Chapter Text
The sun was high over the East Blue, a bright white spot in the deep blue summer sky, and the people of Fuschia village had gathered at the town’s dock to see off one of the most disruptive young women ever to live in, around, or vaguely near the small fishing village. The responses to their newfound freedom ranged from relief to tears. The relieved half of the crowd were mostly there to make sure the girl was actually leaving, whereas the crying crowd had found themselves with a soft spot for the chaos the girl brought.
At the front of the sobbing villagers was Dadan, the large redheaded bandit who had raised the departing girl. She was as sad to see her go as anyone, but most of her tears came from the sheer terror gripping her heart. She didn’t have the power to stop the girl leaving, but she was also absolutely terrified of the man who had entrusted her to her.
And far behind the crowd, hidden behind a chimney, a teenage boy stared at the scene, eyes flicking around the people but lingering on a black haired, straw-hatted girl waving at the receding boat.
“BYE LUCYYYY!” Portgaz D. Acerola waved cheerfully from said boat back to the dock. Her hair, already salt-soaked, moved gently in the breeze, mostly trapped under her wide brimmed orange cowboy hat. Having been reprimanded enough about running around the island bare-chested, she wore a bikini top split by a horizontal zig-zagging line. The top half was the same shade of orange as her hat, whereas the bottom was the same warm grey as her loose pants, which were cuffed halfway up her calves.
“BYE ACEEEEEE!” Standing on the dock, waving back with great enthusiasm, was Monkey D. Lucy. Unlike Ace, no one had yet managed to get Lucy to cover her chest, though through methods no one could quite work out, her open red vest never seemed to move enough to let something slip. Comfortably sat on her head, nestled in hair slightly shorter than Ace’s, was a straw hat adorned with a red band. “THREE YEARS, RIGHT?”
Acerola grinned wide. “THREE YEARS! SAY HI TO OLD MAN GARP FOR ME!”
Dadan winced.
Behind the floating figure of Ace, the sea began to swell. Rising menacingly from the ocean, water sluicing off its scales, was the scourge of Fuschia Village, a seaking known as the Lord of the Coast. He was a stubborn old thing, too powerful for the navy of the Goa Kingdom to take down. In the past, it had taken Garp the Hero, Red-haired Shanks, or a World Navy battleship to chase him away, though he was clever enough to avoid them now. Acerola, smile not slipping off her face for a moment, leapt five stories in the air, and slammed a fist into the seaking’s face strong enough to knock it to the bottom of the bay. She alighted back on the boat softly, a teasing glint entering her eye. “BETTER MOVE QUICK ONCE YOU SET SAIL, LUCY. I MIGHT ALREADY BE QUEEN OF THE PIRATES BY THEN!”
“HEY!” There was no real anger in Lucy's shout. She knew that if Acerola got there first, she’d just have to get there better.
As Ace sailed off into the waters of the East Blue, the boy watching from the rooftop stayed unnoticed. Even as he followed Dadan and Lucy out of the village, or as wings unfolded behind him, or when he took to the skies above the forest to keep following the pair as they made their way up the mountain.
The next week passed uneventfully for all, a nice change for the people of Fuschia Village. The boy stayed hidden, watching carefully from the trees, following Lucy on her hunting trips as she hauled game large enough to feed a village.
One night, as the moon hung high over the mountains, inside a ramshackle bandit’s hideout, Dadan and Lucy competed to sneak out the back exit before Garp broke down the front door. The competition was a tradition of Garp’s visits, though it was extra fierce this time.
“LUCY! YOUR GRANDDAD’S COME TO VISIT! COME GIVE HIM A HUG! ACEROLA, TOO!”
Luckily, Garp made sure he couldn’t do anything to the door, or even the wall holding it, because he tore off the whole front of the house.
“There you are Lucy! Come on, give me a hug!”
Lucy and Dadan were jammed in the windowsill, still trying to escape to the forest.
“Where’s Ace?”
Lucy stretched her arms out to grab at a tree trunk, trying to pull herself free.
“LISTEN TO ME!” Garp appeared between Lucy and the tree. “FIST OF LOVE!” The punch, aimed for Lucy’s head, connected with the middle of her back as she slipped free of the window, catapulting into Garp’s stomach.
Garp laughed heartily. “See? Is it really so bad?”
“Get away from me old man!”
Garp patted her head. “Right, now where’s the other one gone? Dadan?”
Dadan whimpered.
“Dadan?”
“She’s gone to be a pirate!” News delivered, Lucy rolled away from her grandfather as quickly as possible. “She said hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiOW!” Garp had intercepted, kicking her back into the house.
“Damn girl takes after her father.” Garp muttered. “Well, first things first.” Instead of heading after his granddaughter he turned his focus to the treeline, scanning the foliage. The trees were as dark as the sky behind them, though they lacked the freckling of stars. Leaves rustled as animals skittered through them, which to the ears of the normal inhabitants of the bandit shack was little more than a backdrop to sleep.
You would need superhuman senses to notice the tree the animals were avoiding.
Noting the patch of silence, Garp grinned wide and vanished. An indignant squawk, spout of fire, and sound of struggle came from the tree he reappeared in as he emerged, concern furrowing his brow, hauling a young boy.
The boy’s skin was tanned at first glance, though if you knew him for long enough you would note that it never lightened, even in the depths of winter. Honestly though, you were more likely to notice his flowing white hair, black wings each as large as his body, or the line of fire running along his spine.
“Dadan, Lucy! We’ll talk about Acerola later.” Garp looked down at the boy. “We have bigger problems.”