Oriana left her home island three days after her mother's death. She didn't tell anyone from the village that she was leaving with pirates. Her former neighbors didn't bother checking up on her either, and to be frank, they were the last people on her mind right now.
The pirates were worried about both of them.
Ever since boarding the ship, Oriana hasn't left her room. She spent all day drawing her mother's face and then all-night crying alone in the dark without anyone knowing.
Whitebeard barely sat outside with them like he used to, but when he did, he put up a brave face for his family. The captain has been drinking a lot more lately, as he spent a lot more time in his room. They saw how much losing the woman they never knew about affected him.
That has been going on for the last six days.
On the seventh night, Whitebeard had just finished the last of his drink and went out to get another bottle. The crew had tried to hide them from him, but he had his own stash under his throne chair that nobody knew about.
He took a couple of different bottles, and on his way back he opened one of the sakes. He was about to take a slurp when he heard someone crying. Whitebeard stopped, he looked to his left and saw the door to his daughter's room - Oriana's room.
Whitebeard leaned against the wall to listen, 'She's been crying like that at night?' he thought to himself. Without him knowing… Whitebeard felt like the worst dad ever.
Whenever he visited her, she seemed alright and just spent the day drawing her book. How could he not see that Oriana was grieving? She needed time to move on just as much as he did, but he didn't realize that.
The captain had to let her know that she didn't have to be alone while doing so.
Whitebeard went into the kitchen to get some water to sober himself up, and something to drink for his daughter.
The captain took a deep breath before knocking on the door, "Oriana, it's me". He didn't get an answer, so he entered the room. The was a low light on the bedside table that made the room lit up a bit. Whitebeard could see her small figure laying on the bed facing the wall away from him.
He heard her breathing in her stuffy nose and sat on the floor next to her bed.
"Oriana, I'm sorry I didn't see your pain," her father started, but she didn't give any sign acknowledging him, "I know it's hard right now, and I know that you miss her, but if there's anything I can do to make it even a little better – let me know," he said sincerely.
She finally looked at him with teary eyes, which only made him feel worst, "I-I want mama" she sobbed, "I know, treasure. I know," he put a hand on her back to help comfort her. Whitebeard just rubbed her back as she slowly fell asleep crying.
He made a vow then and there to be better.
-x-
The next day came rather quickly. The crew was surprised to see their captain was up at 8 o'clock that morning. Whitebeard got Oriana something to eat and went in the direction of her room. He knocked on the door a few times before entering again.
She was still sleeping, and he got to see her this time. Her face was dry, her clothes messy and her hair pointed out in every direction. Whitebeard shook her awake, and she looked at him tiredly, "It's time to get up Oriana," she blinked a couple of times before turning to the other side.
Whitebeard sighed, he got up to get her a bowl of water, a toothbrush, clothes he took from her house, and a hair comb. He patiently waited for her to get her rest, and when she finally opened her eyes, she looked at him.
"I got you something to eat," he said, as he handed her the plate.
Oriana took the food without saying anything. Whitebeard took the comb to fix her hair, but it ended up in a big ball of frizz. She went over to look at the other things he brought her. She jumped down from the bed and started changing her clothes.
"Let me help you brush your teeth," Oriana just opened her mouth and let her father do it. It wasn't the easiest thing to do especially since he'd never done it on someone else before. Whitebeard struggled but managed to do a decent job. He helped her wash her face and rinse her mouth afterward.
In the end, she looked way better than she did the last week.
"Let's go outside for a bit" Whitebeard suggested, "I don't want to," she said and started drawing on the floor. The captain looked over at her drawing, and saw the face of Kat, "You drew that?" he asked surprised.
"I don't want to forget mama's face" she muttered to herself, but Whitebeard heard it. 'She's doing things her way' he thought, as he just sat there watching her closely while telling her stories now and then.
And again before she went to bed, of course.
It was like that for the next couple of weeks.
Oriana sat in her room like always when something caused the ship to shake hard. The girl was pushed to the side hitting her head. She held her head for a moment, before getting up and running out of the room. She found her way through to the deck without even realizing it.
The girl stopped when she saw the pirates just standing there, 'What's happening' she thought. Oriana slowly backed away and into a tall blond guy, "Hi, there" he smiled. She looked at him, "Where's my daddy" she asked desperately.
"Oh, you're bleeding," the guy said, Oriana looked confused and touched her head. She felt some sort of liquid running down her face and then looked at her hand with red blood, "I'll help you clean that up" he said and took the tools necessary to clean her small wound.
Oriana didn't want to but followed anyway.
The two went over to the middle of the deck. Oriana looked at the blond guy carefully as he helped her, 'he seems nice' she thought. He started smiling a bit, probably feeling her staring, "I'm Marco. What's your name?" he asked, "Oriana" she answered in a low voice.
"Well, Oriana. That's all" he stood up and gave her a mirror to look in. Oriana didn't know what to look for, the only thing she saw was the band-aid, "where's daddy?" she suddenly asked, "Let me take you to him" he said.
Marco took her to the middle of the deck where a huge throne-like chair was, but the captain wasn't sitting in there. The girl looked around before looking at Marco, "where's my daddy?" she asked once again, and the blond guy just pointed at the front of the ship.
The captain stood there tall with a weapon in his hand. Oriana couldn't see what was going on but could hear a lot of voices coming from that direction. There was a loud sound, and some black ball-like thing flying towards the ship.
He hit the cannonball to the side with his weapon, yet it exploded anyway.
"Daddy!" The girl was about to run over to him, but Marco stopped her, "It's alright. Pops' just fine" he said. Oriana looked at him, then at her father. The smoke started to clear and he was right.
The captain was indeed okay.
He moved his weapon back as a small circle emerged around his blade and he fired that at the sea. The air itself cracked and a strong wind blew the enemies away. Whitebeard turned around and came down to the deck with his crew cheering on him.
Whitebeard felt something and looked down to see his daughter's small body clinging to his leg
Oriana's eyes widen, she didn't know what came over her. She shyly looked up at her father and saw Whitebeard smiling at her. He took her up to his lap as he sat down, "I'm glad that you finally joined us out here, Oriana," he commented, and the girl blushed a bit.
"I thought the ship was going to break" she mumbled, "Don't worry, treasure. You're safe here" Whitebeard looked at her with soft eyes. "Yeah, Oriana-chan. This ship's strong and so are we. We're going to show you the world," A man with a long ponytail said before posing.
"You can count on all of us. We won't lose to anyone" someone with a bandana and dreadlocks said confidently. Everyone had some sort of comforting words to tell her, she looked around and found herself smiling.
"We are the Whitebeard pirates. If you fight one of us, you fight all of us" Marco came forward with a proud grin, "Me too?" she turned and asked her father, "That's right, Oriana. You're one of us now" her father patted her head.
Their words made her feel warm inside, and for the first time in weeks, Oriana laughed brightly.
-x-
TIt's been a couple of days since the incident. She had just finished the breakfast her father came with. Oriana has decided this was going to be her first time going out on her own. She wanted to see the endless ocean and draw it as she did back home.
Oriana opened the door and looked both ways before following the sounds.
She came out to the deck with the sun shining very brightly. It blinded her for a second and she didn't realize that she was about to be run over by big guys that haven't noticed her. They were about to crash into her if not for a hand that pulled her back.
"You have to be more careful, little one. We don't want you to get hurt," the tall blond guy from the day before smiled. What was his name again? Margo... maybe?
Well for now it didn't matter.
Oriana turned her eyes to the side, and her mind was somewhere else entirely. That was when she felt the great wind from the ocean she always admired. Oriana slowly walked towards the rail to get a better look at it, but she was too short to see it properly.
"Let me help you little one," he said and lifted her to sit on the rail with him next to her. Her eyes widen with wonder. She wasn't listening to anything he was saying, and instead smelled the salty water like back home.
Marco chuckled at Oriana's childlike wonder, "Everyone's working down here. How about I take you to the crow's nest, yoi" he said and pointed up. Her eyes followed to a basketlike thing on top of the mast.
It took her a few seconds but she nodded nonetheless, "Well, since you're too small to climb the robes. How about I fly us up there".
Oriana looked confused, 'How was he going to fly them up there' she thought. That was until Marco stretched his arms out and sudden beautiful blue and golden flames appeared like wings. The girl was mesmerized by them and went closer to him without thinking while extending her hand.
Marco's eyes soften as she touched his wings.
Her existence was a surprise none of them expected. Since she was Pop's biological daughter, she already had a special place on the crew. After finding out what she has been through made them want to protect her even more.
She was absolutely welcome here.
Oriana touched it for some time and Marco patiently waited for her. Once she pulled her hand away, he jumped down from the rail and turned his back to her, "Jump up and hold on" he said. The girl hesitated a bit but slowly sat up properly, and jumped onto his back.
Marco took off.
In the beginning, it was scary, but as Oriana started opened her eyes. It felt less scary and more freeing. She relaxed as she held on to the blond, 'To think Marco could fly anywhere he wanted whenever he wanted. How lucky' she thought.
Marco flew her around the ship a couple of times to give her a fun experience. He even flew close to the water, and she could almost touch it.
In the end, Oriana was a little disappointed that they already were on the crows-nest, but she quickly forgot about that when she saw the world surrounding them. No matter how much they travel, it never seemed like they were reaching the end.
This was the adventure she always wanted - This was her dream.
Oriana opened her book to an empty site and started drawing. After some time, it started looking good, "That's great, little one. Who would have thought that such a small girl had this much talent, yoi?" Marco praised as he ruffed her hair.
She didn't say anything but smiled brightly. Once Oriana was done, she turned it to Marco to show him her final work. He admired her art, "I still need to color it-" she didn't get to finish as her nose suddenly tickled, and pressure started building up – in other words, she sneezed.
Which was normal.
But what wasn't normal was the fire that came out of her nose, accidentally burning the blond's hand in the process, surprising them both. Marco grabbed his wrist as he groaned in pain, "Are you okay, Marco. Did I do that?" she panicked.
"Yeah, perfectly fine. See, nothing" he showed her his hand as the blue flames disappeared. Oriana felt tears blurring her vision, "I-I don't know… what that was" she sobbed. Marco's heart broke when he saw her like that after finally opening up to them.
He might not have known her that long, but they had been worried about her for the last month. In this harsh world, her innocent eyes had won all their heart. Surely, when she got old enough, she would take full advantage of it.
Marco just knew it.
The blond didn't want to see her so sad and tried to comfort her with a hug. "I don't want to hurt you again" she managed to say while pushing him away. "There's no way you can hurt me, yoi", he said and held her closer.
Oriana let her tears fall "What's going on?" she embraced him back, "Don't worry, maybe you ate a devil fruit" Marco tried to help, but that only confused her, "What's that?" she asked a bit calmer.
Marco pulled away from a little and showed her his hand, "You see my flames. I have them because I ate a magical fruit that gives people powers" he explained in a way so she might understand, "I ate one?" she looked towards him for answers.
"That fruit makes sure I never swim again, and the seawater makes me weak. So, let's try to take a big bowl of water-", "No, I love the water!" she interrupted while Marco was about to explain his idea.
"You have fire powers, isn't that awesome? You can be strong like a small dragon" he tried to help. Oriana thought about it and soon got excited, "I want to be strong like a big dragon" she was roaring like a beast. 'That's cute' Marco thought.
Oriana soon turned to him, "I want to tell daddy" she smiled, "Alright, let's get down" he said, but this time he didn't transform. Marco used one arm to hold the girl and the other to climb down carefully.
On the way down Oriana got eyes on her father and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she ran to him. "Daddy, see what I can do" she yelled. Whitebeard smiled at her, happy to see the youngest finally interacted with someone from the crew, "What's that, treasure?"
"Look," she took a step back and tried to think of a way to get herself to sneeze. Oriana took a strand of her hair to tickle her nose with it, when suddenly she sneezed fire again, "Did you see that daddy?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah, I saw. That was impressive Oriana" her father grinned, "Marco said, it was because of a devil fruit" she smiled a bit. "No, treasure it's not. I had hoped to have this conversation in a few years, but I guess your powers unlocked quite fast".
She looked confusedly at him, and so did the blond, "What do you mean, pops?" he asked.
"Those powers came with your bloodline, your mother's side of the family," Whitebeard explained, "Mama… had these powers too?" she stuttered and turned her gaze down, "Yeah, now they're a gift from your mother." he smiled and patted her head.
"With these powers can I be strong too? Like you daddy?" Oriana looked up at him with big innocent eyes. Whitebeard's eyes gentled, "No. I want you to be stronger than me," he said without hesitation.
"I can do that?" she asked, "Of course, you can. You're my daughter!" Her eyes widen, before smiling, "I will, daddy! Just you wait" she challenged.
"Alright, but right now you're one hundred years too early for that," Whitebeard grinned, "Hundred years!" Oriana yelled, "Don't worry if you start now you can catch up with me in only fifty." The girl quickly jumped down, "I'll start right now".
The pirates who saw this started cheering on her, "You can do it, Oriana-chan." "Do your best" "We believe in you" "Work hard". But as soon as she was out of earshot, they burst out laughing.
Oriana who was blissfully unaware of it all just went into her room and looked at the roof. She could sneeze fire, but how could she use it?
-x-
It has been a week since her small discovery and had still no idea how to do it. Oriana was spending a lot of time out on the deck, growing closer with the pirates. She was ready to try anything and went around the ship roaring like a wild animal.
After a while she got tired and pouted over to her father, "It's not working, daddy" she said sadly, "Don't rush it, treasure. Let it take its flow" she turned her head to the side, "How long will that take?" she asked, "You have to find your way to make use of it" the captain smiled.
The sky suddenly turned dark and the waves rough. Everyone around the ship prepared for the upcoming storm, "Stay here, Oriana" Whitebeard said and sat her down as he got up to help his crew. The girl looked around as everyone was running around.
The ship was shaking from side to side violently. Oriana tried to hold on to the side of her father's chair but when they almost hit a cliff, someone forced it to the left. Pushing the youngest of Whitebeard's children to fall off the side.
She prepared herself to hit the cold water, but it never came. Oriana looked up and saw Marco holding her hand while holding on to the rail himself, "Are you alright, little one?" he asked concerned.
Oriana's eyes teared up and she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from crying. She managed to nod, and the blond got them both up, "I guess I have to stay here and keep you save" Marco teased her. She held on to him and put her cheek to his leg before moving it up and down.
Marco looked at her with kind eyes as he put a hand on her head and turned his eyes to the others. He locked eyes with his captain and the two nodded to each other. The ship was pulled forward by the strong stream with something climbing onto it.
The girl noticed a big octopus with a white cloth around its head. When it got up to a higher place it started hitting its head which made a bon-sound. At first, nothing happened, but soon giant koi came swimming next to the ship.
Oriana got a bit curious and started going towards the rail. Marco walked up to her and lifted her to his hip. She looked fascinatingly at the fish but failed to notice how clear the water got. The ship followed the stream to a waterfall. The view was so beautiful.
The koi started swimming up the waterfall. If they didn't do something soon, they'll be crushed by the water. Someone suggested that they could use the fish to get up there, and weirdly enough, the pirates were open to the idea.
When the ship started going up, the two fell back but the captain caught them both, "Enjoying the ride?" he smirked. "Daddy what's up there?" she pointed up to the top, "I don't know, but we are going to find out" he looked up there too.
They soon reached the top and were very happy to have made it, but soon they got caught in a big whirlpool.
The Whitebeard pirates' ship was forced down.
-x-
Oriana woke up coughing and felt someone's hand on her back. She looked at the person, and saw her father, "Are you alright, treasure?" he asked concerned. She coughed a couple of times again. Whitebeard's face relaxed a bit and handed her some water, "Better?" he asked, "Better" she replied.
"We climbed a waterfall, right? So, why is there an island and an ocean around it?" Whitebeard asked. "People are living here" someone started, and further ahead was a small house. The girl looked around; she saw a beach with a green forest.
She looked back, a bit shocked to see their ship laying on the side. Her father must have seen her face, "Don't worry we'll fix it".
"It'll take a week to repair it," a man with a deep voice said, but the girl didn't remember his name. "All the cargo is mostly water damaged," the only female pirate said - aside from her of course. "We need to get food and supplies for that. Who wants to go?".
Oriana surprised herself along with everyone else when she said, "Me, I want to go". She was met with silence and was about to take back her decision, "I want to go too" Marco look at her for a second with a smile.
"You two don't even know what we need," Whitey Bay said, "You can come with us" she smiled innocently at her. The woman sighed, "Okay… let's go" she turned her gaze away, but before they could think of leaving someone came running towards them.
"Get down everyone. Something's coming. Something crazy" the captain shouted and it that second a man appeared with a huge grin, "I've waited for you," the man with black hair said. He came in fast as he pulled out his swords.
Whitebeard walked away from his crew as the man jumped down and clashed with the captain. A strong force emerge from them both about to knock her out, but Jozu, one of the men she did remember the name of, stood in front of her, shielded her from it with his diamond powers.
"My name is Kozuki Oden. I don't know who you are, but let me on board your ship" the man known as Oden said as he took a couple of steps back. Her father didn't answer and the two kept fighting instead. It didn't last long because soon Whitebeard knocked him away.
Oriana looked at her father and could swear that the air cracked again. Could this be her imagination playing with her or was it the real deal? Anyways… Whitebeard went over to the man he just defeated.
"You're annoying. Get out of my sight" her father looked down on him. Oden looked at their captain with admiration, "I want to see the world! That's my dream. Please, let me come with you" he bowed down begging.
Oriana just looked at them talking when she sneezed again, but this time she didn't sneeze fire. She first realized what was going on while she was in midair. She was about to fall back down when she felt someone catching her.
"That was a strong sneeze girl. Your nose is like a hurricane" Oden's voice was next to her ear. He sat her down, "Thank you" she responded. "Whitebeard let's go right now," he said as he turned to the pirate captain, "I wish we could, but" he looked at their ship.
"I'll get the supplies for you to fix the ship," Oden said, as he ran into the island. Oriana felt that there was something special about him, and without thinking ran after him ignoring the crew's protest.
She soon caught up to him, but little did she know he slowed down, "What is this island?" the girl asked, "This is the land of Wano. The island of samurai" he said proudly, "What's a samurai?" she questioned, "Samurai are strong warrior, who protects his people".
The girl was slowing down as she got tired, and Oden carried her the rest of the way. She couldn't help but notice how green the country was, especially the farms, "It's a beautiful country" she whispered which made him smile.
