"It's that child…?"
Chishio's voice trembled uncontrollably. "That baby is Rouge's child?"
"I'm not sure," Nao replied evenly, after a quick mental check of his prepared response. "I'm only telling you what I saw."
He shook his head. "When Vice Admiral Garp did that, he didn't bother hiding it from us who were on the ship. Even the lieutenant didn't know anything except that the baby was named Ace, no family name or anything. Maybe it was just some war orphan Garp saved, which wouldn't be unusual for him, right?"
"No… No, that's not right…"
Chishio's voice was shaking, rising in pitch. "With Garp's personality, if it were a regular orphan, he'd just keep them in the Marine's care. Why go all the way to the East Blue…?"
"But what about Rouge?" she murmured, more to herself. "Where is she? Is she still alive? Why has she never reached out to me?"
Nao sighed inwardly at the harsh truth, but he didn't answer directly. Instead, he offered gently, "If you really want to know, why not ask Garp yourself?"
"Even if I'm mistaken, or if Ace is just a coincidence, are you really going to let your resentment toward Garp keep you from verifying this one last possibility?"
Chishio's gaze dropped to the Transponder Snail on the table.
After a long pause, she finally lifted the receiver and dialed a number that was both familiar and yet felt painfully distant.
Brrr brrr—
After an excruciating wait, the call connected, and Nao heard a loud, grumpy voice: "Who is it? It's the middle of the night, can't an old man get some sleep?"
Get some sleep? Please. Nao rolled his eyes inwardly. It was obvious from the crunching noises that Garp was chewing on senbei as he spoke.
"…It's me. Garp."
A stunned silence followed on the other end. Then a loud crash, as if an entire box of senbei had fallen to the floor.
Under Nao's incredulous gaze, Chishio calmly moved the receiver away from her ear.
"CHISHIO?!"
Garp's thunderous shout exploded from the snail's mouth, nearly blowing the roof off. "Is it really you?! Haha! Why are you calling all of a sudden?"
The voice was full of shock and joy, but Nao couldn't hear any of it anymore—he was temporarily deafened from the sheer volume.
As the ringing in his ears subsided, he glanced over to see the Transponder Snail comically mimicking Garp's tearful expression.
"…Three years, a full three years," Garp's voice broke with emotion. "Why haven't you contacted us in so long? Last time I tried calling, you hung up on me. I thought I must have done something to upset you…"
Chishio quietly moved the snail a bit farther away from her face before she spoke, her voice soft and trembling, "Rouge is my adopted daughter."
The line went dead silent.
Then—
A cry of disbelief, louder than before, shook the entire room:
"WHAT?!?!"
Nao flopped onto his back, staring blankly at the inverted night sky through the window. This time he was certain he'd gone completely deaf.
He could hear nothing, feel nothing—not even the passing of time.
But when he brought his gaze back from the stars to Chishio, he saw her covering her mouth, her eyes shimmering with tears.
The misunderstanding had finally, completely been resolved.
A faint smile tugged at Nao's lips. It felt good—seeing these two old comrades, hardened by a world overrun with pirates, finally reconcile, thanks to his own efforts.
Truly, if everyone just communicated honestly from the beginning, so many misunderstandings could be avoided. But perhaps… Chishio couldn't be blamed either.
Nao tilted his head to gaze back up at the night sky. The clouds had drifted away, and the moonlight bathed the earth in silvery light.
Whether in the past or in the far future—
Who could have imagined that just before his death, when the world turned its back, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, would entrust his wife and unborn child to his relentless pursuer—Garp?
…
Thousands of kilometers away, on a Marine ship bound for Silest Island,
In a second-floor cabin, the sound of a shower stopped. Wrapped in a towel, Gion stepped out of the bathroom, drying her damp hair as she stood before a misted mirror.
Through the fog, her familiar reflection looked back—her features a delicate mix of purity and allure. A slight smile was enough to stir hearts.
"…Suddenly changing back felt so strange."
Gion stared into the mirror for a moment before shaking her head with a chuckle. She moved into the bedroom, ready to change into pajamas and sleep.
Her bath had taken a long time—her skin felt sticky, with a faint, unpleasant odor of sweat, as if it hadn't been washed for two days.
Seriously…
Thinking back to the moment she suddenly reverted to her original body hours ago, Gion sighed in exasperation.
That stupid tanuki really wasn't reliable at all. Who would've thought the Devil Fruit's power would suddenly wear off after just a few days?
Considering the tanuki wasn't human and its natural transformation talent was limited, Gion could barely understand it.
—But why did the swap happen by reverting the body, not just the consciousness?
That would've left her own body in Chishio's house, instead of Nao's…
She could still hear Chishio's angry voice from the phone call, and Gion felt a pang of sympathy for Nao.
Though it wasn't entirely her fault, she'd definitely gotten the boy into trouble this time.
Next time they met, she'd have to apologize sincerely and make it up to him.
As for persuading Chishio to return to Marine HQ… well, that was a complete failure. Gion sighed. She knew better than anyone how impossible that task had been.
Lying in bed, she was lost in thought when her Transponder Snail at the bedside suddenly vibrated.
"Hm?"
Gion glanced over and picked it up, sensing something ominous. Still, she answered immediately.
Before she could speak, a familiar boyish voice came through—
"Hello, Rear Admiral Gion. Remember what I said before? To repay you for your guidance, I was determined to persuade Rear Admiral Chishio to return to HQ…"
A pause, and then his tone grew smug and teasing:
"Well, mission accomplished. It might be a long shot, but considering how dangerous this whole thing was… when I get back, don't you think I deserve, you know… some kind of special reward?"