The pure white Marine coat slipped quietly from her shoulders.
It fell softly to the floor
As Saint Roselith Seraphina stepped into the bath.
The emerald-green water rippled gently, disturbed only by her movement.
Warm.
Perfectly warm.
The temperature wrapped around her body like a gentle embrace, easing the tension she hadn't even realized she had been carrying.
"…Hancock still remembers…"
Her voice was soft.
Almost inaudible.
A faint smile appeared on her lips as she sank slightly deeper into the water.
The heat.
The stillness.
The familiarity.
It was all the same.
Just like before.
Back when they had lived together within the suffocating walls of Mary Geoise
Finding small, fleeting moments of comfort in each other's presence.
Steam rose slowly, forming a hazy veil that blurred the surroundings.
Droplets slid down smooth skin.
Time itself seemed to slow.
Then
A presence.
Seraphina didn't turn.
She didn't need to.
"Hancock… it's been a long time since we bathed together like this."
A quiet splash followed.
"Indeed…"
The voice came closer.
Lower.
Softer.
"We were still children back then."
Boa Hancock stepped into the water gracefully, her movements elegant even in something as simple as entering a bath.
She approached slowly
Until she sat beside Seraphina.
For a moment
Neither spoke.
Only the sound of water shifting between them remained.
Then
Seraphina's voice broke the silence again.
"…Do you hate that girl from back then?"
The question came quietly.
Carefully.
As if even asking it required courage.
Hancock blinked.
"…What do you mean?"
Seraphina hesitated.
Her fingers tightened slightly beneath the water.
"You hate the Celestial Dragons… don't you?"
There was no accusation in her tone.
Only
Fear.
"…Yes."
Hancock's answer came without hesitation.
"I hate them."
Her voice was calm.
Cold.
Memories flickered through her mind
Chains.
Pain.
Humiliation.
The scars she carried
Invisible.
But never gone.
Then
She turned her head.
Her gaze softened.
"But not you."
A simple sentence.
Yet it carried everything.
"You are not like them… Seraphina."
The tension in the air shifted.
Seraphina's shoulders, which had been subtly stiff
Relaxed.
Just slightly.
"…I see."
But even so
Her heart still pounded.
Because she knew.
She understood now, far more than she had as a child.
What it truly meant
To be a Celestial Dragon.
And what Hancock had suffered.
"…Have you been well?" Seraphina asked quietly.
It was a simple question.
But beneath it
Was seven years of distance.
Hancock leaned back slightly, resting her arms along the edge of the bath.
"I've been fine."
Her tone was casual.
Too casual.
"As you can see I rule this country now."
Her lips curved slightly.
"I am the Empress of Amazon Lily."
It sounded effortless.
But Seraphina didn't miss it.
That faint
Almost imperceptible heaviness beneath the words.
Because she knew Hancock.
Better than anyone.
Years ago, Amazon Lily had been untouchable.
Hidden within the Calm Belt, protected by nature itself.
But that had changed.
The Marines had adapted.
They had found ways to cross those waters.
And Amazon Lily
A nation of warriors.
A nation of pirates
Had become a target.
Hancock had no choice.
To protect her people
She had accepted the authority of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
A shield.
But also
A chain.
"…Are you happy?" Seraphina asked.
This time
There was no hesitation in her voice.
Only sincerity.
Hancock paused.
Then
"…Of course."
The answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
Seraphina lowered her gaze slightly.
She understood.
Because she herself
Had done the same many times.
Hiding the truth.
"…If you say so."
She didn't press further.
Instead
She shifted slightly in the water.
"What about you?" Hancock asked, turning the question back to her.
"How have you been… since I left?"
Seraphina blinked.
Then
She smiled.
A small, almost childish smile.
"I was lonely."
The answer came immediately.
"No one trained with me."
"No one talked to me."
"No one combed my hair."
She leaned back slightly.
"…It was quiet."
Too quiet.
Hancock stared at her.
Then suddenly
She laughed.
A soft, genuine laugh.
"…Bruce is still with you, isn't he?"
Seraphina made a face.
"He doesn't count."
"He lectures too much."
Hancock's laughter deepened slightly.
For a moment
The tension disappeared.
Just like before.
"…Then I'll stay with you," Hancock said suddenly.
Her voice softened.
"These few days."
"I'll keep you company."
Seraphina blinked.
Then
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"…You're treating me like a child again."
Hancock smirked.
"Am I wrong?"
Before Seraphina could respond
Splash.
She stood abruptly, water cascading down her body
And pushed lightly against Hancock's shoulders.
"You are!"
Hancock laughed again
Then, without resistance
Pulled her forward into an embrace.
Their bodies collided lightly in the water.
"…You haven't changed," Hancock murmured.
"Neither have you."
For a moment
They stayed like that.
Close.
Warm.
Unseparated by time.
Or distance.
Outside
The world remained complicated.
But here
Within the rising steam
It was simple again.
Just the two of them.
Like it had always been.