No pov
"Please excuse me!" Came Kairi's voice from the bathhouse and Ace shoved back the small group of guys that had gathered at the door, "Scatter!" He hissed to them. They all backed into the shadows as Kairi burst from the bathhouse and hurried down the hallway, tears quickly streaming down her face. The boys stared at her retreating figure. "Eh, what in the hell are you doing?" Marco spoke up from behind the group and they all jumped, turning around swiftly to face the first commander. "Nothing!" They all stammered out excuses on why they were just standing in the middle of the hallway. Marco closed his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh "Quit spying on Pops, it's rude." He shoved passed the group and continued down the hall, "If I catch you again, you'll get what you deserve."
He hummed the threat out softly as he walked out onto the deck and then leaned against the cabin wall, carefully skimming through the newspaper that was just delivered. Glancing up from reading, he caught a glimpse of his mother struggling to put on her shoes as she stood near the top of the whale head. He frowned and folded the paper before making his way over towards her, "Mom...?" She jumped at his voice before she turned to see it was only Marco, visibly relaxing "Oh, it's just you, son." "Are you going somewhere?" He asked her, it was rhetorical as they were surrounded by ocean on all sides. "Yes." She nodded before she shifted to her other leg, still struggling to put her shoes on. "Where?" He asked her and bent down to put her shoe on. "Anywhere but here..." She muttered softly. Marco's hands slowed to a stop as tears began to drip onto them. He looked up to see his mother crying, "Mom, you're crying." He stood up with her and pulled her into a hug, "What's wrong?" "I'm such a failure." She sobbed into his shoulder, trying to muffle herself. "You're not a failure." Marco placed his hand on the back of her head, doing his best to comfort her. "I am! I am!" She gasped out "I need to leave..." "Why?" He asked her in a calm voice, pushing her back carefully to see her tear stained face. "It's just too much for me Marco, I can't do this." She started to explain, "I...I can't call myself your mother. I didn't contact you when I had the chance. All of these beautiful young men, they don't know who I am. I am just some woman that suddenly appeared on the ship and just claiming the mother role-" "Are some of the boys being mean to you?" Marco huffed out ready to kick anyone's ass when Kairi gently grabbed his arm, "No, you all treat me like family and I don't deserve it. Oh, you must think of me as an old fool." "Nonsense." Marco replied trying to put together what she was getting at. "Mother, what is troubling you?" "Your father deserves someone better than me." She spoke up and met his eyes "Your father deserves a strong woman, one who didn't turn her back to a fight...who didn't make a deal..." Marco's eyes widened slightly as it was beginning to click, "I don't think father would ever think of you as a coward or a failure. In fact he has missed you all these years. I haven't seen Pops this happy since the day you died." He began to wipe her tears away. She leaned her face against his hand, "How did I wind up with such a thoughtful son?" He blushed lightly at her compliment before she stood and turned to the ocean, "There's something that I need to do, I might be gone for a few days so make sure everyone is safe." Marco looked at her and pulled her into a tight hug, "As long as you promise to come back." "I will always come back." She replied before jumping into a small rowboat that had been waiting for her and disappeared into the fog. Morning came and Marco was up bright and early, slowly walking around the ship as they coasted into the light fog. Yesterday had troubled him greatly. Something must have happened all those years ago to his mother to make her doubt herself. It was like she was a shell of who she used to be, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. On a whim, he headed to his father's room in hopes that maybe he would be able to explain the situation.

Far away from the Moby Dick, passed several islands, sat a Navy ship. "How long are we going to have to sit here?" A lower rank solider asked his buddy as they walked around the ship, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "I'm not too sure." The second solider shrugged his shoulders, "I think our Admiral has lost his mind." The Navy ship had been sitting in the same spot for over a week waiting for some Lady of the Water to just appear and capture. Of course, the crew would burst out into tiny giggles at the thought of a woman singer working for the Navy. There was no such thing.
"Did you two find anything yet?" Their admiral barked as he walked towards them. They saluted him before answering "No sir, nothing out of the ordinary to report." The admiral growled in annoyance and smacked his fist against the side of the ship, "I know that crooked woman out there!"
"Sir! Sir! There is someone leaving the water and walking onto the island!" The solider called from the crows nest. "Perfect!" The admiral shouted, "Make your way to the island and hurry!" The Navy ship jumped into action and was navigated to the island, where the Admiral led off his troop immediately, "Don't you let her escape!" He shouted pointing at the woman, who turned around before racing off to get away from the Navy. The soldiers charged passed their Admiral, following their Captain, who raced ahead of the others trying to keep up with the older woman. The woman they were chasing ran towards the forest and began to jump over rocks and fallen trees, trying to put as much distance between her and the Navy crew racing behind her. Kairi looked around for a way to escape, she knew that she couldn't outrun them forever. "There!" She exclaimed excitedly to herself as she spotted a river. If she could just get into the water, she would definitely lose them. She changed her course and jumped over another rock, only to be tackled by the Captain.
"Stop right there!" She yelled at her, bringing her weapon of choice down to strike Kairi, who swiftly pulled out a small dagger to block the attack. "Let go of me!" She demanded, "You don't understand the danger you are putting yourself in!" "Silence pirate!" The Captain barked as they struggled against one another. Kairi grunted before bringing her legs up and over the Captain's head, knocking her to the ground and pinned her down with the dagger at her throat, "Look, Sweetheart, I don't want to hurt you." "Get off me you vile Pirate!" The Captain demanded as she struggled under the much stronger woman. Kairi leaned off of her a little and moved to dislocate the woman's shoulder to keep her from following. "Just stay down." She told her before the Captain let out a cry of pain from her shoulder. Kairi stood up and took a few steps away, "You really shouldn't be in this fight, it's dangerous." "Raaaah!" The admiral screamed as he charged in and tackled Kairi to the ground, he pulled back his fist and socked her straight in the mouth, busting her lip. Kairi moved her head to the side when he tried to punch her again. He hollered out in pain when his knuckle met a rock and Kairi used this advantage to shove the man off of her, stumbling back and wiping the blood from her mouth, "Long time, no see Uragirimono." He chuckled as he stood, "I am not going to lose to you again." Kairi smirked at the memory. She had completely destroyed him in their last battle, but that was because they were in a body of water. "Don't worry, I have taken account this time for your unusual strength in water." He gritted his teeth, stepping in between her and the river, "Just surrender and all will be well." Kairi snorted "Yeah right!" She shifted her dagger in her hand, all she had to do was make it passed him and into the water. He blinked and she made a mad dash straight towards him. He watched her closely and shifted his leg, pulling back his arm and punching her straight in the gut as she attempted to jump over him. Kairi hit the ground hard and gasped out. "I'm stronger than the last time." Uragirimono grinned as he stepped onto her chest to keep her in place, "Is that all the fight you have left? Clearly your age is getting to you." "You're making a mistake." She grunted through gritted teeth, "When Whitebeard-" He laughed loudly interrupting her sentence before he looked down at her with a devilish gleam in his eye, "What? He'll come and save you? Why would that man waste his time saving a liar?" Kairi stopped struggling under his boot and looked up at him with slightly widened eyes. He was right. Kairi was a liar and why would Edward risk everything to save a woman who lied to his face. She narrowed her eyes at the doubt that suddenly clouded her judgement and used her free hand to stab the dagger into Uragirimono's leg. He howled with pain as Kairi swiped her leg under his good one and caused him to fall to the ground. She glared at him before rushing passed to get to the river. She yelped as he reached out and grabbed her weaker leg, dragging her to the ground. Her fingers barely touched the water, just long enough to give her the strength to keep fighting against the rest of the Navy crew who was now pointing all their guns at her.

Ace laughed loudly as he slapped the table in front of him, watching Thatch begin to regret his choice of challenging Ace to an eating contest. The group that was gathered around the two also laughed and cheered as they gobbled down the food being served to them. "At this rate, they're going to eat everything on the ship." Marco let out a sigh as he leaned against his Father's chair. "A little challenge has never hurt anyone before." Whitebeard replied in an amused tone. Ace chuckled a bit before pausing to get something to drink when he turned around and glanced at everyone in confusion. He wasn't sure but it sounded like a woman had just whispered to him. "Did you just hear that?" He asked the crowd, who was too busy yelling and cheering to actually hear his concern. Thatch took the opportunity to just stop and rest as it seemed like Ace was preoccupied with something else. He took a drink of water before he nearly spit it out, "Did you hear that!?" His loud shout had caused the crowd to die down. "Hear what?" Izo asked him as the Moby Dick fell into silence.
"Come this way~" it was a woman's voice that echoed in a soft whisper. The crew all turned pale. "Is that a g-ghost?"
"Please, come this way~" the woman repeated herself and Ace stood up, looking around for the woman "Alright, show yourself!" "We must be hearing things." Thatch spoke up after clearing his throat, trying his best not to sound absolutely terrified. "Pops, do you hear this?" Marco glanced up at Whitebeard, who was looking around the ship also confused on why he could hear this woman but not see her. "What do you want!" Ace yelled out he stepped out of the crowd and moved to a more open spot of the deck. "Come this way~" the voice repeated. "Is that all this ghost can say?" Thatch asked as he stood, fixing his shirt before brushing off the food crumbs. "Not a very frightening ghost."
"Also how are we supposed to know which way to go if we can't see you." Izo stated his point and the crew muttered soft agreements. The voice was quiet before "Follow the beautiful sound~!" The woman sounded louder and clearer.
Whitebeard stood up quickly, he recognized that glorious sound. "Kairi! Quick follow that voice!" He called to the man standing behind the wheel, "Aye Pops." The Moby Dick started to change direction and headed farther into the fog that was beginning to get thicker.