-Rae POV-

"So…" I asked, looking at the red head. He was grimy and greasy. Must work in the engine room. I've heard they've got a huge generator giving the building power and I guess he confirmed that with his appearance. "What's your name?" I asked the boy who was pretending to relax, acting like his surrounding didn't affect him.

He paused in his lounging, opened one eye and looked at me. "I don't have one," he told me.

"That sucks," I told him. "I'm Rackham D Rae. I know, I've got three names. Almost too many right? What do people call you by when you haven't got a name?" I asked curously. He seemed friendly enough and he was the only person I saw around here who was my age.

"Kid," he replied casually. "People call me kid. Or brat, or boy. But it's usually kid."

"I like that name," I decided, nodding to myself. "If you spell it with two 'd's it'll work and you can keep it. But you need another one. Do you have a preference?" I figured I ought to ask his opinion, after all, he'd be stuck with it for a while.

"No," he told me flatly. "You pick for me if you like."

I could tell he was feigning disinterest but I didn't call him on it. I liked him. "Do you know anyone whose name you like?" I asked, grabbing in the dark.

He paused. "No." I think he did know someone. I don't think he liked that person. Again, I didn't ask.

Instead I rambled. "You look like an 'E' person but I don't know too many 'E' names. Ernie is a stupid name. you're not stupid. Eric's fine, but it's boring. You're not boring so that won't do at all. Eustass… That could work. It's very regal sounding. You don't look very regal, but you've got the right pride and attitude to wear a name like Eustass just fine. So it suits you. Eustass Kidd. I'm calling you that from now on. Don't forget it okay?"

"And what was your name again?" he asked, giving no confirmation that he would remember.

"Rackham D Rachel," I told him proudly. "Nice to meet you. Everyone just calls me Rae. You do that too okay?"

-Kidd POV-

Rae came back every day after that. Even on days we were both too tired to talk, she'd hobble over and collapse next to me. Usually after that, her mom would come over and huddle her up into her lap. I just sat there next to them. It never took me very long to fall asleep when they were there and I didn't get nightmares either.

When I first met Rae's mom she insisted I call her Iris. Apparently that was her name. Rackham D Iris. What's with these people and having three names anyway? Iris looked a lot like her daughter, only older. They both had dark purple eyes and light purple hair. They both had these ridiculously bright smiles that you just weren't supposed to see in places like this. Must have been because they were together.

One day, when Rae was passed out and I wasn't - which was unusual in and of itself because she was a cleaning slave and I was an engineering slave - she fell asleep on my shoulder. I just started at her for a minute.

"It means she trusts you," Iris said.

"Why the hell would she do that?" I asked, staring back to the greasy, dirty purple had resting against my chest.

Iris just shrugged. "It's a good thing. Don't question it."

We both sat there for a little while. We really ought to be sleeping. We had a big day tomorrow. And the day after that. And forever really. We should rest. But I didn't want to. Searching around for something to say I decided on, "So… What are you in for?"

Her mouth quirked. "You're a ballsy little Kidd, ain'tcha? That's fine," Iris decided. "I got caught. Obviously. I was never built for fighting really. I'm all about speed and stealth. Not being a one-woman-army. Maybe if Whitebeard had showed up sooner or if my husband had been there… but I can't blame them really. Whitebeard's got lots of people to look after and my husband was following his dream. I wish I could've kept my daughter safe from them but… I guess it just didn't work out that way, you know?' She started off into the distance. "What are you in for?"

I shrugged with one shoulder as nonchalantly as I could. "Mom didn't need another useless bastard son. I was worth money."

Iris's gaze turned sharp and snapped back to me. Before I knew what she was doing, both Rae and I were squashed together in her lap and being held close. I don't think I could ever remember being hugged like that. It wasn't entirely unwelcome. "I've changed my mind!" Iris decided. "You're not to call me Iris anymore!"

"What?" I asked, "But why? I thought it was your name?"

"It is," she agreed, "but you're to call me mom now. You're family. If you haven't got a mother than I'll fill in as best I can."

"Huh?" What was wrong with these people? Giving out names, deciding family, what the hell? "You can just do that?"

"I already did. Now you need to know the rules: No escape attempts until you're seventeen. No making me worry unnecessarily. No calling people names behind their backs, but to their faces is fine. No getting the attention of the Celestial Dragons. And most importantly: You must always remember what your dream is."

"But… I don't have a dream," I protested weakly, terribly confused. "I don't have a family. What are you trying to pull here?"

"Pick one. A dream. What do you want. More than anything else, what do you want. Is it impossible? Who cares. You want it. Work towards it. Be that way. Fight that way. Life that way. Die that way. Your dream is more important than anything. So make sure it's something you care about. And then go for it." She cut herself off, "Once your seventeen," she amended, "Remember no escaping until your seventeen."

"What?"

"Now," Iris - or was it Mom now? - decided, "I'm going to sleep and you're staying right here. Goodnight."

I was quiet for a long time after that. I don't think I slept that night at all, I was too busy thinking about the things she had said.

-Iris POV- -Next Morning-

"I'm going to prove them wrong," Kidd said, the first thing I heard that morning. "Everyone who told me I was useless or worthless or weak. I'll prove them wrong. I'll be better than they are."

"And I'm going to be free. I'll stop anyone who gets in my way," Rae agreed.

Oh my baby girl, I'm so sorry you're here. I wish I could be stronger for you. "And I'll guard your dreams with my life," I told them. "I promise."

"But mom, I don't want you to die," Rae protested, frowning.

"Everyone dies sweetheart," I told her. "The question is if you find something worth dying for."