A/N: Hey, everyone! So this a story that has been on my mind for a whole month and it stopped me from writing anything for A lost then a found. I had no option but to write it.
The story takes place after the Dressrosa arc and the Straw Hats are in the New World. Please note English isn't my first language so please bear with my bad English T^T.
The Straw Hats pirates just docked on a new island. Nami gave Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Robin money for shopping while Franky, Brook, Usopp and Chopper stayed onboard. Each member went their own way. Nami gave Zoro a long speech about not getting lost and coming back to the ship before midnight. Nami and Robin went to by some cloths, Luffy went exploring the island, Zoro went looking for a bar and Sanji went shopping for supplies and, let's be honest, to look at the young ladies in the city.
The cook was calmly looking for some meat when he heard some commotion. He clearly heard a woman voice and he had to help her since he swore to protect ladies. He followed the noise and ended up in an alley. There, he saw a young lady who looked around twenty one fighting three bounty hunters. She had emerald green eyes and long curly red hair that was held back in a ponytail. She was wearing a long blue dress which didn't hide her swollen belly at all and she had a green backpack. Sanji, furious that some scum could try to hurt a pregnant woman, went to help her. But before the cook could reach her, she defeated the three men with a blood red sword that appeared from nowhere without breaking a sweat. The sword disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Relieved, Sanji was about to ask if the girl was okay when she fainted. The blond caught her before she could hit the ground. He then decided to take her to Chopper on the ship.
Usopp saw the blond ero-cook running toward their ship with a pregnant girl in his arms." Oi, Sanji who is that?" The man ignored his crew mate's question and told him to call the little furry doctor. The said doctor asked Sanji to take the unconscious woman to the infirmary. "So what happened?" Chopper asked. "Some bounty hunters attacked her but she took care of them. I didn't think she was hurt but suddenly she fainted."
Yukiko woke up in an unknown room. "Good you're awake." She tilted her head to see the person who just spoke. Her gaze fell a small reindeer standing by her bedside. "My name is Chopper and I'm a doctor. Our cook carried you here after you fainted." Now that this little creature mentioned it, she remembered fighting against some bounty hunters who discovered her identity. She sat up. " Thank you for taking care of me but is my baby fine?". Chopper smiled to reassure her. "Yes don't worry your baby's alright." The young lady let out a sigh of relief. She stood up. "I can go on the deck, right? I'd like to thanks Sanji-san and meet the rest of your crew." Chopper looked at her in confusion and worry. "How do you know who we are?" The red haired laughed. "Everyone knows who you are! Only the mugiwara crew have such a cute little reindeer as a doctor." "Shut up! It's not like you're flattering me by calling me cute or knowing that I'm a reindeer." She chuckled.
The entire crew was sitting in the dinning room with their new guest who was starting to feel uncomfortable under all the gazes on her. She immediately felt better when Sanji opened his mouth to speak: "So why were those bounty hunters after you?" "Wait here, I'm going to show you." She took something out of her backpack that luckily Sanji had brought with her on the Sunny. It was a bounty poster, her bounty poster. She unfolded it and put it on the table for all to see. Half of the crew gasped when they read the poster. "Wanted Yukiko the bloody sword 508.000.000 beris."
Yukiko snapped them out of their shock when she spoke "That's why they were after me. I've been hiding my real identity for two years now. I became good friend with everyone in this small town. The mayor hid my bounty poster when he saw it but those guys found out anyway. I shouldn't have fainted but little one here", she put her hand on her stomach,"drained a lot of my energy. I mustn't use my fruit powers too long." "You're a devil fruit user?" Nami asked. "Yes. I ate the Chi Chi no Mi (the bloody fruit). It allows me to form weapons from my blood and I can treat blood diseases easily which is helpful cause I'm a doctor. I can also poison another one's blood but that's way too much work. And I'm a logia." "Creepy but cool" Luffy said "Want to join my crew?" The pregnant lady laughed "Sorry I'm already part of a crew and I doubt you need two doctors onboard." Luffy pouted. Yukiko turned to look at him and said " But I do need a favor from you and your crew. You see, I really want to go to an island somewhere further in the New World but there's no way I can travel alone pregnant. This island will be on your route so it won't be a detour. I'm pretty happy I run into you because you are the only person to whom I can ask this. I'm sorry to be a burden but you're the only ones who can help me."
The scarred boy didn't think twice before giving his answer "Shishishi! Of course we'll help you!" Yukiko beamed at him "Thank you so much!" "But doctor-chan shouldn't you be with your crew?" Robin asked. "We split up because my husband didn't want me on a pirate ship because of my condition" The way she said it showed that she clearly wasn't happy about that. Nobody was surprised she had a husband; the wedding and engagement rings she was wearing spelled it out for them. "But don't worry Robin-san I already told my crew to pick me up on the island I mentioned earlier in two months." It was Zoro's turn to ask a question "And how do you know we will stop on the island you want?" The red hair gave him a mysterious smile "I just know." The swordsman didn't push it farther. A comfortable silence fell on the room. Silence that was quickly broken by Luffy's growling stomach. "Sanji! I'm hungry!" "Fine shitty captain. I'm going to make dinner" He left the table and went in the kitchen.
While waiting for the food to come, the Mugiwara pirates did what they usually do: Zoro fell asleep in a corner, the boys were playing together while Brook was playing a soft tune on his violin and Nami and Robin were chatting with Yukiko.
"So how far along are you?" Robin asked.
"I'm coming around my twenty fourth month. I'm starting my twenty fifth month next week." Nami spat out what she was drinking. "Twenty fourth month?! How is that possible?!" The oldest red haired rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry. I tend to forget it's not normal" "Not normal? It's simply impossible!" The rest of the crew, alerted by Nami's outburst, was listening very closely to Yukiko's answer. "You should know nothing's impossible in the New World." Yukiko grinned. "Don't worry I'll explain. You see, my husband was a notorious pirate and had a bounty higher than mine. But two years ago..." Her hands clenched the fabric of her dress and her grin faded away "...he was killed by the Marine. And, ever since Sakazuki became Fleet Admiral, the Marines have been imprisoning women who had children with famous pirates and sometimes those bastards executed them and their child.
I'm not as infamous as my husband so I could easily hide myself among normal citizens but somehow, the news about our wedding sprayed in the Marine after he was executed. They didn't know who was his wife but they discovered where I was hiding; they were looking for a recently married woman and possibly pregnant. Luckily, since we are both pirates, there is no record of us ever being married. I found out I was pregnant when the first searches began. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hide my growing belly so I did the only thing I could to protect my baby. I messed with my blood and my baby's to slow down his development. I kept him alive but his development was going to be three times longer."
"I see" Zoro and Luffy said. "Don't say that when you clearly didn't understand" Usopp told them. "Basically, to get to the same stage of development, a normal baby needs one month whereas my child needs three. So I should go into labour in two months. And that's why I needed your protection. Even thought I'm a logia I can't transform or it would kill my kid. I can't attack either so it's kind of like I have seastone on me. I'm vulnerable and it's so frustrating. I'm not used to be this weak. I hate it."
Yukiko bite her lip to hold back her tears but her eyes were quickly becoming watery. "Don't worry." She raised her head to look at the captain "We'll protect you and your baby." He gave her his signature smile. The soon to be mother couldn't help but smile a little too. "But now food!" Yukiko chuckled and wiped her tears away. "Thank you" she said quietly. The Straw Hats pirates all smiled at her. "Don't worry, Yuki-chan, I'll protect you from any danger." Sanji said. "Thank you Sanji-san, that's sweet. By the way, you can call me Yukiko-chan but Yuki-chan is the name that only my husband is allowed to call me by." She said that with a 'call-me-by-that-name-again-and-I-will-make-you-suffer' smile.
The dinner was uneventful, well as uneventful as a dinner can go on the Thousand Sunny. Yukiko immediately like the 'almost family' atmosphere. It reminded her of her own crew.
It's been three weeks since the mugiwara pirates met Yukiko. She got along with the whole crew; she spared occasionally with Zoro (even pregnant he recognized she was skilled), she listened to Usopp's stories even though most of them weren't true, she discussed about the medical field with Chopper, she complimented Sanji's cooking, Nami and Robin appreciated the presence of an other girl (the two red haired exchanged some tricks to win arguments. Turns out Yukiko was a great deceiver), Franky built her an automatic wheelchair (which she was grateful for because walking was just too hard sometimes) and she often sang with Brook (she was asked to sing since she had a beautiful voice).
And with Luffy, well with Luffy she did everything. He told her all the adventures they had lived and she told him hers, she also played games with him and Usopp and Chopper, they did funny faces contests... The crew discovered she could be serious but also very childish kind of like Luffy even if she was more mature than their captain and less reckless. Yukiko treated Luffy as her little brother and even asked him to call her 'Nee-chan'. The young boy was the first one to ask if he could touch her swollen belly. When she saw his face lighten up when the baby kicked his hand, she almost spilled out her secret. It's not like she didn't trust the Straw Hats pirates but hiding her identity and her past for two years made her used to tell her life without saying any names or giving clues about who was her crew.
That day, the soon-to-be mother decided to wear a shirt that didn't cover her stomach entirely. That way, the crew was able to see the tattoo she had on her left hip. Zoro was the first one to notice it. "Yukiko?" "Hum?" "Your tattoo, is it Whitebeard's mark?" The young lady looked down at it "Yes, it is." "Wait," Usopp started, "does that mean you're a Whitebeard pirate?" The red haired nodded "Yeah! I'm the second division Vice commander of Oyaji fleet." The crew was shocked, they knew she was strong but not this strong. Luffy was unfazed and quickly exclaimed "Cool! So you were under Ace's command?" The Mugiwaras froze. No one ever mentioned their captain's brother, too afraid to cause him pain. Yukiko had a pained smile. "Yeah, he was a great leader." She said softly. "The island I wish to go to is actually the island where Ace and Oyaji are buried." Silence followed her revelation "I understand" Nami said "but Luffy do you..." Luffy interrupted her "Yeah, I want to go on this island; I have a promise to make" Everybody sent him a questioning look but no one asked.
The rest of the day passed with the Mugiwaras asked Yukiko things about life on the Moby Dick and on her adventures as a Shirohige pirate. "How did you join Whitebeard's crew?" "Well, contrarily to the majority of my crew, it wasn't Oyaji who save me but Ace. I love Oyaji as a father and I'm grateful he sheltered me and accepted me as his daughter but Ace got me out of my horrible village. You see, I never knew my father nor my mother and I was the outcast of my village. Parents said horrible things about me to their children so they wouldn't play with me. And when I accidentally ate my devil fruit, they all started to call me a monster. But I didn't let them bring me down; I saw them as my motivation. I started learning medicine at a very young age so I could be useful in their eyes. I tried hard maybe too hard to please them. But even when I was really good in my medical studies, nobody accepted to be treated by me. I really started to feel down but the worst had yet to come.
When I was sixteen, a rare and lethal blood disease took over my town. I was infected too. I survived because I figured how to use my powers to get the virus out of my blood. I figured out I could do the same to others, so I ran in my village to tell the villagers the good news. The only problem was that nobody believed me. They even started to say I was the one who brought the sickness into our village. They chased me out of the village with weapons. I was so depressed and heartbroken that I didn't even tried to defend myself. That's how Ace found me, bleeding to death and dead inside. If nobody wanted me, why try to live and suffer when I could grant them their wish and die? Ace saw me in an alley and immediately pick me up and took me to his ship. They didn't have a proper doctor onboard at this time and I almost died. But for the first time of my life someone was taking care of me so I told them how to heal me. I wanted to know who was the first person who showed kindness toward me. I really didn't regret my choice to stay alive. I got a real family, I got married and I founded my own family."
Yukiko had a big grin on face as she talked about her family. But once again her grin faded as she added: "But the Marine had to come and ruined all that. They killed Oyaji, many of my siblings and my husband. And now they are after my baby. But they won't find us." The doctor had a determined look on her face. She looked at her hosts and told them "Thank you so much for allowing me on your ship" She gave them her most beautiful smile. They smiled back at her and told her it was fine. They were actually pretty happy she was here. She was a happy-go-lucky girl like their captain and it brightened the mood a lot.
Soon the night came and, one by one, the pirates went to sleep except Robin who was on guard duty that night.
Luffy woke up in the middle of the night because he was hungry. He went into the kitchen only to find that Sanji had locked the fridge. He didn't try to break the lock because he knew that if he did Sanji and Nami would be piss. Not ready to go to bed yet, the captain decided to go on the deck to watch the stars. He heard giggling as he opened the door leading on the deck. "So have you thought of a name?" said a voice he recognized as Robin's. "Actually I have. Ann if it's a girl and Sabo if it's a boy." "Aww, that's cute." When he heard the baby's names, something clicked inside Luffy's mind. Could it be that...? He would just ask Yukiko next morning. With hope in his chest, he went back inside to sleep.
Unfortunately, Luffy never got to ask his question as they were attacked by a pirate ship during breakfast. The enemies were strong; nothing the Straw Hats couldn't handle but strong enough to have enter the New World. The battle should have been short but the pirates were numerous. As much as she wanted to fight, Yukiko knew she couldn't so she simply stayed in the kitchen and finished her breakfast. Since her friends were taking too long to her taste, she left the room to give them a hand even if she knew they didn't need it. Friends and foes, everybody noticed her when she came out on the upper deck.
"My lovely Yukiko-chan, you should go back inside. It's dangerous here even if I, your knight in shining armour will protect you. Fear not" Sanji said. Yukiko smiled "Thank you for your concern Sanji-san but I don't need to worry about those weaklings. You guys were taking too much time, the food is getting cold, so I thought I could give you a hand." The attackers were fuming. One pirate ran towards the doctor, sword in hand, yelling "You bitch! You think you can insult us and get away with it?" With these words, he swung down his sword hopping to cut her across the chest. She used Haki to dodge his attack easily and, with a fist strengthen with Haki, she punched him in the jaw. He was knocked out cold. The young lady crossed her arms and huffed "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm weak. I'm still strong enough to take care of weaklings like you." She was about to engaged a battle with another pirate when Robin spoke to her. "Doctor-san, we appreciate your help but you might want to return inside. You don't want the baby to get hurt." The red haired pouted. "Fine. I'm going in my room. Thank you for the breakfast, Sanji-san, it was delicious" She added to the cook. The furious pirate captain yelled at his men. "Don't let her escape! Kill that bitch!" They did as ordered and attacked the White Beard pirate. Using Haki, she simply dodged all their attacks and continued walking to her room.
The Straw Hats went back to their fights now that they were sure their guest was going to be alright. But no one thought, not even Yukiko herself, that the pregnant woman would have a Braxton Hikes contraction in the middle of her way to her room. She fell to the ground because of the pain, where she stayed defenseless. A pirate noticed it and took advantage of it to attack her. Luffy saw the scene and sprinted in his friend's direction. "Gear second!" Mugiwara yelled "Gomu gomu no Red Hawk". The pirate never stood a chance.
The Mugiwaras who heard their captain yell (which is all of them in fact) were surprised. Not by the fact that he protected Yukiko, no that was normal, but by the fact that he used one of his most powerful techniques against a weak underling. But none of them gave much thought about it.
"Don't you dare touch my Nee-chan." Luffy said to the unconscious body of the pirate.
No one heard this declaration except for Yukiko.
The Straw Hats pirates' attention was brought back to their captain and the pregnant lady when they heard a loud squeal. The latter was hugging the raven haired boy, his head buried in her chest. "Oh my God! You finally called me Nee-chan!" She squealed again. The crew sweat dropped at her childish antics. They once again turned back to their fight as they all wanted to finish their breakfast.
"Nee-chan, I've been meaning to ask you," Luffy said quietly once the doctor freeded him from her death hug, "Are you..."
The fight was soon over, finished by really hungry Straw Hats pirates. They threw the unconscious bodies of the other pirates back on the enemy's boat. Nami was delighted to find a huge treasure onboard of that ship.
Life onboard of the Thousand Sunny went back to normal after the attack but everyone noticed Luffy and Yukiko were closer than before. They rarely spend time apart and the boy followed the red haired everywhere like a lost puppy. He also seemed to be more careful around the baby, always worring each time Yukiko had a practice contraction, which was happening more and more often. Nami even caught them laying down on Yukiko's bed with Luffy's head on her swollen belly, probably trying to hear the baby's heartbeat. Yukiko looked like she was trying to sleep but didn't mind the other's presence or doing, she was even smiling softly. Nami chuckled as they reminded her of a kid and his pregnant mother, and left them alone telling the other members of the crew to not bother the two friends. No one minded their captain's new attitude, in fact they found it quite endearing.
Soon came the day where the Mugiwara crew docked on the island where Fire Fist and White Beard were buried. The whole crew left the ship and started to walked in the direction of the graves that could be seen on the top of a hill. Luffy and Yukiko were a little behind the others but no one could blame them. Seeing their brother/leader's grave would only make his death more real and probably more painful. But still, they both had things to say to Ace and Yukiko, to Shirohige also.
After a fifteen minutes walk, the group finally arrived in front of the graves. The Straw Hats pirates quickly paid their respect to the deceased knowing Luffy and Yukiko would have a lot to say. The latters looked at each other and the red haired gave the young captain a nod, signaling that he should go first. He stepped in front of WhiteBeard grave "Hey, old man! Sorry you died during the war, you were a good guy. I would have wanted to fight you." His crew shook their head, it was such a Luffy thing to say. Yukiko smiled, almost hearing her 'father''s laughter and hearing him say "cheeky brat".
Luffy then moved on to Ace's grave. He sat down in front of it with a sad smile on his face. "Hey" He started softly "it's been two years since you died. You knew, at first I was very angry with you. You promised me you wouldn't die and yet you went and did it anyway. It's not like you did it on purpose but still, I was angry and sad. I couldn't believe I had lost both of my brothers. Hope you found Sabo wherever you two are now. Tell him I said hi." The pirates behind him were all shocked to hear he had another brother, well all except Yukiko. A smile found its way on their faces as they heard what Luffy said next. "I finally got over your death and you know why? Because I have awesome nakamas that are counting on me! I trained a lot during those two years to become a lot stronger. I wasn't strong enough to protect you but now, I'm not going to lose any of my friends, ever! Anyway, if I came to visit you, it's because I want to make a promise. You told me your only regret was not being able to see me become Pirate King. Then, next time I will come here, I will have found the One Piece! It's a promise!" He was now standing up, a hand on his hat with a huge grin on his face. Everyone smiled, happy to see their captain with a new motivation. "Oh, and Ace? I just remembered I have another promise to make. I promise to protect my nephew as much as possible." 'Nephew?! What the hell is he talking about?' all his crewmates thought.
They didn't have time to ask as Yukiko started to talk to her lost ones. She first stood in front of the biggest grave. "Hey, Oyaji. I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being a great father during all these years. You treated me as your daughter and for that I am really grateful. By your side I gained friends, brothers and sisters, and eventually a husband. You'll be happy to learn you're going to be a grandfather soon. Bye Oyaji, I'll come back soon and next time I do, you will be able to see your grandchild." She smiled fondly at the tombstone then moved to stand in front of the other grave. After staring at the monument for a while, she sighed and sat down in front of it like Luffy had done before her. She raised her hand to trace the letters written on the stone with the tips of her fingers, before letting it fall on her lap. She took a deep breath and spoke:
"Hey Ace-kun. I have so much things to tell you, I don't even know where to start. I guess I can begin with telling you about our crew. You probably know it already but Oyaji died at Marineford too. I can't believe he's really dead you know. Even though he was sick, I just couldn't picture him getting killed, he was so strong and practically immortal in my eyes. But I guess I was wrong." She sighed sadly. "Anyhow, Marco became captain. I know you're thinking damn turkey, but you know as well as I do that he's more than fitted for the job. We lost a lot of men and a lot of pirate have been attacking our territories." Yukiko scoffed "Just because Oyaji is dead doesn't mean his crew is. We are going to kick their ass and show them Oyaji's will is still alive.
You knew, I feel bad for not being at Marineford. The whole crew was there, trying to save you, even your brother was there, but I wasn't. If I could have, I would have been there. I know you'll say it's a good thing I wasn't, for the baby and all but it's not fair. It's not fair! I wanted to fight too! I wanted to save you too! I'M YOUR FREAKING WIFE, DAMN IT!"
All her bottled up emotions exploded right there and Yukiko broke down crying. Except for their captain, all the Mugiwaras were shocked. They had figured out that the young woman was close of the second division commander but no one had thought she was his wife. Luffy walked up and put his hand on the crying lady's shoulder. Soon, her sobs stopped and she rested her hand on Luffy's which was still on her shoulder. "Thank you Luffy." She said quietly. She then continued to talk to her husband.
"It's been two years now but I'm still pregnant. I used my powers to modify our baby's blood and mine too, so we could escape the Marines. But don't worry, I'm fine and so is the little one. I still don't know his sex yet; I want it to be a surprise. I think it's a boy but I might be wrong. If it's a boy, I will call him Portgas D. Sabo like your brother and if it's a girl, Gol D. Ann. I know you hate your biological father but hey, I'm the one who gives birth so I have the right to chose the name of our child."
She talked for a very long time, telling him everything she lived since Ace was gone and how she missed him. At some point, her friends had left to give her intimacy. Only Luffy stayed. He and Yukiko both told their loved one their adventures. Luffy told the red haired the things he had lived with when they were younger. She knew most of them as Ace already told her since he couldn't shut up about his little brother. But still, hearing Luffy telling them made her laugh a lot.
The Straw Hats pirates stayed four days on the island, waiting for Yukiko's crew to show up. When Marco had discovered Yukiko had traveled with the Mugiwaras, he was relieved. When he had received her call saying she was going on the island where Ace was buried, he had freaked out. Knowing her, she could have travel through the New World on a small fishing boat, all alone and pregnant. So when he saw she had traveled with a strong crew, he couldn't help but feel a lot better.
"Marco!" Yukiko yelled as she jumped in his arms, giving him a bear hug. She was really happy to see her best friend/brother. She had missed him and all the WhiteBeard pirates. He hugged her back. They started to talk a bit and Marco asked her if she wanted to become the second division commander which she accepted. Yukiko did her good byes to the Straw Hats pirates, thanking them for their hospitality. She hugged Luffy and promised him to come see him again so he could meet his nephew (or niece, she still didn't know).
On the replacement of the Moby Dick, she rested a hand on her stomach and promised herself her child will become one of the greatest pirates of all time.
A/N: None of you thought Ace was the father right? Nah, I'm kidding. I'm sure you guessed before the grave thingy. Please tell me when you guessed Ace was the father. I find the ending crappy but I didn't know how to end this One Shot. I might do another One Shot about the baby and how Yukiko and Ace fell in love key word being might. Maybe if enough persons are interested like at least ten.
Don't forget to review to tell me at what moment you guessed Ace was the father.
Ja ne~~~~
