Hello everyone! Yes! I know I'm late! I was having some problems with my computer. Anywho, I'll keep it short today.

Thanks to B'rucha Yael, ZabuzasGirl, 4fireking, Hydrax, CallmeEevee, desirae668, Trich, Blacktiger93, and Piffle88 for reviewing!

I don't own One Piece. This story was written solely for enjoyment.

Warning: The following 2-3 chapters are completely non-cannon. Of course, this is fanfiction.

Chapter 9

Pops frowned. He was letting off some pretty scary vibes. I wasn't sure if that was such a good thing in this case. "So." he growled. "Kaido is behind this, is he?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry, Pops, this is all-"

"No, it isn't." Pops cut me off. He looked down at Red-Hair and sighed. "I suppose you've earned my thanks for returning my daughter to me in one piece, you brat."

Red-Hair shrugged. "Ah, it was nothing. I wanted to discuss this business about Kaido with you, as a matter of fact."

Marco frowned. "Kaido's men have dared to come near our borders in the past, but this is the first time that Kaido himself has ever crossed into our territory."

Pops sighed. "Red-Hair, I will discuss this matter with you." He looked down at me. "Zia, you can go now. I imagine you're very tired right now."

"Hold on!" I cut in. "I want to hear this. I was the one who got caught by this creep. I want to know what's going on here!"

"Zia." Marco said, warningly. I knew that tone. It was the listen-to-your-elders tone.

I bit my lower lip. "I'm not too young to hear this. You know that, Marco!" Of course, the fact that I let one of my shipmates die definitely didn't help my argument.

Pops shook his head. "Zia, I want you to get some rest."

Then, Red-Hair put his hand on my shoulder. "Actually, Whitebeard, I think she should hear this. We owe her an explanation, at the very least."

I felt the flash of Pops' annoyance. Then, he sighed. "Fine. Sit down, Zia. This could take a while."

I sat down next to Marco, and looked up at Pops expectantly.

"All right." Pops started. "Might as well start from the beginning. Do you know what the Yonkou are?"

I nodded. That was an easy one. "They're - You're the four strongest pirates in the new world."

Pops sighed. "Right. But are you aware of the significance of the Yonkou?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Significance?"

"I suppose you're unaware of the three powers, then." Pops said.

"Three powers of what?"

"They're the three powers that keep balance. They include the Yonkou, the Shichibukai, and the Marine Headquarters. The Shichibukai and the Marine HQ fight against the Yonkou, but in doing so, a certain balance is kept in place. Consider that there's a spectrum of chaos. The Yonkou would be at the higher end of the spectrum, while Marine HQ is very, very organised. The Shichibukai are somewhere in between. This balance is so delicate, that if even one of these key people goes missing for some reason, chaos will break out."

I scratched my head. "So, basically what you're saying is, when Kaido attacked Ratchet and me, he was just testing the water. He wants to know what will push your buttons without disturbing the balance of power."

Marco shook his head. "Well," he said. "knowing what Kaido is famous for, I don't think he gives a damn about the balance of power. The reason he kidnapped you was because he knew that Pops hates to leave a crewman to die. He's threatening war."

I felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down my neck. "But then, that would mean- Do you think that he's allied with another of the Yonkou to take you down, Pops?!"

Pops shook his head. "No, I don't think we need to worry about Big Mom showing herself in this, unless it would be to steal some of the unprotected territories. The Yonkou never make alliances. That would also disrupt the balance. Marine Headquarters and the Shichibukai are about equal to the Yonkou in strength."

Marco bit his lower lip. "Who knows how long Kaido's been planning this... He probably studied our numbers for months."

"That means we're caught in a hard place." Pops confirmed.

I thought for a second. Then I 'looked' over at Red-Hair.

He hadn't said much during this conversation; he just sat there, listening.

"Hey!" I said. "What about an alliance?"

All conversation stopped. All three of them stared at me like I'd gone crazy or something.

Marco pointed his thumb at Red-Hair.

I nodded.

"Were you not listening, Zia?" Pops asked. "Yonkou don't form alliances with other Yonkou. It's completely out of the question."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "If Kaido's been planning this attack for months, or years or something, he's going to have a lot of info on us that will give him an edge in combat! Kaido is supposed to be the fiercest of the four, right? He's not gonna pull any punches out there!"

"We have our own allies, Zia."

"That Kaido already knows about!" I said, getting more annoyed. Why couldn't they just admit that this was a good idea, at the very least?

"Zia..." Pops said, sounding about as annoyed as I was. "You haven't been listening to me. Its a childish thing to assume that there will be no serious repercussions if this happens."

I stood up. "You're the one who's being childish!" I shouted. "People's lives are at stake here! Kaido isn't the type to just knock his enemies off balance! He wants you dead! He wants your crew dead too! And here you are, refusing the alliance of someone I know is trustworthy, all for the sake of a balance that's already been disturbed!"

Marco opened his mouth to say something, probably give me an earful for talking to Pops like that, but I stomped over to the door, opened it, and slammed it behind me.

I stormed to the bow, sat in the middle of the rail, propped my arms on the top rung, and buried my face in my arms. I couldn't believe this...

We were on the brink of war. A war that Kaido had been preparing for a long time. And Pops was too thick -headed to make an alliance with another Yonkou.

"I'm beginning to wonder who the blind one is here..." I muttered half-heartedly.

I sat there for a long time, trying to let my mind go blank. The light breeze tousled my hair, making the ends tickle my arms. I couldn't get Ratchet's voice out of my head. Our final discussion still rang in my ears. I felt a painful stab behind my eyes, and I blinked hard.

I heard the click of footsteps on the deck behind me. The rail creaked as someone leaned against it.

I gulped. "Listen, Red-Hair, I know what you're going to say, but I-"

"Did a good job." he cut me off.

I stopped short. I lifted my head and raised an eyebrow at him. "What did you say?"

"I said you did a good job in there. I think it's been a few decades since someone dared to tell Whitebeard off, let alone one of his own crew."

I let my head fall again. "Don't remind me..."

Red-Hair chuckled lightly. "Ah, don't get down about it. Whitebeard agreed."

I was so startled by this statement that I fell over backwards, hitting my head on the deck. I sat up, rubbing my head, while Red-Hair guffawed. "He did what?!"

"I thought you'd be happy that he agreed. After all, it is thanks to you that this alliance was made. You showed a lot of grit today, kid."

"I'm definitely gonna get an earful after this..." I groaned.

Red-Hair chuckled. "Well, Whitebeard didn't seem too angry about it. Though, I think your buddy with the banana peel hair has a few things to say to you."

I sighed. "I think I'd rather have Pops on my case..."

I heard Marco coming towards us. He stopped and stared down at me. (I as still flat on my back on the deck)

I put my hand over my eyes. "I know... I know..."

"What do you mean?!" I said, completely annoyed.

"I mean what I said, Zia." Marco said, sighing and rubbing his temples. "You'll be staying on board the ship while I go out with the division and do some patrol duty."

"Why do I have to stay behind?" I tried to give him the nastiest glare I could, but it didn't seem to work.

"Doctor' orders."

Marco is a really bad liar...

"You're not fit for duty just now. Rest up."

"Does this have anything to do with my outburst this afternoon?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"No."

Liar.

Marco bopped me lightly on the head. "Just stay here and be good. Thatch said he'd keep an eye on you."

I smirked a bit. Every time Thatch kept an eye on me, he tried to get me to help him in the kitchen. And I don't care if my ma was a chef and that I have really sharp observation haki senses. I'm useless in the kitchen. Normally, though, we just amuse ourselves by creating giant fireballs from cooking grease. It's a lot of fun!

Marco put his foot on the rail, getting ready to jump onto the smaller ships, parked right beside the Moby.

At the last second I stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "Marco! ... Just promise me you'll come back, okay? Not even one hour late, you understand?"

Marco nodded. "Alright. I promise." With that, he jumped off, and gave the order to set sail.

Suddenly, Thatch landed on the deck beside me from out of nowhere! He caught me in a headlock, and gave me a noogie. "Hey! You've got to keep on your feet! I thought you had observation haki! You should be able to dodge!"

Well, this was going to be a long week.

There was a sickening thud, and a man hit the ground. He coughed and hauled himself off the ground. There was a long, deep cut running across his chest. His clothes were splattered with mud and blood, as was his tuft of blond hair. There was a pained look in his droopy eyes.

I realized with a start that it was Marco, though I'd never seen him before.

He was quickly joined by another man, with a honey blond pompadour and a pointed black goatee.

Thatch?

There was a group of people with them, but they all looked scared. Like they were being attacked.

Suddenly, my view zoomed in on Thatch. He fell backwards, blood splattering his clothes.

Then, it whipped around to Marco. It looked like his leg was broken. There was no way he could get out of the way in time! There was an awful thunk! and his brown eyes dilated, then closed. He slumped to the ground.

Then horrible, raspy laughter filled my ears. The entire scene became tinged with red. Someone was screaming! The laughter and the screaming made it hard to concentrate on what was going on!

Then, Marco opened his eyes. But they weren't his eyes. They were full of throbbing veins and blood red. Then, he stood up and started shaking me, shouting, "Zia! Zia!" But it wasn't his voice! It was-!

"Zia! Zia, what's wrong?!"

My eyes snapped open, and darkness rushed in. I was tossing and turning on my bed, my face beaded with cold sweat, and stinging from salty tears.

I finally knew who was screaming bloody murder. It was me.

Someone grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me up against them.

Panicked, I kicked out.

"Ouch! Zia, what the hell is the matter with you?!"

I stopped kicking. I just started shaking uncontrollably instead. "Th-Thatch?" I asked, when I finally found the courage to speak.

"Yeah?" he said. He sounded really worried. "Zia, what's the matter with you? YOu probably woke up half the New World with your screaming. Did you have a nightmare or something?"

A nightmare... That wasn't a big enough word. I had been scared before. Hell, from the day I was blinded my life had been full of scary experiences. But never, not once in my life, had I been completely and wholeheartedly terrified.

I gripped Thatch's coat like it was the last thing between me and total insanity.

"Hey." Thatch said. "Take slow, deep breaths and try to tell me what happened."

"I..." Why couldn't I stop shaking? "I saw you... and Marco... You were being attacked."

Thatch's heart rate sped up. "What?!" he said. "How?"

I shook my head. "I dunno exactly. All I know is, you both..."

"Hey, it's alright..." Thatch said, patting my back. "It was just a dream."

"It- It felt so real, Thatch..." I said. "And I was there..."

"Wait, what happened?" Thatch asked.

"I - I was inside the thing attacking you! I saw what it saw, I felt what it felt... Then when Marco finally collapsed, I just came to my senses and started screaming!"

Thatch's tone became deadly serious. "What did you- that thing feel?"

I bit my lower lip.

"Zia."

I took a deep breath, and tried to form the word. "Exhilarated."

Thatch fell silent. Finally, he took a deep breath. "It was just a dream, Zia. Try to go back to sleep." He made a move to stand up, but I tightened my grip on his shirt.

"Please stay..." I said.

Thatch sighed. "Alright. But only a little while. I'm tired."

What does it mean...? I thought. I didn't fall asleep again for a long time.

That was a crazy night. Thatch didn't doubt it. But he was definitely not a happy camper that morning.

He had been woken up at two o'clock in the morning by Zia's screaming, then he had been scared out of his wits by that weird nightmare of hers. He didn't like the sound of Zia feeling what the attacker felt. The situation seemed a little too familiar for his taste. Then, he actually decided to stay with her until she fell asleep, because he felt sorry for her. Then, when she finally fell asleep, she still had an iron grip on his shirt, so he couldn't move her. So, he ended up just sitting there until seven o'clock. That was when Whitebeard normally woke up.

So, now, he was making his way to Whitebeard's room, with Zia on his back. He felt like a backwards marsupial. He stopped in front of Whitebeard's door and knocked. "It's Thatch." he said. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Whitebeard was sitting upright on his bed, fiddling with the tubes in his nose. He had been pretty upset when the nurses had ordered him to start wearing one of those things. "Ah, Thatch. I see Zia calmed down. That was quite the racket she caused last night."

Thatch nodded in agreement and sat down.

"So, what was the commotion about?"

Thatch bit his lower lip. He still got a chill when he thought of how terrified Zia had been the night before. "A nightmare." he said. "She dreamed that something attacked us. And... She said that she was inside the thing."

Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. "Was she...?"

Thatch took another deep breath. "Pops... What if she's using observation haki in her sleep? What if she's seeing an event that will take place? What if she's going to go berserk again?"

Whitebeard sighed. "I don't know, Thatch... But all we can do is give her time. I'm not going to keep her on the sidelines all the time. It would not only be an insult to her, but it's just pure paranoia for now."

Thatch nodded. "I'll tell Marco about this when he gets back. He's not gonna like this..."

Whitebeard sighed. "Thatch, I don't know what state she'll be in when she wakes up. I think you should stay with her until she wakes up."

Thatch's jaw dropped. Who knew how long it would take for her to wake up?

(three days later)

"So that's what happened when I was away..." Marco said, staring at Zia, who was meditating near Sprint's grave at the stern. "She looks okay now, though."

Thatch frowned. "Well, she's been staring into space a lot more lately, but Pops still thinks she'll be okay, when Kaido finally makes his move."

Marco stretched. "Well, I spoke to Red-hair, and he thinks we have about five days before the attack starts. We have five days to get all our forces together." He couldn't help but worry. What was Zia's real condition now?

He stepped over to her and sat down beside her. "Hey. Since when do you sit still?"

Zia's pale eyes snapped open. She turned towards him, then she threw her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you're okay!" she said.

"Like I said," Marco said. "Nothing to worry about."

(one month later)

"Zia!" Teech shouted. "Keep up!"

I jumped over my opponent's head, and hurried to join Teech and Thatch. We were locked in combat with one of Kaido's big ships, packed to bursting point with pirates armed to the teeth.

We weren't far from an island.

I ducked under a stray shot, and ran up to Teech. "You alright?" I asked, panting heavily.

"I'm holding up." Teech said, shooting a guy that was coming towards me with a club.

"Good." I said. I noticed a guy was using a cannon that looked like it was for a battleship. "I'll handle him!" I shouted. I launched myself towards the guy. But, then, someone grabbed my foot! The cannon guy pointed it at me, then...BOOM!

Fire. Why does it always have to be fire...?

"Hey. Hey, are you alright, kid?"

I opened my eyes and sat up. I was on the island. I could sense the battle raging on the other side of the island. Of course, I had another problem right now.

"Who are you?" I asked. I was with a boy, of about seventeen or eighteen. He was fairly tall, with longish hair.

The boy held out his hand and pulled me to my feet. "Good to see you're alright." he said. "I'm Ace. Portgas D. Ace."

Portgas D. Ace? Firefist Ace. Fire...

I frowned at him. "Right." I said, coolly. "Like I care."

I turned on my heel, and started to run off.

"Hey!" he shouted angrily after me. "What did I do to you?!"

I bit my lower lip. The corners of my eyes stung. I wiped my eyes with my forearm.

Fire...

A fateful encounter! Or is it? Anyway, I'll try to update on time in two weeks.

Please review!