DISCLAIMER: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.
~ Mother of Little Bears ~
When Perona walked into the castle with two brown bear cubs in her arms, Mihawk's first reaction was predictably: "Put those back where you found them."
Equally predicable was Perona's retort.
"I don't have to and you can't make me!"
Hollows swarmed protectively around the ghost princess. One of the baby bears whimpered as she hugged them more tightly against herself.
"Perona," the warlord said sternly. "You can't keep them."
As he strode toward her, the hollows parted to make way for him. They were useless against him unless she could pull off a surprise attack, since he could deflect them with haki.
Upon reaching her, Mihawk plucked one of the bears from the ghost girl's grasp. It whined and reached out its paws toward her, almost more like a-
The warlord's eyes widened as the realization hit him. He altered his grip, cradling the tiny bear close to his chest. It immediately calmed down and snuggled against him.
"Perona," he said sharply. "These aren't wild animals. They are baby minks."
Her expression changed to one of nearly comical shock at this revelation, before hardening into the same look of stubborn determination which she had previously worn.
"And before you start claiming that they are your babies and you want to keep them-" Because of course she would. "-we need to look for their parents."
"But-" Perona started to protest, the words dying in her throat as she caught sight of the way Mihawk was glaring at her.
"Where did you find them?" he inquired tersely.
She swallowed before replying, "At the beach."
Mihawk frowned. If she'd found them along the coastline of the island, that could mean any number of things. If they were able to walk, it was possible they'd merely wandered away from their parents, but it seemed more likely that they'd either been shipwrecked or purposely abandoned.
"Show me exactly where you found them."
Perona grumbled as she led him to the spot where she'd found the bears, but she didn't do anything to defy his order or try to reclaim the baby that Mihawk had taken from her.
Although they searched the shore thoroughly, they found no signs of a shipwreck, or a mother or father bear, or any kind of evidence as to how the babies had ended up there.
"So... this means we're keeping them, right?" Perona asked, as they made their way back toward the castle.
He sighed heavily and began to walk faster, avoiding both his companion and her question.
She caught up to him and tugged on his sleeve.
"Mihawk?"
The warlord sighed again, glancing down at the baby bear sleeping peacefully in his arms. Perona's slim, delicate fingers wrapped around his bicep, anchoring her to his side as she floated along beside him. Apparently she had given up on trying to keep up with him the normal way and decided to cheat using her Devil Fruit powers.
"Of course we're going to take care of them-" Her squeal of delight at this pronouncement caused him to scowl as he continued, "-until we find out where their proper home is."
If they had actually been wild animals, it would have been a different story. But that was not the case, and he wasn't cruel enough to abandon infant children that were unable to fend for themselves.
"And if we don't find it?" she persisted. "We're going to keep them, right?"
"Perona..." Mihawk groaned. "Don't get attached. We are not keeping them."
Her fingers tightened, digging into his flesh harshly. A moment later, the pressure on his arm was gone.
"You're mean! I hate you!"
Mihawk suppressed the urge to sigh again. It felt like that was all he was doing lately. Honestly, how did she expect him to react to her assertion that she wanted to keep the bears when she was being so childish about it at every turn? Not to mention that she didn't seem to realize that keeping them meant she would be raising children, not pets.
"I am not being mean," he snapped. "You are the one who isn't taking this seriously."
The bear in Perona's arms gave an unhappy whine.
"Shh, Teddy, don't cry," she cooed, cuddling the baby. "Mihawk didn't mean to scare you."
"You named them already?"
"Of course," Perona answered, frowning. "They can't tell us what their names are, and we have to call them something. So I named them Teddy and Ursula. Aren't those names the cutest?"
Mihawk cringed internally at the ghost princess's choice of names.
"Something regal would be more suited to them than a 'cute' name. They aren't pets, you know."
"I know," she growled. "But they're still bears. Bears are cute, and cute baby bears need cute names!"
"They won't be babies forever," Mihawk argued. "And besides that, Ursula is a female name, but this one-" He indicated the cub in his arms. "-is also a boy."
Sensing that a compromise might be best here in order to get what she wanted, Perona said, "Well, what do you want to call him, then?"
It was at this point that they reached the castle. Mihawk shifted his hold so that the baby was cradled securely in one arm, while he used his free hand to open the door.
Once they were inside, Perona turned to him with a curious expression.
"Well, did you have a name in mind, or...?"
"I was thinking Damcyan would make a good name."
Perona thought that name sounded stuck-up and awful, but rather than voicing her opinion, she quietly went along with it.
~to be continued~
