Chapter 44: Nothing I Could Do

I don't own One Piece
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Recap:

...I closed the paper and looked at the cover. I had to stare at it for a good few seconds before I could completely believe the picture. Then my heart started pounding in my ears and a chill went up my body.

"Ace." I muttered, "How the hell did you let him capture you?"

"What are you looking at?" Arisu asked, looking over my shoulder to see the newspaper. "Oh, Fire Fist Ace. Yeah, from what I heard some pirate called Blackbeard turned him in. He's to be executed by tomorrow. I'm sure they're prepared well for war." She rolled her eyes. "Hell, if they knew my actual location I bet they would come drag me into this too, considering who he is."

"Who he is?" I narrowed my eyes at her, feeling the burning anger flare up in me.

"Garp made me swear to silence." She responded quietly, "Not that I was gonna say anything anyway. I was a week away from retiring." Then her eyebrows pulled in annoyance. "That damn woman even demanded I stay silent. She had the nerve to threaten to silence me herself over some damn captain's kid."

I handed the paper back to the man and turned to look at Arisu. "I need to get there. My crew's gonna have to wait a day or two."

"You won't make it." She said, then before I could snap she continued. "It's a week's time from here. You will not make it."

My lips pulled into a tight line as I looked at the ground. There had to be something I could do for Ace. I still owed him for helping me.

"Damn it." I scoffed, tuning around and walking out the restaurant.

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   3rd POV
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It had become quiet on the island. The music that filled the air had become silent, and the dancers no longer filled the streets. Even the mouthwatering scents from the chefs had been haulted. Instead the whole town had filtered into the center to watch the screen set up.

The Artist haven wasn't a place with many sources with the rest of the world. They had the mail system sure, but the whole island really only had one main transponder snail which would transmit news to the center of the whole town.

Arisu had been the one to set up that one transponder snail, and if everyone was honest she hadn't done the best job with it.  It is clear to everyone that while the former marine has many talents, that was not one of them. Though it didn't bother the citizens, who were used to the choppy screen and words, it did happen to bother a certain Straw Hat who was having a hard time seeing what exactly was going on.

The red head stood at the front of the crowd, her face scrunched up as she looked at the choppy screen. She has managed to make out a few things, and each of those pieces of information have been unsettling and quite frustrating. The first thing, which she made out immediately, was the failure figure kneeling on the screen. She had never seen Ace so beaten down and defeated looking. He didn't even resist as he kneeled and waited his fate.

The next few things were blurry, but she managed to make it out with the help of the murmuring citizens. The marines had moved up Ace's execution by a couple or so hours. When Katsu heard that, she could immediately make out the former pirates from the former marines. The pirates were clearly not pleased, and shouted out such words such as 'cowardly' and 'shitty marines'. Meanwhile the former marines nodded and cheered on the execution. Calling for the death of Fire Fist Ace. The only thing that stopped Katsu from decking those people was the screen as she tried to make out everything happening.

Perhaps the other helpful bit that helped keep Katsu more calm was Arisu. The older woman stood beside the pirate and allowed no emotion to come to her face. She didn't cheer nor yell in distaste. The artist remained completely neutral.

It wasn't until the Whitebeard pirates showed up did Katsu truly feel any form of panic. One that she didn't realize she would feel, as she has been preparing to grieve and feel only loss. However, there was two images that came in perfect and made her heart  pound loudly in her chest and suddenly the act of breathing was becoming hard.

"Isn't that Straw Hat Luffy?"

"Forget that! Don't you see those two? Silent Bullet Makoto and  Lone Star Sato!"

Three idiots that she cared for were charging head first into a war. One which she expected as much from, while two took her for surprise.

"You've got to be kidding me." Katsu whispered, shaking her head softly as her heart began thumping loudly in her ears. Her stomach was twisted and tied up in knots. Clammy hands pulled at the long sleeves of her shirt to try to comfort herself.

The image of her brothers stuck in her head. Her brothers stood side by side, Makoto pointing his gun at marines that dared charge towards them with a dark smirk on his face. Beside him was Sato, who's hands were black. Unlike the other pirates, they walked slowly towards Ace. There was nothing but confidence in their stances.

"Ace!" Katsu knew that voice too well. Though she didn't hear the rest of Luffy's booming voice as the streaming shifted in and out.

"The dumb ass." Katsu grumbled with a sigh. "You're alone for a few days and somehow you end in in a war. Damn Captain."

The Straw Hat didn't notice the looks going towards her in curiosity. However, with a glance from Arisu, all looks were averted. Instead, everyone turned their attention back towards the screen to hope to make out what was happening.

Katsu didn't want to watch the screen. She didn't want to watch the things that were going to happen since there was nothing she could do. Unfortunately, now that her brothers and Captain were included, she felt as if she had no choice.

She has to stand and watch and just hope for the best. There is nothing else she could do.

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"Captain Shanks, Sato and Makoto made it there!"

A tall figure stood by the railing on the ship. His red hair was messy from the sea breeze, and his eyes were hard as he stared at the open ocean. The news didn't bring him any relief. He had rather hoped that something would have stopped the two from going ahead.

"Good." He said, not looking back at his crew. "How far 'til we reach there?"

"At least a couple hours, Captain!"

Shanks didn't say anything back. Instead his thoughts went to three child figures. They weren't children anymore, but to him they will always remain children. It was times like this when he wondered if he did the right thing.

Raising two children on a pirate ship. It would have been three. Instead one was lost, left to be raised by someone else. At least Shanks hopes she was raised by someone who cares for her and showed her as much love as she would have been given if he and his crew had raised her.

Now all three were grown. All three, despite being separated, were pirates. Two of which are participating in a war which included the other's captain. The thought alone made Shanks sigh loudly as he thought of how much trouble the three children are now.

"Shanks," A gruff voice stirred the Captain's attention. "Stop worrying about them." Benn smirked, cleaning his gun which he held in his hand. He is preparing to use it soon.

Shanks chuckled, looking at Benn fully. "What do you mean? I wasn't thinking about those brats. I was actually thinking of what kind of alcohol I wanted to drink later tonight."

"Mhm," Benn rolled his eyes, stepping beside the Captain. "They wouldn't have waited any longer, even if you tied them up. Makoto's gotten better with his devil fruit. I doubt he'll have to keep giving out his hair soon."

A smile pulled at the Captain's lips at the mention of the blue haired pirate. "He has. God, they took Sayomi's stubbornness."

This time Benn smiled, remembering the red haired female. "Ah, they really did, though I suppose we could blame the father for some of this too. We thought only Mitsu got that trait. Those two used to be such wimps."

Shanks groaned in response. "Sato's gotten worse as he got older. I think Mitsu kept him level headed, since she was more of the crazy of the two."

"Why does that sound familiar?" Benn teased, pretending to think it over while Shanks stared at him with blank stare.

"Captain!" Both men turned their attention to a newer crew member, who held out a transponder snail. "It's our allies!"

"Thanks," Shanks nodded, taking the snail in his hand. Holding it up he looked at the snail's shadowed eyes and smirk. "Yes?"

"Shanks," The cool voice drawled, "Why am I just finding out Sato and Makoto are already there fighting?"

"Well, hello to you too." Shanks rolled his eyes. He had never been too fond of the man who his twin fell in love with. "You know those two weren't going to wait. Especially with Makoto's devil fruit."

The transponder snail's face changed. It's eyes now shown, but narrowed into a cold glare with a scar on its cheek. Its mouth pulled into a scowl.

"It would have been nice to be informed." This one was a female voice, who's voice was lower pitched and held a little rasp to it. "We aren't meeting up for nothing. And show some respect!"

Shanks smiled, "Hello, nice to hear from you as well." She was never nice to Shanks, though he found her amusing in her protective stance of her Captain. Of course Shanks knew better than to push the woman, even she scared him a little.

"Shut up," She growled, "I'll beat you senseless if those boys get hurt."

Sweat trickled down his face as he let out a breath. "I know." He did. For allies, the first mate didn't hold back on attacking Shanks. Those attacks were always because of three people, the boys and the Captain. Shanks knew it was a way for the first mate to defend her captain, and her captain's children.

"Good-"

"I apologize, Shanks." The male was back, the snail's facial expression changing once again to a worried smirk and shadowed eyes. "She's quite worried today."

"Baka Captain."

The man chuckled lightly, though the snail showed a trickle of sweat on the man's face. "We'll meet there, correct?"

"Yeah." Shanks nodded, almost feeling sympathy for the other Captain. "How far?"

"Just a little more than two hours." The man responded.

Shanks nodded, "Alright, we'll probably arrive a little before you. When you get there, just meet us there. Oh, and I want to thank you for coming."

Finally, the eyes of the snail became visible, a glow to them as the snail looked at Shanks with utmost seriousness. "I'm doing it under Sato's request. Not yours, Shanks."

The red haired man nodded. "Understood."

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End of Chapter 44!

Okay, so you guys got some more insight on Katsu's dad. Any ideas? I've been leaving a few clues around this book. It will be a while until I identify him. Since I have a whole arc planned for when I introduce him, and let me just say I am so excited for that! I'm sure before that you guys will be able to figure him out though.

This is not edited.



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