A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get back to this! Long story short, life sucks and though it isn't any better, I feel a little better for the moment, so I write!

Annagi sat on the grass in front of Ace's grave, staring at his hat, necklace, and knife that acted as a grave marker. She had been there for more than half the day already in the same spot. The young woman didn't know what else to do. The man she loved was gone; the center of her small universe just ceased to be.

"Ace…" She hoped there was an afterlife in which she would be reunited with him. In the meantime, she just had one sided conversations at the foot of his grave. "What am I even doing?"

"You mean your false bravado and supposed plan for the world that you spoke of in front of our crew?" Ace's hallucination appeared again. She had not seen him since Fuusha Village and hoped he had gone.

"You're not real!" Annagi knew Ace was dead and this illusion was still haunting her. "Why are you still here?"

"Because you still need me." He replied, taking a seat beside her. "And because I'm still your Ace."

"If you're really Ace, then what you would say to me?"

"Ann, snap out of it. I'm gone. You don't need to be chained to me. You deserve to be free. Stop obsessing over Akainu and Blackbeard, because I know it's always on your mind. Revenge will get you nowhere."

Annagi laughed a little. It was as if Ace was really there and those words were actually coming out of his mouth. "For an apparition, you really do know him."

"I'm serious. And you're delusional if you think you'll come out of what you're trying to do alive."

Annagi ignored his comment. She knew it was a reckless plan, but she would never budge from it. "I want to apologize to you, if you're really him. I wanted to tell you, but in the end, I couldn't say it before you died."

"About our baby growing inside you?"

She nodded, holding back tears. "You didn't have regrets. You were at peace. You died with a smile on your face. I couldn't bring myself to take that away from you."

"So my bad blood will continue down to our child."

"How many times do I have to tell you that there's no such thing as bad blood! No matter who your parents are, or what they pass down to you, it's what you do with your life that defines you!" Annagi furrowed her eyebrows in irritation. His self hate infuriated her.

"I heard you the first million times you said it."

"Then you should have listened, and then I wouldn't have had to say it that many times! And our child will be amazing. And I'll prove that your blood is of the best quality. I'll protect our baby for the both of us and I'll make sure that he or she lives in true freedom."

"I know you will," he replied. "Just don't die."

"I'll do my best." She made it a point not to make a promise to her dead love.

"You know we have to stop meeting like this," the apparition change the conversation. "You need to let me go. I keep appearing because this is the only way to rein you in. Your mind cannot bear this."

Annagi stood up. There were no more tears to flow down her cheeks; she had cried them all in the hours before. "I don't need to be reined in. I need to be unleashed. There is no fury greater than mine. I will destroy the shackles that held you back, no matter the cost."

Her hallucination disappeared without a word. The young woman knelt, placing her hands on her lover's tombstone. She let out a sigh. "I know I'm not okay, Ace. Something broke inside of me. This is how I can keep on living without you. You know, when I found out I was pregnant I was so scared. Now scared isn't a strong enough word to describe how I can do this without you. I thought by the time you'd come back to our house, I'd have figured out a way to tell you. And I pictured you coming by more often and when our baby was almost here, you'd stay for a little longer." She had no idea why more tears welled up in her eyes; there couldn't have possibly been anymore. The only thing that seemed unending was her pain. "It's all over now. They took you away from me and from our child. How can anyone deal with all of this and remain intact? The only thing I can do is become stronger; strong enough to protect this baby, strong enough to carry out your will, and strong enough to keep your dying wish."

Annagi woke up to Gramp's voice, her back supported by Ace's gravestone. "Gramps, is everything ready?"

"Of course," the old man watched the girl wash her face and smooth her black summer dress as if her body and soul didn't ache or her eyes bloodshot. "Remember whenever you need me, just give me a call and I'll be there that very second."

Putting on a brave face, Annagi slung her backpack over her shoulder and picked up her trunk. "I know, Gramps."

Before she grasped Gramps' hand to teleport to where Luffy was, she turned and said her goodbye to Ace's grave. "I'll be back, Ace. Each time I visit, I'll be stronger than before. There will never be anymore goodbyes for us…"

In the next moment she was on a remote island in a clearing. Rayleigh and Luffy were roasting a huge slab of meat on a makeshift spit.

"Ann!" Luffy jumped to his feet, his face trying to give a big smile. "You're back!"

Gramps watched her give the warmest pretend smile to Ace's brother. It was a little scary how quickly she could hide behind her mask.

"Of course I'm back." Annagi walked towards the fire. Her eyes fixed on Rayleigh. "I'm here become stronger."

"Oi, old man!" Gramps addressed Rayleigh. "You better take care of her."

"Who are you calling 'old man', old man?" Rayleigh looked as relaxed as ever, though he was coiled to attack. "I'm not here to babysit anyone."

"Gramps!" Annagi said in her best whiny voice breaking any tension; her cheek flushed on her tanned face. "I can take care of myself."

The old man held his hands up in surrender. "Yes, dear, but do remember to check in once in a while."

After a quick hug, he was gone and Annagi was left blankly staring at the strangers.

Rayleigh cut the silence. "Do you know how to use Haki? I know I'm going to have to go over the lesson again for Luffy." He grimaced. "Probably many more times than I'd like."

"Yes I know how to use Haki and I've used it in battle before."

Luffy gaped at her. "Wow, that's amazing!"

"Do you know how to use them concurrently?" Rayleigh ignored Luffy's interjection.

"Not very well. And are you including Conqueror's Haki in this training?"

Rayleigh arched an eyebrow. "I take it you know how to use it?"

"Only in extreme circumstances and most often I can't control it." Annagi let go of her trunk and shrugged the backpack off her shoulders.

"Then you have something in common with my other pupil."

Without warning, Rayleigh's fist came toward her. Instinctively, her hands moved to block his fist, before using her leg to kick the backs of his knees. Rayleigh smirked as he grabbed her foot and spun her before throwing her into the air. The woman found the dagger on the belt at her hips and threw it at the Dark King before Luffy's rubber arms wrapped around her to place her on the ground.

"Sorry, it wasn't my best effort," Annagi looked at the ground, searching for her dagger. That had taken much more effort that it had when she fought Garp. "I think I'm a bit tired."

"Are you crazy, Ray?!" Luffy nearly started towards Rayleigh, but Annagi held his rubber arms that were still wrapped around his wrists. "Gah! Ann, how come you're so strong?!"

Rayleigh laughed lightheartedly. "As strong as you are beautiful, princess!"

"It's okay Straw-hat," Annagi loosened her grip and sat on the ground. "He was just testing me, but I wasn't finished."

Rayleigh frowned. "I haven't seen any Observation Haki. All your reactions were instinct. Luffy, use your gattling on her."

"I can't…" Luffy stated. He remembered she was pregnant with his brother's child. He was not going to harm her in any way.

Annagi scoffed, getting in Luffy's face. Her brown eyes seemed empty. "Listen here, rubberman. I am no porcelain doll. My name is Aruna D. Annagi. I was vice-captain of the Spade Pirates. I roamed the seas, looted, and fought beside my comrades. I have known pain and torment your darkest nightmares couldn't begin to imagine. Whatever fragile notion you may have of who I am or how my condition has weaken me, cast it out of your simple mind. Do not go easy on me, because your enemy will grant no quarter."

Rayleigh looked on at his students as if working out some puzzle in his mind. He smiled when steely determination cloaked Luffy's face.

Annagi jumped back. She concentrated on her body, reinforcing every inch with Haki and before nodding to Luffy to begin. What came next caught her off guard. It couldn't be two arms, it seemed like hundreds. Weaving in and out of the punches while maintaining the cloak of armor throughout her body was more taxing than fighting Rayleigh. Anticipating where the attacks were coming from and when was not the problem; her body could not keep up while maintaining armament Haki.

"Stop!" Rayleigh had found the limits of his second student.

Annagi inspected herself. She was surprised that she managed to dodge all the blows to her stomach, though there was a bruise here and there on her shoulders and arms. Luffy smiled at her. "You're strong!"

Annagi smiled back, though inside her mind was buzzing. He's too strong. There's no way I'll let anyone beat me again!

The next morning hit her like a rock. She had fallen asleep during Rayleigh's lecture about training the next day. Her head was spinning, her stomach churned. Without another thought, she found her way to a space far away from the makeshift clearing. In the next moment Annagi was on her knees, emptying the contents of her stomach on the ground. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Ending with dry heaves, she got up and walked until she found a small stream to wash the linger taste of vomit from her mouth. She stared at her reflection blankly, wondering who the person staring back at her was.

"I can do this," she whispered to herself. "I can do this."

"Of course you can!" Luffy came from nowhere. "Morning!"

Annagi jumped, her head starting spinning again. "Luffy, can you try not to speak so loudly, or make sudden movements."

Luffy sat down beside her. "Sorry," he whispered. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. Before you get all crazy on me again, I don't know what's normal with women and babies."

Annagi laughed. "I don't know either."

"Do you want something to eat? I'm so hungry!"

"Ack, no food. It makes me sick even thinking about it."

Walking back to their camp, Annagi tried to explain all she knew about pregnancy. She hadn't much time to read up on it after she found out she was pregnant. There were more important things at the time, but her rudimentary knowledge covered the basics. Luffy made incredulous exclamations every time she stated the most basic fact; he almost passed out when she told him how exactly the baby was to be delivered.

By the time they reached the camp, Annagi felt better. The time she spent talking about the baby inside her took her mind away from her grief. Though she didn't realize, the small bundle of hope clawed out a future where there hadn't been since the short time since Ace was killed.

"Luffy, are you ok?" Rayleigh frowned at the mortified expression left on Luffy's face while stirring the porridge he made for breakfast.

"Don't ask Rayleigh," Annagi answered as Luffy started shoveling food down his throat mechanically. "I think I've scarred him."

After grueling physical exercise, including running laps around the island while avoiding every creature stronger than she, Annagi crumpled exhausted in the camp. Rayleigh was the strictest teacher. Luffy was inhuman; he wanted a few more laps before lunch. That he delayed eating was came as a shock, so Annagi left him to it.

"Still up for this?" Rayleigh sat opposite her looking around casually, though his focus never seemed to have left her.

"Stronger body, stronger spirit, stronger Haki. I'll get used to it. Luffy's just got a week on me. I'll catch up."

"Only in terms of physical strength. You've already outpaced him in the use of Haki before you even set foot on this island. I do have a question, Annagi." Rayleigh's eyes were watching lazy clouds waft across the sky.

"Ask away, sensei," she answered angrily. The fact that Luffy was still ahead of her without even using Haki was failure enough on her part.

"Why do you want to become stronger? I know Luffy's motive's already, but yours I've yet to completely uncover."

"So I can destroy this world," she answered plainly. There was no use trying to lie to Gold Roger's second in command.

He looked at her half amused and half puzzled.

"They killed him; the Marines, the World Government, this festering world. All he wanted was to be free. Now all I want is to make a world where he could be free, where his child can be truly free. In order to do this, I need strength. Before you stop me, yes, revenge. I want revenge on Blackbeard and Akainu. I'm nowhere near as strong as them. I think that's the first step in gaining that strength; acknowledging my weakness. Will you stop me? Will you tell me that I'm crazy for thinking like this?" There was no drop of emotion in her quiet voice.

"No. I like headstrong people. Lofty goals, just like Luffy. Pirate King and Destroyer of the World. What a fine pair you two are."

"He and I are nothing alike," Annagi retorted. He can move on. He has friends. People love him. He has so much hope. "For one thing, he's got Devil's Fruit power. I can't compete with that."

Rayleigh sighed. "Have you ever seen me use Devil's Fruit powers? What about Shanks? You can be just as formidable without it. Let me show you."

By the time they were done, Annagi was covered in bruises, though there was not a scratch of Rayleigh. The young woman felt like she was a ragdoll in a lion's maw. There was nothing she could have done differently. Such overwhelming power could not have just come from using Haki. There was just no way.

"And I was going easy on you. Do you understand now?"

Annagi nodded before passing out from exhaustion.

The next month was just like her first day. There were endless tasks to hone reflexes and stamina. Aside from running around the island, sparring with Rayleigh and Luffy, figuring out how many giant creatures inhabited the forests, and gauging their power, Rayleigh would set his two students on monster hunting missions. Luffy and Annagi went on separate missions most of the time and dreaded when they would have to team up; that meant taking on one of the more powerful elephants or saber tooth tigers.

"Luffy!" Annagi cried out as the bottom blade of her voulge pierced the heart of the giant boar they were hunting for the day's lesson. She let go of the blade and dropped to the ground, jumping back from the animal's dying rampage.

Luffy took her cue as if they had done it a million times. Using his Devil's Fruit power, his arms pummeled forward, forcing the voulge through the boar's chest before retracting back.

Within moments, the best parts were bundled into large parcels and on the backs of the pair as they made their escape. Luffy had gotten better at using Observation Haki and dodged the rocks being hurled at him with more grace than he had at the beginning.

"If you had seen he was going to thrust his tusks toward you I wouldn't have had to made him try to stampede to get to his heart." Her hands felt her abdomen for any sign of injury. There was none. The steadiness in which she chastised him proved a strong gain in stamina for only a month.

"Yeah, but I read what you were going to do after, so let's call it even!" Luffy lost concentration, getting hit with a rock.

"Thank god he didn't send us to hunt a pack." She shivered at the thought as they moved further away from the rest of the animals.

"Probably in the next few months," Luffy mused excitedly. "I've become stronger than twenty more than when I first got here. In two years, I'll be the king of this island!"

"If you survive," Annagi replied wryly.

After a dinner of roast boar and strange root vegetables found of the island, everyone retreated to their separate parts of camp. There was not much talk after dinner; tiredness overpowered any hope for further conversation.

Annagi lay out on a thick blanket, covering with another. The hard ground seemed as soft as a bed after the first week of her stay. She stared at the stars. Luffy's gotten stronger than 20 of them. I've only gotten stronger than 15, and at the beginning I was at least 50 behind him in strength.

Purupurupuru – purupurupuru – purupurupuru.

"Oi! Annagi!" The girl trying to muffle the den den mushi so the others wouldn't wake up.

"Yes!" She hissed, moving quickly away from camp. "This better be important, Bronco."

"Ken's gone missing. We think he got captured by slavers."

Annagi did the best she could to strangle a cry that was coming up from her throat. The polka dotted pants man had taught her the basics of fighting with a sword. There was no way mere slavers could have captured him. "Where is he?"

"Sabaody."

"I'll be there."