Gloriosa had had enough of Hancock's foolishness.
"Nyo nyo! Absolutely nyot! You are forbinyon to see him, Snake Princess!"
"How dare you!" replied Hancock, "You're nothing but a foolish old woman! Who are you to tell me if I can see my love or not?!"
Gloriosa shook her head. Hancock had no idea how strong the love sickness really was. One glimpse of Luffy, and she'd have to start her curing all over again!
"I'm telling nyou! It'll become evenyon worse! You have to stay away from Straw Hat! Nyow, why don't we do something a bit more productive?"
"And what would you suggest?" sneered the Snake Princess.
"How about nyou make a cake?"
Hancock cheered up immediately and threw on an apron.
"Mmm… Should I make it meat-flavoured? Luffy really loves meat, doesn't he?"
Gloriosa resisted the urge to slap the Empress upside her head.
"Nyot for Luffy! Haven't nyou been listenying to a word I've been saynying? Nyou can't see him right nyow!"
Hancock sulked.
"Then what's the point of making a stupid cake?"
"For me! Make a cake for me!" cried the Elder. Hancock gave Gloriosa a deathly look.
"And why would you be deserving of one of my delicious cakes?"
Gloriosa resisted the urge to laugh. Hancock's cakes were terrible; she'd only begged the Elder to teach her so she could make cake for Luffy.
"Humour me, nyokay?" said the Elder, silently snickering under her breath.
"Fine," Hancock muttered, and set about preparing for a cake.
Around 4 fires, 6 burns, and many broken eggs later, the Empress had finally managed to scrounge together a decent looking cake.
"Here," she said, tossing Gloriosa the least burnt slice. She launched a fork at the former Empress, who caught it skillfully between 2 fingers.
"If we're done here, I'll be going then," she said, striding towards the exit of the kitchen. Gloriosa looked at the cake dissapointedly, scraping the burnt pieces with her fork. As Hancock passed by the Elder, Gloriosa felt her hair being pushed back behind her ear.
"Happy birthday, Nyon-baa," whispered Hancock, hugging her surrogate mother before sashaying out of the room.
He hated that she never smiled. And he hated that he couldn't wipe those sorrowful tears off her cheeks. What he would do to see Shirahoshi laugh once more. Not only would it have been a personal pleasure to hear and see, it would keep the island safe. The longer she stayed like this…. No, he couldn't even consider that possibility. He'd tried to be brave, for his family, but inside he felt like a failure. He'd failed to protect his darling little sister, and he didn't deserve to be called her big brother. And he was scared that she would think so as well.
A.N.: I know Fukaboshi's part was short, but I became too focused on Elder Nyon. I love her so much, she is such a good character, and I feel like Oda is preparing her to be critical in something big. I kinda wanted to see Hancock in a loving daughter position too, so I had to work a little harder on that to figure it out. Plus, I did quite a bit of dialogue, so I wanted to balance it out a bit. But nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed! Reviews, Favourites, Follows, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! See you on Feb. 6th for Nico Olvia and Robin!