As the year passed by, the now ten year old twins snuck out for another day of practice and fun, one of the maids saw this and followed them slowly. The twins knew they were being followed and led her astray, like they always did. Thanks to their training, they were able to keep their secret hidden for so long. They then walked to train when they were no longer insight of the maid. Once they were done they went to hang out with Nozomi and their other friends for a while. After a few hours the girls rushed home with Elek close behind, watching them. He smiled as he saw them run around, greeting people kindly and respectfully. This made him happy. He saw that the girls had grown much stronger since they would fall and swiftly get back up, something he had only dreamed that they would do. Elek had watched over the twins ever since they were infants. He was their guard and babysitter, he practically raised them the way their parents wanted him to. But now they were growing up into fine young girls, they way he would want his children to be. Respectful, curious, energetic, kind, and much more.

The three snuck back into their home unnoticed and rushed to bed. The next day they skipped their lessons and raced out to train, only this time they were followed by a tracking dog and one of the guards from the Kinoshita mansion. The girls bowed upon seeing their teacher and happily began training, starting with the breathing exercises. As they went to the large backyard and were about to start their lesson, the group was interrupted.

"There you are!" A man in a similar suit as Elek called, running up to the twins, about to grab them but they dodged him.

"Oh, hi mister Ryota." Mikomi called, blinking a few times.

"Why're you here?" Maica asked, tilting her head. The guard stared at the two in shock. They were never able to dodge like that before. He then lowered his gaze to the weapons, letting out a light gasp.

"Wh-why do you two have those things?" He asked, shock and surprise lacing his voice. The girls exchanged looks and sighed while explaining the situation. The guard growled and went to grab the two, but Elek stopped him. "Elek, release me at once!"

Elek narrowed his eyes in defiance. "You are endangering my girls. I am to protect them from anyone. Even you if I must." He growled and threw Ryota into the wall of the house behind him. "I will not let you endanger my girls." He huffed, standing between the twins and Ryota.

"I will get you for this. You will regret this."

"I would like to see you try. Mister Kinoshita hired the best man for the job." Elek huffed. Ryota stood and ran off with his tracking dog. Elek turned to look at the girls and their teacher. "We'll need to hide from your parents for a while. Maybe we should leave the island. They can get very angry, and with what you've been doing recently, I can foresee you being in danger."

"But what about our friends?" Maica frowned. Mikomi nodded.

Elek sighed "We aren't leaving right this moment so you can spend time with them for now, but I'd like to leave soon. Within two weeks if not less." Chung sighed.

"My students, it seems your path is leading you on a journey. When you leave I'd like you to visit me." The twins nodded and the three raced towards the tree houses.

"Elek, what about you?" Mikomi asked. Elek shook his head.

"I will be fine. Just focus on hiding and surviving for now. I will be at Chung's place for the time being. I'll visit every day with information." The twins nodded and climbed the tree to find Nozomi and some of the other kids.

"Nozomi!" The twins called happily, hugging their friend.

"What's up?" The older girl giggled, hugging the two back. The two explained what was going on quickly and in a slight panic. "Oh." Nozomi and the others widened their eyes. "Well, you're welcome here anytime. I'd suggest you get some grub. We have a few left overs and all of us are full. Help yourselves." The twins nodded and the two ate happily, yet with a bit of bitterness. Everything was happening so fast. That night the two hardly slept, jolting at every rustling sound they heard from the trees and bushes.

Three days passed since the twins began to stay with Nozomi and the other kids. Some kids would come and go, others  would stay for a while. Today the twins met up with Elek and learned that they were going to leave in a few days so they should start getting ready now. The twins gulped and ran back to the tree houses and explained to Nozomi about the situation.

The girl sighed. "Well, uh, you mind doing me a favor?"

"Sure, anything." Maica smiled and Mikomi nodded.

Nozomi tightened her hands into fists and gulped. "T-Take me with you!"

"What?" Mikomi asked.

"Please! My step-dad is a drunk bastard and he killed my mom. Every day he drinks endlessly and every night he brings over a group of friends and kidnaps a woman, any woman roaming around at night, and takes her home and rapes her. I stay here, like a lot of other kids. We use this as a safe haven, all of us. Please, take me with you." Nozomi begged. The two exchanged glances and sighed.

"Alright, I'm sure just one more will be okay." Mikomi smiled kindly. Nozomi sniffled and hugged the two happily. Nozomi and the twins got ready that night, packing weapons, books, games, and getting some other things from the hub. Nozomi explained the situation to one of the item traders and he congratulated the three, in a way, and gave her and the twins some items they would probably need and sent them on their way. The next day the twins went to see Elek once again and explained that Nozomi would be joining them on their journey.

Elek grumbled. "Very well. Our boat, which the fisherman so graciously gave us, can carry her as well, but she is the only one." He stated, the twins gasped happily and hugged him then went on their way once again. Elek watched the two run off, talking with wide smiles. "I'll protect her too, I guess." He chuckled and continued to work. The day went on and kids came to the treehouse from the hub, bearing gifts and hugs.

"Hey, how about you come to the hub tomorrow and we'll throw you a big party." One of the kids said.

"Yeah, it'll be a "See you later" kind of party."

"A "See you later" party? Why not a "Goodbye" party?" The twins asked. Nozomi chuckled.

"You see, here each of us has some kind of familial problem. Drunken parents, no parents, abusive parents, addicts, the list goes on. So, we made our own family with each other and we are here for one another. Family is never gone forever, so we say see ya later and never goodbye." Nozomi smiled. The twins blinked then gave a smile, nodding at the older girl's words. "Alright, we'll go to the party, but only for a bit. We leave after that." Nozomi smiled and everyone hugged then went hunting and gathering, cooked their food, talking happily, telling stories and jokes, laughing like children should. After all the food had been eaten everyone got ready for bed and slept for the night.

The next day Maica and Mikomi went to inform Elek about the party, which he was able to attend because there was a ladder that led to the zip-line entrance floor, the lowest one. He smiled and nodded then went to the hub with the twins. The three girls laughed happily as they rushed to the hub by foot, talking about what might happen, what games they would play, what food to eat, and more. Sooner than expected the four arrived and went up to the third floor where the party was. Upon entering the hub they froze. Confetti covered the four followed by poppers and applauses. The girls gasped in shock and rushed to their friends, crying in tears of joy. Elek sighed with a small smile.

"Alright, tree children! Three of our own are going out on a journey! Per-tradition we must give them a proper send off. Okay,so on the count of three, one, two... THREE!"

"SEE YOU LATER NOZOMI, MIKOMI, AND MAICA! STAY SAFE, BE CAREFUL AND COME VISIT US!!" They called, cheering for the three.

"We'll definitely come visit!" They called out. "We promise!" They smiled. That was when the baker brought out a large cake, everyone ate happily. After cake were gifts. The three got cloths, books, weapons, and more. Mikomi opened her final gift and gasped. It was a silver ninja scarf. Maica got a navy blue ninja scarf, and Nozomi got a gold ninja scarf. The three giggled and put them on happily, being sure not to let the ends drag on the ground.

A loud boom sounded from outside, causing everyone to yelp in shock. "Sorry to cut the party short." Elek called. "But we should get going. Girls, hurry and get your things and meet me by the docks." Elek ordered and rushed out. Everyone watched the girls off. Once they were gone, they prepared for a fight.

The girls ran to the zip-line that led to their home and got on it, being as swift as they could be. Once there they grabbed their things and jumped from one branch to another until their feet met with the ground. They ran as fast as they could to the boat and got on. The towns people giving them supplies as they left. Elek saw some of the men getting ready to defend the four from the corner of his eye as they left land.

"Kids, be sure you keep your eyes forward. Don't look back."

"Why?" The three girls asked. Elek sighed with a gulp. He opened his mouth to reply but a gunshot cut him off, followed by a scream. The girls looked back to see what was going on. The twins gasped in horror.

"That's why." Elek mumbled. Mister Kinoshita had shot one of the townspeople with a pistol, point blank. His gun was steaming and he was glaring right at Elek. The man started the boat engine while the crazy father began killing and wounding people left and right, his guards doing the same, approaching the boat swiftly.

"Elek! Get back here with my brats!" The twins widened their eyes. "They haven't even paid for the damage they caused! It's all their fault!" He called. "They are both supposed to grow up and marry a rich man of my choosing then get us even more money to pay for what they have done!"

"But, but we didn't do anything." The twins whimpered to Elek.

The guard sighed. "In his eyes, you robbed him of a son. But it was not your fault." Elek explained bluntly. Mister Kinoshita continued towards the boat, shooting at it to kill Elek. He managed to graze the guard, but they got away. This angered the noble and he sent his people after the group.

Over the years the group of four had to dodge the nobel's grasp endlessly, barely surviving. Eventually Elek was killed off and the girls were on their own, until one day they became stowaways on a pirate ship. As luck would have it, that ship was one of the most famous pirate ships. Gol. D. Roger's ship. The twins were around thirteen, Nozomi was fourteen. The crew accepted them happily, putting them with the cabin boy's, Buggy, Shanks, and a new member who they had picked up two months ago. A boy named Lynx, who was about the same age as Shanks. The three became pretty good friends and always helped each other out, saving each other's lives more than once. Eventually, they parted ways when Roger turned himself in, many years later. Shanks asked everyone if they wanted to join his crew. Nozomi joined happily, Buggy did not, the twins bickered about it while Lynx joined. Mikomi joined with Shanks while Maica went off on her own. She eventually made a deal with the government so she and her sister could be safe for a while.

Two years passed and Maica had gotten word that Lynx and her twin were married and settled down on an island to have a family. Two more years later she was given permission to go visit her sister and newborn nephew, with her husband. They also met up with Shanks, Nozomi, and some old crew members from back in the day, who had also come to visit the baby boy. Another year and she had a child of her own. Mikomi, Lynx, and the three year old Kitearo came to visit for a month, as well as others from the past such as Shanks and Nozomi. Thankfully the family was on vacation for this specific reason so none of their pirate friends were in danger. A year later Maica went with her child and husband to visit the newborn Kari. They once again met up with old friends. Two years later Maica got a call from her sister. Mikomi was sobbing as she explained. Kari had been kidnapped. Maica internally panicked, knowing Kari's heritage on her father's side. But she could not do anything, knowing what would happen if she told anyone. So, she went under the radar and contacted Shanks, who agreed to help search for the child. Another two years passed Maica got a call from Shanks, who was speaking on Lynx's and Mikomi's behalf. He said that it was okay to stop looking for Kari and that everything was fine. Maica frowned out of confusion, but stopped looking for the girl. That same year, she was assigned to help Doctor Vegapunk with his work. Things began to turn after that.