The Marines stared at the Red Haired Pirates ship and the jolly roger that waved from the breeze.
Blackbeard was smirking, showing the only teeth he had left. He did his usual laugh, "There he is."
Shanks looked around for his younger sister, he knew she was here. How? He watched the entire island light up green.
His wandering eyes stopped when he saw her, lying unconscious whilst Buggy and Mr 3 protected her. He noticed the pool of blood under her now bandaged arm and sighed to himself.
Hayami had no idea Ace had died despite her brave and painful attempt to save him and Luffy.
Shanks began slowly walking to Hayami, he had everyone's attention. Garp, Sengoku, the Admirals, Warlords... Everyone was gaping at his shocking presence.
"If you continue desiring more and more, it will just increase damage on both sides purposefully." The Red Haired man spoke with ease as he stopped walking, stopping right in front of the body of the girl he raised.
"Those of you who want to fight more," He pulled out his sword and his crew stood strong behind him. "Bring it on, we're happy to fight you!"
Shanks burned holes right into Blackbeard who was standing a few feet in front with his crew. "What do you think, Teech?" Shanks questioned him, ready to practically kill him then and there.
"Zehahahaha." Blackbeard laughed, "You're more handsome than ever, Red Haired. Those scars look good on you." He taunted, referring to the scars over Shanks's eye. But Shanks didn't say anything and just continued to glare at the man who was technically responsible for all of this. Responsible for the former Emperor he respected so much. For his 2nd Commander, Luffy's brother.
"Zehahahaha, we got what we wanted from here. And we're not ready to fight you guys yet." Blackbeard admitted, Yasopp smirked as he lowered his gun.
The Blackbeard Pirates had left the scene quickly. Shanks looked over to Marco who was staring at the bodies of his beloved father and brother, he had tears running down his face profusely.
"Marco, there's nothing to gain here. Just walk away nice and easy." Shanks told him with a sense of comfort in his tone.
Dracula Mihawk, one of the seven Warlords, had started walking away to leave.
"Hawkeye, where are you going?!" A Marine asked him, making the Warlord stop dead in his tracks.
"I agreed to fight Whitebeard, but fighting Red Haired is not in the agreement." He glanced over his shoulder at Shanks and then nodded his head to Hayami on the ground. "Tell her, when she's ready... Come find me. I'm interested." And with that, Mihawk left the scene.
Sengoku's body had changed and he had gone to his normal form, noticing this, Shanks placed his sword away.
Shanks's eyes wandered to the bodies of Portgas D. Ace and Edward Newgate. "For now, you need to do as I say!" Shanks ordered, looking straight to Sengoku.
The Whitebeard Pirates had stopped crying and held their heads down. There had been so many casualties, so many deaths.
The six other Warlords were silent as they watched Shanks's every move carefully. No one was planning on stepping up to fight the Red Haired Pirates. The three Admirals watched as Shanks's eyes focused on Sengoku.
"Whitebeard... Ace..." Shanks began, not taking his eyes off the Fleet Admiral in front. "Let us handle the burial of those two. The war was broadcasted over the world, I won't let you dishonour their deaths in public any longer."
Many Marines began to argue back and shout things at Shanks.
"I agree!" Sengoku's voice boomed, silencing his men immediately. "Only because it's you, Red Haired, I'll allow it!"
Shanks titled his head in respect and appreciation but kept a straight face. "Thanks." He said lowly and nodded to his crew to help with the lifeless bodies of Ace and Whitebeard.
"Treat the injured now." Sengoku ordered and as quick as that, his men helped the wounded.
"The war is... Over!" He screamed out, shocked expressions plastered and a few angered Marines, especially Akainu held their heads down.
The bodies of Ace and Whitebeard were taken away by the Red Haired crew. Shanks thanked Buggy and Mr 3 and gave Buggy his old straw hat. "Give this to Luffy." Buggy argued about the past with him for a little bit but then nodded and went to find Law's submarine.
Shanks picked up Hayami's limp body and stared at her face, her mask still covered the bottom half of her face. He loudly exhaled and carried her to his ship but was stopped by a certain Warlord.
"There's a huge bounty on her name, y'know?" Doflamingo laughed but Shanks snapped his head in the direction to him. "I can promise you this, Donquixote. If you touch her, she wouldn't hesitate to kill another Celestial Dragon."
Shanks knew that Hayami went by the name 'Jade'. He also knew that her bounty increased from all of the Celestial Dragons she had been hunting down over the last year. He wished he could have witnessed the Villin girl push Akainu back the way she did. He was amazed at how much training she had done to enhance her power with the Green Dragon. She did it all on her own.
Shanks carried her up to his ship and passed her to Roo gently. "Get her bandage changed." Roo nodded at his captain's orders.
——————————————————
The Surgeon of Death was operating on Luffy. Buggy had managed to return the hat before the submarine could take off.
Meanwhile, the war was still being broadcasted on the big screens and newspapers were flying in constantly.
Mihawk read the paper and walked around the dark and gloomy island.
'Jade's true identity revealed at Impel Down!'
Jade stepped in to save both Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace from Admiral Akainu. The power of the Green Dragon, the legendary sword of the Villin clan established that Jade's real name is Hayami D. Villin, one of the only members to exist.
"Oi! Are you listening?! What am I doing here?" Roronoa Zoro yelled out, snapping Mihawk's attention away from the paper. Zoro's body was covered in bandages and splatters of dried blood.
"Relax, Roronoa, your injuries have pushed you far beyond your limits." Hawkeye calmly told him.
Zoro was angry and confused on why he was standing in the same vicinity of the man who beat him at his duel. All of the Straw Hat pirates were sent to different islands by Warlord Kuma.
"What are you doing here?" Zoro sneered, using one of his swords to lean on.
Mihawk simply looked over to the huge castle on the island, "That castle was once my home. But what are you doing here?"
Zoro grunted and stared down at the ground. "One of your fellow Warlords, Kuma, sent me flying here." He answered and Mihawk raised a brow.
"I see... So that's why Straw Hat arrived at Marineford with that other group."
Mihawk's words caught Zoro's attention immediately and he looked up at his tall figure. "You met Luffy? How is he? Is he alright?!" Zoro bombarded the Warlord with questions.
"He's most likely alive. However, his heart has been dealt a grave injury." Hawkeye explained, closing the newspaper and crossed his arms.
"What happened?" Zoro asked, he was worried for what had happened to his captain.
Mihawk stared down at the swordsman with no emotion. "He lost his brother."
The other members of the crew had also found out as they read the headline.
"Fire Fist Ace... Died right before Straw Hat's eyes."
Zoro lowered his head as the guilt washed over him. He swallowed his pride and bowed down to the Warlord above him.
"Train me! Train me to become stronger!"
——————————————————
Hayami's eyes slowly flickered open and she instantly heard Shanks's voice. She muttered something inaudible and looked down at her bandaged arm, noticing dried blood seeping through. Thankfully and to her surprise, it wasn't hurting. She got out of the bed she was placed in and left the room to see Lucky Roo and Yasopp sat on the deck, laughing at each other's jokes.
Yasopp turned to look at Hayami and grinned widely. "Hey, how you feeling?" He asked gently. Hayami shot him a shy smile. "I'm good. What am I doing here?" She asked and looked around the ship she was once raised on.
"I thought I heard you!" Shanks ran to Hayami and hugged her tightly but also carefully. "I'm so glad you're okay." He whispered into her hair and kissed the top of her head. Hayami returned the hug and teared up at Shanks's actions.
It had been over four years since they had seen one another.
"What am I doing here? What happened to the war?" Hayami questioned as she pulled away from Shanks.
Roo and Yasopp glanced over to their captain. They forgot that Hayami had no idea what happened after she passed out.
Shanks's heart sank and he looked down at her as he tried to keep his cool. "It's over." He told her and gave her a false smile, which she believed. Hayami's eyes lit up in an instant at his lies and sighed.
"I'm so glad! So where's Luffy? And Ace?"
Shanks thought about the answer he was going to give her and then nodded to Roo and Yasopp to give them privacy, which they quickly did. Hayami noticed them both leave and stared at Shanks in complete confusion.
Shanks knelt down so he was at a similar height to her and took a deep breath.
"What you did, Hayami, it was very brave and fearless." Shanks began, taking both of Hayami's and holding them gently.
Hayami looked down at their hands for a second then back up to his eyes.
"When you passed out from the pain, Ace was killed... Right in front of Luffy."
And just like that, Hayami felt the biggest wave of guilt rush over her. Her heart had dropped to her stomach so quickly and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She heard Shanks's words loud and clear, she was still trying to take them in.
"No, no, no! I-" Shanks stopped Hayami from saying anything, he had a feeling she would blame herself. He grabbed her shoulders and stared directly into her now gloomy green eyes.
"Don't you dare blame yourself!" He told her with a hint of authority. "You did what you could!"
Hayami pulled herself away from Shanks and turned away, sobbing loudly. Her throat burned from her violent sobs, she choked from the pain.
Yasopp and Roo heard her and bowed their heads as they listened to her cries, her screams.
She promised Ace something in particular. But she was determined it wouldn't never get to that point. She felt like she had let Ace down. Let Luffy down.
"Hayami..." Shanks reached out his hand to his younger sister but she couldn't take it. She fell to her knees and cried uncontrollably.
He stared at her hopelessly, he didn't know what to do or say to make her stop.
He ran a hand through his fiery red hair and left her alone to cry and get it out of her system. He knew she'd stop eventually.
Hours had passed and Hayami had fallen asleep on the deck. Beckman had picked her up and carried her to the spare room she was originally in and set her gently on the bed. As he was about to leave she grabbed onto his arm, making him turn around to see her eyes were still closed.
"Benn?" She asked, her voice was hoarse from all of the crying.
Beckman hummed and waited for her to let go. She slowly opened her eyes and let go of him. "Is Shanks busy?" Hayami asked which made Beckman's face light up slightly. "I'll go get him for you." He said and with that, he left the room.
Minutes later, Shanks walked in the room and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Hayami to say something.
"When are you going to tell me about my family?" Hayami asked curiously. Shanks sighed to himself and looked at the floor. He knew he would have to explain it to her eventually.
"I don't know the whole thing but... I promise I'll tell you everything I know." Shanks told her and leaned back, using his hands to prop himself up. Hayami nodded and hugged a pillow tightly.
"We were going past the Land of Wano... Happened to hear a baby crying in the distance."
Flashback
"Captain? You hear that?" Yasopp asked as he looked around in the direction of the crying. Shanks nodded and looked out into the distance, he managed to notice a very small boat, rushing through the harsh waters.
"Over there!" Shanks ordered Roo who lowered the anchor when their ship had gotten closer with the small wooden boat.
Shanks climbed off the Red Force and gently pulled himself onto the small boat.
"What are you doing out here all alone, little one?" Shanks cooed and kneeled down to calm down the crying baby. He gasped quietly when he found a huge sword with a note tied to the tilt.
To whoever is lucky enough to find our baby,
Please give her the life we wished we could have given her. Forgive us for our wrongdoings and know that we love her endlessly.
Her name is Hayami. We have been banished from our home country and now they are hunting for us. They are hunting for our baby.
The sword is hers. The Green Dragon will be her treasure that will only be sacred in her hands. Please don't separate her from it. And whatever you do, DON'T take her to the Land of Wano.
Hayami, we love you.
Mother and Father
Shanks placed the note in his straw hat and held Hayami with one hand whilst wrapping the strap of the sword around his shoulder, climbing back onto his ship.
The crew looked at the baby girl in Shanks's arms in surprise.
"Her name is Hayami. We are gonna raise her." Shanks told his crew who slowly nodded. Hayami had stopped crying and had fallen asleep in Shanks's arms.
(Time skip 5 years)
"We've talked about this, Hayami... I'm not your father. I'm more like an older brother to you." Shanks reminded Hayami again. She was always getting confused with Shanks. He acted like a father but wanted to be known as her brother.
Shanks had began reading books, asking people about this family she had come from. Most people told him to get lost or ran from the question... All except one person.
"Well, where do I begin?" Rayleigh took a drink of his sake and leaned forward on the barstool. "Oden had this friend who sailed with us for a while. He was a major asset to the crew if I'm being honest. He was a Samurai. Had this really cool sword that would bring out a green dragon."
Shanks blinked in disbelief as Shakky set another glass of beer in front of him. Rayleigh continued, "When people found out he, a notorious Samurai, was travelling with the King of the Pirates, he was sentenced to death."
"So how did they find out? Also why was it such a big deal?" Shanks questioned, he was so dumbfounded by the whole thing. "The Villin Clan were untouchable, respected and were practically treated like royalty to some people. The Land of Wano was to be pirate-free due to the strong hatred they had for us. They managed to find out he had a certain 'D' in his name."Rayleigh explained and closed his eyes.
"Before Villin D. Asuka died, he put a curse on his Green Dragon. No one would ever be able to use the sword, except one other person in the clan. Many family members tried this sword, hoping to find the green glow. Not even Asuka's own children could wield the power." Rayleigh watched as Shakky smoked her cigarette and smiled to himself.
"So many Villins were hunted down over the years. It seems impossible for the chosen one to still be alive."
Shanks shook his head at Rayleigh, "The sword was left with her. It's on the ship right now. The note said to not separate Hayami and the sword."
Rayleigh's eyes widened and he gasped audibly.
"That's..." Rayleigh pursed his lips and thought for a second.
"Keep her close, always have an eye on her. They will do anything to hunt her down." Rayleigh's eyes bored right into Shanks's who could only nod in concern
for Hayami.
Flashback over
"That's all I know." Shanks finished telling the story and finally glanced over at Hayami, who was staring up at the ceiling in thought.
"Shanks..." She trailed off, still processing everything. Shanks patiently waited for her to continue, worried about what she would say.
"Thank you."