~Echo's POV~

I lost sight of the two brothers after a few moments as they burst forth into the onslaught of marines in perfect sync. My gaze kept flitting to the sea waiting to see a familiar ship with my red-haired captain waiting to unleash an unmatched tirade down upon me.

With their morale restored thanks to Ace's release, the pirates in the bay began to fight with newfound strength and stamina. Now that their nakama was free, they found resolve once more and the marines began to look worried.

"ECHO!" Marco's voice roared from behind me and I instinctively cringed, he was pissed. Before I could scamper away, he caught me roughly by the arm and spun me about to face him, "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" He snarled.

"What are you talking abou-?"

"You could have been killed!" Marco snapped shaking me roughly.

"And you shaking me might make my brain hemorrhage." I shot as my vision began to blur.

Marco stopped shaking me and his electric blue eyes glared down at me menacingly, "That was reckless."

I couldn't help but smile at him, "Thanks for worrying about me, pineapple head."

He shook his head but wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a quick hug, "You have got to be the most frustrating girl on the entire planet." Marco chuckled as he released me and pat me on the head. "Try not to worry me anymore."

"I can't make any promises, I'm more of an act first think later kind of person." I beamed.

"I gathered." Marco rolled his eyes.

I chanced a glance in the direction Ace and Luffy had gone and felt my heart plummet into the pit of my stomach and my stomach take a sickening turn. Akainu was almost within reach of Ace and Luffy. "Marco!" I panicked and pointed in their direction while willing myself to move.

My world suddenly shifted and I appeared behind Ace as he stupidly turned his back to Akainu in an attempt to shield Luffy from the lava attack. I fell against Ace with a terrified squeak, my back pressed to his and frantically cast out my wires in an attempt to stop the frightening admiral. Something miraculous happened as my wires came into contact with Akainu, the lava around him began to fade. His eyes widened in awe for a fraction of a second before he recovered and lunged at me. Even without the use of his devil fruit ability he was an intimidating foe.

"Ah! Run!" I shoved Ace and the now unconscious Luffy forward as a very fearsome image of a very pissed off Shanks flashed before my eyes.

"Why are we running?!" Ace growled as he lugged Luffy's unconscious form over his shoulder and allowed me to drag him after me.

"Because lava pants is about to not be the scariest thing here." I yelped as a giant glob of lava hit the ground to our right.

"What are you talking about?!" Ace asked worried.

I spotted the obnoxious big nosed clown man floating nearby and shoved Ace in his direction as I narrowly avoided getting singed by another glob of lava, "Give Luffy to the big nose!"

"WHAT?!" Ace and Buggy shouted simultaneously.

"Trust me." I beamed as I doubled back and launched myself at Akainu with my wires in a flurry.

Ace sighed and tossed his younger brother to the seething clown man. He turned as he realized I was no longer at his side and screamed at me as he spotted me attempting to slow down Akainu with great difficulty. "ECHO!"

"RUN!" I yelled back as I lashed my wires out at Akainu's lava covered form, and just like before, the moment my wires came into contact with him, the lava dispersed.

"None of you are escaping." Akainu growled and grabbed hold of my wires with one hand and wrenched me toward him.

"We're all escaping." I smirked as I sensed His powerful aura behind me, "And you're about to have a really bad day." My body leaned back automatically and I felt a sense of calm wash over me as my back pressed into his well-toned torso. "Hey captain."

Akainu released his hold on my wires and shot a glare at Shanks. "What are you doing here?"

I waited for a moment for Shanks to respond, but he didn't say a word. His strong hand gripped me by the shoulder and in the next moment I was being spun around roughly. A yelp escaped me, but any words of protest were cut off as his lips came crashing down capturing my own in a passionate kiss that made me weak at the knees. My arms entwined around his neck to keep myself upright as I kissed him back with fervor. He held me tightly against him as we lost ourselves in the kiss, stunning everyone in the bay.

Cat calls from the rest of the crew and even some of the Whitebeard Pirates echoed through the bay and I felt my face begin to redden and struggled to break the kiss. Shanks released me reluctantly and chuckled as I nearly stumbled away from him panting and gasping for breath.

"Putting an end to the war." Shanks finally responded to the stunned Akainu before gently nudging me in the direction of the ship. Though he hadn't said a word to me, I understood his feelings from our kiss. He was happy to see me, definitely angry, and very relieved.

I reluctantly left his side and met up with Ace and Marco near our ship. Ace thunked me on the head the moment I got within range.

"OW! What was that for?!" I whined as I ducked to avoid a second fist from Marco's direction.

"You idiot!" Ace and Marco snapped simultaneously.

"Glad to see you too." I grumbled bitterly as I rubbed my aching skull.

"That was way too reckless!" Ace glared at me.

"You're welcome." I smiled and turned away from them to survey the scene as the remaining pirates retreated from the bay unscathed while Shanks and Sengoku exchanged words much to the displeasure of the navy admirals. Both Ace and Whitebeard were alive, a little beat up but they'd survive and that was all that mattered.

Now that I had a moment to relax, my body began to ache again and I felt more tired than I had ever felt in my entire life. Weary, I stumbled on my way up the ramp to the ship. Strong arms encircled me from behind before I could collide into the wooden platform.

"Hey brat, walk much?" Yassop chuckled as he swept me into his arms effortlessly and carried me aboard the ship.

Tears welled in my eyes as I realized just how much I had missed all of them and I couldn't help but throw my arms around his neck.

"Ah!" Yassop panicked, "What did I do?!"

"Yassop, why did you make her cry?" Benn pondered as he hopped down from the crow's nest upon seeing my current state.

"I didn't do anything!" Yassop yelped, "Get her off of me!"

"I missed you guys!" I sniffled as I hugged the sniper.

Yassop chuckled and awkwardly hugged me back as Benn stepped forward to pat me on the head. "We missed you too."

The Whitebeard Pirates begrudgingly boarded our ship and I let go of the sniper and took a shaky step away. Benn gave me a quick half hug before heading off to help Shanks with the admirals.

Yassop sighed and ruffled my hair, "Why don't you find a place for those who need any medical attention."

I nodded and he too left to help Shanks.

Marco offered to help me get people organized and find a place for everyone for our departure. Ace and Whitebeard both appeared to need medical attention, however both were stubbornly refusing assistance. We moved on helping other injured pirates to the sickbay to be tended to by the medics.

"Hey Marco?" I pondered as we headed toward the sickbay with a half-conscious pirate slumped between us.

"Hm?"

"What happened after I disappeared, the senile one appears to have gotten himself injured?" I pondered.

Marco chuckled at my phrasing and playfully swatted at me in an attempt to defend his father's honor, "He better not catch you saying that." He teased before turning serious, "Akainu managed some damage then Teach-Blackbeard showed up with some strange devil fruit power that seems to render other devil fruit abilities useless." His voice was dark.

"The yami yami no mi?" I asked him curiously as we eased our charge onto a cot in the sickbay and headed out to the main deck to see if anyone else needed moved. How had I not noticed when we ran into him at Impel Down, though I hadn't seen him use his devil fruit ability?

"I guess you would know every devil fruit there is." Marco surmised. He paused as he realized I was no longer at his side. "Echo?"

My heart sunk. "How did it fall into the hands of pirates?" I felt myself slip to the deck, my knees collided painfully with the hardwood surface.

"Echo?!" Marco panicked, "What's wrong?"

"The yami yami no mi was created so we'd have a way to keep the balance if any devil fruit eaters ever got too out of control. It's the only fruit that if the eater dies, will appear next to their corpse. It was designed so that if one of us fell in battle someone else could take the responsibility. It's not a devil fruit that should ever have been exposed to those not from Funesto."

"Perhaps the navy killed whoever had eaten it and took it." Marco noted, "Thatch said he picked it up from a navy ship that had attacked them." He paused as he knelt beside me, "You don't look so good, are you okay?"

"I'm just tired." I sighed as I attempted to get back on my feet, to no avail.

Marco swung me into his arms with a sigh, "Where's your room?"

I felt my face flood with heat, before I'd left to save Ace I had recently moved my things to the Captain's quarters. Somehow, I managed to keep a straight face and pointed to the Captain's quarters.

Marco looked to me with an inclined brow, but didn't say a word. He carried me to the captain's quarters in silence. The room was exactly as I left it and smelled like home.

"Are you going to listen to me this time?" Marco pondered as he set me atop the plush bed. "Get some rest. I'm not entirely sure what happened when you disappeared or how all your wounds healed, but you've been overdoing it for quite some time now."

"Aye Aye, pineapple head." I giggled as I happily burrowed into the blankets and lost myself in his heavenly scent still clinging to the linens.

Marco rolled his eyes and headed for the door.

"Thanks Marco." I called after him softly.

Marco paused, "I owe you a great debt, Echo."

I peeked out from under the blankets and saw him standing in the doorway looking like he was struggling for composure, "You don't owe me anything."

"Get some sleep." The blonde smiled and took his leave.

Enveloped in the warm sheets, I let my mind wander to the tales of old my grandfather used to tell me, about the Heaven Touched Savior. A divine being, sent from the heavens to restore peace and harmony to the world. If the legends were really true, then everyone had been wrong, it wasn't kenbunshoku haki, it was Tengoku Haki, Heaven's Haki. My thoughts began to race and I tossed and turned beneath the covers. There was no use fretting about it or what it meant. Shanks would know what to do, he always knew how to make everything better. I nestled into the plush bed and allowed myself to drift into a peaceful sleep.

Video- Puscifer "The Humbling River"