Nami vs. Reiju Vinsmoke
While Luffy, Zoro, and Kuina were fighting the three Vinsmoke brothers, Nami found herself facing their older sister, Reiju. Unlike the boys, who had immediately tried to provoke their opponents, the pink-haired young woman seemed much calmer. She simply observed the navigator and the soldiers surrounding her without showing the slightest aggression.
The fifty-two soldiers from Alice's deck had taken up positions around Nami. The Diamonds formed the first defensive line with their shields, while the Hearts held their tridents ready to repel any potential charge. Behind them, the Spades waited for the signal to attack, and the Clubs prepared their spells.
Nami, meanwhile, was carefully studying her opponent. She had heard Sanji's explanations about his family and knew that Judge's children possessed extraordinary physical abilities, further enhanced by their combat equipment. She had no intention of underestimating the young woman standing before her.
"You're Reiju, right?" Nami asked, keeping her staff within easy reach.
"That's right. Vinsmoke Reiju," she replied with a faint smile. "And you must be Nami, the navigator of my little brother's crew."
"Sanji doesn't belong to your family anymore," Nami immediately retorted. "And if you're planning to force us to bring him back to your father, you're going to be disappointed."
Reiju didn't seem offended by her response. On the contrary, her smile softened slightly as her gaze wandered over the card soldiers protecting the navigator.
"I see he's surrounded himself with people who care deeply about him."
Nami frowned.
"Of course. He's our crewmate."
"Then I'm happy for him."
That answer momentarily caught Nami off guard. She had expected an insult, a threat, or an arrogant declaration similar to those Sanji's brothers had thrown at their opponents. Instead, Reiju had simply answered her with apparent sincerity.
"Wait... You're happy?"
Reiju nodded gently.
"Sanji suffered a great deal because of our family. If he's finally found people who can accept him for who he is, I have no reason to take that happiness away from him."
Nami studied her expression more carefully. Despite the young woman's words, she couldn't forget that Reiju was wearing the same military equipment as her brothers and was still a member of Germa 66.
"Then why did you come here to fight us?"
Reiju briefly glanced toward the vessels of the floating kingdom, where the battles had already begun.
"Because my father ordered me to."
She then turned her attention back to Nami.
"But that doesn't mean I want to fight you."
Nami remained silent for a few seconds. The card soldiers exchanged glances, still waiting for their mistress's instructions. Even the Spades, who had been eager to rush into battle, seemed hesitant in front of an opponent who showed no hostile intentions.
"Are you planning to surrender?" Nami finally asked.
"If it means we can avoid a pointless fight, then yes."
Reiju spread her arms slightly, showing that she wasn't preparing any attack.
"You can restrain me. I won't resist."
Nami narrowed her eyes.
"You realize this sounds a lot like a trap, right?"
"I figured it might," Reiju replied with a small laugh. "But I can't really prove otherwise any other way."
The navigator hesitated for a few more moments. She had traveled with Luffy long enough to know that some people could be sincere even when they belonged to an enemy group. However, she had also learned never to give away her trust too easily.
Finally, she raised one hand.
"King of Clubs, prepare an ice spell."
The King of Clubs immediately stepped forward from among the soldiers. More imposing than the ordinary cards of his suit, he carried a mage's staff whose tip began glowing with a bluish light. A faint icy mist spread around him as he gathered his magical energy.
Nami could easily have used her own magic to immobilize Reiju, but she preferred not to. Ever since the events involving Maleficent, her ice had possessed corrosive properties that made it far more dangerous than before. She had no desire to inflict unnecessary injuries on an opponent who had just voluntarily surrendered.
The King of Clubs' magic was much better suited to the situation. His ice had no corrosive properties and could form a perfectly solid prison without harming whatever it enclosed, provided he properly controlled the temperature and pressure.
"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind?" Nami asked one last time.
Reiju gave her a calm smile.
"Go ahead."
Nami lowered her hand.
"King of Clubs, imprison her. No injuries."
The mage raised his staff.
A wave of cold immediately swept across the deck, covering the planks in a thin layer of frost. Small crystals appeared around Reiju's boots before joining together and beginning to climb her legs.
The young woman didn't move.
The ice gradually enveloped her knees, waist, and torso, forming a translucent layer thick enough to withstand considerable physical force. The King of Clubs slowed his spell slightly when it reached Reiju's shoulders, making sure to keep her body in a stable position.
A few seconds later, Sanji's sister was completely enclosed within an imposing block of crystalline ice. Her silhouette remained perfectly visible through the transparent walls, and her face still bore the same peaceful smile she had worn since the beginning of their encounter.
The King of Clubs lowered his staff.
The prison was complete.
Nami cautiously approached and placed a hand against the frozen surface. She could feel the magic flowing through the structure, keeping the ice hard enough to prevent Reiju from easily breaking free without subjecting her to the destructive effects of Nami's own magic.
"Well... I guess that settles it."
The card soldiers relaxed slightly. Several Spades seemed disappointed that they hadn't gotten the chance to fight, while the Diamonds remained vigilant around their mistress.
Nami looked at Reiju through the ice once again.
"You really are different from your brothers..."
She still wasn't entirely sure what to make of this strange surrender. Reiju had accepted her imprisonment without the slightest resistance, even though her Germa equipment would probably have allowed her to put up a difficult fight.
But one thing was certain: unlike Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji, Sanji's sister hadn't tried to hurt them.
Nami finally turned toward her soldiers.
"Diamonds, stay here and guard the prison. Hearts, protect them. Everyone else, with me! There are still plenty of clones to drive back!"
The card soldiers immediately sprang into action, their weapons raised, as Nami headed toward the battles still raging aboard the neighboring ships.
Before leaving, she cast one last glance at Reiju's motionless silhouette.
"I really hope you were being sincere. Because Sanji deserves at least one normal person in that crazy family."
Then she rejoined the battlefield, leaving behind an intact prison of ice and an opponent who, for once, had chosen peace over violence.
Sanji and Kazuki vs. Vinsmoke Judge
While the other crew members fought Germa 66's children, Sanji and Kazuki found themselves facing the man they probably hated more than anyone else in the world. Vinsmoke Judge awaited them on the main deck of his enormous ship, spear in hand and combat armor gleaming beneath the North Blue sun.
Germa's ruler studied the two young people with an expression of profound contempt. His gaze lingered first on Sanji, then shifted toward Kazuki, whose presence seemed to displease him almost as much as his son's.
"Look at yourself, Sanji. After all these years, you still haven't accomplished anything worthy of our family," Judge declared disdainfully. "You continue hiding behind pirates, and now you dare appear before me accompanied by this miserable servant."
Sanji didn't answer immediately. He simply stared at his father, a lollipop between his lips, while his hands slowly sank into his trouser pockets.
Judge then turned his attention toward Kazuki.
"As for you, I thought your time in Germa would have at least taught you to know your place. But apparently, spending time with my failure of a son has made you even more insignificant."
Kazuki clenched her fists.
"My place?" she repeated coldly. "My place is beside Sanji, certainly not under the orders of a tyrant who treats his own children like tools."
Judge burst into contemptuous laughter.
"So this is what that former bounty hunter has become? An insolent little girl who thinks she's a warrior just because she obtained a Devil Fruit?"
He slammed the tip of his spear against the deck.
"You should have known your place. And you, Sanji, should have understood long ago that emotions are nothing but a weakness."
That last remark caused an immediate change in the cook.
He bit down on his lollipop before spitting the stick toward his father.
Kazuki immediately noticed the change. She knew Sanji well enough to recognize when he was truly angry, but she had almost never seen him wear such a cold expression.
"Sanji?"
The cook didn't take his eyes off his father.
"Kazuki, step back a little."
She frowned.
"What? Absolutely not! We agreed we'd fight him together!"
"I know."
Sanji turned his head slightly toward her. His expression softened for a fraction of a second, just enough to make her understand that he wasn't trying to exclude her from the fight.
"I need five meters."
Kazuki opened her mouth to protest, but Sanji immediately added:
"The Infernal Corridor."
She froze.
Then her eyes widened.
"Oh..."
A smile gradually spread across her face.
"You really want to use that against him?"
"Yes."
Kazuki looked at Judge, then back at her boyfriend.
"You know that's going to cause a lot of damage, right?"
Sanji shrugged slightly.
"It's not our ship."
That answer drew a small laugh from Kazuki.
"True."
She immediately leaped backward, clearing the requested five meters in a single movement before landing gracefully on the deck. A gust of wind lifted her hair as she spread her arms, allowing her power to manifest around her.
Judge watched their exchange with growing irritation.
"Are you two finished with your little conversation?"
Kazuki gave him an almost provocative smile.
"Not quite. But you're about to understand."
She fully activated her Wind Devil Fruit.
The air around her began circulating faster and faster. The first gusts swept across the deck, lifting dust, abandoned ropes, and several pieces of wood scattered by the nearby fighting.
Then the currents abruptly changed direction.
Instead of dispersing, they concentrated within a specific area, gradually outlining a long, invisible passage that wound around the main deck. The winds twisted around themselves, forming two enormous cyclonic walls that enclosed a veritable corridor in the middle of the battlefield.
The phenomenon rapidly grew in intensity.
The Germa clones nearby were the first to suffer the consequences. Some tried to grab hold of the railings, while others were simply ripped off their feet by the powerful gusts.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
"WE CAN'T HOLD OUR POSITIONS!"
Several soldiers were hurled against the ship's structures, others were thrown over the railings, and a few disappeared into the rising air currents surrounding the deck.
Kazuki kept her arms spread wide, carefully controlling the direction of her winds.
Her objective wasn't simply to create a tornado.
She was constructing an enclosed passage, wide enough for Sanji to move freely within it, but with cyclonic walls that would make it difficult for Judge to escape.
The corridor twisted around several obstacles before returning to its starting point, creating an aerial circuit through which the currents flowed at an impressive speed.
Judge observed the phenomenon with a frown.
"Simple wind manipulation? Do you really believe that will be enough to stop me?"
"No," Kazuki replied.
Her smile widened.
"The wind is just my part."
Judge immediately turned his head toward Sanji.
And for the first time since their encounter began, his expression changed.
The cook's body had burst into flames.
The first flames appeared around his legs before gradually climbing along his torso, arms, and shoulders. Within seconds, Sanji was completely engulfed in an intense blaze, without his clothes or skin appearing to suffer any damage.
This power didn't come from his usual Diable Jambe.
Thanks to the Heartless he now possessed, Sanji could ignite his entire body and control the temperature of his flames. For the moment, his maximum limit was approximately 1,200°C, a considerable level of heat that he had learned to control during his training.
The ambient temperature, which had been around 26°C just moments earlier, suddenly soared in his immediate vicinity.
The air began to shimmer around him.
The planks beneath his shoes started turning black, while several nearby metal objects became scorching hot. The clones who had managed to withstand Kazuki's gusts hurriedly retreated as they felt the heat strike their faces.
Judge narrowed his eyes.
"What kind of ability is that?"
Sanji slowly raised his head.
His eyes gleamed behind the flames surrounding his face.
"Something you never gave me."
He bent his knees slightly.
"And something you'll never be able to take away from me."
Then he vanished in an explosion of fire.
BOOOOM!
Sanji launched himself straight into the cyclonic corridor.
The instant his flames met Kazuki's air currents, the phenomenon changed completely. The wind fed and carried the blaze, spreading an enormous wave of fire through the winding passage.
Within seconds, the corridor of wind transformed into a veritable cyclonic furnace.
The swirling walls lit up a brilliant orange, while tongues of flame snaked through the currents. The scorching air circulated at terrifying speed, turning every section of the passage into a raging torrent of heat.
Kazuki immediately reinforced the outer walls to prevent the flames from spreading to other parts of the ship.
She controlled the wind.
Sanji controlled the fire.
And together, they had just created a trap with Judge locked inside.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" the ruler of Germa roared.
He tried to retreat, but a powerful gust immediately pushed him back toward the center of the corridor. His combat armor withstood the first wave of heat, but the flames circulating around him quickly made the atmosphere unbearable.
Sanji, on the other hand, moved with astonishing ease.
Carried by the air currents Kazuki had specifically adapted to his movements, he glided through the flames as though following a perfectly clear path. Each gust propelled him in a new direction, allowing him to change his angle of attack without losing speed.
Judge suddenly spotted a flaming silhouette emerging on his right.
"Diable Jambe!"
Sanji's foot slammed violently into his side.
BAM!
Judge was hurled against a cyclonic wall, but the wind immediately pushed him back into the corridor before he could break through the barrier.
He tried to straighten up.
Another attack came immediately.
This time, Sanji appeared above him and drove his heel directly into his shoulder, forcing him to his knees.
"GAAAH!"
Judge raised his spear and attempted to strike his son, but Sanji had already vanished into the torrent of flames.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU WORTHLESS FAILURE!"
The reply reached him from several directions, carried by the winds circulating through the corridor.
"You wanted me to come back?"
Sanji reappeared behind him.
"Here I am."
A third kick struck him between the shoulder blades.
Judge stumbled forward, his spear scraping against the deck as he desperately struggled to regain his balance. Kazuki's air currents prevented him from finding stable footing, and every attempt to escape the corridor ended with another gust pushing him back toward his son.
From outside, Kazuki carefully followed her boyfriend's movements.
She continuously adjusted the speed and direction of the winds, creating additional bursts of acceleration whenever Sanji prepared an attack and reinforcing the walls each time Judge attempted to escape.
"To your left, Sanji!"
The cook immediately changed direction.
A gust propelled him above his father, allowing him to avoid a spear strike before descending with a powerful flaming kick.
BOOM!
The deck cracked beneath the impact.
Judge staggered back several meters, his armor smoking and his face twisted with rage.
"HOW DARE YOU RAISE YOUR HAND AGAINST YOUR OWN FATHER?!"
Sanji briefly stopped in the middle of the corridor, flames continuing to dance around his body.
His expression remained as cold as ever.
"My father?"
He looked Judge straight in the eyes.
"You spent my entire childhood treating me like trash. You locked me away, humiliated me, and made it clear that I was completely worthless in your eyes."
The flames surrounding him grew even more intense.
"And now you dare come back and demand that I return to you as if I were some object that belonged to you?"
Judge tightened his grip on his spear.
"YOU ARE A VINSMOKE!"
"No."
Sanji bent his knees.
"I'm the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates."
Kazuki smiled when she heard that declaration.
She stretched both arms toward the corridor and focused more of her power, suddenly accelerating the currents carrying the flames.
Sanji immediately felt the change.
A fierce grin finally appeared on his face.
"And I'm also Kazuki's man."
He vanished in another explosion of fire.
This time, his speed increased considerably thanks to the wind propelling him forward. He shot through the corridor like a veritable meteor, leaving a blazing trail behind him before slamming directly into Judge.
BAAAAAAM!
Germa's ruler was hurled backward, his armor absorbing yet another attack of terrifying force. The air currents immediately caught him, preventing him from leaving the area and dragging him back into the middle of the furnace.
From outside, Kazuki watched the scene with obvious satisfaction.
"You wanted to teach us our place, Judge?"
She reinforced the cyclonic corridor even further.
"Then enjoy yours."
Inside, Sanji continued moving freely between the walls of fire, unleashing attack after attack from angles that were impossible to anticipate. Every blow was enhanced by the speed of the wind, every movement fed the flames even further, and every attempt Judge made to escape was met with another powerful gust.
Jordan's Point of View
After driving back the bounty hunters and convincing the Marines to retreat, I finally headed toward Germa 66's floating kingdom. Behind me, the two gigantic whirlpools were gradually losing their strength, leaving an impressive amount of debris floating on the ocean's surface.
As I approached the battlefield, I used my Observation Haki to determine that the most important fights had already ended. My companions were still alive, and the remaining hostile presences seemed to belong mainly to the clones who were still attempting to resist.
I slowed my flight before returning to my hybrid form. My gigantic crocodilian body gradually shrank, my claws became smaller, and the enormous plates of scales covering my back returned to much more reasonable proportions. I still looked particularly intimidating in this form, but at least I no longer risked accidentally crushing an entire building when I landed.
When I arrived above the main deck, I finally decided to cancel my transformation completely. I returned to my human appearance and gently descended among my companions, who had already begun gathering their prisoners.
"Well... You certainly haven't been slacking off while I was gone!"
Luffy immediately greeted me with his usual enthusiasm.
"Jordan! Did you see? We beat them!"
"I noticed," I replied, surveying the damage around us. "You were pretty efficient, too."
The sight was quite impressive.
Germa 66's entire royal family had been neutralized. Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji were all unconscious, securely tied up with ropes recovered from the ships. Their combat suits bore the marks of their respective defeats, and none of them looked likely to wake up anytime soon.
Reiju, meanwhile, was imprisoned inside a magnificent block of perfectly transparent ice. The magical prison was so carefully crafted that it could almost have been mistaken for a sculpture displayed in a museum. Through the ice, I could make out the pink-haired young woman, still completely motionless.
But the most spectacular case was undoubtedly Judge.
Germa's ruler now resembled a gigantic lump of charcoal.
His armor had been blackened by Sanji's flames, several metal plates had warped, and some components even appeared to have started melting. Smoke was still rising from his equipment, while his body lay in the middle of a large section of the deck that had been completely scorched.
I looked at Sanji.
Then at Kazuki.
Then at Judge.
"...What temperature did you cook this one at?"
Kazuki let out a small laugh.
"At the highest temperature Sanji can reach for now."
"Twelve hundred degrees," the cook clarified, lighting a cigarette before immediately putting it out and giving Kazuki an apologetic smile. She whispered something in his ear, prompting him to throw even the entire pack into the sea.
I looked at Judge again.
"Ah. That explains why he looks like a charcoal briquette someone forgot in a blast furnace."
Sanji shrugged, clearly unconcerned about his father's condition. He had regained his usual composure, although his gaze remained cold whenever it settled on the man lying before him.
I was about to ask him a few details about their fight when an unusual presence caught my attention.
I slowly turned my head.
And froze.
A few steps away from Sanji and Kazuki stood the translucent figure of a woman.
She had long blonde hair, delicate features, and a face filled with an almost otherworldly gentleness. Her dress seemed to float lightly around her, unaffected by the wind sweeping across the deck.
But what immediately caught my attention was her gaze.
She was watching Sanji with immense tenderness mixed with profound sadness. When her eyes settled on Kazuki, her expression softened even further, as though she were happy to see her son accompanied by a young woman who genuinely loved him.
I had never met this woman.
And yet, I understood almost immediately who she was.
Sora Vinsmoke.
Sanji's mother.
I remained silent for several seconds, observing the ghost that nobody else seemed to notice. She stood right beside her son, close enough to reach out toward his face, but her translucent fingers passed straight through him without him sensing her presence.
Her expression briefly clouded with sadness.
Then she looked at me.
Our eyes met.
Her eyes widened slightly when she realized I could see her.
I gave her a small smile.
Well... Now that was an interesting surprise.
I turned my attention back to Sanji.
"Sanji, don't kill Judge."
The cook immediately turned toward me.
"Huh?"
I gestured toward his father with my chin.
"I have a belated engagement present for you and Kazuki. And for that, I need him to stay alive for a little while longer."
Kazuki blinked.
"An engagement present?"
"Exactly."
Sanji frowned.
"Wait, what does that man have to do with our present?"
"You'll understand."
I approached Judge's blackened body and crouched beside him. Despite his injuries, his heart was still beating faintly, but his condition was serious enough that he could die at any moment.
I raised one hand.
"Cure."
A greenish light enveloped Germa's ruler. His most severe burns began to heal, his damaged organs gradually resumed functioning, and his breathing stabilized.
I made no attempt to completely restore his appearance.
After all, he didn't need to look presentable for what I had planned.
"There. Now there's no risk of him accidentally dying."
Sanji took a few steps closer, his cigarette still between his lips.
"What exactly are you planning to do with him?"
He seemed more curious than worried. Having vented his anger during their confrontation, he no longer displayed the uncontrollable rage that had consumed him while facing Judge.
I slowly straightened.
"An equivalent exchange."
"An exchange of what?" Kazuki asked.
I turned my gaze toward Sora's ghost, who was still watching us with an intrigued expression.
"Part of his soul and his power... in exchange for something he took away from you a long time ago."
Sanji frowned even more deeply.
"Jordan, you're starting to scare me with all these riddles."
"Trust me."
I extended my hand toward Judge and mentally called upon Ammit.
The familiar presence of my Heartless immediately manifested within my shadow. Dark energy gathered around my fingers as I extended my perception deep into the soul of Germa's ruler.
His heart was just as black as it had been during our first encounter.
No compassion.
No remorse.
Only a revolting mixture of pride, cruelty, and a desire for domination.
"Seriously, Judge... Even your soul is unpleasant to look at."
I allowed Ammit to exercise her power.
A portion of Judge's spiritual energy began separating from his body. I carefully measured the exact amount being extracted until I had taken thirty percent of his soul and strength.
The ruler's body convulsed violently.
A strangled groan escaped his throat, but he was too weakened to offer the slightest resistance.
The recovered energy gathered above my palm, forming a dark sphere streaked with luminous threads. Ammit neutralized its most harmful influences so that I could use this power without passing Judge's corruption on to its intended recipient.
I then turned toward Sora.
The ghost watched the scene with growing disbelief.
"Mrs. Vinsmoke," I said gently. "Your son has a lot of things to tell you."
She raised a translucent hand to her mouth.
I smiled at her.
"And I think it would be a shame if you couldn't hear them."
I extended my hand toward her.
The spiritual energy extracted from Judge gradually left my palm and enveloped her silhouette. A soft light began spreading around the ghost, contrasting sharply with the darkness I had just removed from Germa's ruler.
Sora closed her eyes.
Her translucent figure gradually became more solid.
Her hair regained its natural shine, her dress stopped floating like a ghostly apparition, and the outlines of her body grew more distinct. Real skin slowly replaced the spectral light that had formed her appearance.
Then her chest rose.
She had taken a breath.
A second breath immediately followed the first.
Her heart began beating again.
I maintained the transfer until her body was completely reconstructed and stable enough to exist without my magical support.
When the light faded, Sora Vinsmoke stood before us.
Alive.
In the flesh.
She slowly lowered her gaze toward her hands, opening and closing them several times as though she had forgotten what it meant to possess a real body.
"I..."
Her voice trembled.
"Am I... alive?"
I nodded.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Mrs. Vinsmoke."
Sanji remained completely motionless.
"...Mom?"
Sora immediately raised her head.
When she heard that voice, her eyes filled with tears.
"Sanji..."
The cook took half a step backward.
His expression shifted from disbelief to an emotion so overwhelming that he seemed incapable of comprehending what he was seeing.
"No... That's impossible..."
Kazuki gently placed a hand on his arm.
"Sanji..."
But he no longer seemed to hear her.
He stared at the woman standing before him, recognizing every feature of her face, every detail of her expression, and above all, the gentleness he had never found in the other members of his family.
"Mom... Is it really you?"
Sora slowly approached him.
"Yes, sweetheart."
She opened her arms.
"It's me."
Sanji crossed the distance between them almost instantly.
He threw himself into her arms with enough force to make her stagger slightly backward, burying his face against her shoulder as his own arms wrapped tightly around her.
"MOM!"
His voice broke.
Sora immediately embraced him, running a hand through his blond hair just as she had when he was a child.
"My little Sanji... You've grown so much..."
The cook didn't answer.
He was crying.
Not a few discreet tears he could have hidden behind a joke, but genuine sobs, the kind that came from a child who had just been reunited with someone he thought he had lost forever.
Kazuki raised a hand to her mouth, her eyes glistening.
Sora noticed her presence and gave her a tender smile.
"And you... You must be Kazuki."
The young woman gave a slight start.
"Y-you know me?"
"I've been watching the two of you."
Sora extended a hand toward her.
"Thank you for taking care of my son."
Kazuki couldn't hold back any longer.
She joined their embrace, wrapping her arms around Sanji and Sora as tears began streaming down her cheeks.
"I love him," she whispered. "I really love him."
Sora smiled through her own tears.
"I can see that."
I let them enjoy their reunion for a few moments.
Even Luffy, who was usually incapable of staying quiet for very long, watched the scene with a huge smile. Nami had moved closer to me and gave me a gentle, affectionate nudge with her elbow.
"You could've warned us," she whispered.
"And ruin the surprise? Never."
She rolled her eyes, but her smile made it clear that she approved of what I had done.
I then turned my attention back to Judge.
Germa's ruler was still unconscious, his soul now deprived of thirty percent of its power. However, I had absolutely no intention of giving him the opportunity to someday reclaim what I had just given to Sora.
I summoned my Keyblade.
"Now, let's take care of one last formality."
I knelt beside Judge and positioned the tip of my weapon above his chest.
The blade plunged directly into his heart without causing any physical injury, passing through his flesh to reach the spiritual essence within.
A dark light immediately erupted from his body.
His incomplete heart convulsed violently before giving way under the influence of my Keyblade. The darkness dwelling within it took over, triggering his transformation into a Heartless.
His body gradually disappeared into black smoke.
A few seconds later, a small, ordinary Heartless appeared in his place.
I looked at the creature.
Then at the spot where Germa's ruler had once been.
"Well... That's quite a demotion."
The little Heartless raised its yellow eyes toward me.
I gently patted its head before making it disappear into my shadow.
Thanks to this transformation, Judge's former soul would never be able to reclaim the thirty percent I had permanently transferred to Sora. That energy was now an integral part of her existence.
I straightened and looked at the other members of the Vinsmoke family.
"Right. Now that the father's been dealt with, let's move on to the children."
I started with Reiju.
I approached the block of ice and simply placed a hand against its surface. A faint magical pulse spread through the prison, which gradually cracked before dissolving into countless sparkling crystals.
Reiju immediately took a breath and blinked several times.
"What...?"
She looked around, discovering her three unconscious brothers, the Straw Hats gathered on the deck, and her father's absence.
Then her gaze settled on the woman holding Sanji and Kazuki in her arms.
Her expression crumbled.
"...Mother?"
Sora turned her head.
Her eyes widened as she recognized her daughter.
"Reiju!"
The pink-haired young woman slowly raised her hands to her mouth.
"No... That's impossible..."
I gave her a small smile.
"I assure you, it really is her."
Reiju looked at me for a fraction of a second before rushing toward her mother.
Sora immediately opened her arms to welcome her.
The young woman practically collapsed against her, unable to hold back the tears now streaming down her cheeks. Sanji shifted slightly to make room for her, and the four of them were soon reunited in a particularly moving embrace.
I watched them with satisfaction.
But there was still something I needed to do.
I headed toward the three Vinsmoke brothers, who were still unconscious and tied up a few meters away.
Their hearts were exactly as they had been during our first encounter: transparent, almost empty, devoid of the emotional richness I could usually perceive in living beings.
I crouched in front of Ichiji.
"Let's see what Judge did to you..."
I placed two fingers against his chest, just above his heart.
Thanks to my perception, I quickly detected an anomaly.
It wasn't simply a natural absence of emotions.
Something had been modified, locked away, and profoundly altered within the very structure of his heart. Judge's experiments had prevented an essential part of his emotional development, leaving behind a sort of artificial barrier.
I frowned.
"Seriously... He really did treat you like machines. Fortunately for you, the Keyblade can unlock anything."
I transformed my Keyblade from its sword form into the two small blue daggers I had obtained after transforming Kuro.
CRACK!
A sound resembling shattering glass suddenly rang out.
Ichiji's eyes flew open.
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
His body arched violently despite the ropes restraining him. His muscles contracted as he screamed in pain, unable to understand what had just happened.
But I didn't immediately withdraw my hand.
Through my perception, I could see his heart changing.
The artificial transparency that characterized it began to disappear. A genuine light gradually formed at its center, faint and unstable at first, then increasingly steady.
White slowly replaced the emptiness.
The emotions Judge had prevented from developing began flowing through his heart once again.
I sensed confusion, fear, pain, and a multitude of other feelings emerging almost simultaneously. Ichiji had never learned how to deal with them, and their sudden arrival was an overwhelming shock.
I deliberately slowed the process to avoid overwhelming him even further.
A few moments later, his screams began to fade.
His body stopped convulsing.
He collapsed heavily onto the deck, struggling to catch his breath.
But his face had changed.
His features, usually frozen in an arrogant, contemptuous expression, had relaxed. He almost looked peaceful, despite the tears unconsciously trickling from the corners of his eyes.
I withdrew my hand.
"There. A normal heart."
Nami, who had joined me, stared at Ichiji in astonishment.
"Did you just give him back his emotions?"
"More precisely, I broke whatever was preventing them from functioning properly. He'll still have to learn how to live with them, but at least he's capable of doing so now."
I turned toward Niji.
"Your turn, Mr. Electric."
I repeated exactly the same procedure.
When the barrier around his heart shattered, Niji let out a scream just as impressive as his brother's. His body convulsed violently before his heart began regaining a white coloration.
The transformation was slightly different.
Whereas Ichiji had mainly displayed confusion and fear, Niji seemed immediately overwhelmed by a multitude of memories that he now associated with emotions he had never experienced before.
His face twisted.
Then tears began streaming down his cheeks.
"What's... What's happening to me...?"
I briefly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're simply starting to feel things. It's probably going to be difficult at first."
He eventually lost consciousness, exhausted by the shock.
I then moved on to Yonji.
The youngest of the three brothers reacted with particularly spectacular violence. When the barrier around his heart gave way, he let out a scream so loud that several card soldiers immediately turned their heads in our direction.
"AAAAAAH! IT HURTS!"
"Yes, I noticed," I replied calmly.
Nevertheless, I continued the process until his heart also regained a stable white coloration.
A few seconds later, Yonji collapsed as well, his features relaxed and his breathing much calmer.
I straightened up and dusted off my hands.
"And that makes three."
Sanji had come closer during the procedure, accompanied by his mother and Kazuki.
He watched his brothers with an expression that was difficult to decipher.
"Did you really just give them back their emotions?"
I nodded.
"Yes. But that doesn't mean they're suddenly going to become wonderful people. They spent years growing up without learning how to manage their feelings, and their memories aren't going to disappear."
I looked at the three unconscious brothers.
"They'll have to discover what guilt, empathy, sadness, and even affection feel like. Needless to say, they have a lot of work ahead of them."
Sora placed a hand against her chest.
"My boys..."
Her voice trembled.
I gave her a reassuring smile.
"They'll need time, but their hearts are functioning normally now."
I then turned toward Reiju.
"And that leaves you."
The pink-haired young woman looked at me in surprise.
"Me?"
"Yes. I noticed that your heart has a similar anomaly, although it's not nearly as severe as your brothers'."
Reiju lowered her gaze slightly.
I approached her and gently placed the tip of my dagger against her chest, directly over her heart.
"Don't worry. This should be much less painful for you."
She nodded.
"I trust you."
I focused my energy.
Crack.
This time, the sound was much quieter.
Reiju flinched slightly and instinctively placed a hand against her chest. A strange sensation swept through her body, as though a pressure she had endured for years had suddenly disappeared.
Her heart changed almost immediately.
The artificial transparency faded, revealing a white light that was much more stable than her brothers' had been from the very beginning.
Unlike them, Reiju hadn't suffered the same emotional deprivation from the earliest stages of her development. The modifications had been made after her birth, so her heart had retained more of the structures needed to naturally experience emotions.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds.
Then opened them again.
"It's... strange."
"Painful?" I asked.
She gently shook her head.
"No. It's more like something has just opened up inside me."
I smiled.
"Then everything went well."
Reiju looked at her hands before turning her gaze toward her mother.
Tears almost immediately filled her eyes again.
"Mom..."
Sora approached and wrapped her in another embrace.
"I'm here, sweetheart."
I took a few steps back to give them some privacy.
Sanji was still watching his brothers, then his sister, before turning his attention back to me.
"Jordan..."
I turned my head.
"Yes?"
He seemed to search for the right words for several seconds.
Finally, he looked at his mother, alive and well, comforting Reiju a few meters away.
Then at Kazuki, who was gently holding his hand.
"Thank you."
Those two simple words carried a sincerity I had almost never heard in his voice before.
I gave him a smile.
"You're welcome. Consider it my engagement present."
Kazuki burst into a soft laugh.
"I think you've just set the bar way too high for every other present."
"Possibly," I admitted. "But at least this one won't end up gathering dust on a shelf."
Sanji let out a small chuckle before wrapping an arm around Kazuki's shoulders.
Behind them, Sora continued holding her daughter close, while the three Vinsmoke brothers rested peacefully on the deck, their hearts finally freed from the modifications that had deprived them of their emotions.
(Author's Note: I gave it everything I had to wrap this one up! It's almost three times the length of my usual chapters. I'll leave you with the family portrait and an image of the Keyblade daggers. Well, Zoro managed to sneak into one of the pictures. Guess which one! ^^)