The island was windy and white. Casey sat on the figure head of Shanks' ship, watching as the ship came close to the island. Shanks stood at her side, while Benn barked out order. This was the island where the Revolutionaries had their base. Her heart raced lightly. She had never thought she would actually meet Dragon, but faith had its own plan.

"Nervous?" Shanks asked.

"A little," she said.

He smiled. "Dragon is not a bad man. A little stiff, but not bad. And it's not sure you will have much to do with him anyway. He'll probably let someone else take care of your training," he said.

"And you're sure he'll let me stay?"

"Yes. Now get ready, we'll anchor in half an hour," he said.

She jumped down and went to her room. It didn't take her long, since she hadn't really bothered unpacking. She put her dagger in her belt and put on the white cloak she had gotten from the Red-Hair pirates, when they had come to the first island after her birthday party. It was her gift from them and she loved it. It didn't get dirty, having some sort of anti-dirt layer on it.

As she came out again, they were docking. She came to stand next to Benn, who smiled down to her. He loved the cloak on her, though she hadn't used it much while being on the ship. It hadn't been necessary. He gave some last orders, while Shanks stood near the plank, waiting for them.

"Did you say your goodbyes?" Benn asked.

"This morning," she said somewhat sad.

He lifted her up. "We'll see each other again. You have our number and Shanks' vivre card," he said, while walking to Shanks.

She nodded. "I can deal with it. I have to. My brothers and family are waiting," she said.

He chuckled. "So you'll join Whitebeard, eh?"

She blushed. "Is it bad?"

"Not at all, cupcake. I'm delighted you've found a great and strong captain," Shanks said.

They walked down the plank, towards three people, waiting for them. Dragon eyed them with an emotionless face, along with Kuma and Ivankov. Casey was still in the arms of Benn, Shanks walking ahead of them.

"What is this, Shanks?" Dragon asked.

"I need a favor of you. Casey here needs a safe place for the next 7 years, where she have to train hard and can do so without fear of getting kidnapped again," Shanks said.

"I'm running an army, not a daycare," Dragon said, crossing his arms.

"She's marked with the mark of the Celestial Dragons," Shanks said.

Dragon's eyes widened for a short second and that was all emotions he showed, but it was enough for Shanks to know that Dragon would take care of Casey.

"Fine," Dragon said.

Shanks smiled and turned to Casey. "Hey cupcake, this is when we part. Again. I'm going to miss you, but we'll see each other again. Once you've come back to the sea," he said.

She nodded and gave Benn a hug. "I'm going to be the most feared woman," she said, knowing that they would understand.

"We'll be waiting to see your first bounty and then we'll throw a huge party in your honor," Benn said.

She grinned. "And I'll throw one too," she said.

Benn nodded and handed her to Shanks, so he could hug her one last time, before placing her down. She turned and waved to the crew, all were looking down from the ship. They waved back and acting like a bunch of mother hen's instead of pirates, which made her chuckle softly. Then she turned and walked over to Dragon with her bags.

-x-

She had placed her bags in a room, which she would share with another girl named Koala. Ivankov had gotten her medical file, which she had gotten from the doctor o the Red-Hair pirates. After that, Dragon brought her to his office, gesturing her to sit. He watched her for some time, while she watched him, not even breaking eye contact. He sighed.

"How much do you know of me?" he asked.

"Dadan and Jiji had a nice chat about the father of Luffy and I and also about the father of Ace. They talked a little loudly and we couldn't sleep. Ace and I," she said.

"Have you told anyone?"

"I'm not as stupid as my little brother. I've told no one, not even Luffy knows," she said.

"Who's Ace?"

"My brother of heart. After Shanks left Fuushia Village for good, Jiji brought us to the bandit Curly Dadan on Mot. Colubo. There we met Ace, he's a year older than me. After a while, we became siblings over a cup of sake. They know I'm safe now, I called Makino-san and told her I was free once more," she said.

He nodded. "How did you get caught and how did you get free?"

"There is a pirate named Bluejam living in Grey Terminal just outside Goa Capital. He captured me and sold me. Long story short, I was bought by a Celestial dragon in the end. In his house I found a Devil's Fruit and ate it, due to hunger and hoping I could use it to get out. And I did get free from my collar and run off. I landed on an island, weak, hungry and scared for someone taking my freedom from me. After some time, Thatch, commander of the fourth division of the Whitebeard Pirates, found me and brought along. Whitebeard was kind enough to bring me to Shanks and he brought me here," she said.

Dragon listened, feeling very Uneasy, but also pride. She hadn't given up on her freedom and got free herself. She was indeed smart and strong-willed. Just as he had expected from her. She looked so much like her mother, yet her spark did she got from him. He never had thought he would meet his daughter before she was of age and on the sea.

"What kind of powers did you get?" he asked.

She jumped onto his desk, all while transforming to her fox form. Sitting on it, she looked at Dragon, who studied her.

"A white fox with two tails? I believe it's the mythical ice fox," he said.

Nodding she tried to freeze something and succeeded somewhat. She transformed back, smiling excused, as she had managed to freeze his lamp.

"I can't really control it yet, but I will learn to. Marco helped me with the transformations," she said.

"It seemed you had been lucky after all the bad luck. Very well, I'm done here. Carl is outside and will show you around," he said.

"I won't call you father or dad, so don't' worry about that," she said and went to the door and stopped. "Is …is mother here too?"

"She is," he said.

"Will you introduce us?"

"Yes."

Nodding, Casey left his office. It was not because she really cared, she just didn't want to have some unknown woman staring at her for some to her unknown reasons. She didn't really care about her parents, but it was nice to know who they were. She loved information, but mostly she loved to know about navigation.

-x-

After a short tour, she was brought to her room. A girl was there and turned to her. Casey smiled and went over to her, her hand up to a handshake.

"I'm Casey, your new roommate," she said.

"Uhm, I'm Koala," the other said shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Koala. So which bed is yours and where can I place my stuff?" she asked, still smiling friendly.

Koala nodded to a bed and pointed at a wardrobe. Casey thanked her and started to unpack. She had a lot of beautiful clothes, but also some training clothes. Izo had been happy to go shopping with her and she had loved it. When she came back, she would go shopping with him again.

"You got many beautiful clothes," Koala commented.

"Yeah, all this is from Izo, commander of the 16th division of the Whitebeard pirates. He loved shopping with me and no one had anything against him spoiling me," Casey smiled.

"The Whitebeard Pirates? How did you end up here?" she asked curious.

"Was enslaved by a Celestial Dragon, but managed to escape. Thatch, another commander, found me and brought me along. I spent some time with them, until we found Shanks, who brought me here. It's the safest place for me to train and get stronger. In 7 years I'll head to Sabaody Archipelago and call the Whitebeard Pirates for a pick up," she said.

"You … you were a slave? How did you get free?"

"Stole a Devil's Fruit and got the collar off. Then I ran, hid myself on a ship and late in a forest," she said.

Koala gasped. "You're so brave. I …I couldn't do that," she said.

Casey shrugged. "I grew up in a jungle with animals out to kill me every day, played in in trash where scums roamed and fought grown-ups on daily basis, so I was not just going to let some stupid nose-high-in-the-sky people take my freedom."

Koala's eyes widened. "You're so cool."

She chuckled. "Thanks. I had something to fight for too. Brothers. I want to see them, but thanks to the mark, I can't go home to them. So I'll train and meet them on the sea. They know I'm fine and safe, so they'll train harder too, so I'm keeping on being stronger than them," she said fondly and with a smile.

It was then Casey's stomach growled, remembering her that she hadn't gotten anything to eat since lunch. Grinning shyly she turned to Koala, having finished unpack. She still had her cloak on and her dagger hidden behind her back, easy to draw if needed. Though Shanks said she was safe here, it would take a while before she felt it. Until then, she would have her dagger near her.

"Let's go down to dinner. It's time anyway," Koala said.