Minawa: Oh! I'm so excited cuz now it drawing closer to an ending! (I don't own One Piece)

Ray: But if this is soon ending you didn't make it past 10 chapters...

Minawa: *stares at Ray* I will, miss smarty pants cuz there's a lot of the past to bring up.

Ray: *mumbles in the background* ...miss smarty pants...?

Minawa: Enjoy!

I kept away from the crew the best I could for the rest of the day and when they came to talk to me I'd mumble an excuse and walk away. Soon they all realized I didn't want to see anyone and left me alone at the back of the ship. Sanji even put dinner a bit further away so that I wouldn't have to face them. They were all too kind and yet I had been the danger. Not that I could leave since we for the moment were in the middle of nowhere and were surrounded by seawater; my greatest enemy.

It was true that I was a devil fruit user and really, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Yet I didn't want someone to know because I really hate my powers. At least the way I had gotten them and had once used them. Because of that, I was ashamed.

I heard steps coming over but suddenly lost the energy to run away. We are on a freaking ship for crying out loud!

Luffy appeared around the corner and walked over. He jumped up on the railing and sat besides me quietly; something which made me really suspicious of him. I glanced at him.

"What do you want?" I asked him. He smiled a little while staring out on the ocean.

"Something wrong with being with your nakama?" he said, surprising me. I smiled.

"No…" I sighed. He grinned even more.

"Besides, you didn't play with us at all, we thought you were sick or something!" he said, hitting my back. I shook my head.

"Yeah, I guess I'm kind of sick…" I said. Luffy looked at me.

"Seasick?"

"No."

"Homesick?"

"No."

"Don't tell me; food poison?" he said. I grinned.

"Not even that." I said. He grinned.

"What, then I worried for nothing!" he said and hit my back one final time before he jumped down from the railing. I looked at the ocean as I heard his steps stop to a halt. I turned and looked at his back.

"There's noting wrong with no telling us about your past but you have to trust us as your friends. We all have our different curses but we don't have to carry them ourselves." He said, not turning around. I looked at him, somewhat in awn that our brainless captain could say such meaningful words. I shook my head as he turned to look at me. He grinned and showed me thumbs up.

"We're nakama, you know!" he said before walking away. I smiled and shook my head even more. These people were just too much…

Later that night I met up with Nami and Robin and convinced them that I was just fine. Somehow I figured it'd be weird for the crew if I didn't sort things out. My biggest problem, I realized after talking to the other guys, was to talk to Zoro. I'd scratch my head just thinking about it! It left me stressed out in ways I hadn't felt in a long time. I glanced over at the weight-lifting moron from behind the fence on the upper floor. He glanced over from time to time but pretended not to notice me; which left me even more annoyed.

Robin came up to me and crunched down besides me. I glanced at her and sighed.

"You must think I'm super lame…" I said. She smiled with her usual wise expression.

"Not at all, you obviously need to do it in your own time." She said and nodded towards Zoro.

"I'd say he feels the same way, not saying anything even thought he obviously know you're here." She said and got up. She walked away as I continued to stare at Zoro, feeling my stomach turn over. `I guess I could only get to it… ´ I rose half way but then got down again.

`Maybe another 5 minutes…´

-X-

I had already finished my workout and was somewhat ready to go to sleep. Obviously I couldn't leave with that stupid girl hiding and intensely staring at me. She obviously wanted to talk with me and yet didn't move. I felt more and more annoyed by the second…

"If you want to say something, just do it!" I called over to her. Silence.

"You know, I haven't got all day." I called again. Silence. She was still staring at me.

"Fine, I'm going to bed…" I half called a final time before I turned to climb the ladder.

"No wait!" I heard her call back, as I turned I saw her get up in a hurry and run down the stairs. As she came up to me I put my hands on my hips and stared at her.

"So?" I asked, almost as if scolding her. She glanced at me and opened her mouth but nothing came out. She closed it and opened it but it seemed she didn't know what to say.

"It's kinda blank…" she finally said. I felt like slapping myself, and trust me; I did mentally as a vein popped.

"Then what did you do all this time, staring at me? Didn't you at least think about what to say?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"I kinda rushed over…" She said, giving me a silly grin. I sighed.

"Then I'll guess; you wanted to apologize and tell me why you've behaved odd lately, right?" I suggested while lifting an eyebrow. She nodded.

"I'm really sorry for… almost killing you, …" she said. I stayed silent as she continued.

"I do have an Devil fruit ability but it's kind of complicated so I don't really know how much I can tell you. I've always lived with it in secret so I don't… really know how to tell any of you." She said and I could almost see a shadow come over her. It made me worried.

"You had it rough, didn't you?" I asked. She looked up and I could see doubt in her expression. She gave me a faint smile.

"Yeah, you could say that… but I escaped so I'll be fine." She said before turning around.

"After all, I do have the crew," she said and looked at me, smiling, " and a great sparring partner so even though it's temporary; I feel safe here." She said and then nodded, as if she was finally convinced herself.

"Good night Zoro!" she said before running off. I felt my cheeks getting hot but blamed it on the warm summer evening.

I though about what she had said "even though it's only temporary…". Soon we'd reach Alfara and the festival would begin. After that me might part with Kayla, just like we'd parted with Vivi so long ago. We had wanted her to stay and yet she stayed behind and I was starting to wonder if Kayla wouldn't do the same.

-X-

The week past quickly and before we knew it we reached the summer island Alfara. It was a very active and beautiful island, especially in the city. The buildings were simple and, according to Robin, not that old but very stable. Still it was lots of movement and preparations before the evening festival, which would last for three days.

Even though we didn't speak of it I was already planning on leaving after the festival. I had overheard the others talking about the possibility of me joining the crew and Luffy had been very accepting to the idea. I felt honoured but the facts remained; The Red Blade was still after my head and the others didn't know anything about me. If they knew about my fake name and my powers (I hadn't told the exactly about the element bending) and if they did they wouldn't be able to trust me. I couldn't live with the fact that they would look down on me and therefore I preferred parting in peace with them, known as Kayla.

There were colours everywhere as small lanterns covered the stands and the streets in the centre of the city. It was like a rainbow, glowing slightly redder than any other colour. Children ran all over the place and there was wonderful smells everywhere, shifting from meat to candy to flowers. I'm not even sure I can tell you in detail how much I love these things! All of us had so much fun I even forgot the fact that Kayla was only a fake name and for a moment I lived as Kayla and not Ray.

That's when I saw him, only for an instant when his familiar face appeared in the crowd.

First I froze, unable to believe my eyes. My body and all of my muscles tensed and my heart started beating harder, jumping inside my chest. The warm summer night and the joy of the festival were long gone and now I just felt the need to run. To disappear.

Suddenly a hand landed on my shoulder. As I turned around I faced a familiar face smiling…

"Yo! Having fun?" Zoro asked as he grinned. I somehow felt relief but that didn't solve anything.

"Z-Zoro. Yeah, I guess. But boy you scared me!" I joked. Somehow it didn't convince him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked as I saw men in black coats gather in the corner of my eyes. Now I didn't have any choice but ignore Zoro and run away. He called for me when I pushed through the crowd but if I stopped we both would be caught.

Soon I left the plaza, the crowds and the lights behind me as I continued down the dark roads towards the sea. Hopefully they didn't leave their ship in the docks but down the beach. That means I had the best chance if I went to the docks…

Ray: Kai is back? so soon?

Minawa: yup, cuz I really like Kai!

Ray: ...but I wasn't prepared for that! *somewhat in panic*

Minawa: hey, are you okay?