Edward Newgate knew in his heart of hearts that he wouldn't be leaving Marineford alive. He had known this the moment he had made up his mind to go after Ace and save him from his execution.
The man known as Whitebeard had lived a long life and he had lived life to the fullest, had lived a happy one with no regrets.
But as he stared into the faces of dozens of Marine forces, Admirals and Vice-Admirals as well, watched and felt as they began their onslaught against he and his crew, he realized that he was wrong, that he indeed had regrets that plagued him...
Thirty years earlier...
Whitebeard had traveled on the seas for many years already, had made a name for himself and had gathered the best of the best for the crew he considered his family. Though at times, he still felt as though something was missing.
To try and ignore that nagging feeling he'd travel the seas even more, find strong young men to join his crew and together they all conquered and found treasures galore. But try as he might, that empty feeling still wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to make it so.
Though one day when he and his crew had made a stop at an island in West Blue, Edward Newgate soon found himself at a loss for the first time in his life...
"Pops!"
Whitebeard turned his attention to one of his sons, brow arched as he saw the boy running as fast as he possibly could, panting for breath once he was stopped in front of his captain.
"Pops! We got kicked out of the bar that's in town! The owner won't let us back in, you gotta do something!"
The captain snorted. "What did you do to get your asses kicked out?" Whitebeard loved his adopted sons as though they were his flesh and blood children, but he knew better than to just take their word for anything. Especially if they had gotten into trouble of any kind.
"They insulted the owner of the bar and she told them not to bring their sorry asses back into her establishment," The calm voice of Marco piped up into the conversation, the young man giving a half-shrug as other members of the crew glared and hissed at him.
"Gurararara! Sounds as though you deserved to be kicked out then!"
"Y-Yeah, maybe... But Pops you don't understand! That woman said that it was obvious we were nothing but common street trash, and when we brought your name into it, she said that our shitty father obviously never taught us anything worthwhile so we would continue to be nothing but trash!"
That made the blonde captain frown slightly. His head turned to Marco who gave a slow nod, acknowledging that this much was indeed true.
While he always taught his crew to take responsibility for their own actions, he didn't feel as though it was alright for some bar owner who didn't know them at all to call his sons names. It didn't matter if his own character was being attacked, he wouldn't stand for the characters of his sons to be called into question when there was no reason for it.
"Might need to talk to this woman, straighten out a few things," Whitebeard grunted as he stood to his feet, allowing some of the men to guide him into the city where they led him straight to the bar.
"Bring her outside, I'll handle this."
He was the great Whitebeard after all, he could handle some bar owner who thought she was better than he and his crew were. He could stand his ground, be strong and show his sons how to handle situations like this.
What he had expected was to speak with an old wrinkly barmaid who more than likely had cataracts and back problems and proceed to straighten her out. The last thing he imagined, was that a tan-skinned, brown-haired young woman would be brought out to him, hands on her hips and brown eyes blazing as she glared up at him.
And he certainly hadn't expected to be completely dumbstruck and unable to even form a single sentence upon laying eyes on this woman.
"Who the fuck are you?"
Yellow eyes blinked as he stared down at this woman who was glaring at him with what seemed to be all the hatred she could muster up. She had asked him a question, and yet he couldn't even tell her just who exactly he was.
The men looked from their captain back to the bar owner, whose anger seemed to be growing with each passing second. What was wrong with their captain?! Whitebeard was the type of man to put fear into even the hardest of criminals, and now, now he was acting like they'd never seen him act before! Even Marco found himself frowning in worry at the sight before his eyes.
"Well if you don't have shit to say to me, I'll just be going back inside," She muttered this under her breath, turning in place and stomping off away from the pirate.
That seemed to snap him out of his trance and he reached a hand down to grasp her shoulder. "Now wait just a minute, I think there might have been a misun-"
It happened before he could even blink, he had been hit hard by what felt like a train and landed on his back with the breath completely knocked out of him.
"POPS!"
Suddenly he found that several of his sons were surrounding him, all looking down at him with looks of abject horror. Wait, what the hell had just happened? Newgate grumbled, forcing himself to sit up and reach a hand around to rub at his now sore back.
A brow quirked up as he looked out and saw the woman glaring daggers at him, one of her arms completely black. Ah, so she was a Haki user, and quite good at it too from what the bones in his body were telling him.
Damn, how long had it been since someone had gotten the upper hand against him? Too long, and never by a woman before.
"I am Halsey Alice and if you ever try to lay a hand on me again, I'll cut your balls off and feed them to the sea kings! Stay the fuck out of my establishment! In fact, you can stay the fuck out of our village for all I care, you damn pirates!" With that, the woman huffed and whirled around as she headed right back into her bar, leaving the Whitebeards behind.
All at once, the crew began to talk about the woman who had attacked their captain for seemingly no reason at all. "That bitch! How dare she do that to Pops?!"
Even though Whitebeard should have been incensed along with his sons at the treatment he had been shown, all he could think about was the fire in Halsey Alice's eyes as she stood up to him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Marco staring at him, frowning as he pulled his hand back.
"You alright there, Pops? You haven't said a word since that woman knocked you on your ass."
Knocked him on his ass? Oh yes she had and that intrigued him... Perhaps that was why he uttered the next statement, something that surprised everyone, especially himself. "Marco, I want you and the others to go into town and find out everything you can about her," His lips curved up into a grin. "I want to know every single thing about the woman named Halsey Alice."
And find out about Halsey Alice he did. He discovered she was twenty-seven years old and had owned the bar for the past four years. She had never married and had no children, in fact it seemed she had no family and hardly any friends whatsoever.
It took several days of Newgate forcing the crew to beg her for forgiveness, but eventually Alice had allowed all the Whitebeards back into her bar. When it came time for the crew to leave the village, Whitebeard promised vehemently that they'd be back eventually and that they would return often, a promise that he had indeed kept.
Every few months, the Moby Dick would be seen in the port of that very same island and the Whitebeards would spend most of their times at Alice's bar. Eventually, she even found herself getting along with the crew and looking forward to their visits, though she swore up and down it had nothing to do with the pirate captain she had secretly grown especially fond of.
xxx
The visits to that island in West Blue were something that all on the Moby Dick grew to enjoy and after a few years of this...
"Why don't you just admit you love me and can't live without me, Alice?"
The thirty-year-old woman choked on the rum she had been drinking, coughing and hacking as she narrowed her eyes at the smug pirate captain grinning down at her. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she snorted and slammed her mug down on the table in her bar.
"As if I could ever fall in love with an arrogant bastard like yourself, Newgate! Get over yourself, and besides you and your crew have always gotten attention and admiration from the women in town. Go force your attentions onto one of those poor unsuspecting souls instead of me."
"Gurararara! You know that's impossible Alice, you're the woman I love after all! It couldn't ever be anyone else!"
The noise in the bar dimmed to the bare minimum as the men from the crew stared in silence at the pair that now looked one another in the eye. This was it. They had known for some time that their old man had it bad for the bar owner, couldn't even look at another woman ever since he had met Alice, but now that how he felt was out in the open, they would find out where Alice stood.
Slowly the woman cocked her head to one side before giving a slight nod. "Alright."
The men all fell over. Damn, how cold could one woman be to not even give a proper response to their Pops confession?
Alice's lips coiled to a slow grin as she hopped onto the bar and stood face to face with the imposing captain. "You think you love me?" Newgate grunted and gave a curt nod.
"I hope you realize just what that means and what you're in for," Her hand reached out and yanked on a strand of blonde hair, Whitebeard wincing as she gave a particularly harsh tug. "This'll mean that if you ever even think about stepping out on me and I find out, then your ass is mine and I'll make you wish you had never even been born. Got that?"
Her eyes had darkened, frowning as her voice lowered and took on a chilling tone. Any weaker man would have been almost afraid, but Newgate merely grinned as he stared into the face of the woman he loved. "You don't ever have to worry about that."
And he meant it.
Several years passed since the impromptu confession, and there were many trips made to and from the island in West Blue since then. Alice was just like family to everyone on board the Moby Dick, and many of the crew members even began to refer to her as Mom. Finally, Edward Newgate was gaining the family he had always wanted.
xxx
It still felt like something was still missing from Edward Newgate's life no matter how happy he became. What that was, he had no damn idea so he visited his love even more to see if that filled the void. During one of these visits, the strongest man in the world received the shock of his life...
It had been a little more than ten years since Whitebeard and Alice's first meeting, and it had been almost ten months since Newgate had seen Alice last and he was on edge. Not being able to see her made him nervous, made him worry that something may have happened during his long absence, but soon they would be on the island and back in Alice's bar where they belonged.
When they did make it to the bar however...
"What do you mean Alice is taking a sick leave?! What kind of illness does she have?!" Whitebeard was enraged. Never in the ten years that he had known Alice had she ever taken a day off from her place of business nor had she ever been sick that he was aware of, and the one long stretch of time he had taken away from the island was the time that Alice wound up sick!
Without even waiting for a response from the bartender in charge, Newgate whirled around and stomped out of the establishment, heading in the direction where he knew her home to be. This was all his fault, he should have never been gone for so long without keeping some kind of contact with her.
"Alice!" He stood outside her home, frowning when he heard no sounds. "ALICE!" His voice boomed out again and just when he was about to give up, he heard her call out in response to him.
"I'm out back so you can stop your bellowing already!"
He breathed a sigh of relief, immediately heading to the backyard where his eyes saw Alice's back to him as she hung laundry on a clothesline. "Thank the gods," His steps took him forward until he was just behind the smaller woman. "I was worried about you! Why did you take sick leave from the bar? You've never done that in the time I've known you and you... You..."
The sentence trailed off as Alice turned around to face Newgate once done hanging all her laundry, her hands moving to her very swollen stomach. Well, that was definitely a new addition.
All he could do was stare at the sight while she smiled up at him and simply stated. "We're both glad you're finally back. It's been awhile, hasn't it?" She laughed at the dumbstruck expression the feared pirate captain wore.
"Wh-What..."
"One of two options: You either got me pregnant nine or so months ago, or I missed you so much that I ate as a coping mechanism to deal with the loneliness so I now look like a whale."
He usually loved her sarcasm but it was not appreciated in this very unexpected moment. Slowly he shook his head, running a hand down his face as he tried to make sense of what was going on. "How?" Alice gave him a droll stare as if to say 'Really? You have to ask how this happened?'
"At any rate, I figure he'll be making his appearance in the next couple of weeks."
"He?" His brow furrowed as he took in Alice's words carefully. "You're having a son?"
She snorted, her hands rubbing small circles against her distended belly. "Don't think you can shirk off your responsibilities like that, Newgate. We're having a son. I doubt it could be anything else with he way he kicks at me like a mule. He's definitely inherited your stubborn streak." Lips curved into a smirk and all Whitebeard could do was stare in stunned silence.
Everyone on board the Moby Dick was surprised when they heard the news that their Mom and Pops were having a baby, and they were even more surprised when Alice's water broke unexpectedly just three days after the Whitebeard crew had arrived on the island. The labor lasted an agonizing twenty-six hours, during which Alice screeched, cursed and threatened Newgate every which way possible. Once it was all said and done however...
Newgate and Alice in the end had been gifted with not a son, but a tiny baby girl with a head full of brown hair and big yellow eyes.
Whitebeard loved every single person aboard his crew as though they were his own sons, no one could ever say otherwise, but seeing his own flesh and blood child with his own eyes made his heart melt and he instantly fell in love with the crying newborn that was his daughter. The void that had always bothered him was no more the longer he looked upon this child he had created with the woman he loved.
"What should we name her?"
Newgate blinked as he was asked the question, turning his head toward Alice who was cradling the now sleeping newborn protectively in her arms. Damn, he hadn't thought of a name for a little girl. He already had dozens of names picked out if he had had a son like they had originally planned for, but what could he possibly name his daughter?
His gaze turned to the baby, her little mouth slightly open as her chest moved up and down in rhythmic breathing, and a name suddenly hit him. "Brenna. Edward Brenna." Where that name came from, he had no clue, but he decided once he said the name that no others could ever possibly suit her.
"I like it," Alice agreed and smiled, gently kissing Brenna's soft head before turning her attention back to Whitebeard, a frown settling across her features. "Are you certain you want to give her your surname?"
Like any proud papa, he grinned down at his little girl while answering the question presented to him. "Of course! Why shouldn't she carry the name of her father? Everyone will know not to ever try and hurt her if they know she's mine! Gurararara!"
Alice sighed as her arms began to rock her daughter back and forth slowly. "Newgate, that's precisely my worry. I'm sure you remember when the Marines went crazy in South Blue right after Gol D. Roger's execution?" She waited for a grunt of acknowledgement before continuing. "You do realize that they did that because they were trying to find Roger's unborn child, don't you?"
The severity of her words made Whitebeard stop in place, his heart clenching in fear at the implications. He realized she was right, that if the Navy would be so bold as to go after an innocent unborn child just for being Roger's child, then what would they do to his own daughter, an innocent little girl who had done no wrong whatsoever?
As his gaze moved to his child, he made the tough decision. "Give her your surname then, Halsey Brenna." He didn't want to do it and felt as though he were abandoning his child by making her take her mother's name instead of his own, but surely if she had no known ties to the great Whitebeard, then both Brenna and her mother would be safe.
It was possibly the hardest decision that the pirate captain ever had to make, but for the safety of his only blood child, he chose to never tell her the truth that he was Brenna's father. The few individuals on the island who knew of Alice's secret swore to keep it that way, and in return Whitebeard made the island one of his territories, all in an effort to protect Alice and Brenna.
Once the rest of the crew met their little sister, they instantly grew enamored of the baby girl, all vowing to protect her no matter what since they were now her big brothers. But no one was as in love with the little girl as her father was, and he silently swore to never let any harm befall her if he could help it.
xxx
Years passed and Brenna grew into a bright, happy girl who always looked forward to Whitebeard's visits with his crew. He made sure to never miss a birthday, coming back to the island every few months to visit both Alice and their daughter so he never missed out on big events in Brenna's life.
"Pops!"
Edward Newgate grinned, never tiring of hearing Brenna call him by that title. She still had no clue that Whitebeard was in fact her father, had always been told that even though her mother and the pirate captain were in fact lovers, that he wasn't her father. It still hadn't stopped her from saying often how she wished that Whitebeard truly was her father, and it was that confession that made his heart nearly break in two every time he heard it.
"Gurararara, what is it Brenna?"
His daughter had grown into a lovely girl with long brown hair and wide yellow eyes that were set in a face shaped like her mothers. Her skin tone took more after her father's rather than her mother's tanned skin, and her grin was all Newgate's, something that the strongest man in the world took even more pride in.
She was currently sporting this very grin as she crawled up into his lap and sat on his knee, looking up at him with all the happiness the girl could possibly muster up. "It's my twentieth birthday today you know, that means in a few months when I'm able to leave the island that I can join your crew, right? And that means I'll finally be your daughter!"
Whitebeard had promised Brenna when she had been younger that if she wanted to ever join his crew, she would have to be at least twenty years old and now today was that day. He in turn returned the grin with one of his own, letting a finger run across Brenna's head before he nodded. "That's right my girl, as soon as you get your mother to agree to it then you can join my crew!"
Alice had been firm though, saying she didn't want to risk her only child's life by allowing her to join the Whitebeard pirates. At any rate, that didn't stop the young girl from scheming on her own to find a way to join the crew.
"Why haven't you ever asked Brenna and I to come along with you?"
Whitebeard looked over the rim of his mug, an eyebrow cocking up in response to Alice's question before he put his mug down. "What do you mean?"
Alice frowned, shaking her head as she began to inspect her fingers. "It's just... You always tell me how much we both mean to you and how much you love us, and now Brenna has this crazy idea of joining your crew and leaving me all alone here. Why did you never have us join you crew so we could all be together like a proper family?"
Ah, so that was it. "You wouldn't have been happy on board, trust me Alice. It was best for you and Brenna to just stay on the island here where you were both safe."
Apparently that wasn't the answer that Alice wanted as she slammed her hand down on the countertop. "Well you could have at least given us the option damn it!" Her eyes were blazing as she stared Newgate down. "I love you, you stupid fool, but the fact that you never even asked once, it makes me wonder if you love us as much as you claim to."
She jumped off her seat and stomped off, leaving Newgate dumbfounded. He knew in his heart of hearts that he had been right to never have asked, all he ever wanted was to keep them safe and protected and keeping them there on the island was the best way.
Or had he made the biggest mistake ever in never asking the two women in his life to come with him?
And therein lay the great Whitebeard's regrets, not bringing Alice or their daughter along with him when he had the chance, not telling his daughter the truth so that he could have been the father she deserved. Not a day went by that he didn't think of the choices he had made in the past and now, now he was surely going to lose his life here at Marineford.
He would never be able to see that snarky grin of Alice's or hear her sarcastic wit. Never again would he be able to see his daughter or even be able to tell her the truth that he was in fact her father. Never again...
"Why the long face, Newgate? You're looking a bit defeated before you've even begun to really fight!"
He stiffened at the voice he heard, forcing himself to turn to find the same brown-haired woman who had been driving him crazy for the past 30 years staring right back at him, smug grin in place as she stared up at him.
"What's that look for? I'd think you'd be a lot happier to see me!" She gave an offended snort, arms crossing as her foot began to tap. "After all, it took me well over a week to get here. I should have figured you'd try to leave me out of this somehow."
Whitebeard growled, taking a step toward Alice and towering over her. "How in seven hells did you even get here?! Ah, that's not important! You have to leave, to just get out of here! I won't risk your life!"
She was the one thing in his life that he could never risk.
Alice sighed, lips coiling to a weak smile as she took a step toward the man who had held her heart for so long. "Newgate, I know you don't plan on leaving here alive and if that's the case," She cocked her head to one side before lifting one of her arms, letting her Busoshoku Haki take over in the appendage, hardening her arm in the process. "Then I plan on being right by your side no matter what happens."
His eyes narrowed as every fiber of his being told him to make her leave the battle, but he knew when he had lost. Alice was just as stubborn as he was, and if she planned on staying with him, then who was he to stop her?
Throwing his head back, he let out a loud laugh. "Gurararara! Fine! Then let us both make it out of here alive so we can get back to our girl!"
Alice's smile never wavered as she nodded her head, standing side by side with Whitebeard as Blackbeard and his forces stood before them. "We'll get out of here, and when we do then you'll tell Brenna everything. She'll probably be angry at first, but it's time she knew the truth." But, even as she said those words, both Whitebeard and Alice knew that they wouldn't live. They wouldn't survive the battle.
And they were right.
Both Whitebeard and Alice were no match for Blackbeard's forces they soon found as Alice was soon distracted by the attack on the man she cared for. Crying his name out, she reached for him, only to be pierced in the chest by a bullet when she wasn't looking. Her hand reached up to the hole, pulling it back and seeing her fingers covered in her own blood. Alice collapsed by his feet, coughing up blood and grinning up at him even as he stared down at her in horror.
She wasn't angry or bitter that this was how she was going to die, rather she was happy to be at his side finally after so many years of being separated. "L-Love you, you stupid fool..." Alice drew her last breath, brown eyes closing for the final time and never reopening.
All Newgate could do was stare. He couldn't move, couldn't even breathe as Alice's life was ended right before his eyes in a matter of seconds. No... No! This wasn't how it was supposed to end!
Ace was dead. Alice was dead. He turned on Teach, knowing fully that he more than likely wouldn't survive, but he would do his damndest to stop the bastard before anymore that he cared for were taken.
But it was all for naught. Teach's crew saw to that as they attacked him all at once, not giving him the chance to fight off their attacks. Newgate felt his vision slowly grow dim before his world went black and felt the life leave his body, the last thoughts on his mind being those of his daughter and his regret.
As he opened his eyes, he was blinded by a bright light and hissed, covering his eyes with one of his large hands. He heard a light laugh and pulled his hand down to find both Ace and Alice grinning at him.
"Took you long enough."
Yellow eyes blinked as he looked from one to the other before noticing that Alice had extended a hand out to him, waiting for him to take it with his. Without hesitating, Newgate wrapped his much larger hand around Alice's and Alice in turn took Ace's hand in hers, leading both men closer toward the bright light.
"Alice, what about-"
"Brenna will be fine. She'll be heartbroken at first yes, but she'll survive and will come out stronger for it. With time, she'll even forgive us for not telling her the truth of you being her father. After all," Alice cocked her head to one side, giving Whitebeard a wink. "She's our daughter."
And with that one statement, Edward Newgate felt at peace. The worries he had had was slowly lifted and he sucked in a deep breath, looking over at Alice and Ace once last time before letting Alice guide them to a new unknown.
No more regret.
This is my first attempt at a oneshot ever and I hope I did alright. It's probably too long to be considered a one-shot but I have no cares to give. *laughs*
I had this crazy idea in my head and it wouldn't go away, especially when I saw that there were literally no WhitebeardxOC fics on this site, at least none that I could find. What if Whitebeard had had a love that he first met years ago, a woman who he just couldn't ever forget, someone who could turn the strongest man in the world into a man who couldn't even think straight just by looking at her, a woman who gave him the biological family he always wanted?
Enter Halsey Alice, a character of my own design who I absolutely love. She's sassy, snarky and doesn't take crap from anyone, so I rather like her. Who knows? She's 15 years younger than Newgate and I don't see it being that big a deal considering ages and age differences have never been a big deal in the One Piece world. Brenna wasn't planned originally but I came up with another crazy idea, and Brenna will get her own story at some point.
Thanks for reading ducklings~!