One Piece: Celestial Blood

さよなら、妹くん。(Goodbye, Little Sister.)

The tot had no time to mourn. She had to continue running, her small feet threatening to betray her by getting stuck in the snow, as she sprints to Sachiko's house, looping around to where she assumes there are no people nearby and squeezing Rira close to her chest.

But she wasn't alone. She felt a cut being swiftly made down her lip, eliciting a sniffle from her as her eyes pooled with tears. She slowly looks up to lock eyes with a marine, whose lip quivered at her expression.

"I'm sorry kid, I have to..."

He drops the knife, clapping his hand to her head and kneeling down, composing himself and whispering.

"Listen, 'kay? Miss Sachiko's waitin' at the dock for ya. Take the little one with ya and get the hell out of here. Don't let anyone see ya or they'll kill me too, you hear?"

He tries smiling for the girl, tearing his sleeve to push some fabric on her bleeding lip, which is bound to leave a scar. Maybe his attack would help her look a little different?

"Damn it. Didn't mean to cut so deep. Hey, you okay there?"

The child blinked, a few silent tears escaping. She nods, holding Rira close to her to protect her. She looks up at the man slowly.

"Thank you... how can I repay you?"

He blinks in surprise, before gently smiling at her.

"Live, okay?"

She nods, looking over to the dock as the man gives her a pat on the back, boosting her a bit to get her to the dock. The man holds his breath, watching her escape from view. One of the female marines comes around the wall to find him standing there, looking at the empty horizon.

"Ensign Nao!!"

Her voice calls out to him, as she holds her machine gun in both arms (compensating for a skill she lacks, most likely.)

"Ah, Warrant Officer Suzu... a pleasant surprise."

A light blush dusted her cheeks, but she remains serious.

"Mr. Nao, have you seen the Allbright girl?"

Her voice carried a bit of desperation, as the former looked at the snow, pondering his answer.

"I let her get away."

He speaks bluntly, not reacting as Suzu's leg shot up to make contact with his face. This happened quite often, Suzu was very hotheaded.

"You did what?! You dumbass!! Letting the reason we were assigned here get away?! Do you know how fucked we are?!! We'll all be punished for your actions, asshole!!"

She fumes, setting her gun in the snow and pulling up her gloves, before Nao pushes her back.

"Trust me."

He leans a bit closer, whispering to her.

"The kid... deserves a chance at life. She's got a bright future... made me question my choices. Look Suzu... I don't wanna be an Ensign. Don't wanna work for the government."

The wine-haired woman backed up, her hand clenching her chest as she let the words sink in.

"Are you sure, Mr. Nao? I know that when you make a decision, you really mean it... is this what you want to do?"

"I'm completely sure, Suzu."

He takes off his hat, and coat, with the kanji for Justice, or 正義, on it. It falls into the snow, with both himself and Suzu watching. Her eyes widen, and she feels her hand clench the rim of her own marine hat, the material bending in her grasp.

"If you're not a marine... I don't wanna be a marine either."

She tosses her hat into the air, smiling freely.

Even at this age, Tomo had a knack for causing revolution.

At the docks, Tomo looks around to find the green-eyed Sachiko, who reminded her a lot of a witch, but a pretty one. She holds Rira a bit tighter, not able to trust her yet. The woman looks down at her with nonchalant eyes, taking a drag of the cigarette in her fingers. Next to her were two dinghies, with all her belongings packed in one. The woman smirks, the smile almost catlike.

"So... you made it here alive, didn't ya?"

She giggles, bending down to talk to her. Sachiko was awfully tall.

"Of course I did."

Tomo's remark sounded a bit apprehensive to Sachiko, who decided to ruffle her hair.

"I bet it was easy for you, clever girl."

Her eyes had just a touch of sincerity to them, which was ever the more confusing to Tomo. She loosens her tight grip on Rira, offering her up to Sachiko, who takes her.

"Please take care of my sister."

Tomo hops onto the empty dinghy, looking at the two.

"Ah, not coming with me. I expected that. I take it you want to live alone now?"

"Yes. Rira shouldn't know about me because... she'll know about what happened."

Tomo assured her, although her eyes were wet.

"Is this what you want, though? It's not like you've got a log pose on you... you'd get lost in the grand line."

"Rira needs a normal life without me... I'm already a monster..."

She looks up at the older woman, almost pleading.

"Very well. I'll trust you. But here, take this eternal pose. There's a man who should live there, and I think aside from him you'll be all alone. Don't tell him I said hi, we don't exactly speak anymore."

She tosses an eternal pose to the child, which read "Kuraigana Island". Tomo's eyes flick from the compass back up to the lady.

"Thank you... promise me you'll raise my sister well, and love her, and treat her nicely..."

Sachiko huffs, since it isn't like she asked to be in charge of a baby.

"Yeah yeah, I'll take care of her... now get going, those damn marines'll find ya."

Tomo grabs hold of the dock, pushing off of it to get a boost while she slowly floats away.

"Bye bye, little sis..."