Somehow, Palila managed to contact Garp. He explained that the Goa Kingdom was known as the cleanest and most beautiful in all of the East Blue. For this reason, a world noble decided to visit the kingdom. Upon hearing this news, the king of Goa decided to burn down the terminal to eradicate the biggest stain on his beautiful kingdom.
Because Palila stopped the fire, the terminal was saved from irreparable damage. This ruined the king's plans and angered the world noble, who, seeing that the kingdom was not as flawless as he expected, threw a tantrum. In his tantrum, he ordered a Buster Call on the island as punishment for deceiving him. So far, no survivors have been found, which is why when Palila contacted Garp and learned that his grandsons were alive, his heart was at ease.
Now our mother of three is in a conflict over how to tell her children the truth behind what happened on the island.
"Are you okay, mom?" Luffy asked her while flipping a pancake. "I'm fine!" She responded as a pancake landed directly on her face.
"I hope you like them!" Palila said with stars in her eyes as the children started eating breakfast.
"I have to admit these are the best you've made so far," Sabo admitted while taking another bite of his pancake.
"Sabo is right," Ace mentioned as he tried to steal a pancake from Luffy.
"It's the secret family recipe!" Palila said proudly.
"Really?!" Luffy asked with excitement.
"They are the best worm pancakes you'll find. I even added more sugar than usual," Palila added.
At this, Ace and Sabo started choking on their food while Luffy continued eating without problems.
Thanks to the good moment, Palila completely forgot about the topic she needed to discuss with them. She didn't remember it until Ace interrupted her while giving Luffy a bath.
"Did you know about this?!" Ace demanded.
"We'll talk once I'm done bathing your brother," Palila said as she finished rinsing Luffy's hair.
As soon as she sat them down, she began discussing what she didn't want to reveal but knew she had to. She would hate it if someone kept something as delicate as the truth behind the loss of her home from her; she didn't know if she could forgive something like that.
"This newspaper claims that the ones responsible for the island's destruction were pirates," Palila explained while showing the newspaper. The children were just processing the government's reasons for doing so, and mentioning that they had even lied about what happened did not sit well with them.
"They must have paid to have the news altered!" Sabo shouted.
"Forget that, what about that no one survived?!" Ace demanded.
"No one sur-sur-vived?" Luffy asked with tears in his eyes. Palila hugged him, trying to comfort him, while Ace did the same.
Sabo took this opportunity to escape and leave the house. He hid in a nearby cloud that Palila had made, where no one would find him and cried silently, hating that there was no one who could truly understand him. Maybe Ace with his father, but even so, there is a clear difference between them. People like the nobles of the Goa Kingdom are to blame for Ace hating himself as much as he does. And whether he likes it or not, he was part of them. He was born noble, like those who destroyed his home.
Everything he had ever kept inside of him was released as tears. All those years trapped in a family that never loved him, all those times when he wished for freedom.
"We were looking for you..." Somehow his mother managed to find him. "Do you want to talk about it?" Palila asked.
Sabo didn't know what to say at that moment, so he let himself be hugged. And in that hug, they stayed for a while until he knew what to say. "Are all nobles like this?" He asked as if his life depended on it.
"No," Palila responded. "After all, you are not like them. But even more important, you have a noble heart, something many nobles do not have."
"Noble heart?" Sabo asked, confused.
"The word noble refers to the social class possessing economic, social, and political control by reasons of blood, right? But at the same time, the word can refer to someone who demonstrates high principles and qualities of great morality," Palila explained.
"And aren't you someone with a noble heart? Not because of your blood but because of who you are?" Palila smiled while hugging him tighter. "Being born into high society does not define your heart."
"Did you know someone like me?" Sabo asked. At this, Palila smiled softly.
"Did you know that the great Captain Prince was a real prince?" Palila revealed.
"Really?!" Sabo exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right, so pay attention to what I'm going to tell you," Palila affirmed.
The love between humans and Fish-Men is something frowned upon by both races. This led King Peter to fall into madness when he learned that his only daughter had eloped with a Fish-Man.
In his madness, he ordered the assassination of that man and the child he had created with his daughter. But unfortunately for him, his daughter had died in an attempt to save her husband. And the child born of that forbidden love was protected by one of his mother's friends, who hid him in an orphanage on a distant island where he could grow up free from the king's wrath.
This child bore the name Pan D. Prince. That name was the last thing his mother left him along with a few words inscribed on the bracelet he wore.
His friend Jon. Jon used to tease him about how silly his name sounded on an orphan like him. It was funny for a while until it stopped being so. — We came in the name of King Peter. — Several knights like marines arrived at the orphanage intending to take him to his mother's father, King Peter.
The king knew that due to an accident he had after his daughter's birth, he could no longer have children. With his daughter's death, the son she had was his only possible heir, no matter how much it annoyed him. So he began a years-long search for that child. And finally, he found him in an orphanage run by nuns.
— I don't want to go! — Prince tried to free himself from the grip of the knights sent by his grandfather. — Please at least let me talk to Jon. Jon! — Prince pleaded desperately.
— His majesty should not mix with the scum — one of the guards said coldly.
— What did you just say?... — Prince asked angrily. No one spoke ill of his friend.
— It's best you start cooperating and stop making the king wait... — The knight responded.
No matter how hard he tried to free himself, Prince could do nothing as he was escorted away from the orphanage.
"Did he manage to escape?" Sabo asked.
"That's where I'm going..." Palila said, looking at the horizon with a slight smile.
Prince ended up living in solitude in one of the castle's many towers. He thought he had gone mad when out of nowhere... — Do you understand me? — his shadow had come to life.
"What do you mean by that?" Sabo asked.
"It was caused by a Devil Fruit user. But he wouldn't know that until much later…" Palila added.
The shadow nodded.
— Wait! What's that noise? — Prince exclaimed. — You heard it too, right? — he asked the shadow, who gave a thumbs up.
— There it is again! — Prince said in surprise. — Wait a moment! That sound is coming from you! — Prince finally realized that every time the shadow moved, it made a sound like a little bell.
— You're my shadow, but I can't call you Prince, that would be weird. — Prince explained, to which the shadow nodded.
— Tinkerbell! I'll call you Tinkerbell because every time you move, you make the sound of a bell. — Prince declared with radiant excitement at finally having company in that lonely castle.
"In your other stories, Tinkerbell is not mentioned. Why? She's his shadow, shouldn't she be there all the time?" Sabo questioned.
"She was probably somewhere else, maybe she'll appear in Prince's next adventure," Palila responded with a wink.
"Can she separate herself from Prince?" Sabo asked.
"She was her own person, in a strange way. And the only company Prince would have for a long time," Palila explained.
He spent his days studying. The pressure and demands he faced were too much, so Tinkerbell did her best to cheer him up. Prince and Tinkerbell took time to learn sign language to communicate, but they finally managed it.
They spent hours and hours talking until Prince fell exhausted.
One day the king decided it was time to officially present him as the next in line for the throne. — From now on, you will be Peter the Fourth — the king declared that a name like Prince was not suitable for a successor. And what better than to continue the tradition of three generations of naming the firstborn Peter.
— My name is Prince, how dare you? My mother was the one who.… — Prince couldn't finish complaining, as the king had slapped him.
— Don't you dare mention that woman in my presence! — The king shouted, his face red with anger. — You will be Peter whether you like it or not.
The next day, the entire kingdom celebrated the return of their prince, Peter the Fourth.
The one named Peter destroyed entire trees out of frustration over this. — Why does it bother you so much? It's just a name... — Tinkerbell commented, to which Prince shot her a look. He took his bracelet and showed it to Tinkerbell.
—This is proof that my name is the last thing my mother left me,— Prince declared, pointing to the inscription on the bracelet, which read: You will always be my prince.
— Rejecting my name is like rejecting her— Prince said through tears, quickly wiping them away because he didn't want Tinkerbell to see him like that.
"Taking away your name and renaming you is like being a slave," Sabo confessed.
"That's right," Palila affirmed.
The people of the kingdom quickly came to love their prince, very much unlike the king, who was not pleased with his successor's attitude. He tried everything to mold him into his image without any success. Nothing seemed to steal those latent desires for freedom that resonated in his heart.
Years passed, and he ceased to be the little seven-year-old boy who had been taken from his home. Now he was a twelve-year-old boy with the strength necessary to escape his golden prison.
—You're insane! —Tinkerbell complained about her friend's crazy plan, which he continued to ignore.
—I almost forgot!— Prince exclaimed, realizing he almost forgot to pack his bandana. —Why all the fuss over a rag?— Tinkerbell questioned.
—It's part of a promise I made to my best friend Jon. Jon,— Prince explained.
"Wait, is that why he always wears it?" Sabo asked.
"Yes, it's something like Luffy with his straw hat," Palila affirmed. "But as I was saying..." She quickly resumed the story.
The guards had found Prince in his escapes attempt, but he was smarter and used a smoke bomb.
—We can't board a merchant ship!— Prince complained once they had lost sight of the guards. —They already know we're near the port, they might search the ships,— Prince explained.
He didn't know what to do. On one hand, he wanted to leave on a merchant ship, but on the other, to do so, he had to find a way to go unnoticed.
—You've lost your mind!— Tinkerbell said as she watched Prince hide in a food barrel.They waited in silence until the barrel was taken onto a merchant ship. The ship was soon inspected.
Unfortunately, they found nothing, allowing the ship to sail away with the prince.
—This century's expedition wasn't bad at all, a good collection of merchandise and information from the outside,— one of the crew members affirmed.
Prince remained still, listening.
—Now we have to plan our arrival to avoid the sea kings that surround the island's coast,— the man continued, making Prince's eyes widen in shock.
They kept talking about a magical island, making it impossible for Prince to contain his excitement.
—Where are we going?— Prince asked as he poked his head out of the barrel. —To Promise island…— one of the crew members replied lazily.
—Wait, who are you?!— the crew members exclaimed. Prince just laughed in response.
"The rest is history. Prince found his home on Promise island and soon became the pirate captain of the lost boys," Palila concluded the story.
"But wasn't it Neverland? Why do you call it Promise island?" Sabo asked.
Palila realized she had made a mistake, unintentionally referring to the island by its old name. "What I'm going to tell you, you must swear not to tell your brothers," Palila said. "I lied, it's always been Promise island. But something happened..."
— It's gone, as if it never existed, — his friend said that day.
"The island was destroyed along with the promise that gave it its name. That's why I think it's more appropriate to call it something else," Palila explained.
"I told you his story because I want you to always remember that the most important thing is to never let anyone dictate who you should be," Palila said as she pulled a book out of her bag. "This was going to be your birthday present." It was a book recompilation of Prince's adventures, including his origins.
"Thank you... mom," Sabo took the book.
That same day, Ace and Luffy discovered the book and almost destroyed it. They tried to see who would get it first. In the end, Palila had no choice but to read them the book before bed. As he slowly closed his eyes, Sabo knew that for the first time in a long time, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.