The sky had started to turn into an eerie looking, dark grey as massive clouds began floating over Foosha Village. The winds had started to pick up a little bit with every passing minute, and the distant sound of the waves crashing harder and harder onto the beach was heard. The trees that were situated in different parts rustled against the increasing power of the winds, while the plants on the ground swayed to and fro as if dancing with the wind in some odd dance. The once calm ocean waters, which I could see in the distance as I entered the village, were disrupted by the wind as they picked up speed. In turn, it caused my purple kimono to flutter and whip around as I quickly ran into the village, running as fast as my little six year old legs could take me. Everything that was taking place around me - the growing winds, the dark clouds, the scent of the ocean - was signalling that a storm was well on its way, and it was very close to hitting the island. Even in the distance, one could easily see the rain falling from several miles away, giving the inhabitants enough time to head home before it struck.

Blinking my violet eyes once, I continued to make my way into the village, ignoring all the signs of the storm. Despite the few storms that came across the island from time to time, I knew that it did not change a thing. Life in the village was still so much fun, as there was plenty of things to do. As far as I could tell, there were not many issues or worries that had to be dealt with while living here, since Dawn Island was probably the most peaceful island in the East Blue. I suppose that was why my father Amani and mother Hiromi decided to live here in the first place, because it was so quaint and serene. It was a shame that my father was still out at sea, leaving behind his wife, eldest son Kenshin, and I to live on the island until he returned. At least, that was what I wanted to believe. Unfortunately, despite my previous thoughts, I was informed that he had disappeared during his journey to find the fabled One Piece. My mother, since she had loved him dearly, was worried that he had been killed after hearing of his disappearance, yet something in my mind and Kenshin's mind told us that he was still out there, alive and well.

Even if I was upset about my father's sudden disappearance and constantly feeling lost from time to time, I eventually found myself smiling again. It was all thanks to Luffy, my closest friend on the island. No matter how upset I was about anything, he was always there to put a smile right on my face again. Of course, I did my best to do the same thing, though it was quite rare to see him upset about anything, and I shared his dream of helping him become King of the Pirates, a promise he made just last week before "Red Haired" Shanks, another good friend of ours, and my cousin Harumi left the island. For as long as I could remember, Luffy had always wanted to become a part of Shanks' crew, only to be laughed at by the other crew mates and made fun of. Being a pirate was a dangerous task, I knew that much, so I could see why Shanks always said no. In the end, however, Luffy vowed to gather a crew of his own and find the One Piece, making him King of the Pirates. To my surprise, Shanks really wanted to see that day come, even going so far as to give Luffy his straw hat as a symbol of that promise before leaving the island. Although it was sad to see them go, deep down it made me happy, knowing that Luffy's determination to become King of the Pirates would drive him in the years to come.

A huge gust of wind helped me return to reality once again, making me remembered why I was going into the village in the first place, before picking up the pace. I remember my mother informing me that we were low on some food, and that she needed someone to grab a few of the items if possible; just some food to last the night before the storm came along, in case we ran out of food. It seemed like a smart idea when she told me the reason we needed it, seeing as we were already running out of the necessities rather quickly, so I decided to take the task. Before leaving the house, I poked fun at Kenshin by claiming it was he who was eating all of the food behind our backs, to which my mother laughed while the twelve year old stuck his tongue out moments before I left the house.. Much to my fortune, by the time I reached the village, the rain did not start falling, keeping me dry for most of the trek there. The winds, however, had started to pick up once I reached the location. Still, I had enough time to get the necessities I needed and quickly head home before the storm hit.

Entering the village as quickly as I possibly could, I looked about the buildings that were nearby, taking note to the fact that there were no lights on. That only told me that they were closed for the night. After a few more seconds, I quickly approached a familiar building, one that I knew as Partys Bar, and noticing the lights were still on moments before flickering off. That only meant that someone was still in there and ready to leave. With a wide smile, I ran up to door quickly and knocked on it, hoping that the owner still resided inside. Within about a minute, the door opened to reveal the familiar face of Makino, the bartender who was very kind hearted to both myself and Luffy over the years. She looked down at me with a sweet smile, but her eyes held a bit of curiosity and worry. No doubt she was wondering what I was doing outside before a storm.

"Hello, Catherine!" She greeted me despite the look in her eyes. "I was just about to head home before you arrived."

Taking a moment to catch my breath, I looked back up at her with a gleeful expression.

"Hi, Makino!" I waved happily. "Do you know if any of the stores are open right now? I couldn't seem to find one, and Mother wanted me to come down here to get a few things before the storm hit. We're running a little low on food."

Makino looked toward the rest of the buildings, scanning over them for a brief moment, before looking back down at me and shaking her head.

"No, I don't think so," she stated. "Everyone must have gone home early."

Blinking, I gasped in horror.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed, placing my hands atop my black hair, which was pulled back in a bun with purple chopsticks in them. "That means we're going to starve during the storm! I don't want to starve!"

Makino laughed at my minor frantic state.

"Luffy must really be rubbing off on you, Catherine," she pointed out with a smile, making me look up at her and gasp again. "I'd say you'd need to take a break, but I don't think that's an option."

At the mentioning of Luffy's name, I gasped in horror again.

"Oh my goodness! If I die of starvation, that means I'll be leaving Luffy behind! And we promised to stick together to the end and find the One Piece!" My face fell into my hands. "I can't break a promise like that! I just can't do that!"

Makino could not help but laugh, making me feel that much more frantic than before.

"Relax, Catherine." She spoke soothingly, grabbing my attention just as she stepped back inside the bar for a moment to grab something. When she returned, she handed me a small basket with a white cloth over top over. "Here, take this. It has bread and some fruits. I was going to take it home myself, but it seems you need it more than I do."

Blinking, I looked back up at her, my once frantic state gone in an instant.

"I can't take this from you, Makino!" I told her worriedly. "It's just not right for me to do a thing like that!"

She shook her head and responded, "It's alright. I have have plenty of food back home. Besides, I don't think the storm will last longer than a few hours, so I'll be alright."

Feeling a bit guilty about taking the basket, I looked back down at the food with a bit of a frown before looking back up at her again and asked, "Are you sure...?" She nodded again, making me smile a little bit. "Well...okay. Thanks, Makino!" I turned around and began running back up the hill where my house sat, but looked over my shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow! Luffy said he wanted to stop by the bar before going on another one of his adventures!"

I watched Makino laugh as she waved and called out, "I'll see you tomorrow, Catherine! Say hi to Hiromi and Kenshin for me!"

"I will!" I replied with grin before looking forward again, running as fast as my legs were able to carry me. Little did I realize that I would never get that chance nor would I get the chance to see the sunrise on this island again.

Small droplets of rain soon began to fall from the sky, drizzling over me with every passing second as I quickly made my way back home. In an attempt to keep the food dry, I quickly used my small body to shield the contents from the water dropping from the sky. I had to get home soon before it started pouring, as I did not want the food to be ruined. Picking up the pace, I continued to run down the path before reaching the hill that our house was situated on, spotting the familiar lights radiating from my home. As my smile grew with every step I took toward the brightening lights, my pace kept getting faster, and the grip on the basket became tight enough to keep it from falling out of my hands. Knowing Mother, she was probably waiting for me near the doorway, ready to greet me with a kind smile and a warm embrace. Kenshin would probably be nearby as well, ready to pounce on me and rub my head with his fist, laughing while I struggled for a bit before he embraced me in a brotherly hug.

Unfortunately, that day was different, very different from all the others in the past. It was a day that would forever haunt me to this day.

Approaching the door, I ignored the aching pain in my legs as I reached up toward the handle and opened the door, pushing it with one hand before entering and shutting the door behind me. I took a moment to catch my breath, seeing as how the run all the way back was much harder than I thought it would be. Then again, we did live on a hill on the outskirts of the village. Once I had caught my breath, I felt myself smile and turn around, expecting my mother to be standing there waiting for me just like every other night. However, instead of seeing her smiling face looking down at me, there was no one standing there. Scanning around for a moment, it felt like I was all alone, abandoned for no reason at all. Frowning at the change in scene, I took off my scandals before taking a few steps forward into my home, still holding the basket in my arms.

"Mother?" I called out, looking around for a moment as I continued to enter the home at a slow pace. "Mother, are you here? I got the food!"

Silence was my only response, and I could have sworn my voice echoed as well. The silence made my chest clench with worry and a bit of anxiety. It was not like her to leave me standing at the front door unless she was making food for the three of us. My face brightened at that thought, giving me a bit of relief. Maybe she was cooking food and did not hear me come in. Nodding to myself, I slowly began walking toward the kitchen, expecting her to be there making dinner for us. Unfortunately, despite my assumptions, the scent of her wonderful cooking did not fill my nostrils, and the sizzling sound of cooking food was not heard either. Entering the kitchen, I looked around once more, realizing that my gut was telling the truth; she was not there. The worry soon turned to one of uneasiness as I set the basket on the table and turned back around. The house was eerily silent excluding the sound of the rain falling against the ceiling and windows, and it made my heart beat faster.

"Mother?" I tried to call her again, to which I did not get a response yet again. Instead of calling for her, I tried to call my brother. "Kenshin? Are you guys here? Is anyone here?"

Nothing. It only increased the anxiety and fear even further than before. It felt like I was all alone now, both my mother and brother leaving me to fend for myself. However, I knew that could not be true. They would never do something like that, especially to someone who became scared easily. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slowly began moving back to the living room and toward the stairs, hoping that one of them, or both, was up there. Maybe they were sleeping, taking a nap to sleep out the storm. However, when I approached the stairs, I noticed something I never thought I would see. Violet eyes widened in horror as I noticed a small trail of red dripping from step to step. The red looked an awful lot like blood, frightening me even more. My heart rate picked up as my gaze began moving up to the top of the stairs. A light was still on, signaling that someone was home, yet I did not feel as relieved as I thought I would. Instead, I still felt afraid. Someone was in here, though I did not think it was a friendly person.

Inhaling deeply, I began walking up the stairs, my body trembling with fear and making sure I did not step on the blood that still trickled down the steps. What's going on, I thought to myself. Something must have happened to cause the house to become eerily silent as it was. Sadly, nothing in my little six-year-old mind could comprehend just what it could have been. Nothing could have prepared me for the unthinkable, a horrible event so frightening and heart wrenching that it would scar me for the rest of my life. Reaching the last step, I noticed the light was coming from my room...as was the trail of blood. My body trembled to a point where I could barely walk on my own anymore, yet I forced myself to continue my trek to the source of the problem. Swallowing the lump in my throat once more, I slowly approached my door, which happened to be slightly ajar. With a shaking hand, I slowly pushed it open, revealing a sight that forever haunt me. My eyes widened and I gasped, my heart shattering to a thousand pieces, as realized what was going on and what had happened.

My mother's body was collapsed on the ground, lifeless and not moving. Her body was caked in blood; it was battered, beaten and cut up in so many ways it was hard to tell where the blood was coming from. A pool of blood surrounded her and trailed out of the room, down the hall and toward the stairs where I first saw it. She was lying haphazardly on the ground, not even flinching as the sound of her little girl gasping in terror. Her body did not twitch nor did it even make any subtle movements to show she was breathing at all. Her skin was a ghostly white and sickly pale, almost as if she was dying from some sickness. However, I knew for a fact that she was not sick. At least, not anymore. I knew just what happened to my mother, though I never expected to happen to her, not like mother was dead; she had been brutally murdered.

Speaking of the dreaded term, my widened, terrified eyes trailed up to spot a lone figure standing over the body, a sword held in hand and stained with blood, her blood. The figure's clothes were also stained with red as well, giving the impression that there may have been some sort of struggle. In a way, it was almost as if it threw itself onto the body and soaked up some of her blood for no reason. Unable to form any words, it did not take me long to figure out who it was. Even from the minor distance, I could see that it was a boy, standing around seven inches taller than I was. Before I could even inhale, the figure turned his head slightly toward me, revealing a widened violet colored eye, as if he had gone insane. Paling at the sight before me, only one word escaped my lips as I realized just who had committed the unspeakable crime:

"B-Brother...?"

Kenshin, at first, did not respond to my words, but looked back at our mother's body quickly. It was as if he was realizing what I was looking at, and only just figured out what was happening. I took a small step back, my heart rate rising with every passing second. Before I could take another step away from the scene, his head turned back to me, his eyes widened.

"C-Catherine..." He spoke, his voice hoarse. It was at that point that my world came crashing down around me. I had finally snapped; I was broken.

Shrieking at the top of my lungs, my legs suddenly began sprinting toward the stairs once again, pulling myself away from the scene that plagued my mind with horrible visions and ruined me in the years to come. Everything around me seemed lash out or break apart, as if everything that I once knew was now gone and destroyed all in that instant. I heard Kenshin's voice call my name as I sprinted down the stairs, begging and pleading for me to come back, yet I ignored him. After what I had seen, there was nothing he could say or do to take that image out of my mind. I could no longer look at him the same way as I had done before. I could no longer look at him without seeing my mother's body lying beneath his feet, his eyes filled with madness and insanity. I could not longer look at him without seeing a monster, a murderer, a killer.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I nearly tripped and fell to the ground, but I was able to catch myself as I continued to run, heading straight for the front door. When I did, I quickly threw it open, not bothering to put on my shoes, and ran outside. By now, the rain was pouring from the sky, and thunder was cracking. The moment I stepped outside into the rain, I could feel myself becoming drenched with the falling water, and the cold breeze made my body shiver violently. Nevertheless, my legs did not stop running for even a second, and my heart would not stop beating rapidly out of the immense pain and fear that coursed through my entire body. My tears would not stop falling, either, and no matter how hard I tried to push it away they would always come back even worse than before..

After running down the hill and nearly tripping on the mud for the second time, I ran straight toward the village once again, slipping on the muddy ground a few times in the process due to the strong winds whipping at me. Yet, I tried not to let my pace or the gusts of wind prevent me from getting away from him. I could still hear Kenshin's voice calling my name through the roaring of the winds, yet I refused to respond or look back to see where he was. I just kept running forward, tears still running down my face as flashbacks of the scene ran through my head multiple times. Even if I wanted to look back, my mind refused to let that happen. I did not want to try and figure out what happened. I was afraid the same fate that befell my dear mother would fall upon me as well. The thought of ending up just like my mother made me shiver and cry even harder. Who knew what Kenshin was capable of, especially after seeing the bloody that was the woman who brought us into this world?

Looking forward frantically, I realized that I was reaching the docks, where the ships that were unattended rustled against the harsh and crashing waves. For a moment, I imagined the waves of the water rising up and down dangerously, the winds lifting it and forcing into the beaches. After what seemed like an eternity, something in my mind told me to do something I never thought of doing since I had gotten here: leave the island. Leave the island and never look back for even a second. As much as the thought never occurred to me, it was the only way to get away from Kenshin for good.

Inhaling as the thought locked into my mind, I picked up the pace and continued running toward the docks, my mind pressing me to keep going. However, my heart began pounding harder and a bit painfully, as if it did not want me to leave and was trying to convince me to change my mind. It wanted me to go searching for help quickly in order to stop Kenshin. Maybe there was someone who figure out the situation before it got out of hand. However, my mind continued to scold me, telling me to leave the island and not look back for even a second or risk ending up like my mother. With that in my head, I ignored the throbbing and just kept running as fast as my legs could take me. They ached even more from when I was running before, but I could feel the fear running through me to a point where it no longer mattered. Thunder cracked loudly throughout the sky, making me jump and shriek loudly. Had it not been raining and thundering when I shrieked, everyone would already be out of their homes, wondering what was going on. Sadly, as fate would have it, it just happened to be raining and thundering when I needed help the most.

Before I even had a chance to decide to go looking for anyone, I was already entering the docks. Spotting the first boat that caught my eye, I ran toward it without stopping to take a breath until I forced myself to slow down and untie the rope that kept it from floating away during the nasty looking storm. Kenshin's voice had disappeared some time ago, and when I looked up to search for him, he was nowhere in sight. Not wanting to waste any time searching for him, as he may have been closer than I thought, I jumped into the boat just as I finished untying it. Looking around the boat, I noticed that there were a few pieces of food inside of the boat, possibly left behind by a previous user. The water that crashed against the boat soaked me to the bone, bringing me back to the reality that I tried to escape from. I no longer cared about the water falling onto me anymore and simply focused on escaping. After pushing myself out toward the sea, I turned around, picked up one of the oars, and began rowing as quickly as possible. My mind cheered me on, telling me not to look back no matter what and just to keep rowing forward. However, my heart was now beating so hard against my chest that it began to hurt, yet I continued to ignore it as I kept on rowing as fast and as hard as I could.

Suddenly, the sound of my brother's voice was heard in the distance once again, only this time he was not alone. Eyes widening at the familiarity of the second voice, I did the exact opposite of what my mind did not want me to do. My head spun around in an instant as I spotted Kenshin near the docks, frantically begging for me to come back. Standing next to him was Makino. Both, like myself, were soaked due to the rain, yet ignored it as they watched me leave, calling for me to turn around and come back. Before I could say anything, a crack of thunder sounded throughout the skies and the waves kept pushing me forward and out to sea. Panicking, I attempted to row back to the island, wanting to get out of the storm despite what had happened, but it was no use. The waves continued to push me out to see, forcing me to watch helplessly as the island grow smaller and smaller in my vision. The voices of Kenshin and Makino slowly faded away with the rain, waves, and thunder, and I knew now that I was no longer able to tell what they were saying.

It was at that point, in that instant, that I knew there was no way I would be able to turn back now. I would never be able to see the island again...