A/N: Is it sad that I'm so incredibly happy about 3 follow and favorites? Well, too bad. I am. Thank you! And here's chapter three for my 3 favorites and follows.

Chapter Three: The People Left

They called it the War of the Best. Shockwaves tore the world as Mata had known it apart. Pirates raided Whitebeard's territory and pillaged every village that wasn't properly defended. There were no limits. Respect and honor were no longer in the vocabulary. The lines that had always seemed too murky to Mata between Marine and pirate became even murkier. On the outside, the boundaries may have seemed clear but for Mata Hara, the girl who had once been a Warrant Officer and one of the best sharpshooters and trackers in the Navy, everything was getting confusing.

On the ship of one Trafalgar D. Water Law, there was considerable debate about what to do about the unconscious Marine currently hooked up to a breathing machine. Although under stable condition, a crescent scar would remain across her ribs, another along her thigh. Her clothes had been all but destroyed so the crew had had to make due with a Heart Pirates jumper.

They had thrown the Marine jacket into the sea.

"She's a Marine," Law said blandly, his eyes flicking dully to the closed door, his ears pricking as he caught the steady beep of the machine. Two of his crew stood guard just on the other side, probably playing cards just in front of the door.

A dull pinging bounced off the yellow walls, the circular windows lining the walls showing the darkness of the sea outside. After docking in the bay of Amazon Lily, the mechanics of the Heart Pirates had taken the chance to check all of the ship for any damage or threats of leaking.

Across the round, dandelion yellow table, Jinbe's eyes narrowed, his already stern expression going even more rocky. The big man took up almost the whole other side of the table. If it weren't for the bandages tightening his clothes and the way that his shoulders were straightened in a way that suggested refusal to be defeated by pain, Law would be a little more wary. Law tipped his head to the side, taking a slow look around the spacious hall that served as a dining area.

Circular tables all the same dandelion yellow color were placed sporadically across the room, perfectly matching the yellow walls. Nestled snuggly in the left corner was a small kitchen area with an island that created clear separation. There was a uniformed organization about the Heart Pirates that transferred from their similar jumpsuits to the tidy way that the ship was made up.

There was something about Trafalgar D. Water Law that attracted this kind of environment.

"Are you really suggesting that we tow around a Marine traitor?" Law drawled, placing a careful, lean finger on the edge of his cup and following the rim slowly. SIghing, he leaned back in his seat, turning his gaze to the ceiling. "We're not a charity, Jinbe."

"You've saved her life-"

"At your insistence~" Law sang.

"Because she saved Luffy's life and tried to save Ace-"

"Last time I checked tried and did are two very different things." His head tipped to the side as he gave Jinbe a cool once over. "And I was under the impression that you had saved the miracle child's life." His lips cracked in a cynical smile. "Well… You and me."

Jinbe's eyes flashed, his head tilted slightly as he gave the smaller man a look of disdain. "Without Marco we would have never made it out alive. Marco could not have helped without being released from the seastone chains. The Marine girl gave him that freedom."

"I like the way that you broke that down for me," Law said with a smirk. "I just find it interesting that you would want to put your trust into someone that was assigned to make sure that Ace died." He scoffed. "And she couldn't even do that. It sounds to me that not only is she an untrustworthy traitor but that she has also useless. Do you even know her name?"

"Mata Hara." Both men blinked, surprise flashing through both of their eyes as they turned at the soft voice.

Leaning heavily against the frame of the door was a pale, painting Mata, her eyes heavily shadowed but cutting even though she was obviously feeling all of her years at the moment. Bandages crisscrossed along her chest, the material so thick that when she had woken up she had had a moment of utter fear. It was the kind of fear that children got after a long bout of illness, finally waking up from a fever, sweaty and still in the shadow of hallucinations. She had thought that she was back with the Navy, held in the infirmary until Sengoku - or worse, Anaiku - would come for her. And then she would be shoved into the same cell that Ace had been in. That would be perfectly cruel. Adequately cruel enough for what she had done.

"Sorry, boss." One of the Heart Pirates said, his eyes shadowed by the low brim of his furry hat. Both of the men who were still trying to silently tug the ebony haired woman back to her bed with no luck, stared down at the woman.

"We didn't think that you'd be wanting us to toss her back into bed-" The other man jumped in, his voice a bit higher and squeaky.

"With all the bandages-"

"Bleeding-"

"Female." The other one finished, nodding like it was an appropriate final explanation.

Law stared at them, his eyes shadowed by his hat and his face bordering on indifference distain. Mata swallowed around the cottony taste that was filling her mouth, blinking around. Marine boats were usually very orderly. They had little color and even fewer signs of personality. Law's walls were decorated with their jolly roger printed on the walls, a grinning jackal with protrusions spearing out in six directions.

"My name." Mata blinked, swatting away the fingers grasping at the back of the unzipped jumper and limping forward. Heavily and with a great deal of noise, she sat down and then cursed, angrily yanking her arms from the sleeves and tying them around her hips. Sweat had slickened her skin, dying her bandages a sickly gray which perfectly blended into the color of her skin. Her lips had gone an off-white, her upper lip dampened with beads of sweat and her eyes narrowed and wincing from barely concealed pain. Taking a shaky breath, she looked back at the men in front of her. "My name is Mata Hara."

"One mystery solved," Law drawled out, clearly unimpressed with the admission. HIs eyes flicked to the men still in the doorway and he sighed. "Aito, Goro - go... clean something."

Both men looked absolutely deflated and before they left they shot Mata individual looks of disdain. She ignored them.

"I heard you talking," Mata said without any more preamble. She had never been particularly good at skirting around subjects. "So I came out to clear the air."

"Oh. Well," Law said with a smirk. "By all means, clear it."

Mata let out a slow breath, quilling her urge to send the man a look of absolute loathing.

"When did you join the Navy?" Jinbe jumped in, trying to smooth out into a more tame topic.

"I was born into it," Mata deadpanned and then elaborated as she caught the cautiously confused expressions on both of their faces. "I never joined. When I was a baby, my parents abandoned me in a dumpster near the Marine headquarters in one of the smaller islands. They didn't have a church or orphanage that I could be taken to so the Navy there took me in. I was trained there. And then a larger island. And then the academy. And finally I was taken to Impel Down and then Marineford."

Both men were silent for a moment and Mata took the break to readjust, wincing at the burning in her ribs. Mata didn't know the ways of normalcy. The Marine walls were tall and caging. For many years she hadn't even known that families consisted of two parents and a child. There wasn't any regret - not even really a level of sadness. Why would a fish miss the taste of air?

"How old are you?"

"19," she answered immediately. Her brows furrowed. "I think."

Law's brows tipped up and Mata shrugged. There were a lot of reasons why she didn't know how old she was. She had been out at sea on missions for around two years and although the Marine's didn't make it a habit of throwing birthday parties, they did perform routine checkups every year. There was also the fact that Mata had never exactly been told at what age she had been dropped off to the Navy.

"You have a Devil Fruit don't you?" Jinbe said suddenly and Mata eyed him for a moment before nodding.

"A Paramecia type," Mata said, staring down at a crack in the table. "Old Man Garp told me that it was called a Fuwa Fuwa something or other."

"Care to explain?" Law drawled.

Without another word, Mata leaned across the table to tap his cup lightly and dip a pinkie into the steaming liquid. Law's lips tipped down.

"Fuwa," she whispered and the cup floated into the air, hanging there as if by a thread before spinning off and dropping it's content onto the floor.

"You're going to have to clean that up," Law said as the cup sat daintily on the table before him once more. Mata shrugged, crooking a finger at the dark liquid so that it arched across the room and splashed back into the cup.

Mata gave him a sweet smile. "Enjoy."

Jinbe snorted and Law's lips curled up into a restrained smile.

"Levitation," Mata clarified, reaching forward to tap Law's hat and then with a flick of a finger it was up in the air, leaving him to snarl across the table at him. She smiled, holding up a finger. "One touch. A single touch and I can levitate anything I want as long as it's non-living."

"So you can't levitate yourself?" Jinbe inquired as Law snatched uselessly at his hat, the item floating just out of his reach every time.

"The only exception," Mata said. "But I still haven't mastered that. It's hard for me to concentrate on something so heavy. Old Man Garp told me that there was another - a leopard or tiger… Maybe lion - He used to be able to pull whole islands apart."

"Let's stop with the pleasantries," Law cut in, finally getting ahold of his hat and Jinbe winced. "You were assigned to kill Ace-"

"Guard," Mata corrected without thinking. Her face remained indifferent as Law gave her a critical look. "I was assigned to guard him."

"That's a rather romanticized view," the dark haired man said. "You were assigned to keep the people that would rescue him - that would save his life - away from his cell. Guarding him implies that you would have stopped the daily beatings. Did you?"

Mata's lips thinned, her eyes lowering. She had. Once. Sengoku had told her that she would be taken away from him and reassigned if she protested again. She couldn't risk him getting another guard. The next would not defend him. From then on, they had taken him when she had been relieved for a few hour of sleep.

"I thought so," Law said. "Tell me why I shouldn't throw you from this boat this moment or hand you over to the snake hags on this island."

Mata's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You're overstepping yourself, Law," Jinbe suddenly interrupted, his voice trembling with anger. "Before I escaped, I also shared a cell with Ace. This girl guarded him. She made sure that both of us were fed and when the guards beat us, she treated our wounds. As I recall, you didn't even know Ace. She did."

Mata blinked, unfamiliar emotions clogging her throat. Staring up at the man, she gave a stiff nod, blinking rapidly. Taking a settling breath, she turned back to Law who looked like he had walked into a room that he didn't particularly want to be in.

"I made a promise." Law's ears pricked up at the words and his something in his mind clicked. Mata's eyes had transformed to green pools of fire, their intensity making him forget for a moment that the wounds she had sustained would have kept most people in bed for months. Her fingers curled into fists on the table. "I promised that I would protect Ace with my life to his grandfather. I can no longer go back to the Marine's. But I can keep that promise. That is all I have now."

She had broken her ties to the Marines right when she had turned a weapon on her comrades. She had nowhere else to go. Everything that Mata Hara had worked for had been wiped out with one turn and the only way to build herself up was to own her decisions because the truth was that she herself didn't completely understand why she had chosen the pirates. She shouldn't have. Maybe it was the way that Ace had smiled at her, grinning like he was seeing her for the first time every time she came in to treat his bruises.

Mata Hara blinked, forcing herself away from her own thoughts finally taken in the suddenly tense room. Law wasn't looking at her anymore. His eyes had turned to the table and Jinbe looked like he was holding back a painful outburst, his lips screwed shut.

"What?" No one said anything. "What is it?"

Finally Law looked up, his arms crossing over his chest and his face cautiously blank. "Ace. He's dead."

"You're lying." Anger roared through Mata's veins, her words tight as she glared across the table. "Someone like Ace wouldn't die. Not in Marineford. Not like that."

Even Law was taken aback by the outburst.

It came from deep inside Mata. No one had told her it. No one had forced it into her head. But there was a wrongness about it all.

"Do you want to go see his grave?" It was a harsh thing to say and Jinbe gave a low growl in warning.

"Why are you being such a lying dick?" Mata snarled, the chair skidding back and falling as she slammed a hand on the table. "Where's Ace?" Wildly, she looked around and then pointed at a door on the other side of the room. "Is he in there? Is that where he's hiding? ACE, YOU FUCKING BASTARD, GET OUT HERE! I DON'T HAVE TIME-"

"Mata." She stilled, staring down at the hand that had squeezed around her forearm. Unwillingly, her eyes met, Jinbe's, deep, fresh pain bursting through her chest. "He's dead."

"You're-" The words caught in her throat and then it was like everything was falling apart again, her head dropping. It shouldn't have meant anything. Maybe it meant something because she was selfish. She was thinking about herself. Ace had been her lifeline. He had been her reason for continuing. Her hands shook. "Why did you have to tell me that, Jinbe?"

Mata didn't know that she was crying until she saw them splatter on the floor at her feet. Stupid, obnoxious Ace.

Her wail echoed down the hall, the sound of chair and tables levitating to knock against the ceiling and then slamming to the floor, shaking the submarine.

Three Days Later

Law didn't question her anymore. In fact, he barely ever spoke to her. There was a resigned indifference there. Jinbe was her only real companion, his words always soft when he talked to the smaller woman.

"What will you do when your wounds are healed?"

Mata looked away from the sea, glancing back at the fishman as the wind tore from the sea and whipped her hair back from her face. In the past month, she had lost a significant amount of weight. In the past few days, Jinbe had taken it upon himself to gently nudge different foods into her hands and eventually into her mouth. At the moment, the warlord picked up a bowl of miso soup and nudged it into her hands. Mata looked down at it, her expression blank as she caught the warm scent of seaweed. Disdainfully, at his hopeful stare, she took a sip. And then another at his encouraging nod. And another until it was all gone and she set the cup down on the rocks that protruded from the ground.

Law and Jinbe had found themselves a place just on the edge of the bay, the edge jutting off and down to the sea. Down below the dandelion yellow top of the submarine bobbed, it's jolly roger dancing in the wind. The women of Amazon Lily had set up a little barrier between the pirates and the jungle beyond, a series of interlocking flags with nine snakes coiling out from a skull with no jaw. The jungle beyond was foreboding and untamed, occasional howls of unknown beasts breaking the air.

A day before the Kuja women had offered Mata the option to come into the island. Since she was a female, she had the option. For some reason she had said no. She wanted to see Luffy wake up. She didn't know what that would change but she wanted to see him again.

"I don't know," Mata admitted, sighing as Jinbe shoved a bowl of steaming meat and rice in front of her. "Maybe I'll turn myself into the Navy."

The wind whistled along the rocks as she turned back to the sea and Law glanced up from his bowl to stare at the girl. Honestly, she befuddled him and that was something that he had rarely had to experience. It was irritating.

"He's awake," Mata suddenly whispered, standing and then flinched back before there was a boom that shook the submarine and muffled screaming.

"What the hell-?" Law's words were cut off as the roof of the sub exploded, chunks of metal falling harshly into the sea and a black blur exploding from the top and then crashing to the ground just behind them.

"Luffy," Mata breathed, staring in horror at the boy as he collided with the ground, dirt coating his bandages. His breathing was ragged, his eyes unfocused like a rabid dog that had gone out of control long ago.

"Ace…" The whisper was soft and a chill went up Mata's spine and involuntarily she took a step back. "Ace… WHERE'S ACE?!"

It was a cry of such agony that Mata's breath froze in her chest, an icy claw digging into her heart until every pump was painful.

"What - what should we do?" Mata whispered shakily, staring helplessly across the bay as Luffy gave an enraged scream, launching himself across the area yelling for Ace.

"What's going to happen if we leave him like that?" Jinbe questioned and Law was finally able to drag his eyes away from the boy as his crew went chasing after him. They were getting knocked out of the way like bowling pins.

"Well, it's simple," Law started, glancing back at the boy. "Like I said when we got here, if his wounds open up, he will die."

Mata gulped, her hands clenching as Luffy gave another scream, falling into the dirt as his feet tripped clumsily over a rock.

"WHERE'S ACE?!" Luffy shrieked, his eyes rolling until Mata could only see the whites. "ACE!"

"He's gone into the forest," Mata hissed, watching in horror as the dark haired boy bolted into the jungle, the branches and brush quickly eating him up. The ebony haired girl glanced down at Jinbe. "The legends about turning to stone-"

"I'm a fish. You're a woman," he said, already walking toward the tree's edge. Mata followed swiftly after him, Law's eyes intent as he watched them disappear. Silently, he took another gulp of his drink.

It was easy to find him. He left a wake of destruction behind him so great that all Jinbe and Mata had to do was follow the path of the broken trees. Soon, the dirt was dotted with blood and then -

"Luffy," Mata breathed, staring at the lone figure in the middle of toppled trees and dust. His bandages were spackled with blood, his head pressed to the dirt.

Eyes half driven mad lasered into hers. How could they say it? What were the right words to say? Jinbe stepped forward.

"The war is over," he whispered. "Ace is-"

"Don't say it! Don't say anything!" Luffy screamed, lashing out. "I already pinched myself hard enough to rip my skin! If it were a dream, I would have woken by now." His lips shook, tears suddenly building and breaking to roll down his face. His words broke. "It's not a dream, is it? Ace, is really dead, isn't he?"

He was staring at both of them. Mata looked away, her throat tight and her eyes burning.

"Yes, he is dead," Jinbe said and Mata squeezed her eyes shut.

They watched him break. He destroyed boulder after boulder, tearing them apart with his head like he wanted to beat every living memory of Ace that he had ever had right out of his skull.

"Luffy!" Jinbe finally broke in.

"GO AWAY!" He screamed, not turning as he beat the ground with his fists. "Leave me alone. Both of you."

"I can't," Jinbe growled. "I can't just watch you hurt yourself anymore."

"You're going to rip open your wounds," Mata whispered helplessly.

"It's my own body!" Luffy roared. "It's none of your business."

"Then you can't blame Ace for what he did." Mata froze. "His death was none of your business."

Luffy's aura pulsed, boiling over with anger. "Shut up, you bastard! I'm gonna beat you if you say another word!"

Mata's lips thinned. She may not have liked the turn that this had taken but she trusted Jinbe. Her eyes met his out of the corner and she gave a short, stiff nod, moving to stand a step or two away.

"Do it if it makes you happy!" he bellowed. "I'm injured too but I'm not going to get beaten by you in that condition!"

Jinbe didn't have to say anymore. Luffy launched himself at the warlord with such rage that Mata was surprised that he could even control his powers. Jinbe easily caught the punch, his arms rippling as he tossed Luffy to the floor and then sat heavily beside him. Mata saw the boy's aura burst suddenly just before he leapt forward, chomping down onto Jinbe's arm as he roared. Mata winced as he slammed the boy back against one of the nearby boulders.

"Can't you see it clearly now?" he demanded, veins in his hand bulging as his fingers flexed around Luffy's neck. "You believed you could do anything! And you've never doubted your strength! But all those formidable enemies took away your confidence. And your brother was your guide to the sea. In know that you've lost a lot. And the toughest enemies in the world blocked your way time after time. You'll never find your way like this. Because you've lost yourself in regret and guilt. I know it's painful, Luffy but you have to bottle up these feelings! Don't just think about the ones you've lost. You can't get back what you've lost! What is it that you still have?"

Something in Luffy's whole body changed. His eyes focused and he let go. It was the Luffy that had come to save his brother. The one who I had first met.

"He knows now," Mata murmured, stepping around Jinbe to gently push him away and allow Luffy to slide down the rock. Her fingers worked to rub away the dirt at his cheeks. "You understand?"

He wasn't looking at her, instead his eyes were on his fingers, one going down after another. He was counting. It was at eight when he stopped. Suddenly, Mata knew. She knew exactly how she would keep her promise. Silently, she reached forward and gently forced down another finger.

"If you'll have me-" She stopped, the words suddenly unsteady. The burning in the back of her throat intensified until it was almost unbearable. Luffy's eyes searched her face and she finally forced her eyes to meet his. Her lips trembled, his face blurring in front of her. "I - I told your grandfather - I'm so sor- I wasn't able to protect Ace but - but I can protect you. I can try to. If you'll have me-"

He let out a wail, his arms dragging her tightly into his as he sobbed. And then they were both blubbering out incoherent sobs, their arms curled around each other like they were the only solid in an unsteady sea.

The old man came at the end of the first day of that very day. Silvers Rayleigh, first mate of the Rogers Pirates and the Dark Lord of the sea. It was only a matter of days before Luffy had agreed to his suggestion and when asked Mata had told her new captian that she would go wherever he did.

So that was how she found herself back at Marineford, staring down the barrel of a revolver at the ten Marine's that had circled her.

"Give me a reason, pumpkin," she said, her eyes lasering down on the men in front of her as one of them twitched.

"You should be hung," one of them sneered and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Mata Hara wasn't the kind of woman to dwell on her decisions. Once made, they were of little use to her. There was nothing more to do about her betrayal than own it.

And she had.

Tattooed crudely across both forearms was the word 'traitor.' Darkening both of her shoulders was grinning skulls, the twin barrels of a two revolvers cradled lovingly in it's jaw. In place of the darkened sockets, the empty holes glowed green and piercing. Mata had wanted to get Luffy's roger but he had refused her.

For her, the tattoos were a reminder. There was no going back from this.

In the distance, the bell tolled for the sixteenth time and she heard the quiet slap of Luffy's sandals.

"Are you okay, Mata?" he called as he past.

"I feel like I'm at a tea party, captain," she called back, sending the men around her a wink and a grin.

Standing just to the side, a journalist took a flurry of pictures, murmuring hurriedly into a recorder. For from being widespread, her story had been tamped down to a few newspapers thanks to the Navy's rapid efforts to do some damage control.

"Ma'am - miss - are you the Marine traitor?" the woman inquired, pushing her black rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose. Mata's eyes moved slowly to take in the small woman, the emerald depths flaring. "Why-why did you do it? What was the reason?"

"MATA!" Luffy called, running toward the edge of the wall and Jinbe and Rayleigh.

"Yes," Mata said , flipping her guns so that she was holding tightly to the barrels. "As for the rest, you'll just have to make your best guess."

With one great burst of speed, she spun, ducking under a few men and slamming the butt of her revolvers into the back of a couple of knees until she was nearly free and then her guns were moving on their own. They spun from her grasp and hit at anything they had until she was free and with a whistle, they flew back to her.

Mata threw a cheeky smile over her shoulders as she sprinted to the others.

"Will they understand?" she panted, finally reaching them. He gave her the biggest grin that she had seen in awhile. He gave her a swift nod and then they were both turning. Quickly, she sheathed her revolvers and looked over the edge to the deep, dark sea below.

Next chapter, Zoro's gonna be here. I'm so excited, dammit! I feel like a mom waiting for her son to come home after a long trip. Anyway, please follow/favorite and leave me a review. I'd love to hear from you guys. Pretty please?