I don't own One Piece

So quick note, the events that happen in this chapter have happened in the story line, it just wasn't necessarily important to the plot. Therefore I figured I would just add it in as a filler chapter.

Enjoy!
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3rd POV
Katsu Age: 9
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It had been a week since the Emerald Pirates have left. Though the crew was reluctant to leave behind the red headed child, they knew she was better taken care of on the island. Perhaps the most reluctant was the captain of the crew. While he had only been around the child for a week, the fact that he had named her was enough for him to form a strong bond. One that made it painful for him to leave her behind.

However with a scolding from Mamoru, a big shot retired pirate, the Captain left the lost Child. Of course not without leaving her with a promise of coming back once she was old enough to set sail.

A week had passed, the the red head was still quiet. While her silence drove Mamoru nuts, he understood. To her she has only three weeks of memories, and everything is completely new to her. Especially Mamoru.

To her the one eyed man is intimating. His permanent scowl only brought more fear to her. After all, the nice Captain before had been nothing but smiles.

Perhaps the transition of Mamoru taking over as her caretaker would have been easier if the two had actually spent time together the first two weeks.

The two currently sat at the old dinner table, which Mamoru had refurbished himself. They sat in silence eating the steaming meal that the man had prepared. The child had her head tucked as far down as she could and didn't dare look up from her plate of food. Her red hair, which went an inch below her shoulders, acting as curtains to her face. Across from her sat Mamoru, who as usual had his scowl on his face as he stared down the child. His mouth slowly chewing the food as his attention didn't leave the timid child.

After he swallowed his food he paused. A sigh escaped him. Clearly he needed to do something, as the child appeared terrified on him.

"My Dad used to make me sit straight up at the dinner table." Mamoru stated, almost kicking himself from the comment. How was that going to get her to open up more?

However, much to his surprise, she looked up at him. While she did sit a little taller, a curious look crossed her face. One he had seen while she talked with the Emerald Pirates.

"What's a 'Dad'?" Her voice was still small and raspy. The doctor had told Mamoru it might be up to a month before her vocal cords heal fully, though they weren't sure what had damaged them so badly.

The question confused Mamoru for a moment until he realized she didn't possess more than three weeks of memories. "A Dad is a parent figure. They typically can go with a 'Mom', though that's not always the case. They work together to raise children, hopefully in a nice manner."

She paused before looking back at him. "So are you like my Dad then?"

Mamoru flinched at the comment, his scowl deepening. "No. I'm only watching you until you're old enough to move out and do what you please." He cut another piece of meat, somewhat more aggressively than before. "I'm just going to make sure you live until then."

And don't become a shitty person. Though he didn't say that part to her.

"Does everyone had a Dad and Mom?"

His face snapped back up to look at the child. Her blue eyes were wide with curiosity. That has been the most amount of emotion he's seen on her face all week.

"Technically yes. However some people don't know them." He answered, watching as she nodded softly in agreement.

"Like me." She said softly.

Mamoru nodded softly in agreement. "Like you." He looked down for a moment before shoving another piece of meat in his mouth.

She watched him before following his actions. Once again they were in silence. However, this time they watched each other. Neither smiled at the other. Nor did they try to continue a conversation anymore. They just sat and enjoyed their dinner, well one enjoyed his dinner. The other only copied what the man did and wonder why he did such a thing as eat, since nothing appeared to have any of that stuff they called 'flavor'.

It was only once they finished their dinner that Mamoru spoke again.

"Yume is coming tomorrow. She's going to take you to get some clothes." He said as he picked up the plates from the dinner table. "And later this week I'm taking you to meet Jiro."

That was a new name to the girl. "Who's Jiro?"

"He's the island doctor. Good friend of mine." Mamoru asked, his eye snapping to the girl as her face hardened. Fear clear in her eyes as well as resentment.

"No." She stated.

Mamoru blinked, "Eh?"

"No doctor." She stated, shaking her head. The name itself was enough to give her a bad feeling. While she wasn't completely sure of this feeling, which is similar to dread, she knew it was not a nice one. It was one she didn't want to feel again, and if it was associated with a Doctor then she wanted nothing to do with them.

Mamoru nodded, placing the dishes in the sink before turning back to her. "How about you just meet Jiro first?"

She shook her head firmly.

This was going to be a challenge.

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The next day Yume showed up bright and early. Unlike Mamoru she was almost always smiling, especially when she saw the red headed girl.

"Good morning Katsu!" Yume greeted, blinking as she took in the bed head which had not been brushed.

At first the girl didn't respond, still not used to being called 'Katsu'. For some reason it just wasn't clicking.

"Kid, Yume's taking to you." Mamoru grunted, his own hair as messy as the girl's.

She blinked before looking up at Yume, her face blank for a moment before she offered a small smile. "Oh, Hi Yume."

The blonde sighed softly, "Did you forget your name again?" Katsu nodded, which Yume patted her head. "That's okay. Go grab a brush, I'll braid your hair for you. Then we'll go shopping."

With another nod, Katsu turned and ran off towards the bathroom.

Mamoru glanced at the child then at Yume. "She refuses to go to meet Jiro."

The woman's attention snapped to Mamoru, her eyes blinking in confusion. "Why? Jiro's super sweet, hell he's nicer than you."

"Doctors are bad." Mamoru answered, picking up a newspaper and flipping threw it.

Yume frowned in concern. She knew enough about Katsu to know the girl had been through a lot. If she didn't want to meet any doctor, then there must be a reason for it. However, there was one more thing she wanted to do instead.

"Mamoru. You're taking her shopping." She answered, hearing Katsu walking back towards them.

"Eh? Me?" Mamoru snapped the newspaper down to look at Yume, who simply nodded. "Why?"

"Bonding. You suck at it, and clearly you both need to get more comfortable around each other." Yume stated, smiling again as Katsu came into view, holding out a hair brush. "Hey, Katsu. Change of plans, Mamoru is going to take you to get clothes."

Katsu glanced over at the tall scowling man and frowned before looking back at Yume. "Why can't you go?"

Yume softly turned the girl around and began brushing her hair. "Mamoru, the big teddy bear he is, insisted on taking you shopping instead. I simply can't ignore his demands, so you two will be going today. The bar doesn't open until later, so it's perfect anyway."

"I said-" Mamoru shut up from a sharp look sent to him from the short blonde female. He cleared his throat, "I said, I wanted to take the brat to get some clothes."

Yume frowned at Mamoru, placing her hands on her hips. "Her name is Katsu. You're why she can't remember her name." She looked at Katsu, who was silently watching both adults with a certain twinkle in her eye. "How about you go put on some shoes, Katsu."

The girl frowned, but nodded and walked towards her room once more.

As soon as Katsu was out of sight, Yume rounded on Mamoru and shoved a slim finger to his chest. "You call her brat again and I will cut you." She growled, making the man sweat at the thought. "Listen here. You agreed and volunteered to take care of her. You're supposed to take care of her, dumb ass. Right now that child is clearly in a bad emotional state, so you need to be delicate with her."

Mamoru sighed, his scowl deepening. "I'm too old for this."

"Katsu, where are your shoes?" Yume asked, seeing the child return from her room barefoot.

"Don't fit." Katsu answered quietly, looking up at Yume.

Yume nodded then turned to Mamoru, "You gotta get her shoes too." The petit blonde's attention went to the clock behind the scowling man and her eyes went wide. "I gotta go do patrol! Be nice!"

Katsu nodded, "I will-"

"I meant Mamoru, Katsu." Yume smiled sweetly before sending a hard look at the man, who's eye twitched.

"Oh." Katsu muttered.

With a smile towards the child, Yume turned around and left out the back door. Only pausing to glare warning at Mamoru, who resisted the urge to show his annoyance.

It was only a moment of silence before Mamoru felt Katsu staring at him blankly. He looked towards the child, his eye blinking as he realized what she was wearing. She had gone in his room and taken one of his white button down shirts and wore it like a dress. However the shirt was far too big for her, the sleeves dangling almost to the ground and the shirt itself reaching an inch past her knees. Her hair was naturally straight, and it was still down, as Yume didn't have a chance at braiding her hair.

"Roll up the sleeves." Mamoru muttered, pushing back his black hair from his face. He needed to grab more hair gel, as yesterday he had run out.

Katsu nodded and proceeded to push up the sleeves in a messy manner. Mamoru watched for a moment before sighing in annoyance and kneeling down to roll the sleeves neatly. He didn't want his shirt wrinkled after all.

She watched in silence as he rolled up the sleeves. Her eyes taking in each detail before she looked back at Mamoru. "Why couldn't Taro take me with him?"

Mamoru didn't look up at Katsu as he continued to roll up her sleeves. "The sea is a dangerous place. It isn't very smart to raise a child on a pirate ship, and we think you may have already been on a pirate ship. It's safer if you stay on the island, and I'm strong enough to make sure you don't get kidnapped again."

"But you don't like me." Katsu stated simply, making the retired pirate pause to look at her. "Why would you agree to let me stay with you if you don't like me."

His scowl had softened, though the child didn't notice. He didn't blame her for not noticing, she hardly had knowledge of her own emotions. She had a lot to learn.

"I don't not like you." He answered simply, making Katsu squint in confusion. That amused him, though he didn't show it. "Life always has a way of sticking me with people that simply annoy me but are tolerable." He almost grinned at the confused look on her face, it reminded him of a old crew mate he used to tease all the time.

"Let's go, brat." He stood up, his boots clunking on the wooden boards.

However a small voice made him pause. "Yume said not to call me that."

When Mamoru turned around to look at Katsu, his scowl dropped as he saw a small smirk on the child's face. That was enough for him to know she wasn't as delicate as Yume demanded.

"You little brat." Her smirk grew just the slightest bit.

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"There's no way none of these shoes fit you." Mamoru scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. His eye was narrowed on the red headed child, who wiggled her toes staring at them in wonder. That had also caught his attention.

"How the hell did those shoes not fit you? They fit you last week." Mamoru muttered to himself, "And since when can you walk so easily? You've been stumbling over your feet for weeks."

"Can we go to the beach?" Katsu asked, looking up at Mamoru.

Mamoru sighed, the bags ruffling under his arms. As Katsu is the only child on the island, she's already gotten special treatment from the shops around. Since she is the only child, all of her clothes are being hand sewn, especially pants as the girl demanded to have some. For now Mamoru had settled for a handful of dresses, which Katsu was also happy with, and they were much easier for the shop keep to make in an hour.

"I'm sure these fit-"

"Nope." Katsu shook her head, disrupting the woman as she tried to insist the shoes fit. "They don't fit."

Then the child hopped off of the stool and shrugged. "I guess we can't get shoes."

Mamoru rose an eyebrow as Katsu walked past him and waited by the front door of the store. He turned to look at the woman, who was looking quite confused before nodding to her. "I'll take the shoes, if they really don't fit her I'll get another pair."

As he paid for the shoes, he sighed in annoyance. Though Mamoru knew he was stronger than Yume, the tiny woman still terrified him. Especially since Katsu came around.

Placing the shoes in one of the bags Mamoru turned around to look at Katsu, who hadn't moved from her spot by the door. Though now her cheeks were puffed out and her bottom lip was puckered into a pout.

"What's wrong with you?" Mamoru asked as he walked over to her.

She looked up at him, her own eyes mirroring his annoyance. "You got them."

He looked down at the shoes before looking at her and nodding. "Yeah. You need shoes." He opened the door and waited outside for the pouting child. "Let's go by the beach. I need to make sure everything is running smoothly there."

Instantly the annoyance left her eyes and a twinkle shined as she hopped out of the shop. "Yes! The beach!"

She hadn't gone since Kimiko and Taro brought her to the beach. They had intended on teaching her to swim, but that didn't go as planned. However as soon as Katsu was in the water she sunk like a rock. It was then they both sternly told her to never to in the water and that she had something like a devil.

However today Katsu's attention wasn't on the ocean. While she loved the strange tingle that came to her when she looked over the ocean and felt the cool breeze, she wasn't going there for that either. Instead her attention was the sand.

Mamoru looked down at Katsu as she walked beside him. Her eyes were on her feet, a small smile on her face and every so often she would wiggle her toes. Shaking his head he stopped and picked up Katsu just before a body could collide with her's.

Mamoru scowled as he turned towards the direction the pirate had come from. Sure enough a stray pirate was causing some trouble. The pirate was one Mamoru knew to be a rookie, their bounty wasn't too impressive yet and they hadn't done anything outstanding to gain his full attention.

In other words, this man was simply a torn in his side.

Mamoru sighed in annoyance, glancing down at Katsu to make sure she hadn't accumulated any scratches from the other pirate which was thrown. Instead of seeing a fearful child, like he expected, he found the girl dangling limply from his arm and glaring at the pirate which had caused the commotion.

The man, who was advancing towards the other pirate paused, his attention drawing to another. More particularly the black haired man was scowling deeply at the clown, a dark aura surrounding him as he glared with only one eye at the pirate. The child didn't make Mamoru look less threatening, as even the red haired girl was glaring at him.

"What do you want?" The man demanded.

The crowd surrounding the three silenced. Just about everyone on the island was well aware of Mamoru. Even passing by pirates typically knew of the former navigator. It just happens the one trying to start a fight had no idea who the eye patched man was.

"He made you pick me up." The girl muttered, glaring at the man.

The comment amused Mamoru. Clearly Katsu didn't appear to enjoy being saved by him, or she just didn't like to be touched. Perhaps it was both.

"What's the reason for this?" Mamoru asked instead, his eye catching similar marks on both pirates. He had a hunch that they were both in the same crew, which would result in a different outcome.

"Nothing to worry about." The man growled, glaring down at the person they had punched, who was simply sleeping now. Their eyes widened and their teeth turned sharp. "That idiot keeps falling asleep! Damn it!"

However before the man could move a step forward, Mamoru stepped to the side. "You didn't answer my question. You're taking up my time, and I find that annoying. People I find annoying tend to be kicked off the island. Answer the question."

"He betrayed the crew! That's all I'm going to say now." The man glared, pulling out a dagger and aiming it towards Mamoru. "Either you get out of my way, or I cut through you."

Another sigh escaped Mamoru.

Why did Roger ask him to do such a thing? All he wanted to do was find a quiet island and live peacefully by himself. But instead Mamoru listened to his Captain's last wishes of building a safe haven for pirates.

They're all annoying.

"You need to leave." Mamoru stated. "No violence is allowed on the island, and your intentions aren't those of non violence. Don't waste my time."

Instead of listening to Mamoru, the pirate swung full force. It wasn't the attack itself that set Mamoru off. It was where the pirate had aimed to slash that got to Mamoru.

Though the retired pirate is fast and avoided the attack, he wasn't going to forgive the pirate in front of him.

"You went for the kid." Mamoru muttered, his eye looking away from Katsu, who appeared shocked, and went to the pirate. The man appeared shocked that Mamoru had avoided the attack.

"Now you've pissed me off." Mamoru stated, his iris appearing to turn white as the air around him became heavy. Only a few of pirates were left standing as the rest collapsed to the ground. Even the pirate that had pissed Mamoru off was no longer conscious.

Mamoru glared at the man then looked over to one of the residents that were rushing towards him. "Get him out of here. Take his crew mate too."

"How'd you do that?"

Mamoru's eye widened as he looked down at Katsu, who was still awake though she appeared a little loopy. He hadn't expected the child to withstand his haki. However, it send an odd pleasant feeling through him.

"Magic." He responded, "I'm so scary they pass out when I'm mad."

"Woah..." Katsu whispered in awe, "I wanna be scary too. Can I be scary too?"

Mamoru looked down at the red head blankly. After staring at her big blue eyes he had an answer. "No."

"Damn." She whispered, making Mamoru shake her a little as warning.

"Don't say that. Let's go."

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Once again it was night time and the two were seated at the dining table. Silence had become a routine for them. However, as Katsu had warmed up to the eye patched pirate, she wasn't as prone to staying quiet.

"You're so scary you can stop anyone?" Katsu asked, making Mamoru look up at her.

"Huh?"

"You said you're so scary when you're mad that people pass out." Katsu clarified, "So can you stop anyone?"

Though he was suspicious, he nodded. "Yeah. Everyone fears me."

She nodded quietly, then squinted her eyes. "Doctors too?"

He nodded, "Yeah. They're terrified of me. One wrong move and they're on the ground."

Katsu appeared comforted by this and she sighed. "Do I have to see a doctor?"

"I think it would be best for your health, yes." Mamoru confirmed, watching as Katsu sat there silently for a moment. "I can have Jiro come to the bar, and I can be there."

"And if he's bad you'll get mad?" Katsu muttered, making Mamoru nodded. She looked up at him.

"He won't hurt you." Mamoru confirmed the look of fear in her eyes, making her relax a little.

Finally she nodded, "O-Okay. I can try the doctor."

"Sounds good, Brat." Mamoru smirked, watching as she went back to her meal.

Though it was an annoyance looking after a child, he figured he could deal with it. At the very least he'll have some interesting company for a few years. Then she'll either become a pirate or a marine or she'll choose something completely different. If she happened to regain her memories sooner, then he would make sure she got back home.

Until then, he'll just sit back and watch.

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End of Chapter 56!

I had a lot of fun writing this! You guys mentioned wanting to see more Mamoru, so here you are! I hope this will satisfy you until the next filler part.

Any particular thoughts on this chapter? Or is there anything you'll want to see in the upcoming chapters?

This is not edited.