•Black Hat•

•9•

Under the execution platform, three tall men were sitting on their luxury chairs. The guy on the left had black curly hair and was dressed in hues of blue. It was a figure that ringed a bell. The man in the middle gave me shivers just by looking at him. He was really masculine, wore red and in a stark contrast with the first one he looked evil. But the third man was the one that made me lose the earth beneath my feet. Really tall, really thin, looking like a monkey hence his alias Kizaru (yellow monkey) and wore a golden like suit. Disgusting! I thought.

I had partly forgotten his face after so many years of not seeing him and I didn't know wether that was bad or not. Because the few times I had the privilege to look myself in the mirror the past eight years I tried to find parts of me that looked like him but I couldn't remember how he looked. But now that I saw him again, even if he was meters away from me I could proudly say that I didn't look one bit like my father. And if he hadn't tried to hunt me down I would have chosen to live far away from him without telling anyone that I was his breed.

He would pay! I thought. He had to. I grabbed the guns from the belt the marine I had landed on wore but they were too heavy for me and quickly enough, without shooting even one shot I gave them up and searched for something else. In his back pocket he had a really pretty knife. I brushed my fingers against its blade.

"Pretty" I mumbled. It was small but it shined in the sun and I was quite sure it was silver made. I imagined it being a precious heirloom, perhaps the only one his family had, that had been passed down for generations. And now I, a bony redhead took it from him after probably killing him in the worst/stupidest way a man can die.

I smirked. Now I really was a criminal and in a way, unexplainable and sick, it pleased me. That was what I wanted to become. A criminal! Make my disgusting father regret treating me like he did.

I still had my eyes focused on the three men when Jinbe approached me.

"These are the three admirals. Don't get near them if you want to stay alive!" He warned me and got ready to leave.

"Just a moment Jinbe!" I stopped him. "Their names!" The Fishman turned to look at me again. "What are their names?" I asked again.

"Kuzan Aokiji, Sakazuki Akainu and-"

"Borsalino Kizaru" I completed. "I know him" I muttered. Jinbe didn't comment on my unexpected knowledge and disappeared. I looked around for Luffy and spotted him punching Crocodile protecting in that way the tall figure of Whitebeard. Then I fixed my eyes on Ace and they widened in fear when I saw the two men standing beside him ready to dig their blades in his body.

"ACE!" I shrieked and for a moment I thought of throwing my knife at one of the executors. But even if I managed to hit him the other one would still be alive and would be able to kill Ace. Not to mention that my knife would never be able to get this far.

I saw Ace lifting his eyes surprised from my shriek and you can say I was dreaming but I clearly saw him smiling at me. It might have been a bitter smile but it was enough. He remembered me, I thought. If Crocodile hadn't stopped the execution back then I am not sure what I would feel. Sorrow? Happiness? Maybe I would have preferred it if he hadn't recognized me, or if he hadn't raised his eyes at all. In the first case I would be mad, and his death wouldn't mean much to me, at least I would convince myself that and in the second one I would simply be sad.

But now with this simple gesture of his lips he meant the world to me. He was a pirate, breed of the King of Pirates and cause of a war that would cost the lives of many many people. But for me, he was simply Ace the boy that had talked to me after eight years of isolation and had made me interested in life again. He didn't intend to do it. He just did.

Luckily Crocodile did stop the execution and a sigh of relief left every pirate's lips. (apart from the seven warlords)

I started running towards the platform easily avoiding the marines around me by sliding under their legs or jumping aside when they tried to catch me. But soon enough I ran out of breath, you see I hadn't built up my stamina all these years in prison. Just my eyesight and hearing.

A tall marine attacked me but even though I couldn't ran away anymore I didn't hesitate to sink my knife into his body. Wherever I could. His arm, his legs, his stomach even his face. I kept doing that until he fell back with his uniform slowly turning red from the blood he was losing.

The sight was so unpleasant that I almost threw up seeing his butchered body. I slapped myself.

You don't have time for that. I thought, and started examining him for any useful weapons. He was wearing a black belt in which were stocked a number of blades. The man seemed to be an expert at throwing them since he didn't have any other weapons apart form these knives, but it was stupid of him to attack me with his bare hands thinking that I was just a little girl. If he had used his knives I would probably be lying dead on the unwelcome floor of Marineford. I unbuckled the belt and wrapped it around me making an extra hole with my other knife in order for it to fit me.

I fixed my eyes on my father again momentarily forgetting about Ace. He didn't seemed to be at ease anymore, as the Whitebeard pirates and their allies had started gaining ground.

"Good!" I murmured. "Get down here and fight! Someone will definitely kill you". I growled and suddenly his eyes met mine and immediately I was sure he recognized me.