A/N: My piece for the One Piece Growing Pains zine, a free zine that offers a glimpse into the childhoods of a whole bunch of characters! If you're interested, look it up and check it out!
Very early on, I had a great idea for Perona and wrote my longest prompt suggestion ever detailing every bit... it got picked, and turned into this story here. However, while it's primarily a glimpse at Perona's childhood and how she came to meet Gecko, in the end, it ended up just as much his fic as it was hers. Both of them get their time to shine, their pasts are explored, and bonds are formed over a shared love of scares. Buckle up for some sad, some glad, some silly, some pain, and a whoooole bunch of cute!
Also has some increeeedible art from my zine partner, softcenteregg (on Insta/Twitter/Tumblr). However, since this site doesn't let you post images, you'll have to go to Archiveofourown to see them. I highly recommend checking out that version, they really add to the story!
Perona had always thought the people that lived on the streets were silly. Why would they subject themselves to being dirty, hungry, homeless? Just stop being poor!
She never expected she'd end up among them.
The darkened alley was falling apart around her, a far cry from the stately mansion Perona was used to. Even the building she rested against looked like it was one strong gust away from all its shingles scattering in the wind. How had she ever ended up alone in a filthy place like this?
She knew how. Her whole life, she'd always gotten everything she'd ever wanted. Dolls, pets, clothes, even the shiny crown she still wore on her head. But it wasn't because her parents cared, quite the opposite. They just fulfilled all her wildest dreams as a fill-in for actually spending time with her. It was up to their servants to actually take care of her... sometimes, Perona wouldn't cross paths with mother and father in their spacious estate for weeks.
Despite that, they'd opted to bring their daughter along for a business trip to some boring island in the West Blue. Perhaps to give off the appearance of a normal family, or maybe out of some lackluster attempt to give her some overdue attention. She'd never know, nor did it matter. The moment they'd all arrived, her parents forgot she even existed. Literally. That was why she was stuck here in the first place... they hadn't bothered to check if she was on the boat before they'd left. They might not notice she was gone for days. They might not EVER notice.
But Perona, surprisingly, didn't mind that much. She wasn't very attached to them either. All she really missed was her mountain of toys and her pet bear, Kumae... and having a full stomach. Already she could feel hunger gnawing away at it.
Perona stuck her tongue out. She was going to have to beg like a peasant, wasn't she? Blech. She refused. She'd do things her own way. She just needed to find someone.
And as fate would have it... that was the moment a large shadow slowly stretched its way down the alley.
A hunched figure stalked into view, and it almost seemed like the alley darkened with their arrival. Perona paid it no mind. She studied the newcomer instead - a man with pale skin, practically gray, and an angry snarl full of sharp teeth. Someone was in a baaaad mood. He was tall, with a gothic style that could only be described as a vampire digging reeeeally far into the back of their closet. And… horns? The kind of figure that would make most other children run away on sight.
But most importantly... he looked a bit pudgy around the midsection, his gut jutting out from what used to be abs. That meant he had plenty of Beli to spend on food.
Perfect.
Ignoring the growling of her stomach, Perona pushed herself up, maintaining as much dignity as she could as she blocked his path. "Hey, you!" she called up to him, hand extended. "Give me some money!"
The man slowed to a stop. He scowled at her, like one would at a bit of trash blocking their path. Without a word, he shoved past her.
"HEY!" To a girl used to getting what she wanted, his response was unacceptable. ESPECIALLY when he was being so rude about it. Refusing to give up, she launched herself at him, latching onto his leg. "Don't act like you can't hear me! I'll bite!"
He finally halted and looked at her again… and this time, there was fire in his eyes. He swatted her away, making her jump back. If looks could kill, she'd already be dead.
But suddenly, the man's scowl flipped around… and something stirred behind him, slithering up the wall, barely perceptible in the darkness. "You want something? Fine. I'll give you somethin'."
Perona squinted above his head, trying to make out the strange shape in the gloom. And when she finally realized what it was… its face lit up with glowing eyes and a grin even more jagged than its owner's.
It was the man's shadow. Acting on its own. And before she could react, it burst before her eyes.
Perona yelped as dozens of flapping orbs surrounded her - fat bats that screeched and cackled, flooding the alley with a flurry of wings. They circled her, trapped her, a couple even darting close to shriek right in front of her face.
Perona stared in open-mouthed shock, eyes wide as could be. The man's wicked sneer grew wider — scaring kids speechless was hardly something to be proud of, but it certainly improved his foul mood. It took a moment, but Perona finally managed to find her words.
"They're… so… CUTE!"
The girl snagged the nearest bat and nuzzled it, ignoring its complaints. The rest of them stopped swarming and glanced between each other, looking unsure where to go from here. Even the man deflated, at a loss. "You're, uh… you're supposed to be afraid, kid."
Perona squished the bat against her cheek, giving the man a confused stare while she touched faces with his minion. "I am?"
The man had looked really angry when he'd first walked down the alley. But now… he laughed. "Kishishi…! You're an interesting little brat, ain'tcha?" he asked, kneeling down to her level. The captive bat looked at him, silently pleading for its master to rescue it, but he shrugged it off. "Why're you out in the dark, anyway?"
"Why are you?" she snapped back.
"Tch. I asked first."
Perona blew a raspberry at him, but not even she could ignore the rule of firsties. "...My parents left the island without me," she grumbled, giving her bat a squeeze.
…Oh. Normally, the man would sarcastically claim he couldn't imagine why. He was a pirate, he wasn't above making a child cry. But… something stopped him. A realization.
He could actually relate to suddenly finding yourself alone.
He went quiet. After a moment, the bats started flapping again, converging behind him to reform his shadow once more — except the one in Perona's grasp, which whined once it realized it'd been left behind. The stranger stepped aside and pressed against the wall, sliding down. Without a word or even a glance her way, he fished something from his pocket and offered it to her. A few shiny coins. "Here."
Perona's eyes gleamed like the coins themselves as she greedily snatched them up. Her new playmate promptly used the opening to escape back into the man's shade, but she didn't care. This would feed her for a few days, at least.
The man shut his eyes, expecting her to run off and find some grub immediately. He'd done his good deed for the year and essentially paid her to have the alley to himself, and he planned to use it to sit and mope awhile. Maybe even sleep here for the night. Instead, he got a finger prodding his arm. When he opened his lids again, the girl was seated beside him. "I'm Perona," she said.
"Didn't ask." He shut her out again, yet he still felt her presence by his side. After a moment, he sighed, deciding to play along. "The name's Gecko Moria. Why the hell are you still here?"
"You never said why you're out so late."
Moria barked out a laugh. "I'm an adult, stupid, I can be out as late as I want! I just wanted a drink at the tavern here," he answered. "I used to go there a lot with some… old friends." His gaze dropped.
"...Like milk?"
He didn't respond. Perona quickly realized she wasn't going to get an answer. Wisely deciding to shut up for once, the girl counted her coins instead while the man rested his chin in his hands, deep in thought.
Whatever he was thinking, he finally seemed to come to a decision, sitting straight once again and glancing her way. "Tell you what… how about you tag along with me, kid? There's plenty more frights where that came from in my pirate crew."
If those frights were as adorable as the one she just saw, Perona was definitely intrigued. Most kids knew becoming a pirate was a dangerous suggestion. Perona wasn't like most kids. To her, it sounded… fun. And it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go right now.
There was just one little thing she had to ask first. "Can I have more bats?!"
He squinted, unamused. "Yeah, sure, whatever."
"And can I be the ship's princess?!"
"Uh… fine? But I'm in charge."
"And I want a unicorn!"
"Look, are you coming before I change my mind or what?"
"I'll come!" She'd take a raincheck on that horsey. For now, Perona was content. She'd gotten some sweeteners, and now she had a place to stay… with someone whose shadow had a mind of its own. She could already tell this new life would be far more fun than her old one.
At the same time, Moria had a hunch he was going to regret this… but he had his first crewmate now. He just needed to do a better job protecting this one than the others. Which meant he should probably put off that alley nap and feed her before she keeled over from hunger.
Gecko stood up again, grumbling to himself - one day, he'd find a way to lead a crew he couldn't lose to starvation… or anything else. For now though, he motioned for her to follow. "Come on. There's gotta be someplace still open around here." And if not, well, stealing food was practically in his job description anyway.
She hopped up by his side… and, to his chagrin, took his hand. Yep, that was some real 'scary pirates' energy right there. "Okay! I want some eclairs."
"You'll be lucky if you get biscuits at this hour," he snapped. And if she tried to complain about that, he'd be pulling the 'what the captain says goes' card earlier than he'd wanted to. Thankfully, she was too hungry to be picky, so he escorted her down the alley without fuss. "How old are ya anyway, kid?"
She told him — and the response immediately resonated in his head. Her birthday did, anyway. June 7th. That was the same day that...
Moria froze in his tracks, echoes from the past ringing in his ears. The steely clang of sword on club. The haunting roar of beasts and flames. The pained cries of his former comrades.
Behind his eyes, memories of a life-changing battle flashed. Even just remembering the date reminded him of that fateful day. And on the same day she arrived in this world, all his old crew was leaving it?
...But maybe it was a sign.
Yeah. It just might be. A sign that taking this snooty little girl in was the start of a new generation of the Gecko Pirates. One he'd make sure he could never lose again.
"Hey! You still alive, mister?"
Gecko blinked, drawn from his thoughts. He looked down… but she was gone. His eyes flicked back up to find himself face to face with her. "GAH! How'd you get on my shoulder?!"
"I climbed up, duh." She kicked her legs and pouted at him, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"You're gonna scare someone silly, kid!" For a moment, the two stared at each other. Then, they slowly grinned in unison, finally bursting into laughter.
"Kishishishishi!"
"Horororororo!"
When their laughter died down, they finally set off once more, leaving the alley behind. "We're gonna get along just fine," Gecko mused aloud.
Somehow, she was thinking the same thing.
Ahhhh, shadow dad and ghost daughter. One of my favorite parts of writing a character-centric fic is all the things you learn about them while you study them. Gecko's backstory is rough - caring so deeply about his crew, losing them all, and making his way all the way back up to Warlord by replacing them with something much more expendable. Yet despite his loss, all his top officers are alive - he even ADOPTED Perona and raised her. This fic was my attempt to show the first time they met and what both of them must've been feeling - why would some little girl go off with some big fearsome pirate? Why was he willing to take someone in after his entire view on mortality was shattered? In the end, I realized they likely had more similarities than you'd notice at first glance.
An interesting thing to note: Gecko had both Absalom and Perona before he met Hogback, and since Perona's at least a teen then, he'd had her for awhile by that point. My theory is that while he uses zombies from now on so he'll never suffer such a grand tragedy again, letting Perona into his life helped open him up a bit to working with the living again, hence why he eventually recruited the Graveyard King and Mad Doctor to help create and lead his undead minions. Another fun fact: A lot of the zombies Hogback made were designed after Perona's toys - most notably, the Wild Zombies, of which almost all of them are his earliest creations. Maybe he needed to practice with animals before moving on to humans, but I like to think Gecko ordered him to make his daughter whatever she wanted first of all :P Their relationship in the present day may be more boss/lackey, but there's a lot of cute found family potential if you poke around the background a bit.
Unfortunately, I thought I found something interesting early on: Perona being born the same year the Gecko Pirates were wiped out. Sadly, I think I was wrong on that since the wiki had conflicting information, so in the end I ended up changing it to sharing the same birthday as the day it happened to maintain a similar vibe. Which, when you think about it... means Gecko has to celebrate his daughter's birthday and mourn his old crew on the same day. I may make a future fic centering around that... stay tuned.