Buzz.
Splash.
Splash.
To deal with a bunch of small fry East Blue pirates, Ozz did not even need to lift a finger.
One sharp look swept across them, and they toppled like wheat before the scythe, collapsing one after another. Even the fish and shrimp in the river were flipping belly up and floating to the surface.
In just a few seconds, the only ones left standing were Ace and Sabo.
"You…"
Sabo wanted to say something, but Ozz just waved him off and walked straight up to Ace.
Even though this man had just saved his life, Ace still stubbornly kept his head down, forcing himself not to look at Ozz.
"You really are a cute one."
Ozz did not mind at all. He reached out, smiling, and rubbed that middle parted black hair.
"Y… you, what do you think you are doing!!!"
Ace immediately flushed and slapped Ozz's hand away, mortified. Ozz did not take it to heart. He simply sat down at the riverbank.
Ace was quiet for a while, but in the end he came over as well, plopped down next to him, and stared at the water in a daze.
He actually knew, deep down, that this uncle was probably someone his mother knew.
Back then Ozz had told Rouge not to rush to reveal Ace's parentage. After all, Roger really had gone too far, leaving behind a widow and an unborn child and then vanishing from the world.
So whenever Ace asked why he did not have a father, Rouge could only force a smile and say:
"Your father… he is a great pirate. One day, he will come back to see you."
But as Ace grew older and that man still never appeared, he had given up on that hope. Instead, he decided he would set sail himself.
If this sea could charm his unseen father so much, then he wanted to see what was out there with his own eyes.
Only, before he could even leave shore, an "uncle" showed up first.
Coming from a single parent household, his first instinct was to reject this sudden uncle.
"You have grown up. Looks like it is about time you heard a few things, Ace."
Ozz lowered his eyes slightly, as if remembering something, and seemed to finally decide to have a proper talk with the son of Pirate King Roger.
"Actually, I am your father…"
"Nani???!!!"
"…'s former crewmate."
"…"
Ace and Sabo's mouths twitched violently. Then they both noticed the mischievous curve at the corner of Ozz's lips.
He did that on purpose.
Absolutely on purpose.
This bastard…
"Your father is a man who left an indelible mark on history. He is…"
"Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!!!"
For a heartbeat, the forest fell completely silent.
Then Ace and Sabo finally reacted as if someone had lit a fuse.
"Eh!!!!!!"
"Ace's dad is the Pirate King!!??"
"That has to be a joke!!!"
It took a long time for the two little brats to barely accept this information. Only then did Ozz begin to tell them about Roger entrusting his wishes after his death.
The story was the same one he had told Rouge back then, a lie with kind intentions.
"Back then, I went to the South Blue and brought Lady Rouge, who was still pregnant with you, away from there. After that…"
As Ozz spoke, Ace finally understood why his mother had been so furious when he was rude to Ozz, to the point she had almost struck him.
He bit his lip and suddenly stood up.
Under Ozz's slightly surprised gaze, he dropped to his knees with a thud, tears spilling down his face, jaw clenched as he choked out his words.
"I am… endlessly grateful, Uncle Ozz…"
"Thank you for saving my mother and me!!!"
Thanks to Rouge's upbringing, Ace's moral compass and values were pretty decent. Once he knew the truth, that Ozz had saved them, he immediately realized how overboard he had just been.
Ozz only smiled.
"There is no need for that. Back when he was alive, Captain Roger took good care of me. This is just me returning the favor."
"If you want to feel grateful, then be grateful to your father. That is what you call cause and effect."
From that moment on, the gap that had begun to form between Ace and Roger as father and son was quietly smoothed over by Ozz's words.
As the sunset slowly dipped beyond the treetops, the two brats and Ozz sat talking for a long time.
Stories from Roger's ship.
Stories about Roger himself.
Stories about all the strange and wonderful journeys that awaited on the Grand Line…
In the end, they returned together.
"Hey, Uncle Ozz, Sabo and I have saved up a lot of treasure these years. We want to give you some as an apology."
"No need, no need. You keep it as pocket money."
…
In the days that followed, Ozz experienced a kind of half retired hermit life. Every day he went up and down the mountain.
Up in the hills, Ace and Sabo spent their days catching fish and hunting tigers.
Down in the village, Luffy and Uta were always running around together, playing every silly game they could think up.
And Ozz?
Sometimes he would go over to Rouge's house to freeload a meal. Other times he would head to Makino's bar and pay generously for everyone's drinks.
Who could have imagined that this tiny Windmill Village was currently home to two future Emperors of the Sea and one Black Sniper.
The days were warm and peaceful. In the blink of an eye, a few months slipped by, and the calendar rolled into Sea Circle Year 1510.
"Hey!!! Ozz, you are really not coming to Elegia with us?!!"
He had already promised Uta long ago that he and Shanks would take her to Elegia. The Music Kingdom was where her dream lay.
Now, standing on the shore and watching Shanks, Uta, and the others already on the ship, Ozz just waved.
"You guys go on ahead. I am more used to traveling alone these days."
Hands in his pockets, Ozz stood with Luffy, waving at the Red Hair Pirates as their ship slowly sailed into the distance.
"Well then… time for me to head out too."
He ruffled Luffy's hair, then leapt lightly and landed right on the surface of the sea.
That move made Luffy's eyes sparkle. His jaw dropped so wide you could stuff an entire orange into his mouth.
"Eh!!! That is amazing!!! You can walk on the sea!!!"
"Ozz, can you teach me how to do that!!!"
Across the distance, Ozz flicked him in the head with a Armament Haki infused finger flick. Luffy immediately grabbed his head and dropped to the ground.
"That hurts!!!"
"You have to call me Uncle Ozz… got it?"
With the Seagull King perched on his shoulder, Ozz walked away across the waves. Before they were completely out of sight, the Seagull King kept turning its head, staring at Luffy.
"You noticed it too, huh, Seagull King?"
"Caw."
"Yeah. Kids with the potential to be a king are a dime a dozen on this sea."
…
At the same time.
On a small, barren island, two exhausted figures sat on opposite sides of a pile of treasure, staring hopelessly at the endless ocean.
"If this keeps up, we are definitely going to starve to death."
Only when the blond kid slashed open the big sack of treasure with a small knife did he finally accept reality.
They had clung to that sack like it was their last lifeline, but in the end all that glittering gold could not fill their stomachs.
The two boys leaned on each other, sitting on the cliff's edge, gazing out at the horizon in the desperate hope a ship might appear.
All they saw was boundless blue.
Except for one person.
Wait.
A person?
The blond boy thought his hunger was making him hallucinate. He rubbed his eyes hard, then finally saw the figure approaching over the sea clearly.
The man carried a huge bundle on his back, walking casually across the waves.
Especially that face…
"Godfather!!!"
Ozz also reacted at that moment. Hearing the shout, he turned his head, paused, and then laughed lightly.
"Well, if it is not Sanji."
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