Scrutiny

Mihawk had never expected to be a father; all he had ever wanted even as a child was to become a great swordsman. He had worked hard to become great and had eventually been hailed as the greatest swordsman in the world, but none of his training and battles and relentless hard work could ever hold a candle to the sheer effort involved in raising a child. When he'd been hunted down at sea by Pearl about a year after the Pirate King's execution and she'd handed him a six-week-old baby that blinked up at him with wide, golden eyes exactly like his own he'd known true fear for the first time in a decade; what was he supposed to do? But Dracule Mihawk refused to be a coward and had met this new challenge head-on, determined to excel just as he had in becoming a swordsman.

Parenting was however a baffling and inexact science that seemed to have very few rules and no real standards at all. He'd managed reasonably well while she was a baby, but as Lisska grew and started to asset herself Mihawk found himself more and more adrift. Seeing himself reflected in her was a challenge, but one he could face. It was the parts she had inherited from her mother that baffled him the most, as well as the flashes that reminded him of his own mother and something else that made him think of Shanks but wasn't. Not that Red-Hair hadn't left an unfortunately indelible impression on his daughter; Mihawk was actually grateful for his daughter's easygoing attitude, though he could have managed without her wicked sense of humour. She had her mother's perceptiveness and instinctively knew exactly where people's sore spots were and how hard to prod them. Most people thought Mihawk was unflappable, but the truth was fatherhood had gone a long way to inure him to life's inevitable surprises.

Her disappearance at the age of nine had terrified him, and learning that she had been taken by one of his fellow Shichibukai had almost tempted Mihawk into renouncing the title in order to kill Donflamingo. However the mocking blond seemed oblivious to the World's Greatest Swordsman's connection to the girl he had lifted off the street and sold somewhere, so Mihawk had let it lie, swallowing his rage and waiting patiently. He wanted his daughter back more than he wanted revenge, so he would wait until he had reached his first goal before pursuing the second.

It had taken several years for Pearl to determine by process of elimination that Lisska was probably in Mariejois, and another two long years before she could find definite proof, years in which Mihawk wandered the Grand Line terrorising all and sundry. Then one of the ruling families had been massacred and Spitfire had arrived on Pearl's doorstep one night with news that his daughter had dropped off the Red Line and was currently on Mystoria. He had wanted to find her, bring her back to his newly established home on Kuraigana and not let her out of his sight again but Spitfire hadn't let him. The irritating mermaid had looked him dead in the eye and told him his daughter was a fragile mess, barely able to keep herself together. If he tried to push her now she would just break and that would be it and she might never recover. Mihawk had been furious, but he had backed off until she returned to Fishman Island eight months later and he had seen her for himself for the first time in nearly seven years.

Seeing a tall, slim teenager with stark white hair, a slightly softer version of his face and the graceful movements of a trained killer had not been what he was expecting; it had hurt to know that his little girl had grown up and he hadn't been there. Her reserved wariness and incredible care in picking her words spoke volumes about her past experiences and Mihawk had again felt the urge to hunt down Donflamingo and kill him. He hadn't done it though; he was better placed to help his daughter where he was. He had arranged for her to be apprenticed to a Pose Artificer when she expressed an interest in the profession, chased after her whenever something set her off and she ran away –generally straight to Shanks for some insane female reason– and did his best to ensure she was busy since he could not secure her happiness for her and busyness at least kept her from depression. Despite her frequent disappearances she finished her apprenticeship in record time, agreed to continue studying Fishman Karate with Jinbe then promptly got a ship of her own from somewhere and vanished. Aged just seventeen and a half. Since then he'd only seen her a few times a year and mostly heard about her through third parties, but he'd still tried to be a good father. However looking back on her reactions he seemed to have gone from one failure to the next, the regrettable accident with her last lover being the final straw which had led to her punching him in the face –which he felt was far less than he had deserved– and threatening to kill him. He'd stopped trying after that and hadn't really seen her since.

However now he was standing on the threshold of the castle he had made his home, face to face with his estranged daughter who was looking at him nervously while behind her a tall, broad-shouldered man with Fire-Fist Ace' face was watching him critically.

"Lisska," he said quietly. "Daughter. What brings you here?"

She bit her lip, eyes darting all over the place. It disturbed him to see her like this, her façade shattered and the frightened child that had lost everything she knew aged nine left exposed for all to see. Then her shoulders slumped.

"Can't a girl visit her father without having an ulterior motive?" she asked plaintively, not meeting his eyes. The man who was probably Fire-Fist glared at him; Mihawk suspected the youth thought he should be doing something to comfort her.

"I have missed seeing you," he admitted, "but felt that you might prefer me to keep my distance."

Lisska glanced up at him from under her lashes. "I did," she agreed, "but that was then."

"Am I forgiven then?" His assumptions regarding her love life had been the most costly mistake of his life.

Lisska closed her eyes. "I forgave you back on the Moby Dick shortly after you admitted it was an accident and apologised," she said softly, "but looking at you still hurt for a long time afterwards. It doesn't hurt now though." She wrapped her arms around herself. Mihawk recognised this cue, though he hadn't seen it since she was eight. He immediately walked over to her and hugged her close, resting his forehead against her hair.

"You are my daughter and I love you," he said quietly but firmly, "and I never wanted to hurt you. All I have ever wanted is for you to be happy."

Lisska trembled, gripping his shirt and burying her face in his collar. Mihawk did not let go of her even as he felt his shirt getting wet, looking over her head to meet the eyes on the man who had come with her. The stranger mouthed 'mood swings' at him with an apologetic shrug; her tears were not then a sign of true loss of composure, but a symptom of her pregnancy. Mihawk wasn't sure if that was better or worse. He knew however that once Lisska had calmed down he would let her see Roronoa, if only so he could observe the two of them together. He would also have to interrogate her companion; Fire-Fist had been mortally wounded when he vanished from Marineford and the Word's Greatest Swordsman knew that his daughter could only heal mortal wounds through binding her patients to herself as Roronoa was bound. He wanted to know the exact nature of the reckless pirate's relationship with Lisska; he had seen them together before and knew they were close, but Mihawk wanted to ensure Fire-Fist would not endanger his only child with further foolishness such as that which had led to his arrest and near-death.

A whole chapter of Mihawk! I can't believe it! He's so reticent and difficult!