It was about a week after the incident with the bandits that Marcus noticed a change with Uta. At first he thought she was getting used to his constant teasing. Sure she would still blush, call him an idiot and even run away sometimes. But Uta herself started being bolder and would hold his hand sometimes and even hugged him once. Her face looked like a cherry tomato after she did it, but she still did it.

It turned out Makino was the one behind the change. Marcus only found out because he overheard a conversation they had in the kitchen one day as Makino was teaching Uta how to cook…

“Remember Uta, if you like someone, you need to be bold and show them. Since men and especially boys are stupid and will never understand unless you are very direct with them.”

“But Marcus is smart. He always teases me…” Uta’s voice trailed off as she started to blush a little.

Makino rested a hand on Uta’s shoulder as she said, “He might tease you, but does he know you like him? Have you told him?”

Uta shook her head before Makino said, “Then he doesn't know and you have to be more direct with him. Hold his hand, hug him…”

Makino grinned and leaned down closer to Uta as she said in a secretive tone, “Or just grab his face and kiss him!”

“I can't do that!” Uta yelled out as her whole face flushed red.

Before the conversation could go anywhere else Marcus stepped into the kitchen and asked, “What can't you do? Do you need help with something?”

Steam started to come out of Uta’s ears as she stared at Marcus and thought about what Makino just said. Marcus glanced between them both for a moment before he narrowed his eyes and said to Makino, “You better not be teaching Uta anything bad.”

Makino instantly picked up a rolling pin from the counter and slapped it against one hand as she said, “Just who do you think you are, talking to your loving big sister like that, uh!?”

Before Marcus could respond, Makino was next to him and smashed him over the head with her rolling pin. Marcus crouched down as he covered his head with his hands and said, “What the hell!?! How is this loving in any way?”

Makino whacked him over the head again as she said, “Of course this is love! Can't you feel it, or do you need another dose of love?”

“No way!” Marcus said as he quickly escaped from the kitchen and nursed two giant lumps on his head for the rest of the day.

After that incident, Marcus steered clear of the kitchen whenever Uta was getting lessons. While he didn’t want Makino corrupting Uta, trying to fight with Makino was almost as bad as fighting Garp, so Marcus just gave up on the idea. And like that, over a month passed quickly as the Red Hair pirates prepared to leave the island for the final time. Luffy and Uta seemed to take it the hardest out of everyone when they realized what was going on. Luffy because he wanted to join Shanks crew and go out on adventures.

Uta on the other hand was upset because Marcus refused to join the crew. She hoped he would change his mind before they left, since she had a childish crush on him. But whether or not Marcus joined the crew on their journey didn't stop Uta from spending as much time as she could with him though.

While a good portion of their time together was spent training, they still took breaks alone together. During those breaks Uta would feed Marcus the food she made for him and they would talk. While it was mostly random, unimportant information most of the time. Uta did share her dreams and ambitions with Marcus and he did the same with her.

Uta’s dream was to sail around the world and one day hopefully unite the world through music she created, which she called a new genesis. Marcus's dream was slightly similar since he also wanted to sail around the world. But he mostly wanted to explore the world to see what secrets it held and basically see everything there was to the place.

Uta also made sure she didn't waste any of the time she had left and joined Marcus at night when he normally trained alone. As he slowly moved through his sword stances, Uta would be off to the side as she practiced singing and creating new songs. Marcus never complained and found it enjoyable as he thought of it almost like his own personal concert each night.

Another nice thing that happened during that time was Shanks wanting to spar a few times a day with Marcus. It was almost a month of constant sparing for Marcus as Shanks attempted to teach him as much as possible. Shanks had already given up on Marcus joining his crew and decided to train him seriously before they left instead.

During that time Marcus made incredible progress in his swordsmanship. He still wasn't close to beating and in fact never even touched Shanks once with his training sword. But if he sparred against all of his brothers at the same time with a sword, he could easily wipe the floor with them. Take away his sword and Ace would still win seventy percent of the time though.

As the crew's departure date crept closer, both Uta and Luffy became more anxious. Neither one wanted the day to arrive and hoped it would be delayed or even canceled outright. But unfortunately their wishes weren't answered and the fateful day finally arrived. It was a day the boys would normally use to train, but decided to take it off.

While Luffy was closer to everyone compared to Ace and Sabo because he slacked off so much in training. It would be a lie to say they didn't form bonds with the crew. Especially Ace who seemed to be in a better mood lately after his late night talks with Shanks. Sure his somewhat broody attitude was still there and it would probably never leave. But he smiled more freely now and wasn't as guarded as he used to be.

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Luffy and the others were busy on the dock talking with Shanks and the others as they helped load the ship. As that happened Uta approached Marcus with a basket in one hand. She didn't speak and she ended up blushing as she quickly grabbed Marcus by the hand before she dragged him away. Shanks and a few others smiled as they watched them disappear towards the cliff that overlooked the sea just north of the village.

Once they were on top of the grass covered cliff, Uta set down the basket and pulled out a blanket which she laid out. She forced Marcus to remove his shoes and sit on the blanket before she did the same thing.

Once they were settled on the blanket she started to pull out some food and drinks from the basket as Marcus asked, “This is new… Where did you come up with the idea for a picnic?”

Uta’s ear’s turned a little red and she made sure not to look at Marcus as she said, “Ummm, big sis said this is what couples do on dates.”

Internally Marcus was shocked and wanted to scold Makino for corrupting Uta with more weird ideas, but externally he smirked and asked, “So we're a couple now and this is our first date?”

Uta glanced at Marcus and nodded her head once before she focused on her task. Once everything was set out, she glanced back at Marcus while her face started to flush again. She quickly patted the spot right beside her on the blanket as she said in a shy voice, “Come closer.”

“Sure.” Marcus said with a smile.

Once Marcus was seated next to Uta, she picked up a plate with a large sandwich on it and placed it on his lap. Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, “Not gonna feed me yourself?”

Uta pointed at a plate of cake and cookies as she said, “I'll feed you those afterwards.”

Marcus nodded before he picked up the sandwich and took a large bite from it. Uta picked up her own sandwich and joined him as they ate in a comfortable silence. Once they finished, Uta stared out to sea for a little while before she asked in a quiet voice, “Are you sure you won't join us?”

Marcus glanced at Uta without turning his head and noticed the anxiousness on her face. He let out a sigh and placed his arm over her shoulder, which caused her whole body to tense up as he pulled her closer. As she rigidly leaned against his body, he started to run his hand through her hair and felt her body slowly relax.

After a few moments Marcus said, “I would, but I have other things I want to do and it won't be possible if I leave now.”

Uta tilted her head to look up at Marcus as she asked, “Why? What do you need to do that's so important?”

Marcus glanced down at Uta with a mischievous smile inches away from her face. Uta flushed bright red again as she realized how close they were now which made Marcus smile even more. He gently ran his hand through her hair again before he finally turned away from Uta as he said, “The main one is getting stronger.”

Uta unconsciously relaxed her head onto Marcus's chest as she said, “You can get stronger with us.”

“True, but I want to rely on my own strength when I finally set out to sea. If I leave with you now, I would be dependent on Shanks and the rest of the crew for protection and that doesn’t sit right with me.”

Marcus noticed as Uta's hands started to fidget and after a moment she asked, “So if you were stronger you would go out to sea with me?”

“Of course.” Marcus answered without hesitation.

Uta instantly turned around and their faces were almost touching as she locked eyes with Marcus. A moment later she raised her hand up next to her face with her pinky raised and asked, “Pinky promise?”

Marcus glanced at her pinky for a moment before he lifted up his own hand and wrapped his pinky with hers. As they shook pinky's Marcus said, “Pinky promise.”

Uta nodded in satisfaction before she quickly readjusted back to her seated piston nestled in Marcus’s arm. They sat like that for a little while as Marcus gently ran his fingers through her hair. Once Uta was satisfied, she reached over for the plate of desserts and started to slowly feed them to Marcus.

Marcus didn't eat them all though and ended up feeding Uta a cookie and one of the slices of cake. Which caused Uta to blush like crazy the whole time and took away her ability to speak for a little while. Once their picnic was over, they packed up everything and headed back. As Uta returned the basket she used to Makino, Marcus went to his room to collect something.

Then Marcus escorted Uta to the dock where they found Shank’s placing his straw hat on Luffy’s head. They both stopped to watch the scene before Shanks glanced up to them and asked, “Did you finish up?”

Uta blushed slightly as she said, “Almost.”

“Alright, well I’ll see you on the ship.” Shanks saved before he shared a nod with Marcus and headed towards the ship.

Uta turned to Marcus and before she spoke, he pulled out a small gift he had hidden under his shirt. He handed it to Uta and said, “I got this for you as a going away gift.”

Uta smiled as she took the gift that was about the size of a book and clutched it to her chest. Marcus smiled in return as he said, “I would tell you to open it now, but I think everyone is waiting on you.”

Uta glanced towards the ship and she found Shanks along with most of the crew on the aft of the ship watching her and Marcus with interest. Uta quickly turned back to Marcus and focused only on him as she blushed slightly. Then she closed her eyes for a few moments to calm down before she looked at Marcus and said, “When you’re stronger, you better keep your promise.”

“I will.”

“Good… I’ll. I’ll miss you.” Uta said in a sad voice.

Marcus pulled Uta into a one sided hug since she was still holding her gift and said, “I’ll miss you too.”

Once he released Uta, she didn’t back away and instead kissed Marcus on the cheek which actually left him stunned for a moment. Uta herself turned a deep shade of red and ran towards the ship as cheers and whistles erupted from Shanks and the crew, which just made things worse. Marcus watched as Uta with a goofy grin on his face as she ran up the gangplank of the ship where she stopped near the top and waved at him for a moment before she disappeared onto the ship.

Marcus and the other people at the docks waved at the ship as they started to leave the dock. Marcus even noticed Uta on the back of the ship as she waved at him again as the ship pulled further away from the island. The only person who seemed depressed about the whole thing was Luffy who was crying as he waved at the ship.

Marcus couldn’t help but smile as he placed his arm over his brother's shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, you'll see them again one day.”

They both watched in silence for half an hour as the ship slowly disappeared on the horizon. Once it was completely gone Marcus said, “How about we go eat something?”

Luffy almost instantly cheered up as he said, “Okay.”