Kaede

"What's with him?" I ask pointing at Chopper and Zoro walks over towards me. He looks over the edge and spots Chopper almost instantly. He shrugs before sitting back down where he was and I notice he doesn't seem so on edge anymore.

"He probably noticed that you're gone even though he figured you would be out for at least four more days and wouldn't be able to move for at least three days after that without reopening your wound." Zoro says shrugging and I raise an eyebrow.

"I feel like I've been under estimated." I say slightly pouting before looking back at the group. "I spot an idiot." I say when my eyes land on a boy wearing a white Galley-La Co. shirt and a pair of blue shorts while a straw hat was sitting on his back.

"What one are you talking about? We've got more than one idiot." Zoro says.

"I mean Luffy;" I say pointing at the idiotic rubber man.

"You know Luffy?" Zoro asks with an eyebrow raised and I nod.

"He's my idiotic little brother." I say and Zoro blinks at me in surprise for a second.

"So there's another brother? Are you older than Ace then?" Zoro asks and I shake my head.

"I'm younger than Ace by two years but I can still kick that guy's ass." I say.

"KAEDE WHERE ARE YOU?" Luffy hollers and I roll my eyes.

"We should probably head back to the main deck before he does something stupid." Zoro says standing up and walking over to where I had climbed up earlier. He starts climbing down and he stops halfway when he doesn't see me following him. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah I'll meet you down there." I say as I finally stand up and I walk over to the edge of the crow's nest. Zoro's eyes watch me as I stop right at the edge and my toes were hanging off. I jump over the edge and plummet towards the deck below.

"KAEDE;" I hear Zoro yell but I ignore him. My feet land on the deck and I bend my knees to lessen the impact so I don't break anything. A cloud of dust surrounds me from the impact and I straighten up. I hear footsteps rush over towards me and they stop at the edge of the dust cloud. I duck as I sense another figure go whizzing past where my chest was just at and an ow sound as the figure smacks into the mast behind me. I look over my shoulder to see that it was Luffy, of course and I roll my eyes at him.

"Hey Kaede; you okay?" Zoro asks and I step out of the dust cloud beside where he was.

"You think that little fall would've hurt me? I feel offended;" I say holding my hand over my heart and an expression of mock hurt on my face.

"I was taking into account that you're injured and I wouldn't be surprised if it reopened thanks to the stunt you just pulled." Zoro says and Chopper rushes over to me when Zoro says that.

"I need to look at your wound." Chopper says and I set my hand on his hat. Images rush through my mind again and I wait 'til it's done before I crouch down to the same height as Chopper.

"It's fine; you don't need to worry about that." I say and Chopper just gives me a look that's secretly telling me he doesn't buy it. I let out a sigh before standing up and pulling up my shirt. I un-wrap the bandages and everyone stares at where my wound was in surprise. Chopper blinks in surprise before poking around the now clear skin that has no appearance of being injured before.

"It's completely healed." Chopper says in awe.

"I told you it was fine." I say and Luffy bundles over to me.

"Kaede, can I get my hug now?" Luffy asks and I let out a sigh before turning towards him. I open my arms and Luffy jumps into them. He wraps his arms around me as well as his legs. I close my arms around him and hug back.

"Who the hell is this guy?" An orange haired woman asks and I go to speak up but Zoro beats me.

"This is Kita D. Kaede, another one of Luffy's brothers." Zoro says and it's silent for a bit.

"Ah so Luffy has another brother we didn't know about." The orange haired women, a man with a long nose, a blonde guy with curly eyebrows, and Chopper say at the same time while the last two exchange a look.

"Yup this idiot has another brother he didn't tell you about. Anyway thanks for taking care of him." I say trying to peel Luffy off of me.

"It's no problem;" the whole crew says waving their hands back and forth.

"Hey I'm not an idiot." Luffy says as he pulls back slightly to look at me and I take this moment to peel him off of me.

"Yes you are; now introduce me to your crew before I throw you off your own ship." I say and Luffy nods. He quickly introduces each of his crewmates and I shake each of their hands which gives me a slideshow of images from their past.

"Kaede stay with us;" Luffy starts and I glare at him. "At least 'til Fishman Island please, please, please." Luffy begs and I shake my head.

"Nope, nada, no way;" I say shaking my head and crossing my arms in an x shape over my chest. Luffy stares at me with puppy dog eyes and I shake my head. "That's not gonna work on me."

"Please Kaede." Luffy asks but I still shake my head no and tears start to gather at the corner of his eyes.

"Ah Luffy don't cry I'll come with." I say waving my hands around in front of Luffy trying to get him to not start crying.

"Promise?" Luffy asks with tears still in the corner of his eyes.

"I promise to stay with you 'til Shabondy, the island before Fishman Island." I say and the tears disappear as a huge smile covers his face.

"Yeah Kaede's staying with us 'til Fishman Island." Luffy says as he starts to dance around.

"Before, the island before;" I say as I smack my forehead in annoyance.

"Sure whatever; I'll give you a tour of the ship." Luffy says before he grabs my wrist and drags me away. His crew gives me sympathy looks as Luffy drags me below deck. He shows me everything the ship has and I store everything in my head before we stop in front of a wood door.

"What's up Luffy?" I ask when he turns to look at me.

"There are three options for where you can stay. The men's quarters, the woman's quarters, or the guest room here." Luffy says pointing over his shoulder at the door behind him.

"I guess the guest room it is." I say and Luffy nods before dragging me away again. We end up back on the main deck after a couple minutes and Luffy let's go of my wrist.

"That's the end of the tour." Luffy says and I nod before climbing back up to the crow's nest using the outside to climb up. I flop down on my back on the roof and stare up at the sky before I drift off.

----

The empty plate that was sitting in front of me was picked up by a pair of long slender fingers. I look up into the face of my mother as she smiles at me before heading over to the sink where she places the plates down.

"Sweetie, are you prepared?" She asks with her back to me as she washes the dishes.

"Almost mom; I just have a few more things to pack." I say as I get up and I walk towards my room in our small two story house. I grab everything I still need to pack and put them on my back as well as the black bag that contained some of the items packed. I double check to make sure I have everything when I spot a picture frame sitting on my desk. I pick it up and stare at the two people plus a baby who were in it. Mom was holding me while dad had his arm wrapped around my mom's shoulders. This is the only picture I have of all three of us since my father died when I was still a baby. I'm not certain how and mom has never told me. I concentrate my focus on everything on my bed besides the bag and picture. When I open my eyes everything's gone and I slip the picture into my bag before going back to the kitchen.

"Are you all set?" Mom asks and I nod.

"Yeah;" I say and mom suddenly pulls out a worn out brown journal. She kneels down to my height and holds it out to me.

"Take this as well; it contains everything that our ancestors have discovered about this damn curse and everything you learn add to it. Eventually this will be passed down to your daughter and your granddaughter so treat it well. Read it, learn from it. There are still some things in here that I was unable to teach you in these few years we had together my sweet child." I take the journal and slip it inside of my bag. "Remember I'll always love you and no matter what I'll be with you right here." Mom says putting her hand over my chest where my heart's located.

"I love you too mom." I say hugging mom and I push back the tears that are welling up.

"I'm sorry I can't be there for you from now on and that this had to happen today of all days. Now go sweetie, remember all that I've taught you." Mom says before she places a kiss on my forehead and lets me go.

"Goodbye mom, I'll always love you." I say before rushing out of the house and I run through the woods that surround the small house I called home for the seven years I've lived there, from the day I was born to the day I was driven out of it.

"I'm not giving my child to you fucking dogs." I hear my mom say with venom in her voice thanks to my advanced hearing. I hear a gunshot ring through the air and I don't have to see it to know what happened but I still can't help but look back hoping I was wrong. Through the many trees I see mom lying on the path to my house with a pool of vivid red blood pooling underneath her. Tears well up in my eyes and I whip around before continuing to run away. I end up at the edge of a cliff and I carefully pull out the picture of the three of us. I'm alone; all alone now I think as I make my bag and picture disappear. I try to keep my sobs quiet but they slowly grow louder and louder until I hear something from behind me.

I instantly bolt up and whip around to find a huge group of men wearing white and blue uniforms cutting me off from escaping. A group of five rush at me and I take them out by using only my hand to hand combat skills. When they're all down the whole group moves towards me and I know I can't take all of them out. I make a split second decision and start running towards the cliff. One of the men I had beaten up earlier grabs my ankle as I run past and I fall to the ground. As my head smashes into the ground black obscures my vision and I am no longer able to tell what's happening around me.

Author's Note

I'm still looking for Thriller Bark Ideas and if someone wants to beta read my story just message me. If you notice any grammar problems let me know and I'll fix them.