~Talia’s POV~

                Marco seemed tense as we walked hand in hand through the bustling town. He was constantly scanning the faces in the crowd as if dreading running into someone he knew. I paused as I saw something through a gap in some buildings. In the distance there was a giant revolving wheel with a ton of vibrant lights attached to its spokes. It rose above the treetops and glittered in the bright sunlight.

                “What’s that?” I asked curiously as I pulled Marco to a stop and pointed between the two buildings at the giant wheel poking out over the treetops.

                It took him a moment to snap out of his own thoughts and he followed my finger to the wheel. He threw me a curious look, “The Ferris Wheel?”

                “Like at an amusement park?” I squealed excitedly causing passerby to stare.

                Marco grew uneasy as the few people who stopped to stare looked between the pair of us with distaste. An unnerving thought crossed my mind as Marco quickly glared at the ground in an attempt to partially obscure his face. There was a decent sized age gap between us, though I wasn’t entirely sure how old Marco really was, he didn’t appear to be much more than his mid to late twenties but from some of the logs I’d read I knew he was older than that.

                “Let’s go.” Marco said softly and ducked in a nearby alleyway to avoid the judgmental stares of the townspeople.

                “Are you ashamed of me?” I asked curiously causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

                “What?!” He gaped at me.

                “I feel like you’re trying to hide me.” I whined.

                Marco groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “That’s not it.”

                “So why do you get nervous every time someone looks at us and try to hide? Do I embarrass you?” I pondered.

                “No, Talia.” He sighed in exasperation.  “That’s not it.”

                I folded my arms in front of me and jut my lower lip out into a full baby faced pout, “Then what?”

                “Do you know what people see when they look at us?” He asked me curiously.

                I shrugged, “I don’t care what other people see. I care about what we see.”

                His electric blue eyes widened slightly at this.

                “When I look at you I see a man who’s strong, loving and compassionate. Someone who will protect me and keep me grounded. I don’t care how anyone else sees you.” I pointed.

                He placed a strong hand atop my shoulder and gave me a gentle squeeze, “You really are amazing.”

                “Amazing enough to go to an amusement park?” I asked excitedly.

                Marco chuckled softly, “I suppose so.”

                I clapped my hands together excitedly before placing my hand in his, “Lead the way, commander.”

                He looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling to himself and steering me away. We walked hand in hand through the dark dingy alleyway. Despite our desolate setting, everything seemed bright. The tension had dissolved and Marco looked relieved. He was no longer lost in whatever gloomy thoughts he’d been stuck in before and a small smile danced across his delectable lips.

                We stepped out of the alleyway and I felt my body thrum with excitement as I spotted the huge arched entryway to the amusement park. Fun fast paced music mixed with the joyous shouts and occasional thrilling screams from the patrons enveloped us as we drew nearer. I’d never gone to an amusement park, though I’d read a lot about them. They sounded like so much fun. There were tons of greasy and fatty foods, prizes, games, and best of all thrill rides!

                Marco chuckled softly next to me and I felt his grip on my hand tighten as if he were afraid I’d go racing off like an excitable child in a candy store, which I likely would have if he hadn’t stopped me. “Don’t worry, we have all day.” He laughed as I pulled against him with a slight whine. “We’ll get to see everything.”

                “But, Marcooo.” I whined childishly while drawing out his name causing him to laugh.

                “Marco?” A suave feminine voice drawled behind us cutting his laugh short.

                I looked to him worried as his grip tightened and held back a gasp of pain as I felt my hand protest from his iron grip. His entire body had grown tense and I noticed a spark of pain and rage in his electric blue eyes. Curiously I turned to the owner of the voice and took a double take as I spotted a beautiful woman with flouncy dark to die for wavy hair and even darker almond flecked eyes. She had perfectly complexioned sun kissed tan skin with a single beauty mark above her upper lip. A skimpy piece of red material clung to her voluptuous frame accentuating her curves and her toned legs. The woman looked like a model, no, even more stunning than a model. She was like a goddess.

                Her dark eyes flicked between the pair of us before finally resting on our linked hands, “Babysitting or cradle robbing?” She asked Marco with a sly seductive smile that would bring any man to his knees.

                I spotted Izo and Thatch hiding behind some food vendors watching as things began to unravel. I had a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that it was those two that had caused this. Marco looked like he didn’t know whether to be angry or upset and was at a complete loss for words. He froze and I felt something dark stir within me as I saw pain and heartache reflected in his electric blue eyes.

                “Hi, I’m Talia.” I beamed as I extended my hand to the gorgeous woman startling not only Marco, but the goddess like woman and her date alike.

                “Charmed.” The woman said sarcastically but refused to accept my hand.

                “And you are?” I asked her with a dazzling smile and watched her dark eyes narrow into a glare as her date stared at me in awe.

                “Linda.” She hissed, “Why don’t you run along and play, child, let the grownups talk.” The woman tried to shoo me away.

                I winced as Marco’s grip tightened on my hand and I feared if he held on any tighter the bones in my poor hand would shatter. “That’s odd.” I smiled sweetly as I felt the darkness begin to grow inside of me. This woman hurt Marco and for some reason I felt an emotion I’d never felt before a dark overpowering rage. I didn’t often get mad; usually I could shrug things off, but not this time.

                The woman shot me an un-amused glare, “What is?”

                “Your name is oddly fitting.” I giggled.

                “Excuse me?”

                “Linda, it means snake.”

                “Why, you little-.” She lunged at me and reached out to grab me by the neck, but Marco suddenly snapped out of his daze and pulled me into his arms and out of harm’s way.

                “I didn’t think you’d stoop so low as to attack a child in public.” Marco shot at the enraged woman. She wasn’t so pretty when she was angry. Her face was completely contorted in rage and took on a serpent like appearance.

                Linda composed herself and dabbed at her make up to calm herself down. I noticed a small sore at the corner of her mouth; the sudden snarling movement had shifted some of the make-up. “Why don’t you stop playing with children?” She smirked in a sultry fashion, “We had good times, didn’t we?” She reached out to stroke Marco’s arm and my hand moved on autopilot and snatched her wrist before she could make contact.

                “Stop.” I said quietly.

                “Get your filthy paws off of me, brat.” Linda hissed.

                “Sorry, your hand touched that thing on your face and I didn’t want you to spread it to anyone else.” I smiled innocently. “You might want to have it checked out, it looks like herpes.”

                Thatch’s loud raucous laughter boomed from behind one of the food vendors stalls and I saw him fall to the ground in laughter completely forgetting to try and stay incognito. Linda’s date blanched and he quickly took a step away from her.

                Marco chuckled softly against me and his hand slid down my arm and gently eased my grip from the now thoroughly peeved woman’s wrist. “Let’s get going, Talia.”

                I chanced a glance over my shoulder at Thatch and spotted Izo trying to usher him back into hiding. Marco followed my gaze and sighed in annoyance as he steered me through the amusement park entryway.

                “Those two have been tailing us since we left the ship.” He noted.

                “Eh? Really?!” I asked in awe. “I guess I’d make a terrible ninja.” I sighed.

                Marco placed a tender kiss to the top of my head as he wound his arm around my waist and held me close. “Luckily I have no need for any ninjas.”

                “What about an athletically challenged bookworm?” I giggled.

                “I think I already have one of those.” Marco smiled softly.

                “You do?!” I turned to him with big baby blue doe eyes and gasped as his soft strong lips came crashing down upon mine.

                My heart raced in my chest and my head began to feel light and euphoric. I wound my arms around his neck to keep myself upright as his tender passionate kiss nearly knocked me off my feet. Fire burned in my core as his lips nimbly caressed mine with soft teasing pecks at first before claiming them once more with a steamy lip lock. His strong hands gripped my slender waist managing to keep me on my feet.

                Passerby stopped and stared at us once more and as I boldly leaned into him to deepen the blissful kiss I heard Thatch whooping nearby. Marco broke the kiss upon hearing some more of the crew members joining in the whooping and cheering, leaving me completely breathless and light headed.

                “This time I mean it; that is not happening again until you’re of proper age.” He panted softly as a faint blush claimed his cheeks and he shot a glare in the direction of the gathered crew members, “All of you get lost!”

                “I’m not leaving my darling little sister alone with such a brute.” Izo scoffed. “It’s bad enough you shamelessly stole a kiss from her in public who knows what other wretched things you’re planning on doing to her.”

                Thatch howled with laughter and I rolled my eyes, I could only begin to imagine what perverse thoughts were running through his demented mind. “That’s right. The cross dresser and I are chaperoning.”

                Izo threw Thatch a glare, “You chaperoning is much worse than leaving her alone with him.”

                I smiled mischievously as the two began to bicker, “If I were a good ninja, we could disappear while they’re fighting.”

                Marco smirked, “I had no idea you were so devious.” He swept me into his arms and darted into the crowd of amusement park goers.