Previously on tDoL:

I had almost died. I had come this ' ' close. That kinda put things into perspective. I realized I was being an idiot by not visiting the orphanage…

I wanted her and the kids in my life, no matter what form that took…

Settling into my pace, and snagging a large fruit from a tree and taking a bite, I continued bounding on towards home…

Seeing my old shelter again was surprisingly emotional. In truth I hadn't been gone for all that long, but there was a weird sense of nostalgia about the place. I had chosen the location well, deep enough into the forest that people kept away to avoid the strong creatures in the area, but close enough to Hogton and the orphanage that I could travel there in little time at all. I had set up on a relatively tall outcropping of rock and dirt that had a fat top that was about 40 feet wide. It wasn't all that tall, only about 15 feet high on the uphill side, but it was on a downhill section that let me look East past the trees and see the town from above. I had set up a latrine away from my shelter and fire pit, on the side of the outcropping instead of the top. About 100 yards to the north of the outcropping was a wide creek, rushing merrily down the hill.

As I hopped up onto the outcropping, I went over to a boulder and pushed It aside, revealing a pit I had dug to hide my items, which thankfully were all still there. I grabbed my bar of soap from its box, which now that I looked at was getting pretty small, I'd have to shoplift another bar soon. I had found that in town the only feature really associated with the "demon child" story was the purple hair, so as long as I wore a hat and didn't talk to anyone they left me alone for the most part.

Heading to the creek, I took off all my clothes and began washing them. When they were good and clean, I hung them on the branch of a tree to dry and moved on to washing myself. Once I was washed, rinsed, and squeaky clean, I put back on my sandals and clothes. They were still pretty damp, but the sun was about to set and I didn't want to show up to the orphanage after bedtime. As I started down the path to the place that had been my home for six months, I felt nervous. Funnily enough, more nervous than I had been when that 40ft monitor lizard had ambushed me! They would be pissed at me, and for good reason.

As I came out of the woods edge and laid eyes on the place, a soft smile snuck onto my face. The setting sun bathed the area in a soft orange light, and smoke curled lazily from the chimney. I could see a kid on the porch, leaning against the railing, and from the near glow of red from their hair I recognized her as Risa. Oh boy. I made my way over, unconsciously slipping into the silent walking I did while evading danger.

I could just picture how she'd swell up like a bull frog and yell herself hoarse at me. I skirted around off the path towards the side of the house, delaying the inevitable, when I paused. She had grown taller. It had been a few months since I left, so I guess I had probably grown too, but the strange thing about it was what she was wearing. She had PJs on that were slightly too big for her, my pjs. I guess they weren't mine anymore, since I left them, but it was still kinda weird. As I made my way up to her, wracking my brain on how to reduce the nuclear fallout of her inevitable rage, I saw her take the collar of her pj top and bring it up to her nose, inhaling deeply. She sighed in disappointment, apparently unsatisfied with the smell, and looked sadly up toward where the front path met the main road.

That was… kinda weird, not gonna lie, but we're all weird in private, so I figured I should stop being a bush crouching creep and announce myself already. I walked the last few steps towards her, and intentionally scuffed my sandal in the dirt to make some noise so my voice wouldn't startle her. Her head whipped toward the noise and when she saw me her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock. Her eyes grew misty and she uttered a whisper so quiet I almost didn't hear.

"Jasper…"

I didn't know what to say, and after a few seconds of silence, I went with the default, "… Hey Risa"

Her eyes grew misty and her eyebrows scrunched together, and I felt guiltier. She vaulted over the railing and sprinted the last few yards toward me, was she gonna hit me?!

I'd let it happen, I decided, and planted my feet and kept my arms hanging by my sides, leaving myself open. She threw her arms around me and held tight, sobbing into my shoulder. I froze, because she's crying and she never cries and I'd almost prefer the hit, but I swept all that aside and hugged her back just as fiercely. The returned hug only made her cry even harder, and she pressed her face into into my chest, bawling into the fabric of my shirt. I rubbed calming circles on her back and ran my other hand through her hair, cradling her head as soothingly as I could. I was just about to apologize, when she said something muffled against my chest. "What was that? I couldn't hear."

She looked up at me, whole face wet with tears and snot, "I'm sorry for yelling at you!" I was shocked to silence, and she continued, "I'm sorry for yelling at you and calling you names! I'm sorry for saying I hate you! I don't hate you at all and I'm sorry and I missed you so much and I-"

She continued on, her words unintelligible, and I felt my heart shatter into a thousand pieces. "No!" I interrupted her. "Risa! I didn't leave because of you! It's not your fault!" She drew away and broke eye contact, and I could tell she didn't believe me. I wracked my brain for the proper way to get through to her, to not have her carry my mistakes on her shoulders. Rules? Maybe!

"Risa." She looked up at me again. "I was the one who jumped off the roof, I was the one that teased you, you were right about all of that!" Fresh tears ran down her cheeks, and she rubbed them away with her fists. "Really?" She whispered. "I promise." I responded. "There was a lot going on with me that day, and none of it was your fault. I didn't leave because you did anything wrong, you didn't. I left because I was an idiot, and I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you where I was going! I'm so so sorry that I didn't say goodbye or tell you I was coming back!" She hugged me again and I hugged her back, and we stayed like that for a while, her sobs turning into sniffles. Eventually she looked up at me, not breaking the hug. "You're wet." She grumped. I chucked, "Yeah, I had a bath and washed my clothes right before I came back, I didn't want to smell like sweat and filth when I got here." And blood and rot and animal guts, but I left that stuff out.

She smiled, "Good." She said, nodding. Then she brought her face to my neck, and inhaled deeply through her nose. After she had taken a full breath, she let it out, humming in contentment, relaxing onto me. I raised a questioning eyebrow, amused, and she blushed rosy. "You smell nice." She said timidly.

Adorable!

"Thanks!" I answered, beaming.

She went from rosy to scarlet and hit me in the ribs. "Shut up!" She determinedly looked away. Aaaaaaaaand she's back. I smiled. I loved to see it. She suddenly seemed to realize something, and her face lit up, laughing excitedly and pulling me by the hand towards the door. "No one knows you're back yet! C'mon!"

Well… I guess this is as good a time as any. She led us both through the front door, and the hinges must have been oiled lately, because is was a lot smoother and quieter than I remember. We walked into the dining area, where Hedge and another boy named Colin sat playing cards. Colin had brown hair and eerie light blue eyes. He been the only other occupant of the boys bunk room other than Hedge and me, but he didn't really talk so I never got to know him that well. They were concentrating pretty hard on their game, and hadn't even registered that someone had entered the house. Risa shouted at the top of her lungs, and they flinched, Colin actually dropping his cards all over the floor. "C'mere everybody! Jaspers back!" Hedge got a big smile on his face, rushing over and giving me a hug, "Wow! You're really back!" I slapped him on the back a few times, and he did the same with me. I responded, "Good to see you Hedge!" I went to apologize, but he interrupted, "Don't sweat it Jasper! You had something to take care of right? I knew you'd be back eventually, and I was right!" He said smugly, looking over at Risa as if to say 'I told you so'. She stamped her foot and looked away, embarrassed. "Hmpf!"

I made eye contact with Collin, who immediately averted his gaze. "Hey Collin. How've you been?" He shifted his gaze nervously back and forth along the floor, avoiding my eyes. He licked his lips nervously, and managed to get out a quiet, "Good."

I smiled at him, and he seemed to relax a bit, and I answered, taking care to be quieter. "I'm glad you've been doing well, it's really good to hear." His eyes kept darting back and forth on the floor, but his shoulders relaxed a bit more, a ghost of a smile on his face. He gave me a jerky nod in acknowledgement, flicking his eyes up to mine briefly before he quickly ducked down to get his cards off the floor, and I realized he'd been looking at them the whole time. He picked them up and looked at Hedge, "Can we finish?"

Hedge blinked a few times, then grinned, "Sure!" He sat back down, eager to share his hobby. Risa huffed in exasperation. "What?" I asked her. "Nothing. You've only come back from the dead and all they wanna do is play cards!" She grumped, puffing out her cheeks. I chuckled. "Hey man, they're in the middle of a game, always gotta finish that stuff." "Yes." Piped up Colin, and we glanced back, I hadn't known he was still listening. Risa rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

I was just about to ask where Lia was when the woman herself came out of the nursery area, chasing 4 year old Margo down the hall. "No Pants! No Pants!" Margo cackled, only wearing a pj top and her dignity. Lia finally caught the cute little gremlin, and brought her swinging up and around Superman style back towards the nursery. Margo squealed in delight and called out "Birdy! Birdy! Again!"

Lia smiled, but said sternly, "No. Only children that wear all their clothes and go to bed on time get more than one Birdy ride." She looked pointedly at Margo. Margo whined, "Pleeeeeaaaase?" Lia looked back, unfazed. "What do you have to do?" She looked it the clock. "It's only fifteen minutes till bedtime…you'd better hurry!"

Margo ran back into the nursery, frantically dressing herself in pjs. Lia was about to follow her to make sure she did it right, when Risa loudly cleared her throat. Lia looked back at Risa, then looked at me, and froze. "Jasper!" She rushed over to me and put me in a crushing hug. I was just hugging her back when she straightened her arms again, and slapped me right on the face. "Where the hell were you?!" I was shocked, but it didn't actually hurt that bad. I stuttered a few times, trying to formulate a response, before she pulled me into a crushing hug again.

I felt tears whet my cheek and I'm not sure if they were mine or hers. "I was so worried! We went looking for you for days." I blinked rapidly. "I'm sorry." I whispered, "I'm fine. I'll tell you all about it tonight?" I said looking to the nursery door where Margo had hopped through, both her legs through a single pant leg. Lia sighed, standing up and walking to Margo. She looked back at me as she went, "Tonight" she confirmed. Then turned back to the task at hand.

After Margo and the other toddlers were in bed, we all sat one of the tables where we usually had mealtimes. It was pretty silent, everyone waiting for someone else to talk.

I guess I'd start. "Sooooo… where's Cinna? Did she get adopted?"

Risa spoke up, "Yes she did! By an awesome couple in town! We still get to see her all the time at school, and she comes to visit on the weekends!" I blinked owlishly. "School?" Lia chuckled. "I finally managed to get recognized as an official orphanage by the city! We've got a granted minimum budget and space in the local paper to advertise for donations! All of you are attending school now." She looked at me with an intense gaze.

I raised an eyebrow in challenge. "What are the subjects?" I asked. Hedge piped up. "Math, Science, Reading and Writing, and north blue history." I hummed noncommittally. I was confident in math and science. "What writing do they teach? Alphabet or Hiragana/Katakana?" Hedge answered once again, "Alphabet. It's the official written form of the world government after all." Ok, so I could ace that too. But I had to clear the elephant in the room. "Soooo…what changed? Why'd they wait till now to recognize you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Lia grimaced. "Jasper… this is a good opportunity for you! When I was a child, only nobility could attend proper schooling! This could open doors for you you would have never had otherwise! With an elementary diploma you can get an official scholars license, which will allow you to work as a field expert in whatever profession you go into!"

I sighed. "That sounds great Lia. But there's one problem. What makes you think they'll let me into that school in the first place? How long did it take for word to spread that I wasn't here anymore? And how long after that did your request finally go thr-" "BANG" Lia slammed her fists onto the table. "That's not the point Jasper! I'm sure if they can just meet you, they'll realize who you are! You have a good heart! They'll see that! They have to…" she trailed off, and I could tell even she didn't believe her words.

Risa entered the conversation. "Mama Lia? Why does everyone in town hate Jasper? Is really just cuz of a stupid fairy tale?" Lia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Since she was otherwise occupied, I answered. "Yeah Risa it is. But don't be so quick to judge. This world is a strange place, it's often hard to tell fact from fiction. Devil fruits are real after all." Risa responded. "What!? No they're not!"

Lia, however, looked at me, intrigued. I sighed, "The worlds most powerful man is currently Edward Newgate, otherwise known as Whitebeard."

Hedge interrupted. "What! I thought the strongest man was Gold Roger!"

He was also interrupted, by Risa, "Gold Roger's dead! He was executed 12 years ago dumdum!"

Hedge reddened, "what did you call me?!" Lia cut them off, grabbing them both by the ear. "Settle down kids, Let's hear what Jasper has do say." She released them, and they both grumbled, but were quickly sucked in by what I had to say.

"One of the reasons Whitebeard is so strong is that he ate a devil fruit which allows him to emit shockwaves from his body. He can use this power to create earthquakes and tidal waves, make his punches stronger than the most powerful cannons, and destroy entire fleets of marine battleships single-handedly. I'm sure he could probably do a bunch of other stuff with it too, but those are the confirmed, documented ways he's used his powers. The marines have given up even trying to take back his territory, and the world government have dubbed him 'the Man who could destroy the world'."

All the children's eyes were wide with shock, and Risa looked frightened, "Could he do it? Could he really destroy the world?" Even Lia looked a bit stressed, "Ok Jasper, maybe you should tone it down a bit." I blinked, confused, before remembering I was talking to kids, and kids get nightmares and stuff from just hearing stories. I reassured her, "Don't worry Risa, there's no way he would ever do that. All Whitebeard does is hang out in his territory and protect his friends and family. He may be a pirate, but he's not actually that bad of a guy!"

I cleared my throat, "But anyway, can you see why people are so suspicious. If devil fruits and stuff are real, then what else is real? You guys know me, so you know I'm not bad, but those people don't."

Risa looked down at the table in thought. Hedge, however had stars in his eyes. "Wow! The power to destroy the world but he only uses it to protect his people! Wow! That's amazing! Wow!"

Lia stood up, "Alright kids, time for bed." There was a chorus of aaawws, and Hedge, Risa, and Colin went to bed. Lia made eye contact with me, and we had a brief stare down before she relented. With a sigh, she finally asked the big question. "Jasper… will you stay? Will you go to school?" I sighed, I didn't want to disappoint her, but like hell I'm going to spend my childhood going to school all day again, when I already know most of the shit they're gonna teach me anyway. Besides! The wonderful world of one piece was out there! I already planned to train to be strong, I'm not sacrificing that just to keep up appearances! And why would I want a 'scholars license' anyway? So I could work for nobles? Barf.

"The orphanage started prospering as soon as I left, that's not a coincidence."

"Jasper!"

"Is it not? If you can honestly say that I'm wrong, go ahead."

"…"

"Lia?"

She dropped her head into her hands, and she looked so… defeated.

I immediately felt aweful. "Lia, I'm sorry. I-" she interrupted me, "No, Jasper, I don't think it's a coincidence. As much as I hate that fact, I have to admit it. It's not a coincidence."

I was silent for a while. Thinking about how to help Lia not be sad. "Could I still visit every weekend? Like Cinna does?"

She darted forward and grabbed my hands, her expression sad but hopeful, "of course Jasper, you're always welcome, you know that!"

"Thank you. And maybe if you can get Hedge, Colin, and Risa to babysit the littles, I could show you my shelter so you can see I'm living well."

She nodded, "I'd love that."

I smiled. "Since it's Saturday tomorrow, how bout I bring some pork? We could barbecue it up, make a day out of it!"

She smiled "that sound great, but where will you get it? Boar meat is expensive! I don't want you stealing young man, do you hear me?!"

I chuckled, "I promise I won't steal it, I'm getting it the old fashioned way!"

This was a mistake.

"What?! You can't hunt the rhinoboar, it far too dangerous! Not only are they strong as individually, they travel in groups!"

I thought fast, and tried to defuse the situation. "Relax! I set my traps for lone adults, I'm not stupid!"

She glared at me with an expression that said 'my bullshit senses are tingling' "traps huh?" She said with a raised eyebrow.

Shit.

"Lia" I said, looking her in the eye, "I can handle this! I promise I'll be safe! It won't be a problem."

She sighed… "alright…I trust you. Ever since I've met you you've been stronger than most normal adults. If you say you can bring down a rhino boar…"

She still looked super nervous, so I spoke up again, "I promise I'm not just bragging or being dumb. I've spent basically all my time training and hunting and I've gotten way stronger than before."

We both stayed silent for a few seconds, before she asked another question.

"Just what have you been doing these past few months? I know you said you've been hunting, but walk me through it all."

"Alright! Well after I left the orphanage…"

For the next hour or two, we told each other our stories. What we had done since we last saw each other, what kind of animals I had seen, what the kids had been doing. I left some parts out of my stories though. I told her about my encounter with the leopard, but made it seem like is was much smaller and less dangerous than it had been, that it was in the deep woods this side of the crowns and not the center valley.

She still almost had a heart attack hearing about it, and I had downplayed just how boned I had been by alot, making it seem like I had outrun it and fell off a cliff rather than using observation and being flung through the air. I also didn't tell her about the theft. I'll admit, that was for my sake, not hers.

When we finally decided to go to bed, I had made to leave the house, but she told me to stay the night. She had kept a bed open for me just in case, and I should at least use it if it's there. I agreed, and when I tiptoed into the boys room to sleep on my old homemade futon, I was flabbergasted to see that when she had said bed, that it wasn't figurative. There were actual real life beds right where the futons used to be, Hedge and Colin already snoring softly away on theirs. I took off my clothes, and since I had no pjs, I slept naked. This body had technically never slept on a bed before, and experiencing it for the first time again wasn't just nice, It was heavenly. The softness was unreal! Like lying down on a cloud. I closed my eyes, and wasn't long before I was out like a light.

DEET DEET DEET DEET DEET DEET DEET

"Oh… oh fuck, I'm gonna be late!"

I tried to spring off my bed, but only was able to lurch my unfit 26 year old body awkwardly toward the side, and I fell off the edge. I got up, and it felt like my body was made of lead. Like when you spend a while chilling in the pool, and finally get out after an like hour and you realize your body has weight again. I went and showered, the ice cold water of the creek now washing over my head in dozens of little streams. I got out and was downstairs and dressed, and I realized I was thirsty so I took a kitchen knife and stabbed it into the drywall, letting the sap drip out. As I drank it to quench my thirst, I realized I had missed the bus and so I rushed out of my house, trying to hurry and run but I couldn't somehow, like I had forgotten exactly what to do and had to be super deliberate about everything.

I looked back and saw the leopard in all its terrifying glory, and it stood up and walked casually towards me, knowing I couldn't get away. I tried to run but couldn't, like I was wading in waist deep water. Like my legs didn't have the ability to generate force in a way that resulted in running. I tried to pump my arms but it was just as awkward as not-running. The leopard walked casually towards me, eating up the distance. Finally I fell and the leopard purred it's mammoth purr, it's voice resonating in my chest, and I looked at my hands and understood that they were tree rat hands and that was unfortunate because tree rats died and I felt my tree rat blood between my tree rat fingers and knew my tree rat meat was ruined because my tree rat bowels burst and I could smell them and see them and reach inside my guts and feel my insides and it was like gutting a kill just pull it all out and it was normal but it shouldn't be and it was normal but it shouldn't be and fear and it was normal but fear it shouldn't fear be and it was normal but it shouldn't be andfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearfearwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatamiwhatami-

I was awake. I groaned.

Yeah…sign me up for never again in a million fucking years.

My sweat pooled around my sweltering naked body. It was dark, and I could hear Hedge and Colin's deep rhythmic breathing. Still nighttime then. I tried to move in my bed, and anxiety spiked in my chest as it gave a little under me, causing a measure of unpredictability that felt foreign at the moment. It was too soft. Too malleable. To weird. Like springy play-dough that wanted to swallow you but only half way. I crawled my half asleep body off my bed and onto the floor, luxuriating in its delightfully chilly firmness. I took my blankets off my bed and curled up with them on the floorboards. My body was finally at the right temperature and the on right surface, and my stress flowed out of my body like it wasn't there in the first place, leading me right into a deep dreamless sleep.

I awoke to the sounds of shuffling feet around me. For a second I wondered what the fuck two other kids were doing in my shelter before I remembered everything.

Wow. That dream last night was a doozy.

I made a wide, jaw cracking yawn and stretched as I sat up.

"Oh hey Jasper, you're awake! Are you ok? It looks like you fell outta bed!" I looked over at Hedge, who was messily making his bed, still in his pjs. With another yawn, I stood up and started putting my clothes on from yesterday. "Yeah Hedge, I'm alright" I looked over at Colin who was fully dressed with his bed made perfectly. I did a double take at the bed. It was perfect. like straight and flat as fresh printer paper. "Wow Collin, that looks amazing! There's no wrinkles at all!" He made momentary eye contact with me before his eyes darted to the side. He gave me a nod, and left the room. I looked at his bed again. Holy shit it was perfect! If I hadn't seen him conked out in it last night I would've never believed anyone had slept in it in the first place. Looking back I remember his futon was always perfectly straight too, but we had always each folded our blanket and left it on top, so it wasn't as noticeable.

Taking the cues from the other two boys, I made my bed as well. Hedge seemed kinda disappointed that I did so well my "first time" making a bed, but I had a whole lifetime of practice under my belt. I was technically cheating.

We walked out into the dining area to see that breakfast was already underway, Margo was in her booster seat eating fruit and oatmeal, and the twin one year old boys, Amos and Boris, were in their high chairs with milk and some teething biscuits. Colin had already almost finished his fruit and oatmeal, and Lia and Risa were getting themselves some. Hedge and I served ourselves up and once we were all seated we dug in, and I started talking between bites as Colin finished and left.

"So I was thinking of hunting down a rhino boar today, but we have a problem. The only ways I know how to cook pork in the open with only a fire, is smoking it into jerky, roasting it on a spit, or my personal favorite, bury in the ground pit cooking. The problem with those is that they all take way too long even for a normal pig, and rhino boars are huge" Everyone at the table except Lia stared at me like I was speaking in tongues. "Hunt down… a rhino boar?" Risa said slowly, and I nodded, spooning a heaping amount of oatmeal into my mouth. "HUNT DOWN A RHINO BOAR?!" She repeated, and we all winced at the volume.

I finished chewing and swallowed. "Yes Risa, a rhino boar. Pay attention." I said with a smirk, and she spluttered indignantly as I continued, "I'm gonna be butchering it and cooking different cuts, so I'm gonna be gone for a bit to do the hunting and firewood gathering. I was thinking of trying to make a proper stove, so that we can cook easier and have more options."

Rhino boar were really dangerous to take down, and thus their meat was quite expensive, but it also tasted absolutely phenomenal and I could see the boys getting excited! Lia had a resigned look on her face, like she was really worried but was choosing to trust me on this. Risa, however, wasn't so convinced. We spent a while going back and forth, and she actually seemed genuinely angry at me for thinking I could do this. Finally, I ended the argument, as we were just repeating ourselves. "Look Risa, at the end of the day, I know I can do this. I'm strong, and Lia isn't stopping me because she knows I'm strong too. We're burning daylight, and I have a lot to do before tonight so I need to get started." I got up and walked to the door. Tears sprung to Risa's eyes and she ran back to her room and slammed the door.

"She seems to think I'm going to die or something." I said, and Lia sighed. "One of her friends at school had a hunter for a father that died against a Rhino Boar. He was a grown man, and apparently quite tough himself."

Ah, that explained it.

Lia spoke again. "I'm going to invite some people from town. It will all be people I've met, that I know will be pleasant" I grimaced.

She stared me down.

I folded. "I guess if you can trust me with the boar, I'll trust you to get good people." I didn't like it, and I had the feeling this was part of some scheme to eventually get me to go to school, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I'll go along with it for now at least. I set off, there was lots to do.

Lia POV:

Before starting the orphanage, Lia had worked on a merchant ship for a long time, and she had developed a good sense to know when someone was lying. She could tell Jasper had edited himself quite a bit last night, had downplayed the the danger he was in quite a lot in order to convince her he was fine. She had ferried many hunters to the island back in the day, had heard their stories, and she knew there was only one place on the island with giant leopards. The center Valley.

The thought of Jasper going there set her teeth on edge, but she made herself be calm. It had already happened. Jasper was fine. He was of some kind of grand line bloodline, and was a lot sturdier than normal folks. She got out her address book and started typing in numbers to her Den Den Mushi. The first number she called answered right away, and an exited female voice came through the line, "Yes? Do you have an update already? Did you find a suspect?!"

Lia paused, she recognized her friends voice, but didn't know what she was talking about. She knew Brandy's house had been broken into a while ago, and that she had been training intensely and searching for clues ever since, but she didn't know all the details. This was probably having to do with that. "No, Sorry Brandy, this is Lia calling." The den den mushi's face flushed, and she could tell it was mimicking Brandy's embarrassment.

"Oh! Lia! I'm sorry, I was expecting a call a little bit later. What's up?" Lia smiled, amused. "Tonight we're having a barbecue at the orphanage, we will be cooking up a rhino boar, and I wanted to invite some friends over to help us eat it." The snail got a shocked look on its face that looked just like Brandy. A voice sounded out faintly from the background, and she recognized it as Jack. "Seriously? Isn't that a little expensive?" Lia responded, "It would be if we were buying it, but last night, Jasper returned! He's hunted plenty of beasts in the deep woods, and he can take down one no problem," Lia made sure to not let her worry sound in her voice. Jasper would be fine.

The snail took on a confused expression, and spoke again with Brandy's voice, "Wait, isn't Jasper that missing snake kid of yours the old fogeys are always worked up about? I thought he was ten years old?!" Lia smiled, proud despite herself, and answered, "Closer to eleven now actually, but yes! You and I both know with devil fruits existing he could have conceivably been sent here from anywhere in the world, and I'm reasonably sure he's part of a grand line bloodline of some kind. He's already far more athletic than most marines!"

The snail got a dark look on its face. Lia wasn't sure what to make of it, but it made her nervous. When the snail finally responded, it was with an unnatural calm. "That's… interesting… sounds like quite the kid. I would love to meet him. Jack and I will be there for sure. What time?." Lia wasn't sure why she was so nervous all of a sudden. "S-Six o'clock, pm that is…" Lia trailed off, and Brandy responded, "Wonderful, see you then." Ka-Lick!

Lia slapped her cheeks. She hadn't expected Brandy of all people to have been unnerved by Jasper being abnormal. She had more work ahead of her than she thought. Taking a deep breath, she dialed in the next number.

A/N: Hey guys! With this chapter being mostly fluff, and the next containing a literal neighborhood barbecue, I can see why some of you might think this story isn't going anywhere. I promise it is. Several important plot points and a deadly fight should happen next chapter, and I'm setting up for a timeskip or two quite soon so we can finally get out of the 'childhood saga'. I wanted to really explore the main Character, to get to know him and his motivations before I start playing hardball with him. All of his problems so far have been of his own making, but that will not continue to be the case for very much longer.

Please stick with me! I have a plan! I promise!