#i think this is part of what makes his friendship(?) with mihawk so interesting too

[crocodilenjoyer]

for a guy who’s so chill and laid back and casually open about his views on things shanks is ridiculously hard to read and it makes me very nervous

[bidisastersanji]

Classic high school anime tropes ZoSan omigosh listen up this is so cute and I have so many tropes to hit I basically wrote down the beats of the season:

Unexpected mid semester half foreign transfer student Sanji with mysterious past

Zoro sits by the window at the back of the class and Sanji is told to sit next to him

Dropping the eraser and brushing hands oh my this new guy has the softest looking hair and his eyes are so blue

Your eye-

Huh?

Your eyebrows look stupid.

What did you say you stupid mosshead?

-Roronoa. Black. Stand outside. (With the buckets, staring daggers at each other)

Thus starts their rocky friendship (?) and they’re forced into interacting because they’re sat next to each other in class and constantly are paired to do class work together.

Sanji’s flirty and deferent nature around women- students and teachers alike (and his occasional nosebleeds) rub Zoro the wrong way, and Zoro’s disregard for women, hygiene, manners, the dress code/uniform etc annoy him even more.

He also hates how popular Zoro is and the amount of love confessions he gets and that he does not handle gracefully at all (you’re such a brute!)

Rivalry intensifies during sports class- episode where they go absolute ham during dodgeball and scream out attack names

Although it must be noted that Zoro feels warm when he sees Sanji stretching effortlessly, and being sweaty and fiery during sports class

Nami is elected class rep and Sanji vice class rep

The high school girls think Sanji is princely and mysterious and he quickly becomes popular thanks to his beautiful bento and the snacks he makes for his girl classmates

Zoro observes him and thinks he’s always putting on a mask and keeping people at arms length. He doesn’t let himself admit that he kind of feels bad for him but subtly drops comments that get Luffy interested in him so that Luffy can force him to join their rowdy friend group

They go to karaoke and the strawhat shenanigans slowly crack at Sanji’s composure until he’s singing loudly and happily with everyone else by the end of the evening

From then on Sanji’s smiles are more genuine and happy and Zoro is more than content with his little plan

Nami noticed and teases him about it

At least one scene where Nami steals Sanji or Zoro’s umbrella so that they share one and go home together (they learn they have to go in a similar direction and walk some of the way together from that day on “you’ll get lost without my help mossy, we know you already have too many lateness issues with the school)

Sanji joins so many clubs- he works really hard to be top of the class and does all the things that would get him into a top university- and it’s only after Zoro talks to him that he decides to follow his heart and join the cooking club and drop another club

He later gets his first part time job at the Baratie and gets basically adopted by his new father figure Zeff (Sora’s brother who he reconnected with)

He’s so excited to have some money of his own and gets a marimo keychain for Zoro’s birthday

Episode where Zoro gets sick (I thought idiots didn’t catch cold?) and as vice class rep (Nami makes an excuse not to go herself) he has to go give Zoro notes and stuff

Highly entertaining scene where he gets to Mihawk Manor and meets Zoro’s goth family

Followed by sweaty feverish Zoro in his bed that absolutely does not make his stomach flip flop and his hands sweaty (he brought homemade soup!)

Obligatory Zoro pushes himself too hard to prove he’s not sick/weak and passes out on Sanji and Perona walks in on an easily misunderstood position they’re in

BIG EXAM arc where everyone is stressed out, Sanji shares his notes and organises a study group at his place - revealing that he lives alone in a studio apartment, he glides over his explanation and says it has to to with the fact that he’s half and his French dad doesn’t live in Japan, and Sanji wanted to live here because his mother was Japanese. No one dares dig deeper but Zoro can tell there’s a lot more to the story, Sanji looks very tense and his fake smile is on (also there’s no family pictures at all)

Zoro falls asleep during the study group and Sanji definitely doesn’t think he’s adorable drooling on his tatami floors

Zoro is captain of the kendo club and has a very… intense fan club of people of all genders who guard him very jealously

Zoro interacting with Sanji constantly makes the fanclub jealous and some try to intimidate him and bully him into avoiding Zoro but he refuses to be pushed around until they find stuff about his past/family and blackmail him (this happens in a bathroom probably)

Zoro gets insanely annoyed that Sanji has been ignoring him- he then confronts Sanji about it- cue dramatic, tear filled scene where Sanji says hurtful things to push Zoro away

A few weeks pass until Nami and Usopp catch wind of what really happened and Zoro is FUMING with anger when he learns what happened. He confronts the head of the fan club and tells them to burn whatever it is they have on Sanji and to never go near him again, threatening them

Things eventually go back to normal

Zoro exasperating Sanji with his inability to not burn everything they’re supposed to make in home economics

Winter holidays and Sanji is lonely (but happy to spend Christmas with Zeff)

He is cheered up by his friends making plans to go to the new years festival in kimono (he wouldn’t miss Nami and Robin in kimono for the world! - he says , while also thinking of what Zoro will look like) zoro comes in normal clothes and he’s disappointed and insults him for not making an effort and what did he even expect from a sentient plant

Zoro keeps stealing looks at how beautiful Sanji looks in his kimono though. Nami tries to bribe him into revealing what luck/what prayer he did but he doesn’t cave, no matter how much of his debt she would wave off

Sanji gets “extremely bad luck” in love and cries haha

Valentine’s Day and White day shenanigans with obligation chocolates and homemade chocolates and Zoro feels sad cause he didn’t get any from Sanji- is even particularly jealous that Law, Pedro and Ace got some, but Sanji gave him something else since he knows he doesn’t like sweet things but Zoro didn’t realize it was a Valentine’s Day gift until Nami explains it to him later

Zoro struggles to find a gift for white day since he still can’t tell if it was obligation or romantic on Valentine’s Day - he gets Sanji a kitchen knife, to the hilarity of all and the panic of their teacher

The straw hats going to cheer on for Zoro at his kendo competitions and Sanji definitely doesn’t think to himself that Zoro looks very cool

Culture festival is ripe for SO MANY THINGS do they do a maid cafe??? Is Sanji forced into a maid dress by his burgeoning fan club/the girls in the class he can’t say no to? Sanji is so happy to bake the patisseries for it all (also Zoro’s reaction ti Sanji in the maid outfit and saying welcome goshunjin-sama before he sees who walked in and turns tomato red)

Alternatively they could do a play where they have to play the prince and the princess and we get Sanji as the beautiful princess, directed by Iva-Chan of course- and they torture themselves over the kiss scene

Luffy pressures Sanji into accompanying him and Zoro to the haunted house done by another class and Sanji is terrified and grabs onto Zoro (you will never speak of this to anyone, marimo, you understand?)

Beach episode!! Nosebleed Sanj surrounded by bathing suits (not just the girls, this man is a proud bisexual disaster).

Going at Mihawk’s expensive beach house with all the strawhats. Watermelon smashing, ice cream, playing in the water, going in a cursed/legendary/scary/lover’s cave (repeat of Sanji tightly holding on to Zoro for dear life, especially since there are bugs) fireworks, near love confessions with one of the two parties asleep and not hearing it

Background world wise- seven warlords are on the student council and hold a lot of power of course

Obligatory jealousy episode with the childhood friend and misunderstandings- Kuina (yes she’s alive, but a wheelchair user she survived the accident but can no longer compete in able bodied Kendo) comes by school and Sanji misunderstands the tenderness Zoro shows her, jumping to conclusions in typical anime fashion and running away

Class trip to Kyoto arc where the boys struggle with all the romance in the air, sitting next to each other on the Shinkansen (zoro falls asleep on Sanji’s shoulder and he lets him and shushes people), get into trouble when they’re late to the meet up because Zoro got lost( sharing a hotel room - yes Usopp and luffy are there but they need to share a bed omg), buying souvenirs, getting into a fight with local school punks (Killer and Kidd)

ALSO OF COURSE a bath scene during the Kyoto class trip what was I thinking, we need a nosebleed Sanji being taught how Japanese bath etiquette is- Sanji asks about Zoro’s scars and lies about his own when Zoro notices the many marks he has

Possibly tie up the story with finally revealing Sanji’s tragic backstory that’s been hinted at the whole season when Judge comes and removes Sanji from the school and plans to send him to a boarding school abroad- everyone bands together and dramatically save the day and Zeff adopts Sanji and Zoro and Sanji confess to each other and become boyfriends

The end

[allthatmay]

thoughts on shanks/mihawk?

I love Shanks/Mihawk. They're great from what little we see of them together, especially in the live action. The 'divorced dad' vibes are very strong.

In my head—and in my Shanks/Ace universe—Shanks was romantically involved with Mihawk (and with Buggy to a lesser extent; they were only young, after all). I believe his experience and his failures (self-perceived or otherwise) with Buggy informed his relationship with Mihawk. I imagine that Shanks and Mihawk started out as rivals, fighting all across the Grand Line, then they became true equals, and then lovers.

Mihawk is somewhat of an isolated person by choice (putting it lightly), so his relationship with Shanks was bound to be distant in some ways—but I think that wasn't helped by the fact that Shanks learned to put his goal above everything (he's such a martyr). Shanks may have also looked at what went wrong with Buggy and decided that he shouldn't get too close to Mihawk, for both of their sakes.

(Unrelated to Mihawk, but Shanks' friendly demeanour is connected to this; it lends the appearance of friendship where there may be none. That way, he doesn't actually have to get close to people. Also means people underestimate him. The older he gets, the more he realises the importance of relationships—the sheer trust he has in Benn is something that helps teach him that—but I think, after Roger's death and Buggy's departure, Shanks felt like he couldn't afford to have too many people close to him. He has a small, fairly weak crew that he protects. I feel like he's always known the importance of bonds to other people, but has often neglected them for "the greater good" or something like that.)

Of course, Mishanks love each other, they do. But things take a wobble when Shanks disappears for a fucking year, having robbed the Gum Gum Fruit from the Marines, and returns without his arm—his dominant sword arm. Where Mihawk and Shanks used to be perfect equals, they are no longer—or, at least that's how Mihawk sees it. Things are weird then, because they still love each other, but it's not the same. Mihawk's a pretty simple guy, cares mostly about swordsmanship, whereas Shanks has always had bigger plans. They decide they make better allies than lovers.

Years later, Ace comes into play with Shanks. At this point, Shanks is preparing for Luffy's (Joy Boy's) arrival, so a lot of his part is over for the time being. Ace is someone he can see feasibly having close to him (for a lot of reasons) without compromising himself, his crew, or his goals.

Meanwhile, I could see Mihawk getting with... Well, Zoro, honestly. (Wouldn't that be funny? Mishanks both get much younger boyfriends and meet randomly at sea one day. Hah!) He could get with anyone (looking at Crocodile and Buggy), but Zoro and Mihawk share a very passionate interest in swordsmanship; it's the most important thing in the world to both of them. They could totally get together. (And their relationship could totally end with Zoro killing him for his title.)

Having said all of that, I'm also a sucker for stories where Shanks and Mihawk end up together. But, geez, sorry for the rambling! Hope this was the kind of thing you were looking for?

[charmed-and-alarmed]

EPISODE 5: Scooby and the Gang meet Dracula the Straw Hats versus Dracule aka 'new trauma boy has entered the chat'

my episode 4 coverage

Luffy's childhood pirate flag was better than the one he made last episode

Also it's so weird to show Luffy and Garp together when Luffy is young bc we just saw him free range childhood-ing at that bar. Where was Garp then??

Koby saving Helmeppo = the start of a beautiful friendship

"youre his first mate" now that I know that was never confirmed in canon, this line is 1000% funnier

Ok does Luffy know how navigation works? That scene with Garp implies he might have had some training, but I wouldn't put it past him to only have food-motivated navigational skills

Sanji's introduction is as good as Zoro's. The added bonus of them having tuned down his horrific flirting to something far more palatable is just *chef's kiss*

Everyone teasing Nami about Sanji's flirting (well, Luffy laughs along but clearly has no idea what's going on) is iconic

Mihawk. Dracule Mihawk. Is it a complete waste to have Don Krieg there as canon fodder? Absolutely. But you cannot deny how fucking badass Mihawk is. Note that he refers to Don Krieg's gun thing as a "final gambit" implies that everyone in this world thinks in terms of finishing moves.

"little eggplant" is such an adorable nickname for Sanji. Zeff & Sanji's relationship is so dysfunctional - I want to love it, but they're just so fucked up, I can't judge

Poor Koby, learning that the world is full of hypocrites. Soft boy. Helmeppo just wants to pat his head and hide him from the mean mean world

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I love Sanji's accent. I like that it separates him from everyone around him, but doesn't go the stereotypical 'chefs are French' route

I'm sad we don't get real Gin. He was a very cool, very complicated. Both me and Sanji are sad about his loss

Also Zoro clearly spews bullshit about Nami so she'll contradict him, revealing more than she would have told him otherwise. Like Nami, you are being played. Zoro isn't even particularly good at it, you're just not at your best right now

Zoro's "I had one friend" - dude, you and Kuina were friends for less than 24hrs.

Between Garp and Luffy, it's clear who got all the cunning in the family. Also Garp's "I want the freedom to handle things how I like" is suuuuuch a douchebag line. Suuuch scum. I take back everything I've said about liking Garp, he is clearly just a 'doesnt play by the rules' cop from a TV drama.

I like that Zoro meets Mihawk super early on in the story. Like, we need to see him be totally wrecked. Zoro needs to experience being totally unprepared for what it's going to really take to achieve his goal. Poor Zoro is here thinking "it's too soon. I didn't think I would meet him so soon" and we get to see he has the potential for greatness, but is clearly still at the beginning of his journey. Did you really think you'd be the greatest swordsman before you hit 20?

Also Zoro's "you said it yourself, you don't have any friends" to Nami is such a dick move? But also a well deserved 'fuck you' to Nami for trying to play aloof rather than accepting the vulnerability that comes with actual friendship. I get why she's conflicted and upset, but I can't help but disagree with her attitude in this part of the series. Like I love her, but she's just enough of a hypocrite to piss me off

Of course Mihawk likes the hat, Luffy. His weird friend/rival/ex-husband had a hat just like that

I love sword fights a lot, but the one between Mihawk and Zoro is painful to watch. It's the fight with Kuina again, and one again Zoro refuses to see that he doesn't have to be the best right now

However I love how Mihawk looks at Zoro though - like a prey animal surveying a particularly interesting bug.

Aaaand when it comes down to it, Luffy never even considered the possibility that Zoro would lose. And Zoro sounds like such a child for once when he makes his vow. Gah. What an ending

Immediately to the next episode

[nordictwin]

Life of the Dragonfly (Meeting Him) - A TittM AU

Hi @tsume-yuki! Surprise “Fic of Love and Support”!

Because OF COURSE we need Riskua’s POV of Meeting Her. Nothing else would make sense. (Even if it kind of evolved into its own thing, because I’m a sucker for backstory and I kind of liked the idea of Riskua going off on her own adventure before leaving her home permanently.)

I actually had this idea way back when I’d just finished Meeting Her. I just had finals to worry more about, and then my ideas died. But now they’re back with a vengeance!

Like with Meeting Her, Meeting Him is based around the idea of what would have happened if Raowl had never died and Riskua grew up on Melring.

(Also, I’m imagining that most islands/countries have schools where the children can get a World Government Approved Standard Education (TM) for at least a few years).

Please enjoy ^_^

For being reborn into One Piece as the daughter of Red Hair Shanks and the niece of Dracule Mihawk, Riskua had never imagined that her life would be so... peaceful.

Well, as peaceful as it can get while living on the Grand Line, at least, and being related to some very dangerous people.

She grows and she learns, for the most part. Shortly after turning 10, her uncle decides that she needs more varied training grounds and starts “borrowing” her for a week or two at a time to take her to a nearby Spring island that becomes somewhat of a second home to her. He visits a couple of times a year, though Riskua herself decides to make the journey on her own as she grows older, testing her strength against various animals.

It’s like camping. Just a little more deadly. But she makes progress and the exercise is good. (Now and then her mother bullies Shanks into taking them on short trips to neighbour islands so they can actually go camping or just enjoy a little vacation, just Raowl and her).

As she grows older, her Papa visits less, but she still sees him at least three times a year. Riskua understands. Her father’s influence and power in the world of piracy (heck, just in the world in general) is steadily growing, and as it does so, so does the risk of one of his enemies (or worse, the Marines) spying on him or following him and finding their way to Melring.

Finding their way to her.

And as much as she’d like to believe that she’s strong enough to take care of herself... Riskua knows that’s just not true. And so she accepts and understands the fewer visits, instead throwing herself into learning about and experimenting with, well... everything, really. From haki to proper sword-form to making log poses to survival skills.

This love of learning is what eventually brings Hudson to her home when she’s 12 years old.

Hudson is a good man and almost as much a part of Melring as the ground they all walk on. Almost nobody would suspect him, the kind owner of one of Melring’s best restaurants, of having a past as a Marine, but that is nevertheless the truth. It’s a story she’s heard many times, when the man has taken breaks to entertain the children with his grand tales.

Of how he’d grown up in a family of Marines and had followed in his parents and brothers’ footsteps, only to fall in love with a pirate when he was but a young recruit.

Oh, they’d tried to make the relationship work. He’d even quit his profession and cut all ties with his family just to be with her. Alas, the relationship hadn’t been meant to be, though through no lack of trying on both parts. In the end they’d just wanted different things from life, and even if he was now on Melring and she elsewhere, Hudson still remained in contact with her.

Which, in the end, brought him to her house on one of the days where Shanks is visiting with a special offer in hand. An offer for her.

“I would not offer this if I did not think the little miss couldn’t handle it or if she lacked potential,” he says bluntly, sitting in one of the few armchairs in Raowl’s home. “I know that between you - Madame Dracule, Captain Red Hair - and Hawk-Eyes, little Riskua has learned a lot of stuff she’ll need when she sets off to sea. But Melring ain’t big - far too small for one as clever as her - so I was thinkin’ maybe the little miss might like to leave the island for a bit”.

The speed at which both her Mama and Papa move, ready to attack at the mere thought or hinting towards someone wanting her off the island, will forever impress her. Even then, the only thing that impresses her more than that is, for a long time, Hudson’s ability to remain calm and seated.

He explains his offer in a very concise manner. His old pirate love, Darma, runs a... schooling-scheme of sorts on an island on the edge of New World named La Padde. She’s taken in children of pirates before, teaching them all sorts of things, and is willing to do it again - the offer being extended towards Riskua. La Padde itself he describes as neutral land where both pirates and Marines are welcome and obligated by island law (however that even works, Riskua never learns) to remain civil to each other.

She doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know what to think.

“What do you hope to gain from this?” Raowl asks after a few minutes of silence.

Hudson just smiles and admits to hoping that Riskua would return to work for him before setting off on her own adventures. “That girl is brighter than any of the new generation in this place. Be a shame to let it go to waste”.

In the end... Riskua accepts.

That’s how she finds herself spending two years on La Padde.

La Padde, much to her surprise, is a autumn island where everything is themed after Halloween. Plenty of buildings are decorated with pumpkins, ghosts and cats, the houses looking like a cross between something the Addams Family would vacation in and every stereotypical haunted house ever.

It’s an odd place full of wrought iron fences, twisted trees a LOT of orange and black. It also rains a lot more than it ever does on Melring

Somehow she fits right in with her colouring.

Grandma Darma (as she insists on being called) herself is an odd woman with dark skin, sky-blue hair and a laugh that could crumble mountains. She thinks this woman would get along swimmingly with Hagrid, and it doesn’t take her long to understand why Hudson would leave behind his family and budding career, just for this one woman.

Riskua grows to love her like a grandmother during the years she spends in her care. 

Grandma Darma is as kind as she is strict. Ironically, she too runs a restaurant, though it’s more of a bar that sells meals in the evening. Riskua is given a room in the attic, right by the chimney so she remains nice and warm throughout the cool nights.

After that... Riskua is given more freedom than she’d expect based on Hudson’s explanation. 

Then again...

Grandma Darma probably teaches her everything the World Government would probably rather not she knows in between manning the bar and keeping an eye on her cooking, so in that sense it’s two years of education, but other than that... she can do as she pleases, so long as she reports in for dinner and gets enough sleep.

“You’re gonna go far, little Dragon-Eye,” the woman tells her on that first day. “But you’re not gonna find the knowledge you need out there in books and lectures from an old woman. What you really need to know can be found elsewhere”.

No, a lot of Riskua’s education definitely isn’t with books and numbers and letters.

Instead she finds it in the streets and on the roof tops of Calabaza Town, running and jumping and experimenting to her heart’s content whenever she can. It’s how she meets the local kids and learns enough street-smarts and tricks to get away with (mostly) anything. It’s where she meets Poppy, Kitsune and Lucy who become her first real friends, connecting with them in a way none of the other kids “her age” back on Melring had ever been able to.

They’re a mismatched group, but Riskua is grateful for their friendship. (Kitsune jokes that between Poppy’s work-ethic, Lucy’s skills at making disguises, Riskua’s fighting abilities and her own energy and love of mischief, they’d either make one badass human or the best prankster team in the entire world).

So yeah, Riskua likes La Padde. She thrives, even, discovering new things about haki and herself each day.

She keeps in contact with her Mama, Grandma Darma encouraging her to write Raowl letters at least twice a month. Shanks and Mihawk steer mostly clear, because neutral land or not, the world isn’t as “civilized” outside of La Padde. It’s also the reason why she gets into the habit of hiding her hair beneath a bandana and covering her eyes with her bangs, so as not to draw too much interest from the Marines that visit Grandma Darma’s establishment. (She doesn’t dare dye her hair... again. Not after the incident on her 13th birthday).

She returns to Melring at age 14 on the same day she left with more ideas and plans for the future than she ever knew she’d ever have.

Not even a week after returning to Melring, her uncle kidnaps her for two hellish weeks of near non-stop training.

She’s ready for it, having expected it since barely an hour after getting back home. She’s ready for it - two years away has not meant she’s been slacking off. She’s more agile, more flexible and definitely not afraid to play dirty and use the terrain to her advantage. (Running around and sparring with Kitsune had taught her that). She still needs to refine her style and skills, but... she’s definitely better than what she used to be.

After that, she takes up work in Hudson’s restaurant, like she promised she would as thanks, but she also jumps into learning more about log poses and how to make them.

She’s 16 years old when the Whitebeard Pirates suddenly show up out of the blue to comission her mother.

That’s how she meets him for the first time.

It’s completely unexpected. One moment she’s doing mindless busy-work in the kitchen, the next they’re swarmed with people and she’s weaving in and out between filled tables.

And then she’s face to face with one Portgas D. Ace - Fire Fist Ace himself.

Outwardly she remains professional. He’s just another customer to her - not one of the major characters in the story that has become her reality.

Still... she can’t help but strike up a conversation, if only brief.

It’d be a shame not to really.

(Maybe they’ll also catch the subtle hint that Melring is under Shanks’ protection... then again, maybe they do know and don’t care).

She goes home that night with a thousand thoughts spinning in her mind, but otherwise tries not to think too much about this sudden visit. Even if she has an inkling what, or rather who, the Whitebeards have come to see.

Her suspicions are confirmed when, the very next morning, someone comes knocking at their door and her mother declares that there is work for them.

That’s where she meets him for the second time.

It’s becomes an interesting week, to say the least.

She’s used to being around pirates, it kind of comes with her origins, but never a crew as big as the one aboard the Moby. It’s like a floating city, almost. Full of life, with a hint of the chaotic, yet there’s a fluidity to it all. It’s natural, free.

It something she likes.

Edward Newgate himself, terrifying as he is at first, is a kind man as well. Of course he can tell she’s the daughter of his rival, the man isn’t stupid, but even if she knew him to be an honorable man, she’d still been... nervous. Afraid that her still peaceful life would come to an end.

There is only one comment about her mother’s standards for the father of her child, and that’s that, really. (Except for the half-joke invite for her to become his daughter instead shortly before the week is over, followed by his musings on how angry it’d make “the upstart”. She politely declines).

She’s not as good as making log poses as her mama. Far from. And definitely not good enough to do the advanced work that Whitebeard needs done. So instead of helping Raowl, Riskua uses the opportunity that has been presented to her to do some serious training and work on her Haki, now that new sparring partners have been presented to her temporarily. She practices her speed, Concealment Haki (a useful discovery that made sneaking around the Marines visiting La Padde so much easier), her knife-form... it’s wonderful.

(In another time-line, Riskua would discover and perfect Concealment Haki to fight the Marines and help the Revolution, and learn how to skate on water. In this time-line, Riskua perfected Concealment as a tool to play pranks on others and sneak around the city like a shadow, and the water-skating has become a speed on land so great that she almost teleports between places).

Surprisingly... she finds a friend in Ace.

She’d approached him for a spar on that first day, just out of curiousity, to compare her abilities against his. And they’d clicked. Her mother teasingly comments on it a few mornings later, while they’re walking to the harbor. That she’s already gotten quite close with the boy, and should she call Shanks to tell him all about his daughter’s new suitor? 

She refuses to admit that she blushes at the comment and just hurries on ahead towards Hudson’s place. She’s still got her job to do, after all. (And if she lingers with him outside of her house a little closer to his side than strictly necessary, she tells herself that it’s just because she’s cold... even if Melring is never, ever, at any time of night or day, a cold place).

It’s only on the day that he leaves, her favorite bandana now in his possession and his close-but-not-quite pleading suggestion that she come away with hi- with them - and her heart aches as the ship sails further and further away, that she lets herself admit to there having been something between them.

It might have been small, it might have been fragile, it might not have been there at all... but it was, and now she’s in trouble.

She doesn’t regret their little barely there thing. She doesn’t want to deny her heart.

But damn it if her papa isn’t going to hunt Ace down the second he figures out that she likes a boy. Mihawk, too.

Screw him being Luffy’s brother... she knows very well that any boy taking an interest in her is bad. Not to mention that he’s one of Whitebeard’s.

She just hopes she can convince the two to not hurt him before they manage to locate the Moby...

Fortunately for her, neither Shanks nor Mihawk hears anything of Newgate visiting Melring before she’s aboard The Red Force as the newest - even if temporary - crewmember of the Red Hair Pirates.

Unfortunately, Riskua is forced to tell her father of the boy she relinquished her favorite bandana (a present from him) to, when he wonders why she didn’t pack it. (He thought it might make a nice match to the stawhat’s bought her as a ‘welcome to the family business’ present).

Next thing she knows they’re docked right next to the Moby, her father already glaring daggers at Ace by the time she spots him and waves.

And that’s how she meets him for the third time.

The terrified look in his eyes lets her know that he’s definitely aware of the potential new threat against his life. (She just prays that it hasn’t scared him off completely). She sees Thatch say something to him that has Ace flushing red with anger, fire sparking at his fingers. She wonders briefly what it’s about, but then they make contact and she gets lost in conversation with him again, eventually ending up at her real reason why she didn’t go with him on Melring.

She can’t stop the grin from spreading across her face when he asks her if she were planning on being a Red Hair in the first place.

Sure, she could stay with her Papa and be his apprentice and heir - the Princess of the Red Force, unstoppable and powerful, but...

She’s got no desire to follow in her Papa’s footsteps, no wish to captain her own ship. No... her destiny lies with someone else.

The beaming smile she gets in return when Ace realizes who she dreams of sailing with is more blinding than the sun on Melring in the heigth of summer.

Their conversation takes a different turn after that. Something softer, quieter, warmer... 

Her Papa, several tankards of some potent booze later, cries about her choice in men and why it had to be “one of Newgate’s brats” and not “someone, anyone, not associated with him of all people”.

Ben just pats her on the head and assures her that he’d be like that with anyone, be it male, female or other.

(To her mortification all the other crewmembers are very supportive of her not-a-real-relationship with Ace).

.

.

.

(She keeps the necklace near her at all time, even when she’s sleeping and bathing).

Time passes, and she gains many aliases. She’s quite proud of the fight that got her the first one, even if a little embarrassed.

“You better listen well!” He’d bellowed proudly, after they’d defeated an entire platoon of Marines, back to back in a syncronicity  only father and child could ever reach. “This is Riskua, and you better remember that name until the day you die! Mark my words, my little princess is going to be greater than any of you could ever hope to be!”

That’s how the world came to know her as Princess Red Hair or Red Hair-hime, depending on the region.

Her next bounty poster adds the “Dracule” when they run into Mihawk and a nearby Marine hears him call her “Niece”.

Once she leaves her Papa a few years later, the “princess” part is lost, and she allows herself to disappear completely for a couple of months, exploring Paradise, visiting her Mama and Hudson.

Then she finds Luffy...

She scares the crap out of Usopp by just randomly jumping up on the ship shortly after they enter the Grand Line. There’s shouting about “Red Hair-hime!” and her impossibly high bounties and supposed achievements. (Mere rumors... mostly...)

Luffy being Luffy just goes hyper when he learns she sailed with Shanks (even more, so, when he recognizes Ace’s necklace) and shouts out his familiar “join my crew!”

The expression on their faces at her quick acceptance is priceless, and she joins as their Haki and Grand Line Expert.

(She finds a new friend in Nami and a great sparring-partner in Zoro. Sanji is, well, Sanji, and Usopp is scared of her until she starts telling him about the adventures of his father).

And then, many adventures and a new moniker later... she meets him for the fourth time.

They’re on their way to Alabasta, and the smile on his face when he spots her with Luffy is radiant, a little glimmer in his eyes.

It feels like Home and summer nights...

She’s not stupid. She knows loving Portgas D. Ace is a dangerous thing - knows that he knows it, too. But damn it all, being a pirate is dangerous in general, and she’s related to dangerous and powerful people already. She’s enough of a target without being involved with the son of the Pirate King.

She doesn’t care.

She’s got the eyes of a dragon and a heart to match. 

She is Dracule Riskua. Daughter of Red Hair Shanks and Dracule Raowl, niece of Dracule Mihawk - the World’s Greatest Swordsman.

Resolve settles deep in her stomach as she leans against him (they’d gotten him to stay one night - nothing more, nothing less), looking to the stars.

She is Dragon-Eyes of La Padde, she is Red Hair-hime, she is Dragonfly Riskua of the Strawhats. 

And nobody will take Ace from her, be they Marines, pirates or himself.

That’s a promise.

Fun facts and tidbits that didn’t fit into the fic:

La Padde: I was originally going to call this place Tortuga, but when I remembered that there is an actual island of this name, I decided to give it a slightly different name - since “skildpadde” means tortoise/turtle in my native language, I just took part of that and added “La” to be fancy.

Grandma Darma’s nickname for Ri: Darma calls Riskua Dragon-Eyes, because while she does indeed have the trademark Dracule eyes, she thinks she should have a nickname that mirrors this, but isn’t exactly the same. It later becomes “Dragonfly” when a Marine mishears the nickname and it just sticks.

The blatant cameos:

Poppy: Poppy is of La Padde’s middle class. Shortly before Riskua leaves, she opens a pharmacy with totally-not-her-boyfriend Reg. She’s 14 years old when Riskua arrives and 16 when she leaves.

Lucy: Lucy originally belonged to the miniscule high class society on La Padde, but ran off to live with her godfather Rodrigue, because she didn’t like the life of pseudo-nobility. On her way to being a good seamstress. Same age as Poppy. Introduced Poppy and Regulus to each other. (Distant cousins - maybe also victims of an attempted arranged marriage).

Kitsune: Kitsune is a rambunctious little orphan whom nobody’s quite sure where came from. She lives in Calabaza Town’s orphanage for the most part, but frequently sleeps in Grandma Darma’s attic, which was how Riskua met her. She’s 11 years old when Riskua arrives with dreams of being a pirate, too.

About Regulus: Riskua never actually meets Regulus for real until a day or so before Shanks arrives to get her home, and she doesn’t fully realize that he may or may not belong in a different universe, because Poppy consistently calls him “Reg”, “Reggie-kins” and other odd nicknames, just to annoy him.