Marine || One Piece [ENG]

25

Leona didn't have any special memories with her father. Maybe she had a few little flashes. But there was a clear feeling he aroused in her, one she had had since she was a child.

She remembered his hands. The big, warm, calloused hands of a warrior, holding her hand. Or the feeling when she was in the arms of a man who always smelled of storm and coffee. At times she had a faint glimpse of dark, piercing eyes. It was something incomprehensible and mysterious to her, and at the same time, her father's arms were the place where she wanted to be as a child. It was like home. Where she had her refuge, no matter what happened, a place where she could come back. He was like the sea. Dangerous, violent, governed by its own law, often incomprehensible to others. But she loved the sea.

As a child, she often felt a powerful longing for it, even if it was just small feelings and details rather than any memories. As time passed, she began to wonder if her childlike mind yearning for comfort had created this in her mind because it seemed so distant and unreal.

" Get up!" Garp's voice boomed. Then six-year-old Leona tried to push herself up on her small hands, her body trembling with exhaustion. Her hands were dirty with dirt and worn out. She felt like she was going to spit out her lungs. Her grandfather's training was grueling. And hurtful. She lifted her dark, tear-filled eyes, sniffing, her black bangs partially obscuring her vision. Her small body shook as she slowly raised her body to kneel on her knees.

" Get up, Leona, the pirates won't wait, they won't give you time. The pirates won't care about your tears," Garp said, walking towards her with slow, confident steps, looking at her with sharp eyes. His silhouette illuminated by the setting sun seemed to her like a mountain, hard and impenetrable.

But you're not a pirate. You are my grandfather.

Leona slowly got to her feet, feeling her limbs burn, her stomach hurt, her head pounding. She sniffled, bravely holding back tears. She raised her fists, holding them at face level, ready for the next part of her hellish training.

Her grandfather never showed any relief or stopped her from hitting him during training, even though she was just a child. She hated them with all her heart.

When Garp returned after a long day, she was waiting for him at the window, a seven-year-old worried about being away for so long. But he didn't come back alone.

"This is your little brother, Luffy. He looks like a raisin, but he will definitely become an Admiral one day," her grandfather said, kneeling next to her with a small bundle in his hands. Leona had her hands resting on her grandfather's knee, standing on her tiptoes and looking curiously into the blanket.

My little brother.

She didn't know why she was delighted with this vision.

"He looks like you, a wrinkled and old little grandpa," Leona said then, earning herself a punch on the head from her grandpa. She moaned as she rubbed the spot where she had been hit, continuing to look at Luffy.

"Speak with respect, you little shit."

She looked at this toothless, wrinkled baby who was already trying to grin at her with wide eyes. She reached out, taking the baby's fist in the hand that was so small. So fragile.

I'm a big sister now, she thought with some pride.

With her grandfather, she didn't have much to enjoy her childhood, even if Luffy was already there. On the contrary, she felt more pressure than before as the older sibling. Garp didn't spare her training, ever. And he often separated her from Luffy for various periods of time.

When Luffy was six and she was twelve, Garp separated them for an extended period of time. This was the hardest time of her life since Luffy showed up. Her grandfather dragged her around the navy ships, giving her tasks, introducing her to naval life. His training only got harder. Or maybe it seemed that way because she felt like she was trying to fight an immovable mountain, and her adorable little brother wasn't with her.