Title : Searching for the Sky

Summary : In a maze without an end, what else can you do but continue walking? But if the journey made is with you by my side, then I wouldn't mind walking for eternity. "Don't touch my brother, asshole." [SI/OC as Luffy's younger twin sister]

.

(There was nothing left nothing left everything was gone and-)

Darkness was everywhere. Surrounding me, enveloping me like a protective blanket. Blinking did no good, and darting my eyes (did I have eyes?) left and right trying to find something to focus on turned up fruitless too. The confusion of 'why couldn't I see' answered with the realisation that 'there was nothing to see'.

(-disappeared ceased to exist wiped out-)

It was silent. Nothing moved in the Void around me. It was the kind of silence (how could you hear silence?) that was so deafening it drove you insane and made you want to do something -anything- to break it-

(-tried to breathe could not breathe because I was-)

Break the silence break the silence. Tried to scream but could not scream and my-

(heart?)

-ached and bled in pain and sorrow because everything was gone and all I wanted to do was to scream and cry but-

(I had no voice)

-so only the darkness echoed around me in the silence and I tried to call for help just somebody anybody please-

(-nobody helped nobody would help why aren't they helping me?!-)

-but nobody came and I was alone alone all alone because I was-

(-I was-)

already

...

..

.

"-said... WAKE UP!"

THWACK!

"ACK-!"

I shot up, clutching at my throat and furiously hacking up feathers. My heart (thump-thump-thump) hammered wildly in my ribcage and I stared incredulously with wide eyes as I catalogued my heavy breathing.

Oh my god. Oh my god I almost-

(died)

-suffocated. I almost suffocated what the hell was that.

"Hey! What are you doing, Jii-chan?!"

Luffy-! I looked around frantically, heart still racing, trying to find my brother. My thoughts went haywire and delirious as I struggled to orientate myself again. My brain was intaking information too quick for it to properly register, resulting in a sluggish and muddled reaction. I felt like I was grasping at straws. It was like sinking in quicksand; you tried desperately to get out, grabbing and reaching for anything in sight, but the more you struggled the faster you sank.

A quick sweep to the right found him beside me a few pillows away, and I hurriedly did a quick scan from top to bottom. There was an annoyed frown painted on his face and he had bed hair sticking out in every direction, but otherwise he didn't appear to be harmed. A knot loosened in my chest. The relief I felt was so intense that for a moment I thought that I was going to faint. In fact, I think if the vertigo had gotten any worse I would have thrown up there and then.

"I told you two to get up, didn't I?" Grandfather thundered, ignorant of the fact that I had just narrowly missed a mini heart attack. "Go wash up! We're starting your training today!"

...What. What?

Now that the initial panic had worn off, I found annoyance bubbling in its stead. I stared drolly at Grandfather's figure standing in the middle of the room. He was armed with fluffy pillows in both hands, but he was still able to look very much intimidating.

I shook my head to clear the thoughts and glared at the pillow which had dropped innocently on my lap after almost suffocating me and felt a sort of vindictive animosity towards the thing. Then I saw the feathers sticking out from the corners of the pillow and how it seem to sag pathetically on my lap and felt slightly better about it.

You taste horrible, I thought at it, staring. It remained motionless. I sniffed at it in disdain and threw it off my lap, reaching for my penguin and squeezing it instead.

"Mana," Grandfather said warningly, just as I began to nod off again. Waking up feeling absolutely terrified was not good for my psych. Not even five minutes after waking up and I was already mentally drained. (-There was a tiny little voice in my head which protested against the idea, and I faintly wondered where all the fear came from-). "Didn't you hear what I just said? Or would you like a taste of my Fist of Love?"

What does that even mean? I frowned in annoyance, shaking away the confusing thoughts in my head. I opened my eyes enough to squint at him and yawned widely.

"Come on, Mana." Luffy tugged at my arm. "Wake up already. I smell breakfast!"

"I'm up." I said, and flopped uselessly against my brother's side when he pulled me up.

"Mana."

"Alright, alright."

"Where are we going, Grandpa?" Luffy asked innocently, looking around in wonder and awe at our surroundings. I couldn't blame him; it was our first time away from the village after all. The most we had ever seen of the outside world was mostly the marketplace where Baa-chan took us to when she went grocery shopping.

Something cawed shrilly high above us and I looked up, instinctively inching closer to Grandfather when I saw a vulture flying in circles above us. Either the vulture was flying really low, or it was gigantic in size. I wasn't quite sure which one I preferred.

"Training." Was Grandfather's single worded response.

But this path leads to Mt. Colubo! I wanted to yell. No one goes to Mt. Colubo!

Mt. Colubo was part of the heavily forested mountain range situated behind Foosha village. And people just didn't. Go. There.

There were so many stories about the mountain. Ones about villagers venturing inside who were never to be seen again, ones about passersby hearing, and I quote, 'roars and screams of otherworldly beasts' late at night, when the sun goes down and the big scary monsters come out to play.

I knew better than to take the stories word by word, because since they were mostly used as a means to scare children away from the forest, it meant that they were most likely to be blown out of proportion. But exaggerated as they were, they always had the same core. 'Stay away from the mountain.'

They had to come from somewhere, and the fact that the villagers felt the need to invent so many...

"Scared?" Grandfather chuckled when I shivered involuntarily. I peered up at him but kept my face neutral, not willing to show weakness even if it was to my grandfather. Especially since it was my grandfather.

"Baa-chan always tells us not to enter the mountain." I said instead.

Grandfather barked a laugh. "Don't worry. It's for you to get stronger."

Somehow, that didn't make me feel better. At all.

"Yeah, don't worry Mana!" Luffy cheered excitedly. "It's gonna be an adventure!"

Yeah... no. Not helping.

Grandfather stopped suddenly in his tracks, and I immediately tensed myself in preparation for... whatever he was getting us into. Luffy being more distracted with the surroundings managed to walk another two steps before he was yanked back to Grandfather's side.

"Alright." Grandfather said gruffly, surveying the trees around us with a critical eye. "This should be far enough."

Luffy immediately frowned. "But there's nothing out here!"

Think again, Luffy.

I gripped Grandfather's pant leg and eyed the lush foliage before us. Was it me or was it really quiet in here? Weren't jungles supposed to be full of noises like birds screeching and animals roaring and insects buzzing around? Wasn't silence a bad thing? They usually were, right? Even in Movies 101 silence was the first clue you got that indicated that there was something out to get you. Not good. Not good not good.

"Luffy." Grandfather said gravely, letting go of my hand to pick my brother up. "This marks the start of your training."

Luffy blinked. "Huh?"

"If you don't come back in time for dinner, just scavenge for something to eat, there are lots of stuff to eat in the jungle." He continued, "But stay away from the berries if you can, and don't touch colourful mushrooms. Or frogs. Or anything that has bright spots on it. And uh... Ahh, you can figure out the rest yourself."

Wait.

Wait. Was he-?

"If you don't wanna get eaten, you better be prepared to run."

Grandfather paused for a moment to let the advice sink in. Time seemed to come to a stand-still as the two merely stared each other... And then he promptly just... sort of... well, punted Luffy into the foliage.

"GYAAAAAAAAAaaahh-"

My eyes went wide. I think my brain short-circuited for a moment there. Today was so not a good day. "Luffy! W-What do you think you're doing, Grandpa?! How could you- What were you- Aargh!"

"Calm down, Mana." Grandfather, treating the situation with the seriousness it deserved, laughed heartily -laughed! Was he insane?!-, dusting off his hands, looking nonchalant like he hadn't just sent his grandson to certain death. "It's his training."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to pull out my hair and throw every single strand of it at his face. "Training?! What training? How is this training?!"

"Ah," Grandfather sobered slightly. He looked at me straight in the eye, and said, very seriously, "Survival training."

"This isn't survival training!" I shrieked, "He's gonna die!"

"Maybe so," The older man agreed easily, "But if he comes out alive then he'll only be that much stronger."

'If'. He said 'if'. I couldn't believe this. This was crazy. "You are crazy." I told him. "I'm going after Luffy."

I turned around to start and walk away, but was pulled back by my collar before I even got the chance to take a step.

"Not so fast. You're taking a different kind of training."

My body locked up like a frightened animal. Grandfather lifted me up, hand still gripping on my shirt, and grinned. I saw my life flash before my eyes.

"Your brother is going to be a marine, just like your grandfather." He said, "Since you're four now I guessed it was time to start your training."

Four? We were four? I blinked dubiously, jogging my memory to try and remember anything that had to do with our birthdays. Baa-chan never actually celebrated our birthdays; it was kind of sad, when I put it that way, but I had never really saw the big deal about birthdays, even before I was... well, born. And I was pretty sure Luffy didn't care much about them either.

'Tomorrow is the 5th of May, right?'

Oh. Oh. So that was what he meant yesterday. Today is our birthday, I thought in dawning amazement, which was immediately replaced with irritation. So... what? Was this some sort of messed up birthday present? A coming-of-age ritual which consisted of throwing us into a jungle and potentially having us killed?

Wonderful.

"You're a marine?" I asked instead, pointedly ignoring the second half of his statement because if I didn't I was five hundred percent sure I would start screaming again.

"That's right!" Grandfather said, pride evident in his voice. "Do you know what marines are?"

I nodded slowly. Marines in this world shouldn't be that different from my world right? "They're sea police?"

The older man laughed. "Half right, but we have jurisdictions on land too. Police work only for the country they are serving, so their area of influence doesn't extend to the seas. Marines, on the other hand, work directly under the World Government. We uphold Justice throughout the world, land and sea."

"What's the World Government?" I asked.

"Long story short they are the rulers of the world, led by a bunch of old prunes. But those are politics. I don't care about boring stuff like that."

But politics were politics. I bit my lip. The whole world was governed by a single entity? In that case... a totalitarianism? Was that really such a great idea? I couldn't be sure, but if I wasn't imagining it, I thought I saw something flash in grandfather's eyes when he waved off the question.

"Your brother has to grow up to be a strong marine," he continued, the grin spreading across his face again. "That's why he needs this training."

"But," I protested. Now that the topic had strayed back to Luffy the worry I felt was returning full force. Even if it was 'training' this was taking it too far! This was only the first session; a simple hike with adult supervision would have sufficed. Abandoning his grandchild in the forest was uncalled for. Honestly! What kind of grandparent does that? What kind of human does that? "Aren't you even worried about him?"

"Of course I am! But he'll be fine. He's my grandson after all!"

I just stared at him. Either he had absolute, blind faith in Luffy, or he was... okay, naïve. Or mad. Probably all three.

"I'm going after Luffy." I said firmly.

"Oh, no you don't." Grandfather laughed evilly. "I heard from Erina-chan; you two are always together, aren't you? That won't do."

"Why not?" I almost scowled, just barely refraining the urge to stomp my foot but unable to stop the dark glare from forming on my face. I probably looked like a spoilt brat. Damn child body.

"You two can't stick together forever! You're four starting today. You need to start learning to be independent."

"But I can take care of myself!" I replied hotly.

Grandfather nodded slowly, keeping eye contact with me. "I know," He said. "But your brother can't."

I paused. That was... Luffy was four! He just turned four. Me? I had an entire lifetime of experience behind me. I knew how to take care of myself, but Luffy didn't have to yet. He was a child.

"That's why he needs this training." Grandfather continued, "Do you understand, Mana?"

Four year olds don't need 'survival training', I wanted to snap, but held my tongue. I did understand. In an extreme sort of way I could get where Grandfather was coming from. But it did not mean that I liked it, at all. Okay, so maybe I had a little tendency to coddle Luffy, but it was always little things.

'It's those 'little things' that will spoil him', a small voice whispered in my mind. I waved it away in irritation.

"Yessir." I said finally, sighing.

Grandfather grinned at my response, all teeth. "Don't sound so disappointed, Mana. You have training too."

"Oh," I said, starting to get a little worried. A part of me really, really didn't want to ask -not after seeing the way he 'initiated' Luffy's training earlier-, but the other part was -oh, God forbid- slightly interested at the idea. Better to just get it done and over with. Maybe then he would let me go and find Luffy.

I took a deep breath and braced myself. "What kind of training?"

"Fighting."

...

What. Really?

The marine knelt down so he was eye level with me, and gripped my shoulders firmly. "Listen carefully, Mana. Before I teach you anything there is one very important thing you need to know."

My back straightened instinctively at how serious he sounded. Right. Fighting. He was probably going to give me the speech about 'using my skills for good'. Never attack with the intent of harming. Only self-defence, et cetera et cetera. I held his gaze and nodded.

"All right. Listen carefully, Mana." He said again, pausing dramatically for effect, "All men are wolves."

"I un-" I blinked, and stopped myself short. That... did not go in the direction I expected it to. "What?"

Grandfather shook me. "All men are wolves, Mana. Do you understand?"

"I-I..." I was so confused. I was so. Confused. What? 'All men were wolves'? What was- He was- Was he really giving me this speech? This speech? Right now? I was four! This spiralled out of my expectations completely. I was- I really didn't get this old man.

My mouth opened, then closed. I tried again. "Yessir."

Grandfather nodded in satisfaction, and I could almost see him ticking off a checklist in his mind. Step 1, complete. Moving on to Step 2.

"Good." He said. "Now, there will be times when those wolves try to uh... assault you. So, you need to be able to fight in order to protect yourself."

Okay. This was getting ridiculous. My grandfather, giving me, his granddaughter, the Talk about incoming perverts, at the age of four. Golden. I didn't know if I should feel amused or mortified.

"...Yessir."

The man beamed. "Good, good! Now we can get started."

Wait, that's it? No 'use your strength for good'? No 'no abusing your skills' speech? Nothing?

"Aren't you," I started hesitantly, "Aren't you going to lecture me about- about using what I've learnt only as self-defence... or something?"

Grandfather stared at me for a solid five seconds before bursting out in laughter. I shrunk back from him at the unexpected reaction. Okay, what was it this time?

He grinned widely and ruffled my hair. "Oh, no no no. I'm teaching you how to fight, so you can fight. Anyone even looks at you funny and you go over there and beat 'em up. You hear me? No grandchild of mine is going to get bullied."

A grandfather who not only condones violence, but actively encourages it. To his granddaughter, no less. Nice.

"But," He continued, a hint of warning in his tone. "I don't have to tell you not to pick fights with innocents right? You're smarter than that."

A smile made its way to my lips, easy and effortlessly. "Yessir."

"Atta girl. Now, let's begin."

I regret. Everything.

If I ever agree to something like this again, please just do everyone a favour and kill me instead.

I couldn't even twitch a muscle. My entire body was covered in cuts and bruises and I ached so badly.

A whole day of running in the jungle screaming bloody murder and trying to flee from that insane devil's incarnate of a grandfather as he chased you over mountains and across rivers and through trees tended to do that to you.

I lost count of the collateral damage after twenty-five fallen trees, and I was pretty sure there was around half the amount of destroyed boulders thrown in there too.

What started out as a simple (hah!) training session quickly escalated -more like sky rocketed- when that crazy old man started raining blows on me with seemingly no intentions on holding back. Trying to overcome the instinctual reflex of flinching and closing my eyes at the punches was hard enough, and even when I finally got about to dodging, my efforts proved futile when he simply increased his speed and continued the onslaught.

So I did what any normal human being would do. I ran for my life.

Literally.

And of course, when someone runs away from you your first reaction should be to question, 'Why is she running? Is it because of me? Am I being too hard on her?', but Grandfather wasn't normal. Oh noooo. He was in a whole other league, planets and galaxies away from normal human logic. His reaction was to sprout flames from his feet and go on a mad chase after me, literally demolishing everything in his path.

He even yelled for me to stop. And so I ran faster.

Right now, lying flat on the floor at home after the merciful, merciful end (Grandfather suddenly remembered he had a wall to fix), I could only muse that if there was anything I learnt in that training (see: torture) session, it was that Grandfather was scarier than any 'wolf' I would ever meet in my life. And that he was irrefutably, utterly, stark raving mad.

"I'm so hungry." Were Luffy's first words the moment he pushed open the door.

"Welcome back," I muttered out of habit more than anything else, though with how pathetically soft I sounded I highly doubted that he heard me.

Grandfather however, was much more energetic.

"Oh, Luffy!" The crazy old man laughed. "You made it out of the jungle! So how was it? Do you feel stronger?"

I didn't even have the energy to scowl at him anymore. I was just relieved that Luffy was alive.

"GEH-!" Luffy jerked, "Grandpa! You're still here?"

"What's that supposed to mean you little brat? Of course I am!"

"Jungle? What's this I hear about a jungle?" Baa-chan asked from the kitchen, the aroma of dinner drifting along with her voice.

"I brought the twins there, of course."

"You brought the- WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU BROUGHT THE TWINS THERE?!"

"Bwahahaha! Relax, Erina-chan! No wonder Mana worries so much, you're rubbing off her."

"This is a perfectly good matter to be worried about! You told me they would be safe!"

Ironically, if I had to make a choice between the jungle and Grandfather right now, I would take the jungle. Just throw it at me.

"Aw, don't sweat the little details. More importantly, is dinner ready yet?"

"Don't change the sub-"

"I'm hungry." Luffy whined again.

"I'll get back to you in a minute, Lu- Oh my god look at you you look even worse than your sister- GARP GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN THIS INSTANT!"

Grandfather shuffled back into the living room with a sheepish grin. "I was just checking the stove-"

"You sit down quietly and wait. No dinner until I finish patching Luffy up. Come here boy, I'll get the first aid kit."

"Let me handle that!" Grandfather protested.

"No! No. You just-" Baa-chan held up a hand, taking deep, calming breaths and closed her eyes. "You just... go and sit in the corner and reflect on what you have done to your grandchildren."

The man opened his mouth to protest even more, but decided against it when Baa-chan levelled him with the evil eye. He stood rooted to his spot for a moment before dragging his feet to the corner and flopping himself down, a childish pout on his face.

"Grounded." I sang quietly, resisting the urge to cackle wildly in revenge. Grandfather just got grounded. Baa-chan was so awesome. She was officially my new favourite person.

"Is dinner ready yet?" Luffy asked again as Baa-chan started fussing over his injuries. There weren't any gaping wounds or missing limbs from what I could spy on his body, though his arms and legs were littered with scratches and what seemed to be bug bites. His hair looked like a bird tried to make a nest out of it, but his wide eyes shined bright as ever. In fact, he didn't really seem to be very affected by the ordeal. That was good. It wouldn't even be funny as a joke if Luffy ended up traumatised by his grandfather at the age of four. The fact that they had only known each other for little more than a day would only make it worse.

Baa-chan smoothed a band-aid over his cheek. "Just a minute. Go wait in the bath first. I'll be right there."

"Okay." Luffy said. "Where's Mana?"

"Here." I muttered lifelessly. "'m dead."

Luffy's eyes widened and he whipped his head around, obviously trying to find the source of my voice. "Mana? Where are yoBUAAH-"

"OW! Hey- Getoffgetoffgetoff-"

Elbows and knees dug into my body. I whimpered in pain. "M-Mana?"

"-getoffgetoffgetoffgetoff- please-!"

The boy clambered off me, sporting a sheepish grin. "Whoops, sorry! What are you doing?"

I gave him a blank stare, wallowing in self-despair at how many times I had to come close to death in a single day. I was bundled up in a thick, woollen blanket, with only my head sticking out. I felt (and probably looked) like some sort of deformed slug-human hybrid. I was literally right under his nose, and Luffy had just tripped over me.

Baa-chan interrupted before I had the chance to respond.

"Luffy, bath. Now. Mana, please get up from the floor. You've moped around enough already. GARP! Go back to your corner!"

Puh-lease. I had moped enough? I think I deserved to sulk a little bit more with what I suffered through today, didn't I? Oh, woe is me.

Luffy peeled the blanket off me and squinted. "Are you okay?"

I made pterodactyl noises at him.

Luffy paused for a moment, patted my head sympathetically, and ran to the bathroom.

Grandfather peeked out from his corner, checked left and right for any movement, and quietly sneaked back into the kitchen when the sound of running water started in the bathroom.

I stared after him, already anticipating the amount of trouble he would be in when Baa-chan notices the food missing from the table, and curled back in my comfy cocoon and went to sleep.

"You're leaving?" Luffy and I chorused, "Why?"

Baa-chan sighed and placed a hand on our shoulders. "The agreement between your grandfather and I was that I took care of you until you turned four; and now you're four." She paused, a pensive look on her face. "I almost thought he forgot about it, with how he never visited until now."

Luffy frowned, looking terribly disheartened. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my island, in North Blue."

"That sounds far..."

"It is."

The silence stretched on uncomfortably. I looked between the two; neither seemed quite sure of what to say. Seems like I wasn't the only socially awkward one around here.

"How will you get there?" I asked, trying to move things along.

"Your grandfather is giving me a lift." Baa-chan replied easily, gesturing to the large marine ship docked by the harbour behind us.

She was leaving with grandfather? "Today?" I asked hurriedly.

"Yes, today." A pause. "After he finishes fixing the wall."

My eyes widened incredulously. If Baa-chan was leaving today (all of a sudden?!) then what was I supposed to do? We were just children; surely grandfather didn't seriously think that the single 'survival training' session he threw Luffy at yesterday helped in 'survival' right?

...Actually, if I went with what I had seen of his logic -or lack thereof-, there was a very high possibility that it was exactly what he thought. That would explain why he was so extreme even though it was the very first time.

My thoughts must have shown on my face, as Baa-chan started to chuckle. "Don't worry, Mana. Garp might not take into account matters like these, but I already asked Makino to look after you two for the time being. You like her, right?"

The tension seeped out from my shoulders as I nodded. That was one problem solved.

Actually... if it really was Makino-nee who was going to take care of us, that was a lot of problems solved.

Makino-nee dropped by several times to visit us at home. She was a very sweet girl; young, but very mature for her age. Not to mention she ran the main (and only) bar in town. Luffy loved when she visited, because she always brought little snacks and gifts to pamper us when she did. Baa-chan told her many times that she was spoiling us, but I think she turned a blind-eye most of the time.

Luffy brightened up slightly at the mention of Makino-nee, and turned back to Baa-chan with a pout. "But why'd ya gotta leave?" He whined.

The older woman quirked an eyebrow. She spent enough time with us to be able to pick up on our random sentences in English, which was sadder in hindsight, because that only hit home how long we had been together. "Because I'm too old to be chasing after you all the time. I'll leave that to the youngsters."

Luffy jutted his lower lip out.

Baa-chan sighed again and ruffled his hair. The sombre atmosphere returned again. I bit my lip. I really didn't want our farewell to be an unhappy one. Baa-chan was strict and rough around the edges, undoubtedly, but she had been taking care of us for four years now. She fed us, taught us, bathed us, talked to us... She was the single constant in our lives outside each other. Saying that I loved her might have been a bit of a stretch, but how could I have not grown attached to her after all this time?

"Will you be coming to East Blue again?" I asked.

"If I do, then I'll come visit." She promised loosely, "But I'm getting old."

Oh. The world suddenly felt very large and cold. The underlying meaning of her words didn't hit me like a wall of bricks, but carefully unravelled and spread like a slow poison.

The topic of death never came up in our lives; understandable, we were children after all. That would also explain why Baa-chan never said anything about all this until now, the last moments (I hate phrasing it that way) we have together, so she could avoid answering any grim and upsetting questions about said topic.

The years had been kind to her. Yes, she had wrinkles. Yes, the small, brown spots that coloured her skin had increased in amount over the years. But underneath all that, one could easily tell that many, many years ago, she held the face of beauty. Sharp, angular features, high cheekbones, it wouldn't be a stretch to say she had 'aristocratic' features once, in her youth.

But now, at her age, she was going back to her home island. Maybe she wanted to see her family again, to spend the last phase of her life with her precious people. Or maybe she didn't have one; maybe that was why she agreed to take care of us, because she did not have any grandchildren of her own. Come to think about it, Baa-chan never mentioned anything about family before, both hers and ours. I briefly wondered what her relationship with Grandfather was. Since he trusted her enough to leave us in her care, they must have known each other for awhile right?

Luffy's thought process though, contrary to mine, was much simpler.

"How old are you?" He asked bluntly.

Baa-chan whacked him sharply over his head. "It's bad mannered to ask a lady her age, boy. But to answer your question, I'm older than Garp, at least. Met him when he was a brat. He's still a brat." She added as an afterthought.

Luffy cradled his head with a whine while I fought the urge to gape at the woman.

She... she just called Grandfather a brat. Granted, she did ground him just yesterday, but still...

I tried to imagine Grandfather as a brat... and promptly shut out the image.

Nope. Not going there.

"Erina-san! Luffy! Mana!" A voice suddenly called from the distance.

Luffy and I perked up at the familiar voice, turning to the side.

"Makino!" Luffy cheered happily, waving his hands in the air.

The young woman waved back with a bright grin, jogging over to us. She braced her palms on her knees, panting slightly as she stopped in front of us. Sweat beaded lightly across her forehead and she wiped them away with her sleeve.

"Sorry I'm late! The delivery got delayed and I had to run inventory-"

Baa-chan waved a dismissive hand. "You're not late, child. Catch your breath."

I walked over to the young woman. "Good morning, Makino-nee." I greeted.

Makino returned the greeting with a warm smile. "Good morning to you too, Mana. Hello, Luffy."

"Makino! Is it true you're gonna take care of us now?" Luffy asked excitedly.

Makino giggled before nodding. "Yes, Luffy. At least, until Garp-san finds a formal replacement. I hope you don't mind."

Luffy looked like the opposite of 'minding'. "Sure!"

I smiled at her, bowing slightly. "Please take good care of us."

Makino laughed and patted our heads. I ducked my head slightly at the action, feeling like a little cat.

Yeah, I really like this girl.

"Speak of the devil." Baa-chan clicked her tongue, looking over where the man of the hour was finally arriving. Grandfather marched up to us with a confident strut, hands shoved into his pockets and his shit-eating grin pasted firmly on his face. How someone managed to look so intimidating wearing a pink floral shirt I will never know.

"Alright, let's set sail already." He announced, getting straight to the point.

"We were waiting for you!" Baa-chan yelled incredulously. "What took you so long? The wall was already half fixed yesterday!"

"Ehh, I had some business to attend to at the mountains." Grandfather said dismissively. "But I'm here now, aren't I? Let's go."

Baa-chan pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly deciding not to ask what business exactly, and turned back to us.

"Right." She said instead, and fixed us with a stare, "Behave."

"Yes, Baa-chan." Luffy and I said obediently.

Her tone might have been strict, but there was a smile tugging at her lips, so I would have liked to think that we had grown on her just as much as she had on us.

I hesitated for a moment before moving forward to press a quick kiss on her cheek. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, Mana." She said, still smiling. "Take care of your brother. Luffy, don't cause trouble for Makino and your sister."

Luffy grinned winningly. "Okay."

Baa-chan snorted a laugh and ruffled both our heads one last time, and Grandfather... Grandfather just had to ruin the atmosphere.

"Mana, don't your grandpa deserve a kiss too?"

My expression fell flat. Was he seriously asking me this? After what he put us through yesterday? My muscles started to ache again at the mere memory.

But he was staring at me like I had just killed his puppy so...

Ugh. He's almost as bad as Luffy.

Withholding a sigh, I reached out in the universal language of children. Grandfather's expression brightened as he understood my gesture. I tried not to wince too hard as my body protested in pain when he picked me up.

I pressed my hands on his face and pecked him on the cheek. "Bye bye, Grandpa."

Grandfather glowed. I was suddenly glad that I hadn't given in to the impulse to bite him in revenge for yesterday. No measure of vindictiveness would be worth the pain he could put me through if I had followed through.

"Bye, Grandpa!" Luffy saluted cheekily.

Grandfather considered him for a moment before nodding. "I guess that's acceptable."

"Have a safe trip, Erina-san." Makino wished, "See you again soon, Garp-san."

Grandfather nodded. "I'll be back soon."

I resisted the urge to blanch as he set me back down on the ground. No. Please don't.

Luffy and I stepped back and watched as Grandfather and Baa-chan walked up the gangplank to the ship.

"Alright, men! We're off to North Blue first before returning to HQ." The Marine barked.

"Yessir!"

Baa-chan caught our eyes and waved at us, and we waved back until the ship disappeared over the horizon. I duly noted how anticlimactic the farewell was. Given how dramatic Grandfather had proved to be I almost expected to see the ship turn around and him coming back to boot us into the jungle 'just because' before setting sail again. But the ship continued straight forward without stopping, getting small and smaller until it was just a speck on the distance. It wasn't until a few minutes after it disappeared completely did I accept the fact that they really left.

Preferably for another three years, if I had it my way.

Honestly. That whirlwind of chaos just entered our lives one day out of absolutely nowhere, put us through hell and back, and then simply left as if nothing happened.

I sighed.

Luffy must have been thinking the same. "Grandpa is weird."

My thoughts exactly. Only in not so many words.

Makino giggled lightly and placed a hand each on our shoulders. "Come along, I'll show you around Partys Bar. You've never been there before, right?"

Luffy brightened up immediately. "Okay!"

I clasped my hands together on my thighs and gave a light bow. "We are in your care, Makino-nee."

.

AN : Ahh... there's the Garp we all know and love. Nothing screams family bonding more than an impromptu spartan training session in the woods eh? Emphasis on the word 'scream' of course.

See you in the next chapter!