Tick-Tock Goes the Clock:::
One day Spade became the spitting image of his father. Even the bright purple eyes he inherited from his mother are overshadowed by the way he sits in a chair like Shanks, the way he finds all of Shanks' old haunts by coincidence, and of course, by his bright red hair. Hair that he refuses to dye green no matter how much Makino pleads. For a nine-year-old boy, Spade is quite stubborn. She supposes that he takes after her in that regard.
Makino's pale toes clutch at the packed white sand beneath her feet. It is the middle of the day and Spade is at school, even though he hates it. Ever since the incident with Kave her son does not speak very highly about school, in fact, he rarely talks of it at all. All her son has been speaking of lately is his dream. How he is going to be the best pirate there ever was in every way, and it is then that Makino misses Shanks the most.
She wishes that Shanks could be here to teach Spade just what the "best pirate" is, but Makino can do it herself. Besides, it is safer this way. Makino tells Spade every night she has the time off another story about what a true pirate is (i.e. another adventurous tale of his father she knows by heart). In his fathers place, Makino teaches Spade the true meaning of strength. She even teaches him a few self defense moves that she learned from Benn Beckman behind the bar when Shanks use to visit. Her son laughs and smiles so much at those times, a certain light spilling into his eyes that Makino has no heart to extinguish. Makino doesn't want to take away that brightness in him by attempting to sway his dreams and wish him to stay here openly.
When Spade's words of adventure out in the sea and world itself become too much to bear, she closes shop for the day. Only for a few hours while Spade is at school. Makino usually stocks up on a few new books to read in this free-time she occasionally gifts herself, and maybe she buys some more fabric to sew Spade some clothing.
But today, the air tastes different. It feels different. And for the first time since before Shanks ever came to this island, Makino wishes to go to her shoreline and swim.
She scurries off into the woods alone, bare feet slapping against the packed earth below her at first, and then the pure white sand of her shoreline.
Makino's long brown skirt billows in the slight breeze, nipping at her ankles. She strips it off and pulls her shirt over her head. Her hands reach and unclip her bra and she pulls down her underwear, folding and placing all her clothing on a towel she supplied in the middle of the sand. She clutches her toes again. Naked as a baby bird, Makino does something she has not done in years. One last tightening of her toes, and she is off; running as fast as she can with sand flying all around her, a humongous smile makes it's way onto her face before she jumps in to swim in her Sake Sea.
The water encases her form, bubbling around her mouth and wrapping her in a chilly kind of warmth. She stays underwater and watches her dark green hair swish and twirl all around her. Makino watches the sun pierces through the sea's surface and how it kisses her hair. Just like he did. She swims on.
Her hand brushes a fish's gills by accident and it darts away from her, surprised by her presence. Makino's smile is blinding and huge, and she falls in love. With the way her hair shines, the way her feet sift strongly through the water, the way the fish dart away so quickly that their scales are like short, small beams of light in the ocean. She comes up for air and the drops of water on her face dry instantly. Her cheeks begin to sting from how much smiling she's done in the past hour of swimming. Makino turns herself around and lays flat on her back, uncaring to the fact that she is undoubtedly flashing her nakedness to the sun above.
The barmaid circles around in the water and lazily pushes herself near the shore, then lets the waves carry her to that shore when they catch her.
She washes up like a mermaid. Her elbows dig into the damp sand, and she cocks one of her legs up in a model-like pose. Her lips quirk again and when she looks out into the lapping sea's waves she once again realizes that this view of the sea (or any ocean's picture) will always force her to think of Shanks.
Makino's heart does not feel that same resentment bubble over when she thinks of the red-headed man. A part of her longs for him to be in the sand right next to her, sending her his signature cocky, warm grin. But then again, she has understood from the start that he could not stay, and since last year, she has accepted it. Because, well, Spade is going to be the best pirate, isn't he?
The waves reach out to grab her while she sits drying on her shore. Her purple specked, chestnut eyes watch the waves with a certain kind of intensity. The barmaid stays there for an hour just thinking about everything, before jumping into the water once more. She holds her breath and swims for as long as she can, before her lungs begin to pound on her mouth for air. Makino kicks as urgently as she can, and devours the air when she reaches the surface. She turns and looks back at what she believes will be her shore and she is not disappointed. However, she is very far away now. Watching the trees ruffle in the distance, Makino remembers a little girl, a few years younger than she, who drowned at sea.
Makino was maybe seven at the time, her parents still alive and running the bar, when a neighborhood girl drowned playing with her friends in the ocean. Makino did not particularly know the girl very well, and sadly even now her name escapes her. The little girl had bright blonde hair and warm dark drown eyes that were almost black. Apparently, they were playing in the east shore by the boats when a huge wave came in, and that little girl became lost to this world. Makino recalls her own mother's sad eyes looking down at her for the rest of that week, and her father's hesitant offering of food to the family who lost their little girl a week after the incident occurred.
Makino remembers pain painted across that mothers face as she accepted the food and apologies regarding her daughter's death and tragedy. Makino stood there and said nothing. She couldn't. She did not know what to say.
Ever since then she fell in love with land. Makino had always loved it, but now it became an urgent kind of love. The kind of love that at first held someone at a distance, then all of a sudden grabbed them and suffocated them sometimes, but never let go. And for the longest time Makino never swam. Makino's mother fell ill and passed away when Makino was eleven years old, and her father died in a beer-importing accident at the docks by the time she was fourteen.
Makino was only sixteen when she stumbled upon her cove.
The Mayor, who had taken it upon himself to check up on her every other day since her father passed away, had gotten into an argument with her. Makino does not recollect what the argument was about, just that as a way to end the discussion, she snatched her sneakers from the floor by the stairs and took off running, blinded by her rage.
As a means to avoid the Mayor, who often seemed to have eyes all over the town, Makino ran into an opening in a jungle she had never gone into previously. She stumbled and her shirt got caught and ripped along the way, but she somehow ended up somewhere beautiful. Looking up from where the earth and sand met, when the jungle parted and the chocolate dirt turned into pale white sand, Makino witnessed true beauty. The way the waves glistened, so blindingly light, Makino winced for more than a second to adjust. Her torn sleeve ruffled with the winds guidance and as a huge gust came, so did her short, chopped green hair. She could hear the birds cawing for food out on the ocean and she could hear the rustling of leaves and branches behind her. Lifting up her arms slightly and opening her hands, she let the wind slip between her fingers.
It felt like the world was singing to her.
Needless to say, she striped down to her underwear (she did not know no one was aware of the place yet and had to play it safe) and swam for hours. When she came home late that night, her hair still soaping wet and her toes tracking in sand, the Mayor raised a quizzical brow, but did not ask. He simply apologized, as did she, and Makino poured him her best sake, like always.
In the present times Makino shakes her head, hoping to rid herself of thoughts all together, before swimming back to shore. She loves this "Sake Sea" as Spade has named it, but she should probably get home before her son does in order to whip him up a snack.
Sand coats her feet as she dresses herself, but she doesn't mind it so much. She dries herself off again before carefully putting her shirt on. Makino shakes any hidden sand out of her towel and then craftily wraps her hair up. The barmaid tugs on her skirt and carries her shoes in one hand as she silently departs her Sake Sea shore.
...
The backdoor's familiar creaking noise greets Makino as she walks into the kitchen behind the bar. She wipes her feet on the entrance rug and shuts the door. Tugging the towel off her hair, Makino chucks it on the counter near the sink. Sand is tracked in anyways and Makino comes to the conclusion that she will have to do a "grand-sweep" cleaning today. She normally only cleans the parlor, the bar, and the kitchen at the end of the day but she supposes it is time to commence a "grand-sweep"; or basically, a "clean-the-entire-house" day. The barmaid winces with a minuscule smile as she realizes Spade will grimace when asked for assistance in this cleaning spree.
Makino makes her way to the front of the store to open shop, not that anyone really comes in on a Wednesday at 2. Yet, surprise, surprise, the Mayor is leaning against the wall next to the door. As Makino looks down at the old man she flips the "closed" sign in the window adjacent to her to "open" and with a bright, cheery smile she greets the Mayor of Fussha.
"Mayor! What a surprise to see you today! You don't usually come over during the week." Makino exclaims, now curious as to why he was here. She has a sinking feeling that he came because he found out about that harassing marine. The rude marine that comes to check up on her establishment from time to time. What the marine is really checking on though is whether or not Shanks has come back, become aware of his son, or if any pirate ever stops into her bar without being kicked out.
To Makino nowadays, every paying costumer is a welcome one. Of course, the marine does not understand that.
The Mayor slowly pushes himself off the wall before leaning on his cane and strutting in silently. 'Okay.' Makino thinks, 'he knows'. Makino sighs as she flips the "open" sign back to "closed" once again.
When the Mayor is seated at the table next to the bar, Makino leans against a barstool for support. He exhales loudly before asking, "Why didn't you tell me about that marine, Makino? Don't you know I could have helped?"
She thinks of the prominent chin that jutted out of the shadows of the marines face, how the light caught in his eyes dangerously as he sought her out during her rush hour the first time he came. How he made sure to whisper to her, so only she heard over the noise of the bar, of all the warnings regarding Spade, Shanks and pirates. Makino remembers his cruel lips turning into a grin before leaving. She remembers how power emanated from him, similar to how Shanks presence felt, and though the power was obviously much lesser, it was still threatening. 'No', she thinks, 'the Mayor wouldn't have been able to do anything at all.'
She listens to his rant, though. Makino always listens to his rants. She is one of the only people in the town that truly hears him, really. The Mayor guzzles down three cups of sake while he talks at her, her words only perceived in smiles and knowing eyes, and then Spade comes home. The Mayor grumbles a "hello brat" (in a way that shows he cares) and Spade responds in kind: "hey old man!" Of course, this sets off an argument between the two. The Mayor still seemed sore about Spade's newfound dream.
Woop Slap, or the Mayor as more commonly known, adjusts his spectacles and glares at the offending boy who glares straight back. Sighing, Makino feels like she is looking in the mirror. "Of course he'd inherit my stubbornness." Makino breathes out silently.
"Your going to get yourself killed, boy!" The Mayor's cane slams down on the wooden floor for emphasis.
Makino doesn't bother worrying, though. Woop Slap's become more irritable as time has passed. Besides, this is an episode she's seen before. Except not with her son, but with little Luffy. Makino smiles at the thought of the little Luffy who is off at sea.
The Straw-hats are wreaking havoc in the New World last she and Spade heard. And they did hear- the news feeds off of the mysteriously strong rubber man, the notorious pirate, Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy is one of Spade's idols. Spade always said he wanted to one day meet Straw-Hat Luffy and his crew.
"I told you not to call me "boy", old man! And no I'm not! I already said, I'm gunna' be the best, and the best don't get killed, do they?!" Spade said, his eyes growing in their ferocity. The Mayor retorted easily.
"Of course they die! Whitebeard, Gold Rogers, even Firefist! You think you'll be an exception? You won't!"
Spade grew silent and at the reference of past pirates and Makino felt her heart pinch painfully at the mention of Ace. Oh, Ace. She had named Spade after him, right after he died. Ace was such a sweet boy and after her teachings, he was polite too. Makino's expression turns grim and she speaks up.
"Mayor, don't say that. I'm sure Spade will be the exception. If he says he is going to be the best, he will be." They seemed almost like empty words, but Makino could not really speak for Spade herself. Besides, she knew that the fire in Spade was similar to any other of the great pirates she had the privilege to meet, or hear intimate stories of. Spade was brave. He was strong. He was different- the kind of different that guaranteed adventure.
Woop Slap scowled and frowned deeply. That was the facial expression of another lecture. Turning to look at Spade, Makino saw that his face was pensive and almost far off in thought. She would give him an out, like any mother would.
"Spade, today has been decided to be a grand-sweep day. I'm leaving your room and the bathrooms upstairs for you to get started on." Her smile turned slightly cynical. She gave him an out, just not a great one. Spade blinked and looked up at her, his purple eyes clear once more, and then he nodded his head and pouted while walking away. Although not before crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at the Mayor as he walked by.
The Mayor let out an indignant "hey!" as he shaked his cane at the retreating figure of Spade, who took the stairs two steps at a time. In any place other than school, Spade was always in a hurry. He always acted like he was running out of time.
The Mayor turned back to Makino with scrunched up eyebrows. "Makino..." he trails off. She knows he is sorry for going to far, but she also knows that what he spoke about exceptions is true. Makino heaves a heavy sigh and says in an appeasing tone, "I know, Mayor. I know."
Turning around, she thinks off all the people she thought were exceptions to this dangerous life of pirate hood that she has met through the course of her life. She grew up in a bar after all- stories of amazing pirates never fazed her. Only their presence did.
Her indent finger rubs her thumb nervously as she thinks of another mans presence that fazed her, a man wearing the color of snow, an untainted white. Not black like the night sky, not easy brown as a dirty breeze- whiter than hope, his clothing was. And it wasn't a pirate that she was thinking of.
"I know." Makino repeated dauntingly.
...
Makino found Spade in a tree a few hours later. After the cleaning was finished, he mysteriously ran off.
He had a book propped up in his lap, one leg cocked up, his whole body snug and leaning into the strange, wide, hand-like, deformed branch of the tree in her backyard. The sun was setting behind him, which she knew because through the leaves and spaces left open from woven branches, the golden light shined through. It touched the tree, the whole world, and it touched Spade.
His purple eyes were warm with delight as his lips tugged up in a childish smile at what he was reading.
Years before, Shanks had sat in that tree too. "I'll just wait here!" he'd call (a rare showing of patience on his part) while she was busy working during the day. When she'd finished dealing with the shipment of beer, or the costumers in her bar, she would close shop for a break and wander to the backyard only to find him reading in his big, deformed tree.
The tree's roots and stump are gnarled and to any other person, the tree would be hideous. Its roots create the perfect opportunity for a socially fatal trip. The knobs in its stump look rough to the touch, but Shanks was the first to see it's true beauty. Makino won't lie; she never thought much of the tree until Shanks told her excitedly just how beautiful it was. She sees it now. Ever since Shanks left, the barmaid has truly sensed the ugly tree's beauty.
It's gnarled, twisted knobs were made to climb, and its roots are a labyrinth only the daring and slightly stupid can jump over.
Spade's red hair shines as the sun sneaks a chance to pet her son with it's rays.
There is this fluttering inside her, almost like a fishes tail swishing in the thick waters in surprise.
And for the first time, Makino truly accepts Spades choice. Her eyes are little sad as she looks at her baby boy. Well, they always leave at some point, don't they? At least, the great ones do. Only the great.
But, well... For now, "Spade, come on down! As a reward for cleaning so well, I say we have some steak for dinner!" Spade's eyes snap down to look at his mother, so far underneath him. He's got such a great view up there. Something stops him from asking his mother to join him, to witness this view though.
Instead, Spade grins and asks loudly, "what's for dessert?", as he marks his spot in his book and jumps down from his high perch. Makino holds her breath as he does so, but he lands right between two bumpy roots perfectly. She heaves a quiet sigh.
" I was thinking maybe some chocolate chips straight from the bag! Mr. Lawson brought them over this morning. How's that sound?"
Spade frowns, "I think we should have something more... special. I worked real hard, y'know?" Makino sticks her hand in between the red hairs on his head and scratches his scalp a little as he joins her side. Spade enjoyed strange things, and have his head scratched was one of them. Makino makes a face.
"Oh! I know! How about some ice-cream?" She waggles her eyebrows at the suggestion, but Spade does not see. He is sprinting into the house, happy as any kid can be. Makino smiles at the normalcy, until he calls back, " I think I should sample that before the steak, ma'!"
"What?!" she exclaims, and as she hears the tumbling sound from inside, Makino deducts that is Spade trying to reach the ice cream on the highest shelf of the fridge.
"Wait, Spade, no!" She runs in after her boy, and she feels it: that happiness in her that never really left. Her breath catches, her lips sticking to her teeth from smiling and laughing so hard when she comes upon Spade. He is rubbing his bumped head and sticking his other hand into the ice-cream container. His mouth is smothered in delectable chocolate ice cream, and a winning grin is tugging at his lips.
This is her son. And he would always be her son. She snatches a paper towel and wipes at his face while scolding him.
The sun sets, no different than the day before. But somehow the light catches that ugly tree just right while Makino and Spade eat together at the bar (Spade, more like stuffed his face). Since the day Shanks hopped down from the ugly tree, Makino thinks, regarding ugly things, that in this world there is beauty in just about everything.
Even beauty in the time she constantly feels is running out.
A/N::: Hello everybody! I know that this chapter was a little .. Eh, but it needed to be done. Now you have a little insight on Makino, a tiny backstory on her family, and things like that- just to put it all in perspective!
Did you know the Mayors name was Woop Slap? I didn't! Also, i just wanted to say that my spelling of Fussha might change in between chapter but only because i feel like it changes every time i look it up! Sometimes its Fuusha, sometimes its Fussha! It's hard for me to keep track, sorry!
Next chapter will (hopefully) be considered more exciting than this one, as a new (important) character will be introduced! I hope you guys are as excited as i am!
