Bonded by Fire

Day 1: Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Marco sighed as he stared into the night sky while on the crows nest. It was his turn for night watch and with nothing much to do Marco let his mind wander to a certain freckled man. It all started when the blonde came to the realization that he was in love with the second division commander.
After that his phoenix quickly succumbed to the desire. Now his phoenix constantly demands that he jump Portgas D. Ace. The phoenix also wants to bask in Ace's unique fire. Which is the reason Marco's phoenix thrives on the slightest touch from the twenty year old.
The first division commander was pulled from his thoughts by his best friend Thatch. The fourth division commander sat next to him with a smile. "Marco buddy the awesome me has come to keep you entertained." Marco turned and looked at Thatch skepticly. "As if you would do that now what is the real reason you are here, yoi?" Thatch pulled a mock hurt expression.
"Now why would I lie about something like that?" Marco just gave him a pointed look. Thatch sighed, "You don't hold back do you? Okay well I came to talk to you about Ace." Marco raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why would you want to talk about that so late at night? Can't this wait until tomorrow, yoi?" Thatch shook his head no.
"No this can't wait. I want to know when you'll finally make your move with Ace." Marco sighed, "You know why that is a horrible idea. Its just not right, yoi." Thatch glared at Marco. "You do realize that you are practically the only one who actually thinks that. Who cares about what ever you're thinking? We're pirates dammit and should't we take every advantage that we can? For all we know tomorrow could be our last day alive and if you or Ace dies thats it you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Marco stared at Thatch with his normally half lidded eyes opened wide in shock.
Marco calmed down and sighed. "I'll think about it, yoi." Unknown to the both of the commanders Ace overheard the whole conversation. It was time for the watch to switch and after Marco's shift it was Ace. "Anyways I should probably go the next shift should be on their way." Ace heard Marco call out a good night.
The freckled man panicked and began to climb down as quickly and quitely as possible. He made it to the bottom when Thatch called out his name. "Ace buddy! What 'cha doing down there?" Ace smiled up at the other man while trying to hide the fact that he over heard the conversation. "I'm on the next shift!"
Ace made it to the top and greeted both Marco and Thatch with a bright smile. "Hey guys what 'cha doing here together?" Before Thatch could answer Marco cut in. "I was taking the shift and Thatch here wanted to talk to me about some new recipe he recently thought of, yoi." Thatch let out a sheepish laugh. "Yea I couldn't wait until tomorrow and risk forgetting it."
The freckled male let out a chuckle but excepted the answer. "Well okay. Have a nice night." The two returned the phrase and left together. Ace waited until they were gone before sighing. "What am I gonna do?" He said while looking into the stars.
The next morning Ace approached the one person who could possibly help him, Izou. "Izou can I talk to you in private?" The man turned to Ace with a smile and agreed. The two went to Izou's room to talk. "What do you need Acey?" Ace sighed before deciding not to regret this. "I need advice on love."
To say Izou was shocked was an understatement. "Who is the lucky fella? Let me guess is it Marco?" Ace nodded with a surprised look on his face. "How did you know?" Izou laughed lightly. "I've seen the way you two look at each other. I would have to be blind not to notice but I think Marco hasn't quite realized it yet." Ace blushed highlighting his freckles.
"Now what kind of advice do you possibly need?" Ace blushed and sat down on Izou's bed with a sigh. "Yesterday at night I overheard Marco and Thatch talking about Marco making a move on me." Izou gasped and sat next to Ace with a expectant look in his eyes. "Well Marco claimed that he wouldn't make a move because of the many different wrongs that he could see. I want to know if I should make a move then." Izou nodded to show he understood then had a thoughtful look. "I know what you can do! Here's the plan...."
Later in the evening when everyone had gone to bed except night watch and two fire users. Ace sat near the figure head looking down into the dark water. Flames came in short bursts around his body while he played with some of his fire in his hands. Izou had told him to do this out on the deck but didn't explain any further. The freckled man sighed before continuing to stare into the beautiful ocean while playing with his fire.
Meanwhile Marco was coming on the deck because Izou had told him that Ace wanted to talk to him about something important. This scared the usually calm commander as he worried that Ace found out about his feelings for him. What if the Ace wanted nothing to do with Marco anymore? Or if he would call Marco a disgusting pervert while running off. Each new thought brought more fear into the phoenix's heart.
When Marco finally made it to the deck and noticed Ace he gasped. In that moment the first division commander lost most of his self control as he stalked up to the younger man. Ace, having heard the footsteps, turned around and was about to greet Marco when he was suddenly grabbed. Marco pulled Ace into a hug and leaned his head against the freckled boy's bare shoulder.
"Do you do this on purpose, yoi? Do you enjoy teasing me? God Ace you don't know what you do to me, yoi." Ace was in shock and remembered what Izou had told him. Follow your heart repeated itself in Ace's head like a mantra. Don't forget Marco is a phoenix he lives off of fire. This is really important because it could break his self control. As Ace remembered that piece of information Izou had given him he pushed the blonde away from him.
Ignoring the flash of hurt that appeared in blue eyes Ace wrapped his arms around Marco's neck lighting his arms on fire. With a bright smile he responded to Marco's last statement. "What you do to me." Marco, not one to be in the dark, quickly realized what was happening and with a small smile leaned in while Ace leaned up.
The two met in a sweet kiss while both of them let their fire out to play. The red and the blue collided together as if they were dancers. The two's flames began to move and burn together as if they were always one. Sparks flew yet the two fire users did not care or seem to notice both lost in their love for each other.
"God I can't believe this is real, yoi." Ace laughed before kissing Marco's cheek. "Yea its real Marco. Don't worry about that." Marco nodded and moaned with his eyes closed at the feeling of Ace's fire. "Are you okay?" Ace asked with a worried look on his face. Marco opened his eyes and smiled at his lover. "Its nothing you should worry yourself with Ace, yoi."
Ace smiled, "Oh are you sure? Because I heard that phoenix's thrive on fire." With that said Ace lit his body on fire and Marco surprised accidently half transformed into his phoenix. Ace laughed with an amazed look in his eyes. Instead of changing back Marco fully transformed and nuzzled Ace. The freckled man smiled gently and pet the giant bird with a flaming hand.
The two stayed there in each others company. Content with being together, in that moment nothing mattered to the two except for the other. Finally after months of dreaming with being together the wish they thought impossible finally came true. Unknown to the both of them up on the crows nest Izou and Thatch watched the whole thing. Thatch silently cheered while mentally counting the money he would get for winning the bet made to see when the two would finally get together. Izou on the other hand was beyond excited and was ready to tease the two after they came out to everyone. Thatch and Izou quietly left from the scene.