Chapter 15 — Flying Fists and Lectures
POV: Sunny
The market smelled of salt, sweat, and too many fish that had been lying out in the sun for hours.
I walked along the crowded stalls with Aqua clinging to my arm, Nami tugging impatiently at my shirt to stop at every glittering thing she saw, and Nojiko pretending she wasn't interested but always slowing down to look at the fancy hair ornaments. Honestly, I was surprised the four of us hadn't been pickpocketed already.
Then I saw it.
A medium-sized boat tied neatly at the dock, polished wood gleaming under the sun. Not too big, not too small. Just right for an "adventure."
"Perfect," I said out loud.
Nami blinked at me. "Perfect for what?"
I smirked. "For us. For today."
Aqua gasped dramatically, as though I'd just proposed marriage to the sea.
"You're finally taking me sailing! Oh, Sunny, I knew the goddess' prayers would be answered!"
I ignored her. Mostly.
Permission… Kind Of
Convincing Belle-mère wasn't easy.
She crossed her arms, cigarette dangling from her lips, and gave me that terrifying "mom glare" she'd perfected over the years.
"You want to what?"
"Borrow a boat," I said innocently. "Just for the afternoon. We'll be back by dinner. I'll protect everyone."
Aqua nodded furiously. "Yes, yes, with me and Sunny here, nothing could possibly go wrong!"
Belle-mère raised an eyebrow. "The last time you said that, Aqua-chan, you flooded my backyard trying to 'summon divine water.'"
"That was an accident! …A holy accident!"
Nami clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling. "Please, Belle-mère? Just this once? We'll stay close, promise!"
Nojiko added smoothly, "We're with Sunny. He's responsible."
Belle-mère groaned and muttered something about "kids these days." Finally, she waved her hand.
"Fine. Go. But don't push your luck. How far could you possibly get, anyway?"
I grinned. Oh, if only she knew.
Lift-Off
Once we were all on board, I stretched my arm, coated my fist in armament haki, and slammed it straight into the sea.
BOOM!
The water exploded, sending our boat rocketing into the air like a cannonball. Aqua screamed like a banshee, clutching onto me as her skirt flapped wildly in the wind.
"SUUUNNYY! THIS ISN'T SAILING, THIS IS SUICIDE!"
Nojiko clung to the side, wide-eyed but laughing.
"Are we… flying?! We're flying!!"
Meanwhile, Nami… oh, Nami's eyes sparkled brighter than I'd ever seen. She stood at the bow, hair whipping in the wind, arms wide open like she wanted to embrace the entire horizon.
"This is freedom," she whispered. "This is… amazing."
Aqua scowled at her. "You're enjoying this too much! Sunny is my partner in insanity, not yours!"
"Your partner?" Nami snapped back. "He's everyone's captain now!"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Girls. Please. We're 500 feet in the air. Let's not argue while gravity is watching."
The Training Island
By some miracle (and my expert aim, thank you very much), we landed not in the middle of the sea but on a familiar stretch of sand.
The island where Aqua and I had trained.
Nami and Nojiko immediately ran off to explore, fascinated by the oversized crabs and the sparkling lagoon. Aqua stayed glued to my side, whispering, "Don't let them wander too far, Sunny, this place still gives me crab-trauma."
I smirked. "Relax. I cleared the big ones out months ago."
She narrowed her eyes. "You're not funny."
But she still held my hand. Tightly.
While the girls played and collected seashells, Aqua and I practiced a bit—me focusing haki over larger distances, her pretending not to be impressed but sneaking glances at me when she thought I wasn't looking.
Return and Regret
By sunset, we were back on the boat. This time I launched us gently, gliding across the waves rather than punching them into submission. When Cocoyasi came into view, Nami sighed happily, holding a little bag of seashells to her chest.
"This was the best day ever," she whispered.
Then Belle-mère was waiting on the shore. Arms crossed. Foot tapping. A storm brewing in her eyes.
We were dead.
"Sunny," she said in a voice so calm it was terrifying, "do you want to explain why half the village saw a BOAT FLYING through the sky like a drunk seagull?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Tried again.
"…We were being efficient?"
That earned me three hours of nonstop lecture. Aqua tried to defend me, but Belle-mère smacked her head and told her she was even dumber for encouraging me. Nami and Nojiko wisely stayed quiet, though I caught them snickering when Belle-mère compared me to "a hyperactive Garp with no sense of responsibility."
By the end of it, Belle-mère laid down the law:
"No more insane adventures until you're at least fifteen. You hear me, Sunny? Fifteen. Until then, you're grounded to the sea like every other normal child."
I groaned. "Four years… that's torture."
Aqua patted my head. "Don't worry, Sunny. I'll keep you entertained~."
Her sly grin made me blush.
Nami crossed her arms, muttering under her breath, "Over my dead body."
Closing
That night, lying in bed, I couldn't help but smile. The adventure had been short, reckless, and probably stupid. But it had been ours.
And even if Belle-mère had scolded me for hours, deep down I could see it—the tiniest smile at the corner of her mouth.
She knew. We were a family now.