From Ninja to Pirate

32

Born from nothing, 
Is the child of remembrance.
Her existence there to calm,
With her nature and her fragrance.

She will live for those around her,
And the others live for her.
For what else does one live for?
Than for one another.

-author

Dragon braced himself, waiting for an attack given by his goddaughter. He blinked, then looked around to find all of his subordinates either frozen, burnt from acid, captured in a green cage, thinned down, or shot in the leg.

"What did you do!?" Dragon yelled, running over to one of the men who was shot by Haruki.

"Simply getting rid of the bad seeds of course." Natsuki casually leaned against the ship's main mast.

"I thought the daughter of Shanks and Tomomi would've grown with a kind heart. It seems to have betrayed me."

"Why think so?"

"Who in their right mind would shoot people just like that!?"

"Naive is what you are godfather. Besides, the ones Haruki shot are the government spies." Natsuki pointed out. Dragon quickly turned to the one resting by his feet, and found a mini sized denden mushi in his pocket, decorated with the familiar marine design. "Uki!"

Uki made her rain of healing fall, and the men who had suffered from their minor attacks gradually stood up, wondering if this were all a dream.

Aki trapped the marines, grew a massive station of grass on the sea, and dumped the prisoners there.

"So, why are you here godfather?"

"You know about Sabo, or so I believe."

"Yes. I respected his privacy when you didn't allow me to meet him."

"I'm sorry for lying, but he lost his memories after I found him floating in the middle of the sea. Also, how did he manage to make you believe he was dead at the time?"

"He did not have a pulse. I made sure of that. I think it was just his heart pumping a very low amount of blood, thinking it was near his own death. Besides, I was so stricken with rage and anguish, it is very possible for me to have missed a small, weak pulse. So, what makes you think that he can meet me now?"

"Ace's death... it triggered his memories to return. He remembers everything now. He wants to meet you, but he's currently on a mission at Dressrosa. I decided I would catch up with my best friends' daughter."

"Sure. Why not." Natsuki sighed, she hadn't had a good drink in ages. Her habits hereditary from both her father and mother.

The group of pirates and revolutionaries spent the rest of the day and night exchanging stories of their adventures, with both leaders conversing about each other's family, as they seemed to know each other's biological family more than each other.

Natsuki told Dragon the massive progress his son was making, and Dragon remembered his son and his wife sombrely. Both far from reach. One never to be met again until the story of his life ended.

Dragon told of her father and mother, tales of funny things they said or did, and the days of the past, two of the most wanted people on earth laughing at the jokes they said, drinking bottle after bottle, until they were completely and utterly wasted. Though of course, Natsuki remained sober, kicking herself and Kurama metaphorically at the blissful thought of getting drunk.

Natsuki's stress wasn't calming on it's own, with constant reminders of her brother's death, either by nightmares or simple things such as conversation between the seasons, reminding her of Ace.

She couldn't drink it off like her father often did, she tried working it off by doing too much training, but that only made her tired, and get nightmares of Ace dying in Luffy's arms again.

So what she started picking up over the course of these past two years was smoking.

Of course, she knew how bad it could affect her, but the calming feel she got from the nicotine was all she needed. The rest, though slightly disapproving, understood, and kept their mouth shut. It wasn't a surprise for a pirate to start smoking, with all they killed and fought, PTSD was normal. They would do anything to keep those memories away. 

Anything.

Natsuki took out a cigarette, lit it on fire, using a simple katon to her finger, and watched as the smoke filled the night sky.

Even the sight of such small fire reminded her of Ace.

She sighed, then decided to go on a walk. Jumping off the ship, she landed on the water surface, strolling over the calm waves. She snapped her fingers once the cigarette was too short to burn, and it disappeared. She was about to take another, when she heard a faint cry.

Wondering what it was she was hearing, Natsuki jogged over to the source of sound, to find a small treasure chest, decorated with flowers. The sound was much more prominent now.

It was the cry of a child.

She opened the chest carefully, to find a small baby, no older than a year, crying for food. The baby stopped crying in surprise, boring into Natsuki night blue eyes with it's own. The baby girl had short tufts of silver white hair, with pale milky skin with rosy lips perked slightly in want of food.

She was very thin, akin to children of poor houses, but seemed healthy enough not to be in any immediate danger.

They were right at the edge of the calm belt, and she must have been sent away by a family too poor to raise her. Natsuki cradled the child, who snuggled into the warm embrace of summer.

"Smart baby. To cry when I was near enough to hear." Natsuki joked, not expecting the baby to accidentally nod, as if saying she cried aloud on purpose. "Is this Kami's will too? Does the mighty one want me to look forward? Forget the past?"

"Natsu. Don't think of it that way. Sure, I know how important Ace was to you, but the way you are now? It simply isn't healthy. You know the rest of your crew are worried!" Kurama advised, talking to her mentally. "You don't need to forget about Ace, but please. Stop smoking, drinking, fighting unnecessary fights like you did with your godfather's men today."

"I'll try Kurama. I'll try, but why do you think Kami sent me this child?"

"Perhaps for a new purpose in life? If this child depends on you, you cannot act recklessly for her sake."

"Perhaps..." Natsuki sighed. All this thinking wasn't going to help her now. She quickly unsealed some milk from her food storage seals, and fed the baby, who drank it as if her life depended on it, which it probably did... "What shall I name you?"

Various names past her mind, and she finally decided on one. Looking at the possible purpose of the baby to her life, and the flowers on the chest, Natsuki whispered.

"Asuka. Your name will be Asuka." A name similar sounding to Ace, but with the meaning of tomorrow's bloom, Natsuki's daughter, Asuka was born.