Ghost Meets Beast - A Pachyhoro Story


Perona blinked her eyes open. She shook her head as her vision focused, having just returned to her physical body. She hurriedly swung the sail to starboard and kicked the till to direct the small boat towards its new bearing, not wanting to spend any more time on the water than she needed to.

She had spotted land while astral projecting, an ability that made her naturally superior to any lookout or navigator. While she could only float her consciousness a couple miles over the water, it was more than enough to let her spot any landmarks on the barren open ocean.

The little boat she'd borrowed was painfully slow and awkward to command, but Mihawk didn't exactly have any other vessels to offer her. So this dinky thing just had to do. She was hoping to sail herself all the way to where she'd learned Moria had been spotted, but she'd gone and run out of food and supplies far quicker than she'd expected. And her vast-brimmed hat didn't help much against the beating sun above. How on earth did Mihawk do it, trekking all across the Grand Line, and even into the other blues, on nothing but his tiny crappy coffin boat? He didn't even pack any supplies on that thing at all! More mysteries about the silent swordsman prick she didn't care to wonder too much about.

After a good hour of struggling with the sail she finally came into view of the island she'd spotted earlier. It was hardly a landmass, a puny stretch of greenery not even half the size of Thriller Bark, which by itself was huge for a ship, but diminutive for an island.

At first Perona assumed this tiny stretch of land was naturally uninhabited, but her heart jumped when she realized there was a column of smoke rising from it. A campfire, meaning someone else was already here. Meaning she could possibly meet some people who could supply her with, well, supplies. Or, perhaps it meant she'd find some enemies. She wasn't fussed by this possibility, she was more than confident her power would get her out of any trouble she'd ever find. Regardless, she was starting to get really hungry. She had to find something of use on this rock no matter what.

At last the bow of the boat dug into the sandy bank, causing her to damn near almost fall out. She floated ahead along the beach, not seeing anything of note aside from the sand, trees, and a rocky outcrop to the east.

Then something caught her eye, out in the distance on the water, there was what looked like the mast of a ship poking out. As she approached it she realized, indeed, it was the mast of a ship, a huge one that had sank just off the sandridge. What alarmed her the most was the flag that drooped lifelessly from atop the mast, the flag of the Marines. A Marine vessel had wrecked here. But upon glancing away she noticed something else: just beneath the water was another sunken ship, not far from the first. And a distance from that was another. At least three Marine ships had been wrecked near this island. What the hell had happened here?

/

/

"I sensed you an hour before you got here."

Perona jumped in fright as she heard a fierce voice coming from behind her. Spinning to face it, she was met with the steely gaze of a masked, horned, furious-faced woman squared off from out of the overgrowth.

"Who are-" Perona couldn't even start her question before the woman pointed a finger at her and asked it first.

"Who the FUCK are you!?" She demanded, her eyes flaring with aggression as she pointed. This was of course a thousand times ruder than how Perona was going to phrase it.

"Ex-CUSE ME!?" Perona spat back, tilting her head forwards with her fists on her hips, "Just WHO do you think you're talking to!?"

The woman didn't appear to register her offense whatsoever. Her blue blobby hair was poorly brushed and unwashed, and her white sweater and blue skirt were both worn filthy and tattered, the sweater even had a hole burned into the side. But her eyes burned with a promise of unrestrained violence.

"Are you with the Marines!?" The woman growled again, "I've already told you, I don't care how many ships you send, I'll crush every last one of you motherfuckers!"

"Do I LOOK like a-" Perona took a deep breath. She was going to have to exercise patience to avoid pointlessly escalating this. "I'm NOT a Marine. I'm simply passing by. All I need is some food, water, toothp-"

"I don't care who you are or what you want, get the fuck out of here before I stuff your tarty frilly dress down your throat!"

Perona's eye twitched. But she persisted. She'd endured two years co-existing with that green-headed simpleton, surely she could calmly negotiate her way through this, like any lady should.

"I assure you, I'm not looking to start any trouble. If you're able to give me what I need then kindly do so, before I-"

"I assure you, I'm gonna pound you into pink and black paste if you don't FUCK OFF!" The woman started to march towards her, shoulders hunched and fists clenched.

"Okay fine, enough of this!" Perona floated into the air slightly as the woman advanced towards her. "You asked for this! NEGATIVE..." A pair of flappy tongued ghosts formed from each of her hands, causing her target to halt as her bizarre abilities manifested. "...HOLLOW!" Perona shouted as the pair of ghosts launched towards her aggressor, giggling maniacally as they soared through the air.

It looked like a clean shot, these things couldn't exactly miss, but the woman ducked slightly. and then vanished before the Hollows could connect. Perona blinked in surprise, and by the time her eyes opened again the woman was inches from her face.

"ORAAA!"

With a deafening roar the woman slammed her fist into Perona's chest, cleanly driving though her and out the other side, all the sand across the beach billowing in the other direction from the force of the attack.

"Huh?" The woman gasped at the sight of her arm impaled through her target. Her surprise was twofold, being initially startled because she wasn't really going for a killshot, followed by confusion as she realized she'd punched air.

She swung her fist aside, and it passed unhindered through Perona's body. She took another swipe forward to be sure, Perona not bothering to retaliate, and once again her hand passed through harmlessly.

Perona giggled smugly, before the woman's gaze returned to fury as her fist blackened with a sharp burst of esoteric sound. But once more, even with Armament, her furious punch passed on without connecting with anything. The woman's eyes surged with frustration.

"Wha- even with... WHAT THE HELL KIND OF BULLSHIT ABILITY IS...!?"

"Horohorohorohoro!" Perona chortled, "Not even haki can hit what isn't there!"

The woman looked about wildly for answers, her observation haki doing its job. Perona's heart skipped a beat when the woman finally looked to her boat.

"Oh no."

Her real body was slumped comatose on the stern, while her projection had scouted ahead. The woman scoffed as she stomped towards it.

"Oh, I see. Fucking paramecias and their fucking stupid... fucking..."

Perona froze. She didn't have time to intercept her with more Hollows, all she could do was move her body.

With a flicker Perona's avatar faded away, and Perona's physical body lurched awake. She immediately floated up into the air before the woman could arrive at the boat, higher than she could reach, leaving the woman to only glare up angrily as she made her escape.

But just as Perona thought she was safe, she heard a throaty growl and felt something latch onto her ankle. She looked down to see a scaled green claw clamped around her leg, and the next thing she knew she was going down. Down to the sand, hard.

Her hat was flung from her head as she connected with the beach, the air knocked from her lungs with an oof. Perona looked in horror at the woman suddenly towering over her, now easily more than three times her height, a looming monster with scaled hands and legs, a powerful tail, and spikes jutting from her brow.

"A zoan user...!?"

Perona forced herself to float backward just in time to avoid the monstrous stomp towards her. The woman lunged with another roar as she was ready to headbutt, but while she was in mid-air, Perona had her chance.

"SKULL CANNO-"

"NEGATIVE HOLLOW!"

A single Hollow cleanly passed through the monster's torso, giggling to itself as her whole body instantly went limp.

The woman tumbled over Perona's head, crumpling onto the ground in a heap. Perona wobbled to her feet and collected her hat, shaking the sand from it as the woman grovelled and shuddered, her giant body regressing to her human state. Perona was about to say something condescending, but then stopped herself.

The woman was crying. This almost never happened. People hit by her hollows would always grovel, moan, damn themselves, wish for non-existence, but seldom ever cried. And this wasn't just upset or saddened crying, these were agonized, inconsolable, remorseful tears.

"No... no... no..." She whispered repeatedly as she wept. "I must prot... I need to pr... I need to be stro... you're all I have le..."

Once more, Perona almost never felt bad about afflicting someone with her hollows. It was temporary and effortless. But the extent of this effect still moved her.

Perona hesitated, but gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Um... hey, are you..."

Perona jumped as the woman's gaze shot up at hers. Black lightning undulated around them as she seized Perona by the throat and slammed her onto her back.

"WHO. THE HELL. ARE YOU." The woman growled, her tears still streaming down her face and splashing onto Perona's. The woman's eyes burned alone on her face, but even behind her mask it was clear her teeth were clenched and bared in unrelenting anger.

Perona struggled against her hold, but it was no use. She was unthinkably strong; Perona had no idea it was possible for a woman to even get this strong! She tried to speak or gasp through the Armament grip around her neck, but suddenly, it slackened. The woman bowed her head, her eyes clenched, and fell onto her back beside Perona. She covered her eyes with her wrist as she shuddered another wave of tears. This wasn't the result of the Hollow, this was her own emotions getting the best of her. Some resurfaced trauma.

With these vulnerabilities on display, Perona recognised there was more going on with this wild woman than she initially caught on. So for now, she decided the most appropriate thing to do would be to answer her question.

/

"My name is Perona." Said Perona, sitting up. "I'm w... I was with the Thriller Bark Pirates."

The woman sobbed for a few moments more. Finally she managed to respond.

"Ulti." She paused to swallow. "Beast Pirates."

Beast Pirates?

...BEAST PIRATES?

Perona recalled she'd read in a paper dropped by a news gull a few days before that among other world changing events, an almighty Yonko crew had been overpowered and dissolved, just like that. So this woman... that would at least explain the zoan, and all the destroyed Marine ships, but...

"O-oh."

Perona's stomach turned to jelly. She slowly realized she'd just antagonized and patronized a Yonko crewmember. Marine Captains? Seakings? Even the odd Warlord? Sure, Perona had purposefully pissed off a few before. But a Yonko crewmember. A Yonko crewmember. Even a defunct one. The mere idea of this put her on edge.

She jolted as Ulti slowly sat up, but she only rubbed her eyes.

"I'm such an idiot..." she sniffed.

Perona chose her words delicately.

"I'm sorry I did that to you. I just didn't want you to... yeah." She said quietly. "Are... you okay?"

"No." Ulti answered. She sighed, and whispered before standing up, "I'm sorry too."

That admittance surprised Perona. There was a conscience behind this unreasonable monster after all. How interesting. In more ways than one, this situation started to feel familiar.

She thought back to the times she allowed herself to idly chat with Roranoa, how he used to seem like an ingrate moron, which he was, but they would still occasionally open up about each other's pasts. How it helped them both feel better about the future; understand each other a bit more. How it helped them hold on to a shred of hope. And from there, Perona acquired a shred of pity.

"Those things you said just now. Who did you need to protect?" Perona asked before Ulti could walk away.

She paused, glaring ahead.

"Don't ask that." Ulti said. She stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"Did you lose someone?" Perona pushed. "Or are you trying to avoid losing them?"

Ulti huffed in irritation.

"The hell would you know about losing anyone?"

"More than you might think."

Ulti sighed slowly and heavily.

"Look, I don't have time for this."

"Time for what, huh? You're hiding on a deserted island!"

"I need to get back to...!" Ulti exhaled in annoyance with her arms crossed, looking off into the jungle. She paused there, peeved. "You've got no other business here, so you should just leave. Get on your little boat and go."

"I know what it's like to lose a crew!" Perona interjected.

This finally caused Ulti to turn to face her.

"What did you say?"

"Back on Thriller Bark. I had known those bastards all my life." Perona continued. "They were the closest thing to family I ever knew. And I failed them. Now... I have no idea where they are."

Ulti begrudgingly slumped back down onto the sand beside her.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"So that now you have to tell me about yourself." Perona shrugged with a smile. "Is only fair."

"No, that's NOT fair. I don't want to know about you, so why the hell do you want to know about me?"

Perona paused. She wanted to say that lately she'd had no contact with anyone at all except for the most stoic, most joyless, most boring man on the planet for the last several months, and as a result she was really just eager to interact with absolutely anyone else. But part of her felt like there was more to her than just the hardy exterior, there was something nondescript, and alluring, in there.

"How long were you a Beast Pirate for? When did you join them?"

"I didn't join them." Ulti glowered. "I was..." She stopped again. "Why do you want to know? Why do you care?"

"Because..." Perona had to speak her mind. She had to know. "Because you're not doing this for yourself. You've lost your crew, like me. You're young, which means you joined them while you were very young, like me."

"So what."

Perona looked her straight in the eye.

"When I found out my crew, my family, was gone... I didn't know what else to do. I gave up. I didn't care what else happened after that. But you're still fighting, even though you've lost everything. You... you're not doing this for yourself."

Ulti looked away from her and removed her mask. She flapped the sand out of it, then placed it back over her mouth and nose before turning back.

"I never joined the Beast Pirates. After my parents... died... Mr Kaido took us in. He saved us, really, and I couldn't have ever thanked him enough, but I think he was just doing one last favor for my Dad. So he meant well, but we were still small, and stuck around the strongest, roughest crew in the whole world. So I knew we had no choice but to fight, and to get stronger, if we were going to survive."

"Who's "we"?" Perona asked.

"Me and..." Ulti swallowed. "My little brother, Page One."

Perona felt a pang in her chest. That's what it was. Family, of course. A real family.

"That's a name? Pajwun?"

"Page One."

"...Okay."

"I really had lost everything, except for him. He was the only family - the only THING I had left… and that still hasn't changed…" She gave a regretful sigh. "So, we both got as strong as we possibly could, so we could keep each other safe. We even became Tobiroppo."

"Toby what?"

"Tobiroppo."

"Oh. What's that?"

"It means... uh... well, it's the name of the strongest members of the Shinuchi."

"The wha-"

"Look, the point is we got strong. We earned very important spots. We were the top-ish members of the whole crew."

"Ah huh. In Thriller Bark we called our most elite members 'The Mysterious Four'."

"Eh? That sounds lame."

"At least it's an actual name! Although... granted everyone else on the crew was dead."

"You can thank Mr Kaido for that." Ulti muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Ulti sighed, digging her toes into the sand. "Fine, I guess we've both been through a lot."

"But a lot of the same." Perona added.

"Whatever. We've both had shit lives that got even shittier, how splendid." Ulti hoisted herself to her feet and dusted the sand from her butt. "Look... Perona. This has been a fun, pointless talk, but I really need to go. You can leave, but do NOT tell anyone you found me here."

"I..." Perona faced away from her as her stomach audibly grumbled from hunger.

Ulti rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you need supplies first, I know. Fine." She offered Perona her hand. "Come on."

Perona slowly took her hand and was quickly and effortlessly plucked onto her legs. She realized then how much taller Ulti was than her, the top of her grandiose hat barely reached the tips of Ulti's horns.

Without another word Ulti led her out into the jungle, still holding her hand. It was a rightfully firm, strong grip but Perona also couldn't help but notice how silken and delicate her hand still felt.

Ulti walked with such purpose, stomping ahead as if each step was an insult to the one before it; she didn't move cutely at all.

"Do you have a camp?" Perona asked redundantly, she'd already seen a fire on her approach to the island.

"Yeah. Just to lay low until the Marines stop coming after us."

"It was you that sank all those ships on the coast?"

"Yeah. The sailors got away though. I know they'll be back."

"I wouldn't worry. The Marines have got... more on their plate now. A lot has changed in the world, much more than just a dethroned Yonko."

Ulti glanced back at her.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"The easier question is what didn't happen..." Perona suddenly wondered if Mihawk was alright. But she quickly stopped wondering because she didn't care. "Is your camp much farther?"

"Just up ahead."

Nestled beneath the rocky outcrop overlooking the beach was a frankly pathetic excuse for a camp. It was more like a few floors and walls torn off Marine ships and slapped haphazardly in an angle that vaguely resembled a shelter. Importantly though, there were a couple crates full of food, and a circle of stones surrounding a low fire.

Ulti finally released Perona's hand and stepped into the camp, immediately leaving her behind and ducking behind a curtain made of Marine jackets into a quiet spot in the dark.

"Pay-Pay?"

/

Perona hung her hat over a banister and peaked in after her, seeing what appeared to be a makeshift bedroom. A young man lay upon a mattress packed under several Marine blankets, who Ulti knelt before. She couldn't see much of his features under the coverings and the dark, but he was clearly very unwell. Ulti had her head bowed beside him, whispering or praying something.

Ulti's attitude and approach to her brother had changed drastically after their defeat, after very nearly losing him for good. Before she had constantly doted on and cared for him in her own naïve way to try and lift his spirits in their depressing circumstance amidst the Beast Pirates. A big cuddly clown of a big sister to, in her eyes, help him. But now…

His eyes flickered open briefly, then he jolted awake as he spotted Perona in the entrance. She backed out but Ulti quickly calmed him down.

"Easy Pay-Pay! It's okay. She's not an enemy, she's my... she's okay." He slowly settled back into bed as she comforted him. Ulti adjusted the pillow behind his neck. "Please rest Pay-Pay. You'll be better soon. Just-" He gestured beside the bed, straining a whisper. "Yes, here it is. Have some water." She guided his hand to the bottle beside the bed, and kissed him on the temple. "I love you." He mumbled something back. She placed her mask back over her face and then walked past Perona out the room.

"Is that your brother?" Perona whispered. Ulti nodded solemnly. "Is he okay?"

"...He got hurt during... well, before the Beast Pirates fell. His neck is better now, but his headaches still haven't gone away..."

"Oh. My sympathies."

"Mm."

"...Is that the reason you were so defensive at the beach? You thought I was coming to hurt him."

Ulti simply looked down. Her brother's keeper indeed.

They both hesitated, neither quite sure what to say. Ulti snapped her fingers and walked to the fireplace.

"Right, I'll... make some food." She said, sitting on a crate beside it.

"That would be appreciated."

Perona found a barrel to lean against and watched Ulti shove some more sticks into the fire. She sprinkled some water from a canteen to wash off her hands, then took a potato out of the crate she sat upon. Her arm suddenly became covered in green scales, and she began using one of her elongated claws to peel and slice the potato in a circular motion, with surprising speed and skill as if she'd done it many times before.

"That devil fruit, what is it?" Perona asked.

"Ryu Ryu No Mi. Model Pakikeferosaurus." Ulti explained incorrectly. "It's an Ancient Zoan. Lets me turn into a dinosaur. I stole it from Mr Kaido when I was little." Ulti glanced up at her. "More importantly. What the HELL is yours?"

"Mine? Well, I have the Horo Horo No Mi."

"And what's it do?"

"Um... lots of things." Perona invoked a Hollow from her hand, and it circled around her while chortling to itself. "I can create these ghosts called Hollows, which can make anyone they touch instantly become cripplingly demotivated, and I share their line of sight so they can scout long distances for me. And I can also remove my spirit from my body to become immaterial and float through walls," she began counting on her fingers. "And I can create wide-scale illusions, oh and I can also fly, and I can create explosions, and I can-"

"Fucking. Paramecias." Ulti growled. "They do too many things." She put down her fourth finished potato and glared at the Hollow. "Kindly keep that thing far away from me."

"Well, fine." Perona waved her hand and the ghost vanished.

"Do you have any idea what it feels like when one of those things touches you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Perona replied, arms crossed. "I can hit myself with them as well, if I'm not careful. The effect is the same."

Ulti shook her head in bewilderment.

"It is MESSED UP. How are you not constantly putting people into therapy?"

"Look, you were a BIT of an extra-bad reaction, alright? Most of them just bow and kneel for a while." Perona smirked. "And beg for mercy."

"Would love to see Sasaki get hit with one..." Ulti smiled behind her mask. She lifted a few metal spikes from a nearby box and skewered the potatoes she'd prepared one by one.

"I don't know who that is. Also, what are you making?"

"Twisty potatoes, my favorite. And... the only thing I know how to cook. Besides toast."

"You don't cook toast."

"Bite me." Ulti spread the potatoes out along each spike so they resembled springs, then laid them out on a mesh over the fire. She turned each of them over while sprinkling a generous helping of salt over each one.

"Can I ask you something else?" Ulti said.

"You may."

"Are you... a princess?"

Perona smothered a laugh at how genuinely Ulti had asked that. Even if she hadn't heard of it, 'Ghost Princess' was just a moniker.

"No? What makes you think so?"

"So you just dress all… fancy, like that, because you can?"

Perona looked down at her lacey black and lavender dress.

"I like to look presentable, what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. It's a bit much for sailing around the sea, is all."

"It's hardly encumbering! On the other hand YOUR outfit has certainly seen better days!"

"My outfit was damaged in the battle, and I'm sure as hell not putting on any of this Marine shit. See, I don't have much of a choice, while you're choosing to go about with your frills and frocks and big exposed titties."

Perona gasped in unsureness of whether to be insulted, covering a hand over her cleavage anyway.

"You're one to talk, with your miniskirt and... even bigger breasts!"

"Alright, alright, I'm saying you look good, it's just not something I'd wear to go sailing." Ulti sighed, but feeling silently flattered.

"Fine. Fine." Perona pouted.

"Wouldn't have been surprised if you were a princess though." Ulti whispered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Perona crossed her legs under her dress. She had heard her, but masked her smile.

"Can I ask you something then?" she asked.

"Alright."

"Why do you have horns?"

"I'm not gonna answer that."

"Ah."

They paused for a minute, watching the potatoes sizzle. Perona decided to ask the question all pirates ask.

"Have you got a bounty?" she finally asked.

"400 billion." Ulti shrugged.

"WHAT!?" Perona exclaimed loudly, before lowering her voice after Ulti raised a finger over her mask and nodded to her brother's room.

"Oh wait, no... 400 million."

"Well duh, but still... that's... 80 million higher than Moria's!"

"I don't really care about that stuff. Nobody's ever gonna get that money anyway." Ulti turned the potatoes on the grill. "Kinda doesn't matter anymore when Mr Kaido's is like 4 gajillion."

"I don't think I even have a bounty." Perona muttered.

"...How? Your fruit is bullshit."

"I'm actually not sure. Who knows, maybe the Marines think I'm dead!"

"Well, I'm glad you're not." Ulti said.

Perona reeled from her remark. In a way that was one of the nicest things anyone had said to her in an extremely long time.

"Are you okay?" Ulti asked.

"Wha- huh?"

"Your face is all flushed."

"Oh, no, no, I'm fine." Perona fanned herself with her hand. "Just a bit hot around the fire...! And… uh..."

"And what?" Ulti asked after Perona hesitated.

"And... this is nice." She admitted. "It's, well... I can't remember the last time I got to sit and just… talk with another girl."

Ulti smiled, placing two of the potatoes onto a plate and passing it to her.

"Save your thanks until after you've tried these."

Ulti coated her arm in haki and smothered the fire with her hand, before plating the remaining four potatoes for herself. She peeled up her mask and began to eat. Perona instinctively glanced to get a look at her mouth, but her raised arm was blocking the view. So instead Perona looked curiously at the dish. It was certainly rustic compared to the fine dining she was used to. She hesitantly blew on one to cool it, and bit into it.

"This is... VERY GOOD!" She exclaimed a moment later.

"It is!" Ulti said as she finished her first potato.

Perona was baffled that such a plain dish could taste so good. The crispy edges between the coils of the potato, belying the soft texture on the interior blending perfectly with the infused salt distributed throughout... she'd ask for the recipe were it not completely unnecessary.

"Oh my... I could almost go for a second helping!" Perona sighed.

Ulti broke her last potato in half and passed the rest with the stick to her.

"Here, you can finish mine."

"Oh! Thank you." Perona accepted the potato.

"You'll need your fill if you're going to get back on the ocean." Ulti said as she went to stand up.

Perona looked up to the clear sky, it was passing the afternoon.

"I'm not sure I'll make it out this late." She decided. "Maybe in the morning... if that's alright?"

Ulti smiled with her eyes.

"You're welcome to stay!" She turned to the shelter, "I'm just going to make sure Pay-Pay is... that my brother is okay."

"Oh, sure, that's fine."

How sweet, Perona thought as Ulti disappeared into the shack, so concerned about her family, even after all that's happened. Such a brilliant motivator to keep going.

Perona felt a sharp jab in her chest. It was that same feeling of longing she often felt while missing Moria, or… simply wishing she had someone worth caring about like that.

She stood up from the fireplace and walked up to the top of the outcrop, floating over any obstacles not worth climbing over. The vantage point wasn't high up, but the view of the sea was still magnificent. The sun was slowly ebbing towards the horizon, casting a beautiful sunset of pink and dark blue intertwining across the sky.

She sat on a flat rock by the edge, and stared off into the distance, her chin resting on her palm.

/

/

"There you are! I was worried you'd left."

Ulti appeared behind her, stepping over the foliage to make her way up.

"You were worried?"

"Well, yeah, you know. I would've liked for you to stay." Ulti sat on the stone beside her, joining in watching the sunset. "Now that is gorgeous. Isn't it?"

"Yes." Perona pondered. "In a way it's sweet, when you think about it. Even when you think everything in the world has gone to hell, somewhere in the world there's always something beautiful for you to find."

Ulti smiled and nodded. She didn't quite get it but it sounded deep.

"I guess so."

They looked to the sky together, waiting there for a long time. Listening to the waves on the shore, and the cool breeze flowing through their hair.

Perona turned to Ulti again. She looked different in this light. Her profile appeared gentle and her expression was surprisingly relaxed. Just her glassy eyes fixed over the sky, and her chin linked to the tip of her nose through her mask.

"Ulti?"

"Mm?"

"Can I ask you one more question?"

"Shoot."

"Why do you wear a mask?"

Ulti tilted her head for a moment to think.

"I guess it's just comfortable? I've worn one since I was a little girl, and I kinda like how I look in it."

"Is there more to it than that though? You seem to hide your face when you take it off... do you-"

"Huh? No! It's nothing like that, see?" Ulti promptly pulled her mask from her face. "If anything I suppose I'm only used to having people I like see me without it!"

Perona did a double-take. Ulti looked like a completely different person this way.

"Oh... wow."

Ulti looked at her stunned face, confused.

"Perona...? You okay?"

"Y-yes! Of course! Okay!"

Perona blinked and closed her mouth after it had been hanging open, but even still could her heart stop beating so fast.

Ulti's bow-shaped lips were this smooth pale pink. Her nose was taut and perky. Her little rose-petal tongue licked some moisture onto her dry lips.

Perona felt that had to be the real reason: wearing a mask all the time was another of Ulti's savage, cruel practices. Denying anyone the opportunity of seeing that she's so... so...

"You're beautiful." Perona choked out at last.

"Thanks." Ulti smiled meekly and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"You're... one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen."

"Blah." Ulti stuck her tongue out into the evening air, passing up the follow-up compliment. "Feels nice to have the wind on my mouth for once."

They both sat there for a minute more in silence.

"It's cold." Perona said. The night air was coming, and she was shivering with her exposed arms.

"C'mere then."

Ulti put her arm around Perona's shoulder making her jump, but she still pulled her close. Perona slowed her breathing as their bodies pushed together. Ulti blanketed her legs under the ruffles of Perona's dress.

They sat there embracing each other, the fading sunset still kaleidoscoping above.

"Can I ask you one more question then, Perona?" Ulti asked.

"Y-yes, sure." Perona replied, followed by a long pause from Ulti.

"...Are we friends?"

Perona froze. The question rampaged through her head as she formed a response.

"Yes. Aren't we?"

"I think so?" Ulti frowned. "I guess I've... never had a friend before."

"Really? Not even in your crew?"

"When I was with the Beast Pirates... there was my brother of course, but..."

"But that doesn't count."

"Maybe... I guess. But, there was one who was nice, but she was more like a very, very big sister to me. And I suppose... there was someone else, but… we weren't allowed to be friends. Plus she was pretty weird. So I just tried to ignore her..." Ulti sighed heavily. "I hope both of them are okay now..."

"Sounds lonely." Perona said. "So was I."

"You didn't have any friends in your crew either?"

"I... no... I suppose not." Perona shivered. "But it still felt like it was the only place in the world I ever belonged, the only place I've ever known… but looking back... I wouldn't call any of those people a friend."

"...Their loss, then." Ulti muttered.

Perona half smiled. This girl was so rough and brash… but she certainly knew how to say the right thing.

"I never had a family either…" Perona whispered, clasping her hands over her knees. "Not a real one."

"Were you an orphan too?" Ulti sighed solemnly.

"I… must've been. For as long as I can remember, I saw Moria as my father, but I know he isn't. I never had anything like you have."

"I think a lotta pirates became pirates because they lost loved ones." Ulti said, rubbing Perona's arm soothingly. "I just got lucky I didn't lose them all. But… it still hurts."

Perona nuzzled up against Ulti's side. They really were kindred spirits.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes more. Embraced in solidarity.

Perona felt Ulti's hand meet hers in her lap. But this time, she didn't jump at all.

Their warm fingers intertwined, and they held them there. Perona felt it was odd, holding another girl's hand. But it was comforting in a way. Ulti just liked it was warm.

She rested her cheek on top of Perona's head, and they hugged closer as they watched the last of the sunset.

"You never realize how alone you are until you're all alone." Perona whispered.

"Yep." Ulti nodded.

"I realize I never had anyone like... you."

They both looked to each other.

"Like me?" Ulti asked, her warm magenta eyes gazing deep into Perona's dark, black ones.

"Someone that... understands me."

Their hands tightened and their faces grew closer.

"Someone that..." Perona could feel Ulti's breath on her own. "...makes me feel..." Their lips brushed. "...like everything leading up to now..." Their eyes closed. "...has been worth it..."

The pinks and dark blues in the skies up above were wrapped in a blanket of stars.