~ some time later ~
"Bring me more!" He waved his empty glass in the air, his heavy voice resonating without much effort. Sat back on his deck, relaxed, as usual, his scars laid visible and open to the world.
"Alright Pops!" a man with a pompadour hairstyle replied as he filled his captain's glass.
Across the deck, his crewmates were playing poker, faces flushed a pinkish shade while their beverages were scattered across the floor. "Full House!" One man shouted, throwing his cards down.
The man in front sighed, bulky figure looming over his opponent, "I lost again..."
"Still can't win against Marco, Jozu?" A geisha-like pirate taunted while fanning himself.
Marco stretched as he got up before patting the giant's shoulder, "Let's play again next time."
"Alright!" Jozu exclaimed as he got up in one straight line before leaving to the kitchen.
The flame user shook his head as he headed towards his captain. "Any interesting news?" He asked as he leaned against the mast of the boat.
Whitebeard drank his cup as he turned the pages of a newspaper, Masked Truth. "Nothing unusual, just new pirates appearing, old ones getting arrested, and some old secrets getting dug up." He threw the paper to his second in command once he finished it, instead choosing to look at his surrounding—the darkness of the sea and the thin bubble surrounding their boat. They were reaching the deeper parts of the ocean; they would soon arrive.
Their boat soon landed through the bubble protecting Fish-Man Island. They were welcomed by the Minister of the Left slithering to meet them. "Welcome to the island, Whitebeard." He bowed his head respectfully, nodding to the rest of the pirates descending.
Whitebeard walked down to him, his heavy steps resounding through the entry. A broad smile was on his face, "Where is my old friend?"
The Minister showed the way as he explained, "He is entertaining a guest with Queen Otohime."
"Should I be intruding then?" Whitebeard asked with curiosity as he saw he was being guided to the throne room.
"His Majesty asked me to guide you to them, he wants to present the guest to you," the Minister voiced out, a mix of respect and reluctance in his tone. The guest seemed to have left quite the impression on him.
When they arrived in front of the door, the Minister knocked, with behind him, Whitebeard and a few of his commanders, the rest having already left to enjoy the city.
The door opened with a loud screech. Sat on the throne, Neptune, welcomed his friend with a warm smile, while his wife remained engrossed in the papers she held in her hands. Finally, they both got up to welcome Whitebeard face to face.
"My friend, it is good to see you!" Neptune chuckled as he brought Whitebeard in a hug.
The rest of the pirates bowed their heads in respect, before raising at the command of Otohime.
"You missed our guest by a few seconds," Neptune stated, regret tinting his voice.
"You've got me curious now, who earned such respect from the King of Fish-Man Island?"
Neptune chuckled, lacing an arm around his wife as he gazed lovingly at her, "A man who I believe will greatly help my wife in her endeavor."
Otohime confirmed with a nod, hope shining brightly in her eyes, "I hope so too."
Whitebeard knew of Otohime's dream, one where the merfolk could live amongst humans on the surface, only he didn't know whether that would bring positive changes.
Mermaids were very coveted as slaves, and though his protection had helped fend off the slave traders and the Celestials, he didn't know if it would be as effective on the surface where Celestials would have easy access to Marine Admirals to force their ways.
Till now, the winding path down the ocean to find the island had provided sufficient armor, without it, he didn't know how things would change. He couldn't always be there to protect them; he was getting older and weaker by the day. He could tell his death wasn't far off, but he kept that thought to himself, not wanting to burden his crew with the ephemerality of his life. They were his children, he couldn't abandon them to fend for themselves, not yet.
Far from his dark thoughts, his second in command was walking down the streets, greeting and being greeted by the merfolk. The Whitebeard pirates were welcomed everywhere on the island, their protection helped them tremendously in escaping slave traders after all.
As he pushed the doors to the Mermaid Café, he fully expected to be greeted by a busy café with business in full bloom, what he didn't expect however was to see a blue head rushing past him with mermaids chasing him.
"Woah, what's happening there?" he asked out loud, turning around to see Madam Sharley shaking her head, pipe in hand. Beside her, stood an unfamiliar pink-haired human woman.
He clearly saw the way her eyes narrowed when she saw the cross tattoo on his torso, a mixture of wariness and something else he couldn't quite decipher in her eyes.
"My friend is a bit of a handful but he doesn't mean any harm... most of the time at least," she apologized, not one ounce of worry for the man running in the distance with a bunch of mermaids after him.
Sharley sighed before waving it off, "it's alright, he just stole a bunch of pastries."
From a distance, Marco could see that it was more than a bunch but he didn't correct her, not really interested in meddling in with a simple affair of a thief.
"Anyways, it's good to see you, Marco. It's been a while..." Sharley inhaled the smoke from her pipe as she looked Marco up and down. "You look exactly the same," she commented as she motioned for him to follow her. However, when she turned back again, she saw his mouth agape, staring deadpan at the blue-haired thief.
"You-" Marco pointed at the eating man. "You're that marine officer!"
Nanko frowned, pushing a hand through his neck-long hair to get a better look at the pirate. He tilted his head, seemingly searching through his memory before his face brightened up, "Hmmm Marco the Phoenix, right?" He didn't seem to care as he simply put another pastry in his mouth, and walked past Marco to stand beside a mildly concerned Hina.
"What is a marine Lieutenant doing here," he paused to stare at the stolen goods, "being a thief at that?"
Nanko smiled awkwardly, feeling Hina's eyes on him. "It's a long story."
_____________________
Thank you for 100k reads !! It's such a huge number it feels surreal (◍•ᴗ•◍)
For this special occasion, to thank y'all, i have decided to challenge myself to a chapter a day till this fanfic reaches the moment Luffy sets sail.
It might vary from 5 to 6 or more chapters in total, I'm not really sure as I haven't written them yet 💀 (i have a vague outline though)
And as always, comments really help motivate me so please do comment 🤗 (i always read them all)
I'm going to need them even more for this challenge 🙈