SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS AGO

"Did you see that?" Izou cried, pointing wildly at Sora, pulling Thatch's sleeve. "Did you see?"

Thatch seemed just as excited. "Holy shit!" he yelled, also flailing around, pumping his fist in the air. "Yeah, Sora!"

The woman was out of breath and there were bruises dotting her pale skin, but she had pinned Marco against a mast, her sword at his throat. She had won her first spar in a little under six months. She had been training with Marco and the division commanders every day, and spent a substantial amount of time learning how to better compress her wind powers to become stronger. And it had paid off. All of Marco's help had actually made a significant difference.

Marco smiled, lifting a hand to pat her on the head. "Well done."

Sora's killer expression disappeared and she dropped her sword, astounded in even herself. "Oh, my God!" she cried, clapping her hands happily, and without warning, threw her arms over Marco. "I finally beat you!" Marco hugged her back, lifting her off the ground as she giggled. "You weren't going too easy on me right?" she asked, pulling back, but keeping her arms around his neck.

"You won one, so it's only going to get tougher," he told her, grinning. "You've come a long way."

Sora released Marco, running past Thatch and Izou, who gave her high-fives. Marco knew where she was heading. "Whitebeard!" Sora cried, bounding up the stairs. The captain was sitting in his usual chair, drinking sake. Sora took a stance in front of the giant man. She was still sweating and brething hard, exhausted from her fight with Marco. "I'm gonna take that key today!"

Marco felt his stomach drop. He thought maybe he would get used to it, Sora announcing to Whitebeard everyday that she was going to take the key to the storage, but it never got better. He wanted her to stay. Everyone did.

Whitebeard's thunderous laughter filled Sora's ears. "Again? Alright, then." He remained seated and Sora rushed him. Her increase in speed was incredible. When she had first ran at Whitebeard almost six months ago, Marco could see her in motion, one leg in front of the other, but now, she was just a blur, propelled by wind and gained strength from training everyday. Whitebeard lifted a hand to swat her away, but Sora leaped over it, hopping onto his arm and diving for the tiny key that hung around his neck, reaching her arm out. But in the next moment, she hit the deck, flying some distance away from Whitebeard and even breaking some of the wood with the impact.

"Ow," Sora said, sitting up and rubbing her shoulder. She had been hit back quite hard this time, because her speed had been so high, the impact upon being swatted away was harder.

Whitebeard laughed again. "Try again tomorrow."

Sora sighed, crossing her legs. "I was sure I got faster," she said, and looked up to see Marco's hand. She took it and he pulled her up. "I got stronger and faster, right? I beat you. Shouldn't I be able to take that key?" she said, blinking several times and looking away. Just from this one incident, Sora's spirit had been crushed. She glared at Whitebeard, and flicked a tear from her face. "When is it going to be enough? I can't waste any more time here!"

The captain just laughed. "Then stay with us."

"I will never become a pirate."

"Not just a pirate," Whitebeard said. "My second division commander."

The other division commanders froze at that. The second division commander position had been vacant for a very long time. The men aboard Whitebeard's ship were strong but the division commander position was only offered to extraordinarily strong individuals.

But, as everyone expected, Sora scoffed. "I will never become a pirate."

"Then you will stay here until you can take the key."

Sora screamed in frustration. "I don't understand! Why are you keeping me hostage? I just want to see Ken!"

That was the first time anyone heard Sora mention this name. Was this the person Sora loved? The person she was growing her hair out for? Marco didn't know how to react. That person really did exist.

"Join me and perhaps one day, you will meet him."

"If I become a marine, I can meet him faster," Sora shot back. "Why do you have to take away my dream?" Whitebeard shook his head, and waved her off, dismissing her. "I hate you. I hate you so much," Sora said, dropping to her knees. She was already weakened from Marco's battle and being struck down from Whitebeard. She buried her face in her hands.

"Come on," Marco said gently, kneeling next to her. Sora swatted his hand away and stormed off, the division commanders hearing her slam the door to the cabins. Marco frowned. She had been with everyone for some time now, it was hard for them to imagine a life without her now.

Sora didn't eat dinner with them that night.

The deck was silent, the only light given by the full moon. Marco couldn't sleep. Not after the talk with Oyaji today after Sora left. He needed to take a little breather. So he found hismelf on the deck of the Moby Dick, expecting to be alone. But Sora was there as well, leaning against the railing.

She turned with the sound of Marco's footsteps. "Hey," she greeted.

Marco smiled. "It's late. What're you doing up?"

Sora shrugged, and turned her eyes back to the sea. "Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same." Marco stood by her, watching the moonlight reflect off the ocean. "Are you alright?"

Sora shrugged and shook her head at the same time. "I thought I would be. But I don't know." She gazed out at the ocean. "I really love the sea. It's so...I don't know how to explain it. But whenever I look at the ocean I feel like I'm home. I don't think I could live without it."

"We all feel the same," Marco said, smiling.

"I feel like…there's so many things the sea offers and so many things I've yet to see. I don't know. I guess it's been nice staying here for now, because I get to see the ocean," she said, shrugging. "But I will get that key eventually."

Marco took a deep breath. "Actually," he said, struggling with his words. "Oyaji talked to us today." The blonde man pulled something out of his pocket and flipped it at Sora. Sora caught it between her hands and opened them. Her heart froze upon seeing a little silver key.

"She's never going to get that key, Oyaji," Izou said, frowning at the sound of the door slamming.

"But I doubt she'll want to become a pirate. She's pretty adamant on being a marine," Thatch piped in, scratching his head. It had been a while since Sora had thrown a tantrum over being unable to retrieve the key to the storage. It seemed like today was just one of those days. She had felt confident because she had defeated Marco for the first time but everyone knew she was in no place to even get close to Whitebeard.

Whitebeard smiled. "But she has become much stronger. I saw that she defeated you in a spar, Marco."

Marco chuckled. "I wasn't going as hard on her as I should have been, but she won fair and square," Marco said. "She really progressed."

Whitebeard snapped off the necklace and tossed it to Marco. "Let her go, then. She will make a fine marine."

"Marco," Sora breathed, unable to believe what she was looking at. The thing she had coveted for six months was finally in her fingers, the cold metal seeming to burn her skin. What Marco had just told her nearly conquered her resolve. Whitebeard was just giving her the key.

"Sorry we've taken a lot of your time," he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "We just wanted to make sure that you'll be able to fend for yourself on your journey to Marineford; that's why we all trained you," he explained. And it was the truth, at first. They had kept it a secret from her, of course. Everyone had decided that it was just the same as killing her if they let her take one of their ships and sail alone. But now, everyone was at disbelief that Whitebeard had just given Sora the key she needed to leave them all behind. No one wanted that anymore.

"We've put together some food and provisions for you in one of the smaller ships, so all you have to do is go down there and take it out of the storage tomorrow; you should reach an island with a marine base in a couple of days," he said, and his smile faded a little. "It was...really great getting to know you, Sora. I hope we meet again someday. I'm sure you'll become a great marine."

Sora was frozen to her spot on the deck, unable to speak. Marco turned around. That was much harder than he thought, but it needed to be done. Whitebeard was not a man that would hold a person back from their dreams. Marco knew that his captain never intended to keep Sora here in the first place. "Oh," Marco said, turning around and offering the woman a smile despite himself. "The division commanders have a meeting tomorrow morning. We'd all really love it if you came to say goodbye before you leave."

"Oh...kay," Sora said, struggling to breathe. She had the key. She finally had the key. Everything she had been fighting for was now in the palm of her hands. Why did she suddenly not want it?

Marco waved, finding it too painful to turn around and look at her face. "Good night, Sora."

Sora sat in her room. She had woken up shortly after the division commanders had left for their meeting. She had stayed out late last night, just staring at the ocean. What kinds of adventures had she had aboard this ship? She had fought pirates and gotten a devil fruit, been saved by Whitebeard, gone shopping in places she would have never otherwise gone and seen things only a pirate can really see. She had met the most amazing group of men in the world. They were pirates, but Sora had been starting to think that didn't matter. They were people.

All this time, Sora believed that being a marine was the "right" thing to do. The marines wore white uniforms and stood for all that was justice, and put a stop to the crimes and havoc that pirates caused. But in all the time Sora had been here, these men had been nothing but sweet and kind to her. They fought when they needed to defend their ship, themselves, and their captain, but it wasn't like they hunted for people to kill them. They didn't attack civilian villages, rather, they just cruised along under the sun, enjoying the fact that they were out at sea with the people they cared about most in this world.

Just because they flew a flag with a skull, did it mean that they were bad people? Did that make them as evil as Sora thought? Because Arashi Island was constantly raided by no-good pirates, Sora had grown to despise them and want to put a stop to them. She wanted to protect the people who had helped raised her. At a young age, she started to hate Gol D. Roger for starting this era of disaster. Thinking about it now, though, was it really that bad? Regardless of whether or not she was on a ship with a seagull on the flag, or a skull on the flag, did that even matter when it came to protecting people you cared about? Sora didn't know anymore. This era wasn't about causing chaos. Gol D. Roger had started an era of adventure, hadn't he?

And these men were the greatest people Sora had ever met. Izou, who took care of her like she was his little sister, took time everyday to brush Sora's hair, and stick pretty pins in it when he didn't think she was paying attention. Thatch, who told her jokes and always offered her bread and cheese at dinner. Jozu, who let Sora sit on his shoulder and gaze out into the horizon at sunset. Haruta, who Sora had taught to fold cranes, and now he couldn't stop folding them. Vista and Fossa, who had greatly helped Sora with her swordsplay by nearly shattering her blade every time and then apologizing profusely after being reminded that it was her most precious item.

And Marco. Sora's chest tightened. Marco. She owed him her life. Had he not commanded it, Sora might have been dead. Had he not befriended her, Sora might have just been alone for six months instead of perhaps making the best friends she would ever have in her life.

But that didn't matter, did it? There were things Sora needed to do. There was a dream she needed to fulfill, a person she needed to catch up to. Sora stood up, grasping the precious key in her hands. She scooped her sword up from the corner it was propped up against. She would do all of those things and nothing was going to stop her. She pushed open the door and headed out onto the deck.

Everyone was in low spirits at the division commander meeting. What were they even talking about? No one had a clue. Eyes would flicker to the door at every sound, hoping that it was Sora. They wanted to see her one last time.

Marco couldn't believe that today was going to be the last time he would see Sora. He had grown attached to her - to her laugh and the way she smiled, even the way she drew her sword or the way she flipped her hair after losing a fight - Marco memorized it. The belt around his waist felt heavy. The woman who made it for him was going to leave him. He really hoped she would come say goodbye. It was going to be hard, but she hoped he did. He needed to see her. He wanted her to stay more than anything in the world.

But he knew she couldn't. She didn't even want to stay, not even a little bit. This girl, who everyone on this ship considered nakama didn't think of them the same way. That was what perhaps hurt the most. She was just…leaving them behind.

The door was opened and the division commanders looked up at once to see Sora standing there. Marco noticed that she was wearing a baseball cap and raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything as she approached. She strode past all the division commanders and stood in front of Whitebeard, clutching her sword, glowering up at the man. And then, to everyone's surprise, Sora tore her blade off her waist and threw it down. It clattered towards their captain as she dropped to the floor, kneeling before Whitebeard on her hands and knees.

She was tightly clutching the silver key in one hand, her body shaking. She removed her hat, and everyone stared in shock. Sora had cut her hair. It was now a short bob cut that framed her face and Sora lowered her body even more, pressing her forehead to the ground. "I can't leave," she said, her voice shaking. She was crying, drops of her tears splashing onto the wood. "I love everyone here so much. They are my nakama," she said, and the division commanders smiled gently at this. "If you will still have me, I would be honored to be a part of your crew, Oyaji."

The division commanders all exchanged glances, their eyes widening with excitement. Was this even happening? It all felt like some fairy tale. Were they dreaming?

Whitebeard laughed. "From the day you boarded this ship I already considered you a part of this family." The captain smiled down at the woman, who had lifted her head in shock at his statement. "Are you ready to finally tell me your name, then?"

Sora grinned, wiping her tears as she realized that in her six months here – although he probably did already know it – she hadn't told the captain her name. "Sora. Belleville D. Sora."

A/N: Reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading!