Just wanted to say thanks for all of the support


With Hana

Hana sighed, tears building up in her eyes. "Hey, don't worry. Like you said to Zoro, Kira's strong. She'll be fine." Ace said, kneeling in front of her, taking her hands, and kissing them. Hana looked down at him, before launching herself into his arms, hugging him tight. He stumbled back a little before righting himself and hugging her back. Tears leaked down her porcelain face. "I know she's okay. But, I've never seen her in so much pain before. She's been stabbed, and she just smiled and put up with it. It's just not very comforting to see your 'sister' in that much pain. And now I feel bad. We did nothing but snap at each other on our way back from the ball." Hana mumbled into his chest. "I know. Everything will be alright though, okay?" Ace said, kissing the top of her head. "Thanks, Ace." Hana said, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Ace just held her tighter.

With Ashley

Ashley sat down against the railing, her back to the ocean. Her eyes were closed, but you could see the feint traces of tear marks down her cheeks. "Are you okay, lass?" Shanks asked. Ashley shook her head. She opened her red, puffy, blood-shot eyes, and looked at him. "Am I a bad person? Was I not strong enough?" She asked. Shanks was shocked at her sudden questions. "What brought this on?" he asked, though he knew the answer. "Kira. I'm her 'big sister' yet I couldn't protect her from a lousy gun! I should always be able to protect my 'sisters' and I couldn't! I'm the worst-!" Ashley was cut off by Shanks' lips crashing down on hers. "Don't worry. You were strong enough. But, you can't protect them from everything. Don't you ever think you're not good enough." he said after their kiss. Ashley buried her face in his chest and cried. "Thank you." she mumbled. "No problem, lass." Shanks said, still holding her. He kissed the top of her head and just let her cry on his shoulder.

With Tori

Tori sat by the railing, on the other end of the ship, silently crying. "Tori? Are you okay?" Luffy asked, sitting next to her. "No." she said then sighed. "I always kind of thought that Kira was indestructible, you know? She went through so much without even flinching. It's hard to believe that a simple piece of metal can cause her so much pain and reduce her to tears." Tori said through her own tears. Luffy looked worried. He's not used to seeing Tori without a smile on her face, and he decided he didn't like it. Not one bit.

He wrapped a rubber arm around Tori's shoulder, pulling her to his chest. "Hey, stop crying. You look prettier when you smile." Luffy said to her, trying to cheer her up. Tori wiped away some of her tears, smiled lightly. "Much better." Luffy smiled, kissing her cheek. Tori blushed, ever-so-slightly, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Luffy leaned his head on top of hers. "No more crying, okay?" Luffy whispered to her. "Okay." Luffy kissed her cheek again, before shifting his position so Tori was sitting in his lap, resting her back against Luffy's chest, his legs on either side of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and she placed her hand against his. She leaned back against Luffy and sighed. Luffy reached up and wiped the rest of her tears away.

"Thank you, Luffy." Tori tilted her head back, to look Luffy in the eyes. Luffy grabbed the sides of her face and tilted her head farther back, while he tilted his down so his lips hovered over hers. Tori gulped silently, and her breath hitched in her throat. She stared at Luffy's throat, watching his Adam's apple bob slightly, as he gulped. Luffy leaned the rest of the way down and planted a sweet, innocent kiss on her lips.

Tori melted into the kiss. She grabbed the back of his head, pulling him closer to her. She fisted her hands into his hair, his signature straw hat resting against his back, hanging from his neck by a leather cord. When they finally pulled away, Tori sighed contently. "Wow." she sighed. "Yeah." Luffy breathed. Luffy crossed his legs, as Tori scooted down and rested her head in his lap. Luffy ran his fingers through Tori's hair, slightly massaging her scalp. Tori smiled up at him, before closing her eyes and slowly drifting to sleep, lulled by Luffy's actions. "Sweet dreams, Tori." Luffy whispered, planting a kiss on her forehead, before leaning back against the railing and drifting to sleep, himself.

With Kira

Black. Darkness. Nothingness. You were surrounded by it. 'Man, I didn't think a bullet would hurt this much.' you thought. Light started leaking into your line of vision. Your eyes fluttered open. Momentarily blinded by the bright light, you squinted your eyes. Once your vision got readjusted to the light, you opened them fully to see Chopper fiercely grinding herbs and preparing a needle. "What's going on?" you groaned. Copper visibly jumped at your voice. "K-Kira!" he said surprised, and then looked sad. "What's wrong?" you asked. He didn't say anything, but put the herb paste in the needle along with some clear liquid. He walked over to you and prepared your arm. You stared at him as he injected the needle into your arm.

You didn't even flinch. He bandaged the point of impact, but still didn't say anything. "Chopper? You're scaring me, a little." you said, nervously. "Kira, that bullet wasn't an actual bullet. It was a capsule." he said looking down. "What? What do you mean?" you asked, not understanding where this was going. Chopper sighed sadly and continued to explain. "It contained a deadly poison. I just gave you something to help with it." he still didn't meet your eyes. "How long till the cure takes effect." you asked, surprisingly calm. "That's the thing. There is no cure." he said, finally looking into your eyes. Your breath caught in your throat. "What do you mean 'there is no cure'? Then what did you just give me?" you said, slightly anxious. "It slows down the flow of your blood. It makes it so it takes longer for the poison to take effect. But, from now on you can't do anything too strenuous." he said in a serious tone.

"So no more sparing. Or fighting." you sighed sadly. "Okay. But, just do me a favor, don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to treat me differently." you mumbled. "Sure." Chopper smiled sadly, tears coming to his eyes. "Can I go see Zoro?" you asked with pleading eyes. He nodded, hesitatingly. "Thanks Chopper." You gave him a hug before walking outside.

You took a deep breath, savoring the sweet, salty sea spray. "Kira? Kira!" you turned around to be tackled by Tori in a hug. You flinched, involuntarily, and she quickly let go. You gave her a small smile. "Kira!" "You're okay!" You saw Hana and Ashley running towards you. "Hey guys. What's up?" you asked, like nothing happened. "You're okay, right?" Ashley asked, looking you over. "Never been better." you said, flexing a muscle, trying to reassure her. "Umm…where's Zoro?" you asked, causing them to smirk. "He's right over there." Hana said, pointing to around the corner. "Thanks." You said, walking away.

You rounded the corner to see Zoro slumped against the railing. You walked up behind him and smiled softly. "Hey." you said in almost whisper. He jumped and swiveled around to face you. "Kira!" he exclaimed in that deep voice you loved so much. You smiled at him as he moved to engulf you in a hug. Your smile faltered as he hesitated upon seeing your bandaged arm. You sighed and hugged him around his waist. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer to him.

"You had me so worried. Do you know how scared I was?" You heard the strain in his voice as he whispered in your ear. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you." You sighed as Zoro buried his face in the junction between your neck and shoulder. His slightly labored breathing sent shivers down your spine as it made contact with your bare skin. You hugged him tighter, as if he would disappear if you let go. "Well, you're okay now. That's all that matters. God, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't okay." he breathed out.

He ran his fingers through your hair, taking out your hair tie in one quick stroke. Your dark brown hair formed a curtain around your face, hiding any expression that could have been shone. Not that Zoro could have seen it, anyway. "Yeah." you replied half-heartedly. You lifted your head and looked into his dark eyes. They were tired, but happy. You gave him a small, almost sad, smile. You hated keeping a secret this big from him, from anyone, but, in your mind, you had no choice. You didn't want anyone to treat you differently just because you were going to die. You didn't want to be buried six feet under before you were even dead yet. You've seen it happen before, and you weren't too keen on the idea of it happening to you.

So, you decided you were going to make the most of the time you had left. You leaned up and tilted your head to the side, slightly. You were about to plant a kiss on his lips, when you were interrupted, yet again. You growled slightly and turned towards your hyper-active captain. Zoro chuckled slightly at you, and you sent him a half-hearted glare. "Yes, capt'n?" you said, but alas, he didn't hear the annoyance in your voice. "Play for us, will you?" he asked, walking on deck, his hand clasped securely in Tori's. He walked away, before you could answer. "Well, I guess I got to go." you sighed. You gave Zoro a peck on the cheek, before reluctantly leaving.

Time skip

The whole crew gathered around you and your fellow mermaids. "Kira? Are you sure you're okay to be playing?" Nami asked, eyeing the flute case in your hand. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm not going to be playing my flute anyway." you said, setting your case aside. "Huh? You're not? Then what-" you cut Usopp off by just walking into your room. "Did she do that on purpose?" he asked the rest of the crew, to find out nobody cared. "What's going on, lass?" Shanks asked Ashley who was messing with the setting on her keyboard. The keyboard was metallic silver with a violet, wave design on the front. She just smiled at him and said "You'll see."

Hana came out of her room, wheeling a drum set behind her. (It was on a raised platform with wheels on the bottom.) She locked it in place and sat down at the stool, her silver drum sticks in hand. The drum set was metallic-like silver (Just like Ashley's keyboard) with a golden lightning bolt on the bass drum. Hana smiled at the looks of the crew when the figured out what was going on.

Tori came out next, her silver bass guitar strapped over her shoulder. It had a burnt orange trident design on the side. (Are you seeing a pattern here?) Finally you emerged from your room, wheeling an amplifier on deck, your silver electric guitar strapped over your shoulder and resting on your back. The ice blue wind design gleamed brightly in the sun. You hooked up your guitar to the amplifier and stood in line with Tori, in front of and to the right of Hana, and diagonal with Ashley.

"Cool! You guys didn't tell us you could play more than one instrument!" Luffy shouted. "You didn't ask." Tori giggled. He sent a playful glare in her direction. "Alright. Let's play!" Hana said. She clicked her drum sticks together four times, and then she started out with the beat. After performing 'Love is a Battlefield' (By: Christina Aguilera) you took a deep breath and waited for the opinion of your crew. It was about a two second delay before they burst out clapping and cheering. "Wow! That was awesome!" Luffy shouted at you guys, though his eyes never left Tori's.

You took deep, labored breaths, trying to fulfill your lungs need for more oxygen. Singing never left you out of breath quite like this before. Your face was flushed and sweat collected on your forehead. You felt clammy and just plain terrible. "Kira? Are you okay? You don't look too good." You couldn't hear Nami at all; all you could hear was the blood pounding in your ears. "Kira?" Again no response. You glanced at the ocean. It always made you feel better before, so why not now? "Kira? I think I should get you to my office." Choppers worry fell on deft ears, as you stumbled over to the railing. You looked down at the sea, and suddenly you were hit with a wave of vertigo. Your vision swam in front of your eyes as you practically threw yourself into the water. "Kira!" Zoro called, rushing to the side of the ship, trying to spot you.

Water rushed around you, the salt, for once, burning your eyes. You willed yourself to turn into your mermaid form and looked down, expecting to see your shimmery, ice blue tail, but the fuzzy image of your legs were still there. 'Oh, come on!' you thought as you tried again. Your efforts were futile, however, as your legs remained the same. You just then, suddenly realized how cold the water was.

In fact, it was freezing! Your teeth started chattering and you could almost feel your lips turning blue. Your lungs started burning as you kicked upward as fast as you could. Your legs felt stiff in the cold, and it was dragging you back down to the blue depths. You finally broke the surface, gulping in as much air as possible. "G-Guys? W-We got a-a-a pro-problem." you said stuttering from the cold.

You looked up to see your crew looking down at you. Your eyes locked with Zoro's for a moment, and your look said one thing: 'Help me.' Luffy stretched his arms and lifted you up high in the air, before dropping you in Zoro's awaiting arms. You shut your eyes tight, snuggling closer into Zoro's chest, searching for heat. "What in the world possessed you to do that?" Chopper screamed at you, in his 'doctor mode', looking you over for any injuries. "T-The water a-always made me f-feel b-better before! B-But I c-couldn't even ch-ch-change!" you stuttered.

Zoro pulled you even closer to him, sharing his heat, and fulfilling his need to hold you. Your eyes became heavy, as you slowly started to drift to sleep. "Zoro, get her to my office, now!" Chopper said, shuffling his way to the infirmary. Zoro was right behind him, you in his arms. Zoro gently placed you under the covers of the bed that you have become way too familiar with. You snuggled under the warm covers, thankful for the heat. Your teeth stopped chattering completely, and your lips started to gain their color back.

"What's wrong with her, Chopper?" Zoro demanded, more than asked. He looked at your sleeping face, and his eyes softened. Chopper sighed and grabbed a needle he had already prepared for you. He lightly grasped your arm and injected the substance into your system. You unconsciously flinched at the impact. "She doesn't want me to tell you." he whispered. "What do you mean she doesn't want you to tell me? Chopper, What's wrong with her?" Zoro all but yelled.

Chopper flinched back at his tone. Zoro sighed. "I'm sorry, Chopper. I just care too much about her to not know what's causing her so much pain." Zoro ran a hand through his hair. "It's okay, Chopper." you said, sitting up. "Kira! I thought you were asleep!" You just smiled at the doctor. "Chopper, do you think I can tell him by myself?" you asked. Chopper nodded and left the room Zoro sat down at the edge of your bed. "Kira, what's wrong?" he asked, gently. You sighed and started telling him what Chopper told you. When you finished you looked up into his eyes. They stared blankly at the bed's headboard. "Zoro?" you asked. He didn't answer. "Zor-" you were cut off by Zoro almost tackling you in a hug. "Why the hell did you not tell me? God, Kira." Zoro whispered in your ear. "I'm sorry." you clung to him tightly. "I-I just-. I don't know. I was scared." you sighed, pulling away to look at him. "Scared of what? You know you can tell me anything." he said, putting his hands on either side of your face

"I didn't want you to treat me any differently. You know, I wanted everything to stay the same." tears started building up in your eyes. Your hands fisted into his shirt, as you closed your eyes tight. You tilted your head down, letting tears fall down your face, wetting the covers under you. Zoro sighed looking at you. "I'm not going to lie to you…I probably would treat you differently-" at this more tears ran down your face and you choked back a sob. Zoro lifted your face to look at him.

"But, that's because I care about you. I just want you to be happy, and safe." He wiped some of the tears away. "Don't cry, please. I hate it when you cry." Zoro brought you in closer to him. You tried to stop the tears that just kept flowing. "Zoro I-" Zoro cut you off by crashing his lips onto yours. Your eyes widened, as you stared at Zoro's face, before your own eyes fluttered closed.

You clung tightly to Zoro, savoring every minute of the kiss you waited so long to get. Zoro placed one hand on the small of your back while his other fingered you brunet locks. Your arms reached up and you threaded your fingers through his hair. "Kira! Are you ok-." Hana said, opening the door. She cut herself off, seeing you in Zoro's lap, 'sucking face', as Tori would say. Apparently you didn't hear, or just decided to ignore her in your moment of bliss. Hana slowly backed out, closing the door behind her, a smirk clear on her face. "Good for you, Kira." she whispered to herself.

You broke off the kiss, panting for sweet air. "Wow." you whispered in a daze. Your eyes were glazed over, and your mouth was parted slightly, as your chest heaved up and down, trying to take in much needed air. It took all Zoro's power not to kiss you senseless all over again. "I don't want you to get hurt. That's why I would treat you differently. I would look out for you, even more, now. Please don't be mad at me." Zoro said, resting his forehead against yours. "How could I. Especially after that." you whispered, tucking your head under Zoro's chin, snuggling into his chest. "Good." he said, placing a tender kiss on the top of your head.

"Kira! We're here!" You heard Nami's voice from across the deck. You reluctantly pulled away from Zoro, and stood up. You offered him a hand up and he took it with a rare smile on his face. You pulled him up and you both headed out on deck, hand in hand. You gazed out at the island and fear struck you. Zoro looked at you from the corner of his eye and noticed your terrified look. He gave your hand a reassuring squeeze, letting you know he wasn't going anywhere. As you felt his hand tighten around yours, reassurance flooded your body. You glanced at Hana, Ashley, and Tori, to see their reactions. Sadness. Anger. Fear. You sighed looking back at the island. You promised them you they would never have to go back. And now, here you were. You slipped out of Zoro's grasp, and made your way over to them. "Guys." you said softly, breaking them out of there trances. "I now I promised we would never come back, but I already made a promise to myself to save Gail, no matter what. If you don't want to come, I won't-."

"Don't even think about it! There is no way on Earth we are letting you go back there by yourself. Gail is our friend too. We're all in this together, Kira." Ashley said, stepping up. You could see the anger cast out of her eyes, replaced by determination. Hana and Tori nodded in agreement behind her. You smiled at them and turned back to the island. Your 'home' for two years. The very island that the marines kept you imprisoned in, to torture your mermaid forms for 'research'.

A chill ran down your spine, and you closed your eyes as the painful memories flooded back to you. You could almost feel the pain of your tail being slashed, the ice blue scales being stained red. The sharp scalpels slicing open your torso and back. The screams of your friends from the next room. Your own screams reverberating around you, echoing off the steel walls. The terrible feeling of being helpless.

You were brought out of your thoughts by Zoro shaking you lightly by the shoulders. You looked up at his worried face. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." he said. You wiped the cold sweat off your brow and took deep breaths, trying to bring the color back to your now pale face. "Yeah, fine." you said. Zoro, sensing your distress, grabbed your hand and placed a light kiss on the back of it. You smiled lightly at him and took a deep breath. "Let's go." you whispered.

With Gail-Finally!

Gail closed her eyes and sighed, trying to channel her energy. She took deep breaths and concentrated. You could call her a sort of, psychic, if you will. If she concentrates hard enough, she can see visions of the past, present, and future. There's only one minor glitch. She doesn't know when they took, or will take, place. Gail sighed, and cursed under her breath.

"Damn it, Kira. I swear I'm going to slap you one of these days." Gail just saw you getting shot with a pistol, and then the scene faded into one of a little creature telling you were poisoned. She sighed once more, and reached into her shirt, to pull out a vile filled with a green liquid, attached to a silver chain around her neck. "You're so damn lucky I still have some left." Gail mumbled to herself.

As you said earlier, Gail was one of your closest friends. But, at first glance, no one would ever guess it. You had slightly tanned skin, freckles, dark brown eyes, and dark brown hair that was almost always kept up in a high pony-tail. Gail was practically the complete opposite. She had fiery red, curly hair, that draped over her back elegantly, and sweet, golden eyes to match. Her flawless caramel-colored skin went perfectly with her hair and she always wore a little make up, being the stylish designer she was.

Where you wore baggy, black, cargo pants, with chains hanging from the belt loops, and black combat boots, she wore a pink and black, plaid skirt, that went to her mid-thigh. Under that, she wore black leggings that went to her mid shin and black, high-heeled boots that went just above her knee. Where you had two silver katanas strapped to your back in an X, she had a silver whip, with a bright white crescent moon design on the hilt, resting on her right hip.

And finally, while you wore a black, hooded muscle shirt, Gail wore a pink and white tank-top, that exposed her mid-drift. She also wore big, silver hoop earrings, and matching silver bangles. The only thing that you had in common, at a first glance, was you both had a belly button ring. It the same dolphin, you had; only the eye on hers, instead of being amethyst, was emerald. You both got them together a couple years back. It was a sign of your friendship.

"So, what did you see, Gail?" a little mouse came over and plopped herself in front of Gail's crossed legs. "Nothing, Julie. It's just Kira being an idiot again." Gail responded. She propped her elbow up on her knee, and rested her chin on her open palm. "Ooh, what this time? Sword? Gun? Claws? Teeth? Dagger? Bow?" Julie asked, counting off the weapons on her little fingers. "Poison." "Oh, that's a new one." Julie said, with a giggle. As she was talking, the little mouse started glowing a bright, light orange.

When the blinding light faded, and young girl, about seventeen, stood in her place. She had long, pin strait black hair, and dark brown eyes. In fact, she looked almost exactly like Tori! The only difference is Julie's a total prep. She wore a light orange, spaghetti strap tank top, and a bright green mini skirt. Her long hair was up in a half pony-tail, and she had on light makeup. Finally, she had on light orange, wedge sandals, that showed off her orange anklet, that matched Tori's. And she had a silver samurai sword, strapped diagonally across her back.

"Yup, she and the other girls are on their way to come and get us out of this hell hole." Gail said. "Sweet! I can't wait to see Tori again!" Julie squealed. "Calm down, Julie." Gail giggled, flicking a strand of her curly, fire red hair out of her face, revealing her laughing golden eyes. "Sorry, I just miss her so much." Julie sighed. "I know. And I miss them too, but we'll get out of here soon enough." Gail said, smoothing out her skirt. She sighed and said, "I just wish they would hurry up."