CHAPTER 3:

"What are you doing?" Ace asked. "Wait, no, don't answer that." His eyes fled the eccentric female and turned to the blonde haired division captain, "Marco, what is she doing?"

Ada lay stationary within a barrel, a very old barrel she's treasured for years. Her head was the only thing outside of it. Her eyes stared at the sky and she did absolutely nothing.

"Is she in an old-looking barrel yoi?" Marco asked, his eyes never leaving the boxes he was stacking up.

"Yeah."

"So it's already that time of the year yoi."

"What time of the year?"

"That time of the year?" Thatch piped up. "I hope it doesn't rain. Last time there was a storm and she refused to leave her spot."

"What time of the year?" Ace now asked the redhead… but still no answer.

"The day she met the Whitebeard pirates," Tierney, the old cook, answered. "I still can't believe she kept track of it."

"Why is she in a barrel then?"

"Because that's how she got here… Quite a storm that kid is and to think it's been ten years."

"Mine!" Everyone on deck stared at their crewmate, ferociously wrestling a red-headed kid off his head. "Oi, get off of me!"

"No! It's my hair now!"

"But you already have hair!"

She grumbled as she jumped repeatedly on his shoulders, "You can have mine!"

Finally curious, Marco calmly stood and easily took the girl from his shoulders into his arms. He held her forearms firmly and positioned her in front of him and in midair. "You can't have my hair yoi."

"Why not?" she whined, now thrashing around in his arms.

"Because it's mine yoi."

"Then you are selfish! You are a meanie! You are a selfish meanie!" She turned away from the blonde while puffing her cheeks and crossing her arms on her chest. "I don't like selfish meanies."

He put her down. "Good, I don't like whiny kids"

He nonchalantly walked away and Ada didn't like that.

Marco walked to the direction to his captain until a simple tug on his pants stopped him in his tracks. The girl was staring at the ground, gripping his pants tightly, but as her grip got tighter she looked at him with wide eyes and immediately let go.

"I-I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me. Please don't leave. Please don't die." She looked up at him pleadingly, her eyes watery and her lips quivering. "Please."

Now Marco was baffled. This girl must be speaking from experience? Hopefully not. He crouched down to her level and immediately the kid wiped the increasing water in her eyes and bowed to cover her face. "I'm sorry, I will never do it again."

Now he was more curious… she wasn't like this a while ago. He bent his body and peeked at the girl's face. Fear. Her eyes were wide and watery again. Her face was different from a kid afraid of the dark… a child shouldn't have this expression. She looked as if he was going to kill her.

Marco straightened up and lifted his hand. The little girl saw movement and saw his hand hovering above her. She fell on the floor, her frightened eyes never leaving the blonde's hand.

And he stroked her hair. "You have beautiful hair. It reminds me of a rose yoi."

"My-my hair?" she stared at him as though what he was saying was absolutely impossible. "My hair?" she repeated.

"Yes, your hair yoi." He took a lock of her hair and placed it on his palm in front of the child. "See," he gestured to his hand, "pretty."

She hesitantly took the lock of hair and held it closer to her eye. "Well, it is kind of pretty…"

Marco stood up and gently took her hand in his. When she stared at him, he only nodded to her. He led the girl to his captain, simultaneously waving off the odd stares his crewmates were giving him.

"Where are you taking her?" Tierney asked, a spatula in his hand, fresh from the grill.

"To the captain yoi."

oOo

"Please leave with her."

She gulped. Great, just great, now she's alone with a white bearded man who she really doesn't want to be alone with. He looked like he could break her like a twig. He emanated an aura similar to her father's, intimidating and commanding, but it seemed less hostile. Maybe she should act like how she normally acts with her father…

"Sit," he commanded. And with the greatest of her speed, she dashed to the seat he was gesturing to and sat up straight.

"What is your name?"

"Defective, sir!"

"Defective, you say. Now tell me your real name."

The stowaway glanced from left to right, making extra sure that no one was watching. She walked to the captain's side and waved her hand to tell him to come closer. He did and she whispered to him her real name.

She walked back to her seat to face the old man.

"Why did you say your name was 'Defective'?"

"Because that's what everyone calls me, sir!" she answered loud and clear.

"Why were you in that barrel?"

"Because I planned to ambush the blonde and take his hair, sir!"

Whitebeard stifled his grin. Why would this child want his son's hair? Hair of all the things in the world! "Why would you want to have his hair?"

"Because maybe I wouldn't be defective anymore, sir!" The captain hummed in understanding, so this young one could understand why she was called defective and what the word meant. Her hair made her defective? Where did she come from. "Where do you live?"

"In the Land of Promise, sir!" the Land of Promise? They have never seen that island, but indeed he has heard of it. It was an island somewhere in the New World… it was an island hidden in the mist. The land was fertile and abundant with plants and it was said to have the most beautiful natural resources. He's always wanted to see it for himself. "How did you get into the island we were just in?"

"I… I ran away sir…" she murmured, it could barely be heard.

Ran away? From the New World to Paradise? This girl was a barrel of surprises! How was she able to do that?

"Why did you run away?"

"Because I… I didn't want to stay there… sir!" Whitebeard saw that determined glint in her eye… she seemed proud that she ran away.

"How did you get here from the New World?"

"Ugh," She tried to recall how. "Let's see first… I was drifting through the wind and suddenly I was in Wano and then I flew again and then the white-haired old man… Raylay ,Rayle,Rayleay… I forgot… I'll just call him Ray-san. Ray-san told me I was in Sabaody Archipelago and then I flew and bam I was in that island where I found Blondie!" Then her eyes widened in realization. "I-I mean I found the blonde man, sir!" Drifting to through the wind? Flying? The questions just kept piling up. But most of all…

"Why do you talk like a military man?"

"Because I believe you are similar to my father and if I don't I'll get the box, sir!"

Similar to her father? Probably not even close. "The box?" Whitebeard was bemused. This was his first time encountering a child such as her. She sounded like a Marine, and she ran away from the New World all by herself.

"The box is a second house to me, sir! A house I would never wish to live in, sir!"

"What is it?"

"It is a cardboard box big enough for a person double my size, sir! And it is also in the middle of the woods, sir!"

"I see…" Whitebeard thought for a moment. A cardboard box for a house? They let her stay there? To top it off they called her 'Defective'. Whitebeard's eyes darkened… children shouldn't be treated like that.

The kid stumbled from her chair. She fell again. The big man had that scary look in his eyes that she just wanted to run away and jump off of the ship. Slowly, she inched away, trying her best not to get his attention.

Snapping out of it, Whitebeard eyed the girl slowly trying to get away from him. She was cowering in fear and it looked like she was about to run away and jump off the deck.

The captain stood from his seat and approached girl. She immediately faced the door and tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. She stiffened, she felt it… the big man was behind her…no doubt about it. Slowly she turned around and she gasped as her face was only inches away from her… and he had that scrutinizing look.

Then he did what she never expected him to do.

"Gua ha ha ha ha!"

"Gua?" she blurted out.

He gave her a toothy grin and ruffled her hair. Okay, now she was really confused.

"I like you!"

"What? You-you like me? But aren't I too young for you? Are you a pedophile?" she asked with that straight face that only brought more laughter from the big man.

"Gua ha ha ha! I didn't mean it like that! I'll take you in!"

"Take me in? What do you mean?" She cocked her head to the side, immensely curious and a bit hopeful on what the man was saying.

"You are now my daughter!"

"Wait what? You're going to be my father? Aren't you too old?"

"It's never too old to be a father, child," he answered. The kid just stared at him… why would he want to be her father? No one wanted to be related to her so why was he offering? Was the old man cuckoo or something?

Then he smiled… no one ever smiled to her like that, not even her mother. It was a smile that she always longed for someone to give her… a smile that only existed in her imagination.

She could see it in his face, what he wanted to say…

I accept you.

Ada blinked her eyes, finally released from her memory. She liked it… reliving that day. That smile was etched on her mind from the day it happened and she wouldn't tell it to anyone else… it was something between the old man and her.

*Poke*

Her eye twitched as a twig poked her cheek.

*Poke*

"Stop that."

*Poke*

"I said stop!" She finally jump out of the barrel and was ready to battle her poke-r. "Ace?"

"Why were you in the barrel," he asked.

"Oh that… it's a secret," she dusted her shorts and walked to her captain.

"Old man…"

"Ada."

"Thanks."