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Description

    You reappear as mist beside Luffy and as soon as you materialize he hugs you and spins you around in excitement.

                “I missed you ___!” Luffy exclaims.

                He puts you down and Sabo and Ace appear from behind Luffy.

                “Where’d you go ___?” Sabo asks.

                You chuckle as you remember the earlier day’s events, “I went out with Kid and I went to his place.”

                This seems to alarm the two older brothers but Luffy just looks at you with eyes full of amazement.

                “Did you have fun?” Ace asks with a wry smile.

                You nod at him and they sigh in relief.

                “Kid’s not dangerous you know,” you tell them.

                Sabo sighs, “You can’t blame us you know, from what we heard, experiences involving Kid are… often unpleasant,” he explains.

                You hum in thought and tell him that you’ll be careful nonetheless and that seems to relieve them, save for Luffy.

                “Let’s go home ___.”

                You all pass the gates and you hand back the visitor pass to Smoker.

                “I will be visiting soon,” you tell him.

                “Looking forward to it.”

                Boarding the bus, you tell Luffy all about what happened today when you weren’t with him. You told him that you met new people, made new friends, but you didn’t tell him about your encounter with Doflamingo.

                Not doing so left a bad taste in your mouth. You would have been whipped and tortured if you ever withheld information from your summoners in the past.

                ‘But today isn’t the past,’ you thought with a small smile.

                Finally back at home, Luffy dives straight into the couch while Ace and Sabo went upstairs to retrieve something, what it was you didn’t know so you were left with Luffy downstairs.

                You sit down at the couch and he sits up to smile at you.

                “You really had fun today?” he asks.

                You nod.

                “Good.”

                He then stands up and disappears upstairs to where his brothers are.

                Left alone with your thoughts, you reminisced the events of the past. You tried thinking about the beginning, about your family, and one detail remains.

                A silhouette of a woman intrudes your thoughts and you assumed them to be your mother. You chuckle lightly, that’s more than what most low and some middle class have. At the very least, you could remember that you had a mother, but maybe you were too young when you were separated or worse, they were killed.

                A father, that’s what you couldn’t say you had. No matter how much you tried you could only remember a female figure. But that was all you had. A figure with no name or details, just the assumption that they were your mother.

                You did your best to forget your memories, especially the ones from your childhood as from what you remembered those were the worst ones as that was when it all started.

                “You’re my favorite.”

                You shiver.

                Another unwanted memory trying to make itself remembered.

                But the voice does seem familiar.

                Thundering footsteps down the stairs startle you from your thoughts.

                “We’re going to decorate!” Luffy exclaims, shaking a box full of… things.

                You cock your head in confusion.

                Ace and Sabo follows Luffy down carrying similar boxes full of things you still didn’t quite understand.

                It was for Christmas, an annual festival that celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ, you soon learned from Sabo. And other than that, it also holds the tradition of gift giving and spending time with your family.

                “Family, huh?” You echo, helping Luffy as you handed him the decorations.

                “Yep! Ace and Sabo, my grandpa too!” He enumerates excitedly, and then scrunches his brows, “I guess Mr. Whitebeard counts as family too,” he adds with a hint of confusion which earns a burst of laughter from Ace.

                “Is that so…” You trail off, feeling a pang of jealousy.

                Luffy continues decorating then adds, “You’re family now too you know!”

                You light up at that and you see him beam at you. You could only chuckle and smile back at him as you utter a small thank you.

                Soon the boxes full of decorations are emptied and the sun sets outside, leaving you to tiptoe to try and reach the top of the Christmas tree to place the star.

                The brothers have been trying to offer to help you but you always refused, also refusing to step on a stool to easily reach the top.

                Your tail flickers impatiently behind you and then an idea comes to mind. You let your tail grab the star, and you watch as it easily places the star, and nudging it a little bit more so it wasn’t crooked.

                Everyone then claps and you rub your neck shyly.

                Evening comes fast and everyone resumes their activities. Sabo goes to the kitchen to prepare dinner and you follow him to help, while Ace and Luffy’s video game sounds fill the background.

                You help him prepare the food a little bit then he instructs you to set the table.

                Sabo brings the food to the table and soon everyone gathers to the table to eat.

                Idle chatting and the occasional food stealing ensues then the conversation topic changes to you.

                “Me?” You point to yourself.

                “Yeah, I’m really curious you know.” Luffy states before bringing food to his mouth.

                You shift awkwardly in your seat as all eyes are now on you.

                Sabo coughs, “But it’s fine if you don’t want to you know!” Sabo exclaims, noticing your uncomfortable demeanor.

                You wave a hand dismissively and appreciate his sentiment, “It’s quite fine actually, I just don’t know where to start.”

                “From the beginning then,” Ace suggests with a mouth full of food.

                You ponder for a moment, “I have parents that much I know, or rather I had a parent, my mother to be exact,” you correct.

                “I’m so sorry to hear that ___.” Sabo says.

                You chuckle, “It’s fine, and to be honest I don’t really remember much of my mother either,” you add.

                “There’s just this silhouette of a woman which I assume was my mother,” you explain.

                “We’re kind of the same then, all of us,” Sabo tells you with a slight smile.

                “I knew my dad, never knew my mom, she died when she had me. Then Mr. Whitebeard took me in.” Ace adds.

                “Granpda says my father is Dragon, you know, that one criminal mastermind that wants to find the one responsible for that one event in the past.” Luffy explains.

                “The Great Massacre, you mean,” Sabo adds.

                “Kill them all!”

                You shiver.

                “You okay ___?” Ace asks.

                You nod feebly and you massage your temple and assure them that you’re fine.

                “Come on Sabo tell her about yours!” Luffy urges excitedly, swallowing a huge mouthful of food.

                “Well… err…”

                “Sabo’s an angel.” Ace says plainly.

                “Ace!”

                “But he hated his parents so he went down here and became a normal human.” Luffy adds.

                Sabo sighs in defeat, “Sorry for not telling you sooner ___.”

                “I don’t see the problem, it’s not like we’re enemies are we?” You ask.

                “No we aren’t,” he confirms with a smile.

                You smile back at him, but then your face turns blank as the past lets itself be recalled.

                You were sat on the floor, looking towards the direction you know where your mother is and a piercing scream of a woman rattles you. A figure falls before you and reaches its hand out to you and suddenly your vision clears and you’ve confirmed that she was in fact your mother.

                Her blood red eyes look at you before filling with tears and streaming down her cheeks, mixing with blood and dust. Several emotions flash on her face, but the most prevailing one was of fear. Her face then goes blank.

                Strange as it was, you didn’t feel anything when you watched her body go limp and her arm fell to the floor, a few inches shy from reaching you.

                A set of black, pointed shoes then stood in front of you. Hands then held your body and lifted you up to face them, recognizing them as…

                “Doflamingo.”

                “Pardon?”

                “He killed my mother when I was just a baby,” you utter weakly.

                “He what?”

                You snap back to reality and blink before seeing the trio’s shocked and bewildered faces.

                “Did I say something?”

                Ace blinks a few times trying to process information, “You said that…” He breathes. “That Doflamingo killed your mother.”

                “I was thinking out loud then.” You deflate.

                “I-is that true ___?” Sabo asks.

                You nod weakly.

                “Then-!”

                “We don’t have to do anything. Past is past.” You defend, continuing to eat like nothing happened.

                They stare at you dumbfounded.

                “Revenge won’t bring back the dead and it only breeds more hate,” you explain, “I’d like to stop it when I can.”

                “But-but! How could someone just do that?!” Luffy bellows.

                You sigh, remembering days past, “It’s how it always is in the Underworld. It’s kill or be killed.”

                The conversation’s sour now.

                “Sorry for killing the mood.”

                Dinner ends and you excuse yourself to your room and no one says a word.

                You enter your room and fall to the bed face first, not even bothering to open the lights, deciding that basking in the darkness might help you calm down.

                ‘The day is too eventful now,’ you thought.

                Your mind replays the memory over and over, memorizing every detail that you could recall.

                Your mother’s eyes that filled with tears before turning lifeless, the way her arm stretched to reach out and touch you, and the way Doflamingo smiled as you stared back at him.

                “You’re my favorite.”

                You shiver and pull the covers over you and take refuge in your fort of pillows.

                ‘No more.’

Description

    You reappear as mist beside Luffy and as soon as you materialize he hugs you and spins you around in excitement.

                “I missed you ___!” Luffy exclaims.

                He puts you down and Sabo and Ace appear from behind Luffy.

                “Where’d you go ___?” Sabo asks.

                You chuckle as you remember the earlier day’s events, “I went out with Kid and I went to his place.”

                This seems to alarm the two older brothers but Luffy just looks at you with eyes full of amazement.

                “Did you have fun?” Ace asks with a wry smile.

                You nod at him and they sigh in relief.

                “Kid’s not dangerous you know,” you tell them.

                Sabo sighs, “You can’t blame us you know, from what we heard, experiences involving Kid are… often unpleasant,” he explains.

                You hum in thought and tell him that you’ll be careful nonetheless and that seems to relieve them, save for Luffy.

                “Let’s go home ___.”

                You all pass the gates and you hand back the visitor pass to Smoker.

                “I will be visiting soon,” you tell him.

                “Looking forward to it.”

                Boarding the bus, you tell Luffy all about what happened today when you weren’t with him. You told him that you met new people, made new friends, but you didn’t tell him about your encounter with Doflamingo.

                Not doing so left a bad taste in your mouth. You would have been whipped and tortured if you ever withheld information from your summoners in the past.

                ‘But today isn’t the past,’ you thought with a small smile.

                Finally back at home, Luffy dives straight into the couch while Ace and Sabo went upstairs to retrieve something, what it was you didn’t know so you were left with Luffy downstairs.

                You sit down at the couch and he sits up to smile at you.

                “You really had fun today?” he asks.

                You nod.

                “Good.”

                He then stands up and disappears upstairs to where his brothers are.

                Left alone with your thoughts, you reminisced the events of the past. You tried thinking about the beginning, about your family, and one detail remains.

                A silhouette of a woman intrudes your thoughts and you assumed them to be your mother. You chuckle lightly, that’s more than what most low and some middle class have. At the very least, you could remember that you had a mother, but maybe you were too young when you were separated or worse, they were killed.

                A father, that’s what you couldn’t say you had. No matter how much you tried you could only remember a female figure. But that was all you had. A figure with no name or details, just the assumption that they were your mother.

                You did your best to forget your memories, especially the ones from your childhood as from what you remembered those were the worst ones as that was when it all started.

                “You’re my favorite.”

                You shiver.

                Another unwanted memory trying to make itself remembered.

                But the voice does seem familiar.

                Thundering footsteps down the stairs startle you from your thoughts.

                “We’re going to decorate!” Luffy exclaims, shaking a box full of… things.

                You cock your head in confusion.

                Ace and Sabo follows Luffy down carrying similar boxes full of things you still didn’t quite understand.

                It was for Christmas, an annual festival that celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ, you soon learned from Sabo. And other than that, it also holds the tradition of gift giving and spending time with your family.

                “Family, huh?” You echo, helping Luffy as you handed him the decorations.

                “Yep! Ace and Sabo, my grandpa too!” He enumerates excitedly, and then scrunches his brows, “I guess Mr. Whitebeard counts as family too,” he adds with a hint of confusion which earns a burst of laughter from Ace.

                “Is that so…” You trail off, feeling a pang of jealousy.

                Luffy continues decorating then adds, “You’re family now too you know!”

                You light up at that and you see him beam at you. You could only chuckle and smile back at him as you utter a small thank you.

                Soon the boxes full of decorations are emptied and the sun sets outside, leaving you to tiptoe to try and reach the top of the Christmas tree to place the star.

                The brothers have been trying to offer to help you but you always refused, also refusing to step on a stool to easily reach the top.

                Your tail flickers impatiently behind you and then an idea comes to mind. You let your tail grab the star, and you watch as it easily places the star, and nudging it a little bit more so it wasn’t crooked.

                Everyone then claps and you rub your neck shyly.

                Evening comes fast and everyone resumes their activities. Sabo goes to the kitchen to prepare dinner and you follow him to help, while Ace and Luffy’s video game sounds fill the background.

                You help him prepare the food a little bit then he instructs you to set the table.

                Sabo brings the food to the table and soon everyone gathers to the table to eat.

                Idle chatting and the occasional food stealing ensues then the conversation topic changes to you.

                “Me?” You point to yourself.

                “Yeah, I’m really curious you know.” Luffy states before bringing food to his mouth.

                You shift awkwardly in your seat as all eyes are now on you.

                Sabo coughs, “But it’s fine if you don’t want to you know!” Sabo exclaims, noticing your uncomfortable demeanor.

                You wave a hand dismissively and appreciate his sentiment, “It’s quite fine actually, I just don’t know where to start.”

                “From the beginning then,” Ace suggests with a mouth full of food.

                You ponder for a moment, “I have parents that much I know, or rather I had a parent, my mother to be exact,” you correct.

                “I’m so sorry to hear that ___.” Sabo says.

                You chuckle, “It’s fine, and to be honest I don’t really remember much of my mother either,” you add.

                “There’s just this silhouette of a woman which I assume was my mother,” you explain.

                “We’re kind of the same then, all of us,” Sabo tells you with a slight smile.

                “I knew my dad, never knew my mom, she died when she had me. Then Mr. Whitebeard took me in.” Ace adds.

                “Granpda says my father is Dragon, you know, that one criminal mastermind that wants to find the one responsible for that one event in the past.” Luffy explains.

                “The Great Massacre, you mean,” Sabo adds.

                “Kill them all!”

                You shiver.

                “You okay ___?” Ace asks.

                You nod feebly and you massage your temple and assure them that you’re fine.

                “Come on Sabo tell her about yours!” Luffy urges excitedly, swallowing a huge mouthful of food.

                “Well… err…”

                “Sabo’s an angel.” Ace says plainly.

                “Ace!”

                “But he hated his parents so he went down here and became a normal human.” Luffy adds.

                Sabo sighs in defeat, “Sorry for not telling you sooner ___.”

                “I don’t see the problem, it’s not like we’re enemies are we?” You ask.

                “No we aren’t,” he confirms with a smile.

                You smile back at him, but then your face turns blank as the past lets itself be recalled.

                You were sat on the floor, looking towards the direction you know where your mother is and a piercing scream of a woman rattles you. A figure falls before you and reaches its hand out to you and suddenly your vision clears and you’ve confirmed that she was in fact your mother.

                Her blood red eyes look at you before filling with tears and streaming down her cheeks, mixing with blood and dust. Several emotions flash on her face, but the most prevailing one was of fear. Her face then goes blank.

                Strange as it was, you didn’t feel anything when you watched her body go limp and her arm fell to the floor, a few inches shy from reaching you.

                A set of black, pointed shoes then stood in front of you. Hands then held your body and lifted you up to face them, recognizing them as…

                “Doflamingo.”

                “Pardon?”

                “He killed my mother when I was just a baby,” you utter weakly.

                “He what?”

                You snap back to reality and blink before seeing the trio’s shocked and bewildered faces.

                “Did I say something?”

                Ace blinks a few times trying to process information, “You said that…” He breathes. “That Doflamingo killed your mother.”

                “I was thinking out loud then.” You deflate.

                “I-is that true ___?” Sabo asks.

                You nod weakly.

                “Then-!”

                “We don’t have to do anything. Past is past.” You defend, continuing to eat like nothing happened.

                They stare at you dumbfounded.

                “Revenge won’t bring back the dead and it only breeds more hate,” you explain, “I’d like to stop it when I can.”

                “But-but! How could someone just do that?!” Luffy bellows.

                You sigh, remembering days past, “It’s how it always is in the Underworld. It’s kill or be killed.”

                The conversation’s sour now.

                “Sorry for killing the mood.”

                Dinner ends and you excuse yourself to your room and no one says a word.

                You enter your room and fall to the bed face first, not even bothering to open the lights, deciding that basking in the darkness might help you calm down.

                ‘The day is too eventful now,’ you thought.

                Your mind replays the memory over and over, memorizing every detail that you could recall.

                Your mother’s eyes that filled with tears before turning lifeless, the way her arm stretched to reach out and touch you, and the way Doflamingo smiled as you stared back at him.

                “You’re my favorite.”

                You shiver and pull the covers over you and take refuge in your fort of pillows.

                ‘No more.’