Angel of Death Fruit

Book One: Deadline

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Nine - March 1, Twelve Years Ago

Sanae was a happy five year old girl who loved dolls and wearing dresses – especially green dresses. She thought green was one of the best colors ever! The only thing better than a green dress was a green dress with a skirt that spun really well – she liked to spin around and make the skirt float around her. She wished her dolls' dresses would do that, too, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get her dolls to spin right, and her mother usually scolded her for throwing her dolls around her room.

Of course she would sometimes get dizzy and fall down, but that was another story.

It should also be noted Sanae was a little girl who tended to get off-track.

Sanae had parents who loved her, so she couldn't complain too much about that. Her mother was really good at giving hugs and singing lullabies – especially when she was sick - and her father was strong enough to lift her up and spin her around. He liked to call her his little butterfly. Her mother had soft blond hair, long legs, and big eyelashes. Sanae's father had curly eyebrows, a big smile, and strong hands.

Sanae also had two older brothers who were a little over-protective of her – Akito (her Onii-san) would yell at the older kids if they played too rough while she was around, while Sanji (she called him Onii-kun) was always keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't get into any kind of unfortunate accident. Onii-san had their mother's eyes, and Sanji, like Sanae, had inherited their father's unusual eyebrows.

As it was, little Sanae was clutching one of her favorite dolls, Suki, as she scampered through the first floor of her house, looking for one of her older brothers to play with – neither one was on the ground floor, which left outside or upstairs. She bounced up onto the couch and looked out the window.

Sanae was happy to see one of her brothers, but frowned when she realized this brother looked very sad. Sanji was sitting outside on the front porch, looking sad and lonely. He had an elbow on one knee and his chin resting in his palm. The little girl could only see the back of his head, but she had a feeling that there was a sad expression on his face.

Sanae decided to go cheer him up. She slid off the couch and scampered towards the front door. Her big brother needed cheering up and she and Suki were going to make his day so much better! She started fiddling with the door knob, got it open, and burst outside. "Onii-kun! ONII-KUN!!" she cried out as she burst out the front door and headed for her brother.

Sanji looked over his shoulder, wide eyed as he spotted his little sister running straight towards him. He learned forward as Sanae started hugging him from behind. The younger sibling giggled, squeezing her older brother from behind as she buried her face in the back of his shoulder. "Onii-kun. . ."

Sanji, however, was not very please with his little sister's affections at the moment and he began to complain."Sanae-chan, calm down!" he said. Sanae frowned – apparently he wasn't so much sad and lonely as he was just plain cranky. "I'm not in a good mood right now – could you just go back in the house, please?"

Instead, she frowned and sat next to him on the front step. "Onii-kun, what's wrong? Can Suki help?" Sanae smiled brightly as she pushed Suki into her brother's face, getting a bewildered reaction from the boy who was almost eight years old. "Dolly makes me feel better when I'm having a bad day – you can play with her if you want!"

"I don't wanna play with your doll," said Sanji. "Mom and Dad forgot about me."

Sanae's eyes got wide. "They forgot about you?"

Her brother sighed and looked at the ground. "Tomorrow's my birthday and no one seems to remember." He looked at his sister with sad eyes. "They remembered your birthday and 'kito's birthday, but. . . they aren't doing anything for mine, and I'm afraid to say anything to them about but it still hurts." Sanji sniffled. "I just don't want to be forgotten, that's all."

Sanae gasped – everyone had remembered when she turned five, and here she couldn't even remember her own brother's birthday. She gave him another hug (this one much more gentle) and nuzzled the crook of his neck. "Onii-kun, that can't be right! It's your birthday tomorrow! It's one of the most important days of the year because we'll all get to have cake!" she said. She paused as she thought about it. "And maybe ice cream."

Sanji looked at her with a slight smile, then gently ruffled the top of her head. Sanae frowned at the treatment, but wasn't about to argue with him over it right now – there was much more important stuff to do. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips, trying to look as powerful and important as a five year old girl can look. "I will tell Mommy and Daddy that tomorrow is your birthday!"

Sanji looked at his sister is surprise. "Really? You'd do that?"

Sanae smiled. "I'll be right back!" she said, dashing back inside to find their mother.

Sanae was pretty sure that their mother would probably be in the kitchen – it was almost lunchtime, so she was probably making their lunch. With the simple conclusion in her head, Sanae began to run towards the kitchen. Her other brother, who was headed upstairs, saw her start to run and told her to slow down.

"You'll crash into something and get hurt!" he said.

Sanae frowned, stuck her tongue out, and began to stomp towards the kitchen. "This is VERY important!" she insisted, placing her tiny hands on her almost non-existent hips. "I need to find Mommy! She forgot something very important, and there's CAKE AND ICE CREAM ON THE LINE!"

"She's in the kitchen," said Akito. "No need to run, okay?"

Indeed, Akito was correct. There was a plate of sandwiches on the kitchen table, and the woman she was looking for was standing at the sink. Their mother was washing dishes and humming to herself when Sanae tugged at her skirt. The woman looked down at her youngest and smiled, patting the little girl on the head. Sanae frowned, pouting out her lips (something that occasionally got Sanae her way with the adults in her life). "What is it, Sanae-chan? Is everything all right?"

"You forgot about Onii-kun's birthday!" said Sanae. "He's really sad!"

Her mother chuckled lightly and pressed a finger to her daughter's lips. "Your father and I haven't forgotten about Sanji-chan's birthday – we've having a surprise party for him tomorrow. It's a secret, so don't tell him about the party, but if you want you can tell him that we haven't forgotten, okay?"

Sanae smiled and clapped. Well, that was a relief! Excited by the news, Sanae ran back through the house (with her mother yelling for her to slow down) to the front door. Everything was going to be okay! No one forgot about anyone's birthday! There was probably going to be cake tomorrow, too! And maybe some ice cream as well!

Needless to say, the little girl was elated with this news. She couldn't wait to tell her Onii-kun about what she had found out – well, she said she wouldn't mention the party, and she would be good about that, but she had to tell him that they hadn't forgotten about his birthday after all. She ran outside and began to excitedly talk about how her parents hadn't forgotten. "Onii-kun! Onii-kun! Mommy and Daddy didn't – Onii-kun?"

Sanji wasn't on the porch. Sanae looked around in puzzlement, then stepped down the steps and looked around. "Onii-kun?" she asked quietly. When she looked to the left, she saw her Uncle Kenji (her daddy's brother that didn't visit too often) and Sanji were walking away from the house, holding hands. From what she could see, Sanji was looking up at Kenji and talking about something, and Kenji was giving him some kind of response. "I wonder where those two are going?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sanae begin to worry. Don't be silly, Sanae! That's just our uncle – he wouldn't do anything to Onii-kun. They're probably just going somewhere really quick and Onii-kun will be back so you can tell him that no one's forgotten about him, right? But Sanae felt something deep in her stomach that told her she might never see Onii-kun ever again. . .

"Onii-kun. . . please come back," she whispered.

But no one heard her.

Later that day. . .

Sanae looked out at the window in worry. It was almost sundown and Onii-kun still wasn't home. He hadn't come home for lunch, and it was now after dinner. She and Akito were sitting on the couch, watching to see if they could spot their brother outside, but so far they didn't see anything. She wondered why Uncle Kenji hadn't brought him home yet, then remembered the odd feeling she had earlier. She shook it off and continued to look for her brother.

Their father was pacing back and forth in the living room, stopping every so often to look outside before he began to pace again. Their mother had an empty expression on her face as she sat in a chair, he hands in her lap. Her body was rocking back and forth a little bit – Sanae knew that was something her mother did when she was upset, and Sanji's vanishing act was definitely disturbing.

"We need to contact the Marines," said her father. He stopped pacing and turned towards his wife. He stood before her and took her hands, gently pulling her out of her seat. "It's been too long, Kimiko – we can't stay here any longer. Sanji's only a child – what if he's hurt somewhere?"

Their mother started to cry and collapsed into her husband's arms. Sanae and Akito looked at their parents in worry, the oldest siblings hugging his youngest sibling tightly. Sanae looked up at her Onii-san and bit her bottom lip. "Onii-san. . . why hasn't Onii-kun come back yet?"

"We don't know," he said. He patted the back of her head and pushed her face into his shoulder. "That's why Mom and Dad are going to look for him. We don't know why he left the house and that's why they're worried – this isn't like him. He knows he's supposed to tell Mom and Dad if he's going somewhere, and he's probably just going to get into a lot of trouble when he gets back."

"But he was with Uncle Kenji – he can't be in trouble if he's with Uncle Kenji, right?" said Sanae. She had an innocent tone of hope in her voice as she tried to reason out why her brother was all right. Uncle Kenji was a grown-up and if Sanji was with him, then he was probably all right."I saw them together earlier today – is Uncle Kenji missing too?"

Akito stared at his sister in surprise, as did their parents. "He was with Uncle Kenji?"

Sanae nodded. "Uh huh. He thought Mommy and Daddy forgot about his birthday – I forgot, too, so I went to tell Mommy about it and she said not to tell him about the surprise party tomorrow but that I could tell him we didn't forget, but when I went back outside I saw Uncle Kenji and Onii-kun walking towards town."

Their parents exchanged a confused look. "That's odd – I didn't know your brother was in town today," said their mother. Their father shook his head – apparently he didn't know, either. "More importantly, why would he take one of the kids and not tell us?" She turned to Sanae. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?"

Sanae frowned. "I thought we were waiting for Uncle Kenji, too. Why didn't you know he was home? Doesn't he usually come to visit us whenever he's here?" she said. She clutched Suki to her chest and stared at her parents for an answer to the very perplexing before before them. "I don't get it. What's going on?"

Her father shook his head. "We didn't know Uncle Kenji was with him, but now I'm suspicious," he said. He turned to his wife. "Kimiko, I'm going next door to get help from our neighbors – keep an eye on Sanae-chan and Akito-kun while I look for Sanji-kun." His wife stopped him as he was about to go out the door.

"I want to look for him, too!" their mother said. She looked about ready to cry as she argued with her husband. Akito pulled his sister into another embrace, and Sanae watched her parents in fear. Why were they fighting? They had to look for Onii-kun! He was out there somewhere and now they were fighting! "He's just as much my son as he is yours! He's my baby! I carried him for nine months and gave birth to him! He's my baby boy!"

Their father nodded in understanding. "We'll have Leniko keep an eye on the kids after I get back, but for now someone has to make sure these two are safe – baby, this is bad enough. We can't let something happen to these two as well," he said. His wife nodded as he went out the door, and she wrung her hands in front of her.

She turned to her remaining children and sat between them on the couch, putting an arm around each of them. "We're not going to give up on him, all right?" she said. The other children nodded and huddled closer to their mother. "I'm sure we'll find him. . . he's probably all right. . . just in trouble, that's all. Yes. He'll be fine."

She didn't sound very sure of herself.

March 6, 1:59 pm

"Onii-kun. . . never came back," said Sanae.

"Didn't the authorities look into your uncle?" asked Robin.

"No – no one but Akito and my parents took my claim seriously," said Sanae. "The Marines wouldn't listen to me and although they did question him, he said he hadn't seen Sanji all day – so I knew he was lying, but only my parents and my other brother believed a word I said. I wouldn't be surprised if the Marines took bribes from Stoker or my uncle to keep the incident quiet – since I started collecting bounties two years ago I've run across my own fair share of dirty Marines – some of them are worse than some of the pirates I've come across in my opinion. I mean, there's a guy who's got a bounty of thirty-seven million because a Marine was hitting on his daughter and he tried to get the guy off – true I didn't see it myself, but there was an awful lot of innocent people on that island who seemed to be siding with the man who's now become a pirate. The Marines claim absolutely justice, but they don't all live up to it. Taking bribes from a woman worth ten billion and her subordinates wouldn't surprise me in the least."

"So why did you start looking for Sanji after all these years?" asked Nami. She placed her hands on her hands and looked at Sanji's little sister inquisitively. "I mean, he disappeared from North Blue twelve years ago, and he hasn't been a wanted man for all that long. Why did you suddenly decide he was alive after ten years?"

"My parents. . . died while trying to find Sanji, and when Akito explained to me what death was, I thought that the same thing had happened to Sanji," said Sanae. She closed her eyes and looked away. "There was this cave on our home island that had a really deep pit and it was really dark, I guess. They fell into the pit. Our neighbors heard them scream and found them shortly after. Uncle Kenji said he saw them fall in while trying to find Onii-kun. . . I'm not sure if I believe that story as the complete truth."

Nami closed her eyes. "He murdered your parents."

Sanae nodded, clutching her stomach. "Technically, I don't know that for sure – no one saw him push them or anything – but I just knew I didn't trust my uncle anymore and everything that had happened was probably his fault. Truth is, I don't remember much after my parents left the house that last time – everything afterwards is kind of blurry, but I do remember Akito crying and hugging me and promising me that he would protect me for as long as he was able to." She looked up into the sky. "Akito wouldn't let me out of his sight for a second for a long time after that, and eventually he ran away with me because he was afraid that if our uncle got custody of us something bad would happen to the two of us, too."

"The two of you were alone, thinking that your parents and Sanji were dead," said Nami.

Sanae nodded. "That's probably what happens to a lot of Elizabeth Stoker's victims – they disappear, and eventually it's assumed they died. But about two years ago I found out that my uncle worked for her and had been working with her for more than sixteen years – he'd been sold Sanji-kun to Elizabeth Stoker – my guess is that he tricked Sanji into thinking he hadn't forgotton about his birthday and told him he was taking him somewhere special. That's also what makes me think that what happened to my parents wasn't an accident – if they found out about what he did to Sanji-kun, then I wouldn't be surprised if he got rid of them to keep them quiet. Plus, with them out of the way, he was our next of kin, and Akito and I were only children – of course he'd be the one to take care of us. If he'd gotten custody of Akito and me, he probably would have sold us to Elizabeth Stoker, too."

"So you two ran away," said Robin.

"Because of what I saw and Kenji's denial of seeing Sanji and the very suspicious circumstances of our parent's deaths, Akito decided it would be wise of us to stow away on a ship instead of risking life with Uncle Kenji," said Sanae. "Our plan was to try and find our grandmother, who lived on the Grand Line, but she moves around a lot and we never found her, but we did settle down for about nine years and became apprentices. But after what happened two years ago I took off on my own to get revenge on Kenji and possibly find Sanji-kun before it was too late."

"So you became a bounty hunter because Elizabeth Stoker's victims usually group up to be pirates, bounty hunters, or others who live on the edge of society since they tend to grow up alone," said Robin. "Hence, you thought your chances of finding Cook-san would improve if you looked for him in the place he most likely ended up."

"That's right," said Sanae. "That's why I need your help as much as you probably need mine – as you've already figured out, you don't have time to separately look for the rest of your crew, and considering I unintentionally put them on edge, I'm afraid they'll attack anything that moves if they don't realize it's one of you first, so it might be better that we don't run into them anyways. Regardless, those were only two of his minions – she has more, including my uncle, and we'll have more strength in numbers."

"You're anticipating we'll have to use force to get to Cook-san," said Robin.

"That, and I have an understandble bone to pick with my uncle – I'm a little surprised you haven't run into him yet, but he's her second in command," said Sanae. She clenched her fist in anger and turned away. "He just doesn't know when to stop hurting our family or the people we love. I can't let him keep doing this to people."

Nami closed her eyes. True, she hadn't been sure how Sanji had been exposed to Elizabeth Stoker at first, but the idea that someone he was related to had delivered him to that witch made her stomach churn, and seeing Sanae recount the details from her side of the story made it all that much worse. This was someone else who was hurt by what happened to Sanji. Someone that had spent the last twelve years not knowing what happened to her brother. Someone that Sanji probably worried and wondered about because he couldn't let her know he was okay.

The children Elizabeth Stoker garnished weren't the only victims anymore. Sanji's family had been all but completely destroyed by this. His parents dead, his little sister living as a bounty hunter, his uncle showing his true colors. . . poor Sanji. Nami couldn't imagine what it would have been like if someone she loved and trusted from Cocoyashi Village took her or Nojiko away from Bellemere-san.

The Iron Butterfly calmed down and sighed, turning back to the other women. "There's nothing I can do to reclaim the last twelve years. I'll never get the chance to grow up with Sanji, and our parents will never see the adults we're becoming. All of that is gone, and I don't think anything short of some Devil's Fruit can fix it. What's in the past is in the past, but the future hasn't happened yet. What we need to do is find Sanji," said Sanae.

"Do you know where we're going?" asked Nami.

The Iron Butterfly grinned. "Yes – I found a building on the island and, actually, ran into Sanji-kun," said Sanae. "Quite literally, actually. It seems as if he was able to escape or something and was trying to hide in a place I was using as a hiding place myself – we both panicked and I remember trying to escape and accidentally bringing him to the ground and them trying to get the hell out of there as fast as possible." She sighed. "The first time I see by brother in twelve years and I need to run away from him."

"At least he's still alive," said Robin. "But Butterfly-san is right – even if we know where their hideout, we'll still need to get in and complete his Mercy Task before Stoker gets to him – which, you'll be happy to know, Navigator-san and I think we might have already figured out, so that might not be a problem."

"Really?!" asked Sanae.

"We don't think he's even been kissed," said Nami.

Sanae raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

Author's Notes

Another chapter, another bit of plot development, and now Nami and Robin have a much more solid ally. Yay.

Reviews are welcome and encouraged!

Dixxy