Since Gab was bigger than most people, they ended up sitting on the dock and outside of Marcus's boat to talk. Uta was glued to one side of him while Baby 5 was happily seated on the other as she poured tea for everyone. As she did that Marcus turned towards Uta as he asked, "So you came all the way here to train with me?"
Uta watched Baby 5 with slightly narrowed eyes as she said, "Since you said you were gonna train with grandpa Rayleigh, I asked dad if I could join you!"
"But he hasn't agreed to train me yet."
Uta patted her chest proudly as she said, "Don't worry, with me here, he won't be able to refuse."
Baby 5 finished pouring tea before she calmly sat beside Marcus and asked in a hopeful tone, "Can I come too?"
"Absolutely not!" Uta said in an annoyed tone that caused Gab and Limejuice to chuckle.
Marcus rolled his eyes slightly as he said, "I honestly doubt if Rayleigh will want to train one person… Let alone two or even three."
"Grandpa Rayleigh will definitely train us, don't worry." Uta said before she focused on Baby 5 as she said, "But she isn't allowed to come."
Baby 5 glanced at her hands as her lips turned downwards, sadness clear in her eyes. Marcus patted her back gently as he asked, "Like I said, I'm not sure Rayleigh will accept anyone… Besides, aren't you supposed to be leaving? Isn't your captain returning soon?"
Baby 5 nodded slowly before she said, "Yes… But I wanted to stay with you, you're my fiance after all."
"Fat chance."
Marcus turned towards Uta before he chopped her over the head as he said, "I told you to be nice."
Uta rubbed her head with a frown as she shot a slight glare at Marcus who shook his head before he said, "I have no issues with you staying… But I kinda expected you to leave since your captain expects you to follow his orders."
"The young master can be demanding, but I can stay with you if I want." Baby 5 said in an uncertain tone.
"We'll just see what happens. Worst case I'll ask my grandpa for a favor…"
Limejuice frowned slightly as he asked, "What crew is she part of?"
"She is part of Doflamingo's crew."
Limejuice and Gab shared a glance before they smiled and Limejuice said, "If it's just them, we can handle it."
"No, I command you not to interfere!"
Limejuice chuckled as he said, "You might be the captain's daughter, but you don't out rank either of us, Uta… Besides this three way love triangle is great to watch."
Uta huffed before she looked away from everyone with her cheeks puffed out. Marcus chuckled slightly before he asked, "So if Rayleigh decides to train Uta, are you two sticking around?"
"No, we only came to protect her. If Rayleigh ends up training her, he is also taking over protection duty."
Marcus nodded before he asked, "We were about to go eat dinner, you guys wanna join us?"
"Sure, sounds good to me." Gab said while Limejuice nodded in agreement.
Uta pouted as she said, "I wanted to cook you dinner."
"You can cook for me tomorrow, for now let's go out to eat." Marcus said as he finished his tea and started to clean up.
Baby 5 happily started to help which caused Uta to frown again before she also started to help. Within a few minutes everything was put away and everyone headed deeper into the lawless area to find a decent restaurant. Limejuice ended up pointing them towards some restaurant he remembered visiting before and it was pretty good. Dinner mostly passed without incident, even though Uta was still being slightly hostile towards Baby 5.
Afterwards Uta wanted to go to the amusement park with Marcus alone, but Baby 5 refused to let that happen and joined them. Limejuice and Gab also went, but didn't follow them and instead hung out in a bar in the same Grove. Since they were Uta's body guards, they technically couldn't go too far away, but being in the same grove was close enough.
Uta enjoyed herself at the amusement park for the most part, but then Marcus would include Baby 5 or win her a prize and it wouldn't be so fun for her. Their group ended up staying at the amusement park until it closed, after which they headed back to grove thirteen. When they arrived, Marcus prepared to send Baby 5 off for the night until Uta asked, "I can stay in your room again, right Marcus?"
Baby 5's head whipped around as she asked, "She's stayed in your room?!?"
Marcus let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose before he said, "Yes, but I would sleep in my hammock, while she was in my bed."
Baby 5 clasped Marcus's hands as she asked excitedly, "Can I stay over too?"
"No!" Uta instantly replied with a frown before Marcus said, "I only have my bed and my hammock… Well I have a couple extra hammocks."
"I'll sleep in a hammock too!"
"No way! I refuse! I won't share Marcus's bedroom!" Uta said as she stomped her foot.
Baby 5's eyes misted over slightly as she stared at Uta before she turned towards Marcus and asked, "Is that what you want?"
Marcus let out a helpless sigh before he said, "If Uta doesn't want to share my room, we can string up the hammocks and sleep on the bridge."
Baby 5 jumped on Marcus and hugged him as she said, "Thank you!"
"What?!?" Uta asked in a panicked tone of voice as her eyes widened.
"You said you didn't want to share my room, so me and Baby 5 will sleep on the bridge and you can have my room."
Uta frowned as she said, "I meant I didn't want to share the room with her… Obviously you can stay because it's your room."
"No, it's fine. We'll stay on the bridge. You enjoy my room."
Uta pouted for a few moments before she said, "Fine, we can all share your bedroom… But I get your bed!"
Marcus glanced towards Baby 5 who smiled sweetly as she said, "I'll do whatever you want dear."
Uta let out a huff as Marcus chuckled before he said, "Fine, we can share my room."
Since Marcus designed his bedroom to be able to accommodate using a hammock. He created anchor points built into the walls, so he could hang it wherever he wanted. Those anchor points proved effective since he could easily hang up three or four hammocks without issue or just two in this case. With the hammocks set up, Baby 5 was the first one to get into bed quickly followed by Marcus and Uta.
The next morning Marcus was woken up by Uta's annoyed tone as she said, "I should be the one making Marcus breakfast. Now get out of the kitchen!"
"But I already started cooking a while ago. If you wanted to cook, you should have woken up sooner."
Marcus opened his eyes and found both girls missing from the bedroom but quickly found them in the galley. Baby 5 was at the stove already halfway through cooking breakfast while Uta glared at her. Marcus let out a tired sigh before he said, "She likes to cook just as much as you do. So either help her cook or take turns cooking meals."
Uta let out a huff before she reluctantly moved closer to Baby 5 and started to help. Baby 5 immediately smiled as she said in a cheerful tone, "I appreciate your help. Let's do our best to make Marcus something delicious."
Uta frowned slightly but nodded her head as she took over peeling potatoes for hashbrowns. Marcus watched them for a few moments before he headed back to his room to wash up and get dressed. After Marcus left Uta said, "This doesn't mean you won."
Baby 5 glanced towards Uta in confusion as she asked, "I was trying to win something?"
Uta stared back at the other girl in disbelief before she said, "Marcus, I won't let you win Marcus from me!"
"I don't need to win Marcus over, he needs me and that's all that matters." Baby 5 said confidently as she returned to cooking an omelet.
Uta frowned at that comment as she focused on her task and mumbled to herself, "Who cares if he needs you, Marcus is mine."
A little while later Marcus sat down to eat and found himself sandwiched between Baby 5 and Uta. While Baby 5 was content to just sit next to Marcus, Uta wanted to feed him some of the food she made. When she lifted a fork towards his face, Marcus glanced at her and said, "I can feed myself."
"I know, but I like to do it."
Marcus glanced at the offered fork before he said, "Only once, I'll eat the rest myself."
After Marcus finished the bite Uta offered him, he found another fork in front of his face and Baby 5's hope filled eyes focused on him. Uta let out an annoyed huff as Marcus took the offered food. Once finished Marcus found another fork in front of his face as Uta stared at him expectantly. Marcus shook his head as he said, "I said only once."
"But you clearly did it twice."
"One bite from each of you only seemed fair." Marcus said before he gently moved Uta's offered fork away and added, "Now let me enjoy the breakfast you two clearly put a lot of effort into making."
Uta frowned slightly before she glanced at Baby 5 who seemed completely fine with the situation and was happily eating next to Marcus. After breakfast, Marcus helped the girls clean up before they headed over to Shakky's bar. Uta wanted to meet with Rayleigh and "convince" him to train her and Marcus. When they arrived they found Rayleigh seated at a table with a newspaper in his hands and Shakky snuggled up against him.
Both of them glanced at the door and Rayleigh broke into a grin when he saw Uta. Uta cheerfully waved at Rayleigh as she said, "Hi grandma and grandpa! I came to visit."
Shakky smiled as she stood up and said, "If it isn't little Uta, look how much you've grown."
Uta rushed forward and hugged Shakky and then Rayleigh a few moments later before Rayleigh asked, "Where's Shanks? I didn't think he would leave the New World any time soon…"
"It's just me." Uta said before she pointed towards the door as Limejuice and Gab stepped inside before she added, "But they came with me for protection."
Rayleigh nodded in understanding before he said, "So did you come to visit us…"
As Rayleigh's voice trailed off he glanced towards Marcus who stood off to the side along with Baby 5. Rayleigh smirked a tiny bit before he asked, "Or did you come to visit someone else?"
Uta quickly nodded as she reached out and took Marcus's arm and said, "Marcus said he wanted to train with you, so I came to join him!"
Rayleigh frowned as he said, "I didn't agree to train him."
Uta pouted as she asked, "I know grandpa, but you're super strong! If you won't train us, who will?"
"Shanks should be able to do it." Rayleigh said with a hint of a smile before he took a drink from his flask.
"Dad's busy and doesn't really have time to train us properly."
Rayleigh eyed Uta for a few moments before he asked, "Do you even know what you're asking for?"
Uta nodded seriously as she raised up her hand and for a brief moment it became coated in haki. Rayleigh shook his head slightly before he said, "I was talking about the training itself… I won't hold back just because you call me grandpa."
"I'm ready! I've trained super hard everyday, I can definitely do it."
Rayleigh's eyes flickered over Marcus for a moment before he focused on Baby 5 who was slightly smiling, lost in her own thoughts. He studied her for a few moments before he asked, "And who might you be, young lady?"
Uta jumped in front of her and waved her hands as she said, "Nobody important!"
Marcus chopped Uta over the head as he said in an exasperated tone, "I told you to be nice to her."
Uta rubbed her head and grumbled as Baby 5 stepped forward and said in a happy tone, "I'm Baby 5, Marcus is my fiance."
"No he's not! I'm his future wife!" Uta said as she shot a glare at Baby 5.
Baby 5 smiled back politely as she locked arms with Marcus and leaned against his shoulder. Uta frowned before she turned back to Rayleigh and asked, "When can we start training grandpa."
"I'll think about it, come back in a week."
"Huh? You need to think about it?" Uta asked in a confused tone.
Rayleigh leaned back in his seat slightly as he said, "Yeah… Training would involve going to another island and it would take up at least a year of my time, if not more."
Rayleigh took another drink from his flask before he focused on Uta and asked, "Besides, why should I spend my time doing that when I can just stay here and relax?"
Uta frowned and had no idea how to reply as a den den mushi started to ring. Marcus started to reach for his own before he glanced towards Baby 5 because the ringing was coming from her. Baby 5 tilted her head before her eyes lit up and she reached behind her into a pouch. She pulled out a snail and as soon as she picked it up a sinister voice asked, "Baby 5, you didn't return to the ship last night… Where are you?"
"Young Master, I'm in grove thirteen with my fiance."
Before Uta could respond, Marcus clapped his hand over her mouth as the voice turned colder and the man asked, "Fiance? Did you stay with them last night?"
"Yes! We slept in his bedroom together for the first time." Baby 5 said in an excited tone as she looked at Marcus with heart shaped eyes.
"Where are you in grove thirteen?" The voice asked in a dangerous tone.
"At a bar near the border with grove twelve."
"Wait there, I'll be there soon." The voice said before the den den mushi disconnected.
Baby 5 smiled happily as she said in a cheerful tone, "I'll finally be able to introduce you to the Young Master."
Marcus shook his head and released Uta as he said, "I don't think me and your family will get along."
"You don't? Why not?"
"Let's just call it fundamental differences in how we each see the world…" Marcus said with a helpless shrug.
"I'm sure it'll be fine." Baby 5 said as she put away her snail.
"And if it isn't? What if your Young Master doesn't like me and tries to kill me?"
"Young Master would never do that, you're my fiance!" Baby 5 said in a voice filled with conviction.
Uta pouted as she folded her arms over her chest and glanced to the side annoyed. Marcus noticed and pinched her cheek as he said, "Come on, let's go outside so Shakky's bar doesn't get ruined."
Shakky frowned as she asked, "Why would my bar get ruined?"
"Because I'm pretty sure someone is coming here to kill me."
"That idiot better not or I'll make him regret it!" Uta said as she narrowed her eyes.
Marcus chuckled slightly as he said, "Well let's go see what happens…"