Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Holly- I really, really, REALLY hate editing, but I'm trying to make this story better as I go along so please do continue to read my fellow supreme human beings :) (Yes, we are supreme! The uppermost crust in the loaf called Society!

Chapter 10 - Incapable

It's embarrassing how many episodes of Spongebob Squarepants it takes us to sit through until we realise our tiny companion has fallen asleep. She's even slumped against Kidd's arm which is even more disturbing.

I mean, children's TV isn't meant for men of the 18+ variety, right?

So obviously we just stay right where we are and continue to watch Nickelodeon (only with the volume turned down slightly.) It's notable how much Spongebob reminds me of Monkey D. Luffy. Why am I watching this?

BANG!

I ponder the possibility of Dakota having a pet cat, so I exchange a brief glance of 'I'll go and check if it's a burglar or a poltergeist' with Kidd before stepping off to do some mystery solving, feeling much like Nancy Drew.

I make my way into the square-shaped corridor beyond the living room and the door to my left is thrown open with a troublesome force that leaves me with no choice but to flail my hands into the air in surrender.

It's Dakota.

She's rubbing her eyes groggily and staring right through me, somehow acknowledging my presence with a jerky movement I assume is a nod reminiscent of a nervous twitch.

"I fell of the bed," She greets in a slur before toddling past me to the opposite door.

I get a quick flash of a bathroom decorated in pastel greens and yellows before the door shuts in my face.

Because I'm naturally curious I look through the other door she came out of, she'd left it open. It's her bedroom, I decide. I step in and eye the lilacs and pale blues interestedly. The lighting is poor through the heavy curtains but I can make out the bulging bookcases and canvases on the walls painted by the same artist in each one.

Acrylic paint, short sharp strokes and apparent abruptness to them.

"How was Sara?"

I briefly levitate and stare at Dakota in the doorway. Thankfully she doesn't seem bothered that I'm invading her privacy.

"Good," I say, looking her up and down. "You slept rough."

It's an understatement, her bedhead is a wonder to behold while her clothes are wrinkled to the point of looking like crepe paper. She blinks her hazel eyes in mock discontent.

"Shush," She hisses playfully, batting me out of the way of her draws so she can pull out a fresh shirt and pair of pyjama shorts from their confines.

I immediately turn and stare at a particularly interesting corner of the room to give her some privacy.

"Do you always take your clothes off in front of strangers?" I ask.

"Think of it as a reward for babysitting."

I throw an incredulous expression at her over my shoulder and she laughs hysterically.

It's a good thing she has all her clothes on by this point.

"I'm just messing," She giggles, walking through the door and stopping to look at me in the almost-but-not-quite corridor, "I'll make you guys dinner though."

We shuffle into the living room and stop to appreciate the spectable of Sara curled into Kidd's side. The elder looks incredibly embarrassed.

"That's adorable," Dakota gushes.

She crosses the carpet to ruffle the child's hair before pulling her up in a little bundle to lean against a cushion at the opposite end of the couch to free Eustass. He stretches gratefully.

I pick up mine and Eustass' coffee mugs and pad over to the open kitchen door.

"Make me one?" Dakota asks, toddling in after me into the cramped kitchen.

I roll my eyes while she gives me precise instructions on making 'the perfect cup of coffee'.

She exits again to the living room, and hopefully not to pester Kidd with eyebrow-related questions.

Around 10 minutes later I'm exiting the kitchen with three mugs of coffee; one with milk and no sugar (Eustass is a strange, strange person) and two with no milk and sugary goodness.

Dakota has the infant cradled in her lap, so I sit between her and Kidd before placing the mugs on the kotatsu.

"Is she your sister?" I ask, gingerly taking a sip from my mug in order not to burn my tongue.

Her posture stiffens.

"Err, no," She says, avoiding my gaze, "Sara. Sara-Belle, she's mine."

I stare at her blankly.

"She's my daughter," She reiterates.

Letters to the editor: Trafalgar Law is an incompetent human being.

"Oh."

There's an awkward beat of silence.

"No wonder, she look so much like you," Eustass says, allowing us to dodge the bullet of an awkward situation like Neo from the Matrix.

God bless Eustass Kidd.

There's a god looking down on us, I decide. Or maybe Satan is looking up, who can tell?

Dakota doesn't seem to have expected Kidd to come out and say something so profound in our time of need either. I owe him.

"I think we should expect the worst."

Is this the 'worst' that Kidd had been talking about?

Peace is restored in the Seagrave Residence and we continue watching children's cartoons like responsible young adults in the hopes that someday it will be entirely normal to do so.

During the next set of ending credits Sara-Belle is squirming in Dakota's lap, trying to sit up.

Nap time is over.

The little redhead sits bolt upright and turns to gaze at Kidd first, then at me and finally settling eyes on her mother with wakefulness. She beams with so much glee that I almost feel as though I'm intruding a private moment.

Dakota tucks some lose red hairs behind the toddlers ear and kisses her forehead.

"Hi Mama," She giggles.

There's an odd feeling in my chest, like a balloon filling with warm air to the point that it feels almost uncomfortable inside my ribcage.

Happiness?

Holly- Wow, that was way too fluffy… Next!