A/N: I'M ALIVE! AND SO IS THIS FIC!

Okay, for excuses and apologies, please see the notes at the end of the chapter. But since I know there are some of you who don't always read the end of chapter notes, there are a few important things I wanted to address here:

1) I've posted the first chapter of the side fic for this story, which is called "For The Wings Of A Swallow". It's not long, just a quick look at what Ace is up to. I'm planning on putting everything that won't go into this story there. A lot of you have suggested omakes instead, but I like this idea better. Sorry to those of you who don't! But if you're interested, please go over and give it a look. I'll take prompts, too, if there's anything you want to see that hasn't been included here. I'm not promising I'll write every single one, but if the inspiration strikes, I will.

2) Some people have asked if they could draw fan art for this story, to which my answer is definitely YES! Please do! I would be beyond honored, oh my gosh. All I ask is that you send me a link afterwards, since I'd love to see whatever you've made. And, if I have your permission, I'd also love to post it on the tumblr I made for this fic as well (with full credit going to the artist, of course, and a link to the original source!)

3) After I've posted this chapter, I'll be heading over to that tumblr to upload the new picture I've drawn of Lily. For any of you interested in checking it out, it's: spitfirelily. tumblr. com. Just take out the spaces.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who was so patient and encouraging for the last few months while I worked on this. Without further ado, chapter twenty-two!

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"Are you out of your mind?!"

If I was being totally honest, I was less surprised at the shrieking and more shocked that it had taken this long to happen. Already, it was mid-afternoon, lunch having been served over an hour ago, and so far everything had been downright peaceful. It was kind of weird.

I didn't want to know what it said about my life that hearing Nami and Usopp yelling on the other side of the deck in what could only be described as incredulous anger actually came as a relief.

At least, it did until I made my way over to them only to discover the victim of their rage was none other than Zoro, who was currently lifting a makeshift dumbbell that likely weighed more than everyone on deck combined.

Zoro, who also looked less than impressed with their fretting. "I saw a doctor, I was treated. I've had a bunch of sleep. I'm fine."

"That isn't how it works, you idiot!" Nami snarled, wild-eyed and looking seconds away from punching the swordsman straight in the neck, if only to get him to shut up. I refrained from making a comment on how such a thing wouldn't really be helpful to his physical health either, and instead focused on the idiot who was making all this trouble in the first place.

If you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't have any clue at all that he was anything but fine. But I could see the way his eyes were pinched, his movements more stiff than they should be. Sweat was gathering at his temples far faster than it ever had before and, under his tan, his skin was quickly paling. He had to be in excruciating pain and yet, still, he carried on lifting his weight and looking at us like we were worrying for nothing.

And I knew, given the way he'd been while on Nami's home island, that there wasn't much beyond knocking him out and tying him down that we could do to get him to stop.

Nothing much, that was, but maybe give him incentive.

And so, with a shrug, I stepped forward and took a grip on the other makeshift weight he'd set to the side, ignoring Nami and Usopp's frantic squawking as I went. "I guess if he's okay to train now, then it must mean I am too, right? After all, his injury was way worse than any of mine."

In fact, I likely was okay to start training again. I'd never been one for taking long breaks while waiting for my injuries to heal before and I wasn't likely to start any time soon. Still, as I hefted the weight up, I made no attempt to hide my grimace as the action pulled on my ribs which, while healing, weren't completely a hundred percent just yet.

I persisted, though, even as I began paling myself, sweat rolling down my face and neck. I went out of my way to emphasize my heavy breathing and shaking muscles, where usually I'd be doing all I could to hide it and carrying on regardless.

Zoro's eyes had narrowed on me as soon as I'd stepped forward, both of us oblivious to the way our crewmates were now practically foaming at the mouth in fury and concern over us. He continued to watch me with suspicion for a few more moments before finally huffing and dropping his dumbbell to the deck unceremoniously, ignoring Usopp's indignant "Oi!"

"Fine, whatever," he reluctantly relented, even as he did his best to hide his own uneven breathing. "Just put that down before you fall over."

I set my weight down far more gently, wanting to spare Merry as much abuse as I could, and smiled at him even as I hugged one arm tightly around my aching ribs. "It looks like just a few days and a nap or two aren't quite enough to get us back to full health, then, huh?"

He turned away from me, muttering insults all the while, but I could see the faint flush of embarrassment heating up the tips of his ears as he went and barely stopped myself from snickering at the sight. Before I could contemplate following and giving him more trouble, though, I was punched solidly in the arm and yelped.

"What was that for?" I demanded, turning wounded eyes towards Nami, who stared me down right back, unimpressed and unamused.

"I get what you were doing," she told me, hands on her hips as she radiated disapproval at me. "But it was still stupid. You aren't anywhere near healed either and you had no business trying to lift that weight."

"Honestly, my ribs are pretty much healed at this point. Just a little sore, still."

"It's been days!" She shrieked, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "There is no way that you've healed that much in days!"

I shrugged at her but said nothing more. I didn't understand it all that much myself, so it wasn't like I could explain it to her. All I knew was that I healed at an inhuman rate - or, inhuman compared to my old world, since this one was full of crazy - and it either had something to do with my genes, my name, or a combination of both. Still, I knew that scientifically it would probably make very little sense and Nami was someone who relied on logic more than anything, so it was probably best if I spared her the headache.

Instead I patted her on the head, consolingly. She glared at me, huffed, and then stomped her way across the deck back to the lounge chair she'd obviously been lazing in before our idiotic swordsman had stirred her temper. Usopp followed a moment later to return to whatever experiment he had been working on, but not before giving me a look of his own, one which clearly begged me not to goad Nami any further for awhile.

Which I found a bit insulting, really, as it wasn't like I did it on purpose.

Still, I tried to be on my best behavior for the remainder of the day, which was easy to do when Luffy was running around like a maniac instead. He knew that we were getting closer to the Grand Line, with only a single island to stop at for supplies first, and it seemed his energy levels were rising in proportion with how close we got.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Sanji called out that dinner was done, myself included. Yes, I was used to dealing with my brother and his hyperactive tendencies. That didn't mean it wasn't still exhausting at times.

We all walked into the galley to find a table filled to the brim with food, leaving barely enough room for our respective plates. It became immediately clear why Sanji had spent the entirety of the day locked away in the kitchen; obviously, he wanted his first meal for the full crew to be impressive. I could tell already that it would be, too, just from the smell. It was all I could do not to start drooling on the spot.

Luffy, not having the same compunctions or self-control, was leaking like a faucet.

Sanji looked torn between preening at the obvious compliment and whacking his captain upside the head for being disgusting in the presence of ladies. After a moment he huffed, chose to do neither, and instead gestured for us to take our seats. If there was a bit more of a spring to his step than usual, we did our best not to comment on it.

"Wow, Sanji!" Nami smiled, face lit up in delight as she took her seat. Sanji, who'd been in the process of pulling the seat out for her, swooned so hard he nearly fell over. "This looks delicious! And there's so much, we'll have plenty of leftovers!"

"There's not going to be any leftovers," Zoro and I both told her at the same time, the swordsman's voice dry while mine was matter-of-fact.

There was a lot of food, though. Bowls and plates filled with potatoes and various vegetables, breads and broths and at least three different salads. And in the center of it all, a massive turkey, cooked to a mouthwatering golden brown. In all the Thanksgivings of my previous life, I had never seen a turkey that looked so good.

And then Sanji cut into it and my mind honestly blanked for a moment in sheer happiness.

" - It's all about timing," the cook was saying when I finally found myself able to pay attention again. He was very obviously proud of the meal he'd made and he had every right to brag, as far as I was concerned. "Those idiot bastards at the Baratie used to use bread stuffings between the layers, which makes it lose all its shape. Cut into it like that and it's all going to come spilling out everywhere. Using forcemeats is smarter. And with the way our idiot captain and the lovely Lily-chan like meat, I figured it would be the way to go."

"You're not wrong," I told him, my voice a bit faint. I couldn't tear my gaze away from the downright picturesque meal he was carving up before us. Because it wasn't just turkey, no matter how it had originally looked. No, it was a stuffed turkey. A meat-stuffed turkey, with five layers stuffed inside of it.

"What are the different layers made of?" Usopp asked, craning his neck from his seat to try and get a better look without actually getting up, impressed but not struck speechless the way I was, or too preoccupied with drooling the way my brother was.

"Turkey on the outside," Sanji answered, his tone becoming a bit more business-like now that he was addressing a male crew member but not losing its warmth. He gestured to each section with his carving knife as he named them. "Then duck, a layer of sage sausage, chicken, and more sausage at the center."

"So. Much. Meat," Luffy sighed from the head of the table, looking for all the world like he'd die the happiest man in the world at this moment, Pirate King title be damned. To be honest, I wasn't too far behind him. We'd both had plenty of different types of meat over the years from all the hunting we'd done, and it wasn't like we hadn't ever had more gourmet cooking on our various dine-n-dash exploits. But we'd never had anything like this before.

"I take back everything I've ever thought or said about you," I looked up, meeting Sanji's gaze as I told him as seriously as I could, "You are never allowed to leave this crew."

He looked like his heart was seconds away from pounding out of his chest as he danced about the table, dishing out servings as he went. "But of course, Lily-chan! Like I could ever leave you and the lovely Nami-san here alone with these ugly brutes! I'll stay with you for the rest of my life!"

"Thank you," I told him as graciously as I could manage as my plate was placed before me, all of my attention zeroing in on it as the rest of his monologue carried on in the background. There was absolutely no way I could make myself pay attention to him when I had food like this in front of me and, honestly, I was pretty sure he'd prefer to see me stuffing my face with what he'd made then letting it go cold while complimenting him anyway.

The first bite was absolute heaven. I would never be able to go back to crudely roasting plain meats over a bonfire ever again.

For the first time in what seemed like my entire second life, the entirety of dinner passed silently. Even Nami and Usopp, who usually spent meals chatting idly, barely said a single word, focused as they were on the food. Sanji spent the entire time looking inordinately pleased with himself, as was his right.

As Zoro and I had predicted, there were no leftovers.

We continued to sit around the table even after the last of the food had disappeared into my brother's black hole of a stomach, all of us too full and content to move, save for Sanji, who got up a few times in order to refill drinks. He did it without even seeming to think about it, obviously still working off of a waiter's mentality from working at the restaurant. Or maybe he just felt it fell under his duties as cook? Either way, I appreciated it, as I wasn't actually sure I could move for anything short of an emergency at the moment. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd felt this full.

One thing was for sure, though, and that was that I was ready to fall into a food coma. Looking around at the others, I could see I wasn't the only one, either. In fact, Zoro looked to be nodding off where he sat already. I rolled my head onto my shoulder, too content to put forth the energy of picking it up, ready to call out to Nami and ask if she was ready to head to the room when I stopped, getting a good look at her face.

On the surface she looked fine, merely stuffed like the rest of us. But under that I could feel her emotions roiling with vague unease and uncertainty. It didn't take a genius to figure out why, as her gaze bounced back and forth, like she didn't know who she wanted to look at, though it came to rest on Luffy more often than not.

It was true that it had been days since the defeat of Arlong and his crew, days in which her island had celebrated practically nonstop. And she'd had each of us there with her, too, as none of us really wanted to stray too far away from the others. But it hadn't been just us; we'd been surrounded by villagers the entire time from when Arlong Park fell to boarding the Going Merry and setting off that morning.

But now Nami was a part of the crew, fully and whole-heartedly, with no secrets or obligations keeping her from us anymore. And it was obvious that she didn't want to just get up and go to sleep, to walk away from everyone else but me for the night. And I didn't take it personally.

Nami wanted her crew. She wanted to be surrounded by us, to be able to look up and know that we were here with her, that it wasn't a dream and that she truly was free now. I couldn't fault her for it. In fact, I probably understood more than she realized.

A quick glance at Luffy and I knew I wasn't the only one drawing those conclusions. He might not have the talent I did with Observation, but he knew how to read people and, more than that, he knew how to read his crew. He'd probably known this was going to happen all day, actually, knowing him.

"Why don't we all have a sleepover?" He chirped, grin nearly splitting his face.

"A sleepover?" Usopp asked, sounding hesitant.

"If this is your way of trying to use me as a pillow again, it's not happening," Zoro grumbled, not even opening his eyes as he addressed us. Nami snickered as Usopp's jaw dropped, his face paling at the very idea of daring to use Zoro as a pillow, and Sanji didn't bother to hide his snort.

"I am not going into the boy's room," Nami stated, turning her nose up at the very idea. "I'm pretty sure you lot haven't cleaned it since you moved in and I don't think you've done any laundry, either." She wasn't the only one who's nose wrinkled at that. I may have grown up in a jungle and surrounded by bandits but that didn't mean I didn't have standards. Even Sanji grimaced at the thought of it. "And no way am I inviting any of you into the girl's room."

"We can set up blankets on the deck!" Luffy decided, undeterred. "It'll be just like when we were kids, Lili, when we'd train and be too tired to go back to the tree house so we'd just sleep in the training field."

I huffed a laugh at him. "It's a bit different when we're out on the open sea. But if the weather's amenable, it could work. If not, we could always use the Captain's Quarters. We've more or less converted it into extra storage space at this point, but there's still a huge bed in there that's never been used."

"It's probably dusty," Nami sighed. She obviously would have preferred the bed but was too relieved to be given options to argue. "It should be nothing but clear skies through the night and I'd be surprised if the temperature got anywhere out of the seventies range. So, it should be fine."

"Awesome!" Looking like a demented jack-in-the-box, Luffy was up and out of his seat in seconds, practically skipping his way to the door. "Come on, let's go! This is gonna be so much fun!"

The rest of us shared exasperated looks, Zoro letting out a long sigh, but we all got to our feet regardless. An order was an order, after all, even if it was a ridiculous one. And besides Zoro's suspicion of ulterior motives regarding his use as a pillow and Sanji's all-around uncertainty as the newest member of the crew and vague discomfort at the thought of sleeping in a pile made up of more men than women, nobody argued or even looked like they wanted to. In fact, Usopp looked downright excited, so much so that I guessed this was probably the first sleepover he'd ever experienced.

It didn't take long to gather what blankets and pillows were needed. Luffy and I both knew we didn't need either, as we'd spent numerous nights without while sleeping in a field somewhere, but we brought some anyway just in case one of the others wanted them. We started out clustered in a loose circle, Luffy and I placing Nami firmly between us without having to discuss it, and knowing it was the right discussion when her shoulders immediately sagged in relief. Zoro took my other side, Usopp taking Luffy's, which left the space directly across from Nami to Sanji.

All was silent for a moment as the others glanced around and fidgeted, looking unsure of what to do now, and as I hid my face in a pillow to muffle my snickering, I decided that Usopp clearly wasn't the only one who'd never experienced a sleepover like this before.

"Let's tell stories," Luffy decided and, when it became clear that nobody else was going to start and that I was too busy being amused at the sheer amount of awkwardness the others were exuding, he launched into a retelling of the time Ace had been learning Conqueror's Haki and had pissed off a pack of monkeys. Usually, that wouldn't have been a problem, but Gramps had specifically stated that during training, Ace wasn't allowed to use weapons or even his fists, just his haki. And if haki didn't work, he was to run. Which he very reluctantly did. What he hadn't expected was for the monkeys to be so mad that they chased him. And then kept chasing him, even after he'd run clear to the other side of the jungle. And Gramps, being Gramps, spent the entire time laughing his ass off instead of chasing them off himself. Claimed that the experience was a good training opportunity.

Ace had returned home that night a mosaic of bruises and covered in cuts from head to toe. He'd been so exhausted that he'd barely eaten a fraction of his usual before crawling into bed. Of course, the next morning he'd eaten twice as much to make up for it, and then had stomped into the forest towards the monkey's den to get some payback. Which had resulted in another day of being chased.

It had taken him nearly a week to finally come out on top of that exchange, and his smug face when he'd come home that night injury free had been almost unbearable.

And that was the story of how Ace had been given the monkey equivalent of a kill-on-site order, Conqueror's Haki or no.

By the time Luffy had finished telling it, with interjections from me every now and then, even Zoro was laughing. Usopp wasted no time in speaking up with his own story and, while there were certainly a ridiculous amount of embellishments made, it was easy to pick out what was truth and what wasn't. Zoro and then Sanji went after him, telling tales of bounty hunting escapades and kitchen mishaps respectively, and soon enough the atmosphere had relaxed enough that we were all spreading out and invading each other's space.

Nami kept quiet through it all, simply content to soak up our company and inject commentary every now and then. It wasn't until after Sanji had finished telling about the time when he'd been a novice and had accidentally set one of Zeff's mustache braids on fire, and we'd all been howling in laughter at his impression of the older man's outrage, that the navigator spoke up hesitantly about the first time she'd been caught stealing and how Gen and Bell-Mere had gotten into an extremely amusing screaming match afterwards that hadn't ended until her mother had jokingly offered to pay him back with her body and he'd gone so red so quickly that he'd actually fainted.

It seemed that the floodgates had opened and soon Nami was telling us story after story of her childhood. We all noticed how she avoided anything that happened after her mother-figure had died but none of us complained. It was obvious that these were things she hadn't talked about in a long time, and if she had to stop to take a breath and wipe her tears away every now and again, no one said a thing about it. We just stayed with her and gave her our full attention, listened to everything she had to say and let her talk until her voice grew hoarse and she ran out of words. And then Luffy and I shuffled close to her, bundling her up tightly between the two of us, and I immediately launched into a story of the first time my brothers and I had gone out for ramen and had dine-n-dashed afterwards, which had Sanji scowling in disapproval at Luffy.

After that, we each continued to take turns, talking late into the night. None of us complained when Nami kept her silence, or when she was reminded of something in the middle of one of our stories and launched into one of her own. We were all content to listen to what she had to say or to let her sit and bask in the comfort we were heaping on her. And throughout it all, neither Luffy nor I let her go or moved away and she gave no indication that she wanted us to. In fact, as the night went on, the others continued to get closer and closer until we were all practically on top of each other.

Zoro was the first to conk out, unsurprisingly, and I wished that I was still in the habit of carrying markers around from when Ace had still been living with us. Sleepover traditions were traditions, after all, but there was no way I was letting Nami go just to hunt some down. I sighed in disappointment and used him as a footrest instead.

Usopp was the next to drop and Sanji followed close behind, likely tired from all the cooking he'd done that day, and then it was just Nami, Luffy and I. The three of us kept quiet, not wanting to accidentally wake the others, and instead just leaned back against Merry's railing and gazed up at the clear night sky. I could tell Luffy was on the verge of dropping off, and I honestly wasn't too far behind him, when Nami spoke up.

"Thank you." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper and, if we hadn't been inches away from sitting in each other's laps, I doubt we would have even heard her. "You didn't have to help me. You could have just left, especially after how I treated you. But you stayed, and you saved me, and my sister and my village are alive right now because of you. So... Thank you."

"Of course," Luffy told her, words slurring as sleep pulled at him. "You're my navigator."

I hummed in agreement, reaching up to pat her head and getting her cheek instead. "Not letting you go now. Stuck with us."

Her breathing hitched in what sounded suspiciously close to a sob as she choked out another "Thank you" but, even in my current half-asleep state, she felt nothing but content and overwhelmingly grateful. I simply held her tighter and smiled as I finally dropped into sleep.

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I could tell, from the moment I blinked my eyes open, that it was early. Earlier, even, than I usually woke up. I had no clue what had jolted me out of sleep until I took I cursory head-count and found our pile one short.

A second's concentration found Sanji in the kitchen, his aura tired but content.

With a grumble about crazy morning people, and ignoring the complete hypocrisy of such insults coming from me, I fought my way free of the tangle of limbs I'd become trapped in during the night. Having placed Nami between us had worked to my advantage in this case, as Luffy's rubbery clutches had wound up around her and Usopp instead. Leaving me to burrow out from under Zoro's snoring frame and the legs that Nami had thrown over my waist.

Once I stood free of the cuddle puddle, I couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Usopp's arms thrown over Zoro's back, his head resting peacefully on the swordsman's shoulder. Part of me wanted to stay, because seeing the look of absolute horror on the sniper's face when he realized exactly who it was he was cushioned against was bound to be amazing.

But for all that he'd been a member of the crew for days now, I still had yet to spend any one-on-one time with Sanji. I knew it wasn't technically a requirement but it felt wrong not to. I'd somehow ended up spending time with every member of the crew not long after they'd joined. To not do so with Sanji felt unfair of me.

That thought in mind, I made my way to the kitchen, mourning the missed pranking opportunities I was leaving behind me.

Really, the things I did for my crewmates.

Sanji, when I entered, was standing at the sink and scrubbing away at a pan, shirt rolled up at the elbows and a pile of wet, gleaming dishes already drying on the counter. I couldn't stop the dismayed noise that slipped from me.

"You don't have to do the dishes," I admonished him. "You cooked."

He blinked up at me for a second, clearly surprised by my presence, before whirling into action. "Ah, Lily-chan! Good morning, you must be hungry! I'll have breakfast ready in no time at all, only the best for one so lovely~!"

I laughed at his ridiculous display, which clearly delighted him, but said nothing against it as he grabbed one of the recently-washed pans and headed to the fridge to gather up ingredients. I was pretty hungry, after all, even if I'd been stuffed to the brim only hours before.

Instead, I simply shrugged and made my way to the spot he had vacated at the sink, grabbing up the soapy rag and getting to work with scrubbing. My brothers and I had never helped with the housework at Dadan's, no matter how much she whined and demanded. At first it had simply been because we didn't want to but later, for me at least, it became more because of how amusing her reactions were. Still, Makino had never let Luffy and I out of chores so easily, even after we no longer lived with her. And at a bar, dishes always needed to be done.

There was a squawk of protest behind me when the blond caught sight of what I was doing.

"Lily-chan, you don't have to dirty your soft, delicate hands with such work!" I shot him a disbelieving glance, because my hands were far from soft or delicate, given the way training had covered them in callouses, but he carried on regardless. "I'll be done with this in just a moment. Such a beautiful woman should never be made to do such dirty work."

Part of me was glad that his misogynistic tendencies at least didn't translate into thinking women were only good for housework and cooking. Not that I'd truly expected it, anyway, since he knew better than anyone that cooking was something that wasn't bound by gender. The larger part of me, however, was exasperated bordering on annoyed, especially when he made as if to herd me away from the sink.

"Sanji." The serious, hard tone of my voice had him freezing and blinking at me in astonishment. I knew it was because it was the same tone Luffy used when giving orders and, while not as effective as when our captain did it, it did the trick of getting the cook to actually listen. "I'm a woman, yeah, but I'm also a member of this crew. Which means that I have to do chores just as much as the boys. You cook for us. Which means that unless something has to be cleaned in a specific way, you don't do the dishes. That's just how it works."

"One of the men can get it, you don't have to -"

"Sanji." I sighed, turning to face him, hands on my hips, heedless of the soapy water beginning to soak into my jacket. This was a conversation I knew I would have to have with the blond at some point but I hadn't expected it to be so soon.

Still, now was probably as good a time as any, since it was just the two of us.

"Look, I get that you have this whole 'dashing prince charming' thing going on, yeah? And I don't know if that's just you, or if you were raised that way, and it's not that it's necessarily a bad thing. But you take it way too far." I shook my head at his uncomprehending face. "For some girls, they'll like that and appreciate it. And hey, so long as it doesn't hurt either of you, that's great. But for some, like me, it feels more like you're looking down on us than anything. I'm a girl, yeah, but I can still clean and do chores. I can still fight, and I can handle it when I get hurt. I, personally, don't want special treatment just because of my gender. And I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't try to coddle me."

My piece said, I turned my attention back to the sink. Behind me, Sanji was silent and unmoving, though I could feel his gaze on me, still. It wasn't until a few moments had passed that he finally moved, stepping up to my side to lean against the counter next to me.

"Zeff taught me," he admitted, brow furrowed and frown tugging at his mouth. "It was an iron-clad rule: a real man should never hurt a lady. He said that I could make mistakes as many times as I wanted as a human, but the day I messed up as a man would be the day he castrated me before slitting his own throat." His face cleared abruptly, the corners of his lips twitching into a reluctant looking smile. "I asked why he'd go so far and he said it was his duty and what it means to be a parent. He didn't want me to ever become someone that he would despise."

"Old man Zeff is a good person, though a bit old-fashioned," I grinned. Hearing this explained so much about Sanji's all-over personality. Of course it was something he had learned from Zeff. Of course it was. "I'm all for respecting women, though I feel it should be more about respecting all people, regardless of gender, so long as they deserve it. But respecting someone means more than not hurting them or waiting on them hand and foot. It also means respecting their decisions and their boundaries. Not to do so is just as bad as not showing any respect at all."

Sanji's head had lowered as I talked, his bangs hanging down around his face and concealing his eyes. He was a roiling mass of conflicting emotions. I could tell that he understood what I'd said but it was going against the rule he'd pretty much shaped his life around: to be gracious towards women.

"No one ever said anything before," he quietly admitted a moment later. "Guys complained all the time, but I didn't care about any of that. But ladies never seemed to mind. They always blushed, and laughed, and seemed to appreciate it. Even if they didn't like flirting, or if they were there with a guy, they still didn't seem to mind all that much."

"Most of them probably didn't," I admitted easily, placing the last clean dish on the counter before rinsing my hands and turning the water off once more. The sudden silence seemed loud. "I'm not saying that no woman wants to be treated that way. A lot probably do. Just not all of us." I shrugged. "Plus, you were working. Some of them might have just seen it as you vying for a bigger tip or something."

"I wouldn't do that!" He protested, indignant. "Besides, it's not like I kept the money for myself. I gave most of it to Zeff."

"You really care for him, don't you?" I asked him, smile going soft when he avoided my eyes, cheeks dusting with pink.

"Well, of course," he shrugged, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "He saved my life and gave up a lot for me. He raised me, even when he didn't have to."

"How old were you? When you met?" I knew he had been young, just a boy working on a ship.

"Ten." He didn't elaborate more than that and I didn't ask him to. Starving alone on a rock in the middle of the ocean for weeks wouldn't be something I'd want to talk about, either.

I also didn't ask where he'd come from before that. I knew he'd come from the North Blue but, as far as I was aware, nothing else had been said about his home life prior to meeting Zeff. Maybe I'd died before the manga had progressed that far, in my old life, or maybe there'd been throwaway lines that I'd just forgotten. But I also knew that, as a member of the Strawhat Crew, it was unlikely that he'd had a great childhood. From what I remembered, Usopp and Zoro were the ones who'd had the most peaceful time as kids, and even they had experienced someone close to them dying.

If Sanji wasn't giving out the details freely then I wasn't going to ask for them right now. Maybe later down the line, after I'd known him longer, but for now it wasn't imperative that I know. Instead, I chose to focus back on my original point.

"For the most part, I don't mind the flirting. It's kinda funny, honestly. And I'm not trying to tell you that you need to change who you are. I'm just asking that you respect my decisions. Don't treat me like I'm weak, or like I can't do something just because I'm a girl. That's all that I want."

Sanji had just opened his mouth to reply when a shout of "FOOD!" came from outside, followed by cries of indignation and rage. Clearly, Luffy was awake, and it was likely that everyone else was now, as well.

"You'd better get started on breakfast," I suggested through my snickering. "He'll be beating down the door any second now."

The blond sighed, looking resigned. "It's going to be like this every day, isn't it?"

I grinned, unrepentant. "Yup."

.

.

Breakfast was the usual spectacle it always was, accentuated by Nami's glare, Zoro's unimpressed glower and Usopp's cowering whenever he accidentally caught the swordsman's eyes. As much as I still wished I'd been around to see realization dawn on both men after they'd woken, this was enough to have me snickering throughout the entire meal.

Afterwards, we all gathered on the deck. Zoro was clearly chaffing to begin training again while Usopp and Nami had had plenty of time off. As for myself, the last fight had shown me that Armament had to become a priority for me. Keeping up with my Observation training was important, but not as important as actually being able to call upon my Armament whenever I needed it, which was something that I couldn't do right now.

If I'd been able to, Arlong never would've been able to injure me to such an extent. Hell, almost all of the injuries I'd gained since setting sail would've been avoided, if only I'd been able to rely on my haki.

Still, for now I decided to focus on Nami and Usopp while the Monster Trio headed farther up the deck to seemingly toss each other around.

"So far," I started once I had their attention, "we've been focusing on your haki training and not much else. But that's going to take you awhile to master to the point that it becomes useful in a fight, so for now all you've really got to rely on is your own strength and cleverness. So, I want you both to come at me with all you've got, so I can see just where you stand."

"Are you crazy?" Nami demanded, Usopp nodding fervently along beside her. "You're still injured! What if we hurt you?"

"You really aren't going to," I assured them, and then winced, because that had come out a lot crueler than I'd planned it to, if their drooping shoulders were any indication. I sighed at them and then plopped down onto the deck, because this was something I had to get through to them now, rather than later.

After a second's hesitation, they both followed my lead and sat across from me.

"Look," I sighed again, running a hand through my bangs to push them up and out of my face. "I'm not really normal, okay? Even without all of the extra training and shit I did growing up, I still probably would've been a lot stronger than most people, just because of my genes. But I did do a lot of training growing up, same as my brothers. Which means I can take a lot more damage than most and keep on going. But you guys..."

I took a deep breath, trying to decide on how to say this.

"You didn't grow up like I did. You've both had your trials, for sure," I cut in when it looked like Nami was puffing up in indignant hurt. "You've had to live through some really awful shit, and I'm not belittling that, not at all. But I was fighting, day in and day out. It wasn't life or death, all the time, but it was all the time. The strength that I have, that didn't just come out of nowhere. I had to work for it. You two are used to relying on your smarts to save you, and that's not a bad thing. Strength alone won't do much if you have no idea what to do with it, after all. But right now, physically, you two are the weakest members of this crew."

It was a hard truth, but a truth nonetheless.

"We know that," Usopp mumbled, fists clenched tightly and eyes averted. "I know that. I would've never been able to fight those fishmen like you guys did. I would've been cut down in a second if I'd been facing that shitty butler on my own. I know that."

Nami's face looked to be crumpling in shame and defeat, even as a defiant, bitter light shown in her eyes. "I was never gonna be strong enough to face them. Bell-Mere wasn't, after all, and none of the villagers were, either. What chance in hell did I have? I tried, but it was never enough!"

"I know," I whispered, heart breaking for the two of them. They knew that they weren't as strong as the rest of us, had known from the very beginning. What I was telling them wasn't anything new, though it likely stung a bit more coming from the mouth of a friend. Even before they met my brother and I, before they joined this crew, they'd known they were weaker than their opponents. "But you still stood up to them, didn't you?"

They both blinked at me, startled, not having expected that.

"You knew you were weaker than they were. You knew that, if it came to a fight, you wouldn't stand a chance on your own. But you still stood up to them. Usopp, you still decided that you were going to fight to protect your home, to protect Kaya, even before we said we'd help you. You were ready to die for that, if you had to. And Nami, you spent years trying your hardest, doing everything that you could to protect those that you loved. You took so much pain on to yourself, willingly, and bore it alone as best as you could. And that's why Luffy chose you. You can't do much in a fight on your own right now, it's true, but that doesn't mean you're weak. And it definitely doesn't mean you can't get stronger." I grinned at the two of them as I pushed myself back up onto my feet and took a ready stance, beckoning them up and forward with my hand. "But, to get stronger, I need to see where you're at right now. And to do that, I need you to come at me, okay? Don't hold back."

They still hesitated at first, which wasn't too surprising. They'd seen the number Arlong had done on me with their own eyes, after all, and no normal person would be able to heal from that quickly. Maybe, in time, they'd get over it, would learn to take it in stride that my brother and I weren't really ones to be judged by normal, human standards. But for now I just tried to be as patient as I could with them, until they seemed to realize that I really wasn't lying or just trying to act tough.

My prediction ended up being true, in the end. Even giving it all they had, they still weren't able to hurt me. Not that I'd expected them to, when coming at me with just their fists and nothing else, but still, I could see a bit of the resigned disappointment in their faces as they slumped back down onto the deck, covered in sweat and out of breath, as I sat across from them once more without even a hitch in my breathing.

"If you had your weapons, or if this was more than just a hand-to-hand fight, I wouldn't have been able to handle that as easily," I told them, but it was a bit of an empty platitude. I wouldn't have been able to handle them as easily, true, but it wouldn't have exactly been hard. Part of the reason they won so many of their battles right now was because they were underestimated, though that certainly didn't mean they were weak. And like I'd already told them, it wasn't like they couldn't get stronger. And I'd already promised to help Nami with that, hadn't I?

"It's not so bad, when it comes to your positions, being a bit weaker than other crew members," I told them. "Usopp, as the sniper, you really shouldn't be getting into any direct fights anyway, if you can help it. Staying hidden and taking out opponents before they even realize you're there is kind of in your job description. And navigator isn't really a position that should call for front-line fighting, since it'll be important for us to keep you safe. You're the one guiding us and, especially once we reach the Grand Line, you're definitely going to be, like, the most important crew member. Without you, we're not going to make it very far at all, no matter how strong we are. Still, if you're ever separated from us for whatever reason, it'll be better if you can defend yourself until back-up gets to you, at the very least."

Nami and Usopp were both nodding along, looking much more upbeat now. What I was telling them was true, after all. And not everyone had an aptitude for fighting, or even a desire for it. I knew that they both wanted to be stronger, for their own reasons, but I didn't really see them as the type that would genuinely enjoy fighting, not like my brothers and I, or Zoro and Sanji, did. And that was okay. But I never wanted them to end up hurt because of it. I wanted to do everything in my power to protect my nakama. One way to do that was to teach them haki. Another way was this.

I had a feeling it'd be awhile before they thanked me for either.

"So, when you're not getting whacked with sticks during haki training, I'm going to be throwing you around the deck while teaching you how to defend yourself against opponents that are stronger than you," I grinned wide and had the pleasure of watching them both rapidly pale before me. "It's going to be a lot of fun, I promise."

It was a lot of fun, for me. They spent most of it groaning and whimpering, but I personally had a blast.

Once I was pleased with their progress for the day, I set them to Observation training with Sanji and Zoro, ordering them to play a convoluted game of blindfolded tag while also begging none of them to fall overboard, and then determinably handed Luffy a stick and told him to go at it. My Armament wasn't going to train itself, after all.

Four hours and countless bruises later, Sanji announced that it was time to prepare lunch while Usopp and Nami groaned in gratitude and spread out on the deck unceremoniously to catch their breath.

"I hate this," I grumbled from where I still sat. I could tell that Luffy was aiming a hit to the right side of my head and it took everything in me not to dodge out of the way. Concentrating hard enough to furrow my brows, I could feel a slight layer of a shield blossom into existence just seconds before the wood struck me. Still, while the hit didn't hurt, I could feel the force behind it, which told me the amount of haki I'd used hadn't been nearly enough. If that blow had been meant to truly hurt me, it would've. "I depend on my Observation out of habit, now, and so I'm always already halfway through using it. It takes so much more effort to stop myself and focus on Armament instead. It's like trying to grab hold of water and having it strain right through your fingers."

Luffy hummed in thought, even as he took aim at me again. "Observation is more like water. Armament is more like pushing something out, like when I blow myself up to do a Balloon."

I paused, thinking of that. It... made a lot of sense, really. When it came to Observation, you were trying to pull something in towards you, essentially, the awareness of where other beings are and, once you reach a certain level of mastery, what they're feeling and maybe even what they're thinking. Each person was like a ripple upon the surface of a calm lake. The more powerful a person was, the bigger the ripple they made. Armament, though, had nothing to do with outside forces; it was all about yourself. Your own will, manifested into a protective layer around your body.

I'd been thinking of them as the same even as I knew they were different. But, maybe...

My train of thought was cut off by the squawking of an arriving News Coo, which had Nami whining in frustration even as she doggedly dragged herself back up onto her feet.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," she grumbled as it cawed again from it's perch on Merry's railing, clearly impatient. "Just give me today's paper, will you?"

The bird obligingly held out the wanted newspaper and, after she'd taken hold of it, puffed out it's chest, and thus the coin purse attached to it, expectantly.

"Another price increase?" She demanded, unimpressed and indignant, and I sighed. Nami would always be Nami, clearly.

"It's just a newspaper," I told her, shrugged when she turned her glare towards me. "If you think it's too expensive, then just don't buy it. Most of what's printed is just Government propaganda anyways."

"That's not the point," she grumbled before turning her attention back towards the impatiently waiting bird. "Raise the price again, though, and I really won't be buying from you any longer."

The bird raised it's wing, saluting almost indulgently, before taking off once more. Nami huffed at the attitude but paid it no more mind, attention going towards the paper now in her hands instead.

"Besides," Usopp spoke up from where he still laid splayed out on the deck next to a slumbering Zoro, "I thought you were done with saving up money? Why do you care so much how expensive the paper is?"

"Don't be an idiot," she admonished almost absently as her eyes trailed over the various headlines. "There's no way I'm going around broke. I'm saving money for myself now, and no one else."

"Nami's Nami," Luffy nodded, as if it should be obvious. Which, really, it kind of was. Nami took way to much joy out of acquiring money for it to have ever only been a duty.

Before Nami could get riled enough to comment on that, a piece of paper drifted down from the newspaper to land serenely on the deck, quickly followed by another.

Now, I'd been expecting Luffy's bounty to show up any day now, since I'd known he'd gotten it shortly after Arlong Park. I'd been expecting his and only his.

Which was why the bounty poster with my picture on it, proclaiming me as 'Spitfire Lily', wanted dead or alive for 18,000,000 berries, was a definite surprise.

There was a moment of absolute silence on deck before all hell broke loose.

"Look, look! I'm in the picture, too! I might even be famous now!"

"I've got a bounty! Lili, we've both got bounties! We're wanted now!"

"Shut up, you idiots! Don't you realize how bad this is?!"

"You have got to be kidding me," I growled as I snatched my own poster from Luffy's excitedly flailing hands.

"See, Lily gets it!" Nami yelled, taking the chance to whack the other two upside the head. "This isn't a laughing matter! The marines are seriously going to be after us now and bounty hunters are, too! Your lives are going to be in real danger!"

"Spitfire Lily?!" I demanded, thrusting the paper into their faces and pointing aggressively at my new moniker. "Really? They just had to go with that? Where did that even come from, anyway, I don't do anything with fire! Shanks is never, ever going to let me live this down, do you realize that?"

Luffy, finally having caught on, promptly dissolved into hysterics.

"Why?" My voice was quickly turning into more of a whine than anything. "Why does this nickname continue to haunt me? What have I done to deserve this?"

"That's what you're concerned about?" Nami demanded, throwing her hands up into the air in frustration. "Seriously?"

"Well, yeah," I shrugged, turning the poster over to examine it more closely. "Eighteen million isn't too bad of a starting bounty, considering it's from the East Blue. And the picture they got of me is pretty bad ass, so no complaints there. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it, though I'd be happier if they'd chosen a better moniker than my seven-year-old nickname. Seriously, you guys think I'm kidding but I'm not. Shanks is probably pissing himself in glee right now."

"You know what? I give up," Nami decided tiredly, shoving the forgotten newspaper into Usopp's startled arms and making her way towards the galley. "We'll be landing in Loguetown in about an hour."

"Loguetown?" Luffy asked, finally having calmed his laughter, but Nami ignored him and continued walking, clearly truly done with our collective ridiculousness for the time being. Shaking my frustration over my newly given title to the back of my head for now, I promptly called up what facts I knew about the island we were heading towards.

It wasn't difficult. Loguetown was very famous, especially in East Blue. It was the only tourist attraction we had, really, which basically made it our pride and joy, regardless of how it had actually come about.

"Loguetown. It's pretty famous. It's known as the Town of the Beginning and the End. It's where the former Pirate King Gol D. Roger was born and where he was executed."

"Where the Pirate King died, huh?" Luffy asked, suddenly a whole lot more invested than he had been.

"Mm," I agreed. "It's also proof that we're getting close to the Grand Line. That island will be our last stop before we get there. It looks like we'll have just enough time to eat lunch before we land."

"Food!" Luffy cheered, sufficiently distracted, and began racing towards the kitchen. I felt a bit bad, as Nami hadn't gotten anywhere near as long of a break as she'd probably been hoping for, but shrugged it off. It was lunch time, after all, and I was starting to get a bit hungry. Besides, after hearing all that, the only way to keep Luffy from literally bouncing around in excitement was to distract him with food.

An outraged shout bellowed from the direction Luffy had just gone, clearly from Sanji, and Usopp and I shared a commiserating look before making our way after him, kicking Zoro awake as we passed.

.

.

Loguetown was definitely the biggest city I'd seen thus far, not including Goa Kingdom.

From where we docked, it seemed to sprawl on almost endlessly, with shops in every conceivable corner they could be fitted into. It made sense; as such an attraction, this place was guaranteed to rake in the business, from tourists and pirates on their way to the Grand Line alike.

"This place is huge," Usopp breathed in awe, hands shielding his eyes from the sun in order to get a better look around. He looked positively giddy, like a kid let loose in a candy store, and I remembered that so far, the only places he'd been were his quiet little village, Nami's bigger but still quaint island, and a restaurant in the middle of the ocean.

"So, the pirate age all began here, huh?" Sanji asked, taking a long drag from the cigarette hanging loosely from between his lips.

"I'm heading to the execution stand," Luffy announced decisively, like there'd been any doubt after how much he'd talked about it during lunch.

"I can probably get some good food and ingredients here," the blond cook mused, hand to his chin in thought. I decided to gamely ignore his muttered comments about picking up beautiful women while he was at it.

"And I'm going to look for some equipment to buy," Usopp added, hands on his hips and chest proudly jutting out.

"Looks like we'll be splitting up, then," I nodded, already having seen this coming. "Well, if you get into any trouble, just try to project your panic really loudly. Luffy will probably be able to feel it, and I definitely will."

"There's something I need to get, too, but..." Zoro trailed off as Nami's eyes practically lit up into beli signs.

"I'd be happy to lend you some money," she simpered sweetly, affecting an innocent and bashful countenance. "At a three hundred percent interest rate, of course."

I tried to stop that train wreck from happening, I truly did. Waving my hands frantically and shaking my head in the negative, you'd think he would've at least paused to realize that he was probably making a deal with the devil.

But no. Instead of thinking it through at all, he readily agreed, pocketing the money and sauntering on his way into town. I sighed after him, disappointed.

"That was really mean," I accused the maniacally grinning navigator at my side.

"I have no idea what you mean," she sniffed, mock-indignant. "I'm just helping a crewmate out while also protecting my own investments."

"Oh, is that what they're calling extortion now-a-days?"

"Anyways," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest defensively, "I'm heading to the clothing shops to pick up a few much needed outfits. Want to come with me?"

"Nah, I figured I'd just walk around until something caught my eye, honestly. I'll probably end up circling around and meeting up with Lu later."

She sighed, forlorn. "You could look so cute if you just wore something besides ratty jeans and a grungy jacket."

"Maybe," I admitted, unconcerned. "But any nice clothes I bought would just get ruined by fighting in them anyway, so what's the point?"

Nami just sighed again, shook her head, and promptly turned on her heel, clearly done with me. I stared after her for a moment before shrugging and heading my own way.

It wasn't like I was lying, after all. The amount of clothes I'd gone through as a child, all supplied by Makino, was truly ridiculous. Even the jacket I was wearing now was still functioning only because of the extensive repairs it had gone through. I might not be the beli-pincher that Nami was, but that didn't mean I wanted to just waste my money.

I made my way through the streets slowly, ears and senses both wide open, catching snippets of gossip here and there while also keeping an eye on my wandering crewmates. I couldn't sense any large auras and it had me wondering if Dragon was going to show up to see us off, like he had for Luffy in canon, or if meeting me as a kid had somehow changed things.

I hoped that it hadn't. As much as I knew Luffy didn't really care much about it, I still wanted him to be able to meet our father. And it would be nice to see the man again, even if I wouldn't be able to really say much to him, for fear of any listening ears.

So, I kept the majority of my attention pointed outwards, even as I browsed the windows and stalls set up along the street. Considering the only thing that truly succeeding in capturing my interest was food, it wasn't too much of a hardship.

It was just as I was turning towards the more unsightly part of town that I noticed them. Bounty posters plastered all over the walls on either side of the street, as if posting them in less reputable areas would somehow discourage crime.

I shook my head. Sometimes - most of the time - the Government's logic really threw me for a loop.

And that was when I saw it, on proud display right in the middle of the wall: my own confidently smirking and blood-splattered visage. I couldn't help but stomp up to it and rip it from the wall, irritated.

It wasn't so much that I absolutely hated the moniker, really. More, it was what I had been called as a kid. Sure, various other people had called me by the name for some reason or other over the years, but still. It was my childhood nickname. And now it was going to be my pirate moniker? For the rest of my life?

Everyone I met from now on was going to know me by this name. I wasn't ever going to escape from it, and Shanks was going to give me so much shit.

"Well, well," a voice called out from behind me as I took my anger out on the innocent piece of paper, crumpling it up into a ball and tearing into it, "if it isn't Spitfire Lily."

I sighed and spun around, insults already on my tongue for whoever had just called me out at the most inopportune moment, only to completely freeze when I caught sight of the man now standing in front of me.

"... Sabo?"

Stupidly, the first thought I had was that he was taller than I remembered, which, duh. He'd definitely grown, though. He was taller than Ace had been the last time I'd seen him, with a far lankier frame, though his chest had a fair bit of bulk on it. His smile was tilted oddly on the left side, pulled at by the scars that had long since healed on his face, though most of them were hidden by the hair he had let grow out, now curling down around his ears. His sense of style hadn't changed much, complete with cravat and a top hat while his long coat billowed out around his legs, a long and durable-looking iron pipe strapped across his back.

His grasp on Observation Haki had to be exceptional as, even seeing him with my own eyes standing right in front of me, I could barely feel him at all.

"Hey, there, little sister," he greeted, eyes going soft as he took in my own appearance, cataloging changes, much as I'd done for him. "God, you've gotten so tall."

"Like you're one to talk," I snorted. As it was, I probably barely came up past his shoulders now.

"Wait," his voice suddenly sounded choked, like he was holding back laughter or emotion, or both. "Is that... Did you get a tattoo?!"

"Oh, yeah," I perked up, turning slightly to show it off more. It wasn't anything fancy, really, just three stylized letters. Still, they meant the world to me, and I knew Sabo understood why. "Felt right. It's pretty new actually, just got it a few days ago. Lu was the only one who understood it, though the others haven't asked, yet. I'll probably explain it to them eventually."

"You... a tattoo," he groaned, putting his face in his hands. "I don't even have a tattoo, seriously."

"I told you," I said defensively, "it just felt right. It was really spur of the moment. And I like it!"

"I do, too," he admitted, going for grudging and missing by a mile. "Really, you and Ace are so similar. Wait, Luffy isn't tattooed, too, is he?!"

I laughed at the sudden panic in his voice. "Lu, get a tattoo? No way! You know he's a giant baby when it comes to the little stuff."

"True enough," Sabo sighed, seeming relieved that he wasn't the only one not sporting ink in our family.

For a moment, we both just stood there, facing each other in silence. And then, as one, we lunged forward, much like the last time we had seen each other, and wrapped our arms tightly around the other.

"I missed you so much," I whispered, unable to help the way my eyes were watering. I'd expected Dragon to show up, but I hadn't expected this. This was so much better. "How did you know we'd be here?"

"I didn't, not really," he admitted easily, never once letting up on the embrace. "But it seemed pretty likely. And we had business out here anyway, so it worked out. Dragon-san wanted to see the both of you off, as well."

It took awhile for us to finally work up the nerve to let each other go and, even then, we stayed close together, not straying more than a foot apart at a time. It had been almost ten years since the last time I'd seen him, after all, and letters could only go so far. And he hadn't even had that, since we hadn't been able to write him back at all, not knowing where he was at any given time.

He quickly led me to a bar at the end of the street, one that was fairly empty with relatively dark corners, its walls plastered with even more bounty posters. I scowled when I caught sight of my own and Sabo, noticing, chuckled at me.

"What's the matter?" He asked, taking a seat in the corner booth with a sight-line of the entire room while simultaneously signalling the bartender for a drink. "Unhappy with it?"

"Not really," I admitted reluctantly. "Just being a bit of a baby about the moniker, I guess."

"I think it suits you," he assured me. "Especially with a picture like that. Definitely intimidating."

I preened a bit under his praise, unable to help it. "You really think so?"

"I do," he promised, smiling at me indulgently. "You and Lu have been doing a good job of making a name for yourselves out here in the East. Dragon-san's really proud of you, too, you know."

It wasn't like it really made much of a difference, one way or the other, if our father was proud of us or not. After all, I'd only met the man for a few hours, had barely spoken to him at all. Still, it somehow made me feel better, lighter, knowing that what we'd done so far had earned his approval.

I waited until the bartender had placed a mug of ale on the table before my brother, shaking my head when asked if I wanted anything, before asking the question that had been on my mind since I'd first seen him. "What are you doing this far east, anyway? You said something about having business out here?"

"Ah, yeah, nothing too major. Honestly, some of the younger recruits probably could've handled it and I really should be on my way to my next assignment in the Grand Line, but Dragon-san and I kind of used what's been going on here as an excuse to come see you and your crew off."

"So, what's been going on here?" I asked, trying to ignore the way his words left me feeling warmed from the inside out. Honestly, it was hard to be anything but completely giddy right now. "I don't think I've heard of anything happening around here lately."

"Ah, no, you probably wouldn't," Sabo sighed, leaning back in his seat and fiddling with the hat he'd set on the tabletop when we'd first entered. "You know as well as I do that the World Government can be downright shady at the best of times, and that they like exploiting everything they can, so long as it benefits them. Hence the Shichibukai."

I nodded, knowing this already, especially after reiterating it for my crew during the whole Arlong debacle.

"They also love to exploit every human trafficking ring they can get their hands on. Most think it's something that just happens at the end of the Grand Line, near Sabaody, when they actually choose to acknowledge that it happens at all. But that's not the truth. That's just where most of the slaves end up before being sold off. Which is why we're here. There's been a very lucrative slave trade going on in the underground of Loguetown for some time now."

"Here?" I demanded, surprised. It wasn't so much that I thought it was impossible for slavery to touch the Blues, and I should've definitely known better than to take things at face value. After all, on the outside, Goa Kingdom looked like a positively beautiful, peaceful and wonderful place, but it was also a place that would burn hundreds of people alive in the dead of night and then kill the survivors, feeling no remorse after the fact. "Isn't there a Marine base here, though?"

Sabo shook his head, looking resigned and aggravated all at once. "They're not targeting civilians, so the Government is essentially turning a blind eye towards it. They're only going after pirates and the odd bounty hunter, people no one would really miss or notice the absence of. That's why you haven't heard anything about it. It's likely no one living here has even really noticed, and those that have know better than to run their mouths."

"If that's the case, then how do you guys know?" I asked, curious despite myself.

He smirked at me, the right side of his mouth twitching up farther as if to offset the pull of his scars. "Just who do you think we are, Ana? We've got people everywhere."

I scoffed at him but said no more about it. He probably wasn't lying, after all, and after seeing his mastery over hiding his own aura and knowing that I hadn't felt any others that stood out, despite searching, I had to figure that the lot of them were more than adequate at hiding themselves away in plain sight.

"Anyway," he shrugged, taking a long pull from his drink, "like I said, it's not really something that requires the higher-ups to deal with, but it did make a good enough excuse to be here. It shouldn't take too long to get it all handled. In the mean time, though, how about we head towards the execution stand? I'm guessing the unrestrained and overly-excited aura coming from that area is Luffy."

"Who else would it be?" I snorted, unimpressed, but stood to follow him regardless. I couldn't wait to see Luffy's reaction to seeing our brother again. The last time they'd seen each other, Luffy had been down on the ground, beaten, and Sabo had been walking away from us and refusing to look back.

"He's probably going to cry," I admitted after we'd been walking in comfortable silence for about ten minutes.

"Hm?" Sabo hummed, glancing at me questioningly.

"Luffy," I elaborated. "He's probably going to cry when he sees you. Big, snotty tears."

The blond grimaced but gamely continued forward, not even bothering to hide the light of excitement in his eyes. He was likely even more excited to see Luffy than he had been to see me, which I didn't take personally. After all, at least the two of us got a proper goodbye.

"Oh," that thought had jogged my memory and I realized that I'd yet to ask, "were you able to meet up with Ace? How did that go?"

Sabo laughed, tone full of relief. "You ended up being right, he did punch me. And then he hugged me so tight I thought my ribs were gonna crack. It really surprised me. The Ace I remembered would've never endured a hug like that, let alone started one."

"You're welcome," I chirped, gleeful. I was really glad that all the hard work Lu and I had put into teaching Ace how to accept physical affection hadn't gone right out the window as soon as we weren't there to reinforce it any longer. "It took awhile to do, and it didn't help that Ace is as stubborn as he is. But some stuff happened after you left and he started to take his role as our big brother very seriously. So, he never really turned us away whenever we went to him for comfort, and as you know, Lu and I were always big on hugging. He got used to it eventually."

"Even though he still turned bright red every single time?" Sabo asked, amused, a knowing glint in his eyes.

"Even then," I agreed, unrepentant. What? I thought it was hilarious and adorable, sue me.

"We didn't actually get a chance to meet until he was already in the Grand Line, though. It was only because of the info network we have that I was even able to find him, the idiot. He'd already gathered a pretty impressive crew by then."

"Have you heard from him since then?"

"Nah, not really. I gave him a number he could call if he really needed to, but I already knew it was unlikely that he would. You know how he gets."

"Mm," I agreed, sighing. Then again, it was probably a good thing he wasn't the type to call when he was in trouble, otherwise he would never have stayed on Whitebeard's ship long enough to join their crew, and that was definitely something that he needed. "Good. I mean, not that none of us have heard from him, but if he'd been keeping in touch with you without even sending us one measly letter, I'd beat the shit out of him."

Sabo chuckled nervously, taking a very pointed step away from me. Which was pretty gratifying. "Well... You know how he gets."

I eyed him, unimpressed, and he rose his hands in surrender.

"Go ahead and beat him up. I'm not getting involved in that one at all."

"Smart," I told him, continuing my forward march. I could feel that there was a bit of a commotion going on by the execution stand now and wondered just what kind of trouble my brother had gotten himself into. It was like I couldn't take my eyes off of him for ten minutes without him blowing everything to hell. Except...

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I groaned, smacking my hand to my forehead. How could I have not recognized that aura sooner? It wasn't all that big, but it was definitely distinctive.

"What?" Sabo asked, glancing around as if looking for the source of my exasperation.

"Luffy's run into an old... friend, it seems," I explained even as I took off at a run.

"Friend?" Even as fast as I was going, Sabo kept up easily.

"Buggy the Clown," I huffed. I had thought that, since he hadn't been sent flying, we might not have to deal with his stupidity this time around. At least it didn't seem like Alvida was with him. "We kicked his ass a few islands back and kind of stole his treasure. Well, Nami stole most of it, really, I only took a bag and I ended up giving most of that to the town he and his crew had been destroying. Still, it seems he's kept a bit of a grudge about it."

"Buggy, huh?" Sabo's face took on a thoughtful look. "He's pretty well known here in the Blues, since he's a Grand Line pirate with a Devil Fruit, even though he's actually really weak. He didn't give you guys trouble, did he?"

"Not really. He was more annoying than anything. And I'm not all that worried about him giving us trouble now, either. I'm more worried about him drawing the attention of the wrong people, especially since our crew is split up. Getting together in a hurry and setting sail with the Marines on our tails isn't really the entrance to the Grand Line that I want to make, though on Luffy's crew it'd definitely be appropriate."

Sabo laughed. "Don't worry, there's no way I'd let ol' Smoker get his hands on my precious baby siblings. You guys are headed to the Grand Line and nothing's gonna stop ya."

I scoffed but said nothing. Honestly, I was pretty sure we could take Smoker without outside help. The main reason Luffy of canon had so much trouble with him, after all, was that he was a Logia and he'd had no grasp on haki yet. That wasn't a problem anymore. Lu could put up one hell of a fight and all I had to do was keep him from getting hit with the Sea Stone on the man's weapons.

Still, it was a nice sentiment, I supposed. And I really would rather avoid letting the World Government know that a couple of rookies out of the weakest of the Blues had a competent grasp on haki, something that most didn't even hear of until you got closer to the New World. Something like that would definitely grab us all the wrong kinds of attention, right off the bat.

We'd finally reached the edge of the square where the execution stand was located and, after one look at the goings-on, I wanted to just sigh for a very long time. Maybe bash my head into a nearby wall while I was at it.

Luffy, the giant idiot, had gotten himself locked up and looked supremely happy about it, way more than the situation called for. Buggy stood above him, crowing his supposed victory with sword in hand, looking for all the world like he was about to take his enemy's head. Even from here, I could see that my brother had at least been smart enough to have his neck covered by Armament, but that still begged the question of why he was still trapped, or why he'd let himself be trapped in the first place.

Probably to fuck with everyone, considering the amusement that was practically rolling off of him in waves. Honestly, I'd rubbed off on him in the worst of ways.

"It's good to see that some things don't change," Sabo commented cheerfully at my side, patting my shoulder in commiseration before he began making his way determinably through the crowd. Regardless of how amused with the situation he looked, though, I could see a protective rage bubbling in his eyes, even though I couldn't feel any emanating from him. Really, it was actually kind of creepy how controlled over his aura he was. And it had me wanting to get good enough that I could do it, too.

I was just about to follow him when a spike of panic came from behind me, in the direction I'd absently realized the rest of the crew had congregated. The panic had come from Nami and Usopp, while Sanji and Zoro had both begun to feel annoyed and indignant.

And then Sanji's aura went flat, swiftly followed by Zoro's, as if they'd simply gone to sleep, and a lump of dread began to form in the pit of my stomach as I stood, frozen, unable to do anything to help them from so far away.

"No," I whispered, pleaded, as I felt helpless anger and fear before Nami's aura went quiet, as well. Usopp's barely lasted a second longer. "No. No, no, no, no."

What was happening? This hadn't happened last time, I would've remembered it. And yeah, Zoro still might not be a hundred percent, but he could still put up a hell of a fight and Sanji was no slouch, especially with Nami nearby to protect. And when push came to shove, both Nami and Usopp were smart and scrappy in their own ways, even if I'd only barely begun to teach them how to really fight. No member of our crew was a pushover.

So, how was it that all four of them had been taken out in less than a minute? What the hell was going on?

The sound of bending metal and splintering wood echoed through the suddenly silent courtyard, Luffy's confusion and rage blanketing the place as he felt his nakama blink out one by one, the fun of his game officially over and gone. I didn't even have to look back to know that Buggy was now a lump of beaten and bruised flesh at the bottom of the stand.

Sabo had frozen only a few feet away from me, likely having felt the distress I knew had to be pouring out of me. Because my crewmates had just been taken down and here I was, on the other side of town, unable to do anything.

"What just happened?" Luffy demanded, suddenly at my side. I shook my head, feeling a little dazed. They'd just... They'd just all gone flat. "Lily. What's happening?"

I shook my head again, sharper this time, in an effort to clear my mind. "I don't know. They'd met back up and had been heading this way when Nami and Usopp got scared by something. I think they were confronted? Got in a fight? But then they all just went flat. That usually means that someone's asleep or knocked out. It happened so quick, though..."

"We need to go," Luffy decided, taking hold of my hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "Can you still feel them?"

"Yeah," I nodded. It was faint, always was when someone had been knocked out and wasn't dreaming, but I'd gotten so attuned to them that it was easier than it otherwise might've been. "They're being taken in that direction, towards -"

"The east side of the island," Sabo cut in, face set in grim lines. The lump of dread in my stomach grew heavier, almost making me feel nauseous with it.

"What does that mean?" I asked, proud that my voice didn't shake.

"I told you why I was here," he said, almost gently. "They target pirate crews at random."

"So, they were taken, right?" Luffy demanded, fists clenched at his sides. "Then all we've gotta do is take them back and kick a whole bunch of asses while we do it! Those are my nakama, no one else is allowed to have them!"

Having said that, Luffy began marching off in the direction I had indicated. He made it about five steps before coming to a dead stop, head swiveling around like some kind of morbid rendition of an owl.

"Wait, Sabo?!"

"Ah, hey there, little brother. Long time, no see, huh?" Sabo asked nonchalantly. Luffy's body twisted around to straighten itself out and he began to bounce in place, his bottom lip sucked into his mouth and his face turning red in deliberation before he finally let out a great big whoosh of air and pointed towards our older brother almost aggressively.

"Nakama first!" He decided, voice greatly pained. "And then I'm gonna hug you!"

"Roger that," Sabo agreed easily, grinning indulgently. Luffy nodded once, satisfied, and then did an about-face to continue his forward march. And if he had to wipe at his face with his arm a few times, well, neither of us were going to call him out on it.

"At least I didn't get snot on my jacket," was all Sabo mumbled about it and I couldn't help but snort at him, even as I tried my hardest to focus on my crewmates auras - they were asleep still, it seemed, but were they hurt? How fast were they being moved? Were they being carried, taken by cart? Were they already on a ship? - because there was no way Sabo was getting out of this without getting cried on. When Lu said there'd be hugging later, there would be, and it was almost guaranteed that there'd be tears as well.

Any other situation and Luffy probably would've taken the time to hug it all out now, much like he had in Dressrosa. But this situation was vastly different. One of his crew members was already injured, one was still fairly new to the crew, another he'd just gotten back while the last tended to be scared easily. And all four of them had been taken, out of Luffy's reach for the time being. Every single one of Luffy's protective urges had to be screaming right about now.

I knew that mine were. Whoever thought they could get away with this was going to find out that they were very, very wrong.

And so we continued on our way towards our nakama, completely oblivious to and uncaring of the mayhem Luffy had left in his wake.

.

.

It doesn't take long for us to realize that, wherever our nakama are being taken, we're not going to catch up to them before they get there.

It's frustrating, definitely, but bearable. So long as we get to them eventually, before they're hurt, it'll be good enough for me. Still, I can't help but hope we get there before they wake up - because they're still asleep, and just what was it that happened that's kept them out for so long? - because Zoro and Sanji are bound to be furious, Usopp scared, but Nami?

Nami's practically been a slave for nearly a decade and she's only just finally regained her freedom. To wake up shackled once more, by actual slave traders?

The more I think about it, the more I want to punch each and every one of them right in the fucking throat.

Still, my brother and I know nothing about them, besides what little I'd been told earlier, and while I'd still jump into the fray knowing even less than that if the safety of my nakama depended on it, I'd feel a lot better with more information. And it just so happens that we have someone in the know running right along next to us.

"You said you were investigating them, right?" I huffed as we finally left city limits. When it had become clear that we'd have a bit of a distance to go, Sabo had asked if we wanted him to call someone on his Den Den Mushi, to have our ship moved to a safer area. It was pretty distinct, after all, and after the commotion Luffy had gotten into in the middle of the city, the marines were bound to be on the lookout for us now. It was only luck that we'd gotten out of the square before any of the higher ups had arrived.

Luffy had been reluctant, and I hadn't felt much better about it, but we'd still agreed. We didn't like the thought of strangers sailing Merry anywhere, but we liked the thought of marines getting their hands on her even less.

"Members of our organization were, yeah," he nodded, not slowing down as he answered. "I don't know as much as they do, since Dragon-san and I only just got here recently. We've been debriefed, though."

"So, tell us what you do know. You said they're slave traders who target pirate crews and bounty hunters but avoid civilians so that the Government won't kick up a fuss. But what else? They took out four of our crew in under a minute, Sabo."

"They're not weak," Luffy interjected, scowling at the mere idea. "Zoro and Sanji are strong, even when they're injured. And Usopp and Nami are smart. They both know how to run and hide."

I was supremely glad the navigator wasn't around to hear that, regardless of how true it was. Luffy had probably meant it as a compliment, with how he'd said it, but I doubt it would've been taken as one.

"We suspect one of their members has a paralyzing Devil Fruit," Sabo informed us, voice dead serious. "We're not quite sure how it works just yet, but that's our working theory. We had been planning on sending someone in and letting them get captured, after we'd done a bit more reconnaissance, to try and get a better idea. But, I'm guessing neither of you would be willing to wait that long?"

"Not a fucking chance."

"No way!"

"Though so," he sighed, more fondly resigned than truly annoyed. "Look, just focus on getting your crew out, okay? I contacted Dragon-san and reported in, and reinforcements are right behind us. This is our task, and we'll take care of it. So, just let us worry about it, yeah?"

"If you think these assholes are getting out of it without either of us punching them, you're a lot dumber than you used to be," I chided him, grinning.

"They took my nakama," Luffy growled, like that was all the excuse he needed, and really, it was. Like it or not, there was no way Sabo was going to be able to stop him from getting in on the action, one way or another. His mind had already been made up.

Sabo's eye twitched and, ah, there was that annoyance I'd been waiting for. "Look, I get that this has become personal for you, okay? And I'm not trying to doubt your strength or anything. But you two aren't even Grand Line pirates, yet, and these guys have been around for awhile. Like you said, they took your crew out in seconds. They know what they're doing. So, just let us handle this!"

Had Sabo been this much of a coddler in canon, when he'd met up with Luffy again? I couldn't really remember, but my instinct was saying no. He'd been protective, yeah, but he hadn't told Luffy not to fight, not like he was doing now, and I couldn't really understand why.

Was it because Luffy had had so much more experience, by then? He'd already sailed the first half of the Grand Line, after all, had fought impossible battles and had won, had fought in a war and had lost but had kept going anyways, had come back swinging all the harder. Was it because, after knowing Luffy had gone through so much without him being there, he'd felt he had no right to try to protect him like that, to keep him from fighting?

I didn't know what was different between then and now, but I knew one thing for sure, and that was that Luffy was having even less of it than I was. Which was saying something, seeing as how I was having absolutely none of it.

"No," Luffy told him seriously, and something in the change of his voice seemed to catch our older brother's attention because he almost stumbled, blinking wide eyes at him. I wondered if, before he'd left, he'd ever had a chance to really hear Luffy's Captain Voice. I didn't think so since, as our older brother, he probably hadn't had a reason to use it on him and, if he had, it probably would've been pretty pathetic coming from a seven-year-old. It definitely wasn't pathetic now. "They took my nakama. They attacked them, and they took them. So, we're going to take them back."

Having said that, Luffy sped up once more. We were closer, now, close enough that even he could feel our crewmate's dull auras. They'd stopped moving, and I hoped that meant they were still on land. I didn't really fancy having to go all the way back just to get Merry, though I would, if we had to.

Sabo was silent next to me, his eyes glued to our brother's back as Luffy continued leading the way, never once slowing down. The closer we got, the faster he went. And, really, this was all mostly flat land, anyway, even with the trees now surrounding us. Nothing when compared to running about on the mountain.

"You two really have grown," he finally muttered quietly, so quietly that I barely even heard him. When I glanced over at him, the look on his face was a little hard to place, like pride and heartbreak, all in one.

I was about to open my mouth, to say something, but just then was when we finally broke through the tree line. Up ahead was a small cove, hemmed in with the forest on one side and a cliff face on the other. Bobbing along in the water was a ship, barely the size of the Going Merry and pretty securely hidden. People could be seen moving about on deck, voices ringing out orders, and I could feel that our crewmates were definitely on that ship.

Spread out on the beach were a few crates here and there, a fire pit set up near the rocks, but it was obvious that they hadn't wanted to get too comfortable here, in case they had to quickly pack up and leave. Pretty smart, since this was such a popular island and the marines probably patrolled it regularly. I knew the government wouldn't mind turning a blind eye to such an operation but I could never imagine Smoker doing so, even if it meant getting into trouble.

I had a lot of mixed feelings when it came to Smoker. I liked him as a character, especially after he'd had time to grow a little bit. But here and now, living in this world, I couldn't help but also want to punch him and then maybe yell at him a bit. After all, he'd been less than a two day journey away from Conomi Islands and I had every faith that he was strong enough to have taken out Arlong's entire crew, if he'd tried. But he hadn't.

And it wasn't that I thought he'd ignored it, just like I knew there was no way he was ignoring these slave traders. He just didn't know. He was right here, the proverbial and literal law of the land, and he didn't know enough about what was going on around him to do anything about it.

And maybe it wasn't an ignorance that I should be so mad about. But every time I thought about it, I just saw Nami's face, defeated and so, so sad, pleading for help as all the people she cared about went off to face their own deaths. And now this?

So, yeah, Smoker and I were definitely going to have one hell of a chat whenever he caught up to us. If he caught up to us.

Without the showdown between him and my brother, with our father stepping in, would he still follow us all the way into the Grand Line?

"They're on that ship," I whispered, grabbing hold of Luffy's collar and yanking him back into the cover of the trees before he could be seen. I was all for fighting but I'd really prefer if we did it smartly. After all, Sabo did have a bit of a point. These people were used to fighting and capturing people like us. "And from what I can sense, they're not the only ones that've been captured."

Sabo nodded, probably having already sensed as much. "Their crew looks like they're pretty spread out, on both the ship and on land. It'd be difficult to sneak onboard without anyone seeing us."

"So then we just won't sneak," Luffy decided, easy as pie, as he cracked his knuckles impatiently. Now that the targets were in his sight, he was clearly ready to get this beatdown going. "I'm not any good at sneaking. Whenever Lili took me with her to steal from the nobles in High Town, I always got caught."

Sabo took a second to raise an eyebrow at me. I shrugged back at him, unrepentant.

"He does make a good point, though," I admitted. "He really is absolute crap at sneaking. And like you said, it'd be hard to do, even if he was good at it. So..."

"Distraction," Sabo agreed, sounding less than thrilled with this plan of action, but just as thoroughly resigned to it.

"I can get to our crewmates pretty easily in the chaos," I told them, and I wasn't lying. I might not be able to hide my aura quite to the extent that Sabo and his... coworkers? Companions? Subordinates? could hide theirs, but I was old hat at slipping unnoticed through a chaotic battlefield. And taking out some people here and there as I did was easy enough, and would hopefully quell that ugly part of me that was currently crying out for the blood of whoever thought they could get away with trying to sell my nakama.

"Fine. Fine!" Sabo rubbed his hands through his hair and sighed. "I don't know why I ever thought either of you would sit back during this. I admit now that that was pretty stupid of me." He glanced up to look us both in the eyes. "But there are Devil Fruit users here, okay? And like I said, they know what they're doing. So be careful."

Luffy and I both nodded, though I had a niggling suspicion that once he got to fighting, Luffy wasn't going to be anywhere near as careful as Sabo was hoping. Still, I trusted my captain, and I trusted Sabo to keep him from getting too hurt if it really came down to it. And from what I could feel, none of these people were all that strong, not really. Not when compared to Arlong and his crew.

They probably depended more on getting the drop on people with that paralyzing Devil Fruit, especially since nobody knew to look out for them here. Who would expect it, when there's such a notorious marine as Smoker here? And most pirates are probably more excited about making it to the Grand Line than anything, like we had been.

Like the others probably had been, before they got taken by surprise.

I grit my teeth as a new wave of anger went through me and then determinately pushed it down. I could take that anger out on whoever got in my way, but I had to keep a clear head if I wanted to help anybody.

"Alright, then. Off you two go," I decided and, not even giving them a chance to brace themselves, shoved them out into the open. Luffy did nothing more then get right to it, not even skipping a beat, but Sabo took a second to cuss before following in our brother's wake.

I didn't stick around to watch, instead moving along the curve of the forest until my choices were to run across the beach or dip into the ocean. The latter would mean even less chance of being spotted but, honestly, I was in no mood to be soaking wet at the moment. Attention was firmly directed at the fight taking place in the middle of the tiny beach, voices yelling out in alarm as everyone converged on the one area. Pretty stupid of them, really, but I wasn't going to complain when it was just making things easier for me.

A quick dash across the sand took me to the side of their ship and, from there, it was pretty simple to climb aboard. I compressed my aura as small as it could go and made sure to move quickly, darting in and out of sight. There were no new yells of indignant shock as I went, so I felt safe in assuming I hadn't been spotted, and made my way inside the ship and down, towards where I could feel the still flat auras of my crewmates. There were two awake with them, probably guards, so at least this crew hadn't been dumb enough to just abandon them completely.

Still, two guards weren't going to be enough to stop me, especially when I was already this pissed.

I stopped just at the final staircase, feeling the pair of guards standing vigil at the bottom, and peered down cautiously. It was two men, one looking about my own age while the other looked to be almost in his thirties. The younger was standing ramrod straight, hand gripped tight around the hilt and pommel of his sword and practically jittering out of his skin with nerves and excitement. He was also visibly annoyed, probably at having been assigned guard duty while all the action was taking place outside without him. His messy, light brown hair and slightly chubby baby face made him look really young, though his height and build contradicted that. All in all, looking at him and sensing him with my Observation, I couldn't help but suspect that he'd never been in a real, life or death fight in his entire life.

The man standing across from him was practically the kid's complete opposite. He stood slouched against the wall, arms crossed loosely across his chest, head tilted back and eyes closed behind shaggy black bangs. If it weren't for my haki, I'd even say he was sleeping on his feet, but no, he was definitely awake and alert. But he wasn't worried, not even a little bit. Irritated, tired and slightly bored, but not worried, even with all the yelling going on outside. He probably expected whoever was attacking them to never make it this far.

Well, time to prove him wrong.

Sucking in a slow, deep breath, I jumped, catching hold of the lip of the ceiling and using it to propel myself down the stairs all the faster. The man noticed me first, for all that his eyes had been closed, but he had no time to shout a warning at the boy before I was there, planting my feet solidly in his youthful face. He went down with barely a gurgle, unconscious before he even hit the ground, and I had to duck out of the way as a suddenly unsheathed blade cut through the air where my neck had just been.

The man blinked at me slowly, taking me in, and I could see recognition spark dimly in his dark eyes. "Spitfire Lily, eh? You're worth a pretty penny, darlin'."

"Only if you can actually beat me," I sneered, annoyed, even as I cataloged him just as thoroughly. He was relaxed, unworried, even now that he was facing an opponent. And it wasn't the forced kind that thugs in the trash heap had sometimes used, the perversive kind of arrogance that made them truly believe that they could never be beaten. No, this was calm and sure.

Whoever this guy was, he'd been in his fair share of fights, and had faith in his own strength. And that meant that I had to take him seriously, even if I acted like I didn't.

He chuckled at me. "What, did we take members of your crew or somethin'? Came to get them back? That's pretty loyal, for a pirate."

"They're our nakama, no way are we letting shitheads like you sell them off," I told him, glancing out of the corner of my eye towards where I could see a giant cage built in to the back of the room. The sight itself had me baring my teeth and snarling.

Apparently taking my diverted focus as an opening, the man lunged forward, thrusting his blade at me. I dodged easily, having seen the attack coming even without looking, and spun around him, slipping my own blades into my hands as I went.

We danced back and forth and, I had to admit, whoever this guy was, he was good. Not as good as Zoro was, and definitely not anywhere near the level of Mihawk, but he was clearly comfortable with his sword and knew how to use it. He was fairly agile, stepping lightly, but his size and bulk meant that he was built more for strength than speed. And now that he'd seen my face, he was no longer trying to truly injure me, just knock me out.

I wasn't having that dilemma.

Ducking past a blow that did nothing more than score a light scratch across my arm, I bent and twisted my way through his defenses, grabbing tight hold of his head and using it to propel myself up even as I shoved it down, right into my knee. He dropped like a stone, sword falling out of his hand and clattering noisily against the wood of the floor, and I landed next to him, crouched and ready.

It was unnecessary, though. His aura had gone quiet, and he was just as out as his companion was.

Dusting my hands off and hoping that, whenever he woke up, he did so with one hell of a headache, I moved passed them and towards the cage at the back of the room.

Looking at it directly, with nothing to distract me, had me wanted to wake the guy up just to beat the shit out of him. I hoped that, whatever the Revolutionaries did with these people, it was unpleasant.

I didn't waste time looking around for keys, since none were in clear sight, and instead dropped to the ground and pulled a few of my pins from a pouch in one of my jacket's inner pockets. Picking the lock took barely three seconds and then I was swinging the door open and heading inside with no hesitation.

I was expecting to find a couple of unconscious bodies, all of them knocked out and unresponsive.

What I didn't expect was to walk in and have dozens of eyes on me, even as no one moved a single muscle. I could admit, it was the closest to screaming in terror that I'd come in awhile.

"Jesus fucking shit," I muttered, placing a hand against my suddenly pounding heart. "That is the creepiest thing I've seen in days, and I saw Luffy turn his head around like an owl earlier, okay, what the fuck."

None of them answered me, of course, but I could see humor beginning to bleed into eyes that had previously been full of dread, anger and fear.

My crewmates, when I found them amongst the horde of unmoving people - and seriously, there were at least fifty people in this cage, how had nobody noticed this many go missing at a time, pirates or not? - just looked unspeakably relieved to see me. I made my way instantly to them, taking care not to step on anybody on the way.

"Hey," I kneeled before Nami, patting her cheek gently even as I started working on the cuffs clasped around her wrists - and why? Did the power that paralyzed them have a time limit? And if so, how come none of the others were moving, either? - "You guys really scared us, you know? Luffy damn near destroyed the execution stand, and I'm pretty sure Buggy won't be moving on his own for at least a month."

I could see Nami and Zoro's eyes flicker with confusion at the mention of the clown pirate and shook my head at them because, really, besides carrying around a stupid grudge, I didn't really know why he'd follow us here, either. Still, I continued talking because, though Zoro looked just plain annoyed and Sanji looked jointly irritated at the situation and elated to see me, Nami and Usopp still looked utterly terrified.

Which was creepy, since I still couldn't feel them. They still just felt flat, like they were sleeping, even though it was pretty obvious that they were wide awake. Which made my heart hurt a bit, because if they were awake now, did that mean they'd been awake this entire time? Had Nami been told why they were being taken, that she'd only just escaped slavery just to be thrust right back into it?

Yeah, I really hoped the Revolutionaries were gonna make these assholes hurt.

I quickly moved down the line, for all the good it did me. Even unchained, they still couldn't move. But it made me feel better, and I knew it helped them, too. Hopefully, whatever was going on with them would wear off soon because I'd really hate to have to hunt down the guy with the Fruit that had done this and force him to undo it, though I definitely would if I had to. Plus, moving all of these people when they were nothing more than dead weight wasn't going to be much fun, even after Sabo's backup got here to help.

I could still hear the sounds of fighting from outside, though, and figured my best bet was to just do what I could now so that we could hurry things along later. Luffy was having fun again, since he knew I was with our nakama now, which meant that they were safe. It was a very vindictive, angry kind of fun, but a fun nonetheless. Sabo, for his part, still felt extremely dim to my senses, even in the midst of a fight as he was. And really, I was getting pretty irritated with all of these people around that I couldn't feel. That was my shtick, okay, and they were throwing one hell of a wrench into it.

Shaking away that thought and resolving to try and ask tips from Sabo later, I began making my way through the rest of the people here, unchaining all of them. I had no clue who most of them were and, as far as I knew, I could be helping out murderers and scumbags right now. But whatever, if it came down to it, I'd leave it up to my dad to figure out what to do with them. No matter what, I couldn't just leave them here while knowing that slavery was what awaited them. I wasn't sure I could do that to anybody, no matter how terrible they were.

Well... maybe Akainu. Thankfully, it was unlikely that I'd ever be forced to make that decision. I'd be way more comfortable just killing the bastard.

I was almost through all of them when I had to just stop and stare for a moment, because no fucking way.

"No fucking way."

Laying spread out on the ground unceremoniously, and looking like he'd be snarling at me if he had any control of his facial muscles, was Bartolomeo in all his color-clashing glory.

I sighed, bringing a hand up to massage at the sudden headache forming behind my eyes. "Seriously, Luffy has the weirdest luck I've ever seen. What is up with that?"

Still, I bent down and got to work on his cuffs, just as I had everyone else's. All I really remembered of the guy was how much of a fanboy he'd been of my brother and his crew - though hadn't that happened because of watching Luffy declare himself the future Pirate King, even when it looked like he was about to die? So, would he even have the same obsession anymore? - but I also knew he'd had the moniker of Cannibal and that he could be kind of an asshole to anyone not affiliated with the Straw Hats.

Still, he hadn't been a bad guy and he'd done a lot to help out during the Dressrosa arc. Even if he never had that level of devotion to my crew, or if he never became that person, I still couldn't help but think highly of, and be grateful to, him.

"Okay," I huffed once I was done, standing up and placing my hands on my hips to survey the area to be sure I hadn't missed anyone. Everyone who could stared right back at me from wherever they'd been dumped on the floor and I couldn't quite stop my grimace. "Still creepy as hell. Seriously. It's like walking into a room full of dolls and having all of their eyes follow you around."

A few averted their eyes, at that, clearly sympathetic to how unnerving that must be. Most still continued to watch me, though, and it wasn't really like I could blame them. I had no idea how long some of them had been like this. I might be the first glimpse of hope they'd seen in days.

"Right, well, the fighting has slowed down outside. Most of them are out, and Luffy's feeling a bit disappointed, which probably means they went down faster than he'd been hoping. I don't know if back up has gotten here yet or not, so I don't really -"

"No, they're here," Sabo's voice called from the top of the stairs. A second later he was stepping down them into sight, sparing barely a glance towards the men I'd knocked out as he made his way towards me. "They're roping up the guys outside to make sure they don't cause any trouble and then they'll be heading this way. Dragon-san seems to be... talking with Luffy."

I snickered, imagining just how well that was likely going. Unless he'd flat out said it, Lu probably hadn't even realized that it was our dad.

Sabo looked around us, observing the multitude of people that had been captured and trapped here, before dryly commenting. "Well, that's unsettling. This is a lot more than we'd thought. Our intel was seriously lacking."

I could tell by his tone that someone was going to be getting a dressing-down because of that and couldn't help but wince a bit in sympathy.

"Well, like you said," I offered hesitantly, "they were focusing on pirate crews and bounty hunters for a reason. It's hard to keep track of when they go missing."

Sabo just eyed me, unimpressed, and I lifted my hands in surrender, an odd reversal of our conversation earlier that day.

"Hey, you wanna yell at your minions, I ain't gonna stop ya. I was just saying."

"They're not my minions!" Sabo scowled though, really, it looked nothing more than pouting.

"Sure," I drew out the word, letting him know just how much I disbelieved that, and turned away from his deepening pout. "But like you said, there's definitely a lot of people in here. What's the plan?"

"Well," he straightened, suddenly serious once more, "we'll probably offer them a place with us, if they want it. The rest, we'll let go."

"Just like that?" I asked, side-eyeing him. "Some of these guys could be pretty bad people. And you're just gonna let them go?"

"Well, what else would we do? Hand them over to the marines?" He scoffed. "Like that would accomplish anything. We'd be better off just killing them here and now. It'd be kinder."

"Then why don't you?" I wasn't judging, merely curious, and I could see that he realized that. My opinion of the World Government wasn't all that better than his, though he probably had quite a few more reasons to hate them then I did, with everything he'd likely seen over the years.

He shrugged, looking much more uncomfortable with the intense stares he was receiving. "This is their second chance, I guess. We're not gonna let them become slaves, no matter what. We'll fight when we have to and kill when we have to, but that's not what our objective is. We just want freedom, for everyone." He shrugged. "It'd be pretty hypocritical if we turned around and acted just like the shitty Government, wouldn't it?"

"Hmm," I hummed for a minute before gracing him with a smile. "Well, you're not gonna hear any arguments from me."

There was a sudden commotion by the stairs, followed by a shout of alarm. We both whipped around just in time to see a body fall through the doorway and hit the ground with a dull, limp thud. I didn't recognize him but by the way Sabo's hands clenched, he clearly did.

"What the hell is all this?" A man's gravely voice whined as footsteps thumped down the stairs towards us. "All I do is take a nap, and I wake up to this bullshit. Do I really have to do everything around here?"

The guy that came into view was older, mid-thirties at the youngest. His dark hair was scraggly, barely held back in a loose ponytail. His build was wirey, all long-limbs, and his face was twisted with an ugly scar slashing diagonally across it.

His eyes were the coldest I'd ever seen. Though, if he was the leader of these slave traders, I guess they'd have to be.

He smiled when he spotted us, a twisted, ugly thing, and then bent forward into a mocking bow. "Welcome to my ship, I hope you enjoy your stay. After all, you won't be leaving for quite some time."

"We'll be leaving a lot sooner than you think," Sabo told him, voice impressively level what with how angry he'd looked just a moment before. "You might not be, though."

"Oooh, spooky," the man chuckled, amused, before his gaze drifted to me and turned thoughtful. "You're a new bounty, right? I keep my eyes on all the up-and-comers out of the East, you see, and I'm sure I've seen your face. Pretty thing like you, you'll sell for a good amount. Just the right age, too. A lot of those nobles like them looking young, but don't want 'em too young, ya know?"

He'd barely gotten the words out before Sabo was suddenly there, in his face and giving him no time to defend himself. I sighed, despaired of having overprotective older brothers who refused to let me defend myself, and left him to it. Wasn't like I'd be able to do anything now, anyways, since the fight was likely to be over in just a moment. I definitely wasn't imagining the darker black that was covering Sabo's gloved hands, and that clawed hit to the chest was bound to do quite a bit of damage.

I wasn't really expecting them both to go down, though.

"Sabo?!" I yelped as he hit the floor, landing awkwardly on top of the guy he'd just taken out. Even from here, though, I could see that his eyes were still open, blinking confusedly at his sudden inability to move. Seeing this, I let out a long sigh in an attempt to calm my racing heart, before quickly dissolving into helpless laughter.

"This whole time," I gasped, "this whole time, you've been telling us over and over to be careful, warning about acting impulsively, and yet you're the one that let your anger get the best of you. And look at you now."

He could do nothing but glare up at me, looking sheepish and insulted all at once.

"Comfy?" I asked impishly, full of smug satisfaction as I crouched next to him and patted his head. "I think we found the Devil Fruit user."

He blew out a louder breath through his nose, frustrated, but could do nothing but lay there, limp, as I took pity and hefted him up under his arms, dragging him across the floor and resting him against the wall.

"Hopefully that paralysis doesn't last too long," I told him, trying for sympathetic and probably landing at extremely amused.

Sabo just did his best to sigh at me.

.

.

It turned out that the paralysis did not have a time limit and that the user really was just that much of a dick, to clap the people he abducted into chains even though there was no reason to. Finding that out had me wanting to beat the shit out of the guy myself, if it wouldn't result in me ending up just like Sabo, since he could apparently use his abilities with just a touch. Apparently, he hadn't had time to defend himself, but he had had time to brush his hand against the side of Sabo's neck.

Thank god it had only been a paralyzing ability and not something more life threatening, otherwise Sabo'd be dead and so would every single one of the slave traders.

Still, it surprisingly didn't take very long to get everyone up and out onto the small beach front. We left the others to the Revolutionaries, but Luffy and I handled our own crew.

Dragon, when he caught sight of the mulish look in Sabo's eyes as he was carried out, looked like he wanted nothing more than to laugh hysterically. Koala, not bothering with any kind of restraint, did just that.

It felt like everything happened very quickly after that. This clearly wasn't the first time the Revolutionaries had dealt with a situation like this, and they went about operating like a smoothly oiled machine, even with one of their top members out of commission for the time being. It felt like they had every single slave trader tied up and carted away within moments, though I couldn't tell where they were being taken. Those that had been taken as intended slaves followed quickly after.

Soon, the only ones left on the beach were my crew, Sabo and Dragon.

"Well," I sighed, stepping up to Dragon's side as I watched Luffy go back and forth between fretting and laughing at our nakama, completely ignoring the fact that they were clearly planning their revenge. "This wasn't how I thought it'd go, the next time I saw you, I've got to admit. The slave traders were a bit of a surprise."

"You were badly injured, last time," he glanced down at me - and really, why were he and Gramps so tall, while Lu and I were so short? - and smirked. "This is definitely a step up."

"Fair enough," I granted. I wasn't going to complain about the lack of third degree burns, that was for damn sure. "Sabo said you were hoping to see us off?"

Dragon hummed in agreement. "I had hoped that, one day, you and your brother would join me. Piracy isn't bad, though. You've been taking the world by storm. That's good enough for me."

"Good," I snorted. "Because Lu's gonna be the Pirate King, one day, and no one's gonna stop him. Not even you."

Our father's face split into a full-blown, Monkey D. grin as he let loose booming laughter, drawing all attention to him in that moment. "Wouldn't dream of it! He's inherited Roger's will, I can see it. So long as he keeps seeking the answer to freedom, he won't be stopped. Neither of you will."

He reached out, placing a hand gently upon my head while also glancing up to meet Luffy's confused gaze. "I'm proud of the both of you."

With that, he turned and followed the path his subordinates had made into the woods. I stared after him, even once he'd disappeared, until I heard Luffy make a sound of comprehension behind me.

"Oh! That was that Dragon guy, right? Our dad?"

I groaned, slapping a hand to my face. "Really, Luffy, you have absolutely no tact at all, do you?"

"Tact? What's that? Is it yummy?"

"Don't play dumb! I know you know what tact means, I've told you before!"

"It definitely doesn't sound very yummy."

"What do you mean, he's your father?!"

Luffy and I both blinked towards where our crewmates were suddenly sitting up and staring at us incredulously. It took a moment of silence for them to realize that, hey, they were talking and moving on their own again, and then they promptly forgot their question to instead rejoice that fact.

"Oh, thank god," Usopp was groaning, patting at his own face. "That was terrifying! N-Not that I was scared or anything! Have I ever told you guys about the time I took out a hundred - no, two hundred slave traders, all on my own, and saved a princess?"

"Really?!"

"I can't believe there weren't any left over to fight," Zoro grumbled, clicking his tongue in irritation. "I should've sliced that guy up when I had the chance."

"Yeah, right," Sanji scoffed. "If anyone was going to kick the shit out of him and save the lovely lady Nami-san, then it was going to be me."

"What did you just say?!"

"You heard me!"

"You've definitely got a lively crew," Sabo murmured, coming up to stand beside me and watch the chaos unfold. The relationship between Sanji and Zoro had started off on much better terms, and they didn't fight nearly as much as they had in canon, but I was pretty sure it'd be impossible for them to have an antagonistic-free friendship. "Not that I'm surprised, since it's you two I'm talking about."

"Yup," I agreed cheerfully, watching as Nami scoffed at something Usopp was saying, even as she allowed him and Luffy to crowd further into her space than she usually would. I had a feeling that we'd be having another sleepover tonight, which I wasn't opposed to. After all that, it'd be nice to have them all within arms reach for awhile. "Never a dull, or quiet, moment."

"I'm glad," he smiled at me, face softening. "I was worried, at first. I've been thinking of you guys as my little siblings this whole time, as the kids that chased after Ace and I and couldn't beat either one of us in a fight. But you both really did grow up, and you've gotten a lot stronger. You've got a really good crew around you, and you all care about each other a lot. I'm really glad, Ana."

I would deny the way my eyes were watering to anyone who made the mistake of pointing it out but, yeah, I was pretty much about to cry like a baby after hearing all of that.

And then Sabo was ruining the moment, slinging an arm around my neck and putting me into a headlock, bringing his fist down onto my head in a relentless noogie. "You're still an annoying kid sister, though, you know that? Seriously, you didn't have to drop me when you were dragging me to the wall, earlier! I know you did it on purpose! You laughed!"

"No, no! I'm sorry!" I cried, the effect completely ruined by the fact that I couldn't stop laughing. "I give! I give!"

"I'll save you, Lili!" Luffy yelled before suddenly slingshotting himself at us, which really did nothing but get me a mouthful of sand. Still, Luffy seemed pretty pleased with himself when he ended up at the very top of the pile. "I beat you! I beat you!"

"Who exactly did you beat?" Sabo demanded, flipping them over and smushing Luffy's face into the sand right next to mine. "Face it, you two will never beat your big brothers!"

"Will too!"

And it was just inevitable, at that point, that we'd tag team him. Really, he'd asked for it with a taunt like that.

Faintly, in the background, above Usopp and Nami's crowing laughter and Zoro's snickering, I heard Sanji squawk, "Wait, they're all siblings?!"

.

.

A/N: Really, Sanji, you're so slow lmao

So, this is a few days (or months oops) later than I'd planned it to be but, hey, I got it out before Christmas! That has to count for something, right? Right?

There's quite a few reasons why this was so late. I was busy, I was sick, I had a tooth thing, I had a few family things, I got distracted by other fandoms and other fics. But really, what it all boils down to is: I lost inspiration. Not for this story, per say, since I've still got a lot of ideas and plans for the future. But with writing in general.

I have started this chapter so many times and each time felt like it just wasn't... good enough. And after awhile, I just got really discouraged, I guess, and stopped even trying. It wasn't until about a month ago that I sat down and made myself write something for this. And it's still taken this long to finish (at 22,344 words before the A/N, for those of you who care about things like that). And still, I'm not quite happy with it. I had a lot of plans for this chapter, regarding the slave traders thing, and there was a lot more I was going to do with it. Enough that it would've lasted at least two chapters. And maybe one day, if I ever decide to revise this thing, I'll add more. But for now? This is the best I can do. And I really hope it's not horrible and that you guys like it, because I really did the best I could right now with it. I know it's stiff and bland in a lot of places, though, so I won't blame any of you who are dissatisfied with it.

There have been a lot of reviews since I last updated (which, holy crap! This fic is almost to 600! That's insane, you guys are amazing!) so, I'm going to come back and write my responses to them later (seriously, I've been awake for 28 hours at this point, the last 9 of which I've spent sitting in front of my computer screen, writing this chapter). I'm really sorry if that's inconvenient to any of you, or if you were hoping to read them now. I'll try to come back and go through them as soon as I wake up, or at least by tomorrow, at the latest.

Until then, though, I wanted to thank everyone who did leave a review since the last time I updated. I've read all of them and, if it weren't for you guys, it's pretty likely I probably wouldn't have found the motivation to crank this sucker out. I appreciate all of them, every opinion, every praise, every encouragement, and even the criticism. Seriously, from the bottom of my heart: thank you so much.

As usual, this hasn't been proofread beyond a quick glance. If you've spotted any glaring mistakes, feel free to point them out to me. I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible.

I'm really hoping that it all made sense and that my tired brain isn't about to inflict a big pile of nonsensical drivel on you guys lmao

Anyways, as always, thank you so much for reading and please follow, favorite or leave a review to let me know what you think!