307 - Toki Returns Home and the Great Kingdom's Rivalries

Even now, Sengoku's efforts could not truly make up for the years he had lost. He could only keep pushing himself for the sake of the Marines' future.

Zephyr was working just as hard. He had recognized the situation clearly: without limit-breaking strength, carrying out missions at sea had become difficult.

Only by reaching that level could he gain any real influence.

Garp was proof enough. Although he was an Admiral, he no longer had to accept the World Government's orders to protect Celestial Dragons. With only Garp and Zephyr serving as Admirals at Marine Headquarters, most of that work fell to Zephyr.

He would have been lying if he said he was not envious.

Unfortunately, his strength left him with little say in the matter, at least where the World Government was concerned.

Like Sengoku, all he could do was train. The Marines' prolonged inactivity was driving him up the wall.

As for Kong, he spent his days sighing. The Marines were in a dreadful position.

They had no time to develop or expand their forces. That would have to wait a few more years. The World Government scarcely bothered with them, providing their military budget and otherwise leaving them to it.

Every so often, the Five Elders summoned Kong just to reprimand him.

He found the whole thing absurd.

In short, things were going badly for the Marines, and there was little they could do about it.

...

Elsewhere...

Eight hundred years earlier.

Caius and Toki reached the capital of the Great Kingdom. From there, she took charge of showing him around. She had explored every corner of the place growing up.

Delighted to be back, she kept pulling him from one shop to the next, buying things and stopping now and then to greet a shopkeeper she knew.

Caius watched her with a gentle smile. He loved seeing her like this and would gladly have kept her this happy forever.

At last, when Toki grew tired of walking, they stopped for a meal at one of her old favorite restaurants.

"How does it feel to be back?"

Caius smiled as he asked.

"Wonderful. It's funny. Everything feels different now that I'm back. These places used to be so familiar, but seeing them with you makes them feel new."

Toki answered playfully.

Before she had traveled eight hundred years into the future and met Caius, she had lost interest in much of this. Then she had stumbled on a secret, been hunted for it, and finally returned here. Everything that had happened had changed her outlook.

Caius's strength, and her love for him, had made that change possible.

With her husband beside her, everything seemed wonderful.

"Then I'll bring you out more often. We can see how the world changes together."

He answered with a warm smile.

Such things were easy for him. At first, he had intended to save only her in this world. Everything that happened afterward had gradually changed his mind.

He could make the others happy too, and could not turn his back on the love they offered him. That was how things had come to this.

Above all, he would not let them down.

After their meal, the two strolled through the streets, entirely unafraid of running into the people who had hunted Toki.

If anything, Caius was waiting for them. Once they appeared, they would not escape; he would follow the trail back to whoever stood behind them.

But nothing happened as he had expected. Before long, they were standing at the gates of the Amatsuki estate.

Both guards stared at Toki in shock. Anyone would have, faced with someone they believed was dead. One of them ran inside to notify the head of the family: Toki's father, Amatsuki Mitsuaki.

The other did not dare stop them. Instead, he led them inside himself.

"It looks as if they all think you're dead, my dear."

Caius sounded faintly amused.

"That's only natural. My Devil Fruit was the only reason I survived. Father and the others couldn't have known that."

"I can't really fault them. As far as the outside world is concerned, I was officially declared dead."

Despite her words, Toki felt uneasy. After all...

'I'll wait until I see Father. I don't know enough yet.'

The two of them waited in the hall.

Before long, Mitsuaki arrived, followed by the rest of the family.

He stared at Toki in disbelief, trembling, his eyes reddening.

"You ungrateful daughter! How dare you come back? Do you have any idea what you've put this family through? Why did you return?"

"Don't you know how many people are looking for you? If you'd stayed gone, we might have managed. But you came back, openly! Are you trying to get us all killed?"

He roared at her in fury.

Behind him, the others watched her with mingled suspicion and alarm. They could not understand how she had made it back.

Still, none of them reproached her. She had done nothing wrong. She had merely discovered something she was never supposed to know.

But now that she had returned, they would have to hand her over. Once they did, the Amatsuki family could return to the life they had known before.

Toki stared at her father, stunned, as tears filled her eyes.

"Father, why are you saying this? I've come home safely, and you still..."

"Never mind."

"What can I tell you? The people hunting you belong to the powerful families involved in that plan. Our family is strong, yes, but we can't stand against so many of the kingdom's greatest houses. They control the entire kingdom. As long as you stayed away, we could manage. Now that you're back, we're finished."

"They'll send people soon. We can't stop them. You'll have to go with them."

Mitsuaki sounded helpless.

He had never wanted it to come to this. But now that Toki had returned, refusing to surrender her would make the entire family the next target.

Competition within the Great Kingdom was fierce, and powerful fighters were everywhere. Under these circumstances, he could not keep her alive, however much he wanted to.

He paid no attention to the man she had brought home. As far as he was concerned, Caius was merely a young man with a little strength, destined to die with her.

Years spent managing family affairs had left Mitsuaki with strength roughly equivalent to an elite Vice Admiral in the future. He therefore thought little of Caius.