With different eyes

Small solo trip with a nice reunion

The weeks go by and I get rounder and rounder. But there is one good thing: my cravings have stopped, only my hunger remains. Ace is now always pacing around me or one of the others. Not that I can move much, and if I only look in the direction of a box, then Ace or Marco are suddenly standing next to me and admonishing me. My mobility is now really limited and I can't even see my feet. In between, Ace and I were in my world every now and then to have me examined. Ace always enthusiastically brought along an ultrasound picture. But this time I thought beforehand and always made a couple of copies.

All in all, I feel like a round, fat ball with arms and legs. But the others don't seem to feel that way, everyone tries to get a kick from my child. By the way, I didn't allow the doctor to tell Ace the sex. Ace sulked for exactly five minutes, then he couldn't take it any more and took the shopping bags from me. We went to the baby shop again and this time Ace growled at the pushy shop assistant. It was hard to see how quickly she was gone again. So I was able to get dressed in peace. The reason for Ace's behaviour? Well, the doc and my gynaecologist stupidly agreed: I shouldn't get upset any more.

Marco and Ace unfortunately overheard this and since then everyone has been walking around me like on eggshells. I admit it honestly: I take shameless advantage of it, even though I'll probably regret it at the end of the pregnancy. I tease Marco every now and then and he always takes a deep breath and then leaves without yelling at me. Because the doc threatens everyone with dragging him on a rope behind the Moby if he upsets me. Which is annoying for me, of course, because it's incredibly boring. As soon as I get anywhere near a conflict Ace is there to calm the situation down. Take my mother, for example. I was supposed to take out the trash during a visit and as usual we were going to have a discussion, but Ace immediately got up and took out the trash. BORING!

Well, now I'm sitting on the railing, critically observed by Marco. Ace is busy loading with his division. We are docked on an island. As far as I know it's a neutral island, but I'm not allowed on it alone. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit and finally feel solid ground under my feet again. But Marco won't let me, as soon as I'm even near the jetty, he's already there and pulls me away again. His damned haki. "I want to go to the island!" I grumble. "Later!" says Marco, carrying a pair of boxes on board, which Ace Division brings. "Father?" I ask beggingly, but he ignores me. Maybe because I've been bugging him for a good hour. I let myself fall backwards, lucky that the railing is so wide. "Careful!" warns the reason for my suffering!

Ace continues up the gangplank. "I'm bored!" I say, looking at him. Ace laughs and tousles my hair. "Why can't I go to the island?" I ask, pushing my lower lip forward. "Because you're heavily pregnant and you can't defend yourself!" replies Ace to me, taking the last of the boxes below deck. I just look around and see that everyone is kind of distracted. Marco and Ace are talking about the cargo. Whitebeard is talking to Haruta about something. I stand up cautiously and look around again. Probably I look like a criminal. Quickly I head off and disappear behind the next wall of the house. There's bound to be trouble, but I'm not seriously injured after all, I'm pregnant. I run crouched down because I'm afraid I'll run into a comrade and they would drag me back without much ado. Now I can go for a nice ice cream! Whistling, I stroll through the market. Everywhere, traders are shouting and praising their wares. I put my hand on my belly, which is already huge. My walk reminds me more of a duck than a human being. Have they noticed that I'm gone? I hope not, otherwise I'll be sent back.

"LUCIA!" I hear someone yell. Oh, no, have they really found me already? I turn around in surrender, but it's not one of my comrades, it's someone else: LUFFY!

I start to smile. "Hello Luffy!" I say joyfully and hug the rubber boy. The young pirate smiles at me. "You've gotten fat!" he says uninhibitedly. "Yes I know!" I say, not taking offence. "Well, your niece just needs a lot of room!" I explain. Luffy looks at a belly and nudges it. My child answers directly too and kicks the spot. Luffy's eyes start to sparkle and he wants to poke against it again, but I don't want to do that all day, who knows how long I'll be unsupervised. "You Luffy, I have to go on!" I say, looking over my shoulder. Do I seem a bit paranoid perhaps? Well, that's from the constant surveillance? "Alright!" says Luffy, but instead of walking away he walks beside me. "Have you found your crew again?" I ask him. He puts his hands on the back of his neck and then says, grinning broadly, "Yep! I wanted to go to that island!" I look at him, "Why and above all, where is your crew?" my voice sounds rather toneless. When Luffy wants to go to an island, it is usually dangerous. I look around cautiously, so here I don't see anyone and it looks very peaceful too. "No idea?" asks Luffy, laughing loudly. We are being looked at strangely. Luffy really manages to be the centre of attention everywhere. I put my hand on my stomach. My child is trampling quite a lot these days.