Chapter 6: Trouble
General pov
[Belle-mére residence]
The kitchen was filled with laughter and music as the noise managed to reverberate even to the birds in the boundary of the house.
Inside Nami could been seen widening her eyes as she held her hands up in amazement. Before her stood Tesoro playing a guitar and singing a song. The guitar was crafted using whatever metallic junk he could find lying around in the junkyard. Nojiko stood beside her sister and swayed with each verse.
Tesoro was performing the first opening of one piece, "We are!", for the kids.
"Come aboard, and bring along
All your hopes and dreams"
Tesoro sang out loud as he played the guitar.
Stella and the kids were mesmerized by his voice.
'I haven't heard this song before. He must have written it recently', Stella thought to herself.
"Together we will find everything
That we're looking for
ONE PIECE!"
"The one piece huh?", Belle-mére snickered. At first she was skeptical about Tesoro singing a song for them after dinner. She wanted to disagree to his offer as it was almost the bedtime for the kids but after Nami and Nojiko pestered her with puppy eyes she relented.
'So it's a pirate song', Belle-mére thought to herself.
"Compass left behind
It'll only slow us down
Your heart will be your guide"
Nami and Nojiko listened with awe as their body swayed on their own.
"Raise the sails, and take the helm
That legendary place
That the end of the map reveals
Is only legendary
'Till someone proves it real"
' I never knew that Tesoro believed in one piece', Stella was a bit shocked at the lyrics that her love had written.
Belle-mére chuckled a bit at this lyrics as she didn't think of Tesoro to be the type to believe in those things although she had faced off several pirates during her time as a marine, most of them were skeptical about finding one piece thinking of it to be just a myth.
"Through it all, through
all the troubled times
Through the heartache,
and through the pain
Know that I will be
there to stand by you
Just like I know you'll stand by me!"
Stella blushed a bit at this line as she pondered over it, 'Does he want me to follow him to find one piece?. Is this a proposal!?', Stella's mind made huge gymnastics.
Belle-mére saw the blond girls expression and snickered as if she had read her mind. Stella's face reddened further.
Nami and Nojiko were oblivious to their surroundings as they just enjoyed the song and the music played by Tesoro.
Tesoro then shouted, "Come on everybody!". He got lost in the moment and his powers created several more metallic instruments which started revving up the song towards its chorus.
Belle-mére widened her eyes at this and her eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets. Stella who was beside her was also mortified as she realized that Tesoro's secret might get out.
Nami and Nojiko were more shocked but quickly got over it as they started singing along with the chorus.
"So come aboard, and bring along
All your hopes and dreams
Together we will find everything
That we're looking for
There's always room for you
If you wanna be my friend
We are,
we are,
on the cruise!
WE ARE!"
Tesoro ended the performance with a band as fake metallic sprinklers started beside him.
He huffed and puffed after the performance as he had put his soul into it.
He still hadn't realized that he used his powers infront of the family accidentally.
"That was so cool!" "Awesome!!", Nojiko and Nami exclaimed as they ran around Tesoro.
Tesoro now out of his trance looked around and seeing all the newly formed instruments around him was a bit shocked as he deduced what had happened.
Seeing that Belle-mére was staring at him in shock he knew he had some explaining to do.
**************
Main pov
"Hey hey uncle how did you create all of these? DO YOU KNOW MAGIC??", asked Nami as stars glowed in her eyes as she gestured towards the instruments floating around me.
"YES! YES! Uncle do you know magic?", asked Nojiko as well.
I just chuckled awkwardly at their questions as I looked towards Stella for help.
She understood my message and distracted the kids, "Come on, come on kids, uncle has some talking to do with your mom", Stella exclaimed as she led the reluctant Nami and Nojiko to their room.
**********
Once me and Belle-mére were the only once left I started explaining things to her.
"So you are telling me that you are the wanted killer they are searching for!", Belle-mére shouted with anger.
She had no idea that she was inviting someone who was wanted by the world government into her house that also had her two daughters in it.
"I know, I know, I didn't mean to put any of you guys in trouble though I swear", Tesoro said as he tried to calm her down.
He saw no point in hiding the secret as the news paper had described his powers with extreme detail and his metal controlling powers were known by anyone who read the paper.
He could have brushed off the bounty poster image as the image showed his face covered with blood and grinning like a maniac, he looked very different when he was in a casual setting.
Belle-mére took in deep breaths before she closed her eyes and frowned, "I'm sorry but I have to ask you guys to leave", she said as she looked down.
She knew what he had done was an honorable work by freeing the slaves but she could take no chance in bringing trouble to her daughters.
She was afraid that they would be brought into this mess by the government and be branded as conspirators, her work in the marines had subjected her to the dark parts of the world and she could take no chances.
Tesoro nodded with a guilty expression as he got up, "I understand. Thanks for the dinner", he muttered as he turned to leave.
Stella who was coming back after placing the kids in their room over heard the conversation a bit. Stella bowed towards Belle-mére and thanked her for the food before following Tesoro.
******
Belle-mére pov
I felt really guilty about throwing Tesoro and Stella out after I had invited them to spend the night.
I rested my head on the table as I contemplated with my decision, 'I did the right thing. I can't put my daughters in danger', I tried to convince myself as I stood up to head off to bed.
On my way to my room I saw Nojiko and Nami peaking out from the door.
"Mom won't uncle Gild and aunt Stella stay here for the night", asked Nojiko as she saw my tired expression.
"Yeah! I want him to teach me magic", exclaimed Nami raising her fist in excitement.
I smiled at their antics as I patted their heads and bent down
"I'm sorry Nojiko , Nami but they won't be staying with us. And you guys must promise me that you'll stay away from them.", I tried to speak gently to make them understand.
Nojiko seemed to be a bit shocked and curious but looked like she trusted my decision and just nodded.
"Eh! Why!?", Nami shouted as she looked a bit teary.
I frowned a little as I told her, "Uncle Gild is a very dangerous and bad man, so you should learn from your sister and stay away from him", I said a bit harshly as I couldn't control my tone.
"No, mama is lying! Super star uncle can't be a bad man!", Nami shouted in anger as she ran towards the bathroom and locked herself inside.
"Nami!", I shouted behind her before I sighed.
"Nojiko please look after your little sister", I told Nojiko as I kissed her forehead and gestured for her to go to sleep.
I sat outside the bathroom door waiting for Nami to come out so that I could explain to her clearly what my words actually meant.
'Being a mother is hard', I thought as I laid there almost dozing off.
After a while Nami came out and I explained to her properly what I meant. I told her that it wasn't that Tesoro was bad but it's just that bad people were after him and that they could get hurt if they got close to him.
"But why can't we help him and beat up the bad guys", Nami said with tears in her eyes as I held her in my arms.
I smiled as I patted her head. ' Nami has always been a kind hearted kid, she's so innocent and cute. I have no doubt she'll steal a lot of hearts in the future', I thought in my head.
I kissed her forehead as I said, "My sweet Nami, sometimes it's very hard to help someone as the problems they face is very big.", I rubbed her cheeks, "So just listen to mom for now ok".
I felt a bit guilty so I added, "I'll apologize to Uncle Tesoro tomorrow ok, but you have to promise to stay away".
Nami nodded her head and nuzzled her crying face on my bosom as she breathed hard. I let her cry for a while before she fell asleep due to exhaustion. I took her to my room as I also took Nojiko with us. We would all be sleeping together today.
*******
The next day I woke up and prepared to start my work and sell tangerines. I didn't forget about the promise I made to Nami yesterday but I thought that I would visit Tesoro to apologize in the afternoon. It would give me more time to think about how to word my apology I thought.
Nami and Nojiko had gone out to play around the village . I placed all the tangerines in a big cart as I lifted it up and started towards the village.
The prices of tangerines had gone down a bit as there were a lot in supply and less in demand. I could survive on eating just tangerines but I wanted Nami and Nojiko to eat proper healthy meals.
'I guess I have to just try harder', I willed myself as I pushed the cart.
***********
The sale went great but while I was talking with a customer out of the corner of my eye I saw a ship approaching on the horizon.
I squinted my eyes and to my horror the ship turned out to be a marine ship, 'This can only mean trouble', I thought with worry.
I searched around for Nami and Nojiko worrying for their safety.
******
[Marine ship]
Kuzan pov
"The weather is too humid for my liking. What about you Labet Fender?", I asked the cipher Pol agent beside me.
The world government had sent one of their agents to over see this mission. 'What a bore', I thought as I saw the ever unresponsive agent.
"Arara~ are you giving me the silent treatment", I asked rhetorically.
"Just focus on the mission admiral aokiji", Labet frowned as he said it.
I just relaxed and slumped onto the folding chair that I had bought. We got a whiff of where to find the wanted man when we reached the island after dropping of Garp sensei near some islands as he stated that he can just moonwalk from over there. We found the direction in which the murderer might have left and followed from over there.
'I just wish for this mission to end early, I want to sleep', I thought as put on my shades.
*******
[Cocoyashi village]
Belle-mére pov
While searching for Nami and Nojiko the marines had already landed on the dock and were now interrogating the villagers. I don't think anyone would rat out on the escaped slaves but it's only a moment before word slips out.
After searching around for a bit I managed to find Nojiko and Nami amongst a crowd of people with marine soldiers surrounding them.
The marines were handing posters to everyone and interrogating them. Amongst the marine stood a masked man with wearing a white coat.
I made my way through the crowd to reach Nami and Nojiko. The people who were shown the wanted posters were scratching their heads and tried to recall ever seeing the man.
" I don't think I've ever seen him"
"I've never seen a bloody man like that, no"
"He looks like my brother Tyrone"
The crowd lied through their teeth to protect the man that saved the slaves. They had heard how Tesoro saved the slaves life, although they judged his methods they wouldn't question the outcome.
How could they turn over someone who saved people while putting his life at risk. Although some of them couldn't lie very well but none of them ratted him out.
The marines, who could see that the villagers knew something but had no evidence to back it up, just gritted their teeth. I had just reached within an arms length of Nami and Nojiko when,
"Isn't that uncle Gil-", I quickly muffled Nami's mouth.
But alas it seemed that the man in the white suit heard it. He turned his head towards us as everyone went silent.
"Can you repeat that. Young lady", the man said softy but his voice had certain suppressive authority to it such that it made me sweat.
On of the crowd members instantly answered, "UNCLE GILBERT, she meant uncle Gilbert. It's her uncle.", said a man from the crowd.
The crowd parted a bit at this to show the man's face, it was Genzo.
"Do you think I'm playing games over here", the man exclaimed as he approached Genzo.
"I am not kidding here as well the kid was just remembering her uncl-", before he could finish his sentence he was picked up by his throat and thrown into a food stall.
"GENZO!!", I shouted. As the dust settled I saw that Genzo was laying on a pile of woods with one of the wooden steaks protruding from his shoulder.
"Uncle Genzo!", Nojiko shouted.
I widened my eyes as my blood boiled and before I knew it my fist was inches away from the man's face but before it could hit I felt a chill touch on my shoulder.
"Ara~Ara~ miss there is no need to resort to violence", said a voice from behind me.
The tone of the voice was very relaxed but I felt a deep pit of danger from it, my instincts screaming at me to run away.
I turned around to see a man in navy uniform but with a large white coat.
My eyes widened as I realized who it was, 'An admiral'. I immediately went into a salute position due to my instincts during my training.
"Hmm? Were you in the marines before", the man rubbed his chin while humming to himself.
"I can handle it Aokiji", the masked man muttered. That's when I noticed that a sharp boomerang was aimed at my neck but the arm that held the boomerang was frozen.
"I'm just here to oversee that everything goes smoothly. So don't mind me.", the person whom I now knew to be admiral Aokiji said and laid down on the ground in a sleeping position.
"Tch!", the masked man mutter as he went towards Nami and Nojiko.
"Oi wait!", I exclaimed as I feared for my daughters.
"Don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't harm them", muttered the admiral from the ground as he started cleaning his ear with his pinky.
The man went up to Nami and looked down asking, "Oi brat you are the one who said that you know him right", he presented a wanted poster of Tesoro infront of Nami.
Nami widened her eyes at the horrific picture in the poster as she looked towards me for help.
"Oi, eyes over here", said the masked man as he pushed the poster right infront of Nami's face.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as the man terrorised my daughter. Nojiko stood right beside her as she held Nami's hand.
"I-I….. D-do… nt… know", Nami whimpered in a low voice as her eyes stared at the ground as tears threatened to escape any moment.
"Oi don't lie to m-", the masked man raised his hands but before he could touch her a canon ball came from the west hitting him right in the face.
Aokiji who was about to stop Labet just raised his eyes.
The masked man blew a bit backwards in a backflip as he landed on his legs.
"Wha-", I looked at the direct from which the cannon seemed to have been fired.
There on a cliff I saw a familiar figure. He was wearing a pink coat with dark undershirt with pink pants. He seemed to have iron gauntlets around his fists and metallic armor protecting his weak spots but not restricting his movement. The person seemed to be staring down the cliff with a glare at the masked man. It was Tesoro.
"IT'S ME YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!!!"
"THEN COME GET SOME!!"
He shouted as he waved his iron gauntlets around in the air.
"Why you…", the masked man growled as he ran on the sky and moved towards Tesoro.
I couldn't believe my eyes at this and just thought of him to be another devil fruit user like Tesoro.
"Quick! Grab the wooden staffs. We know he uses the magnet magnet fruit.", the marines around me exclaimed as they hurried towards the cliff.
"Ara~Ara~ this is getting out of hand. Maybe I should give them a hand to end it ear-", I couldn't hear the last words of the admiral and when I looked back at him all I saw was blue sprinkles of light and couldn't find the admiral.
'Heh? Where did he go', I thought to myself.
******
Kuzan pov
[ At the an island nearby]
"-rly…. ", I look around to see that I was not in the place I was before. I was on what seemed to be some sort of a platform… or altar?.
"What's an admiral doing here in the blues?", asked a voice from behind me.
I turned around to see a well built man with a hammer strapped to his back. He had a black beard and short black hair.
"Oh was it you who brought me here?", I asked as I suspiciously eyed the man before me.
'A devil fruit? It seems to have the power to teleport people. It's power seems to work even when I was using haki. I have to get more information before I act', I thought to myself.
"This will be a pain in the ass", the man said out loud as he placed his hand on his hammers handle freeing it from the strap before bringing it forward and twirling it around. The hammer instantly darkened as the man got into a fighting stance.
"Ara~Ara~ why are you so eager to fight", I scratched my head as I tried to read my surroundings a bit more.
'I'm still nearby it seems, at least not on another sea. Actually the previous island seems to be only 1000 meters away.', I thought to myself.
"Why don't we just chill for a bit you and I", I chuckled as I instantly used my powers to freeze my surroundings along with the man.
"[ice age] ", I muttered.
"Oh, I should have said that before I attacked", I chided myself before i started to make my way back.
As I turned around I heard some cracking noises, I turned back to see that the man who was frozen into a statue had cracks now running from the forehead till his crotch. In an instant the ice shattered and the man came out glaring at me while breathing heavily.
"This is gonna be more work", I muttered to myself as I thought that I will have to put more effort.
I moved my body and leaned to my left as I avoided a hammer strike.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Konrad_iguess
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