A shadow loomed over the streets as a man walked down the road, pushing a cart full of knickknacks and toys. The man leaned over his burden, panting and dripping with sweat. Suddenly, he felt a small tug on the leg of his trousers, and glanced down. A small child looked up at him eagerly, pointing towards a pinwheel among his many piles of junk. He let out a low chuckle and squatted down, picking up the girl and bringing her up to the cart. She let out a gleeful squeal as the fins of the pinwheel tickled her hands when she batted them playfully. The man threw his head back and full out laughed, his voice deep and rich, echoing through the streets, attracting the attention of many of the bystanders. The girl looked up at him curiously, searching for what he found so funny. Eventually, she began giggling for reasons she couldn't understand. It just felt natural to laugh. She reached up with her small hands and gripped the stubble on the man's jaw, laughing as the hairs pricked and tickled her palms. The man leaned his head in, and placed his forehead against hers, giving her a big smile. He heard a small gasp from over his shoulder, and knowing his time was up, turned around, and put the girl down. The girl ran over to her frantic mother, eagerly telling her about the man with the pinwheel. The mother picked up her daughter, and held her tightly. Apparently, the girl was lost amongst the crowd. The man smiled as they turned, ready to go home. He reached out a large hand, and tentatively placed it on the mothers shoulder. Shocked, she turned around, only to see nothing but the big red pinwheel the man shoved into her hand. She opened her mouth to protest, having no money to pay, when a finger was placed over her lips. The man let out a quiet "Shhhh" and winked at her daughter, who was already fast asleep over her mothers shoulder. He grinned at her, and turned back to his cart, continuing to push it up the road. The mother stared at the memento, and placed it in her daughter's hands, where the tiny fingers curled around the handle, and the faintest smile appeared on her innocent face. Even with his back turned, he could feel the mother's thanks. The moment he was sure he was no longer a threat to waking up the sleeping child, he threw his head back, and let out his laugh, once again.
Cocoyashi Village, Sheriffs OfficeGenzo was bent over his desk, muttering as he went through posters and paperwork. The enlarged picture of Nami's wanted poster hung on his wall, and he occasionally glanced at it, grumbling about how it was too indecent. There was a vaguely familiar knock on his door, and he let out a rough "Come in". The door creaked open and heavy footsteps fell as the person walked in and plopped into the chair across from his. Still preoccupied with his work, Genzo waited for the person to voice their issues. The intruder remained silent, apparently content with watching Genzo work. Genzo could practically feel the pair of eyes burrowing into his skull. Just as he was about to snap, the intruder piped up.
"Yo, Genzo, long time no see." At the sound of his voice, Genzo's head snapped up. He ran his eyes across the figure across from him, and something in his mind clicked in place. With a shout of joy, he leapt up from his desk, paperwork left fluttering in the air, forgotten, and embraced the man in a tight hug.
"Hahaha, you son of a bitch! I never thought I'd see you again!" Genzo laughed as he held the man. He let go, and grabbed the man by his shoulders. "My god, it's been ages since you last stopped by this little wayward town!" The man gave him a grin, and wrapped an arm around Genzo's shoulder.
"What, did you really think I could just leave you guys alone?" Both men let out heartfelt laughs as they talked. Suddenly, the man snapped his fingers. He firmly pushed Genzo back into his chair, and with a mysterious smile, leaned out the door, only to pop back in with a bottle of amber liquid, a bucket of ice, and three glasses.
"Hah! So I finally get to taste some of your famous homemade whiskey eh?" Genzo eyed the bottle eagerly. "Well, it's been at least five years since I've last had a good drink, lets see if you've gone rusty yet!" The man laughed as he poured the alcohol into the cups, dropping in three cubes of ice into each cup. The men clinked their glasses together to celebrate their reunion, and drank heavily. Genzo gasped up from his cup, the whiskey burning his throat with warmth and nostalgia. Tears formed in his eyes from the strong drink, and he let out a breath of air. Red faced, he looked up at the man.
"I tell yah, you've been here for less than ten minutes, and I'm already drinking my ass off in the middle of the day!" The man guffawed as he refilled the glasses.
"If you want to stop at anytime, just let me know." Genzo let out a laugh as he emptied his glass again.
"What, are you joking with me? Like I could pass up a drink with you!" They clinked glasses again, this time just because they could, and tilted their cups, emptying the contents. "Gotta ask though, why three cups?"
The man cocked an eyebrow at him quizzically. Then, he jutted a thumb over his shoulder. "For that curious new deputy of yours, of course." Genzo glanced at where he was pointing, just in time to see Mary duck out of view. He chuckled and walked over to the door, thrusting it open to find his terrified deputy hiding beneath her desk. Genzo was pretty scary as it was, the second man who held Genzo like a brother was terrifying.
"Mary…" Genzo started, only to be interrupted by a loud crash and a yelp of pain, as Mary tried to leap to attention from under her desk. She crawled out from her hiding spot, nursing the bump on the top of her head.
"Yes sir?" she stated tentatively.
"Mary, come in and introduce yourself. You're new here. Well, at least to him, you are."
Mary turned pale, and a shade green at the thought of being introduced to the man inside. But orders are orders, and manners are manners. Neither of which could be ignored. Hesitantly, she stood up, brushed off her uniform, and marched in. The stench of alcohol was heavy, but it was nothing compared to the man in front of her. His sheer presence seemed to knock her off her feet, and she held onto a drawer to steady herself. She managed to get off a salute, and shakily introduced herself.
"D-Deputy Mary, r-re-reporting in, Sir!" The man looked at her as if she were insane. He seemed to think for a bit, before pushing whatever thought he was having aside, and motioned her in. Like she could move. Mary stood there uncertainly, not sure of what she was supposed to do in this situation. She was being beckoned into what undeniably felt like a rabid lions den, but she couldn't exactly refuse. Not to mention her legs have turned into some form of pudding and refused to let her run. She felt something grab her shoulder and let out a yelp of surprise. She turned and saw Genzo gazing down at her, slightly amused.
"Hey Lion, turn it down a bit, you're scaring my deputy." The man, apparently called Lion, suitably enough, looked back up, rather confused. He seemed to realize something, and let out a small "Oh!", and suddenly, the air became more tolerable, atmosphere became more bearable, and Mary was able to breathe again.
"My bad, my bad." The man laughed with a grin. "I forget myself sometimes." He relaxed a bit as the two law enforcers walked into the room. "Still, kind of weak kneed isn't she?"
Genzo settled back into his chair and took a sip from his glass. He sighed appreciatively at the whiskey and looked at Lion. "Not really, I'm surprised she actually lasted that long in your haki. Hell, I'm surprised even I lasted that long in your haki. You're kind of crazy y'know." He lifted the glass and inspected the amber fluid. "Although I guess the booze helps a little." He grinned and set the glass back down.
"Yeah, yeah, my bad. Not used to holding it in." Lion drained the remnants inside his own glass, and looked up at Mary, holding out the third glass for her with an apologetic look on his face.
"Oh, uh…" Mary stammered, "I don't really drink…" Lion simply pouted and looked up at her with shimmering eyes, swishing the contents of the glass almost seductively.
"Oh…alright, fine." She smiled slightly as the man let out a victorious whoop and she took the glass from him with both hands. She looked fearfully down at the liquid, the pungent smell burning her eyes and nose. Mary held her breath, lifted the glass, and quickly took a swig of the mysterious whiskey offered to her. A sweet and velvet taste washed over her mouth, seeming to coax her throat into opening for the alcohol. As she swallowed, she could feel the warmth spread from her stomach to the very tips of her fingers and toes. She gasped, staring at the drink in amazement.
"What is this?" The men grinned at each other, and Genzo leaned over, looking far more relaxed than she had ever seen him before.
"It's a very special type of whiskey that you can find nowhere else." He said mysteriously. "Every drop was hand made and processed by Lion over there. You'll never find it anywhere but from him." Lion gave her a tip of an imaginary hat, grinning with pleasure at the compliments paid towards his hard work. Genzo continued with his story, with a sparkle in his eye. "It's so special, that it actually has a unique taste for each and every individual person, a taste that is completely indescribable." Mary stared at the drink in awe, absorbing every word that Genzo was saying like sponge. Genzo gave Lion a bemused look. "Some people say that Lion is actually a fairy, and the whiskey is actually his magic in liquid form." At this, Mary's head shot up, stars in her eyes.
"Really?" She asked in a hushed voice, as if being too loud would disrupt the magic alcohol. She looked at Lion with a glimmer of hope, having always loved fairy tales without letting anyone know. "Wow…liquid magic…" her dreams abruptly shattered as she heard the men snickering. Genzo was beet red from holding in his laughter, and Lion was already pounding the desk, sending papers flying everywhere as he dissolved into a fit of hysterical giggles. Mary blushed as tears began swelling in her eyes. She slammed the glass on the table and spun on her heel, intent on storming out of the office, possibly forever. She heard Lion break down in laughter as he actually fell out of his chair, clutching his sides. Genzo chased after her, heaving with laughter at his little prank.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, that wasn't nice, I know." He gasped, tears of mirth streaming down his eyes.
"I don't like you when your drunk, sir…" Mary wailed, rubbing her eyes.
"Don't worry about it, I don't usually get drunk." Genzo stated matter-of-factly.
"You will now, since he's here." Mary glared over her shoulder at Lion, the bearer of her misfortune.
" Ah, well if it's that, then there's nothing to be worried about." Mary looked up at her superior questioningly.
"Lion is a traveling merchant. Never stays in one place too long. He may have some strange attachment to this place, but he always leaves after a few weeks." He glanced down at his deputy reassuringly, "He'll be here for a month at the most. And then he'll be gone for another year or two before he saunters back into town." Genzo gazed blankly at Lion, who was now trying to catch his breath as he heaved his way back into his chair. He grabbed his deputy by the shoulders, and wheeled her back into the room.
"Oh, the princess is back." Lion chuckled softly as Mary came back into the room. Mary simply turned her face away from him, thrusting her nose into the air.
"Aww, come on, sweet heart, don't be like that." Lion pined. "It was just a little joke!"
"Don't worry about her, Lion, just hurt pride." Genzo walked back into his office and sat down. The fun was over, it was time to talk.
"Now, I'm assuming that you will eventually go and visit them." Genzo nodded towards the edge of the village. Lion cocked his head quizzically.
"Of course, that goes without saying."
Genzo sighed, and pushed down the rim of his hat. "It's been a really long time since your last visit, I can't even remember how long. You used to come every year, sometimes every month, when you just disappeared. But during the time you were gone, something happened."
"She died." Lion's quiet comment came with a deadly tone. Genzo looked up with surprise.
"You knew?"
"No, I guessed." Lion glanced at the cottage just barely visible on the far side of the island.
"Right, that intuition of yours. Then there's something else you should know." Genzo let out a deep sigh, and the mood became heavy, in contrast to the cheery atmosphere that had adorned the office mere minutes ago.
" The little one…she joined the people who killed her for a while. They left…scars that should remain buried." He looked up at the man who seemed to be completely unsurprised by anything he's said so far. "We were actually planning to riot against the tyrants when you next came, figured you'd be strong enough to tear that place apart." Genzo let out a sad smile, "But she beat us to it. She brought her friend, a crazy kid who wants to be pirate king. And he tore down Arlong Park."
"And now she joined his crew." Lion's eyes narrowed even as the words left his lips. Genzo seemed almost scared under the man's gaze. "That, I was able to figure out from the posters." He gave a curt nod towards Nami's wanted poster.
"Right." Genzo leaned forward. "Now, I never got what your obsession with them is, but tread carefully." He clasped his hands around his friend's, "They put up a tough front, you know how they are. But it can still be pretty delicate."
Lion gave Genzo his mysterious smile and grasped the hand in his.
"I know."