Chapter Text
“This is not where I wanted to go.” You complained to your captain whose already strained face twitched at your words.
“And I told you, now that you’re an adult you no longer have a say.” He continued walking next to you as you made your path through Sabaody. That lack of touch when talking to you, not even facing you, bothered you. Despite it all you still wanted to believe your savior was a good person, he had showed his true face to you in plenty occasions.
“But it’s my birthday!” You continued with your argument. “I wanted to go to the island of women!” The characteristic bubbles of the archipelago floated around your crew, until they lost themselves in the high sky; their iridescent colors distracting you from the conversation in hand.
“Captain, I feel bad for her.” Bepo said to his right. “Maybe some of us could’ve gone with her to the island.” He leaned forward and looked at you with pitiful eyes.
“Bepo I said no!” Law pushed Bepo, whose leaning forward was starting to cover the captain’s field of vision.
“I’m sorry.” Bepo apologized in his usual manner, with a deeper voice and looking down.
He then turned to you “I told you no, now that you’re an adult you don’t get any sort of special treatment; so either you follow your captain or you leave.” He huffed, momentarily stopping his walk. “Happy birthday Y/N.” Law was clearly irritated by your insistence, his expression reflected on many of the bubbles reminded you of his complex personality.
You adjusted yourself in your boiler suit, feeling small in it as his words continued to reprimand you. Why does being eighteen change things so much? In a few months it would be two years since you joined the Heart Pirates, who you considered your family. Does your age have to change the love you have for them too?
“Second!” Your nickname made you raise your head; a known voice approached you from behind hugging your shoulders. “We’re with you, the island of women would’ve been so much better than this.” Penguin’s dramatic voice made you laugh, momentarily forgetting Law’s reprimands.
“You’re so stupid.” You pushed him away from you with a laugh. “We clearly don’t have the same intentions in that island. You can’t even go there, you know?”
“Yeah, yeah; technicalities.” He brushed your words off. “So, Shachi and I thought of taking you to the amusement park here. We know it’s not what you asked for but it’s probably more fun than seeing the human auctioning house.”
“There’s a park?” You excitedly reacted.
“Captain, is it okay for us three to leave? I’m sure you won’t be needing us.” Shachi appeared right next to Bepo, Law never stopped his march despite the chatter.
“You can go.” He sighed. “Don’t cause any disturbances, got that?”
The two men bowed in response and Penguin and you started walking away excitedly, a slight grin appeared on Law’s face at the sight.
“Shachi.” He stopped on his tracks as the death surgeon called him. “Make sure she stays safe, don’t do anything too crazy.”
“We won’t, everything will be fine.” He assured him. “And if anything happens, we’re just a den den mushi away.”
With that, he joined you two on the fun as he always does. You’ve gotten so used to their company and friendship, it almost felt like they’ve been friends with you your whole life. Well, they were your first friends after all.
The numbers written on the trees increased as you got closer to the park.
“Gr 30.” You sounded out the letters instead of spelling them, creating a sort of growl your company found hilarious.
Penguin’s and Shachi’s laughs got louder as they kept hanging onto each other and remembering your voice.
“Hey!” You were annoyed by now, being made fun of when you don’t even know what you did wrong could be frustrating; even more for someone like you who still lacked knowledge from seemingly obvious things. “At least tell me what I did wrong! How do you read that?”
“G-R.” Shachi spelled, cleaning the tears forming in his eyes from the intense laughter. “It’s an abbreviation so either you spell it or just say the complete word.”
“Hm…” You looked back at the tree in deep thought. “And what does G-R mean?”
“Pretty sure it’s grove.” Penguin recomposed himself and joined back the conversation, staring at the tree with you two.
“What does grove mean?” You asked them.
“It’s like… a group of trees or something like that.” Penguin answered. “But I think in this case they just mean the tree, like this is the 30th tree out of the grove.” He scratched his hair over the hat.
“Okay then, grove 30.” You faced them, determined to get to the park. “Let’s go then! Are we close?”
“Yeah, can’t you see the park from here?” Shachi pointed up to the left and there you noticed it.
“Sabaody Park!” You pulled on Shachi’s arm and ran towards your objective.
“Hey! Don’t go so fast Y/N!” Shachi loudly said, hoping that would ease your anxiousness and make you slow down.
You paid no mind to his words and continued with a rushed pace, Penguin following you both at his own pace enjoying the view of you two.
As the bright red lettering became clearer, you stopped your race to read the sign. Red, yellow and green lights framed it, their shine reflecting in your eyes as you happily stared.
“It’s Sabaody Park! Wow, it looks like a castle!” You spun around in glee, making Shachi spin with you as you held hands. “I love the lights, and the colors! Everything’s so cool.”
The sturdy walls of what you proclaimed to be a castle stood right in front of you, the lilac bubbles adding a sense of ethereal fantasy to the mix. Despite its significant structure at the entrance, you could see a few attractions peeping from the enclosure; a ferris wheel, a pendulum ride with the ironic shape of a pirate ship and a gigantic roller coaster that seemingly covered the entire park from the sky.
You loosened your grip on your friend’s hands, letting go of them altogether, and rushed to the entrance as you giggled happily.
“Let’s go!”
“But weren’t the teacups kinda boring?” Penguin asked as he leaned into you. You looked down, your feet dangling in the air as you were squished in between the two men in that seat; a bubble protecting you all from the exterior.
“Well I liked them, they were very cute.” You defended the ride as you took in the sight. Those trees so lean and tall it felt like they could reach the sun, the reflection of the light painting the bubbly container you were in, the people who started looking small and distant as you went up, the different rides you had already tried out.
After so long, you could finally say you were happy. So much changed in these two years; back then sitting between two men and staying tranquil would’ve been unthinkable. You were so grateful to the Heart Pirates for letting you in their family and helping you recover from that past you constantly try to forget.
“Second! Second, you okay?” Penguin pushed you a little, you were so lost in thought you didn’t even hear what he said.
“Huh? Yeah, I’m just really happy.” You smiled, the heat from your face making them blush in return. “Thank you guys.”
You brought them closer into an unexpected hug, grateful for this new opportunity at life. Meeting them was a coincidence, but what if it wasn’t? What if you’ve always been meant to be a part of the Heart Pirates? Hopefully one day you’d be able to give back to them, to help them just as much as they’ve helped you.
“Woah calm do- Y/N are you crying?” Shachi pulled away from the hug and looked at you carefully. Though tears were falling, you still had a smile on your face.
“No I’m not!” You cleaned off the tears, you were done crying in front of them. “Thank you for this present, and for being my friends too.” You were sincere with the two men.
“Aww, how cute.” Penguin mocked, still resting his head on your shoulder.
“You don’t have to thank us, don’t be an idiot.” Shachi dully said. “And you, don’t make fun of her.” He karate chopped Penguin’s arm as a punishment.
“A-ow!” Penguin jumped from your shoulder and stood up to face Shachi to then proceed and punch him in the stomach.
They were ready to fight over something so stupid, an attitude you could never understand.
“God, you two are so stupid.” Your laugh startled them, making them stop altogether.
“See? She’s making fun of us now!” Penguin pointed out.
“It doesn’t ma-tter!” You hummed melodically, jumping from your seat in a twirl; your two swords hitting the bench as you moved. While you were getting better as a swordswoman with the aid of your captain, you still couldn’t get used to the discomfort of having them on your side. He insisted on you starting with just one sword but your stubborn self wanted two just to look cooler.
The three of you looked outside, now standing at the top of the ferris wheel.
“I’ve never been to a park before, I love it.” You admitted.
“We can come back again if you want.” Shachi said with a soft look on his face.
“Didn’t you hear our captain today?” You turned to your left to face him. “Either you follow your captain or you leave.” You imitated Law’s voice tone and demeanor to a tee.
The two men bursted out laughing.
“Since when have you been this funny?” Shachi covered his face as he continued laughing in between his words. “And I’ve never seen you make fun of our captain before! You got balls!”
“But she has made fun of him before! You just weren’t there to see it.” Penguin stopped his laughter to bother his friend.
“Yeah, he’s right.” You admitted it. “It’s fun, I’ve done it a few times. I think I nailed the voice too.”
“I remember that time, everyone else was leaving so he came to your room to tell us to not waste our time and do something.” Penguin mentioned.
“Oh yeah!” You remembered that scene. “Just because I’m letting you both stay here, it doesn’t mean you get to laze around-“
“-so while we’re out getting things done you better not waste your time and do something!” You two finished in unison, laughing as you remembered the entire thing.
“Hey! Why did you two get to stay?” Shachi groaned.
“Law didn’t want Second staying alone at the Polar Tang.” Penguin sighed.
“I don’t get it though. I can deal with things on my own, and if he doesn’t want me being alone I could’ve just… gone to that damned island.” You crossed your arms, irritated by your captain’s decision.
“I think, back then he just thought you would’ve been uncomfortable with the people he was meeting.” Shachi scratched his head nervously as he explained. “Most pirates are assholes, you know?”
You sighed. “Yeah, I get it… I guess. But eventually I’ll have to just deal with those things.”
“Yeah.” Penguin said. “But for now, we can just make fun of Law.”
You laughed. “Yeah, it’s so much fun so I don’t mind at all. And I guess listening to him talk, and talk just made it easier to learn how to imitate him.”
“The captain’s fun in his own way.” Shachi chuckled.
“Yeah he’s nice, I like him.” You went back to your words. “Scratch that, it sounds so weird; I don’t like him.”
“You sure?” Shachi teased. “You sounded so honest.”
“I like him just not like that! He’s not my type, he’s so serious and reprimanding.” You sighed. “I really like black hair though, so I guess I like that about him.”
“I got black hair!” Penguin took off his hat, showing his clearly black hair.
“Good for you.” You said, paying no attention to him. “Put your hat back on, Penguin.”
He did as you said, then leaned on your shoulder.
The group silently stood as the ferris wheel started going down; life was going to be different from now on, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Life could be just as beautiful as it was now; the sun shining and showing you the beauty of this world.
So lost in these diamonds,
so lost in this paradise.
You sang as you tapped your fingers against your shoulder, Penguin watched them move closely as he listened to your charming voice.
Don't speed on that highway,
we need you to shine bright.
When life gets too complicatе d
please stand with me aftе r dark.
You kept on looking up, no matter what happens from now on, you had people you could rely on.
I'll stay in the limelight
like a beautiful afterthought.
Like a beautiful afterthought.
You fixed your hat, now embarrassed of your sudden singing. But there was no need for that embarrassment, you had to get used to it; being the musician of the crew. The two men cheered you on, complimenting your voice and words.
“Second that was great!” Shachi playfully pushed you.
“Did you think that just now?” Penguin asked you.
“Not really.” You chuckled, now making eye contact with them. “I had the melody for a while now, and that last phrase. But the rest kind of made sense as I stared at this view.”
“You’re so cool!” Penguin punched your shoulder, making you respond with an audible ‘ow!’ “It’s not fair! Why do you get to be a musician, a swordswoman and a damned Haki user!” He hit you again in the same place.
“Hey! Stop it!” You hit him back. “I’m not even that good with the sword, and my talents with Haki are debatable.”
“Y/N there’s no need to be humble when you’re part of the Worst Generation.” Shachi stroked your head, making your hat nearly fall.
“I’m not being humble, I’m being honest.” You fixed your hat. “Leave my hat alone, I said I would take care of it.”
“That’s not what we meant when we gave it to you.” Penguin chuckled as you continued to fix your lilac hat. “Why do you take things so literally?”
“Hey.” Shachi suddenly said, sounding surprised. “Isn’t that Strawhat Luffy?”
You looked outside, and there he was, the man from the wanted poster; posters you had been memorizing for a while now as well as the faces of important marines, the emperors and warlords. That man was a part of the Worst Generation, just like Law and you, which made you curious as to what he was like.
The young man was quickly eating, almost absorbing, the entire stock of cotton candy the poor seller had. You tried one not too long ago; before taking this ride, they were very sweet. But maybe reminiscing the flavor wasn’t a good idea.
“Please tell me we’re getting down soon.” You placed a hand over your mouth, you were fighting the urge to puke.
“Yeah we’re almost do- God why are you green?” Penguin distanced himself from you in horror.
You hiccupped in your hand, fearing the possibilities of a sudden puke.
“Maybe it was the cotton candy? Did the ride make you dizzy? Cause you can’t get food poisoning this fast.” Shachi softly stroked your back, trying to calm you down.
“I think- I think the orange juice.” You said against your hand lightly muting your voice.
“But there wasn’t any orange juice left.” Penguin quickly replied, before arriving to a scary conclusion. “Did you drink the entire bottle!? 3 liters of juice!? Is that why there wasn’t any left this morning!?”
You nodded.
“That’s like eating 24 oranges! You freak!” Penguin screamed out. “Ugh! She’s gonna puke, she’s gonna puke!”
“How do you know it’s 24 oranges? That’s so specific.” Shachi asked, confused.
“That’s what the packaging says.” The man stood far away from you, fear perceptible in his voice.
“I’m pretty sure 2 to 3 oranges are the recommended amount; let’s ask the doctor later.” Shachi continued comforting you, but still disgusted by the possibility of vomit. “He’s going to be mad, that’s for sure.”
“Looks like you’re still a kid after all.” Penguin sighed. “Not like a day would make a difference.”
You looked out, trying to figure out how soon you were going to get to the safe ground and get everything out of your stomach. You still had a few minutes; you underestimated the height of the ride. Trying to distract your nauseas, you looked for any sort of details interesting enough to keep you conscious. The Strawhat captain was nowhere to be seen, but a loud noise unknowingly showed you his current position.
You looked even further into the background, your eyes drifting to the human auctioning house in which your captain was. A flying fish crushed against its roof, causing said noise.
“Guys!” You tried to point out what was happening. “The auctioning house!”
They looked out in disbelief; whatever chaos was going on there was sure to keep their captain amused.
You kept on focusing on the background, still feeling nauseous. A massive figure was near the auctioning house area, slowly approaching but clearly looking for a specific target. You recognized it, and your stomach dropped when you realized; it was a Warlord.
“Bartholomew Kuma.” You said, finally uncovering your mouth. You stared in disbelief, and started walking out of the bubble as it opened for you to leave.
“Second? What did you say?” Penguin asked walking right behind you with Shachi.
“The Warlord is getting to the auctioning house.” Your voice couldn’t decide whether to shape itself in fear or assertiveness; but you knew what you had to do.
You started running as fast as you could, forgetting about your nausea and about your friends behind you. You had to get to that Warlord before he reached the auctioning house. Despite your initial lack of confidence, you knew Law deemed your Haki as very useful for combat; and mentioned it could be the key to taking down someone stronger, such as a Warlord.
The voices of your friends became more and more muted as you ran through the mangrove; but the sight of Bartholomew Kuma couldn’t be clearer.
“Stop!” You yelled out, suddenly stopping. You took a mouthful of air, agitated by the sudden sprinting. Reaching for your two swords you prepared yourself for a fight, the Warlord took notice of you but didn’t say a word.
He scanned you up and down, as if he was trying to discern how much of a threat you were, a bright red light emanating from his eyes. But he didn’t react to your words, you repeatedly screamed from the top of your lungs trying to make him stop. You knew there was no way you had Emperor’s Haki, that you were as strong as your captain said. Why did you believe him?
Shachi and Penguin started catching up with you, now seeing you scream to Bartholomew Kuma with no sign of fear.
“We should call the captain; we can’t get any closer if she’s using Haki.” Shachi concluded.
“Do you really think she’s using Conqueror’s Haki? Just because Law said-“
“The captain said she’s capable of it, and we can’t afford to pass out now. We have to call him and warn him of the situation.”
Waiting for the attack, you imbued your swords with armament Haki as well as you hardened your arms. Swinging them, you sent a flying attack in the direction of the Warlord.
While your powerful moves were able to reach the tall man, making him move backwards a few meters, the cuts formed an X across his chest but did not draw any blood from it; a metallic shriek replacing it and leaving you confused.
“What- what are you?” Your voice came out small, fear embracing your body and making it stiff. “I told you to stop!” With tears in your eyes, you screamed out louder than you’ve ever had.
The ground slightly trembled, the groans from behind you making you turn. Mouth agape, you noticed the fleet of marines covering the floor; few of them standing closer to the auctioning house and looking directly at you as they assessed the situation. The doors of the menacing building opened and three men came out gloriously; Strawhat Luffy, Eustass Kidd and your captain, Trafalgar Law.
“Y/N! What do you think you’re doing?” Your captain yelled out, taking you out of your shocked state.
“I’m sorry captain!” You cried out, your arms falling to your sides in defeat. “I didn’t mean to! I just wanted to help you!”
“Did you knock these guys out?” You weren’t sure anymore, whether he was angry or just surprised by your abilities.
“I- I did.” Warm tears fell down your face, you were still easily scared, fearful of punishment even though that man had never done anything harmful to you. You didn’t change at all, did you? You just pushed your past aside, ignoring it.
Light shined behind you, partially blinding you and making you turn around while you covered your face with your hand; still wielding your swords.
In the distance you heard his voice, the voice of your savior; it was the last thing you heard before the light consumed you.
The smell of humidity reached you first, then the cold and stiffness around your wrists as well as the bruises painting your limbs in pain.
You slowly opened your eyes as you looked up, a soft light blinded you and reminded you of your situation; what happened with Bartholomew Kuma?
And more importantly, what happened to your crew?
Looking around you noticed you were inside of a cage with many unfamiliar faces, most of them conscious. Not only were you inside of a cage with more than a dozen angry men, but you were also cuffed.
Where were you? You were taken by the marines, that much was obvious. None of the Heart Pirates were there; you were glad as that most likely meant their safety, but you felt alone and scared.
“Isn’t that woman from the Worst Generation?” A voice to your left took notice of you. “Hey weren’t you supposed to be strong?” The blond man mocked you, inviting everyone to make fun of you.
You tried to stand up leaning against the cage’s bars with your arms cuffed behind your back when a few of them started surrounding you.
“It’s a shame really, how that boiler suit covers up your entire body.” Another man, tall and lanky, creepily smiled as he approached you. His hands reached for your hips, then slid up to your waist. “Does this thing have a zipper? Or should I just tear it off of you?”
You felt your body stiffening up, fearing the clear intentions of these men. Were you the only one cuffed or did they take theirs? Was it because of your bounty? Did they think you had a devil fruit? Looking away you breathed in; you could get out of this. After all, seastone can’t stop your Haki.
Hardening your forearms, the cuffs fell out of your wrists in a second, the sound of them hitting the ground alerting the men. With a swift move you swinged your left arm hitting the man right in front of you in the face, catapulting his body away from you and hitting the cage’s entrance open.
Simultaneously, the door of the room the cage was in opened, the two men entering saw the entire event in surprise.
One of them enthusiastically whistled, making you drift your attention to them.
You were in company of powerful people; Admiral Aokiji, skilled Haki user and bearer of the Hie Hie no Mi; and Warlord of the Sea, Dressrosa’s king Donquixote Doflamingo. Many aspects of both men remained a mystery to you, which only enhanced the fear you already had.
The Admiral was tall but flaked in comparison to Doflamingo, his height and presence made him most definitely the scariest man you’d ever seen. After all, even the Marines deemed him dangerous enough to keep him on their good side.
“I’m sorry!” You cried out, looking down as the men around you took their distance from you. “I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, I’m sorry! I was scared, I didn’t want to break the cage.”
The Warlord loudly laughed at your trembling apologetic words.
“Is she the one?” He asked, hunching his shoulders to get through the doorframe.
Aokiji followed him, and handed him a pile of papers without even looking at him.
“Wanted dead or alive, ‘Secondheart’ Y/N with a bounty of 110 million berri.” He read out your wanted poster. “That’s you, right? From the Heart Pirates.”
You nodded, fearful of looking up.
“Hold your head up, Y/N, look at your poster.” The man said with assertiveness.
You did as he said and stared at the picture in front of you. A shy smile and reddened cheeks, your characteristic lilac bucket hat with a snowy owl embroidered on the brim. In the background you could see Ikkaku waving to draw your attention and your captain’s back.
“So?” Impatiently, he enticed you to answer.
“Y-yeah, that’s me.” Your voice trembled, scared but also considerably confused by the sudden interrogation by a man like him.
He sighed. “Looks like it’s Impel Down for you then.”
Your scared expression made the Warlord grin in anticipation for your plea.
“I- I know.” You sobbed, avoiding to look at him as you hugged your shaky arms. “I’m sorry for causing this much trouble.”
Doflamingo wasn’t satisfied with your words, the veins of his forehead popping up.
“So you’re just going to accept it?” He replicated. “What kind of pirate are you?”
You stopped crying, taking in his words.
“The kind that never wanted to be one.”
After what seemed like an eternity he spoke back, leaning closer to you.
“But if you could choose again, would you choose getting locked up for your crimes or would you go back to your life of piracy?”
“What is that even supposed to mean? I can’t pick my destiny, I never-“
“Impel Down or being part of the Donquixote Pirates?” He cut you off. “If you were part of my crew, then they could never lock you up. I’m a Warlord after all.” He smiled.
You stared at him, dumbfounded.
A Warlord, Donquixote Doflamingo was saving you?
Not only that, he wanted you to be a part of his crew?
“What’s your choice then? I don’t have all day.” He growled.
He clearly wasn’t a good man, but having the protection of a Warlord had to be better than being locked up in the hell that is Impel Down.
“Take me with you.”