Author's Note: We're finally going to see some of the (small) changes Selena has inadvertently caused! I explain everything further in the end notes, if you're curious. Thank you again for your kind reviews!
Ten years before Romance Dawn
Garp was furious.
He had come back to the East Blue much later than he expected. He had somehow gotten roped in to chasing Kaido around the New World, only to stumble into Whitebeard's territory. He got into a scuffle with his old rival, which was always fun, but it had delayed his visit home for a few months.
Luckily, he was able to cross the Red Line by going through Mariejois. He then crossed through the Calm Belt back into the East Blue, which he had been able to do ever since he had his ship plated in seastone. His men had complained about all of the extra rowing they had to do in order to compensate for the lack of wind, but he had just laughed and told them it was a good workout. Anyone who disagreed with him got a Fist of Love to the head.
Once he docked in Foosha Village, he had expected to spend some time training his cute little grandson to be a good marine.
Next time he saw that red haired brat he was getting an armament hardened fist to the face, without the love.
Nothing Garp said could dissuade Luffy from his newfound dream. He knew that Luffy was an impressionable kid – but he couldn't have guessed that a New World level pirate crew was going to dock on sleepy little Dawn Island and fill his grandson's head with dreams of the open sea, adventure, and the pirate life.
It hadn't passed his notice that the part Luffy was most enamored by was having his own crew that would follow him anywhere. He felt a pang of guilt at the fact that his grandson was so lonely that he would turn to a life of crime so that he could make some friends.
Makino had told Garp during his last visit about how the other children were scared of Luffy's strength, and how he sometimes hurt others without realizing it. He had hoped that Luffy wouldn't suffer the same way he did growing up. The Monkey family was blessed with good genetics that helped them heal quickly and made them stronger than the average person, but it also meant that they were more destructive than they meant to be. He had hoped the marine training he had forced on Luffy would help him focus his strength into something productive, but it seemed to have backfired and only made him stronger.
He had never considered that Luffy was going through the same things he had as a kid. He knew what it was like to be told that he "played too rough" and to have the parents of the children of the village forbid them from playing with him. He had even thought of himself as a monster until he joined the marines and used his strength for good. He channeled his destructive tendencies into beating up criminals and protecting civilians. It was the first time that he felt like he truly belonged somewhere, like he had found his life's purpose. It was one of the reasons he hoped his grandchildren would join the marines one day, so that they could find that same sense of fulfillment too.
He hadn't seen Luffy having the same problems he did though, since the boy was so damn charismatic. Even though he spent very little time with his grandson, it was evident that he just had this sort of pull to him. He saw it in the way Luffy interacted with Makino, how she viewed him like a son. He saw it in the way the villagers doted on Luffy, and how everyone he met seemed to smile a little brighter after talking to him. He even felt it himself; he was just so simple and so good that everyone wanted to be around him.
But Luffy was also reckless and had hurt a few of the children in the village. The injuries weren't anything to scoff at either. He had actually broken a kid's arm while they were playing tag, and it wasn't an isolated event. Eventually enough of the kids had been hurt by Luffy that none of them wanted to play with him anymore. Makino had even told Garp that Luffy had once come home crying because the other kids had called him a "freak" and a few other degrading names. Luffy had bounced back and had acted fine by the next day, but Garp knew what that was like. He knew Luffy must have been extremely lonely without having anyone he could relate to.
Which was why he was dragging the brat to Dadan's. He had originally planned to spend a few days with Luffy, maybe drop him in a pit filled with snakes to toughen him up a bit, then cross the island and check in on Ace. But those plans had gone to shit when he saw his adorable grandson wearing that damn hat and shouting that he was going to be king of the pirates for everyone to hear. He then learned that the Red Haired pirates had docked there for almost a full year. And, oh yeah, Luffy was a rubberman now.
It was his worst nightmare come true.
If the celestial dragons found out that the son of Dragon, a carrier of the will of D, wanted to be king of the pirates they would order him to be executed immediately. Heck, they would probably order that the whole village be executed, just in case. They wouldn't care that he was a child or that he was the grandson of a marine hero. They would be blinded by their hatred of that middle initial and his father's reputation. If Luffy's lineage got out, Garp was pretty sure there would be nothing in the world he could do to protect him.
It made his next course of action incredibly obvious.
He was going to hide his loudmouthed little grandson with his extremely temperamental grandson. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Ace had his own set of issues that Garp felt in no way qualified to handle. The kid was a compressed ball of aggression and self-loathing that combusted with little provocation. Garp wasn't the type of person that could sit down with Ace and talk everything out with him, even if Ace was willing to do so (which he really wasn't). Ace didn't see him like a real family member. In his eyes, Garp only adopted him out of a sense of obligation for a dying man. Ace thought that Garp was only doing the right thing and didn't actually believe that Garp saw him like a grandson.
Which wasn't true at all. Garp cared about Ace and loved him like family. Yes, he was the son of Gol D. Roger, his sworn adversary. But he had also respected the man. He was a pirate, but he had morals and treated his crew like family. He was deserving of the title King of the Pirates. Garp saw all of Roger's good qualities in Ace – his refusal to back down, his perseverance in the face of adversity, and his independence. He had accepted Ace into his family and nothing could ever change that.
But Garp wasn't a man that expressed his feelings easily. He was a man of action, not words. He showed people he cared about them by helping them get stronger, by teaching them how to protect themselves, and by protecting them from threats they couldn't handle on their own. Even if he did bare his soul to Ace, he didn't think Ace would believe him. He needed to hear that he deserved to live from someone else, someone who had no obligation to him.
If anyone could work their way into Ace's heart, it would be Luffy. The brat was resilient and stubborn as all hell. He wouldn't take Ace's insults or rejections to heart, especially once he saw that Ace wasn't scared of him. In Ace, Luffy would find a friend that he couldn't hurt or scare off. Ace would be able to keep Luffy in line and out of trouble. The two boys would be good for each other.
Plus, no one would be able to find either of them if they came looking. Why would the son of Gol D. Roger or the son of Dragon be living in the middle of the jungle with a bunch of mountain bandits? He knew Dadan wouldn't say anything. She may have been a hardened criminal, but she was scared shitless of Garp and wouldn't cross him. Besides, deep down he knew that Dadan was a good woman. She put up a tough exterior but she cared deeply for those close to her, even if she didn't show it. He truly considered her to be a good friend and trusted her to look out for his grandsons. It was the perfect plan.
So he scribbled a quick note to Makino telling her where he was taking Luffy and then set off, dragging him by his rubbery cheek. Leaving a note isn't something he would have usually done, he wasn't really the most considerate person, but he knew Etsuko or Hitoshi would be worried sick if something happened and Selena disappeared. Makino was a first time parent too, so he knew she would get just as worried. He had also gotten used to jotting down notes for Selena, even if he never did remember to mail them to her.
The trip across the island was a long one, but he used the time to berate Luffy about his life choices. No grandchild of his was going to become a filthy pirate, damn it!
They made it to Dadan's hut by mid-afternoon, Luffy complaining the whole way. He was not happy about his Gramps somehow hurting him even though he was a rubberman now. He shuddered. Gramps was so scary.
Garp dropped Luffy on his head and banged on the rickety wooden door.
"WHO THE HELL-"
Dadan cut herself off after swinging the door open and coming face-to-face with Garp the Hero.
"Oh thank god. You're here to take the brat, right? It's about damn time! He's driving us insane!" she shouted.
Ace watched the scene play out from the safety of his hiding spot. He had climbed up a tree and hidden on a high branch as soon as he had heard Garp stomping through the forest. He had been dragging his kill back to the hut for the bandits to cook when he had heard the geezer's loud voice. He had been surprised to see that Garp was dragging along a kid behind him.
Even though Ace had only been watching the kid for a few minutes, it was obvious to him that he was a total idiot. He was running around all over the place, chasing after anything that caught his attention. He was currently trying to catch a blue butterfly.
Ace turned his attention back to Dadan, who had been ranting about him for the past ten minutes. He was surprised Garp let her go on for so long.
Garp let Dadan complain about Ace. Things were worse than he had originally thought. He couldn't have brought Luffy at a better time. Luffy would be able to help Ace in a way he couldn't. Seeing that Dadan was trailing off, he decided to cut in.
"I'm not here to take Ace," he said. "I'm here to drop off my grandson Luffy. You're going to be taking care of him now."
Dadan's jaw dropped.
"What!? Another one?! We can't even handle this one!"
Ace sneered. He knew there was something he didn't like about that kid. That little idiot was Garp's real grandson. He probably got everything handed to him since he was the grandson of a marine hero. He had probably never worked for anything in his life. Ace hated kids like that.
Which is why he threw a spitball at him.
Luffy jumped when something wet hit the back of his neck. "Ew! Who did this?! Say you're sorry!" he shouted, waving the paper spitball in the air. He turned around, not seeing anyone until a kid with jet-black hair dropped out of a tree. He had freckles sprinkled across his nose and cheeks, a metal pipe strapped to his back, and the meanest look Luffy had ever seen.
He had never seen so much hatred bottled up on one person in his life. Luffy wasn't the smartest person around, but he was good at instinctually knowing what people were feeling. In this kid's eyes he could see rage, disgust, derision… but most of all, he saw hurt. Luffy could tell that he was a good person, but something happened that made him this way. Maybe they could be friends and neither one of them would have to hurt anymore?
"Hey!" Luffy called out. He then did his best to channel his inner Shanks. "You can spit on me or spill drinks on me, it's nothing to get worked up over! Let's be friends!" he said, adding in his signature D grin for good measure.
Ace scoffed. What was this dumbass playing at?
Garp took this moment to cut in. "Luffy, this is Ace. He's three years older than you. Ace, this is Luffy. He's going to be living here from now on."
Luffy's shoulders drooped. He was really going to miss Makino and the other villagers, but maybe this place wouldn't be so bad if he could be friends with Ace?
"I was planning on staying for a few days, but there's something that I need to check up on," Garp continued.
He didn't understand how the Red Haired Pirates had spent a year in the East Blue and had gone unnoticed. He knew that ever since Hitoshi was reassigned to Paradise that there was a lack of strong officers in the East Blue, but no one had reported even a sighting of the pirate crew. Either the Red Haired brat was better at covering up his tracks than Garp gave him credit for, or there was something extremely wrong with the way the marines were structured in the East Blue. It was the weakest sea, but that was no excuse for dereliction of duty.
He had left his men docked in Foosha without telling them where he had gone, so he couldn't just stay here. He also planned on calling Senny and reporting what had happened. Someone was going to have to go on an inspection tour of the East Blue to find out how a New World crew had taken a vacation here and no one had noticed. It was either incompetence or corruption, and neither possibility looked good for the marines. He knew that it was going to end up in his hands, since he was the one who discovered the problem. He was going to have to push back his visit to Valhalla a couple of months, especially since he wanted to come back to Dawn to check in on Luffy and Ace again. He hoped Selena wouldn't be too disappointed.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon to pick up on your training!" Garp said, causing Ace and Luffy to pale.
He almost left then, not one for long goodbyes, but something held him back. He felt better now that Ace and Luffy had each other, and he knew that it would be better to just leave Luffy to befriend Ace on his own instead of trying to force the boys together. He was trying his best to be a good grandfather though, and there was one thing he had always left unsaid.
"I love you, boys. I'll be back soon!" he said, leaving quickly. He didn't want them to feel forced to say it back.
Ace followed Garp's retreating form with his eyes. What the hell was that!? He probably only said it because his real grandson was there and he didn't want to awkwardly exclude Ace. Yeah, that had to be it. There was no way he actually meant it. Who could love the son of the devil himself?
Luffy stared after Gramps in shock. He didn't know Gramps loved him! He knew that Makino loved him because even though she never said it, she always smiled at him and gave him a lot of free food. Gramps was always laughing and beating him up! But if he said it, it must have been true!
"Shishishi," he chuckled softly. "Bye, Gramps."
He then turned towards Ace, intent on being his friend, but Ace had disappeared when he wasn't looking. Whatever, he would just follow him tomorrow. He wasn't going to give up.
Instead, he turned to face the manly woman still standing at the doorway frozen in shock. He still had something to say to her.
"I hate mountain bandits!"
Selena was lost in thought as she wiped down the tables at Mama's. She had cut her morning workout short so that she could help her mom clean up after the disaster the Red Haired pirates had left behind.
She assumed that they had slept on their ship and had set sail soon after sunrise, because by the time she ran by the docks during her morning laps around the island they were gone.
She grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the layer of confetti that covered the floor. She didn't even remember where that came from, and she hadn't been one of the ones drinking! Last night had been crazy.
Which brought her back to her current dilemma. What were the chances of such a famous crew docking at this small island and choosing to drink at her family's bar? She knew that the Red Haired crew had spent almost a year in the East Blue in the series, doing who knows what, but it just seemed too coincidental.
She had lived in this world for almost eight years and, if she counted last night, she had met eight characters that had been featured in the series. She had even met a Strawhat! It just seemed too incidental, too predestined, for her to be able to blame it on chance. Was there something drawing these people to her? Was fate forcing her to interfere with the story? She didn't think anything had changed yet, but it was only a matter of time before she fucked something up without meaning to.
The events of last night had made her reconsider the assumptions she had made three years ago. When Garp had shown up and she realized exactly where she was, she had just presumed that her existence here was a mistake. But she could no longer dismiss the notion that something, some higher power or whatever, had brought her here intentionally.
And the thought was fucking terrifying.
She really should have thought everything through better, but to be fair, she had been five when she became fully aware of the extent of her reincarnation status. She also knew that her low self-esteem might have been partly to blame.
It was something she had constantly worked on in her past life; it had stemmed from body issues that had begun in her middle school years but once she learned how to be confident in her own skin, her self-worth became dependent on other things. Her self-esteem changed according to how successful she viewed herself to be. When things were going well in her life, she felt good about herself. Whenever a romantic relationship ended, she was having a hard time at work, or her friendships seemed to be fading away, her self-esteem was the first thing to take a toll. Learning to love herself was a constant struggle.
It was also something most people from before would never have guessed about her. People tended to confuse confidence with high self-esteem, which just wasn't the case. She was an outgoing person and never had a hard time talking to people or being the life of a party. Her best friends from before might have known due to her tendency to use self-deprecating humor to deflect uncomfortable or deeply emotional topics, but they had never brought it up.
So the thought that she had been chosen to live in this world scared her shitless.
What was she supposed to do? Was her determination to stay out of the story wrong? Was someone, some god or whatever, expecting her to change things? Why else would she be allowed to keep her memories? Was she supposed to interfere? Was something out there counting on her to make the story better, to lessen the suffering the Strawhats went through?
Not to mention, that was a fuckload of responsibility to place on her shoulders. She was already hard on herself, as her insane workout schedule showed, but now she was being held to some impossible standards by some deity? Or was it by fate itself?
It was just so fucking frustrating! She was never going to get the answers to any of these questions. She was never going to know whether she was doing the right or wrong thing by letting the story play out.
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice her mom come up behind her.
Etsuko watched as her daughter swept the same corner for at least ten minutes. Something had been bothering her since last night. She had been dazed throughout breakfast and hadn't focused during her lessons.
"I think that corner is clean enough, angel," Etsuko said, making Selena jump.
"I didn't see you there, kaa-chan. Sorry."
"Come here," Etsuko said, gesturing to one of the dining chairs. "Do you want to talk about what's been bothering you?"
Selena took a seat in front of her mother and thought it over. She could use advice, but it wasn't like she could tell her mother the truth. Maybe if she hadn't lied for so long, if she had come clean the moment she had learned enough words to do so, she would have been able to confide in her mom. But she had been living this lie for so long, and she didn't want her parents to see her any differently. Would they hate her for stealing the body of their little girl? Would they even be able to look her in the eyes if she told them the truth?
No, Selena was flawed but at least she was self-aware. She knew that deep down she was an inherently selfish person. She didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with her parents for anything and would rather keep her past life a secret.
Etsuko gave Selena a few moments to collect her thoughts. She began running her fingers through her daughter's thick hair and untangling any knots she found. Selena seemed to melt at her touch.
Selena sighed happily. She loved when her mom played with her hair. In her past life her hair was made up of a mix of island girl waves and curls, which looked nice but frizzed easily. She had hated when people had touched her hair before. She was really grateful for her hair in this life, which was not only much easier to take care of but also allowed her to enjoy when people ran their fingers through it.
Selena hummed to herself. She wanted to hear her mom's thoughts on the subject, but would have to be very vague in how she worded her questions.
"Kaa-chan, how do you know if you're a good person?"
Etsuko finished finger combing Selena's hair and parted it down the middle. As she spoke, she began styling Selena's hair into two french braids.
"Is this because of the pirates we met last night?" she inquired, curious to find out where her daughter was coming from.
Selena frowned. "Kind of." It wasn't untrue.
"I was surprised to find out they were a pirate crew, to be honest. They seemed like good people and were completely respectful," Etsuko replied. "It just goes to show that you can't judge people right away. There are good pirates out there, just like there are bad marines."
Selena sighed. This wasn't helping. "But how do you know if you're a good person? How do you know when you should do the right thing for you or when you should do the right thing for the greater good?"
"Are those two choices usually different? In what situation are you forced to choose between yourself and the rest of humanity?"
"Sometimes what's best for the people you care about isn't what's best for the rest of the world. Like we would love if tou-chan stayed safe at home with us, but he's helping a lot of people as a marine. What if you knew you could do something to help a friend, but it could have horrible consequences for other people?"
Etsuko chuckled to herself. She had hoped Selena would have hit puberty before she started asking deep philosophical questions, but her daughter had always been precocious.
"I think that it really depends on the situation, but if I have to give an answer, I would choose what's best for the people I love. I don't know if that makes me a bad person. What I do know, is that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew there was something I could have done to help my friend and instead I did nothing because of some possible outcomes."
Etsuko tied off the first braid and started the second one before continuing.
"I think that the situation with your father is a bad example because Hitoshi loves being a marine. Yes, I worry about him, but I know he wouldn't be happy living a peaceful life on Valhalla. When considering the hypothetical situation with your friend, you have to take a lot of other things into account too. Do you know for sure if the consequences of your actions will cause harm to others? What would your friend want you to do? Would you be able to live with yourself if you do nothing?"
Etsuko finished braiding Selena's hair in comfortable silence. She didn't really know where this line of questioning had come from, but she hoped that she had been of some help to her daughter.
"Thank you, kaa-chan," Selena said softly. "You gave me a lot to think about."
"Okay, angel. I think that's enough philosophizing for the day. I made some sandwiches for you to share with Kingsley. Go on and have some fun. I can handle the restaurant without you until later tonight."
"Thank you so much! I love you! See you later!" she exclaimed, giving her mom a quick hug before grabbing the picnic basket resting on the bar and bounding out the door.
She ran over to her and Kingsley's usual meeting spot. She had found the clearing sometime last year during one of her runs through the forest. Funnily enough, it wasn't far from the ditch where she had first met Kingsley.
The clearing was deep into the forest, so no one ever interrupted their sparring sessions. It was surrounded by redwoods and large oaks on all sides, providing good shade and cover. There was also a creek that ran through it, which attracted fireflies. If their training ever ran late, the clearing would be illuminated up by hundreds of little floating lights.
When she finally reached the clearing, Kingsley was already there and running through his kata. She eyed his form, making sure he was following through and using his core to power his punches. Kingsley had a fighting style that was completely different from hers; he moved like a boxer. He focused on quick footwork and heavy blows.
"You need to step with your punches and use your momentum to add power to them," Selena said in lieu of a greeting.
Kingsley wiped the sweat from his brow. "I'll work on it."
"Kaa-chan made sandwiches," Selena said, waving the picnic basket in the air.
"Awesome. I'll get the blanket."
They had taken the time to hollow out the trunk of a tree to make a storage space, in which they kept a picnic blanket, training materials, and another set of clothes. Every couple of weeks they had to clear out whatever animal tried to make their home in it, but it beat having to make multiple trips back home whenever they needed something.
They laid out the blanket and split the sandwiches between them. Etsuko had even included some juice boxes.
"So, does your mom still think we just play all day?" Kingsley asked, while taking a bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They were both laid out on their backs and were soaking up the sun's rays.
Selena chuckled. "Yeah, she doesn't think I mean it when I tell her we're training. She thinks we're just messing around. It's probably for the best though."
Kingsley shrugged. "It's not like we aren't having fun…"
"Yeah, I always have fun when I'm with you," Selena said unabashedly.
Kingsley felt his face warm up. "You're not too bad yourself," he said, which was the closest he ever came to giving a compliment.
Selena noted Kingsley's embarrassment. "You love me!"
"No, I don't!" he quickly refuted. "I just said you aren't completely horrible!"
"Which in 'Kingsley speech' means that you love me and that I'm your best friend and the little sister you never had!" Selena exclaimed while dodging the half-hearted kicks Kingsley was sending her way in retaliation.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied, giving up. "There's no arguing with you."
Selena rolled her eyes. "You just don't like that I always know what you really mean."
"How did I ever get stuck with you?" Kingsley lamented.
"It's because you're a big softie who doesn't like seeing little kids cry," Selena answered helpfully.
"I should have left you in that ditch," he grumbled.
"Oh, come on. Would it kill you to say something nice about me? Who else would you go on adventures with? Who else would you fuss over while pretending not to care? Who else would help you train and get stronger?"
Kingsley scrunched up his face. He really did love Selena in an annoying little sister type of way. She was his best friend. But every time he tried to work up the courage to tell her that, his words would get stuck in his throat.
He furrowed his brow. He was going to do this. He wasn't good at telling people how he felt; but Selena was always telling him how much she loved him and complimenting him, so she deserved to hear it back at least once.
He felt beads of sweat appear on his forehead from the effort.
"Y-you're a-alright," he finally managed to stutter out.
Selena released the breath she was holding with a sigh. "I'll take it."
Selena laid back on the blanket, content to just watch the clouds float on by while they waited for their food to settle. They had learned the hard way that you shouldn't spar right after a meal.
"Hey, Selena?" Kingsley asked after a while.
"Yeah?" she answered back somewhat sleepily.
"Remember when you told me about your dream?"
A few weeks after Kingsley had first started training with her, he had asked her why she was so intent on getting stronger. She had told him about how she wanted to be able to protect her family, but she had also told him about how one day she wanted to see the world. She went on to tell him about how she wanted to explore new places, meet new people, and basically experience everything that this world had to offer. She explained that in order to follow her dream, she had to be strong.
When she had asked him what his dream was, he had told her that he didn't know yet.
"Did you figure it out? What your dream is?"
"Yes," he said firmly. "It hit me when Grandpa Marcus was telling me another one of his stories from when he had gone out to sea. He was telling me all about how he had gone deep-sea fishing and had accidentally baited a sea king. While he was talking, all I could think about is how I wanted that."
"Your dream is to go deep-sea fishing?" Selena asked incredulously. Not that there was anything wrong with that… she was just expecting something a little grander.
"No, you idiot," Kingsley said, slapping his palm to his forehead. "I want to go out to sea."
He leaned back on his forearms and tilted his head to catch the afternoon sun.
"Grandpa Marcus sailed all around the East Blue when he was young to make money. He sailed from port to port, catching and selling rare fish at each market. He set out to sea because he had to. There were too many fishermen settled on Valhalla at the time, which meant a lot of competition at the market and having to sell at a lower price."
He then turned his head to look Selena in the eyes.
"Even though he went out to sea out of need and not because he wanted to, he still says that those were the best days of his life. He woke up every morning with the wind at his back and the waves under his feet. He lived off the ocean. It's even how he met my grandma. He says it was the adventure of a lifetime. That's what I want. Everyday I go out fishing with him in the mornings and I can feel it. I feel free when I'm on the open ocean – like nothing can touch me. Like I belong there. The sea calls out to me and one day I'm going to answer," he said with pure conviction.
Selena couldn't help but feel happy that he finally figured out what he wanted out of life.
"It sounds like you want to be a pirate," she said, shooting him a crooked smile.
Kingsley ran his hand over his buzzed maroon hair. He didn't hate the idea of being a pirate. He knew that overall they weren't a good bunch, but from the stories he heard from Hitoshi and Selena he also knew that there were respectable crews out there like the Whitebeard or the Roger Pirates.
"I don't know if I'm going to be a pirate, a marine, or if I just end up on a crew with people who feel the same way I do. All I know is that I'm meant to live out on the open sea."
"The sea is a dangerous place," she responded.
"It is," he confirmed.
"You're going to have to get stronger. It won't be easy."
Kingsley nodded. He then got up onto his feet and held out a hand to help her up. "Will you help me?"
Selena grasped his hand.
"Always."
Selena took her time wiping down each glass before allocating them behind the bar. She was listening to one of her regulars, Bruce, complain about his business partner and a few of his employees. Apparently someone was stealing funds from his store, but he couldn't figure out who the culprit was. He didn't want to accuse anyone without evidence, but this person was skimming from their profits every week and it was starting to add up.
Selena frowned. As the bartender at the most popular bar on the island, she heard a fair amount of gossip. People usually didn't pay her any mind when in deep conversations with their friends and didn't censor their conversations around her. It also helped that she had a very earnest type of face, which led to people opening up to her. A lot of the people who sat alone at the bar to drink away their problems just wanted someone to talk to; they just wanted to know that someone out there was listening and cared about what was going on in their life.
Surprisingly, people were even more open with her now than when she worked at a bar in her past life. She thought that since she was a child people wouldn't want to talk to her about their problems since she couldn't be trusted to give good advice, but instead people had no reservations talking to her because she was obviously a kid and wouldn't be judging them like an adult would.
People were grateful to find someone that would just listen without an ulterior motive or scrutiny. Selena did her best to be there for people, and when she could, she gave advice or pushed them to make realizations for themselves. She was happy to help these people however she could. It made her feel good to be needed and to make life just a little bit better for someone, if she could. Plus, it gave her a chance to utilize the skills she had worked hard for before; she had died a semester before she would have graduated with her masters in psychology. She had always pictured herself becoming a therapist before.
As a byproduct of her informal therapy sessions, Selena basically knew everything that went on in Valhalla. She collected secrets, careful not to betray anyone's trust, but grateful for any snippet of information she gathered. Knowledge was power, after all. Sometimes she was lucky enough to hear a bit of what was going on in other oceans, either from traveling merchants that stopped in Valhalla to buy liquor or from gossip the locals had picked up on trips to Loguetown.
Which was why she was a bit conflicted. She knew who was stealing from Bruce's store. He was a very good boss, beloved by his employees and business partner alike. The culprit was actually his wife, Ava. She was a wretched woman who came in on Sunday nights to drink with her girlfriends. While the other women in the friend group were respectable, either business owners themselves or married to someone who was, Ava was horrible. She was known amongst the servers in town for being rude to anyone who waited on her, and Selena agreed. She was self-entitled and stuck up. She had even drunkenly admitted last week that she had only married Bruce because of his successful business. Whenever she didn't have enough money to pay for one of her shopping sprees, she "borrowed" cash from the safe in Bruce's office. She had even joked about how easy it was to break into since the combination to the safe was the date of their wedding anniversary.
She wanted to tell Bruce what she knew, but unfortunately, Ava was one of her regulars too. Ava had felt comfortable enough at Mama's to speak freely, and Selena felt dirty using that against her. She would just have to help Bruce figure it out on his own without directly divulging the information herself.
She refilled Bruce's beer and placed it in front of him.
"Are you sure it's someone who works at the store?" she asked innocently. "They always have nice things to say about you so that doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
"It has to be," he slurred. "No one else has access to the till or the office."
"It would have to be someone who's not good with money though, to make it so obvious."
"Yeah," he agreed. "They're not even trying to hide what they're doing."
"So have you noticed someone close to you buy a lot of new stuff? I'm guessing that if they're stealing money every week that means that they're spending it all really fast," she added.
Bruce seemed to look past her, lost in thought.
"Maybe it's not someone who works there," she prodded. "It could be a customer that knows the place really well or someone who just goes into the store a lot."
"…It can't be," he muttered to himself. "She wouldn't do that to me. To us."
He seemed to forget that Selena was there.
"But where else would she get the money for that new dress she bought? Or the new silverware? Shit. Shit. No, you know what? I need to talk to her."
He stood up and dug some cash out of his pocket.
"Thanks for listening, Selena-chan. You're a good kid. Tell your mom I said goodnight, won't you?"
"Of course Bruce-san! I hope everything works out for you!" Selena called out as he walked away.
Hopefully she did the right thing there. Bruce seemed like a good person. He didn't see the truth about Ava since she acted sweet whenever he was around. He deserved better.
She sighed. Whatever ended up happening, she would hear about it sooner or later.
She made her way to each table, eavesdropping as she took orders and refilled drinks.
"Did you hear about that new store they're opening up? I'm scared they're going to drive Hiro out of business."
"You've just got to try this drink they make here…"
"The newest recruits are going to be starting their training next week. We're going to have to babysit them for the first couple of days and make sure they don't take on more than they can handle. I swear, at least three of them puke every year…"
"…It turns out she was cheating on him the whole time!"
Not everything she heard was useful, but she catalogued it all away just in case. If she was lucky, she would hear a rumor about the Grand Line or a famous pirate crew. When she combined the information she garnered at the bar and what she learned from the papers she was able to get a good picture of everything that went on in the East Blue, and have a vague feel about what the rest of the world was going through. Of course, she had to cut through a lot of bullshit and whatever propaganda the government was pushing.
But still, she felt like she had a good idea of what was going on in the world. As far as she knew, everything was going according to canon. She still hadn't decided whether that was a good thing or not.
About a week after the Red Haired crew had stopped by, Hitoshi came home.
Selena was beyond excited to have her dad home for a month. Not only did she really miss him, but she could tell her mom really needed him. Etsuko had been feeling under the weather lately, not enough to warrant closing down the restaurant, but she was always tired and didn't have much energy. Selena hoped that having her dad home would lessen her mom's workload and lift her spirits.
There was a tearful reunion – and by that she meant that her dad had gotten a little misty eyed when he spotted her and Etsuko waiting for him on the shore. He had sent them a messenger bird alerting them that he would be home that day, so they had wanted to surprise him with a picnic on the beach. Etsuko would have to open Mama's a little later than usual today, but she thought it was worth it.
After a countless amount of hugs, they finally settled down on the quilt Etsuko had set up with lunch.
"You've really grown, sweetheart," Hitoshi said. "I feel like you look so different every time I come home."
He knew he was missing a lot of Selena's childhood, and seeing how much she changed in-between visits was evidence of that.
"Thanks, tou-chan!" Selena said, trying to keep the mood cheerful. "I've really been training hard so I probably look a lot stronger too, huh?" she added, blatantly fishing for compliments.
"I don't know about all that…" Hitoshi responded. "The only way to see if you've gotten stronger would be a little friendly spar!"
Selena began to sweat a bit. She knew sparring with her dad was invaluable fighting experience, but it was more of a smack down than a spar. He didn't try to hurt her out-right, but he didn't even pretend that she put up any sort of challenge. Sometimes he would let her get a hit in so he could gauge her strength, but her attacks didn't even make him grunt in response. The whole situation was always rather humbling.
Before she could respond, her mother cut in.
"Your 'training' can wait until tomorrow," Etsuko said rather icily. "Today we are going to enjoy our time together as a family."
"Yes, ma'am!" Hitoshi and Selena responded hastily in unison.
"Perfect!" Etsuko replied, her tone reverting to upbeat once more. "It's been so long since we've all been together."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Hitoshi said. "They sent me further into the Grand Line this time since they knew I was going to take a month off like I always do at the end of summer." He had been gone for over three months and felt guilty about it.
"Can you tell me about the islands you visited?" Selena asked eagerly. He had sent her letters describing some of the things he saw on the Grand Line, but since he wasn't allowed to talk about what he did for work he mostly wrote about his ship and what his platoon was like.
"Of course, sweetheart! I even brought back postcards from a few places!"
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what he had seen, which included an island where it was always night, a city made completely of coral, and an archipelago that used candy for currency.
Etsuko and Selena filled him in on everything that went on in Valhalla and told him about the more interesting customers they had served at Mama's. They both decided it was better not to mention the pirate crew that had left not too long ago. Hitoshi would have freaked out if they had told him.
After their long lunch, they opened up Mama's and ran the business as usual. Whenever Hitoshi was home Selena let him take over the bar while she waited and bussed the tables. She never bartended when her dad was home and she was sure he didn't know the extent of her bartending experience. He was always going to see her as his little girl, and she knew he would be upset if he knew how much she had matured while he was away. After all, most parents would be uncomfortable with their kids near alcohol, let alone behind a bar and surrounded by drunk people everyday. Etsuko was blind to it because she had grown up in Mama's and didn't realize it wasn't normal, but Selena was sure her dad would have a problem with it.
Nevertheless, having Hitoshi there made running Mama's so much easier. Selena had asked her mom about hiring someone to help out when he wasn't home, but Etsuko had been dead set against it. Since Mama's Place had opened, the only people who had worked there were part of the family. She didn't want to go against tradition by hiring outside help, even if it made things tougher on them.
After a few days, they had all fallen into their normal routine. Selena's day started with lessons in the morning, which were more fun when Hitoshi was there to add in his knowledge about the world. Next, she would train with her dad. She was still learning about pressure points and how to incorporate her knowledge of them into her fighting style, but her dad had told her that he saw the potential in it. Whenever she did manage to hit a pressure point while they were sparring, he actually felt some pain. She still wasn't able to paralyze limbs and she only hit a pressure point about ten percent of the time, but she was slowly improving. Kingsley usually joined them for lunch and their afternoon training, then headed home for dinner when Hitoshi and Selena left to go help run Mama's.
Her birthday had been a quiet affair, like always. Birthdays just weren't a big deal in this world. Etsuko had baked her a cake and had made Selena's favorite foods, but they didn't really do anything special except spend more time than usual together. Kingsley had joined them for dinner at Mama's, where they exchanged gifts.
Her mother had gotten her a new workout outfit, since she tended to demolish all of her clothes while training. Her dad had gotten her a pair of boots to go with it. They reminded her of combat boots from her old world, and she absolutely loved them. Every once in a while she would come across something that reminded her of before, and while she had already grieved for her old life she did get a feeling of homesickness or nostalgia every once in a while. Having things like this, which reminded her of what her past life used to be like, made her feel like she had a piece of home with her.
Kingsley gave her a pair of black, leather, fingerless gloves. It was actually a really sweet gift. Her hands were always covered in cuts and callouses, since she was relentless in her training. The gloves allowed her to retain movement while providing some protection for her knuckles. She had flung herself at him and wrapped him up in a tight hug in thanks, which he returned sheepishly. She started teasing him about his light blush like the good little sister she was, when he made up some ridiculous excuse so he could duck out and save himself from further embarrassment.
It had been a slow night at Mama's, so they closed up early and headed home. The night was clear and there was a wonderfully cool summer breeze, so they decided to sit out on the front porch and drink some lemon tea before heading to bed. Etsuko and Hitoshi took a seat on the rocking chairs, while Selena hopped onto Hitoshi's lap.
They chatted amiably for a bit while sipping on their tea. Selena felt completely at peace; huddled up in her father's arms she felt incredibly safe. It was a wonderful way to end her birthday.
"Sweetheart, have we ever told you the story of how we picked out your name?" Hitoshi asked.
Selena shook her head.
"It's the perfect birthday bedtime story," Etsuko said with a smile.
"I have always been curious about it, since my name doesn't sound anything like either of yours," Selena responded.
The names Etsuko and Hitoshi were obviously Japanese in origin, while she wasn't sure what language her name originated from. Languages in general were very confusing in this world. Everyone spoke Japanese, which made no sense since there wasn't a country named Japan in any of the Blues. When she had asked her mom about it, Etsuko had just told her that it had been the common language since before the void century, and no one knew where it came from.
Selena was actually trilingual now, since she had grown up speaking Spanish and English in her last life. She had been surprised to learn that Spanish and English existed in this world too, but they were secondary languages. While everyone in the world spoke Japanese, many islands had languages specific to their culture. If she had to guess, she would say they spoke Spanish in Dressrosa. Going along with that train of thought, Japanese probably originated from Wano at some point. A lot of history had been lost during the void century, so it wasn't likely she would ever find out the truth. She wondered if Robin would know.
"Well, I was named after my grandfather," Hitoshi said. "But I don't think it suits me at all."
"My parents let the midwife who delivered me pick out my name, since there were complications during birth and she ended up saving my life. But I don't think my name suits me either," Etsuko added.
"You guys should just switch!" Selena giggled. "Your names are more suited for each other anyways."
She had never thought about it before but Hitoshi translated to "even-tempered," which didn't fit her dad at all. Meanwhile, Etsuko meant "child of joy." Her mom wasn't the type to be open with her emotions, so the name came off as kind of ironic.
Hitoshi reached over and grabbed Etsuko's hand, bringing it up to his lips so he could kiss her palm.
"We always joke that our names are a sign that we are meant for each other. There's a myth that states that soul mates are formed when one soul is split in half then put into two different people. We think that the gods must have gotten our names mixed up when putting us into our bodies," Hitoshi said, while Etsuko chuckled softly.
"Actually, that myth originated on the island where we got your name from," Etsuko said, bringing the conversation back around.
"Oh, right!" Hitoshi exclaimed. "So your mother and I had been dating for a little under two years when I was deployed to the first half of the Grand Line. I was still under Garp's command at this point, so I wasn't really worried about anything dangerous happening while I was with him. There wasn't anything in Paradise that posed a threat to Vice Admiral Garp."
"I was concerned because he was going to be gone for a full four months; the longest he had been gone before then was two months," Etsuko jumped in. "It wasn't his first time going into the Grand Line, and I know that Garp-san is very strong, but I still worried."
"About three months into my deployment, we land on an island to check in on things on the World Government's behalf. There wasn't a marine presence on the island and they hadn't heard from the local government there in months, so they sent us to make sure everything was all right."
Selena shuffled forward on his lap so she could see his face and watch him tell the story.
"It had been a routine tour so far," Hitoshi continued. "We basically sailed around Paradise, capturing any pirates we came across and inspecting marine bases as we sailed. I didn't really expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, which is why I didn't see the life-changing news coming."
"I had found out I was pregnant three months into your dad's deployment," Etsuko said. "I was feeling light headed and tired, but I just thought that I had gotten sick again. I went to the doctor anyways, just in case, and I was shocked to find out I was thirteen weeks pregnant. I wanted to tell your dad the news right away, and couldn't wait for a letter to reach him and for him to send back a response. Somehow, I managed to convince the lieutenant that was left in charge of the Loguetown base to use his transponder snail to contact Garp-san. The man was practically pissing himself in fear of dialing up a vice admiral, but he couldn't say no to a determined pregnant woman," Etsuko said with a serene smile on her face that directly contrasted her somewhat sadistic tone.
"We had been docked on Olympus for a few days when I was told to report to Vice Admiral Garp," Hitoshi said. "I thought something had gone wrong, even though we hadn't encountered any trouble during our stay so far. I rushed over to the inn we were staying in, expecting to get new orders or to have to gear up for battle, but instead found a nervous looking Garp. I swear it's the only time I ever saw him looking scared," he laughed.
"I was very… adamant in my need to talk to you," Etsuko said neutrally.
"Sure, let's go with that. Adamant," Hitoshi snorted. "So I walk into shishou's room and I see that he's sweating bullets, which makes me even more anxious than I already was. As soon as he sees me, he practically flings the transponder snail at me and just runs out of the room. Here I am, freaking out and expecting the worst, when I hear Etsuko's voice come through. I'm trying to run through all of the worst-case scenarios when I finally hear her say 'I'm pregnant' and I got a little emotional."
"A little emotional? You burst into tears," Etsuko said with a teasing smile.
"Yeah, I totally did," Hitoshi admitted. "I was expecting something horrible, and instead I got the best news of my life."
Selena couldn't help but snuggle closer to him after hearing that.
"Meanwhile, I was about to lose my composure. All I can hear is Hitoshi sobbing, and the snail was mimicking his expression but I couldn't tell if he was crying out of joy or sadness. So I start getting emotional because I'm a walking ball of hormones at that point, the transponder snail is dripping snot all over me, and Hitoshi was blubbering incomprehensibly. You have to understand angel, we weren't married and I was worried about having a child out of wedlock since it's kind of looked down on. We had talked about getting engaged, but children and pregnancy weren't things we had ever talked about since we thought that I couldn't have any. Finally, I'm able to make out Hitoshi sobbing 'I'm so ha-ha-happy!' and I start crying out of relief," Etsuko said, a soft smile on her face.
"So we're both crying at this point, when we hear Garp yell through the door 'I'm happy for you two, too!'" Hitoshi said, smiling at the memory. "It turns out he was eavesdropping the whole time."
Selena giggled at her grandfather's antics.
"So to commemorate that day, I bought a book of baby names on that island. Olympus has a really rich culture and history with their own unique language, and we wanted to celebrate that."
Selena was curious. The One Piece world drew many elements from the history and mythology of her old world. A lot of the classic literature she had read was either very similar or the same as from before, although some stories replaced magic with devil fruits or heroes with infamous pirates. Olympus seemed like a direct reference to Mount Olympus, and she wondered if the whole island was based in Greek mythology.
"Can you tell me more about what it was like there?" Selena asked.
"Sure, sweetheart. The island itself is beautiful. It's a summer island, so it's warm all year round and almost always sunny. The architecture is breathtaking, featuring a lot of columns and fine details. Almost all of the buildings were made of marble or white stone. The art scene was incredible, and they were famous for their poems and plays. What the island is most known for though, is probably for their unique government. The island was first conquered by twelve devil fruit users and to this day, they are ruled by an oligarchy."
"Wait. Twelve devil fruit users came together to rule a country? What powers did they have? How did that work?" Selena questioned excitedly. She didn't want to get ahead of herself, but that sounded like the greek gods! Were Zeus and the other Olympians actually real historical figures in this world?
Hitoshi chuckled at his daughter's enthusiasm. She had an insatiable thirst for knowledge that he really loved. "Well, each of the twelve had their own responsibilities. The leader, Zeus, had final say on most things but they all worked together to run the country. Zeus is actually the person who made the rumble-rumble fruit infamous – because of him, it became known as the invincible devil fruit. It's a lightning logia fruit that is almost impossible to counter without haki."
That was something Selena remembered questioning while watching the anime. Robin had heard of the rumble-rumble fruit before ever encountering Enel, which meant that someone had made it famous.
"So Zeus was the strongest, but the others had devil fruits too?"
"Yes, all twelve had incredible powers. A lot of the history has been forgotten since this all happened before the void century, but we know that Zeus had two brothers. Hades, who was responsible for dealing out justice and punishment, had eaten the soul-soul fruit which allows the user to manipulate human souls," Hitoshi replied.
Selena didn't remember that fruit from the anime, but she remembered that around the time she died there had been a lot of speculation about Big Mom's devil fruit being able to do something like that. It sounded fucking terrifying.
"His other brother, Poseidon, was in charge of their navy," Hitoshi continued. "He was rumored to have a devil fruit that allowed him to manipulate water, which of course is unbelievable. People have scoured the world for hints of that devil fruit, since it seems like that would be the only one that wouldn't make its user vulnerable to seawater. It hasn't been seen since and a lot of people don't think it ever existed."
"Do we know any of the others' powers?" Selena asked, resting her head on her dad's chest.
"Well, their head of public relations and foreign policy, Aphrodite, had eaten the love-love fruit. It's a paramecia fruit that allows the user to turn anyone who feels attracted to them into stone. She has become known as a legendary politician and negotiator who could manipulate anyone into doing what was best for her country."
Selena chuckled. That was too perfect and totally badass. It was fitting for Boa Hancock's predecessor.
"For some of the others, we have hints about what their powers were but the actual names of their devil fruits have been lost. For example, their strategist Athena allegedly had a paramecia type fruit that was based on logic and allowed her to see all of the possible outcomes of every decision. Other people speculate that it was the human-human fruit, model: genius, but there is no way to know for sure until the devil fruit regenerates and is eaten once again. Their head of military, Ares, was rumored to have eaten a devil fruit that allowed him to manipulate the emotions of others. It doesn't sound that dangerous, but he used it to enrage their enemies. It clouded their judgment and made them act rashly, which made victory that much easier for the Olympians."
"So awesome!" Selena exclaimed. Hitoshi and Etsuko could practically see the stars in her eyes. "Was I named after a fierce Olympian historic figure?" she asked excitedly.
"No, angel," Etsuko replied smoothly. "We loved Olympian culture, and we wanted to honor it, but we still wanted your name to fit you."
"Yeah, we decided to pick your name from an Olympian book of baby names so that your name could be representative of what you mean to us and who you would become," Hitoshi added.
"Oh, so what does my name mean then?"
"Selena means moon goddess," Etsuko replied with a gentle smile.
"You guys kind of have high hopes for me then, huh?" Selena replied flatly. "No pressure."
Hitoshi chuckled. "No, we're optimistic about your future but not delusional."
"We didn't want what happened to us to happen to you," Etsuko said. "Our names were chosen to match the personality we showed as newborns, which doesn't really represent who we are now."
"We picked out a few names that we both liked, since we weren't sure of your gender. You ended up being born on the first night of a full moon a little bit after midnight, so Selena seemed like the perfect name for you," Hitoshi said. He put down his empty mug so he could wrap both arms around his daughter and rest his chin on her head.
"So on clear nights like this when you can see the moon and the stars clearly, we always think of you," Etsuko said, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Selena's forehead.
"Our little moon goddess," Hitoshi added softly.
A warm feeling bloomed in Selena's chest. She felt so full of love for her parents and loved in return. It was times like these when she was so incredibly grateful that she got the chance to live again. She was so lucky to experience the unconditional love her parents had for her and she knew that no matter what happened in this lifetime, it would all be worth it because of moments like these.
She listened to her parents' voices for a while longer, before she drifted off to sleep filled with nothing but happiness.
The next three weeks passed in a similar fashion. Selena was overjoyed to spend so much time with her dad, and tried to make the most of their time together.
It was interesting to see her dad and Kingsley's relationship develop. At first Kingsley had been hesitant to join in on Hitoshi and Selena's training sessions, since he felt like he was intruding on their bonding time but Selena had insisted he join them. Over the years, Kingsley started to feel more and more comfortable around Hitoshi. He learned to take Hitoshi's relentless teasing in stride, and eventually began to see him as a male role model – Hitoshi became someone he could trust and confide in.
Selena was ecstatic that the two most important guys in her life were getting along. Their relationship grew over the years from an awkward mentor/student relationship to the uncle/nephew relationship they had now. Selena knew that Kingsley would never see Hitoshi as a father figure like she once hoped, since he had his grandfather to fill that role, but it warmed her heart to see that they treated each other like family. And to be fair to Kingsley, Hitoshi fit the goofy uncle role all too perfectly.
She was also relieved to see that her mom's health improved. Having Hitoshi to help around the house and at the restaurant really reduced Etsuko's stress and she was able to rest more. She also seemed to be revitalized just from having her family all together once again. Selena hoped that it wouldn't be a temporary fix. More than ever, she wished that her mom would join Hitoshi and her for their yearly trip to Cocoyashi.
As the time for their departure for their trip drew nearer, Selena grew more excited. She was nervous about leaving her mother alone, but she was also beyond psyched to see Nami and Nojiko again. She loved writing letters to them, but it just wasn't the same as seeing them in person.
The day before they were supposed to leave, Selena knocked on Kingsley's door.
Unluckily for her, Marcus answered.
"What do you want, brat?"
Selena attempted to be polite. She was supposed to respect her elders, right?
"Hello Marcus-san. Is Kingsley-kun home?" She hoped the honorifics would buy her some brownie points.
"Of course not. Unlike you, my grandson is a well-behaved child who knows it's his duty to help his aging grandfather. He is running some errands for me."
Selena took a deep breath to keep calm.
"Could you tell me where he went? Or when he will be back? I have to talk to him."
"No. Why should I answer to you? These young punks don't know anything about respect…" the rest of his speech dissolved into incomprehensible grumbles. He didn't mean any of it of course, he just liked to see how long it took before the little brat lost her temper.
He began to close the door in her face when she decided enough was enough.
"Listen here, you rotting prune!" she shouted.
Marcus had to school his face into a neutral expression and stop himself from chuckling. Selena-chan always had the most creative insults.
"I don't have time to put up with your grumpy attitude today! I'm leaving on a trip tomorrow and I really need to talk to Kingsley beforehand. Besides, you owe me! Don't you dare think I've forgotten about the fact that you sent a nefarious crew of Grand Line pirates to my bar to scare me!" she exclaimed.
"Pirates…?" Marcus questioned. "Oh, you mean the friendly young merchants I recommended your family's restaurant to? You have the wildest imagination, brat. You should be thanking me for helping you get more business."
"You really didn't know they were pirates?" she asked. "The fact that you sent them my way due to negligence and not petty revenge almost makes it worse," she mumbled under her breath.
"Fine, fine. If it gets you to stop shouting and off of my doorstep I might as well tell you where Kingsley is. He should be out in the back, weeding the garden. I'm actually surprised your yelling hasn't brought him here," he said smugly.
That bastard. He was making her jump through hoops when Kingsley was right there in the backyard. He really knew how to get under her skin. She hated to admit it, but he was worthy of being her nemesis.
"You win this time, Marcus-san," Selena conceded. She began walking away backwards and making her way around the house to the garden, while glaring back at Kingsley's grandfather and maintaining uncomfortable eye contact. "You win this time," she repeated gravely.
She heard him chuckle before closing the door.
Shaking off the loss, she skipped to the backyard. She spotted Kingsley amongst the orderly rows of vegetables. Like everything else in his house, the garden was perfectly neat and practical. The vegetables were organized into symmetrical rows, each one labeled with a small sign.
Kingsley seemed to be too focused on his chores to hear her, so she took the chance to hurl herself onto his back.
Kingsley fell forward onto his face with a loud "oomph." He tried to twist out of the way, only for Selena to follow his movements and pin him to the ground. He jabbed an elbow into her side making her recoil, and took the opportunity to flip her onto her back and shove her down into the grass. She responded by hooking her legs around his waist and used her momentum to get above him again, while she twisted him so he landed face first in the grass again.
She finished off their impromptu wrestling match by pulling him into a headlock and forcing him to tap out.
Laughing and covered in dirt, they sat up and caught their breath.
"So… did you come over here just for the surprise attack or was there another reason?" Kingsley finally huffed.
"Oh come on Kings, I've been trying to teach you the importance of constant vigilance!" she exclaimed, like a pint-sized Mad-Eye Moody. "It's not my fault you let your guard down."
"Right, because I should be expecting to be attacked while pulling up crab grass," he retorted.
"You should always expect the unexpected," she responded, nodding sagely while stroking an imaginary goatee.
"That doesn't even make sense!" he snorted. His best friend was definitely a handful, but she always knew how to make him laugh.
Selena shot him a crooked grin.
"No, but seriously, I need to ask you a favor," she said.
"Anything," he responded readily.
She smiled. He didn't even know what she was going to ask and he was already offering to do whatever he could. She was lucky to have him in her life.
"You know I'm leaving tomorrow, right? I was hoping that while I was gone you could check up on my mom everyday. You don't need to help out at the restaurant or anything, I just want to make sure she has someone looking out for her when I'm not here."
"Of course! I don't mind. Your mom is really nice," he agreed. "Does she know you're asking me to do this?"
Selena sighed.
"No, she doesn't. If you can, don't make it obvious that you're checking in on her. If she finds out it doesn't really matter but she'll definitely tease me about being too responsible when I get back," she huffed.
"I think it's nice that you're worried about her."
"She probably will too, it's just that she's always poking fun at me because sometimes I act like her mom instead of it being the other way around."
Kingsley titled his head in thought. "I can't really picture your mom joking around like that. She's usually pretty serious."
Selena laughed. "She just comes off as serious since she's not very expressive, especially compared to my dad. She's actually pretty sarcastic."
"Really? I'll try to keep an ear out for it while I look after her."
"Thank you so much for doing this for me, Kings. It means the world to me," she said ardently.
Kingsley fought back a blush. After five years of friendship he was getting used to Selena's constant praise and compliments; but honest gratitude plus an affectionate nickname was too much for him to handle at once. He felt his cheeks warm up and couldn't look at Selena directly in the eyes, knowing that he would find nothing but open fondness there.
"Don't mention it."
Selena noted the rosy tint on Kingsley's cheeks and his slight pout. She didn't understand how he was still so easy to embarrass, but she genuinely hoped her best friend never grew out of it. He was just too adorable. Deciding she had fought back the urge for long enough, she wrapped him up in a tight hug.
"Nah, I mean it," she responded, pulling him up to stand so she could give him a proper hug. He was still a lot taller than her, so she had to stand on her tiptoes so she could rest her head on his shoulder and wrap her arms around his middle.
Kingsley hugged her back tightly in lieu of giving her an answer.
"Alright, I better get back," she said. The dinner rush was about to start at the restaurant. "I'll see you in a week, okay? Love you!" she shouted back at him as she ran off.
"Love you too," Kingsley replied once he was sure she was too far to hear him, smiling softly.
Hitoshi and Selena left early the next morning, as was tradition, after kissing Etsuko goodbye. Etsuko was disappointed that her husband's time off was coming to an end, but she knew how much Selena looked forward to this trip every year. She couldn't bring herself to ask them to stay.
Nothing noteworthy happened during their voyage to Cocoyashi, besides a lot of quality father-daughter bonding. Selena treasured the time she got alone with Hitoshi, since it didn't happen that often. She regaled him with stories of her adventures with Kingsley and gave him summaries of the good books she had read since she last saw him. He told her more about his exploits on the Grand Line, which she couldn't tell if he was exaggerating or not, and about some of the new people now under his command.
She didn't know if it was because of the lack of technology in this world or because she was making more of an effort, but she knew her dad a lot better in this life than she did in her last. It made her kind of sad, especially since she knew more about Hitoshi after only eight years while she had gone decades in her past life without getting to know her father better. Don't get her wrong, she knew his basic personal history and they had spent a lot of time together even while she was in grad school, but she realized (after dying, of course) that there was so much she never asked and would never get the chance to.
On the morning of their third day of traveling, they finally reached their destination. Selena changed out of her pajamas and into a white t-shirt that said "Rebel" in pretty script, a pair of light wash denim shorts, and her new combat boots.
Her dad had already changed into another embarrassing outfit. She was pretty sure he was trying to mortify her on purpose, but there was always a chance that his fashion sense was just that bad. He was sporting a royal purple and black striped bowling shirt (did they even have bowling in this world?) and a pair of khaki colored cargo pants that were covered in pockets. Who even needed that many pockets? She tried to count them all but lost track after twenty-seven. The royal purple part of his shirt clashed horribly with his hair, but to be fair, almost everything did. Nonetheless, she was pretty sure her dad didn't own any neutral colored tops besides the ones that were part of his marine uniform. The whole ensemble was topped off with the ugliest brown sandals she had ever seen.
Selena decided not to comment in case he was doing this to get a reaction out of her. It was probably best to just ignore the whole thing. She would just avoid looking at the direct atrocity against fashion that was her father.
While surveying the shore, Selena spotted a head of bright orange hair running back towards the village. Had Nami been waiting for them every morning? The thought warmed her heart.
She turned to her dad and said, "I think we're going to have a welcoming committee."
"Is that so?" he chuckled.
By the time they had docked, Nami had run back into view with Bellemère and Nojiko in tow. Selena grabbed her backpack, which looked like a giant teddy bear, and ran down the boardwalk to meet them. What? She could only get away with wearing such ridiculously cute things for a few more years and she was going to enjoy it while it lasted, dammit!
She ran at Nami and Nojiko at full speed, who after her last couple of visits had learned to just brace for impact and accept the consequences. Selena closed the last few feet of distance with a leap, and flung herself at Nami and Nojiko in a full body tackle. Thankfully, they were standing in the sand so it didn't hurt too badly when they hit the ground.
Nami and Nojiko groaned, while Selena smiled blissfully as she lay atop her two friends.
"I really missed you guys!" she said happily.
"We can tell," Nami and Nojiko deadpanned.
"Awww, come on kiddo! Why didn't I get tackled with a hug?" Bellemère asked.
Selena turned her head so she could look at Bellemère in the eye. "You're free to join us down here!" she responded cheerfully.
Nami's eyes widened in panic.
"No, Bel-!" Nojiko started.
"Don't mind if I do!" Bellemère responded brightly before flopping on top of the three girls.
Selena laughed as Nami and Nojiko wheezed exaggeratedly underneath her.
"I thought your tangerines were supposed to keep you thin, Bellemère!" Nami exclaimed.
"Did you just make a fat joke, you brat!?" Bellemère shouted.
Hitoshi finally caught up to them after making sure the boat was anchored properly. He couldn't help but let out a deep belly laugh at Bellemère's expense.
"Seems like you've really let yourself go after your retirement, Bellemère," he added before falling on top of the dog pile.
"Nooo! Please! Have mercy!" Nojiko groaned.
"Tou-chan!" Selena choked out. "Can't! Breathe!" She twitched her limbs for emphasis.
Hitoshi laughed before popping up to his feet and helping everybody up. "You've turned into such a drama queen, Selena-chan. I really don't know where you get it from."
"Really, Toshi-chan? Really?" Bellemère questioned while giving him some serious side-eye. Her marine buddy had always had a knack for dramatics.
"Nope! Not a clue!" Hitoshi replied unconvincingly.
"Dear father!" Selena exclaimed in a theatrical voice. She dropped to her knees and placed a dainty hand on her forehead like she was about to faint. "Why have you forsaken me?!"
"Yeah, I don't see a family resemblance at all," Bellemère deadpanned while Nami and Nojiko giggled at their friend's antics.
"Alright, alright," Hitoshi said, rolling his eyes. "Why don't we go drop this stuff off and I'll treat everyone to lunch to make up for my deceitful ways?"
"As long as you're paying!" Bellemère responded blithely.
They ate lunch in a homey little restaurant where the servers greeted Bellemère and the girls by name. Selena and the girls caught up on all of the more recent happenings that they hadn't talked about through their letters yet, while Bellemère and Hitoshi talked business. Selena loved that every time they saw each other in person, it was like no time had passed between them at all. She just clicked with Nami and Nojiko, and she could see that it was the same for her dad and Bellemère.
After they had eaten, Bellemère and Hitoshi headed back to the tangerine grove so she could show off the new irrigation system she had installed. Hitoshi didn't know anything about agriculture or sprinkler systems, but his friend was excited about it and he wanted to support her so he went along with it. Her enthusiasm was catching.
Nami, Nojiko, and Selena treated themselves to soft-serve ice cream for dessert. They visited all of their usual haunts in town, showing Selena what had changed since she last visited and introducing her to people she hadn't met yet.
Her visits to Cocoyashi were always idyllic. It was the only time each year where she truly let herself be a kid. Sure, she still trained everyday for a couple of hours, but it was nothing compared to her routine back home. She didn't have to worry about pushing herself to new levels; instead, she trained because it was cathartic and a nice way to bond with her dad. She didn't worry about gathering information that may be valuable for the future, or what she was going to do about the plot, or stress about working in the restaurant and making sure her mother wasn't straining herself.
She just acted like the eight year old she was.
She played dress up with Nami and Nojiko, using the meager amount of makeup Bellemère owned to give themselves facial hair or make themselves look like fairies (it required a lot of glitter).
She played "Explorer" with Nami, which involved them scouting the island so that Nami could survey the land and make an accurate map. They marked all the places they had been to with chalk drawings and pretended to be adventurers discovering a new land. Eventually they had tagged the whole island with their mark: a crescent moon hanging over rippling waves, representing both of their names. By the end of the day their clothes were covered in blue chalk dust and Nami had drawn her first rudimentary full map of Cocoyashi.
She visited the bookstore with Nojiko, where they were allowed to stay and read as long as they remained quiet. They came across a new book of fairytales, which they both secretly loved though they admitted were childish – like they weren't children themselves. This of course meant they had to act out all of the short stories and give all of the characters funny voices. They actually attracted an audience of little kids because of their exuberance, which only fueled their theatrics further. They were too loud and distracted the other customers, but the shopkeeper let them stay because she couldn't remember the last time her store was so full of children or happiness.
She shared every meal with her father, Bellemère, and the girls. Tangerines were always incorporated somehow. She ran barefoot through the grove while playing with Nami and Nojiko, relishing the feel of the grass under her feet. Every night she cuddled up with her father on the beat up old pullout couch, knowing just how to position herself so she avoided the old springs that were starting to poke through the fabric. She felt as at home in the cozy little one-room cabin as she did back on Valhalla.
The week passed by way too quickly.
As per tradition, they were camping out under the stars on the last night of her trip. They had learned from the previous years and brought out a bundle of blankets and pillows to the back of the cabin, not keen to wake up in the cold, dewy grass like they had the first couple of times. They laid everything out a little ways away from Nojiko's herb garden, which was thriving. Luckily, it was a clear night and it was easy enough to see using the light of the full moon.
As per their tradition, Bellemère and Hitoshi were out on the front porch drinking saké and smoking cigars. Their conversation wasn't audible from the backyard, but every once in a while their laughter would carry, joining the choir of chirping crickets. If they strained their ears, they would be able to hear the sound of the waves lapping against the cliff side.
Selena, Nojiko, and Nami were cuddling under a single quilt. Selena had squeezed herself in-between the two sisters, and they had readily latched onto her. Selena was resting her head on Nojiko's shoulder, while Nami was using Selena's stomach as her personal pillow. They were all curled up together, their legs all tangled up. Selena used one hand to stroke Nami's hair, and the other to trace a light swirling pattern on Nojiko's arm. They talked about everything and nothing, just enjoying the last of their time together.
Over the last couple of years Selena had recognized pieces of the Nami she knew from before. Every once in a while, Nami would inadvertently alert Selena to her issues with money already beginning. Most of the time it would be inconspicuous enough, the kind of thing any kid would complain about. She talked about not being able to afford new toys or clothes, how some kids on the island got an allowance while she didn't, and how everything she owned used to be Nojiko's at one point.
That wasn't the only thing that reminded Selena of the character she had known. During her visit last year, she remembered goofing around outside with Nami and Nojiko when all of a sudden Nami stopped in her tracks and looked skyward. She had blinked twice slowly, then turned back to face them and said that they should all head inside since it was about to rain. The sky was completely clear, but Selena knew better than to doubt Nami's weather predicting skills. They had all rushed indoors and not even a full second later did a storm roll in and crack open the heavens. She had looked over to Nami incredulously while Nojiko had just rolled her eyes at her sister's smug little smirk.
Selena's chat with Kingsley about his dream had made her wonder if Nami had already decided that she was going to draw a map of the world. It seemed like her interest in navigation had already bloomed – Selena could even vaguely remember her mentioning in a letter that she had stolen an expensive book on navigation so she could teach herself how to do it. In conjunction with their game of Explorer, it would seem like she was already teaching herself the skills she would need in the future.
And what about Nojiko? She may not be a main character, but Selena cared for her just as much as she did for Nami. Did she have a goal in life? She was only ten, but all of the kids she knew of in this world were pretty self-assured and knew what they wanted.
Unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked them.
"Do you guys have a dream? Something you know you're meant to do?" Selena asked softly.
"I… I want to draw a map of the whole world!" Nami exclaimed.
"Really, Nami?" Nojiko asked. It was the first time she had heard her sister say this, and she couldn't help but smile at the sheer confidence in Nami's voice. Of course Nami would make such a bold declaration without a hint of doubt.
"Yeah," Nami responded. "I have been practicing making maps on my own for a while now. I wanted to wait until I made a really good one before telling you and Bellemère."
"Oh, sorry for blowing your cover," Selena apologized. "But that's an amazing dream, Nami. I'm sure you're going to do it one day."
"It's not a big deal. It wasn't a secret or anything – I just wanted the map I showed them to be perfect. I'll probably wait a bit before telling Bellemère though," Nami said, with a huge smile on her face. Even just talking about her dream made her feel giddy and excited. "One day, I'm going to be an amazing navigator and I'm going to be the first person to ever draw a map of the whole world!"
Nojiko smiled at her. "I'm sure you will," she said sincerely.
Nami beamed at the two girls next to her. She had been hesitant about voicing her dream out loud, not because she doubted herself, but because she was nervous they doubted her. Instead, they accepted her dream like it was a sure fact, like they knew that one day Nami would accomplish it. She felt a rush of affection towards them.
"What about you, Selena?" Nami asked.
"Me?" She couldn't suppress the confident grin that snuck its way onto her face. "I want to travel all of the oceans and visit new islands. I want to learn about new cultures and meet people who live differently than me. I want to go on unbelievable adventures that you would normally only read about in fiction books. You know how my dad is always telling me about the amazing stuff he's seen on the Grand Line? Basically, I want to see those things for myself. I want explore every inch of this incredible world and experience everything it has to offer!" she declared resolutely.
Nojiko giggled at her friend's enthusiasm. "That sounds amazing, Selena."
"Yeah!" Nami agreed. "Maybe one day we could sail together and you could explore the islands we visit while I draw maps!" she added eagerly.
Selena smiled wistfully. "Yeah… maybe." She knew for sure that one day Nami was going to go on fantastic adventures with the rest of the Strawhats and that she would be going her own way. She hoped her journey would be even a fraction as cool as theirs was fated to be.
"What about you, Nojiko?" Selena asked quickly, hoping that neither of the other two girls had noticed her somber tone.
"Well… mine isn't as exciting as what you two are planning on doing," Nojiko responded.
"That doesn't matter!" Nami countered.
"Yeah," Selena added. "If it's your dream then that means it's important to you, which means it's important to us."
Nojiko was touched by the two younger girls' words of support.
"I think that in the future I want to take over Bellemère's tangerine grove," she admitted. "I don't know if I want to get married or anything like that but I would also want to adopt one day, so I could help out a kid the same way Bellemère did for us," she finished, gesturing to herself and Nami.
"That's a beautiful dream, Nojiko," Selena responded softly.
"You really think so?" Nojiko asked, sounding uncharacteristically unsure.
"I really do," Selena reassured her. "I'm sure Bellemère would think so too."
Nami thought over what she wanted to say carefully before speaking up. She wanted to be supportive, especially after seeing how accepting Nojiko was of her dream, but she didn't understand where Nojiko was coming from.
"Do you really want to stay in Cocoyashi?" she asked hesitantly. "What made you feel this way?"
Nojiko hummed in thought. She shifted her free arm so that she could hold onto Nami's hand.
"You probably don't remember since you were really little, and I barely remember it, but on the day Bellemère found us I was so scared. I remember it had been really loud for a few days, then everything settled into an eerie silence. I had been hiding, waiting for the noises of the battle to stop, and when I came out I saw that everything had been reduced to rubble. My memories are pretty vague, but I do remember the people – trapped under the buildings, or buried under debris – and they were all so still and quiet."
Nami sucked in a gasp of air. She had never asked about the day they were rescued. Bellemère had always just told them that she had found them and after looking into their eyes she had decided she was taking them home with her.
"I wandered around for a bit, looking for anyone that had survived. Eventually I heard a baby crying, and I ran towards the sound," Nojiko continued. "As soon as I picked you up, you stopped crying. I tried to be brave for you, but I was scared because we were all alone. Not long after that, Bellemère found us. She was injured, but even though she was hurt really badly she was more worried about us than herself. That's how I knew we could trust her."
Nojiko smiled and closed her eyes.
"I remember how safe I felt when she first held me in her arms. Even though we were surrounded by death and destruction, I knew she wouldn't let anything bad happen to us. And then you laughed."
"I laughed?" Nami parroted incredulously.
Selena smiled. She could picture the scene: Bellemère bloody and bruised holding onto Nojiko, who in turn was carrying Nami. The remains of that town crumbling around them, the deathly silence suffocating them, when all of a sudden Nami laughs. She was torn, because while she felt like she was intruding on a private moment, she was also pleased they felt comfortable enough around her to talk like this.
"You laughed," Nojiko responded. "I think that's the moment we became a family. Bellemère looked at you, and then back at me, and we couldn't help but be happy that you weren't affected by all the horrible stuff going on around you. I think that's when she decided to take us home with her."
"Do you ever wonder what happened to our real families?" Nami asked quietly, barely above a whisper.
Nojiko shifted so she could look at Nami in the eyes. "No, not really. There's no point. Bellemère triple checked – we were the only survivors. You don't remember that day, but I do. Everything was just gone. There's no way someone else made it out of there alive," she stated. "Besides, we are your real family," she finished off defensively.
"Do you-" Nami started, before inhaling deeply through her nose and starting again. "Do you really think so?"
Her voice was hushed, ashamed of what she was about to say.
"Sometimes I feel like Bellemère just got stuck with us. That she would be happier if she had never found us – found me. She had to quit the marines and she never has any money because she's always spending it on us. Sometimes I bet she regrets ever keeping us," she choked out, trying to hold back a sob.
Selena tried to convey her feelings of sympathy through a hug. She used her hold on Nami to switch places with her, so that Nami was sandwiched in-between Nojiko and her. She began rubbing slow circles into Nami's back, letting Nojiko do all the talking.
"No, no, no, no, no," Nojiko shushed her, pulling her in close to her chest. "It wasn't something she did without thinking. Bellemère fought to keep us. When she got back to Cocoyashi with us, all of the villagers tried to convince her to give us up. They told her she was too irresponsible to raise two kids, that she wouldn't be able to handle us, but she ignored all of them. She knew she was supposed to be our mother."
"But it's not the same! She's not our real mom. We're not even related!" Nami sobbed shamefully.
Nojiko felt frustrated. How could Nami not understand? Bellemère loved them, gave up everything for them. She wouldn't have done that if she thought she would regret it for a second.
Selena had seen this a few times before. She had worked with a few adopted kids during her internship working under a school psychologist, and she saw all of the same things those children were feeling in Nami. She definitely had abandonment issues, which Selena guessed were rooted in the fact that Nojiko had found Nami alone. Nami had no idea what happened to her first family – had they left her behind to save themselves?
She could also see that Nami felt really guilty for all of the hardship Bellemère went through in order to take care of them, especially the financial issues. She could see how in the story she had ended up lashing out at Bellemère before her death, since these emotions have obviously been building up in a while. She guessed that Nami repressed these feelings in the original timeline, maybe because the opportunity to talk about it never came up. Bellemère was a great mother, but she wasn't really the type to sit down and have emotional heart to hearts with her kids.
Nami put up a tough front, and she was definitely strong-willed, but she was still just an eight-year-old kid. She needed to be reassured that she really was wanted.
Most of all, Selena could see just how badly Nami wanted to belong. She wanted to accept Nojiko and Bellemère as her family, but she wanted them to choose her out of love and not some sense of obligation. In the story, Nami hadn't gotten that moment until Bellemère laid down her life for them. Selena saw no reason to force Nami to wait that long. It might not be her place – hell, she knew it wasn't her place – but she had kept quiet for long enough. She wasn't going to let her friend suffer if she could do something about it.
"Look, I'm probably not the one who should be saying this to you-" Selena started. "And this is definitely something you should talk to Bellemère about, but just because you guys aren't related by blood doesn't mean you aren't family. Bellemère may not be your birthmother, but she has raised you since you were a baby," Selena said, trying to put as much emotion into her voice as she could.
She desperately wanted Nami to understand that just because her familial ties were forged and not pre-packaged, it didn't make them any less special.
"She has sacrificed a lot for you, in order to make sure you and Nojiko grow up healthy and happy. If anything, she has done more for you than most parents because she chose you. She could have left you with the marines, let the World Government decide what to do with you, or left you with the Cocoyashi villagers. Instead she went against the people she grew up with, the people she has known her whole life, in order to keep you. She wasn't 'just stuck with you,' she fought with everything she had for you."
Nami twisted back so she could look at Selena's face.
"She chose you," Selena finished, her words ringing with sincerity.
Nami searched her face for any hint of doubt, any sign that Selena was just telling her what she wanted to hear. Not finding any, she turned back to Nojiko, with a silent plea in her eyes for some sort of confirmation of Selena's words.
"It's true," Nojiko said easily. "The villagers begged her to give us up to the marines. They thought she was too young, too irresponsible, and too reckless to take care of us. They meant well, but Bellemère felt like it was fate that brought her to us. It would have been so easy for her to give up, but she didn't. Because she's our mom."
Nami swallowed thickly, tears still running down her face but no longer full-on sobbing. "I guess I never thought of it that way…"
"Trust me," Nojiko reassured her emphatically. "Besides, does Bellemère seem like the type of person who would do something if she didn't really want to? You've lived with her long enough to know her better than that," she teased.
Nami giggled a bit at that, although it still seemed kind of strained. She took a few calming breaths, taking a second to revel in the comfort of being smushed in between two people who really cared about her.
She did feel a lot better, like a weight had been lifted off of her. She guessed that she had been carrying that burden with her for a while. It had never been a conscious thing, it was a just a feeling of guilt and abandonment that had chipped away at her over time. She still felt like she needed to talk about it with Bellemère, but everything Selena and Nojiko had said made sense.
There was just one more thing eating away at her peace of mind.
"But…" she started, before cutting herself off. Her tears were finally starting to dry up, and she didn't want to get emotional again.
"No, finish what you were about to say," Nojiko said gently. "It's better if it's all just out in the open."
Nami sighed. "It's just… what you said makes sense, but… what about you?"
Nojiko scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What about me?"
"Well," Nami started slowly, focusing on the feel of Selena's small hand rubbing soothing circles in-between her shoulder blades. "Bellemère chose us; she legally adopted us. But you never got a say. We were just both adopted by the same person. You never got the chance to choose your sister."
Nojiko was about to cut in to refute what Nami was saying, but Selena had a better idea. Without taking much time to think it over, she just blurted it out.
"Why don't you guys choose each other now?"
"What do you mean?" Nojiko asked curiously. Nami was already her sister, no matter what anyone said, but if there was some way to reassure her then she would do it in a heartbeat.
"Well…" Selena started with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Did you know that if you exchange saké cups you can become brothers? I'm sure it works for sisters too," she added impishly.
"Where did you hear that?" Nami asked dubiously.
"I heard a pirate say it," Selena replied smoothly. Technically Ace was a pirate… will be a pirate? She wasn't sure if she was lying or not but she didn't feel guilty about it at all.
"Actually, I've heard that too," Nojiko added eagerly.
Nami looked back and forth between them before breaking out into a huge grin. "Let's do it!" she cheered before flinging the quilt off of them and dashing towards the house.
She scrubbed her face quickly, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. Hopefully it would be too dark for Bellemère and Hitoshi to see her properly, or if she was really lucky they would be drunk already.
She ran past them and into the house, not giving them a chance to question her. Once inside, she grabbed a pillow and a pillowcase. She checked under the sink for Bellemère's emergency saké stash, and almost cheered out loud when she found one hidden behind the cleaning products. She grabbed the ceramic sake cups and the bottle, wrapped them in a dishtowel so they wouldn't clink together, and stuffed them in the pillowcase behind the pillow. She hugged the bundle close to her body.
She jogged back outside a little slower, being careful not to break anything. She shouted a quick "just needed an extra pillow!" as she passed the adults, not giving them a chance to respond.
She ran back to the other two girls, who had straightened out the blanket and were now sitting on top of it.
With a triumphant grin, Nami showed off the stolen contraband. "Got it! It wasn't even hard!" she couldn't help but brag.
Nojiko rolled her eyes while Selena just chuckled at the little thief.
Nami set the bottle down, shooting a quizzical glance at Selena. For some reason, she had scooted back from her when Nami joined them on the blanket.
Selena did her best to remain inconspicuous. She felt kind of awkward for being present for what she knew was going to be a special moment for Nami and Nojiko. She was considering leaving to join the adults for a bit so that the girls could have some privacy, when she noticed that Nami had stolen three saké cups. She couldn't stop the bewildered look that came across her face.
Nami huffed in amusement at her friend's confusion. After a quick look towards Nojiko to make sure she agreed, she carefully set one of the saké cups in front of Selena.
Nami looked at her directly in the eyes before saying, "If what you said is true and we actually have the power to choose who we want to be in our family, then we choose you."
Selena's eyes widened in response. She turned to Nojiko to see if she felt the same way.
Nojiko smiled softly back at her. "Over the last three years I've come to see you like another little sister. One that gets into less trouble than my first one-"
"Hey!" Nami interjected.
"-but not by much," Nojiko finished.
"And I've always wanted a little sister that hangs off of my every word and that I could boss around," Nami added helpfully.
Selena huffed out a wet laugh, blinking back the tears from her eyes. Nami sure knew how to ruin an emotional moment.
"I feel the same way about you guys," Selena said. "I would be honored to call you my sisters," she added seriously.
Seeing Nami and Nojiko beaming back at her, she couldn't help but get a good feeling about this.
The three of them sat down in a circle, with the three cups and the saké bottle in the middle. They poured the saké out for each other, as it was done traditionally, then passed on their cup. This way, they each ended up drinking a cup of saké that was poured out by one sister and given to them by the other.
Holding her cup up high under the light of the full moon, Nojiko began the vow that all three of them would remember for the rest of their lives.
"Starting tonight, the three of us will be linked together with a bond that could never be broken," she began. "We'll protect each other-"
"And support each other-" Nami added.
"And be there for each other, no matter what," Selena finished.
"From this day forward, we will always be…" Nojiko said, pausing to look at Nami and Selena before all three of them finished the vow in unison.
"Sisters!"
They clinked their cups together and knocked back the shot of saké. Selena smiled as the alcohol burned down her throat pleasantly, before turning concernedly at the choking sounds her new sisters were making.
Nami was clutching her neck and gagging while Nojiko put on a brave face, completely disregarding the tears that were running down her cheeks freely.
Selena laughed loudly and completely carefree. She threw herself at the other two girls, wrapping them up in a group hug.
She felt so lucky to be able to call these two incredible people her sisters.
End Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed this extra-long chapter! It had actually been finished for a while, but I wasn't happy with it and kept editing it. I'm still not sure about the last bit, but got tired of just re-writing the same scene over and over.
So we finally see some of the changes from the original plot. Nothing crazy so far, and mostly just in Garp. Basically, I figured that Garp hadn't been around any children in the original story. Seeing the way Selena was growing up, and how her parents acted, has given Garp new insight in how he should be treating his grandsons. He is also visiting way more often than in the original story (in which I estimated he only visited once every couple of years).
He's also going to be hanging around the East Blue for a while, since he doesn't know what's going on with the marines there. I always wondered how the Red Haired pirates chilled out there for a year without anyone reporting them.
As for the last scene - that's actually where the idea for this fic originated from! I absolutely adore the ASL brothers, and felt an urge to write about a sort of female sisterhood counterpart. Hopefully I did a good job of explaining their motivations! Let me know your thoughts!
Last edited 5/7/22.
