Chapter 3: The Winds of Change! Thank You, Shanks!

The sound of waves crashing on the shore and seagulls cawing, the fishy smell and salty taste of the ocean, and the wet feeling of the tides breaking shore around me. All of these senses flooded my brain as I started to regain consciousness. I slowly lifted my head off of the sandy banks and struggled to open my eyes for a moment. Using my wet hand, I wiped the sand off of my face and opened my eyes. Looking around, I saw that I had washed up on the shore near Windmill Village, but now it was dark out. I gave a sigh of relief that I was still alive and still on the same island. I picked myself up out of the water and brushed the sand off of me. As I was, my stomach growled, reminding me that I missed both lunch and dinner. I gave a sigh and started to walk along the water's edge towards the village. As I was, my stomach kept growling more and more, each growl more painful than the last one.

Sobbing in misery of an empty stomach, something on the shore caught my attention. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a fruit! Though, it was the strangest fruit I had probably ever seen. It kind of resembled a dragon fruit, but it was green with a weird swirly pattern all over it. Picking it up, it felt like a dragon fruit, and when I cut it open with sharp rock, the insides still slightly resembled a dragon fruit. Though the smell was definitely different. I couldn't figure out if it was a sweet or sour smell, as it somehow gave off both.

While debating if I should try to eat it, my stomach let out a ridiculous rumble, answering the question for me. I scooped out the inside of the fruit with my fingers and popped it into my mouth. As I was chewing, the flavor hit my tongue, causing me to instantly regret trying it. The taste was one of the foulest things I had ever had in my entire life! I tried looking around for anything that I could possibly use to get rid of the taste, but there was only sand, sea water, and grass. I started to sob even more as the wind around me picked up as I decided to keep walking towards the village. However, as I was attempting to, I noticed my surroundings seemed to be lowering… Then I realized, my feet weren't on the ground and I was being lifted into the air! I let out a shriek as I was floating up. It then dawned on me that, if I didn't get back down, I might not be able to walk on land or eat food again! I would keep going up who knows how far or long! I tried swimming through the air as if I were in water towards a nearby palm tree, and I was making a little bit of progress. I managed to make it to the tree and I grabbed onto many of its fronds, pulling myself to the tree and hugged onto it for dear life. I was afraid that if I let go, I would float all the way to space and die! I began crying out for help, unsure if anyone would even hear me since it was the middle of the night. As I cried, a random voice called up, "Hey, are you alright, kid? What are you doing up there? Did ya get stuck while climbing?"

I instantly stopped my shouting and looked down. Underneath me, I saw a red-headed man with a straw hat wearing a white shirt exposing his chest with a black jacket hanging off his shoulders. With tears dripping down my face, I called down to him, "P-Please help me!"

The redhead just laughed, but held his arms out as he said, "Alright, kid. Just let go and I'll catch ya."

I shook my head vigorously and I cried, "I-I can't! I'll float away!"

That statement caused the redhead so much confusion. He tilted his head to the side and said, "Well, that's something I never thought I'd hear a kid say. What do you mean by that? You do know how falling works, don't you?"

Biting my lip, I held onto the tree's fronds with one hand and let go of the tree with the other hand to show the man I was not exaggerating as I started to float upward. The man went extremely wide-eyed in shock. "Would you look at that… Hey, kid. Did you come across any strange fruits recently?"

It was my turn to widen my eyes as I grabbed back onto the tree like a koala. I nodded my head and asked, "H-How did you know?!"

The man took his head into one of his hands and shook it. "Congrats, kid," the man said, looking back up at me, "you found yourself a Devil Fruit, and based on your aerodynamic ability, it looks like it was the Aero Aero Fruit."

"Aero-what," I asked with concern. "Am I going to die?! Will I be stuck up here for the rest of my life?!"

"No, no, no," the man said, shaking his head. "To make it short, it basically gave you air-type powers, if you couldn't tell by now. As for getting down… hang on a moment."

The man started to walk off while scanning the ground for something. "Wait! Where are you going?! Please don't leave me," I cried out in fear, afraid that he was going to leave me here to figure it out for myself.

"I won't leave you, I promise," he told me, still scanning the ground, occasionally picking things up and putting them in his coat pockets. After a moment, he came back over to the tree and called up, "Alright, go ahead and stick one of your legs down for me."

I listened to what he told me to do and I stuck my foot down towards him. He grabbed me by the ankle and started pulling me down to him as I slid down the tree. Not letting go of the tree, even when my feet were on the ground, he took some string and two medium-sized rocks out of his pockets. He then tied the rocks to my boots and stepped back. "There, now you're grounded!"

"This isn't funny," I protested, but on the inside, the pun did make me chuckle.

"No, no, the key is to feel grounded," he instructed. "In a way, think 'heavy' thoughts. Imagine that you have a whole bunch of heavy rocks in your shoes, literally grounding you. Give it a try and let go of the tree. I'm right here in case anything happens, kid."

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, imagining I was wearing stone boots, which would cause me to be unable to float. I took a deep breath and let go of the tree's trunk. Hesitant to open my eyes, I peeked through my unscratched eyelid and saw I was still standing on the ground. Joy filled my eyes and I was now crying tears of joy as I hugged the stranger, thanking him over and over for saving me. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you even doing out here in the middle of the night, kid," the man asked.

"Huh? Oh, right," I said as I let go of the man. "My brother, friend, and I were practicing making a raft for when we become pirates and I was the one to test it out. Needless to say, it didn't hold up that well, and I washed up onto shore. I woke up a little bit ago, so I was going to head back home up the mountain."

"Wait, you were going to go up the mountain in the middle of the night," the man asked in disbelief. "Why don't you just stay in Windmill Village for the night? My crew and I just arrived at the island today and are making base there, so come stay with us for the night! You know what? I won't even take no for an answer! Let's head back to the village now!" The man started to walk towards the village ahead of me, leaving me dumbfounded. He looked back over his shoulder and called, "Hey! You coming?"

I jumped back into reality and nodded as I ran after him, continuing to think heavy thoughts. As I walked next to him, I looked up to him and asked, "You said you arrived with your crew? You don't look like a sailor, or a Marine like Gramps, so does that mean… you're a pirate?"

The redhead gave a big grin and nodded. "The name's Shanks," he introduced himself. "You got a name, kid?"

"Oh, right," I said, realizing that we never even gave each other our names. "My name's Gol D. Anne."

Shanks stopped in his tracks. He looked down to me, got down to my level and asked, "Hold up, are you telling me you're related to the Gol D Roger?"

I crossed my arms with a glare and said, "Depends on who's asking."

"Well, sounds like a touchy subject if you do a sudden 180," Shanks said with a laugh. "If you were, I was going to say I knew him pretty well, and you slightly resemble him a bit in the face. Boy, do I have so many stories about the man."

Piquing my curiosity, I relaxed a bit and told him, "Yeah, he was… my father. So… how did you know him? You said you had stories?"

"Well, you don't say," Shanks said with yet another laugh. "It turns out your father used to be my old captain. He was an impressive person, someone I look up to with the utmost respect. Then, you must have been the little kid he used to bring on board when we visited Baterilla. You were just a little peanut back then! Man, were you his pride and joy. He couldn't help showing you off to the crew every time we stopped by."

"He also had a son," I told him with a smile, glad to finally be hearing something positive about my father for once. "Though Ace doesn't even like our father being mentioned…"

"Huh, I would have never guessed. You know, one time while we were sailing, we came across a giant hoard of Sea Kings and…"

The whole way to the village, Shanks told me stories and adventures that he and my father went on. He may have only been a cabin boy at the time, but you could see the admiration and fondness he had for my father, and it made me feel special to hear these stories, and to know that he was, indeed, my father. I just wished that I could have shared these stories with Ace, but I knew he would never want to hear them. So, I decided to just be happy being able to hear them from the man that was a part of his crew.

Once we reached the inn, Shanks got me my own room and handed me the key. "Are you serious," I asked in bewilderment. "You just met me and you're getting me my own room?"

"Of course," he told me with a grin. "Consider it thanks for being born and letting me revel in old times. If you want, I'm about to head back to my crew at the Partys Bar for one last hoorah of the night, if you want to tag along. You don't have to, since you have your own room key and can choose to stay if you want."

"Are you kidding," I exclaimed. "'Course I wanna come! But am I allowed to, you know, being underage and all?"

"Don't worry," Shanks said as he started to lead the way. "Just stick with me and don't ask for any drinks! That should give them no reason to kick ya out!"

Shanks led the way to the bar, and when we entered, there was a roar of noise. Shanks entered and the whole place became lively, everyone greeting and cheering his name. A few eyes then landed on me and some of the men started laughing. "Shanks! You didn't go and adopt a child your first night here, now did ya," one of his crewmates teased.

"Eh, maybe," Shanks played along with a shrug. "I found the daughter of Roger stuck in a tree!"

A lot of the men just stared at Shanks like he was crazy, but brushed off the Roger part. They realized I was probably the child in the tree due to bristles still being in my hair from the ordeal, but that's all they took from the story. "To top it off, she accidentally ate a Devil Fruit! You seriously can't make this stuff up."

"Wait a second," a woman with dark green hair said as she looked towards me, "if I'm not mistaken, I believe she's the same little girl that Garp brought through town years ago."

"And Garp knows her," a round guy added with a laugh as he stuffed his face with meat. "She's got all the ties, doesn't she!"

All of the men had a ball and were enjoying themselves as they drank mug after mug of booze. It was fun getting to hang with actual pirates and hearing all of their sailing stories. Shanks got me something to eat, once he heard my stomach growling. The lady behind the counter even treated my wounds again, replacing the dirty, wet bandages.

Unfortunately for me, the night had to end at some point with the bar closing, so I made my way back to the inn and headed to my room for some sleep.

That night, I did not sleep that well, and it wasn't just because I slept with my shoes on with rocks tied to my ankles. Usually, I would sleep next to Ace in a hut full of snoring bandits. So, it was strange sleeping in an empty bed in complete silence. It was… lonely.

When I was finally able to get to sleep, Shanks burst through the door, shouting, "Good morning, kid!"

I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head. This caused Shanks to flop onto the bed as well, launching me into the air for a moment. I groaned some more as he yanked the blanket off of me, exclaiming it was almost noon. He saw that I was still wearing shoes with the rocks tied to them, even in bed. "You seriously wear those to bed?"

I blushed a bit as I defended, "O-Of course! I didn't want to float away in the middle of the night! I thought, well, better safe than sorry…"

Shanks gave a sigh. "You do know it's all in your head, right," he asked. "You can't go around in this world with rocks on your ankles, it would get uncomfortable real quick. You shouldn't live your life in fear of what could happen, but rather focus on what should happen. So, don't ground yourself with rocks on your ankles, and remember: stay free like the wind, but also centered so you don't get blown away from what is important to you."

His lecture filled my heart with inspiration. "Thank you, Shanks."

"No problem, Anne," he told me as he took the rocks off of my feet. "So what're your plans now? Are you planning to stay longer or trekking back up that mountain?"

I looked at a nearby clock and saw the time. My eyes widened when I saw it was almost noon, now processing what Shanks shouted when he entered the room. "Oh man, I should be getting back," I said as I swung my legs off the bed and jumped off. "Sabo and Ace are probably worried sick right about now. Thank you for everything you've done, Shanks. Really, but I gotta go!"

"Well, at least let me walk ya to the forest's edge," Shanks said, walking me out.

On the way to the forest, he continued to share stories about my father and I would share stories about growing up with bandits, Ace and Sabo. It was a nice walk.

When we reached the forest, we both stopped. "I seriously can't thank you enough, Shanks. I don't know where I'd be without you," I told him as I gave him a quick hug.

"Probably halfway to the moon by now," Shanks teased. "It was nothing. Just be careful next time you're being pirates with your friends, and don't eat any more strange fruits from now on." He stopped for a moment, having just realized something. "Shoot, that's right, I never told you about the Devil Fruits."

"What, you mean besides how it gave me powers," I asked. "And what do you mean fruits? Other people can fly, too?"

"No, that's not it," Shanks said, sitting down and patting the ground next to him. "This might take a while, so you might want to sit."

I did as he suggested and took a seat. Shanks began explaining that there were many different kinds of Devil Fruits, and each one was unique, as no two same fruits existed at the same time. They each had their own unique abilities, meaning I was the only one in the world right now with the Aero Aero powers. There might be people with similar abilities from their fruits, but they won't be the exact same. Once a Devil Fruit user dies, the fruit is reintroduced into the world for someone else to claim.

These fruits were divided into three categories: Paramecia, Logia, and Zoan. He explained what each one was and gave examples of each, but then stopped and looked at me with examining eyes. "I wonder which one you are," he asked curiously. "You obviously aren't a Zoan type, since you don't transform into an animal, so now it's determining if you're a Paramecia or Logia… Mind sticking your hand out for a moment?"

I obliged and stuck out my right hand. He took it in his and pulled out a knife. "Wait, what are you going to do," I asked apprehensively, wondering if I should regret giving him my hand.

"Don't worry," Shanks reassured. "If you're a Paramecia, it won't hurt that much. If you're a Logia, it won't hurt at all."

He took the blade and attempted to cut the side of my hand. Key word: attempted. The blade just went straight through my hand as it turned into air! "Well, would you look at that, you're a rare Logia type user!"

"You could have cut me," I shouted as I yanked my hand away from the crazy man.

I then processed what just happened and realized that a knife just went through my hand and I didn't get hurt. "Wait a second, does that mean I'm immune to injuries now?!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Shanks scolded me while crossing his arms. "Normal attacks may go right through you, but never assume you are safe. There are ways of harming Logia users, and those who know how to won't hesitate to use it on you."

"Oh," I asked curiously, "how could someone hurt me?"

"One way is with seastone weapons or handcuffs, which disables a Devil Fruit user's powers. The other," Shanks was explaining as he took my hand again. He extended one of my fingers out, and with his little knife, he actually managed to prick my finger with it, drawing a drop of blood. "The other is through the use of something called Armament Haki, in which one uses their own spirit to create an invisible armor that allows them and/or whatever they are using to deal harm to a Logia type user. Similar to how I just used it on the same blade as before to prick your finger."

I looked at my finger. "So I'm not invincible," I said, deflated.

"No one is," Shanks told me, causing me to look back up at him. "I've seen too many people who think they are invincible and get overconfident, only to be proven wrong at the cost of their lives, especially Logia users."

"Thanks for the advice," I told him, "but at least now I can protect my family better! Is there anything else I should know?"

"Oh yeah! You're greatest weakness is now water," Shanks said as he began to laugh.

"Water," I asked in shock, " what do you mean by water? I'm a great swimmer, drink water regularly, and bathe. How is it dangerous?"

"Here's the fun part," Shanks said with his usual grin. "The sea basically rejected the Devil Fruits, so when a user enters the water, they become immobilized! But don't worry, you don't have to worry about all water. You can still stand in water as long as half of you is not in it, running water like rain and showers don't weaken you, and by not touching the water itself, like having a scuba suit and gear on won't make you go weak!"

"B-But… wouldn't that make sailing harder," I asked, realizing my future dream of sailing was in danger. "What would happen if I fell overboard, or a giant wave crashed onto my ship?!"

"The odds of those happening are rather slim, don't worry," Shanks said with a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "If you have a reliable crew on board with you, they would never let anything happen to you. As for the giant waves, odds are often low of that happening, at least until you hit the Grand Line and the New World. Besides, if it were to happen, I bet you could just use your wind powers to blow it away or to blow your ship to safety! I think you'll do just fine, Anne."

It felt great talking with Shanks, I didn't want it to end, but I knew I had to get back to Ace and Sabo. We both picked ourselves off of the ground and dusted ourselves off. "Well, I better start climbing if I want to make it back before sundown. I learned so much from you, I don't know how I could ever repay you," I told him with a bow, remembering what my mother used to instruct me to do when giving a proper thank you.

"You don't need to repay me, kid," Shanks told me, ruffling up the top of my head. "Just do what you believe you need to do and live the way you want. Don't let the small things weigh you down when they aren't even worth it. It'll all work out in the end."

I bade Shanks farewell and began my trek up the mountain. After a few hours of climbing through trees and brush, I finally made it back up to the Dadan family hut. I walked right in and announced, "I'm back."

"It's about time," I heard Dadan call out as she came to the entrance. "Er, I mean, it's not like you were missed or anything, brat. Did you at least bring back some fish? And what the hell happened to you? You're covered in bandages."

I gave a nervous laugh as I scratched the back of my head as I said, "Eh heh, sorry. I'll bring back more fish tomorrow. So, uh, where's Ace?"

"No clue, I thought he was with you," Dadan said as she put her hands on her hips and leaned to the side. "Haven't seen him since yesterday, just like you."

"Oh… okay," I said I turned and started to leave, "I'll go find him."

Running out, I checked around Gray Terminal, the town, our treasure tree, and the bluff overlooking the ocean that Ace usually hangs out at, but to no avail. I then decided to check the hidden cove that we recently found, and sure enough, both of the boys were there. Ace was pacing around at the top of the lookout cliff while looking out at the sea while Sabo was walking the water's edge, also looking out towards the sea. "Yoooooo~," I called out behind them.

Both boys halted and shot their heads in my direction. They both began running towards me as they called out, "Anne!!!"

I started running towards them as well, overjoyed to see them, but as I did, the wind picked up around me again. I felt my feet leave the ground and I was literally running on air. I'll tell you, the looks on their faces were priceless! They froze with googly eyes as they looked at me in horror. "Anne," Sabo screamed, "you're flying!"

I quickly started thinking heavy thoughts, lowering myself back down to the ground. "Heh heh, whoops," I awkwardly laughed.

"What do mean by whoops," Ace spat. "You were in the air and are acting like it's nothing! This is bigger than a whoops, Anne! What happened to you? You were gone for, like, a day!"

We all sat down on the beach and I explained everything that happened to them. "Wait, wait, wait," Ace said as he held up a hand for me to pause. "You're telling me that you have air powers and you partied with pirates?! If I hadn't seen you floating just minutes ago, I would have called you crazy."

"Seriously though," Sabo joined in, "That's so cool! What can you do with your powers?!"

"I don't really know yet," I told them. "I haven't really tried anything. All I know is I can float, fly, and normal things can't hurt me anymore. But I can't swim now…"

The boys looked at me in horror as I explained my whole "water weakness". Ace crossed his arms as he said, "Well, then that cuts you from volunteering to test out any more rafts. But after that raft incident, I'm thinking it might be better to just buy a ship, that way one of us doesn't end up washed up at the bottom of the mountain again." We all agreed that was probably for the best.

We ended up talking and hanging out until sundown. "You know what," Ace said with a cheeky grin. "With Anne's new powers, we can get so much more done now! No one will be able touch her!"

"Yeah, you're right," Sabo agreed.

"And once I get the hang of it, I'll probably be able to do so much more and our plans will be the most elaborate than they've ever been," I state, getting fully excited now.

And thus began my training, eventually gaining the title: "The Airess of Goa"...