All the pirates were tired - mentally and physically exhausted from the war that costed them everything... An all or nothing gamble in which they won nothing. Tears crusted on their cheeks as they reminiscences the past, where none of this madness had happened.
That damn Teach...
The Red Hair Pirates looked on solemnly, seriously, and sympathetically... until looking towards the sky. Lucky, for once, wasn't eating as he gazed at the puffy clouds,
"No sign yet, Yasopp?"
The sharpest eyes caught nothing as he sighed, but still kept on determinedly, "None yet."
Marco glanced at the other Yonko ship. He was still wary about why their rival helped them out with nothing to gain. Grateful, but still wary. They were pirates. There had to be a reason.
"What sign, Red Hair?"
The Red Hair Pirates all felt the eyes on them, but said nothing as they still looked upwards. Shanks spared them a glance as he lazily steadied himself against the railing of the Red Force,
"A sign of hope."
God knows they needed it after so much bad luck.
…
Law frowned. It was one thing to meet the Snake Empress. It was another to see a dragon flying towards them with sharp carnivorous fangs clamping on a white flag. But he still waited. Might as well. He always wanted to see a dragon's anatomy - not that he ever believed in them until now.
The pale golden dragon landed way too softly in the ocean waters for its enormous size before folding its wings and swimming over. He then noticed a woman on its head. Unlike the holy-ish looking dragon, she had feathery black hair like a raven's and red eyes.
"What do you want?"
"A man hired me to heal Monkey D. Luffy."
Straight to the point. Law eyed the woman before scowling, "I can do it myself." He didn't want to give up such an interesting specimen.
"I know how to make the process faster. And heal better."
Law felt his skills being challenged under her gaze and he furrowed his brows, "I am the one who will heal Monkey D. Luffy."
They stared at each other; the Heart Pirates behind their captain shivering from the cold atmosphere until the woman smiled, amused.
"Very well. You are going to Amazon Lily, right? I will go there in five days to check on his progress."
Law scoffed, "Three days and he'll be up and running. I don't need so long to do something as simple as heal him."
The woman's eyes twinkled as if belittling him, making him more infuriated. The dragon's wings unfurled with a loud flap.
"Three, it is. Rookie doctor."
And they left with Law turning heel and stomping down to do the operation.
…
"There she is!"
All the pirates looked up at Yasopp's loud shout to see a speck in the sky slowly becoming larger and larger until finally a dragon landed by their ships' side. Everyone except the Red Hair Pirates pointed their weapons at the possible threat. Even on the Grand Line, none of them have ever seen a real dragon. And to see a big ass one right now-
"Stop. She's a friend."
Shanks's voice rose among the chaos as he walked towards the abomination and the woman sitting on top of it.
"You're late."
She smiled disarmingly, "I was visiting the rookie. The Surgeon of Death wanted to try first. I'll heal him later."
Shanks hummed... "Who's that?"
Benn sighed, "The captain in the yellow submarine. He's a new rookie Supernova."
"Ah, right. Okay. I'm fine with that. Rockstar."
The pirate nodded before throwing two suitcases down to the woman, "200 million Beri as agreed."
The woman checked the money; Whitebeard Pirates and allies widening their eyes at the many Beri in the suitcase. Jozu coughing,
"Wait. 200 million Beri for what?"
Shanks hummed, "Healing two friends of mine."
And they gaped as Benn appeared out of nowhere and gently tossed the corpse of Portgas D. Ace into the giant maws of the dragon. And the dragon gulped. And the dragon waited. And there was silence.
"What the hell did you do?!"
"Shanks!"
"You bastard-"
And there was a pop as an egg floated up to the water's surface. They stared incredulously until the egg's upper half broke with their brother stretching as if he just awakened from a good nap,
"I'M ALIVE!" Blink. "Wait - what?! I'm alive?!" Portgas D. Ace's eyes widened as he felt his chest - the hole miraculously gone. The scars amassed over the years were gone as his skin was glowing and smooth.
Shanks chuckled, letting out all his worries and stress free, "See? Healing two friends of mine. Thanks, Raven, Gon."
The dragon roared happily in answer before cocking its head to look at the woman on top of its neck. She finished counting before nodding, "200 million Beri. Thanks for the business. Remember that death takes away devil fruit effects so he'll be able to swim, but won't be able to use the Mera Mera no Mi until he finds it again."
Shanks snorted, "Of course. Maybe this time, the rookies will be less cocky. Anyways, we're done here. You can go." Turning to his crew that were all grinning that their favorite brats were still alive, he shouted, "Oi, you lazy bums, hoist the sails!"
"Aye, aye, CAPTAIN!"
The dragon, too, was about to fly away until Squardo shouted, "Wait! Don't leave yet! Did you just revive a man from the dead?!"
The dragon stopped at the woman's pat as she nodded casually, "Gon here is a Holy Dragon. The last of his kind. He can heal anything except for light-attributed illnesses. Revive people within a good four hours of their death. Of course, he only listens to me so that'll be 100 million Beri if you want his help."
The greedy smirk made Marco wonder why all women were stingy, but he understood where Squardo was coming from. Death. They had a lot of dead. Ace was back. And the crew already lit up and were flying on top of him to get a piece. Fossa quietly murmured, having been retrieved by Haruta from the operating rooms that were working on countless injured,
"There are 124 dead and dying. We can heal the thousand others."
Which meant 12.4 billion Beri. Enough to make any pirate and perhaps even Tenryuubito cry. The allies, surprisingly, were the ones who spoke up first. Squardo shouting,
"I'll pay for all of it. It's my fault that they all got hurt-"
Whitey Bay clenched her fist as she shouted, "It's not, you idiot! We all went to this war together... we'll all face the consequences together! I'll pay for half."
Little Oar Jr's crew added with tears, "Make that a third! Anything as long as Captain can live!"
And they all threw in their own words until everyone was agreeing. Ace was a bit confused by events, having been dead. But Marco didn't blame him. He, too, was confused.
"So this is the hope Red Hair was waiting for..." he murmured as he watched all the pirates more determined than ever. Jozu slapped him on the back,
"What do you say, first mate?"
Marco noticed the gazes before nodding, "We'll do it."
…
Whitebeard calmly opened the large egg he was sitting cross-legged in to scoff amusedly as he was glomped by his many children, "When did the red-hair brat find you, Raven?"
Raven smiled, "Saa? All I know is that you owe me money."
Whitebeard sighed, "Greedy brat. You used to be such a nice doctor. Now, you're reduced to using an overgrown baby dragon."
Gon growled on behalf of his master, but stopped at the complacent hand that gently stroked his scales. He hummed at the warm, delicate touch. Raven shrugged,
"Times change. And now, you created the New Era. Sorry to ruin your badass death with my awesome greed."
Whitebeard roared with laughter, shrugging it off, "Well, children, we're all alive; it seems. We lost the war, but we won back our treasure. To the New World!"
They roared with tears of joy and agreement. Ace eyed the girl before following his father. There was something about her that seemed so familiar.
Raven softly watched as the ships left with further speed towards the horizon. His son grew up so fast...
"Na, Roger... you're watching your kid now, right? He already became..."
…
Heaven Canceller was her name back in the old days when she traveled with her father Crocus. Her main goal in life being the further improvement of all life. She was a Revolutionary in that aspect. And Dragon was her boss in that manner. Then again, not really.
She honestly did whatever she wanted. Before, she would have healed anyone even if they wouldn't repay her. Even if they would rather kill her. Now...
Whitebeard was right in a way.
Times really had change.
…
"What did you just say?"
The marine gulped before he repeated again. And when he was dismissed, he ran like the wind - he only had one life! Though he was confused by events as well.
Sengoku and the other Admirals and Vice Admirals stared at the door. They were still repairing from all the damage of the war and then they find out that they really lost in the end. Alive? The entirety of the Whitebeard Pirates and allies… were alive?!
They saw the old Whitebeard's death just now!
Ace's too!
Sakazuki growled, "Cockroaches. The lot of them. How?"
While Garp cried discreetly, silently, thanking the Gods as he remembered a little girl always spotted with Roger. Sengoku gave him a glance as well, muttering,
"That can't be right. There's only one person who could revive the dead… but she went missing over ten years ago!"
Dalmation's eyes widened, along with many, "You can revive the dead?"
Tsuru answered with narrowed eyes, "Heaven Canceller. She travelled with her father the Miracle Worker on Gol D. Roger's ship. They were a medical pair that took an oath to heal everyone that needed help - friend or foe. After Roger's death, both of them went missing and unheard of though… We thought them to be both dead. But besides that, before Roger's death, Heaven Canceller was said to be an once-in-a-millennium genius like Vegapunk; her medical skills were so great that she could revive anything from the dead. And we have many witnesses and records to prove her skill was not by Devil Fruit as well."
Aokiji laid a hand on his eyes, "So she must have still been alive and revived them, huh."
Akainu growled, "Traitorous to absolute justice!"
Sengoku frowned, "She's just doing what she thinks is right. But if she only healed the pirates after so long of inactivity, then she must have broken her oath a long time ago - perhaps twenty years. So the question is who found her and convinced her to heal the pirates? Judging by how the Whitebeard Pirates acted, none of them knew about her existence."
The more sympathetic ones agreed as they remembered the pirates' screams of anguish as they watched their family members die. They definitely didn't know.
Garp though understood right away… the red-haired brat was awfully calm for a man that just saw his son-figure dying and son-figure's brother dead. He snorted. Just like Shanks to be more fatherly than Dragon in actions.
The initial 'D' definitely didn't mean 'Dad'.
…
"Dragon." The woman sighed as she saw the man appear behind her. "What do you want?"
The man stoically sat down next to her on Gon's head as the dragon glided with the wind, "Just thanks. I heard you saved them."
"...their deaths would have caused too much chaos, aye? Nothing will be right if everyone dies when the world makes a change. But you're not talking about them, right?" She watched him pour a glass of wine for her; hand shaking, "Your son will be the doombringer of the old world, it appears. The next King. Only time will tell if destiny will make him die or not. It's as if Roger reincarnated into him… or died for his reign."
"Sorry about that then." Dragon curtly replied. She took the glass to drink. "You could save the world, you know. By yourself. It was you who inspired many of my doctors and subordinates. Many don't remember the old era of pirates, but those who do, do remember the peace induced by knowing that a doctor would save them when time comes. No matter what. That there was someone out there in the world that would stick to their dream, their oath, their belief that everyone deserved to live no matter what. Of course, that Heaven Canceller died a long time ago and became a bird of death, Raven."
Raven eyed the Dragon, "Are you here to say how much I have fallen as well? If you have someone I need to heal again, then just say it, drop off my money, and leave."
"No, I have someone that Heaven Canceller needs to revive."
"You're just using me then. Wanting my services for free. Even worse than the pirates."
Dragon laughed, breaking his composure, "You're too expensive, woman. Well?"
Raven snorted, unladylike, as she shook her head, "No wonder they couldn't figure it out. The mysterious wife of Monkey D. Luffy. There is no wife. It was a one time fling in the sky. How the hell did our kid become so stupid?"
Dragon grinned, "I'm sure you already know."
"Of course. Damn Red Hair. The Gomu Gomu no Mi negates the wonders of the brain that uses electricity to manage nerves."
The man solemnly nodded, "Want to try again?"
"I will punch you across the seven seas."
"Oh please. You know you like it. Gon doesn't mind if we get him wet."
"Oi. Don't blush, Gon - ah."
…
"You cheated."
Raven nodded in agreement, "I did. Gon's services are for hire. Mine are for free. Someone hired me."
"That's still cheating. Give me back my feelings."
She teased the little mushroom head, "Oh please, boya, just admit that you did a horrible job."
Law twitched and narrowed his eyes, "The patient had-"
The woman finished the diagnosis and even analyzed the poisons that must have been used. Law's eyes widened at how the woman mentioned everything correctly… without even opening up the patient. She's good. But still…
"You cheated."
"Oh get over it. You're a pirate." And God knows how many times she had to say that to pirates. Luffy happily bounced on the white dragon, perfectly healed. Rayleigh looking afar with nostalgia and amusement, but did not say anything, knowing that there was nothing to be said between the two. Just seeing each other after all this time was enough. While the Heart Pirates were snickering at their sulking captain and Jinbe wondered who the woman was.
She snapped her fingers, making Gon stand upright and knocking the teen on him back to land. Luffy pouted in protest, but Raven shook her head,
"I'm busy, kid. Let's go, Gon. And call yourself a doctor only after you finish healing someone, wannabe~"
"#$*& )&#!"
…
Perona stared as a dragon came out of nowhere and gulped Zoro. Mihawk simply deadpanned, completely unaffected by the fact that his student was eaten. Crazy kids always for dramatics. And finally, his student came back via egg, rubbing his head,
"What the…" And eyes glinted at the sight of a dragon, "I never fought against a dragon before."
Raven slapped him upside the head, "He just healed you, idiot. And why you want a scar so much from my brother is anyone's guess."
Zoro's eyes widened as he realized that he felt better than ever. And he still had his scar despite the other little ones disappearing! Interesting. He heard that scars stayed if there were sentimental feelings lingering on them.
"Wait. Brother?"
Mihawk rested his cheek on his palm, "Welcome back, imouto."
"IMOUTO?!" Both of the others shouted in shock. Raven shook her head,
"Kids these days.. always making a ruckus. Even Shichibukai have family, you know."
Mihawk agreed with a grunt. One of the reasons why he could cut so precisely since he was a kid was that he was a doctor's son. He knew where everything was; what was fatal and not. It was common sense to him. Though it was weird why a Flower (Crocus) named them after birds (Hawk and Raven).
Zoro blushed a little at his overreaction. He's been around the Straw Hats too much. "Thanks."
"Gon."
The dragon saluted a 'You're welcome'.
Perona blinked… before brightening, "A girlfriend! Hey, wait! Everyone else here is so boring!" The ghost girl quickly followed the girl out of the room. Mihawk staring as everything was back to normal,
"Weren't you practicing Haki?"
"Ah, right."
…
Zoro stared, "Aren't you a girl? Why are you eating so much?"
On the third month, the green-haired swordsman noticed the gradual signs of bulge eating from the woman. Perona did too, but didn't comment. Mihawk froze before staring at her… and groaning, to all of their surprise. The stoic swordsman never groaned!
"You're… you're pregnant again, aren't you?"
Perona turned her head so fast to look at her girl-friend that she could have got whiplash. Zoro's eyes widened. Especially as the woman rolled her eyes,
"Oh, please. You're overreacting. I just need a room."
"Go to a hospital like a normal person, imouto. I don't get why you like doing that to yourself."
The woman shrugged, "Saa… the man was quite convincing. And I refuse to go to a hospital with doctors that are less-skilled than me."
"Then Father."
"Do you know how awkward that is?"
They thought about it… a father operating on his daughter… Mihawk especially knowing that their father had no idea that she even had a baby before. But still…
"Do you know how awkward this is?"
"A big brother helping his little sister and offering refuge? Nah, I swear I won't bother you at all. One night and everything will be over."
"...there's a soundproof room on the third floor. Burn it afterwards."
"Thanks~"
Zoro was sure that he would never hear a more awkward family conversation than this. No wonder Mihawk could be so silent with that kind of sister.
Perona squealed, "I want to help pick baby clothes!"
The green-haired swordsman would never find out till much much later that the woman was his captain's mother and the baby they were arguing over his captain's brother.