It was already night by the time Annagi finished telling a curious Gramps everything that happened at Marineford. He was especially curious about the okama Ivankov and Inazuma.

"If that's it Gramps, I'm going to go home now." Annagi was already at the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night here?" He knew that her home would have so many memories of her and Ace. Even though she had resolved to live, her wound was still open.

"Yeah. Goodnight, Gramps! I'll see you tomorrow!" She said goodbye.

Walking alone back to her small cottage, everything that happened felt like a dream. Being back on this island, there were no traces of the horrors that she had witnessed. The young woman got to her front gate. She stared at her home that Ace and the Spade pirates built for her when they left her here.

"I'm back," she said to the darkness, opening the door to her house.

Annagi dragged herself upstairs and sank into her tub. It had been so long she bathed herself. Somehow the warm water and foam seemed to wash away the grime, sweat, blood, and tears from the recent past. The only blood it didn't wash away was Ace's blood stained on the ribbons she still wore on her hand. The tub seemed so much bigger. In fact, everything about her cottage seemed bigger. e didn't know who H

She found herself in bed, staring at the ceiling. Why did the bed feel so cold? It felt as empty as she did. Her body's need for sleep eventually overrode her mental state and she fell into a dead sleep.

The sun shone through the window, late the next morning. Annagi shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to get up. Nothing would make her leave her bed. She pulled the covers over her head, completely encased in the bed sheets; it still smelled like him. She breathed it in, finding comfort and feeling lost without Ace. Crying into her pillow, it drowned out her screams of anguish, and choking sobs throughout the day.

Dusk's last night was fading from her bedroom window. She lay in the same position, her pillow completely wet. There was no end to the tears she shed when she was all alone.

"Hey there, crybaby," a familiar voice echoed throughout the room. "Stop being such a girl."

She shot up, her head emerged from under the covers within the blink of an eye. Her tanned skin blanched, her eyes as wide in shock. "A-A-Ace?! B-but you're d-d-dead!"

It was the first time she herself said those words aloud; she started crying again. She was saying them to the man she saw die in her arms. He was sitting on the bed as if nothing happened.

The man smirked. "Of course I'm dead. You saw me die. I'm here because you need me to be."

"B-b-but –"

"Now please listen to me, get ready, and meet with Gramps like you told him you would."

She stopped crying, reaching out her hand to him, only for it to fall on the bed. "I've gone crazy, haven't I? Of course I have. I'm talking to a hallucination."

The Ace on her bed laughed. "Of course you're crazy; I knew it from the start!"

Annagi heeded his advice. She always listened to Ace when he was serious. He had his reasons when he spoke seriously and she wouldn't question him in life, so why would she in death.

Though clothes weren't important to her, they held many memories that were important. Remembering those feelings, she looked at herself in the mirror, she felt strong; how she used to feel when she gallivanted with Ace and their pirate crew. In many ways she looked like a feminine version of Ace. In fact, it was because Ace was everything she wanted to be, that she started to emulate his dress. Her mid-length black shorts were belted with an orange leather belt, with the same buckle Ace always wore. She pulled on a v-necked orange tee, looking at herself with a frown. It fit a little too snugly around her chest. Stepping into her black combat boots, she was pleased that it was still worn in and fitted properly. Fixing an armlet on her left arm, she sighed. Remembering that she was too scared to get a tattoo of a spade on her left arm, in the same place Ace had his tattoo, Ace had gotten her the armlet with a black spade adorned on it. The orange elbow guard was affixed onto her right elbow, as it was her non dominant arm; she used it more as a shield arm, rather than to absorb any impact from her voulge swings on her left. Completing her old look, she wore the twin of Ace's red and white bracelet on her right wrist.

She looked every bit the girl she used to be, but something felt missing. She wasn't the same person she was back then. Annagi braided a part of her hair with the white ribbon, letting it fall off to the side of her face. The rest of her black hair fell past her hips. It was the only piece of ribbon Ace gave her that wasn't stained with his blood. Those stained ribbons were kept in her pocket. Her final touches were using a henna dye adorn the area just below the bottom right side of her eye with another spade. She chose to forgo the cloak she always wore as vice-captain for a black scarf that Ace brought her from his travel to Alabasta. Finally, putting on a pair of fingerless gloves, she felt like the clothes did indeed make the woman she wanted to be.

"So, how do I look?" She asked, turning around to show the spectral Ace.

He wasn't there. She called to him again, with no answer, before leaving the house. She did her best to write off her hallucination as she walked to Gramps' shop. I'm tired. It was probably just a dream.

"I haven't seen you wear that in a while," Gramps greeted her. "Though it looks a bit different."

When Annagi first came to the island, every time Ace would visit, she would wear her uniform, expecting him to take her with him again. They would always part with an argument and tears on her part. As time went on, Gramps saw that Annagi decided to respect Ace's wish for her to stay, and gave up her Spade pirate identity.

"Yeah. Taking your advice, Gramps. Living for the both of us."

"I didn't mean like this." He was worried she was heading in the wrong direction. Dressing like her dead lover wasn't the best was to move on.

"It's just clothes," she lied. Annagi sat on the chair, waiting for the man to draw her blood. It was the only way she could travel back to Luffy.

"I've worked out some of the kinks." He changed the topic. "There shouldn't be so much pain. The synchronization should be getting more accurate, which means less discomfort on your part. Oh, for heaven's sake, stop tensing up. It'll hurt more!"

Annagi rubbed her sore forearm. "I can't help it. I get scared when I see a needle coming at me."

"So what's your plan? I saw you on the front page of the newspaper today. Everyone wants to know who you are. Being associated with Straw-hat isn't going to keep you or your kid safe. They think you're his. Apparently, they think you cry beautifully. It was a haunting shot though; you actually looked like an ethereal spirit. Some of them are calling you the Pirate Goddess or the Pirate Angel. All of this attention isn't going to help you in anyway." Gramps lectured her, as he went about mixing her blood with his already prepared solution.

"I won't let them get away with it, Gramps," Annagi explained, her fists clenched. "They took him from me, like it was the right thing to do. They labeled him as a horrible monster. They made him feel like that his entire life, however short it was. They claimed his life and the lives of both his fathers in the name of 'justice'. It's a perversion and the world follows along blindly deluding themselves. I'm still not sure of what I'm doing, but I'll be both the goddess' wrath and the avenging angel if I must."

"Revenge is never the answer." Gramps knew it was falling on deaf ears, but he had to say it.

"If I backed down now, I wouldn't have been born Aruna D. Annagi. They need to know that there are consequences to every action. I'm just the reaction to their action. It's only natural."

"I see there is no sense talking to you when you're like this." Gramps thought of how alike Ace and Annagi were. Foolhardy more like it. "So, what are you going to do with the week you asked for?"

"I want to see Ace's foster mother. I want to see the place he grew up. I want to see my former crewmates If they get my message, they'll be at my house in a few days. I want to talk to them about Ace's grave and I want to visit him." Annagi yawned. She rested her head on the table, feeling drained.

She woke up the next morning, unsure of where she was. It was a little while before she figured out she was in Gramps' guestroom. Running down the stairs to the kitchen, she found him sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. A place setting was made for her on the other side of the table.

"Gramps! Why didn't you wake me last night?!"

He looked up from the newspaper. "Your body needs rest and I for one will not ignore it. And I took the time to assess your physical state."

"The baby?"

"Still healthy, I don't see anything wrong from the last time I examined you. Your kid is developing as expected, but you need to take it easy. Stress isn't good for either of you."

"I'll try my best to keep it at a low."

Gramps chuckled, as he turned the newspaper over to show her. She took a seat, looking at one of the pages in the back. There was a close up picture of her at Marineford. Annagi scoffed as she glanced at the article questioning her identity and how she was related to Luffy.

"It looks like you're giving the Pirate Empress a run for her title of the most beautiful pirate."

"She can have that title, I don't want it." Annagi frowned. Her face would now be recognizable. "This is going to be a problem."

"Didn't you use to wear a hooded cloak?"

"Yeah, but it was hard to fight in."

"So you're still going to do that?" Gramps began his lecture once again on thinking rationally, formulating a plan, minimizing risks, and moving forward.

After a heated argument, they both calmed down and agreed to disagree.

"Before you go, take this with you." Gramps handed her a new double ended voulge. " I've infused it with kairoseki. And this too."

Annagi fastened the voulge on her back, and examined the dagger. It was an ornate piece, more for decoration, than for practical use. The gilded hilt was decorated with black onyxes in the shape of spades with matching scabbard. Unsheathing the dagger, she examined the metal, making sure that it would be of use in combat before, slipping it on the left side of her belt. "Thanks, Gramps. I love it."

Picking up her backpack, Annagi reached out for Gramps.

"Here we are." Gramps and Annagi were on the docks of Fuusha Village. "I know you're not going to listen to me, but listen to this: stay safe. If you're ever in over your head, call me and I'll be where ever you need me to be. I'm going to miss you around the shop, Anna."

Annagi hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Gramps. For everything."

The man smiled, before disappearing before her eyes. The young woman turned around. The first thing she saw was a giant sign saying that this island was under the protection of Monkey D. Garp. She usually had more restraint than she did in that moment. Walking up to the sign, she casually unsheathed her dagger, slicing it up.

Annagi then walked towards the town. It was picture perfect, like a painting of a peaceful little village she'd seen in books. No one here had ever witnessed the darkness that lived on the doorstep of her soul.

"Let's make a break for it, guys! Garp's behind them!" A group of pirates sped past her. They looked like they were being chased.

Sure enough, Annagi had guessed right. She saw a small group of marines at the heels of the small time pirates, probably stirred up at the beginning of this new era. Pulling up the scarf, the spade mark and her eyes were her only visible facial features. Garp's here?!

Grabbing a quarterstaff from one of the retreating pirates, Annagi stood in between the two groups, allowing the pirates to make it back to the docks.

She moved on instinct. The days of old came flooding back. Battling marines and pirates alike to make a name for the Spade Pirates honed her instinct and sharpened her natural abilities. These marines were inexperienced compared to her. She wielded the staff as she would have wielded her voulge. Parrying, sweeping, and polished downward and skyward strikes rendered the group incapacitated. The staff prevented any accidental death she might have dealt out otherwise. Annagi threw down the quarterstaff, pulling her new voulge from its place across her back. A quarterstaff wouldn't work on the hero of the navy, Monkey D. Garp.

"You let him die!" she couldn't help but scream as she rushed him.

He guarded in time. There were still holes in her offense, allowing his rather large fists to fly at her. Barely dodging in time, she stepped on his fists, pushing off to put as much distance between them. Both maintained their distance, gauging the other.

Garp noticed that every person in their vicinity was passed out. Civilian, pirate, and marine, there were no exception. Annagi had used Conqueror's haki without meaning to. Her emotions had gotten the better of her.

"I see you're dressed like my grandson," Garp spoke, beginning to get irritated at the gall of this strange woman. "Is this your idea of a joke?"

"You have no right to call him that!" She spat, her hands shaking as she gripped her weapon. "You coward! How dare you choose these bastards over someone you called your family? Or did your bonds with him mean nothing? You were strong enough to save him! Your dog Akainu wouldn't have stood a chance if you stopped him! You let him die! He'd be here if you did something!"

"He made his choice, when he decided to be a pirate," Garp replied coldly. It wasn't like he didn't think the same thoughts. Regret at not being able to save his adopted grandson tore him apart.

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, she moved like the wind. In an instant she was on him, slashing down at his shoulder with the top edge of her voulge. He anticipated the upward swing with the bottom blade, and sent her flying back using haki infused in his hands.

She managed to stop herself from crashing into a small shop, using the wall to push herself back to him. Readying her voulge for another strike, she knew she would lose this fight.

"You took Ace away from me!" Annagi cried as she got closer to him.

Garp let his guard down. He realized Ace was important to her; she was in love with him. He couldn't hurt her; guilt manifested itself again. Looking at the girl coming at him, all he saw was a desperate grief stricken woman, working on emotion alone.

"Ann! What are you doing?!" Ace appeared in front of Garp.

"Ace?!" Annagi looked in horror at him. He was real. It wasn't a dream. She barely stopped the blade from coming down on him and Garp, burying it instead into the ground.

"Ace?" Garp repeated her words. He had no idea why she stopped. She was looking in his direction, but as if she was seeing someone else.

The hallucination ignored Garp, focusing on the object of his affection. "You know he's not to blame. It's not his fault I'm dead."

Annagi fell to the ground. She was overwhelmed. There were too many emotions fighting for dominance within her. She didn't even know when her tears started to fall on the earth, or even if it was really her voice wailing throughout the island. All her determination, all her mental strength, whatever hollow conviction she made that she would move forward seemed to fade away. Ace was standing before her again, being her voice of reason, of sanity.