Long Years

Due to various reasons this story is getting cut short, this chapter is the last. Mega apologies for being unable to follow through with how it originally was.

Cade clenched and unclenched her hands as she stared out at the thick fog surrounding the island they were about to dock at. Coming up from the deck was the soft melody of Bink's Brew that Brook often played. It brought back memories of how they gathered more crewmates. They added not only Brook, a musician and living skeleton, but Franky, a shipwright, Chopper, a doctor and reindeer who ate the human human devil fruit, Sanji, a cook, and Robin, an archeologist.

And now…now they were going to finally, possibly, find her brother. Having learned of an island that was known for having fishmen slaves, they headed right for it. For three days Cade passed around the ship, unable to do anything but wonder if she was finally going to find him.

Then their new ship, the Thousand Sunny, pulled to a slow stop in the harbor. Before the anchor was let loose she jumped to the docks and looked around. Instantly she noticed the fog wasn't on the island. Somehow it only stayed out at sea, hiding the island.

"So where do we start looking?" Chopper asked. He and the rest of the crew had joined her without her noticing.

"Cade?" Sanji said.

"Let's look around. See what we can find," Cade said. "Let's meet up for lunch and discuss what we have found."

"Right!" The crew nodded then separated into small groups.

"Don't worry, my sweet little angelfish," Sanji said. "I shall find your brother for you. Just stick with me."

"Aren't you the sweetest." Cade stroked him under his chin.

Hearts popped into Sanji's eyes as blood spurted from his nose. "She loves me!"

Cade chuckled before turning her attention back to searching.

"Where do you think he'll be?" Luffy asked.

"Good question." Cade looked around as they stepped into the town. She cringed. The information was right. Almost everyone in the town had slaves. And most of those slaves were fishmen. Anger bubbled to the surface, but she hammered it back down. Right now she needed to keep her cool. Kale depended on it.

"How disgusting," Sanji hissed. "How can they treat fishmen like this? Do you see your brother?"

"No." Cade shook her head.

"Guess we should start asking around." Sanji walked over to a man.

Cade followed his lead, with her hood over her head. Over the next hour they asked people about a fishman whale shark. She was starting to becoming discouraged. The island was large. She had no idea if they would be able to search the whole thing before the log pose reset. Then finally, finally, they found someone who had seen a whale shark fishman on the island.

"Oh, yeah," the man said pointing to a mansion on a hill. "I believe the owner of that mansion has a whale shark fishman."

Blood rushed to Cade's head. Before she could do or say anything, Luffy grabbed her hand and ran for the mansion. "Luffy?"

"I'm sure he's there!" Luffy smiled back at her.

Cade tightened her hold on him. She prayed he was right.

"Hey! Luffy! Wait up!" Sanji chased after them.

Within a few minutes they were on top of the metal gate that separated the outside from the yard. Flowers and bushes were scattered around the yard, fishmen slaves among them, working to make the place look great. A shatter then shouting pulled their attention to their left.

"You horrid fishman!" The snap of a whip.

A young fishman girl with dull grey skin and black hair was on her knees next to a shatter teapot. "I-I'm sorry, M-Master. It w-won't happen again."

"Stupid fish!" The man continued to hit her with the whip while a woman sat fanning herself with a look of contempt on her face.

Rage built up inside Cade. She wanted to rush in and help, but before she could Luffy had already taken off.

"Hey! Luffy!" Sanji called out and jumped after their captain. "Wait for me! I can't stand how they're treat that lovely young girl!"

"So much for our plan." Cade jumped down to the ground. All well. It didn't really matter. Knowing her brother he was going to cause enough ruckus that their crewmates would take notice and come back them up.

Luffy punched the man. The woman screamed.

"Wh-who are you?" the fishman girl asked.

"We're pirates," Luffy said. "And we're here to set you free."

"P-pirates?" the girl stuttered.

"Don't worry." Cade bent down and pulled back her hood. "We're nice pirates."

"You're a fishman, too." The girl blinked.

Cade nodded.

"B-but you can't save us. These collars are explosive." She touched the thick collar around her neck. "They'll explode unless you use the key."

Sanji blew out smoke. "Well, I guess we'll just have to use the key then."

"You pirates! You won't get away with this!" The man pulled out a whistle and blew it. A sharp trill shot through the air seconds before someone threw a punch at the pirates. They jumped, letting the punch hit the ground.

Cade back flipped. Landing her eyes went to the one who attacked. Her eyes widened. "K-Kale?"

He looked up at her, his own eye widened with shock. He had grown. He was taller than her now. His arms were full of muscle, his face round like their dad's. Several scars marred his skin and his left eye had been blinded, a deep scar crossed over it.

"Hm?" Luffy looked at Cade then at Kale. "You sure it's him?"
Cade licked her lips. "Y-yes…Kale, I've been looking for you."

"Cade." Kale walked to her. A snap. He winced at the whip slicing across his bareback.

"Stop that!" Cade hissed at the man. "Leave him alone!"

The man laughed. "Do you know who I am?"

"The creep who's enslaved innocent people," Cade said.

"Wretched fish! I am London! A noble who governs this island! I shall not be-" Cade shot forward, landing a punch on his nose. The bone shattered. He flew back and slammed into a tree.

"I don't care who you are! You're no longer going to own these slaves!" Cade snapped. She grabbed the woman up before she could scramble away.

"D-don't touch me, fish!" she stuttered. "I'm London's wife! You'll pay for this!"

"Give me the keys and I'll let you go." Cade glared.

Hand trembling the woman reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring of keys. Cade snatched them up and unlocked the slaves explosive collars. Once her brother was free she wrapped him in a hug. "Kale!"

"I knew you'd come for me." Kale tightened his arms around her.

"Are you okay?" Cade cupped his cheeks and looked at his scars.

"Yeah. Don't worry about these." Kale squeezed her wrists. "They don't look as bad as you think."

"I'm happy for you both, but if you want to set the rest of them free we have to hurry," Sanji said. "The nobles might call for the navy to come help them."

"Right." Cade nodded. "We can talk back on the ship."

Regrouping with the rest of the crew, the Straw Hats set out to free the rest of the slaves on the island. With the help of the freed fishmen they were able to set all the slaves free. The humans, former slaves, took the nobles ships and headed back home while the fishmen swam away after saying their thanks to the pirates.

"So this is your new." Kale turned in a circle. "It's more impressive than the newspaper pictures."

"You've been following the newspapers?" Cade asked.

"Yes." Kale nodded. "I didn't at first. We slaves weren't allowed to. But one day I saw a picture of you in the newspaper. I remembered you. That night, once my former masters had gone to bed, I snuck downstairs to read it. I couldn't believe that you had became a pirate."

"Shocked myself too," Cade said.

"Since then I snuck around and read the newspapers a much as I could to keep an eye on your journeys. You've done some crazy stuff," Kale said.

"It's his fault." Cade jerked her thumb at Luffy.

"You're Straw Hat Luffy." Kale looked to the captain.

"That's right!" Luffy grinned. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who'll become king of the pirates! And Cade's little brother!"

"Little brother?" Kale lifted an eyebrow at Cade.

"A lot's happened since we were separated." Cade rubbed her neck. "Seems like a lot's happened with you too. You don't seem as…depressed as I thought you would be."

Kale shrugged. "It was all about self preservation. As you can see from all the scars, being a slave has been terrible. I rebelled a lot and got them. Eventually I learned that if I just did what I was told things were better. I became a soldier of sorts. Mostly I protected the grounds from intruders. It wasn't all that bad. But I'm so relieved that you found me. I knew you or our dad would."

Cade snorted. "You shouldn't count on him. He still hadn't come looking for us."

"Don't say that, Cade," Kale said. "I know he's never given up on us."

"Whatever," Cade mumbled.

"So what about the rest of your crew?" Kale looked at the pirates. They were all waiting to be introduced to the new fishman on their ship.

"Well, I guess it's time for introductions," Cade said before filling in her brother who everyone was. After that she and her brother broke off from everyone so they could spend some time alone together. "I can't believe you've gotten so tall."

"Yeah." Kale nodded. "It's like you're the younger one now."

Cade snorted and gave him a shove. "Not ever going to happen." A pauses then, "So what are you going to do now? Will you stay with me?"

"Of course." Kale leaned over and pressed his forehead to hers. "I've been away from you for far too long."

"Are you insane?!" Kale asked.

"He's right," Neon added. "You can't just go and march into the middle of a war."

Cade growled. Her head pounded and swirled with recent events. One minute everything was fine. They had rescued her brother. They had reached Sabaody, entrance to the New World. Yet now it had all been torn apart. The Straw Hats had been separated by Kuma, a warlord of the sea. And now her older brother Ace was about to be executed. She had to save him. If only she knew where the rest of her friends and crewmates were. But she didn't have a clue. All she knew was that she and Kale had ended up on Fishman Island.

Neon, another male whale shark fishman, had found her and Kale. He brought them to his mother who was a doctor. Cade woke up to the two strangers faces and so much pain she couldn't describe. But she knew Luffy was in even more pain than she was, from losing his crew to the news of their brother's coming death. She had to get to Ace. She had to save him.

"Stop!" Neon swam in front of her, arms stretched out.

Cade glared at him, floating in the cold water. Neon was another whale shark fishman they had met when they woke up on Fishman Island. She hated to admit it but Neon was handsome. He was tall with spikey black hair, a slender frame, and a smile that would melt any girls' heart. Not that she was one of those girls. He had plenty of fan girls following him around, as he was a fairly popular singer on Fishman Island. "Get out of my way."

"You're not thinking rationally," Neon said.

"I don't care! My brother is about to be killed! I won't let that happen!" Cade swam around him. Before she got too far his hand clamped around her wrist and she was smothered against his chest. She thrashed against him, cursing how he was stronger than she was and how weak she was at the moment thanks to Kuma. "Dang it, Neon! Let me go!"

"I won't! Not until you calm down and listen to me!" Neon said.

"I won't do that!" Cade screamed. Her body stilled as tears streamed down her face. "You don't understand…I lost two brothers already. First was Kale. Then Sabo. I can't…" Her voice cracked. "I can't lose Ace too. Not again. Not another one. And Luffy…he would be devastated if I didn't do anything to help act and we lost him."

Neon sighed and let her go. "All right. But I'm coming with you."

"What?" Cade glanced up at him.

"Hey, I'm not just a pretty face." Neon smiled. "I know how to fight too. Some big names are going to be there. You'll need all the help you can get."

"Neon, you-" Cade was cut off by his finger pressing to her lips.

"Don't even try to talk me out of this," Neon said. "You're my friend. I want to do this."

Cade slapped Neon's hand away and glanced at her brother. He was smiling at her. "Come on, sis. Why not?"

She sighed. "Fine. Do as you wish."

Neon nodded and they were off. They swam as fast as they could, occasionally calling upon sea creatures to help them so they could rest. A few hours later they made it to the war zone and broke the surface.

Cade spotted a familiar hat sailing through the air. With a burst of water she shot up to the yellow submarine where the hat was heading. She snatched it out of the air and landed, her eyes landing on a familiar face. Trafalgar Law, one of the supernovas that were also on Sabaody. He helped them get away from the navy after rescuing a mermaid friend. "Luffy. Where is he?"

"Inside," Law said.

"And Ace? Is he inside, too?"

Law didn't answer. He merely shook his head.

A hammer of pain slammed down on her. Cade dashed into the sub without another word. Ace was dead? She had been too late. Luffy must be in so much pain. She had to get to him. She followed the pirates into the operating room where Luffy was. Her feet stumbled to a stop. A large wound marred Luffy's chest. Forcing herself forward she made her way to him then jerked to a stop. Her eyes fell upon the one fishman she never expected to see again. Jinbe, her dad was laying on the operating table next to Luffy. "What is he doing here?!"

"Jinbe?" Penguin said. "He was helping Straw Hat escape."

"Never mind. I don't care." Cade scoffed and moved over to Luffy.

"Ignore her," Neon said. "She has daddy issues."

Cade shot him a glare then turned her eyes down to Luffy. Just then Law came in the room and started operating on his patients. She never left Luffy's side. Even when the sub was docked in a bay at Amazon Lily, she remained by Luffy's side until the boy woke up in a raging panic looking for Ace. Her heart clenched as did her lungs. Ace had died protecting Luffy. The Heart Pirates had informed her of this. She cried for hours, and cried some more when she thought of Luffy when he would wake up.

…

Luffy's reaction to Ace's death was worse than she feared. He launched through the sub roof and ran around the island screaming for his brother. It hurt. Cade wanted to bury herself in the ground when she couldn't come up with any words that would help Luffy. Then, without warning, Jinbe took Luffy into the forest.

Cade wondered what her dad was saying to Luffy. The screaming had stopped several minutes ago. Surely whatever it was did the trick, at least she hoped that was it and Luffy didn't do anything stupid to himself. Then finally they had come back. She jumped up and ran over to him. She threw her arms around Luffy's neck. "Luffy!"

"Sorry." Luffy wrapped his arms around her waist. "I didn't mean to worry you."

"Are you okay now?" Cade looked at him.

"I am." When it was clear Cade didn't believe him he kissed her. "I'm okay. Really. Jinbe helped me realize I still had plenty to live for." He squeezed her in another hug. "I'm so sorry I worried you."

Cade wrapped her arms back around him and sighed with relief.

"Cade, you need to listen to your dad," Luffy said.

"No." Cade crossed her arms and turned from him.

"Stubborn as always," Jinbe said.

"Shut up!" Cade snapped.

"Cade, really, listen to what he has to say," Luffy said. "We spoke about you in the forest. You'll want to hear him out."

Cade sniffed.

"Cascade, listen to me," Jinbe said with a sigh. "I never meant to abandoned you all. You, your brother, and your mother were everything to me."

"Then why didn't you come back?!" Cade snapped. "We needed you!"

"I did come back."

Cade jerked. "What?"

"I came back to find the island had been devastated. And I couldn't find any of you," Jinbe said. "I have been looking for you all since. Part of the reason I became a warlord was to use the navy's resources to try and find you." Tears came to his eyes, he closed them to keep them from falling. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to help you. Luffy told me what happened. I wish I could change things."

Cade gritted her teeth. She didn't want to believe him, but his words and eyes were so sincere. A war raged inside of her. Perhaps she had her dad all wrong all this time. She shifted on her feet. "Fine. I'll accept that for now."

"I'm sorry, Starfish. I'm here now." Jinbe nodded. His eyes lifted to Kale. He held out a hand to him. "You've grown so much."

Kale gladly took it. "I'm glad to meet you. Sorry, but my memories of you are a bit fuzzy."

"Understandable." Jinbe nodded.

"Such a sweet tender family moment."

Cade jumped, forgetting Neon was with them.

"It's nice to meet you, Jinbe. I've heard a lot about you." Neon held out his hand. "I'm Cade's boyfriend."

"What?!" Luffy screamed.

Jinbe cocked an eyebrow.

"You are not!" Cade snapped. "Don't listen to him! He's a jerk!"

"Ignore her." Neon put his arm around her shoulders. "She really does love me."

"I don't even know you!" Cade shoved him away from her.

Luffy laughed. "I'm glad."

"Luffy! He's lying!" Cade said.

"Anyway, I've decided that we need to train. And we're going to take two years to do it," Luffy said.

"You want to do what?" Cade started at her brother as if he sprouted a second head.

"I know. It's not a normal decision for me. But it's the right one," Luffy said. "We need to get stronger. Losing Ace showed me that."

Cade's heart clenched. She hadn't even gotten there on time to even try to save him. Luffy was right. They were weak. If they couldn't save their brother then what good were they? How would they survive the New World? "Are you sure about this, Luffy? That means being away from the crew for two years."

"I am." Luffy nodded. "They'll get stronger as well. What will you do? Will you stay with me?"

Cade thought about it. Part of her really wanted to stay with Luffy. But there was another place where she'd be able to learn more. "Dad?"

Jinbe looked at her.

"Will you train me?" Cade asked.

"Really?"
Cade nodded.

"Then, yes, I would be honored to," Jinbe said. "But that means we'll have to return to Fishman Island. I have some business there I need to take care of. And it would be better training ground."

"I know. And that's fine." Cade took Luffy's hand. "The two years will fly by fast."

Luffy nodded.

"Then I'll go back to Fishman Island for now," Cade said.

…

Cade stood on a cliff over looking Fishman Island. Her mind was a mix of conflict, which was ironic. When she first arrived back at Fishman Island with her dad to train she had wanted time to fly by at the speed of light. Now that it was time to go back to the crew she wanted to stay. Well, a small part of her wanted to stay. Most of her wanted to return to Luffy. And she was. Kale, Neon, and her dad were waiting for her.

With a deep breath Cade jumped off the cliff to join them at the beach. Her eyes went to Neon. Neon…in the past two years they had managed to grow closer together, much to the annoyance of his fan girls and her surprise.

"It's going to be quiet without your around here," Neon said.

Cade snorted. "Sure it is. I'm positive you'll be oh so lonely. It's not like you have a fan club following you around at every turn, willing to do anything you want."

"They mean nothing to me." Neon took her cheeks in his hands and pressed their lips together.

Cade's first instinct was to push him away. But she found she didn't want to. Instead her eyelids fell closed. And she kissed him back.

"Well, that was unexpected," Neon said when he pulled away.

"Whatever." Cade rolled her eyes. "Just because I might have feelings for you doesn't give you the right to kiss me whenever you like. So remember than in the future."

Neon chuckled. "You're in to me. I can tell."

"Oh totally." Cade waved her hand, cheeks tinting pink. "I have to get going. See ya."

"You've done well, Starfish," Jinbe said. "I'm proud of how much you have grown."

"Thanks, Dad, for everything you've done for us." Cade hugged him. She walked over to Kale. Then it was time to go. She dove into the water and made her way back up to the Sunny where her friends were gathering. Soon they would be reunited and off to their next adventure.