Chapter 12

She allowed him in first before she walked in and shut the door. She sat at her desk and motioned for him to sit in the arm chair in the corner. He sat down with a sigh. Both parties stared at each other as questions roamed in their minds. With a pang she realized the man was right about her eyes. They were the exact shape and color as his. Her's only differing by having longer eyelashes.

"Tell me what happened back then, when you met my mother." Yoshihiro sat forward resting his elbow on his knees.

"The crew I was with at the time docked on the island for supplies. I met Youko when I was helping the cook buy supplies. She was employed as a saleswoman at the butcher's shop. We spent much of our time together while I was on the island. I tried not to get too close to her because I knew I would be leaving the island in a few days. Saying it was love at first sight sounds like a terrible cliche. But that is what it was. That was about the time Katsuo approached me. He told me he wanted Youko to be his and I should disappear from her life. Of course neither of us headed his warning. We spent all of our time together even the last few nights before I left. I asked her to come with me. She could have escaped Katsuo and his advances. But she was so incredibly stubborn." He shook his head and smiled fondly. "She was adamant that Katsuo would give up eventually. She said that a pirate ship was no place for a domestic girl like herself to build a life upon. She was happy with the time we had together and she wouldn't ask me to give up on being a pirate to live a domestic life with her. I can only assume that is why she never tried to tell me about you in the next few months. So, I left. I never heard anything about you or her till I saw this poster." He poked at the lump in his pocket.

"Can I see it?" He dug out the paper and handed it to her. She unfolded it and stared at the description.

"What happened when I left? You said she died..."

"...Giving birth to me, yes. It was actually Katsuo's fault that she went into an early labor. He showered her with gifts when you left. He tried to bribe her to become his wife. He accidentally gave her a devil fruit. When she ate it it caused too much stress on her pregnant body. She died and I got the power of the devil fruit instead of her. Katsuo called it mercy when he allowed me to live. He spread rumors of the worst kind about me. I was shunned by the entire village as a monster. They hated me and forced me to starve. They denied me every possible opportunity for a normal life." Her tone was detached and almost bored as if she were talking about someone else. "By the time Sanji found me I was severely emaciated from starvation. They tried to get me to join their crew but I only accepted after Katsuo tried to kill me. I know now he only did that to prevent me from leaving and having a better life. If I stayed on the island he could continue with his perverse and unjust punishment. That was about two and a half weeks ago." She looked into his eyes. Pity and remorse for his unknown actions consumed him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I have done. If I had known..." He put his head in his hands. It was his fault, not Katsuo's, that she had lived alone and unwanted. He had condemned the only woman he loved and their only child. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. They threatened to spill over till he was shocked out of his train of thought.

"I forgive you." He looked up to see a smile so reminiscent of the woman he loved. "My past wasn't exactly desirable. But I don't blame you for what happened."

"You can come with me. You have finally been brought back to me. You can sail the seas with my crew and I can teach you everything I know. I've missed 18 years of your life but I can be there for you now if you join me. I would like the opportunity to be your father."

She sighed as her face held a sorrowful expression. She set down her wanted poster on her desk. All her life she had dreamed of meeting her parents but now that her father was here, ready to finally build a relationship with her, she didn't know what to say to him. She would love the opportunity to leave with him and learn from the man she had wished was in her life. But faced with the decision...

"I can't go with you. My friends here were the first people to show me compassion and care for me. They took me in when I had no where to go. This was the first place that I ever felt like I belonged. They even build this place specifically for me." She waved a hand around, gesturing to the room. "They have given me so much, more than I ever dared to dream. Even if I wanted to leave, I would feel like I would leave a part of myself behind."

"Somehow I knew I wouldn't convince you. You are so much like your mother." He stood up and gently took her hand for her to stand up as well. He embraced her suddenly. He brought her head to his chest and stroked her hair gently. "If you will forgive me for saying this, either much too early or much too late, I love you musume." Her hands wrapped around him, holding him close. She didn't mind what he said. She didn't feel comfortable enough to use such a strong word. But she settled for what she thought was a close second.

"Otou-san."

Recognizing Yoshihiro as her father was important to both of them. By her calling him by his proper title she was telling him she was accepting him into her life, despite the fact that they would soon be parting ways. They stood there for several minutes, embracing each other. They detached slowly with sorrowful smiles adorning their faces.

"There is one more thing I wanted to know. Why are they calling you an alchemist? You said you had devil-fruit powers. Is that what the poster is referring to?"

"Yes. I'm not sure who came up with "Alchemist Mezumi" but I suppose it is an apt description of my abilities. I can basically control atoms, which make up everything. I can move them around and I can change an atom of a substance into a completely different substance." His eyebrows raised in astonishment. She held her palm out flat. Concentrating, she produced a gold bar out of thin air and then made it disappear. She pulled Kouki out of it's holder and watched as he observed it. "My friends gave this to me. It's really just an ordinary piece of metal but, when I can control it at will..." She shifted it into a sword. "I can make anything I want with it." She shifted it back to a cylinder and slid it back into it's home on her right leg. Yoshihiro had a strange gleam of pride in his eyes.

"I'm glad you can defend yourself. Even with friends as strong as your's, the grand line is very dangerous. I hope you go out and have plenty of stories to tell me when we meet again."

"You're leaving already?" She knew he couldn't stay with her forever but he had only just got here.

"I convinced my Captain to wait here so I could meet you. He only gave me till tonight to find you. If I am not on my ship at dark they will sail on without me. Captain Eiji has never been a patient man."

"Will you stay long enough to meet my friends?" She looked uncertain. Relationships between human beings were still new territory to her. Introducing her father to her friends would be an ordeal.

"I would love to." She beamed up at him. She quickly had everyone assembled on deck for what she believed was going to be an awkward moment.

"I wanted to introduce you all to my otou-san. It turns out a few things I thought I knew about him were lies. I just wanted him to meet all the people that were important to me." She pointed out each crew member and stated their name. He walked up to Zoro with narrowed eyes. Zoro's usual mask of grumpy indifference was invaded by confusion and slight curiosity.

"You had better take care of my musume, boy. You protect her and you make her happy for as long as you are with her. If I find out you hurt her in anyway, you won't live long enough to regret it. I only just found her and I am not going to lose her." Zoro looked more confused, embarrassed and a bit horrified. Mezumi had turned a deep shade of crimson.

"O-Otou-san, I am not 'with' anyone." Her voice was drowned out by Zoro's much louder exclamation.

"I'm not dating her. The shit cook is the one with his eye on her." Zoro jerked his thumb over his right shoulder at the blonde a few paces away. Yoshihiro abandoned Zoro with an apologetic look. He walked up to Sanji in the same manner he had just done to Zoro. He studied Sanji for a moment. They spoke quietly to avoid being over heard.

"Is it true you have your eye on my dear musume?" His eyes were slightly narrowed.

"It would be a lie to say no. You should know I have the utmost respect for her." Yoshihiro recalled his name.

"Sanji. She mentioned you were the one that saved her."

"I suppose you could say that. I found her when she was sick and brought her to our doctor. I helped to nurse her back to health."

"Are you interested in her romantically?"

"Yes I am." Yoshihiro looked very serious.

"Don't make the same mistake I did. Letting the opportunity slip by would be the biggest mistake of your life. Don't let such a precious woman walk out of your life." Sanji nodded. Yoshihiro offered Sanji his hand. Sanji shook it firmly. They raised their voices back to their normal pitch.

"Thank you for the advice."

"I will sleep soundly at night knowing you will be there for her."

She put her face in her hands. This man had been a father for almost an hour and he was already a professional at embarrassing his daughter.

"Wait! Why do I get the death threats?" Zoro shouted indignantly. Yoshihiro ignored him as he embraced Mezumi again.

"I love you. Good bye my dear musume. Until we meet again."

"Good bye otou-san." He kissed the top of her head and ran off back to his ship. Everyone separated on the ship as she watched him till he ran out of sight. She felt like crying. She had met and said good bye to her father in the same hour. Holding back her tears she reflected on the events of the day. She suddenly remembered she was going to make a gift for Sanji. She had just thought of the perfect gift. She cupped her hands so her palms faced each other. That served as a pocket large enough for the box she was about to create. Concentrating hard, she opened her hands to reveal a shiny box with a crease around the middle. The box was smaller than her little finger. Just large enough to hold the present inside. She felt elated at her success in concieving and creating a gift. She walked off to find Sanji.