Chapter 10

Hisana Interlude

The next two months were somewhat of a blur for Hisana, when asked she would only remember that everything seemed like routine, she was going through the motions but there was no heart, no passion behind it. Sure she still won most of her races but the excitement before and after wouldn't really build up like before, everything looked muted and dull. Her days would have probably continued like this until she couldn't take it anymore but something caught her notice during one of her trips.

She hadn't had her period for nearly six weeks, confused she took out her planer and checked the date, she should have had her period right during the race in Keikun… the race she had missed because the ship had sunken and she had been picked up by Shanks… Shanks oh crap! Hisana's heart began to hammer while she made her way down to the local pharmacy.

Positive…

Great, fantastic, of course she was pregnant from the four day sex marathon she had had with Shanks. God damn it, they had even used condoms every time for heaven's sake! Ugh and even though she was sure that he was the love of her life she had no idea where he was or if he even wanted this child.

Sighing depressed and unsure about what to do Hisana rubbed her hand over her suspiciously wet eyes. She was really in deep trouble, a child would change everything for her. Not only that she would have to change her occupation, racing after all wasn't completely safe while pregnant but she also would have to be careful around the Marines. Should they ever catch word of her having the child of the infamous Red hair Shanks, they would hunt her down until both her and the baby were dead.

On the positive side, Hisana didn't really have to think about having this baby or not, she would love it, after all it was hers that it also carried Shanks genes was just the icing on the cake. Hisana had wished for a family of her own, especially after her birth family in this world had died two years ago without her being able to say goodbye. Hisana had felt wretched and guilty for months on end and only scraped past a depression by a hair's breadth.

If she had had any family left in the East Blue, she would have considered returning back there, but since her parents and younger brother died during an epidemic that had completely wiped out 5 isles before they had contained it, she hadn't anybody important left. Only a few distant second cousins she had heard about once or twice and those didn't count in her opinion. No she would have to find a place where she could settle and raise a child, preferably somewhere without any pirate attacks and Marines bases.

Having made her mind up Hisana threw the pregnancy test into the bin and packed the last of her clothes into the duffel bag. She would still participate in the next three races and win as much money as possible. After that she would have to inform the company that she was taking maternity leave and start looking into a place of her own. The black haired young woman was suddenly more than glad that she had never thrown out the money she had earned unnecessarily. With a bit work and creativity Hisana was sure that she could stretch the money she had in her bank account to last her for the next four to six years. With a baby her costs would of course rise so she really would have to think of a way to earn some extra money to support both of them. The black haired woman's gaze fell on her still flat stomach and she stretched both hands over it, right there was growing a child… it was quite the daunting thought.

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Two months later Hisana was seen off by her former colleagues and team healers who wished her the best of luck. She was now four months pregnant and slowly began to show, her stomach had begun to harden and a small bump was visible when she stood sideways in front of a mirror.

The first few days after leaving the Finn Dinghy company Hisana travelled around the area she normally raced in. A conversation between two middle aged women on which she eavesdropped then pointed her to a small group of islands close to the Sabaody Archipelago. The two women had been bad mouthing the place because it was a small fishing community and didn't have any interesting attractions or famous inhabitants which apparently made it useless and boring. Hisana had perked up at that, this could be a perfect place to raise her child away from the eyes of the world.

When she arrived at said fishing community she felt instantly at home, Fuusa reminded her somewhat of her childhood home if only vaguely, the people of the East Blue and the ones living on the Grand line were completely different types of people.

Hisana purchased a small house hidden by the cliffs of the shore line and if you didn't know where to look it was good as invisible from the main village of the isle and with any luck pirates and marines would miss it if they didn't search too closely, which was a serious advantage in her opinion. Additionally to that she had hired some of the men in the village to build her a private dock at the closest accessible location to the house as well as repair the slightly declined house.

Most of the villagers were welcoming and friendly to the new arrival on the island, only some old biddies were disapproving of her condition but quite honestly Hisana didn't care, the opinion of busy bodies had never really interested her.

In the next few months the black haired racer turned the house and adjourning garden into a home for her and her future child. During the time in which she still could move with relative ease she built a vegetable and herb garden that would supply most of the fresh vegetables and fruits in the next months and years to come, after all why spend more money than absolute necessary if you can grow most of the things at home?

While her pregnancy progressed she wished more than once for Shanks, it hurt her to know that he was sailing somewhere on the sea without any idea that he was going to be a father soon. Especially during the time the baby started moving for the first time, she would randomly burst into tears in the otherwise empty house. That her hormone level was elevated didn't help her.

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It was in the end of May when she gave birth to her daughter, luckily for her the other mothers in the village had started to send their older children to visit her when Hisana's last month began. They would either carry her things or just accompany the heavily pregnant woman and keep her from doing something too stressful.

On that faithful day the son of her closest neighbors had just entered her garden when her water broke. Hisana had had false labor in the weeks before and stubborn as she was she didn't want to go to the doctor because of a false alarm again.
The seventeen year old Koji, took one look at the fluid on the floor, grabbed her packed overnight bag and supported Hisana on the ten minute walk through the woods. The last two hundred meters he even carried her, Hisana's last contraction had made it unable for her to move. As soon as they came into seeing distance of the village he was relieved from his burden by a fisher who had seen them coming out of the woods.

Including the hours before her water broke; Hisana had been in labor for close to eighteen hours and was deadly exhausted after her ordeal. But just like any other woman on the planet she forgot the painful hours before hand in the minute she held her daughter in her arms, Hisana had never been happier as she stared down at Shanks' and her baby.

She named her little girl Hisoka and recovered the next three days in the house of the doctor before she was allowed back into her own home. Said doctor was a twenty three year old prodigy by the name of Kaluah, she had been learning to become a doctor since she had turned ten and became the warden of the local 'witch' doctor. A very surly woman, who had thought that all men were idiots but she had known her illnesses, medicines and herb tinctures. Kaluah had taken her place a year ago after she had died, giving the village an extra doctor.

During the months and years following Hisoka's birth, Kaluah became a very close friend of Hisana's. Later her two apprentices, Takao and Maya, also orphans, became also very important figures in Hisana's and Hisoka's life.

Hisoka's hair color, which had at first been a dark black brownish color, changed in the next five months to a fiery red just like her dad's, her eyes on the other hand turned from light blue to emerald green, like her mothers. Hisana was strongly reminded of her birth mother in her former life; without a doubt Hisoka would be stunning when she grew up.

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In the following five years Hisana spent most of her time raising and teaching her daughter but she also took up fishing and diving for pearls again. Hisana had nearly forgotten how much fun she had had during her youth while diving through the waters of the East Blue. The Grand Line turned out to be even more interesting though Hisana did have more than one shark scare while exploring the coast line. It was here that she first developed what she would later know as haki. At first the power that reminded her a bit of magic was vastly unreliable and she could only use it in life or death situations. Through sheer stubbornness Hisana finally started to receive results some time after Hisoka's third birthday. It made diving and fishing a lot safer for her, Hisana sold the excess sea food while she kept the pearls for herself. When she noticed that the amount of pearls became ridiculous inside the house she took some classes on an island over and started to make necklaces, bracelets and hair accessories for her and Hisoka that they wore at festive days.Some of them she even sold off to her neighbors and the villagers but mostly Hisana kept them for her and her daughter, it was a way to show her connection to the sea… and to Shanks. And so it wasn't an uncommon sight for the villagers to see Hisana and even Hisoka run around with long strands of white pearls braided through their hair.

In the years they spent on the small fisher island Hisana never hid Hisoka's pirate heritage from her. Quite the contrary, she told her everything she knew about Shanks, how they had met and even hung his Wanted posters up in Hisoka's room. Her daughter adored her daddy, even if she was said at times that he couldn't be with them.

Since her birth Hisoka had always been an easy child to take care of, she didn't cry very often and had a very cheerful and sunny disposition, just like her father. She had never caused her mother any trouble with the exception of the occasionally mischievousness or stubbornness. She was also a quick learner, from crawling to talking to reading Hisoka was an early bloomer at everything. Her little red head was such a curious and bright child that brought Hisana an immense amount of joy but also heartache because Shanks couldn't see his daughter growing up.
For that reason Hisana had started a photo album about Hisoka's life, she kept minutest entries about their daughter's development and adventures along with a boatload full of pictures. Should they ever meet again Shanks would have some insight concerning their Hisoka's growth.

After Hisoka turned four years old Hisana also started to participate in races again, her still somewhat ingrained paranoia about the Marines finding out about her made Hisana take her daughter always along.
During the time she spent racing she paid locals to watch her while she most of the time made quick work of the competition. This arrangement worked out very well for the single mother and when in the following year she had the opportunity to take part of a racing tour around the closest islands, Hisoka was of course with her.

This trip would change their lives forever because at the second to last race of their tour Hisana encountered the person she had missed the most in the last six years.