Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.

The Dragon Chronicles

Chapter 3 - Legionnaires

"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

-Francois Muriac

Her legs were starting to ache, that's what she decided. There was a low throb of pain pulsating from them due to the prolonged action of standing…. Or would that not be considered an action since she wasn't moving? She wasn't sure, but after standing still in the same spot for the last few hours, her body was becoming sore from being inactive (but not) too long.

She resisted a snort at that thought. Her body hurt. Period. Standing too long and remaining in one spot for hours on end wasn't helping, but she had been aching since she got on this blasted vessel due to all the abuse her body had been put through. But pain wasn't new to her and she could easily filter it out, what was bothering her the most at this moment, besides her stiffening muscles legs, was being bored.

And she was most definitely bored at this moment. Glancing to her side, she could see the resting form of her captor, sitting comfortable in his chair while she had to stand, wrists cuffed together by kairoseki manacles, chains around her feet, and an oh-so-glamorous metal collar around her neck with chains keeping her attached to that one spot on the vessel. She almost was envious of the man, sitting there completely unburdened by the heavy load of chains watching as his men scurried about doing this and that.

Almost being the key word. There was one thing that kept her from feeling envy, and that was the knowledge that this man was currently plagued with something that he could not get rid of until he reached their final destination: her.

She knew he had orders to bring her in, and because of that, he couldn't kill her (no matter how much she knew he wanted to). And being the good little pirate that she was, she used every second of her time with him making his daily life a living hell.

Speaking of annoying him- she let out a heavy, over the top sigh. Gauging his body language from the corner of her eye. A smirk rested upon her lips from under her cowl as she noted the slight twitch of his black gloved hand before he started drumming his fingers upon the armrest of his chair.

She let out another sigh a minute or so later, just as over the top as the one before, waited for a little while less than before, and repeated her actions, the interval between the sighs shortening each time. She could see it in his stiffening posture that he was trying to ignore it, he was even started to clench his teeth together as a way of keeping his temper in control.

Finally, she let out the sigh that broke his control.

"WHAT!" He roared at her, jerking his head over to look at her with furious brown eyes. The veins in his thick neck budging in his fury. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, BITCH?"

"Nothing doggy." She shrugged simply. "I merely wanted to see how long it took you to respond."

She could see his irritation level growing higher, but before he could give his retort, someone else intervened.

"Oi, oi, Silver-san," the lazy voice drew both their attentions away from each other. "Could you make my job easier and not throw Sakazuki into a rage?"

The woman looked from the man seated in the chair over to the man lying on the ground with a sleeping mask pulled over his eyes, like he was trying to sleep in the middle of the day. She vaguely wondered if he was faking it or if his devil fruit powers caused his apparent low energies or if he really was just that plain lazy.

"Don't address this pirate scum with such honorifics, Kuzan." Sakazuki sneered, ignoring the comment about his temper.

"Oh shut up, Aokiji, you're ruining my only source of entertainment on this ship," Silver snapped before returning her attention to the other man. "As for you Akainu, Aokiji knows better than to disrespect a person of my standing."

"You're a pirate whore, what's there to respect?" Sakazuki spat, venom in every word he spoke to her.

"Hunhunhun," Silver gave a throaty chortle instead of becoming angry at the magma admiral's words, humor danced in her eyes.

Kuzan had to mentally note that even though she was purposely annoying, her laugh was beautiful and velvety. However, she was a spitfire and couldn't seem to hold her tongue, especially around Sakazuki. He knew that if it wasn't for their orders to bring her back alive, she'd been killed weeks ago by Sakazuki. He had the feeling she knew that they couldn't kill her without legitimate reasons and was taking every opportunity to rub it in their faces.

"What's so funny?" Sakazuki growled at her, not liking the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"You really know nothing, do you doggy? You're just some stupid hot-headed dog of the government, doing their bidding, hoping to get a 'good boy treat' when you complete their little task, neh? Probably why you're known as Akainu- red dog- right? Cause of that volatile temper of yours? I bet even your own superiors are afraid of you; afraid that their little dog might bite the hand that feeds him."

A vein budged in Sakazuki's forehead as his temper shot up once more. Grabbing the wench by the chain that attached to her collar, he pulled her towards him, his fingers heating up as his devil powers began to activate. She didn't draw back in fear or beg for mercy, only narrowing her eyes- the only things that could be seen under the cowl they forced her to wear- as if daring him to do it.

"That's enough, Sakazuki." The magma admiral felt a cold hand upon his shoulder, warning him of the consequences if he continued to go through with the attack.

"Siding with her, Kuzan?" He sneered, tossing the woman as far away as her chains would allow from him.

"No. I don't want you to get in trouble for insubordination. It is imperative that we take her to Marineford to be tried first."

"Che," Sakazuki huffed, returning to staring out at the vast ocean before him like before.

There had been a mist earlier that morning (something not uncommon upon the ocean) and it was finally dissolving now that the sun was high in the sky. Allowing him and his men a better view of the endless oceans for as far as the eye could see. Scanning the spreading horizons, Admiral Sakazuki paused when he noticed an anomaly within their usually empty surroundings.

It was on the edge of the mist, still barely visible, but enough to make him curious. Grabbing the telescope that rested near his chair on deck, he pulled it up to his face to further inspect this anomaly. His lips curled in a feral grin when it recognized that the ship's flag was a Jolly Roger.

It was a pirate ship and he was just aching to put some in their proper place.

"Pirates," he practically purred as he pulled the telescope away from his face and proceeded to poke Kuzan with it to get his attention.

The other man sighed, taking the telescope, pushing up his sleeping mask and straightening himself so he could inspect the upcoming ship as well.

"Which Jolly Roger is that? They must be relatively new." Kuzan surmised as he studied the ship's colors a little longer before describing it aloud. "It almost looks like a fox."

"Foxy Pirates, sailing under the leadership of Foxy the Silver Fox. It has been noted as of recently that he may have attained a paramecia devil fruit- the Nora Nora no Mi, if I recall correctly. His bounty is still quite low, but he has been gaining quite a reputation in the small time he has been captain of his own ship. Not much promise as a potential seeker to the One Piece treasure. He's out of his known territory, however, so it makes me think that he has something a little bit more valuable onboard than usual, causing him to go somewhere that he can properly sell his stolen merchandise."

Both Sakazuki and Kuzan shot surprised looks upon the speaker. Though she remained steadfast in her spot, eyes gazing at the far off ship with an unreadable study.

"Selling out your own people?" Sakazuki was the first to recover from her unexpected report.

"It seems a little strange that a pirate would willing give up anything about other pirates, Silver-san." Kuzan chipped in, ignoring the quick glare shot his way by Sakazuki for addressing her so formally once more.

Kuzan was curious to why she would help them or even give them anything about another pirate ship. He knew she wasn't like most pirates, her proceeding reputation told him that, but to outright help the World Government was gravely outside her character.

"I am not a saint. I am a pirate, a retired pirate mind you, but I am also a woman known for her bleeding heart." She said in a biting tone, eyes narrowed in disgust. "The only reason they'd sail this far out of their territory at this stage of their growth in reputation and numbers is to go to Sabaody."

Kuzan was the first to realize what she meant. "They're trying to go to Sabaody to sell to the slave house."

Silver nodded, her eyes still fast upon the vessel, eyes dancing in rage at the idea of someone being sold like they were nothing but property to be owned. Kuzan remembered that it was said that she had freed potential slaves on more than one occasion during her time as an active pirate. The people called her a Peace Main, much like her captain had been labeled as, but that still did not mean that she had not participated in the slaughter of men when the time called for it. She had killed Marines and pirates alike in her day, those were some of the reasons why she was to be tried rather than outright killed.

"Well that gives us all the more reason to... permanently discourage such vile behavior. Not that we needed anything more than the fact that they are disgusting pirate scum and need to be reminded of what Absolute Justice is." Sakazuki said in a dark manner, bloodlust dancing in his amber colored eyes.

Kuzan tried to ignore the dread bubbling within his chest at his fellow admiral's cruel sense of justice. Though it was from just the corner of his eye, he could see that Silver was rolling her eyes at what Admiral Sakazuki had just said. Though she had already teased him about his 'Lazy Justice', he could see that she agreed more his sense of right and wrong than Sakazuki's distinctly black and white views.

Since they weren't took well known or dangerous, Sakazuki decided to let his men handle the situation under his watchful gaze. At first, his men seemed to do a fine job at following protocol and dealing with the pirates according to regulations, but the longer the confrontation continued, the more displeased Sakazuki found himself with the men onboard this vessel. They kept shooting bullets and missing the damned buggers on board the pirate vessel. Even the canons weren't hitting their mark and the other ship wasn't that far out of range. Hell some of the large ammunition was clearly overshooting its mark.

It was beginning to irritate him that these men, men that had been trained to keep the peace and to pursue justice, were doing a piss poor job at it. And of course, what pissed him off more was that the blasted she-devil he was forced to escort to Marineford noticed it too.

"You seem to be getting restless, Doggy." Silver said with a happy tone. "Can't sit and watch as your men trained to be keepers of the peace fail at apprehending one little, tiny pirate ship?"

Though the ship wasn't exactly tiny, it was diminutive compared to their marine vessel. There were more men upon this ship than on the pirate ship and yet it was getting away. Sakazuki was about to get up and take care of this whole mess in response to the female pirate's barbs when he realized that was what she wanted. For some reason far beyond his comprehension of this wench, she wanted him to participate in this fight they had picked with the novice pirates. She was trying to manipulate him into doing her will! So instead of becoming her little pawn in this strange game of hers, he decided he would not do anything she wanted of him, spoken or unspoken. So, he sat back against his chair and proceeded to watch his men poorly fight the disgusting pirates. The only consolation he had about having to watch was the fact that his prisoner seemed greatly disappointed that her plan had utterly failed. She didn't say anything as she went back to quietly observing the attack, no doubt thinking of a way around this new obstacle in her path.

Sakazuki watch her from the corner of his eye, not really interested in watching his men botch up, trying to figure out what she would do next to irritated him. Suddenly, her whole body tensed, her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the pirate ship. Curiously, Sakazuki turned his attention once more to the pirate ship just in time to see a small child jump from one of the many portholes of the vessel into the water, treading desperately towards his ship.

"That must be what they were trying to sell." Silver noted in a tense tone.

"Or perhaps its just their cabin boy pretending to be their hostage so that we will decease our attack upon them in order to assist him instead." Sakazuki waved off.

"But what if it's not!?" Silver shouted, glaring at him as her form became even more tense.

Before the magma admiral could give her his response, the boat began to rock a bit from an unexpected turn within the battlefield. There, arising from the water, was a long serpent like Sea King. It had probably been disturbed or was curious by all the noise they had been making and came to see what it was. At first, its attention was upon the pirate ship, making Sakazuki smile darkly at the idea of the pirate vessel being destroyed by the ocean's own creatures, but then, its attention was placed upon something much smaller. The child in the water had let out a startled scream when it had noticed the Sea king and now it was looking at the easy prey with a predatory hunger.

"You must save that child!" Silver suddenly screamed at him, her eyes glowing with intense emotions at the thought of a small child being killed in such a horrible way.

Sakazuki couldn't help but smirk at her, eyes narrowing as he let her know that he wasn't going to do any such thing. He had finally gotten her goat and it was glorious to see how desperate she was when everything he had done prior to this had left her unfazed. He wasn't going to lift a finger to do what she wanted, even at the cost of a child's life and it'd rest heavily on her shoulders knowing she had driven him to this.

"Please!" She begged him, falling to her hands and knees as she continued to throw her pride away. She'd do anything for the sake of a child's life, even if it meant giving up what little freedom she had in return. "Please... I'll do anything you want me to! I'll... I'll stop talking to you! I'll leave you in peace! But please! You must save the child!"

Though he would have loved to revel in this moment, there was unfortunately a time limit hanging over this decision. He knew that if he let the brat die, Silver would double her efforts in pestering him, but if he allowed the child to be saved, then she would be forced to shut up. However, he still wasn't going to do as she said, regardless of whether or not he was sparing the child.

"Someone get me a shotgun with one fire left." He ordered quickly, getting out of his spot and quickly approaching Silver's form and pulling her to a standing position so that he could undo her chains and unhook her manacles from each other.

"Wh-what are you doing!" She seemed utterly confused.

"If you want to save the brat so much, you do it. I don't take orders from a pirate. But you better hurry," He looked to see that the Sea King was getting ready to strike. "It looks like you're running out of time."

He wasn't going to save the child merely because she had wanted him to. She wasted no time grabbing the marine standard gun from the young grunt's hands, who had just arrived, and taking several long, fast strides to the railing of the metal vessel and taking her aim. She could feel Sakazuki watching her, curious at how she was going to attempt to kill a Sea King with just a simple shotgun. She ignored him, taking aim at the most effective spot to kill the creature and began to focus her haki into the gun's last shot.

She fired the moment it lunged at the child, the bullet speeding through the air at an abnormal rate as her haki amplified its power. The noise of the gunfire still echoing through the air as everything seemed to fall quiet for just the moment. The silence was broken only by the howling sound of the Sea King and its head crashed back into the ocean, dead.

"Someone go get the kid out of the water," Kuzan's voice shouted from behind her, making her suddenly irritated at him.

He could have done something while her and Akainu had at it, but instead he hadn't even said a word. She tried not to grit her teeth when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm violently and the empty firearm ripped out of her hold before her manacles were being linked back together.

"You know, I didn't actually think you'd pull it off." Sakazuki told her in an amused tone. "Unfortunately, that pirate ship got away because of the waves the Sea King made when it fell back into the ocean, but if what you said turns out to be true, the Marines just saved the life of a poor innocent child who had been kidnapped by pirates." He leaned in further till his lips were at her ear, "What do you have to say about that, bitch?"

Silence was his only response, the noise of his men pulling the child up to the safety of their vessel was only white noise in his ears as he watched stare blankly ahead. Satisfaction danced within him as he dragged her back to her spot on his vessel that she was to stand while he was on deck. He chained her back up, turning to go see who the child he had save was. When he had turned though, he met the disapproving stare of his fellow admiral who was now standing, awake, and very much bothering him.

"It wasn't like you did anything to save the brat." Sakazuki snapped at him. "And now we have the bonus of silence now that the pirate wench traded away her voice for the brat's life."

"Oi, I would have done something eventually if you hadn't, Sakazuki. And do remember, that if this child isn't a cabin boy like you had said, I would have to make sure that you had to explain your reasons to Fleet Admiral Sengoku after I give my report. Arara, I'm sure that he wouldn't have been all too pleased to hear that an innocence's life had been forfeited for something so trivial." Kuzan sternly told him, a deep frown on his face as he pretty much bored holes through Sakazuki in order to make sure his point had been made.

"If is a very strong key word in your whole scenario." Sakazuki told him, shrugging off the threat as he made his way down to the lower tier of his deck. "We don't even know if the child is a pirate yet."

Sakazuki continued on, not caring to hear any more from his lazy counterpart. He almost wished that they had sent the light admiral to help him deal with the whole situation than Kuzan. The ice user had almost as big of a bleeding heart for children as their pirate captive. It was repulsive, especially when the child was guilty of committing heinous crimes.

"Tut-tut-tut," Silver clicked her tongue at the departing form of Sakazuki. He didn't hear her since he was too far out of her range, but then again, she wasn't conversing with him. "That man is a loose canon waiting to misfire. Anyone whose misfortunate to be around when that time comes is going to get burned. I hope it's his masters, I'll tell you that much." She paused, moving her gaze from Akainu to Aokiji. "Bluebird, you definitely confuse me, you know that? But you have my thanks. It would have done me a lot better if you'd stepped in earlier... but beggars can't be choosers."

Kuzan's lips twitched into a small smile as he looked down at the little woman who had supposedly promised away her voice. "I thought you weren't suppose to talk anymore?"

She gave out a unlady like snort as she looked up to him with a proud gleam in her eyes. "Nah. I only said I wouldn't talk to him and I'd leave him in peace if he saved her. He totally null voided that one by giving the gun to me to save her. I just haven't informed him of that fact yet." She almost sang that last line before returning back to her normal tone. "Let him think he's won for a bit. You won't tell him, right Bluebird?"

"Not a peep." He promised without a second thought. "Arara, you definitely are a handful, Silver-san. How did Roger-san ever put up with you?" Kuzan chuckled under his breath at the thought of her cowing the most feared pirate around like he was nothing.

"More like how did I put up with that idiot." She retorted with a huff before staring down at where Akainu was now talking to the young child. "Oi, Bluebird, could you go down there and check up on the little girl. Doggy seems to be making her nervous."

Aokiji blinked as he looked down at where Silver was staring, shocked at the sudden revelation. "Her? The child is a little girl?"

"Hunhunhunhun." Silver chortled to herself as she watched Aokiji's reaction. He was already long gone, not daring to leave someone as volatile as Sakazuki with a frightened, probably crying, little girl who would probably irritate the short tempered man with her cries. "So, what kind of person are you, little draco?"

Rei coughed and sputtered as she was pulled up onto the Marine warship. She had sucked in a lot of water when the waves caused by the Sea King had submerged her unexpectedly. She was fortunate that some of the men had already been preparing to get her or she probably wouldn't have been able to keep herself afloat much longer. Her adrenaline was wearing down and she seemed to be able to register the pain that her adrenaline had somehow blocked out. She desperately wanted to cry as her nervous system pulsed with pain. Her open wounds felt like they were on fire now that she could feel again, the salt in the water having gotten into them.

Her body was greatly fatigued and damaged, but the little eight year old didn't care. She was free of those bastard pirates and was finally safe, surrounded by Marines- the good guys. Someone had gotten her a towel while she had been preoccupied with her silent suffering and thoughts and was now offering it to her so she could dry off. She thanked him as she took the towel, her stuttering and shyness had come back now that she wasn't fueled by strong emotions. She couldn't help but smile as she wrapped the large towel around her, greatly comforted by its fuzzy warmth that she had been denied throughout her long stay with them. Rei felt that at last she was going to be okay and be able to go home to her family where she'd be safe and loved.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a tall man dressed in a burgundy suit with a single flower in his suit breast pocket and a white marine jacket and cap approached her with a harsh look upon his face. She had to strain her head to even look at this man's unhappy, very scary face.

"Who are you and why were you on that pirate ship. Are you one of them?" He spoke harshly to her, spatting out the word pirate like it was some sort of disease.

Rei's eyes widened in horror at even being associated with such horrible people.

"I am most certainly not!" She shouted, rage fueling her words. "Th-they are horrible monsters that ki-kidnapped me from my fa-family! I HATE PIRATES! I HATE THEM! THEY SHOULD ALL JUST DIE!"

She bit the insides of her cheeks harshly, tasting the metal tang of blood within her mouth as she held back her tears, glaring up at the man who had asked her such outrageous questions. Her rage, anger, and hatred for them would not allow her to cry over it. She wasn't going to cry over anything they did to her. That bitch Porche would have won if she cried now that it was all over. It would mean that even though the bitch was far, far away she'd always have that hold on her if she cried about it. Never again would she cry or speak about what had been done to her!

She was shocked out of her anger when she saw the man grin maliciously. She realized that he wasn't aiming that malice towards her, but he was well pleased with her response. What she didn't know though was that he was reveling in the ferocity of her glare. Her eyes burned with the intensity of magma and spoke volumes of her rage and hate towards pirates. She shed no tears even though she seemed to have been terrified at her situation. She held so much promise as a potential candidate to join the Marines. He could already see her now as a Marine Rear Admiral, killing pirates and bringing Absolute Justice to the world under his command.

"I see." He simply said before relaxing his stance a bit and softening his expression ever so slightly (Rei still thought he still looked scary). "I apologize for my rash words. It wouldn't have been well if we had lost capturing those vermin while saving their ilk. I merely wanted to be sure that you hadn't allied yourself with such scum. So then, tell me, girl, what is your name so that we may return you to your family."

"S-s-swift R-rei, S-sir. My... my family was h-headed for W-w-water 7..." Rei stuttered once more, her nervousness returning once more now that her rage had been subsided by this intimidating man's words.

"Swift Rei?" He repeated before nodding. "I see. We will be sure to get you back to them safely. Now, did those low lives hurt you in any way?"

Rei paused, clinging tightly to the towel and engulfed her small, sitting shape within its size. Of course they had! But saying yes would admit to what she had done to her. And she would never speak of it to anyone.

"N-n-n-no... They... th-they pulled my hair a-and fo-forgot to feed m-me th-though some-sometimes..." She managed out, glad for that because she was always stuttering out her words, that it was difficult to detect when she was lying.

"Still, such horrible things to do to a child." He shook his head, giving her his sympathy. He was about to continue his conversation with her when he noticed Kuzan making his way over to them rather quickly for the usually slothful Admiral. "Ah, Kuzan, decided to join us after all."

"I wanted to make sure the girl was alright, Sakazuki. You tend not to do well with children, especially little girls who cry." Kuzan emphasized the last words, reminding the other admiral of the last time he had dealt with crying children.

"Does it look like young Rei here is crying?" Sakazuki retorted, glowering at Kuzan as he gestured to the girl with his head.

Kuzan looked at the little girl, surprised at the rare, vivid coloring of her eyes. She was practically buried in the towel, which she clutched to her form like a security blanket. Though she did look nervous, she wasn't crying or making a fuss. She was merely observing them with wide, curious eyes.

"No. No, she is not." Kuzan had to say, before sighing and turning around to walk away. "Ararara, well I'm going back to sleep then."

"Actually," Sakazuki drawled as he looked back down at the girl.

As much as he wanted to take her and mold her into the perfect pursuer of Absolute Justice, he was not good with taking care of children. He didn't have the patience for it and though Rei looked relatively easy to watch, he already had his hands full making sure Silver was properly dealt with.

"I'm assigning you to take care of Miss Rei's needs. After all, I need to keep my full attention on that pirate bitch we have to escort to Marineford. I highly doubt she'll be able to keep her mouth shut regardless of our agreement. Then again, pirates don't honor their word."

"More like you didn't honor your side of the agreement," Kuzan muttered under his breath so that the child didn't hear his retort. He was standing with his back to Sakazuki and Rei, but he was craning his head to look at them over his shoulder. "And since when can you order me about? Arara... I'll watch her, though I don't see why I have to do it."

He already knew why he did need to do it, but he doubted that Sakazuki had even thought of those reasons when he had made his decision. He bid the little girl to follow him. She had shot up from her spot on the ground and hastily fought to catch up with him without full out running. She had to keep a fast pace with her little legs to even match the long, slow strides he made as he lead her back to where he had been taking his nap prior to her saving.

Kuzan fought to roll his eyes when he realized that even though he and the girl had left slightly before Sakazuki, that they all ended up in the same spot. Sakazuki went back to sitting in his seat and Kuzan laid back down on the ground getting ready to take another nap. He patted the spot next to him so that Rei knew she could sit or lay there. Lunch wasn't for a while more and so she'd have to wait till then to get something to eat. Besides, he figured she could use a nap after her long morning so far.

He peeked an eye open when he realized that Rei hadn't come to his side to sit down, like he had thought she would. Instead, she was staring at Silver with curiosity, confused at why there was a woman chained to that one spot.

Before Kuzan could explain it to the child, Sakazuki beat him to it with a less than proper answer to a child already suffering from severe trauma due to more hostile pirates.

"This is that pirate bitch I mentioned earlier."

"Oi, oi, Sakazuki. Language." Kuzan scolded him, turning to look at the child whose whole expression had changed from innocent curiosity to a loathing hatred in the matter of seconds.

Rei couldn't help but glare at the woman. She was probably like her. That horrible thing that didn't deserve the right to be called a woman. All female pirates were probably just like her, even this one. That was probably why she was chained as she was, to protect everyone from her brutality and bloodlust. She slowly made her way to the other man, Kuzan she had heard him be called, sitting next to him as she kept her towel close to her, much like a security blanket, while never once looking away from the woman's form.

Suddenly, the other female's eyes, which had been hidden in the shadows of her cowl as she stared into the distance, snapped over to her. Ruby met gold as their gazes connected. Rei, though she still hated this woman, was startled at the coloring of the woman's eyes. They were just like hers, disregarding the color difference. They seemed to glow even though the cowl caused shadows that should have made it impossible to see the woman's eyes at all. They looked almost alive, like lightning literally danced within her golden gaze. However, Rei recovered from her surprise and gave her the darkest look the eight year old could muster before ripping her gaze away to look elsewhere.

"Cute kid." The woman remarked dryly as she turned her head back to stare at the ocean.

"I knew you couldn't keep your mouth shut." Sakazuki grumbled as he too scowled at the woman.

"Bluebird, please tell Doggy that I merely said that I wouldn't talk to him. Tell him I was merely making a observation to you and not to him. So, I am keeping my word, regardless, of the fact that he didn't fulfill his end of the bargain." She said in a flat tone as she looked at neither of the two men or at the child sitting close to the ice admiral.

Just because he was annoyed at Sakazuki, Kuzan turned his head and began to talk. "Oi, oi, Silver-san says that-"

"I know," Sakazuki snarled angrily, his head snapping down to look at Kuzan. "I heard her! And what did I tell you about using honorifics! She's a pirate! She's a piece of trash! She's lower than the dirt underneath my boots! She doesn't deserve respect!"

Kuzan looked over to the young girl, gauging her expression as she silently watched everything that was going on. Turning his attention back to Sakazuki, he shrugged and pulled the sleeping mask over his eyes. "If you say so..."

Rei was absolutely befuddled with what she had just seen. These two men, Sakazuki and Kuzan, seemed to be the highest ranking officers on the ship, since they went to no one but themselves for direction. They both spoke to each other using no titles or honorifics, implying that they probably were good acquaintances or on the same level of authority or both. However, what confused her was the level of respect both of them had for the pirate.

While Sakazuki-san held no regard for the woman, Silver as Kuzan had called her, Kuzan-san addressed her with a level of respect that made the young child very perplexed. Why would someone address a pirate with respect? They were nothing like the make believe pirates in her story books where they might steal, but they never hurt anyone more than beating them at a sword fight. Definitely nothing like her sisters and she pretended to be when playing make believe in the safety of her backyard. She had seen a pirate's brutality first hand and she couldn't see anything worth respecting.

From what she had witnessed and been told by the adults of Fireworks Island, the Marines were the good guys! They were the ones that had saved her and protected her from the evil clutches of the Foxy Pirates. They were the ones that protected everyone that were ruled over by the World Government. They were the real good guys, making sure that they protected the rights of the everyday person, whether a civilian or a noble. Though Sakazuki looked a little scary, she admired him for his power and sense of justice. Pirates were scum. They did deserve to be punished for their crimes.

Yawning, Rei realized how tired she truly was, rubbing her eyes with her fists that still clutched onto the towel she had been given. She wasn't about to let it go. It protected her from the ocean wind and was heated by the warmth of the sun as she slowly dried off. Deciding that since Kuzan-san was allowed to take a nap, so was she, Rei laid down, cradling her head in her arms and dozed off as well.

Rei was once again following after Admiral Kuzan, who had finally properly introduced both himself and Admiral Sakazuki during lunchtime. She had been his shadow for the whole day, following him where ever he went because she knew he was suppose to be watching her. He never really said much to her, but that was okay, she didn't feel like talking much to him and not just because she couldn't say more than three words without stuttering. She wasn't much better with Sakazuki, but that's because he was very intimidating despite the fact that he seemed to be keen on her.

She was still clutching onto the towel that had been given to her earlier that day, unwilling to let it go. She had it like it was a hooded cloak, keeping it shut by pulling the ends together with her hands. Though she had dried off long ago, no one had bothered to take it from her and in a way she was glad. She was an absolute mess under it and she didn't want people to see that. It was humiliating.

It was long after dinnertime and Kuzan was finally taking her somewhere where she could sleep peacefully through the night without worrying about if she would come in and hurt her if she let her guard down. Finally he led her to a metal door in the middle of a long hallway. He pulled out some keys before finding the right one and unlocked the door. The creaking of the metal made her tense. It reminded her of her cell door when she had come in, looking for her to hurt her. Being curious as to what was in the room, Rei peeked in from behind Admiral Kuzan's leg. She froze at what she saw and before she could dart away, the admiral had already scooped her up into his hold, stepping in and shutting the door before she began to do anything more than hyperventilate.

"Oi, Rei. It's just for the night." He tried to soothe her with his calm words, "because of regulations, there is no where else I can put you during the night without there being some sort of problem, you understand?"

"No!" She cried, clutching to his neck and fighting off the tears that threatened to fall. "C-can't I stay with y-you or Ad-admiral Saka-zuki!"

She didn't want to be here. Not here. Anywhere but here. From the corner of her eye, she could see something more, causing her to panic even more. She knew who that was.

"Are you serious?" She heard her say, chains jingling as the woman shifted from her spot. "You are putting her in here for me to babysit?"

"If you haven't noticed, you are the only female presence upon this entire warship, Silver-san." Kuzan told the woman, gently prying Rei's arms from around his neck as he pulled her away from his person.

"So you are going to lock a child in a cell next to a pirate when she's been locked up for who knows how long by pirates in a cell." Silver seethed, apparently angry at the revelation. "Do you realize how messed up that is!"

It wasn't like Rei was too happy about this, she was freaking out, her chest felt void of all air as she weakly fought to get out of the admiral's grip before he managed to put her into the cell next to the golden-eyed woman's.

In her state of panic, she complete missed the next part of their conversation.

"You're the only one I can trust to protect her." Kuzan confided in the female pirate. "You're the only one I know will not harm the child with or without cause. I can't have her in my room because that compromises my integrity as an admiral, nor can I put her by herself in a room, what if someone came in? No one would know until it was too late."

Silver stared at him a while longer before sighing in defeat. "Fine." She grumbled. "I mean, really, how hard could it be to watch a frightened, little kid whose hyperventilating?" She laid back down on the cot, her stomach against the mattress while she tried not to further irritate her wounds. Her shirt, which she was currently wearing backwards to preserve her dignity, was unbuttoned, allowing her back bare besides the damp, blood stained cloth that she was using to soothe her fresh wounds.

Kuzan had forgotten, especially since she never let it show during her long hours of standing with heavy chains, that she received thirty lashes as well as a sound beating to keep her weakened. He hated that they treated her like this, but it had been the higher ups orders, one that Akainu was all too happy to follow.

"Would you like me to get you something? As payment for keeping an eye on the girl?" Kuzan asked. It was the only thing he could do for her, this fallen figure that once stood for everything her captain did.

"Maybe a cup of cold water? And definitely an apple." Silver suggested, licking her dry lips at the thought to the two requested items.

He nodded, he could oblige her that.

"Yay." She said bluntly, though he could see that she was grateful. "By the way, Bluebird, I wasn't kidding about the hyperventilating part. She's, like, literally hyperventilating. You might want to calm her down a bit before she hurts herself doing that."

"Shit," Kuzan hissed as he looked at Rei, who he was still holding in his arms away from his body, looking ready to have a heart attack.

"Language, Bluebird." Silver teased him before motioning at him to go into the girl's destined cell. "Sit with her for a while and get her a bit more comfortable with the idea. I'm chained to the wall, so leave the cells unlocked, just in case, and lock the door leading to the hallway."

Kuzan nodded, taking Rei into the cell and sitting her on the cot while he crouched down so he could be eye to eye with her.

"Rei." He called to her, noticing how she was despondent.

"Rei." He tried again, tapping her little cheek gently. He wasn't expecting the harsh reaction when she snapped back into reality, jerking her whole body away from him in sheer panic.

"Rei, you need to calm down, okay?" Kuzan murmured to her gently. "I will be back first thing in the morning to come get you. No one is going to hurt you here, okay?"

Rei shook her head, still shaking. He couldn't know that she had been hurt so violently. He didn't know, he was ignorant of it, but how could he think she'd not be safe anywhere but here? This was a Marine ship filled with Marines. She was safe anywhere on this ship but here!

"Just till morning," he repeated to her, getting up slowly to make sure she didn't freak out and try to make a run for it. "Silver-san has promised to watch you. Your cell won't be locked and if you ever need to get into Silver-san's cell, hers won't be either. However, she is chained to the wall. She can't get out of that cell at all. Understood?"

No! Rei didn't want to be here! She wanted to be at home with her family where she was safe, not with a pirate! But she knew she couldn't win this. Kuzan might look lazy, but she'd already realized he was fast when he wanted to be. He'd have no trouble catching her, so instead she just nodded. She was going to have to deal with the fact that she had to stay here at night.

"Do you think you can handle this, Silver-san?" Kuzan asked, slowly backing out of the cell and towards the entrance door.

Silver looked at him with a dull expression, like he was some sort of idiot for even asking her that before looking at the girl on the cot on the far side of her cell. She lazily pointed at the child, barking a monotonous "sit" and "stay".

She looked back at him, a smirk hidden under her cowl as she gave a light chuckle. "Hunhunhun. She's much more obedient than Doggy. I bet I can have her doing tricks before the night is over, what do you think?"

Kuzan rolled his eyes, taking that as a yes before finally turning around and leaving the room. Both females heard the door being locked. The moment the sound stopped, Rei launched herself from her cot and into the farthest corner the cell allowed her to get from the pirate, hugging the towel like it was her only lifeline.

"Hey, look kid," Silver started, feeling bad that the girl was such a state that she'd actually do this. "I was just kidding about teaching you tricks. Though you might want to watch out for Akainu. He's going to try to make a Marine of you yet. Geez, the way he keeps jabbering on and on about how impressed he is about you escaping those Foxy Pirates. He says that you're brave, a fast thinker, and-"

"SHUT UP!" Rei finally screamed at the chatty female pirate, glaring at her with her raging red eyes that reflected the unadulterated hate that Silver had seen countless times within Sakazuki's own eyes. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT PIRATE SCUM! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! JUST DIE AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

And with that, Rei forced herself further into the corner, if that was possible at all, and hid underneath the security of her towel. Silver's eyes glazed over a bit, any spark of interest she had in the kid now gone.

"Che. Just another one of those people." Silver muttered before resting her head in her arms, trying to get comfortable.

Rei heard her, but didn't care. She didn't even know when, but soon she was fast asleep, her day had been exhausting, despite all the naps she had had, and her body desperately needed sleep. So despite being in the presence of a pirate, Rei drifted off into a deep sleep.

Kairoseki-Seastone

Haki-Ambition

A/N: Oh, the 'lovable' marines have come with an imprisoned pirate. Okay, now you're probably wondering why Akainu and Aokiji are being referred formally when they talk, well, this is from Rei's point of view. She doesn't understand the significance of the nicknames that Silver is referring to the admirals, which she'll find out later. And you might also question why there's a female pirate named Silver, when there's already 'Silvers Rayleigh.' Now that will be revealed in the next few chapters. And remember that Rei's observation of pirates and marines are from the mind of an eight-year-old, so her worldview is very black and white. So please keep that in mind as you read.

Please refrain from using flames, while thoughtful comments and constructive criticism are welcomed.