The Windmill Village mountainside echoed with a child's wailing.
"Gyaaaahhh! Grandpa, stop! It hurts!" Luffy screamed as he was pummeled into the dirt, fists flailing helplessly.
"Shut up, brat!" Garp barked, slamming his grandson with another iron fist. "If you want to be strong, you've gotta endure pain! That's training!"
Tina, standing a short distance away, exhaled a thin stream of smoke from her cigarette. She'd seen plenty of harsh Marine drills, but Garp's style was closer to child abuse than training. Still, the boy wasn't dead yet. Maybe there was a method to his madness.
She shifted her eyes from Luffy's mangled body to the man beside her. "Garp-san… that boy can't last forever. But never mind him. Tell me the truth. How strong is Jin?"
The old Marine hero stopped mid-swing. For a moment, the wrinkles around his eyes deepened. He watched Luffy buried under a pile of monkeys throwing rocks at him, and then muttered, "Hmph. A year ago, I could've caught him if I went all out. Would've taken a beating in the process, but I'd manage. Now… I'm not so sure."
Tina's cigarette froze halfway to her lips. "...You mean it? Even you—Vice Admiral Garp—aren't certain anymore?"
Garp grunted. "That's what happens with monsters like him. Give 'em a year, and they leap beyond comprehension. Hmph. As for his character—" He scratched his chin, eyes narrowing. "He's fiercely protective of his own. Cross his people, and he'll cut you down without hesitation. Loyal, stubborn, dangerous. That's Jin."
The words sank into Tina's chest like anchors. She already knew Jin wasn't ordinary, but hearing it spoken so plainly by Garp made her skin prickle.
"But…" she began, shaking her head. "He looks barely older than me. Seventeen? Eighteen at most. How could anyone that young—"
"Seventeen?" Garp blinked at her, his blocky face breaking into a lopsided grin. "Who told you that nonsense? He's just a brat. Kid only turned thirteen this year."
Tina nearly choked on her smoke. "Thirteen?! Don't joke with me, Garp-san. That isn't funny."
But the old man's gaze was steady, even as he casually dug at his nose with his pinky. "I don't joke about things like this, lass. Big as he looks, cold as he acts, Jin's still just a kid. A terrifying one, but a kid all the same."
For a moment, Tina forgot to breathe. Thirteen? If it had been anyone else saying it, she'd dismiss it outright. But this was the Hero of the Marines. He had no reason to lie to her.
Her chest tightened. If what Garp said was true, then Jin wasn't just strong. He was a force of nature. The kind of anomaly that defied all rules.
At that exact moment, in the Windmill Bar's backyard—
"Achoo!" Jin sneezed violently while rolling out his bedding in the sword shed. He rubbed his nose, muttering, "Damn. Who's talking about me? Probably that Navy girl. Heh… my charm's too much for her, clearly."
Back on the mountain, Tina's thoughts spiraled. Her fingers trembled around the cigarette. She had seen strong people before—Vice Admirals, Warlords, even whispers of Admirals themselves. But this… a boy not yet grown, wielding power even Garp spoke of with caution?
Her father's face flashed in her mind. The broken body. The blood. The helpless rage.
Maybe, just maybe… if she followed this path, revenge wouldn't be a dream.
Garp's gaze softened slightly as he studied her silence. "You're thinking about your father."
She flinched.
The old man folded his arms. "Listen well. I sent you to Jin for three reasons. One—for him. Because someone like him needs anchors, not chains. Two—for the Navy. If we can't recruit him, we damn well better not make him an enemy. And three—for you. Because your dream of revenge? The Marines won't give you the strength to do it. But Jin might."
Tina stared at him, lips parting. She hadn't expected such blunt honesty. But then, this was Garp. He wasn't a man who coated his words in sugar.
"...You'd help me retire?" she whispered.
"Aye," Garp said, standing with a grunt. "If that's what it takes for you to find your own justice. I'll make the paperwork vanish. You'll walk free. From then on, your choices are yours alone."
Something inside her cracked. For years, she had clung to the Marine emblem as her last piece of pride, her last connection to her father's legacy. But here, even Garp himself was telling her to let go. To step onto a different ship.
Her throat tightened. Slowly, she bowed. "Thank you… Vice Admiral Garp."
The old man chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Bah. Just don't waste the chance. Let your life set sail again, girl. Don't rot in the harbor."
By the time she returned to the Windmill Bar, night had deepened.
"Welcome back, Tina-san!" Makino's warm voice greeted her from behind the counter.
"...Drop the 'san.' Just call me Tina." Tina slid onto a stool, exhaling smoke and fatigue.
Makino's smile widened. "Then call me Makino. Or if you'd like, everyone here calls me Kiki."
Tina blinked. That kind of softness was rare among Marines. She accepted the glass of fruit wine Makino offered, sipping carefully. The sweetness spread across her tongue, unfamiliar but soothing.
The two women chatted. Tina found herself lowering her guard, drawn in by Makino's natural kindness. This woman didn't fight, didn't command, yet her presence was like sunlight. Even Tina's hardened heart felt just a little less heavy.
"By the way," Tina asked, glancing toward the back. "That blue-haired girl who trains with the sword every day. Who is she?"
"Kuina," Makino answered without hesitation. "She's a swordswoman. Only eleven, but Jin says she'll become one of the strongest in the world."
Tina snorted softly. "That sounds like something he'd say. You really trust his words that much?"
Makino's eyes gleamed with certainty. "I've known him for two years. He doesn't make promises lightly. If Jin says Kuina will reach the summit, I believe him. Just like I believe him when he says he'll help you."
Tina's cigarette paused between her fingers. The conviction in Makino's tone was almost frightening.
"Promises…" she murmured under her breath.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Kuina's bamboo blade sliced through the night air.
"Hah!"
Each strike fell heavier, sharper. Sweat dripped down her chin as her arms strained beneath the weighted bands Jin had given her. She thought of Tina's fruit powers—the black cages that had tried to bind Kuma. She thought of Jin's lecture about Devil Fruits and their flaws.
"I don't care about fruits," Kuina muttered, swinging again and again. "Swords cut everything. Even monsters. Even fate."
Her bamboo blade slammed into the wooden stump with a crack, splitting it clean in half.
Up on a nearby boulder, Jin watched with arms folded, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"She's insane," he muttered, though pride gleamed behind his sarcasm. "A damn reckless, stubborn little monster."
His purple eyes drifted toward the bar where Makino's laughter floated into the night, where Tina's low voice mixed with it. His crew was growing. His family was taking shape.
And for Jin, that meant only one thing—he had more to protect, more to fight for.
This story is inspired from various fanfics i have read from around the world so if you find any similarities please dont mind . Thank you
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T/N :
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