Several years later

The Kid Pirates sailed across the South Blue, a certain island growing larger and larger in the distance. Kid stared at the landmass, leaning over the railing and squinting.

"Stop that, captain, you'll fall in," Killer said.

Kid jumped and turned around, scowling. "I will if you sneak up on me like that! What do you want?"

"I was going to tell you last night, but you were drunk. Word at the bar was the Pirate King and his crew are going to try to sail through the South Blue to get to the East. You wanna go after him?"

"What, now? Killer, nothing right now, including that straw hat asshole, is more important than my wife and my—"

"Hey!" the lookout yelled from the crow's nest. "Underfoot's on her way!"

Kid and Killer leaned over the railing while the rest of the crew rushed to join them. Sure enough, a small figure was dashing across the water towards the ship. One foot sank but was pulled out quickly, and the figure leapt from the water onto the deck, stumbling on the landing.

"Hi!" the girl yelled, straightening up and letting her flaming-red hair fall down her back again, clashing against her orange short-sleeved kimono which rested above black shorts and blue sandals.

"Hey, Underfoot!" someone exclaimed as the crew descended upon her, ruffling her hair and pinching her cheeks. Kid's face split into a grin when he saw his daughter, looking just like a tiny, red-haired Sakura.

"You've gotten so tall!" Heat said, patting her shoulders.

"Bet you'll grow up to be beautiful like your mama," Wire added.

She grinned, rubbing the back of her head. "You think so?"

"You're gonna have boys knocking at your door before you know it!" the navigator added. She looked down and played with her red belt, smiling.

"Not if I have anything to do with it!" Kid exclaimed, shoving through his crew with Killer. "Anne, give Daddy a hug!"

"Daddy!" Anne shrieked. She jumped through the air and grabbed his face, hugging him around his head. "You're here!"

"I wouldn't miss seeing my little girl!" Kid said, prying her off and holding her out at arm's length. "What've you been up to, Underfoot?"

"Mom taught me to walk on water with chakra!" Anne exclaimed, kicking her feet. "Didja see? And she taught me to chop wood and stuff without an axe! And I was so good at it, I accidentally broke a little of the house! And—"

"Where'd you get that bruise?" Kid demanded, interrupting her to pull her closer. He turned her head with one hand and examined the mark. "Who did that to you?"

"She got into a fight with the older boys," said a familiar voice. Kid and the others looked up, but Sakura ignored them, instead folding her arms and raising her eyebrows at Anne. "This time, she decided to give out a dislocated shoulder and a broken nose, and probably some internal bleeding their parents haven't found yet."

"Yo, Sakura!" Heat exclaimed, clapping her on the back. The rest of the crew crowded her, grabbing her for quick hugs and shoulder pats. Her stern demeanor melted when she saw them, and she fixed her hair, still long but in a low ponytail. She now wore a modest red qipao over sky-blue short leggings and high-heeled sandals.

"Right, Anne?" Sakura pressed, her stern face returning.

"They had it coming!" Anne snapped, scowling. "They said it's the Pirate King, and girls can't be Kings! And then they made fun of my hair! This's Daddy's hair! Shannaro!"

"She's just like Kid," Heat whispered to Killer.

"So we know what Kid's going to do," Killer whispered.

"That's my girl!" Kid exclaimed, ruffling Anne's hair and laughing. "Beat 'em up twice as hard for Daddy next time, you hear? Better yet, show me where they live, and I'll—"

"Dear," Sakura interrupted.

"Sorry, sorry." Kid leaned in to whisper into Anne's ear, "Aim for the liver." She grinned and nodded, and both turned their attention back to Sakura, all innocence and smiles.

"You're a bad influence," Sakura said, shaking her head. But she smiled nonetheless, and stepped forward to kiss Kid on the cheek. "Welcome home, you ruffian."

"It's great to be back," Kid said, pulling Anne in close to him again and sweeping Sakura into his other arm in one fluid motion.

"Kanpai!"

Several Kid Pirates sat in a circle, chugging alcohol in the evening sun outside Sakura's house. The rest either sat around talking in the grass or stood, dancing to the musician's aggressive fiddling.

"Here, mirror my movements," Killer was saying to Anne, holding her hands.

"Mirror?"

"If I move this foot, you move that foot. Let's go slow."

Sakura and Kid watched as he taught her to dance, even more patient than he'd ever been with Kid. Sakura's arm was around Kid's shoulders and his hand was on her leg, moving back and forth over her knee absentmindedly.

"Did you ever think we'd have such a cute kid?" Sakura murmured.

"I never thought I'd have a kid in the first place," Kid answered. "Didn't think I'd be cut out for parenting, so it was never in the agenda." He shook his head, grinning. "I was so scared when you told me you were pregnant. But I'm so glad things turned out the way they did."

"She loved you from the start," Sakura reminded him. Anne tripped and they both sat up, but Killer pulled her back up by her hands and they relaxed again. "The second she could walk, she followed you everywhere, and she'd never let go of your hand."

"Yeah, she was always underfoot," Kid mumbled, biting his lip to hide his smile. "Maybe she took to me because I never tried to put her in dresses."

"She looked cute in them! Oh, she always got them so dirty."

"She did like doing my makeup," Kid added. "Damn it, she always tried her hardest, too. Looked terrible."

"But you always said it looked good," Sakura said, poking his chest. "There's some natural fathering skills in there, after all." She placed a hand on his chest and gazed at him. "I loved seeing that fatherly side of you. Supportive and sweet . . . kind of sexy."

Kid placed his arm around Sakura's shoulders and drew her in closer, leaning in to her ear. "You like me as a dad?" he whispered. "You wanna go inside so we can make another one? Be parents all over again?"

"But how could we manage that?" Sakura murmured, tracing a finger down his cheek. "Everyone's out here . . . surely they'd notice if we snuck away?"

"We'll be real quiet," Kid said. "Maybe you can drop a smoke bomb, and we'll get away in the confusion. They'll never think to look in the house."

"And meanwhile, we'll be making sweet—"

"What're you talking about?" Anne asked.

Kid and Sakura pulled away, turning around. Anne leaned on Kid's shoulder, staring.

"The weather," Sakura blurted out.

"Yeah!" Kid said. "It's really beautiful here! Just feel that breeze!"

"Oh." Anne tilted her head. "I'm confused. Were you talking about sex or not? Because I thought I heard you say you'll be parents all over again. Hey, am I gonna have a little brother?!"

"You are not," Sakura said, looking to Kid for help.

"Where'd you learn about that?" Kid demanded.

"Auntie Bonney," Anne said matter-of-factly. "But she didn't call it that, though, she called it f—"

"She's corrupting you!" Kid interrupted. "When I get my hands on that woman—"

"Kid, you taught her the F-word when she was barely one," Sakura said, shaking her head.

"It was an accident! You know that! When you spend that much time around me and the boys, you're bound to pick up a few curses!"

"Why's it a big deal that you guys were gonna have sex?" Anne said. "Isn't it natural?"

Sakura covered her face. "You're too young to be that mature."

"Oh, yeah! Daddy—" Anne climbed onto Kid's lap, grinning. "How'd you fall in love with Mom?"

Kid's face turned red and Sakura laughed. "Yeah, do you wanna tell us?"

"Daddy, you're blushing," Anne said, poking his cheeks.

"Shut up! You want me to tell you or not?!" Anne took away her hands. "Okay, you see . . . I fell in love with her at first sight—"

"No, he didn't," Sakura interrupted. "He didn't look twice at me until I took out a few Marines for him."

"Who's telling the story?!" Kid snapped as Anne giggled. "Fine. Yeah, I let her join my crew after she showed me how strong she was. The other guys didn't like her at first, and I always wanted to talk to her about that, but I never got up the courage."

"Is that true?" Sakura said, staring.

"Yeah! They warmed up to you anyway after they saw your strength. Anne, your mother was always strong and beautiful, and I was an idiot not to see it the first time I saw her." He turned his eyes down, blushing again. "It took our first kiss and her running away from the crew to make me realize how I felt."

Sakura and Anne laughed as his face turned red as his hair.

"Mom, what about you?" Anne said, turning to Sakura. "How'd you fall in love with Daddy?"

Sakura abruptly stopped laughing and looked at Kid, who started laughing himself. "HA! Thought you could get away, huh?!"

Sakura jabbed him in the ribs. As he doubled over, wheezing, Sakura placed a finger on her lips, thinking.

"I didn't see him in a romantic light at first," she admitted. "He was brash, too loud, reckless, kept threatening people over nothing, wanted to make me wear a bikini around the ship—"

"We get it!" Kid interrupted, straightening up again and wrapping an arm around Anne. She hugged his forearm, staring at Sakura.

Sakura smiled, her cheeks turning pink. "But once I got to know him, it turned out he had a lot of redeeming qualities. He cared about his crew, he was determined, he was a great fighter, he was sort of handsome . . . and he was a good kisser."

Anne laughed again, covering her face. Kid frowned at Sakura. "I don't like that all of those things are in the past tense. And what do you mean, 'sort of?'"

"Don't worry about it. You know, Anne, your father turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Why?" Anne asked, taking away her hands.

Sakura placed her hand on top of Anne's head and looked her in the eyes. "Because without him, we wouldn't have had you, Anne."

Anne grinned and wiggled in Kid's lap. Her parents smiled, and Kid said, "What's with the lovey-dovey questions, Underfoot?"

"Oh, um," Anne said, picking at her shorts, "I have a new friend, who's a boy. I thought he was weird at first because he kept staring at me, and I said I'd beat him up, but he told me he liked my hair. He's kind of my only friend, because everyone thinks I'm weird or scary. I thought he was wimpy at first, but he's okay." She brightened and turned to Kid again. "Is that how you got Mom to notice you? By giving her compliments?"

"More like raging jealousy!" Heat exclaimed. He, Wire, and Killer sat down with the family. "Even before they started dating—"

"—He'd beat up every guy that looked at Sakura," Wire continued.

"Including Auntie Bonney," Killer added.

"You beat up Auntie Bonney?!" Anne shrieked.

"No, I didn't!" Kid snapped.

"But he wanted to!" Heat said, and he, Wire, and Killer laughed.

"Everyone knew he was in love with your mother well before they did," Killer said. "They were both stupid about it."

"We were not!" Kid and Sakura protested.

"You were," Heat and Wire said together.

Kid scooped up Anne with one arm, placing her on his shoulder. "Don't you badmouth me in front of my daughter!"

"What're you gonna do, keelhaul us?" Killer said.

"Daddy, are you staying here tonight?" Anne asked, bouncing on his shoulder.

"Of course!" Kid said, smiling.

"Does that mean I can stay up as late as I wanna?!"

"You sure can!"

Sakura sighed and stood. "You're too lenient with her, you know. This is why I'm staying with her."

Kid backed away, Anne leaning back on his shoulder. "Shouldn't she stay up, once in awhile? It's good for the body!"

"Kid, you are an awful influence!" Sakura snapped, stomping her foot on the ground. The earth trembled and Kid fell down, Anne clinging to his head. Behind them, their house trembled and then crumbled to the ground.

"Mom, it's broken again," Anne said, pointing. Kid's eye twitched, staring at the mess.

Sakura turned around and her eyes widened. "N-No way!" she said in horror. "Not again! I just fixed that house!"

She fell to the ground, head hanging low. Anne climbed off of Kid's shoulder and patted Sakura's, trying to comfort her.

"How about we all sleep on the ship tonight?" Kid suggested.

"Do I get to sleep with you?" Anne said, turning around with shining eyes.

"Sure you do! You, me, and Mom can all share a bed, how does that sound?"

Anne cheered and Sakura turned around, wiping tears from her eyes. "Sounds perfect," she said, smiling.

"Yeah," Kid said, looking at his smiling wife and daughter. "Perfect."

~Fin~