Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Usual routine in those seas; the sun was high with its thick rays, the sea moved slightly, agitated by the continuous cannonballs that penetrated the waves and sank in the abyss, while a whisker of gray smoke traced the sky like a brush.

A typical day, between those of peaceful navigation and discovery, and others of scuffles, clashes and adventures that sent chills to the bone.

To differentiate the two, could be the weather and the indomitable force of nature, or the will of a living creature whose size and abilities could never, in any case, compare to the vastness of the ocean…

Sometimes, a simple gust of wind was enough, playful and unpredictable in changing its directions.
Cold or warm, swirling and violent or lulling. You can chase it, or you can wait for it to loom over you.

That wind whose origins you cannot know and whose destination cannot be revealed, but with which you can dance on that almost infinite stage called world.

…

“Please don't hurt us!!” The voices of the villagers pleaded. Some were young and clear, others clearly aged, but what united them was the indistinct desperation.

The sky had turned gray, despite the fact that until a few hours before it had been a pleasant and clear sunny day. Maybe it was the clouds crying over the disaster that had hit the island, or maybe it was simply nature that had come to help put out the flames of that fire that now dominated the vast majority of homes.

Screams and shots could be heard left and right, accompanied by the smell of blood and burnt wood and grass. Sometimes, they were covered by dark laughter, while the ground was sprinkled with blood and one corpse after another fell.

“If you had listened to us and given what we wanted right away maybe now we would not be in this situation” Criticized a tall man, playfully twirling his hook in place of his left hand. With his spiky hair he looked like half a dragon, but his look was just the finishing touch to what was the true monstrous side of him.

Under his gaze were a young couple, probably early twenties, if not less. The guy and his wife were just huddled against a wall, unable to escape from the dead-end of the alley.

In the girl's arms rested a cloth wrapped around something and she squeezed it as if her life depended on it. “We told you, we have nothing to give! Everything that the people of this village possessed you have taken!”

"Oh? And tell me, what is it that you keep there so greedily?” This time the hook rose, approaching the desired object, however the girl turned her back to prevent him touching.

Instinct took over and at the intimidated moan of his wife, the young guy pushed forward and threw himself against the pirate. "RUN!! Get away!!” he yelled, his voice drowned out by the fabric of his enemy's clothing, who struggled to free himself from the grip.

Noticing the hesitation of the girl, her brave, or perhaps more desperate husband, raised his voice. The only thing that mattered to him was knowing her as far from there as possible. "Please!! GO!!"

His plea seemed to break her from that trance and finally the redhead started running past the two and out of the alley that had trapped them.

To leave behind the man she loved, to do what she promised to never do. They had sworn to each other not even a year before, on that altar where they had been united in the eternal bond of marriage.

The only reason she had found the strength to commit such vile cowardice was because she had to protect their precious treasure, the very one for which her lover had thrown himself into what he knew would take his life away.

It wasn't even a matter of if , but when .

Before falling to the ground in a pool of his own blood and thus dyeing his candid white hair of vermilion, he had tried to gain as many seconds as possible. One after the other, as if they were each fundamental.

Life had left him with the lingering doubt; had he done enough?
Probably not, his brain had thought in those last moments, while his heart kept hoping he was wrong.

The girl managed to get near the port, miraculously given the amount of pirates around her, probably too busy carrying away as many bags of loot as possible.
Like dancing among the corpses, she had had to make her way avoiding trampling on the people she could consider family, friends, acquaintances…

Some ended up under her feet while stepping, and for each one she prayed. Not for forgiveness of her unbecoming actions, by now she knew she didn't deserve to think about herself when she was in danger of dying at any moment. However, she begged that her little treasure did not end up in the hands of that shady individual.

Their little joy…

*PANG PANG*

She didn't stop at the sound of gunshots. Her body continued racing towards where their family boat was supposed to be. The only thing that could renew her hope and not make her husband's sacrifice in vain.

One step after another, one meter less from the sea…

Then she began to slow down, as a wet feeling pervaded her abdomen. She didn't have to look down and see her clothes turning red, she didn't try either. She knew that if she did, the desperation that drove her forward would turn into surrender.

But her body understood all the same and against her will, she swayed and fell forward.
The girl tried to put weight on her knees to get up, imitating what, in the eyes of the pirates consumed with laughter in the background, was a pathetic crawl.

They watched her, intrigued and amused by her anguish which moved her in vain towards what seemed to be the ark of salvation. Her ears didn't register their voices or even the heavier footsteps approaching.

"What a pitiful sight." expressed the captain of the pirates, now behind her. Despite his words, he seemed to find a lot of amusement in the situation, perhaps more due to the curiosity of what could really be so precious to the woman. "It must be something unique if you're willing to trudge yourself to that tub."

His still intact hand gripped her trembling shoulder and for a moment he was able to see her eyes.
He was paralyzed for an instant. In that look there was not only terror, pain and sadness, but also a clear sense of obsession. Something ravenous, possessive and morbidly protective.

“I won't l-let you do that. I-It will never be yours…” she croaked, her voice hoarse but imbued with a mixture of hate and love. She hugged the swath of cloth even closer to her, pressing it to her chest and trying to keep it as far away as possible from the blood flowing from her wounds.

Such intensity… if at first it had jolted the man, now it only increased his hunger. “Let's see what it's all about…”

Once again he reached out, this time with more determination, squeezing his fingers around the girl’s neck and lifting her off the ground. Her stifled cries didn't stop her from fighting with all strength to keep what belonged to her safe.

She had remarkable strength for an ordinary citizen.

However, the man's hook managed to penetrate the fabric of the bundle and get caught in the hole created. A squeal of terror and surprise left the girl’s lips and the moment of distraction was enough to make her loosen her grip.

As the pirate pulled, she held on.
She fought because she had nothing left to lose but that. Perhaps the one thing she absolutely could not allow to fall into their hands.
Not even for an instant did her soul stop thinking about it, not even as her breath began to fail and her lungs began to beg for a breath of air.
Not even when the energy vanished from her arms and she let the fabric slip away, slowly sliding at first and then swinging in the void.

The red flow that left her belly slowed and when her body finally went completely limp, the man took one last look at her lined face.

He could admit, she had tried until the end, and for this he felt a shred of respect.
That would make the loot hanging from his hook even more satisfying.

He placed it in his arms and immediately a first doubt pervaded him. The weight of whatever it was was…unusual, and so the shape and texture.

It certainly wasn’t not a sack full of gold and jewels…

It was something just as precious, perhaps a treasure so great that for a heartless one like him the meaning would never break through.
He would never understand where that miserable woman got all such strength to desperately protect what had turned out to be a mere child.

"What…!?" he exclaimed, lifting the infant by the back "A baby?! All that fuss for this?”

No, he could imagine it. Mothers, or parents in general who were at least decent, tended to be protective of their offspring. That those two unfortunate souls had tried everything to save their daughter was no surprise.

But for him, who ended up with that brat instead of a treasure, after all the expectations he had nurtured…

“What are you going to do, Captain?” Asked his second-in-command, approaching casually, "A quick end for pity?"

A slight snort left the man's mouth, while he observed the features of the little girl. "It would be a waste, the government pays these well."

“Ah, another guinea pig to send?”

“I don't see why not, if it can be useful we might as well get something out of it”

“Haha, you never disappoint!”

Their dark laughter seemed to creep to the heart of the infant, who began to squirm and lament. Her moans grew into an open cry, but the sound didn't touch the conscience of the two pirates in the slightest.

"Hmpf..." The captain didn't hold back his grimace as his arm opened in the direction of his companion "Throw her in the first trunk you find, I don't want to hear crying for the whole trip"

His deputy nodded, grabbing the little girl and taking her in his arms. Certainly more delicate than his superior, but in the end it was certainly not out of benevolence. Goods had to be treated with care, they couldn't risk being paid less for a few scratches. "Yes, sir"

The desperate cries of the newborn continued to ring in the air, extending beyond the last pained laments of the victims of the village.

They didn't stop when her little body was deposited among the various jewels of a chest empty enough to contain her and when it was closed and carried aboard the ship.

That heartbreaking cry in the dark inside of the box reached only the baby’s ears and the only thing that managed to placate it was that exhausted soul falling asleep.

…

“What ails you my boy?”

The young teen lowered his head, making visible to the man's eyes only the mass of red hair that covered it.

“Ah, wrong question, right?” Roger chuckled, but didn't really believe the humor in his voice.

The sun was setting and would rise the next day without him to lead the crew.

He would no longer be the captain, even if some of them rejected that and insisted that in their hearts he always would be.
On one hand, he couldn’t really blame the boy, as much as he wanted him to understand his motives.

Though his crew was something of a family, he still had business to attend to before kicking the bucket. Selfish desires perhaps, especially after the time all those people had spent to help him fulfill one of his craziest.

But he didn't really want to fade away among them, weak and pathetic. If he was going to bring the curtain down on his life, it had to be in the most interesting way possible.

“It's unfair…” and coward, Shanks wanted to add. He didn't dare say those words in front of his captain, however a very petulant and childish part inside of him was screaming to do it.

Roger was the last person he could call that way, but in his eyes the action he was about to take was a gesture moved by cowardice.

"Come on, do you think I'm a perfect man?" Nah, he wasn't a scoundrel but he wasn't a saint either. As much as they adored him, deep down all of his crew were aware of it.

Who could decide to leave the one he had raised as a son to make another one, just to make his bloodline find the One Piece after him?
Certainly not a very good person.

And aren't usually the children the ones who eventually abandon the nest? Since when do parents do it? "Of course not. Otherwise you wouldn't leave." Maybe he wasn't his real son, but he'd been raised in part by his captain and while he'd never have the courage or dignity to call him that, the young boy saw him as a father.

"Ah, now you're the one being a little unfair." Roger answered, aware however that he was more right than wrong.

"But it's true…" Shanks muttered, so low it was inaudible.

The grown man sighed, sitting down next to the boy, as if they were two equal pirates. "Sometimes we need to let things go, but that doesn't mean the ties are broken."

“Why create them then?”

A loud laugh, but not malicious, left Roger's bearded mouth “Bonds are what makes our lives special, without the crew I wouldn't have realized my dream. I do not regret any of this, mostly having known you. You?"

“No… but the closer you get to someone, the more it hurts to leave them. Isn't it selfish to create illusions like that?” Could love, in any form, be so binding?

Why did he have to be forced to choose between his connection to his ambitions and his connection to people? Why walk towards that choice in the first place? Why bond with someone if you inevitably end up hurting yourself?

Wouldn't it have been easier to pursue your dreams without having to worry about hurting others or yourself?

“Such is life my boy. Sometimes messy, but isn't that what makes it fun? Affection can be the most altruistic feeling there is, but also the most selfish."

The Pirate King's big hand rested on Shanks' head. He had a firm grip, strong, but also reassuring.

“Maybe I'm the last person who has the right to tell you this or to represent a good example, but selfishness isn't always so wrong. I hope that one day you too will be able to understand this…”

…

"Boss?"

"Hm?"

“Enemies on the port side, how do we proceed?” asked Hongo, pointing in the direction of approaching ships.

Shanks followed the gaze "How high is the possibility of a peaceful meeting?"

“As high as the chances of Roux going on a diet”

The red-haired sighed, standing up and placing the hands on his hips. It had actually been a too quiet day for his liking. At times like these, where the bittersweet memories of the past resurfaced, it was best to keep your mind distracted. "Let's get ready to dance"

…

“HA HA! And they called themselves pirates! How out of their minds were they to challenge us?”

The laughter of the crew of the Red-Haired Pirates was loud, after what had resulted in a landslide victory against the buccaneers who were probably sinking down the ocean at that point.

Not that they had made a carnage, they had limited themselves to answering an eye for an eye. If the enemies had raised their guns to shoot and kill, they had done the same in defense.

A few certain deaths, and probably the survivors, unless they had managed to reach one of the islands in the area, would not last so long in the waters full of sharks and sea creatures of all kinds.

In that case, however, the responsibility would have been the sea’s.

“Those people are good for nothing, they only make a difference when it comes to picking on people who can't defend themselves. Then put someone in front of them who really knows how to put up a fight and they won't even be able to offer a little fun." Beckman commented, crossing his arms with an expression not entirely satisfied.

"Let's look on the bright side, to compensate for any lack of fun there is the loot!" Hongo tried to encourage instead, somewhat pleased. He reached out to the mountain of crates scattered across the deck.

LimeJuice, with similar enthusiasm, exchanged a high five with Beckman, encouraging the good mood of his companions "We certainly won't have any problems with supplies for the next few months!"

"And weapons, we can restock without issues" added the crewmate.

“Hehe…” Shanks chuckled, enjoying the happiness of his crew. The scuffle had distracted him from uncomfortable thoughts and they had also managed to obtain an impressive quantity of treasures. They had all rights to celebrate; they would be much better off in the months to come.

“Waaaa…!”

A muffled sound reached his ears. So low that if it existed, it was probably only in his mind.

“Waaa…”

But his ears picked it up again and this time he couldn't ignore it.

It sounded like a moan and it clearly came from somewhere nearby, even if it seemed so far away.

He tried to sharpen his ears and separate that sound from all the surrounding noise. Locating it wasn't easy, yet he kept perceiving it, like a fly that always buzzes around your head and escapes the eye.

“Guys, do you hear it too?” Finally the teen decided to intervene to silence his companions. At least to understand if it was only his imagination or the delusions of the heat.

“Hear what?”

Shanks didn't answer, letting silence fall over the ship again. Still, of course, there was the noise of the waves and the movement of the people around, but finally the weird sound could be heard more distinctly.

“Whaaaa!!”

"This."

The faces of the men closest to the captain twisted in confusion, but also in surprise, confirming that it wasn't all in his head. “Doen’t it sound like… a baby crying?”

Following the increase in volume of the wail, as if he were playing hunt, Shanks walked over to one of the chests and placed a hand on the lid. Pressing lightly to release the safety that held it closed, he lifted and…

The clues were all there, but really finding it in front of him was more shocking than he would have admitted.

“WAAAHHHH!!”

"A twerp!?"

"Looks like a girl to me..."

“Even worse!?”

"How would that matter right now!?"

“WAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

"Holy crap!"

“Ok, ok, let's calm down…” LimeJuice nervously said, trying to appease spirits.

However, most of the men stared in total shock at the little thing wriggling among the jewels, torn between crying and laughing at the sudden rays of sunshine that she probably hadn't felt on her skin for hours.

It seemed as if they had been confronted with a unicorn, or a mystical and fantastic creature, such as they sometimes dreamed of riding after a colossal drunkenness.

Yasopp put a hand to his head. “Geez, what's a little girl doing in a chest? They must have been more wicked than we thought if they treated their children like this."

“Idiot, do you think those guys would bring their brats with them? They probably kidnapped her when they got this treasure.” Beckman commented as if it were obvious, but even he really couldn't get over how depraved one must be to put a newborn in such a place.

Monsters, and it was a lot said by someone who was a pirate even in the negative sense of the word.

The only one not to utter a word was the guy closest to the chest, leaning forward with his face a few centimeters away from that of the little girl.
He watched her in disbelief, but if she could read his gaze she would also point out a note of terror, mixed with a hint of wonder.

He seemed petrified and didn't know if it was a positive or a negative feeling. He didn't even understand why he had to feel anything other than total neutrality.

Yet all this was so familiar…

He didn't even notice that the baby had stopped crying and that she was sitting there, staring at him with those shiny purple irises, as if he were such an interesting object. She didn't seem the least bit frightened by the presence, though she probably must have been around terrifying people for far too long.

"Boss…? What are we going to do?"

“Uh…” The same voice that had called him back to reality not even an hour before, made him come to his senses again. Shanks didn't spare him a glance, remaining fixed on the little girl, who reached out her tiny hands in an attempt to grab him, or asking to be grabbed.

He couldn't explain why his instinct had led him to reach out to grab her. His limbs trembled and a small voice in his mind was screaming for him to stay away, yet it was instinctive to act. As if he was giving in to a temptation.

The pirate deposited her in his arms, standing up and then turning towards his crew, with a still indecipherable expression. "..."

"Boss..?"

“I think… the situation calls for an urgent meeting…”

…

They all went to what could be considered the ship's dining room. The little girl was still in Shanks' arms, busy playing with the collar of his shirt.

It wasn't pleasant, but she didn't bother him too much to the point of needing to make her stop. As long as she kept quiet, he might as well let her have fun.

“Well, we might as well start this conversation,” Beckman announced, since no one else seemed to want to bring up the subject. “What do we do with the baby?”

“Before we figure out how to move, I'd say feed her. Who knows how long she's been locked up…” Roux murmured, biting into a piece of meat, while the brain thought about what he could prepare for a baby. “Hopefully not much… otherwise they must have at least pulled her out to feed her, or she would have died”

“Let's give her some milk, with that you're always safe! That's what babies drink, isn't it?" Yasopp proposed.

“Animals' milk isn't good for very young babies, but in her case I don't even think she's still breastfeeding.” The doctor of the crew, Hongo, commented “I can calmly check later to guess approximately her age, but I'm sure she is over a year old. In this case she might as well eat other types of food as long as they are cooked carefully."

Beckman nodded, “Okay. Roux? Make something” Something that possibly wouldn't kill her…

"Yessir"

Again no one spoke for a few seconds, all absorbed in their own thoughts.

This time it was Yasopp who broke the silence "I guess it would be a good thing to take her back to her parents..."

“Yes, but how do we find them? Who knows where those sons of-"

Shanks interrupted, finally breaking into the conversation, “Maybe we can glean some information by asking around the islands. If they started kidnapping children, it must have been an attack of no small size.”

“And the little girl seems to be doing quite well, so I doubt she's been treated like that for a long time… It won't be too far from the place they ransacked,” Hongo added.

“It's worth a try, but we'll also have to keep an eye out for the Navy. We don’t want them thinking it was us who took her away..." Mere enlisted men wouldn't have been a problem, what Beckman wanted to avoid was that for some unfortunate reason the incident was so big that it attracted people of higher rank.

They were a strong crew, but it was best to avoid unwanted encounters.

LimeJuice placed a rolling paper on the table, opening it and blocking the edges with the big sake goblets to keep it in place. He pointed his finger at a seemingly random spot on a drawn line. "More or less this is where we collided with those jerks. Given the condition of the little girl and the diaper less dirty than expected, no more than 24 hours must have passed since they kidnapped her"

“That narrows down the radius of islands to control…”

"Exactly." The blond confirmed, taking a compass and circling a slightly large area. "The only inhabited islands are to the north and these are the ones that fall within the times" he indicated the archipelago that fell within the circle drawn.

Backman nodded "If it's not one of those, they must at least know something"

“We have to sail immediately to the nearest island. The sooner we find the parents, the better it will be for everyone" announced the captain, giving the first indications to his subordinates.

His deputy, however, gave him a look of uncertainty “If they can be found…”

The silence that fell among those present spoke more than a thousand words. While they were no strangers to the cruelties of the world they lived in, they were well aware that it was very possible that the child's parents were dead, and the consequences of such a discovery could make the situation even more difficult.

Shanks avoided looking at the little girl as he pronounced "Let's take it one step at a time."

It was useless to wrap their heads before breaking them. Somehow, they would find a solution.

…

As soon as the baby had been fed, whose remarkable appetite they had observed, she had fallen into a deep sleep.
The stress of the long uncomfortable journey and fear must have drained the little body, making her meek and peaceful.

It was a beautiful illusion, to believe it would always be like this. The basic goal for Shanks was that that one night of tranquility was enough and they solved the problem before tackling another.

Even if until just a mere half-an-hour ago the baby had been resting in his arms, even though he had held her in a delicate but safe and protective embrace, he wanted to get away as soon as possible.

It was that part of his head that tried to rebel against the instincts that took over his body. He was looking for that warm little body, he felt a strange and at times almost frightening attachment. Just like with a pet, holding a baby was terrifying but thrilling at the same time.

And what he still didn't understand was how a basic acquaintance could cause such a storm of feelings in his heart.

He hoped he'd covered it up enough, but Beckman's silent presence beside him on that quiet night on deck indicated something else entirely.

"What do you think they wanted to do with the little one?" Shanks asked slowly, without taking his eyes off the dark horizon, born from the merging of sky and sea in the night.

"I don't think they took her for ransom, they must have kidnapped her to sell her somewhere..." the raven-haired answered, without letting any emotion show. It wasn't something he liked to talk about, but the slave market wasn't exactly a secret. So it wasn't all that surprising that there was one dedicated to infants somewhere.

Perhaps those pirates hadn't been so clever or lucky in running into the Red-Haired Pirates, while that unfortunate newborn however, relatively given the situation, had been.

But it would be the information they hoped to find that would decide how far she was.
Precisely because of this, it was difficult to suppress the various scenarios and possible measures with which they would have to deal.

"I know we've decided not to look too far into the future, but I still think we need to get an idea of how to proceed if we can't find who to entrust her to"

“We will find them.” Shanks stated confidently.

“Surprising optimism, Boss.”

"Forced."

The man with the ponytail sighed. It wasn't so difficult for him to be able to read the soul of his captain, perhaps also thanks to his young age "Why does it bother you so much to admit that they could not be found? Do you know how many children and parents are separated in this world and never find each other? There are tons of them.”

He didn't say it meanly. He was a pirate, but he wasn't heartless and had codes of honor. Every child deserves to grow up in the care of someone loving. The world just wasn't kind enough to allow it and it had to be reckoned with.

Shanks fought the grimace that was forming on his face "And because there are tons of them it's better to hope it's not the same case"

Was it so wrong to hope that this baby wasn't simply a replica of his own past?

Was it wrong to want to avoid at all costs going down a completely crazy, but not so impossible route? Was it wrong to refuse to end up making the same choices as Roger?

He didn't even want to think about it or start imagining it.

“It would be a shame, but there might be someone willing to take her in case she ends up like this. They don't have to be the biological parents..."

"..."

Shanks’ lack of response made his deputy sigh again. A few seconds passed before Beckman picked up again his speech, trying to divert to another topic "Anyway, since you're the captain, I think it's up to you to give her a name"

"A name?" The young teen asked, as if his friend were asking for the moon.

“The others complain that they don't know what to call her and I think they are right. We can't continue to call her in a thousand different ways or just say the little girl ".

"Why not?"

Beckman's expression became more annoyed, but still calm and controlled towards the one who after all remained his superior. At that mo ment more than at any time else, the answers that came from him and the tone in which he spoke seemed like those of a little boy. It definitely mirrored him for the 20-year-old that he was, for once.

However, it took more than that to override the respect he harbored for him. “Because as much as you want to believe otherwise, she may be spending more time with us than expected. And if even a dog deserves a name then so does she.”

That was exactly why Shanks didn't want to name her. A dog had a name because it was a creature to grow attached to.

Giving one was the first step in creating a bond and there was nothing more dangerous at that moment.

He didn't want to become attached and this could be read a mile away, let alone for Beckman, who refrained from unmasking the red-haired's feelings.

“We will think about it when it comes to it.” And so Shanks put an end to their argument "Tomorrow all of this could be over."

Yes, with a shred of hope and optimism, they could have given a happy ending to everyone involved the very next day….

A real happy ending.

…

"Any trace of the Navy?" asked the captain, holding the little girl in his arms, who pawed and waved her hands here and there at anything that might attract her interest.

And there were too many things doing that; from the simple buttons on Shanks' shirt, to any laughing noise or dog that barked.
He was having serious difficulty keeping her calm.

"All clear, Boss."

"Then let's get going" nodded Shanks, getting off the ship followed by Beckman and Hongo.

While it was the largest island in the archipelago and reportedly the busiest, it didn't seem all that chaotic.

He could clearly sense the hesitation in the looks of the merchants and citizens who turned their gazes upon them.
They seemed to harbor suspicion and fear, as if they were afraid of being attacked at any moment.

Still, between their pretending everything was normal and trying to remain composed as they went on with their business, much of that feeling seemed to be placated by the sight of the happy little girl. She must have convinced them that those around her weren't just ordinary pirates ready to attack them. Or at least it helped to not jump to conclusions right away.

Finding the administrative headquarters was not difficult and luckily for them there didn't seem to be any other people asking for information besides them. The only ones present were an aging man and a young woman, both seated behind two large desks.

As they framed the group, their eyes opened in momentary tension. "C-can we help you?"

"Yes," Shanks smiled, trying to let his friendliness shine through. He didn't want to scare those poor people, let alone complicate their search. "We would like to ask you for information. If I'm not mistaken, you are responsible for the archives of the inhabitants of the entire archipelago."

"Yes, most of the registered inhabitants can be found in our archives"

"Can we have a look at it?" The young man asked in an affable and courteous tone. However, from the tense shoulders of the woman, he sensed that he wasn't going to get the answer he'd hoped for.

"I'm sorry," the colleague spoke for her, sensing her difficulty. "Unfortunately, only authorized personnel can access the archives."

"I understand, but wouldn't somehow be possible to make an exception? It's important for us to be able to help this little one," he insisted, barely lifting the baby to emphasize her presence. For the first time, the little girl seemed hesitant to be seen. She hid her little face against Shanks' chest, hands gripping tightly to the fabric of his shirt.

At the sight of her, the woman's eyes lit up "Ah, what a pretty girl! Your daughter is adorable…" She complimented, this time with no hint of hesitation.

For a single instant, Shanks' mouth opened automatically. A "T-" was ready on his tongue and he only managed to stop by biting it.

He didn't want to even think about why he was about to thank her. He had no merit or reason to be proud. "She's not my daughter… she's a little girl we saved from pirates and we're trying to find her family"

The faces of the two first changed into surprise and then sweetness, greatly impressed by the explanation. As if their view of the people present had totally changed, they were now clearly more comfortable speaking.

"What a noble gesture..." the old man commented, adjusting the glasses on his nose "Not everyone would take on such a responsibility!"

"We only do what feels right to us." Shanks downplayed, shrugging off as much as possible those veiled references that almost compared him to a hero "So… for those archives…?"

The young woman offered a conflicted smile "Unfortunately what we said before still counts. We cannot give you access to archives or information without authorization"

The captain nodded, "And would it be possible to talk to your superior?"

"We could-"

"It won't be necessary." A voice broke in, causing everyone to turn towards one of the doors closest to the desks.

At the doorstep stood a middle aged man, or perhaps in his sixties. He had a well-groomed appearance, with his beard and white hair trimmed. But in that partially kind look, there was an enormous tiredness.

“Speaking of the devil…” Beckman muttered, realizing the obvious identity of the new presence.

The man didn't spare him attention, although the raven-haired had the impression, which he didn't care about, that he had been heard. "I'm Dam, the manager in charge. You can refer to me. What do you need?"

Shanks greeted with a slight nod "We are looking for the parents of this child…"

Dam glanced at the little creature, letting a small smile paint his lips. She was adorable, and no amount of tiredness would deny that. However, when he spoke his tone remained low and lifeless "Did you save her from pirates?"

"Yes, and according to our calculations she must have been kidnapped from one of these islands." Explained Hongo, pulling out the map on which they had traced the route and the possible destinations, "We know that you are a kind of capital in this archipelago, so we were wondering if by chance you had heard of any looting or if you knew someone we could refer to."

The manager sighed, putting a hand to his head. From his reaction it was easy to deduce that part of his attitude was due precisely to something related to the matter. "It proves you've just arrived, otherwise you would have heard about what happened to Eorian…"

They'd been far from land for a while when they had ran into those pirates, so it hadn't exactly been their fault that they hadn't heard of the incident. Apart from the newspapers, if you travel in the middle of the sea for days it is difficult to stay updated on these events.

"Something big?"

"Big to say the least. Eorian is the outermost island of the archipelago, southwest of here." He simply took the map from the blonde's hands and placed it on the table, opening it and quickly pointing to a specific point. "Given the position, it is not uncommon for travelers and pirates to stop, but this time it was a real massacre."

None of the others opened their mouths initially, receiving the explicit message. The slight disarray of the two works sitting behind the desk was already an indication.

Benn glanced at his captain, or more accurately his back, as there was nothing else he could see from his position. He hated to be right, but he knew it could happen and, speaking up, he found himself forced to ask the fateful question: "Are there any survivors?"

Dam shook his head, a dark expression on his face "If she’s from there, only the little girl"

The red-haired reached his left hand into his shirt pocket, pulling out a variety of small items. A pendant, a carved statuette and an embroidered handkerchief.
Shanks started to speak just then, unable to hide the lowering of his voice "These were in the chests we stole, where we found the little girl. They were between the few signed with names"

The young female worker got up from her seat and ran towards the archives, starting to search through the various folders. In the meantime, Dam bent his back slightly, bringing his head closer to the objects in question and grabbing the pendant. Eyes narrowed, he focused on the carvings. “Elizabeth Croww”

"She’s present." answered his subordinate.

The man then moved on to the handkerchief "There are no surnames, but I see a certain Carina embroidered"

“There are similar names but none is the exact same…”

“William Carver?” he finally tried taking the carved statuette in his hand.

“That too is present…”

Dam placed the last object in Shanks' hand. "I'd say this confirms the suspicions. These come from Eorian and it is probable that the child is also from there." As he stared into the little girl's big purple eyes, the man's albino eyebrows furrowed in displeasure "What a cruel twist of fate..."

“Are we sure there is no way to verify with certainty that her parents are among the victims? Maybe they managed to escape…” Hongo attempted, anticipating the question that the captain so wanted to ask.

"Not all the inhabitants of the archipelago are registered, especially those who come from humbler families and don't travel often. But even if we had all the names, recognizing the victims would be impossible"

The implication was enough to understand that those pirates, monsters, had not only killed the inhabitants, but had also devastated their bodies. Whether they had ended up charred by the burning village, whether they had been quartered or disfigured, in the end it was enough to know that their appearance wouldn’t ever determine who could even vaguely be assumed to be the child's parent.

"It would still be good to check," Shanks decreed, walking over to the table to pick up the map and handing it to Hongo.

They couldn't stop like that, without any confirmation. Even at the cost of checking every single corpse before giving it a proper burial.
They couldn't risk taking the death of the little girl's parents for granted, when they might be alive and well, waiting to be reunited with her.

"I advise against it." Dam's voice stopped him. It didn't sound urgent or severe, but it was definitely a recommendation. Clear was the confidence with which he spoke "The Navy has practically surrounded the area..."

Despite the moments in which it seemed that his suggestion had remained pending, only for them to decipher, it was still him who added "We have never suffered these kinds of attacks and our King is peaceful, but the Navy wants at all costs to link it to the Revolutionary Army.”

“As intense as they are sometimes, the Revolutionaries only attack hostile kingdoms and do not kill the civilians…” Hongo observed.

Dam shrugged. None of them were clean to the core. "As if that would make any difference to the World Government. It won't be long before they start searching here as well, and that should worry you. After all, you're pirates, aren't you?"

It was a question, but he seemed to expect a certain answer and Shanks found no reason to lie. It would not have been by hesitating or twisting the truth that they would have received their trust and, consequently, the help they sought.

"Yes."

"Then take my advice; forget it." He repeated the warning, dwelling very little on their identity.
He ignored the shocked and uneasy looks from his workers in the background, carrying on as if there wasn't a great deal of inner conflict about helping pirates.

He was sure they weren't lying about wanting to help the little girl. And though he wasn't a supporter of pirates and though he didn't want to put a label to the men in front of him, Dam could only think that giving such advice to them was the right thing to do.

“If you really wish for the child to settle,” he tried again, trying to find a solution to satisfy them as possible “we have an orphanage in town. They will take care of her until they find her a home."

As his warm palm pressed her frail little body further and further against his chest, Shanks' mind could only reflect.

It was the right opportunity to put an end to that troubling matter. Competent people would take care of the child and would also help her find a real and permanent family.

And yet, if a part of him was just waiting to leave the little one in the hands of the old man, to seize the opportunity and flee as far away as possible, another part made him bring her closer.

"No." The young man disagreed, raising his hand behind the child’s bicolored head, just like he was protecting her from an imminent danger.

For the first time, it was him receiving Dam's look of sympathy. "It may not be like the Sheep's House from back then, but not all orphanages treat children badly."

It was no news that there was a certain bias towards childcare facilities. After all, stories of abuse were on everyone's lips behind the scenes, covered by fantasies of a happy home full of angels.

However, Shanks didn't even seem to want to embark on the idea, take the slightest risk. "I'd rather be sure she'll end up in a nice home…" he expressed.

"You could keep in touch with the orphanage to find out without having to bring her with you."

At those words, the pirate captain felt a shiver run down his spine. If he had been a cat, all the fur on his back would be standing on end.
And he didn't quite understand why either, he just found the comment disturbing.

It was true that it was a burden. Carrying a baby around, raising and keeping an eye on them between battles, through a life full of dangers, was nothing but madness.

Yet he felt the need to defend the little girl from that appellation, perhaps trying to defend himself in some way too. After all, he was living proof of one of those madnesses.

"...Thank you for your time." He bowed his head slightly, refusing to go any further.

He was grateful for their help and did everything possible to express the feeling, but if before he had entered those doors with the strong desire to find a way to leave the baby there, now he couldn't wait to go out with her again in my arms.

Sensing the message, Dam stared into the pirate's black eyes, then glancing one last time at the little girl.

He might have been the strongest pirate ever, but it wouldn't have changed the fact that the one he was facing was nothing but a late teenager, a young man, confused by the battle between his conscience and his feelings.

Proper would have been to insist, but there were multiple types of families in the world and there was no one to judge the one that was sure to be born soon.

The sweet smile on the baby's lips spoke as much as the young man's grip on her dressing gown.

"I wish you the best." Dam said, watching the pirates walk away and leave the room.

Who knows, maybe fate hadn't been so cruel after all…

…

Seeing the captain and his two crewmates return to the Red Force with the baby still in his arms was not a big shock for other pirates. After all, for all they knew, they might have to take her to another island, to her parents.

The real surprise was the lack of precise orders from the Boss, who had limited himself to reporting to them that there was no way to find her parents, who were almost certainly deceased, and that they would be staying in the village for a few days.

From that moment on, the rest of the day remained… chaotic. The crew didn't have the slightest idea of how that story would end and even asking the captain's circle of confidants they didn't understand anything.

All they could do was enjoy that moment of rest granted, hopping from one inn to another.

Those who fell asleep out and about were relatively lucky, given the unfortunate reality that befell those on the ship for the night.
In the end, the intuition that the child had slept the first time only because of how exhausted she was proved to be correct. And it would not have become a common occurrence, far from it…

The screams and moans were released in the air for as long as the sky remained dark, spreading beyond the dawn, until the tears ran out and tiredness took over.

At that point it was Shanks who wanted to cry.

None of him and his subordinates had slept a wink and the lack of sleep hadn't helped him put his thoughts in order.

There, lying on his bunk, he ran a hand through his hair, unable to fall asleep even though he tried to block out every glimmer of light filtering through the window.

He felt like an idiot for turning down the old man's proposal like that, when it would be his best chance to fix everything. And even more he felt stupid for doing it that way, reacting as if that child was his daughter.

He was always in time to change his mind, as long as they remained near the island he could go to the orphanage and leave her there… but why did it make him feel so guilty?

It wasn't his responsibility to take care of her. He was a pirate, not a father. Reconciling the two, as far as possible, eventually led to having to make bad choices.
Why did he have to feel guilty? What could he give to that little girl that a beautiful family couldn't?

Why should a life sailing the seas, with reckless fools willing to risk their lives be better than growing up peacefully in a real safe house?

It was so absurd that he still cursed himself for even thinking about it. It didn't make any logical sense. What tormented him was only a sense of selfishness that he couldn't even explain.

He wanted to be a more fair and responsible person than Roger. Yet projecting those images of the little one in the chest into his mind did nothing but make him feel like the man. They were almost beginning to make him understand what he had felt. What had prompted him to decide to keep and raise him on his ship, despite the complications it would lead to…

Why? Did he really want to believe it was a twist of fate that he had to succumb to?
Destiny for a pirate was something to fight for, something to be forged with one's own hands. What kind of future King of Pirates got himself bent like that?

Sighing, he reached for the padded chest they had improvised as a cradle, positioned next to his bed, and touched the tip of his index finger to the child's rosy cheek. Too tired to wake up but able to react to the gesture, slowly her little face moved towards his finger, as if seeking a caress.

The little girl really had soft skin, not even with the finest fabric could compare...

His arm froze for a moment, feeling a shock go through his hand, making him pull his retract as if he'd just been burned.

He wasn't lucid.

Shanks slumped back and this time turned away, leaving behind the sight that had kept him busy until that moment.

Like the snake that had attracted Eve to the apple…

Could that little girl really be the devil in their story?

For some reason, he was afraid that looking in the mirror one day, he would discover that the devil's role belonged to him.

…

Despite finally managing to fall asleep, when he woke up a few hours later he didn't feel rested at all.

And so he wandered for the rest of the day, exhausted, but not enough to prevent from noticing the strange behavior of his crew.

"What are you up to…?" he asked, watching some of his subordinates busy building something with a bizarre shape.

The man with the hammer in his hands, the carpenter, smiled embarrassedly as he brought an arm behind his head and narrowly avoided hitting himself with the tool "Well… we thought that with a more… conventional cradle… the baby will rest better and maybe she will fall asleep more easily at night"

Ah, a good excuse, which may have been partially true, but it was easy to see that it wasn't just the simple desire to sleep better that motivated them.

"I see… good idea"

"We'll do our best, Boss..."

"I know…" Shanks greeted them with a nod, smiling slightly at the facade of hard-hearted men.

Of similar attitudes he had encountered others throughout the day, and though his chest had grown warmer, more and more his smile faded.

"Boss, where is the twerpette? I prepared a mouth-watering delicacy!"

"And can she eat it?"

"Hongo gave me a book with foods for children. Even if she seems like someone who swallows everything..."

Moreover…

"LimeJuice, since when do you sew?"

"I mean… as long as she shows up with the Red-Haired Pirates she must uphold a certain level of style, right? More than those rags… otherwise we'll look bad."

More and more.

"Benn is giving her a bath. He said that the only thing that doesn't smell on this ship should keep doing so…"

All a bunch of liars.

…

As the fourth night reached, so did his limit.

They looked like a disadvantaged family, gathered there in an emergency meeting around a table laden with alcohol.

"Why isn't she sleeping!? She's screaming like crazy!" complained the red-haired, biting into a piece of meat. He couldn't take it anymore, as soon as the sun went down the little girl would start screaming and crying, as if the night was her biggest enemy.

There was no point in feeding her until she was full, which proved very difficult given her impressive appetite. Not even the warm milk and natural remedies from the doctor had calmed her…

Rock her? As if…
Tire her? Nothing.

And while they had confirmed that she had no illness to make her lament, they also couldn't get drunk until they collapsed and ignored her. If she was really sick then what would have happened? Would they leave her to suffer like those pirates who had kidnapped her?

"We could always hit her on the head!" proposed Roux, leaving some of his mates to doubt whether he was serious or delirious from insomnia.

In fact, Beckman didn't hold back from kicking him in the face, making him spit out all the scraps of food between his cheeks "Don't talk bullshit! Do you want the whole crew to rip you to pieces?!"

By now it wasn't a secret, the entire crew had ended up taking a liking to the little girl, they went out of their way for her… even just to spend a few minutes together a day.

But not sleeping by now was leading them to lack any tact between them.

"It can't go on like this!" Shanks dropped his head into the palm of his hand, leaning towards the table and pressing his elbow to hold on to him. "It's been days and nobody managed to snatch two straight hours of sleep!"

"There must be a reason she's like this…maybe she's afraid of the dark?" Advanced LimeJuice, rubbing his tired eye.

Yasopp snorted, trying to fight off the migraine "Whatever it is, I'll think twice before having one of my own…"

Shanks' teeth gritted in a grimace. Perhaps, the one who should have thought twice about backing down to do the right thing was him.

Not anymore. He would do what he had to do from the beginning "This isn’t working."

His dark voice caught his friends off guard, who quieted their murmuring and stood silently staring at him, with expressions as indecipherable as his was to them.

Still silent, the guy got up and left the room, heading towards the cabin where he had left the baby, the only place that managed to stifle at least a little the annoying moans that kept prolonging.

He opened the door with determination, perhaps more than he would have normally assumed, proven by the surprised expression of the little girl, who looked at him petrified for a few seconds with those two big purple eyes.

Avoiding meeting her gaze though, Shanks reached down and took her in his hands, but didn't place her comfortably in her arms. He held her far away from his chest, as if her closeness might corrupt him to the heart.

He could not afford to hesitate any longer.

With resolution he went out onto the deck of the ship and with fast walking approached the ladders to reach dry land. It didn't matter if she ended up at with a woman, teenager, old man or whatever… he had to get rid of her.

"..."

When that thought crossed his mind his feet stopped, as if cemented.

What did he reduce himself to?

Was he really willing to leave that poor soul in the hands of the first stranger, perhaps dooming her to a terrible fate?

Worse than staying aboard that ship with them?

He hated how that situation was testing his ideals and values as a man, as it was putting him in front of a self-examination.

Dealing with his own ghosts… was making him discover a side of himself that made him the opposite of the person he wanted to become.

What right did he have to judge Roger now?

"Yo-hohoho…hm-hmhmhmmmm…"

A voice caught the boy's attention, leading him to look beyond the prow, towards a small isolated clearing in the port area.

A girl was pacing slowly back and forth, cradling a baby in her arms, probably a new-born given how small they were. Yet they were much quieter than his own.

Putting aside his envy and simply accepting that he was scarcer, Shanks leaned against the partition that separated the floor of the Red Force from a dip in the sea, and listened.

The mother was humming, perhaps not overly melodious in her voice, but certainly instilling all the sweetness coming from her heart. That feeling of love for her child could not be disguised, on the contrary, it revealed itself with a disarming simplicity. Even for Shanks, one who deemed himself unfit to feel such things.

The familiar tune made him smile. She probably had no idea about singing a pirate song, perhaps the quintessential anthem of those who led such a life.

"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo…" he tried to repeat the tune, with a much less graceful voice.

He seriously doubted that his singing skills would help calm the child…
After all, even compensating with the affection of his gesture like that woman was doing… he hadn't really demonstrated its truthfulness.

It showed, although the little girl insisted on being around him she didn't feel comforted enough to stop crying.

She didn't feel safe… even though he made her happy.

"Umikaze kimakase namimakase…" he murmured again, too exhausted from raising the intensity of his tone, but pronouncing each syllable as if he were outlining them with pencil on paper.

He wanted to stop those tears. Not even for himself anymore.

Watching those weary little eyes every time she fell asleep at dawn, he was reminded about how much she must be tired as well.

She wasn’t resting either. Indeed, perhaps at that moment, sensing him feeling lost, she felt the same way too. And unlike all of them, she had no one to rely on. Nothing but the little things.

"Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu…"

If he wanted to get to the little kid's heart, perhaps he had to be the one to lower the wall and allow her to breach his.

As much as it would screw him.

So he continued to sing, now only his voice to cross the night landscape.

"Sora nya wa o kaku-"

Only his voice.

He jerked his head down, noting that the little girl was perfectly silent and staring at him with eyes full of wonder.

"-tori no uta…?"

"Buaha!" She waved her little hands, totally forgetting her sadness and tears.

Shanks didn't quite know how to describe that feeling, but seeing her sparkle joy like that, with something so simple…

He felt a warm sensation explode in his chest. Like an overdose that made him go ecstatic.

He lifted that giggling little body into the air, unable to hide the smile that painted his lips as he watched her laugh.

It was so simple. "You've got the heart of a musician, huh? Did you just need to hear a song?"

"Bah!"

"Song…Uta, hm?"

He had promised himself.

Yet in that moment he felt a strong selfishness, the certainty that only that name could truly represent her. As if there was no other possible choice in the world and no one could say otherwise.

That was her name. It had to be. And only he could make sure of this.

"I guess they won't have to complain anymore, right Uta?" He gave her a tired but sincere grin.

He could be damned…
In the end he had named her and so proved…
He got attached...

He ran towards the dining room, absurdly feeling lighter than he had for days, despite his exhausted body.

Dashing into the room, he found his friends still there as before, chewing silently, as if they were experiencing a grief that couldn’t be proven.

"Guys! I figured out how to calm Uta down!"

They spun around, some completely amazed and some more curiously controlled. They thought the Boss would come back empty handed…

"Uta…?"

"Ah yeah," Shanks chuckled, avoiding eye contact and hiding his veil of embarrassment. “It fits her and then again…"

This time he raised his head, a serene smile on his face, of someone who had finally found peace with himself, at least partially "It wouldn't be practical to call her all her life child , little one , or whatever… would it? If we all have a name even she deserves one."

His words were more than enough confirmation, their meaning was not interpretable.

Uta would have a family, very disadvantaged.

Beckman didn't hide his smirk, even when Shanks caught it out of the corner of his eye.

He would let him see.

It was going to be an adventure, in every way possible. "Come on… let's go see why that name is so fitting."

"Yoo-ho!" Those present rejoiced, going out en masse towards the deck, entertaining each other with thunderous laughter.

That night they partied, singing and dancing, not giving a crap about the neighbors in town.

That night they slept.

That night, Shanks decided to see where the wind would blow.

.

.

.

.