Ten Years Ago:

The solitary passenger ship left the dock from the Eastern lands, taking her passengers back to their homeland. All of the passengers on the ship were westerners that had come to the east for tourism. Many of them had visited the east for the first time and they were eager to return home so that they could share with their families all the things that they were bringing back with them.

Children's laughter could be heard as the ship sailed towards the deep blue sea. The women were together gossiping while the men discussed world events. Everyone was hoping that the weather will be in their favor for a speedy return home. The ship sailed peacefully as the shore started to become nothing but a thin line in the horizon. And it was soon joined by the setting sun as the ship continued on its way.

"Peter!" The three year old boy looked up from where he was playing with some of the other children.

"Yes mother?"

"It's almost time for your bedtime. You can play with the children tomorrow."

"Okay." Peter waved bye to his friends as he hurried over to his mother and took her outstretched hand and followed her below deck to their quarters.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"How long are we going to be on this ship?"

"About a month or so. That is if the weather doesn't turn treacherous."

"So in a month we get to see father and my older brothers?"

"Yes. And you can give them what you got for them. Now rest little one. For we have a long trip ahead of us."

Time Skip!

Throughout the majority of the trip the passenger ship encountered no problems. They encountered a small storm as they reached the invisible line that divided east from west. Apart from that the trip had been made with no incident. Aboard the ship everything was going like it normally was. The crew did their daily chores, the children were playing and the grown-ups were busy with their own tasks as the day progressed.

The person on the crow's nest spotted a ship in the distance, but it was too far away to tell what kind it was. The ship continued to move closer as it made its way to them. Finally the ship got close enough to be recognized.

"Captain! A pirate ship is approaching us from the South!" The children upon hearing that all rushed to the railing in order to get a glimpse of the ship. Some of the grown-ups followed, some to make sure the children didn't fall and others went in order to see the ship for themselves. When it became obvious the pirate ship was definitely heading for them the women and children were ushered to hide in the cargo room while the men got ready for an attack.

The women calmed down the children as the ship rocked with the impact of multiple cannons as the pirate ship attacked them. At some point the pirate ship ceased firing and they couldn't hear anything that was happening in the upper deck. Footsteps were soon heard and to their horror the footsteps belonged to some of the pirate crew. All of them were tied and forced back onto the upper deck.

Cries of mourning filled the air when they saw what had become of their loved ones. Some of them were still alive, but the majority had been killed. After they were abandoned on the deck, they watched as the pirate crew stripped the ship of its treasures. Only after the last of the cargo had been transferred to the pirate ship did the captain pay heed to the captives.

"Well well. What a group of lovely young women!" the captain chuckled as he examined them. "Tsk. Tsk. Unfortunately only some of you are going to be needed. But first…" the captain turned and called for his first mate, who hurried over. "Get some of the others and check the women and children. Also take any valuables that they still posses."

The captain just stood there as they were being inspected. Then he spotted someone that he recognized and he walked over.

"What a good fortune I seem to have!" The captain exclaimed as he lifted the face of the woman that had caught his attention. "If it isn't Alice Kirkland, wife of the feared King of the Western Seas! So tell me my lady, what are you doing here without the protection of your husband?"

"That is none of your concern. I suggest for your own good that you stop this atrocity and let this people go."

"You call what I do an atrocity? I beg to differ my lady, but I am doing the exact same thing that your husband does. Or is it because you are on the other side of the coin that you are saying such things now?" Then the pirate noticed the small figure that was trying to cling on to Alice's dress despite the fact he was tied as well. "Well well. If it isn't your youngest child, Peter. He definitely resembles his father."

"You know plain well that when my husband hears of this he is going to be hunting you down."

"All we have to do is make sure he doesn't. Men, have you chosen which ones are staying? Good. Leave the rest on the ship. I am going to pay in kind to what you husband has done in the past. Men, get everything ready. We are sending this ship to the ocean's floor in fragments."

Alice waited until the pirates were busy before turning to Peter. Without the pirates knowledge she had freed herself and she quickly untied Peter. She pulled out an amulet that had been carefully hidden and slipped it into Peter's pocket without the child noticing. Alice then spotted chunks of the deck that had been formed due to the cannon impacts. She grabbed onto Peter as the ship rocked once more from what sounded like explosions and the air began to fill with the foul smell of burning wood.

The ship was tilting a bit to one side as she carried Peter to the biggest chunk of wood. It was barely big enough to support him. After putting him down she grabbed onto the wood and she dumped it onto the sea. Grabbing a bunch of ropes she quickly tied him and carefully (but quickly) lowered him before it could float away. She barely managed to cut the ropes loose before she was pulled away from the railing.

APH

"Your Highness there's smoke in the distance!"

"Where?" Yao demanded as he began to scan the seas. He spotted it almost as soon as the location was mentioned. "Approach it quickly. It looks like a ship's in trouble." The Tanchō sped up in order to see if they could aid the burning ship. The crew was quickly mobilizing as the Tanchō neared the burning vessel. Through the smoke they spotted a ship in the distance, sailing away.

"It looks like a pirate ship," Hokkaido commented as the lifeboats were being prepared to be lowered.

What's all the excitement about? 15 year old Kiku thought as he stepped onto the upper deck. Kiku had been busy studying in his quarters until all the commotion started to annoy him so he went out of his room to investigate. Despite the fact that almost ten years had gone by since his father's death he still didn't like the idea of being aboard a ship. Much less the sight of a burning one.

His face paled as he spotted the reason behind the commotion. He quickly turned his back and went to the other side of the ship, determined to look in the opposite direction of the burning inferno behind him.

He leaned against the railing as he continued to hear the commotion behind himself. He was starting to wonder if he should go back to his quarters when something caught his eye. It looked like a big piece of driftwood, but he could tell there was someone, a child, clinging on to it. He still vividly remembered the four days he had spent on the lifeboat before he had been found by his nii-san and sensei. Peering closely he could tell the child was struggling to remain on the chunk of wood, which was barely big enough to sustain him.

There was no time to catch the attention of the others in order to reach the child on time. That much Kiku could tell, since it was obvious he was the only one that had spotted him. Without hesitation he grabbed onto the railing as he shouted for the child to hold on for a bit longer as he flung himself overboard. He quickly resurfaced and swam towards the child, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Shh… It's going to be alright." Kiku said in English as he got hold of the makeshift raft. "I'm not going to hurt you, little one. Now I want you to listen to me." The child nodded and Kiku noticed that his eyes were the same color as the sea. "I need you to be still. I am going to push you over to the ship over there. Do you understand?" The child nodded and grabbed on to the wood as Kiku began swimming back to the Tanchō.

Meanwhile Yao was watching as Kiku neared them. He, like everyone, had turned when they had heard Kiku shouting at someone. He momentarily freaked out when he realized Kiku had jumped into the ocean, but he calmed down when he spotted him going to the aid of a young child.

"Lower the rope ladder." Yao commanded as Kiku finally reached the ship. Kiku grabbed on to the ladder, but kept a hold of the raft. He managed to soothe the child into climbing the rope. He waited until the child was helped onboard before climbing it himself. He was immediately covered in a warm blanket before he quickly inspected the child.

"Yao-nii. Do you think we have clothes small enough for him?" Kiku asked as Yao joined him.

"I'll ask Xi'an and see. Take the child to your quarters. And you better change your clothes as well before you fall sick." Kiku nodded and carried the child to his quarters. He was grabbing some towels when he heard the child crying. He quickly turned and hugged the child who in turn clung on to him.

"Shh… little one. Everything is going to be okay." Kiku consoled the child as best as he could. Kiku then dried the child's tears as he made sure to keep the child warm. "What's your name little one?"

"Peter… Peter Kirkland." Kiku blinked and stared at the child.

"Um… Peter… can you tell me what happened?"

"My mother and I were travelling back home when our ship was attacked by pirates. We got tied up, but some of the crew and passengers got hurt and others were taken to the pirate ship. It was mother who got me on the little raft but I don't know what happened to her. Do you think my mommy is still okay?"

"I hope she is Peter." Kiku replied. A knock sounded on the door and Kiku stood up and went to answer it. Xi'an, Guilin, and Ling were standing there. "Oh, come in." Kiku moved aside as they both entered. Guilin and Xi'an headed for Kiku's washing room. Both were carrying buckets filled to the rim with steaming water. Ling, on the other hand, walked over to Peter and began measuring the clothes she was carrying.

"Have the child take a warm bath while I fix this kimono. You might want to take one too. I'll be right back." Ling said as she finished her calculations and left. Xi'an and Guilin left a bit afterwards. After ushering Peter to take a bath Kiku got Peter's wet clothes and after staring at them for a while he decided to keep them. He was putting them to dry at the back of a couple of chairs when he felt something in one of the pockets. Curious he took it out and realized it was a gold amulet with a skull engraved on it. On the other side of it it had the name Kirkland engraved on the back.

Without thinking twice about it he went and carefully hid the amulet before grabbing a sheet of paper and wrote out a bunch of possible names for the child. He eventually decided on Kiseki, which meant miracle in his native language. Then he picked up the paper and went to tell the child of his plan before heading to speak to his older brother…

Author's Note:

I finally update this story! And thanks to that wall I finally managed to write this chapter! Don't worry I actually have the rest of the story planned out. (evil smile) Sorry about the long chapter...

Kiku's decision to change Peter's name and hide the amulet will be explained in further chapters.

The Tanchō was the first of the black ships (this was mentioned in Ch 01). It also was Yao's personal ship, but he gave it to Kiku once the latter had finished his training. Which is they reason why when he encounters Arthur for the first time he is the one in command of the Tanchō.