Marco X Ace: Genderbender Ace

Part IV

Ace's slits of eyes open to gaze at the burning blue flames blocking her vision from the dark waves of dark creature's flying overhead. Their screeches drown everything else-other than the sound of Marco breathing calmly over her ear.

Marco is lying above her, his weight on hers, his chin on her shoulder and with one of his arms curling around her narrow waist in his attempt to shield her. Blue wings of fire cascade all over, wrapping the two of them into it's protection as they lay still and flat on the uneven ground awaiting the exit of the flying creatures.

Ace blushes at the weight pressuring down on her, and the option of hugging him at this point was widely open. Marco, whose face was hidden from Ace's view was sheltered by red at the sensation of two soft (AND HUGE) mounds below him, squeezing against his flat chest as he lay on her. He props up his other hand, the one without the contact of Ace to lift some of himself from the fire-fist.

Instantly, a rumble nearby rocks the cave. The world around them vibrate from an unknown catastrophe. They both squeeze shut their eyes. Marco, sensing an ominous trouble spreads out evenly his wings so that it unfolded across the curve of cave and flooding the path stretching from their place.

After a short term of waiting, the schreeching has gone and the shaking flames disperse. The young pirate's gaze is open again to the space of cave curving in an arc around them. Marco unwraps from her, his burning wings sinking into the air. Ace groans from the ache of his elbow meeting jagged stone.

They sit up but the older pirate's hands have trailed to Ace's biceps. Recovering from the short incident, their eyes meet. Ace's chocolate ones unconsciously zooming in Marco's mind, while Marco's bored gaze melting into Ace.

Marco realizes the position of his hand and lets go, as if the arms were something he shouldn't be touching. A tint of pink enveloped his cheeks but Ace's was red all over.

The gaze of their eyes never met an end. Marco moves up his hands; Ace sees them from the corner of his eyes. They move towards him until Ace couldn't see them anymore at the edges of her vision. It was until now that she noticed his hands to be large, in comparison to the sizes of her slim female body. Ace felt them on her back, she flinched but had done nothing else to move away. She feels the bones of his wrists slide athwart his waist sides.

The cloth of the shirt she was given furls around her chest. The tips of his fingers run in fleeting touches on her spine . And until then, her focus has narrowed down to only Marco's face and eyes.

One very tight pull squeezing her chest brought her back to her senses. She blinks in confusion at the warmth of cotton that has returned to her chest. She realizes the meaning of his actions when he stood up. "Button up your shirt..."

It appears that the button of Ace's shirt had been undone during the incident and Marco had tied it back to place. Ace was a blooming red.

Just how many awkward moments did they share during this short trip?

And all this triggered by Ace becoming a girl.

The older pirate stands, pushing himself on his knees. He offers a hand to the fire-fist who shakily takes his hand. Ace was oozing with self-embarrassment and Marco was basking in that pool. An awkward moment passes until Marco realizes a complication while Ace was occupied with his foreign girl emotions. The cave has becomes darker and the light coming from the either end of the tunnel has disappeared.

The luminescent mushrooms keep the place alight with green glow powdering the cave. He walks over to where he remembered the continuation of the tunnel, a pile of rubble blocks the pathway.

He places his hand on his forehead, heaving a sigh. "Darn."

"What happened?"

"We're been caved in."

"What?" Ace runs over to his side and stares at the huge boulders. Crumbs of soil fall from above but it seems the natural stone ceiling is still stable enough to sustain for long.

Marco crosses his arms as Ace asks, "What now?"

"What is left for us to do is wait for our nakamas. We can't risk the place collapsing if we attempt to break out."

Ace nods, a serene expression on her face but inside, her heart is racing pulses. She was going to be stuck here with Marco! And for how long?

Behind them, the tops of the mushrooms sizzle, fumes of light green mixing with the air. The luminescent liquid turning into gas. Ace turns around but the mushrooms return to their original state.
"These mushrooms seem familiar," Ace says.

"I don't think I have ever seen those before," Marco responds.