Chapter 49 — The Night Under the Mangrove
Hancock smiled as she looked at the two of them sitting beneath the night sky. After a long silence, the younger Hancock finally asked, "What is love? I don't know that."
Kai smiled sheepishly and scratched his head. "Sorry about that." He stood up and stretched his arms. "I got a little carried away by my feelings. Thanks for listening, though. I appreciate it, really."
Hancock was a little confused, but looking at Kai, who seemed like he didn't want to continue, she decided not to talk about it. Instead, she looked at him with a hint of curiosity. "So, about you saying you know the future… Was that true?"
She looked at him with her eyes wide open, searching for any hint of a lie. Kai looked at her, sighed, and sat down next to her. 'Well, since the cat is already out of the bag, there's no point in hiding it. Hancock isn't the type to go around telling others her friend's secrets. And having someone who knows my secret isn't the end of the world.' Kai thought with a small sigh.
"Well, you gotta promise you won't talk about this with anyone else." Kai looked at her seriously. Hancock, seeing Kai's serious expression, gulped. "I-I promise. I won't talk about this with anyone." She replied with an equally serious expression.
"You are the person who saved me and my sisters. There is no way I will do something like sharing your secret with someone else." Hancock looked at Kai earnestly.
"Well, even if you do snitch, no one will believe you anyway." Kai said with a casual shrug. Though his words made perfect sense, for some reason, Hancock felt like Kai was making fun of her.
Kai smiled. "I didn't say, 'I can see the future.' I said, 'I know the future.' Those are completely different things." Kai explained as Hancock looked at him in confusion.
"If you can't see the future, then how do you know the future?" Hancock asked, looking curiously at Kai.
"You see, the world we live in is very complex." Kai said as he drew a line on the ground with his finger. "Every action and decision made by every person shapes the timeline we live in." Kai continued, looking at Hancock, who was paying attention, though she still didn't completely understand.
Kai smiled. "Just think of today." He said as he drew a branch extending from the same line.
"If I had arrived late or if I had failed to save you…" Kai paused and looked at her. Hancock's face turned pale at the thought.
"Then we wouldn't be having this chat. This timeline might never have existed." Kai drew another branch. "Or think about what would have happened if I had saved you, but you were captured again? Or if you hadn't even been captured in the first place?"
"That's why the future is never fixed. What I know is just a timeline where I don't exist. In that timeline, many things happened differently without my existence." Kai continued as he and Hancock sat beneath the mangrove tree. He explained branching timelines and alternate universes to her.
Hancock didn't understand most of it, but she gained a basic understanding. She looked at Kai hesitantly. "Can—can you tell me about the version of me from the future you know? What was I like? What happened to me and my sisters without you?" Hancock asked.
A smile appeared on Kai's face. "Boa Hancock! 'THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!' 'THE PIRATE EMPRESS!' One of the strongest female pirates on the sea! The Empress of the Kuja—" Kai began dramatically, exaggerating as he started telling Hancock her story.
Hancock's expression kept changing as she listened to Kai's exaggerations. Sometimes her face flushed with embarrassment, while at other times, she stared at him speechlessly, finding it hard to believe what he was saying.
Kai shamelessly made a few things up just to tease her. After getting the expressions he wanted, he finally told her the truth. Both sat beneath the mangrove tree, the moonlight shining down on them as a gentle wind blew past.
As they talked and teased each other, Hancock gradually loosened up and stopped thinking about everything that had happened. She laughed, blushed, and argued back at Kai. Before long, she was laughing like a normal girl.
Kai was also engrossed in telling her about herself and teasing her. The Kai who was always thinking about the future seemed to have disappeared. He laughed as he watched the embarrassed Hancock, not thinking anything was wrong. Yet, unbeknownst to him, the older, more mature Kai was beginning to act like a child.
His mind had been adapting to his body for a long time. Kai didn't notice anything wrong with himself because there was nothing wrong with him. He was simply growing and adapting to his new environment.
Humans are very adaptable creatures. They keep growing and changing with time. It was human nature, after all. At some unknown point, Kai had accepted his new reality and moved on. The person who had been brought into this world was still there, but he was now also a completely new person at the same time.
As the sun began to rise, Hancock and Kai were already fast asleep after their long night together. The gentle morning breeze rustled the mangrove leaves with a soft whoosh, while the first rays of sunlight slipped through the branches.
Hancock looked at the sleeping Kai with a smile. "He looked so cute back then! Will he be as cute as before?" she muttered as she gazed at him.
The familiar warmth spread through Hancock's body.
"Hmmm, is it time already?" she muttered with a sigh and looked at the sleeping Kai.
"I really wanna come and see you, Kai." She murmured as she smiled tenderly at him.
Meanwhile, Sonia arrived with Gloriosa.
"Damn that girl! Why does she have to make everyone so worried?" Gloriosa complained as she hurried forward with her short legs.
Inside the Empress's chamber, Hancock's body began to cool down as the fever subsided. The Seraph Contract suppressed the weakness in Hancock's body, allowing her condition to stabilize as she began to awaken from her dream.
Far away from Amazon Lily, in the New World, Kai had no idea that a girl was waiting so desperately for him.
[ Note - This Chapter was a little too rushed as you guys can see. 😅🥲
I just wanted to give a small flash back but damn, I suck at it. So sorry about the Messy chapter.
BTW I stoped using AI. This is completely Orignal Chapter with No AI for grammar mistakes.
So if you find any grammar mistakes tell me i will correct them.
Thanks for all the support guys. 💖💝]