Another timely update! Enjoy guys!

Before either one of us can splat on the ground below we're both caught. "Why the hell didn't you mist?!" Zoro yells when he's caught me. "Azami, don't jump if you don't intend to save yourself!" He rants angrily.

I hold onto Zoro shaking. "I did try, I couldn't!" I say feeling tears come to my eyes. "I couldn't turn to mist." I say as I try to calm down. To prove my point I again try to mist, my hand for a moment will but quickly becomes solid again.

Zoro simply sets me on the ground and turns around. "Get on my back."

"It's my shoulder not my leg." I say stubbornly.

Zoro doesn't listen as he simply nods over to Sanji, who helps me onto his back. "Yeah, well you're shaking. You've lost a lot of blood, again."

"I had to save her." I say simply. Zoro doesn't say anything as Sanji carries Usopp, the pair leading the way. I hold onto Zoro with my good arm, wincing with each step, the jerking motion of running hurting my shoulder with each step he takes.

"We'll bandage you up as soon as we can. Just hold on for a little bit more." Zoro says as we run through a tunnel.

I rest my head against Zoro letting my body rest a bit, despite knowing we're still in a lot of danger. I just can't keep focus for much longer. I hear screaming and Zoro swings me around and starts running in the other direction. "Azami you have to hold your breath, hold on to me!" He shouts. Confused I glance in the direction we'd been running, water. Panicked I look at Zoro who is looking straight ahead running as fast as he can. "Hold your breath now!" He yells. Doing as I'm told I take a deep breath and hold on to Zoro as tight as I can. My arm stings as the water hits, my body feels limp as the little bit of energy I did have leave me completely.

…

When I come to I feel that my arm has been bandaged. Sitting up I glance around to see what looks like an infirmary. "You're finally waking up huh?" I glance to my side, I freeze staring at the person sitting in the chair.

"This isn't possible." I say staring at the girl sitting rather relaxed, a calm and knowing look on her face. "This can't be real." I say firmly as I glare at the girl.

"And yet, here we are having this conversation." The girl says simply. "Azami, this is the first time you've ever let me talk to you. You know I'm here." The girl says. I stare at her confused and not at all sure what I should say. What I can say, the girl sitting with me is me. "You've always know."

"You aren't real." I persist, I'm angry. I hate this.

The other girl sighs heavily and rolls her eyes at me. "You can deny me all you want." She says and she changes, she no longer looks exactly like me. "I'm real. And like I told you before. I'm the reason you didn't break when we were a slave." Her bangs are pulled back and her lips are now a deep red. "See you're really looking at me now."

"You're me." I say as I sit on the edge of the bed.

The girl shakes her head. "I am, but I'm not. Azami, it's like what you were asking Usopp. I'm like another person in you." She pauses again and smirks at me. It's unsettling seeing my face making expressions that I myself can make. "My name isn't Cherry either though I hate that name just as much as you do. I hate the World Nobles just as much. I'm Maki."

"Then when I feel like I'm just watching my body doing things, that's you." I say unsure how to take all this.

"Correct. When things get ugly and when you can't handle it mentally you let me out. I handled killing the majority of the people when we were being held in Mariejois and when we were on the run. All those lives you so carefully keep track of aren't really because of you."

"But it's my body doing it." I argue you.

Maki sighs and gives me an exasperated look. "Azami, while I would love to debate this. There is something more pressing that needs to be handled." She says simply getting up she rests her hands on my shoulders. I realize there isn't a pain in my shoulder and that the bandages are gone. "We are both unconscious right now. Your friends are in the middle of a battle right now and they need one of us to be awake and fighting."

"Enies Lobby, Robin." I say feeling tired and ragged suddenly. The pain in my shoulder suddenly becomes present, the pain ties me back to reality. I have to help them.

Maki frowns. "You're not going to let it be me."

…

Jolting awake I feel a rather severe pain in my right shoulder, it's only gotten worse. Getting up I look around to see that I'm on a ship surrounded by Marine Galleons. I fight through the pain and rip off the bandages, they're limiting my movement and that's the last thing I need in this kind of situation.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Zoro yells, I look over at him and force a smile. "Don't give me that, you're hurt."

"And I'm going to keep helping, I'm going to keep fighting." I say stubbornly. "You're not going to stop me. Besides this is exactly what you would do."

The others look at me worriedly. "You just woke up and you've lost a lot of blood."

"It'll all work out." I counter simply. "Zoro, I want to help too. And judging by the amount of marines here, we'll need everyone." There isn't time to argue as we hear the yelling of Marines. "Zoro, we got to go." I say simply nodding to the mess coming at us.

Getting off the ship we all glance to each other ready for the fight. "You're resting after this. You're not doing a thing until you're fully recovered." Zoro yells blocking a swordsman from striking me.

I force a chuckle and nod my head. Honestly I'm haunted by the dream I'd just woke up from. While I would like to think it is a dream, I think I know better.

"I'd hope so. I've been with you long enough that you should know better by now." Maki's voice says. "Now pay attention to the fight. I won't let you die here." She says urgently.

I do as she says and I focus on the present. I knock people off the bridge we're fighting on. In all this mess I ignore the casualties and the girl counting in my head for me for each life I take. Instead I focus on protecting my friends and the people who have protected me and given me a place to be.

A man comes in front of me. "We know how dangerous you are." He says leering at me. "That pink hair and fighting style, impossible to miss." He says holding a small knife in his hand. Gulping I stare at him, he's been to one of the 'fights', the ones Saint Edward liked to host. "You're a killer; you have more blood on your hands than most. And he wants you back alive."

"Then you know I'll put up a fight." I tell him glaring. With all the fighting going on around me, it was like I was back in that stupid ring. The screams, yells, clinging and sound of people falling all around me puts me on edge, it brings back too many things.

"Let's see those animalistic instincts of yours again." He taunts. "Azami the slave." He says grinning at me, like he can hold that over me.

Running forward I grab the knife in his hand and hold it to his throat. "You wanted to see right?" I murmur in his ear. "Then why don't I?" I ask as I take the knife and stab him in the arm. Jumping off of him I land safely.

"You didn't go for the kill?" He asks, wincing as he pulls the blade out. "What a shame, you've gone soft."

I shake my head, taking a deep breath; I point my hand at him. "Mist bullet." I say simply as I shoot at him I force the mist to come and to stay, I can feel it waiver. I hit him several times in the chest, arms and legs. The ones that didn't hit him got the men around.

Turning around I start shaking, bigger bits of the fights come back to me, the bits I hate most, the inhumane part of me, the part of me that'd been beat into me, the one Saint Edward liked. It's what scares me, another part of me, one that I didn't have originally. It's a fight for me not to just go back to it, to get out of here. It'd be wrong. Maki scares me.

"Azami if you're not going to fight let me!" Maki yells. "It's fine that I scare you. It's like you think. I wasn't here originally. But, I'm going to be around as long as you need me."

…

"Cherry, I want you to kill him, rip his throat out." Saint Edward commands as I look down at the unconscious kid. "Now."

Kneeling down I flip the kid over, a newbie, he was still learning how to survive in the house with such a cruel owner. Wrapping my hand around his neck I glance up one last time, a nod of his head and I dig my hand in.

"Again, do it to this one too." He bellows out. "No mercy." He commands. Listening I gash is chest open.

Coming out of the haze, I glance down at my hands, caked in dried blood, bits of flesh stuck on my arms. Breathing heavily I get up and walk to the sink; I wash my arms off, scrubbing with all my might. The others all stare at me nervously, my parents walk over sympathetically. "It's not you, come on." My mother says quietly, picking up a cloth she helps to rub the blood off. "Don't think about it." She mumbles kissing the top of my head.

…

"Your friend is shouting at you." Maki says pulling me from the memory. I look around to see that there are a number of men and woman on the ground groaning. "I left as many as possible alive." She adds on in a comforting voice. "I kept count."

I glance to Zoro, I stumble over to him and I am rather shocked when he pulls me over the edge with him.