Prologue

The man looked at the paper in front of him and laughed. He laughed heartily and wondered why the idiots had sent him of all people this piece of paper. Did they expect him too chase her down and bring her back? Fat chance! He laughed harder as he silently rooted for the girl and downed a bottle of alcohol. For some reason his mind wondered back to that conversation…

"But, why? Why do I have to stay here?" She asked the man standing next to her. He glanced at her in annoyance.

"I TOLD you already. It's your duty. You've known this since the day you were born. And now that you're old enough, it's time for you to stay here."

The girl looked with foreboding at her new…home. "Why can't I go out on the sea with you? At least until the new-"

"No."

"But, there's so much more you could teach me! I mean, you were used to be the-"

"I said NO. This is your FATE. This is the reason why you were born and there's no avoiding it…" He dare not say the sentence, for fear of the child reaction, although it hung clearly in the air. The girl finished his sentence, she sounded broken, like a toy doll

"…And there's no escaping it." She whispered. The man tried not to look down. He knew what he would see. And when he found he couldn't not look, he regretted it. She looked how she sounded. Shattered, broken, defeated. Her posture was slumped and her head was down. Her shoulders shook slightly.

"I never wanted this. I never wanted to be 'chosen'. I can't stand it here. My friends and family think I'm dead. God, I-I can't even cry anymore."

The man honestly hated seeing her like this. He hated making her do this. He loved the little girl that had once been a bundle of joy and laughter. He despised himself for killing that.

He kneeled in front of her with an understanding smile. "I know it gets lonely here-" He gestured 2 the large desolate cave entrance and island that was void of human life. –"but people will visit you! Gotta make sure you don't die on us don't we?" He lightly punched her arm. A small smile ghosted over her face, but died before it could settle. He tried to see her eyes, but they were covered by her messy bangs.

"It will only be you and Gamima won't it?" She looked at him. "Please try to come by more often…Gamima isn't very companionable…"

He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "I'm sorry Bea, but since Roger was executed, I have to go into hiding and make sure the Marines don't find One Piece. So it will only be Mima for awhile." The girl-Bea, lifted her small hands to rest on his.

"Oh…" She lifted her face, and he saw that her eyes were now a dull, flat, blue, instead of the deep, sparkling bright teal of the year before. Her whole physic radiated tired wariness. "I understand." But what else he saw in her eyes made him heave a small sigh. It was rebellion. He could see it buried in her eyes. She was probably planning to run away again. He would have none of that.

"Bea. No running this time. You gave every one quite a scare last time. Disappearing for almost four months? The higher ups got pretty pissed." He shook her head and smiled. She smiled too, and chuckled softly. "But you can't do that anymore. You have a family remember? The higher ups certainly do. They also remember that close friend." Her eyes widened.

"You don't mean…?"

"They said next time, it wouldn't be you with the only consequence. So please, don't be reckless and run off." He cursed the men that would cause eight year-old so much pain. He wished them to an early death as he watched the last of the light die from her eyes. All thoughts of running away to her hopes and dreams eliminated.

"Alright…I'll stay." She sounded as if she had condemned herself to hell. To her, it may very well be.

A man tapped him on the shoulder "It's time to go. We can't stay any longer." He nodded and the man walked away.

"You're leaving." She stated.

He turned back to her. "I'm afraid so. But tell ya what; next time I come, I'll bring you a special present."

"Really?" He nodded and smiled softly, kneeling back down to hug her. She weakly hugged him back.

At the entrance of the cave, he turned hearing her yell.

"Bye Rayleigh! Visit me soon!" He smiled and waved back.

On his way back to his ship, he chuckled.

"What's so funny?" His companion asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking of the surprise the new King will have when he sees that The One Piece comes with a Joker. And a young female Joker at that." The man next to him also laughed lightly.

"I suppose you're right. But come on, the others are getting restless."

And with that, Silvers Rayleigh boarded the ship, leaving One Piece and its new protector, to themselves.

Rayleigh was snapped out of his reverie when Shakky came out of the back.

"What's got you laughing so hard?" She asked, picking up a glass and cleaning it.

"Just some news about an old friend."

"Good news I suppose?"

He chuckled. "Depends on who you're asking."

"Well I'm asking you." She set a new bottle onto the bar, sliding it towards him. Relaeigh just smiled secretively and folded the paper, sliding it into his pocket. He took a gulp from the bottle and disappeared through the door.

Shakky shook her head. "That man…"