"HAA!"
Veyron's eyes opened, a white ceiling was the first thing he saw, a numbing pain on his head was the first he felt and the memories of a massive fist impacted right against his nose were the last memories.
'Monkey D. Garp... I lost'.
The boy held his face with both arms, struggling with his frustration, 'Even though I said I wouldn't lose...'
He firmly believed that right now he was in a marine ship heading towards either Impel Down or the G1 while in the custody of Garp's crew. The rest of his days would be spent training as a marine, becoming an admiral, marrying some prestige lady and living a well-behaved life filled with happiness after having kids.
'... why doesn't that sound so bad?' The boy rubbed his forehead and tried to think of what to do in this situation.
"You're awake".
The moment she entered, he recalled why that sort of life was not his type of life. It was completely worthless if she wasn't there.
"..." Nevertheless, now that she was in front of him, his shame only enhanced.
"Are you okay?"
"I thought Garp had taken me".
"I managed to stop him before he did, but he did leave something for you" She pulled out something from her pocket, a vibrecard.
"A vibrecard?"
"Yes, he said he wants to speak to you later without fists. It is up to you if you accept his request or not. I'll let you know that I don't mind whichever choice you make, Veyron. As long as you make the choice and nobody forces you"
Like usual Mihawk was being very touchy and heartwarming, he knew she could feel his emotions to a certain extent after being together this long. He held her sleeve and put the vibrecard away, exhaling deeply.
'As if that lunatic can say anything without fists being in the equation. In any case, it is good to have it'.
Mihawk took a seat next to him as their conversation once again went stagnant, his mood was really bad since the boy would always find a topic to talk about, especially after this massive event in which she expected him to tell everything with enthusiasm and details, yet there was nothing but silence.
"We're in Shakky's bar. The operation is finished and I'll sail this evening with Shanks and the rest".
He nodded, looking down at his legs covered by the quilt... it was not like he could say anything to make her stay at this point.
"This time... once I'm back I won't leave your side that long, son... unless it is you who leaves me".
"Eh? What about Shanks?"
"Once we find the Gomu Gomu no Mi, I'll leave the crew and settle here".
"Really? Why?"
Mihawk turned his head towards her and delivered a surprising light peck, she seemed to be used to kisses now, not caring about place or moment, whenever she wanted a kiss she'd go for it, not that he minded when her lips were that delicious.
Even if one per cent of his frustrations were released by that kiss, and another thirty per cent by her following words.
"Because I want to be with you, is that hard to understand?" He was the reason why she chose to stay in the Grandline instead of living in Marie Geoise. Although living in the sacred land never got her attention, now she had a reason to stay.
Veyron looked down and clenched his fists, he wanted to resist the urge. Clawing onto this frustration would eventually motivate him to become stronger, but right now all he wanted was to smile and blush.
"What's wrong with you? If you don't explain it to me, I can't do anything to help you..." Mihawk didn't like him being like this, he was usually easy to approach and answered to her affections right away but now it looked like he was repressing something.
"I lost... I said I wasn't going to lose no matter what. Doesn't that mean that I'm too weak still?" He looked at her, craving an answer... he knew Garp was very strong and that the likelihood of losing was big, but that battle made him feel totally helpless.
"..."
The woman felt like slamming her head on a table, 'Was I too hard on him during his training?'.
She held both of his shoulders.
"Brat, listen well because I'll say this just once. The man you lost against is one of the strongest in the world. Someone even I don't know if I can defeat. You should be proud that you managed to even give him a decent fight at just seven years of age! there is nothing to be frustrated about!".
"B-But I trashed both Kizaru and Kuzan and yet couldn't even hit Garp properly once".
"That's completely normal..."
"And he blasted me away with a fist even though I used all of my 4th Will".
"That's normal too".
"I know, you're right... but it still feels bad. I wasn't able to do anything. My gravity wouldn't work, my sword wouldn't slice him... I only lasted that long because I kept taking on and evading his attacks for so long until I passed out".
"At least you gave him back pain?"
"..."
She wasn't helping.
**
**
Mihawk had to spend ten minutes telling Veyron that losing helplessly against Garp was 'normal'. By the time he finally understood and felt a lot better, she felt exhausted and wondered if all parents had to go through the same with their children. Or was it just her who happened to have adopted a genius?
She recalled the past, to those days spent with her father Maximus and her 'uncle' Leonidas. They trained her harshly and demanded a lot of her, they said that since she was a woman she needed to work a lot harder than men and so she did. Whenever she faced defeat she punished herself harshly and now she could see herself in a mirror in the form of Veyron.
"I want you to know that facing defeat is a part of the journey... you don't need to feel downcast about it, Veyron. I know for a fact that next time you face Garp, you're going to win".
Nobody was there to tell her this at this stage her father was viciously murdered by Gol D. Roger after being backstabbed by his best friend. She wanted to be there for him like nobody was, like a mother would.
She held both of his cheeks, "Face defeat... but never by making the same mistake, always improve and if necessary flee".
She pulled both of his cheeks away and Veyron groaned in pain, "I commend that you stayed to fight, but I told you to flee the moment you saw either Garp or Tsuru... so you basically brought this upon yourself".
"Sorry..."
That was all she needed, the testament in which the boy admitted his wrongdoings, she kissed him harshly and dominantly, Veyron felt suffocated and yet he didn't want it to stop either. Her tongue stuck inside, twirling around his as she spoke with muffled moans.
"You need uhm~ to be punished".
Veyron panted and nodded, accepting whatever punishment she wanted to give which surely would involve a hell of a lot of pleasure. Mihawk took his hand and placed it on her chest over the shirt, it was as bountiful as usual and he loved it.
"I defeated a man I had wanted to defeat for the longest time. I killed him, destroyed his sword and took away the title of the strongest swordsman. Now this world has me as the strongest swordswoman" She stated, a part of her hoped to be praised by him.
"Congratulations, Mom" He kissed her breast through the shirt with genuine feelings, although she hadn't spoken much about her past, it was clear this was one of her lifelong objectives. He knew now, that this was the precise moment in history in which Mihawk became the strongest swordswoman.
Mihawk's eyebrows fluttered and she bit her lips before she knew her shirt was open Veyron saw a lot of bandages, she had suffered plentily in this fight and that alone told him what sort of monster she was facing if with all her strength she still got this battered.
There was a big bandage covering her breasts and he shamelessly pulled it away, making them bounce, he felt immediate anger, 'How dare that bastard to bruise her like this?!'
The boobs that he loved madly were now all marked and ragged with piercing wounds, although it wouldn't leave a big scar, there would be marks.
"Mommy got injured..." She traced her own injuries by tracing them with his fingers.
He gulped audibly, aware of what she was trying to do.
"Maybe if you lick them, they will go away..."
'Mom, say no more!'.
He was really to dig in when both he and Mihawk saw a rather shameful future.
*PA*
*PA*
*PA*
Three knocks before both Shakky and Rayleigh entered the room, What they found was Mihawk sitting there, with her shirt tightly closed and yet her breasts looked more loose than they were when she entered the room; she was drinking wine while Veyron fidgeted inside the sheets.
"Where did that wine come from?" Asked Rayleigh who could swear she went into the room with bare hands to which both mother and son looked at each other in confusion.
'Really, mom... where did it come from?'.
"Anyway, Mihawk... is Vey-chan okay?" Shakky interrupted to get back into the topic, She walked to the bedside where Veyron was with his eyes wide open, she leaned down and caressed his hair.
"As you can see, he's okay... you don't need to worry, as there is only a mild dizziness from him. Right, Veyron?".
"Uhm, I'm okay, Shakky" He managed to pull out a broad smile that captured the ex-empress' heart, and she pulled him up into a hug.
Rayleigh flinched as if he could see a nasty future ahead, "W-Wait Shakky! Stay away from that brat, he can get quite naughty when he proposes it!".
"Shut up, Rayleigh, he's just kid!" She couldn't believe her husband was treating Veyron like this, such a valiant and powerful kid who didn't even shy away from fighting some of the strongest opponents to the point of being heavily injured, all for the sake of the slaves in Marie Geoise. He deserved nothing but the best.
"..."
"..."
Both Mihawk and Rayleigh didn't know what to say. If he spoke any further he'd get slapped, if she spoke any more she'd be exposed. In the end, only silence remained as Shakky pulled Veyron out of the room and they could only follow.