One Piece: Silent-Silent Fruit

Shaxia had cried herself out.

As if the nerves she had kept tightly strung for all these years had suddenly snapped loose, the moment she finally relaxed, she fell asleep on the spot.

Rosinante quietly got off the bed, gently lifted Shaxia into his arms, and carefully laid her back down on the bed.

Then he turned and looked toward the little girl standing nearby.

"Shhh." Rosinante raised a finger to his lips.

Then, smiling, he pointed toward the door.

Little Elsa nodded obediently, and the two of them walked outside together.

"Let me guess," Rosinante said with a grin. "If I'm not mistaken... you're little Elsa, aren't you?"

"Y-You... how do you know?" Elsa asked in confusion.

Her mother had told her before that her father had fallen into his deep sleep before she was even born.

So how could he possibly know who she was?

"How could I not know my own daughter?" Rosinante laughed as he scooped Elsa up and lifted her high into the air.

He could feel it clearly.

There was an unmistakable bond of blood between him and this little girl.

And besides, he remembered something from long ago.

Once, Shaxia had asked him, if they ever had a child, what he wanted to name them.

Back then, Rosinante had jokingly answered that if it was a boy, he'd call him Natsu... and if it was a girl, he'd call her Elsa.

Now, looking at this little girl before him, and feeling that deep blood connection, he instantly understood.

This was his daughter.

Perhaps back then, Shaxia had already realized she was pregnant, which was why she had asked him that question in the first place.

And so, the moment he saw her, he knew.

Her name was Elsa.

As Rosinante lifted her high and spun her lightly in the air, a strange, unfamiliar emotion surged up in Elsa's chest.

"Ahahaha! Put me down! Hurry, put me down!" Elsa cried, her little face blooming into a bright, delighted smile.

Shaxia slowly opened her eyes.

She saw herself lying on the bed.

Why... had she fallen asleep?

Then suddenly, as if struck by lightning, something dawned on her.

She shot upright and began frantically looking around.

A second later, she rushed downstairs at top speed.

There, she found Elsa already sitting at the dining table, her two little legs swinging back and forth happily beneath the chair.

And in the kitchen nearby, someone was busy moving about.

The moment she saw that figure, Shaxia let out a long breath of relief.

This wasn't a dream.

It really wasn't a dream!

A wave of overwhelming joy surged through her.

"Yo, you're awake!" Rosinante called out with a smile. "Wait just a bit. Food'll be ready soon."

"Ah, I-I... I should do it!" Shaxia stammered, so happy that she could barely even form words.

"You sit at the table," Rosinante said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Yes!" Shaxia answered instantly, then obediently walked over and sat down at the table.

Elsa blinked in surprise and stared at her mother.

Her mother, who usually treated everyone with cold indifference, regal and untouchable like a queen...

At this moment, she looked like a completely different person.

Like a sweet, obedient girl.

Like a newlywed bride.

Her face was filled with happiness... and even a little shy nervousness.

Elsa truly couldn't understand it.

What kind of magic did Father have?

How had he bewitched Mother so completely that even after sleeping for ten years, her feelings for him had never changed in the slightest?

"Alright, food's ready," Rosinante said as he carried the dishes over.

Truthfully, Shaxia had already prepared almost everything. Rosinante had only added a few simple touches.

Still, the meal felt warm beyond words.

After the cozy dinner, the three of them chatted casually for a while before taking Elsa off to bed.

After Elsa had fallen asleep, Shaxia finally turned toward Rosinante again, worry flickering in her eyes.

"Y-Your Majesty... how are you feeling now?" she asked softly.

Rosinante smiled helplessly.

"From now on, just call me Rosinante. I'm fine. Better than I've ever felt, actually. My body's weakened a lot from not moving for so long, but that's nothing serious. Give me some time to train, and I'll recover. By the way... how are Bins and the others doing now?"

Shaxia looked at him anxiously.

"Rosinante... I hope you won't get too upset when you hear this."

"When the great war began, we activated Laqi's emergency contingency plan. At first, everything went smoothly. But as time passed, we realized something was wrong. You had been gone for far too long, so Bins went to look for you."

"After that, all we knew was that your body was sent back by Bins through a wormhole... but Bins himself was captured by the Marines."

"In order to avoid the Marine pursuit, I took you and went into hiding."

"Later, when the Marines launched their counterattack, nearly every division was devastated."

"But because the three great pirate crews began to move, we managed to avoid total destruction."

"In the end... because you never reappeared for such a long time, and the World Government publicly declared that you were dead... the divisions fell apart. Each one eventually formed its own pirate crew and fled into the New World to survive."

Shaxia watched Rosinante carefully, afraid that he would explode in anger over the fall of the Gray Kingdom... or be furious that the divisions had broken away and founded their own pirate crews.

But Rosinante only smiled.

"It's fine. In that kind of situation, they didn't really have a choice. We fought side by side for years. They're brothers. I'm not so petty that I'd blame them for that."

After spending decades in the world of Naruto, Rosinante had long since grown tired of being a ruler.

So hearing that the Gray Kingdom had splintered apart... he truly didn't care that much.

What he wanted now, more than anything, was simple.

To live well in this world with his family.

And on top of that, there was an unexpected gift waiting for him here.

He had a daughter.

Even in the Naruto world, Rosinante had never lacked women.

But he had never truly cared for those women, and they, in turn, had schemed against him endlessly.

Rosinante had grown utterly sick of that kind of life.

Never before had he felt such warmth.

And now, there was even a little angel waiting for him to protect her.

Rosinante was fully confident that with the power he possessed now, even if he stood alone against the entire world, he would not be afraid.

He no longer needed some vast organization to protect him.

"Let the others go their own way," Rosinante said calmly. "But Bins was captured and thrown into Impel Down because of me. That, I can't ignore."

A faint smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

"Looks like I'll have to pay Impel Down a visit."

His gaze sharpened.

"And while I'm at it... I should probably let a few people know."

"That I'm back."