The tapping of her boots resonated along the cold soil; Mihawk walked all the way together with Veyron but not to the mansion. Not too far away, to the northern of the forest there was a lake that connected to the sea.

*SPLASH!*

She threw the boy into the lake like a rag of rotten potatoes.

"Uwa!" The action was so sudden that Veyron swallowed a bit of water and groaned inwardly at her rudeness. The lake was way deeper than he initially thought, from step one right into the centre. It made him sigh in realisation.

It wasn't a lake, it was the crater of a powerful impact that connected to the sea, forming an unnatural lake. By the time he resurfaced, what entered his gaze was nothing any less shocking.

Mihawk undressed and waved her long black hair to the side and into a ponytail as she entered the lake, completely naked.

The 'boy' gasped in disbelief and complex emotions... the thoughts of a man in the body of a child.

!!!

Veyron saw everything yet didn't say a word. As for Mihawk, she didn't care. She laid back against the shore lazily, half of her chest exposed as she relaxed down and exhaled a deep breath.

"Did you learn anything, Veyron?" Her subtle voice started.

"Yes, Mom!" said the shameless boy, floating on the water in front of her after he discarded his now wet clothes.

"…" Mihawk's gaze contorted and she bit her lips but didn't address the matter, 'if he wants to address me as such; so be it'.

She could only pretend that she didn't care for so long.

"What did you learn?"

"What you used was pure swordsmanship, like this!" He started doing motions on the water but couldn't due to the depth of this.

Mihawk smirked, "Good, then next time grab a stick and fight me, brat".

"Yes!"

She had initially expected a declining answer, but contrary to her expectations Veyron seemed rather enthusiastic about the prospect of facing her in combat. Clearly, a young, naive and ignorant boy who doesn't know the difference between the heavens and the earth.

"I shall remain on this island for two months and then I have to leave temporarily, during that time you're on your own" She stated all of a sudden and it switched Veyron's whole temperament completely.

He had only been here for some weeks and yet she was already leaving, who knows for how long. Nonetheless, all he could do was nod in acceptance... it didn't matter how much he called her that, she was not his mother.

Feeling his worries Mihawk brushed her hair aside, washing down hope into a despairing soul.

"But before I leave, I'll teach you to defend yourself... with a stick" She took a branch from the shore and pointed at him, from that mere movement alone he felt an unyielding threat. As if any weapon this woman had in her hands could be used as the deadliest of weapons.

"Hum!~" He nodded enthusiastically and leaned next to her, brushing his feet and eagerly awaiting his training.

**

**

"Ugh!"

Not so eagerly any more with his head and forehead swollen, marred with bruises. If not because he had read about her prowess throughout the story, he'd think that Dracule Mihawk doesn't now what it means to 'repress'.

A mere three years old boy and she had no qualms about slapping him left and right with a piece of wooden branch.

"Is this all you goy, Veyron? I'm a little disappointed" She waved her branch back and forth lazily, let alone breaking a sweat... she had barely moved and yet the boy was already wasted.

"I can still go on!"

In her hands was a diminutive wooden branch, in his hands was a thick wood log. And yet he was being thrashed left and right.

For two months the schedule was the same. During the mornings he'd wake up early but apparently not early enough as Mihawk would already be out of the bed they shared. She'd always go out somewhere before returning home with that day's newspaper.

She'd take a cup of wine and sit down to relax for the next six hours, he wondered how was it possible for her to read so slowly when he could read the whole newspaper in ten minutes. They would then switch labours... one day he'd go and pick up some fruits for them to eat, the next day she'd do so, except that she was strong enough to bring beef or fish. What animal was that from? he didn't want to know.

After a filling lunch then it was time for his training in which he'd get bea- trained for the next four hours nonstop until he couldn't move anymore... if he could still move, then the training session continued.

By the time it finished, she'd carry him back to the lake where they'd wash together and relax then head back to the mansion, ready to sleep.

It was a simple yet harsh routine, but Veyron never felt any more alive in either of his lives than now.

...

Mihawk read her newspapers while eating some fruits that Veyron had fetched for the day, she didn't complain but Veyron knew she was expecting him to become strong enough one day to get fish and beef instead of just fruits. Nevertheless, for his age... he was doing quite well on an island that could easily kill adult pirates.

She had already learned how he made it to fetch the fruits... as it turns out, he'd use mud to camouflage his odour. He studied the location of the ripest fruits and the patrolling patterns of the humandrills... whenever he had a chance to rip fruits, he'd take as many batches as he could, storing them underground for the next two to three days.

It wasn't the bravest method, but it was the clever one.

Mihawk brushed the pages of her newspaper, but she wasn't reading the content of it. Through the periphery of her gaze, she caught the sight of Veyron who had stopped reading yesterday's newspaper and was instead using a stick and stone ink to write something on it.

"…"

She frowned for a moment and tried to understand what he was doing, fruitlessly.

'E = MC2? That is not the ancient dialect written in the pone glyphs either, what exactly is he writing?'.

He tended to do this in his free time and she never understood what it actually was, a part of her believed it was some sort of secret code but if that was the case, he wouldn't be so brass as to use it right in front of her.

"What are you doing?"

She couldn't contain herself anymore and asked. Alas, the tables had turned... what she received was utter silence as Veyron was focused on writing his 'code' that was taking more and more space out of the newspaper pages to the point he ran out of space and started writing on the floor.

The swordswoman twirled her tongue and put the newspaper aside, 'It is about time anyway'.

Standing up she pulled the unaware boy away from his writing, breaking his momentum abruptly and making him pout.

"I haven't finished!"

"Enough writing… it is time to train".

*BANG!*

*BANG!*

With a stick in hand, Veyron tried to face her until the two months were down. He never managed to remain on his feet for more than three exchanges with her and yet, one thing was undeniable.

'I'm becoming stronger...' He felt it, her strikes were getting a little more predictable.

Watching her 'son' evade her strikes and try to counterattack so often made Mihawk smirk as her imagination clouded with expectations. He had no idea.

'A maximum of three strikes... a different pattern every four exchanges for two months... you have learned a total of three hundred forty-five patterns of attacks from me and have gotten used to them. Three years old... Veyron you little monster~'.

The first clue was when he opened his eyes that day, that energy was one she would never mistake, Haki. It could have been a hunch, there was no way a mere three years old kid possessed enough will to manifest Haki so early in life.

But this confirmed it. The white-haired boy was not any common kid from the lumps. The question she asked herself with deep eyebrows while washing him clean was: 'Are you just a prodigy kid? Or is there more to you than meets the eye, Veyron?'.

**

**

The time for her to depart had come and Veyron couldn't be any more sad and anxious. With nothing more than her sword Yoru, her crux and a small rag sack, she boarded her boat which was different from the one he had seen in the story, clearly she hadn't gotten that one yet at this point in time.

No words were exchanged between the two as he had thought that after sharing so much time together she'd refrain from leaving and yet, it didn't stop her at all from boarding her 'humble' boat and leaving the island.

She didn't look back for the first few seconds, her emotions complex, 'I have never been tied to anything or anyone in this life, aside from the sword'.

And yet, regardless of how much she repressed herself, she couldn't help looking back to the island where she saw Veyron standing, watching her go before a smile marred his face and he waved in her direction... as if he had been expecting her to at least turn around to say goodbye.

She could almost hear his words in her ears, "I'll wait for you".

Her hand lifted up unconsciously... but she clenched it hard and dropped it; looking back to the boundless sea that awaited her with a cloudy sky.

'It feels odd… to have a place to come back to'.

Her destiny? the north blue, following a vibre card. In order to do so she needed to sail towards the north and go by the calm belt, the sea filled with dangerous sea gods that sank ships left and right.

Her small boat wasn't an exception, the moment she arrived, a gigantic snake made an act of apparition.

*BAANGG!!*

A shower of water washed above her as the creature appeared with an intimidating splendour, but Mihawk wasn't in the mood. A single slash from her sword was enough to split that creature into uncountable pieces, deterring the crowd of sea gods underwater that believed themselves infallible.

The journey to the north blue wasn't long, soon enough she found the one she as looking for... a fellow whose ship wasn't any less humble as his appearance was.

"Took you long enough, Mihawk!"

A young man with a broad smile, red hair, a handle sword and a straw hat. He looked genuinely happy to see her arrive in all of her ominous fashion; nevertheless, the moment he caught her approaching silhouette... he got ready.

*RUMBLE!*

Mihawk jumped from her boat with the coldest of expressions as both their swords clashed in the wilderness of the sea.

*BOOOOMMMM!!!*

As if two gargantuan energies of opposite frequencies were clashing against each other, their swords didn't meet. Mihawk frowned passively while Shanks groaned audibly.

The swords maintained the distance for a while but eventually clashed ominously in a blast of energy that cleared the skies. This exchange was won by Mihawk and it ended up with Shanks' boat being completely obliterated.

The remnants of the clash were a load of reddish lightning shockwaves that compressed the sea around them.

"You've gotten stronger".

Mihawk pointed out, sheathing her sword back and taking a seat on her small boat while a groaning Shanks swam on the empty sea and onto her boat, her compliment produced a smile to pop up on his face immediately as if he couldn't resist laughing.

"I still haven't completely grasped the captain's insight, but I'm getting there" Shanks stated, pressing his drenched clothes.

"I'm here as I promised... where are we going, Lodestar?" Mihawk inquired lazily.

"No, I've already been there. You know what we have to do, right? 'he' told you".

"Find that Devil Fruit... what's the name again?" Mihawk recalled the words of a certain someone who gave her a mission with little words and specifications.

At her question, Shanks maintained silence for a while before answering.

"… Gomu Gomu no Mi, a paramecia that transform the user into a rubber-person".

"I see, I don't know why 'he' would be interested in such a rudimentary fruit, but I'm not here to ask questions. We have a massive world to search so suit yourself, captain... I'll follow you as long as you keep me entertained" Mihawk laid back and allowed her 'captain' to take the reigns of their destination.

Shanks smirked and did so with pleasure, the boat started to drift towards the South-west before a gust of wind even manifested.

"Don't worry, my redhead pirates won't be boring by any means hahaha!"