sanji responded. "There's also no need for you to be disappointed with your visit today either, I'd never let a woman leave here disappointed. You've already met the male kitsune today."

"Really," Robin gasped in surprised grasping the meaning of his words.

"The geezer doesn't like me doing this but if it's to make a lady happy then I'll do it," Sanji explained.

Sanji closed his eyes and let his ears and tail appear, before open his eyes again with a large and cheesy smile on his face and a polite bow. His fox ears were fairly large and colored cream and white and abundantly fluffy. They twitched and turned at the onslaught of the other patron's gasps of surprised and fascinated whispers. Their table was no exception to it as Sanji gave a little spin so they could see his brush tail that was cream with a white tip. Everyone was impressed and Zoro wasn't any different, he just was trying to be less obvious about it. However, the blond looked so beautiful and cute that his demonic instincts had a completely different idea.

Zoro is startled when his own ears and tail appear without his permission. Instantly his face grows hot but he frowns and feels the urge to growl to let his friends know that he wouldn't appreciate their laughter. His tail sways in annoyance and the blade drags against the wood floor of the restaurant creating a scraping sound. Most of the men ignore it as they don't want to make him angry or just don't want to make a scene and get kicked. The two girls stare at him with sly smiles that he knows don't bode well for his future or keeping his interest in the blond a secret. Luffy laughs loudly and smacked his hand against the table.

"You're a funny guy, Zoro!" Luffy exclaims as he continues to laugh until Nami shuts him up with a smack to the head.

"OI Marimo, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sanji started yelling as soon as he noticed what Zoro's tail was doing to the hardwood floor. Sanji's ears are flat and his tail is bushed out in anger. "Stop damaging the floor moss-for-brains!"

"What did you just call me twirlly-brows?" Zoro shouts back in a growling tone.

"You heard me grass-head, I don't care if you show your demonic side but you can't just damage our restaurant like that!" Sanji argued.

That whole incident had been how they met and as Sanji looked back on it, he realized how humorous they must have been to everyone else in the restaurant. Two full grown demons arguing like children, as they always have from that point on, completely ignoring their surroundings. Sanji at that time hadn't thought much of the swordsman just an annoyance with green hair that messed up the restaurant. He realized now that perhaps he had just been ignoring his own instincts and feelings.

He had been dead set on becoming mates with some beautiful woman so he didn't think that the green haired man had been worth his time. However, that wasn't something he wanted to think about at the moment. It would only make them sad again, and jealous. He shook his head and finished getting ready. He turned back to Zoro and saw him still huddled under the blanket from embarrassment. Sanji couldn't help but chuckled and receive a growl in return. He walked back over to their bed and gave his mate a kiss on the forehead through their thin sheets before heading out to the kitchen to get ready for the day.

…

Ace was confused when Marco called since Thatch insisted on talking to him as well. He didn't understand what Thatch needed to say to Marco so badly but it was obvious that the cook was nervous. This only made Ace more nervous in turn, worried about what Thatch wanted to say despite not remembering something he should be worried about being known by Marco. Ace warily eyed Thatch as they listened into Marco and Oyaji's conversation.

"You're planning to appeal to the people and the guards that have been assigned to you?" Whitebeard asked. "And you think that one of the council members might be treasonous as well."

"That's correct, yoi." Marco replied. "It doesn't seem like Akainu has been taking much care of his citizen which presents to us an interesting opportunity if we can stir up enough tension in the public to rebel or at least not to raise up against us. As for Coby and Helmeppo, it seems like they care about the public and are obedient mostly out of fear. If I can show them I have decent intentions and that we stand a chance in battle that will go a long way in turning them to our side, yoi. However, they aren't the best at keeping secrets or guarding people. Smoker would be more useful."

"And, mostly likely, much harder to get to co-operate." Whitebeard added. "You said he followed you already, he may be reporting your movements and reporting back to Akainu."

"It's a possibility, but it's unlikely." Marco responded, "I think it's more likely that he has ties outside the fire nation. He never attends council meetings and sends an attendant of his instead, yoi. Also, I've been thinking, there's a possibility that he wasn't actually following me."

"That's would involve a very large coincidence to have him stumble upon you where he did." Whitebeard argued.

"He did seem to be interested in meeting me, however he acted likely he knew why I was there. He said I wouldn't find what I was looking for which means not only did he know what I was looking for but also knew it wasn't at that location. Perhaps he knows Akainu destroyed some records on the phoenix families or maybe Smoker took them himself whether by someone else's bidding or his own. He knows something important about my lineage, something he doesn't want me to know, yoi."

"Why do you suspect someone outside the Fire Nation?" Whitebeard asked.

"He's doesn't communicate with the other council members so it's not likely one of them, yoi. Also it would have to be someone of an equal or higher position than him to influence him. I don't think he's self-motivated either, although that's mostly intuition on my part. It's most probable that he's answering to a stronger royal from a different nation; someone he's had a lot of interaction with in the part that shares his values. When Jimbe gets here we may be able to figure it out then. In the meantime, it would be more intelligent to get Coby and Helmeppo on our side, even if they're smaller targets."

"Akainu will see you trying to turn the public against him immediately." Whitebeard stated. "Wanting the public to turn to you side is clever but also obvious as Akainu is already aware of the public's dislike of him. He will try to tarnish your actions anyway he can. You also have to remember that some of the public there hate you and will hurt you if given the opportunity."

"That's true but if we don't reach out then more of them may turn back to Akainu as their only option, yoi." Marco paused before bringing up the main update he had to discuss. "Is Ace there with you?"

"Yes, He's here," Whitebeard answers after chuckling.

"Good, Ace how are you doing?" Marco asks worriedly. "Are you more tired than usual? Do you feel worse today than before?"

Thatch rolls his eyes as Whitebeard continues to smile. Ace can't help but blush, happy that Marco is concerned but embarrassed that he had to do it so publically. He knows he'll get teased by Thatch later no matter how horrible Marco's threats are.

"I'm fine, I'm just as tired as I always am but no worse than before. Why?" Ace asks.

"Something very strange happened yesterday and because it did I was able to do something I hadn't been able to do before, but I was worried that it may have had an adverse effect on you." Marco explained. "I'm glad it doesn't seem to cause you trouble."

"What are you talking about what happened and why would it hurt me?" Ace questioned.

"Last night at the ceremony, when I had to heal Akainu, you're powers answered my call, yoi." Marco explained, "I was healing him and trying not to show pain on my face and then I thought about you and the pain was gone and I was covered in your fire instead of mine. I can heal without being in pain now, but I was worried since it was your power if it was hurting you."

"You can use Ace's powers?" Thatch exclaimed in surprise.

"Thatch," Marco said in a questioning voice.

Thatch realizes his mistake of speaking out before Marco knew about his presence. Marco was obviously not expecting him to be there and would be wondering why he was.

"Yeah, sorry, I was wanting to talk to you about, after everything else." Thatch muttered apologetically.

"But Thatch is right," Ace cuts in. "That's not normal. That's not a royalty power I don't know about right?"

"Of course not," Thatch scoffed interrupting again and causing Whitebeard to clear his throat awkwardly.

"This isn't any power of royalty that I know of." Whitebeard said. "Thatch you know more about Phoenixes more than I do. Have you ever heard of something like this occurring in Marco's family line?"

"No," Thatch replied. "I know that the blue phoenixes were special for some reason. My family seemed to think that they could've ended the war easily if they had decided to fight, but that they were pacifists was a problem. My parents always were angry saying if they had that power they would've used it a long time ago."

"So, if they had a power that strong why would they not use it?" Ace asked.

"Perhaps the cost of using it was too high, yoi." Marco answered speaking his thoughts. "Healing causes pain, maybe whatever their special ability was it required some sort of sacrifice to use. Alternatively, it could've been something taboo or something extremely immoral to use."

"If that's the case it might not be all that helpful in battle if that's the case." Whitebeard added. "Those reasons would be enough to stop people who focused on helping others that it should never be used. Many demons can change fate but there's always a price to be paid for it. It would make sense that this power would work the same."

"True, however we still don't know what this power is." Marco responded. "It may be worth the cost or it may not be, yoi. We have no way of knowing that until we find out what it is. We should get back to the point though, if I can't use Ace's powers because of royal blood then why can I?"

"First, we need to find out if it's only you who can use his power or if you can both exchange powers at will and if you can both be using the powers at the same time. If it goes both ways it's likely somehow connected to your bond as mates." Whitebeard surmised.

"That might wear Ace out very quickly though, yoi." Marco argued.

"I'll be fine if it's just for a little while." Ace interrupted. "I'm not weak."

"I wasn't saying that I just want you to be careful, yoi." Marco replied. "We should keep this as short as possible, just to be safe."

"Ace go ahead and try to call on Marco's flames." Whitebeard suggested with a nod.

"Okay," Ace said sounding a mixture of excited and nervous.

Ace closed his eyes and tried to focus on thoughts of Marco while calling on his flames. At first, even with his eyes closed he could tell that the flames that responded we his own. He knew the feeling of his own powers. He frowned, not wanting to let everyone down and tried thinking about how Marco made him feel whenever he was around. Whenever Marco was near it was like the sun shined brighter and he was lighter, happier, and safer than he ever felt before. Ace felt the flames change right before hearing Thatch's gasp of surprise. He opened his eyes and saw Marco's flames dancing joyously in his hand. He only stared at them for a minute or two before dispersing them as he didn't want to drain himself and make Marco worry.

"Okay so you can both use each other's powers which means that it does have something to do with you guys being mates but it's not something that normally happens with mates or one of us would have heard of it." Thatch surmised.

"It also doesn't seem to affect the owner of the powers when the other person draws on their power, yoi." Marco added. "This could be very useful especially since Ace's powers prevent my own from hurting me, which means I can heal as many people as I want without worrying about it."

"True," Whitebeard interjected, "but if you go around healing people all the time Akainu might change his mind about trying to capture you now that you're surrounded by people at his command."

"If he did that he'd have to forfeit his council seat and so would the others a demons vows are to be upheld no matter what." Marco reminded. "Still, it may go a long way towards turning the public to our side if I can heal more than one person a day, yoi."

"It won't do us any good to have them on your side if you're captured." Ace argued realizing Marco was planning to do something dangerous again. "Akainu may have sworn not to hurt you but he's not the kind of person we can trust to uphold that oath either."

"I know you're worried about me, however I don't have any other way of undermining Akainu than this." Marco replied. "We don't have an endless amount of options, yoi. We can't afford to waste this opportunity either."

"I don't like this either, Ace," Thatch interrupted before Ace could speak, "But Marco would be safer if he had more allies. If this happened while he was healing Akainu then the council members already know about it and could decide to betray the truce even if Marco doesn't act. If it wasn't known by them it would've been in our best interest to hide it but as it is that won't work anymore. Therefore, if it already might cause them to betray us then we might as well go ahead and do as much damage as we can."

"I guess," Ace relented with a sigh. "Just try to keep it to a minimum, please."

"Of course, yoi." Marco said soothingly. "I believe that's all the updates I have to report for today. We'll just have to see how things work out from now on. How are things coming along on your end?"

"Unfortunately not much progress has been made in finding out which demon would have a chance of starting the curse." Whitebeard admitted. "And from now on we may want to put someone towards researching what's going on with you and Ace's powers as well. We wouldn't have any information about whatever ability your family has, so we cannot do much in way of research with that."

"I see, yoi." Marco sighed. "It seems like its two steps forward and one step back at the moment."

"It seems so." Whitebeard agreed. "Well, I'm sure you'd like a minute or two to talk to Ace so I'll be going to check on a few things." Whitebeard started to rise and leave the room as he did he motioned to Thatch to follow.

"Actually, I kind of need to talk to Marco in private as well." Thatch announced.

"Why?" Ace asked as Whitebeard shrugged and left.

"That's none of your business." Thatch answered.

"Marco's my mate, so if you have something to say to him then you can say it in front of me." Ace argued feeling irritated and untrusting.

"That has nothing to do with this." Thatch said raising his voice. "What, you still don't trust me?"

"No, yes, I don't know." Ace responded in a confused manner.

"What the hell," Thatch yelled incredulously. "I told you that case is settled! You two are perfect for each other and I'm not even interested in Marco anymore. I don't want Marco; I want Izou."

Thatch immediately realized that he had gotten too overworked and had spilled the beans when he didn't mean to. He threw his hands over his mouth and wished he could've said that in a better why with less people present. Ace stared at him with wide eyes and his mouth in a small circle. No one made a noise for a short while and the silence was painfully awkward for Thatch.

"Want him how, yoi?" Marco questioned finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Thatch admitted, "I guess like how you two want each other maybe."

"That's going to be a little bit difficult given the current situation with you two, yoi." Marco replied. "And, it's not like we have an abundance of time right now to focus on fixing your guys' relationship. We have a lot already on our plates with the war around the corner. I don't think it's the best idea for us to play with Izou's emotions at this time especially if you don't know how you feel either."

"I know but," Thatch started.

"No buts, yoi." Marco said sternly. "You have to remember how much Izou was hurting while you kept saying that what you had was just fulfilling needs. You can't expect to be able to change your mind this late and have him still want you in the same way."

"What if he still does though and I miss my chance because of everything else that's going on." Thatch asked.

"What if he doesn't and you cause a major incident in the family right before war breaks out, yoi." Marco copied. "You're only thinking of yourself again and that won't be of help to anyone."

Ace had stayed silent and listened to the two brothers fighting over the transponder snail and tried to figure out which one was right. On one hand, Marco was right and it would be horrible if Thatch and Izou had a rift form between them right before battle and it could be dangerous. However, Thatch had a point as well, he and Izou might both regret it if he didn't do anything. However he realized that there was one thing missing from this so far, Izou's opinion, and Ace thought that if it was something Thatch wanted to pursue wouldn't it be better if someone just went ahead and asked for Izou's opinion. Ace thought there was no one better for that than himself at the moment as Izou was the one Ace turned to since Marco was gone. He'd just have to hope that Izou felt the same way and would turn to him.

"I think we should at least try," Ace broke into the conversation. "Or at least figure out how Izou feels about this. Isn't it really up to him in the end?"

"Ace," Thatch joyously called his name.

"Ace…" Marco sounded disappointed. "This could go very badly."

"I think Izou is strong enough to at least answer a question about how he feels about Thatch and what he would do if Thatch told him he wanted to be in an actual relationship." Ace surmised. "Izou isn't weak. So, I'll ask him what he thinks. Then, once we know how he feels, we can make a better decision."

"I have a feeling that you're going to do this whether I tell you it's okay or not, yoi." Marco guessed.

"You might be my mate but I still get to decide what I do or don't do." Ace replied. "Plus, you're doing a lot of dangerous things I would rather not let you do."

"You have a valid point, yoi." Marco chuckled.

"So you're just going to ask Izou what he wants and you're just not going to tell him that I asked you to." Thatch asked.

"Yup, except I don't really know if you asked me or not." Ace clarified. "I'm just doing what I think I should based on what you're saying. Plus you guys are super awkward around each other right now and it's a little off-putting."

Marco laughed and Thatch glared at Ace. Still, Thatch thought at least he had some help and a plan now. He didn't know what he'd do if Izou decided he didn't want him already. However, he knew that if that was the case then it was entirely his fault and he would just have to live with that consequence.

…

Marco started to head out as soon as the call with Thatch and Ace ended and he was not surprised to see the same two guards at his door from before. He couldn't help smirking at them as he started to leave and they started to follow him. Given what he knew about them and Coby's strong sense of justice, Marco was sure he could turn these two into allies and the easiest way to do that was by showing that he was better than Akainu, which Marco thought would be fairly easy. Akainu was not well loved even within his own military. His plan for the rest of the day was to go out into the public and do some healing here and there. He was planning to stick to healing only the most severe of cases.

"Where are we going?" Helmeppo finally asked nervously.

"Out," Marco replied with a shrug.

"Out?" Helmeppo repeated, "What do you mean by that out where?"

"Out into the city, yoi."

"Oh no," Helmeppo argued, "There is no way you're going out there. Half of those people want you dead and if you die then we are all dead."

"I don't plan on dying, yoi." Marco pointed out. "Plus isn't that what I have you two guarding me for?"

"We're guarding you so you don't get into anything you're not supposed to." Helmappo clarified.

"Is there something in the city that I shouldn't be getting into?" Marco asked smiling devilishly. "Are all your secrets written on street signs or something, yoi?"

"That's not the point." Coby cut in. "You could be killed or hurt or do something that could hurt us or someone else."

"I'm hurt," Marco joked. "You have so little faith in me, yoi. I'll have you know I was constantly out in the public in the Earth Nation and I was quite loved by the people there."

"Yeah, but you being loved by the people isn't the case in this nation and if it was, that would be worse for us." Helmeppo responded. "We can't have you starting some sort of rebellion."

"Yes, because you're all doing so well right now." Marco said sarcastically still making his way out of the building. "God forbid I want to go outside and save a few lives of your citizens."

"If it angers Akainu then you healing people won't do any good anyway." Coby muttered. "They'll end up dead some other way."

"Why do you put up with it then, yoi?" Marco questions.

"As if lowly guards like us could do anything against royals." Helmeppo snaps. "No dragon has ever been able to control magma before and now that one can it's not like any of us can fight back against him."

"There's never been a phoenix with two kinds of fire before either." Marco replied. "Perhaps you shouldn't bet against me so readily. If no blue phoenix even fought against Akainu then there's no telling how well I'll do against him, yoi."

"Let's give you the benefit of the doubt," Coby proposed with a shrug. "Even if you can face off equally against Akainu it's not the same for the rest of your family and that puts you at a disadvantage. Akainu doesn't care who he has to sacrifice to accomplish his goals. However, based on you being here alone, you don't feel the same way."

"You're saying my family is my weakness or my willingness to sacrifice for them is, yoi?" Marco questioned with an annoyed look.

"I just think it would be really easy to kill you if someone you cared about was in danger." Coby replied. "Akainu on the other hand doesn't treasure anyone or anything other than his ideals. The only weakness you could use against him would be a physical one but we don't know about him having any such weakness."

"So, you agree with Akainu's willingness to sacrifice his people in order to with as long as it upholds his own personal sense of justice, yoi?"

"Of course not," Coby snapped. "I'm just stating a fact."

"Yeah, it's not like we want people to die but it definitely doesn't help your cause that you're so willing to sacrifice yourself for others, especially if you're the only person who would stand a chance against Akainu." Helmeppo added.

They had reached the ornate doors leading out into the city and Marco could hear a ruckus just beyond the gate. He could sense a swarm of people just beyond them yelling and chanting, begging for entrance. He had no doubt many among them hated him, and many others loved him, and wanted healed by him in desperation to keep living. He could feel the anxiety and rage of the crowd seeping into his skin from the dense air. The gate was shut and locked, but that meant nothing to Marco. He noticed four guards standing by the doors staring at him threateningly.

"Do you have the resolve to face those people outside and tell them to die for your belief in an outcome that has not been proven, yoi?" Marco asked his back towards Coby and Helmeppo as he stared at the doors blocking his path. "Would you be able to tell those whom you know won't survive until a cure is found that they must die because otherwise you may anger your tyrannical dictator? Can you tell the parents of a dying child that it's for the best that their child die to make things easier for you?" Marco turned back to the two and looked at them daringly. "Would you be able to look upon their burnt flesh and the corpses and sleep at night knowing that you two stopped me from saving them?"

The two men, nearly still boys, looked at him and swallowed thickly. Their mouths were pressed into thin lines. Marco could see the gears turning in their mind as they came to a crossroads in their conscience. Do they abide by a horrible dictator that may lead to the deaths of many innocents, or do they risk his wrath and retribution. They were wavering, not to completely turn against Akainu but rather to take the first step away from him. He had to push them one last time.

"Tell me to return to my room and I will, yoi." Marco offered. "However, be aware that it was your decision to leave them to burn and die, not mine. This isn't about Akainu or I, this is about you. How much suffering are you willing to create to make life easier for yourselves?"

Coby and Helmeppo looked at the door then and nervously shifted. They looked at the door but truly they were looking past it knowing what was beyond it was a crowd of dying civilians. Marco had no doubt that the two across from him could see the burning flesh in their minds eyes and smell the scent of death permeating the air. The two exchange a look and a sigh.

"Not like we would've ever said no," Helmeppo said full of tension.

"Great," Marco nodded. "Shall we then, yoi?"

"Why do I feel as though we just made a deal with the devil?" Coby muttered half-heartedly.

Marco did him the favor of ignoring that comment, it had amused Marco anyway. He started walking towards the doors again with the two following behind him more closely now. Maybe they were worried about him dying, however he wasn't too concerned with that himself. He was confident in his ability to avoid death. As they approached the door the other four guards stepped away and pointed their weapons at him to which Coby and Helmeppo mirrored in his defense.

"Where do you think you're going, Phoenix?" One of the guards asked briskly.

"Outside, obviously," Marco replied with a shrug.

"I don't think Lord Akainu and the other Council members would like that very much." The guard assumed. "We haven't received any permission to let you through."

"Has it been expressly forbidden to let me through, yoi?" Marco asked. "Or are you personally deciding that?"

"Che," the guard clicked his tongue dismissively. "I suggest you say inside for your own safety, otherwise we might be required to use force to keep you inside."

"You think you can stop me, yoi?" Marco laughed. "You're underestimating me as the first commander in the Earthquake King's Army. I'm not a pacifist like the previous generations of blue phoenixes."

"Doesn't matter to me whether you are or not." The guard replied. "I'm not losing my head for your stupid whims."

"You might want to keep in mind that the Council garunteed my safety for the term of my stay here and if you were to violate that then every one of them would lose their seats on said council by oath." Marco reminded. "I'd think they'd be much more enraged by that than by me taking a walk outside especially since I didn't promise to stay on the grounds."

The guard hesitated and swallowed thickly before saying, "Your death won't be on my head."

The guards begrudgingly put down their weapons and moved to the side. Marco nodded to them and stepped towards the gate. A signal was given by one of the guards and the door slowly started to open revealing the large crowds Marco had sensed earlier as well as a line of gaurds trying to keep said crowd from entering the council building grounds.

The line of gaurds glanced back at him briefly in surprise as the crowd forced themselves forward against them even harder than before. Marco walked forward as he observed the crowd with a gentle and understanding expression. He was right behind the row of gaurds when he held up his hand surrounded by his blue flames and the crowd stopped their struggling.

He saw them; parents holding up their children who were right on the brink of death, siblings trying to support each other, even single people so burnt that they could only crawl risking being trampled to death for a chance to be healed. As he saw them he could not help but compare them to his family and those he met in the Earth Nation. What would those he loved done if they had gone through the same thing these people had. Would they love the one who had finally reappeared with the power to cure them, or would they resent that person and want revenge?

He deserved the blame, he knew. He deserved the hate. Yet, he could not give them their revenge no matter how much some of them may have desired for it. He could only do what was available to him now. He could not change his past actions. He could only try to help those he could and ask for their forgiveness once the war was over. They reached out for him wanting to touch him and be healed from their pain. They reached out to keep living to save their loved ones and keep them close, so that they would not have to endure any more loss. He reached out for them; for the people he had abandoned as not his. The gaurds slowly moved aside in stunned silnce as time seemed to drag as Marco reached the crowd. He embraced them within his wings taking their pain from them as though they were his people.

...

I'm so sorry this took so long but I've been really busy. Please leave a review if you liked it! I'm keeping this going just very slowly because it's hard for me to write when Ace and Marco aren't together. Collars Come Loose The Rewrite with be updated probably next month if things go according to plan. Anyway love you guy, hope you enjoyed it.

-LPC