Chapter Twelve

Yuki took a deep breath. Slowly breathing, she relaxed each tensed muscle in her body, which was pretty much every single one. This was not some huge crisis, this was a tiny bump compared to recent events. She had died recently. Been revived. No more horrible accidents, no more saving her brothers' lives in a huge war. Her life had finally calmed down, and this? This was nothing.

"Okay," she finally let out, after an eternity.

Kenneth looked suspicious. "That's it? No panic, no freaking out? Just a simple 'okay' to the fact that you have a younger brother? That he's a marine while you're just a pirate? A dead one to boot?"

She shook her head slowly. "I have a younger brother. His name's Luffy."

"He's not your brother!" Kenneth burst out angrily. "He has never been! I'm your little brother, your blood relative. He shouldn't mean anything to you! He and the other pirate turned you down the wrong path! It's all their fault that you disappeared."

"Where were you?" Yuki asked bitterly. "Where were you when I was growing up in the jungle? In Windmill Village? You weren't there. My parents weren't even there. I just assumed they'd left me to rot, that they didn't care what happened."

The boy looked hurt. "I wanted to go see you. They told me stories of how you were as a baby. Later, they told me who you were, that you were a pirate. I saw that you were strong, amazing, and level-headed. I admired you since I was a little kid."

"I have no memories of my parents," she replied. As simple as that, she turned and walked away. Kenneth was left standing alone, bewildered into inaction as his own sister left him. Again.

"If you tell anyone I'm alive, I will hunt you down and kill you," she called, a final warning to the boy. "I'm respecting the fact that we're blood by letting you live right now, and I'm trusting you not to mention me. I know Hawk-Eyes will have to eventually, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but I'm letting you live."

With that, she walked off, and he felt sincerely sorry for her. He could tell how broken she was. Yuki couldn't see it herself, but he knew how much her journey had destroyed her. He couldn't believe how well she held together.

Ace stretched and yawned, waking up from his short nap. It had been a while, but asking around had gotten him a few more possible leads. There was a bartender in Water 7 who claimed to have seen the trio, but he hadn't overheard much of their quiet discussion.

"He mentioned something about Alabasta. Last time I went there, I met up with Luffy and his nakama," Ace muttered to himself. "I guess that's as good a place to start as any. If they are there, then I'll consider myself lucky."

He grinned, thinking of his childhood. Before he met Luffy and Sabo, it was all pain and suffering. They made his life brighter, and then Garp introduced them to Yuki, Luffy being so excited to have her there. She brought a different kind of life that they, as the young boys they were, had never thought about.

Stealthy hunting, assisting Makino's lessons in manners, throwing the best party he had ever been to. Luffy was closest to her, even though Ace and Sabo knew the girl better than themselves. He had been with her practically his entire life.

Ace knew that finding the sword was closure for himself. Once he had done that, he thought he'd finally be able to move on. Until then, he would do little things that had meaning.

Things like celebrating her birthday. It would come in a few weeks, and Ace wanted to bake a cake himself. It was a small gesture of remembrance he knew she'd find sweet if she were alive. He'd go find Mizuki and celebrate with her.

Grabbing his bags and heading to the tavern below the inn, he collided with a drunken marine. It seemed like forever before the marine realized who he had ran into just then. Before he could pull out a weapon, Ace shoved him aside.

When the marine called for him to stop, he said, "I don't have time for this. You can try to arrest me later," and walked out of the tavern. The poor marine looked very surprised and confused as the infamous pirate stormed out.

Mihawk sighed, collapsing into an armchair in a section of the room that hadn't been destroyed in their brief fight. All three of the outlaws had escaped, and he knew that the Marine kid who was supposedly his escort wasn't enough to handle them. All he wanted was a peaceful trip to meet with the leaders of this country. It turned into such a huge mess.

Rubbing his neck in an attempt to thwart the brewing headache, he glanced over at the princess. She had returned to the room, presumably when the fighting had ended, and she looked mildly concerned.

Mihawk straightened up in the chair. "What?" he asked. "You know as well as I that I must give a full report to the Marines' H.Q., at least, what little is left of it after that war."

Vivi glared. "Or you could just help us out and give the bare minimum."

He just shook his head silently. The escort, Kenneth, was indeed sent with him for a reason. Simply because of his actions in the war after Red-Hair had shown up, the marine admirals didn't seem to trust him any longer. Sending that child along was their insurance towards a full report with no major details left out.

"Well," Mihawk said, standing up and straightening his collar, "I will take my leave now. As I said, I have a report to write. It's too bad those pirates got away, isn't it? I think I'll go after them another day."

With that, he left, stepping carefully over the rubble.