First, you dig a shallow, wide hole somewhere convenient.
Then you lightly coat the inside—and the surrounding ground—with Island Cloud.
That gives you a fluffy floor, right?
Next, you fill the hole using a Milky Dial set to "water," and warm it to a nice temperature with a Heat Dial.
Finally, you toss in some bath salts I happened to have on hand and stir it all together.
And there you go—voila. The world's rarest Cloud Bath.
Which is why we're all soaking in it right now.
Ahhh… this is a good bath…
Of course, we separated the men's and women's sides. The guys should be relaxing on their end—Luffy and the rest, probably soaking like seals.
Sanji is almost certainly plotting to peek, but we made sure the baths aren't anywhere near each other. They're far enough apart that he'd need a miracle, a telescope, and a death wish.
On top of that, we've got Kirigami patrolling around the women's bath, so… yeah. We're probably safe.
So, a girls' gathering. Sort of.
All the women are here.
Besides our Merveille group (Leona included), we've got Nami, Robin, Conis, Raki, and Aisa.
"Woooow! I had no idea Dials could do this!" Nami squealed, splashing around in the fluffy cloud-water like a delighted child. "It comes out in one huge rush, and it heats up so fast—setting this up was basically instant! I want one!"
It's not like she's never seen a bubble bath, sure, but a bath filled with actual clouds? That's a first for anyone from the Blue Sea.
I've done it a few times back in Merveille, though. Papa owns a Milky Dial, so we used it there too.
The "water"—or rather, the cloud-bath—felt unreal. The bottom of the tub and even the floor beneath us were Island Cloud, so everything was soft and buoyant in this dreamy, fantasy-like way. I let the warmth melt the fatigue out of my bones, enjoying the sensation.
Conis, sitting beside me, laughed softly at Nami's excitement.
"If you want one, you should ask," she said. "I'm sure they'll happily give you some. Everyone's been talking about sending you off with lots of souvenirs. They've been wondering what you'd like."
"Really?! Yes! I'll ask Usopp to remodel the Going Merry's bath!"
"Hm…" Leona muttered, almost to herself. "But I don't think you can use it in the Blue Sea. Milky Dials don't work down there."
"Eh?!" Nami's eyes went wide. Robin looked curious too.
"Oh… is that so?"
"Yeah. I don't know why, but other Dials work fine—Milky Dials are the only ones that don't."
"It seems like the special clouds of the Sky Islands need the Sky Island environment to take shape properly," I added, keeping the explanation simple enough for a kid. "Most of them vanish or crumble outside of it, except for certain 'processed clouds.'"
"Really… I didn't know that," Conis admitted, looking a little surprised. "I've never left Skypiea before…"
"Aww, that's a shame," Nami grumbled, sinking deeper until the cloud-water bubbled around her mouth. "I thought we could use it even after we went back to the Blue Sea…"
While we were talking, Aisa—who, somewhere along the way, had started looking anxious… or maybe lonely—hesitated, then spoke up quietly.
"Hey… Leona?"
"Hm?"
"Are you… going back too?" Her voice wavered. "To the Blue Sea?"
Leona blinked, then nodded. "Yeah. I guess so."
"…Why?"
Ah. So that's what it is.
They've finally reunited after years—sisters, and from what I'd heard, they'd been close. Of course Aisa would be scared of losing her again.
"Why don't you just stay here?" Aisa pressed, the words tumbling out. "You're not going to go berserk anymore, right? If you stay, the villagers won't be scared of you, and they won't try to drive you out! And the chiefs… it looks like they're trying to get along with Gan Fall and the people from the Sky… there won't be any more fighting. So… since we finally met again…"
The words "scared" and "drive you out" made Conis and Nami stiffen, uneasy. They don't know Leona's history.
Raki, who does, looked tense too. Robin's expression stayed calm, but her eyes sharpened—like she'd connected a few dots.
Leona, though, didn't flinch.
She looked at her stepsister's longing eyes, and gave her a faint, wistful smile. Then she gently stroked Aisa's hair.
"I'm sorry, Aisa," Leona said softly. "I'm really, really happy we met again. And I'm happy you want me to stay. But… there are people I care about in the Blue Sea too. I don't want to leave them."
"…Am I less important than everyone in the village?" Aisa asked, small and raw.
Leona winced—not at the question itself, but at what it demanded.
"Ah—sorry. Please don't make me choose like that," she said quickly. "That's not fair. It's not something you can compare. You're all important to me. It's just… I already have a place there. I've built so much over the years… and I can't bear to leave it behind."
Aisa's face stayed sad, but her voice didn't turn sulky or bitter.
"…I see," she said, quietly. "Leona… you love that place. And the people there."
Honestly, I was surprised at how quickly she accepted it. A moment ago she looked desperate to keep Leona here—yet now she sounded like she truly understood.
"I can tell just by watching you," Aisa continued. "You look so happy when you're with Sue and the others… so I bet there are a lot of people you care about there."
She forced a small smile.
"Fine. I won't stop you."
Leona's shoulders loosened, like she'd been holding her breath.
"I'm sorry, Aisa," she murmured. "Thank you for understanding. But… it's not like we'll never see each other again. If you want, I'll come visit every now and then."
"Eh?! Really?!" Aisa's whole face lit up. "You're serious?! I'll be waiting! I'll really be waiting!"
"Really, really," Leona promised.
I sighed inwardly.
Leona probably meant it. But still.
Raki slid closer to me and whispered, tense, "She's saying that, but… is it really okay? This isn't exactly a place Blue Sea people can casually visit."
"Don't worry," I whispered back. "There are actually plenty of ways."
We've got options.
Papa and I can fly on our own. We can make ships fly. We can ask Shizu for help, like this time. Leona could even have a big bird from Merveille carry her, if she asked nicely—she's close with the animals.
And if we can build a more versatile airship from those Flying Ship blueprints we stole, that's another route.
The biggest headache is that Skypiea itself moves. Even if we start from the same place—Merveille—magnetic forces could put it closer or farther away. We need a way to track where it is now.
I should record the magnetic data later and make an Eternal Pose. And I'll ask Aisa, Gan Fall, and Conis if they want Vivre Cards too.
So yeah… maybe not "all the time," but once every two or three months seems doable.
Honestly, I could even give Leona a ride myself sometimes.
Mostly because I'd like an excuse to stock up on Cloud Cheese—and "accidentally" eat my weight in cheesecake while I'm here.
While Raki and I were whispering about logistics, it looked like Aisa and Leona had shifted onto a completely different topic.
"Wait, so… Leona has an older sister and a younger sister in the Blue Sea?!" Aisa gasped.
"Yeah!" Leona said proudly. "I'm the middle of three sisters! We're not related by blood, but they're still my sisters—Mama's kids, all of us!"
"Wow… Sue has a lot of kids," Aisa said, amazed.
Not that she gave birth to any of them.
And calling three "a lot" feels like a stretch.
For the record, I have zero experience in that whole category. No partner. Never had one.
Also, isn't a "big family" usually four or five kids and up?
"Well, anyway," Leona said, grinning, "Aisa's cuter than Alice."
"Eh? Really?" Aisa squeaked, suddenly shy. "E-ehehe…"
"…That girl attacks you if you let your guard down," Leona added casually.
The bath went still.
Aisa froze. Nami's eyes went huge. Conis made a faint, distressed noise. Even Robin blinked.
Only our Merveille group didn't react—because we know what Leona means.
"Well, yeah," I thought. "If you don't know, that sounds terrifying."
Even if you do know, it's still… not exactly normal.
"A-attacks…?" Aisa repeated, horrified.
"It's okay," Leona said breezily. "It's like playful teasing. She's not trying to hurt you."
"R-really…?" Aisa looked unconvinced, but she tried.
"When I say 'attack,' I mean sexually," Leona clarified, as if she were explaining the weather.
The surrounding girls collectively choked.
"PFFFT—?!"
Aisa looked utterly lost—pure, blank confusion.
Raki silently slid up to me again, face pale, and hissed into my ear, "What do you mean?!"
"Are you really okay?!" she whispered. "Even if it's 'in-law stuff,' I just heard something totally inappropriate for sisters!"
"It's fine," I whispered back. "It's fine… for now."
Raki did not look reassured in any way.
Then Nami, still processing, slowly turned and asked, "Just to confirm… she's actually your sister, right? Not your brother?"
"She's definitely my sister," Leona replied. "…Usually."
"Usually?! What do you mean, 'usually'?!"
Yeah.
If you don't know about Alice's ability, that response is completely reasonable.
Even if you do know, it still sounds like the kind of story people throw bottles at you for telling.
Still… Alice would never intentionally hurt Leona or Suzu. I don't believe she'd ever cross from "playful" into something truly serious with them.
At worst, it's overly aggressive physical affection. Annoying, invasive, and absolutely shameless… but not meant to harm.
Honestly, the real problem is that she uses the fact that she's "a girl" to push the boundaries of harassment right up to the edge.
And because she pushes so perfectly…
She also knows exactly where the line is.
Which makes it worse.
That's what makes her insidious—she knows the line, and she rubs her face against it like a cat.
And as for me…
If I ever truly let my guard down, I can feel it. She'd cross that line without hesitation.
So I'm careful. I never give her a real opening, not even as a joke.
The look in her eyes when she said she wanted to marry all three of us—me, Mama, and my two stepsisters—and have kids…
That wasn't a joke.
That was terrifyingly serious.
"From what I'm hearing, I can't relax at all," Raki muttered, burying her face in her hands. "I'm more worried about Aisa becoming stepsisters with someone like that through Leona."
"Ahahaha…" I waved it off, trying to keep the mood from collapsing. "Don't worry too much. Sure, our youngest is a pervy brat, but she'd never hurt a girl. And she knows single-digit ages are completely off-limits."
Aisa is eight.
Even if she's adorable, a second-grader is beyond "no." It's not even a conversation.
…Eight years old.
"In another six or seven years," Raki muttered darkly, "it might get dangerous."
I pretended I didn't hear that.
For now, I'll just keep an eye on Alice whenever she starts clinging to Leona and whining about wanting to visit Sky Island.
Though, honestly…
When that day comes, the ones in real danger probably won't be Aisa.
It'll be Raki and Conis.
They're both way too cute.
To be continued...