Chapter 38
A Look Into the Past
The next morning dawned clear, but cold.
Hawke shivered as she left the warmth of the covers and headed for the kitchen.
"Good morning, Sanji," she yawned as she opened the door and the aroma of bacon flowed over her.
"You look lovely as the morning dew, Hawke-swan!" swooned the cook as he laid platters of eggs and hash browns onto the table alongside the bacon, "Please eat your fill."
Hawke smiled and eagerly started on her breakfast.
Robin had gotten up before the others and was already almost done her plate.
"Did you have a pleasant night, Hawke?" the archeologist sent a knowing glance down the table.
The scout felt the colour rise in her cheeks as she recalled what happened between her and Zoro during the night.
"I suppose so," she said quietly.
But how does Robin know? She thought, eyeing the archeologist suspiciously.
Then she turned her gaze back to her meal.
Then again, Robin does always seem to know everything.
The door suddenly burst open and Luffy bounded in, making Hawke almost choke on the mouthful she had been swallowing.
"Oi, Sanji!" the captain shouted, "Why didn't you say breakfast was ready!?"
"Just eat," the cook grunted as he quickly replenished the plates, "And leave some for Nami-san, she hasn't gotten up yet."
As he said that, the navigator entered the kitchen.
"Don't eat my food, Luffy!" she snapped as she sat down.
Hawke smiled as Luffy immediately started stuffing his face, noting that he seemed to be giving Nami's plate a wide berth.
The rest of the boys quickly followed the captain into the kitchen and began to dig in. Zoro shot Hawke a small smile as he sat down across from her, which Hawke returned.
She felt the warm sensation in her chest, which had started last night when she'd gone to bed, and had continued as she'd gotten up this morning. It was the warmth of relief and happiness that her feelings were returned by the one they were directed at.
Her gaze lingered on the swordsman as he filled his plate with bacon and eggs.
He seems to be in a good mood, she thought, feeling her own mood lighten.
Hawke smiled at her empty plate before standing and handing it to Sanji's outstretched hand.
"Is there anything that needs doing this morning?" she turned to Nami.
The navigator thought for a moment.
"No," she said, shaking her head, "The weather seems to be relatively steady for now, so we just need to sail forward."
Hawke nodded.
"I think I'll take it easy today," she groaned as she stretched her arms above her head, "It's about time I explored the rest of the Sunny!"
"You can explore the kitchen any time you want, Hawke-chan!" swooned Sanji, opening the door for her and leaning in close to her ear, "I'll make sure you're never bored."
Hawke stiffened and took a step back. She heard the scrape of a chair on wood behind her and then a clinking noise.
That was Zoro's swords, Hawke thought, feeling her cheeks flush.
"Thanks for the offer, Sanji," she said quickly, "But I've already seen plenty of the kitchen. I was thinking more the library…"
Sanji was staring, wide-eyed, over her shoulder, but he brought his eyes back to Hawke and bowed his head.
"Of course, Hawke-san," he said in a lower, less flamboyant voice.
He stood back and held open the door.
Hawke nodded and looked over her shoulder as she left the kitchen.
Zoro was still standing with his hand on his swords.
Hawke gave him a small smile as she stepped out of view.
I guess he wanted to let Sanji know to be more careful, she thought, feeling the warm sensation in her chest grow.
She let out another groan as she became aware of the brisk morning air.
Her muscles were more than a little sore from her training and flying yesterday. She could feel them protesting against the cold.
She scurried back to the girl's room and put on a long sleeved shirt under her jacket and a pair of jeans before making her way down to the library.
"I haven't spent much time in here," she muttered as she looked up at the many shelves of books, then out to the aquarium.
She sat down and watched a small school of purple and red fish swim around through the seaweed.
She smiled as she saw some of the smaller fish flitting in and out of the plants as two larger ones hovered above them.
"Those must be their parents," she sighed as one of the large ones herded the little ones back into the seaweeds as a larger, hungry looking fish swam by.
Their parents…, Hawke thought.
She chewed on her lip as her mind began turning towards herself and her past.
Lately, she had found herself getting lost in her own thoughts more than usual. Sure she had a lot to think about with the prophecy and her future, and now she had more feelings and thoughts about Zoro to keep her busy. But at this moment, she found an old ache rising to the surface.
"I guess it wouldn't be totally impossible for a man to be possessed by a spirit," she muttered, "I mean, I still have a human father and mother…I wonder who they are…"
She often wondered about her parents, and if they were still alive, living somewhere in the world.
When she was younger, and once she had found out that Luffy wasn't her brother by blood, she would get angry that no one had come looking for her. But as she grew older, she realized that she was doing fine with Makino, Garp, and Shanks as her mentors and that they were the ones who had been there for her, not her biological parents.
Hawke had grown up loving Makino like an older sister. She would tell the barlady her troubles and would get advice in return, but the opposite was also true. Makino had treated her with respect as well as love. Now that she thought back to it, it was a bit odd that she never even considered Makino to be her mother. The thought had never crossed her young mind…
And Shanks was like a funny uncle. The one that would come and visit every now and then and start a party before disappearing out into the ocean. He was the one who had gotten her into knife throwing.
Of the three adults, Garp had been the one she felt to be what he actually was: her grandfather. Sure, they weren't blood related, but you could never tell by the way he knew her and treated her. And, in fact, Hawke hadn't believed him at first when he had told her that she and Luffy weren't actually brother and sister and that he wasn't her real grandfather.
Hawke smiled at the memory.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
She had been seven at that time. Garp had some time off from his duties with the navy and he had come to see how his grandchildren were doing.
Hawke and Luffy had been playing in the puddles that had formed during a rainstorm overnight and she ran in to see Garp with muddy feet and hands. Luffy had taken off in the other direction.
"Oi, Hawke!" the Vice-Admiral boomed, bending down to look at her, "What are you doing covered in mud, young lady?"
Hawke smiled and reached her little hands up to her grandfather.
"Look!" she cried happily, "Grampa's back!"
Garp gave her a wide grin and picked her up, holding her out in front of him.
"And what have you been doing while your Grandpa's been away?" he asked her.
Hawke's eyes widened as she smiled.
"Looking for treasure!" she giggled, "Luffy said he knows where it is!"
Garp's expression immediately soured.
"Treasure?" he growled, "What's that stupid brother of yours been putting in your head?"
Hawke giggled again. She found her grandfather's facial expressions quite funny.
"Luffy said he's gunna let me sail with him," she said, reaching out her hands and playing with Garps mustache, "Uncle Shanks gave him his hat and said he'd be a great pirate! We train every day!"
Garp's eyes flashed in anger, but Hawke was oblivious to this as the bristles on his face were getting her full attention. This caused her to be upset when Garp lowered her back to the ground.
"Wait, Grampa," she whined, lifting her arms, "I want to stay up."
"You have to stay down for now, young lady," Garp said, "Hey, Makino!"
The barlady quickly came over to them.
Hawke smiled and ran over to hug Makino's skirt.
"Big Sis!" she giggled, "Grampa's face is prickly feeling!"
Makino smiled down at her and began washing the dirt off her hands.
"Of course," her soft voice was in stark contrast to Garps booming one, "Your grandfather is a very busy man, he doesn't have time to shave sometimes."
"Oh," Hawke gazed up in wonder at her very busy grampa.
"Makino!" Garp boomed again, "Stop letting Luffy and Hawke run around wild. They're hanging out with that Red Hair too much. Nothing good can come of it."
"I'm sorry, Garp-san," Makino said, "But I have to take care of the tavern. I can't watch them all the time. And it's good for them. They're learning new skills," she bent down so her face was level with Hawke's, "Why don't you show your grandfather what Shanks taught you."
Hawke's eyes lit up and she nodded.
"Okay," she said and quickly ran around the bar, taking the knives from every table.
She could hear Garp and Makino talking, but she was focused on collecting her knives and didn't pay attention to them. She was going to show her grampa what she could do!
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"I'm going to take Luffy up to live with Dandan," Garp muttered to Makino, "He's too distracted down here and gets into too much trouble."
"What?" the barlady's eyes widened, "But what about Hawke? Are you going to take her too?"
The Vice-Admiral shook his head.
"She's going to stay here, with you," he said, crossing his arms, "I need you to watch over her and make sure she keeps up with her training."
He paused.
"Maybe let her help you out here," he gestured around the bar, "She'd be good at serving and she needs to start working."
Makino glanced at the little girl running around the tables.
"But Garp-san," she said, "They've never been separated…"
"This will make them stronger," Garp snapped, "They can't learn to depend on each other too much… if things turn out for the worst, she's the only one with no ties to … important people."
Makino frowned.
"You still haven't told her," she said, raising her finger and pointing at Garp, "She's old enough to know. If you wait any longer, it could cause her to take it the wrong way."
"Yeah, yeah," the marine waved his hand at Makino, "I'll tell her."
They paused and watched Hawke, who was still gathering up cutlery from the tables. It was taking her a long time due to her small arms, which couldn't handle more than three utensils at a time.
"So what's she doing?" Garp grunted.
"Shanks seems to have discovered what her gift is," Makino smiled, "She's very talented."
Garp grinned.
"Well that's to be expected!" he laughed, "She's my granddaughter after all."
Makino raised her eyebrow but smiled.
"Garp," she said, "You should have been the one to teach her. Why don't you treat her the same as you treat Luffy. She's noticed, you know."
The Vice-Admiral frowned.
"I don't do it on purpose," he growled, "I always mean to train her."
He cast a glance back towards Hawke. She had cleared all but a few of the tables of their cutlery.
"I guess knowing that she might have her own parents out there somewhere," he said, "It makes me feel like I don't have the right to tell her what her future is. Not like with Luffy or Ace… And I don't have the right to throw her around… plus she's adorable, I wish I had had all granddaughters."
Makino was staring at him with wide eyes. It wasn't often that he got this serious when talking to her.
"Well, that just shows you care for her just as much those boys," the barlady smiled.
Just then, Hawke came waddling back to them, her arms full of knives.
"Knives?!" Garp snapped, "What is she doing?!"
"Just watch," Makino reassured the Vice-Admiral, "She's really good."
Hawke put the knives down on the table beside Makino and then squeezed past her grandfather's huge figure and closed the door of the bar. On the wall behind the door hung a roughly coloured bull's eye. Hawke ran back to the table and took up two knives.
"Watch out Grampa!" she said, "You're in the way."
Garp chuckled and stepped aside.
"This is what Uncle Shanks taught me," Hawke said, raising her arm.
She took a moment to pause before throwing her first knife. It spun through the air and landed with a thud, right in the center of the bull's eye.
Hawke quickly launched the rest of her pile of knives, all of them landing within centimeters of the red dot.
Garp let out a booming laugh as she threw her last knife.
"What a marvelous talent you have!" he roared, "I'd expect nothing less from my granddaughter! You'll make a fine marine!"
He patted Hawke on the head, making her beam with pride.
"And where's that good for nothing grandson of mine?" Garp asked, looking around, "He should come say hello to his grandfather!"
Hawke reached up and took Garp's big hand in her two little ones.
"Luffy ran away," she tugged on his hand, "He said that you'd hit him again because he's going to be a pirate."
"Damn right I am!" Garp shouted, "I'll beat him until he realizes that he's going to be a marine!"
And with that he stormed out of the tavern.
Hawke stood watching after him, a confused expression on her face.
"Is Grampa Garp mad at Luffy?" she turned and asked Makino.
The barlady gave her a soft smile.
"No," she replied, "He's just worried about Luffy, that's all."
Hawke's brow furrowed as she tried to understand.
"Grampa shouldn't worry," she said finally, "I'll take care of Luffy!"
Makino's eyes widened, then she smiled and picked Hawke up and gave her a warm hug.
"I know you will," the barlady whispered, "You make sure Luffy always gets out of trouble."
Hawke played with Makino's tresses.
"You have pretty hair, Big Sis," she laughed.
Makino smiled and put Hawke back onto the ground.
"Now why don't you go find your brother and grandfather," she said, "Bring them back here and we'll have dinner."
"Okay," Hawke smiled as she ran out the door.
She searched around the streets of Fuusha village, but it took her a while to find the two. And when she did, they were in an all out battle at the edge of the town.
"Luffy! Grampa!" Hawke called as she ran up to them, "Makino said to come back for dinner."
Garp had Luffy in a headlock, which her brother was desparately trying to get out of by biting their grandfather's arm.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Garp shouted, "There's no way I'll let you become a pirate! You're going to be a marine like your sister!"
"No way!" Luffy gasped for air, "I'm going to become a pirate like Shanks, and then Hawke's going to come sail on my crew!"
"Ha!" Garp boomed, "You've been hanging around Red Hair too much! I forbid you to see him! That goes for you too Hawke!"
Hawke let out a little gasp.
"Why, Grampa?" she asked, "I like Uncle Shanks."
"Shanks saved my life!" Luffy managed to stretch himself out of Garp's grasp and quickly ran over to stand with Hawke, "I promised him I'd return his hat once I become a great pirate!"
He waved the straw hat in the air before putting it back on his head.
"That's nonsense!" shouted Garp, "Stop putting thoughts like that into Hawke's head! She's going to become a marine!"
Hawke felt her fist clench.
"But I want to stay with Luffy!" she suddenly declared.
Garp froze.
Hawke felt suddenly nervous. She shuffled her feet and looked down at the ground.
"I don't really care what I become, a marine or a pirate," she mumbled, "As long as I get to stay with my brother."
She reached out and grabbed Luffy's hand.
He looked over and gave her a happy grin.
Hawke looked up and saw that Garp had a serious look on his face.
"Grampa?" she asked nervously.
The Vice-Admiral crossed his arms, seeming to have decided something.
"Luffy!" he boomed.
Hawke saw Luffy stiffen as he stood beside her.
"Get your stuff ready. You're leaving this village tomorrow!"
"Eh?" Luffy shouted, "What do you mean I'm leaving?! No way!"
Garp scowled and threw a punch that landed right on Luffys head.
"Don't argue with your grandfather!" he shouted, "What I say is final! You're going to go live with a friend of mine, somewhere where you won't be influenced by pirates anymore!"
Hawke winced as Luffy cried out in pain.
"Please don't hurt him, Grampa," she pleaded, running over to pull on Garp's pant leg, "I don't want to leave either."
Garp looked down at her.
"You're not leaving, Hawke," he said gruffly, "You're staying here, with Makino."
Hawke blinked.
"What?" she asked, not understanding, "You mean… I can't go with Luffy?"
"That's right," Garp growled, "I'm separating you two. You won't be able to focus on your training if you're always playing around."
Hawke stood silent.
There hadn't been a day, not one day, that she hadn't been with Luffy. They had grown up together, played together, eaten and slept together every day since they'd been born. She couldn't imagine the possibility of living without Luffy being there. Her young mind couldn't grasp this concept and so it resorted to the only way it could figure out how to express itself.
"No!" Hawke screamed, tears falling down her face, "No! I don't want Luffy to go away! If he's going somewhere then take me too! I want to stay with Luffy!"
She yanked at the pantleg, still clutched in her hand.
"Yeah!" shouted Luffy, "I'm not going anywhere without Hawke!"
"Be quiet, both of you!" Garp shouted, his voice almost menacing.
Hawke was shocked out of her little tempertantrum.
"This is for both of your sakes," Garp continued, "I can't expect you to understand the reasons why, but this is the way it has to be."
He reached down and pulled his clothing out of Hawke's weak grasp.
"Now," he said, "Let's go back and have supper."
The walk back to the bar and the meal that followed were accompanied by Luffy's loud complaints and Garp's angry retorts, but Hawke remained silent.
She still couldn't understand why her grandfather was taking her brother away from her.
Even when Luffy and Garp came to blows once again, instead of interrupting like she normally would, she stood up and went to sit out on the steps of the bar.
"Look!" Hawke heard Luffy shouting as the door closed behind her, "You've made Hawke sad! I'll kick your ass!"
"Don't talk to your grandfather like that!" roared Garp.
The thumps and crashes shook the whole building and Hawke covered her ears to block them out.
"I don't want Luffy to go away…" she whimpered and started to cry again, "We've always been together! He's my brother!"
The sound of her sobs covered up the sudden silence from within the bar. And Hawke didn't notice when the door opened behind her. She was startled when Garp sat down heavily beside her.
"I'm sorry, Grampa," she sniffled, wiping her cheeks and nose with a handkerchief that Makino had given her.
"There's no reason for you to be sorry," her grandfather lifted a huge hand and put in on her shoulder, "You're a wonderful young lady."
There was a pause as Hawke continued to sniffle.
"You really love Luffy, don't you," Garp chuckled.
Hawke looked up in surprise.
"Of course, Grampa!" she said, "He's my brother."
Garp looked down at her in silence.
"What do you think a brother is?" he asked, removing his hand and watching the sun set, "What do you think a grandfather is?"
Hawke was confused by the question and didn't know how to answer.
"Umm," she brought her finger to her chin as she thought about it, "Well they're family aren't they? There's a grampa and grandma, and then a mother and father, and then brothers and sisters."
Garp let out another chuckle.
"So you think that family is related by blood…" he trailed off.
"Blood?" Hawke was thoroughly confused now, "I don't know about that, blood is icky."
This time Garp let out a booming laugh.
"That's not what blood relation means," he chuckled, "It means that you share a mother and father with someone else. Like how my son is Luffy's father, so that makes me his grandfather. That's blood relation."
Hawke frowned up at her grandfather.
"What about me?" she asked, "You forgot me..."
Garp clasped his hands together and looked ahead, avoiding her gaze.
"Do you think that you and Luffy share the same parents?" he asked.
Hawke just stayed silent. She had never really thought about that stuff. Sure, the other kids in the village all had fathers and mothers, but she and Luffy never had… they always stayed with Makino…
"You and Luffy are not blood related," Garp said tersely, "You are not real siblings… and I am not your real grandfather."
Being seven, most of this conversation was going right over Hawke's head. But those last words rang loud and clear in her young mind.
"What are you saying, Grampa?!" she cried, standing up, "What do you mean Luffy's not my real brother?! Of course he is! And you're my Grampa too!"
Her little fists shook as she clenched them.
"I don't care about that blood stuff!" she huffed, "Luffy's my brother and you're my grampa and that's how it is!"
She sat back down with a thump and crossed her arms, pouting.
When she heard another chuckle, she turned and frowned at Garp.
"Don't be mad, Hawke," the Vice-Admiral laughed, "Of course I'm your grandfather! And of course Luffy's your brother. I just wanted you to understand that you don't share blood lines. When you get older, that might be something important to know."
Hawke smiled in relief and jumped up to hug her grandfather.
"Yay! Grampa!" she cried, "I love you!"
She felt his huge arms squeeze her tight.
"I love you too," his voice rumbled.
"Wait, Grampa!" Hawke gasped, laughing, "I can't breathe!"
Garp loosened his grip and pushed her up onto his shoulder.
"Luffy still has to leave, though," he said quietly.
"But-!" Hawke began protesting, grabbing handfuls of Garp's short hair.
"No buts!" the Vice-Admiral stated, slamming his fist onto the porch, "This is for both of you sakes."
"Our sakes?" Hawke asked, "What does that mean?"
"It's when adults can see something that is much bigger than what you little ones can see," Garp muttered, "We can plan for the future accordingly. And you have to listen, even if you don't understand."
Hawke frowned at the sunset.
"I don't understand," she whimpered again, on the verge of tears again, "We train everyday! We're getting stronger like you want us to, Grampa. Why can't we just stay together?… I've never been without Luffy."
There was a pause and she felt Garp stiffen under her.
"You'll be okay," he finally growled, "You've trained as much as you can together. But in order to get stronger, you need to be on your own for a while."
He turned his head to look at her.
"What would happen if you grew up with Luffy the entire time, but when you enter the marines they post you at different headquarters? If that happened and you were dependent on Luffy, you'd be weaker! You have to learn to be the strongest you can be all by yourself, without depending on anyone. That's the only way that you'll be able to help and protect the people you love."
Hawke listened carefully to those words. They engraved themselves into her mind.
"So…" she said slowly, trying to figure out what she felt, "If I want to make sure I can get Luffy out of trouble… I need to make sure I can fight without him?"
Garp gave her a wide smile and nodded.
"That's it!" he laughed.
Hawke let out a little gasp.
"Then you help me get stronger!" she said, bouncing up and down on Garp's shoulder, "Train me like you train Luffy!"
But Garp shook his head.
"I've told you before," he said, "The reason I can be so rough with Luffy is because he ate that damn devil fruit. His body is much more resilient than yours is. If you and I were to fight, you would get hurt pretty badly."
Hawke frowned.
"But you never worry about Luffy getting hurt!" she huffed, "Is this because I'm a girl?"
Garp let out a chuckle.
"Not exactly," he said, reaching up and ruffling her hair, "But I could never bring myself to put a bruise on my sweet little granddaughter's face. I'll leave that for your commanding officers and your marine training."
"Grampa!" Hawke giggled, "You can't show me mercy! You're a marine Vice-Animal!"
Garp's laugh echoed through the village.
"Its Vice-Admiral," he boomed, "Not animal! You sound like that stupid brother of yours."
"Hey!" a sudden voice shouted from behind them, "Don't call me stupid!"
Luffy jumped up onto Garp's back and began trying to punch it.
Hawke laughed.
"You still haven't gotten used to your devil fruit powers," she giggled, "Your fist is wobbling all over!"
"Shut up!" snapped Luffy as he fell backwards.
Hawke's laughter intensified at this and she fell off of Garp's shoulder and onto the porch.
She lay there for a moment in silence before bursting out in laughter once more.
Luffy and Garp joined in and the trio didn't stop until Makino came out to see what was going on.
"It's late," the barlady took Luffy and Hawke's hands and lifted them up, "Let's get ready for bed."
Hawke waved goodbye to her grandfather as they went up to the room above the bar.
The room was large enough to fit two beds into, along with two wardrobes and a vanity mirror.
Hawke quickly changed into her nightgown and brushed her teeth. Then the siblings jumped into their bed, which was shared, the other belonging to Makino.
The lights were turned out and Makino returned down to the restaurant to continue serving the customers.
"Luffy?" Hawke reached out to find her brother's hand in the darkness, "Are you really leaving tomorrow?"
There was a huff.
"There's no way Grandpa can make me go!" he snapped as he squeezed her hand.
There was a pause.
"I think you should…" Hawke finally spoke.
"What?!" shouted Luffy, "Why?! You want us to be separated? You'll be all alone."
Hawke frowned at the black ceiling.
"I hate the thought of you not being here," she said, "But maybe we can get stronger this way… we can't get used to depending on each other all the time… And I won't be alone, I'll have Makino and Grampa...plus I'm not really your sister…you shouldn't be worrying about me like that anymore…"
She felt Luffy's hand clench hers tightly.
"Don't say that!" he snapped, "I heard what Gramps told you… But, like he said, you're still my little sister! And I'm still your big brother! Nothing can change that!"
Hawke smiled and let out a laugh.
"You know I'm older than you," she teased, "I'm not little."
"Only by two months," Luffy grumpily replied, "But you're still the little one because I'm taller!"
Hawke let out a giggle and her eyes found the stars shining down through the window.
"I'm going to miss you a lot," she whispered.
Luffy took a while to respond.
"Do you really think we can get stronger if we're apart?" he asked.
Hawke nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her.
"I think so," she replied, "But I'm for sure going to find you and join your crew after I get stronger!"
Luffy laughed and pulled her over to him, giving her a big hug.
"I'm going to get so strong!" he laughed, "And then we can sail the seas and have awesome adventures with our own crew! Just like Shanks! We'll go all the way to the end of the Grand Line!"
"Promise?" Hawke whispered.
"Promise," Luffy stated.
Hawke smiled happily and felt herself drifting off to sleep.
"I love you, Luffy," she mumbled into the pillow.
"Me too," she heard his reply before falling asleep.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The next morning, Hawke woke up to find that she was all alone.
"Luffy?!" she started and sat up, "Where are you?"
Her eyes fell onto a small object laying on the blankets.
She reached over and picked it up.
It was a piece of paper with a gold chain attached to it.
Hawke squinted at the letters messily scrawled onto the paper.
"Keep this as our promise to sail together to the end of the Grand Line," she mumbled.
Picking up the chain, she saw that it had a gold cross pendant hanging from it.
"Luffy…?" she whispered.
Then she jumped out of bed and tore down the stairs, bursting out into the restaurant.
It seemed to be mid-morning and there were already a few customers at the tables.
"Good morning, Hawke-san," one of the villagers waved at her, "Why are you still in your pajamas?"
But Hawke ignored him, looking around frantically.
"Where's Luffy?" she cried.
Makino quickly came over to her.
"Luffy left this morning," she said, "He said that you already said goodbye and then went back to sleep because you weren't feeling well. Are you okay?"
Hawke shook her head.
"He didn't wake me up!" she cried, tears forming in her eyes, "He never said goodbye! Where did he go?"
Makino frowned and gave her a sympathetic look.
"I can't say, Hawke," she said, "Garp-san said he was going far away."
Hawke's shoulders shook as she ran towards the doors.
"He didn't say goodbye!" she wailed, "He can't be gone!"
She burst through them and stood blinking in the sunlight. Making her way down the steps, she turned and ran towards the harbour, thinking that that's where Garp and Luffy had gone. But when she reached it, there was no one in sight.
"Luffy…" Hawke whimpered as she leaned against the dock rail, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
She sat down and cried into her arms.
She sat there in her pajamas, bawling, for a long time. Her cries eventually pettering down to whimpers.
"Now, now," she heard a voice, "Why are you so upset, little one?"
Hawke looked up to see who the speaker was, but there was no one around her.
"Huh?" she mumbled, wiping her eyes.
Then she heard a squawk.
"That's better!"
Hawke blinked and looked up. There was a gull sitting on top of the post beside her.
She stared up at the bird.
"Do you feel better now?" it asked her.
Hawke gasped and jumped up.
"Y-yes," she stammered.
"Well that's excellent then," the gull replied.
Hawke watched as it took off and soared away.
Before she could contemplate what had just happened, she heard footsteps coming up behind her.
"Its okay, Hawke," Makino's quiet voice spoke, "You'll see Luffy again. Right now you have to work on getting stronger, isn't that what your grandfather said?"
Hawke blinked and she took the barlady's hand and let herself be led back through the village.
Luffy's already gone, she thought, I don't know how long it will be until I see him again. I need to get as strong as I can.
She looked up at Makino.
"But how do I get stronger?" she whimpered.
The barlady smiled down at her.
"Well you can start by helping me out around tavern," she said, "You'll need to learn how to help people. You'll be good at it since you have a nice smile. Just don't throw any knives around the customers. But first you need to get out of your pajamas."
Hawke let herself be cheered up by these words.
"Okay," she smiled as Makino led her through the doors.
I'll see you when we're both stronger, Luffy.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hawke blinked as she pulled herself out of her memory.
She opened her eyes and found herself back in the present. The purple and red fish were staring at her through the glass of the aquarium.
"Wait!" she gasped at her reflection, "I could understand birds back then?!"
There was no mistaking her memory. That had actually happened! That gull had spoken to her and she had understood it!
But that was years before I got my tattoo! Hawke thought.
She leaned back against the couch she was sitting on and wracked through her memories of her life in Fuusha village.
And sure enough, she managed to recall a few more times that she had spoken to birds back then. Once when a sparrow had stolen one of Makino's cookies that had been cooling in the window and she'd convinced it to give it back. And another time when she had lost Luffy in the forest on the outskirts of the village and a crow had helped her find him and then helped them find their way back to the village.
I didn't even think that was weird at the time, she thought in amazement, it was so normal that I didn't even remember it until now!
"So I could understand birds before I got my tattoo," she muttered, "I guess I was born with that ability…," she let out a defeated sigh, "I guess I am a princess or something after all."
She felt her hand reach up and grab her necklace and she smiled.
But I got much stronger in that time before I saw you again, right Luffy? she thought, and I'm going to keep getting stronger so I can keep getting you out of trouble.
"You're a princess?" a voice came from behind her.
Hawke jumped and spun around to look at the door.
"Oh, it's you Franky," she smiled at the large-armed cyborg, "You surprised me."
He drew a comb through his hair.
"That's because I'm suuuper sneaky," he declared, holding a funny dance pose.
Hawke laughed.
"I guess you are," she smiled.
Franky sent her a smirk before coming over to stand beside her.
"So what was that you were saying about being a princess?" he asked, leaning down and giving her a sly look, "I didn't know that I was in the presence of royalty!"
Hawke felt her cheeks flush.
"It's nothing," she stammered, "I was just-," she stopped and sighed.
"It's a long story," she decided, "But it's not what you think it is, I'm not royalty or anything. Not to humans anyways."
"To humans?" Franky gave her a quizzical look.
Hawke became more flustered as she tried to think of a way to explain the meaning of her words without going into every detail. She brought her hand up to her cheek and bit her lip.
"Oi, Franky!" a sudden gruff voice rang out, "What are you doing to make her so upset?"
Hawke looked over to the door and smiled as she saw Zoro entering the library.
"I didn't do anything," Franky said after giving the swordsman a wave, "She was muttering to herself about being a princess and I just asked why. She got herself all worked up."
Zoro's face relaxed and he joined the other two by the couches.
"I- I just don't know how to explain it," Hawke mumbled, her cheeks becoming quite red as she pulled on her braid.
"Oh," the swordsman grunted, "You mean that you're the subject of a prophecy that fortells the revealing of the True History? Or the fact that you're the daughter of some spirit and can talk to birds and can fly?"
Hawke's jaw fell open as she listened to Zoro divulge everything she had been trying to say in a few simple sentences.
"Z-Zoro?!" she stammered, "Thank you… you made it sound so easy…"
But the swordsman silenced her by putting his hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Everyone on this crew has their own pasts and their own secrets," he said, turning to Franky, "I have mine and I'm sure you have yours."
Franky nodded.
"Woah, I never knew you had so much going on," the cyborg looked down at Hawke.
She stood up, shaking her head and raising her hands.
"Its fine," she smiled, "It's just the way things are. How about I tell you the whole story later?"
Franky smirked and nodded.
Hawke quickly turned to Zoro.
"Is there something you wanted?" she asked, "You don't usually come down here, do you?"
The swordsman let out a little scoff, but then he nodded.
"Chopper said he needs your help with some medicine stuff," he said, "He's in his room being all happy."
Hawke smiled and stretched her arms.
"Alright," she said, "Tell him I'll be right there."
Zoro nodded and left the room.
Hawke waved to Franky and made to follow the swordsman, but she stopped as she put her hand on the door frame.
"Hey, Franky," she looked over her shoulder.
"Yeah?" the cyborg replied.
"You're sure this ship can sail to the end of the Grand Line?" she asked.
Franky scoffed.
"Just who do you think built this ship!?" he exclaimed, jumping up and striking another flashy pose, "Of course it can!"
Hawke gave him a wide smile.
"That's excellent," she said, "Because Luffy promised me that we'd sail there together!"
Franky grinned at her.
"He's your brother, right?" he asked.
Hawke nodded.
"Well, I think I can say, with my own brotherly instincts, that he'll make sure he keeps that promise," Franky said sagely.
Hawke gave him a warm smile.
"Of course he will," she said, turning to go find out what Chopper wanted.