One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 80 Biting a Bear!

"Woo-mi-woo-mi!"

The little devil bear sat obediently on Mihua's back, gazing at the starry sky. Its dark eyes sparkled, as if the stars had fallen into its eyes. Its chubby little paws kept reaching towards the sky, making soft "woo-woo-woo" sounds, as if it wanted to pluck the stars from the night sky.

How can you catch a star? The star is too far away. Even though he understood this, the little devil bear still felt wronged. Tears of grievance filled his beautiful, black gem-like eyes. Moko smiled slightly and stretched out her hand in front of the little devil bear.

The little devil bear stared blankly at its empty palm, looked at Moko for a while, and then placed its chubby paws in Moko's palm. Seeing how cute the little devil bear was, Moko couldn't help but chuckle. She laughed for a while before speaking softly.

"Ella wants stars?"

"Woo-mi".

Ella is the name Moko gave to the little devil bear, and the little guy accepted it very happily. Whenever Moko calls this name, Ella always responds happily, but now, perhaps because she hasn't caught a star, her reply sounds quite disappointed.

Moko gazed tenderly at Ella, her eyes, bathed in moonlight, silent yet captivating. As the gentle sea breeze blew by, the white orb that appeared in Moko's palm was blown into the sky, exploding like a dazzling display. The white orb transformed into countless tiny, glittering specks of light that drifted down, gently swirling around her. Just by looking at their shimmering appearance, they truly resembled stars in the sky.

A glimmer of light appeared in Ella's eyes. She flapped her wings and pounced on a star. Thinking she had caught a star, Ella jumped and danced with excitement, radiating joy. She stared at the star in her claws for a long time before finally putting it in her mouth. Perhaps it was sweet, because Ella smacked her lips and flew back into the air to catch more stars.

Originally, Mihua, who had been nestled in the backpack, was also attracted by the sparkling stars and jumped around chasing after them with Ella, which was incredibly cute.

(Mihua: Fragrant honey cake, I love it o(*////▽////*)

Ella: Stars, stars, Ella's stars, woof woof (???)!

Moko: (灬′ ? `灬) So cute——)

"Ooh?"

"What's wrong, Tuanzi?"

Hearing Tuanzi's questioning voice, Moko lazily sat up, her hair flowing gently down to her shoulders like a waterfall, bathed in moonlight and surrounded by starlight, making her indescribably beautiful.

"Ooh!"

Perhaps because she was getting closer, Moko could see what excited Tuanzi—no, it should be said that it was a person, a child who didn't look very big, floating on the sea, and still had a life force. Moko frowned and patted Tuanzi beneath her.

"Tuanzi, hurry over there."

"Ooh!"

Perhaps they encountered a storm at sea, because the boy had already fainted. He was only floating on the surface of the sea with the help of a small piece of driftwood, so that he wouldn't sink to the bottom of the sea. Moko reached out and pulled the boy, who had already begun to lose his temperature, onto Tuanzi's back. The gentle healing power flowed into the unconscious boy's body through her hand until the boy's originally pale face regained some color. Only then did Moko stop.

This was a very handsome young man with neat and tidy short emerald green hair. Although he was still young, there was already a bit of sharpness in his eyes and brows. However, because of his coma, this sharpness had softened considerably.

The boy was soaked to the bone, and there was no island nearby where he could land. If he continued to wear his wet clothes, he would definitely catch a cold. Moko took out the clothes she had packed for the three little ones in her backpack. The boy's build was similar to Ace's, so he could be a good replacement.

After helping the boy change his clothes, Moko took out a blanket and covered him with it. She checked the boy's forehead and found no signs of fever. Still not reassured, Moko injected some healing energy into the boy.

"Mihua, come over and sleep next to him."

Moko wasn't too cold because of her powerful aura, but the boy in front of her was prone to hypothermia at sea without a fire. Before they found an island to settle on, Mika was a natural hand warmer.

"Pfft!"

Mihua didn't refuse. Her fluffy body snuggled into the blanket and lay down next to the boy. Perhaps because his body temperature was gradually returning to normal, and because he had been frightened by the storm at sea, the boy murmured in a daze, his brows furrowed deeply, as if he had entered a nightmare.

Moko lowered her eyes and gently stroked the boy's head, softly humming the lullaby she used to lull Ace and Luffy to sleep. Her voice was melodious and gentle, like a light feather drifting far away on the sea breeze, yet also like a warm stone falling into the heart, heavy yet warm.

A song? Has he arrived in heaven? If he has, he must apologize to her properly; he hasn't fulfilled the wish he promised her…

In a daze, the boy half-opened his eyes. Moko was like a goddess in the moon. Her soft and ethereal singing voice dispelled the heavy darkness and awakened the huge silver moon and the starry sky. The boy felt as if he had fallen into an extremely long yet wonderful dream, making it hard to leave and wake up.

As the gentle singing played, the boy fell into a deep sleep once again. Ella, with her head resting on her chubby bear paws, nestled beside the boy's head and, to Moko's lullaby, embraced the glittering starlight, slowly drifted off to sleep as well.

"Um--"

After an unknown amount of time, the boy propped himself up, rubbing his forehead. He looked around and saw sunlight streaming into the room through the wooden window. The white gauze curtains fluttered in the breeze, and a faint, unidentified floral scent filled the air. On the bedside table were his clean, dried clothes and his three longswords.

The boy was stunned for a long time until a warm breeze blew by and a slight itch appeared on his face. Only then did he come back to his senses and realize that this was not his own boat. He remembered that he seemed to have encountered a storm, and then the boat was smashed by a huge wave, and then he fell into the sea. And then, and then... tsk, he couldn't remember. So, had he been rescued?

"Dong dong dong."

A knock sounded at the door, and the boy quickly got up, grabbed the sword from the bedside table, held it protectively in front of him, and looked warily toward the door.

"Are you awake? I'm coming in."

As the sound faded, Moko pushed open the door and entered. Seeing that the boy had already gotten up, she smiled gently and placed the breakfast she was carrying on the table, completely unconcerned that the boy was still holding a sword.

"You'll catch a cold if you don't wear shoes."

Moko calmly placed the food items on the tray onto the table one by one, speaking softly without turning her head.

Perhaps sensing that Moko meant no harm, the boy shifted his gaze and looked down to find that he hadn't put on shoes because he was in a hurry. There was a pair of very comfortable-looking plush slippers placed next to the bed.

"Ummy?"

Ella appeared next to the boy's head without him noticing, which startled the boy who was looking at shoes. He jumped back a long way, but his leg got caught on the edge of the bed, and he fell down onto the bed. The sword in his hand flew high into the air, spinning a few times before being caught steadily by Moko, who had gotten up at some point.

"Phew—" Moko breathed a sigh of relief and gently flicked Ella's forehead with her finger. "Ella, you can't suddenly appear and scare people, it's dangerous."

"Woo-mi~"

Ella lowered her head in grievance, and the bear hid in Mihua's fluffy fur to reflect on itself. Mihua moved its head, then stretched out its paws to pull Ella out of the fur and hugged her, and then fell asleep again with Ella in the warm sunshine.

"Ella didn't do it on purpose, are you alright?"

"No, no..."

Before the boy could finish answering, he looked at Moko who had suddenly moved closer. The boy's body instantly stiffened. Moko placed her hand on the boy's forehead, and the warmth of her palm was transferred to his forehead. Because they were so close, the boy could smell a faint jasmine fragrance. The boy seemed to have never been so close to a girl before, and in an instant, a blush crept up his face.

"Hmm, you don't have a fever. You must be hungry. Get up and eat first."

"Goo~"

His stomach growled at just the right moment, and the boy's face turned even redder. He seemed to be ripe all over. When he looked into Moko's smiling eyes, he pursed his lips, stood up straight, and bowed to Moko.

"Um, thank you for saving me. I... I will repay you."

Because he hadn't heard Moko's response for a long time, the boy nervously twisted the hem of his clothes. Then he heard Moko's soft laughter. The boy quietly raised his head and saw Moko squatting down in front of him.

"What's your name?"

"Zoro, Roronoa Zoro."

"Zoro wants to repay me?"

"Ok!"

"Then, Zoro, just eat well and take good care of yourself; that will be your way of repaying me."

"Ugh?"

Before Zoro could react, Moko gently rubbed his fuzzy little head, a gentle smile on her face.

Breakfast was plentiful. Zoro, who had been unconscious for a long time and hadn't eaten, was starving. He picked up a small steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth, not wanting to spit it out even though it was too hot. Moko poured a glass of warm water and pushed it to Zoro's side, watching him eat heartily with a gentle smile.

Ella sat next to Moko, happily eating a piece of milk cake. Her earlier gloom had long since disappeared under the comforting influence of the delicious food.

Because they needed to find an island where Zoro could rest, Moko had Yui change their course slightly and find the nearest island to stop on. The island had only a small town, which was just right for them to stop and rest. Moko had Yui hide in the bay while she took Zoro and Mikaela ashore.

"So Zoro came out to train?"

"Yes, I want to become the world's greatest swordsman!"

"The world's greatest swordsman, what a wonderful dream! Zoro will definitely succeed."

"Yes, I will definitely become the world's greatest swordsman, so, sister, I will definitely repay you!"

"But Zoro has already repaid you; he ate breakfast properly." Moko smiled gently, and it seemed that she really wasn't joking about repaying him.

"Sister, I'm serious."

Zoro was getting anxious, feeling that Moko was just brushing him off because he was a child, but he couldn't find any evidence.

"Ok, I know."

Moko placed Ella in Zoro's arms, picked up the cleaned-up plate, and walked out the door, leaving only a lingering echo of her words.

"Zoro, you play with Ella for a while, I'm going downstairs to return the cutlery."

……

Moko left, and a long silence followed. Zoro and Ella stared at each other, an awkward atmosphere filling the air. Nobody had ever taught him how to play with a bear!

Zoro forced himself to calm down, and before he could even open his mouth to say anything, he saw Isla crying!

Yes, she cried. Ella held up half a piece of unfinished milk cake to Zoro, as if to say, "If you've eaten the milk cake, don't eat this!" Zoro's forehead twitched. Did he really look like someone who was about to eat a bear?! And why would a bear cry?!

(Ella: Waaaaah, Master, someone's going to eat the bear!!! (???^???)

Zoro: ...Don't spread rumors, I don't eat bears, hey!!!

Moko: What other snacks should I bring back? ( °u° ) ）