Alright! First official chapter! Not much to say so please enjoy!

Chapter 1

Beginning of the End

Do you ever get that feeling that you're being watched?

I couldn't shake that sensation as I snuck through the Going Merry, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and making me feel the need to look behind me constantly for any possible sneak attack. Of course there was never anything there, which only served to make me even more nervous.

My bare feet hardly made a sound as I tip toed across the wooden floors. Compared to the silence that filled the ship each step sounded like gunshots.

Just as I was about to round a corner, a door down the hall creaked open slowly. With a silent gasp I pushed myself up against the wall out of sight and held my breath. Footsteps made their way into the middle of the hall and paused for a moment. I imagined the enemy looking around for the last crewmember to have been caught. After what seemed like a lifetime, the footsteps turned and faded down the hall.

I let out the breath I had been holding and pushed off the wall to peek around the corner. All clear.

I was the last one left. That meant I had to be seriously careful. There is no way I am going to let them get me again.

Cautiously I made my way towards the open door and was relieved to see it was the kitchen. Finally, I was safe!

Too soon, I let myself relax, which was my biggest mistake.

Before I could take a step into the room, arms were suddenly wrapped around my middle and my feet left the ground. The air in my lungs left me and I gasped, trying to fill them up again. My back was pressed against my attacker's chest and his arms were wound tightly around me with no sign of loosening. I reached forwards with a yelp and grabbed onto either side of the doorframe as he tried to pull me away.

No! I was so close!

My hands slipped, despite my effort and he was able to drag me back away from safety. I let my body sag in defeat and hung my head.

"Shishishi! I win!"

I twisted in Luffy's grip to see his face and pursed my lips at him. "I'll beat you next time."

Luffy laughed again as he plopped me on my feet. "You always say that."

Before I could deny that, Usopp and Chopper came running around the corner. Upon seeing me they both grinned. "Nice job Luffy, you caught her!" Usopp gave his friend a thumbs up.

Chopper looked up to the sniper. "That means you're it next Usopp."

Usopp grumbled for a moment before he suddenly struck a heroic pose. "I was only caught first because I had to take care of that giant Sea King that was trying to eat the ship before I could hide!"

I shook my head at the obvious lie, only a moron would believe that.

"Really!?" A high pitched voice exclaimed.

…

Okay. Only a moron, and tiny adorable creatures who are too innocent to know any better and therefore have an excuse.

"Sorry, guys. You'll have to play the next one without me. I want to go and take some pictures while the suns still up." I told them.

In unison all three boys let out a disappointed 'awe' and I had to fight off a smile. It was nice that they liked playing with me that much. I knelt down to Chopper's height and tickled his sides a little, making him laugh and squeak. "Don't worry, we'll play more later." Standing up again, I turned to Luffy. "And next time I will beat you." I promised and quickly gave him a peck on the cheek before I headed towards the deck.

"I will never get used to that." I heard Usopp comment as I left and that made me laugh. He wasn't alone though; I probably would never get used to it either.

Things had been great around the ship since Skypeia. The crew was taking Luffy and I's relationship in stride and seemed to be fine with it. It was Sanji who took the longest getting used to seeing the two of us together but he's pretty much come to accept it by now. It wasn't like us being together had changed much anyway. They were only really reminded of it the occasional time, like just now, that we'd kiss each other on the cheek or hold hands or something. Other than that it was all pretty much the same.

I'd come to learn to cherish the moments that we were alone together because they didn't happen all that often. I always seem to find out something knew about my captain in those moments. For instance, he loves to cuddle. And I had no complaints about that. The boy was like a hot water bottle and a teddy bear rolled into one. Luffy is also really ticklish, which for a boy made out of rubber seemed kind of odd.

We'd been on a lot of adventures since the island in the sky. Accidently landing dead center in a marine base, getting challenged to the Davy Back fight, running into Aokiji. I certainly wouldn't soon forget any of them.

Alex had left not long after we got back to the Blue Sea, promising that we'd see each other again soon. I was looking forward to it.

But I was also worried.

Lost in my thoughts I almost forgot to grab my camera from the women's quarters. I had taken to leaving it in there so it didn't get broken by the guys after one close call. After retrieving it I headed out onto the deck and looked around for something to take a picture of.

I took a moment to take in the Merry and frowned sadly. She wasn't in great shape.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't fool myself any longer. We were approaching Water Seven. I knew this but I kept trying to distract myself. The Merry was going to end her journey here and Robin was going to give herself up to CP9 to protect the crew. This is where everything falls apart.

I shook my head to try and dispel such thoughts. I knew how this would end. Everyone would be together again, Robin would be free at last, Usopp would come back, we'd have a new nakama, and we'd sail off to the Florien triangle for another one.

Happy and together.

We just had to push through the hard parts first.

And this time I can stop Usopp from leaving! He and Luffy won't have to fight!

I walked to the front of the ship and looked past Merry's figurehead at the ocean stretched out before us.

"Looking for something Sweetheart?"

The voice behind me made me roll my eyes. I forgot to mention, Locke decided to stick with us for a while.

"Just looking for something to take a picture of." I responded, ignoring the 'sweetheart'. He seemed to have taken to calling me that much to Luffy, Sanji, and my annoyance. I turned around to see his smirking face. "Remind me, why are you still here?"

His smirk never faltered which just served to annoy me further. "Your oh-so-kind captain let me hitch a ride until we get to an island where I can find a ship. Why? Am I bothering you?" He teased smugly.

I had to resist rolling my eyes again. It wasn't like I didn't like Locke. He wasn't a bad guy when you looked past his constant flirting. If you brought up Ganesh, he seemed to change into a whole other person. Locke seemed to look up to the man as if he were his father, always talking of him with pride and respect. I was curious about this Ganesh guy, he seemed to have a lot of knowledge about everything that was going on.

"Not as much as you seem to be hoping." I grinned.

"Well I guess I'll have to try harder then." He took a step closer to me and I raised a brow.

"Please don't."

He laughed putting his hands behind his head. Locke didn't say anything after that, just looking out at the horizon with a small smile. Before he could move, I quickly lifted my camera and discreetly snapped a photo, happy that I remembered to turn off the flash.

"If you could go back, would you?" I asked, not really sure where the question came from all of the sudden but it was something that I thought about often.

Locke considered it before shaking his head. "There's nothing left for me in that world. Even if there was I don't think I'd want to leave. I've had more of a life here than I ever did back there."

We settled into a comfortable silence as I thought about what he said. I missed my Aunt and Uncle so much and there's not a day that went by that I wished I hadn't been such a child that last time I saw them. But living here, with Luffy and the others, had forced me to grow up. They gave me so many memories, so many experiences. I had a life here.

If I could go back one day, what would that do to my family? Their dead niece coming back to life? That wasn't fair to them. That was just cruel.

I don't think I could ever leave this place. Given the opportunity I wouldn't hesitate to say no.

A felt a sudden passionate determination course through me and I grinned. "I'm gonna beat the crap out of that bastard scientist."

I think Luffy's been too much of an influence on me.

Locke looked surprised for a moment before it morphed into his usual smirk. "Has anyone ever told you, you're sexy when you're riled up?"

He winced when I punched him in the shoulder.

Grinning now, I left him and walked over to Nami who was lounging on deck in a beach chair, Robin reading a book next to her. I held up my camera and looked through the view finder, focusing the lens. The girls looked up at me.

"Say cheese!" I exclaimed.

They both smiled, Robin's softer and more subdued. I looked forward to when I could get a picture of her really smiling. Just a little longer Robin.

"A-A frog is doing the front crawl!"

Well, looks like another adventure has started.

The street of Water Seven were amazing. The people, the canal's, the Yagara's, the buildings, everything was just beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Venice. Not that I had ever been there but I've seen postcards.

I wandered the streets with my hands in my pockets. The stone pathways felt cool on my feet and I found it nice to walk on something so smooth.

Everything went according to the anime up to this point. We almost got run over by Puffing Tom and the met Kokoro and Chimney.

Zoro stayed behind to watch the ship and Locke had thanked us for the ride and left to buy a ship. I didn't really know where he was headed.

Robin, Chopper and Sanji went together to sight-see.

Luffy, Usopp and Nami had gone to exchange our gold from Skypeia into money in order to pay for the ship repairs. Which is kind of why I was wandering around by myself. I was at a loss of what to do.

Merry was beyond fixing and I had the option to tell the crew this and save them the time but really, they probably wouldn't take my word for it and still insist on getting an expert to check it out. I didn't blame them. They didn't want to admit that it was time to get a new ship. The thought probably hadn't even crossed their minds.

I didn't trust that I wouldn't say anything when I was around the others. They're undeterred trust that Merry was fine hurt to watch when I knew that she wasn't. So I had decided to sight see on my own, trying to clear my head a bit.

As I walked people would wave at me and greet me happily, which was another thing I liked about this place, the people were so kind, even to pirates.

I found a bench over-looking one of the canals and decided to rest for a moment. I plopped down and leaned my head against the back so I was looking up at the sky.

There wasn't anything I could do about the Merry or even Robin leaving. Usopp was a different story. My hopes were to somehow prevent him and Luffy from getting into that fight because on top of everything they didn't need the extra pain. I was also doing this for selfish reasons. The last thing I wanted to watch was my family falling apart.

I just didn't really know how to prevent it yet.

Groaning, I rubbed my forehead. All of this was one huge mess. I took a walk to clear my head but now it seemed foggier than ever.

"Excuse me, miss?"

The small voice caused me to sit up. A little boy with light blonde hair and wide eyes was standing beside me. He couldn't have been older than six.

I tilted my head in confusion. "Yes?" I asked, leaning forwards so we were eye to eye. The boy shied away a little. He seemed to think for a moment before he reached forward and grabbed my hand. With a tug, he pulled me up off the bench and led me down the street holding my hand with both his small ones.

Where was he taking me?

We walked for a while longer before the boy suddenly took a left into an alley. He stopped and looked around. Now I was starting to feel nervous. Back alleys weren't exactly known for their good times. The boy turned to me, a frown on his face. "She was just here."

"Who was?" I asked, doing better to hide my fear then I thought I would.

The kid looked around again. "The little girl. She asked me to come get you."

Alright, I had a bad feeling about this. First things first though. "Alright, I'll look for her, you go back to your parents." I instructed and was glad when he didn't put up a fight. Whatever was going on here I didn't want him in harm's way if this went south.

The alley looked like a normal city alley, nothing special about it. I wandered slowly to the other end which came as a stone wall.

"Dark Song." The voice was sudden and unexpected, it's familiar tone throwing shivers of dread up my spine. I knew that voice.

Slowly I turned, hoping that it wasn't true. That I was just hearing things and I wouldn't turn and see that little girl.

Obviously, luck wasn't on my side today.

The girl stood there, looking just like when I last saw her in Alabasta. Her blonde hair framed her pale skin and a bright smile stretched across her face brightening her already crystal blue eyes.

I felt sick to my stomach as the memories from Alabasta hit me like a brick wall. The horrible fear that I had experience while fighting this child. The things she made me see…

"Don't call me that." I spat out. I hated that name. I focused my power into my hands, turning them black and raising them in a defensive stance.

The little girls smile dropped and she looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry. I needed to speak with you."

The way she spoke was so mature for someone her age and that diminished my anger slightly. This wasn't who I fought. Remember what Locke said, they were being controlled.

Seeing me calmed down slightly she smiled again. "I came to warn you."

Of course she did. Because when was it ever just to say hi.

"Warn me about what?"

"The Cradle is angry with you. He is coming for you."

The need to throw up came back again. He was coming now? Of all times? My fists clenched at my sides in frustration.

"Why didn't you listen to my letter?"

"You sent that letter?" I asked in awe. "How did you know I'd be in Skypeia?"

The girl looked at me with a seriousness that a child should not be able to possess. "He always knows where you are."

I narrowed my eyes. "Well then let him come. I've been meaning to say something to that bastard." I shoved my fear and anger deep down and locked it in. I'd deal with it later.

The girl looked startled and then concerned. "He'll kill you."

That sentence didn't scare me as much as it probably should have. "Then he kills me." Despite everything that was going on, all the chaos that had suddenly seemed to explode around me, a thought came to me. "What's your name?" It seemed like something so simple. Right now simple was something I found myself craving.

"Mai."

I grinned, taking Mai off guard. "Hello Mai. My name's Asa."

I didn't end up returning to the ship until later that night.

In the whole time I was out I couldn't seem to come up with a way to prevent Usopp from freaking out. Everything I thought up seemed to have too many ways it could go wrong. So I found myself dreading going back to the ship.

I knew what was going on with the others throughout the day but I knew I'd probably only make the situation worse if I got involved. There's nothing I could change. That's why I spent the day wandering around. After my encounter with Mai I felt kind of… empty. It was like my emotions were shutting down. I guess I kind of overloaded. As blissfully numb as this feeling was I was also too familiar with it. I knew a panic attack was sure to follow soon.

As long as I could get through this first, everything should be alright.

When I got there I headed straight for the galley where I knew everyone would be. Sure enough, the whole crew was there, all tense as they faced an injured Usopp. I shifted my bag on my back as I walked in.

"Asa." I looked up at Nami who was staring at me with an unreadable look. Ignoring her, I took a spot against a wall and waited. I was not looking forward to any of this.

Usopp hugged Zoro's leg, crying. "I'm ashamed! Guys!" I smiled as I watched Zoro try and struggle out of the sniper's grip. "That money was so crucial to us and yet, I let it… I let it…" Usopp sobbed harder.

Zoro actually had to pull his pants up to keep Usopp from pulling them down and on a normal day I'd be laughing my ass off. "Hey, hold on a sec! Calm down! I get it! So get off of me!"

"But… the huge amount of money we got, after all that we went through…" The boy continued to blubber on about how it was all his fault. Eventually he calmed down, with much coaxing from Chopper to watch his injuries. That's when he asked about the ship. I bit my nail, my mind racing a mile a minute. How was I going to do this? What was I supposed to do? Damn it…

It was Luffy's right as captain to break the news to Usopp. How would I get him to think reasonably enough to understand that this was a hard decision that had to be made?

"Usopp… about the ship." Luffy started, smiling despite the situation. I admired how strong he could with these things. "I decided to get a new ship."

There was absolute silence that was so thick it felt crushing, making my knees weak.

All Usopp seemed to manage was a small "What?"

Luffy continued. "I'm sorry that I made the decision without consulting you. But I've made up my mind. The Going Merry took good care of us, but our journey with her ends here."

I noticed Nami clench her fists and Chopper's eyes water.

We listened silently as Luffy talked about the ships in the catalogue they had gotten from the shipwrights. He was obviously uncomfortable in the tense situation and was trying to fill the silence. He was still smiling.

I took a step forward away from the wall. It was then that I noticed how badly I was shaking. Get it together. I felt Zoro's eyes on me as I tried to get my hands to steady.

"Wait." Usopp said, cutting off Luffy. "Wait… Wait a sec. You're taking the joke too far. That's ridiculous. Right?" Usopp looked desperately at us. "See? Chopper took it seriously." He said as he noticed the sadness on the little reindeers face. "What'll we do with our captain. Come on, say something to him Nami."

He was met only with serious looks. We could see the dread wash over him. "Well… does that mean that we don't have enough money for the repair? Because I got that 200 million stolen by them, w-we're now short on money, right?" The desperation in his voice hurt to listen to and I found myself quickly dropping into a panic attack. You can't do this now. You have to stay focused. You have to fix this.

I stepped forwards again, my knees almost giving out when Usopp started shouting at Luffy. "Usopp stop it." I demanded, my voice harsh. The attention of the room suddenly swung to me. "It's got nothing to do with the money. Merry can't be fixed." To my surprise my voice didn't shake despite the sudden lack of control I had over the rest of my body. The world swayed slightly but I ignored it. I was trying to keep both Luffy and Usopp from becoming angry with each other by just coming out with it.

Nami noticed me stagger slightly and she frowned in worry. "Asa, are you-"

"What are you saying!?" Usopp's shout cut off Nami and I winced. "What do you know!? You aren't a shipwright!"

"Usopp, she's right." Luffy interjected, drawing the sniper's attention back to him. "Merry will sink soon. Otherwise I'd never be talking about getting a new ship." Luffy's voice was calm but I could see the stress in his eyes. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"What are you talking about, Luffy?" Usopp asked, his voice eerily calm.

"It's true. They told us at the shipyard."

Usopp glared at our captain but before he could say anything I spoke up again. "I knew this would happen Usopp." I said trying to get the point across that this was real, that we couldn't ignore it any longer.

Suddenly Usopp was on his feet and he fisted the front of my shirt, lifting me slightly off the floor. The crew stepped forwards protectively, Luffy jumping off the bench he had been seated at. Usopp shook me roughly and yelled in my face, his words drowning out the protests and threats of the crew. "YOU KNEW!? THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SOMETHING!? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING!? WE COULD HAVE HELPED HER EARLIER! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" His words stung horribly and I barely felt him shove me back, only realizing he had done so when I was suddenly looking up at the ceiling.

I heard a crack and something sharp poked me in the back.

The others had all reacted immediately. Sanji growled and stomped his cigarette into the floor. "Damn it Usopp! You went too far!" I heard him yell. Nami was covering her mouth with both her hands, her eyes wide and scared. Zoro swore to himself and tried to calm everyone down and Chopper immediately rushed to my side.

Just before Luffy tackled Usopp I caught a flash of regret on the sniper's face as he looked down at me.

"Don't ever touch her again!" Luffy yelled, pinning Usopp to the floor.

My mind went blank as I realized what the cracking noise had been. I drowned out everything else in the room, Chopper trying to get my attention, Luffy and Usopp trading hurtful words, the others trying to get control of the situation. Slowly I slid my bag out from under me and sat up. I kept my face blank, not sure what emotion I should show because so many were tangled together inside me. I barely heard Luffy get kicked into the table by Sanji.

Everything went very quiet, making the sound of the zipper of my bag seem all the louder and more menacing.

I reached in fingers shaking so badly I was only just able to pull out the shattered remains of my camera.

Damn. What's Asa going to do now?

I have two thing to mention.

1. Did you notice I spelled Usopp's name right? Aren't you guys proud of me ^-^

and 2. I know how this series is going to end. I've already written up a good portion of it. I'm estimating that it'll be finished in... three more books. Which will be named Falling Into Darkness and Falling Into the Flames. I won't tell you the last books title because it'll give to much away;)

So what do you say? Can you guys put up with three more books?

Thanks to all who have reviewed, favourited and followed up till now.

Love to all you angels!