Shakky's bar was bustling with people. It was closed to the public, and all of the guests were individuals involved in the invasion of Marie Geoise in one way or another. The majority of them were fishmen who laughed and cheered together with their saviour, Fisher Tiger.
On another side of the room was Shanks' crew with some of the members also cheering on for the fishmen, it wasn't all of them who were willing to accept humans just yet, but they knew that it had also been humans who saved them.
In one corner of the room, there were three sisters eating lots of food like they hadn't had anything decent in decades. Next to them sat a girl with haggard blonde hair and a lonely expression, there was food in front of her but she wouldn't even touch it.
When they heard the door open and saw Veyron walk in together with Mihawk and Rayleigh they all made silence to glance at the boy who was rubbing his eyes as if he wanted to go back to sleep, in truth he didn't want to eat food, he wanted to eat his mother.
But since he needed vitamins there was no way around it.
The majority of them gasped when they associated the boy -whose height was half of Rayleigh's- with a person capable of devastating Vice Admiral Kizaru and even facing Monkey D. Garp.
All they could do was ask themselves what planet this kid came from.
"Look who is here, the little hero!"
"Yeah!"
Shanks tried to dissolve the awkward mood as they hadn't expected Veyron to be so young, all they heard about was this boy who had made time for them. Were either Kizaru, Aokiji or even Garp allowed to land on Marie Geoise... no one would have escaped.
"Thanks for your help, Veyron/younger brother/ young hero!".
Everyone cheered for him and Veyron felt awkward, scratching the back of his head while Mihawk held his shoulders.
"A-Ah, it was nothing... how long has it been?" He was used to being praised by crowds but this time it was for a different reason, he was being clamoured as a 'hero'.
"Four days... the majority of the Fishman slaves have already left for Fishman Island. We were all going to leave as well, but we wanted to wait until you woke up" Fisher Tiger walked forward and extended his fist towards him.
Veyron smiled and clashed his fist with the Fishman whom he hadn't seen in the show but respected deeply for what he was willing to do even with his feeble strength.
"You're amazing, Mr Tiger".
"It is difficult to forgive what humans have done to us. But with people like you," He looked at the owners of the bar, Mihawk, Shanks and Veyron in particular, "I can begin to believe in what Queen Otohime saw that we couldn't... there is a path to cooperation between us as long as we erase those that wish to make this impossible".
"I agree" Stated Veyron, not entirely sure what he was talking about, it seemed like there was a lot more at play here that he didn't understand yet.
As he was welcomed and greeted by everyone, the party continued. Veyron's eyes were immediately drawn to the girl who was sitting together with her sisters, She also was sending some sidelong glances to Veyron but when she sensed he was looking at her, she put her gaze away and went back to eating.
'H-Hancock...' He was mesmerized and didn't even try to conceal it. No doubt the most beautiful woman in the whole manga -and although she had fierce contestants- Hancock's sexiness was unmatched. Now she (16) was dressing in common clothes, obviously bought for her by Shakky just like her sisters. Just like her sisters, parts of her body were bandaged. She was lacking that sexy aura but her beauty was unquestionable.
When she blushed Veyron noticed that he had been staring for too long.
Her sisters, much to his astonishment looked also quite gorgeous, he couldn't even place both the woman he had seen in the Amazon Lily arc, with the current Boa Marigold (14) who had a thin waist, massive chest and tall slim build.
"Hi, I'm Sandersonia~" The green-haired beauty (15) whose head and body were a little bigger than normal, approached him first. She extended her hand forward and he shook it politely, he also noticed that she was shivering.
"Hello, I'm Veyron... are your wounds okay?".
"Nothing to sweat about, thanks for saving us up there!"
"I didn't do much really, you should thank my mother instead" He stated, he expected Mihawk to be around with Shanks and his crew, talking about their next plan. What he saw was her standing right behind him, glaring down at him as if the 4th Will had taken over her eyes.
To make things worse, his friendliness seemed to be enough to topple Sandersonia's barriers.
'He's so cute!'.
The teenage girl tried to pull him into a deep hug like he was some plushie, but before she could even accomplish the task, Veyron was already within Mihawk's embrace, she had already seen that future and she fiercely denied it.
Sandersonia looked at the woman's eyes and she never felt more like a corpse than she did now, not even in Marie Geoise.
"My son doesn't like public displays of affection, please excuse him" She stated coldly much to the shock of everyone present, including Veytron.
'You're hugging him/me tightly though!?'.
"S-Sorry..." Sandersonia was at the border of crying, she wanted to be polite and friendly to the people who saved them, he also happened to be the only male around she didn't feel apprehension towards. Veyron also understood that she didn't have bad intentions so he did release himself from a shocked Mihawk to give the girl a hug.
For the mom, it was an absolute betrayal. Perhaps she wasn't psychologically prepared to know that he would indeed be a friend with other females (and people for that matter), aside from her. They had together for years just the two of them together with the baboons which of course she didn't count as anything other than pets.
Shanks patted her shoulder and when she looked at him, he shook his head and pointed towards a wine bottle that was lying lonely on the table.
'Drink your frustration away, friend'.
Mihawk sighed and did just that, sit down in a corner and look at her son from afar while he was quickly engulfed by Sandersonia, Marigold and the blonde little girl.
The three of them had gone through hell... no person ever deserved to go through what they went through, if he could give even a bit of comfort, he would.
Hancock looked from the distance, swallowing her own pain, trying to be strong for her sisters. The things she had suffered, she wouldn't see men the same way again and she couldn't believe both of her sisters were so quick to open to that boy, even if he had helped save them.
Veyron shared hugs with Sandersonia and Marigold, they were deep platonic hugs, it wasn't like his intention was to squish his head on their massive melons or anything. He just wanted to comfort them.
Then there was the blonde little girl whom he believed was the most broken out of the four. He didn't know who she was or if she even was an important character but when she took a towel and started cleaning the tables with a smile, it almost shattered his heart.
"W-Why are you cleaning it? it is already clean".
"Cleaning is all I can do, master".
!!!
The words were heard by everyone in the bar who could only grit their teeth in anger, even this much chaos and death caused in Marie Geoise wasn't enough to quell the suffering they had made these people go through.
Veyron hugged the hell out of that girl and didn't release her until she desisted on cleaning that table. He even fed her himself to make sure she ate.
"We will take her with us, she has no place to go" Fisher Tiger also felt his heart quench for this little girl although she was human, she had suffered no less than them.
"No, I want her to live there peacefully. Veyron sweetie, please take her to Amazon Lily with Hancock and the rest" Shakky was adamant but it was Fisher Tiger who stepped his foot down.
"My lady you must understand we were all taken away from our homes, this girl also has a home and a family that stresses every day wondering if she's alive and okay" Fisher Tiger placed his hand on her shoulder lightly.
"From now on, your name will be Koala... you are free now and we will take you to your home".
Being given a name was like the greatest act of humanity this girl had faced in years. She didn't know why but at that moment, tears rolled down her eyes and she instinctively knew that she'd soon be home back with her family.
"Let's eat~" Now he felt that he couldn't keep his downcast appearance anymore. These girls needed someone happy and cheerful, not someone who pushed them aside.
Sandersonia and Marigold continued speaking to Veyron, mostly asking about what things he liked, and how he had become so powerful, They asked him if he could fly and wondered if he could take them for a flight. For the whole time, Koala was being spoiled by them.
As for Hancock, she remained silent in a corner, all her defensive barriers still in place, although she was polite to Veyron and asked him some questions from time to time mostly regarding his powers. She wanted to know how someone so young became so powerful.
She needed that strength to protect her family and make sure what happened to them would never happen again.
To the side, Mihawk was drinking wine and she felt like killing people ruthlessly. It was at this stage that she'd take her son to a hotel before they sailed, but he was so engrossed in talking to the ex-slaves that she felt it wasn't right to ask that of him.
With the atmosphere cheerful and Veyron enjoying himself, she smiled and leaned her head on her palm, watching him from afar a bit more.
'At least he's not thinking about Garp any longer'.