Months Later in the New World — Unnamed Island
The sky over the island was streaked with gold and gray — the calm after a week of rain. The waves rolled in lazy rhythm against jagged cliffs, carrying the salt of old battles.
A crimson ship cut through the still waters, its Jolly Roger fluttering proudly in the breeze.
The Red Force.
Shanks leaned against the rail, eyes fixed on the island ahead. The sky burned orange with dawn, and the scent of wet salt filled the air.
For a moment, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
The hull, weathered but strong. The figurehead carved like a roaring sun. The grand mast that had once flown under a different flag.
Even from afar, he knew it.
The Oro Jackson.
Shanks' breath hitched softly. "No way…"
Benn Beckman, standing beside him, followed his gaze and frowned. "That ship—"
"Yeah," Shanks murmured, voice tinged with something between awe and sorrow. "It's really her. The Oro Jackson."
Lucky Roux whistled. "You mean Roger's ship?."
"Guess it brings back memories." Shanks said quietly. He watched the sun glint across the old wood, memories flickering like ghosts — laughter echoing on its deck, Roger's booming voice, Rayleigh's teasing grin, Oden dancing wildly as the sea roared beneath them.
"Captain," Benn Beckman said, walking up beside him. "We're nearing the island. You sure about this?"
Shanks gave his usual easy grin, though there was a glint of something sharper behind it. "Rumor says she's here. The woman who shook the world three years ago. The one who made the Celestial Dragons tremble."
Lucky Roux whistled. "Nyx D. Ada, huh? You used to sail with her back then, didn't you, Captain?"
"Yeah," Shanks said, his grin softening into something almost wistful. "Back when the sea still had room for legends."
Yasopp laughed, though his fingers fidgeted on his gun. "Legends or monsters, take your pick. Her crew's said to have Mihawk, Bullet, Fisher Tiger, and Enel. Not the sort of people you drop in on uninvited."
"That's exactly why I want to see her," Shanks replied. "It's been too long."
The crew exchanged wary glances. Even for a Yonko, walking into Ada's territory unannounced was like knocking on death's door just to see who answered.
————————
On the Island
The Oro Jackson ship was already anchored by the cliffs, its black hull gleaming like obsidian under the sun.
Fisher Tiger sat by the shore, sharpening his spear. Mihawk leaned against a tree, eyes closed, his sword resting across his knees. Bullet and Enel were arguing over whose training destroyed more of the beach.
Lilith's den den mushi clicked quietly nearby, recording notes. Tesoro lounged on a rock, tossing a gold coin into the air. Hiyori and Okiku sparred under Tiger's watchful eye, while Perona floated lazily above, half-asleep.
Then, Lilith's voice came from a small transponder snail. "Captain, incoming ship. Flag matches the Red-Haired Pirates."
Bullet crossed his arms, cracking his knuckles. "So, the red-haired brat finally shows his face."
Mihawk glanced up from sharpening Yoru. "He's no brat anymore."
Enel smirked. "Tch, another 'Emperor' in the making. How exciting."
Fisher Tiger chuckled deep in his chest. "A reunion, huh? Been a while since the sea's felt this still."
Ada stepped out from her tent, the morning sun catching the silver streaks in her dark hair. Her eyes glowed faintly crimson as she looked toward the sea.
"Let them come," she said softly. "He wouldn't have come this far for war."
——————-
The waves parted as the Red Force drew closer. When the two ships finally dropped anchor side by side, the air between them crackled — not with hostility, but with history.
Moments Later.
Shanks stepped onto the shore first, his coat brushing the sand, his crew following behind him — Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux, all tense but alert.
Across the clearing, Ada's crew waited — Mihawk, Bullet, Enel, Lilith, Fisher Tiger, Okiku, Perona, Hiyori, and Tesoro — a lineup that could shake nations.
Then Shanks stepped forward — smiling, calm, and unarmed.
Ada watched him for a long moment before walking down the sand to meet him halfway.
When they stood face to face, silence fell over the entire beach.
Shanks looked at her and laughed lightly. "You haven't changed a bit."
Shanks smiled faintly. "It's been a long time, Ada."
Ada studied him for a moment — then reached out and patted his head, just like she used to when he was a boy running around the Oro Jackson.
"You've grown," she said softly. "Roger would be proud."
Shanks froze — the same warmth, the same calm tone from decades ago.
He laughed under his breath. "Still treating me like a cabin boy, huh?"
Ada smiled. "You'll always be one to me."
That one sentence made the Red-Hair captain's grin falter just slightly. His voice softened. "You always knew what to say, huh?"
"Only when it's true," Ada said.
The crews exchanged glances. Beckman leaned toward Yasopp. "That's the woman who trained him?"
Yasopp whispered back, "Yeah, and apparently terrified the entire Rocks crew once."
Lucky Roux gulped. "We're all gonna die."
Across from them, Lilith grinned. "Oh, relax. She's in a good mood."
⸻—————-
Shanks sat with Ada on a rise overlooking the sea, their crews keeping a respectful distance.
He poured her a drink. "You haven't changed much."
Ada chuckled. "Neither have you. Still smiling through storms."
Shanks smirked. "It's easier when you've seen worse."
"I heard what you did," Shanks began. "Mariejois, the slaves, the Admirals… You turned the world upside down."
Ada shrugged lightly. "The world needed to be shaken. Someone had to remind them it's still alive."
He smiled. "Sounds like something Captain Roger would've said."
Her gaze drifted toward the horizon. "Maybe. Or maybe I just learned it from watching him."
For a moment, the sea breeze carried only silence between them — heavy, nostalgic, familiar.
A brief silence passed — comfortable, familiar. The kind that only old comrades could share.
Then Shanks leaned back, gaze drifting toward the sky. "I met an interesting boy recently. From the East Blue."
Ada raised a brow. "Oh?"
"Little kid. Messy black hair, big grin, doesn't know the meaning of fear." He chuckled. "Tried to join my crew, said he wanted to see the world."
Ada's lips curved faintly. "What was his name?"
Shanks rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "Luffy. Just Luffy."
Shanks then said with a small smile. "Reminds me of Roger in some ways. Loud, reckless, full of dreams."
Ada froze. For the first time in years, the calm cracked in her eyes. "Monkey… D. Luffy?"
Shanks blinked. "You know his full name?"
She looked away, smiling softly — a smile so gentle, so unlike the fierce Yonko that even her own crew took a step closer, sensing something shift.
"I know him," Ada said quietly. "Better than anyone else could."
Shanks frowned. "How?"
Ada turned to him, her eyes shimmering faintly with a warmth none of them had ever seen from her. "Because he's my son."
Silence fell like a wave crashing against rock.
"Your… son?" Shanks repeated slowly.
Mihawk's eyes narrowed, voice calm but edged with surprise. "So that's why you disappeared back then."
The Red-Haired Pirates stared, speechless. Even Beckman's pipe slipped from his mouth.
"Wait—" Yasopp blinked. "Your what?"
On the other side, Lilith nearly dropped her camera. "Captain— what did you just say?!"
Enel's jaw fell open. "No way."
Bullet's eyes widened, just for a moment. "You have a kid?"
Fisher Tiger crossed his arms, shaking his head. "The world truly works in strange tides."
Shanks could only stare. "Luffy's… your son?" he repeated, almost disbelieving.
Ada nodded quietly. "He was born on the Grand Line. I left him in East Blue to be safe."
"Safe?" Shanks echoed. "Safe from what?"
Ada's gaze drifted to the horizon. "From the world… from me."
Shanks frowned. "And his father?"
Ada's lips curved faintly. "Monkey D. Dragon."
The air went dead still. Even the waves seemed to hold their breath.
Shanks' crew erupted first.
"WHAT?!"
"THE REVOLUTIONARY?!"
"YOU'RE TELLING ME—"
Ada nodded slowly. "Yes. He's his father."
The Red-Hair crew collectively gawked. Lucky Roux almost choked on his food.
Yasopp muttered, "Holy hell… that makes him the son of the most wanted man alive and the most dangerous woman on the sea."
Beckman exhaled heavily. "No wonder the boy had that look in his eyes. He's bound by fate."
Ada's own crew wasn't much calmer.
Lilith nearly short-circuited her snail. "Hold on— you mean that Dragon? As in Public Enemy Number One?!"
Bullet blinked. "So the kid's father is Dragon, and his mother is Ada. The World Government's nightmares just keep multiplying."
Hiyori, wide-eyed, tugged on Perona's sleeve. "So that means he's… really special, huh?"
Perona nodded slowly. "Special? Try terrifying."
Enel laughed in disbelief. "So the son of the world's most wanted man is also the son of the woman who burned Mariejois? What kind of family is that?!"
Ada only smiled softly. "The kind the world fears most."
Shanks sat back, running a hand through his hair. "Well, that explains a lot."
Ada tilted her head. "Oh?"
"That fire in his eyes," Shanks said quietly. "The way he talks about freedom. He didn't get that from nowhere."
Ada chuckled lightly. "He gets it from both sides."
The two of them shared a quiet laugh, the years melting away for a moment.
Then Shanks looked at her, serious now. "Does he know?"
Ada shook her head. "No. He doesn't need to. Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because his story isn't mine to write," she said softly. "He'll find the truth when the sea decides he's ready."
Shanks smiled faintly. "He will. He's got that look — the same one you and Roger had."
Ada's eyes softened again. "Then maybe the world still has a chance."
Shanks leaned back, still processing. "So… you and Dragon. Never figured that was a pair I'd hear."
Ada chuckled softly. "Neither did I. The sea doesn't follow logic. It follows the heart."
Shanks tilted his head, smiling. "And you loved him?"
She didn't answer right away. Her gaze softened, her expression distant — the look of someone remembering something fragile.
"I did," she said at last. "He had fire in him — quiet, but unyielding. He wanted to change the world… not burn it down."
Shanks' smile turned wistful. "Sounds like you."
"No," Ada said, shaking her head. "He looked at the sea and saw chains. I looked and saw what could be. But for a while… we dreamed together."
She looked out toward the horizon again. "And then I left. Because I knew… my path would be bloodier than his."
Shanks fell silent. The waves broke softly on the shore, and somewhere behind them, Mihawk was quietly explaining the revelation to the other, who still couldn't believe it.
"So Luffy," Shanks murmured, "he's your son. He's got your eyes, you know."
Ada smiled faintly. "And his father's stubbornness."
They both laughed, quietly, the sound carrying gently over the sea.
————————-
Nearby, both crews mingled cautiously — curiosity overcoming tension.
Lucky Roux and Tiger shared drinks, comparing stories of the seas. Yasopp and Lilith discussed strange inventions. Bullet and Beckman argued about weapon types, while Tesoro tried to quietly measure the Red Force's hull in case he wanted to "borrow" its design.
But most of them couldn't shake the shock.
"The son of Ada and Dragon…" Fisher Tiger murmured. "The sea will never be the same."
Mihawk stood apart, arms folded. "He'll shake the world one day. Perhaps more than either of his parents did."
Enel grinned. "Then I look forward to the storm he brings. Lightning loves chaos."
Perona floated nearby, pouting. "I just hope he's not as scary as his mom when she's angry."
The Red-Hair crew, meanwhile, kept stealing glances at Ada.
Lucky Roux whispered, "She doesn't look like a mother."
Beckman sighed. "She doesn't look like anything the world can define."
"Her son's gonna be something else," Yasopp muttered.
"He already is," Beckman replied. "You can't have that bloodline and not shake the world."
Fisher Tiger looked toward Ada and Shanks. "She's never spoken of him before," he said quietly. "But I could tell… sometimes, when she watched the sunrise, it was like she was waiting for something."
Mihawk nodded once. "Now we know what."
——————
The campfire crackled softly between them — two legends sitting beneath a sky that remembered too much.
Shanks leaned back on a driftwood log, a bottle of sake dangling loosely from his hand. "You know," he said, "I can't remember the last time I just sat like this. No maps. No Marines. No war."
Ada smiled faintly, eyes on the flames. "The sea gives peace only to those who steal it."
He chuckled. "You always did have a poetic way of saying I should shut up and drink."
Ada's lips curved. "Maybe."
Silence stretched comfortably between them — until Shanks glanced toward the Nyx Pirates' camp. He spotted a girl sitting a little apart from the rest, the firelight flickering over her pale blue green hair as she tuned a shamisen. Her eyes were downcast, her fingers trembling slightly against the strings.
"That girl," Shanks said softly, nodding toward her. "She's with you, right? She looks too young to be part of your crew."
Ada's expression gentled. "That's Hiyori."
"Pretty name," Shanks said. "She plays beautifully. Kind of reminds me of—" He paused. "Wait… Hiyori? That name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before…?"
Ada's gaze remained on the girl. The firelight caught the sadness in her eyes. "You probably heard it once — long ago, from Oden."
Shanks blinked, the name hitting him like a punch to the chest. "Oden? As in Kozuki Oden?"
Ada nodded silently.
Shanks sat up straight, his playful grin gone. "Oden's daughter?"
"Yes." Ada's voice was quiet, but certain. "She is the daughter of Kozuki Oden and Toki of Wano."
Shanks stared at her, unblinking. "You mean the Oden? Roger's Oden? Our Oden?"
Ada looked up at the stars, her voice steady but soft. "The very same."
For a moment, all Shanks could hear was the whisper of the waves. His chest tightened — memories rushing back like the tide.
Oden's booming laughter on the Oro Jackson. His impossible appetite. His wild dances on the deck when the sea was calm. The way he stood beside Roger as if he'd been born to chase the sun.
That man was alive — larger than life itself.
Shanks swallowed hard. "He's… he's alive, then?"
Ada didn't answer.
The silence stretched, heavy and unbearable.
"…Ada?" he asked, though he already knew.
Her eyes glimmered faintly with firelight. "He's gone, Shanks."
The bottle slipped from Shanks' fingers, spilling into the sand.
He didn't say anything for a long time. The crackle of the fire filled the space between the unspoken.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low — the quiet kind that comes from disbelief. "How?"
Ada's gaze didn't waver. "Kaido and Orochi. They turned Wano into a prison. Oden fought to the end — for his people, for his family — but they executed him. Burned him alive in a pot of oil."
Shanks froze, his blood running cold. "…Oil?"
Ada nodded. "He kept his retainers alive by holding them above the flames. Carried them on his shoulders until the very end."
Shanks' jaw clenched, his knuckles white. The firelight made his eyes gleam with anger he rarely showed. "That bastard Kaido…"
Ada looked at him gently. "He died smiling, Shanks. Just like Roger."
That made him stop.
He looked up, eyes glassy, as memories of the Pirate King — the man who had laughed before his execution — flashed through his mind. "Of course he did," Shanks murmured bitterly. "He was too proud to die any other way."
Ada nodded. "Wano mourned him in silence. The world outside barely noticed."
Shanks shook his head, still trying to process it. "When I last saw him, he said he'd open Wano's borders himself… he made it sound like destiny." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And we just sailed away."
Ada reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We were all chasing different storms back then. No one could've stopped that tide."
The Red-Haired captain smiled faintly, adjusting his coat. "Then I'll drink to Oden tonight. And to the world he left behind."
Ada's voice was soft. "And I'll drink to the ones still brave enough to chase it."
As the sun dipped low, painting the sea red, Ada and Shanks stood at the edge of the water.
"Will you tell him?" Shanks asked.
Ada shook her head. "Not yet. The sea will tell him when he's ready."
Shanks stood, brushing sand from his coat. "You know, I wasn't sure what I'd find here. But I'm glad I came."
Ada looked up at him. "You always were too curious for your own good."
He grinned. "Maybe. But it led me to an interesting truth."
They watched the waves in silence for a moment.
Shanks frowned. "You think he'll make it? The boy?"
She looked at him, her crimson eyes glimmering. "He'll do more than make it. He'll finish what we started."
There was no arrogance in her tone — only certainty, like a prophecy spoken by the waves themselves.
Shanks smiled slowly. "Then I'll keep an eye on him… until he's ready."
Ada smirked faintly. "Don't go soft on him."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Shanks said.
Then Ada looked at him with a rare, gentle expression. "Thank you, Shanks. For saving him."
Shanks blinked — then realized she somehow knew.
"The sea tells me things," Ada said quietly. "And the sea remembered that day."
He rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly grinning. "Guess it talks to you more than it does to me."
Ada chuckled softly. "It always has."
They stood there for a while, two legends staring at the same horizon — one seeing the past, the other the future.
The wind rose, carrying the sound of laughter from their crews behind them. The air was no longer tense — it was warm, alive, full of stories yet to be told.
Ada looked toward the fading sun. "The sea's changing again. I can feel it."
Shanks nodded. "Then it's about time."
He turned, giving one last grin. "Next time we meet, I'll bring sake. You bring the storm."
Ada laughed softly. "Deal."
The Red Force set sail again that evening, its crimson sails glowing against the twilight.
As the ship vanished into the mist, Ada stood alone at the edge of the shore, the wind tugging at her coat.
"Luffy…" she whispered, the faintest smile on her lips. "The sea's waiting for you."
And somewhere, far across the world, a boy in the East Blue was shouting his dream to the sky — the dream to be free.
The will of D carried on.