One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 44 Shanks and Yu (1)

Yu has a very good memory, ever since birth.

I remember that when I first opened my eyes, instead of a colorful world, I saw only darkness, with a few faint lights filtering in. Little You, without crying or fussing, stretched out her tiny hands, trying to grasp those scattered specks of light.

Unable to catch the light spots, You couldn't do anything else. She started to cry, babbling incoherently.

"Rossinandi? Is there anything ahead?"

Rosinante and Sengoku were walking one after the other in the forest. Rosinante, who was in front, heard the sound of a baby crying and stopped to try to figure out where the sound was coming from.

"There is the sound of a baby crying here."

Soon, Rosinandi determined his location. Under a giant tree was a haystack. Pushing aside the branches and weeds covering it, he found a tree hollow containing a naked baby girl.

"General, there is a baby girl here."

Rosinandi carried the baby out of the tree hollow, and the baby stopped crying and reached out its little hand to grab the handsome blond older brother.

He was running with the baby in his arms when, despite the flat ground in the forest, he suddenly slipped and fell backward. The baby also slipped from his hands and fell to the ground in a parabolic trajectory.

Rosinandi slipped and fell to the ground. Although she saw the baby about to fall, it was too late to reach out and catch her. At the critical moment, a slightly wrinkled hand caught the baby.

"Rosinante, how come you're still so careless?" Sengoku looked at Rosinante, who had fallen, with a sigh. This kid's absent-mindedness hadn't improved at all. "Don't rush like that next time."

"I only saw the baby in a tree hollow, and there are no people living around this forest. It must have been abandoned."

The baby rose and fell in the air without fear. Upon seeing Sengoku's long beard, braided into a rope-like shape, it reached out to grab it. The force was so great that Sengoku couldn't help but pull his hand away slightly.

"General, she has been abandoned. Why don't we take her back to the naval base?"

"Hmm? No way, I can't take care of children."

"Why? I'm a child too. You took good care of her, General! If you can't take care of her, I can!"

"Can it be the same? You were eight years old when I found you. Now you're just a ten-year-old kid. How can you take care of her? No, absolutely not."

"I will take care of her."

Rosinandi was adamant; if they didn't take her away, she would be left to feed the wild animals in the forest, and even if she survived, she would eventually starve to death. No, how could they? Now that they had discovered her, they had to take responsibility for her!

"Take her if you want, I won't care, not at all."

"Understood, General. It won't trouble you."

The baby was thus taken back to the naval base by Rosinante. Sengoku said he wouldn't interfere with the baby's care, but upon returning to base, he temporarily entrusted the infant to Tsuru's care. His reasons included Rosinante's daily training and the fact that a baby girl shouldn't be living with Rosinante in a male naval quarters.

The emperor later doted on the infant no less than he had on Rosinante, and even named her "You".

Yu, favored by Sengoku and Rosinante, is a notorious little witch in the Navy. From the Admirals to the lowest-ranking sailors, no one dares to do anything to her.

What's your opinion on Roger turning himself in?

"I don't know. He reached Laugh Tale and dominated the Grand Line, so you could say he had become the Pirate King. But he actually surrendered, which is really puzzling."

"Is he currently imprisoned in the underwater prison?"

"Yes, you can go and see him. He and we are old friends."

Yu overheard every word of Sengoku and Garp's conversation outside the door. Seeing Garp emerge from inside the door, preparing to head to Impel Down, Yu quietly followed him.

She had often heard Sengoku and Garp talk about Roger. Garp even said that Roger was someone who would become very impatient and willful when provoked, but whose behavior was as innocent and simple as a child's. Such a person, after conquering the Grand Line, actually surrendered. Yuuka was very curious about him.

"You've been following me for so long, why aren't you coming out yet?"

Garp already knew Yu was following him, but now he was heading to the underwater prison, which was no casual trip.

"Grandpa Garp, why did Roger turn himself in?"

"Haha, you want to know too? You're only five years old, you wouldn't understand even if you knew."

"...Will he be beheaded afterwards?"

"Hmm. What, Yu is quite interested in him?"

“Yes, I often hear my grandfathers talk about it.” Yu also knew about the Rocks incident back then. Actually, it wasn’t just Grandpa Garp who organized the Rocks Pirates. Grandpa Garp and Roger worked together to destroy them.

However, Grandpa didn't want to talk about it, and the government erased the facts. Those who weren't involved back then didn't know the inside story, but Yu knew, and the reason—it was from a dream.

"Grandpa, please take me to see him. After he was beheaded, I will never see him in person again. I promise I won't make a sound, I'll just hide to the side and take a peek."

"Alright, then you'd better hide well."

Garp treated Yu the same way Sengoku did, simply letting her meet him, nothing more.

Yu followed Garp to the underwater prison where Roger was imprisoned. Even with her hands and feet chained, she could still sense Roger's extraordinary courage.

Originally, he just wanted to meet Roger, but he didn't expect to hear that Roger had a child and wanted to ask Grandpa Garp to adopt and take care of him.

"Grandpa, will you grant his request?"

Yu walked side by side with Garp. Grandpa Garp allowed her to peek from the side, so it's understandable that she overheard their conversation. However, Yu was still very curious.

"If it were Yu, would Yu refuse?" Garp asked her in return.

Yu reached out and rested her head on her hand, pondering Garp's words intently. She replied to Garp almost without thinking.

"will not."

"Oh, why? As a pirate, especially one who conquered the Grand Line, we, as the Marines, should capture his child as well."

“But Roger is Roger, and his child is not like him. He has the right to live, just like my brother and Grandpa Sengoku didn’t abandon me in the forest. I think Grandpa should give that child a chance.”

"Haha, then you have to keep it a secret for Grandpa!"

"I promise only Yu and Grandpa Garp will know, it's our little secret, even Grandpa Sengoku won't know!" Yu jumped into Garp's arms. "Then, Grandpa, can you take me to see that child later?"

As the son of the Pirate King, he must be just as powerful as his father. Yuuko should definitely meet him.

"it is good."

(I'll post one chapter today; I'm still writing the second. Regarding the mention of Shanks at the end of the last chapter, I only briefly touched on it chronologically and didn't go into too much detail, so some details might be inaccurate.)

(This chapter is almost finished, and I haven't fully figured out the next one yet. I'll write a little about Yu's childhood first, which won't deviate too much from the main plot; consider it a setup.)

(Also, I'd like to briefly explain here that there's a reason behind Yu's relationship with Katakuri earlier on; it's just that it hasn't been mentioned yet, so it might feel a bit fast-paced. Please forgive me, as I'll be updating slowly.)

(In the previous chapter, the two reconciled. Yu was still bothered by what the old lady said, and because Katakuri hadn't given her an answer, she felt uncertain. But once she made things clear, she wouldn't hesitate anymore. Readers might not understand a little, but don't worry too much, hehehe.)