Chapter 2

If you asked anyone in the small fisher village on Maruno Island what they thought of Yamamoto Hisana they would have told you that she was strange. Warm, kind hearted, an excellent diver and sailor but still strange… different in a way that many couldn't describe.

The daughter of Akito and Hanako loved singing strange songs from her earliest childhood in an even stranger language that nobody had ever heard of; not even her parents. She also seemed somehow connected with the nature around her, the garden of the Yamamotos was a sight to be seen, everything was green and luscious even during the strongest heat waves and they had the tastiest fruits in the whole village. Though with time this effect had somehow been reduced and a lot of the villagers had began to just laugh it off as their superstition running wild.

Aside from that Hisana was also a very independent girl, the complete opposite of the average village female that was dependant on her family and expected to be taken care of later in her life by her husband.

While she grew up the black haired girl never really connected with the other children her age. She got along reasonably well with the group of boys and girls she shared her reading, writing and counting lessons with and also indulged in some play time with them but there was always a certain kind of barrier between them. Musume-sensei, the widow that was paid by their parents to teach them the basics had once told her not to worry about it, that she just had an old soul and that the other children would sooner or later also mature. Hisana had thought about this for some time before shrugging her shoulders and returning to the book she always read during break time.

Another peculiarity about the black haired girl was that she loved the sea.

Of course the other kids on the small fisher island also learned how to sail, fish and dive but Hisana had such a passion for the open sea and the ever changing weather that she was the happiest when she was on a boat speeding over waves and inhaling the salty air. Because of this obsession most villagers joked that the sea was her first and only love and one day she would grow gills and fins and never return.
Her father and mother just smiled slightly pained whenever they heard that, they had recognized pretty soon into Hisana's preteen years that their daughter was something special and that the sea was calling to her like it did to nobody else on their tiny island, they also were aware that their little girl was intending to answer this call. Someday she would leave this small village behind to follow whatever was summoning her and nothing would deter her from her goal. As much as it would hurt they had long since decided to let their daughter go, neither Akito nor Hanako would stand in the way of Hisana's happiness even if that meant that they would have to let her find her way on the dangerous sea.

But there was another thing that was strange about Hisana that nobody, not even her parents, were aware of. The black haired girl with the jewel eyes dreamed of another world.

The strange dreams had begun around her eleventh birthday and ended sometime after her fourteenth. During that time she had relived the life of the witch Helen Potter in her dreams. It had taken Hisana some time to accept that those dreams were actual memories but when she did the black haired girl had to laugh a bit about the accurate deduction Musume-sensei had made a few years ago, she really was an old soul!
Having finally found the reason for her strangeness Hisana just mentally shrugged and concentrated back on her new life as Hisana in this world. After all Helen was dead and while magic looked and sounded interesting, she really liked this life better. Her family loved her and she had a lot more freedom than back in England… oh and don't forget the lack of interest in her person!

In the days after accepting her experiences Hisana's thoughts sometimes drifted back to her death when she looked out on the sea, the black haired girl had been darkly amused when she realized how ironic it truly was. Helen Potter had drowned in her last life, only to be reborn as the daughter of a lower class fisherman and his wife who of course would teach her how to navigate the seas. Maybe these memories would have detained somebody else from their goal but like hell it would make her back off.
Hisana had decided to become a Finn Dinghy racer sometime after her seventh birthday when one of the professional racers that had stopped at Maruno to resupply had taken out some of the kids on his Finn Dinghy. Hisana had fallen in love with the speed and maneuverability of the small vessel and since then had aligned everything in her life to reach this goal. Her first Finn had been the old one from the Eiri grandpa that had died when she was ten. Her father had bought it off the family and while it was old and a bit too bulky for racing Hisana had loved the boat and had taken good care of it for the two years it had belonged to her until it had literally broken under her feet. By that time her fishing and diving skills had brought in enough money to pay half of another second hand boat, this time a slimmer and newer one. Her parents had paid for the other half as a birthday present and it was on this boat that Hisana had started to learn the more complicated fishermen maneuvers and even started to emulate the various tricks of the racers that she had observed during the annual races all over the isle group. It was also the boat she still had to this day and while it had to be frequently repaired it was Hisana's most important possession.

Hisana smiled contently while she cleaning up the last of her fishing gear and stored her catch in the hand-woven basket after that she stood up from her favorite place at the dock and glanced once more onto the vast body of water in front of her. By that time of the day it was colored in different pink and violet tones and the black haired girl paused for a moment to admire the beautiful sight in front of her, she felt the by now familiar tug in her heart while she watched the small waves clash against the coast and the dock in front of her and sighed longingly. With a tiny smile and a last catlike stretch Hisana then turned around to run home to bring her family her newest clam and fish catch.

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Two weeks later Hisana sailed for the first time alone to the neighboring isle for the annual Finn dinghy race. Sadly she would only be there as a spectator and not as a participant, she hadn't had enough money left for the entrance fee after she had had to pay for the repair of her sailcloth and as much as her parents would like to encourage her competiveness, they just hadn't the extra money to spare at the moment. Her little brother Hojo had just turned three and a baby was expensive after all.

When Hisana arrived at the port a few hours before the race, it was already filling with spectators and racers from all over the isle group and even some of the neighboring ones if Hisana recognized the flags correctly. The black haired girl watched the on goings for a bit before she steered her boat to one of the less crowded dock stations and bound it to a free log. She was lucky that her flag proclaimed her a citizen of Maruno and so exempted her from dock dues. After checking her Finn once more she grabbed her duffel bag and made her way in direction of the market. She had about three hours left before the race began and she wanted to take a look at the different stands beforehand and maybe buy a toy for Hojo-chan.

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Hisana spent two hours roaming in the streets while she took in the people and wares around her, she had seen one or two toys that looked good but she held off, after all there was a chance that somewhere else was something even better for her little brother. And wasn't that weird, she had a little brother in this life?

Hojo was a sweet child, he didn't cry very often and although she had been wary of the terrible twos he hadn't thrown any major temper tantrums like she had been used to from Dudley. Hojo too had black hair and green eyes, though his eyes were more of a moss color, just like their father's. It had been an interesting and slightly daunting experience seeing her brother grow up from an infant to a toddler, he was now running around and talking the ears off anybody who would listen. A younger sibling was at first a strange concept for Hisana but she had soon fallen in love with him and now couldn't think of a life without him.

Hisana was so deep in her thoughts that at first she didn't realize that she had become hungry, when the loud growl of her stomach finally alerted her to it she hastily wandered to the next stand that offered squid balls. The smell was driving her crazy and when she finally held a portion in her hand she was promptly run over by a red haired man.

Annoyed emerald eyes met wide eyed chocolate brown.

The man in front of her stared down at Hisana until she snorted and he seemed to be ripped out whatever trance he had been in, he gave her a somewhat sheepish grin while he took in the situation and the upturned tray with her food.

His voice was deep and warm while he apologized, "Oh man, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you, seriously!" he said with earnest eyes.

Hisana just sighed; the fried squid balls were ruined and her stomach was growling again. Glancing up again she took a closer look at the boy… well young man that had run her over.

'Holy shit', was the only thing she could think of 'the Weasley red is NOTHING against this blood red mane'.

The red head put a hand on his straw hat and mumbled embarrassed, "My name is Shanks, here let me help you up!"

His hand encased her smaller one while he helped her up and even after she stood on her feet once more he didn't let go of her hand, Hisana vaguely noticed that it was warm and slightly rough, not unlike her father's, though some of the calluses were on strange places that clearly weren't caused by ropes. She was ripped out of her musings when Shanks led her back to the food stand she had just exited and ordered for both of them squid balls.

Mollified Hisana grinned at him and said, "Thanks, my name is Yamamoto Hisana by the way. Hisana is fine, I don't like formality."

While eating the two started to talk about the market and the different stands they had already visited and slowly wandered in the direction of the port. Unbeknownst to them they made a pretty picture together and the town people watching them were smiling and muttering about young love behind their backs. Shanks was tall, broad shouldered with red hair while Hisana was nearly one and a half heads shorter, black haired and had the most striking green eyes anybody had ever seen.

On the way down to the port Shanks apologized twice more but before he could begin the third one he was interrupted by Hisana.

"Seriously; stop that! You ran into me and made me drop my food, after that you apologized and bought me another tray as compensation. If you really feel like you still owe me a debt then borrow me the money for the Finn Dinghy race, I will pay you back out of my winnings!"

The last part was of course meant as a joke, she really didn't think he would do that. But to her surprise and consternation he grinned before he took her by the hand again and led her to the application stand.

"Hey, I meant that as a joke, you don't even know if I win something! And two thousand five hundred Beli is a lot of money!" Hisana tried to protest while she watched wide eyed as the red head took out the money to pay her entry fee.

Said male just grinned at her and laughed boisterously, "Just do your best and if nothing comes from it… well it doesn't matter at least you had some fun!"