It wasn't long till the three Moby Dick look alike arrived at their main ship.
As some people were boarding the ship she was on, Oriana could hardly recognize anyone. That was until a certain man came on board. She walk up to the big man, "Is that you, Vista?" she looked up at him, "Yeah, who are you?" he asked clearly not recognizing her.
She gasped dramatically, "You don't remember me?" she held her hand up over her mouth. The man looked confused and looked at his men who were equally confused, "Okay, never mind. Find me once you do" she walked past him and over to someone else that had a huge smirk on his face.
"Please tell me you know who I am," she asked almost desperately. "Of course, I do, Oriana" he answered, and she hugged him, "You made my day, Jozu!" she smiled brightly. "I'm glad you're finally back" he placed a hand on her back.
"Wait, you're really back? Oria!" Tears gathered in the swordman's eyes. "That took you long enough, Vista!" she turned to him as she mirrored his expression. He came over to her and gave her a big bear hug. "See you guys. That's how you're supposed to feel!" she glared at them all.
"Zehahahah, the loud-mouthed brat is finally back" someone laughed as he came behind her. "Who are you?" Oriana didn't bother trying to guess. She most definitely did not remember that laugh. "Oi, oi come on now. Don't you remember me or the day you got me in trouble with the chefs?"
"You should've started with that! Now, I want to remember you!" Oriana grinned as she gazed at him from top to toe. He did look somewhat familiar to her, "Don't tell me it's you Teach?" she finally realized after intensely staring at him, "You finally got it, zehahahah"
"I have a serious question for you Teach; What happened to you? Not only did you get fat and ugly, but half of your teeth are gone?" she gently hit her front tooth with her index finger. The crowd around them started laughing, "I'm just kidding Teach, you don't have to tell me," she slapped his hand playfully.
She might have told him that, but she knew her words were true. "I see you still the same troublemaker!" he grinned, "That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me!" she held a hand to her heart. There were people laughing behind her, she tried her best not to smile so badly.
"You know what, how about we raid the kitchen just like old times" Oriana smirked menacingly. "That's crazy, but I would love to see if you can pull it off," people around started commenting, "That sounds like a bet… I'm in!" she said without hesitation.
"Don't get too close to her guys. She will throw you under without a second thought, isn't that, right?" teach said smirking. "Okay, you know I would do anything for everyone here!" she responded firmly.
"I'm sure you would but who here would allow you to do that? You are the youngest here and pops' little princess!" the man mocked. Oriana had been silent for a moment now with her eyes on the ground. She could feel her anger rise as this person insulted her just like that.
"I'm not the same helpless girl I used to be, Teach," Her voice was dangerously calm. A small breeze surrounded her, and she looked up at him with her red fiery eyes, "I'm so much stronger than I was before, and I still have so much more to grow!"
"Yeah, you're right. That other form of yours makes so much of a difference" he smirked.
Oriana charged toward him without a second thought which surprised him greatly before she jumped up and kicked him in his stomach. Teach flew back through the walls into some room, "That wasn't even close to my full power!" she spat.
How dare he imply that she got special treatment because she was the captain's biological daughter. Something like blood had never mattered here and she refused to believe that she was being treated any differently because of it.
It made so much more sense if they care more about her because she was a child that was growing up in a much harder environment than others. Oriana had to see the tough world at a very young age and her family probably wanted to show that life wasn't all bad.
Oriana climbed through the wall he went through and found him three rooms down. Teach was groaning in pain but she just grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him over to the others. "I'm sorry about the wall. I know I probably let my temper get the best of me" she chuckled awkwardly.
She made quite a first impression after so many years. They must think she was crazy or something.
"She got you good, Teach! Better watch your words from now on!" Marco was the first person to burst out laughing. "I had wanted to do that for the last couple of days. He had been annoying me!" Vista smiled proudly.
The young woman looked at them with a smile, "You guys better watch out too 'cause I want to test my strength against you three," she pointed at Jozu, Vista, and Marco. "And I want to surpass you the most, dad!" she grinned at the captain.
"I told you this when you were a child; there is still a long way for you to go, treasure" Whitebeard just read his newspapers. "Pops' right, little one, but we don't mind giving you a demonstration of what you're going to surpass!" Jozu grinned.
Oriana let go of Teach and stared at him, "Really?" she smiled brightly, "Yeah-" as soon as he said that she changed her form and ran up to kick him. Jozu barely coated his body in his diamond armor to block her attack.
Jozu fell back a little and looked at her with a grin, "Not bad," Oriana landed gently, "I was hoping to at least make a small crack in your diamond form" she said a little disappointed. "You still have a long way to go, little one, yoi" Marco rubbed her head.
"I told you to stop doing that! Damn it!" Oriana tried to fix her hair. She turned around to the blond, "I want to fight you too!" she pointed her finger at him, "You've already lost once. I think I'll spare you some embarrassment, yoi," the blond whispered.
Oriana glared at him and was about to tell him off but decided to take a deep breath, "I guess I'll just have to prove you wrong, then" she took a stand ready to attack him, "Oriana" someone called. Everyone's eyes turn to their captain, "Yeah, daddy?" she smiled innocently at him.
"Not now" Whitebeard simply said before he started to drink, "But-" she tried to protest, "No, buts. You'll get a chance at another time" he answered firmly. "Alright…" she poured childishly and Teach smiled menacingly, "Who thought Pops could say no to you" he muttered but she heard.
Oriana glared at him, "When you get better, I won't feel bad for beating you again" the man seemed shocked, "What? You heard?" he asked, "Of course, I heard. Look at the size of my ears they aren't for show," she said as she turned back to her normal form.
She just turned around and sat on the rail overlooking the ocean very much aware of people's gaze on her. Oriana was probably continuing to surprise them. she couldn't help herself from smiling no matter how hard she tried.
It was so great to be back.
-x-
It's been weeks since her return. Oriana had made her presence very known on the ship so much so that the allies captain wanted to meet her. She mostly didn't remember their name, but she did remember the one with a spider mark on his forehead.
A lot of things happened between the two in a span of five minutes which ended up with the captain finding himself in the sea. It was safe to say that he would show her a lot more respect from now on plus it worked as a warning to whoever she would meet next.
The morning went by so fast, and they were slowly getting closer to lunchtime. Painfully slow. Oriana looked from side to side not trying to look suspicious at all. She walked as casually as possible towards the gallery. There was no one in there, which gave her an easy entrance to the kitchen.
Oriana didn't expect anyone to be in there, but she did have an excuse if there was. She casually opened the door and came face to face with the fourth division commander, "Thatchie!" she smiled surprised. Now, she didn't need to steal food instead he would make it for her.
"Oria-chan, what are you doing here? Aw, did you miss me" he grinned playfully, "If I say yes, will you make me something delicious?" she blinked innocently. "Yes," Thatch chuckled, "Then yes I missed you!" Oriana said without hesitation.
"That's nice to hear" The commander patted her head. "Now, food, please?!" she grinned, "Alright" he started to cook for her, and she sat on the counter watching him.
Oriana stared at the commander before finally asking, "There used to be a cook named Noki when I was a child. Do you know what happened to him?" Thatch through for a moment, "I don't think there was someone with that name when I joined the crew"
She just nodded and Thatch could clearly see that it bothered her. He had to think of something that would make her smile.
"Teach told me that you got him in trouble years ago" Thatch started, "He did? What did he say I did?" she knew what he was going to say, but she wanted him to confirm it, "He said you ate all the food but then blamed him"
"That's not true! We ate the food together, but he was stupid enough to get caught!" Oriana said a little too loud and soon the commander burst out laughing. "How did you get him caught?" he questioned, "I gave him my pie to distract him before I jumped out of that window" she pointed to the side, still looking at him smirking.
"That's perfect!" he bent over hardly breathing. "Hurry up and finish your laughing. I'm hungry!" she protested. "I'll get to it in a minute," he said for about fifteen seconds before finally calming down, "I'm done now," he said as he took a deep breath.
"Thatchie?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good" he wiped away some tears.
"Great. Now, how long till the food is done?" Oriana impatiently asked.
"Let me see" Thatch looked at the food he was cooking before he took a spoon to taste the dish. He added some ingredients stirred them a few times and looked at her with a smile, "It's ready" he smiled. The commander made her a plate he gave it to her.
Oriana was drooling and didn't hesitate to eat it. Very soon she finished her food, "More please!" she handed him the plate and he refilled it.
The two were having fun laughing and talking with each other, "There you are! I've been looking for you all over the ship!" a woman with icy blue hair entered the kitchen. "You know I'm in here most of the time!" Thatch replied.
"Why would you think I meant you?" the woman said harshly, "Because I'm everyone's favorite" the commander answered confidently. Oriana had been listening to them patiently waiting for her to finally greet the woman.
"I was talking to Oriana, you fool!" she fired back. "Oh, that makes sense" Thatch calmly answered. "Seriously, how stupid can you get, Thatch?" the woman turned a bit annoyed, but her face quickly changed once she saw her.
"It's been so long, Oria. We all knew you would find your way back to us one day" the woman's eyes soften, "Bay, it's so good to see you!" Oriana said before hugging her former crew member. "You've grown up so much. It's good to have you back" she said softly.
"Who would have thought that the Ice Witch would have a warm heart?" Thatch said in the background, "Shut up. I just came to see her and make sure she really was back," Whitey Bay glared at the commander so intensely.
She turned to Oriana and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear before softly tracing her thumb through her cheek, "I'm happy you're here, Oria" she smiled softly. Oriana's face brightened, "Thank you, Bay! It's good to be back"
"Come with me" Whitey Bay guided her out of the kitchen, "But my food" Oriana looked back at Thatch who was holding her plate, "You can eat later. Everybody wants you on the deck," Bay answered before leading her out to the deck where everyone has gathered around in a big circle.
"What's going on here?" Oriana looked around with their eyes on her, "We heard. Is it true?" Vista started. "Is what true?" she asked confused, she hasn't done anything yet. "Is it true that after being back for almost a month you don't have your pirate mark yet?" Haruta asked shocked.
"It's been a month already?" She couldn't stop herself from smiling. When she saw their eyes, she got a tiny bit nervous, "Yes…" Oriana said hesitantly. Why were they looking at her like that?
"That is unacceptable!" Blamenco said in the background, "We have to change that right away!" Speed Jiru added. Oriana just stared at them blankly, she didn't know what to say. Did they want her to get their mark to show the world that she was a member of the Whitebeard pirates?
Or was it because they wanted some sort of ownership over her? Oriana shook her head; they were her crew, her family. She refused to think that low of them. They argued but which mark they were going to get her.
"Guys!" she suddenly interrupted.
Her family looked at her, "I should have a say in which mark that going to be permanently tattooed on to MY body, should I not?" she raised an eyebrow. "You're right" Curiel took a step towards her, "Which mark would you like?" the commander asked as he pointed to his chin which had her father's mark.
The yelling started once more with people agreeing with the given choice and some disagreeing wholeheartedly. Oriana sighed, "Now this again." She said but no one heard her. She decided to leave them to whatever while she climbed the mast to just relax in the crow's nest.
Even though her crew was a bit much sometimes they were still right. She wanted to have a mark of her own, too. But the bigger question was what kind of mark. The one commander Curiel presented was pretty cool and she has seen other members having it as well.
But there was also the classic Whitebeard mark
Oriana looked at the ship's jolly roger and already decided for that to be the one, but with her own little touch. She had an idea, she needed to put it on paper before showing it to anyone. That might be easier said than done.
She looked down to see they were still down there arguing until a certain first mate came to interfere, "What are you idiots doing now?" They started their thing once more, but Marco quickly stopped them, "Listen to me, let her decide whatever she wants! Leave her alone till she does!"
The pirates separated, and it was finally time for Oriana to get down. She landed quietly before turning to Marco, "Thank you, commander" she smiled before running inside her room to grab her drawing book.
Oriana had her pen on the page even before she was out on the deck again. She drew her father's jolly roger but instead of the purple color she chose black. She made shadows of cracks in the background, and the skull along with the crossbones had melted a little bit.
Everything looked epic.
She ran over to her father who was sitting on his throne, "Dad, dad, dad look at this!" she showed him her page, "Hmm, is that-?" her father started, "I want that to be my pirate mark. What do you think?" she asked cutely.
The captain looked at it more closely before a grin was plastered on his face, "I think it's great, treasure" he said and handed it back to her. "Perfect! I'm going to ask Izo to do it for me!" she smiled brightly.
Oriana only had to find the samurai now which wasn't so hard since it was lunchtime and he was eating with the other commanders. "Izo! Will you do me the honor and make this as my pirate mark?" she showed him her masterpiece.
"This is really beautiful, little one" he praised, and she couldn't help but be happy, "So, will you do it for me?" she asked sweetly. "I-" but he was interrupted by Haruta who snatched it out of his hand, "You really drew this?" he asked amazed.
"Be careful with it, but yeah I made that" Oriana was proud of how great it turned out. "Plus, I already showed dad and he's told me to go for it!" she could hardly contain her excitement. "So?" she looked at the samurai who still haven't given her an answer.
"I… can't, Oria" Izo finally said, "What, why?" she questioned, "I think that honor belongs to Haruta. He is so much better than me at it," the sixteenth commander turned to the twelfth commander, "Will you do it for her, Haruta?"
The commander looked at her, then at the drawing, and then at her again, "It's going to be my finest work!" he gladly accepted the work. "Great! Let's go do it right now!" she pulled his arm, heading out of the gallery, "Wait" he protested.
Oriana stopped, "What?" she turned to him. "I didn't actually expect you to stop," Haruta said a bit embarrassed. "Hahaha where are we going to do it?" she grinned, "Wherever you want, but we need light," he said. "Alright, how about out on the deck" she suggested.
"No problem! I just have to go get the things we need."
The two met an hour later. The commander was ready for her, he had drawn her design on another kind of paper, "Where do you want it?" Oriana blinked a few times. She hasn't really thought about it. She looked over her body and thought.
"I want it right here" she pointed to the lower part of the arm. Haruta nodded and got to work.
As soon as he started Oriana felt the needle on her skin. She was about to pull the arm away, but Haruta kept her arm in place, "What are you doing?" he asked, "You didn't tell me it was going to sting!" she rubbed the spot.
"I thought you knew! If you can't take it, I'll stop" the commander said calmly. Oriana took a deep breath before relaxing her arm, "No, keep going" she said. She bit her teeth together ready for the tattoo.
After what felt like forever it was done. Her skin was sore, but the design was great, and quickly forgot the pain because she loved it very much. "Thank you so much, commander!" she hugged him after he wrapped a bandage around her new Mark.
Oriana walked around the ship smiling brightly.
She wanted to show it to people but they had annoyed her, so she was going to deny them that. At least for now.
Oriana went over to her father who was enjoying his daily drink, "Hey dad!" she jumped up and sat on the armrest, "Hello treasure. Does your arm hurt?" he asked. "Yeah, but I'll be fine" she rubbed the place the tattoo was made.
"It'll heal soon" the captain smiled. "I really love it. It was your mark with my personal touch. Speak of personal, do you still have my old drawing books, dad?" she suddenly remembered hopefully. "Of course, I have them in my room. I just look at them quite often," Whitebeard answered lovingly.
"Great, where can I find them?!" Oriana asked impatiently. "I'll show you" her father led her toward his room, and she followed excitedly. Once they went inside, whitebeard opened his drawer and took out two familiar books.
"Here, these belong to you" her father handed them to her. Oriana couldn't stop herself from smiling. She opened one of them and saw her old masterpieces, "These are really bad!" she said fondly as the pages turned.
Oriana stopped when she saw the picture of her mother. She felt herself getting emotional, "Dad, I visited mama's grave" she didn't look at him, her eyes were still focused on her drawing. "You did? When was this?" Whitebeard asked surprised.
"It was right before I met up with you. I never thought I wanted to go back there since it's a huge reminder that mama is no longer alive," she explained as she sat on the bed next to her father. "I've been back there a few times throughout the years hoping we would have met there once again" he smiled.
"It was close enough, dad" she teased.
Oriana kept looking at her old drawing and the two talked about the memories with smiles until a familiar samurai appeared, "Did Oden ever return?" she asked her father, "No, he hasn't been back since the time he left with Roger" he answered.
"It's no excuse. If he doesn't want to come back, he can just leave the crew instead of making us wait like that!" she was getting mad, "Treasure,-" he tried but she cut him off, "No, dad, what excuse could he possibly have to make us wait almost eighteen years?"
"Death has that effect on people, Oriana" he answered, "What…?" she was confused. "Oden died years ago," he said with so much regret. "I… guess that's an excuse I can accept. How did it happen" she felt herself getting emotional
"I don't really know the details except he was killed by Kaido," Whitebeard answered.
Oriana leaned against her father's arm, "Dad, I'm going to get stronger" she said as she wiped her tears away. "I don't want to lose people, dad. I don't want to cry!" she looked at her father, "Please, keep being the strongest so I don't have to lose you too!"
Whitebeard smiled at her lovingly, "You have nothing to worry about. I'm Whitebeard after all"
Oriana was so happy, she hugged her father, "I know, I'm not just looking up to anybody. Your strength, kindness, and your desire to protect the people you love are why people gather around you. That's why you're my hero, dad!"
"Gurarara that's not what a pirate wants to hear, treasure… but a father most definitely would!"