REVISED "Promises" from my Deviant Art account.

See You Again

"No!" Nerina's small child voice shrieked out. "I don't wanna go live with them!"

"But they are a very nice family, Nerina," Sister Marie said calmly. She kneeled down to the crying child. "I know this is a scary move. But I promise you'll love them when you get to know them. They're a very nice family."

"I don't want to!" Nerina cried out again. She jumped off the chair she had been sitting on and ran out of the small orphanage that was her home, the only home she had ever known besides her best friend's home. And her best friend was a little black haired boy named Penguin.

Her sky blue eyes were full of tears. They leaked over her eyes, staining her cheeks with small rivers. There was only one place that she wanted to go. There was only one person she wanted to see. But if she went to him, she would have just been taken right back to the orphanage. So she made her way through the small village and into the forest on the island to a secret hiding place she and her best friend created. It was a small cave hidden from sight unless you knew where you were going. She and her best friend were the only two who knew about this cave. They used it as their secret meeting place when they were going on secret adventures. Even if someone were to come close to the cave they never would find it. The opening was tucked behind a fallen log and hanging moss. And they only found it by accident when her best friend fell off the log when he was climbing on it a few years ago.

Her small feet thudded dully over the floor of the forest. She ran around bushes and trees, ducked under low hanging branches, jumped over a small stream, and was at the fallen log. She ducked under the log and dashed through the moss that hung down. She didn't even bother lighting the lamps that they hung up in the cave. She just tucked herself into the farther corner of the small cave and cried. She had once wanted a family, but not if that meant losing her best friend.

She had no idea how long she was there in the damp, dark cave crying. She didn't even notice her best friend entering the cave until his hand found its way to the top of her head. She knew who it was. Without looking up at him, she threw her arms around his waist and cried into his chest. He stroked her black hair, down to her pigtails and back again, while softly speaking to her. He said, "You have to go, you know?"

"No! I don't want to!" Nerina cried.

"But having a family will be a good thing," Penguin replied calmly.

"You my family! I don't want…to…to leave you!" Nerina said, her sobs breaking apart her words. Her hands clenched the back of his shirt.

"We're not going to be that far apart," he said.

"How can you say that?! We're going to be on different islands!" Nerina pull away from him and look into his eyes with a harsh glare. Or she would have looked into his eyes if it weren't for that stupid hat he constantly wore. At times she really hated that hat to the point of wanting to rip it off his head and burn it. Other times she loved it on him. "How is that not far apart?!"

"I promise that I'll come visit you," Penguin said while brushing away her tears.

"But it won't be the same!" Nerina insisted. "We won't be able to come here anymore! We won't be going on any more adventures together! Nothing's ever going to be the same again!"

"Nerina, nothing ever stays the same anyway for very long. You know we'll eventually grow up at some point. You know we would have parted way eventually. I still have my dream of becoming a pirate," Penguin said.

"And I still think that's stupid," Nerina said. She pulled away from him. Wiping the tears from her cheeks before wrapping her arms around her knees. "If you become a pirate then I'll become a marine and kick you're sorry butt for becoming a stupid pirate."

"You're not going to become a marine," Penguin said with a smile. He knew she wouldn't, especially if he did become a pirate. She wouldn't have the heart to hunt him down.

"I will if you end up becoming a pirate," Nerina said. She shot him a glare before turning her eyes back down to the ground at her feet.

"I guess we'll see then. Only time will tell where life takes us. And life is never what we expect it to be. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one to become a pirate and I'll become a marine." Penguin laughed. He then became serious again and said, "But one thing you can be sure of is I will always be your friend."

"You will?" Nerina looked back up at him. "Even if you do become a pirate and I become a marine?"

"Of course I will. No matter what happens, we'll always be friends," Penguin nodded. He then took off a small backpack off his back that she didn't notice was there despite clinging to him before. He opened it and pulled something black and white out of it. It was a hat exactly like the one he was wearing. It even had his name on it. And right under his name, was your name. "This is for you. Now no matter where you go, I will always go with you."

"We'll always be friends?" Nerina asked again.

"We'll always be friends," Penguin replied placing the hat on her head. "No matter where we go…or what we end up doing…I'll always be your friend. I have never broken a promise to you. And I never will."

"Nerina?" Penguin asked, but Nerina noticed it wasn't his voice coming from his lips. It was someone else's.

"Penguin?" Nerina asked when she noticed her best friend fading from her eyes. "What's happening? Where are you going?"

"Nerina? Nerina!"

"Huh?" Nerina opened her eyes. She blinked to clear her blurry, drowsy vision.

"You were dreaming again," Selena said.

"What?" Nerina sat up and looked around the room she was in. The pale colored walls and the dull brown curtains reminded her that she and her marine group was currently at a hotel. They were resting up after a fight with some pirates before heading back to Marine Headquarters.

"Dreaming about him again, huh?" Selena asked.

"I guess so," Nerina said while looking at her fellow marine and friend. She inspected her friend while brushing her long black pigtails over her shoulders. Selena was a tall blonde haired, green eyed beauty who loved to shop. She never did understand why a woman like Selena would have became a marine even when she said she always wanted to be one. Selena just didn't strike her as the type of person who would join the marines. But then, she never thought she would join the marines despite telling Penguin she would do it if he did become a pirate.

"I can't believe you keep dreaming about him," Tai grumbled.

Nerina let her eyes drift from the girly blonde to the masculine brown haired and eyes Tai. She enlisted at the same time these two did. They became quick friends and went through all their training together. So they knew each other rather well. And she knew Tai had a huge crush on her. She wished he didn't, but she knew she couldn't control his feelings.

"Get over it, Tai," Selena snapped. She then chuckled. "I think it's cute how Nerina has developed strong feelings for a man who she never sees except when she looks at his wanted poster or his crew is featured in the newspapers."

"I do not have strong feelings for him!" Nerina said, but her cheeks betrayed her and flushed bright red.

"And yet you blush and get fluster every time someone mentions that you do," Selena giggled. She rested her elbow on the table and placed her chin in her hand, giving Nerina a sly look. "If you didn't have feelings for him, then why do you keep carrying around that hat he gave you?"

Nerina couldn't stop her hand as it went to the pouch attached to the belt around her waist. It was true. Even though they were only kids when he gave it to her, she never left it anywhere. She always had it with her no matter where she was, where she was going, or who was around. It was one thing she was never going to part with. And another thing Selena was right about, that she really couldn't stand admitting, was that she had, somehow, developed feelings for the absent boy who was now a grown man. Her silly little childhood crush had developed into love.

The first time she realized her feelings for him had developed was when she saw his wanted poster for the very first time. It made her furious that he had become a pirate. He talked about it when they were kids, but she honestly thought it was just a silly childhood dream that would have gone away when he grew up. She wanted to hate him for it. She wanted to forget he was her friend and get rid of the gift he gave her. But her mind wouldn't get off of him. He was all she thought about, even through her marine training. His wanted poster had shown her that he didn't change much. Or physically he didn't. He still looked the same to her only older. She had no idea what his personality was like now. He could have changed since he was a pirate. The only thing that didn't change was he still wore that ridiculous hat. So she figured he hasn't changed all that much if he's changed at all.

"You're just jealous," Selena said. Her voice broke into your thoughts of you old childhood friend. "You've had a crush on Nerina forever. And you can't stand that her feelings are the same for you."

"I might have feelings for her, but my concern isn't that she doesn't return them," Tai said with a deep frown. "We have a duty to stop pirates. If we ever come across the Heart Pirates, she won't be able to do her duty."

"How dare you!" Nerina snapped. "I am a marine! I will fulfill my duty as one! I don't care that he's a pirate! I won't show him any mercy!"

"Are you sure about that, Nerina?" Tai asked.

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Nerina demanded.

"You carry his little gift around with you everywhere," Tai said. He nodded his head towards the bag on her belt. "The higher ups don't even know you have that. Only we do. What would happen if they found you with it?"

"I don't care," Nerina said. "It's just a gift from a childhood friend. It's not like they can court marshal me for having it."

"Perhaps," Tai said with a light shrug. "But they will question your loyalty to the marines."

"My loyalty remains with the marines!" Nerina hissed. She pointed to the door of her and Selena's shared room. "You get out of here!"

"Well, I guess we'll see eventually. Won't we?" Tai shook his head before standing up with his cup of coffee. He left the room without another word or look at the women.

"What a jerk!" Nerina snapped once the door was shut.

"Don't listen to him," Selena said. "Like I said, he's just jealous because you don't return his feelings."

"He needs to grow up," Nerina said. She crossed her arms over the table and rested her chin on them. "He might be good looking, but those looks have gone to his head."

"So true," Selena said. She draped her arm over the back of her chair. "I can't get over how he thinks he's God's personal gift to women. One of these days he's going to meet a woman who beats that out of him."

"And I'll be cheering for her the whole way," Nerina said with a smile. "I might even help her."

But little did she know how right Tai would be. As a few weeks later Nerina and the rest of her marine group came across the Heart Pirates. She immediately engaged in battle with them. But when she came face to face with Penguin…her body completely froze. She couldn't attack him. Deep down she always knew she wouldn't be able to.

"N-Nerina…" Penguin's voice stuttered as he looked at you. Despite his face being obscured by his hat, she could easily see the disbelief on him. "You…you're a marine?"

His words made her furious. "What do you mean by that?! You're a pirate!"

"You always knew I wanted to be a pirate," Penguin said calmly as he continued to look at her.

"So I'm not supposed to become a marine because you wanted to be a pirate?!" Nerina demanded.

"No." Penguin shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that. I was just…"

"Just what?" Nerina demanded.

Penguin dropped his eyes to the ground.

"So what now? You're not speaking to me because we're on the opposite sides of things here?" Nerina asked. She let her rifle had down by her side while placing her free hand on her hip.

…

"That woman," Tai grumbled to himself when he saw Nerina talking to Penguin amongst all the chaos around them. "I knew she wouldn't be able to fulfill her duty." He pulled up his gun and locked it onto Penguin's heart. "I'll show her how it should be done."

…

Nerina stomped forward. She was so angry she was going to slap him for becoming a pirate, for speaking to her like he did, for saying nothing right now, and just for everything and anything she could possibly think of. But she suddenly stopped when a sharp pain suddenly shot through her body. Her anger left her as fear filled Penguin's expression. She felt something damping her uniform as her right hand automatically went to her chest. Placing her hand on her chest, she felt something warm and wet. She pulled her hand away from her chest and looked down to see her hand was covered in blood. It was her blood. A small cough caused blood to spit out of her mouth. Iron flowed over her tongue as her knees buckled under her.

Penguin rushed forward as Nerina's legs gave out on her. He grabbed her before she could hit the ground. "Nerina? Nerina?!"

"P…Penguin…" She looked up at him before her eyes fell closed.

"No! Hold on, Nerina! I'm going to get you some help!" Penguin pulled her into his arms and stood up. He turned around to find another marine pointing a rifle right at his face. "Get out of my way!"

"N-no you don't, pirate!" Tai shouted. His arms trembled as he held his gun up to Penguin. "Let her go! You hurt her!"

"What?!" Penguin demanded. "I didn't shoot her!"

"Give her to me!" Tai demanded.

"Tai! What did you do?!" Selena screamed as she ran over to them. "Why did you shoot her?!"

"I didn't shoot her!" Tai insisted. "He did!"

"What's wrong with you?! I saw the entire thing! You were aiming right at her! What happened to you?!" Selena asked. She noticed something snapped in Tai's eyes. He clearly wasn't thinking straight anymore. She wasn't sure what had done it. The fact that Nerina didn't love him or the fact Nerina had been reunited with the one she did love.

"Give her to me!" Tai began to walk towards Penguin.

Selena lifted her own gun. Aiming carefully, she pulled the trigger and shot Tai's finger off, preventing him from firing his own gun. Rushing forward, she tackled him to the ground. She looked up at Penguin while she held him down. "Get her out of here! Now!"

"R-right!" Penguin nodded he skirted around the two marines and ran as fast as he possible could. He ran through the battle, looking for the only one that could help her, for the one who had to help her. After a painfully slow two minutes, he finally found his captain, his surgeon. "Captain! Help! You have to help!"

"Huh?" Law turned to his subordinate when he called out to him. He noticed Nerina's bleeding body in the man's arms. He easily knew who she was. She wasn't the most famous marine ever, but she was known well enough. "She's a marine."

"She's my friend! Please! Captain! Help her!" Penguin begged. He tightened his arms around her. His face twisted with pain and desperation. "She's not really an enemy! She won't hurt you or me or any of the crew! She won't hurt any of us! Captain, please! I'm begging you!"

"Captain!" Shachi cried out. "More marines are about to land! We're completely out numbered now!"

"Retreat! Everyone back to the sub!" Law ordered. He paused to look at Penguin again. His eyes dropped back to the marine woman in his subordinate's arms. He sighed. "Fine. Bring her along."

"Thank you!" Penguin nodded. "Thank you so much, Captain!"

"Let's go!" Law said.

The crew rushed back to the sub, striking back at the enemy until Law warped them all inside of the sub. Penguin immediately took Nerina to the infirmary while the rest of his crewmates ran around, completing orders Law barked out and getting the sub ready to take off. Shachi noticed Penguin holding the marine woman and followed after his best friend, worried about the bleeding hold in the woman's body. He's been around enough injuries to know this one wasn't good. It was life threatening. The woman most likely wasn't going to survive even with their captain's skills.

…

Penguin had no idea who took over controlling the sub, but they were quickly submerged and got out of harms way before he even reached the operating room. He laid Nerina down on the table. She groaned at the pain and movement but didn't open her eyes. He stroked her hair while whispering softly to her. He said, "Hold on, Nerina. You're going to be fine. You'll see. You're in good hands now."

Law walked up to him and the marine woman at that point. His eyes locked onto the hole in her chest. He sighed. Without a word, he grabbed himself some gloves and set to work on her. Penguin impatiently stood around, paced around, bobbed his legs, and did anything he could to pass time quicker. All the moving started to get on Law's nerves. "Penguin, go out into the hall."

"What?!" Penguin demanded.

"Go! That's an order!" Law snapped.

"Come on, Penguin. You're doing no good here but making yourself sick and annoying the captain," Shachi said. He placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder and guided him out into the hall. Penguin tried to go back in the second they stepped out of the door, but Shachi wouldn't let him. He planted his hand on his friend's chest. "You stay here. The captain will let you know when he knows something."

"But-" Before Penguin could protest, Shachi closed the door on him. He turned and violently kicked the wall. Once he was too tired to kick anymore, he resumed his pacing around for over half an hour before his legs screamed 'Enough' at him. He had no choice but to sit down. He pressed his back to the wall and slid down to the floor. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he did the only thing he could…he waited.

…

Over an hour later, Law stopped working on her. He removed his gloves, threw them away, and wiped his hands clean. Shachi looked at him and asked, "Well, Captain? Is she going to be all right?" When his captain didn't say anything, he knew the prognosis wasn't good and that he was right after all.

Law turned from his subordinate and walked towards the door. He paused with his hand on the handle. With a deep breath, he opened the door.

…

Penguin lifted his eyes up when the door started to open. He jumped up from the floor and rushed over to his captain. "Well, captain? She's fine, right?! She's going to be fine?"

"I'm sorry, Penguin." Law shook his head. "I did everything possible. The damage was too much. She doesn't have very long."

"No," Penguin whispered as he stumbled back again the wall.

Law felt bad for his subordinate. But even with his Devil Fruit powers he still had his limits. He placed his hand on his subordinate's shoulder for a second, giving his support, before walking away.

Shachi opened his mouth to say he was sorry too, but quickly closed it. Sometimes, those words didn't help at all. They only made the pain worse. Instead, he placed his hand on Penguin's shoulder and gave him a gentle shove towards the operation room. "You should be with her now."

Penguin lightly nodded. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. The beeping from the heart machine Law had her hooked up to softly chimed through the air. With a shaky breath, he forced himself to walk over to his friend. He sat down on the bed beside her. Carefully taking in her soft expression as she slept. He noticed she still looked pretty much the same, only older and more beautiful. He always thought she was cute as a kid, but now she looked even cuter. He reached out and took a lock of her hair in his fingers. Just as soft as it was when they were kids. He couldn't help but wondered how he looked to her. Did he still look the same to her? Or did he look different to her? What would she think of him if they got the chance to talk?

Penguin had no idea how long he sat there before she woke up. His mind just kept going over everything that's happened since the last time he saw her. He tried to piece together what all she did when she went to live with her adopted family. Did she get along with them? Did she come to love them? Was her favorite food still the same? That was macaroni and hot dogs. Did she still despite the taste of coffee? Did she still love to swim?

"P-Penguin…" Nerina's soft voice said.

"Hey you." Penguin smiled softly at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she said with a slow blind of her long eyelashes.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I know you are."

"Where…" she tried to ask where she was.

"You're onboard our submarine," Penguin replied. "My captain, Trafalgar Law, just operated on you. You're going to be fine."

She chuckle lightly. She always had the gift of easily telling when he was lying to her. "You never could lie to me. I guess some things really never do change."

"I'm sorry, Nerina." Tears streaked down Penguin's cheeks. He took her hand in his when she lifted it up to him. "I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Nerina asked. "This wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it is!" Penguin snapped. "I paused in the middle of a dangerous situation! I should have pulled you off the battle field immediately!"

"Penguin…" Nerina pulled her hand from his, reached out, and cupped his cheek. He placed his hand over hers and looked at her. She smiled tiredly. "It's okay. I got to finally see you again. I'm very glad."

"But you…you're…" Penguin swallowed. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Hey, no one lives forever, right?" Nerina said. He could only nod in response. "I'm very tired. I'm going to rest now."

"No!" Penguin panicked. He cupped his free hand around her cheek. "Don't close your eyes! Please! Don't leave me! Not again!"

"Shh." Nerina brushed her thumb over his skin. "It's all right. Everything's…go-in…to…be fine…I…love…you…Pen…guin…"

Tears flowed down Penguin's cheeks as he watched her eyes slowly closed for the last time. The beeping of the heart monitor stopped and shrieked into one flat line as her hand slid from his face, never to move or touch him again. "Nerina!"

…

The entire crew exchanged looks when they heard their friend cry out her name. They didn't say anything. They only closed their eyes and thought of their friend.

…

"Captain?" Bepo asked. He and the rest of the crew were standing several feet from Penguin and your grave on a small island that held a small village like the one you two grew up in. "Is he going to be all right? He's been sitting there for three days."

Law didn't reply. He only clenched the pouch he had in his left hand. A few seconds later, he walked away from his crew and over to Penguin. The crew, not knowing what to say or do, headed back to the sub.

Law sat down beside the grieving man. They sat there in silence for a while before he held out the pouch to his subordinate. He said, "There's something in here you need to see."

Penguin didn't respond. For a moment, Law didn't think Penguin was ever going to move from his current spot. But he did. He slowly pulled the pouch, her pouch, from his captain's hand. Several more minutes passed before he finally opened it and pulled out what was inside. He flinched. He gritted his teeth to keep more tears from falling.

Inside the pouch was the hat he gave her so long ago. But, also inside, was his wanted poster. And on the back of it, written in her handwriting was these words:

Penguin, nothing ever stays the same anyway. You know we'll eventually grow up at some point. And eventually our lives will come to an end. Life is never what we expect it to be. But one thing you can be sure of is I will always be your friend.

See you again,

Nerina

P.S. You were right. My family turned out to be great. I hope you get to meet them one day.

"I'm not claiming that I know what she was thinking," Law said. "But I believe she only became a marine to find you again. Possibly to even protect you. She did it for you. And she knew that she would die trying to find you. She knew this would happen. She was ready for this…as long as she got to see you again."

Penguin clenched his hand around the paper and gritted his teeth.

Law stood up. He shoved his hands into his pockets. Before walking away he said, "Take as much time as you need. We won't leave without you."

Penguin sat there for several more hours. The sun was setting when his own life finally started to move again. He knew Nerina wouldn't want him to mope over something that happened that he had absolutely no control over. He placed the hat he gave her on her grave marker and tacked his wanted poster to it as well. "You're right, Nerina. Life is never what we expect it to be."

He took a few steps away from her grave before turning back to it. "I love you too. I always have. I always will. See you again…someday."