Work Text:
“Mother, how did you meet father?”
Toki hummed, looking up from the kimono she was patching to look at her children. Both Momonosuke and Hiyori were kneeling by her side and gazing up at her with wide, curious eyes, waiting with bated breaths for Toki’s response.
Oh, how were they so adorable?
With a small chuckle, Toki closed her eyes, recalling the day she met her husband—a stark contrast to their children’s cuteness. “Well, it was quite curious.” Opening her eyes, she carefully put Oden’s kimono to the side before she turned back to her children, giving them her full attention.
“I was travelling the world alone, looking for my homeland, the Land of Wano. I got myself into a bad situation by making a foolish choice—”
“Mother, you’re not foolish!!” Momonosuke cried, clearly upset, Hiyori nodding along enthusiastically… even though Toki wasn’t sure the little girl truly understood what the word meant.
Toki couldn’t keep her laughter down as much as she tried. “Thank you, Momonosuke, Hiyori,” she said earnestly, reaching out to stroke the both of their cheeks before kissing their sweet little foreheads.
“Never say you’re foolish again. And if anyone else says that, I shall defeat them!” Momonosuke announced.
“That is the greatest assurance to me,” Toki said softly, smiling warmly at her son. “Shall we continue with the story?”
When the both of them nodded, Toki continued, “As I said, I found myself in the worst possible situation, backed into a corner on a strange island, surrounded by pirates. I was about to make a desperate escape when suddenly, from the sea, something emerged.
“It took me, as well as the pirates, by surprise. And none of us could identify what had just invaded us. It was clearly a living creature, reminiscent of a human but not truly. Quite simply, it was the ugliest creature I had ever seen to that day—to this day!”
“Did father save you from the creature?” Hiyori questioned innocently.
The corners of Toki’s mouth twitched. “Not exactly. Your father did save me that day… but not from the creature. Oden was the ugly, swollen creature.”
Both Momonosuke and Hiyori gasped dramatically.
“But father isn’t ugly!”
“He was in that moment,” Toki assured with amusement. “So very ugly. You see, your father had his own struggles before he found me. He was fighting the sea and the elements for far too long at that point. Yet, he sacrificed his dream to save me.”
A soft smile took over Toki’s face, warmth spreading through her chest. Oden didn’t even know her back then. He nearly lost so much simply because he felt someone desperately needed help…
“Father gave up a dream because of you, mother?” Momonosuke asked. It almost looked like there were tears in his eyes.
Toki shook her head. “Thankfully, he didn’t have to in the end. After he defeated all the enemies and took some rest, his swelling and ugliness went away and he became the Oden you two know. And then, the Whitebeard Pirates finally listened to your father’s wish and accepted him as one of them. And they allowed me to join them as well.”
Momonosuke gasped at the familiar name. “That’s where I was born, right?!”
“That’s right,” Toki agreed. “And then, Hiyori was born on the Roger Pirates’ ship. And I couldn’t be happier, or more grateful that the ugliest creature I’ve seen turned out to be the man I would love more than anything. Except you two.”
“We love you too, mother!!” both of her children cried, shuffling over to hug her.
That was when Oden walked in.
“Oh? What is this? Did something happen?” he asked, coming to press a kiss to Toki’s cheek, and to the temples of his son and daughter.
“I was just sharing a little story with them,” Toki explained, a sly smile on her lips—a smile that made Oden eye her suspiciously.
Before he could ask what she did, however, Hiyori called out, giggling, “Welcome home, ugly creature!”
“Hiyori, don’t call father that!” Momonosuke scolded, but it was clear he was holding back laughter of his own.
And truly, Toki as well had to quickly bite her cheek to not burst out laughing herself; it would be very unbecoming of the wife of a daimyo to laugh at her husband…
“What exactly have you been telling them, Toki?” Oden questioned, a deep crease between his eyebrows and an unhappy pout on his lips.
“Nothing important, my Lord,” Toki said, forcing her voice to stay level.
The look Oden gave her nearly broke her composure.
It took two weeks for Hiyori to stop calling her father ugly any chance she could.