Aftermath

In a relatively small room containing a bed, a small wardrobe and a desk you could see a young boy sleeping peacefully while hugging his pillow. After escaping with Asahi in his arms Rayleigh had gone back to their house and put him to bed. Turns out the stressful altercation, and the consummation of a devil fruit combined with the CP 0 agent hitting a pressure point on his neck tired him out.

Standing in the doorway of the room was Rayleigh, he was currently looking at his grandson with a serene smile on his face. Yet contrary to what it may look like on the outside, his brain is running a million miles per hour. The risk of the Celestial Dragon calling a marine admiral was on the front of his mind. Sengoku was a marine he had clashed with on multiple occasions, and he had never gotten away scot-free. His old foe was currently the strongest admiral the marines had in their ranks. If he were to come to Sabaody on the orders of the World Noble he wasn't sure what the outcome would be. Although Shakky had told him of rumors suggesting Sengoku could be getting promoted to fleet admiral in the near future. He might be preoccupied with that.

Thinking about it, there is a clear lack of admirals at the moment. Sure, there are more than a couple of people in the marines who have the strength to be an admiral such as his captain's old nemesis Monkey D. Garp or Zephyr. Shakky had informed him of Zephyr's fate. Turns out Zephyr wife and son were murdered by a group of pirates and he has since stepped down from the position of admiral.

On the other hand, the current vice admirals are no joke. Kuzan, the current user of the Hie Hie no Mi devil fruit, as well as Borsalino who's the current user of another logia, the Pika Pika no Mi. Two of the most powerful logia devil fruits had fallen into the hands of two marine vice admirals. But Rayleigh knows better than most that the devil fruit is only as strong as the user. The last vice admiral who's being rumored for a promotion to admiral is Sakazuki. While he doesn't have a logia devil fruit ability like his peers he does possess the Atsu Atsu no Mi. The fruit allows him to control heat and it can go up to 10 000 degrees. If any of the rumors about Sakazuki being dogmatic or an extremist are true then the fruit is his perfect match considering the heat produced is also affected by the user's temperament.

Hearing sounds coming from the bed, Rayleigh puts his attention back on Asahi. Seeing his grandson sitting up while rubbing his eyes, Rayleigh feels a sense of worry. A stressful situation like this can have a lot of negative effects on a developing brain.

"How are you feeling Asahi?" Rayleigh asked with a tinge of worry in his voice.

Turning to look at him, his grandson spoke in a tired voice. "Like I've just ran a marathon. Ten times with no breaks. Without drinking water.`` Asahi responded.

"Considering what you went through I'm not surprised." replied Rayleigh with a tone of relief, seems like his grandson wasn't too affected by what happened. "But don't worry about that, I'll make my special lasagna and it'll energize you faster than you can say "please no"" said Rayleigh with a jovial smile on his face. His grandson seemed to turn quite a few shades paler but Rayleigh assumed it was a trick of the light.

"Anyway, tell me what happened, and leave nothing out" Rayleigh began anew in a serious tone. And Asahi obliged.

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POV switch to Asahi:

I was still shaken from the events that had taken place just a few hours ago. After I told gramps the whole story from my perspective he started thinking, as if he was having an internal debate.

Ignoring my pondering grandfather I began to think of what to do now. I knew I was weak, but I wasn't even able to react to the CP 0 agent. It was over before I even knew what happened. It puts a lot into perspective. A CP 0 agent isn't even close to the level of one of the Four Emperors of the Sea or an Admiral. The gap between me and those who stand at the top of the world is unfathomable. But I won't let this scare me or dissuade me from my dream. I will let this serve as motivation. No longer will I be doing something half-heartedly. I will put everything I have into becoming stronger, even if I die trying. Having made my mind up, I start my first step of a hellish staircase to the top of this world.

"Gramps" I say, getting his attention. "Please train me, please make me strong!" I humbly ask him while looking into his eyes with my unwavering ones.

His devilish smile told me all I needed to know of his answer. Matching his smirk with my own I think to myself; 'This is just the beginning.'

AN: Two chapters today, tomorrow I will start with making it one per day. I don't believe I fully caught the personality and the characteristics of Rayleigh and his personality isn't the same as canon, but I assume he wouldn't be the same considering he now has a grandson. This chapter is the last before a short training arc. I won't make Asahi overpowered, he certainly won't be Yonko level any time soon, because in One Piece you make breakthroughs in strength and haki through near death experiences and fights. But he won't be slapped around my some fodder marine either. Thanks for reading, please tell me your thoughts on the chapter!