Aisuru pushed open the door to the house. She could hear a movie playing in the lounge. She figured her father had fallen asleep in front of the TV again. He often would do that. Aisuru honestly thought it was cute how her dad would fall asleep on the couch.

He'd be sitting upright with his head leaning back on to the back of the couch with his mouth hanging open slightly.

Giggling at the thought, Aisuru walked in to the lounge, expecting to finding him sleeping. When she entered the room, she stopped in her tracks.

Sitting on the couch was her dad, naturally. But in her dad's lap, kissing the man rather passionately was a woman with dark green hair and a soft yellow bandana.

"Daddy?" Aisuru said, knocking on the doorframe. Shanks and the woman jumped apart. Shanks turned and saw Aisuru standing in the doorway, stairing at the woman in his lap. His face flushed red, realizing he'd been caught.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were home, baby girl." He said. Aisuru nodded, eyes not leaving the clearly embarrassed woman wiggling out of Shanks's lap.

"Just got home." Aisuru said softly. Shanks followed Aisuru's eyes to the woman beside him.

"Oh! Right, sorry. Aisuru, sweetie, this is Makino, my girlfriend. Makino, my daughter, Aisuru." Shanks introduced.

"Hello." The two said at the same time. There was a moment of awkward silence. Shanks cleared his throat.

"Well, uh, you two go ahead and get to know each other and I'll go make us all some hot chocolate!" With that, Shanks almost ran from the room. Aisuru sat down on the lounge chair. The woman, Makino, cleared her throat.

"It must be odd for you. Seeing some strange woman kissing your father." She said. She had a soft, kind voice.

"I knew daddy had a girlfriend. I was actually wondering if he was ever going to let me meet you." Aisuru said softly. Makino stared at her.

"So it... it doesn't bother you?" She asked. Aisuru shook her head.

"Mom and Dad divorced almost ten years ago. Mom re-married, and she and her new husband always did worse in front of me..." Aisuru said. Makino frowned.

"Poor girl." She murmured so Aisuru wouldn't hear her. The silence between them was only filled by the movie playing on the TV.

"You won't hurt him... will you?" Aisuru asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Makino asked. Aisuru stared at the floor.

"Mom... mom really hurt Daddy. More than he acts like. He won't ever admit it, but I can see it in his eyes when someone talks about mom. She really hurt Daddy. So... you won't hurt Daddy, will you? He deserves to be happy... please." She said softly. Makino smiled at her and grabbed her hand. Aisuru looked up at Makino.

"Aisuru... you are definately you're father's daughter. You're a very caring girl." She said. Aisuru blinked at her.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt him. I promise." She said with a bright, kind smile. Aisuru smiled back softly.

"You're very nice." She said. Shanks re-entered the room with a bright grin.

"Here we go, ladies!" He said, setting the cups of hot chocolate down before them.

"Thanks, Daddy." Aisuru said.

"Thank you, Shanks." Makino said and smiled up at him.

Time skip

Makino returned home for the night after getting to know Aisuru a little more. Shanks and Aisuru did the dishes together silently. Shanks sighed softly.

"I'm sorry." He said. Aisuru looked up at him.

"I should have warned you about me and Makino. I'm sorry." He said.

"It's alright, Daddy." She said. Shanks looked over to her.

"Besides. Makino is really nice. I don't mind her being around, as long as she doesn't hurt you." Aisuru said. Shanks gave Aisuru a wide eyed stare.

"As long as she doesn't hurt me?" He parroted back. Aisuru nodded.

"I know you were really hurt when mom left." She said. She hugged Shanks tightly. Shanks blinked in surprise, then wrapped his arms around her in a protective hug.

"I just want you to be happy, Daddy." She said. Shanks felt tears jump to his eyes at her words. He smiled and kissed her head.

"Of course I'm happy, sweet heart. I finally have my baby girl back. Now if I could just see my baby's pretty smile." Shanks said. Aisuru smiled up at him. He grinned down at her.

"There it is." He said and kissed her forehead.

"I love you, Daddy." Aisuru said. Shanks hugged her tight and stroked her hair.

"I love you, too, baby girl." He said. The sat in silence for a while.

"When will Makino come over again?" Aisuru asked. Shanks laughed.

"Probably some time soon." He said. Aisuru smiled.

"Good. I like her a lot." Aisuru said, making Shanks smile again.

"I'm glad." He said. They sat back down on the couch.

"Did you have a good time with Nami and Ki today?" He asked. Aisuru nodded.

"Nami made me buy one dress though. She said it was because I looked like a cute little ballerina." She said. Shanks laughed.

"Really?" He asked. Aisuru nodded.

"She also insisted on buying one for me. She wouldn't let me say no." She said.

"She never does." He said. Aisuru pulled the dresses out of the bag for her father to see.

"Wow, Aisuru. These are really pretty." He said. Aisuru nodded.

"This one I really like." She said, picking up the ballerina dress. Shanks smiled at her. He pulled her in to a soft hug and kissed her head.

"I'm so proud of you, baby girl. You're coming out of your shell." He said. Aisuru smiled again.

"Hey, daddy, would you listen as I play my violin?" Aisuru asked. Shanks's eyes lit up with glee.

"You still have your violin?" He asked. Aisuru nodded.

"I could only play it when Hono wasn't home, but I think I've gotten pretty good at it." She said.

"Well? Show me!" He said with an excited grin. Aisuru climbed the stairs to her room and grabbed her old violin. The instrument was a few years old and probably wouldn't last much longer.

Aisuru returned with the violin and readied herself. Shanks nodded at her to start. Slowly, she played a soft melody. It was a beautiful tone, but the decaying wood from the violin was distorting the sound. Aisuru frowned as she finished.

"I-Its still not very good..." she said softly.

"Oh, no, honey. It was beautiful. Here, let me see your violin." He said. Aisuru sat down beside him and handed him her violin. He took it in his hands and sighed.

"This really is a very old violin. The wood is starting to decay on it." He said. He looked at the neck and sighed.

"The neck could give out at anytime." He frowned. Aisuru looked down at the floor sadly. Shanks leaned over and kissed her head.

"Don't worry, sweetie. We'll get you a new one." He said. Aisuru looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Really?" She asked. He smiled at her.

"Really." He said. She grinned at him, making his heart melt.