One Piece:

Hell's Wrath In Heaven's Light

In the window pane of his luxurious pirate ship holding room, he sighed with great irate. His lazy leer skimmed the tips of every wave and every shine of the sun off the water's translucent beauty, while his heart still remained smothered in his chest, drowned from the torment he endured only fourteen years ago. He often sat at his windowsill, examining with his mustered strength, to see if he could find the charm in that of the water's soothing style. The sea had been said to allure any man to its gentle, frightening hold merely by its glory; why was it he couldn't see such a wonder for himself? Why was it that after all he endured, no matter what he did to still believe in the life he had been granted to keep, he couldn't find even the tiniest glimmer in the darkness that caged him so?

He recalled Gosho trying to come to his emotional aid once before; Gosho explained that he was sure, after an experience such as the one he beheld and the treatment and lifestyle he lived within currently, Rein had lost his emotional balance. Hissing, he recalled as his response, was the only way he knew how to answer that. That is, besides tears. How he loathed his father by the copious amount of amoebas that thrived off of his body; not only had he taken his mother, he had to destroy his emotions as well? And then, to make matters worse, his memories of his dear mother had already faded to nothing but mere flashes of light in the darkness. It was as if the devil teased him. By devil, he meant his father.

Biting the skin of his wrist, he growled as if he were a liger. It always worked as an incantation; the resound of his throaty noises seemed to force his tears back to their holding cell in his eyes. If his heart had to be trapped, then so should these filthy, unworthy tears.

A knock, almost hidden by his growling, blared through the room. Instantaneously, he leapt from the windowsill and laid himself to rest on his bed. With his back to the door, he pretended he had not heard such a sound for he was supposedly unconscious. The person took it upon themselves to enter then, causing Rein's breath to become thicker and his heart's beating to intensify. He listened carefully to the sounds of the person's steps, that he could mimic them to perfection. He waited, trying to guess the person's place of destination; were they coming to his bed side, or merely to enter his room?

In two seconds, someone pressed against his back and licked his ear. His eyes wide, Rein felt he had the right to throw himself across the room. By his action's execution, he heard the most hollow, darkest laughter and flinched in his stance.

"Oh prince!" The familiar verbal filth known as Kikei's voice howled, "I'm hurt you didn't know it was me!"

Rein refused to answer, knowing very well what Kikei was capable of, and how sensitive he was to other's words. 'How is it he has a right to feel?'

"What's up with you, prince? You look…like you're thinking about something." Prince shook with an arctic chill to find the beast's eyes exploring his exterior. No matter the time of day or night, Kikei was not allowed in his room. He usually had a strong hate for Rein, seeing as how he felt that his 'Captain's Pet' place was taken. Usually, Itami had to sit near him at dinner, and walk with him on his breaks from his room, since Itami was the only one who could knock Kikei down.

"What? Why aren't you talking to me? I came to get you up for your daddy. And what, you're just standing there…judging me?" In a millisecond of seeing the freakish man inch toward his cornered stance, it was apparent that Rein was shaking with fear. And it seemed that the second Kikei saw, he quickened his crawl and let his disturbing twisted smirk stretch to his cheek bones, "What's wrong, prince? I'm not gonna hurt you. Why are you shaking so much? You know that always makes me…antsy?"

"And Lord knows we never want to see that." The deep baritone from the doorway decimated the scene. Still caught up in his fear, Rein watched as Kikei turned to face the intruder and his smile was in its opposite crease in no time at all. Releasing an unsteady breath, Rein turned to see his hired hand, Itami, leaning against the doorway, offering the pet a glare to match his own.

"Itami!" he said his name as if it was coated with regurgitated waste.

"Yes, that is my name. How nice of you to remember. Though perhaps if you forgot my name, you'd have more room in that hump of clay in that thick skull of yours to remember Rackam's law for you." Still, Itami stayed at his place at the door while speaking with such a superior tone.

"Grr…J-Just get outta here, ya scrawny bitch! No body wants you on this ship anyway."

"Oh really? Because Rackam told me just last night that he's so glad I'm first mate, and you aren't."

That was clearly the final straw for the latest dispute. Like a mongrel, Kikei clawed at the mattress he sat upon to twist his position, then pounce at the man he disdained more so then anything else in the entire world.

In the blink of an eye, Kikei was on the floor, bleeding yet again. "You sure are a glutton for pain. Maybe one day you'll stand to even last a second round. Until then, stay far away from Rein and I, or you might not have the chance to train for such a foolish dream. Now Rein, Rackam has called you to the deck so as to speak with you." Itami's tone lost all harshness and disgust the moment he addressed the Captain's child.

To prove even more so how protective Itami was of Rein, he went over to the child still cowering in the corner, and lifted him onto his shoulder. Again, in three-blinks, Rein lost sight of the source of his morning trauma. Once they climbed half the stairs, the crew's first mate placed him on the wooden plank he stood upon and fixed his own appearance.

"…A-Ah…th-thank you, Itami." Zaigou forced his voice to sound as manly as can be while he too tried to look presentable to his father.

"You're welcome. Don't ask me to step in again. You know he's not allowed in there; stand up for yourself already. You're seventeen years old and I have to fight your battles? You are supposed to tell him to leave, or call for me. I won't merely jump to your aid next time, even if I am sent down to retrieve you. Understand?"

"…Yes." He answered so sadly, it was as if their bond had just died.

"Don't sulk about what I said. If you're not going to face the truth of the situation simply because I said it the way I did, then you don't deserve the knowledge I just bestowed upon you." One more brush through his hair by his bony fingertips, and Itami dragged the befuddled child to the top of the stairs.

The scenario they met as they opened the door was unfathomable.

The ship was almost on fire, as men were scattered lifeless all over the deck's floorboards. None appeared to be dead per say, but they would experience severe head trauma on some cases. Some boards across the ship were even chipped or pressed in. As eyes traveled upward to the Crow's Nest, men hung over the rails. Pulling their sight back down to the main level, they examined the stairs to the galley and met with a frightening sight.

"Captain!" Itami called, readying his weapon and already taken six steps at a running pace.

"Stop!" Rackam groaned while his sword was in deadlock with his opponent, "I'm the one to take care of this wench!"

'Wench? Does that mean…it's a female?! I haven't seen a girl since…' He recalled the excessive regulation he had had to follow since he boarded the Windward Treasure; he was never allowed to go beyond the upper deck's rails, in fear that he would try to escape or take his life. And with a so-called 'nakama' of filthy, ruthless men, the sight of a woman aboard his home of a hellhole was allowing a glimmer to flash more then once in his darkness.

"Heh…I'm not a wench. It's not my fault your crew was stupid enough to be seduce by a thirteen year-old." The woman chirped and mocked, while her staff actually kept Rackam equally matched. However, by the sound of her words meeting his ears, his fearful anger increased to that of his blind-rage state. Snarling almost as if he were a beast like Kikei, Rackam freed one of his hands from his sword's hilt to reach for another weapon. The woman planned to take advantage of his position, but he was too quick for her; he held a dagger to her throat as if he had had the miniature knife on hand the entire time.

"If ya weren't such a looker, I'd have killed ya already!" He bellowed in her face. Spit was seen flying from his lips, but the girl had no chance to remove it from her face.

"Oh pl-please sir! Please don't kill me! Please, anything but that!"

"It's too late now! Look what you did to my men! And this smoke is so bloody high, anyone could find us right now! I should have yur head!" The blade's tip made contact with her skin, bordering on the line of causing her to bleed.

"B-But that just means I'm useful! And I'm an excellent navigator! I can be a strong ally!" 'And I can't die here!'

Rackam's eyes burned deeply into hers, to show he was seriously contemplating her answer, but resistant to the idea because of the background that rested behind her head. It was truly trifling, to have a female in his crew! The Calico Pirates NEVER had a female amongst them before, but that was merely because he had offered one a position, and she…

"How do I know this isn't a stroke of luck, that ya beat 'em all?!" He barked again.

"Oh, come on! With a crew hand-picked by you? There's no way that was a fluke!" She laughed so nervously, Itami scoffed at Rein's side.

"Are ya saying ya can beat up the men I picked because yur better?! Because you think yur smarter?!" This time, she bled.

"N-No! I—"

"F-Father!" The prince cried, and the deck went silent.

Itami and Rackam turned to face him, while the girl took the chance to pull back slightly and breathe. "Wuh-What…did ya call me?" The Captain stuttered, thinking he had misheard.

Inwardly suffering, he made himself repeat a word so foreign and putrid to him, "F-Father! Please…don't kill her!"

"Why not?" Rackam's voice became so gentle as he slowly pulled himself off of her slender frame, it made his first mate gag.

"I-I…I want to have her. I want to have her—I mean! Not for--! B-But…" He couldn't create a sentence mentally that wouldn't make him sound terrible.

"…Well then," All eyes returned to the man in charge, as he slid his dagger back into its casing, "It seems you'll live another day."

"Oh, thank yo—"

"Don't praise me, little girl. I didn't save your life." His whisper held such a thick, subtle threat to it. The young lady, now revealed as a red-head to those on the lower deck, nodded slowly and bowed her head, if only to hide from the man's cruel sight.

"Sh-She can stay with me!" Rein offered, to break the silence.

"How nice of you to pile more duties onto my plate," Itami spat, walking past the boy and heading to his father's side, "Shall I show her to her quarters, highness?"

"Ah, you don't need ta talk with venom, Itami. I'm sure she'll get to know ya well enough on hur own. For now, let my son" –there was a pause to bask— "be her room mate, as he asked. Okay, Rein?"

"Mmhmm." He mumbled, and applied the fakest, most believable grin to his facial expression.

"Good. And since ya be new, I'll have the twins guard ya two all night. For now, just go off to…do whatevur."

"…Um, my little row boat…has some valuables on it." She informed them shyly.

"Good, we'll haul it up. Now, I said go!"

By the command of Rackam, the girl raced to the side of the boy who saved her life. He could hear her pants as she ran to meet him, but the sound wasn't registered to his consciousness. The mere sight of her made him lose his breath; she truly was an angel to his darkness. With hair the color of fire, of passion and strength, and eyes a gentle, chocolate shade of brown, with her skin as gentle as a cloud, he believed he surely found his guardian angel, to lead him out of his hellhole.

In a moment, the one where their eyes first did meet, he admired her. He dare not show it, since he was uncertain if the feeling was authentic or nothing but a wish. However, he caved to the desire of relishing.

"Thank you…" Were her first words to him, while she huffed heavily before him. He looked as mesmerized as he felt, while staring intently at the top of her head. Though those words were nothing but a whisper, the young lady before him was amazing him every second she graced him with her presence.

"Ah…you're welcome…—"

"Rein!" This time, Rein felt touched to see the girl jump at the sound of his father's scream, just as he did, "Show her to her room, now!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" And before the Captain could comment on the reverted title his son addressed him as, the two teens had run off down the stairs, back into his room.

"…So, the captain's your dad, huh?" Her voice's tune burnt into his mind immediately.

His entire body fought off the need to shiver; a female was talking to him! From the little bits he remembered of his mother, he knew women, though lovely and conversationalists, were more gentler and sweet then men. How was he to carry a conversation with her?!

"Yes…"

"You sounded awkward when calling him 'father'. I take it you two aren't on good terms?"

Ah yes! And women were as good as horses when it came to interpreting moments and words, for the feelings behind them, "Yah…"

"…Hey, why is there a guy laying there in that door way?" She asked, pointing over his shoulder to the 'guy' who caught her attention.

As alert as he should have been, her hand was resting on his shoulder. He blushed the moment they touched, and twitched involuntarily. When the girl noticed, she moved her hand to knock on his head, "Um, hello?"

Shaking his head as if he were a wet animal, he brushed away his stupor and turned his attention to what she was referring to. Halfway there, before his eyes met the sight, he remembered who was there; Kikei! "AH!"

"Wh-What?!" the redhead hollered, frightened by the random shriek.

"A-Ah, ah…" How he wanted to appear manly, to appear of interest to her! But the second most frightening man in the world to him lay in his doorway! And he wasn't sure when he was to awaken!

"I-Is he a bad guy?!"

"H-He's just…bad."

"Doesn't that mean he is a bad guy, like I just said?!"

"AH!...Yeah!"

"Don't just keep saying 'ah' and 'yeah'! Do something!"

"AH!"

"I said don't do that!"

"…Er—"

"Changing the word doesn't change anything!"

"T-Technically…"

"Oh…! Move!" She huffed, this time with anger, as she walked toward the fallen man. Rein was torn then; he wanted to stop her from approaching the demon man, but he felt terrible for making her angry, just like he made Itami or his father. As he contemplated such thoughts, she had already jabbed Kikei in the head with the weapon she used to fend off against Rackam.

"AHH!" Rein hollered, yet stayed frozen to his place.

"Stop that! I—WAH!"

"Heh heh, what a sight to wake u—OW!" He was hit with the blunt object in the head once more. And again, Kikei was lost to an unconscious state.

"…You're my hero." Rein whispered.

"Huh?" The girl tilted her head as she gazed at him, one brow creased, and posed with her staff in her arms. Again, she looked glorious to him.

"Ah, tha-that's my room. Right behind you." He pointed a shaky finger to direct her. He watched her turn to look, her hair tossing with the motion. And with the sombre effect of the midday lighting behind her, she fitted the description of 'angel' once more.

"Hm, looks snug. It's fine. Let's go in." She called him out of his blissful mind set, which was something new to him, but it was even more pleasant to see that such a feeling didn't disappear right away. Taking a breath, then a step, he met up with her in his room, then slammed the door and locked it, to keep Kikei out.

"So…um…miss?"

"Oh, right! I never told you my name. I'm Nami!" She held out her hand to him. But when she looked up to meet his eyes, she was a bit nervous, as to why his mouth was open to perform a gasp, "…What?"

"…Ah, nothing…Nice to meet you." He took her hand with great anxiety, and shook as best as he could.

Nami…it means wave. Waves were what he watched, to find a glimmer. Waves of water gave him something to do, to watch and relax, so he didn't merely melt away and submit to his darkened heart. Could she be anymore of a perfected being? She even had a smile to match! He began to believe…Gosho was wrong…He had to be falling in love with this girl. He had to be. It was too good to be true, but maybe moments like these were the reason patience were a virtue.

"So, Rein!" She called, trying to kindly wiggle her hand out of his grasp, "What do you do for fun around here?"

"I…personally…ah, watch the water." Oh, how foolish he felt! This angel was fantastic and amazing, and he just admitted to her that his hobby was watching water float by? There was nothing exciting about that! She must think so little of hi—

"Oh, me too! I thought on a ship like the Windward Treasure, there'd be something else to do, but that's fine." She bounced her bottom on the mattress, to make her way to the window and stare out the glass.

He was in awe again.

"…You're kind of boring." She stated bluntly. He turned to stone.

"…A-Ah?"

"Yah, all you say is 'ah' and stand there looking at me. It's creepy, so stop it already."

"…O-Okay…"

"And no more stuttering! Be a man, Rein! You're suppose to be a man in, what, three-five years? Get a backbone, already!" she sighed heavily and rested her hand in her palm. As if to spite him, she stared at him as long as he did at her.

Blushing, he dropped his head and sighed. 'My angel thinks I'm boring and creepy!' he whined within his mind. His shoulders dropped and he felt weightless as he closed his eyes, 'But…I really can't think of what else to do around here, or how else to act! But…I really wanna impress her! I-I—"

"That's not how you did it at all!" Her voice was so loud, he flinched. Looking up to address her, he was scared and surprised to see her standing before him, fists upon hips. Just as he had with Kikei, he leapt against his wall and flattened himself against it. By the look on both their faces, they both had endured a miniature heart attack.

"…Wuh-What now?!" She questioned with a hand to her heart.

He stared at her in awe again, but more then of a reason then just her close presence. He had responded to her just as he would to Kikei. And if memory served him, he had responded to anyone he met in that manner until he been around them for at least a year's time, even Itami. Was she…right? Was he really so unmanly? He had been trained in the art of swordsmanship, so he figured that would make up for the personality he lacked. But…one cannot speak through weaponry.

"…I'm sorry…" he forced himself to step away from the wall, if only by two, "I-I…Cl-Clearly, you can see…that this ship isn't…Hmm…"

"You act this way around everyone? Okay, good. I thought you were just doing it around me because I'm a girl or something."

"Well, that's what I thought…" He admitted, bowing his head to the side shyly.

"Well, that would make sense, since this ship is all guys. But you have been on land, right? So unless you travel all-men tribe islands or something, you ca—"

"I…don't go on land."

She froze and again, tilted her head at him. This time, she crossed her arms as she stared with questioning in her eyes, "What? That's ridiculous!"

"I…haven't been on land…since…" For some reason, though he had replayed his mother's memories in his head repeatedly over the course of his life, he had never once spoken of it. To say the words seemed so…

"…Since?" Nami asked kindly, a gentle tone to her voice. What he appreciated about it was the lack of pity she used.

"Since…my mom—Since mother…died. No, that's not it…she was killed…"

It was like magic; the two instantly bonded. It was something similar between two people that they never thought to find in another. Nami listened first, then when dinner rolled around, Rein made his first command as Rackam's son and had dinner delivered to his room. Nami voiced how proud she was of him, to be able to do something so manly, and they giggled for a bit. By the time they had finished and the stars had begun to appear, Nami was done her tale. Once finished, they comforted each other as friends would, even with only a twelve hour acknowledgement of each other. Like it was stated, it was magic.

"Nami…you know, when I first saw you, I thought you were an angel." He admitted while scratching the back of his head. The two currently sat at either end of Rein's bed, looking out the window. But when he said that, she laughed and looked at him as if he had two heads.

"Really? And do you still think that, after all I said tonight?"

"Yeah." He said so bluntly. Her exterior faltered a moment, then she smacked his foot.

"Don't be stu—"

"I now know you are one. I don't know how you are as strong as you are. You really are my hero, and an angel."

"…Hey, do you think we can go walk around the deck for a little fresh air?"

"Ah—I mean, I don't think so. Itami's in bed by now and he wouldn't like it if I asked him to get up to walk with us."

"Can't you tell him to leave you alone? Go for a walk on your own! You can do it!"

"…Ah…i-if that's what you want…um…"

"No, never mind. If you're not comfortable with it, then it's not worth it." She said sweetly, but looked conflicted out the window.

"…My angel!"

"Go to sleep already!" She tossed a pillow at him and stole the bed. He found it to be rude to throw something at him like that, but when he saw the silly grin on her face, he laughed slightly and snuggled into bed. They slept at opposite ends of the bed for the night, and decided to work out proper arrangements the following dawn. So comfortable and warm was he, that sleep came so easy to him for the first time in so many years.

During the night, or early morn, he swore he had a nightmare that he saw Nami leaving. He had called to her and she had told him he had nothing to fear. But she looked like she was about to thieve, so he cried out and begged her not to leave. She had knocked him painfully on the head and told him to rest. A surprise would meet him in the morning. When he asked what kind, she said one he would really like. So, trusting his angel, he went to sleep.

Waking to the breaking of the dawn, he died emotionally to find she was gone. He called out to her, panic mingling with his blood and flowing into his brain. He began to thrash about, raising the volume of his voice, so as to reach her. But as he kicked and squirmed, something fell out of the bed. He stopped, thinking it was dangerous, but quickly decimated the foolish notion. Scrambling to escape the hold of his sheets, he leaned over the edge of his mattress and saw a small brown chest. Reaching for it as if she were inside it, he tossed it open.

He was confused as to what was inside, besides a note that is. Seeing the parchment, he tore it from the chest and read it thoroughly.

"Dear Rein,

I have to take my leave. I'm so sorry.

You know about Arlong, right? Then you know I can't stay. I have to save Cocoyashi!

I'm so sorry to leave you. I wish I could bring you with me. But it's hard enough to move as a single person.

So, before I leave, I am leaving you this surprise, just as I promised!

This is a Devil's Fruit. I found it on one of my trips. I don't have any use for it, so use it for yourself!

They say these things give man strength. So, if you ever need to grow or finally wanna challenge that dad of yours for the Captain's seat, try it!

Now, I don't know what it'll do to you, since the powers vary and are unpredictable. So then, maybe give it to that Itami guy! That might be smart.

I hope we can meet again on the sea, when we're both a lot older.

Bye for now!
Nami!"

He hadn't read the entire note. Once he saw 'they say it gives men strength', he took a huge bite out of it. When nothing happened, he gorged himself over the fruit, completely ignoring its repulsive appearance. He waited a good half an hour and nothing changed. Then, the sounds of frantic crewmen caught his attention. It seemed the ship was awake now, and only by this time did they notice that the redhead was missing.

It was here that Romu and Senmu received their lashings.

If matters were not worse enough, that morning at breakfast, Rein's powers activated: he transformed into the main course! Scared and repulsed by his child, Rackam sacrificed his failure of a Crow's Nest watcher to be eaten by his son. And the sickness of the situation increased when Rein gained the sailor's face. Kikei made a joke about it and almost lost his throat. Itami lead Rein to his room, where he found a mirror and sobbed.

Two days later, Rein killed his father under the name 'Zaigou' and took control of the crew. It was that day that the Bachiatari were born.

Author's Note:
Version two of this baby XD First one was a failed attempt! XP

Calico Pirates – Rackham was famous for his calico

Windward Treasure – Rackam commanded The Treasure, while he made legends at an event that occurred at the Windward Point

Review Replys:

cherrichik:Hey sweetie! Btw, thanks for being number 120 on Words From The Heart! I'm not fond of odd numbers XD Yes, I thought it would make sense to have Rackam's past…make sense. And I agree; villains lived a life, so make it work with their character, right? Thanks for appreciating my work! Hope this makes more sense out of my rambling of a fanfic, and you review again!

PinkxxxReaper: Thanks! XD Aw, but doesn't everyone LOVE Gosho's teasing of Sanji? I get that a lot. And that's why I added him! XD Hope you liked this chapter, and review again!

Kaizen: Thank you! Your reviews are always so nice! XD I always say 'stay safe' to people too! Thank you for wishing me well! Whoa, mine was one of the first? That means so much! I also appreciate that you actually READ my review reply XD Hope you review and reply to my reply again!

Wolf Flower: Really? Flashbacks…fun!? I've never heard that before! I hope this was interesting enough! Well, I read about the two females in a shonen jump before, to be honest. And then I randomly picked Rackham off a list on Wikipedia and voila! XD Oh, vacation? I hope you had fun! And I also hope to hear your thoughts on my chapter again!

SkieLoon: XD I bet there's a crew of those people! Yah, I wanted people to like Rackam, so they could try and attack to him, ya know? I hope you DID spaz of 'chapter 14', and tell me all about it! XD

narutocraze1233: XD Gosho is…colourful and…happy! XD That's what I call him. Yah, I like to put myself in all of my characters and…I go off topic a lot like him XD But even more! Whoa…I am a weird gal XD Oh, action will be appearing possibly in the next chapter, and definitely against Zoro and Zaigou! Stay tuned!

NEXT TIME:

-Akar's past

- How Akar and Zaigou met

- A little more Gosho spice! XD

Blessed be!