Today, as always, the snow fell heavily.
Time had passed since the battle off Drum Island's coast—a conflict that could be called a war of sorts—and all the island's residents had returned to their normal lives.
Kureha was no exception. As usual, she ventured into town, found patients, and charged outrageous medical fees.
Walking the snowy path on her way home, Kureha noticed someone waiting in front of her house. Two people: a woman dressed entirely in black with a hood, and a young girl bundled up in multiple layers of cold-weather clothing.
She thought they might be patients, but neither of them standing there appeared sick at first glance.
As she wondered if they had some business with her, one of them turned toward her.
It was a woman wearing a familiar mask.
"—Looks like she's back."
"Ah, seems so! Nice to meet you! Are you Dr. Kureha?"
"That's right... How long has it been, Octavia?"
"Who knows? The last time we met was when I was with Xebec... over ten years ago, I'd say."
While recalling old times, Octavia removed her hood and skull mask.
"Still using that tasteless mask, I see," Kureha said. Octavia shrugged and replied, "If I don't do this, I stand out too much."
Her beauty certainly would draw attention in the streets.
However, Kureha laughed—wearing a golden skull mask would make her stand out in a different way entirely.
"Well, no point standing around talking. Come on in. Whenever you show up, it's usually not good news, but at least it's never boring."
"Also," Kureha said as she entered the house and hung her coat on the hanger.
"I met your daughter. She looked so much like you, I recognized her immediately."
"What? ...I see. So you met her."
"Twelve billion—what an outrageous bounty! Do you know what she did, Kureha?"
"She had a battle with the Navy off Drum Island's coast a while back. Some quack doctor I know came by and told me what happened without my asking."
Kureha began preparing tea with practiced movements, lighting the fireplace.
Octavia and her companion brushed the snow from their shoulders, hung their coats, and took a breath in front of the fireplace.
While Octavia considered where to begin, Kureha turned her gaze to the unfamiliar girl.
"So who's this child? She's not your daughter, is she?"
"...A child I picked up in the West Blue. I saved her when she was being attacked by pirates, and she's been following me ever since."
"My name is Catarina. Nice to meet you, Kureha."
The girl with wavy brown hair introduced herself, smiled, and bowed politely.
Despite her youth, her mannerisms were refined, suggesting a good upbringing.
"Pirates, you say... What happened to her parents?"
"Well, various things happened. She got separated from her parents and was traveling alone. Since she didn't have any particular destination, she's been traveling with Octavia."
"...Well, if she's fine with it, I won't say anything. So what's the reason for coming to me?"
"I need you to treat my arm."
Octavia stated her purpose directly.
Kureha's gaze fell on Octavia's left arm—it wasn't visible under her clothing, but it appeared completely limp, as if no strength could enter it.
"Did you injure it?"
"That, and it's a Devil Fruit user's poison. I can't identify it."
She rolled up her sleeve for Kureha's examination.
The wounds she'd sustained five years ago in the battle when the Rocks Pirates clashed with the Navy at God Valley still remained vividly.
It hadn't been a battle she could escape unscathed. There was nothing to be done about that.
"An amateur did this. The scars are still here. They'll heal somewhat, but... this is the problem."
Examining Octavia's left arm, Kureha sighed.
"Strange poison. If it was made by a Devil Fruit user, that makes it even harder to understand. This will take time... Why didn't you come sooner?"
"You mean I couldn't move. If I could have, I would have had other options."
"...If you ended up like this, it must have been something serious."
Even Kureha knew Octavia's strength.
If she'd sustained poison and injuries severe enough to leave lasting effects, there must have been an unimaginable battle. Fights between ability users sometimes far exceeded ordinary imagination.
"Hihihi. As long as you pay me, I'll treat you."
"I thought you'd say that."
Octavia said she had all the money she needed.
She knew Kureha's personality. She'd prepared mountains of money.
"It'll take time. The only times patients leave my care are when they're cured or when they're dead. You'll be staying here for a while."
"I have no choice."
The contract was sealed.
Catarina was enthusiastic about learning medicine while she was at it, preparing with a cheerful smile.
—This occurred on the same day Kanata's crew arrived at Banaro Island.
☆
Banaro Island, coastal area.
Black-suited butlers—likely the Celestial Dragon's attendants—efficiently set up tables, raised parasols, and placed drinks on the table.
Seated at the table were Saint Homing and Kanata. Garp and Dragon stood behind them respectively.
All others had positioned themselves at a distance where they couldn't hear the conversation.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"No. I didn't come here to become friends."
Facing Kanata, who had killed his brother, Saint Homing was eerily calm.
He took a sip of tea and shifted his gaze from the cup in his hands to Kanata.
"I didn't dislike my brother."
That was the first thing he said.
Kanata didn't react to those words, simply listening quietly.
"He had a habit of collecting strange things, but compared to other Celestial Dragons, that was quite harmless... May I ask what made you decide to do it?"
"Because he tried to enslave someone important to me—my subordinate."
"Your subordinate... I heard you were originally a merchant. Was it worth throwing everything away?"
To defy a Celestial Dragon, abandoning your entire future. Saint Homing couldn't see the value in that.
A fundamental difference in values. Born with everything, never knowing loss—perhaps it was beyond his comprehension.
Or perhaps his words came from truly understanding what it meant to make an enemy of the Celestial Dragons.
After all, Kanata was being chased by Navy admirals and vice admirals. If it weren't for Kanata's crew, they would have been captured and publicly executed long ago.
They'd even used a Buster Call to obliterate Marx Island, their base. It was hard to imagine the World Government would simply imprison them in Impel Down after they defied a Celestial Dragon.
"Considering the risk, perhaps abandoning them would have been better. But I won't abandon my subordinates, even if it means making an enemy of the World Government."
Saint Homing's eyes widened in surprise. Behind him, Garp watched Kanata with an indescribable expression.
"...You were that committed to them."
"My subordinates are like family to me. Even without blood ties, there are connections that bind us."
From birth, Kanata had been alone.
She could have continued living that way, but she chose a different path.
"...I see."
Saint Homing took another sip of tea, deep in thought.
"...I also have people dear to me. My wife and children. I kept wondering why my brother had to be killed, and when I couldn't understand, I wanted to ask you."
Being able to do this was also due to the immense power of the Celestial Dragons.
Normally, such a thing would be impossible.
"It would be a lie to say I don't resent you for killing my brother. But anyone would fight back if someone tried to take their loved ones... There are people like you who resist even when the opponent is a Celestial Dragon."
"I'm aware that I'm a special case. Most people couldn't refuse if told to hand over their loved ones as slaves."
"Even so... demanding that someone hand over someone dear to them as a slave is cruel."
An un-Celestial Dragon-like statement. Kanata looked puzzled.
She couldn't understand Saint Homing's anguish. But she could somehow tell he was different from other Celestial Dragons.
Among Celestial Dragons raised as something other than normal humans, he was a particularly striking anomaly. That's who he was.
"Celestial Dragons call themselves gods, but you and we are all the same—human. You can do whatever you want only because the Navy protects you, and you're hated by many people."
"...I see..."
Celestial Dragons were constantly hated.
Only a very few recognized this truth. Protected continuously, most Celestial Dragons neither knew nor tried to learn about the outside world—they couldn't even comprehend it.
"We're superior, so there's no way we should be killed."
That's why they believed they were safe.
"Without protection, people worldwide would bare their fangs at the Celestial Dragons. Setting my initial bounty at three hundred million—wasn't that partly for that reason?"
"Don't look at me. I don't know."
Garp answered dismissively.
It seemed unlikely he'd been informed of the World Government's intentions, so in a way, it was a natural answer.
Zephyr might have been informed, though.
"I was... considering living as a human, taking my wife and children—a family of four. But if what you say is true..."
"You'd be killed—if not immediately, then eventually. A Celestial Dragon without Navy protection is a perfect target."
The accumulated resentment would be directed at Saint Homing and his family.
Everyone was looking for a place to direct their anger. Once found, they'd be hunted down no matter what, tortured, then killed.
"Then what should I do...?"
Wishing to live as a human, yet executing that wish would mean death.
If a wish couldn't be fulfilled, one should give up—but for a Celestial Dragon who'd obtained everything, the one thing unattainable was "living as a human." How ironic, Kanata thought.
"If you want to reduce resentment even slightly, you should change things from within the Celestial Dragons."
"From within...?"
The Celestial Dragons' highest authority was the Five Elders.
Whether through direct negotiation or networking, some internal reform should be possible.
That is, assuming he had the intellect for it.
"Resentment never disappears. Even with the Navy protecting you, someone who will bare their fangs at the Celestial Dragons will eventually appear."
"...Someone who will bare their fangs at the Celestial Dragons... You mean someone like you?"
"I'm one, but there was at least one person who caused a much bigger incident before me."
At Kanata's words, Garp made a distinctly unpleasant face.
Over eight hundred years had passed since the World Government was established. Thinking there hadn't been a single act of resistance in that time seemed unlikely—that's why she said it. But apparently both Garp and Saint Homing had something in mind.
"Rocks...! Indeed, they caused a major incident at God Valley. But I heard that was covered up by the government..."
Even for incidents covered up by the government, information leaked as long as the Celestial Dragons—who were on the cover-up side—didn't keep quiet. Especially among fellow Celestial Dragons, tongues might loosen.
It wouldn't be strange for Saint Homing to know.
But Garp seemed curious about where Kanata had learned this.
"Where did you hear about that?"
"How many years do you think have passed since the World Government was established? It's impossible that there wasn't a single act of resistance in all that time."
"...I see. So you don't actually know anything about the Rocks Pirates?"
"Just that they were a pirate crew that rampaged long ago. Is there something else?"
"Because it was also the ship your mother sailed on."
At Garp's words, this time both Kanata and Saint Homing's eyes widened.
"My mother certainly hasn't done anything respectable," Kanata thought with detachment. If the blood relation became known, it made sense why the Navy would be frantically pursuing her.
Combining this with what she'd heard recently, that Rocks Pirates crew also included the Golden Lion and Big Mom.
What an incredible pirate crew that must have been. Her head ached thinking about it.
"Whenever someone with the name 'D' rises to prominence, the old ones say this: 'The Clan of D will eventually call forth storms again'..."
"The Clan of D..."
She glanced at Garp, but he seemed uninterested, stifling a yawn.
Among people Kanata knew, there were Roger and Dragon—one a great pirate, the other planning to eventually spark a revolution. Perhaps it wasn't entirely wrong.
Garp himself was like a storm of a man.
"So we're inconvenient existences for the Celestial Dragons—is that it?"
"Most likely... But yes. I should work on changing the values within the Celestial Dragons from the inside."
The chances of change happening during Saint Homing's lifetime were low. But without trying, no impact could be made.
Even if the current generation didn't change, influencing the next generation even slightly would be acceptable.
That is, if he could manage it.
"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting. It was a meaningful discussion."
"I was simply curious about someone eccentric enough to come meet me. It would be nice if you'd cancel my bounty while you're at it."
"That's beyond my authority alone. But I'll make a recommendation."
Based on actually speaking with her, his impression was quite favorable.
From Saint Homing's perspective, Kanata was an intelligent and thoughtful woman. As long as no unnecessary interference occurred, she wouldn't be harmful to the World Government.
He thought Garp would probably put in a good word too, and smiled warmly as he saw Kanata's group off.
"Ah, wait a moment."
"Hm? Is there something else?"
At Garp's call, Kanata and Dragon turned around. Garp strode toward them with large steps—
☆
"Oh, you're back... Why does Dragon have a lump on his head?"
Jorge asked Kanata with confusion after observing the whole sequence of events.
Dragon had a large bump on his head and was cooling it with ice Kanata had created for him.
Kanata answered with a chuckle.
"He said, 'I never gave you permission to become a pirate!' I told him we don't call ourselves pirates, but apparently he got quite an earful from Fleet Admiral Kong."
"Why would Garp go that far with Dragon...?"
"Well, they're father and son."
"I see, father and son... FATHER AND SON?!"
The biggest surprise of the day was undoubtedly that Dragon and Garp were blood-related father and son.
***
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