Separation

Cherry made her preparations for her surprise party with Raven and the next day set out for the Thorn Wood extra early.

As she expected, she found Raven fast asleep on the couch when she reached their hideout.

Cherry quietly began to set up the decorations and got into position to wait for Raven to rouse from her slumber.

When Raven's eyes began to flutter awake, Cherry pulled the string on her super, extra, jumbo confetti bomb.

Colorful scraps of paper filled the clearing instantly. Unfortunately the sound, that was akin to a cannon, triggered a deep rooted survival instinct in the half asleep Raven's psyche.

Her eyes locked onto the human shaped silhouette amongst the confetti and she crossed her arms in front of her.

"CLUTCH!"

"SURPRI- ATATATATATA!" Cherry felt hands grasp her face from nowhere and yank back, causing her spine to bend backwards in an arch.

Although it was pretty painful, Cherry was at least flexible enough that nothing broke.

Raven, upon regaining her wits and seeing who she had just attacked, released Cherry from the grip of her Devil Fruit ability and hurried to check on her.

"Are you alright, Cherry?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I was just startled I really didn't mean it!" Raven rambled while her mind was a maelstrom of emotional turmoil.

Worry that Cherry had been hurt. Guilt that she was the cause of it. Fear that Cherry would think she is a monster. Grief over what the sound reminded her of. Even a little anger that Cherry had taken a joke this far.

However, she started to calm down when she saw the goofy, excited smile and the sparkling eyes on Cherry's face.

Raven sighed in relief. "Of course you're alright, you freak of nature. What was I even worried about."

While the two girls laughed at the absurd situation, Cherry was inwardly scolding herself. 'Of course it was a devil fruit, you ding bat! How did you not figure that out before now?!' She was naturally referring to the 'heart inscription' she had spent all this time studying.

Raven looked around at the decorations with curiosity and saw a huge banner with the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' written on it.

"It's not my birthday, you know?" Raven stated quizzically.

"It is MY birthday though. And since I don't know YOUR birthday, I decided we could celebrate both today!" Cherry said proudly.

Raven felt tears coming to her eyes. She wanted to tell Cherry everything about herself, but she couldn't. 'That would put Cherry in danger, I can't do that.' She told herself.

Raven thought she had stayed here too long. She was too comfortable here, too happy. She didn't want to leave, but the longer she stayed, the more she risked being found and causing trouble for Cherry.

She resolved herself. 'I'll tell her I'm leaving within the week. Just a few more days, that's enough for me.'

The girls enjoyed the party Cherry had planned out. They ate the fancy cake Cherry bought and sipped the wine that she snagged from Grandma Angela's private collection.

Cherry also gave a gift to Raven. A rare history book. Raven had read it before, in the library of Ohara. It was a gift she would cherish fondly.

They spent the rest of the morning messing around with Raven's devil fruit ability, much to Cherry's delight. Though it took a fair bit of pestering until Raven relented.

Before they knew it, it was Noon and time for Cherry to go home before her birthday celebration at the dojo. She didn't want Grandma Angela to worry and come looking for her after all.

Cherry worked her way out of the Thorn Wood, ran across the fields and pastures south toward the dojo. As she crested over the last hill she looked down to see the dojo and the town below.

She saw something that hadn't been there in earlier this morning. A huge navy warship.

'Hmm, what's this all about?' Cherry wondered.

Cherry went down the hill towards the dojo and arrived at the front gate just in time for Commander Frowe, the marine base's highest ranked officer, come out through it.

"Oh? Hello, Young Miss Harpin." Frowe greeted.

"Hello, Commander Frowe. Is something going on, why is that navy warship here?" Cherry asked, keeping a neutral expression.

"Hmm, I suppose it could help to tell you." Frowe reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. After he unfolded it, it displayed in large print the word 'WANTED'.

"Have you ever seen this girl while you've been gallivanting around the island?" He handed the wanted poster to her.

Cherry took the poster and seemed to study it seriously. However, she didn't need more than a glance.

WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

NICO ROBIN

B 79,000,000 (Beri)

The picture on the poster was someone she recognized instantly, only younger. It was none other than Raven, whom she had spent about half a year with in the Thorn Wood.

"I'm sorry, Commander Frowe. I don't think I've seen her before." Cherry said handing the poster back.

"Well it was a long shot anyway. If you'll excuse me." Frowe bade farewell and began walking back to town.

Cherry made a new discovery as she watched Commander Frowe's back. In this world, killing intent does not manifest into a detectable energy.

Cherry entered the dojo and immediately started briskly walking towards the living quarters, specifically Slenk's room.

"Cherry, where have you been all morning? Your party may be in the afternoon, but that doesn't mean you should run off until then." Grandma Angela called out to her.

When Cherry ignored her, which was rather out of character, she thought something might be wrong and rushed ahead to stand in front of her. "Cherry, is something wro-" She nearly choked on her words when her eyes met Cherry's.

For the first time, Grandma Angela saw a resemblance to herself in Cherry, in those eyes.

She saw the eyes she saw in her reflection after her dearest husband had died. They were eyes filled with indescribable pain, grief, and above all else; rage.

Cherry averted her gaze and walked passed her grandmother.

Pieces of a puzzle Grandma Angela didn't know was a puzzle started to come together in her mind as she stood in stunned silence.

Meanwhile, Cherry found Slenk's room and barged in with no regard to his privacy. Slenk was inside perusing his 'stash' and squealed in fright when Cherry barged in.

"Neptune's beard, Cherry! What are you doing barging in on a man's private sanctum?!" Slenk questioned with indignation.

Seeing that Cherry didn't respond and instead began rooting through his things, he felt something was off. He didn't know what she was up to, but he wasn't stupid enough to get in Cherry's way if she was acting in such a way.

After stuffing her loot into her bag, Cherry left without a word. Slenk scratched his in confusion, but ultimately just resigned to asking Cherry about it later after she calmed down.

When Cherry exited the living quarters, Grandma Angela was waiting for her. Cherry saw a sad smile on her face and a look of understanding. Cherry felt a tinge of guilt prick her heart and ran over to hug the old woman.

"I'll be back soon..." Cherry said with a shaking voice.

"I'll be waiting. Good luck." Grandma Angela patted Cherry's back. "Hurry now, you don't have much time."

Cherry broke away, muttered a quick "Thank you" before dashing away, leaping over the north wall of the dojo with her Traceless Steps in full swing.