Straw Hat's Guardian

Chapter Thirty-Six: Watch that Sun Rise! A Storm is Coming!

Ever since he was little, Ussop longed for the day his father would come ashore, disembarking from the great pirate ship he had sailed on for years and to take Ussop away. So, the two can have grand adventures together. Just like the ones Ussop would tell in his lies.

That dream only grew the day his mother died, leaving Ussop alone.

His mother told him that his father wouldn't be coming back, Ussop knew that too, but she had also told him how proud she was of his father for following his dream.

Time passed, and Ussop found friends in the Ussop Pirates and Kaya. He had fun with them, telling his lies to Kaya and playing pretend with the trio of kids. But Ussop wanted the real thing.

Like his father, he wanted to sail out to sea and follow his own dreams. To make his mother proud just like his dad.

Yeah, he wanted that more than anything.

And Ussop got that wish, the day that Luffy, Nami, Lambo, and Zoro all came to his island and helped him fight against the Black Cat Pirates. That day, changed everything for him.

Ussop sailed out to sea as a pirate, just like his father. He hopes his mother can see him now, and be proud that her son is chasing after his dreams, going on adventures just like the stories he'd tell. Just like his dad did long ago.

But really... that's just thing, isn't it?

Ussop had his family, his mother and father, who both loved him very much. They left, but they still loved him very much, Ussop knows that as a fact. But Lambo, the kid didn't get that like Ussop did. He never felt truly loved.

In fact, Lambo had told him once that his birth family is all still alive, last he heard of them anyway.

~

"Huh?", Ussop tilted his head in confusion during lunch that day, "What do you mean 'last you heard'? I thought that mafia group you used to be with is your family."

Lambo bit his lip, seemingly debating with himself whether or not to elaborate. In the end, he gave a little shrug and explained anyway, not noticing how Nami, Luffy, and Zoro all listened intently as well while he talked with the sniper.

"You know how my name is Bovino Lambo?", Lambo started.

Ussop nodded, "Yeah."

"Well, my family, the Bovino's, are also a mafia family actually.", Lambo explained, chuckling a little, "Funny, really, no matter what could have changed, I would have always ended up as an mafioso at one point or another."

Lambo laughed a little upon that realization. The rest of the crew didn't find it as funny.

"You said they're alive and a mafia family like the Vongola.", Zoro speaks up, stating the fact slowly as if he was still comprehending it all.

"Famiglia. The mafia groups are called famiglia.", Lambo corrected.

"Famiglia.", Zoro waved the correction away despite already correcting himself, "What I don't get is, how did you end up with the Vongola if the Bovino Famiglia are still alive?"

Without even realizing it, Lambo went to scratch at his wrist while he fidgeted nervously. But Nami laid a calming hand on top of his own, stopping Lambo before his nails could even make contact with his skin. Shaking her head scoldingly, but not unkindly.

Lambo sighs before finally answering, "It started when I was five years old, the exact same age my younger self is whenever he appears in my place. Apparently, I annoyed everyone, including my grandfather so much, he was the head of the famiglia at the time, that I was sent out on a bogus mission where I wasn't meant to return from."