"Kailee! Kailee!" The crew and Ace called, yelling for the Angel.

"This is pointless! We'll never find her like this!" Nami groaned.

"Can't she fly or something?" Zoro asked.

"Well, yeah, but she barely got the basics down while we were sailing to Alabasta. Kept crashing into the ocean. Lucky for her, she didn't possess a Devil Fruit, or she'd have been dead fifty times over. She can kind of teleport, too, but I can't be sure how the basics work with that. Half of her explanation made no sense anyway. She might not be able to teleport without knowing where she's going," Ace shrugged sadly.

"We'll find her!" Luffy crossed his arms determinedly. "For sure!"

"How do you know for sure?" Ace asked disappointedly.

"She's strong! I know she is! And if she's really our sister, it doesn't matter what you said! She'll come back! I know she will!" Luffy exclaimed faithfully. "There's no doubt in my mind!"

'I wish I had the same faith, Lu,' Ace admired. 'You're right. Somehow, you're always right. She's our little sister. She'll come back. And when she does...'

'I'll make sure to let her know that.'

Kailee panted, her flutters weakening. She couldn't keep this up. Her wings were getting tired.

She dropped to the sand, breathing heavily as she clutched her stomach. She wanted to throw up. The desert heat and exhaustion made her sick.

"Luffy, if you're still alive, I'm sorry I'm weak. I'm not strong like you, not like Ace, not like your crew. I'm just..." She trailed off. "...pathetic."

The words he'd repeated over and over again throughout the anime swum in her head, calling out to her and encouraging her.

Kailee took a deep breath and stood on shaky legs, determination filling her soul with a sense of triumph.

She refused to accept defeat. She shouldn't, she wouldn't, she couldn't.

Not when she knew Luffy had always had faith in her and her abilities. She had to prove her worth, prove that he was right about her.

She had to prove it to Ace. She refused to be weak and helpless any longer. There was no time for that anymore. Her life wasn't mundane and continuous anymore, not normal.

From now on, things were just going to continue getting crazier, harder, and more dangerous.

She had to be ready to face it head first.

"One more try," Kailee muttered. "I have to know what happened at least. Please work."

With one final determined burst of energy, her wings gave two large flaps, the air around them gusting before dying down as her form disappeared.

Ace and the Strawhats cried out in surprise as a figure materialized in front of them.

Ace recognized it before anyone else. "Kailee!"

She looked tired, pale and weak. Her eyes looked like they wanted to flutter shut, and her wings were visible, slumped over her back as if they had given out. She looked up, eyes wide. "Ace..." Her eyes traveled across him before switching to Luffy. "Luffy! You're...alive!"

"Of course I am? Did you think I was going to die?" Luffy pouted.

"No, of course not. Your plot armor is top notch," Kailee smiled gently at him, so contrast to her usual large, sunny grin.

Luffy didn't understand the reference but smiled happily all the same. "Shishishi! I'm so glad Kailee's okay!"

Her cheeks flushed red before her eyes turned down to the sand. "I...really hope you find Sabo. I hope you'll both be okay, and I hope you'll all have the best adventures. I'm sorry I was...weak. But I'm not going to be weak anymore. I'm going to get stronger and stronger and stronger every moment I can because I can't afford to be powerless when I have so much to protect, so much to live for."

"You're not weak," Ace was surprised at the softness in his voice. "I'm sorry I said it was your fault, I'm sorry I yelled, I'm sorry I didn't believe in you or Luffy. I don't hate you. Please, don't leave. I'm...sorry."

Kailee's eyes were wide with surprise. "You..." She choked out a laugh. "I don't have a choice. My time's up."

"What?" Luffy asked, slightly angry. "Is someone taking you away? I'll beat them up!"

"No, Luffy," Kailee murmured softly. She held up her hand, which started to burn away like ashes in the wind. "I can't stay here anymore."

"What?! What's going on?!" Chopper panicked.

"Kailee-chwan!" Sanji cried.

"Oi?! What the hell?!" Zoro barked.

"Voodoo!" Usopp cried.

"Oh!" Nami gasped.

"Kailee!" Ace and Luffy yelled in alarm.

"I'm not sure if I'll come back. I'm not sure I'll be able to. Do me a favor, would you? Don't tell Sabo about me. If he found out, he'd probably be disappointed he couldn't meet his little sister. I don't want him to feel bad," Kailee smirked. "It's too bad though. He really missed out on something awesome!"

Ace blinked at her, but Luffy seemed to understand. "Shishishi! Yeah!"

Ace swallowed dryly. "Kay..."

Kailee blinked in surprise at the sudden nickname. She grinned at him after a moment.

"I'm sorry!" Ace cried.

"Don't be!" She laughed at him. Her arms were gone, legs starting to fade like dust. "Everything'll be okay! I love you guys! Don't get into too much trouble, you hear?"

"Aren't we supposed to tell you that?" Ace asked, smiling sadly.

Kailee giggled. Her torso was almost gone. "Probably best, Sunshine!"

"Hey, Kay?" Ace asked.

"Yeah?" Kailee smiled at him.

"Never stop smiling."

Kailee blinked before laughing a laugh that sounded almost exactly like Luffy's (with a female tone of course). "Promise!"

Her Luffy-like grin was the last thing Ace saw as her particles were swept away by the invisible breeze.

Luffy pulled his strawhat over his eyes, but the tears dripping off of his face couldn't be hidden.

Ace choked on the tears that he didn't shed. He wasn't a crybaby.

He'd never admit that he'd failed to stop them from falling.

"Where to next, huh universe?" Kailee smiled bitterly at the endless blackness.

A white light the size of a pin appeared in the distance before growing bigger and brighter, illuminating her form and blinding her.

"Goodbye, Ace, Luffy, my big brothers. I hope we meet again," she whispered. "Next time, there will be no weakness, no hesitation. I swear to you, you'll be proud to call me your sister next time!"

'Here we go!'

She's finally moving on. But will she be able to handle what's next?

The end of the first book in the series! This book was a bit short, but the sequel to it will be much longer, I promise.

Bye my doggies, and see you in the sequel!