This is my first update and new story since. . . . . June of 2012. Huge writers block happened and then a whole bunch of other crap happened and I lost my drive. But I'm back and ready to roll with this new One Piece story! Disclaimer! I do not own One Piece I only own My OC's and the island in my story! Onwards to the story! And please review and gimme your opinions of the story!

The Tale of Nine Tails: Chapter 1

There are those that say some people are born into greatness and others can be earned. And circumstance has a way of screwing with your life. That's what happened to me, but that's not what I'm getting into right now. At this moment, I feel as if I should elaborate on a few things before delving into the true tale. As in the history of my home -Jewel Island, the grand jewel

adorning the magnificent Grand Line.

The name is certainly befitting, for the island is brimming with rare and precious gems -it's also the largest supplier of jewels here in the Grand Line. Other than the gems, Jewel Island is a great vacation island where we actually welcomed pirates and civilians alike. It's tropical and sprawling -dotted by expansive forests and crystalline coves. Can't forget the mountain, yes, just mountain -it's where the bulk of the gems are mined and it sure is pretty to look at. And again, the jewels. We mine them and sell them at a reasonable price to anyone. No discrimination. We even allow people into the mines for tours.

Now this is where my mom and dad come into the story. My mom was once a pirate back in her early teen years, she sailed the Grand Line and the four Blues. My dad, in his teen years, was one of the best miners and jewelry maker on the island -his work was famous across the Grand Line. Both were kind and bright, but if one were to ever get on either of my parents' bad side -oh man look out!

Anyway, my mom and dad met when her crew had docked on Jewel Island. She went into my dad's shop, Shore Line, looking to purchase a fine necklace or some such. She had gone in expecting to find a snooty owner with overly priced jewelry and jewels. Instead, she was greeted by a polite miner that was respectful, accommodating, and maybe a bit charming. He was mesmerize at her beauty and he asked her out on a date despite the fact that she was a pirate. They really hit it off. Started to hang out often. My mom decided to settle down on the island, letting go of her life as a pirate.

My dad was extremely happy for the turn of events, and for the next five years the two dated. And one day my dad mustered up the courage to propose -he did so in their secret rose garden (which I always think is just the most romantic thing ever) that surrounded a small sized lake (or a large pond if you want to call it that and it was their favorite place on the whole island). The best part was the necklace though- he thought rings were over used so he thought of giving her s necklace instead, he presented her with one of the ten rarest jewels among the four seas - the Shore Line Teal jewel. (Some say if you gather the ten jewels together then something amazing will happen, but that's just an old legend). Of course my mom said yes, and they didn't hesitate to wed -tied the knot the very next month. And nine months later, they had me!

So there, that's all my clarification. Oh, and my name is Aria Mitsu, daughter of the great miner of Jewel Island Ken Mitsu and ex-pirate Sora Mitsu. This is my story.

~~~~~Time skip: 3 years later~~~~~

The sun is rising in the east, leaking over the tree line surrounding an average looking home of hidden deeply within the forest of Jewel Island. The blinding rays slip through an open window to kiss the olive toned skin of a fair looking gent. His chin is chiseled, coated with slight fuzz indicating its need of a trimming. A straight nose peeks out from under a shaggy, dark brown mop of hair that tends to cover most of his face -except his right eye. His left orb is buried in the orange red pillow he rests his head upon.

His face scrunches up as the early morning light touches his face. He groans in displeasure as he turns away from the whiteness of it. The light simply floods into his back, hearing him up and keeping him awake. Typically he is up at the break of dawn, but today he had really been hoping to get a little bit more sleep than usual.

He cuddles closer to the woman peacefully sleeping beside of him. He parts an eye to see her soft face inches from his own. A small smile appears on his face, and he can't help but yawn as he wipes away the sleep in his eyes so he can get a good look at his beautiful wife. Sora is fairly tanned skin -a shade complemented nicely by plump pink lips and soft cheek bones. She's always had naturally rosy cheeks decorated by plenty of freckles -they even extend down the bridge of her adorable button nose. The pestering beams shine brighter as the sun continues to climb, painting their room in pale yellows and touching directly onto Sora's lids.

It doesn't take long for her eyes to flutter open, revealing irises of ocean blue. She smiles at the sight of her husband basically cowering away from the sun.

She chuckles a little as she begins to pepper his face with kisses. "Come on, Ken. It's time to wake up, sweetie." Those velvety lips of hers fix firmly on his mouth. Ken can't help but kiss back.

"Come on, Sora. Just a little longer. Please?" He complains to her, not opening his eyes.

"No way," she laughs as she sits up, "our little fox should be running in here in about three seconds."

Ken pulls himself into a sitting position with some effort, the covers sliding off his his well toned figure -strong muscles that aren't too defined. He rubs at his eyes as Sora giggles at the way his hair is standing up frizzy and straight in the back.

The door opens to the sound of little running footsteps. Soon the covers are being pulled at by a little girl of three years. One with nice wavy dark brown hair that reaches her shoulder blades and is streaked with natural golden blonde highlights -curtesy of her mother. She has her father's hazel eyes which seem to glow with her happiness. Tanned skin like a mixture of her parents skin color -little Aria is a perfect mixture of the two. She attempts to scale the bed using the sheets, but never truly succeeds. Ken laughs at the clearly excited child and helps her up and sets her upon his lap. Nor straightens the fox patterned pajamas she's wearing as he kisses her on the top of her head.

"Good morning, my little fox. Did you sleep well last night," he asks her.

Aria nods her head happily. "Can I come with you to the shop today," she inquires in her cute chirping voice, peering up at him with wide hazel eyes.

She always loves being in his shop, watching as people come in and out to buy her father's work. Loves to watch her father craft his masterpieces. She likes to sit with him, drawing out jewelry designs of her own. He uses them often, even though her sketches are childish -he always simplifies and makes her drawings more beautiful. The two of them make a great team, and the the whole town loves the Mitsu's little girl. And when he has to go to the mines, she sticks with her mother -who educates her and keeps the shop intact while he is gone.

"Of course you can, Aria, my little baby fox." He tells her as he tickles her tummy a bit making her squeal and giggle. "How about you get dressed and meet me in the kitchen, alright?"

She nods, crawling off the bed quickly before running off to her room.

Sora sits up, encircling his waist from behind with her lithe arms. Her chin rests in the crook of his neck. "She takes after you a lot, Kenny," Sora says, using his nickname.

"She has your looks." He tells her, kissing her cheek before slipping out from under the covers. He knows he needs to get dressed before he gives into the temptation of falling back into bed.

"Please," Sora rolls her eyes, "she takes after you the most. But... I do see a bit of a pirate in the making." She adds the last bit as more of an after thought as she dresses herself and starts down to the kitchen so that she can get breakfast going.

"Oh she's a pirate alright! A clever and sneaky little pirate!" He yells out with a laugh.

After breakfast, Ken and Aria leave to open up the shop. They stroll through a town just starting to awaken, warm sunlight fills the air. Shining in down in heavy streams on the town square and the few citizens of the island who are out and opening up their shops. Soon the bakery and food market stands begin to unveil their delights of the day, rich and savory smells mingle with the gentle breeze. Most stands and shops boast hand made jewelry and uncut gems. Some sell trinkets and others sell tools.

Amongst this huge town square is small shop that has yet to be opened for the day. A sign of bright blue and white letters spelling out the words "Shore Line" sways in the breeze -Ken's shop. He pulls the key from his pocket, unlocks the door, and steps to the side -allowing his daughter to run past him. He enters, smiling down at the girl as she runs from display case to display case. He flicks a switch, turning on a small light bulb so that he can see his way to the the large metal shutters covering the windows. He unlocks those, slides them up -allowing the morning sun to burst in. Such a perfect intensity that he doesn't need any more artificial lighting to keep his place of business aglow.

At the back of the store, Aria has already pulled out four boxes full of his of jewelry and jewels from the stacks of cabinets. She would have gotten them all out if it weren't for her inability to reach any higher than the lowest bins. The curse of being three.

"Thank you, my little fox," he says as he kisses her cheeks.

She giggles when he scoops her up and carries her to a chair sitting by the register. He sets her down and begins to set up for the day. He arranges all of his accessories and jewels in a certain fashion, order -in a way that each piece catches the light that makes them dazzle. And once that is done, all the boxes are stowed in back. He joins his daughter by the register, perching on a stool of his own. back and returns to his stool next to the register.

As they wait for the customers to come, Ken pulls out his sketch book so that he can jot down a new design for a bracelet -one for Aria. A special one that he'll surprise her with once he finds the right jewel to put in the center of it. The door opens with a jingle of the store bell just as he touches pencil to paper. Both father and daughter look up to find a tall man in the doorway. His black buzz cut hair accentuates angular facial features. Tight fitted muscle shirt decorated by a knife stabbing heart does the same with the man's muscles. He sports short green camo pants over black leggings that are tucked snuggly into a pair of black boots.

Aria squeals in delight, jumping from her seat and then into the mans arms. "Uncle Johnny," she crows in delight.

"Hey there, Aria," he says smiling, ruffling her hair. "Your gonna give your daddy a heart attack squealing like that all the time." His voice is slightly gruff.

Johnny is Ken's best friend, and though they might not be blood related, Aria thinks of him as her uncle. And she's always been told to think of the man as such.

"What can I do for ya, Johnny? You know it's my off day from the mines." Ken asks, propping his elbows up on the counter in front of him.

Johnny takes on wide smile as he shifts his niece into one arm. His free hand goes into his pocket and returns with a red gem the size of Aria's small hand. Looking at it closely enough, it appears that there is a small fire resigning inside the gem's depths.

"I found the Fire Fox Ruby," Johnny exclaims excitedly, stars shining in his eyes. "It's one of the ten sacred jewels we've been looking for and I have another lead to the Green Shore Line Jewel. It's located somewhere on this island!"

Aria laugh and giggle at the way her funny uncle shouts and nearly dances so great is his pleasure. He and Ken have been after that legend (a legend they discovered in ancient archives buried deeply within the shelves of an old library) ever since they were kids- when they promised each other that they would never stop looking until they found all ten. They're still chasing after that dream, and so far they have only found one -two now- and it is the jewel necklace Ken gave his wife on their wedding day.

"Let me see it, bro." Ken asks.

Johnny gladly hands him the gem, smile still wide and glowing. All Ken can really do is stare into, awed by its beauty. And when he can manage to drag his face away, his hazel orbs land on Aria and then on the half finished sketch before him. He's suddenly hit with a remarkable idea.

"This is perfect!" He cries out, making Johnny question what he means. "This is the perfect gem to put into my newest piece!" Ken's face is stretched by the biggest grin as he sets the gem down and begins drawing again.

Later that day, during lunch, Sora brings her family some of her homemade fried rice and teriyaki. But she also comes bearing another surprise for her family.

"I'm pregnant!" She tells them with a glowing smile that could very well rival the sun.

Ken chokes on his lunch. Aria runs around, happy and gleefully yelling, "I'm gonna be a big sister!" And when Ken finally composes himself, he is ecstatic. He jumps out of his chair, picks his wife up, and twirls her around the glittering shop.

"Oh, honey, this amazing! Our little family is getting bigger! How far are you?"

"Five weeks! And thank God for no morning sickness... yet!" She states with a huge smile.

Ken starts going on about adding another room to the house. Exclaiming names with wild gestures of his hands. His big grin never falling.

Aria giggles at her father for being so silly. "Daddy so funny," she snickers as she's scooped into her mother's arms.

"Yes he is, sweetie," Sora chuckles and then smiles sweetly down at her perfect little girl. "Maybe you'd like to help us name the new family member?"

Aria gasps in surprise, "Really mommy?"

Sora happily nods, Aria hugs her mother as tightly as possible as she asks in her cute chirping way, "Would Ray-Ray be ok, mommy?"

Sora thinks for a moment, tapping her chin as she ponders the name. It is neutral, cute. Perfect. She smiles and nods down at her daughter. "Just perfect."

~~~~~Time Skip: 2 years later Aria age: 5 Ray-Ray age: 2 1/2~~~~~

After Ray-Ray was born it was like dealing with their little fox all over again. Having Ray-Ray around was quite the change from the former three family home and expanded to four. Ray-Ray was more how should I say it without making it sound harsh. . . . Oh! She is really head strong like a ram or a sheep which was also her favorite animal by the way. Anyways back to the story!

Ray-Ray was headstrong and stubborn as hell even as a newborn, she was loud with her crying and screaming at 2 in the morning wanting to be fed, during her first month home-she was worse then Aria when she came home. Even Aria couldn't sleep well either since the nursery was across the hallway from her room. But when she had just turned 2 years old she began to have nightmares. Sora and Ken began to get worried and Aria was even more worried for her little sister. She was the big sister and was supposed to protect her little sister anyway she could. Aria thought long and hard and couldn't sum up with a solution. For a while she slept in her sister's room to help her sleep. It worked for about a week but then the nightmares came back. But then one day she was struck with an idea.

So I decided to search the house for the money I have been hiding and saving for a special occasion! I hid them under the living room couch cushions (which seems to be most likely loose change from her dad's pant pockets) and once I have enough I left home without telling my parents. I want to do this for my little sister and I want her to be protected when when I am not around to do so. She started heading into town...

She searched long and hard through town to find the perfect friend for her sister. The hours went by and Aria did not even notice that it became 2:30 in the afternoon. Meanwhile Ken was looking around town frantically for his missing daughter.

"Aria! Sweetie where are you?!" Ken called out hoping to find his daughter. He had gone hysterical earlier that day when he couldn't find his little nine tail (nickname for Aria) around the house. So he had looked out into both yards and couldn't find her en he jumped to a ridiculous conclusions of his little girl being eaten by a predator or had gotten hurt and can't move. He can just hear her crying and calling out to him. 'Daddy help me'! To Sora he was overreacting... again. She just pointed out Aria could've gone into town to see Johnny and that was when Ken took off towards town leaving a irritated wife with their 2 year old daughter.

Back in town Aria had finally found the perfect friend for her sister and was returning home when she walked into her Uncle's leg.

Johnny looked down and was surprised to see his niece on the ground with a large stuffed sheep with curled horns on it and little black hooves. He was really surprised with he noticed she was entirely alone and didn't see her father anywhere and he started doing another one of his funny freak out dance making Aria giggled at her uncle again.

"Aria?! What are you doing here? Aren't you with you father?" He quickly picked her up and rests her on his hips.

Aria shook her head no and showed him the stuffed animal she had bought for her sister. "It's a friend for Ray-Ray. So she can be happy instead of crying."

"You came to town all on your own?!" He made another funny face with his eyes popping out in surprise and quickly composed himself. His niece had come into town all on her own. She sure is growing up way to fast. One day she will give my brother a heart attack.

"Well then why don't we give Ray her new friend and get you home. Sound good?" He asked her with a big grin and Aria giggled as she nods clutching the sheep for dear life. Johnny then began walking away from the town square and when they got to the edge of town that when Ken burst through the tree and greenery. His hair was fizzled and he was sweating, his face was red and breathing heavily like he ran the entire way from home- which is the most likely possibility. Once his eyes landed on Aria he was relieved to know she was safe with his brother.

"Oh Aria thank god your ok!" He snatched her and hugged her tight making her squirm under the tight hug.

"Uh Ken, your hugging her too tight!" Johnny's teeth went sharp and he funny white eyes clearly irritated and scared for his niece dying of a death hug. Ken stopped and looked down and she was coughing quite a bit. "Oops. Sorry my little fox. What do you have here sweetie?" Ken finally spots the large stuffed sheep with curled horns.

"For Ray. She needed a friend like I have with Miko." She cutely explained.

Ken raised an eyebrow and was curious at how she got the money to buy it. "Where did you get the money to get this sweetie?"

"The cushions in the couch. You leave them behind all the time when you take your naps." She cutely told him which made Johnny laugh. Ken wasn't the best at keeping his money in one place. Ken gave his friend a dirty look and quickly turned it into a smile and looked at his daughter with the stuffed sheep.

"Well then let's give your sister her new friend. And I think Uncle Johnny would want to see his other niece too wouldn't ya bro?" Ken smiled and looked over to his best friend.

"Sure it's my day off anyways." Johnny shrugged and went into the jungle and Ken follows with his daughter in his arms.

Back home Sora was doing her best to keep her daughter calm and rested. She wished she knew what was causing the nightmares. When she heard the door open she peeked out of the kitchen and saw Johnny and her husband with their daughter in his arms. She sighed in relief knowing her daughter was ok. My husband freaks out for nothing.

"Thank god she's ok. Was she with you Johnny?" She asked him to which he shook his head no.

"Found her in town square and decided to take her home. And I encountered Ken at edge of the forest." Johnny explained shifting his niece to his other hip so Aria could face her mother.

"I got Ray a friend!" Aria held up the stuffed sheep above her head.

"Where did you get the money for that?" She asked suspecting it was from the loose change from the couch cushions left behind from her husband.

"The cushions momma." She answered confirming her mother's suspicions.

Ray peaked out from her mother's shoulder and saw the sheep she smiled at the stuffed animal and began to reach for it with her little hands.

"Sh-Sheep!" Ray called out happily and Aria gave the sheep to her sister. Now she will always be protected when I am not around! Aria smile watching her hug the animal to her chest. Aria nods knowing that she did the right thing!

Sora smiled and looked up at her eldest, "Your a sweetheart Aria. Now I believe it's time for both of your naps." And both girls yawned a bit and their eye lids began to droop down. Both parents went up stairs and put the girls to bed. When both parents exit the rooms they chuckled.

"Sora she takes after you with that golden heart of hers." Ken said and wrapped his arm around her waist as they went down stairs.

"Ok I agree with you on that Ken. But I still wonder if we should show the girls our abilities." Sora asked him as they reached the end of the stairs and found Johnny leaning on the wall.

"I agree Ken. Why hide our abilities from the girls? I know Aria would've loved to see that. Especially my drilling, in the mines." Johnny then turned his hand into a black shining steel drill.

Ken shook his head, "I just don't think they're ready for it just yet. I mean I know they see it a lot when the pirates in town show them off and are afraid. I just don't want the girls to be afraid of us because we have devil fruit powers." And his left hand turned in a hard Granite and he moved his fingers a bit before returning his hand to normal.

"Honey they're gonna find out sooner or later." Sora knew it would happen soon. She just didn't know when it would happen.

To be continued. . . . .