#i can see them giving her gifts but never directly (until like post timeskip tbh)

[drainhollow]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY , PERONA

birthdays were always celebrated with moria, always showered with gifts that her father would present her. she was used to this sort of this. now . . . moria was rumored to be dead, and though she never let it get to her usually, the depression was starting to take its' toll.

sure, nothing was quiet on kuraigana, what with the stupid swordsmen constantly going at it, but it seemed like it was missing something. she had grown greatly the year she came to this lonely little island, her voice no longer raising to screech at zoro so much, and she had learned that mihawk didn't tolerate the spoiled princess act and had quickly shut that down. but still, things were too quiet in the castle.

perona had stayed inside her room the whole day, heart aching for her death father. the two men, though sometimes oblivious, put the pieces together rather quickly. she had mentioned a few times before that her birthday was approaching, and with the out of character isolation, they could only assume.

by the time she had left her quarters - late into the night, that is - a gift lay waiting at her door, and plate that harbored a single slice of cake, who's frosting matched the color of her cotton candy hair. it was a strange sort of sight, the ghost princess squatting down to examine the box that was presented to her; it was small, but heavy when she picked it up. within the box was a small knife, the hilt decorated in a pretty pink, with a ribbon hanging from the end of it. it seemed that mihawk had gifted her this shiny new toy, if one could just glance at the craftsmanship of the blade itself, and if she had to guess . . . zoro had at least come up with the idea for the cake.

somehow, though the gesture was small, it made her chest swell with joy, tears springing forth from her doll - like eyes. she wouldn't thank them - no that was too awkward - but she was sure they could tell when she wore that knife the next day like an accessory, attached her pretty pink belt by the ribbon. they could tell even more so, when both woke up to the rare sight of her cooking breakfast on a day it wasn't her turn.