I wake up when someone shakes me awake. I yawn and rub my eyes when I see that it was Sabo who shook me awake.

"The rain stopped?" I ask sleepily and he nods.

"Yeap. C'mon, we have something to show you." He says with a grin and we both crawl out to Ace and Luffy. I stretch out and see that the babies are playing around nearby before limping my way to the boys and sneezing out.

"You okay, Eris?" Luffy asks and I just nod.

"So what's up?" I ask and Sabo points at the crude drawing between us before saying that we're gonna build our own hideout.

"A hideout… So cool!" Luffy exclaims out.

"Then where do we get the building materials?" Ace asks, making Sabo grins.

"Ain't there plenty of them in 'that' place?" Sabo points out and looks to the side, the general direction where Gray Terminal is. We look at each other before grinning excitedly.

We all go to the dump with bursts of energy. The boys are jumping around while gathering building materials, while I just wait by the cart that Ace found with the babies because of my condition. Sometimes Flame helps along with gathering materials, and eventually we managed to gather enough to build our soon-to-be-hideout.

Everyone is excited for our future hideout as we start building it. I mostly just stay on the ground while the boys are doing most of the work up on the tree. Damn it, if I don't have a sprained ankle, I get to build along and have fun! This is because of that crazy gorilla of a gramps! I'm gonna fight him if we meet again!

Evening comes and the boys (+ Flame) hunt a deer for dinner while I just wait by the tree with Takao. Thankfully, I bring along my spices box to season the meat and sparing some for Flame and Takao to eat. But when we're pretty confused on how to make fire, Flame did the unthinkable and coughed out a ball of fire!

We all stare in shock and disbelief, until Luffy breaks the silence by shouting about how awesome Flame is. The pup in question seems proud and a little embarrassed by that accomplishment, while I just compliment him and give him a pet.

Thanks to Flame for suddenly coughing up a fireball, dinner was easily served and eaten. Despite being seasoned lightly, dinner tastes pretty good, probably because everyone is basically tired and excited for our future-hideout.

As we eat, we start to talk about literally everything, until the boys decide to pick back up that particular talk about me dropping from the sky.

"So how did that happen?" Sabo asks curiously.

"Did you fly? Can you fly?" Luffy asks excitedly.

"That's stupid. Humans can't fly." Ace dismisses Luffy with an amused roll of his eyes.

I just hum in return, trying my best to think of something. I can't just tell them that I'm not from this world! They'll just stare and call me 'Weirdo' for the rest of my life!

"That's a great question, because I don't even know how that happened." I reply with a nervous laugh, "One day I just suddenly fell from the sky and into the sea, and then I woke up in Foosha Village after Shanks rescued me."

"Really?" Luffy asks again and I nod, "Damn, I thought you might be an Otherwordy." He concludes in disappointment and I just blink in confusion.

"It's 'Otherworlder'." Sabo corrects him.

"Yeah, that! I heard they came from a different world from this one, and I think that's pretty cool!" Luffy continues, "I've always wanted to have an Othywordy friend!"

"It's 'Otherworlder', Luffy."

"Yeah, that!"

"So…anyone gonna tell me what's this 'Otherworlder' thing about?" I ask with pure confusion.

"From what I've read in books, 'Otherworlder' is a being from another world that has mysterious power and was said to be very powerful." Sabo explains, "But nobody knows how true that is though. It can be very much just children's stories." He adds with a shrug.

Hmm, well I mean, technically I am one, but I'm not fueling further on that idea.

"Are you sure you didn't just hit your head that you thought you fell from the sky?" Ace scoffs with a smirk.

"I sure did, but pretty sure that's not the reason why I fell from the sky and into the blue depths below." I replied.

"But still, I wonder how that happened. The sea sure is vast and filled with great unknowns." Sabo concludes seriously and I just chuckle.

"Well, don't be amazed yet, because once you're all great pirates and into the Grand Line, there will be even more weird things that you will never see in East Blue." I tell them with a grin.

"Really? What kind of things?" Ace asks in curiosity.

"Hmm, let's see… How about these people called the Fish-Men and the Merfolk?" I start and they all start to get even more interested, "It's in their name and a pretty straightforward one, but basically Fish-Men are the ones with mixed humanoid-fish features, while Merfolks are half-up human, half-down fish. They currently live 10.000 meters deep in the Grand Line sea and away from humans."

"Wow! I didn't know there were people like that! So cool!" Luffy exclaims out excitedly and I chuckle.

"Ah, but they're discriminated against by humans. It's been on like that for many, many years, and people even captured and sold them for money." I elaborate further sadly and the boys immediately stiffen up.

"But… why?" Ace asks and I hum for a moment.

"I guess because humans are just scared of those that are unknown or different to them." I rest my chin on my palm as I look into the bonfire between us, "they call those who are not in the same box as them as 'monsters' or 'demons', and while most did it because of fear, others do it because it makes them feel superior." I explain before glancing at Sabo.

"I guess the best analogy to give is like how those nobles look at Gray Terminal residents." I add and Sabo flinches at that, but I just laugh and slap his back, "Relax, Sabo! You're not one of them, so relax your back." I assure him with a grin and the other boys join me.

"Yeah Sabo! I don't care if you're a noble, Sabo is Sabo! And you're my brother!" Luffy says with his usual big grin and Ace nods in agreement before turning to me.

"But how did you know all of these, Eris?" Ace asks calmly, and that makes me panicking a little before using the old-school trick.

"I read it from books." I quickly lie nervously, and while Ace and Sabo are a little hard to convince, the D brothers easily fall for it because none of them actually like to read books.

Sabo… might need a little more convincing, but he stays silent anyway.

For the next few days, my ankle got better and I can walk around without limping anymore, so I can help the boys around the building. Sometimes I help them with the building, sometimes I help by hunting dinner for us. It's pretty good training for me too, and thankfully my ankle seems to heal up properly.

And after a whole week, the hideout is finally done!

For the last touch, we spread out our pirate flag at the top branch of the tree with our names' initials: ASLE.

A in red for Ace, S in blue for Sabo, L in yellow for Luffy, and E in pink for Eris. We all grin at the flag and I giggle happily along with the others. And then we go down to admire our hard work in its glory.

"So cool! I really like this place!" Luffy says and I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, and we built it on the huge, tallest tree in the forest!" I continue in amazement. Truly, it's a miracle that there were no casualties when we built it, considering we did it without safety protocols.

"Right? I told you!" Sabo grins before turning to Ace, who wears such a serious thinking face, "What's wrong, Ace?"

"If this is our hideout, then we should make some traps!" Ace suggests with a grin.

"That would be a great idea!" Sabo agrees.

And for the rest of the day, we spent our time making traps and finished by nighttime. We all then go to bed because we're all dead tired. But when I try to doze off, nature is calling me and I have to go immediately. Takao and Flame are accompanying me as I go down and do my business at the nearby river. After I'm done, we walk back to the hideout, only to hear a loud crash and a big thing lands into the bushes in front of me.

Flame is growling as the thing moves and stands up, only to realize that it's Dadan, of all people!

"Oh hi, old lady Dadan. Came to check up on us?" I greet her in amusement as it surprises her and she turns around to face me.

"E-Eris! I-I'm not checking anything! I'm not worried about you four at all!" She quickly says and I just laugh in return.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for not worrying about us." I reply teasingly as I put the babies on my head, "Well, goodnight Dadan." And I climb up using the rope ladder, leaving her behind and I can see that she's grumbling while walking back home.

When I reach our 'room', Sabo and Ace are awake and looking at me.

"Where have you been?" Sabo asks.

"Pee." I reply shortly as I put the babies down and notice that Sabo blushes a little but I didn't comment on it as I turn to Ace, "I also met Dadan! Apparently she was actually worried about us and decided to check on us, but it seemed like our trap got her." I continue with a laugh.

"Dadan did?" Ace asks, seemingly surprised about it as I nod.

"Yeah! She's being in denial about it though." I grin, "Isn't that nice, Ace? Apparently she's pretty worried enough to actually check up on us up here." I tell him with a chuckle. Ace stays silent as he looks out again with that distant look of his, but his eyes seem softer than usual.

"Well, I'm going back to sleep." I announce before grabbing Sabo down to give him a kiss on his forehead, and doing the same to Ace. Both boys seem stunned by that as I walk to Luffy and fix his blanket before giving him a kiss on his forehead too.

"Goodnight, Lu." I whisper before I pull my own blanket and curl up to him, "Goodnight Ace and Sabo." I say before I drift off to dreamland with a smile.

Somehow I can feel something pressing on my forehead for a brief moment, but it's probably just my imagination.

XXX

It's been a few months since we lived in our hideout, and now winter is here…

"C'mon Eris! Let's go play outside! The snow is everywhere! Let's make a snowman!" Luffy says excitedly, trying his best to persuade me.

I would reply, but I'm too busy clattering my teeth together and shivering before sneezing. Even after wearing two sweaters, a jacket, trousers, boots, scarf, and mittens, the cold still gets me even by the slightest gust of cold wind. I even make Flame my personal heater and the pup isn't impressed.

I'm not used to the sudden drop of temperature. Sucks to be used to living in warmer temperatures back in my home world, but I can't stand the heat either. It doesn't help when the boys aren't exactly wearing thick clothes to begin with! Just looking at them makes me feel colder!

I almost forgot to mention, but Takao and Flame are starting to grow bigger. Flame's physical appearance changed; he got bigger and sturdier, and his fur got thicker, probably because of winter coat. While Takao's baby feathers start to get replaced by his adult ones and he grows bigger too. Maybe in spring, he can take flying lessons.

"O-Okay, it's starting to get warmer. Let's go." I say with a muffled voice because the scarf is basically covering half of my face and neck.

"Shishishi! Eris you look like a mummy!" Luffy laughs and the other two boys follow. I just glare and growl at them before I sneeze.

We go down and decide to hunt a danpa for our meal. We get ourselves two danpas (it's a bear with the opposite pattern of a panda), but a giant tiger comes to take the danpa from us. Luffy won't let the tiger go because it's his first kill and starts attacking the tiger a few times, but he always fails and we quickly grab him and run off, while Luffy yells out that he will remember this to the tiger.

In the end, we go back with only one danpa and we're crossing the bridge. Luffy is still upset that his first-catch is gone and won't forgive the tiger before jumping on the bridge, swaying it around. We all panicked and told him to stop, but he didn't listen and kept on jumping, which broke the board under him and he started to slip.

I quickly run and grab his hand, but unfortunately the gravity takes me along too and we might have a freezing bath if Ace didn't quickly grab us and Sabo holding Ace's feet before pulling us back up. We go back home empty-handed, because the first danpa got thrown off into the river because of Luffy, so now we gain nothing and we're all hungry.

"Ahh, I'm so hungry!" Luffy complains with a laugh.

"And it's your fault!" For once, Ace and I exclaim in sync as we punch him in the head.

"Ow!"

"But if someone takes your catch, let alone the first one, you'll be angry too right?" Sabo points out as we get ready to sleep.

"But it was too risky to fight against the tiger." Ace replies with a roll of his eyes and Sabo just laughs.

"You've done the same!" Sabo quickly interrupts with a grin.

"Shut up." Ace huffs in slight embarrassment before we lay down on our bed, looking at the ceiling. Flame is sleeping next to me while Takao is asleep in his 'nest' I made from my scarf.

We all stare at the ceiling as Luffy suddenly giggles, pulling his blanket over his head and muttering something before giggling madly again, making Ace, Sabo, and I stare at him. The boys look at him in confusion while I just smile in amusement.

"Why are you laughing?" Ace asks, looking at Luffy with a weird look.

"Isn't it going to make you hungrier?" Sabo adds, with the same look as Ace's.

"I've decided!" Luffy says suddenly, "Ace! Sabo! You'll join my crew, won't you?" He asks.

"What's with you?" Sabo snaps.

"Didn't we decide that we'll let the future decide it for us?" Ace points out.

"But wouldn't it be so much fun? And you'll definitely need my help, right?" Luffy replies, as if foreshadowing something. Then the three of us turn to look at him and rest our chin on our palm.

"I think you're the one who needs help here, right?" Sabo says.

"Yeah." Ace replies.

"You're wrong!" then Luffy sits up and continues, "I'm the one who will help you someday!"

"Then how about the three of you become my crew in my ship?" Ace asks.

"I'm the captain!" Sabo and Luffy exclaim.

"I'll go wherever you guys want to, but I'm still gonna be Luffy's crewmate." I replied.

"Well, I guess there's no point in arguing." Ace finishes.

"So you're not coming?" Luffy asks with a sad frown.

"Nope." Ace replies and lays back into his mattress.

"Sabo?"

"I'm not going to be your subordinate, so forget it." Sabo replies and also lays back into his mattress. I just grin at Luffy, who's pouting and complaining.

"C'mon! It's gonna be fun!"

"Then how about you three make a competition?" I suggest, "Whoever beats the tiger first will get to be the captain!"

"Beat the tiger? Are you serious?" Ace asks in disbelief, as if I'm growing a head.

"Luffy's possibility to become a captain is almost zero, y'know." Sabo points out.

"Maybe, but he's already a captain when I said I'll be his crewmate." I smirk teasingly and Luffy just giggles in reply, "But to establish even concrete evidence to show if you're capable of becoming a captain, try to beat the tiger. No one has beaten the tiger yet either."

"That's a pretty good point." Sabo agrees with a nod.

"Then let's do it tomorrow!" Luffy decides with a grin.

"Alright!"

Right in the morning, the boys left to catch some fish as bait for the tiger. Because the only ones who wanted to be captain are them, I just sat on a cliff together with Flame and Takao and watched the scene. Eventually I hear a loud growling from a distance, before revealing it to be a giant bear.

I see Ace starts attacking it, but I think the attacks are futile as a big bump appears on its head and it pretty much angers the bear before it chases the boys around. I just watch and laugh my ass off as the boys appear from beyond the forest and the bear is still chasing them before an old man suddenly shows up to save their asses.

I decided to go down the cliff carefully and approach them after the old man somehow made the bear walk back into the forest, with the babies on my head. "You guys okay?" I ask with a smile as I put the babies down and they run off toward the fishes.

The boys turn, still with a shocked face—Wait, Luffy doesn't—and reply, "S-sort of…"

I nod and reply, "You answered. You're okay then."

During our short conversation, the babies walk back with the ropes on the fishes in Flame's mouth before letting it go as he sits down next to me. I pet him thank you before returning the fish to the boys and turning to face the old man.

"You're Naguri from Gray Terminal, I presume?" I ask calmly.

"Well, yes I am." He confirms with a nod and a grin.

By the end of the day, the fishes are cooked and have plenty of conversations with Naguri. He told us about he's a former pirate captain and how Luffy is both impressed and amazed because he also knew that he's one because he can make animals run away just by glaring at it just like Shanks did.

Ace cut the cooked fish for us to eat, including Naguri because he saved the boys. I eat in silence and share it with the babies while Luffy protests that his portion is smaller as the conversation is picked up again, this time by Ace.

"Have you heard of Gold Roger?"

I pause eating my fish as I glance at Ace, while the other boys are occupied by Naguri's question. His expression is grim and hatred is surfacing in his eyes. The conversation went on (this time by Luffy) and I kept my eyes on him before giving the rest of my fish to the babies.

I hear a twig get snapped and see that Ace is walking away, his fists clenching so hard that his knuckles turn white. Sabo realizes it and about to go after him, but I stand up first.

"I'm going home. I'm freezing." I tell him and give him a wink, before I run after Ace.

Apparently Ace went back home to our hideout. I just watch him climbing up the ladder before walking inside, so I follow him along and see that he's looking out from the window.

"Did Naguri press a berserk button?" I ask as I approach him.

"Why are you here?" He asks in annoyance as he looks at me from his shoulder.

"I don't know." I shrug as I join him looking out of the window. It's a little too tall for me, but I'll manage. He didn't say anything in return and he turned his head back to the sight outside of the window.

"…Say Eris," Ace starts and I hum in reply, "Do you think that I should be alive?" He asks.

I hum neutrally before turning at him, "It depends. Why do you think you should die?" I return the question.

"Just answer me, damnit!" Ace snaps.

"But I'm serious." I replied firmly, "Why do you think you should die?" I repeat the question again, this time staring straight into his eyes. He didn't reply and broke eye contact, so I continued, "Is it because of Roger?"

He tenses up, but stays silent.

"What's your connection with the guy anyway?" I ask with a curious tone. I already know, but I'm not gonna rat myself out.

"…What if," Ace starts, "What if Roger has a son?"

I stare at him blankly, while he looks even more nervous as seconds pass before I look back outside. "I don't know," I reply calmly, "I guess if he really did have a son, his child will live in misery, with his father's shadow looming over him, and the news of that will cause a huge uproar to the world. Everyone will hunt him to the edge of the world, and he won't be able to get a blink of sleep."

"…But that's another story for another time." I conclude and I continue on, "I don't know Roger to comment much, but people tend to hate those they fear. 'Roger is a demon', people say? What the fuck is the definition of 'demon' and 'human' anyway? Someone who seeks freedom is a 'demon'? Someone who brings order is 'human'? Bullshit!"

"To me, humans are nothing but the same as those rotten nobles that drove Sabo away; fucking egoistical bastards who think nothing but themselves. If being a demon means I get to be free and be myself, then I'll gladly become a demon." I huff and turn to Ace, "What about you, Ace? Are you a demon, or are you a human?"

Ace blinks before looking down, seems troubled on how to come up with a response. "I…" Ace starts, but he falls silent in the end.

"Still, I'd say that your mom is pretty badass." I continue on as I hop up and down by the windowsill.

"…What do you mean?" Ace asks slowly.

"I mean, she basically kept you around until you're born. If she really didn't want you to be born, she could simply abort you. But here you are, alive and healthy." I pointed out, "And not only that. Somehow, Gramps managed to locate you and adopted you as his own grandkid, and kept you alive for all these years, even though you're the only child of his, no, the world's biggest enemy at the time."

Even though his method of taking care of a child is mediocre at best and borderline abusive, he keeps his promise.

"I don't know about you, but those two seem to love you enough to keep you alive. Not to mention, Sabo and Luffy are practically glued to you. They'll be devastated if you die. And of course, me too." I say softly before rubbing his back in assurance. "Just remember that you're not alone. You have Luffy, Sabo, Gramps, Dadan Family, and me. We're all just one, small dysfunctional family, but family is family."

"So try not to think about it. The sea is vast; someday and somewhere, I'm sure you will meet those you can call 'family' and a place to go home to." I tell him as I give him a tight hug, "You can't change the past, but you can change the future. Live and laugh on, until you think you've lived and laughed enough." I finished.

For a moment, Ace is too stunned to reply and flinches when I hug him, but then he hugs me back tightly and buries his face into the top of my head. Oh, he smells like meat and the sun.

"Oh, Ace! I didn't—" I turn and see Sabo is entering the room and suddenly stops, glancing at both of us back and forth.

Ace and I blink for a moment before Luffy barges in too.

"Oh Ace! I didn't know that Roger is your dad!" Luffy exclaims as Flame and Takao jumps off his head and approaches me. I let the hug go as I crouched down to pick both of them into my arms before looking back to the other two.

Sabo, who's already shocked when he saw us, gets pale and quickly covers Luffy's eyes before turning back to us with an awkward smile. "We're sorry for the intrusion, you can continue when we're out. Bye!" Sabo says quickly and pushes Luffy along with him outside.

I just stare dumbly as Ace immediately runs outside with a flushed face. And soon enough, yelling and thrashing can be heard from below. I walk outside and peek down, watching the trio yelling and wrestling with each other. I just watch in amusement before turning to Flame and Takao who sit down next to me.

"Should we sleep earlier?" I ask before I walk back inside with the babies, as I vaguely hear the boys below are still yelling at each other.

"We're brothers! Brothers don't lie to each other, right?!"

"Yeah! Tell us!"

"SHUT UP!"

I lay down on my mattress and pull up my blanket over me while listening to the boys down below still arguing.

Yep, definitely a normal night…

(Posted on March 25th, 2022)