Chapter 28: Oh, Brother! He Just Laughed?

 We had been sailing for a few months now. In March, I had started to write my annual birthday letter to Sabo I send into the abyss. Before deciding to send it, I had asked Doc where undeliverable letters go. She gave me the strangest look, and told me that they are usually delivered right back to you. Otherwise, it is probably getting sent to someone with the same name. My face went pale. I thought back on all of the stories I told, the sappy "I miss you"s, and other embarrassing things I had told a random stranger that got my letters. My cheeks then brightened red as I immediately lit the letter I was going to send on fire. I feel so bad for not only myself, but whoever had to receive those letters. At least I never mentioned names and always signed off as "A."

 I sent Luffy's birthday letter in May, telling him everything that had happened the last five months. I hadn't heard from Ace since he departed the island. It was kind of worrying, but he was older now. He was sailing the seas and living his life. At least, that's what I told myself to keep myself from worrying too much, until I received a package via a delivery bird the next month.

 I thanked the bird as it flew off and looked at my delivery. It was a plain medium-sized cardboard box with a semi-familiar jolly roger on the side. It had the traditional skull and cross-bones, but it was in front of a red spade that wore a flaming hat similar to what I got Ace when he left. I gave a smirk once I saw it, and went to open it.

 "What if it's a bomb or something," River asked nervously. "We don't know where it came from!"

 "He's got a point, you know," Wynter chimed in. "Allow me to open it, to be on the safe side."

 I shook my head in protest. "No need," I told them gleefully as I ripped open the box. "I'm pretty sure I know whom it's from. What a goofball."

 Inside the box was a letter and paper covering another object. I picked up the letter first and began to look it over. Just as I predicted, it was from Ace. 

"How's it going, Captain Anne?

"You always wish us a happy birthday every year, so I thought I'd return the favor, for once. You probably won't believe this, but I was marooned on an island for a few months! (I believed it without a doubt.) That's where I met Masked Deuce, the first member of my crew, and my trusted first mate. We built our first ship, the Striker, and made it out with ease! Since then, we've recruited a few more members and we have become the Spade Pirates, with a proper ship we call the Piece of Spadille! We'll be entering the Grand Line soon, so we'll be catching up to you before you know it!

"As for what's in the box, I realized something while sailing with my crew. Sabo, Luffy and I all have a hat that has become our symbol. One of the first things that come to mind when you think of us. Sabo had his top hat, Luffy has his straw hat, and I have my cowboy hat. I think that's what that old book we used to read called it. So, I thought you needed one, as well! I came up with the idea and had one of my crew members make it, so you're guaranteed to look great. (I could almost see his smug expression as he wrote that). 

"Just you wait, we'll catch up to you in no time and we'll be the greatest pirates out there!

"Ace"

 Reaching inside the box, I removed the paper and saw the hat Ace spook of. I took it out and began to look it over. It was a large, black, tricone hat with green stitching. The brim was similar to a sunhat, as it was not as stiff as most tricones. It had a green swirl pattern that ran on the underside of the hat's brim, a green band that wrapped around it, and a string to keep the hat in place, like Ace's. At the end of the string was a decorative metal piece with a few golden tassels attached to it. There was a weird white pattern on the side of the hat that kind of looked like a flying fish? I couldn't make heads nor tails of it, to be honest, but it had its own charm.

 I gave a soft grin as I placed it on top of my head. This was the first gift I had gotten from any of my brothers in quite awhile. It felt right, and I immediately knew I would treasure this above anything else I owned. Was this similar to how Luffy felt with his hat? He always mentioned he had to give it back to Shanks once he became strong enough, but the feeling of having something from someone one cared about was comforting.

 "Looks good on ya," Felix complemented, before gesturing towards Sabaody, which we would be arriving at in just a moment. "Perfect time, too. Get to show it off as you enter the New World."

 I flicked the brim up with a smirk as I said, "Hell yeah, it is. We'll be entering with style, of course."

   River looked down at the box and pointed out, "Hey, I think you have more in there."

   Sure enough, River was right. Turning the box upside-down, a decent number of weird shells fell onto the deck. "Hey! Those are dials," Felix shouted excitably as he knelt down to look them over. There were some shells of varying sizes, and Felix was sorting them into different groups. Once he was done, he gestured to the nine dials. "Care for an explanation?

   I gave a nod. I knew the vary basics of dials and how they could store different energies, but I couldn't tell anything by what I was looking at. Felix gestured to a group of orange dials that had a large, two medium and small shells. "These seem to already have some kind of energy within them. The others seem to be empty and need to be filled with some kind of energy or matter. They'd be perfect for your air abilities, as you wouldn't have to man the aero system constantly!"

   I held one of the smaller orange shells and asked, "So, do you know what is inside these ones?"

   Felix took the one in my hand, went to the edge of the ship, and pressed the apex on one side of the shell. Once he did, a powerful flame shot out of it! "Wow, your brother managed to get his hands on some powerful fire, if he's the one that filled this!"

   I gave a sigh as I started to pick up all of the dials. "Yeah, that sounds about right," I groaned. "He always was sort of a pyromaniac as a kid..."

   As we pulled up to the docks, everyone came on deck for our pre-offboarding meeting. "Same as always," I told them with a smirk. "After all, it's not like we've been here over half a dozen times or anything. This'll just hopefully be the last time for a couple years. Just make sure to try and get enough non-perishables and water to last us a few months, in case the New World is rougher than we expect. Other than that, see ya back here two hours."

   They all gave a nod of acknowledgement and Wynter lowered the boarding plank. As Wynter reluctantly stayed behind to guard the ship, the others started going down the plank. I offboarded by going over to the rail, patting Zephyr to let her know we would be back soon, and vaulted over the side of the ship. Landing in a crouch on the dock below while holding my hat down, some old guy looked at me with widened eyes.

   The old man had long silver hair that ran down to his shoulder, a beard with lines of chin hair above it, a scar that ran down his right eye, round and thin spectacles, and casual clothes under a tattered and long white cloak.

   "Oh, uh, sorry if I spooked ya," I apologized to the old man as I straightened up.

   The old man gave a large smile as he said, "No need to apologize. I was just surprised to see that, no matter the era, a captain is always so free-spirited."

   "I sure hope so," I said as I gave a genuine belly laugh. "Though, I can't even compare to my brothers' free-spiritedness."

   The old man stiffened when I started to laugh. He almost looked as though he had seen a ghost. He held his chin and looked be over. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Anne, now would it," he asked, eager to hear the answer.

   I was taken aback by the suddenness of the question. "Um, yeah? Why do you ask," I asked. "Where'd you hear about me: while I was a Marine, my old wanted posters, news of the rescinding of the bounty, or has word of my bounty hunting started to spread?"

   It was the old man's turn to start laughing, so much he had a few tears. He wiped his eyes and wore a soft expression. "You know, you've got your father's laugh," he said once he stopped laughing. "Not to mention some of his looks, as well."

   His words shot through me like seastone bullets. It took me a moment to process what he had just said. "Wait," I said as I recentered myself. Looking around and noticing all of the people around us, I had to choose my words carefully. "Are you telling me you knew my sailing father?"

   The man smirked and gave a nod. "Indeed," he told me. "The name is Silvers Rayleigh, and I know a place where we can chat, if you would like."

   I nodded vigorously. Finally, another person who knew my father personally! For all I knew, I could have been getting lured into a trap to get sold off. I didn't care, I was willing to risk it, since I wasn't absolutely powerless. Before following Rayleigh, I turned to my crew as they were getting off and told them, "I'll catch you guys later! I'm following this stranger to a second location to talk about my dead dad!"

  "Okay, have fun," Doc said with a curt wave. "Though don't expect me to patch you up for doing something idiotic."

   I waved my crew off and followed behind Rayleigh. He led the way through the different coves until we reached Cove 13, to a building called "Shakky's Rip-off Bar." I tilted my head and stated, "Does this place even do well with a name like that? At least at Partys Bar, it sounds like it's always fun. When I hear 'rip-off', I think I'm about to have a bad time..."

   Rayleigh cleared his throat as he said, "This happens to be a bar that my wife and I run."

   I bit my lip. We hadn't even started talking yet, and I was already butchering it... "Oh, sorry about that. That was pretty rude, then."

   Rayleigh waved the insult off and told me that I was right, though. The bar was known to have over-priced goods and his wife, Shakky, would beat anyone up that didn't pay. One could also find him here whenever he wasn't coating a ship or gambling. That would explain why I never ran into him, plus the fact of how huge the Archipelago was.

   Rayleigh led me inside and over to the bar area, where a woman with short black hair was tending. "Welcome back," she said towards Rayleigh. "Looks like you brought someone back this time. Portgas D. Anne, am I wrong?"

   I was stunned again at being recognized. Before I could ask, Rayleigh told me as he took a seat on one of the bar stools, "Shakky is an avid newspaper reader and usually knows what's going on, and who is whom."

   The woman, Shakky, took a drag of her cigarette as she stated, "Knowledge is power, and I'm the strongest when it comes to being in the know. Anyway, I'm glad you're back, Rayleigh. I need to go out and pick up some supplies. Watch over the bar while I'm gone. It's been rather slow today, so you may not even get anyone while I'm gone."

   I jumped up onto the barstool next to him and leaned my arms on the counter as he told Shakky, "Alright. See you when you get back, then."

  As Shakky left, she placed a mug with a foaming liquid in front of Rayleigh and I. I thanked her as she left, and then I asked, "So, you're Silvers Rayleigh, and you were the first-mate of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger?"

   Rayleigh gave a nod, and asked back, "And you're Gol D. Anne, the daughter of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger?"

   I shook my head as I corrected, "It's Portgas D. Anne. I promised my brother to use our mother's maiden name, since he dislikes our father so strongly."

   "Well, then, my apologies, Ms. Portgas," Rayleigh told me. "Anyway, just like Shakky, I enjoy a little bit of information, as well. That being said, let's have an exchange. I'll share whatever information you'd like to know, within reason, and you'll tell me bits about yourself. Sound like a deal?"

   I nodded, as I went first, "How did you meet my father?"

   "You know, the first thing Roger asked me besides my name was if I wanted to turn the world upside down with him," Rayleigh said as he sloshed the liquid in his mug around. "At that moment, I was drinking on a boat I had stolen, and he was wanting me to join him. I never could figure him out, and just accepted his free spirit. Though, you seem a little bit tamer than him."

   I couldn't help but laugh as I explained, "I was the oldest of my brothers, so I felt that I had to make sure they were safe. I've been learning to take it easier, so it's a work in progress. Don't worry, though. My brother by blood, Ace, must have inherited that part of him. That boy hardly thinks anything through, just like our youngest brother..."

   "Brothers, huh," Rayleigh asked. "And you said one of them was you brother by blood?"

   I took the opportunity to retell the story of how I grew up with my three brothers. "Alright, your turn to share," I told him as I took a drink. It was bitter and sour, burning as it went down. I scrunched up my face as Rayleigh laughed at my reaction. "Shanks said that my father was an impressive person, one he held a lot of respect for. How would you describe him?"

  Rayleigh chuffed as he said, "Young Shanks, huh? I hope he's doing well. Roger and I knew each other for decades. We were close partners. We were the start of the Roger Pirates, after all. When he brought a little girl on board saying that you were his daughter, I was happy for him. Happy he was able to find a small piece of happiness before his illness got to him..."

   "Illness? I don't ever remember him being ill," I stated. "What kind of illness was it?"

   Rayleigh clicked his tongue as he wagged his finger. "Hold on to that question, because it's your turn to share," he corrected. "How old are you now?"

   "I actually just turned 21 today," I told him as I tipped my hat. "One of my brothers sent me this as a gift."

   "Well, happy birthday, then," Rayleigh said as he clanked his mug off of mine. "As for Roger's illness, it was one that was weakening him over time. About a year after you were born, during his last voyage to find the One Piece, he had about a year left. Obviously, it isn't what killed him, but it was one of the main causes for him to disband the Roger Pirates and to later turn himself in. Another part was to keep those close to him safe. Now, for my question: how did you grow up?"

   I explained to him that Garp was the one that took us to Goa Kingdom, where we were raised by the Dadan family. "What is the One Piece," I asked, wondering if he would share since he has seen it.

   "Nice try, kid," he told me as he tapped my hat down over my eyes. "Half of the fun in finding it is not knowing what it is. But trust me, you'll know it when you see it. All I'll say about it is that, once Roger found it, he just laughed."

   "He just laughed," I repeated as a question, not sure I followed, as I pushed my hat back up.

   Rayleigh nodded, "We all laughed, even to the point of tears. This led to Roger calling the last island of the Grand Line 'Laugh Tale'."

   We continued to do our question exchange for easily an hour and a half. To sum up what I learned, I found out that my father had sailed to explore the world, just like I had been doing. He wanted to be free and find the One Piece. In order to do that, he would follow poneglyphs, but it is said only one person can read them now and she is wanted by the government. So, he advised that it would be best for me to sail where my heart tells me to go, and she's bound to see the things my father saw. If I am meant to see the One Piece, it will happen.

   Rayleigh also shared stories of how my father fought the Whitebeards for three days and three nights, and how Gramps and Roger fought side-by-side to protect celestial dragons and their slaves against a pirate crew called the Rocks. I found that strange for many reasons. Firstly, Gramps fighting along side his pirate rival? Secondly, both of them protecting the dragons? They both sound like they weren't fans of them.

   Rayleigh stood up from his stool and told me, "It's been fun reminiscing on the past with you, Anne. From the sound of it when you first docked, you need to be getting back to your crew, don't you?"

   I looked to the nearby clock and noticed he was right. If I left now and flew back, I should have just enough time to make it by the deadline. "Shoot, you're right. Thank you so much for telling me about my father. I hope I was able to share information you were hoping for, as well."

   "More than enough," Rayleigh assured. "When you first got of the ship, it sounded like you planned on going to the New World. I happen to be a coating mechanic and can get you coated if you plan on going to Fishman Island."

   I shook my head as I hopped off the bar stool I was on. "No thanks, it won't be needed," I informed him. 

   "Oh? But you said you were going to the New World, no," Rayleigh asked, intrigued by what I had in mind.

   "We do, but we don't plan on going to Fishman Island," I corrected as Rayleigh started to lead me back to the docks. "Chef heard rumors that there was a bit of trouble going on there and we probably wouldn't be welcomed. We'll wait until things calm down to visit. Until then, we plan to go up and over!"

   Rayleigh stared down at me as if I had said the most unbelievable thing so far, even compared to the stories that were just shared about the Pirate King's feats. "You at least have a plan, I take it."

   I nodded, "Yeah, you'll be in disbelief when you see it." 

  Once we made it back to the ship, the others were already conversing on the Zephyr. Kit was the first to start waving to me when she spotted me and I waved back. "Make sure to stay safe in the New World," Rayleigh said as I started to go up the boarding plank. "It is not as forgiving as Paradise."

   I thanked him for the reminder as I pulled up the plank. Felix came over and asked me to blast as much air into the large dial in his hands as I could. Giving a shrug, I did as he asked and filled it with as much air current as it could hold. He then excitably ran over to the main aero maneuvering system and placed the dial on the stand in front of the input system. He strapped it in, sat down in the system's chair, and announced to us that we'll be taking off in just a moment. He messed with the system and the giant fans on the side of the boat came out, turned horizontal and he held his hand over the dial until we were set. Once he pressed the dial's button, air currents began to shoot out and power up the fans. The blades rotated with extreme speed, to the point that it started lifting the ship up out of the water! ... As well as blowing everything near it away if it wasn't tied down. Oh well.

   Rayleigh watched in astonishment, unable to believe his eyes. Other people were also amazed, while some were terrified, and some were cussing us out for blowing away their things. 

   As we were ascending, it became clearer. We were about to go into the New World. After so many years of planning, it was finally time. Next stop: a whole new world for the taking!