Akainu looked at me, his eyes shocked. "Jade." Akainu spoke my name softly. I looked up at him, my eyes cold. "No. I-I didn't mean to. Please. Please forgive me. You're all I have left of...what our family could have been. Please. Forgive me."

"Don't call me Jade." My tone was curt, and unforgiving. Akainu clenched and unclenched his fists. I stared at him, not saying anything. "Jade." Akainu's tune turned pleading. "Please. I-I know it's hard to forgive me, after I left you after those many years, and didn't even search for you. I-I know I had no hope that you were alive. But….don't you miss the old days? When it was just your mother, you, and me? Those times? When I would tickle you, and you would laugh and smile, like your mother use too." His voice breaks. "And then, she would laugh and get us ready to eat. She would get us back on track. Don't you miss her-"

"You're not in a position to ask if I miss or don't miss her. And I told you not to call me Jade." I cut in coldly. Akainu seemed taken aback, and nodded quickly.

"I-I know. B-but…" Akainu looked up at the sky, watching as colors danced across as if it was a canvas. "I really did miss her. I really did. I'm sorry I didn't have any hope that you were alive...but I swear I thought you guys had left. That you were moving Sabaody. The base was going to be finished that day, so I-I thought after that mission..I could just go home, to where you were..and have those happy times again. I wanted them to hurry...but…." Akainu stopped talking, a faraway look in his eyes. "Y-you know, when I first met your mother, she was being harassed by these..people. They...didn't follow the World Government, and I knew that she was in danger. I-I caught them, and saved her. That was when I wanted to be a marine. That was when I wanted to join the Marines. I wanted to feel that feeling again. The feeling...to save someone that I love. The two of you." Akainu sighed again, and looked back at me. "Your mother once asked me, if I would ever love anyone else. I told her yes. She was almost crying when I said that, but...she still stayed. And I was able to explain why." Akainu held out a hand towards me. "I told her...that the other person I would love...was our daughter. I told her that the girl would call her Mother. A-And you did call her Mother. That made her very happy. A-And she-"

"What's the point of you telling me all of this?" I cut in again. Akainu gulped again, and opened his mouth to speak.

"I-I just...want you to remember the times when I didn't betray you. Y-You might remember already, b-but I-I.." Akainu sighed. "I-I need to remember. To remind myself...that we can still have a happy ending. T-That we once did have happy times together." Akainu shook his head. "I-I know it's sort of stupid, but...sometimes, it just feels like you'll never forgive. And that….we won't ever be as close as before. I still looked at Akainu with hard eyes, but..I clenched my fists. Could I really give him another chance? "Please. I-I just want things...to go back like before. Before Ohara happened. When you were young, and.." Akainu choked back a sob. "When your mother was still here. I-I just want to start over. Please." I clenched my fists.

"Don't talk about her." I snapped at him. "Don't talk about Mother like that. You don't deserve it. Not now." Akainu opened his mouth to retaliate, but I shook my head at him. "Don't. You might have been her husband, and my father, but..after Ohara...you're not my father." I stepped away from him, towards the street.

"No! Jade! Please!" He begged. I stopped and turned around.

"I already told you not to call me that. Sorry, Akainu. When you show that you truly are my father, and you care about me, maybe I'll find a place in my heart for you." Akainu tried to step forward toward me, but I shook my head. "I told you, don't. If you truly want me to forgive me, let me go. If you really want to be sorry, let me do my own thing. You didn't care about me 15 years ago, why should you now? You didn't care how hard it was for me to eat, that I had to steal.." My voice trailed off and I remembered the memories. "Leave me alone. You'll get a chance at redemption, but it's just not now." Akainu ignored me and tried walk forward again. I shook my head. "I told you, that not any use." I used the wind to hold him in place, and walked out, far away from him.

"NO! JADE! PLEASE! FORGIVE ME!" He cried out. I ignored him and kept walking. "I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN. I WILL. AND THEN, YOU WILL FORGIVE ME. NO MATTER WHAT I DO, YOU WILL FORGIVE ME!"

Line Break

I sighed as I sat down on a random piece of debris. I felt drained, empty. Fighting with Akainu made me mentally exhausted. I sighed again, and stared up at the sky. 'Mom, where are you? Why can't you help me in this world? I miss you so much. I wish you were here.' I stared up at the sky for a long time, reminiscing about past memories. Why couldn't...Why couldn't we go back to simpler times? I sigh, and clench my fist. What happened...to all those happier times? Where did they go? Why..couldn't our family stay together? I felt my eyes well up with tears. Why...why couldn't the old times stay the same? Why..why did everything have to be so hard? W-why...I furiously wiped my eyes and sat up. I shouldn't be crying because of Akainu. He didn't deserve my tears. Yet…here I was, still crying over him. H-He didn't care about me...and h-he would lie to me about it. I cried harder, tears dripping down and splattering on the ground. I kept crying, even when I heard soft footsteps behind me. "Are you ok?" The person asked. I shook my head and made a shooing motion.

"Please just go." I hiccupped. The person didn't listen, and sat down next to me. I glanced at him, wondering why he would care if I was crying. The man was had blond hair up to his shoulder, and wore a top hat with goggles on the rim. He carried a metal pole with him over his back.

"Why are you crying?" He asked again.

"W-why would you care?"

"You're crying with death and destruction all around you. Of course I'd care." I sighed.

"I-It's really complicated."

"I have time." I sighed again and wiped away the last of my tears.

"My dad just betrayed me again." The man looked me and smiled gently.

"I know how that feels. When was it the first time?"

"Almost 20 years ago." The man whistled.

"Dang. He really messed up. I'm Sabo." Sabo held out a hand for me to shake. I took it, cautiously. "What's your name?"

"Cuffs." I said simply. Sabo grinned.

"Cuffs, huh? 500,000,000 beri?" I cracked a smile.

"My bounty's only that high because I went to the War." Sabo suddenly stopped smiling. My eyes widened. Was he a friend of Ace? Or Whitebeard? "Did you know Ace?" Sabo smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I-I was his brother." His voice broke at the last word, and I nodded at him. No words needed to be exchanged. I understood, the pain, and the hurt. That Ace was never coming back. Suddenly, we both heard a scraping noise. "What was that?" Sabo asked me. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"It's coming near the edge of the cage." My eyes widened. Was..the cage moving? "Doflamingo's trying to trap us." Sabo nodded, his eyes wide.

"I need to go save civilians." I nodded and shooed him away.

"Go, now. I'll look after Luffy." Sabo stopped, his eyes wide. "I-Is Luffy not your brother? Sorry, you said you were Ace's brother-" Sabo shook his head.

"No, I'm Luffy's brother too. It's just..Thank you." I smiled at him, and ran towards the palace.

Whoo! Anyways, not gonna post until end of Dressrosa (anime). I know how I'm going to end this, and the end is near! But I need to see all the episodes first...and...I'm sorry, but I just can't read manga. I no understand...