Memory

Characters: Penguin, Shachi. Rating: K. Warnings: None

Over time, the walls of Penguin and Shachi's room found themselves gradually covered. When they'd chosen it, it had been plain, with the insignia of the World Government the only decoration on the wall. That hadn't lasted long.

Many people who kinda but not really knew the pair would have probably expected to see pictures of pin-ups all over the walls. Admittedly, they had had a phase like that, in their late teens when their hormones were at their peak, but in time they'd shifted to a box under the bed, out of sight (but still fully accessible).

The first thing that had graced their bedroom wall was, predictably, their jolly roger. It was plastered directly over where the World Government's insignia had once been, and there was nothing unintentional about it at all. Later, when he finally got one, Law's bounty poster joined it (and then Bepo's, and finally the rest of the crew's as they gained them). Scraps from the newspaper made a montage in one corner of the wall, their best moments portrayed proudly. There were reports on Rocky Port, their captain's victory at Dressrosa, and even their minor mention from Marineford, to name but a few.

The rest of it was hand-drawn. Finding a den den mushi that could take still images, and develop them, was too much effort. Besides, some of the things they wanted they would never be able to take a picture of anyway. They wouldn't say they were amazing artists (Usopp of the Strawhats was far superior and Shachi couldn't draw in colour at all), but they were passable and the sketched figures on the wall were easily recognisable.

There was Law, of course, alongside Bepo and the pair of them. The quartet featured various times, at various ages ranging from their teen selves when they first met, to the one they drew the previous week. The rest of the crew were there as well, from drawings of them when they first joined, to group sketches where the newest member had become well assimilated into the group.

And then there were the memories.

Faces faded with time. They knew it, all too well. The panic when they realised their mothers' smiles weren't so clear in their mind anymore, that they couldn't recall the exact tone of their fathers' laughs. The pictures probably weren't accurate – it was almost guaranteed they'd forgotten something to the depths of time they'd never get back – but they were better than nothing.

Their mothers smiled down at them, beautiful women with mischievous smiles. Penguin's kept her hair tied up brusquely, hidden beneath her thick winter cap, while Shachi's mother's hair had been left to flow freely, a vibrant ginger that had always cut through the white of winter. Their fathers were more reserved, holding the tools of their trades like they always had done with smiles that matched their wives'. While Shachi had taken after his mother, Penguin was undeniably his father's son. Noona was there, her smile tired as she looked old beyond her years, widowed with two new charges to look after.

For them, it was important to remember their roots. They had lost everything except each other to pirates, so they kept themselves grounded with probably-inaccurate pictures of their past pinned to their wall. They couldn't become pirates like that crew, and their parents' memories would make sure of it.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari