Author's Note: So as you might have guessed by the ending of the last chapter, I'm going to be including little snippets showing what the Strawhats are doing as we follow Selena's childhood. I hope you like it!
Ten years before Romance Dawn
Armed with a bokken in each hand, Zoro unleashed a flurry of strikes onto his opponent.
His opponent, unable to fight back, toppled over.
Zoro sighed and picked up the straw dummy he had been taking out his frustrations on. He didn't get it! Why couldn't he beat her?!
One thousand fights. One thousand losses.
He would just have to train harder and get even stronger. He was only nine years old, but he could already beat most of the adults who trained at the dojo. In a way, he was kind of grateful to Kuina. At least she offered him a challenge. A goal to reach. Someone to surpass.
Still, she didn't have to be so smug about it.
He could still hear her mocking voice echoing in his ears. "You're weak, Zoro."
He'll just have to prove her wrong.
Letter #156
Dear Selena,
Your last letter was so funny! I don't know how you found that much honey or why you thought that would be a good idea for a prank, but I think you kind of deserved it backfiring on you. Sorry! Nojiko laughed so hard that tangerine juice came out of her nose when we read that!
If we ever get the chance to visit you I really want to meet your friend Kingsley. We hear so much about him from your letters that we feel like we kind of know him already. We're glad you have someone looking out for you back home. We worry about you, you know? You don't have an amazing big sister looking out for you like I do (Nojiko made me write that).
We hope that the tangerines we sent helped your mom feel better! Bellemère swears by them. She says that the tangerines from our grove help give you better skin, nicer hair, and are the reason she's so beautiful. I don't know about all that (I think I need more evidence besides Bellemère's face), but they are packed with vitamin C! Maybe if she eats a tangerine a day, instead of apples, she'll be able to keep the doctors away?
Not much has happened here in the last week. I got in trouble for shoplifting (again) but it was for something really important! I stole a book on navigation but it was really expensive and I needed it. Bellemère got me out of trouble by flirting with Genzo anyways, so everything turned out all right. I really need to learn how she does that.
The weather has been really great this season so we're hoping it's going to be a good harvest. Nojiko has been helping out Bellemère more and more with the grove, and it turns out she really has a green thumb (she's blushing as I write this)! She even started a little garden behind the house, and we've been using her herbs and vegetables in the kitchen. They taste better than anything you can buy at the market.
I think that's all for now. We're so excited for you to come visit soon!
Your calligraphy companions,
Nami & Nojiko
P.S. Nojiko finally admitted that my calligraphy is way better than hers! It has to be if I'm going to make the best maps in the world!
Selena smiled as she finished reading over Nami and Nojiko's latest letter. They had become really close over the last three years, ever since she first visited Cocoyashi. She usually heard from them at least every other week, alternating each week between who was receiving and who was writing the letter. She loved hearing about the girls' antics and about whatever Bellemère was up to.
They had started numbering the letters after a News Coo seagull ended up getting lost. The letter had shown up a couple of weeks later, but they decided to keep numbering their correspondences since it made it easy to keep track of them all. Plus, it was cool to see how many letters they had written in total. When they had hit letter #100, Selena had surprised Nami and Nojiko by sending them a bottle of champagne she had swiped from Mama's Place. She was pretty sure Bellemère hadn't let them drink it, but it was the thought that counted.
It had also become a running joke to end their letters with a different synonym for pen pals, after Nami had complained about how lame it sounded during Selena's first visit to Cocoyashi. After the first thirty letters they had completely run out of new ways to phrase it, so they started using their favorites on rotation. Every once in a while one of them will come up with a new one, but "memo mates" was still Selena's favorite.
She had visited Nami and Nojiko two more times over the last three years, and was going to visit again soon after her eighth birthday. It had become tradition for her and Hitoshi to go on a trip to Cocoyashi at the end of summer. Her dad usually took off the month of September, since her birthday landed on the second, and they would use the last week of the month to visit their friends. She had made so many good memories running around the island and just goofing off with the sisters.
Her dad had been promoted again, not even a full year after he had made captain. Apparently, his slow rise through the ranks had nothing to do with lack of fighting skill. Marine Headquarters had been hesitant to promote him because of his lack of leadership skills. He had always been a goofy and excitable guy, which meant that most of the soldiers saw him as more of a friend than as a superior. He hadn't been the type of person to command respect or to inspire people to follow him.
This had changed after he had met Etsuko, who helped bring out a more serious side to him. After Selena was born and he became a father, he matured even more. HQ had no longer been able to deny that he was an exemplary soldier and rewarded him for his hard work. After years of service, he was finally getting the recognition he deserved. He was now Commodore Hitoshi and was stationed on the first half of the Grand Line, though he made frequent visits to his old base. The recruitment and training program in Loguetown was the largest in all of the East Blue, and he had been instrumental in developing it. The trainers and instructors at the base reported to him, and he continued to oversee the recruitment campaigns and training schedules. It also gave him a good excuse to be able to see his daughter every few months.
Selena missed her dad terribly. After his promotion to commodore, he had been reassigned to the Grand Line. She and Etsuko had been worried about him, but he was following his dreams and they couldn't hold him back from that. It had comforted her a bit to know that he was staying in Paradise, but the Grand Line was an insane place and she couldn't help but be nervous for her father.
Hitoshi had seen how concerned Etsuko and Selena were for him, and he knew it must have been hard for them to let him go. He was so lucky to have them, and to have a family that understood that being a marine was essential to who he was. He had grown up in the marines, found purpose in the marines, and had dedicated his life to the marines. They saw this and never asked him to stay with them, even though it must have been killing them to watch him sail off into the unknown and worry about him for weeks on end. In hopes of making them feel better, or at least for them to stress less over his safety, he decided to demonstrate his skills for them. Neither of them had ever seen him in action, so he hoped letting them see what he could do would alleviate some of their fears.
Selena's eyes had bugged out of her head when Hitoshi's fist had blackened and he pulverized a nearby boulder with a single punch. Her dad had fucking haki. She shouldn't have been surprised, he was trained by Garp after all, but she really hadn't seen this coming. Her sweet, cheery, goofy dad had armament haki.
Etsuko had taken the whole thing in stride. She walked over to Hitoshi, planted a chaste kiss on his lips, and had thanked him for showing them that.
"I feel a lot better now. I obviously knew that you were strong, but hearing about it and seeing it with my own eyes are two very different things. I trust you to take care of yourself and to come back home to us." That said, she walked back to Mama's to open up the place for brunch.
Selena didn't remain as composed.
"What the hell was that, tou-chan!?" she yelled, still feeling like her eyeballs were popping out of her head. Thinking about it, she realized they actually might be. She was living in an anime now, after all. "Why haven't you taught me that!?"
She had continued her training with a steadfast determination. Ever since her dad had started training her, she had not taken a day off. She knew that canon would be starting in about ten years and she intended on setting off on her own journey soon after that. She needed to be strong enough to survive on her own.
Hitoshi chuckled.
"That was an example of what armament haki could do," he said. "And it isn't really something that can be taught."
He walked away from the rubble (that used to be a boulder) and sat down under the shade of a redwood, gesturing for Selena to follow. He had led Etsuko and Selena into a clearing located in the forest on the southern side of the island, since he didn't want any of the locals witnessing his little demonstration. The redwoods that made up the forest were huge, and had provided good cover from prying eyes.
"Before I explain, I need you to promise me that you will be very careful with who you entrust this information with. This power could be very dangerous in the wrong hands," he said. Selena had no issue agreeing to his terms. She could only imagine what would happen if people in the Blues discovered they all had the untapped ability to use a mysterious superpower.
"To put it in the simplest terms, haki is a power that could be wielded by any person. There are three types of haki, although they manifest in different ways. The one I just used is called armament haki. It allows you to use your spirit to coat yourself in an invisible armor. When trained to higher levels, like I showed you, you are able to actually harden your body. That's why my fist turned black," he explained, imbuing his hand with armament to show her once more.
"The second type is called observation haki. It's like a sixth sense that allows you to feel other people's aura, and can be trained to the point where the user is able to predict an enemy's attacks. Bellemère is actually extremely proficient in observation haki," he said, to Selena's surprise.
"Can you show me that one?" she asked. She didn't know if she was going to get another chance to see haki in action and she wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.
Not for nothing, but Selena had actually tried to use haki as soon as she had started training and was away from her dad's watchful eyes. Haki was basically superpowers that everyone had the potential to use but didn't know how to access. Of course she was going to try to take advantage of her knowledge of the series. To her endless frustration, however, she had made no progress whatsoever.
She spent at least a few hours everyday trying to unlock her haki. It wasn't a waste of time, since the training she hoped would help her unlock her haki was also essential to the rest of her skills. Still, it was disappointing that she had worked for three years and had nothing to show for it in that regard. She spent an hour everyday punching and kicking the cliff face on the eastern shore of the island. She had worked her way up from sand bags to tree trunks and finally, to hitting solid rock. It helped toughen up her hands and feet, which she wrapped in bandages, to the point where she could now hit the cliff-side at full strength without feeling any pain. She no longer had to hold back to avoid injuring herself. Over time, the constant repetition had also helped strengthen her hits immensely. While at first punching solid rock had hurt like a bitch, she was now chipping the stone with each strike.
She incorporated dodging and agility training to her workout routine in hopes of unlocking her observation haki. Basically, Kingsley would throw things at her, as hard as he could, while she dodged for her life. She had slowly ramped up this training too. Kingsley had first started shooting her with a water gun, then moved up to water balloons, then up to acorns, then small stones, and finally: marbles. They were hard and compact, but didn't cut her or dirty her clothes like rocks did. Plus, the bright colors made them easy to find and pick up afterwards.
"Actually, I can't," her dad responded, bringing her back to the conversation at hand. "Every person has an inclination towards either armament or observation. I specialize in armament, and haven't been able to unlock observation haki yet. That's another thing that stops everyone and anyone from learning haki: it has to be unlocked. This usually happens during either a traumatic or intensely emotional event. For example, I unlocked armament when I saw a sniper taking aim at Bellemère while she was engaged in combat with a pirate. She was focused on her fight and didn't notice the pirate stationed on a roof about a block away. He was picking off marines from a distance while the rest of his crew engaged in hand-to-hand combat. I moved without thinking and took the bullet for her, not noticing until after the battle that the bullet hadn't pierced my skin. Shishou was so proud when I told him that he bought my drinks for the rest of the night," he boasted.
Selena had stars in her eyes. "Tou-chan, you're so cool~!"
Hitoshi shrugged one shoulder and tried to remain nonchalant, but he could feel the tips of his ears getting red.
"I guess it is kind of a big deal," he said, giving up the façade of humility. "Bellemère and I are complete opposites in that regard; she was never able to unlock armament and I still haven't gotten observation. Armament is more suited to my fighting style, since I can use it to coat my sword. I'm actually still training to unlock observation though, since I can't be promoted to vice admiral until I show my superiors that I am proficient in both types of haki."
"Didn't you say there are three types?" Selena asked innocently.
It wasn't something that she was proud of, but she was really good at telling half-truths and avoiding letting any of her future knowledge slip out. She never outright lied, just skewed the truth and chose her words very carefully. It made her feel like a manipulative little shit, but she wasn't ever going to reveal her reincarnated status to anyone. How would the people she cared about feel if they knew she had been lying to them her whole life? How would her parents feel about her if they knew she had stolen the life of their little girl?
"Yes, I did," Hitoshi replied. "The third one is called Conqueror's Haki, or the King's Disposition. Unlike the other two, you're either born with it or you aren't. It's extremely rare – only one in a million people have it. It basically allows the user to use their willpower to overpower others. It's not something you have to worry about though. I don't think you'll ever see haki in action unless you plan on going to the Grand Line."
"Well, you never know," Selena responded casually.
Was his baby girl implying that she wanted to be a marine?! Why else would she ever go to the Grand Line? He didn't want to pressure her into anything though, so he couldn't give anything away with his reaction.
He hummed non-committedly in response, trying to keep his face neutral.
Selena shot a look at her dad. Why did he look so constipated?
"Are you okay, tou-chan?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" he said quickly. "Lets go back to the bar and help out your mother. I want to make the most out of the time I have left with the both of you," he said, efficiently changing the subject.
Ever since then, her dad was gone for months at a time. He would leave Valhalla to go on patrols through Paradise, then come back home for a couple of weeks to check in on the Loguetown base and spend time with them. He always took the month of September off for her though, even though she knew that HQ gave him a hard time for it. She appreciated that even though his career was extremely important to him, family still came first. It made her feel incredibly loved.
Her daily routine hadn't changed much in the last three years. She woke up around sunrise and spent the morning studying with her mother. She now had lessons in history, geography, world cultures, and literature. Her mom had taught her basic arithmetic already, and the knowledge of science of this world was jealously guarded so she wasn't very well versed in those subjects. Her mom may not be the most well educated woman, but she was extremely well read. She made sure Selena learned the essentials, and that she had an appreciation for the classic works of this world.
She spent the rest of the morning running laps around the island. Valhalla was a beautiful place and she enjoyed going on runs. When she wanted to push herself she would either do sprints up the cliffs on the eastern shore, or free run through the forest on the south side of the island. Having to jump over logs, make her way through the rough terrain, and weave in between trees made it more challenging. On days where she was still sore and wanted to take it easier, she would jog through the vineyards and farms on the western side of the island. Grapes, sugarcane, and wheat were the main things grown, and were used to make various types of alcohol. Liquor was actually the main good exported out of Valhalla. There was a huge distillery on the island, which was where most of the people who didn't own their own farms or businesses worked.
Ever since Kingsley chewed her out after her first trip to Cocoyashi, she made sure to eat lunch with him everyday. To her surprise, a few months into her training Kingsley had asked if he could join her. He could only join her for her afternoon training session, since he went fishing every morning and then sold his catches at the farmer's market until noon. He was months behind her in training (not that she would ever give him a chance to catch up) but Selena loved having him as a sparring partner. She got to spend more time with him, he learned how to defend himself, and she got to share one of her hobbies with him.
Not only that, but having a sparring partner really helped her improve. Many of the kata in the book her father gave her for her fifth birthday were to be done in pairs or with a partner. By following the illustrations, she had memorized every single kata in the book. She also now had someone she could test moves on, which really helped since she was kind of developing her own style by borrowing from different types of martial arts.
During her first year of training, her dad had taught her the basics of swordsmanship. He had bought her a bokken, which was basically a wooden practice sword, and had given her a training routine. Swordsmanship was a required skill for all privates, which was why so many of the cannon fodder marines shown in the series wielded sabers. Hitoshi wanted to make sure that if his daughter decided to follow in his footsteps, she would have no problem rising through the ranks and would have a head start compared to other recruits.
At first, Selena had been excited about learning swordsmanship. She had always admired swordsmen and women, plus she was pleased that her dad wanted to pass on his skills to her. She could also tell that it made her dad happy that she shared his interests. However, she slowly learned that it just wasn't for her. She didn't like being dependent on a weapon that could be lost or turned against her. She wanted to be able defend herself with her own two hands. Her dad had been disappointed, but understood why swordsmanship didn't suit her.
The downside to this revelation was that her dad couldn't help her develop her fighting style much further. He was happy to help her with organizing her training schedule and giving her tips on how to improve, but he didn't specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Besides helping her improve her basic skills, he couldn't do much else but spar with her and help her gain experience. She had to figure out the rest on her own.
Although she was building up her strength, her fighting style was based on speed and flexibility. She had been short in her past life, and she had a feeling she would be short in this life as well. She couldn't rely on being able to overpower her opponents, especially when the majority of them were going to be taller and heavier than her, if not stronger.
She had drawn inspiration from another story she had loved in her past life, a show that had defined her childhood and had brought her countless hours of joy. One of her favorite characters in the story had a very acrobatic fighting style that incapacitated enemies by hitting their pressure points. After comparing different fighting styles in her trusty book, she was sure that the moves were based on a combination of varma kalai and dim mak. The main reason Selena wanted to imitate the character's style was because it had allowed her to paralyze an opponent's body parts for a short period of time. If Selena could copy that effect, it would be invaluable in battle.
Once she had her mind set, she couldn't see herself fighting any other way. Kingsley had tried to dissuade her and proposed other styles that were easier to imitate and easier to learn, but to no avail. The agility and flexibility components weren't a problem for her. She had started training so young, and had never failed to stretch before a workout session, that she was already fairly flexible. Yes, she had to amp up her training again because she wanted to get her body to contortionist levels of flexibility, but it was just a matter of time and effort before she got the results she wanted. Likewise, agility was something she had been training since she first set out to get stronger. She started to incorporate dexterity exercises as well, making sure she was training each part of her body to maximum levels of speed and efficiency.
The main issue was finding information on the pressure points of the body. Books on any science were hard to find, but comprehensive medical texts were extremely rare and very expensive. Not only that, but what she was looking for was information that wasn't very commonly used. Acupuncture was not practiced in the East Blue, and no other medical practices really used the pressure point system. It had taken several months, many excursions to Loguetown with her mom, and almost all of her savings, but eventually she found what she was looking for. In a shady looking bookstore down a narrow alley in the bad part of town, she found a faded textbook entitled Acupuncture for Dummies.
The cover featured a cartoon of a man whose face was covered in needles and seemed to be in excruciating pain, but she was desperate enough to flip through it for any information. Most of the book was useless to her, but it contained three whole chapters full of charts and diagrams depicting the pressure points all over the human body. She decided to buy it for herself as an early eighth birthday present even though she felt like it was ridiculously overpriced.
She knew that even though she had the information she needed, it would take her years to mesh everything together into a coherent fighting style. She wanted to mix the two-fingered strikes (also known as spear handed strikes) used to hit pressure points with quick jabs and haymakers so that she would be difficult to predict. She also wanted to incorporate kicks, elbow jabs, and knee jabs. She picked all of the things she liked most from all of the kata she learned, and wanted to make it flow together into a style that could become second nature to her. It would be a lot of trial and error. Not to mention that she had to learn the location of every pressure point and then be able to locate it on any person, no matter how weird or different their anatomy. If she was going to the Grand Line, she had to be prepared for anything and anyone.
After training each day, Selena would then wash up and go over to Mama's Place to eat and help with the dinner rush. Etsuko usually opened up around eleven in the morning, but was able to handle the business by herself until around six in the evening. After that, Etsuko was usually stuck in the kitchen making everyone's orders. At first, Selena mostly helped out by entertaining customers, bussing tables, and delivering meals once they were ready. However, as the place got busier and more people brought their friends to enjoy the fun atmosphere and drinking games, Selena began picking up the slack at the bar. Etsuko would sometimes be too busy cooking in the back to man the bar, and bartending came naturally to Selena. She had bartended for two years in her past life while in graduate school to help pay off her student loans. She prided herself on making good drinks and her skills hadn't gotten rusty after all these years.
At first, Selena started out just pouring out beers while Etsuko ran back into the kitchen. Over time, she started making mixed drinks, then fancy cocktails. By the time she was six she manned the bar full-time. Etsuko had seen how easily Selena handled the extra responsibility and it gave her more time to prepare the food. She no longer had to rush to get orders out, and she was able to do her family's secret recipes justice. Besides, no one ever complained. In fact, the customers loved it. Selena was so little that she couldn't be seen over the counter. She had a step stool that she used when she wanted to talk to customers face to face, but when mixing drinks and bustling behind the bar she didn't use it. This gave the illusion that drinks would pop up out of nowhere, since her little hands were usually too quick for people to notice. Most of the patrons got a real kick out of it. She also made the drinks with enough alcohol that people felt like they were getting their money's worth, but still tasted good.
By the time she was eight, she was known as the cutest bartender on the island.
It had become a running bit for the locals. Everyone swore that Mama's Place had the cutest bartender in all of the East Blue, and they all enjoyed sending foreigners to the bar to see their reaction to being served by an eight year old. In the end, no one could deny that she was adorable.
Their favorite victims were the marine recruits from Loguetown that visited the island to let off some steam without worrying about running into their superiors. Even after they found out that the cute barmaid at Mama's was a little girl and not a hot chick, it was still their favorite hot spot. Selena had started hosting beer pong and flip cup tournaments each Saturday, and she could practically guarantee that at least one of the teams would be made up completely of marine grunts. Little did they know that their favorite getaway spot, where they went to escape their responsibilities, was actually owned by Commodore Hitoshi's wife.
That running joke is what had led to the infestation of pirates currently occupying Mama's. And Kingsley's grandfather was at fault. Selena knew she should have let her jiji beat him up.
Shanks decided that the Red Hair Pirates needed to dock at one last port before heading to the Grand Line.
They had departed from Foosha Village for the last time a few days ago. While most of his men were excited to get back to the excitement of the Grand Line, he knew that some of his crew was really going to miss the East Blue.
Their time there had been peaceful. They had raided marine bases with ease, none of which had been prepared to face off with a Grand Line crew. They had stocked up on what they needed and made new friends. It had been like a sleepy little vacation. Revitalized from their break from the New World levels of insanity, it was time for them to head back and make a name for themselves.
Not that he wasn't going to miss his new friends too. He let his thoughts drift back to the goodbye kiss Makino had given him. He could picture her pink lips and soft curves. He remembered the feel of her body pressed against his, how she had initiated the passionate embrace and given him "something to remember her by."
Ahem. He was getting off track.
He was also going to miss their little Anchor. He kept expecting Luffy to pop up out of nowhere and demand they take him with them. He was proud to have seen Roger's will passed on and had placed his bet on the next generation, but he knew it was going to be a long time before they saw the likes of Monkey D. Luffy again.
Not to mention his sniper was depressed about leaving his wife and son again.
Yasopp had made a tough decision, but his heart called out to the sea and he wouldn't have been happy living in Syrup Village. He didn't think he would have been a good husband or father if he had stayed, knowing that adventure was out there waiting for him. His wife seemed to accept this decision, although she did look heartbroken to see him go. He was more worried about his son. Usopp was only seven years old and although he had tried to pass on as many life skills as he could before he left, Yasopp knew it wasn't enough. Would his son even remember him in a few years?
All in all, the mood on the ship was rather somber. Sure, the crew was filled with anticipation about going on their next adventure, but they were also wary of going back to the New World after having such a good time in the East Blue.
It was unacceptable and more importantly, un-pirate like.
But if there was anything Shanks knew, it was how to cheer up some pirates. All they needed was some good music, good booze, and good company.
That decided, he called over his navigator to change their course. They were already pretty close to the entrance to the Grand Line, so if they wanted to stop at an island without veering too much off course they only had two options: Loguetown, or the Isle of Valhalla.
He called over Benn.
"What do you think?" Shanks asked. "I know the Loguetown marine base is supposedly the biggest in the East Blue, but I don't really keep up with the news from here. Are there any heavy hitters stationed there?"
"Why are we stopping before we get back to the Grand Line, anyways?" Benn asked.
"For morale's sake, Benn! Look around you! The crew needs one last East Blue party before we head back! Besides, we need to celebrate our re-entrance into the Grand Line!"
Benn looked around and saw the men going about their business, no different than usual. He suspected this had more to do with his captain needing a distraction from how much he was missing Foosha Village than anything.
When it came to Shanks, it was just much easier to just go along with his whims.
"Well, I know Vice Admiral Garp and a Commodore Hitoshi both stop by there rather frequently. Although last I heard, both of them were stationed in the Grand Line. There isn't anyone at the base we couldn't handle, but we don't need to restock since the people of Foosha were so generous to us. Besides, after your recent increase in bounty I don't see a reason to draw even more attention to us," Benn reasoned, knowing that his captain didn't care about any of what he just said. "I also heard that Valhalla has the best distillery in the East Blue. If we wanted to stock up on liquor we could buy it directly from the supplier for a good price," he finished slyly.
"Dahaha! It's settled then! Onwards, to the Isle of Valhalla!"
After a few hours of smooth sailing, they were able to dock at Valhalla before the sun had set. Shanks sent off some of his men to haggle at the distillery, while he led his top officers into town in search of a good bar.
While walking down the docks and onto the boardwalk, they ran into a stern looking old man mumbling under his breath.
"This is the last time I set out so late…" he grumbled. "I should have sent Kingsley out instead…"
Undeterred, Shanks walked right up to him. One of the best things about the East Blue was that no one recognized him. The News Coo only delivered bounty posters for local wanted criminals; so most people had no idea who the Red Haired Pirates were. News from the Grand Line was scarce here.
"Good afternoon, my good man!" Shanks greeted jubilantly. "We're from out of town and were wondering if you could point us towards a good bar."
The old man, who was either too blind to see the Jolly Roger painted all over their sails or incredibly oblivious, gave them a considering look.
Now there were many things that could be said about Kinsley's jiji, Marcus, but no one could deny that he was a true-blooded Valhallan. He was born and raised on the island, and although he spent his younger years sailing all over the East Blue, he came back to his home island to settle down and have a family. He spent the majority of his life on this island, and he had a good amount of patriotic pride. He was the type of man that enjoyed in taking part in his home's traditions, no matter how silly they were.
He also couldn't deny that he liked riling up Kingsley's bratty little friend.
Which is why the next words came out of his mouth.
"You have to go to Mama's Place. It's right on the main street. They have the cutest bartender in all of the East Blue," he said, throwing in a lecherous grin for good measure.
Shanks interest was immediately piqued. A bartender cuter than Makino? Impossible. He was going to have to put this barmaid in her place, for trying to take Makino's title like that.
As Shanks stormed on ahead determinedly, Benn sighed. He gave Yasopp the name of the bar they were going to and instructed him to pass it on to the rest of the crew so they could meet up there. He then grabbed Lucky Roo and trailed after his captain.
Shanks found the bar easily enough. Like the old man had said, it was right on the main street and the sign was illuminated to make it stand out even more. He burst in through the french double doors, which he admitted were a nice touch. Was that mahogany?
Looking around the room, he realized that most of the patrons were staring at him warily after such an abrupt entrance. Giving them a friendly wave, he made his way to the bar.
Lucky Roo and Benn had followed their captain into the restaurant but decided to sit down at one of the larger round tables. Lucky Roo immediately scanned the menu and waved over the waitress.
Shanks looked over the woman who was taking Lucky Roo's order. She was a fine woman, in her early thirties if he had to guess. She had black hair that fell down to her shoulder blades, nice curves, and kind eyes. But cutest in the East Blue? Not a chance.
Makino's hair was silkier and she had a nicer smile. Not that he had seen this woman smile, but he could just tell. The waitress also had a frailty about her, and although she had brown skin she also had a sickly pallor that suggested she didn't spend much time in the sun.
Happy with his conclusions, he called her over.
"Is there something I could get for you?" she asked politely.
"Could I get some saké to start?"
"Oh, I'm sorry but I'm not the bartender," she said, smiling slightly. "But it seems like your order is up."
Shanks swiveled around on his stool to face the bar again. Looking right and left, he still didn't see anyone. Feeling stupid, he spoke to the empty air behind the bar.
"Could I also get two beers for my friends at the table?"
Quick as a flash, two bottles of beer appeared on the counter.
Well, this hadn't been what he expected at all.
"You don't have to hide, you know. I know you're there. How am I supposed to judge if you're the cutest bartender in the East Blue if I can't see your face?"
He heard something dragging across the floor, then the sound of two steps.
Selena stood on her step stool, and came face to face with Red Haired Shanks. Because why not? Of course one of the most infamous pirates of all time would be in her bar. She was starting to think that no matter how hard she tried to remain uninvolved, fate was just going to keep throwing canon characters at her until her resolve broke.
Feeling kind of dazed, Selena blurted out the first thing to came to mind.
"I wasn't hiding! I'm just not tall enough to see over the bar yet!" she said. She had her pride to protect, goddammit!
"Dahaha! Alright, alright. Then let me get a good look at you," he said. He then proceeded to squint one eye, tilt his head, and bring up his hand to stroke his five o'clock shadow contemplatively. "You're cute, I'll give you that… but the cutest in the East Blue? Nah."
"Is that why you're here? Who told you that anyways?"
"This old fisherman I met by the docks. He didn't give us a name but he was muttering something about someone named Kingsley."
"Marcus," she whispered sinisterly under her breath. Her nemesis was going to pay for this. Changing tracts, she decided to question Shanks a bit further. She hoped he was implying that Makino was cuter than her (she always imagined there had been a thing between those two) but he had been all over the East Blue and she's sure the Red Haired pirates had hit up a bar in every port town they docked in.
She also wanted to scope out her competition. She liked her title of cutest bartender and she was going to fight for it.
"Are you saying there's someone cuter than me serving drinks in the East Blue?" she asked, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.
Shanks shifted uncomfortably. How did she get her eyes to get so big? And so dewy? If he was a lesser man, that look would have done him in; but as captain of the Red Haired Pirates, he was made of tougher stuff.
"Dahaha! I am!" He had to stand strong for Makino!
"Are you sure?" she asked, adding in a pout for good measure.
"What do you mean, 'am I sure?' You should just accept your defeat gracefully. Don't be a sore loser," he said dismissively.
Selena felt a tick mark pop up on her forehead. She didn't even know she could do that. She couldn't let him under her skin or he would win.
"I mean," she said slowly, like she was talking to a child. "That are you sure whoever you're thinking of is the cutest? Are you sure they aren't 'the most beautiful' or 'the prettiest'?"
"When you put it that way… I guess Makino would be the most beautiful," he said, more to himself than to her. "Oh, I know!" he continued, "Makino is the prettiest, cutest, annnnd the most beautiful!"
Finally losing her temper, Selena shouted, "Who asked you, you filthy pirate!" and proceeded to launch herself across the bar to bonk him on the head.
"So…" he started, catching the kid before she could reach him. He held her up single-handedly by the back of her t-shirt and brought her up to eye-level. "You know who I am, but you still thought it would be a good idea to attack me?"
The color drained from her face. She had let her guard down because she knew about his character from the original story, but he was a Grand Line pirate and a future emperor. She actually knew very little about him and his crew, and just because they had been nice to Luffy didn't mean they were going to treat her as kindly.
Selena gulped. She noted that the bar was now full with men who she could only assume made up the rest of his crew. It seemed like the regular customers had snuck out when she hadn't been paying attention. Traitors.
"Sometimes I do things without thinking," she finally said, chuckling nervously.
Shanks blinked twice, then broke out into roaring laughter with the rest of his crew joining in.
"Dahaha! You're pretty brave for a brat!" he said in between laughs. He swung her over to the stool next to him, finally setting her down.
Etsuko came bustling out of the kitchen in that moment.
"What are you doing sitting down, Selena?" she scolded, having missed the prior conversation since she had been busy making Lucky Roo's ridiculously huge order. "These nice men need drinks!"
At that, the Red Haired Pirates all cheered.
Selena sighed. Her mom had the worst timing.
Selena made her way to each table, chatting with all of the men and grabbing them drinks. She even set up a beer pong tournament at one of the bigger tables. Feeling satisfied that her customers were happy, she made her way back to the first table where Shanks had joined Lucky Roo and Benn Beckman.
Seeing that they had finished their first drinks she asked, "Can I get you guys a refill?"
Shanks jumped in before either man could respond.
"Nah, beer is so boring! This is our last East Blue party! We need something more exciting!" he exclaimed. "What do you recommend, squirt?"
Brushing off the nickname, she took a surreptitious look around for her mother.
"It depends. Are you going for a nice buzz or are you trying to get shitfaced?"
"Dahaha! I can handle anything you got! Bring it on!" he said, rising to the challenge like she guessed he would. "Bring a round for the table and keep them coming!"
"Alright then! But I'm warning you: this stuff will mess you up."
She scurried off behind the bar to mix their drinks. It was her masterpiece creation and she was extremely proud of it.
Rushing back to the table with a pitcher of the stuff, she set down three glasses and began pouring it out.
"I call this drink the warrior's elixir," she said with pride. It was basically the equivalent to jungle juice in this world, which took her a couple of months to perfect. The alcohol here was different than what she was used to in her old world and she had to use natural fruit juice instead of the sugary stuff she used before. Thankfully she had access to some of the highest quality products since she could buy directly from the distillery on the island. It took her a while to find the perfect combination of fruit juices and liquor that provided a liver-destroying amount of alcohol but with the flavor of a tropical punch.
She sat down at the table to watch their expressions after they took their first sip.
Shanks almost laughed out loud. This kid was so cute, thinking this was a strong drink. Was there even any alcohol in this?
"This is nothing!" he exclaimed. "We're Grand Line pirates! It's going to take more than some punch to get us drunk!"
"Let's see if you're still saying that after you finish the pitcher," she responded under her breath.
Benn was pretty sure he was the only one who heard that rather ominous statement and decided to pace himself just in case. Someone had to be responsible. Speaking of which, his captain had reminded him of something he had meant to ask.
"Hey kid, how did you know who we were? You're the first civilian to recognize us in the East Blue," Benn said.
Selena considered the question and decided to tell a half-truth. It's not like she could tell him that they were fictional characters she had read about in a past life, but she felt like outright lying to him would be a stupid move. She knew very little about Benn Beckman, but she did know that he was supposedly incredibly smart.
"I get the newspaper from every Blue delivered. Sometimes I even manage to get my hands on one from the Grand Line. That's why I've seen your bounty posters," she said. Technically it was all true.
Once she had learned how to read properly, she had come to the realization that the reason the people of the East Blue were so clueless about the state of the rest of the world was because the World Government had total control over the newspapers of this world. Not only did they censor a lot of events, they also skewed stories so that marines were put in the best light and pirates were portrayed in the worst way. She learned that you really had to read between the lines to get the real story. They also did their best to keep the Blues segregated. Each ocean received a different version of the paper, which contained local news and whatever propaganda the World Government wanted spread.
After her realization, Selena tagged along on her mom's next supply trip to Loguetown. Giving her mom the excuse that she wanted to learn more about cultures around the world, she went to a courier service that had outposts in all of the Blues. She requested that they deliver the Sunday paper, which contained the highlights from the whole week, from each of the Blues to her home on Valhalla. They had thought it was a weird request, especially coming from a six year old, but didn't have any problems setting it up. It cost her basically all of her weekly allowance, but the amount of information she had learned over the past two years had shown her it was more than worth it.
She had still been unable to get information from the Grand Line though, and that had been what she was really interested in. Luckily for her, she had two contacts in the Grand Line she could squeeze info from. She had started writing letters to her dad and jiji when she initiated her letter correspondence to Nami and Nojiko, realizing that it was a good way to keep in touch with them. She didn't hear back as often from Garp and Hitoshi though, since they were always on the move and the News Coo had a hard time tracking them down. She would usually receive a letter from Hitoshi once every couple of months. They were usually two to three pages long and contained detailed descriptions of his day-to-day life. On the other hand, she was lucky if she got a paragraph from Garp every four or five months.
She asked them to send a paper whenever they could, giving them the same excuse she had given her mom. Hitoshi tried to send one whenever he wrote, and most times he would leave in the bounty posters that came with the paper since he was given a binder full of the new bounty posters by HQ whenever they came out. Garp never sent her anything, but she was pretty sure he just forgot she had asked.
She had lucked out a couple of months ago when her dad had sent her the bounty posters of the top officers of the Red Haired Pirates, which she showed to Benn.
"I see," he drawled, somehow speaking without dropping the lit cigarette from his mouth. "You're remarkably well-informed for such a little kid."
"Hey! I'm not a little kid!" she retorted with some heat. "I'm eight!"
She was very proud to finally be considered a big kid, thank you very much.
"Plus, how many little kids do you know who have a full-time job?" she asked, further defending herself.
"Yeah, yeah. You're a regular working girl," Lucky Roo interrupted. "Do you think we could get another pitcher of this stuff? It was really good," he said while taking a bite out of a hunk of meat.
Selena huffed, but shuffled off to the bar anyways. As she left, she heard Lucky Roo tell Benn that there was no need to "interrogate innocent children." She scoffed. If only they knew.
By the time they finished the second pitcher, Shanks was completely wasted. To be fair, he had drank the most out of the three of them since Benn was pacing himself and Lucky Roo was stuffing his face.
He didn't want to say it, but the squirt had been right. That fruity cocktail was deceptively lethal. It was worthy of the name "warrior's elixir." Not that he was ever going to admit it.
He decided that it was going to be the only thing the Red Haired Pirates were going to be drinking for the rest of the night. He needed the rest of the crew to get on his level. It wouldn't look right if he was the drunkest one there. He had to maintain the illusion that he could hold his liquor and that he hadn't been taken down by a fruity pink drink.
Selena watched in amusement as one of the most dangerous pirate crews in the world partied like frat boys. After the beer pong tournament ended, with Yasopp's team declared the undefeated champions of course, she introduced the crew to the wonders of flip cup and kings.
Surprisingly, Benn was freakishly good at flip cup. It was kind of cute to see someone so serious let loose around his crew. She may have developed a small crush on him over the course of the night. She couldn't help it! He was smart, cool, and handsome. She also couldn't help but admire the way he looked out for the rest of the crew.
To her dismay, Shanks noticed the way her eyes seemed to follow Benn around the room. Of course the one person who would stoop so low as to tease an eight year old was the one who noticed. Why that man got such enjoyment out of bullying little kids, she would never understand.
"Hey, squirt! Come here!" Shanks called. Thinking that he needed a refill, Selena walked over to him and stood by his chair.
"You're not going to try to steal my first mate from me, are you?" Shanks teased.
Selena felt her cheeks heat up. She hoped that her tan skin and the dim lighting hid her blush from view.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she hedged.
"Oh really? So you wouldn't mind if I called Benn over here and told him you've been watching him all night?"
"Of course not," she bluffed.
Shanks cupped his mouth with his hand so that his voice would carry across the room.
Selena began to sweat. He wouldn't actually go through with it, would he? Who would be so cruel?
"OH BE-!"
Selena flung herself at Shanks and covered his mouth with a hard smack.
"Please don't," she begged. Shanks responded by licking her hand.
"Oh, ew!" she shouted, wiping her hand on her denim shorts. "What are you, five?!"
"You liiiiike him~!" Shanks sing-songed, basically confirming her previous statement. At least he had kept his voice down.
"You're just mad because a cute girl chose your first mate over you!" she retorted childishly.
"Am not!" he replied, sticking out his tongue at her.
"What's going on here?" Benn's deep voice asked from somewhere behind her.
She quickly turned on the spot and answered him before Shanks could get a word in.
"Shanks is jealous because you're my favorite pirate of all time and not him!" she replied swiftly.
"Is that true, captain?" he asked as he joined them at the table. Damn, he was really feeling a buzz now. That drink looked so cute and harmless but it was no joke. He was never going to underestimate a pink drink again.
"I'm not jealous!" Shanks shouted.
"And I'm your favorite pirate of all time, huh?" Benn asked Selena, completely ignoring his captain's outburst.
"Well, you guys are the only pirates I've ever met, but yeah. You're my favorite so far," she responded shyly.
Benn chuckled and promptly pulled Selena onto his lap. He really liked kids, but they usually gravitated towards his immature captain. It was probably because Shanks acted like a kid most of the time. But still, it felt good to be someone's favorite for once.
Selena didn't know what to do. Benn Beckman was treating her like his personal teddy bear! She had to stifle a squeal of excitement when he rested his chin on the top of her head.
"Just accept it, captain. You didn't get the girl this time."
Shank's crew laughed at his expense, most of them having listened in after Benn had walked over.
"I'm not jealous, dammit!"
The rest of the night was filled with good conversation and good drinks. Eventually Etsuko closed down the kitchen and joined Selena in serving the rowdy pirates. At one point someone in the crew pulled out a guitar and started playing various sea shanties, which everyone was quick to join in. Selena laughed and sang along, feeling completely content. Seeing such a happy crew, and how they acted like a genuine family, made her think that a pirate's life wouldn't be so bad.
They closed off the night with a rousing rendition of Bink's Saké, and she couldn't have pictured a better ending to a perfect evening.
On the other side of the Red Line and oceans away, a tone dial echoed the same song.
"Yohohoho, Yohohoho~" Brook sang along.
He had lost track of how many years he had spent drifting in the Florian Triangle. With the thick fog obscuring all forms of light, he had no way of telling how many days had gone by, let alone how many years. He didn't know how long it had been since he last saw the sun or the stars.
Trapped on the ship where all of his friends had died, Brook frittered the days away with only the ghosts of his crew for company.
He had lived through every captain's worst nightmare. He had watched helplessly as all of his men died, one by one, and he had been unable to do anything.
When the revive-revive fruit had brought him back, he had been pleased to learn that he would be able to fulfill his promise to his crew and to Laboon. He searched for his body with a single-minded determination, driven by his need to keep his word.
Once his soul and body were reunited, he couldn't help but wonder if the revive-revive fruit was a gift or a curse. Here he was, alive, but trapped in a sea of misery. He was stranded on his old ship, which had once been a sign of the strength of the Rumbar Pirates but was now their roving graveyard. He was forced to live on without them, knowing that he had failed them as a captain.
After what he had to assume were decades of solitude, the only things keeping him sane were his dream of seeing Laboon once more and the sound of his crew's last performance.
So Brook continued to sing along.
"Yohohoho, Yohohoho~"
End Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I had planned to include another Garp visit and another visit to Cocoyashi, but the Red Haired Pirates kind of took over.
I just couldn't get the idea of this badass crew all getting drunk off of a cute pink drink out of my head. Trust me, the drinks that taste like they don't have alcohol in them always fuck me up the worst. Plus, Benn Beckman reminds me of my first puppy crush so it seemed fitting that he would be Selena's. I hope he didn't seem too out of character, but if he did then let's blame it on how much he had to drink.
I also kept forgetting that Shanks only had one hand and had to revise that section a bunch of times.
Last edited on 7/9/19.