Chapter 11

Shanks Interlude

The winner of the Finn race was a black haired woman with her back turned to him, her hair plaited into a long braid. He knew that figure, she was more filled out than six years ago, but still it could only be her, after two years of searching he had finally found her again. Shanks' eyes never left her as he slipped through the crowd until he stood behind her and touched her shoulder. He could see the confusion as she turned around before her eyes widened and then went soft, he felt her tracing his contours with her eyes, taking in the changes and additional scars of the last six years.
God he had missed her so damn much, no woman had been able to hold a candle against her, and that few who had landed in his bed had always been thrown out as soon as they were finished. Shanks had always felt more than a bit guilty about sleeping with other women, even if his libido screamed for release and he had never promised anything to Hisana.

Oblivious of the crowd around them he pulled her into a kiss. She literally melted into his embrace before she seemed to catch her bearings and she slightly stiffened and pulled away. Before he could ask her if he had done something wrong she took him by the only hand he had left and led him to a corner where they had more privacy.

There she asked him carefully, "What happened to your arm?"

While waiting for his answer she traced patterns on his left shoulder, her face was unreadable.

Shanks sighed and said, "I lost it during a squabble with a sea king, he tried to eat a six year old kid on my watch, well I lost an arm but Luffy lived and I don't regret it."

Hisana watched his face and nodded before she closed her eyes and took a step closer to him, then she opened them again, "I'm glad."

"For what, that I survived or that I don't regret it!" Shanks asked slightly amused.

She kissed him fiercely and said, "For both!" taking a deep breath and calming herself she seemed to too try to find the right words, "Shanks I have to introduce you to somebody."

Narrowing his eyes Shanks asked, "What do you mean, did you meet somebody while we didn't see each other?"

Shanks felt as if he had been hit with ice water, he wasn't sure if he could let her go if she really had found someone else, good natured or not Shanks was a pirate, he would bring out every dirty trick in the book to keep Hisana now that he had found her again.

But before he could envision one horror scenario after the other Hisana smiled reassuringly, "No, that's not it… let's just say you left me with something six years ago."

And with that she led him to the empty barrels on the side of the port and nodded to a teenage boy standing beside them before she slipped some Berry into his hand, the boy said goodbye and walked away. Shanks watched this curious while his thoughts chased one possibility after the other, who did she want to introduce him to and why was she searching behind the empty water barrels?

He watched her confused while she called softly, "Hisoka where are you?"

A small giggle came behind the smallest barrel, "I'm here mummy!"

Behind the barrel stood a little four or five year old girl with fire red hair and green eyes, "Mummy? Is that my daddy?"

"Yes honey." Hisana couldn't help but say warmly.

Shanks stared for a whole minute. He couldn't breathe, he felt like somebody had punched him in his gut and then his eyes turned into his head and he sacked together. Red hair Shanks, the newest of the feared Yonko's just fainted because of the sight of a little girl with red hair.

Sighing Hisana rolled her eyes against heaven, MEN! Be it civilian, marine or pirate they were all just as stupid as the other! Well at least he hadn't rejected Hisoka outright.
After she couldn't wake Shanks through shaking him, the amused and a little bit exasperated black haired mother told Hisoka to stay with her daddy while she went in search for his crew. More specifically Ben, if he hadn't changed too much in the last few years, he wouldn't be completely useless in this situation.

She found said man smoking in front of one of the warehouses beside the dock, people watching as he had always done at the Archipelago. With a brisk pace she walked up to the pirate that leaned against the house wall.

"Hello Ben." She greeted him smiling while she tried to gauge his reaction.

Said man's eyes went big while he took the woman in front of him in, "Hisana… Shanks will be ecstatic, he has been searching for you for years now." He said in his calm and collected voice.

As an answer Hisana snorted and said dryly, "Yes well he found me, but well you see he fainted and now I need some help to move him."

This provoked a reaction out of the normally so stoic first mate, "He, WHAT?" Ben looked at her incredulous before he burst into a barking laugh, "That I have to see, where is he?"

"Come on, I left somebody with him." Hisana said wryly.

Suffice to say the dumbfounded face of a speechless Ben was nearly as good as Shanks fainting spell. Said first mate's eyes wandered between the kneeling Hisoka and the unconscious Shanks. He didn't know what to say and so just watched as the little girl began to curiously comb her hands through Shanks red hair and checked her own strands against his, it was nearly identical, hers maybe a tad darker than his captain's.
Ben turned around to look at Hisana, the mother of his captain's child because there was no doubt that this little girl was Shanks' daughter, and looked at her for a long moment with big eyes, his cigarette forgotten on the floor beside him.

Turning around again Ben visible composed himself, knelt down and introduced himself to the big eyed Hisoka, "Hi there, I'm Ben, Shanks' first mate."

She giggled in response and answered, "I'm Hisoka, it's nice to meet you." before she turned back to the red strands between her fingers.

Ben couldn't help but smile, she was a damn cute child. Remembering why Hisana had fetched him he grabbed his water bottle and poured the content into his captain's face, careful to not hit Hisoka-chan.

Said captain woke with a start to see Hisana, Ben and the little red haired girl with Hisana's eyes that had called him daddy and was now touching his head curiously. Swallowing he sat up and acknowledged his first mate with a hand wave while he still looked fixated at the small copy of Hisana who had now tilted her head upwards.

It took the pirate captain a while before he could form coherent thoughts but then he said gently, "Hi there, sweetheart. It's nice to meet you."

Shanks carefully stretched his arm to reach for her, Hisoka smiled in reply and just crawled into his lap and cuddled into his torso. Ben and Hisana saw how wide Shanks' eyes became and how gentle he curled his arm around the little energetic bundle in his lap, while he listened amazed to her babbling. Ben smiled gently at a choked up Hisana who had tears in her eyes, excusing himself he told her that he would find them later and left the small family alone.

Still listening intently to what Hisoka had to say Shanks stood up and lifted her onto his arm. He turned to Hisana and the gaze that he shot to her spoke volumes about how utterly amazed he was. Hisana joined her daughter and her pirate captain and led them to the hotel room she had booked for the next nights; there a reluctant Hisoka was put down for her afternoon nap while Shanks and Hisana watched her fall asleep from the second bed in the room.

There was an awkward silence between the two before Shanks whispered, "I should have stayed…"

Hisana's eyes flew up in alarm before she vehemently said, "No, you shouldn't have."

Shanks looked at her shocked and hurt, "Wha… but?"

Hisana rolled her eyes, sighed and sat herself beside him; she gently looked him into his eyes and asked, "Were you happy those last six years? Had you fun? Was it what you expected?"

Shanks swallowed and said, "I… yes, yes it was and so much more."

Hisana just nodded and whispered in a quiet but fond voice, "Than you did the right thing… no listen to me…First of all you had no idea that I was pregnant, we were careful but well sometimes that isn't enough and secondly you love the sea and your freedom, I'm sure had you stayed we would have had a nice life, you would have loved Hisoka and been the best dad in the world but deep down you would have still been unhappy. The sea is your home, even more so than mine and it wouldn't have been right to ask you to leave your pirate life. And now that you know about her you can make it up to Hisoka and to be honest she only now begins the phase of her life that she will remember for the rest of it, you came just at the right time, so don't worry."

Finished with her reasoning she pecked him on his lips and burrowed her head in his torso. Shanks swallowed while he wrapped his arm around her and drew her closer. Hisana was right, he wasn't sure if he could have lived with just being a husband and father, without fighting and drinking and adventuring. No Hisana was right, Shanks couldn't help himself but look fondly down at her, he had a feeling that she knew him better than he himself did. A possessive and protective feeling flashed through his body, this was the woman that he loved, the mother of his child, the most beautiful woman he had ever met. With a nearly animalistic growl pushed her down on the bed and kissed her senseless, no one else was allowed to have her, he wouldn't stand for it.