Chapter Text
They watch Sanji twirling around Nami and Robin, sending air kisses and just being his usual self. He has a pink heart in place of his visible eye, and his hands are occupied with two yellowish cocktails; both curvy glasses are decorated with pineapple slices cut into pretty stars. Obviously, they are made for the beautiful ladies, though one certain captain has already voiced his displeasure with the absence of pineapples in his not-so-curvy glass.
Bella sips her chocolate milkshake and begins.
"I believe that the sun and the moon will swap places if you're ever caught up acting like uncle Sanji," she lets out a heavy sigh and turns her head to the boy sitting next to her. "Wouldn’t it be such a unique sight to observe?"
Her black eyes catch a glimpse of the sun in his sole gold earring.
Ricci answers without glancing up.
"I do appreciate women, but my self-control is simply better than this," he says firmly.
"Yeah… Last month you tried to fight a poor shop consultant because she said that uncle Zoro looked like a Christmas tree," the girl chuckles and adds: "And she wasn't even saying that to us."
"Bella."
"Weren't we at the next shop at that moment?"
"Bella."
"You do have a good hearing, that's for sure," she does another sip. "But I can't say this about your self-restraint."
Richard mutters some curses under his nose — to which Bella makes a face — and finally puts his katana away. He then leans onto the bench the both of them occupied half an hour ago.
"That's why I don't like you."
Bella only smiles — with the smile of a king. The king in question is currently trying to sneak some food from the kitchen.
"You do like me," she says very confidently.
And this is true. It's hard not to fall in love with her curly red locks, her soft tone of voice, and the way she dances to alabastanian music in those twirly long clothing and shiny gold jewellery. And the way she moves on the battlefield…
It's so hard to grab the freedom by its flamy red tail.
Richard shakes his head and combs his blond hair back with one hand.
"Whatever. What exactly do you want from me?" Ricci looks straight into her eyes.
"What makes you think so?" and now Bella is avoiding his gaze, placing her full attention on his father again. Sanji is desperately trying to fight off the captain in the battle for the snacks, and the winner is yet to be decided.
The thing is, Bella may be— No, she is indeed so utterly beautiful she can easily replace the sun on the All Blue. But she is also weird, something really unavoidable given the lineage of hers. A stunning blend of genetics and surrounding her people — and Nami-san complains about this on a daily basis.
Thus, Bella is known to do things. For example, she likes using analogies and old forgotten sayings. Then, sometimes she speaks in dead languages she learned from Robin-san's dusty books. Just for fun, and because standard words are not interesting enough to pronounce.
One of her favourite habits is to talk around things. So, if Bella wants to know something, she doesn’t ask. No. Bella chooses a topic that is somehow related to the one she really wants to learn about, and then starts to lead you towards it, bit by bit. It’s like a very formal dance where you have to do millions of moves by yourself before even thinking about walking up to your respective partner.
It’s interesting how Luffy-san is sometimes so blunt with his words, yet Bella does the exact opposite. And she is the one who’s taken after him the most, by the way.
Fortunately, Richard knows her for as long as she exists in this world, so it's easy for him to understand when Bella chooses the longest road there is — like now.
Gods, why is she like this.
He then looks again at his captain, who is seemingly winning the snacks.
"Cut the crap, just ask."
"Okay, okay," Bella returns her intense gaze to him and asks really quietly: "You’ve said that you appreciate women, right?" Richard nods. "Good, good. But… Do you like women? Like, not someone specific but overall. Women," her tanned hands draw a big wide circle in the hot summer air, her black eyes shine with genuine curiosity, her curly locks make a halo around her head.
Two or maybe three silent seconds pass before he gets back and answers.
"I do?" the half-answer is equally quiet because what kind of question was it?
"What, are you not sure?" she scrunches her nose in a very cute way. This is something Nami-san does from time to time, and Bella picks up after her dear mother very quickly.
"I’m sure," Richard clarifies and waits for her further explanation. There could be none, to be honest. Bella can very well stand up and go bother someone else, not that people on the ship would reject her company. She is nice to be around — most of the time.
"But your parents are gay, so I thought..." most of the time doesn’t mean all the time, by the way.
"First of all, that is a very rude thing to say," he cuts her quickly, and Bella immediately apologises. She does it profoundly and sincerely. Yes, Bella likes riddles and complicated sentences, but when the will to know something is strong, she simply forgets about the brain-to-mouth filter. It’s okay, though; Bella rarely means harm to others in any way possible. A kind child. Ricci softly smiles and then snickers: "Also, your parents aren't gay, and yet you are."
Bella blushes — a really rare sight, shame he doesn't have a camera somewhere nearby — but quickly retards:
"It’s not that easy. I believe mom is bi, and papa is…" they automatically place their gazes on Luffy-san. The fight for the snacks is still going on. "Let’s say, he is just papa. So I'm not the best example here. But you—"
"Not again, Bella. I like women, that's all."
"And you don't want to swing the other way?" she asks again in a tiny voice. "Not even a little push from the back?"
When Richard very confidently shakes his head, Bella continues nonetheless:
"I can help!” she quickly takes his hands in hers, squeezes them tightly and proceeds to talk very fast: "You see, I have a friend in Alabasta, and I think he likes you. And we will be there in a couple of days, so I thought maybe you would consider going on a date? He is very pretty! And nice! I think you two can—"
"Gods, I hate you."
"Papa, Ricci is being mean to me!"