The wagon really was back in the driveway by lunch the next day.

Thatch steps out of the driver's seat as Fossa pulls in behind him in another car. His pompadour hasn't survived whatever they did to fix the wagon, and both him and Fossa are grimy. Both are smiling, at least, so they must've enjoyed getting to work on the damnable thing.

"Little warrior!" Thatch says, opening his arms, and then looking at his hands. "Ah."

Laughing, you step down off the porch and let him hug you. "A little dirt won't hurt," you assure him. "I need to get cleaned up later anyway. Sorry I didn't get to do more than wave at you last night."

Thatch gives you a wide, toothy smile. "It was good to see you, but yeah, it's a busy night for me, that's for sure."

"You're going to find a nice girl and lose your mind trying to feed a whole family and spend time with her." You point out and Thatch's face goes red.

"I did - kind of." He admits. "We just met a week ago, and decided it was way too soon to be spending time with one another's family. But I'll see her on Christmas Eve."

You put your hands to your mouth and give him the squeakiest voice you had. "Awwww! My baby Thatch, all grown up and - wait, she's okay with the pompadour?"

Thatch gives you a sour look, but then grins, puffing out his chest a little. "Says it suits me."

"That's good, cause it does." You agree. "I hope it works out for you, big guy." He blushes, pink going all the way to his ears.

"Shucks."

"We fixed the timing issue, and put in a new starter." Fossa explains. "New set of spark plugs, and oil change since we already had it up on the rack, replaced a few parts with spares we had in the shop."

Your brows raise. "It might actually be safe."

Fossa nods. "Damn right it's safe. We weren't gonna bring it back over if we couldn't get it up to snuff." He grunts and you smile.

"Thanks. I appreciate that. Dadan would've driven it until the motor blew itself through the hood." You grumble.

"I wouldn't have let it get that bad!" She shouts, coming out onto the porch. "Oi, thank you boys for fixing it up for us. It'll make the holidays easier."

"Yeah, but we're scrapping it for parts when I buy you a new one." You assert, and Dadan just grunts.

Fossa laughs. "You are still the warrior!" He pats you on the back and you struggle to stay standing. "I swear you're the only one she listens to."

"Oh I know at least one other person she listens to." You say knowingly, giving Dadan a look. Your mom blushes, and grumbles under her breath about head strong daughters, before sitting down on the porch bench.

"Anyway, thanks guys. If you're hungry you can come in for a bite? We're about to have lunch." You offer.

Both of them smile, but decline. "We gotta get back to the house, I've got two birds in the oven that we couldn't find space for yesterday, and Izou's not going to be able to handle them." Thatch admits.

The guys head out, and you and Dadan get lunch together. Her shrill whistle cuts through the backwoods like a whip and a few minutes later the boys come running in from the backdoor, stopping in the mud room to clean up and strip of shoes caked with cold mud. The temperatures were going to drop, and the ground was going to freeze, but for now it was only just cold enough to make the mud cake thicker.

Lunch gives way to the afternoon, and you get cleaned up. When you come out of your room, Ace is standing in the hall, all eight years of him, with a very severe look on his face.

"What's got your face in a knot?" You question, pretty sure you already know. You're dressed nicer, not like for the feast, but certainly a step up from what you'd been wearing.

"I... don't want you to go back to the city." He says, and your eyes go wide. It wasn't exactly what you expected, but it was similar.

"I know." You admit, squatting down enough to look up at him. "I promise I'll visit lots more than I was before."

"Can't you stay?" He asks, and there's something in those little wet eyes that speaks volumes.

"I could." You reply. "You're gonna be my little brother no matter where I am, you know that right?"

Ace nods, and you can see him struggling not to cry. You brush a bit of his hair aside and when he doesn't flinch away you wipe one of the tears that escaped.

"And no matter who else comes into my life."

"I know!" He yells, and finally starts crying. He doesn't run off, and when you tell him to come in for a hug he does.

"Thank you for telling me." You say softly, and you can feel Sabo and Luffy come over until all three of you are hugging. Sometimes it takes weeks and months, sometimes years, but every once in a while, when you find your family, you know it in a matter of minutes.

And that could be scary.

"I don't wan' you ta date Marco either." Ace grumbles into your shoulder and you can't help but laugh.

"Ace, I told you not to say that!" Sabo scolds.

"Marco's nice." Luffy declares, and Ace just grumbles in response.

Grinning, you give each one of them a kiss on the forehead. "I appreciate having you three looking out for me. I mean it. If I do end up dating Marco I'll visit even more often."

Sabo and Luffy light up at the idea of it, but Ace seems conflicted. Little guy really doesn't want to let go of his jealousy. That's okay.

You ruffle his hair.

"C'mon, let's get dinner going." You urge the boys downstairs, and pull out your phone as you follow along behind them.

You: Still up for tonight? I'm sure you're a busy guy, Mr. Business Owner.

It only takes a moment for him to reply.

Marco: Izou's helping, should be done in the next hour.

You: It'll be 2 hours before we're done with dinner, don't feel rushed. Thatch and Fossa got the wagon working, so I'll meet you there.

Marco: That's a shame. 😉

You snort. You know he means it's a shame he won't have an excuse to come pick you up, but you're not going to let him get away with that so easily.

You: It is, but I'm still getting her a new wagon.

His only response after that is an actual pineapple emoji.

Dinner went smoothly. Ace seemed to let go of some of his frustrations with a full belly, and even managed to join his brothers in saying good bye when you left the house after the meal.

You couldn't help the nerves that coiled in your stomach the closer you got to Makino's. You hadn't been there since she took over from her mom, but you doubted it had really changed. Change came to Sphinx, sure, but usually pretty slowly. That just meant it would be comfortable. The atmosphere, and the company, were all already known to you, so there wasn't any reason to be nervous.

It was the "Just you and I" that kept sticking in your head. You knew Marco meant the two of you at a table, and not the two of you as the only two people in the whole bloody bar, but there was a lot of weight behind the statement. A desire to be able to hang out and have it truly just be the two of you.

You weren't surprised to see Marco's car in the parking lot already, but you were surprised to see him leaned against the trunk. He straightened up when he saw you pull in and smiled in greeting, coming over and walking into the pub with you.

"I hope you weren't waiting long."

"Nah, ten, twenty minutes tops." He says. "Not even long enough to get cold, really." Marco tugs at the thick turtleneck he's wearing before opening the door for you.

The pub's fairly packed, as you'd expect post dinner on a friday night, but it looks like Makino expanded it, or her mother did, as there's a barn style second floor above the original lay out. It added more tables, but also opened up space on the first floor for a bigger dancing area. A location that was very full of people already.

Marco indicated for you to head upstairs, and when you got up there it was much less crowded. There were some big booths, but most of the tables were really only meant for two or three people. The music was muted up here, and unlike downstairs there weren't any TVs playing sports channels.

It wasn't exactly restaurant vibes, but it was a pleasant liminal space. Casual enough you wouldn't feel awkward to have nothing but a couple drinks and maybe an appetizer if you stayed long enough to get peckish.

You aren't surprised to see Makino come up to take your order just a minute after you got seated.

"You didn't tell me you renovated." You say, sticking out your tongue.

"We got to talking about other things." She retorts, giving you a half-hearted shrug before looking between the two of you. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have an Old Fashioned." You say. "And some zucchini fritters. I let Luffy get away with stealing a good bit of my dinner tonight, and I'm already a little hungry."

"A Negroni," Marco says. "And maybe some fried pickles to go with the fritters."

"Sure thing." Makino says with a smile before heading back downstairs.

You sigh, almost laying your head on the table.

"What's wrong, yoi?" You can hear the smile on his lips.

"The whole town is going to have us in a tree at this point." You're not really grumbling about it, but you can imagine it getting out of hand. "Makino knows the details of my extended stay."

"Ah, the story I don't even know yet." He muses.

"I'd say I'm surprised Makino or Dadan hadn't already told everyone, but they are a lot better at not gossiping than I give them credit for." You admit. "Spare me though, let me have a couple sips of a good drink before I start such a frustrating tale."

"Of course." He assures you. "You don't even have to talk about it tonight if you don't want to. We can just talk about the glory days if you want."

You smile. "Like pushing Thatch in the lake." Marco laughs.

"He told me what he said to you before you did that. You know he didn't mean it like that."

"I know he didn't once he came back out of the lake and explained himself." You say, covering your face. "But come on, how else do you take 'lemme tickle your tummy with my pompadour'?"

"Not his best moment." Marco agrees. "What did he say when you threatened to cut it off?"

"Oh he was just being annoying. He'd had the damn thing for years by then, and I think I'd made some comment about him considering a new do." There's a sheepish look on your face. "I didn't mean it in a bad way, but I think he might've been having a bad day. He just kept like, using it to get in my way. Blocking my view of the board, almost getting it in my lunch, the whole time going on about how useful it was.

"I didn't realize I'd struck a nerve so I didn't apologize." You admit. "But looking back on it I bet it was the umpteenth time someone had said it to him and he just snapped."

"Remember the snowball fight?"

"Gods, which one? Oh - oh you mean," you laugh and Marco's already nodding.

"You ducked that toss and it hit Izou right in the face." He laughs. "He thought he was far enough away from the rest of us, but that line!"

You both make a motion across your faces. "The line of lipstick from the impact. Oh no I remember."

Makino comes back up and gives the two of you your drinks. "The teasers will be another few minutes, but I'll have 'em brought up once they're ready. I'll be up later to check on you." She gives you a wink and you stick your tongue out.

"How's he holding up lately anyway?" You question and Marco quirks a brow. "Izou. He said during the feast that well, I don't know the details, but screw that fiance, honestly."

"Ah. Yeah. He's doing alright. He was a mess for a couple weeks. Hell, most of us were, but him, Thatch and Squard slept in Pops' room for a while. Julius, Brocca and Palms spend most of the time being therapists, given that they are, and I think it helped. Izou's sorrow went to rage when Ain tried to walk back her decision."

Marco pauses taking a drink as a server brings up your appetizers.

"It's hard to say if it was because of the promotion, but the timing was just too perfect." Marco explains, popping a deep fried pickle into his mouth as you grab a fritter. "I'm almost grateful to her for it, because he got so angry it pulled him out of his sorrow. Not the way I wanted to see it happen, but, even seeing it coming, it was a hard loss."

"Yeah... and you?"

Marco pauses, and then gives you a soft smile. "I'd been bracing for dad's death for three years by that point. It was hard, but I'm just glad I got to be there. I'd been doing so much traveling I kept expecting to get a phone call while I was halfway around the world."

"I'm sorry it happened, but I'm glad you got to be there." You say, and lift your drink. "To Pops."

"To Pops."

You clink the glasses carefully, and each take a sip, neither of you having drinks that should be finished in a gulp or two.

"As for me," you say, grabbing one of his pickles. "I was engaged. Izou and I were sharing a drink in shared misery, I imagine." You admit. "Since you know the Charlottes, you probably know Perospero."

Marco's eyes go wide as shock covers his face for a second. "Her firstborn, huh?"

"Yep." You pop your lips at the end of the word. "At first I thought it just kind of happened, but looking back I'm sure Linlin had a hand in all of it. Especially since Pero was already in love with someone else." You take another drink, think about what you're thinking about and take another drink.

"I'm going to need to buy a new bed when I go back home." You say, a look of disgust on your face.

Marco grimaces. "Sorry about that, little warrior."

"Ah, it's fine. It's-." You sigh. "It's just, getting fired over it is really what gets me. And yeah, it's not like fired fired, but being forced to accept a severance package, and made to submit your own resignation is, effectively, the same thing."

"Is there another option?" He prompts and you shake your head.

"I mean, I could send the picture of him in my bed with two women to the papers," you explain and Marco nearly chokes on his drink.

"You took a picture?" He coughs and you nod, pulling out your phone. "No, I don't need to see Pero's, well, anything."

"Oh everyone's covered." You assure him, flipping through your pictures. "I'd honestly like to show it to someone else. Make sure I'm not losing my mind."

You hold out the phone, face down, and give him a chance to say no, but your words were apparently enough. Marco takes the phone with an apprehensive look on his face before he tilts it up and looks. The look on his face is only there for a split second, but it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

You realize, you don't think you'd ever seen Marco look angry before. Irritated, maybe, but never really truly mad. But that flash of rage across his face was a little terrifying.

Thatch might have inherited Pops' booming voice, but Marco most certainly inherited his presence.

"Sorry." He says, handing the phone back.

"Eh? For what?" You question taking it back.

"That you're being punished when you didn't do anything wrong, yoi." He says, and you hum softly in response. "You really enjoyed your work, and I know Linlin's not going to see the flaws in her kids, or how she runs her family, yoi."

"Thanks. But, I mean, it'll work out, I'm sure. Kata's helping me track down a comparable line of work, and the money from the severance package is going to make things easier for me and mom an' the boys. So, even if I want to, I can't really complain."

You grab a fritter, but Marco grabs your hand and eats it for himself. It's a quick action, more childish than flirtatious, but the warmth of his hand on yours is apparently enough.

"Wha-What?" You stammer.

"You stole my pickle." He says, covering his mouth while he eats his pilfered snack.

"From the thing, from the basket!" You assert, pointing at the little basket of pickles. "Not out of your hand!" Your whole face is flushed, you're certain of it. You're not even halfway through your drinks, so you can't blame the alcohol.

Marco holds up a pickle for you, giving you the single most mischievous smirk you've ever seen on his fucking face.

Fine, two can play this game. You decide, mustering up every scrap of determination you had.

Grabbing his hand like he had yours you get the pickle, and the tip of his finger in your mouth. You lick the end of his finger before letting his hand go and leaning back into your seat, a smug look on your face as his cheeks dusted pink.

To his credit he kept his expression fairly neutral, so the blush was a big win.

"I suppose we're even now." You hum and Marco nearly laughs before leaning toward you.

"I suppose so." Those three little words roll off his lips and draw a line down your spine and suddenly you feel like you're in over your head. He takes a fritter from your basket, and you take a drink of your Old Fashioned.

"I-."

"Let me take you on a proper date." Marco says evenly.

"A... proper... Marco, I..." You pause for a moment and take another sip. "I'm not going to stay in this town."

"I know that, yoi." He answers.

"I don't... if I'm just going to have a holiday fling, I don't want it to be with someone so important to me."

"I don't want just a fling." He looks you in the eyes and you feel pinned to the wall. "You never asked me if I'd go to the city with you, and I understand why. But I would."

"You've got the store, I-."

"My brothers can handle the store, yoi. They can take care of the business. I didn't grow up with a dream of taking it over. After all the traveling I've done, settling down to a nice quiet life in the city sounds perfect."

You snort. "A nice quiet life in the city."

"I just know, we never really tried before." Marco says looking down at his drink before looking back up at you. "I would like to take that chance."

"If it doesn't...work." You press your lips together. You weren't really afraid of that, honestly.

"We give each other space, move on, and continue being friends." He pauses, reaching his hand across the table and you let him gently hold yours. "We can take it slow. I can come up there and stay for a couple weeks once the holidays are over. I..." His fingers flex against yours. "Would like to be happy with you, not just happy for you."

You put your face in your free hand to shield yourself from this man as much as you can. Even if you are leaving your other hand in his.

It felt a little like falling into some kind of prophecy. The town had believed the two of you were dating every time you turned around. But you were friends. Maybe not just friends, but dating never seemed like the right word. You weren't flustered around Marco. You didn't have butterflies in your stomach, and you didn't lay awake at night thinking about him.

But, he was always there, so there was nothing to fret. He was going to be your friend for your entire life. Him, Izou, Thatch, Haruta, and the long, long list of Edward children. Sure you'd all go do your own things when you grew up, but he would always be there.

He would. Wouldn't he?

"A date." You agree, looking at him from behind your fingers.

"Tomorrow night." He prompts, giving you a sweet smile.

"I'm going to be here for weeks." You remind him, lowering your hand and grinning.

"I've already left us both waiting far too long." Marco insists and you find yourself looking away again.

"You're killing me." You say, running your hand down your face as you try desperately not to blush yourself into a stupor. He doesn't say anything, just looks at you with that easy gaze, those hooded eyes. The soft shift of his fingers against yours. The clink of ice in his glass as he takes a small sip and gives you time to reply.

"...Tomorrow then." You murmur the words softly enough you know he probably didn't even hear them.

"Is dinner at 7 a good time?" He questions and you can't help but laugh.

"Dinner at 7 is a good time." You reply, squeezing his fingers and finally managing to look at him again. "Am I meeting you somewhere?"

"Ah, it's a proper date, little warrior." He grins. "Which means I get to pick you up at 6:40."

You laugh. "I suppose that means I should get dolled up a little."

"I would never demand such a thing," he says with a wink, leaning back and slowly letting go of your fingers. "Wear whatever you're comfortable with, pretty bird."

An interruption from Makino, checking in on the both of you, breaks more of the tension. You order new drinks, switching who got what, and spent the rest of your time talking about your younger days. You talked about work a little, the good things you'd done, and the interesting things he'd seen on his travels.

He was so relaxed, as far as you could tell, but you bet he had been horribly nervous leading up to it. No matter how cool he'd managed to play it. No matter how well he hid the pink that crept across his cheeks. You knew.

Not that it was doing you much good right now. He might've been an uncoordinated and awkward boy at one point, but he certainly outgrew most of it.

A hug at the end of it, a kiss on your forehead. Marco told you to sleep well, and dream sweet.

He was already looking forward to seeing you again.