Aoi's POV

I was walking, I knew that much. But I couldn't feel the ground. I could feel my legs moving and I could hear foot steps that I knew could only be mine.

"Okay... Where am I? ... HOLY SHIT IM TALKING! Oh, wait, no. My thoughts just echo. I guess that's appropriate if I'm trapped in my own mind." I thought-ranted. I sighed as I continued to walk in for what seemed like hours.

"Helloooo? Is anyone there? Hellooooo? I'm getting bored here!" I called out, actually moving my mouth and surprising my self when my voice came from my throat.

"Who are you? State your name." A powerful female voice that shook my intestines replied. I stopped walking at the answer.

"Me? My name is Aoi. Ocean, Aoi." I said in a very "Bond. James Bond" voice.

"You're true name, Mortal." The voice said. I sighed.

"Well, by legal terms I did change my name to Aoi." I said.

"State your true name or I'll kill you right here and now." The voice snapped. I raised my hands.

"Alright! Sorry! I was just unsure of what you meant. But since you want my birth name, it's..." I huffed, not liking this. "Kirayan. Kirayan Ocean the Second." I said, the name like poison in my mouth.

"Kirayan Ocean the Second. Tell me, why did you eat my fruit? What do you hope to gain of it?" She asked. I realized then that this was the Sea Goddess I was talking to.

"Why? Hm... Well, to get stronger." I answered honestly.

"Why do you wish to become stronger? Do you wish to become the strongest and rule the world or something?" The Sea Goddess asked.

"You're rather sassy, aren't you? I like it." I said.

"Quit stalling and answer truthfully. If you lie I will kill you. And I will know if you lie because I am in you're head." She said.

"Um, may I ask a question about that really quick?" I asked.

"What?" She asked.

"If you can just read my thoughts, why don't you just go through this twisted little mind of mine and get your answers? I mean, that's what I thought you did when determining who is worthy and all. Just a quick check of the thoughts and determine worthy or unworthy then boom. Insta-death." I said.

"That's not how it works! Now quit stalling and answer truthfully. Why do you wish to become stronger? What is your reason?" She asked.

"My reason?... Well, most people would answer "to have power over someone or something" and while admittedly, that would be pretty badass, that's not my reason for wanting to be stronger." I said.

"I want to know why you want to get stronger, not the reasons that are not valid." She said.

"I'm getting to that. This is just one of those scenes when the character has a big long touching speech of why they do what the fuck their doing and then dies more than likely then everyone gets either sad or pissed and writes fanfiction." I said. (A/N: if it hasn't become clear already, I like to break the fourth wall.)

"Please refrain from using your confusing other dimension terminology." The Sea Goddess growled.

"The questions still stand, "why am I doing this? What reason do I do this? What is my reasoning of eatting the fruit? Why do I want to be stronger?" Well, the answer is rather simple. I did this the same reason why a mother puts her self between a gun and her child or husband. The same reason a woman would chase down someone who just kidnapped her child, little brother, little sister or anyone of her family." I said.

"What is it, damn it?!" The Goddess asked impatiently.

"Love. I want to protect the people I love. You said you can go through my thoughts, my memories. So go and take a look. What you'll see is a girl abandoned and alone. A girl betrayed by everyone she thought cared. Everyone she ever trusted shutting her out and her living her life in fear and alone. I have finally found someone I can trust. Someone I love and need. Someone who others love and need. Someone worth dying for. And his name? His name is-" I started.

"Portgas D. Ace. The son of Pirate King Gol D. Roger." She said. I shook my head.

"No. Portgas D. Ace. Older brother to Monkey D. Luffy. A man with a gold heart. A walking angel with a shadow of illusion over his eyes. An illusion that he believes real. The illusion that he is a monster.

"But a monster wouldn't have pulled a strange unconscious girl out of the ocean for no reason. A monster wouldn't sit by that girl's bedside when she was sick, worried beyond hell for her. A monster wouldn't search a place, worried about said girl because she disappeared for two hours and no one knew where she was. A monster wouldn't have followed me on the mission to get this fruit because he was worried about me.

"I love Portgas D. Ace. The angel with a tragic past and a terrible end waiting for him. It's about time something good happened to him. It's about damn time he won for once. I want to get stronger so I can make sure he gets that victory. I want to get stronger so I can make sure he lives to see his brother achieve his dream. Even if it's at the cost of my own life." I said.

"How do you know he returns your feelings or not?" She asked. I shook my head.

"I don't. I just want him to live. I want him to see how I see him. How his brother sees him. How his crew mates see him. How everyone who truly loves him sees him. I want him to see that he doesn't have the blood of Gol D. Roger in his veins, but the blood of Portgas D. Ace runs through his veins." I said. I was risking everything here. She could kill me for saying what I have. But I'm willing to risk everything for Ace, even my life.

"Why do you love this man?" She asked after a minute of silence. She got me there. I crossed my legs to make it seem as if I was sitting even though I was still floating.

"Why? You really like that question, don't ya? Well, the reason why I love Ace is because he's Ace." I said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"What I mean is even despite the torment he puts himself through because of his lineage, he still is his own person. He is so loyal to his friends and is so protective over his brother. I guess you could say I love him because he's everything I wanted in a family I never had." I explained.

The Sea Goddess was silent. I stretched out and laied back as if I were to go to sleep on a field or something.

"Aoi? Aoi! No! Don't leave me!" A voice rang out.

"Ace?" I asked.

"I have temporarily stopped your heart." The Sea Goddess asked.

"Why?!" I asked. I felt pressure on my chest and I knew Ace was desperately trying to resuscitate me.

"I am merely testing a theory. I will start your heart again when I have my results." She said as my chest ached from the pressure Ace was applying in attempts to save my life.

"And you didn't think to- I dunno- ask me first? I know how CPR works! If I'm gonna die, I want to die with my perfect record of never having a broken rib! You're rather rude for a goddess, ya know!" I choked out, not caring if she killed me or not for it. I was technically already dead.

"No damage will be done to your body in this test period." She said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, that makes me feel tons better." I said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Come on, Aoi! Stay with me! I can't lose you! Come back to me!" Ace's desparate plead filled my eyes with tears.

"Be strong, Ace. I'll always be with you. I'll always watch over you." I cried.

"I'm suprised you are not shouting "I won't leave! I'll come back, I promise!" With all your might as others have." The Goddess said. I shook my head as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"No. I fully expect to die." I said.

"You do not believe yourself worthy? Then why did you eat the fruit if you didn't believe yourself worthy?" She asked.

"Because it's better to have tried and failed, then never to have tried and spend the rest of my life wondering "what if?" Even if I die here, I can still watch over him and protect him until his final days." I said.

"You truly do love him, don't you?" She asked.

"Enough to give my life for him." I replied with out hesitation.

"Aoi... Thank god..." I heard Ace sob as the pressure on my chest dissapeared. I felt a much gentler pressure on my shoulder. Ace must be resting his head on my shoulder.

"I have started your heart again. Choose a name to be reborn with." The Sea Goddess said.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"You have proven your self worthy of the power of the Water-Water Fruit. Choose a name to be reborn with and then we will make deals." She said. It didn't take long for me to think of a name.

"Aoi." I said.

"Then from this point on, you will be known as Ocean D. Aoi. To everyone you know and have told your name to, it will be as if your name was always Ocean D. Aoi." The Sea Goddess said.

"Alright. Now what were these deals you were talking about?" I asked.

"As you have already told Ace before, you will be able to see bits of a person's past and future spontaneously." She started.

"Well, that's not going to be a pain in the ass." I said.

"For one emergency moment, you will be able to use my Sea Water with out it weakening you. But only once will you be able to do that and you will have to inform me upon use of my water."

"Alright, that seems fair." I said.

"I'll even give you back your voice, on one condition." She said.

"Oh, fuck, is this going to be like The Little Mermaid?" I asked.

"You must get Portgas D. Ace to kiss you. And he must be the one to initiate the kiss with out you moving in or pulling him closer to you, you both must be fully awake and you both must be completely sober." She said.

"I'm never going to speak again, am I?" I asked.

"Do you agree to these terms, Ocean D. Aoi?" She asked. I didn't really have to think on it.

"Yes. I agree to your terms." I said. "Goodbye forever, voice." I thought.

"Then awaken and follow your dream." She said.

I was no longer floating in a pure white realm, but laying on my back in pure darkness. I felt the head of someone on my stomach and a large hand holding my smaller one on my chest.

"Don't leave me, Aoi..."