A/N: I've been meaning to mention. I admittedly make Kuina act a little older than her age. I have a son who's about the same age as she is, and he can't talk nearly as well. - then again, I do have a niece who could speak full sentences at 18 months, but then, she has 8 older siblings helping her. I guess kids are all different. - I just figured Kuina would be more interesting as a character if she could contribute to the conversations. We'll just chalk it up to her having the best education as a princess. Her nursemaids were more than just warriors. If I were to develop them further, they'd probably each be a specialist in some aspect of child development.

Also, I don't know any kid that age that can hold a grudge longer than a few minutes. I think Usopp will be fine. Maybe. Like I said, Kuina is a bit mature for her age. *shrug*

Ch. 4 – The Dragon's Claw

Helena stared around her in a state of awe, mouth dropped, eyes wide as she drank in the Thousand Sunny. She took in the sweeping lawn of her main deck, the enormity of her sails, the sheen of her adam wood bulwarks. The surrounding sea suddenly became inviting, inspiring, a path toward adventure, not the demon Helena had battled for weeks in hopes of preserving her daughter's life.

But of course, the beauty of the ship was nothing to what she felt upon laying eyes on the crew. Most of them stood grouped on the lawn below, all of them a sight for sore eyes. Naturally one stood out more than the rest, but before she could call out to him, she noticed someone standing beside her on the middle deck. She jumped back in surprise.

"You!" she cried. "Great Olympus, you must be the shipwright, Franky! You're bigger than I pictured!"

"Ow!" Franky grinned at her in sheer delight, making her like him immediately despite his shameless attire. "And you're Zoro's Superrrr Swordbabe!" he struck a pose, exposing the star on his robotic forearms as he slammed them together. "Welcome to the Thousand Sunny, Sis!"

"Thank you! Your ship is amazing!" she gushed. It came as such a relief to match his big smile with one of her own. She turned that smile back to the crew on the lower deck.

"Zoro!" she cried, her voice tearing out of her. She didn't care how dry and sore her throat felt. She didn't care how wobbly her body was. And she certainly didn't care that a certain reindeer doctor had just followed her out of the infirmary.

Ignoring Chopper's frantic warnings, she dashed toward the nearest staircase. But honestly, who had time for stairs in a moment like this? She jumped atop the banister and slid down like a pro surfer. Moments later, she leapt from the bottom of the banister and into her hapless husband, wrapping her limbs about him like a koala on a tree as he stumbled with the impact.

"Whoa, Helena," he chortled. "Glad to see you're doing better."

"She's not!" Chopper cried. "I told you, you're on strict bedrest, your Majesty!"

As if on cue, and quite against her will, Helena's grip slackened. Because of the way she had trapped Zoro's arms at his sides, he could do nothing to keep her from sliding down, down to lay dazed at his feet, too weak to move.

"I'm so happy you found us," she burbled dizzily as Zoro bent to lift her. "S'Kuina ok?"

"She's fine," Zoro replied. "You did good, Helena."

She nestled into his chest and grinned to herself like a fool. Despite everything that had happened, she felt that in that moment she could die happy.

"So you figured out what was wrong with her, Chopper?" she heard Zoro ask as he carried her back up the stairs.

"Yes, but she woke up on her own," came the frantic response. "I didn't have time to begin any sort of treatment. Which is why she needs to stay in bed until I say so, got it?"

Helena groaned.

"That's right, you heard me," Chopper scolded. "You're going to do better at this than the last time I put you on bedrest, right?" When Helena didn't respond he prodded further, "RIGHT?"

Helena pretended to be asleep.

Helena woke again sometime in the early evening to Sanji chatting with Chopper through the door leading to the kitchen,"…think she'll want some dinner?" he was saying.

Her stomach growled loudly on cue.

"I think that's a yes," Sanji said. Helena hadn't turned yet to see him, but she could hear the grin in his voice.

"Make that a yes, please!" Helena emphasized.

"Ok, but make sure it's something light, or you'll give her a major stomach ache," Chopper conceded. "Oh, but if you can, make sure it's got a good amount of protein too."

"Something light but heavy on the protein?" Sanji replied. "Ok, I think I've got just the thing."

He disappeared, and Chopper sighed.

"Something wrong, Doctor?" Helena asked, attempting to sit up with some trouble from her leaden limbs. Chopper helped her get upright, but glared at her when she swung a leg over the side of the bed.

"What? I thought I was going to dinner!"

"Bed. Rest." Chopper retorted.

"Would it really kill me to walk from here to the table?"

Chopper sighed. "Look. This isn't going to be easy for you, but I really need you to listen to me this time because…"

A knock at the kitchen door interrupted him, and Usopp poked his head in.

"Hey, Sanji mentioned you were up," he said, smiling at her. "Can I ask a favor?"

"Sure, Usopp-san, what is it?" Helena asked, trying to get out of bed only to be pushed back into it by her indefatigable doctor.

"Don't make me strap you down," Chopper scolded, then turned to Usopp. "Do you really need her help? I mean, we just rescued her from starvation and stuff…"

"Oh, it doesn't require much," Usopp said. "And it's for Kuina."

He entered, revealing Kuina's old fox plush, which looked surprisingly better than it had in weeks. Nothing could be done for the fur, which had matted and started falling out already, but Usopp had cleaned and patched it. He'd even sewn on a new button eye to match the one it had lost.

"Where on earth did you get that?" Helena asked, "Those stupid wormies took it. I didn't think Kuina would ever nap again!"

Usopp chuckled at her mention of the wormies. Helena smiled sheepishly:

"Sorry, that's what Kuina calls them. They're these eel dragon things…"

"Oh, don't worry, I know," Usopp replied. "We had our own run in with them. We took care of them. Anyway, about the fox. I fixed it, but she won't take it back. I figure bedtime is going to be a trick without it, so I was wondering if you could lend me a hand."

He held it out to her as he spoke, and she took it fondly. "Well, you gave him two eyes. That's got to be part of the problem," she said. She took the offending button and twisted it off. "It's supposed to be Zoro, you see."

"Zoro's a fox?" Usopp and Chopper asked, exchanging a look of bemusement.

"Well, I certainly think so," Helena replied with a wink.

"That's not everything, though," Usopp went on. "See, I used some waterproofing on the outside. –it won't keep it from getting soaked or anything, but it should keep off everyday stains and stuff. Kuina says it smells funny."

Helena gave it a sniff. "I don't smell anything," she said. "Nothing unusual anyway." It had a bit of a nice, fresh laundry scent, but nothing that should have been offensive to the little girl's nose. Helena definitely couldn't detect the waterproofing.

"Yeah, me neither. But you know, they say babies know the scent of their mothers."

"They do," Chopper pitched in helpfully.

Usopp nodded, "So I figured it would be a good thing for you to hang on to this for a bit. Maybe if it smells like you, she'll want to use it again."

Helena glanced down at her unwashed body, decked out in bandages, poultices, and a hospital gown. "You sure about that? I mean, I'm not exactly a basket of roses right now."

"I can always wash it again," Usopp said with a shrug.

"I guess I've done harder things to get my baby to sleep," Helena chuckled.

Sanji appeared a moment later with some sort of amazing bone broth soup. After she had eaten, she felt stronger but still exhausted and a little queasy. Strange. She'd have thought she'd be feeling better by now. Chopper advised her to get some more rest, and she didn't protest.

Cuddling up to the little fox plush, her good cheer began to wane as reality set in. She had been trying for what felt like ages to find the Thousand Sunny, specifically for Kuina's sake. Now that they were here, she knew she couldn't allow herself to get too complacent.

Perhaps it was a good thing Usopp had thought of something for Kuina to remember her by. After all, she couldn't stay here for long.

With that in mind, she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

"Hey, Little Princess. I fixed Foxy up even better than before. Will you take him to bed? I think he's been lonely for you."

Usopp knelt holding the fox plush toward its owner, hoping against hope that Kuina would accept his offering. It appeared he was the only one in the crew Kuina openly disliked. It was hard not to take it personally, even if she was only two.

Kuina looked up at him with her big brown eyes. He could see her weighing how much she wanted the fox back against how much she had decided to dislike him. It didn't help that it was past her bedtime, so she was extra cranky.

"I even made it not stinky anymore," Usopp added, holding it out further.

Kuina at last made a decision. Pointing a finger straight at his face, she lifted her nose into the air, looking down on him so much that she was in fact looking up. "I accept your offewing, Meanie Nose," she proclaimed as he blinked at her in shock. "You may pwace it at my feet."

Usopp wasn't sure how to react to this. Considering how down to earth Queen Helena had always been, her daughter's sudden snobbery came as a complete shock.

Luffy burst into boisterous laughter from his perch astride one of the kitchen stools. "You look just like Hammock!" he said.

Kuina's air of snobbery disappeared into an enormous grin. "Reawwy?" she asked, completely delighted.

Luffy nodded, wiping amused tears from his eyes. "Really!"

"She so cool!" Kuina exclaimed, dancing in place in her excitement.

"Who on earth are you talking about?" Usopp demanded.

Robin happened to walk by, her nose in a book. "They're talking about Boa Hancock," she translated, demonstrating yet again her uncanny ability to understand Luffy (and subsequently Kuina's) childish mind.

"Boa Hancock?" Sanji whimpered from where he had started to clear the dishes. "As in, the Empress of Maiden Isle? You got to meet her too?"

He'd directed the question at Kuina, who nodded.

"She want to be my mama," she informed the listening crew members. Her face darkened in disappointment. "But Mama say no. Mama fight her."

"Helena got in a fight with Boa Hancock?" Nami asked, intrigued. "Isn't that one of the Seven Warlords? Is Helena strong enough to hold her own against one of them?"

Zoro knelt beside his daughter. Something she had said had disturbed him more than the aforementioned fight. "Kuina," he said sternly, brow furrowed in concern. "Why would you want someone else to be your mother?"

Kuina looked askance, wary of his tone.

"Kuina?" Zoro prodded, the barest note of anger in his voice now.

"Hammock pwetty," she mumbled.

"And you said that to your Mama?" Zoro demanded, aghast. "You told her you'd rather Hancock be your mother because she's pretty?"

Kuina hung her head. She may not have understood the whole context of why he'd be angry, but she could clearly read his tone of voice.

Zoro sighed. Robin looked up from her book again, brows knit in concern. "I doubt Helena would take it too personally," she said quietly. "Boa Hancock is supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world."

Zoro took the fox Usopp still had clutched in his hand. Scooping Kuina in one muscular arm, he handed her the plushie. "Your mother is the most beautiful woman in the world to me."

"Reawwy?" Kuina asked, clutching the fox.

"Really," he replied, touching his forehead to hers. "But that's not what makes her a good mama. She's a good mama because she did everything in her power to keep you safe. You know your mama would never let anything bad happen to you, right?"

Kuina seemed to puzzle this for a moment.

"Lot of bad things happen," she said cryptically, snuggling into his shoulder and hiding her face against the fox.

Usopp could see a shadow pass behind Zoro's face, and in that moment more than any other Usopp did not envy him his fatherhood. Potty training, protection, and plushies aside, this had to be the hardest part of caring for a young child.

He ultimately didn't attempt an answer. "Come on," he said, "Let's go say goodnight to your mama."

"Then I get story?" Kuina asked, yawning.

"I have the perfect one," Robin put in, lifting her book and wearing an uncharacteristically cheerful expression. The book had a picture of a raven on it. "The Tell-Tale Heart."

"Sounds cute. What's it about?" Zoro was wise enough to inquire.

"A murderer who buries his victim in his house, but is driven mad by the victim's heartbeat."

"Hard pass on that one," Zoro said, eyebrow twitching.

"Oh?" Robin seemed surprised. "Then how about The Masque of the Red-Death? Or perhaps Buried Alive?"

"Are you serious? What is wrong with that book?"

"It's a book of classic short stories," Robin retorted, her nose already buried in it again. "I read it as a child."

"That explains so much," Usopp, Zoro, and Nami said at once. Robin didn't seem to notice:

"How about The Fall of the House of Usher?"

"Robin," Zoro said flatly. "You're not allowed to help with bedtime stories either."

"You sure about that?" Nami asked, pointing at the child. "It looks like her story already worked."

Kuina had passed out asleep on Zoro's shoulder.

Lot of bad things happen.

Lying in his bunk that night, Zoro contemplated what his daughter had said. He and his crewmates were no strangers to sorrow, not even as children. And yet his heart ached for his daughter, angrier at the world for her childhood traumas than for his own.

He wanted to avenge her, though a motivation like that would cloud his swordsmanship, he knew. Anyway, who would he avenge her against? Mihawk and the other shichibukai? The entire Navy?

It didn't matter. If anyone who had hurt her crossed his path, they wouldn't be long for this world, that much was clear.

Dozing on this thought, Zoro startled awake at the door to the men's dormitory swinging open. Nami stood framed in the doorway, clutching Kuina by the hand.

"She woke up asking for you," Nami grumped, rubbing her eyes drearily. "Storm's coming. If she sleeps here, she stays here the rest of the night. It won't be safe on deck."

Zoro glanced at his small bunk. There wasn't much room for both himself and the toddler. He was about to say as much, but then Kuina sniffled loudly.

They would just have to make do. "Bring 'er here," he mumbled groggily.

Nami flopped the little girl on his chest, and soon disappeared to get her beauty sleep.

"You would probably have been more comfortable in Nami and Robin's big bed," Zoro informed her as he pulled his blanket over the both of them. She nuzzled into him, still clutching Foxy of course.

"Want Papa," she said stubbornly.

He yawned. "Ok, well, try to get some sleep, Kid."

"Ok, Papa. I yuv you."

Keenly aware of the other guys listening in on this conversation, Zoro felt his cheeks flush a bit. "I love you too, kid," he said as quietly as he could.

"Aw," he heard Sanji utter under his breath. Stupid Curly-Brows.

Just as Zoro had started to doze off again, Kuina decided that it was the perfect time to make conversation.

"Papa," she said, sounding entirely too awake. "You yike my dwess?"

"Sure kid, it's really pretty," he yawned. Truth be told he hadn't paid much attention to it. It was kind of grey and tattered, made of some kind of fancy, silky fabric. Maybe it had sported some lace at some point but this had been torn to bits.

"I get mawwied," she said.

"Not til you're thirty, kid."

"I mawwy big, uggie bubble man," she continued.

"Wouldn't you want to marry a prince instead?" Sanji asked, butting into the conversation.

"Or perhaps a swordsman?" Brook added, "Like your papa?"

Luffy's head appeared over the side of the bunk above Zoro's. "Or a pirate?" he grinned.

"I no wan to mawwy bubble man. He mean."

Zoro felt his stomach drop. "Wait, are you talking about a real person?"

"He make my back ouch."

Zoro pressed his hand against her back and felt her cringe. There was a strange, raised bump beneath the fabric.

"I wear heavy neckwace and pwetty dwess."

Zoro had pushed himself upright by now. His male crewmates (aside from Franky, who was at the helm, and Chopper, who was taking care of Helena) all started to stir as well, the concern palpable in the room.

"Zoro, you don't think…" Usopp started.

Mouth set in a grim line, Zoro hugged his daughter to him and slowly unzipped the back of her dress. He saw loose and dirty bandages, so loose he managed to push them aside while his mates watched in dread. Beneath the bandages was a burn mark, no, a brand. – a brand like a claw. Crumbling. Raw. A few weeks old.

A palpable shudder of anger passed through the crew, and not just the ones in the male dormitory. So intense was their rage that their nakama across the ship, from Franky at the helm to Nami and Robin in their room, to Chopper and Helena in the infirmary, all felt it, inexplicably linked, perhaps by haki, perhaps by something deeper. Every fish within a mile of the ship fled in sudden fear.

Kuina had been marked by a Celestial Dragon.