Update my **, seriously? To who ever wrote that review wouldn't it have been enough just to ask when the next chapter is coming and that you like that story? I know I wrote that the next Chapter would be up sooner, but I thought I should write a bit in advance so I can update without long pauses… but I guess that wasn't a good idea as well (so sorry for that). At least I could write three Chapters ahead… but now I won't let the impatient readers wait any longer.

Chapter 12: Lost Childhood

When the group reached the house it was already dark. Ace inflamed the fire pit in front of the house while Luffy started to complain how hungry he was. Sanji went to the fireplace immediately and started to cook supper while the rest of the group approached the fireplace. After Kid sat down Chopper came to her and said: "Kid take off your shirt, so I can doctor you!"

Kid looked annoyed at Chopper and flicked one of her fingers against his head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Chopper said rubbing his hurting forehead.

"Like hell I would take off my shirt!" Kid responded disgruntled, but then she became silent again.

"Kid, what's the matter?" Nami asked when she sat next to Kid, "Don't you trust us at all?"

"Well, if you never learned how to trust anybody, it's pretty hard to do that." Kid explained looking up into the night sky while the others looked to her.

Some time went by as Kid closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she looked in the round and said: "Okay, I will tell you what happened when I was younger."

When Luffy heard that he stood up and pass walked the group. "Luffy, where are you going!?" Sanji asked discontentedly.

"I'm not interested in hearing that, it won't change anything for me." Luffy answered and added as he walked to the house, "I'm taking a nap, call me when suppers ready."

Sanji seemed like he wanted to kick Luffy, for his behavior, but Kid said: "Just leave him, if he don't want to hear it, it's fine with me…"

"What ever you say my understanding Kitty~Kid!" Sanji said what caused Kid to massage her nose bridge to calm herself down.

"Alright… where should I start?" Kid asked herself after she took another deep breath, it really got her to talk about her past, "When I was little my father used to beat me and my mother up because all he wanted was a boy. In the network meet earlier having a daughter is the biggest disgrace possible and the women are only cherished when they are pregnant and it is only going on if they have a boy. I only survived because my mother put her live at risk to protect me. When I was seven years old my mother got pregnant again and she came at first to me and told me that she wouldn't be able to shelter me from my fathers sulkiness, she couldn't risk her and the babies' life, hoping that if she'd got a boy everything would change for the better. Of course the beating of me didn't stop." Kid stopped the narrative shortly to clear her throat.

"Why didn't your mother just take you and left him?" Robin asked in shock while the others looked disgusted by what they heard from Kid.

"I guess people are just blind and cling to their hopes sometimes." Kid explained but she sounded like she experienced that this was the wrong thing to do. "When my father brought my mother to the hospital I run away from home. Because he tried to make sure that I wouldn't leave I had a broken leg. After a long time in the forest I met the mother of that woman from earlier, she took me to her home and doctored me. It didn't took long till my father showed up after I told her where my parents are, he threatened her and her whole family with his network if she'd call the police. When my father and I where alone at home he trounced me again but that wasn't enough humiliation that time." Kid had started to knead the skin of her underarm, she had a lump in her throat which she couldn't swallow.

"What happened?" Nami asked desperately while tears burned in her eyes when she hold out a bottle of water to Kid.

"He raped me…" Kid answered with a trembling voice, everybody around was shocked by hearing that, "the reason he gave me was that if I'm old enough to run away I was also old enough for that... When my mother came back with my brother I explained to her what he did to me but she didn't believed me, all she said was that my father was right about beating me when I'm telling horrible lies like that." When Kid saw the pitiful faces, she realized that she let her guard down in front of people she should dislike. "should I stop? it keeps getting uglier." Kid said in her normal offish manner after another sip of the bottle.

Ace was the first who was able to speak after he took a deep breath: "How often did that happened?"

"Every week, when he send away my mother with Tommy for a walk. It went on like this for several months until one day my mother returned earlier. When she opened the door to their bedroom she saw him over me… but instead of saying or doing something she turned around and left, that was the last time that I saw her." As Kid continued the Straw hats and Ace turned even paler, "She dropped everything and left, she didn't even bother to take Tommy with her, but I knew I couldn't do the same thing to my little brother. It kept getting worse and worse and every time I did or said something wrong he trounced me. One day after a transponder snail call he was so frantic that he even hit Tommy." By telling that the anger shined through Kids cold manner, what showed the Straw hats and Ace her attachment for her brother, "I tried to stop him but then he turned against me and larruped me till I was unconscious. When I woke up my brother was still crying and everywhere was blood; he cut the symbol of the network into my back. He was out to a meeting with his network, After I treated my wound as good as possible I took the chance to run away with my little brother. That time I took another route and we ended up in the desert eventually. We went through the desert only having a small amount of water and a bit of provision. When ever we crossed the way of one of the desert creatures I took my brother on my back and run off to safety till I was completely exhausted. In the end we were very lucky that it gave a shower once. After approximately one week of errantry we reached the ocean. A pirate crew anchored there, they just burned down a village, because they had a part of a map, which's supposed to show the ways to every treasure in the world." Kid stopped again and took another sip of water.

"A map which suposse to show the way to every treasure in the world…" Nami said with a whiff of excitement in her Voice, "How does that work?"

Kid looked a bit disgruntled at Nami and said: "Why should I know that, I never cared about it" Nami shrank back ashamedly about her excitement, she knew Kid wouldn't hate pirates for no reason, "However as I found out about the sack of the village it already was too late to get away because my brother and I were already in their middle. In order to protect my brothers and my life I decided to join them after they threatened us. Time passed by as I worked as a maid-of-all-work on their ship, at least my brother and I had every day a warm meal and they let us be. After the marines attacked us and didn't bother to listen to what I was saying, the Capitan taught me on my request how to fight so I would be able to protect myself and my brother. My plan was to hang on till the Captain would be in the best possible mood, which would be when they'd found all parts of the map. Then I'd asked him to leave me and Tommy on the next Island to life a peaceful life." Explaining her goal a shimmer of hope appeared in Kids eyes, "I really thought that I could shelter him from every harm and I hoped so much for a life far apart from those ruthless pirates." As she continued with a trembling Voice she looked sadly into the flames. Suddenly Kids mood swung to hopelessness "But it was only a matter of time until the pirates would show their true faces." Kid took another sip of the water to clear her throat .

"What happened then" Chopper asked being on edge, it was clear they would soon know how it came that Kid heated pirates so much.

"When the they found the last part of the map, they were cheerful and partied. While they passed around the completed map they drank and played funny music. I mustn't have let myself being distract by the happy atmosphere." Again Kid had to clear her throat, it was obviously that it was very hard for Kid to continue the story "Tommy put his hand on the map and started to play with it carelessly. All a sudden the map was gone…" Kids voice started to tremble again, "Tommy ran to me and explained what had happen. As the Captain searched for the map to use it I told him that I lost it. He was so furious that he started choking me. Tommy then cried out the truth and the Captain let up on me, but went against my little Tommy and threw him over board." Kid hang her head and only for one second Ace was sure to see some tears falling down and he felt sorry for insulting her earlier, "I ran to the ship's rail and looked down to the bloody sea but all I saw was a shark. I was only ten years old yet still I felt for my brother like he was my own child… he was everything I had" Nami covered her face in her hands as she started to sigh heavily while the other Straw Hats looked shocked at Kid, even though they had a hunch that would have ended like that. Ace, who knew how painful it was to lose a brother, was especially affected but still he was the one who composed himself and asked: "How did you came back to this Island?"

"The pirates told me that it was my own fault, that I didn't watch what Tommy was doing. For that they throw me into the torture chamber.(again everybody looked with an aghast look at Kid) I don't know anymore how long I was in there before I managed to escape, but there was no land in sight so I hid in an empty barrel till I'd see an island. Unfortunately the Captain found me, he was about to take me back but I bit him, then he draw this dagger and stabbed me." Kid hold up her dagger with the crocked blade, "The Captain threw me over board eventually, I don't know how I survived swimming away from the seakings, but I managed it to get on an island, but at the beach I collapsed. When I woke an old woman had doctored my wounds. After I recovered the woman instructed me in different fighting techniques and educated me. I learned fast how to use the techniques but one day I fought with another woman something strange happened: After I've almost lost suddenly the women who were standing around as well as my opponent fell unconsciously to the ground, that old woman explained to me later that this was a technique which I must not use because I'd be in competition to their empress, who happened to be a pirate. When I heard about that empress all alarm bells started ringing in my head. I decided to give her a shoot and started to observe her after she returned to the Island; if she'd be a good empress and a good-hearted person I'd went on to another Island, but if not I'd fight her and take over her place." Kid explained, making it clear that back then she wasn't totally convinced that all pirates are evil, even though she was a burnt child.

"You are such a good person Kitty-Kid even though you went through such a horror!" Sanji said with watery eyes.

"Do me a favor Zoro, smack him!" Kid said with a disgruntled voice to Zoro who said next to Sanji.

"With the greatest of pleasure." Zoro answered to Kids request and whacked Sanji on his head.

As Sanji hold his hurting head Kid continued her narration: "However that empress was a horrible bitch, she thought just because she's beautiful she could do what ever she wanted. Unfortunately I wasn't strong enough because she had help from her two sisters, and together they were nearly invincible. But still I managed to get off with a slap on my wrists. After the old lady chased me away as well I run off to the forest where I build a raft. But I didn't got far with it I just passed the calm belt when it started to fall apart. There was a boat close to me so I swum to it, the man on the boat was a former marine who was on the way to the marine HQ to bring over some top-secret information, first he was glad about some company, but when I found out about the information, he was mad at me and tried to make sure that I wouldn't babble out the secret, so I had no other choice but to kill him. After changing the course which the marine had shown me how to do it on my own I head back to this Island."

"What was that secret Information?" Robin asked interested.

"Nothing but rumors, which would had taken an innocent child's life at risk." Kid answered vaguely, "However when I returned to Eqrado I came across my former Captain and comrades, who was about to take some young women to their ship. I helped the women by taking revenge for my little brother. At the first moment it was a satisfaction for me, but later on it only made me bitterer, because I realized that nothing would ever bring back the good times I had with my brother." Again Kid became a sad expression on her face.

Nami who composed herself tried to comfort Kid by putting her shacking hand on her shoulder and said with a trembling voice: "I'm so sorry for your little brother…"

But Kid just backed away from Nami by letting her shoulders revolve. "I hope you do now understand, why I'll never be a friend of yours." said Kid sounding convinced about her words, "I won't do the same mistakes over and over again and now I don't want to talk about it anymore"

"What a story… you almost got me as well…" suddenly Usopp said boldly, "But there are to many contradictions in your story!"

"Are you insane?!" That was everything Nami, Chopper and Robin could ask before Kid was up on her feet and jumped over to Usopp. Jerking Usopp on to his feet Kid glared insanely into his wide-opened horrified eyes and the air started to crackling, while Zoro put his hand unnoticed on his katana.

"SO YOU THINK I'M A LIAR?!" Kid yelled madly.

As Kid saw the deadly terror in Usopps eyes she came back to her senses and let go of him and the crackling in the air stopped. Usopp fell back to the ground and crawled away still looking terrified at Kid. "I really hope I would make that just up…" Kid hissed with her dangerously calm voice before she stormed of in direction of the house.

But before Kid vanished out of the fire shine she suddenly stopped and took of her shirt and pushed her hairs aside to revile her scarred back: the lines were deeply scarified into her flesh and patterned the same symbol as those on the bosses face. "Here is the freaking evidence of my lost childhood!" Kid snarled exasperatedly across her shoulder, while Usopp and the rest stared at Kids ugly scar.

Usopp was having a panic attack as he looked at Kids scare before Kid left putting on her shirt again. Just when he was about to get up Zoro pointed with his sword at his nose: "Geez… You've got some nerves!" Zoro said disgruntled, he'd never expected anyone of his crew members to make fun about someone else's tragic past.

"What happened?!" Luffy said in confusion as he came out of the house, "Kid just run the stairs up?!"

"Usopp was an uncouth klutz… And now Kitty-Kid might won't come with us anymore" Sanji whined as Zoro put back his sword.

"Usopp what have you done?" Nami asked sulkily.

"I didn't mean to sound so mean; I just wanted to know about the picture from the day before." Usopp mumbled still frighten to death.

"So it's a misunderstanding. Don't worry I'll have a talk with Kitty-Cat!" Luffy said with a grin.

"Wait Luffy I think it's probably for the best if we just let her be a bit…" Nami expressed her doubts that Luffy could convince Kid to come back downstairs, looking to Kids place.

"Ah you noticed that he already left?" Ace asked before Nami let with an annoyed grunt her head hang.

I hope it was worth waiting. The next chapter will be up within this month I promise (and this time I mean it. because I was able to write some chapters ahead). Please leave some reviews if you can't wait for it and i'll see if I can update it next weekend!