I feel a sharp pain below my left ribs and the cold water receding over my legs. I feel cold. I slowly open my eyes and painfully turn onto my back. I reach up with my left hand, despite the pain it causes in my side, and wipe the red hair from my face. A mixture of sand and blood falls from my hand as it falls uselessly back to my side.

The sky, it's so grey, so dismal. I can't even tell if it's day or night. I can't move my body—apart from the pain in my side, nothing below my neck is responding. I slowly turn my head left and right, trying to block out the sickening cracks that follow. No one…I'm all alone. Luffy, Zoro, everyone's gone. I start crying… "Stop," I say to myself, "you're strong. Don't cry." I force the tears back. They wouldn't want you to cry for them.

The waves come up to the shore, again. The saltwater stings as it flows over my legs. I force my neck off the sand and look in horror at the sight. My right leg was bleeding profusely just below the knee…the other one is covered in dark bruises… I've had worse. I can take this pain.

I try to sit up, but feel a stabbing pain in my side and crash back to the sand. "Shit…shit, shit." Why am I so weak……No, I won't let some petty wounds like this keep me down. Luffy and Zoro have been in bad shape and they never let that keep them down. I have to be strong.

I reach for the source of pain in my side with my right hand, trying to keep the pain out of my mind with all my might. Something is jutting out below my ribs. I grab it and pull with all the strength left in my scarred arm. It doesn't even budge. All I feel is a pain, like being stabbed with a red hot knife, running through my body. I scream, I scream louder than I ever have in my life. I see spots and then everything goes black.

"What is this?" I say. I feel like I'm floating. But too where? Am I dead? I see a dim light ahead, is this really the end? I reach for the light, but feel something grab my leg. There is no pain. I look back and see my purple-haired foster-sister, "Nojiko, what are you doing?" she's not dead…how could she be here?

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. She reopens her eyes with a smile and points forward. I turn around slowly… Is this possible? "Hello, Nami."

"Bellemere…where am I?" I must be dead. Why else would she be here?

"Nami, you're such an idiot. Are you really going to let some cuts and bruises kill you?" she flashed me that mischievous smile that she always had, "I never thought you were that weak." She reached forward and put her hand on my head. With a push she sent me the other way and there was darkness.

"Why…Bellemere?" I'm back on the beach. "I'm not weak," I scream and force both of my hands to the thing in my side. With a piercing scream I pull. The pain is excruciating, but I don't give up. I force it out and toss the bloodied piece of wood to the side.

I've got to get moving. I need to find the rest of the crew. I stand up and then, it hits me—the ambush, the storm…I'm surrounded by the shattered remains of our ship. Even after these six years together we still weren't ready for the Grand Line. That ship, the red ship, it took us out before we even knew what was happening. They somehow managed to conjure that storm—I wouldn't have missed a storm of that magnitude unless some strange power caused it. Who were they? I had never seen their captain before. Everyone's probably dead. I fall to my knees. I'm the only survivor… "No," I scream. No, that's not possible, those guys can't be dead. It can't end like this.

I rip off a piece of my already shredded shirt and tie it below my right knee to cover the wound and I force myself to my feet. I'm going to find them. I hold my side, stopping the blood flood, and I start walking. Every step my legs scream, trying to get me to stop. But I don't. I can't give up. I'm not weak. After everything these guys have done for me, I have to find them. I feel the blood rolling down my arms. I have to get help. If I don't, I won't find my friends. I continue on.

It's just a seemingly endless stretch of beech, but no matter how far I travel I find pieces of our ship…of our things scattered everywhere. Someone has to be close by. "Just a little longer," I tell myself, " and before you know it you'll be laughing over a nice warm fire." I smile…I smile despite these horrible conditions, "Just a little longer."

In the distance I notice the sun starting to break through the clouds. I start to pick up my pace. "They've got to be close now. I just know it." I start going even faster, despite the horrible pain throughout my body. "I know they're close," I step on a glass bottle and hear a sickening crack. NO. NO, not now, not when I'm so close. As my ankle gives out I fall to the ground. I don't even feel the impact…I don't feel any pain, but I can't get up. "No this isn't the end," I grit my teeth and pull myself forward. I ignore the pain, I don't have time for it. "I have to keep going," I start feeling weak. "I have to…I have to…" my eyes go blurry and my arms start shaking violently under my weight. "I…have…to…" my arms give and I crash to the ground. Everything's blurry, even the sunlight in the distance seems to be disappearing now. Everything is starting to go black.

To think that this would be the end…that I would die so soon. There's only one thing I regret.

The sun is blocked by this blackness now. I close my eyes, waiting for the release—the moment that I leave this world…everything behind. I feel a lifting sensation, "Don't die," someone says in my ear. My eyes snap open. Everything is blurry, but I see his silhouette as he carries me along the beech. This man is really something. I put my arms around his neck and close my eyes.

"I can't," I say softly in his ear. I hear his playful snicker as he gently lays me down on a bed of grass under a tree.

I feel him place straw hat over my eyes, "I'll be back for this," he says and I let unconsciousness take me.

I can't die. Not without telling you first. Because all the gold that I can gather, will never amount to the feelings I have for you. How foolish I was to think it ever could…

This may be the introduction for a new fanfic I'm working on. I don't know. If I get enough reviews it'll probably be my next project.