A/N: *Hiding* So I know most were probably expecting an update on LAST CHANCE by now... but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone, so... I'm just gonna drop it right here. I'm not sure when I'm going to update this one, I would like to focus on finishing up the newest chapter for LAST CHANCE and then I really need to come up with some sort of schedule to stick to... But until then you guys can find updates at SinclairCharlot on twitter, which I started so that everyone doesn't keep spamming the inbox here on FF asking me questions about the stories/characters/when updates will be. I just think it will be easier to keep everyone up to date through that platform.

Oh, and there's a poll up on my profile! You guys should go check it out and vote.

Now then, onto the prologue to SHADES OF RED

PROLOGUE

It was on nights like this, quiet, peaceful nights on the sea and under the stars, during the late hours of the night when the thoughts crept in. Memories that she tried so hard not to recall, a life that had been left behind so many weeks before when Marines swarmed a tiny island looking for something - someone - that they deemed dangerous.

What kind of world did they live in when the World Government felt threatened by children? It was a question she'd asked herself many times over the years, the first when the World Government ran wild searching for the child of Gold Roger - a child they weren't even sure existed. And now she found herself wondering it again, days after her own island had been attacked years later, looking for the child of yet another pirate they deemed dangerous.

A child who had done nothing except exist.

A smile tugged at the woman's lips. Well, the joke was on them, wasn't it? Her children were all fine - all four of them. Three of them may not have been hers by blood but she knows deep in her soul that the Marines would have killed them just the same as they would have her beautiful little girl. And now they were safe, being shipped off to different places by a man - a Marine - she knew she could trust. She could only hope they would all find each other again one day.

One to the west, one to north, one to the south, and her daughter to the east. Only fate would decide if their paths would ever cross again. But she liked to believe so.

"You are much too happy for a woman facing execution in a few hours."

"Grayson." Green eyes met brown and the two blondes stared at one another. "Of course I am happy. My time is over, but they will flourish and one day shake the world to its core."

"Lilianna, I can still get you away. Just say the word. I can take you to him. To Red-Hair."

"No," Lilianna shook her head. "You've done too much aready. You sent my children off with people you trust. You've ensured they will be safe, even if I find some of your choices more... questionable than others."

"You mean Garp. And I understand your hesitation, but you know that Garp and Roger were friends. He'll keep your girl safe. She's only a year younger than his grandson, and only people from the island would ever know that they're not really siblings."

"You wonder why I decided to send her to East Blue."

"You should have sent her to her father."

"He wouldn't sail with her. He doesn't believe children belong on pirate ships. He doesn't even know about her. I never could find the right way to tell him. He would be a good father, I know that. But it would also be a distraction. And on the seas a distraction is dangerous. It's why I told him we had to stop seeing each other."

"He deserves to know."

"I agree. And she knows who he is. I told her everything about him. His name, what he does, what he looks like, things about his crew. I told her everything just in case she ever wanted to meet him."

"But if she can't find him - "

"The last I heard from him, he was heading to East Blue until some heat from his last stunt goes down."

"Heh..." her brother smirked. "So that's why you were so adamant about us sending her to East Blue. The odds of them coming across each other just got a lot better. I guess you learned that from our dear little brother?"

"Are you asking as a concerned family member or as a Marine?"

"Damnit Lily, don't start doing that."

Ignoring him, his sister began to hum. Grayson forced his irritation down and sighed before plopping down on the deck next to her. He leaned his head back and gazed up at the stars, listening to the sound of her voice. Her hands were cuffed in front of her - Sea Prism Stone, due to her Devil Fruit powers - but one hand shifted ever so slightly to sit lightly on top of his. He stiffened, but only for a minute, before relaxing with a large sigh.

... Gather up all of the crew

It's time to ship out Binks' brew

Wave goodbye, but don't you cry

Our memories remain

Our days are but a passing dream

Everlasting though they seem

Beneath the moon, we'll meet again

The wind's our lullaby...

"That red haired idiot always did love that song," Grayson murmured, eyes shining with unshed tears.

"We all did," Lilianna corrected. "Him, the Cap'n, that moron Buggy, you and me."

"Those days are over," Grayson said gruffly. "But damn if I don't miss them."

Liliana smiled. "Never would have pegged you to go the straight and narrow route. But then again, no one ever did figure out we were on Roger's crew. Shanks, Buggy and I didn't even have bounties until after we'd all set out on our own. Guess you got lucky."

"I guess." Grayson went silent. "Lily, let me get you out of this. Please."

"No, Gray. This is the path you've chosen to walk, and I've chosen mine. Don't taint what you've built yourself into. You've worked hard to become a good marine. Don't fuck it up for me."

"It's hard. You're family."

"It's not meant to be easy." Lilianna smiled. "If it was always easy then nothing would be worth achieving. If you make a scene, try to save me, then all the hard work, all that you've achieved, it would be for nothing. You'd be arrested, executed. I won't let that happen."

"... we should get you back into your cell."

"In a bit," she replied, gaze going back up to the stars. "It's such a lovely night out. I'm glad I got to see one more."

Grayson bit his lip. "Yeah..."

"Don't cry for me, Grayson. It's been a good life. I've known fun and freedom and love. And that makes it all worth it. Tell Atty that I'm sorry."

"I'll be lucky if Atticus doesn't shoot me where I stand the next time he sees me."

"He would never. You're his wonderful big brother."

"Yeah, and you're his big sister. And he loves you more. He never did forgive me for becoming a marine."

"If that's what you think, then you're an idiot," Lilianna sighed. "Well, better take me back."

The first tear finally fell from Grayson's eye. "Yeah."

Her forehead rested against his, tears sparkling in her green eyes. "It'll be all right."

"...Yeah."

Neither mentioned that the other was crying.