Story Start:

You were carrying Cail as you walked through the Alabastian bazaar looking
for supplies before you headed to sea again.

"Momma can I get a birdie?" asked Cail as you balanced him on your hip, as
you looked at some fruit.

"Soon you will." you said walking around more holding Cail on your hip and
keeping a hand on your swords, that were tied to your hip.

"Yay!" said Cail "If we get one I want a dove!"

"Why would you want a dove?" you asked him with a chuckle.

"Because you remind me of one!" said Cail .

You kissed him on the forehead and smiled. Who needs a boyfriend when you
got a kid that's gives you better compliments and looks better too? You
laughed at the thought and kept walking while Cail ate a piece of
watermelon. Two guys with nasty smiles came up to you and followed you a
bit, before you actually decided to tell them off.

"Would you stop following me?" you asked turning to them.

"Well you were so pretty that we just couldn't help ourselves." said the
tall one.

"Help yourself and walk in the other direction." you said.

"What if we don't want to?" said the shorter one.

"Just leave me alone!" you said started to walk away.

"You're not going anywhere lady." said the taller one grabbing your arm.

"Don't you dare touch me!" you shouted shaking your arm out of his grip and
kicking him right where it hurts, making him double over.

"We can do whatever we want!" said the shorter one about to grab your waist.

"The lady said to leave her alone!" said another guy's voice, knocking the
short guy over and away from you.

You looked up and saw two guys, a swordsman who looked oddly familiar and a
blonde guy smoking a cigarette.

"Who do you think you are huh!" shouted the taller guy.

"I think I'm the guy about to kick your ass for harassing her..." said the
swordsman pulling out a sword.

"I second that." said the blonde guy getting ready for a fight.

"Whatever," said the shorter guy "We're out."

The guys harrassing you ran off, finally leaving you alone. Cail looked up
and then gave a huge smile.

"Zolo, Zolo, Zolo!" Cail said clapping hid hands.

"Huh?" you said looking at Cail "Hun that's not Zolo-"

"Maya?" said the swordsman looking at you wide eyed.

You looked at the swordsman, your light amethyst eyes scanning his face. He
was gaping at you; you changed so much yet still looked at same. Is this
really her? he thought I can't believe I missed so much.

"It is you." you said "You got.tall."

"You know this beautiful woman, Zolo!" asked his friend.

"Yeah, I know her" replied Zolo with a chuckle at your statement of his
height "You never really do change do you Maya?"

"Maya!" said his friend "What a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl! I
have truly seen an angel!"

His friend grabbed your hand and kissed it, making Zolo fume. You laughed
and took your hand back shaking your head.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested" you said "No offence but you're not really
my type either."

"Oh, rejection is such sorrow!" he exclaimed.

"Shut up Sanji," said Zolo "You're weirding out the kid."

"Momma who's that?" asked Cail looking at Sanji curiously.

"One of Zolo's friends?" you said.

"You're a mother?" asked Sanji in shock, because your age didn't even show
it. "How old are you?"

"Sanji stop bothering about it!" said Zolo trying to get off the subject,

You just looked at Cail and saw he had watermelon all over his face. Taking
a cloth from your pouch that was slung around your waist; you wiped his face
much to the child's protest.

"Uh, so what are you doing here, Maya?" asked Zolo.

"Oh, just here for some supplies" you said.

"Zolo!" shouted a voice "Sanji! Where'd you go!"

You gave both the men a questioning look and they shook their heads with a
sigh.

"Luffy" they said ".You might want to step back Maya"

You and Cail looked at them with confusion but you stepped back anyway. Zolo
and Sanji braced themselves and got ready for whatever was coming. All of a
sudden a boy with a straw hat came hurtling towards them and he crashed into
Zolo and Sanji with such force that they skidded back. Zolo and Sanji fell
back, the straw hatted boy sitting on them.

"Guys?" he said looking around "Where'd you go?"

"Down here Luffy and do you mind GETTING OFF OF US!" shouted Sanji.

"Oh there you guys are!" said Luffy jumping up. "I've been looking all over
for you!"

"You looking for us?" said Zolo "We were looking for you!"

"Hi!" said Luffy finally noticing you. "Who're you?"

"Luffy, this is my friend Maya" Zolo said as Luffy shook your hand
vigorously.

"Maya huh? I like that name! It's pretty!" said Luffy.

You looked at Luffy with a very confused face while Cail started laughing.

"Maya, this is Luffy.Our captain" said Zolo.

"Captain?" you repeated, looking at Luffy "You're a pirate too?"

"Yup!" said Luffy proudly. "I'm going to be king of the pirates!"

"I'm sure you are" you said nodding.

Even if you had just met this kid you already knew he had enough potential
to make his dream come true. Now, you believed he was a captain. Even if he
was a tad on the loopy side.

"Momma he's funny!" said Cail pointing at Luffy.

"Oh a kid!" said Luffy "He looks like Zolo! How cool! Oh and you have three
swords too!"

Zolo took notice of this and saw the three swords tied at your hip.

"Well, Zolo's not the only one who can wield three swords" you said with a
chuckle.

"That's so cool!" said Luffy waving his arms around.

Just then, a kid around 15 snuck up behind you and snagged your swords. You
whipped around and growled, as he started running away with them.

"Oh, hell no!" you fumed, passing Cail to Luffy "He did not just do that!"

You took out a hidden kunai from your glove and threw it with precise aim.
The kunai got the kids shirt and pinned him to the wall, while he held the
swords in fear.

"Wow good aim" said Luffy, taking a few blinks as you stormed over to the
kid.

"That's not even half of it." said Zolo with a smile as he remembered when
he was on the receiving end of one of your fits.

You grabbed your swords from the kid and glared at him as he closed his eyes
ready for something. All you did though was smack him across the face loud
enough that everyone within earshot heard, leaving a deep red mark on his
cheek. Taking your kunai back, you walked away securing your swords to your
hip again, leaving the kid with a very confused look on his face.

"You should've given that kid a beating" said Zolo as you took back Cail
from Luffy.

"Well I didn't." you said.

"You need to join my crew!" said Luffy "That was so cool!"

"Your crew?" you asked. "I'm sorry, I can't. Well, I should get going now...
It was nice to see you again Zolo."

You grabbed Cail, balancing him in your arms and turned to walk away but
just as you turned Zolo grabbed your arm.

"Wait, you can't go... I don't even know where you live anymore. You owe me
an explanation... at least" he said.

"Momma, where will we sleep tonight?" asked Cail cutting into Zolo's
sentence.

"Oh Cail," you groaned knowing that now Zolo would never let you leave
without you explaining to him now.

"What do you mean where?" Zolo asked giving you and Cail a strange look.

"We ran away from home!" exclaimed Cail before you could stop him.

"Why?" he asked you, looking into your eyes.

You sighed and set Cail back down.

"Cail, why don't you go play with Luffy?" Zolo said waving over to Luffy and
Sanji who were examining a piece of fruit, very carefully

Cail nodded and headed over to the guys excitedly. Meanwhile, Zolo lead you
to a table outside a cafe' were people were ordering food.

"So, what's going on?" he asked this time more seriously.

"What makes you think there's something wrong? Maybe I just went on vacation
for all you know" you said.

"Cail said you ran away. The Maya I know doesn't run away from her problems.
So it has to be something... HUGE something not even you can deal with,
alone to make you run way." said Zolo.

"Yeah, well... I'm not the same Maya you once knew." you answered bitterly.

"I can see that you're not a little girl anymore." he said responding with a
smile.

"Yeah, well three years really changes a person." you said.

"Where are you planning on going?" he asked you, his voice filled with
concern.

You looked up to meet his gaze and knew that there was no avoiding this.

"I have no place to go" You said simply.

He nodded and looked over at Cail.

"I can't just leave you both here." he said.

"What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with you. You have your
own life, and your own problems, I'm sure." you said.

You looked over at Cail and Luffy. Luffy had placed Cail on his shoulders
and was running in circles around Sanji happily. Luffy turned to you and
waved.

"So, are you joining my crew?" he called

You stared at him bewildered. Hadn't you already said no?

"It's settled then, you're coming with us." said Zolo getting up.

"What? When did I agree to that?" You asked following him.

"You hear that Cail? You're coming with us." said Zolo ruffling Cail's hair

Cail who on Luffy's shoulders was about Zolo's height, smiled and threw his
arms into the air.

"Yay! Momma is it true? Are we really gonna be pirates?" Cail asked
excitedly.

You looked around and the others. Luffy, Sanji and Zolo were all smiling at
you. Then you turned back to Cail with a smile.

"Yes it's true" you said.

"Whoopee!" shouted Cail.

"Awesome!" shouted Luffy and ran around with Cail still on his shoulders.

"You guys are staying! You gotta meet the rest of the crew! There's Nami,
Ussop and Chopper!"

"Cool!" said Cail gaining Luffy's excitement

"There's one little problem though" you said to Zolo.

"And that would be?" he asked.

"My brother Nora." you answered.

"He's with you!" asked Zolo, remembering your older and very protective
brother. "He hates my guts!"

"Well I don't predict the future!" you said, "I didn't know I'd meet you
somewhere!"

"Maya! Hey Maya!" you heard you brothers voice call.

"Oh boy." said Zolo sarcastically, "This is becoming a family reunion!"

"Uncle Nora!" said Cail happily climbing off of Luffy and running over to
your brother. "You found us!"

"I've been looking for you guys everywhere!" said Nora coming up to you and
then noticed Luffy, Sanji and Zolo. "Okay who are these guys?"

"Oh, Nora..." you said. "These are my new friends Sanji, Luffy.and you
remember Zolo don't you?"

Nora sized up Zolo for a moment before grunting.

"Yeah.The troublemaker you always hung out with.Yeah I remember him." said
Nora and then added with a tad bit of harshness, "What's he doing here?"

"Well for your information" you said punching him in the shoulder, because
of his rudeness. "They asked me to be in their crew and I said yes, much to
my own surprise."

"YOU WHAT!" shouted Nora.

"I joined their crew." you repeated.

"I can't believe you did this!" said Nora.

"Neither do I but it happened." you said.

"And let me guess," said Nora crossing his arms, "Zolo's in the crew too?"

"Yeah what about it!" asked Zolo.

"You have no idea what you guys are getting yourselves into!" said Nora.
"Look at you! All amateurs!"

"Amateurs!" asked Luffy getting all serious and puffing his chest out. "Who
are you calling an amateur?"

Luffy deflated and then looked to Sanji, with a confused face.

"What's an amateur?" asked Luffy, scratching his head.

"You dingbat!" shouted Sanji. "He's calling us inexperienced!"

"No way! He said that!" asked Luffy.

"You tryin' to pick a fight?" asked Sanji, pushing Nora roughly on the
shoulder.

"You tell me." said Nora cockily, with a smirk

"Cut it out!" you shouted, pushing Nora and Sanji away from each other.
"Nora, I joined this crew. I was well aware of the consequences, and I was
well aware that you would disapprove. But Nora, think about it. Use your
head for a minute. I have... We have nowhere to go."

"So, join my crew!" he shouted.

"I can't and you know that. They don't let children on board, and besides
you know that if I join your crew, He'll find out." you said.

You stood and watched his reaction. Slowly his expression softened and
finally, he let out a defeated sigh.

"I can't just let you go..."He He argued, "Not alone with these... GUYS!"

"What are you insinuating?" asked Sanji.

"None of your business." answered Nora aggressively.

"You guys!" you shouted, getting between them again.

"So... come with her." You heard the voice and turned around, shocked to see
who had said it.

Zolo was staring at your brother and your brother at him.

"Z-Zolo?" You asked.

You knew that Zolo didn't get along with Nora at all, and it made you wonder
why he would even suggest that.

"What?" asked Sanji also staring at Zolo.

"I said, so come with her. If he's so worried we might harm his sister or
his nephew, then let him come with us. Just so he can see, that she'll be
okay here."

"Are you nuts?" asked Sanji, gaping open mouthed at Zolo now.

"Maybe." said Zolo shrugging and crossing his arms, "I don't like the idea
either but it's probably the only way he'd let her come with us"

"That's probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say, trouble maker."
said Nora, crossing his arms.

You looked at both men and couldn't help but smile to yourself. They may
hate each other till the end of time, but they had a somewhat respect for
each other as well. Zolo and your brother's relationship was a strange one
you had to admit; because at times they would be alright but the next,
they'd be at each others throats.

"Are there other people in your crew, straw hat?" asked Nora addressing
Luffy.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" he said. "There's Ussop, Chopper and Nami!"

"Where are those guys anyway?" asked Sanji taking a drag from his cigarette.

"Beats me." said Zolo.

"Hey look! I see a reindeer!" said Cail from his perch on Nora's shoulders.

"That must be Chopper!" said Luffy "HEY CHOPPER! OVER HERE!"

"Look! There's Luffy guys!" said a young voice.

"Finally! I thought we'd never find them!" said another voice.

A walking reindeer, a girl with orange hair and a rather short skirt, and a
guy with a rather long nose appeared. The girl, you guessed, was Nami but
the other two you weren't sure of.

"How cool!" said Cail. "The reindeer walks! And has a cool hat too!"

You were glad you taught Cail not to call animals or anything an "it"
because it would cause much offence. Nami looked from you ,to Nora, to Cail
and then to Luffy for an explanation.

"Who are these guys Luffy?" she asked.

"Oh! This is Maya, her son Cail and her brother.uh.Nora!" said Luffy almost
forgetting Nora's name.

"Nice to meet you" said Nami shaking your hand. "I'm Nami and this is Ussop
and Chopper."

"Maya, Cail and Nora are joining the crew!" said Luffy happily

"Really now?" said Nami. "Well it'll be nice to have another woman around!"

"Actually, I'm more of a temporary crew mate." said Nora. "I already have my
own crew."

"Oh really?" asked Sanji, "Who?"

"Whitebeard the Pirate." Nora replied, showing the signature tattoo on his
upper left arm. "Hey straw hat, your name's Monkey D. Luffy right?"

"Yeah." answered Luffy.

"I knew you looked familiar." he said, "I work with your brother Ace. He
said if I ever met you, to give you this."

Nora handed Luffy a piece of folded paper and Luffy looked at it for a
second.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Don't know." answered Nora. "He told me not to open it and to give it to
you. He also said that your paths will meet sometime, in the near future."

"It's blank." said Luffy, "I don't get it."

Cail climbed off of Nora and started playing around with Chopper, the little
reindeer. They were mimicking each others moves like mimes and acting rather
silly, as they made faces at each other. (Cail winning the contest though).

"So, we going to the ship?" asked Ussop, "I saw some navy men earlier and
they looked like they were looking for someone."

"I guess so..." said Sanji.

You picked up Cail and balanced him on your hip. Zolo started walking in a
different direction and you sighed.

"Zolo!" you called before he went to far, "The docks are this way."

"Huh?" he asked, turning around,"I knew that!"

"Idiot." murmured Nora shaking his head.

You knew Zolo's sense of direction was rather..poor, to put it lightly and
all you could do was laugh about it. He really hasdn't changed too much over
the years of your absence. They walked onto the ship from the dock, Luffy in
the lead with Cail on his shoulders. Nora was between you and Zolo, trudging
along angrily.

"Nora, could you cut it out?" you asked suddenly halting. Nora turned to
face you and sighed, still determined to keep between you and Zolo.

When you reached the ship, Nami turned and signaled to you.

"What is it?" You asked walking over to her.

"Well, I thought I'd show you to your room. It's next to mine and across
from Zolo's."

"Uh... okay" you said, following her in through a wooden door and into a
hallway.

You walked all the way down the hall, when Nami turned and pointed to a door
at the end.

"This is it." she said happily.

You opened the door hesitantly and walked into the dark room. Nami walked in
behind you with a large lantern. As she clicked it on, the entire room was
engulfed in the yellow light.

"There we go." said Nami handing you the lantern.

"Thanks." You said nodding at her graciously.

"No problem, remember I'm right next door if you need me. Well, actually
I'll be on the deck right now, since we're taking off. Dinner's at seven. Be
there or you won't get any food. Zolo and Luffy eat everything in sight."
She said with a laugh.

You nodded and laughed a little as she left the room. Then you turned to
face the small room. To your left was a medium sized bed, with red and white
covers. There was a small night stand next to it, which you noticed was
nailed to the floor. And, to your left was a small wardrobe taking up the
whole wall. You placed the lantern on the nightstand, sat on the bed and
stared at the empty wall in front of you. You were lost in thought, thinking
about everything that had happened. Both the good and the bad. And you
remembered the good days, when you were younger. How you would hang around
with Zolo and your friends just making trouble. But then... He...

"Knock, Knock." said someone in the doorway, interrupting your thoughts.

You gasped and turned abruptly. Zolo smiled at you from the doorway, with
Cail on his shoulders.

"This little guy sure does like ridding up here" he said.

You laughed and reached up for Cail, who jumped off into your arms.

"Oh, Cail you're going to make everyone's shoulders sore." you said with a
sigh.

"So, Cail already had dinner. We all did. But, I believe Sanji saved you
some." said Zolo.

"Oh!" You gasped. "I missed dinner?"

"Yes, you did." he answered with a grin, "You've been up here lost in
thought for about an hour now..."

"Oh...Oh! Then it must be around eight." you said, placing Cail on the bed
and taking off his shoes.

"Yeah, it's about eight..." said Zolo watching you from behind.

"Cail, it's bedtime." you said ruffling his hair.

"Awwww... but momma..." he whined.

"No buts." you interrupted and threw the red blanket over him.

"Can't I stay up a little longer? I wanna play with Luffy and Zolo some
more." he said.

"No." you said shaking your head and tucking the blanket around him.

"Come on Maya, let the kid stay up. We used to all the time remember?" Zolo
said, from the doorway.

You turned and stared at him.

"No, is no." you said firmly.

Zolo nodded hesitantly, how he used to hate to be at the end of that stare
before, and even now he hated it.

"But. momma, I'm not..." Cail yawned in the middle of his sentence and
rubbed his eyes, "I'm not sleepy, honest." he said.

You laughed and pulled back his fuzzy, white hair.

"Oh yes you are" you said.

"I have an idea... why doesn't your momma tell you a story?" asked Zolo
sitting at the edge of the bed, next to you.

"Yay! Story!" exclaimed Cail happily.

"Ok..." You said sitting back and leaning against the wall. "Well, once upon
a time... there was a little girl, and this little girl was very lonely you
see."

"Why was she lonely, momma?" asked Cail.

"Because she had just moved to this new island. And she had no friends."

"Awww... that's sad" said Cail.

"Well, the little girl had a little black cat. And she loved him very much,
because he was her only friend. And everyday, the cat would leave the house
for a morning stroll. But one day, the cat didn't come home."

"Why not momma?" asked Cail.

"Because the cat was stuck in a tree!" you exclaimed, "So, the little girl
went out to look for the cat. She looked every where, but she couldn't find
him. So, she went to the beach in tears. And there in front of her was the
biggest tree she had ever seen. And she asked herself 'What is a tree this
big doing on the beach?" Then suddenly she began to hear a 'meow mew meow'.
So she looked up into the trees gnarled branches; and there was her cat!"
you said.

You looked at Cail who gasped, and from the corner of your eye you looked at
Zolo, he was staring intently at you.

"So, the little girl climbed the tree. She went all the way to where her
kitty was and sat on a branch holding him in her arms. But the little girl
couldn't climb down the tree because she was too scared."

"So," interrupted Zolo "A little boy who was practicing his Karate on the
beach heard her crying, and he walked up to the tree and asked her 'What's
wrong?' And she said, 'I can't get down from this tree, I'm too scared. So,
the little boy climbed up to her and sat next to her. 'Don't cry.' He said.
'You have to be brave. Your kitty's counting on you.' and she nodded as she
wiped her tears away. 'Here, I'll help you.' He said holding her kitty in
one hand and grabbing her hand in the other. Slowly, he led her down the
tree, until finally they were on the ground. The little girl then turned to
the little boy, still wiping her tears and said 'Thank you.' The little boy
smiled at her and took her hand. 'I want to show you something.' So the
little girl followed him, and he led her into a cave. It was dark and a
little scary but the little girl followed him. There was water in the cave
that reached their up to their ankles, and small fish swimming around them.
By now, it was very dark in the cave, almost pitch black. But then, at the
end there was a light. The little girl gasped as they reached the end of the
cave, it was filled with beautiful glowing rocks and just below them there
was a tide pool that had a beautiful red coral in it. They stood there
quietly staring at the rocks, when the little girl said. 'I promise to be
braver! And next time you won't have to help me! I promise!' She said. 'But
I don't mind helping you.' Said the little boy to her.' " Zolo finished and
stared at you now even more intently.

"The end." you said softly

"But momma, do they live..." again, Cail yawned, "...Happily ever after?" He
asked.

"Yes. They lived happily ever after." you breathed.

You bent down to give Cail a kiss, and dimmed the lantern.

"Well, goodnight." said Zolo.

He got up and walked to the door, giving you one last look before leaving
and closing the door behind him. You quietly got up and opened the door, to
find Zolo only a few steps away.

"Hey," you called softly making him turn around, "Thanks.For the memory."

You padded over to him and gave him a hug, smiling warmly up at him and he
gave a small smile, of his own. At that moment he actually saw the little
girl he came to love so long ago, in that smile. There wouldn't be anything
in the world that he wouldn't give for you just to smile.

"Goodnight" he said.

"Night." you smiled and walked back into the room.