A blonde girl swiftly made her way through the crowded port town of Alabasta. She didn't exactly have a reason to be in the town at the moment, but with every step she took, she was closer to her goal. She walked with little purpose, moving with the flow of the crowd as not to attract any attention, keeping note of everyone around her. A mother with her son walked slightly behind her, talking about how excited they were to finally get some fresh fish. A couple walked ahead of her, arguing about whether they would live near her parent's house or his. The blonde girl made sure to keep note of every minuscule detail she could. After all, that was her job.

Deciding she had enough aimless wandering, the girl entered a local restaurant. The place was packed with only a few spots open. She picked a seat at the bar, hoping she could get through her lunch without much a hassle. Everything was going to plan until a boy with freckles decided to seat himself next to the blonde. He ordered his meal and started up a conversation with the bartender, which was perfectly fine for the blonde, but soon she got roped into his antics.

The freckled boy turned towards the blonde with a goofy smile on his face, "Have I seen you somewhere before? You look familiar."

"I've never seen you before, sorry. I travel frequently, so maybe we crossed paths at some point," the blonde replied, she figured ignoring the boy would draw more attention to her than amusing him for the time being.

"Maybe that's it. From your statement about traveling, I can only guess that you're not from Alabasta."

"You'd be correct. I was born in the North Blue, but ever since I was born I traveled with my family. How about you, Freckles-sa*?" The blonde studied his facial expression, she clearly recognized him as "Fire Fist" Ace. Now the question was: When will he realize who she is?

His face held disgust at first, but in a split second turned to fondness, "Hmm, I spent most of my childhood in the east blue, I lived on a cozy, little place called Dawn Island." He held his face in his hand with his arm propped up on the counter, "Oh, and just call me Ace."

The blonde grinned, "And I'm Dorothea." Once he heard her name, Ace instantly realized who he was talking to, the famed noble opulence. From then on, both Dorothea and Ace were on edge, wondering just what the other will do. "So, Ace-sa, tell me, what is a big shot like you doing in some dainty little port town?" Dorothea began to rhythmically tap her fingers against the counter as if to soothe herself.

Ace hesitated, "Hm, just searching for my little brother." He gave Dorothea another one of his famous grins.

Dorothea couldn't help but smile back, although it turned out to be more of a sinister smile rather than a genuine smile, "Looks like we're here for the same reason."

Ace gave the woman a confused look, "I didn't think you had any siblings. Well, at least any siblings that the government knows of."

"Siblings aren't always related by blood, Ace-sa. In the same way that those who you share a blood connection with aren't always your family."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Ace replied in a somewhat relaxed tone. The two had come to the realization that neither one of them were going to pull anything on the other. Their respective meals came soon after Ace's remark and the two began to make small talk. Bantering back and forth with the occasional witty remark. That was until Ace fell face first into his meal, shocking the waiter and fellow customers. The waiter was convinced Ace was dead, stating that he must have eaten a desert strawberry.

Dorothea sighed and placed her index finger and middle finger on Ace's neck, checking for a pulse. Sure enough Ace was still alive, she could even see his chest rising, he was fine. "You can all stop crowding around him, he's not dead. I can't tell if he fainted or just fell asleep, but he is most certainly not dead," the blonde told the crowd that formed around Ace. She became paranoid about the attention that was put on her due to Ace's unusual habit.

It took a few minutes, but soon Ace woke up. He was greeted to a crowd of concerned customers and staff. There was a woman who stood next to him, "Are you okay?" she asked. Ace, still dazed from waking up from his "nap", grabbed the poor woman's skirt and used it as a napkin to clean his face. The woman, disgusted, screamed as she yanked her skirt away from him and left.

Ace stared at the chef in front of him, who had joined Ace and Dorothea's conversation not long before Ace fell asleep, "Damn… I fell asleep."

Dorothea let out a small chuckle, "Does this happen often, Ace-sa?"

"Mmhmm," he hummed in response. Ace began to finish up his meal, Dorothea kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't fall asleep again. "Ahh, I'm full," Ace said as he bit into the final piece of his meal, "By the way, Oyasan, Dorothea, have either of you seen this guy in town?" He pulled out a wanted poster of a boy named Monkey D. Luffy. The chef and Dorothea both shook their heads.

"I really wish I could help you Ace-sa, but I have my own brother to keep an eye out for," Dorothea sighed.

"Does this brother of yours have a name?"

"Trafalgar Law. He's been making a name for himself and it's my duty to make sure he understands what he's getting in to," Dorothea's eyes darted to the right, recalling memories of days gone by.

"I guess you don't have a problem with eating in public," a foreign voice called out, "Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, second division. Portgas D. Ace." Dorothea whipped her head around to see who was talking to Ace. It was a man with two cigars in his mouth, he appeared to be in his 30's, but strangely he had gray hair. He was obviously a marine, but he didn't seem to notice Dorothea just yet.

The marine spoke once again, "What business does an infamous pirate like you have in this country?"

Ace lowered his drink to the table, a thick silence overtook the restaurant, Ace still stared down at his empty plate. "I'm searching," Ace replied, finally turning around to face the marine, "For my little brother." Even in the face of immediate danger, Ace was completely relaxed. Dorothea took note of this and wondered what trouble Ace could have gotten into in the past. Or maybe he was naturally this aloof. "So then… What should I do?" Ace broke the silence between him and the marine.

"Sit there and let me arrest you."

"Rejected. I'd rather not," Ace said slyly. Dorothea tried to stifle her laugh.

"Well, that's what I expected. Right now I am looking for a different pirate." Dorothea's eyes widened, but the marine didn't seem to be looking for her since his eyes were still focused on Ace.

"Then let me go," Ace reasoned.

"I can't do that…" The marine's hand began to emit smoke as he got ready to fight, "As long as I'm a marine… and you're a pirate."

Dorothea finally made herself known, "Really that's your only reason?" Both Ace and the marine's attention were centered on Dorothea now.

The marine narrowed his eyes, "Donquixote Dorothea… You're no longer under the protection of your father. You do realize what this means?"

Dorothea rolled her eyes, "Of course I do. Listen why don't you beat up Ace while I go and escape and we both pretend like this never happened, hmm?"

Ace smiled, "I wish you had some faith in me, Dorothea," he turned towards the marine, "pay her no mind, let's have some fun."

It looked as if a fight was about to start if it weren't for a boy to come barreling into the restaurant, slamming into the marine's back which made the marine and Ace go flying through multiple walls. The boy who had caused the commotion stood in the middle of the building cheering, "A restaurant! I finally found one!" Dorothea noticed the boy was wearing a straw hat and looked identical to Ace's little brother. He took Ace's seat and demanded some food.

Lighting up the cigarette that sat in her mouth, Dorothea could tell this kid was going to give her a headache. "Monkey D. Luffy, huh," she whispered to herself, but it seemed that the boy heard her.

"That's me! Do you know me or something?" Luffy asked, chowing down on the food he had ordered.

"No, not really, but I know someone who does," Dorothea replied with a grin. She was going to continue their little conversation, but both Ace and the marine made their way back to the restaurant. She could faintly hear Ace happily call out to Luffy, but it was cut off by the marine yelling "Straw Hat". 'Well, that solves one mystery. But what does that marine want with Luffy-sa?' Dorothea thought.

The marine calmly walked up to Luffy, while Dorothea just rested her elbows on the counter ready to watch what was about to go down. "I've been looking for you, Straw Hat," the marine started, "I knew you'd come here, to Alabasta." Luffy continued to stuff his face full of food, mainly meat. "Stop eating!" the marine commanded Luffy, but he just continued to eat his lunch. 'These two brothers sure know how to make me laugh'

After another minute of staring at the marine, Luffy finally recognized him. "You're that Smokey guy! What are you doing here!?" Luffy yelled as he spat out his food. That's when the chase ensued. First Luffy ran out of the restaurant after thanking the chef, then the marine rushed out of the restaurant as well, after that Ace got up and began to chase after his brother. 'This week has been pretty boring, this might just be just the spice it needed,' Dorothea thought as she made her way out of the restaurant. She decided in order to keep up with the chaos she would need to look from above. Luckily, her Oto-Oto** no mi allowed her to do just that.

Dorothea sprang into the air, using the soundwaves around her to increase her height. She moved around the town by controlling the soundwaves around her in a way that allowed her to jump gracefully from place to place in the sky. She always liked to think of it as walking on air rather than shooting soundwaves to the ground at an intense speed in order to keep her afloat. The latter made it seem a lot more mechanical than it really was, she leaps through the air were graceful, not robotic or hectic.

Unfamiliar with the town and losing track of all three men, Dorothea was lost. She rested on a random roof, deciding where to look next, or if she should even continue to hunt down Luffy. Dorothea came to the conclusion that dealing with the marines would only make her life harder so she lept to the sky once again, making sure she was a little above roof level as to stay unnoticed.

Just as Dorothea jumped into the air, she noticed a strange corner. There were two people along with a strange bird. They were surrounded by various supplies. Dorothea was going to ignore them, until one of the two noticed her, "An angel! An angel has come down from the heavens to grace us with her presence!" The other person on the ground appeared to be a blue haired woman, who looked to be embarrassed by her friend's outburst.

Dorothea landed as gracefully as she took off, ending up right next to the man who called her an angel. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not an angel of any sorts. But I could use your help," she said, glancing over to the blue haired woman as well.

The man, who she noticed had a strange curled eyebrow, was eager to help her out, "I'm glad to help you anytime. Tell me what you need and it will be done!" The man grabbed one of Dorothea's hands and held it between his.

Dorothea couldn't help but laugh, "Shufufufufu! Thank you, Eyebrow-sa! Have you two seen a shirtless man, a marine, and a boy wearing a straw hat by any chance?" The two strangers' eyes widened upon hearing her describe the last individual.

The man with the weird eyebrow took a step back from Dorothea, "Why would you want to know where they are?" Dorothea could sense the tension in the air.

"Honest answer: I just want to see what trouble that Straw Hat-sa gets into. But I'd rather not get involved with the Marines right now, so I guess I would be avoiding them."

This seemed to calm the two down, the man let out a breath of relief, "I'm sorry, but we haven't seen my captain, in fact, we lost track of him a while ago."

"Well, thank you anyway…"

"Sanji."

"Thank you, Sanji-sa. Oh, by the way, your captain is being chased down by a very angry marine captain," Dorothea informed him, but his face held no surprise or shock. The woman beside them didn't seem worried either, Dorothea turned her attention towards the woman "I'm guessing this isn't an unusual occurrence for your captain, huh?"

The blue haired girl let out a sigh, "Sadly, you're correct." Dorothea was about to leave when four other people appeared. They seemed to be the rest of Luffy's crew.

"We've got to get out of here. The Marines are here," an orange haired girl spoke, she had an air of confidence which Dorothea admired. No one seemed to question Dorothea's presence until a green haired swordsman pointed her out.

"Are we going to ignore this blonde girl over here?"

Sanji was quick to introduce Dorothea, "You mean this lovely angel! She's…" That's when Sanji realized he never asked her what her name was.

"Shufufufufu! I'm Dorothea, I was just trying to avoid the marines and get out of this town. Turns out I ran into your captain not too long ago."

Sanji smiled, "See, Marimo, Dorothea means no harm, she appeared from the heavens to help us find our captain!"

"Dorothea…" the green haired man's eyes widened, "I know that name, you're Donquixote Dorothea. I've seen your bounty before."

Dorothea smiled, "Ah, so you really are the pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro." She paused for a moment, "I would love to stay longer, but I should leave before the marines remember I'm here." That was until Luffy had found his crew while still being chased by the Marines.

"Oh! Everyone is over there!" He yelled as he ran towards his crew and Dorothea. His crew realized the trouble they were in and started to gather their supplies and take off. Dorothea ran with them, using the sound emitted by the Marines and Luffy's crew to add a bit of spring to her step.

The Straw Hats stopped at one point as the marine captain she met earlier attacked Luffy. Dorothea kept running, she didn't hear any screams of pain so she assumed they were fine, she just needed to be as far away from the marines as possible. She was so far away from the commotion that she could no longer use any sound waves from town to help her run faster, but by that point, she was already near the dock. There was a boat that had a funny looking figurehead; Dorothea couldn't tell whether it was a ram or a goat, but she loved it anyway.

She jumped onto the ship using the sound of the crashing waves to increase the height of her jump. Once she landed, she decided to just wait to see who the ship belonged to. Dorothea traveled the world via unconventional means, being a devil fruit user she was in no position to allow herself to swim or fall overboard so she either used her Oto-Oto no Mi to travel above the sea by forcing soundwaves towards the sea and in turn boosting her higher into the sky and in the direction she desired, or she charmed her way into letting a pirate crew let her travel with them for a short amount of time. Of course, there was a third option, but she didn't like to use it before the other two options: blackmail. Ever since she was a child, she was trained to acquire blackmail on almost everyone she met, as her memory was near perfect.

Deciding against wasting her energy by traveling using her Oto-Oto no Mi, she patiently waited for the pirate crew to show up. And sure enough, they did. To Dorothea's surprise, it was the Straw Hats once again.

Luffy saw her on the boat and immediately shouted at her, "Hey! You're that girl from the restaurant, right!?"

Sanji looked at his captain confused before looking up at the woman that stood on their boat. When he saw who it was, he pushed his captain out of the way, "Dorothea-chan has graced us once more with her presence!"

Dorothea scoffed, "Still not an angel, but I do need one more favor from you guys…"

Zoro laughed at this, "Really? You need a favor from us?"

She nodded, "Mmhmm, I need you guys to let me travel with you for a bit."

Sanji was quick to reply, "Of course, Doroth-"

"We don't even know her!" Zoro snapped and turned back towards the strange woman, "Why would a Donquixote need a ride from us. Don't you have your own ship to go back to?"

Dorothea shook her head, "You see this bag on my back? That's my ship." She pointed towards the dark red backpack that looked to be filled to the brim with items.

Still unimpressed Zoro asked another question, "Well how did you end up on this island then?" Dorothea decided it would be easier to demonstrate than to explain everything, so she jumped up into the air once again, and slowly descended onto the ground in front of Zoro.

"See, Marimo!" Sanji exclaimed, "She's an angel!"

"She's hardly an angel, more like a demon if you ask me."

Sanji narrowed his eyes at Zoro, "Well go thing no one asked you, shitty Marimo."

Dorothea turned her attention towards Luffy, "So do you think you could give me a lift?"

Luffy gave her a giant smile, "Of course!"

Thank you for reading this first chapter! Just so y'all aren't too lost, here's a bit of context to some of the story.

* - Dorothea ends names with "-sa" because as a child she never knew when to refer to her family as "-sama" or just "-san" so she would often just say "-sa" and hope someone would help her out, but it grew into a habit of hers (she views majority of the donquixote pirates as family as those are the people she grew up with)

** - Oto-oto no mi, aka the noise-noise fruit, allows the user to control any nearby soundwaves and use them to the user's advantage. The user also becomes a sound person, their body can morph into soundwaves at will. Dorothea mainly uses this ability to walk in the air like she does in this chapter, but she can also use it offensively by focusing soundwaves into a bullet like projectile or overloading an enemy's senses by forcing high pitched soundwaves to surround the enemy.