Author's Note: Hey everyone (that is still with me) I know it's been a really really long time for this story, but I have to explain, you know when you don't feel like writing? Well I had that feeling for the longest time for this story, and I didn't want to force it because then it comes out as shit. So today I felt a little bit of inspiration so I wrote you guys a chapter, sorry about that, really guys. Everyone who's still out there, putting up with me, I love you all! Haha please review! It helps me get inspiration! (And if you have nothing else to do I have two new stories, one for Naruto (mostly the Akatsuki) called 'Am I A Psycho?' and the other for FairyTail called 'A Fairy's Roar'. Check it out if your bored :D )

"Pretty…" That was the only word Kuki could use to explain where she stood, the sun glistened across the golden sand of the beach, which was being lapped up by the shimmering blue water of the sea. Large palm trees hung over her head, looming to the side as if they reached down towards the blonde, and scattered all over the ground were these beautiful, blue flowers. For some reason the tropical plants near her feet struck out to the Helmsman, as if she was supposed to…remember them? All of a sudden she was out in the water, looking in at the small island. At first Kuki realised she should have been scared, with being inches above the ocean, but a pulse seemed to roll off from the land, calming her in waves, but at the same time pulling the young girl's body towards the strange yet intriguing place. Suddenly, Kuki's body vibrated, shaking her sight. "Run! Get away from Moria!" Her head turned, trying to find the source of the voice but coming up with nothing but endless water.

"Idiot! Get into the shadows! Morning is coming!" For some unknown reason those sentences struck fear into the tiny girl's body, sending all of her skin into a 'goose bump' frenzy. "The Straw Hat's show no fear; I have no right to run away." With every word spoken the small paradise seemed to get farther and farther away, not that Kuki minded, but it just felt wrong. Straw Hats…Moria…Shadows…Morning…every word started to slowly make some sort of sense in Kuki's mind, her eye's squinting as if she was looking threw dense fog. "I'm going to get a bit reckless, please take care of me afterwards." Now the island was only a dot in her view, the Helmsman was surrounded by ocean and voices. "Luffy…" Kuki whispered, realising who had spoken the last sentence, finally it made sence. The memories of fighting the Shichibukai, using her strongest attack and failing, flew back. Was she dead? Was this Heaven? Everything was shiny, warm and glowing…but then what was with the voices? "Where am I?"

(Waking up) "Where am I?" Kuki mumbled, her eyes fluttering against the light. Where was the beach…the water…the sun? Her skin was cold and mist was kissing her face softly. "Kuki-Tan! My Angel, you're awake! I was so worried!" a familiar voice wailed. "W-what?" the Helmsman mumbled opening her eyes to the sobbing face of Sanji. "I was so worried, your hair is full of blood, and your all beaten up, but don't worry your still beautiful!" the cook continued, reaching out as if to hug the girl, until a sheathed sword came between the Helmsman and the smoker. Sanji glared up at the culprit, making a face as if he was preparing a come back, but before he could, Luffy cut him off. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Rocket!" the captain screamed. Kuki looked up to watch the rubber man fly into a huge, bloated, feral version of Gecko Moria. The tiny girl's eyes widened and her jaw fell slack as a handful of shadows escaped from the giant like Shichibukai's mouth. "Nice to see you finally up, kiddo." Zoro smirked, finally getting the Helmsman's attention.

Kuki looked up and tried to glare…tried, "Kiddo? You're a year older then me 'boy'." Another loud crash ended the conversation early, "Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!" More shadows snuck their way out to freedom. "He's…really going all out. Will Luffy be ok?" the small girl asked, watching her captain with a worried look on her face. The swordsman reached down and propped the blonde girl up, steadying her as Kuki's head started to spin. "The sun's coming; he has to finish it soon." The First Mate explained, gazing up at the light. "If not, our bodies will burn away." Robin added, smiling sweetly at the Helmsman. Kuki glanced at the Archaeologist and shivered, sometimes that woman could be the creepiest person… "Believe in Luffy-Bro, he'll get our shadows back." Franky added, "Go Luffy!" Chopper and Ussop joined in the cheering. The captain kept hitting, kicking, slamming into Moria, causing more and more shadows to escape, until… "Brick bat!" the Shichibukai started piling shadowy, bat figures around Luffy as he paused on the side of the only tower left standing, "Black box."

The bat's then turned into walls, enclosing the rubber man in a box. "I'll crush you!" the monster screamed, raising his fist. The crew had barely any time to even gasp before Moria slammed his fist into the wall, exactly where the shadow box was…the one Luffy was currently trapped in. Kuki slowly moved her hand over her mouth as she faltered into Zoro, using him for support. The swordsman had a straight face, not even blinking as the squished container fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Ussop, Chopper and Franky all gasped, holding onto each other as the crew watched the black box in silence. The Giant Shichibukai lifted his foot, "This is a baptising! This is what you amateurs get for pretending to be big shots in this huge world!" slamming down onto the black, crumpled object multiple times, "This is what happens when you dare oppose a Shichibukai!" During the whole mess everyone could only watch, until Kuki saw what seemed to be an arm protruding from the dark mass.

"Stop!" she wailed. "People should know their own limits!" Moria accused, glaring down the blonde as he brought down his foot one last time. Ussop, Chopper and Brooke all called out to the rubber man, trying to catch a sign of movement as the monster raised his foot. Satisfied, the Shichibukai left the box alone, preparing to move on with the rest of the crew, until… "Clank…" the noise echoed from the 'box'. Everyone held they're breath, unable to move. Suddenly, the metallic substance flew off the ground, leaving Luffy in it's wake. The boy was alive, gasping for breath, but alive. The captain's body was still steaming and held that same reddish tint as before. "Gear Third!" Kuki wanted to watch the rest of the fight, but the brightness of the sky caught her attention, they all had minutes left until sunlight hit them. Robin, Sanji, Zoro…they were all standing proud, excepting any fate they were handed. The blonde nodded and straightened her back, joining the three in their line.

They were all around the same height, with Robin's heels, so when the dawn's light first peaked over the ledge of stone the top of their hair lines started billowing out smoke. Kuki came up to the swordsman's chest, so she had to watch the others suffer…she had to watch them stick out the pain long before she even received it. Unintentionally, the Helmsman's hand found it's way to the green haired man's…making sure that he was still there, so the girl could face the light. Until the First Mate pulled her to him and turned his back towards the sun. Kuki was shocked, her small body was completely covered by Zoro's, his arms were securing her to his chest, wrapping around her back, and his head rested on top of her own. The tiny blonde blushed, "W-what are you…" then it hit her, "n-no…" She half heartedly tried to pull back, away from him. "No." the small girl's voice raised, a chill running down her spine as her fear was confirmed. "No!" The swordsman's arms tightened, not saying a thing as she tried hitting him with her fists.

"Stop it! Stop! No!" Kuki struggled, tears coming to her eyes as she looked up to see more, whitish smoke rising from his green hair, the hair she loved so much, the hair she found so intriguing…disappearing. "This isn't fair!" the Helmsman tried again, fighting hopelessly against his hold. The rest of the crew mates just watched, grim faces as the situation unfolded. "I-if you're going to disappear…" the blonde whispered with a shaky voice, "then I am too. Please…" Zoro was using his own body to hold off on Kuki fading away, using it as a shield. Almost all of his hair was gone, Kuki couldn't stand it…if this was it…if this was the end…she didn't even get her first kiss. Without shame, shyness, or embarrassment, the small girl reached up onto her tippy toes, trying to reach the First Mate's lips. This took Zoro by surprise, giving Kuki enough power to turn him slightly to expose both of them to the sun's rays. 'His hair' Without realising the girl's finger had found their way to his head, running threw the strand that weren't there, that had 'disappeared'.

Kuki couldn't reach up all the way, the blonde was only a centimetre short, but without a second notice, Zoro tightened his grip on the girl, squishing all the room that was between them out of the way, his hands heavy and needy with a statement that told Kuki he wasn't a hundred percent sure they were going to live, his lips were ruff as he forced them upon hers. The girl didn't know what a good kiss was, or how too in the first place, but they both ran off of intuition. Her heart sped as she hissed when the light started eating away at her fingers, still attached to his hair. Zoro ran one of his hands up to the tiny girl's head, trying to sooth her. They both knew, wholeheartedly, that their Captain would win against the Shichibukai, it was just the timing. The butterflies in the blonde's stomach were squashed by the sight of the First Mate's face going up in smoke. Instinctively, the Helmsman slide both hands down trying to feel where his face was, surprisingly she could still feel it there, his eyebrows, his cheeks, everything, the girl just couldn't see it.

All of a sudden there was a huge crash with cheering in the background, not that Kuki paid much attention to it, but with the crash came a full on blast of sunlight. The girl gasped as half of her body set into a flameless fire. During that she fell back a bit, pulling away from Zoro. Looking over she saw that he too was half gone. "No," the helmsman whispered, she couldn't stand the thought of a world without Zoro in it. "Robin!" "Sanji!" "Zoro!" "Kuki!" Everyone was crying out for them, where they really going to disappear? Where they really going to die? The Swordsman walked over to her huddled figure on the ground, crouching down and pulling the rest of her body towards him. "I don't want to die; I have so much more to see." Kuki explained crying against his chest. Zoro never spoke, but that didn't bother the girl, his actions were taking part of his voice. "But I guess I'd rather disappear here with you then live on without you…" she added embarrassingly.

Kuki's body was so much smaller then everyone else's that it was burning up much faster. Knocking her out of her shocked like state was something invisible pressing against her forehead. Kuki lifted her hands up, cheeks, a nose; lips… the girl sighed and rested against the man. How could one person make her feel so calm this close to death? The tiny blonde blushed as Zoro kissed her forehead in reassurance, being glad over one thing of being shadow less at the moment, the First Mate couldn't see the red tinge to her face. She closed her eyes and kept her hand up in the teen's hair, playfully twirling the short pieces as she started to accept any fate that was to come. Until, "Ha..haha…Yo, it seems like I'm alive…" The Swordsman pulled away from her, standing up. Kuki opened her eyes to see a full Zoro looking towards the rest of the crew, his cheeks a little red as he averted his eyes from everyone. Then it hit her, he wasn't on fire, there wasn't smoke…they had they're shadows…and the whole crew saw them…

"I thought I was going to heaven for a moment there!" Robin laughed, rubbing the side of her face. The older women smiled dangerously at the blonde still sitting on the ground. "That's fine with me! I wouldn't of minded going to heaven with my two special Angels!" the cook screamed out, rocking back and forth with heart shaped eyes. Apparently, Sanji hadn't noticed the pair…but everyone else did. "Um…" Kuki mumbled, feeling the heat rise up to her cheeks. Ussop, Franky and Nami all starred at the small girl with open mouths and red cheeks, as if they accidently watched something they shouldn't have. All except Brooke, who was just watching the Helmsman with his holes for eyes. "Don't laugh your asses off idiots! We all were worried thinking you guys were going to die and you two were off…" Ussop paused his anger, "Doing whatever you two were doing." Well this was awkward…what was she supposed to say in this situation? "Good job Zoro-Bro." Franky added, holding a 'thumbs up' towards the First Mate.

Zoro just huffed it off and sat down, physically and mentally exhausted. The cook seemed to catch on, "What did you do to Kuki-Tan?!" he asked, pressed his forehead to Zoro's. "Nothing!" he exclaimed shouting back, "none of your business anyway!" Sanji then ran over to the Helmsman, taking her hand while sobbing "What did that big muscle head do to you while in your delicate state my Angel? Are you ok? Do you need me to defend your honour?" Kuki didn't know what to say, she just looked up to see the green-haired man's head facing the ground as he got even more pissed with everyone of the smoker's words. "He was kissing her forehead." Chopper answered calmly, "What? Reindeers give each other kisses all the time…" he asked to all the looks he was getting. Kuki shoved her face into her lap, hiding it from the world. "Um…things like that are a little different for humans…" Nami added patting the young doctor's back. Sanji fell to the ground stiff, clutching his heart as his body seemed to be made out of stone. "Oh…"