The day after their first spar, Mihawk watched Marcus as he practiced and ended up giving him some pointers like Shanks used to do. Then a couple of days later he dueled with Marcus again and forced him to his limits. During the fight Marcus even found accessing his conqueror's haki was easier. His armament haki couldn't be controlled just yet, but his sword worked with him and was slowly teaching him how to use it.
Over the next few weeks, Uta and the others stayed on the island and hung out as Mihawk sparred against Marcus every few days. He also started giving some pointers to Kuina, Zoro and Tashigi which combined with Marcus's training helped them improve tremendously. Marcus also spent a ridiculous amount of time with Uta who stuck to him like glue.
Speaking of Uta, she was decently strong now and could win against Luffy about half the time when they sparred. Before she originally left East Blue, she could almost never beat Luffy unless he was already worn out from other fights. Besides training with everyone else, Uta also practiced her singing everyday and helped in the kitchen. Even though the stuff she made was specifically for Marcus and not one else.
It was another rest day as Uta and Marcus sat under the tree at his favorite spot to relax. Uta leaned against Marcus's shoulder and let out a sigh before she said, "We have to leave tomorrow."
"You've been saying that all day. You're like a broken record." Marcus said as he gently nudged her shoulder.
"Because I don't wanna leave!" Uta said with a pout.
"Well that's what you get for coming with Mihawk… If you didn't threaten to tell Shanks not to duel him, he would have left over a week ago." Marcus chuckled as he shook his head.
Uta leaned into Marcus's shoulder as she asked, "Are you sure you won't come with us?"
"No, I wanna train with my brothers for a while longer… Plus gramps would be pissed if I left East Blue." Marcus said as he shook his head.
"Dad and Mihawk both said your talent is being wasted here and you're the one who said we need to get stronger…"
Marcus placed his arm over Uta's shoulder as he said, "I know what I said, and I am. My swordsmanship might be at a bottle neck, but I'm still training my body…"
Marcus lifted his free hand up and just his fist slowly turned black for a moment as he added, "And my haki."
Uta just frowned slightly but didn't continue the conversation, since they've already had it a few times. After a while, Uta sat up straight and started practicing her singing while Marcus laid back with his hands behind his head. When the sun finally dipped behind the horizon and painted the sky in brilliant colors, Marcus walked Uta back to the ship for dinner.
Early the next morning after breakfast, Marcus held off on training to say goodbye to Uta. Everyone else said a quick goodbye before they took off and left Uta and Marcus alone. Uta was the most reluctant to leave as she stayed glued to Marcus's arm as Limejuice and Gab loaded some last minute supplies. As they were finishing up Uta turned to Marcus and said, "I'll be right back."
Uta quickly ran up the gangplank and disappeared into the ship before she came out with a large wrapped box. She gently set it on the dock before she turned to Marcus and said, "This is for you… You can open it after I leave."
Marcus glanced at the box for a moment before he said, "I'll do it tonight after training."
"Okay… I'll miss you." Uta said in a sad tone of voice as she looked down at the dock.
Marcus pulled Uta into a tight hug before he said, "I'll miss you too. But don't forget you can always call me."
"You can call me too, you know." Uta said as she hugged Marcus tighter.
Uta and Marcus continued hugging until Limejuice called out, "Alright you two, we're ready to go."
Uta slowly relaxed her hug and glanced up towards Marcus who looked down at her before she grabbed his face and gave him a fierce kiss on the lips. She held it for a few seconds as she turned bright red before she finally let go and bolted for the ship. Marcus stood dumbfounded for the second time at Uta leaving… But this time it was with how passionate a kiss without tongue could be, before he slowly raised his hand and touched his lips.
Limejuice and Gab laughing like crazy brought him out of his daze as Marcus glanced up to see them by the tie off points. Marcus quickly moved towards the dock cleats and started untying each line as he said, "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."
"Don't worry, we will… And we'll make sure to tell Shanks and the rest of the crew too!"
"And just what exactly are you going to tell my dad?" Uta's cold voice asked as she stood behind them with her arms on her hips.
Limejuice and Gab shared a look before they both said at the same time, "Nothing!"
Uta huffed as she walked over to the edge of the ship and said, "That's what I thought…"
Uta looked down at Marcus, her face still flushed a little red as she said, "I'll call you later tonight… You better answer!"
Marcus untied the last rope and tossed it towards the ship as he said, "I will… Have a safe trip and tell everyone else I said hi when you get back."
As the ship pulled away from the dock, Uta nodded and waved sadly. Marcus waved back but after a minute both of them stopped and just watched each other get further apart. Marcus waited till the ship was a small dot before he grabbed his present and took it to his room. It wasn't till after his evening observation haki training that he finally sat down to open it.
The first thing he saw once he opened the gift was an elegant black guitar case. He pulled the case out and placed it on his bed before he checked the other items he noticed inside the box. Packed neatly in the bottom was a handful of books with an envelope tied neatly on top with a bow. Marcus pulled those out and placed them on his bed and after confirming nothing else was in the box, he turned towards the envelope.
He slid the envelope out and smiled slightly at the 'To my dearest Marcus.' that was neatly written on the envelope. Marcus carefully opened it and pulled out a letter from inside before he started reading it.
To Marcus,
I hope you like the gift, even if it's a little selfish of me to give you something like this…
The guitar and its case are made from Adam Wood, which will help protect them from damage and keep them safe. But it also gives the guitar a unique sound that can't be replicated by normal wood. Besides the guitar, I've included extra strings and the best guitar playing guides I could find. It's my wish…
The word wish was crossed out and the letter continued, 'hope that you learn to play the guitar so that one day we can make a song together…'
'You don't have to if you don't want to, it was just a selfish idea I had…'
With love,
Uta
Marcus read the letter twice before he carefully packed it away and looked at the books. There were seven in total and the first couple were for total beginners, the next couple focused on more advanced skills and the rest were for people who wanted to push themselves to master the guitar. When Marcus skimmed through the first couple of books, long forgotten memories began to surface in his mind. They were incredibly blurry and fragmented, since he couldn't make out who he was in the memories. His body, voice, skin color, even the clothes he was wearing couldn't be made out at all. But the one thing that stood out was endless hours of practice hunched over a bright red electric guitar…
Marcus frowned slightly at the memories that came pouring into his mind and started to wonder why he never noticed them before. He was positive they were "new" since he never noticed them before when he combed over his memories as a baby with nothing to do. But they didn't feel new at all and if anything, were perhaps the clearest memories he'd ever had of his previous life…
Marcus sorted through the memories and even though he couldn't make out any of the details, the one thing that stood out was the guitar and him playing it. Marcus sat there for a while and wondered if in the future something like this might happen again…
After a few minutes, Marcus shook his head to himself as he set the books down and turned towards the guitar case. He pulled the case closer and undid the latches before he slowly opened the case and found a beautiful acoustic guitar that took his breath away. It wasn't like the cherry red electric guitar from his memories, but it was stained in a way that brought out the colors of the wood perfectly.
There wasn't a large amount of artistic flourishes in the design, but that just made it stand out more in its humble perfection. Whoever created the guitar was an absolute master of their craft and Marcus started to wonder how much Uta spent on it… Then Marcus chuckled as he realized Shanks was the one who probably bought it for Uta, who then gifted it to him.
Marcus picked up the guitar that felt big in his hands and set it on his lap. When he placed his left hand around the neck, he paused and looked at it again. After a few moments he realized that the neck was wider then what he was used to using and he soon came to the conclusion it was based on the typical design for a classic Spanish guitar…
'But would it still be called something like that here?' Marcus wondered for a few moments as his fingers started to strum across the guitar unconsciously.
Before he knew it, a song that he'd practiced more times then he could remember started to fill the air. It started slow, almost mournful as he plucked the guitar strings and before long he started to sing in a low somber voice.
"There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold and she's buying a stairw…"
While playing, Marcus's den den mushi started to ring so he placed the guitar down before he answered it and asked, "Hi Uta, how was your day?"
"It would have been better if you joined us."
Marcus shook his head before he said, "I opened your gift…"
"You did?!?" Uta asked excitedly before she hesitantly added, "Did… Did you like it?"
Marcus smirked as he picked up the guitar and strummed a couple notes as he asked, "What do you think?"
"You already know how to play?!?"
Marcus had no easy way to tell her the truth so he just chuckled slightly before he said, "Not yet, but you gave me such a beautiful gift I have no excuse not to learn how to play it."
"Really? Then that means we can make music together some day!" Uta said as she practically squealed in delight.
"Yup, which means I'll have to make sure I practice every day so I don't disappoint you." Marcus said in a joking manner before Uta instantly replied, "You could never disappoint me."
Marcus shook his head at that comment before he started talking to Uta about her day. They talked for a while before Uta started slurring her speech, so Marcus said goodnight and hung up. Over the next month Marcus started practice on the guitar for about an hour a day at least. Even though he had previous memories on how to play, Marcus still studied the books Uta gave him.
For the beginner books there wasn't much to learn, but once he started the advanced books he found some useful information he didn't know about. Whether it was specific to his new world or not, he had no idea, but he still practiced everything each day. He also looked into the master level books and while he understood most of it and knew it, he found even more stuff in there that he didn't know. So Marcus made it his goal to completely finish all the books and look for more when he got the chance, since if he was gonna do something…
He might as well go all the way and be the absolute best at it that he could be.
During that same time period Marcus also started rewriting his grandpa's training journal while he talked with Uta at night. It technically wasn't needed, but he wanted an easy to read version for everyone else to use. Even though Marcus would have to take a page from "Kaido Sensei" to train Luffy properly. It would also give him a chance to practice his own haki as he beat the lessons into Luffy with fists and anything else he could find. Since even with all the practice and help they gave him, Luffy never really learned how to read properly in the end…