Behind them, Garp was watching with a kindly smile that made Uta feel uncomfortable all over.
She quickly grabbed Cain's hand and hurried into the cabin.
The Red Hair Pirates immediately panicked and started to rush after them, only for Garp to raise a hand and stop them.
…
Deep inside the cabin was Uta's childhood room.
It was separated from Shanks' room by only one wall.
Or rather, this room had originally been partitioned off from Shanks' own room.
Everything inside was clean and neatly arranged. It was obvious someone carefully cleaned it every day.
Looking at this room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been ten years ago, Uta brushed her fingertips over the furniture marked by the passage of time.
A hint of nostalgia slowly filled her eyes.
Cain sighed with the same feeling.
"This place is still the same as before."
After the Summit War ended, he had stayed on the deck the whole time and never entered.
Following Uta in this time counted as his second visit to this room.
As for the first time, that had been ten years ago, just before Uta left.
Back then, Luffy had been pestering them about wanting to tour a pirate ship, and Uta had wanted to show them around too.
So the three of them secretly slipped inside.
Uta had even secretly opened the box containing the Gum-Gum Fruit, letting Cain, who had never seen a Devil Fruit before, broaden his horizons.
But while the two of them were not paying attention, Luffy opened his mouth and tried to taste what the fruit was like.
Shanks had walked in at exactly the right moment and caught him red-handed.
Not long after that, Uta went to Elegia.
By the time Shanks returned to Foosha Village again, the incident with Tot Musica had already happened.
Later, to stop Luffy and Cain from sneaking back onto the ship again, Shanks deliberately kept the Gum-Gum Fruit with him.
Until one day, while they were drinking at Makino's bar, a series of careless mistakes led to Luffy eating that fated Gum-Gum Fruit.
…
"Yeah, it's still the same as before."
Hearing Cain's words, Uta nodded gently.
She glanced at the neatly folded bedding on the bed, then suddenly crawled in.
She pulled the blanket up over her head, leaving only her eyes showing as she sat up and looked at Cain.
"Cain, put me to sleep."
"Uh, well, we really should sleep. It's already past midnight."
Cain thought about it and nodded.
"But… put you to sleep?"
"Cain, you really don't understand romance at all."
Uta puffed out her cheeks.
"Remember when we were kids? Shanks was always telling me to sleep. When I didn't want to, he'd tell me stories to coax me, and he'd always imagine all kinds of strange adventures on the bed. Now I want to hear you tell me a story too!"
"…If I tell a story, I might ramble a bit. Uta, are you sure you want to listen?"
Cain scratched his head awkwardly.
When it came to storytelling, Cain was not exactly good at it.
But when it came to putting Uta to sleep, he was strangely skilled.
Putting those two things together, however, made Cain feel rather troubled.
At that moment, Uta suddenly remembered how she used to complain about Cain when they were children, saying he was like someone who had eaten the Sleep-Sleep Fruit, a natural sleeping person.
Those weird bits of knowledge he talked about carried the same kind of magic as her singing. In just a few sentences, he could lull someone straight into deep sleep.
No, no. That absolutely would not do!
If she really let Cain start talking about those strange things, she might be asleep before he had even finished two sentences. What fun would that be?
As Uta was thinking that, she suddenly realized something.
Cain had not been able to rest properly these past few days because of her. Now she was asking him to tell her a story too, which really was not quite right.
Even though Cain had slept for half a day, he had fought Kaido afterward and drunk so much alcohol.
He was probably exhausted now.
As for her, she had secretly crawled into Cain's blanket while he was sleeping yesterday and lay there for half the day.
Her energy was clearly much better than his.
After figuring that out, Uta immediately grabbed Cain's hand and pulled him onto her bed, then drew over the blanket beside them.
"Uta… this is?"
Cain felt the soft touch near his neck and instinctively tried to lift his head, only for Uta to gently press him back down.
"It's a lap pillow. You're tired today too, right? This time, Uta will put you to sleep!"
Uta's voice was soft.
Cain still wanted to say he was not tired, but when he met Uta's expectant eyes, he obediently nodded in the end.
This time, Uta did not sing.
Just like Shanks had once done when coaxing her to sleep, she softly began telling him about all the playful little things from her childhood on this ship, the times Shanks had put her to bed, and the little stories she had once made up with her wild imagination.
She told him about the fantasies born in this tiny room.
A tea party where little animals gathered together.
A desert kingdom where a beautiful princess lived.
And a forest at the end of the world, where giants strode proudly through the trees.
Uta sighed softly.
"I have to admit, a lot of the things I imagined back then have already come true."
Counting on her fingers, she smiled and continued,
"In Totto Land now, it's not just little animals. Even plants that can't normally talk can hold tea parties."
"And we've seen a desert kingdom with a young and beautiful princess too, haven't we? Vivi from Alabasta."
"And a forest where giants walk around proudly… I still remember going to the land of giants with Shanks once. But he said it was too dangerous and only let me stay on the ship. I really wanted to see it, that kingdom of giants."
Hearing that, Cain spoke gently.
"You mean Elbaf? If you want to go, we can go anytime."
Uta's eyes lit up, and she immediately answered,
"Then it's settled! But I still have my world tour to do first, so let's save Elbaf for later."
Cain nodded.
"Mm, of course."
Uta suddenly remembered something and covered her mouth as she laughed.
"Oh, right. We also used to imagine stories about evil dragons attacking travelers. Back then, I played the terrifying dragon. But now… I'm the traveler being targeted by an evil dragon instead."
Cain froze and scratched his head awkwardly.
"Uh… this evil dragon you're talking about wouldn't happen to be me, would it?"
Uta blinked and deliberately drew out her teasing tone.
"Well, Cain, you are a dragon. You're not allowed to take advantage of me while I'm not ready and suddenly attack this fragile traveler, okay?"
Even though she said that, Cain's mind immediately exploded into chaos, and the drowsiness he had felt disappeared without a trace.
He frantically muttered in his heart,
'When you say attack, what kind of attack are we talking about exactly?'
"Hehe, Cain, are you thinking about something weird again?"
Uta poked his cheek and asked with a smile.
"Huh? No, no!"
Cain hurriedly came back to himself and quickly waved his hands.
"Cain isn't being good. If you keep thinking strange things, you'll get eaten by a Sea King."
Uta deliberately put on a stern face, pretending to be fierce.
"Getting eaten by a Sea King? Just imagining it sounds awful." Cain answered instinctively.
"Haha, scared, Cain?"
Uta's eyes curved with her smile.
"No," Cain said seriously. "I was thinking, if we really ran into a Sea King, would it eat me, or would I eat it? Also, I've never quite figured out whether Sea Kings are actually edible."
"I can't believe that's what you were thinking!"
Uta froze for a second, then burst into laughter, leaning forward and back from how hard she laughed.
Just like that, the two of them chatted about old memories.
The night grew deeper and deeper, and sleepiness quietly crept over them without either of them noticing.