Chapter Text
Without his scarf, the evening breeze was cool enough to prickle Katakuri’s skin with goosebumps. From his seat, he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the garden table. He watched you linger in the doorway, tracing your form with his eyes. Your posture was alert, wings tucked tight against your back, but your eyes were heavy with sleep. In the doorway, you paused to blow him a kiss. He pretended to catch it. As was so common when he was in your presence, he couldn’t stop the smile curving on his lips. God, he loved you.
You disappeared inside; he would join you soon, enjoying the crisp air for a few minutes longer. The sound of murmured words came from just inside the doorway. Aokiji exited. With his foresight relaxed around you, Katakuri felt a mild surprise when he saw a bottle of rum and two glasses in Aokiji’s hands.
Katakuri reflexively reached to pull his scarf up, remembering he had foregone it when he grazed the bare skin of his collarbone. He hadn’t been wearing it alone or with you anymore, but he craved the heavy comfort it provided around others.
The gravel path crunched with Aokiji’s footsteps. “Have a drink with me,” he said.
Katakuri decided he could make an exception for someone you loved so dearly. Besides, it wasn’t the first time Aokiji had seen him without a scarf.
Katakuri gestured towards the empty chair beside him. “Please.”
Aokiji set the items down on the table with a soft thud before taking a seat. Katakuri thought Aokiji looked much more at ease in civilian clothing than those pristine, starched Marine uniforms.
“Nice night out,” said Aokiji.
Katakuri nodded in response.
It had been a week since Aokiji joined the crew. Katakuri knew neither himself nor Aokiji were jumpy by nature, but each had been wary of the other in the time since. Katakuri didn’t trust Aokiji, but he trusted you and you trusted Aokiji. As such, Katakuri had relaxed his foresight considerably around the ex-Marine. Rather than a full fledged vision, Katakuri would sense imminent danger only as a prickle of the hairs on the back of his neck.
Katakuri filled both glasses, sliding one towards Aokiji.
Aokiji took the glass and held it up towards Katakuri. “Cheers.”
The glasses made a light clinking sound as they bumped each other. The alcohol burned Katakuri’s throat, but he preferred it to the overly sweet champagne that his home was famous for.
“So,” Katakuri said. “How are your accommodations?”
Aokiji chuckled. “Everything is fine, thank you.”
“Good,” said Katakuri.
A silence settled over them. Some of Katakuri’s siblings could talk circles around anyone, but he had never been very good at this sort of thing.
Aokiji cleared his throat. “So how did you get Big Mom to agree to this?”
Katakuri drummed the table with his fingertips. He absolutely did not want to tell Aokiji about how Mama howled with laughter at his proposition before finally agreeing. “There are a few conditions,” he said. “Mama was interested in you already.”
Aokiji fixed Katakuri with a steely glare. “Do those conditions concern a little birdie?” He tilted his head towards the door you had entered a few minutes prior.
Katakuri shook his head. “No. Only us.”
Aokiji visibly relaxed. “Good.”
Katakuri nodded. Another weighty silence blanketed them. Katakuri watched Aokiji swirl the drink in his glass.
“I wanted to thank you,” Aokiji said. “For taking care of her.”
Katakuri nodded. “It was my duty,” he said.
Aokiji sighed, running a hand over his hair. “And I wanted to apologize to you.”
That had Katakuri’s brow rising. Perhaps Aokiji should be apologizing to you, but not to him. Aokiji was the reason Katakuri had you. “For what?”
“Jumping to conclusions, I suppose,” Aokiji said, taking another sip of his drink. “Among other things.”
Katakuri studied Aokiji closely. “You were a Marine,” he said. “I understand your concern.”
“It’s just,” Aokiji paused and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “I’m shit at this.”
Katakuri felt his lip twitch in a small smile as he leaned over to top off Aokiji’s glass and then his own. “Perhaps this will help.”
“Thanks,” Aokiji chuckled.
They both tossed back the drinks. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to relax.
“You were saying?” Katakuri asked.
Aokiji leaned back further in the chair, the few extra inches of distance perhaps affording him more courage to admit his perceived wrongs. “I’m sorry for assuming you were a monster.”
Katakuri hummed in acknowledgement. “I didn’t get my bounty through good deeds,” he said. “Better to overestimate than underestimate an enemy.”
Aokiji offered a wry smile. “You’ve got a head for strategy.”
Katakuri poured them both another drink. “Perhaps.”
“As I would expect from your position.” Aokiji took another sip of his drink. “What’s your goal in life, Katakuri?”
Katakuri watched Aokiji over the rim of his glass. “Protecting my family.”
Aokiji’s lips curled in a smile. It was genuine, Katakuri noticed, and it made Aokiji look years younger.
“That’s an honest answer,” Aokiji said.
“Of course,” said Katakuri. “I wouldn’t lie.”
Aokiji closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. The smile still curved on his lips, but it seemed to reflect contentment rather than amusement. “Of course not,” Aokiji said. “You don’t seem like the type.”
“And what’s your purpose?” Katakuri asked.
Aokiji cracked an eye open to look at Katakuri. “The freedom to choose my own duty.”
Katakuri took another sip, licking the rum off his lips. “Being here is your duty?”
Aokiji inclined his head towards the doorway again. “Watching out for her is my duty,” he said, his eyes gaining a far off look. “It’s been too long since my duty brought me happiness.”
“I suppose we can share that duty,” Katakuri mused.
Aokiji leaned forward again, holding his drink. “I suppose we can.”
Another silence settled over them, but this time it was comfortable. Katakuri felt at ease knowing his and Aokiji’s motivations lined up. From the relaxed posture of his shoulders, Aokiji felt it too.
“Tell me how you infiltrated,” Katakuri said, resting his forearms on the table.
Aokiji smiled, taking another sip before holding it up towards Katakuri. “Watch closely.”
Katakuri leaned closer. Aokiji tapped the side of the glass with his index finger, a sheen of frost glistening under his fingers. Within the glass, the rum crackled until an ice cube formed, gently clinking against the walls of the glass.
“Ice floats.” Aokiji’s breath puffed white, as if the air immediately surrounding him was suddenly much colder.
Katakuri hummed in acknowledgement. “You floated on ice through a Yonko’s territory until you came to the correct island?”
Aokiji chuckled. “I assumed you had some sort of security system, and that small enough debris wouldn’t set it off,” he said. “I ferried myself and a few other Marines through the islands while the heavy hitters were distracted up at the northern islands.”
Katakuri thought of the scattered Marines that had been found wandering the island with Aokiji. He would have to release them. “I see,” he said. “I assume you didn’t anticipate how quickly we could get around with our mirror devil fruit user?”
“It was a gamble,” Aokiji smiled. “But now I know she’s friends with my protégé.”
Katakuri nodded, feeling a smile tug at his cheeks at the thought of you. “Aokiji, let’s discuss the terms of your stay.”
“Are you sure I can’t look yet? I’m getting flashbacks to the time you took me cliff diving.”
The blindfold was soft against your skin. No matter how hard you strained, it was opaque.
Katakuri chuckled from somewhere beside you. “I never took you cliff diving.”
You squeezed Katakuri’s hand, his fingers interlocked with yours as he led you.
“I’m sure you were thinking about it last time,” you said. “An adrenaline junkie like you, always itching for the next time you can yell at the top of your lungs.”
That drew a full bodied laugh from Katakuri. You smiled, taking pride in the fact that you were among the select few that could elicit that reaction.
“Have patience,” Katakuri said. “We’re close.”
Beneath your shoes, you could feel a path of smooth, round stones. Katakuri had refused to tell you a single detail about this surprise all week. When you had caught Aokiji looking at you knowingly and pressed him on it, he had refused to tell you anything either. It was incredible luck that you had ended up having two people as stubborn as the both of them in your life. Katakuri had even made you spin around after putting on the blindfold to lose your sense of direction.
Katakuri squeezed your hand, the sound of his footsteps halting. “We’re here.”
You fluttered your wings in anticipation. “Can I take off the blindfold?”
Katakuri grunted and you felt him undo the knot himself. When the cloth fell from your eyes, there was a very quaint cottage nestled in a copse of trees in front of you. A path meandered through a small garden to an inviting looking porch, which wrapped around the side of the building. The door was red, climbing ivy splayed over the archway.
“How cute,” you breathed. “Who are we visiting? We should have brought something.”
Katakuri said nothing, handing you an envelope. His expression was carefully blank in the way that you knew meant he was hiding something.
“What’s this?” you asked. “A cliff diving pamphlet?”
Katakuri’s facade broke momentarily, his lips twitching in a smile briefly before he regained control of his features. “Open it.”
The envelope was crisp, heavy, and starkly white. From the outside, you could feel something solid within. The paper rustled in your hands as you tore open the seam with your index finger.
There was a key inside the envelope. It was engraved with swirling patterns and lacquered in gold.
You held it up and watched the afternoon sun light up the ridges, admiring the craftsmanship. You raised an eyebrow. “Katakuri, what’s this for?”
When you looked back at Katakuri, he was on one knee.
You dropped the key.
Katakuri’s eyes were earnest as he reached for your hand. “I’ve done this all backwards.”
The sun glinted off of both of your wedding bands, the warmth of his hand all encompassing.
Words escaped you.
He said your name with reverence, pressing a kiss to your knuckles. “Will you allow me to stay by your side and cherish you for the rest of your lives?”
The words came back all at once.
“Yes, yes, a million times, yes,” you said, tears streaming down your face.
You fell to your knees too and he held you there on the ground, wiping your tears away and pulling you close to kiss you deeply.
He pulled away, his lips pulled back to reveal those fangs you loved. “When I’m with you, I can’t stop smiling.” he said, the joy evident in his voice.
You laughed and buried your face into his neck, completely content to breathe in his sweet cinnamon scent in the warm afternoon sun for all eternity. “I love you.”
“My angel.“ He held you tighter. “I love you, too.”
You felt him lean over to reach beside you in the grass. “Let’s go inside.”
He held up the key you had dropped.
You nodded. “So whose house do we have a key to?”
Katakuri helped you up from the ground. “It’s ours.”
You stared at him in disbelief.
He squeezed your hand before letting go. “Let me show you.”
His hand was warm on your back as he led you through the winding garden path. Instead of entering the front door, he led you across the porch to the back of the house. There in the backyard were the swaying blossoms of the flower field where you had once upon a time made Katakuri a flower crown. They stretched off into the distance where the ancient ginkgo tree stood, haloed in a swathe of golden leaves.
You looked up at him, hardly daring to believe it. “This is ours?”
He nodded. His eyes crinkled with that smile you loved. “I had it fixed up for us,” he said.
You didn’t miss the subtle note of pride in his voice.
“But don’t you have duties across the island?” you asked.
“I vouched for Aokiji to Mama,” he said. “My end of the bargain is to keep watch over Aokiji until he is deemed to no longer be a threat.”
Your eyes widened. “You vouched for him? To Big Mom?”
Katakuri nodded. “I did.” He inclined his head towards a thicket of trees and you saw another house, slightly smaller and nearly hidden by the foliage.
You smiled and stood on your tiptoes, whispering your words against Katakuri’s lips. “My love, you’ve given me everything I could have ever wanted. Thank you.”
He wrapped his arms around your hips, lifting you a few inches off the ground. “I would move mountains for you, my angel.”
With the way he kissed you, you didn’t doubt him for a second.
His sweetness lingered on your tongue when you pulled back from the kiss. “Give me a tour?”
He placed one more kiss on your lips before setting you down. “Gladly.”
He threaded his fingers through yours, plucking the key from his pocket with his other hand. The sound of your footsteps was hollow on the wood, the soft click of the key in the lock heralding a new beginning.
The house smelled like buttercream and something floral. It was small enough to be cozy, but the high ceilings made it feel airy and spacious. The house was fully furnished, Katakuri had had a hand in the design if the dark furniture was any indication. However, it was balanced by the white walls and colorful rugs. Front and center in the living room was a fireplace along with two bay windows facing the garden. You could imagine curling up by the fireplace with a book once the weather got colder. The kitchen was modern and spacious and the bedroom was… well you would have to test it out later for sure.
You squeezed Katakuri’s hand. “I love it,” you murmured. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.” Despite his words, he was radiating joy, clearly very pleased that you liked it.
You heard rustling from behind you and turned just in time to see Brulee stepping through a full length mirror into the kitchen.
In her arms was something in a dish, steam still rising from the top. “Are we too early?” she asked.
“No,” Katakuri said. “Come in.”
You were shocked to see Aokiji come through the mirror after Brulee, another dish in his arms.
Aokiji shot you a smile. “Surprise.”
You couldn’t contain the warmth in your chest, tears spilling down your cheeks. Katakuri’s warm hands enveloped both of your cheeks.
“Do you need more time?” he asked.
You shook your head, wiping tears away with the back of your arm. “No, no,” you laughed. “I’m just so happy.”
Having set down whatever she was carrying on the counter, Brulee pulled you into a bear hug. “We’re so happy to have you here,” she said, her own tone colored with emotion.
Your smile lasted long after your cheeks began to hurt.