To the end of the sea [One Piece]

After leaving the navy, Kuzan never saw Ikegawa Eina again.

He just accidentally saw her news from the newspaper delivered by Seagull, and saw that she quickly left Garp and left the position he had arranged for her before leaving.

He actually thought about it.

Garp is a man who rejected the position of admiral in order to be free, while Ena is a girl who must become an admiral.

He saw that she had gone to work for Kizaru, but not as an adjutant.

She is still like a sharp knife, completing each task accurately and neatly.

And he lived as he pleased like a vagabond, and found that after leaving that high position, he saw many different things.

He was increasingly able to understand what Ena was doing, even if it was against discipline for the Navy. He was her boss at the time, but now he can admire her courage and persistence from the bottom of his heart as an ordinary person.

Then he saw a front page that shocked the world.

The girl encountered the Straw Hat Pirates while performing a mission. Instead of attacking, she walked up to the captain and hugged him.

A few strands of her long silver hair fell and rested on Luffy's shoulders. From the angle the photo was taken, Luffy's head blocked her face, and all she could see was the rare seriousness on the boy's face.

I heard that after she returned, she was trained by Sakaski for three hours. In the end, it was Karp and Porusalino who interceded together, so she was not demoted, but was only given a review and suspended for a month.

Kuzan could probably guess why she wanted to hug Luffy.

This is not okay. he thinks.

This level of willfulness is already too much. Even if he was still in the navy, he couldn't tolerate her embracing the evil pirate captain.

Although he knew it was for Fire Fist.

Kuzan looked at the photo of the girl and the boy intertwined, and thought about the person she still couldn't care about even after so long. She didn't know why she felt a rare annoyance in her heart.

This is the ex-boss’s irritation with his ex-subordinates.

He explained to himself this way.

There was a hint of worry in Kuzan's heart.

Logically speaking, she shouldn't be so willful. Even if she wanted to meet Luffy, she shouldn't let the newspaper take such a grand photo.

Her abilities should make it easy to meet privately.

But it was as if it was intentional, and he wanted to show it to everyone on purpose. He didn't know what it was for.

+ + +

Until he met her in Xihai.

It was the most chaotic town in the West Sea. Countless underground auction houses were fermenting here, and flower streets and casinos formed a series of rotten streets on the ground.

He came here to find someone to get the information he wanted, so he sat in a small bar drinking.

He listened to the loud noises of drunkards in his ears, and looked at the women on the flower street opposite, standing in the street with disheveled giggling and soliciting customers.

The man who had been frowning suddenly opened his eyes wide, with an extremely shocked expression on his face.

Although he was wearing a hood, a dark green light flashed under the brim. Others may not be able to recognize her from just one second, but Kuzan will never admit her mistake.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He knew very well that this was the dark industry of the Celestial Dragons. It was impossible for any navy to come to this place after receiving an official mission; not to mention that the man in front of him should still be suspended.

Moreover, for such a slender and beautiful girl walking alone in a neighborhood with the most mixed crowds, Kuzan couldn't help but frown.

The former admiral who was too protective of his calf might have forgotten that this girl's combat prowess could rival that of a lieutenant general on the battlefield.

He immediately stood up and followed, the knot on his brow never loosening.

He caught her at a corner, and before he touched her hand, a cold light flashed across his eyes. He took a step back and faced the girl's thick cold aura.

After Ena saw him clearly, she was obviously stunned for a moment, and then she had a very troubled expression, as if he was some kind of trouble.

"Hey...Mr. Kuzan..." She said awkwardly. The man frowned and pulled her away without any explanation.

+ + +

"Should you explain it?" Kuzan looked gloomily at the girl holding the juice in front of him, watching her swallowing the water in small sips. She was calm on the surface, but she was already in a trance inside.

It had only been about a year since he left her, but she had already changed so much that he almost didn't recognize her.

Her figure is still slender and explosive, but it seems to have become a lot stronger; she is still the same delicate and beautiful face, but it has a lot of vicissitudes of temperament. The biggest change is that there is something more in her eyes.

It is an unquestionable thing that has finally come together, burning like fire.

did you find it…? What do you believe?

He stared at her intently for a long time. Eina calmly drank the glass of juice he bought her, and then turned her head to meet his gaze.

"I think there's no need to hide anything from you." She smiled lightly, "You're not my boss anymore anyway."

Aokiji did not speak.

"You should know, I'm from Xihai——"

"Since you are no longer your boss, there is no need to use honorifics."

Eina looked at him in surprise, then laughed: "Okay - Kuzan."

She continued to talk about herself: "I am from the West China Sea, and this small town is my hometown."

Kuzan's eyes widened in surprise.

"What should I do? Although I don't want to admit it, I have witnessed the degeneration of this town." She looked at the colorful and largest auction house in the distance with hidden hatred, and her tone was filled with overwhelming anger.

Kuzan followed her and looked over.

That was the biggest nightmare of her life.

"Can you understand... being treated as an item and being auctioned off, with no covering except a piece of cloth, and they didn't even engrave me." Eina's voice began to tremble, "I thought that was a good thing, until I Seeing the way that man looked at me... I finally understood why I don't have a slave mark."

She slowly raised her hand, and her white fingers with rough calluses touched her amazingly beautiful face.

"The body of a young girl should remain pure and flawless." Her tone was strangely distorted, and she seemed to be a different person when she repeated the most disgusting words she had ever heard in her life. However, her own body seemed to be unable to bear it. Tremble.

Kuzan couldn't stand listening anymore: "Ena, stop talking."

"I used to think that such scum had disappeared long ago." A cold smile appeared on the corner of Eina's mouth, with a taste of bloodthirsty and sarcasm, "I once saw with my own eyes that the navy's report said that it would be investigated and punished. This town...I thought that was the end."

"But why..." She clenched her fists, her eyes filled with anger, "Why, I still saw that man...in Mariejoia."

She looked at Kuzan, her eyes filled with hatred and anger condensed into obsession.

"I just found out that that person's name is Tianlongren."

The former admiral could not utter a word.

The look on the girl in front of her was distant and unfamiliar, but it was so natural. He watched her take a deep breath and slowly calm down, lowering her head. After a long time, she raised her head to look at him.

"So... I think I may never be able to find the justice in my heart in this life." She smiled, "Because I gave up on the so-called justice."

For the first time, Kuzan sensed danger from the girl in front of him.

And he quickly figured out why.

There is nothing more terrifying than a person who has abandoned life and death.

He wanted to refute her, to stop her, to say that this was wrong. You cannot give up justice, cannot become synonymous with crime, and cannot betray the Navy.

But what position and reasons does he have?

The man's generous hand unconsciously grabbed her wrist. The warmth from the contact between skin made both of them startled.

Kuzan immediately realized something was wrong, but he didn't let go, and she just glanced at it, and then waited quietly for him to speak.

"It's not worth it for someone like that." He finally found a word to persuade her.

It's not worth risking your life, and it's not worth throwing away your bright future.

He saw the girl smile.

Her smile looked like she was about to cry, but it was filled with infinite tenderness towards the world.

"What can I do if it's not worth it, Kuzan...?" She slowly took his hand, put her white and soft hand on his palm, and murmured in a low voice like words of love, "I have worked hard for a long time... But in the end I discovered that there is no one in this world worthy of my expectations.”

He subconsciously tightened his fingers to hold her hand tightly.

"Because there's no one to look forward to, because there's no one to help me."

"So...I can only do it myself."

Kuzan finally became angry: "That's not the reason for you to do this. The world will eventually get better, so why do you have to-"

"I don't want to wait anymore." She interrupted him, "I don't want to wait anymore. Don't you always talk about the belief in your heart?"

"Although I abandoned my justice, I finally found my faith."

"But you will die!" Kuzan shouted angrily, "You haven't considered-"

Have you never considered my mood? !

Eina raised the corners of her mouth, just like the smile she had when she sent him away that day, with a tender smile. This time she didn't need his acquiescence. She stepped closer to him on the solid floor, then stretched out the arm that wasn't holding his hand and hugged him.

This time it was a solid hug, and Kuzan could even feel the beating of her heart from their chests.

She said in his ear: "Even if I die, I still have something I want to protect."

Then she moved back slightly, putting distance between the two of them.

She stepped back step by step, and the arms that were still tightly clasped slowly straightened as the distance increased. She stopped the moment before letting go.

She smiled at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

He heard her almost sighing:

"Let me go, Kuzan."

Pulling out his fingers little by little, he watched her leave gracefully.

------------

Just let me go.

Did she trust him too much to think that such a sentence could make him let it go?

Let me go, Kuzan.

He took a big gulp of wine and looked in the direction of the noisy auction house.

He had no way to stop her, and he had no position to stand with her. Regardless of the fact that he is no longer her boss, simply speaking as Kuzan, who is he to Ikegawa Ena?

For Kuzan, when Ikegawa Ena made a decision, it was time for him to let go.

+ + +

The man named Kuzan never thought that he would have such strong guilt and regret in his life.

At that time, he let go of Ikegawa Ena's hand. He thought that when she was about to leave, he shouldn't stop her.

He thought that she would just be hunted by the World Government.

She is so strong and clever, it is just a simple matter to rescue those slaves or destroy the auction house.

But it was so simple, that girl disappeared from this world along with her lifelong hatred.

She killed the Celestial Dragon and risked her own life.

He no longer knew how he would react when he heard the news. He had long passed the age of expressing emotions on his face.

All he knew was that after she died, he immediately figured out one thing.

Something he had avoided for a long time, but had already figured out.

But when I realized it, it was too late, too late to miss a lifetime.

So he never spoke out again.

The person who should be heard most can no longer be heard. So why does this matter need to stay in the world?

That day, an unknown tavern welcomed a guest who had been drinking all night. He remained expressionless until he fell drunk.

At the last second when he lost consciousness, a tear fell down the wine glass and disappeared into the wooden bar.

+ + +

Kuzan went to her funeral.

To everyone's shock, the name of the person conducting the funeral was Capone Beki.

The overlord of the underworld/society in the West Sea, the pirate [Godfather] of the most evil generation.

Not many people came that day. Surprisingly, pirates accounted for the majority, and even the Four Emperors [red-haired] Shanks came.

Except for Kuzan and Karp, no navy participated.

Because former Rear Admiral Ikegawa Ena killed the Tenryuto, she was a shame to the navy, and no navy dared to express condolences to her openly. Except for Kuzan, who has resigned, and Karp, who is freewheeling.

At the funeral, Luffy burst into tears, and Nami and Usopp couldn't hold him back no matter how hard they tried.

"Ahhh, let me go Nami - wuwu, it's such a pity that such an interesting person like Ena died like this - I originally wanted to invite her to be my partner -"

"I told you she's a marine! That's impossible!"

All members of the Straw Hat Pirates were present, except for the blond chef.

The man seemed to have fallen into such a terrible state after hearing the news of her death that he was unable to even attend the funeral.

Looking at the unfamiliar scene in front of him, Kuzan suddenly felt like he was in a trance.

These people seemed to have an inseparable connection with Ena that he didn't know. He didn't know these things and never paid attention to her private life.

"Do you want to ask why Capone Becky held her funeral?" Cap came to him. The originally energetic old man seemed much older at this moment, "That man... was her former adoptive father. "

"?" Kuzan did not hide his surprise and asked Garp with his eyes. How would you know? Why didn't you report it?

"Capone has his own manpower for file modification." Capone said, "What's more... the child was trained as a secret weapon during the five years he worked under him, so there is no record of her at all. These things are She told me herself.”

Kuzan frowned at him.

Garp shrugged: "The child was willing to tell me out of the highest trust. Besides, she didn't regard him as her real father at all, so why tell her superiors? Let them ruin a person who regards the navy as his life because of his origin. An ideal good seedling?”

Kuzan was speechless for a moment.

So...he hasn't reached the level where she can trust him yet...

"It's really strange for a man in his forties to look like a young boy." Garp said in a strange tone, "Don't think too much. You should treat grandpa differently from men."

Kuzan blushed visibly.

"I said--!"

"Hey, what are you rushing to admit-" Garp didn't pay attention to his glare at all.

So he quickly lost his temper and uttered one sentence after a long silence: "I'm sorry."

Garp glanced at him and sighed.

"That's not a fact you can change, Kuzan." The old man's brows were filled with loneliness. "One or two...children always have their own ideas. It's better to say that from the day I saw her as my granddaughter, , I’m already ready.”

"I can only try to prevent them from going astray and protect them from choosing the path they want to take... As for everything else, no one except themselves is qualified to make decisions. Including you, Kuzan."

"Even if you stop her, her destiny has already been written in her destiny for the destination she will eventually run for. Sooner or later, or in whatever form, it will eventually happen."

The knot in the man's heart was finally gently opened in front of the old man who was treated like a grandfather by the girl.

Maybe it was because he also knew this that he didn't stop her.

But regret will always be with him, because he will never see the smiling face of that silver-haired girl again.

+ + +

After the funeral he went to see Capone Becky.

The two men said nothing. They both knew each other's identity to the girl at this moment.

Finally Kuzan spoke: "Thank you for saving that child."

Capone sighed as he held his cigar in his mouth.

"Maybe. But I don't have the qualifications to be recognized by her as her father... I have lost such qualifications from the beginning."

What he was talking about was that he initially just wanted to cultivate her as a weapon.

"No...already...very lucky." Kuzan said softly.

He turned around and left the funeral, walking alone on the sea.

He was the only figure in the boundless sea, and the occasional sound of waves coming from the horizon seemed so far away.

So lonely...in this world.

It's so lonely.

Midsummer passed, but he was the only one left in the lonely autumn.

He finally had a lot of time to recall the pitiful, business-like interactions between the two of them. In those boring memories, there was an occasional look, a hug, or a smile.

However, what he could never forget was the first time he saw her.

The silver-haired girl walked towards him enthusiastically with a childish smile and all the tenderness and expectations she had for the world.

Now she has sunk in this vast sea.

Her death was not without effect. Since her death, he could feel that in many corners of the world, people with the same beliefs as her were gathering courage and slowly gathering together.

Just like he said to her, the world will be fine after all.

She just didn't wait for that day.