"But I was happy."

Mary turned her head from side to side, even though she knew she was alone in her room. The voice had been bothering her for a while now. It was high pitched and sweet sounding, but Mary didn't want to hear it anymore. The one time she had mentioned it to Olivia, the princess had looked at her like she was crazy and said that if happened again to go see Belladonna.

Mary didn't want to bother the doctor. Whatever was happening to her had happened before, when she was a kid in the care of the Marines. She never told any of them for fear of being tossed out. The voices had stopped when she met Franky, and had held off for a few years after his death. But now it was starting to come back.

"But I was happy."

"Shut up," Mary turned on her side and covered her ears. "Leave me alone."

But why were you happy? Mary found herself asking. Who are you?

It seemed the voice had stopped for now, and Mary sat up. She slid off of her bed and left her room. Olivia was probably busy with Hancock, and she didn't get along with the older women who lived in the castle. She left the palace grounds and headed to the beach, where the Thousand Sunny was moored.

Almost no one ever came down to the beach, leaving the Thousand Sunny alone. Mary was grateful for that, climbing aboard and laying out in the grass. The familiar feeling made her smile and forget about the voice for a while.

"I thought I'd find you here," Mary opened her eyes and turned her head towards the voice.

"Hey, Libby."

Olivia smiled and brushed a strand of her long, dark hair from her face. "Are you alright? You've been distracted lately."

"I've just got some things on my mind," Mary said.

"Like what?" Olivia tilted her head questioningly.

Mary had to smile. "Well, remember that voice?"

"You're still hearing it? I thought I told you to go to Belladonna. Maybe she can help."

Mary shrugged, "I don't think she can. I need to figure this out on my own."

Olivia frowned. "Really? You think that? Can I help?"

"Maybe." Mary sat up. "It always says 'I was happy', but I don't know what it means."

"Is that all it says? Maybe you're imagining it."

"Well, it says more. Things like 'I'm glad I could carry you', and 'We had many great adventures together', or something like that." Mary explained. "They have to be important in some way, right?"

Olivia nodded hesitantly for a moment. "What are you going to do?"

Mary paused. "I don't know. I was thinking about leaving for a bit and trying to find its source."

For a moment it looked like Olivia was going to protest, but she shook her head and said, "If you think it's for the best. I don't like it when you're mad."

Mary walked over and placed her arm around Olivia's shoulders. "I'm not mad. I'm just confused. You see…" She told Olivia of the voice when she was a kid, and how it vanished when Franky found her.

"Did Daddy know?"

Mary shook her head. "I was going to tell him if it started up again, but it never came up."

Olivia bit her lip. "I think you should go and figure it out. I just want you to be happy."

Mary smiled and hugged her sister. "I'll leave tomorrow."

"Make sure you write," Olivia said as Mary untied the rope holding the small ship to the dock. "And keep me updated. Promise?" She held out her pinky finger.

Mary wrapped her own pinky finger around Olivia's. "I promise. I'll be back."

The first think Mary realized as she left was that the voice got louder as she travelled in the direction of Reverse Mountain. She had to turn around when she arrived in a place called Jaya, when she found the voice fading again. But it did say something else, and confused Mary even more.

She ended up stopping at a city island. If she listened hard enough, she could hear the voice clearly without any prompting from her mind. Walking through the town, she turned the cheap map around in her hand, trying to figure out where she was going. She ended up walking into a fence.

"Morning, little lady," An amused voice said.

"Good morning," She replied calmly, trying not to look too embarrassed, "Do you know the nearest hotel is?"

"Waiting for your log pose to reset?"

"…Yes. How long does it take?"

"About a week. What brings you here?"

"Personal matters. Oh, that's an impressive shipyard." Mary looked up from the map she was examining to face the man who was speaking, and caught a glimpse of the background.

"You know something about ships?"

Mary nodded, a smile forming on her face. "A lot, actually."

"Well," The blond man held out a hand. "My name is Paulie." Mary shook his hand. He pointed at a street on the map. "There's a hotel here. If you want, you can come back and I'll give you a tour."

"I'm Mary. And is that really alright?"

"As long as you can appreciate the work we put into ships. That, and I'm glad some people know how to dress decently."

Mary blushed and thanked him for the directions. She booked a room and headed back to the shipyard. Paulie hadn't moved much, and spotted her quickly.

"Back already?"

"Yeah. I was hoping you would answer a few questions."

Paulie hesitated for a second, and then nodded. "Alright. Ready for the tour?"

Mary hopped the fence and followed Paulie into the depths of the yard. "This place is amazing!" She said, trying to look everywhere at once. "You could work on at least ten ships at once."

"Have you ever been to Water 7 before?"

Mary shook her head. "I'm afraid I haven't. But my father was from here."

"That's interesting. Where did you grow up to develop such an interest in ships?"

"Aboard a ship," Mary said. "It was just Dad, me and my sister, so we had to do all the repairs. I've been learning to be a shipwright since I was eleven."

"That's young. Are you putting your skills to good use?"

"Yeah. I build and repair ships."

"So you don't live on a ship anymore?"

"Well…" Mary stopped in front of the frame of a ship under construction. "My sister and I settled down a few years ago. We still have the ship, but it just holds memories now."

Paulie clapped a hand on her shoulder, "What was the name of the ship?"

"Can't tell you that."

"Why is that?"

"Dad made me promise. It's a pirate ship."

Paulie laughed, to Mary's surprise. "Is that so…"

"Aren't you going to say that ships used for piracy are a disgrace? I've heard that before."

"No, I was just surprised that there are still pirate ships out there. There are fewer and fewer pirates in the world now. I would say that's a good thing, but I've come to a realization in the past few years."

"Not all pirates are bad people, and they treat their ships with respect." Mary said, and it was Paulie's turn to look surprised.

"That's exactly right." Paulie laughed. "Exactly right. Was your father a pirate?"

"Yeah. I am too, just so you know."

"Which crew?"

"Kuja."

"Seriously? How could your father be part of the Kuja Pirates? Don't they hate men?"

"Don't be a moron. We joined up with them after he died."

"Oh. That… Makes more sense. Sorry." He was silent for a moment, "So you build ships for the Kuja Pirates?"

"Yes."

"That sounds like a hard life."

"Not really. I like being near the water. It's mostly repair work anyway. I don't like seeing ships tossed away because they're not useful anymore. What I do with unusable ships is bring them to a cove close to the village and turn them into playgrounds for children. It's fun. And I live in the palace, so I really can't complain about the work."

"I'll carry you just a little bit longer."

Mary clenched her fist as the voice invaded her mind.

"That's impressive. I never would have thought to do that."

"What do you do with the old ships?"

"Well, we have a group of people who dismantle them. They're called the Franky Family, although it should be called the Iceberg Family now, since they follow him."

"Franky?"

"Yeah, he used to live here. Took off years ago to join a powerful pirate crew and he hasn't been seen since. Iceberg was hoping he would return after what happened to his Captain, but he hasn't been seen in years."

"Years, huh? And you said his name was Franky?"

"That's right."

Mary debated asking more about him, but shook her head, "Can I see more of the yard? What are some of your current projects?"

"And that should be everything."

"This place is huge! And you say there are six other yards, right?"

"It would take all week to look through them. This one's the biggest."

"That's amazing. You guys must be busy."

Paulie insisted on walking her to her hotel, but he ended up eating from the free buffet offered to hotel guests. He had to beg Mary to stay with him so he wouldn't be kicked out.

"I don't even want to know how you got your reputation." She said, sitting across from him with her own plate.

"No," He agreed. "You don't."

He turned the conversation away from him they started up a casual conversation.

"Mary's a delicate name. I'm wondering why your parents chose it if they wanted you to become a shipwright."

"They didn't name me. Or rather, Dad didn't. I was a homeless kid before Dad picked me up. I named myself."

"So why Mary?"

"I don't know. It felt right. It's just a name."

"I suppose." Paulie stood up and went back for more food. Mary picked at her own portion, unable to finish it.

"I'll carry you just a little bit longer."

Carry who?

She left.

The next day she opened her mind and followed it. She borrowed a small boat and sailed out into the sea in the direction of Enies Lobby when the voice led her in that direction. She stopped about two hours into her journey and listened again. Complete silence. Mary pinched the bridge of her nose. If the voice didn't want to be discovered, why did it lead her out here?

She was about to turn around when it began to snow. Mary blinked in confusion and looked up. But she wasn't in her boat anymore. She was standing on the water. She covered her mouth before she could scream and took a couple steps back.

Looking around frantically, she hoped she was dreaming. In front of her was a ship, broken at the forward deck and the bow was almost submerged in the water. It felt familiar; the sheep figurehead, the patchwork jobs.

She heard voices behind her and turned carefully, still aware she was standing on the water. And gasped. Because the people in front of here were people she knew only from pictures. And because three of them were dead.

Mary stepped out of the way as the man known as Monkey D. Luffy sailed forward alone, holding a burning torch. She couldn't hear what he was saying, and then the ship caught fire. Mary scrambled back, listening to the sobs of the crew behind her.

And then there was the voice. Speaking the words that had plagued her ever since she could remember.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to bring everyone just a little farther. I wanted to always go on adventures together."

"MERRY!" Mary turned at her name, but it wasn't directed at her. No one could see her. Was that the name of the ship?

"But I…"

Strawhat began yelling, apologizing.

"But I was happy. You always treated me well. Thank you."

"I was always so happy. All because of you."

There was that name again. Merry. Mary. Mary found herself crying. She stepped carefully forward, wanting to see her father up close. He looked different. But suddenly she fell through the water, and came back up sputtering. Turning around, she spotted her boat and swam towards it. The burning ship was gone. She must have been hallucinating. Three dead people. There was no way that really happened.

She grabbed the side of her boat and hefted herself up, rowing back to the island. She changed out of her wet clothing and wrote a letter to Olivia. But… She tried to listen again, but there was nothing. No more voice.

She ran into Paulie the next day. "What do you know about talking ships?"

Paulie chocked, "What?"

"What do you know about talking ships?" She repeated.

Paulie looked taken aback. "Not… Not much. Why?"

"What about reincarnation?"

"What? Nothing. I'm not religious. Why?"

"Do you think that if a person was reincarnated that they would be able to relive experiences of a past life?"

"Well, maybe. I don't know. Why are you asking me?" Mary didn't answer, frowning and running off. "Hey! Wa... She's gone."

"She was cute. She your girlfriend?"

"I just met her a couple days ago… Besides, she's way too young for me."

"What was she talking about?"

"I… I should probably go find her."

He left the yard and followed her to the post office, where she mailed a letter. She started when Paulie grabbed her shoulder. "What were you talking about?"

"Something weird happened to me yesterday," She admitted. "And I don't know what to think of it."

"Want to talk?"

"As long as you don't tell anyone."

"I'm good at keeping secrets. Don't worry." Mary smiled and she followed him to a small café. "Alright. Tell me what's wrong."

She explained the voices that she had been hearing since she was a kid, when they stopped, and then their return. Then she described what she saw the day before, and then how the voices had stopped. "You don't believe me." She accused, as she watched his face slowly adapt an expression of shock.

"It's not that. I do believe you. I was there when the Strawhats retired their ship."

"They kept shouting my name." Mary said. "What does that mean?"

"It wasn't your name, it was the name of their ship." Paulie explained. "Their ship was called the Going Merry. Merry for short. I don't think you would have been born yet."

"No. I don't even know my birthdate."

"But why would you see it?" Paulie mused. "I mean, you're not connected to any of the Strawhats, and this is your first time on the island. Do you think you're her reincarnation? You said something about that earlier."

"It makes the most sense. I did a little research last night. The books said that it's possible to relive moments in past lives if you're in the same place. And, actually, I do have a connection with the Strawhats. A Strawhat." Mary grimaced slightly, "Remember I said my father was from this island?"

"That's right. He was a shipwright, right?"

"No. Not if what you said was true. My Dad's name is Franky. He was the one who built the ship I lived on. The Thousand Sunny."

Paulie dropped his fork. "But didn't you say your father was dead?"

Mary nodded. "Four years now."

Paulie held his head in his hands for a minute. "Well, that explains why he never came back."

Mary reached across the table and patted his hand gently. "He was happy, though. That's what he told us."

Paulie cracked a small smile. "Well, make sure you give him a good legacy, alright?"

"I will."

"And teach the women on Maiden Island to dress more decently!"

When she left the island, she made a detour to the spot she had seen the hallucination. No, the flashback. As she passed over it, it began to snow again. But there were no appearances of ships or people this time. Just a faint voice.

"I am happy."

"You know what, Merry," Mary said aloud, "So am I."