Summary: What can she say, she was an honest liar. It's not her fault no one wanted to believe, but here she was with her in her hand. In the end it didn't matter, they did. SI!Usopp/Kaya. Extended crew members and Nakamaship!

Her daughter was a strange child. But she loved her Usopp with all her heart, even despite all of her silly shenanigans to make people laugh with her pranks and jokes, there was a deep maturity on her face that settles into her eyes when she thinks no one is looking. Not only that, a sadness that ran deep and hard whenever she looked out to the sea where the sun kissed the horizon, where she seemed dulled, like the colours around her blurred. But it only lasted for a few moments and only on particular days, always the same days every year that she stood there, watching the people rise with the sun with unseeing, blank eyes. It terrified her at first, seeing her daughter like this. Every parent would, to see such deep melancholy in a child, especially when it was yours. But she would snap out of it and would go on a baking spree that Banchina would happily indulge. When there was too many, the both of them would gather the baked sweets and distributed them around the village.

She knew that her Usopp was a happy child, one filled with curiosity creativity, her mind never resting or stopping as the never-rusting cogs and gears turned inside her brain. She was kind, caring and so loving, always a smile on her face as she greeted those around her with a chirpy "Good morning!" and if she was even more chipper that day, she would strike up a conversation. She cared for the younger kids as if they were her siblings, always telling outlandish stories about other worlds that was vastly different from theirs. About wizards with a lightning bolt shaped scar who slept in the stairway's closet, about a small man with large, hairy feet who lived underground that went on an unexpected adventure, about two brothers finding a stone to regain their bodies when it was cruelly taken away when they tried to get their mother back. Usopp spun tales that made them laugh at ridiculous moments, cry at the tragedy that was befallen on the protagonist and angry at the acts of injustice. She sang tunes that they never heard before, even when she was off-key, she managed the beat and tune. Usopp did not have a care in the world, enjoying life as it is and loved every bit of it.

Banchina counted herself fortunate to have a child like Usopp. Everything was perfect for the family of two, even when Banchina longed for her Yasopp to one day come back, but did not fault him for going after his dreams and the call of the sea. She could never cage him like that, his passion is what made her fall in love with him, when he shared his ambitions, feelings, thoughts and dreams. And Banchina told her child so, that her father was the bravest warrior of the sea and that he loved her no matter what. Usopp merely smiled back. "I know." She said, and never asked why. The both of them were perfectly content on that small island and village.

That is, until she suddenly had that certain illness Usopp was afraid she might have but couldn't prevent, and was bedridden.

In another lifetime, Usopp would lie to make Banchina feel better but would later find out he didn't need to.

In this one, she told the truth.

"I'm gunna tell you a story about a boy with a straw hat that will become the future Pirate King, with his nakama. The directionless swordsman who wants to become the best, the thieving navigator who wants to map the entire world, a curly-brow cook who wants to find All Blue, a blue-nosed reindeer doctor who wants to find cure of all diseases, an archaeologist with forbidden knowledge who wants to know the truth, a shipwright cyborg whose obsessed with cola that wants to make his dream boat, a singing skeleton who wants to see an old friend. People with different dreams share the bonds that ran deeper than blood. They are called; The Strawhat Pirates."

"And the story is about a sniper whose a liar, the greatest liar of all, for she kept the biggest secret. The secret of the Afterlife and a completely different world." And so began the tale that uttered from her daughter's lips, never once mentioning her father or his "arrival". No, because for one person, Usopp would tell the truth. There was no white lies or half-truths for the mother that raised her and that she came to love and cherish.

So it broke her heart once again, to lose someone so dear to her. But that didn't mean she was afraid to open up her heart, because she met a girl on the same island who was as broken as her with the palest skin and pale blond hair, compared to her darker features.

And together, they picked up the pieces and glued everything together.

The fated encounter began only when they were both 7 years old, orphaned and lonely. The young long-nosed girl struck up a conversation, and from there something bloomed between them. After that they made a vow.

"When we're older, I'm gunna marry you and make you happy, Kaya!" Usopp took the pale girl's frail hand into hers, looking her with such serious intensity and conviction that Kaya giggled. She knew Usopp for her bizarre theatrics, but she knew she was honest.

"I want ice cream cake for our wedding, then!" Kaya said, blushing a pretty pink but smiled nonetheless. The darker skin girl grinned back at her, utterly pleased.

"For you," Usopp tighten her hold, but not enough to hurt her. She would Never. "Anything Kaya."

Usopp may have been truthful in the end to her mother, but for Kaya she made a promise to never tell a lie, no matter how harmless.

"... then appeared the giant sea monster that was so high, you couldn't see it's face from the clouds..."

Stories didn't count, right?

A/N: yeah im making it gay, fite me. but on a serious note, this is so i can get back my writing spark. i'll try to update weekly, to really push that "update regularly and not sporadically" shtick. i hope i don't succumb to it this time lol.

As for the pairing: Well I ship Usopp with anyone. Might make it poly, since this Usopp is Pan. (Maybe with Nami or Perona? Might make a poll)