A/N: Hello readers! Now, I know for some of you who are familiar with my other stories are wondering why I haven't updated for so long? Right? Well, I had been busy slaving away at a fast-food restaurant and as of now I will be further updating and starting new stories as well. Another note! I will be re-vising my errors through out the week of July 4th, in order to keep myself from digging up any plot holes.

I have no idea where I could take this story. (As adding an Original Character requires a substantial amount of originality and material to make the story more entertaining and less out of place.) I tend to struggle with that a lot and I'm often wondering whether or not if anyone can really envision any of my writing. I will also be making some slight edits here and there since I don't have a BETA reader.

I really hope I don't end up Hiatus any time soon, but I will do my best to update my stories.

Especially this one.

Please give me some positive feedback!

I tend to feel more motivated to update when I receive reviews and follows.

I'm pretty sure almost all of you skipped on to reading so why am I rambling on anyway?

The final memories of my life as a normal suburban girl flashed through my very eyes. Ending with the hazy cold memory of shattered glass cascading on the floor that had poured and dripped with my very blood. A chest imploding hum rippled through my body before my skin felt like it had been replaced by a thick layer of lead. My strength and will to breathe had been drained violently with such a force that it made me understand the severity of my situation.

I was dying.

Me; the stupidly plain suburban girl who so desperately longed to be a part of the world was now being torn away from it all. The darkness would soon consume me and I would only exist in the memories of the ones I loved.

It was all over for me.

I recalled the desperation of my will trying to get my body to move -to unrealistically remain awake and ensure my own survival. To sustain my existence even though my very body struggled to endure the damage it had taken. I wanted-No.

I needed to survive.

I needed to live.

"Please-!" A sickening gurgle resonated from my trachea before a warm frothy liquid spurted from my lips. I was positive that if I hadn't lost my sense to taste it would have surely tasted of iron.

My body wasn't complying with my will to move, it was a pointless to even dream of salvation. My hearing, along with the smell of propane and smoke faded. With no strength to fight back I was robbed of a last breath as my vision blurred into the depths of oblivion. The only thing that comforted me was the presence of my sweet Mother wailing beside me. Hearing her in the depths of oblivion was the last thing I remembered. The scariest part of it all was not being able to discern the words that left her lips…

For what could have been a long time...I did not exist...

That is to say, that I don't remember much after that. I had no sense of myself, there was no way for me to truly comprehend what happened after.

I'm not exactly sure of how it happened, but somewhere along the line of death and my eternal rest my consciousness drifted on and off. I didn't have the strength to question it or comprehend it. In this darkness I was not aware of any concept of time. It could have been days, months, maybe even years, but the sensations started to become more frequent and my other senses where returning to me with time.

I reacted to a certain warmth like a lifeline when I first came in contact it. It was because I could finally feel anything that I refused to stray from it.

I was dependent on it as it made me feel alive and safe.

Now, a lot of people would assume that the moment I had been reborn that I should have been self-aware and alert at that point. Right? Well, that was clearly not the case here. My brain and thought processing had to start fresh from zero and being a newborn child again had yet to give me the mental capacity to form a coherent thought.

It wasn't until I stared into the pearly-white lily in my stubby palms that I realized I wasn't in some dream-like state. I hadn't been sent to heaven and I sure didn't think my soul had somehow possessed the body of a child. I tore my gaze away from the lily and marveled at the world and sky before me as it looked infinitely larger than my current size. I watched as the vivid shades of green bits danced into the sky towards the open sea.

It was unbelievable. In the haze of all the confusion and wonder I understood.

I had lived once…

I had endured and felt the true sense of death when it came for me. I had been so helpless fighting for a chance to keep living, clawing away at would little oxygen I could muster. I pressed a free hand on to my small chest; I waited and gasped at the rhythmic thudding beats beneath my palm.

It's song bringing more joy into my very core. I sighed in content as I danced around and let my small figure fall into the tall grass.

I couldn't believe it...

"I'm...Alive." I sighed and breathe out in total ecstasy as the scent of salty air filled my lungs.

Wow...

"Gran-Gran? Grandma?" I asked, as we walked towards the port bay of the town. I never really paid mind to the names of places. I was far too fascinated the language that the native people and Gran-Gran spoke. It rolled off the tongue in a way English could never compare. Like some Spanish-German-like bastardization. It was the native tongue that was equally exotic and beautiful.

Perhaps I was over-romanticizing it, but seeing as how I only knew one language in my past life I was really in love with it. For some time I was convinced I might have been reincarnated in some beautiful tropic Spanish country. However, I was thrown a little off guard as I noted the odd text designs on billboards and books. At first-glance one would think it was alien hieroglyphics…

"Yes, what is it love?" My grandmother asked. Her thick-silver braid swung side-to-side by the movement of her light steps. The sky's vivid lavender to purple hue's signaled the break of dawn.

It would only be a few months until my next birthday. I still had so much to learn of the outside world and all of its secrets. From what I knew of this land so far, was that the world was far more different than what I remembered. This gave me the theory that perhaps I might not be in the earth I once knew. That wasn't the only thing that was odd to me.

What had happened to my second birth parents..?

"Why don't I have a Mom and Dad like Cousin Keiko and the Uremeshi boy?"

Grandma froze as she stared at me through small slanted eyes. The statement caught her off guard. It was expected. After all, it wasn't an easy question to bring up lightly either.

She seemed torn, unable to come up with an explanation that could be gentle enough yet sincere for me to understand. In her mind I was a fragile and naive creature incapable of understanding the delicate nature of my situation. That I was not mentally prepared for the gravity of the words she wanted to tell me.

Or so she thinks I can't anyway...

Regardless of having never met them I knew it was a waste of time trying to prolong the inevitable conversation we were bound to have.

"Are they...with the angels?" I asked honestly a little deflated. I feigned innocence in order to get her to see I understood completely. It was a shame really. I never imagined I'd have to live on without the comfort and warmth I once shared with my past parents.

Her periwinkle eyes were glazed under a layer of unshed tears. I had probably taken the burden of explanation much sooner than she anticipated. It ate at my heart to see the years of loneliness hit her eyes. I realized then, I was the only person keeping her company though all the pain. To see such a woman that held strength and wisdom so emotionally wounded brought a familiar sting in my eyes. I began to feel the weight of tears welling up in the corner of my lids and to keep from faltering I held my lips in a firm line.

My words, though innocent had upset her. I single-handedly made my Gran-Gran cry...

"I-I'm...sorry...I didn't mean to make you cry." I looked at the floor ashamed at myself. I should have just stayed quiet and saved the woman some grief. Bringing them up...was a bad idea on my part. Grandma's brows furrowed; she stood over me and moved the velveteen violet red locks from my face.

"Nanami..." She replied sternly. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong. I was just...surprised. I know many kids your age don't understand as much as you do." She kissed my forehead gingerly and held me close, "Even if your Mommy and Daddy aren't with us right now, just know I'll always be there by your side supporting you each step of the way in spirit." My heart warmed as I embraced the woman I had grown to love.

In a short time I lost everything I came to love. My job, my friends...my family. I lost it all in a flash and here I was starting from zero again. It was just too much to bear the burden alone. She was my sun on a rainy day. She was my mentor, my friend...and my guardian.

She was my precious person.

"I love you Gran-Gran."

"I love you too, Nanami." She wiped away the tears staining my face and held my hand with gentleness and warmth. We walked down to the ports and made a sharp left turn into a one of the many shops that were vacant in the ports of Whale Isla'. Many of the local fisherman greeted us as they began preparing their boats for the bountiful season this time of year.

Grandma had taken over Grandpa's shop since his passing. Her business was quite a success as she sold quality fishing rods and repair. She even had her very own secret recipe for fish bait.

Normally, women often worked on the docks and picked the fish from the catch. These women were called Fishmongers, but, Grandma had a family owned business and she wouldn't let another tragedy happen by selling the only memory of the man she loved.

Grandma had insisted on teaching me some maintenance and repair at a young age. It was a lot easier to help her out in the shop whenever she was too busy or whenever her employee had his hands full.

Even if the island was commonly bustling with tourists, I had rarely seen a kid my own age. The kids on the island where of ranging age groups, but I had a hard time finding someone who could really entertain me without testing my patience...Which is why I refrained from ever dealing with brats that couldn't bother to keep up a real conversation.

Because of this dilemma I ended up having a ranging number of adult friends.

Most of them elderly...

They were all kind-hearted, earnest and hardworking. Each of them had a book full of amazing tales and stories for all to hear. The pride they all held for the island was impressive and made me feel grateful and proud to be a part of it. During their shifts at the ports I would often get called to fix any of their trinkets and fishing rods when needed. My hands where quite small and slender -and though a bit calloused, were agile enough to get even the most tedious of tasks done.

I was attentive to keep my hands healthy by making the salve Gran-Gran used on her palms from the local herbs and some she kept in our greenhouse.

The tropic climate made for plentiful vegetation and herbs, especially the poisonous ones. Distinguishing them was a must, since some herbs happen to look eerily similar. The townsfolk often relied on herbal remedies for about almost any health concern.

Of course I wasn't stupid enough to go into the forest alone. Gran-Gran was my mentor in the ways of the wild. Despite not being in her prime she never had a hard time taking walks into the marshes and take uphill routes to see her friends. I was worried after she messed up her knee and it soon thwarted our plans of dwelling any further into the forests of Whale Isla'.

I was lucky it wouldn't be much longer until I found someone else to join me...

It also wasn't much later until the ugly truth reared its head in and come crashing its foot down I would later find out the life I had been living in was a world where being a generously-paid mercenary was the job everyone would kill for.

Including me.

I was in state of denial at the time...and I still had yet to learn and believe that the world of Hunters wasn't some kind of fairy tale like it had been in my old life...It was going to become my reality and I was going to change the story whether I wanted to or not.

I was about to learn that relying on a Two-dimensional picture was as fool-proof as bullet-vest made of tears…

My tears.

A/N: Any thoughts on the story so far? Remember! Reviews and Comments on your part keep me motivated to progress further! A little feedback would please me and give me the incentive to keep writing.

Update: On another note; to keep Nanami from discovering she's on whale Island I'm messing with the name's translation since it is in another language and not everything translates word for word in that world. Also keep in mind I will also be playing with alien language so don't bother searching up some words in the future.