.: A sequel for The Girl from An Island of Wolves :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 1:

Nightmare Of a Life

She was bent over as she treaded over the damp leaves that littered the ground. There were tracks to follow. They were not paw prints that were smushed into the soil, but rather rounded like a deer hoof. And she must have been correct about the trail because her wolf companion trotted by her with her nose close to the ground. There was a scent.

"Luna," she whispered, making the wolf turn her head in her direction.

The canine's mismatched eyes – her left one brown and the right one green – met the human's mismatched eyes. It was like looking into a reflection on the surface of a still body of water. Their only difference in appearance was the swapped colors of hair. The wolf had a full coat of white fur that turned into a metallic silver under moonlight, and the girl's hair was a wavy brown that was braided out of the way. Both of them were born with the same patches of discolored hair around their bodies, the most prominent being the one on the top of their foreheads. Luna's had brown fur while Aurilee's had white. There was no denying that they were two halves of the same soul because of their shared features.

"Ride," Aurilee stated.

The wolf recognized the word and waited for the girl to mount on her back. Then, once settled, Luna broke out into a run. The scent was still fresh according to her olfactory senses. There was no time to waste since the target was nearby.

With one hand grasping the scruff, Aurilee slipped off the bow that was around her torso. Her weapon would be charged in an instant. Whatever they were pursuing, it would be dead with a single shot.

The harsh artificial breeze whirled past them both. Luna's massive paws thumped against the damp and uneven terrain. But she was a master of the island, and she did not stumble as a result. Meanwhile, Aurilee kept her eyes peeled, listening for any foliage disturbances as they moved. But she was suddenly thrust forward, flipping ungracefully off Luna after she abruptly skidded back on her heels. Landing flat on her back with the breath knocked out of her lungs, she did not get up and tried to regain her ability to respire.

Luna snarled. Something had startled her, but then she recognized danger. "Aurilee?" a male voice spoke.

Aurilee forgot about her breathing attempts for a moment. Hearing that voice always haunted her. And he was here of all places.

She sat up to confirm her worst fears. It was Calisto. His violet hair hung down just past his ears, and his once friendly smile was long forgotten. To come face to face with the man who betrayed her trust on her home island was something she never expected. It was like nothing could kill him. He just kept coming back, relentlessly tormenting her.

A deep tightening in her abdomen made a groan erupt from her. She gritted her teeth until all the pressure released. Then the baby began to cry out. Aurilee looked down to see it curled up on the cold ground, her mind going blank. And Calisto just laughed. He would never go away. He would always be around.

Everyone on the Going Merry woke up simultaneously when Aurilee's terrified scream rang out from Nami and Robin's room. She thrashed underneath the sheets, her eyes opening to pitch-black darkness of the night. She had no idea where the island went, or where Luna disappeared to. Calisto was suddenly gone, too.

Nami and Robin were quick to jump out of their hammocks and come to bedside. Aurilee saw their silhouettes and screamed again. All she could think about when seeing a female was her old captain, Calypso. But instead of being struck, the bed shifted from Nami sitting next to her. She embraced her to try calming her down. "You're okay," she said soothingly. "You're safe. Just breathe."

Aurilee's breaths came in and out raggedly as her chest convulsed. Her screaming ceased to become sniffs with tears rolling down her cheeks. Robin stood by, unsure how to help. This was the second night that this had happened. Just two days prior, the Straw Hats rescued this girl from drowning after she was forced to walk the plank with another crew. Her body showed all the evidence of ongoing abuse, the most obvious being her pregnancy.

Now, after eliminating the crew that was responsible, the Straw Hats were left with their unexpected but welcomed guest. She barely spoke. She trembled nonstop during the day. And she refused to leave the girls' quarters. They had removed the threat from her life, but the battle was far from won.

All of the guys listened from the other side of the trap door that connected their quarters to the girls' quarters. It grew quiet, but none of them could fall back asleep after a scream as agonizing as that one. They all just laid in their hammocks with eyes wide open and pity filling their minds.

Chopper rolled over on the couch to face away from the rest of the room. Hearing the girl's pain hurt him. He could treat physical injuries, but mental injuries were not easy to heal from. He had been wanting to evaluate her since she was going to have her baby any day now, but she had an adversity to being touched like that. But nobody could blame her for that. The little reindeer had to keep being patient to earn her trust.

Zoro closed his eyes again but no longer felt sleepy. A scream like that foretold nothing but reliving a traumatic experience. Her dreams were plagued. There was nothing more to it.

Usopp exhaled. He hated to know that someone was suffering like that. And it sucked even more that nobody still caught her name. She was always cooped up below deck, not interested in social interaction with anybody. But after what she went through, he knew it was expected.

Sanji had no words. He was the only other person on the Merry who frequently visited Aurilee. And every time he brought her a meal, she looked the exact same. Physically there, but mentally far away in a distant land. On the bright side, she was eating. There was a fear in him that she would protest by starving herself, but he got the impression that she had not eaten good in years. So, she took advantage of the food offerings. It eased him knowing that she was being fed enough with his supervision, but still…there was no telling what she was fighting in her mind. He clobbered the father of her child, but he could not erase the trauma he caused her.

The only person on the ship who was spared from the rude awakening was Luffy. He stood up in the crow's nest by himself. It was his turn for night watch. But he did think about Aurilee while he was up there. According to Chopper, he could not get an examination done. She would not cooperate. But according to Sanji, she was eating plenty. He could still tell, though, that she was still not in a good headspace.

As captain, Luffy knew that the fate of this girl rested on his shoulders. He wanted to save her, and he wanted to help her. She was clearly in need, after all. Perhaps the morning would be a good time for him to properly meet her.

Sanji was up at dawn. While the rest of room snored and chattered unconsciously, he was pulling on his suit jacket and shoes. The first light of the day was just barely bringing the boys' quarters out of darkness. He climbed up the mast's wooden rungs and opened the trap door to get onto the deck.

Luffy heard and looked down. "What's for breakfast?!" he excitedly questioned.

The cook, with his eyes feeling heavy from another lack of a good night's rest, paused to gaze up at him. "How does omelets sound?" he questioned back.

"Aw, no meat?!"

"Fine, I'll throw in some bacon, too." He then made his up to the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

Since Sanji's arrival indicated that night watch was officially over, Luffy got down from the crow's nest to instead lay on Merry's figure head. They had anchored down at a sand bar for the night, but Luffy did not see the point in moving on to the next island just yet. It was okay to spend time in one place. Their latest adventure in liberating Alabasta had them spending multiple days wandering the desert with Vivi. At least for this girl, they were not in any mortal danger.

The next person to emerge was Usopp. He looked over the side of the ship to see some coral reef, so he decided to start fishing. "Luffy, want me to grab your fishing rod, too?" he asked, seeing him lounging on his stomach like Zoro would do.

"Mm, nah," he answered, shifting to sit up and face him. "I'm about to go visit that girl."

"Uh…that might not be a good idea right now."

"Why not?"

"She woke up again during the night. It was probably more nightmares, so I doubt she would be very talkative."

Luffy recalled the first night with the girl. They were all woken up by a scream and scrammed for the girls' quarters, only to be beaten up by Nami for coming in and scaring her even more. "Eh, I'll at least get her name," he settled, seeing Robin come out with her current book in hand. "Hey, Robin!"

"Good morning," she greeted with a smile.

"Can I go talk to her now?"

Her smile seeped away suddenly as she remembered how long it took to get her to fall back asleep. "Give Nami five more minutes, but yes," she instructed.

"Alright." Then he slid down the figure head, peeking down the open trap door to see Zoro still sleeping soundly in his hammock, and made his way to the doorway Robin came from.

Down in the girls' quarters, Nami was putting together an outfit for Aurilee. After they all sank the Gunslinger Pirates' ship, she had counted all the treasure and berries she stole and stored it in a safe place. It would not be used for the purchase of anything other than what Aurilee needed. When they made landfall, she ventured out into the nearest village and bought clothes for her. It was stuff that could be worn as maternity clothing, and then be comfortable for after she gave birth.

Nami glanced over her shoulder to look back at the still sleeping expectant mother. She did not tell or show her, but she had also purchased some baby clothes and talked to Usopp about building a cradle. The longevity of her stay was unknown, but they could at least prepare for a newborn's arrival.

A light knock came from the trap door on the wall. "Can I come in?" a muffled cutesy voice asked.

Nami walked over and opened it quietly for Chopper. "Sure," she whispered, "but she's still sleeping."

"That's okay," he replied in a hushed tone, hopping down to the floor. Nami shut the door again and locked it back up. All Chopper did was put his medical bag on the floor and sit against the bed. "Was it another nightmare?"

"Yeah, but she didn't wake up again, so that's good." She saw how Chopper was settled in preparation for her to wake up. After checking her hair in the mirror, she started up the stairs. "I'll tell Sanji to send your breakfast down with him."

Before Chopper could thank her, she opened the door and found Luffy on the other side. "Perfect timing," he commented. "Can I go see her?"

"She's asleep."

"Then I'll wait until she wakes up." He slipped past her to go down the stairs, making her sigh.

"Three breakfasts total. I'll pass the message," she concluded, leaving this time.

Luffy found Chopper sitting on the floor when he walked over to the bed. The girl was facing the wall as she stayed curled up and unmoving. "Did she really have another nightmare?" he asked, standing so close that he knees touched the sheets.

"Yeah. It was just like the first night. It was sad," Chopper described.

The teen captain wearing his signature straw hat leaned over farther to get a better look. To his surprise, he saw her eyes were open. "Hey, you're not asleep," he accused, relaxing back on his heels. "But that's good because I wanted to talk to you anyway."

Her gaze shifted to him for a moment but went back to staring at the wall. She was not interested in what he had to say.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the captain of this ship, and I'm gonna be the king of the pirates someday. What's your name?" he asked with delight.

She did not respond or move. All she could think about was how much she wanted him to leave.

He recognized how she was not going to answer him, so he put his hands on his hips. "Well, we gotta get your name at some point. I'm running out of things to call you."

Chopper stood up to stand next to Luffy. "Your breakfast is on its way," he indicated.

"Oh, yeah, Sanji said he's making bacon omelets. I bet yours will be the best one he's ever made in his life. The ladies never have a stomach growl because of him."

Aurilee thought about every time the cook visited her. He was blonde, with his left eye concealed from his hairstyle, and he was always well-dressed. The only thing she was not fond of was the smell of cigarettes that followed him everywhere he went. But the way he spoke to her was gentle as he greeted her and described each dish's ingredients and how they were cooked.

"I hope Sanji and Chopper have given you a good preview of how our crew is like," Luffy continued. "There isn't a single person on this ship who would hurt a crewmate. Well, maybe Nami, but that's besides the point. Anyway, if you're staying down here because you're scared of us, don't be. Nami and Robin can tell you all about how they're treated as equals with the rest of us. Nobody touches them. And if someone did hurt a crewmate, I would deal with them myself."

She absorbed his words, thinking about how much of a polar opposite this Luffy was to Calypso. The way he talked about his crew was genuine and caring. He had confidence in them all.

"So, with that being said, can Chopper check to see how healthy you are? He wants to help you, not hurt you."

"Please? I just want to listen to your heartbeat and your baby's heartbeat for now," Chopper assured her.

Both of them waited, and to their relief, she slowly sat up and adjusted herself. Chopper happily pulled out his stethoscope from his bag and climbed up onto the bed. "Thank you!" he said, placing the earplugs in his fury ears and grasping the diaphragm.

Luffy watched as the doctor pressed his tool to her chest and listened carefully. Although she may have been cooperating, he got the impression she was only doing it to be left alone again. Her face was very somber with an unlit gaze. At the same time, though, she did not seem afraid, but rather jaded. "Can you tell us your name now?" he asked, his hands on his knees. Then he smiled and giggled. "If you do, I'll show you my devil fruit powers."

Chopper was pleased with how normal her heartbeat sounded, so he moved down to her plump belly to check the baby.

When she hesitated to speak, Luffy changed up his offer. "Or how about I show you my powers first, and then you can tell us?" He did not wait for her to choose. His fingers gripped his cheeks and stretched them out as far as his wingspan. Aurilee watched him with bewilderment. When he let himself go, his face snapped back to normal. Then he grabbed his earlobes and pulled them down underneath his chin to tie them together like shoelaces. "I ate the Gum Gum Fruit, so now I'm a rubber man," he explained.

She continued watching him as she felt Chopper move the stethoscope around her belly. But he stopped tying his nose and pointed at her. "You try," he offered.

She stared at his finger before reaching and pulling it toward her. It stretched without resistance. But then she knew why he let her do it because he suddenly farted and started laughing about it.

"Sorry. Force of habit."

When she let go, it snapped right back to its original form as if nothing happened. This power was strange to her. She had only heard of devil fruit powers after she was taken from her home island. The only man she met before this who had powers was Beaver, but he died after a brief encounter. After that, it was like listening to legends instead of tales of reality.

"Now, tell me your name!" Luffy insisted, untying his earlobes.

"…Aurilee," she answered.

"Huh? Aurilee? That's fun to say!" He pumped his fists in the air and let out a prolonged "Aurileeeee~!" that sounded like he was trying to sing it. Then he started to laugh again.

The event hit her with an invisible wall of nostalgia. For a moment, her gaze regained a sparkle. The only other person in her life who greeted her like that was a little blonde girl who became like a sister to her. Her spirit was bright, and her friendship was one of a kind. How could she ever forget Millie?

Sitting in her lap, Chopper pulled away with a dumbfounded expression. Aurilee's heartbeat was completely fine, but the baby's heartbeat was making him question his durable medical knowledge. He wanted to trust his ears, so he repressed the diaphragm and listened more. One area had a strong heartbeat to be heard, but as he moved it to more places, it was still loud. He pinpointed the most noticeable areas and pulled away again. "Uh…" he verbalized, trying to find the right words.

Aurilee looked down at him, making eye contact.

"I think…I think you're…having more than one baby," he announced.