One Piece: Silvers’ Little Sweetheart

On the Sabaody Archipelago, neon lights refracted through soap bubbles suffused Shakky's Rip-off Bar. Behind the counter, smoke curling between Shakky's fingers blurred her view beneath her purple hair. Curled up in a corner was Silvers Lil, the obsidian-born child of Rayleigh and Shakky. Her eyes brimmed with the grievances of someone imprisoned by “love,” while her long black hair swept across the polished floor. Outside, a giant soap bubble drifted upward, carrying children's cries and the wind of freedom. She stared at its fragile rainbow sheen and wrinkled her nose. The clink of her mother polishing glasses and her father's parting order to stay grounded had become the iron bars of a cage.

Freedom!

The thought flashed down her spine like an electric current. As a drunk pushed open the back door, letting in a sliver of light, a small shadow hugged the wall and shot through the doorway, vanishing into the noisy, dangerous world outside, shattered by sunlight and soap bubbles.