-5 months later-
(Kou age: 9 months old)

It was pretty early in the morning and yet, you still had no idea what you were doing up at this hour. You hate mornings. Can't Kou understand that not everybody wishes to wake up at an hour like this?

You walked towards the crib and your heart melted right away when you saw Kou rubbing his eyes with both of his hands. You chuckled and held him. He immediately placed his hands around your neck and cuddled with you. You sighed when you saw that he was falling asleep in your hands.

"Couldn't you just stay asleep in your bed? You wouldn't have had to wake up mommy either in the process." You said as you placed a few kisses on his head. "You're lucky you're super cute and cuddly." You mumbled as you laid the two of you on your bed.

You didn't wanted to fall asleep anymore. You knew that once you fall asleep, this little fella will wake you immediately. You couldn't believe it's already been nine months since this guy was born. But also, almost two years since the Whitebeard war ended. Two years since Ace died...

This cutie looked exactly like Ace and almost nothing like you. It was probably Gods way to mock you. Everytime you looked at your son, you would remember Ace and it wasn't fair. You wanted to forget the past but you couldn't. No one could.

Your time on this island was slowly draining. It won't be long until you have to run away from this island. The two years of silence are about to pass. You feared to sail with Kou. What if something happens?

The little guy just started to walk. He wasn't an expert at it since he took his first steps at just last month but you were very proud of him. At the moment, what you had on your list was to make him say his first word.

After a few more minutes of cuddling, Kou finally charged his batteries and started to crawl around the bed. You stood up from the bed and began to change into your clothes. Just as Kou was about to crawl his way to the edge of the bed you immediately captured him into your arms and started to tickle him.

He began to squeal and laugh, which made you put on a huge smile. He was so unaware of how much happiness he brings you just by giving you a smile. You placed him on the ground as you began to make the bed. He kept follow you around, just as he always does.

When you finally finished cleaning the room, you looked outside the window. It was a sunny day, as usual. The people just started to wake up. Opening the window, you leaned on the railing, trying to get a better view at the ocean. Just as you spotted something, Kou tugged your pants which made you look down at him.

You held him up and resumed to look at the ocean. You furrowed your eyes once you saw a ship coming towards the island. Not many ships came to dock here. You kissed Kou's cheek which made him smile. "Let's get you a bath." You said before walking towards the bath room.

Once Kou was nice and clean, you changed him into an outfit and then walked downstairs where Makino was. Surprisingly, the bar was closed and Makino was no where near it. You were surprised by this. She never leaves without saying a word.

You set Kou on the ground and looked for any note that Makino would've left but you didn't found any. The only reason why you were so worried was because you didn't know if you should open up the bar and work in Makino's place until she comes back home. It wasn't the first time you done this, so you were more than ok to do it. You wanted to help her in any way possible.

Around lunch, you finished cleaning everything around the house. You decided not to open the bar since Makino didn't left any word and to spend some quality time with your little sun.

You proceeded to play hide and seek with him and also tag. The sneaky thing in these games was that it helped him improve his walk. You pretended to run at your highest speed and he ran after you, laughing in the meantime.

As it was his turn, he ran in the bar area. Just at that moment the door opened and Kou ran into the man that entered the bar. You immediately rushed into the bar and paused when you saw the man. He looked intensely at Kou, as if he saw his worst fear.

"Shanks?" You asked quietly. His attention turned to you. He was surprised and confuse to see you here of all places. "(Name)?" He called your name as well. You walked towards Kou and picked him up.

"What are you doing here?" The two of you asked at the same time. He gestured for you to go first. You let out a chuckle. "Well, it's a very long story. Might have something to do with this little guy." You said as you pinched Kou's cheek. Shanks's eyes widened.

"He's yours?" He asked surprised. "As I said, a very long story. But yes, this is my and Ace's child." You chuckled at Shanks's reaction. Shanks sighed in relief. The reason why he was so hesitant to ask of the baby was because he feared it was Makino's.

He began to laugh and then petted your shoulder. "Well congratulations!" His eyes moved towards the little guy in your arms. He smiled at him and waved. "Hi!" He said. Kou looked confused for a moment but smiled back. "He looks just like Ace." Shanks said.

You nod. It broke your heart. Not because Kou looked like Ace, but that Ace wasn't here to see his son and be just as proud as you were of him. "Yeah. I know. I find it really cute. I think he starts to have the freckles too." You chuckled as you studied Kou's face.

"What's his name?" He asked. "Kou." You answered. "Wanna hold him?" You asked. He was taken by surprise but nod. You handed Kou to Shanks. The minute Kou made eye contact with Shanks he began to sequel and proceeded to play with his hair. "What a cutie you are." Shanks said.

"What brings you here, to the East Blue, Shanks?" You asked him. He hesitated to answer for a moment. "I have something to do here in Goa Kingdom." He answered. You laughed at his reply. "And that something is a someone?" You said with a smile.

He got flustered but didn't show it. Just as he was about to answer, the door opened once again and the rest of his crew walked in. Yasopp was the first one to enter but stopped the moment he saw you. The same thing happened with Beckman and Roo.

"(Name)?" You chuckled and waved at them. "Yeah, hi." You greeted them. "Huh? Captain, not to be rude, but why are you holding a baby?" Yasopp asked. "That's Kou, my son." You introduced him to the others. You waved at Kou and he let out a laugh. He waved back and then held his arms in your direction.

Shanks smiled and handed Kou back to you. "Say hi!" You said to Kou as you showed him how to wave. "Wait, son?" Yasopp asked. "He's adorable." Roo said. "Hold up, who's the father?" Yasopp asked. Everybody looked in his direction and gave him a 'really' look. "What? Am I the only one with common sense here? I'm asking serious questions here." Yasopp defended himself.

"Ace obviously." Beckman replied. "Say what? I'm very happy for you (Name). As you know, my son, Usopp was a little cutie as well when he was this age." Yasopp started to tell the tales of Usopp the child. You rolled your eyes. "Nice to see you guys again." You said.

The crew sat down at the bar and you served them some beer and sake. Of course, in the honour of Kou, they began to start a party.

As you fed Kou (baby food), Shanks sat down next to you. "I went to the war too." Shanks said. You stopped feeding Kou for a moment. "I was there too." You replied. "What happened? I didn't saw you there. I didn't even get the chance to see Luffy either." Shanks said sadly. He really wanted to see Luffy since he hasn't seen him in years. You slowly began to explain everything that happened.

From shocked to angry, Shanks wasn't sure what to feel right now. He had no idea that Akainu was that rotten. As you finished the story, you intentionally missed the part where your mother takes part of.

"Oh, and also... Mom is alive." You told him. He stopped drinking for a moment and raised his brows. "I thought you said she died?" He asked confused. "Turns out she didn't. She just hid on a island for many years. The irony is that both of us were washed up on that island with no memory what so ever." Shanks didn't said anything after that.

Deciding it was time to change the subject, you gave him a smile as you gave Kou his bottle. "So, you and Makino?" Shanks's eyes widened. "H-how do you know about that?" He asked. "Oh don't worry. She doesn't go around and tell people. She told me because I kept bugging her about it. And there's no harm done there. After all, we're all friends." You replied with a smile.

"We're more than that, (Name). We're family." Shanks said. You were taken aback by his words but immediately nod. "But yeah... I actually want to ask Makino an important question, that's why I'm here." He said with a smile. The others heard what he said and began to whistle at him and laugh teasingly. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!"

You giggled but then realized something. "Well, I don't know how you're going to ask Makino anything since she isn't here." You said. Shanks stood up. "What?!" He yelled. "Oh calm down, she's on this island somewhere." He sat back on the chair. "Fine." He mumbled.

"But I also have to tell you something, (Name)." He said. You immediately looked at him. "What?" You asked.

"Do you know anyone from the Revolutionary Army?"

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Finally a longer chapter!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! <3