HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Part I

Jonathan Oliver Meridian sighed as he read the letter through again. Here it was, his orders sent directly from Admiral Mendosa himself, the head of the First fleet of the armada, as well as his captain.

Meridian wasn't a rich man, but neither was he poor either. He was of average build, around six foot in height, with heavy set features, Square jaw, and deep brown eyes, along with slightly greying hair. He, like most sailors in the Valuan navy, lived in the cess pit known as Lower City, unlike some Valuans however, he and his family lived in a section of the city that was somewhat cleaner then the rest of the city.

"Honey?"

Jon looked up from his musings, only to see his loving wife Maria looking with concern round the doorframe.

He smiled warmly and waved the letter for her to see.

"New orders," he said wearily, "Ramirez delivered them a moment ago,"

Maria sighed and pushed back a lock of dirty blond hair, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," he sighed, "We're off to Patrol the Grand Line, that Stone Reef that splits us off from the Nasreans."

Maria looked slightly dejected, "Carlos will be so disappointed," she gazed sadly at him with her cobalt blue eyes.

Jon nodded, "Ah, the little tyke will survive, it's not like we'll be apart forever."

"But you only just got back a week ago," Maria looked angrily down at the letter, "Why does the navy treat her sailors so badly? Even we deserve a break from our labour and…"

"Maria," Jon stood up swiftly and enveloped her in his embrace, "Take it easy okay? As soon as I come back I'm going to ask Admiral Mendosa if we can take some leave, then we can all spend some quality time together okay?"

Maria sniffed and nodded.

"That's my girl. Where is Carlos anyway?"

Maria looked up and smiled, "He's with Belleza. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, those two are joined at the hip."

At age ten, you might of thought that Belleza Amanda Rodriguez would have found playing with a five year old somewhat childish, other girls her age would be playing with their makeshift dolls or pretending to be the Empress and freeing all the Lower City Citizens from poverty, and yet here she was, sitting cross legged in the backyard that the Meridian's and the Rodriguez's shared, playing patty cake with five year old Carlos Nathaniel Meridian.

From the day she had met him as a baby, Belleza had thought of it as her duty to protect Carlos. He wasn't the toughest of boys. Despite his father trying to toughen him up, and the other boys pushing him around, Carlos always seemed to be slightly wimpy and shy, as though he had been born like it.

"Belleza I'm bored!" the small child proclaimed after another round of patty cake, "let's play something else!"

Belleza smiled slightly at her friend…no, her best friend.

"Well, what do you want to play?" she asked as Carlos got up and stumbled over to the wall, only to slump down beside it.

"Dunno," he said after a moment as Belleza came and sat down beside him.

"We could play Navy?" she offered, "I could be the Captain, and you could be the Vice-Captain,"

"Nah, we played that yesterday," Carlos sighed, tapping his head as though it would help. Suddenly he yawned, stretching his little arms as he did so.

Belleza smiled gently as she watched, before gently pulling Carlos into a one armed hug.

"Sounds like someone need a little nap," she cooed softly.

"I'm not sleepy," Carlos protested half-heartedly, curling up slightly against Belleza's chest despite the statement.

"Of course your not," she soothed, gently smoothing down his jet black hair, "You just need to rest your eyes for a while that's all."

Carlos's sky blue eyes drooped slightly as slumber began to overtake him.

"Belleza," he murmured as he turned on his side to get more comfortable, "Protect me…while I'm resting my eyes."

Belleza looked down at her friend as she continued to caress his hair, "Don't worry Carlos, I won't let anything happen to you, ever. I promise."

She felt him smile slightly against her torso.

"Belleza?" he said in almost a whisper as sleep almost overcame him.

"Yes?"

Carlos placed a hand on her chest, beside his head, curling it slightly as if to hold on to her, "I love you."

Belleza froze for a moment, then smile as she relax, gazing down at the sleeping boy in her arms.

"Guess what Carlos?" she whispered in his ear, "I love you too."

Daniel Marcus Mackenzie glanced round a corner as crept through the bowls of the Aquila. He didn't care what his parents, or hers for that matter, thought of their relationship. They were in love and they both knew it.

"I'm telling you Admiral, I've tried and I've tried, but he just won't listen!"

Daniel backtracked past an open door, only to find what he was looking for.

There she stood, the love of his life. Sure he was fourteen and she herself had only just turn thirteen, but they were in love and they knew it.

Unfortunately, their fathers were in the same room.

"I don't care how many times you've told him tell him again!" Admiral Mendoza growled, "I won't have any daughter of mine be with someone not of noble blood!"

"But father!" Piastol's voice drifted over to Daniel, making him feel all warm inside, "He hasn't done anything wrong! He just like each other company. I'm a big girl now and I can choose who I like and dislike!"

"You may think you're a big girl but you're still my daughter, and what I say, goes, understand?"

Piastol nodded silently.

"Now then, how to split them up…"

"Psst!" Daniel tried to get the girls attention, "Pssst! Piastol! Pssssssssssssssssssst! Piastol over here!"

The young teen looked up surprised, "Daniel?"

The Lower City citizen grinned and waved her over. She nodded before turning back to Admiral

"Daddy? May I go now?"

Mendoza looked at her pointedly, before sighing and waving her off.

"Yes, yes be off with you,"
"Thanks Daddy," and with a swift peck on the cheek she took off through the door.

"Daniel!" she whispered frantically when she got there, "What are you doing here? You know you're not supposed to be here!"

"Then let's not be here," He suggested with a mischievous grin, gabbing her hand, "Let's go somewhere more private?"

Piastol sighed, she could never say know to the by who ran into her life. Quickly taking his hand, she swiftly led him down the corridor, making sure no one was coming round corners, until they finally reached her room.

"I'll bet my home that you're going with your dad on your next voyage," Daniel grunted as Piastol shut and locked the door.

Piastol sighed as she lent on the back of the door, "I think our right," she moaned, "Why can't they just leave us alone? Why can't we choose who we like?"

"Dunno," Daniel sighed as he looked out the porthole over the dock, "but we can't keep this up forever. Sooner or later they're gonna find a way to keep us apart permanently."

Piastol sighed again slumped onto the bed beside him. Suddenly, she had an idea. Getting up she went to the chest and began to rummage around in it.

"What are you looking for?" Daniel asked, his interest peaking.

"This!" Piastol proclaimed holding up the object. It was a small black box, with a funny circular thing on the front, which looked like it could be focused in and out. On the back was a large black cloth, and poking out of one corner was a small light.

"What is it?"

"My dad calls it a camera," Piastol explains, "it takes pictures, without having to pose for hours on end for a painter."

Daniel blinked, "Cool,"

"With it, we can have pictures of ourselves so we don't forget…each other."

Daniel came up close to her and gently caressed her cheek.

"I couldn't forget you if I tried," he murmured as he drew closer.

Piastol couldn't help but gaze into his brown eyes, before suddenly feeling the pressure of his lips against hers.

Lost in their conformation of their love, she dropped the camera onto the bed, not noticing the flash as it went off.

Neither of them cared what anyone thought anymore. They didn't care that this might be their last moment together. All they care about was this kiss, and the love that came with it.

Jon sighed as he went over last minute flight checks with Dock command. He didn't ant to do this. No one did, but they had a job to do and they had to respect that.

Behind him, Main Gunner and best friend Joshua Rodriguez ran through his own checks with his team, flashing a cocky smile over at his friend as he did so.

Jon sighed again as he finished his checks and slumped back in his chair.

"Come on Jonny boy!" he heard Josh call out as though reading his mind, "It's not like this is the first time we've left our families! Besides this is just a routine patrol of the Grand Line with the First Fleet, what could go wrong?"

Jon was about to reply when the voice of Commander James Mackenzie rang out over the Bridge.

"Admiral on Deck!"

The crew snapped to attention as Mendoza and his First Officer stepped onto the Bridge.

"At ease gentlemen," he said calmly, "Now this is just a routine patrol. So we should be all home in time for the next Cycle. Mr. Meridian, take us out."

"Aye Admiral!" Jon's hands flew over his console with ease as the Aquila slowly pulled out of Dock. But as the open sky beckoned to him, he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, and something bad was going to happen soon.