Disclaimer: Who owns One Piece? Well not me, that's for sure.

Chapter 5

Martasa

Leaping off of Ace, Luffy landed on one of the many wooden docks in Martasa's southern port, his characteristic grin as wide as ever. He dropped a shaken Gin and the unconscious Don Krieg by his side, laughing when Kimi let out a whoop of joy.

"Let's do that again!" the young girl cried in exhilaration from her spot on his back, turning around to watch as Ace submerged himself back into the depths of the sea.

Gin stumbled to his feet a bit unsteadily, disagreeing as he ran a hand through his brown hair. "Please, no. Never again."

Slapping Gin heartily on the back, Luffy chuckled. "Ah, come on Gin! You had fun and you know it!"

Gin just mumbled something, giving up and finally glancing around at where they'd arrived. The dock area was oddly barren, even though it was midday and should have been a place of bustling activity. There weren't even any ships or boats docked in any of the stalls.

"Where is everyone?" Gin wondered aloud, not sure whether the lack of people was a good or bad thing. On one hand, the fact that there was no one to witness their strange arrival meant they hadn't drawn unwanted attention yet, but on the other that same fact was quite foreboding. Why were there no people out here, especially on a sunny day such as this?

Luffy shrugged, unconcerned. "Don't know, lets go look! Is there usually nobody around, Kimi?"

Kimi ignored the nickname, shifting a bit in her piggyback position. "No, lots of people are usually here..."

"Well that's not a good sign," Gin sighed, moving to follow Luffy as he walked ahead, carelessly dragging Don Krieg by one of his arms like he was some type of rag doll.

They proceeded further and off the docks, onto a large pathway leading up a steep hill before continuing up the steps carved into the sloped ground. This, had Don Krieg been awake to feel it, would have surely been a rather painful experience for him. None of them particularly cared, however.

As they reached the top, Kimi suddenly giggled and pointed ahead of them at a large sign.

'South Docks Closed For Renovation'

Through the small fence blocking off the area, what appeared to be an outdoor marketplace could be seen along the sides of the street stretching out into the town. It was filled with crowds of people as it should be, bustling around and noisily going about their various business.

"That's why nobody's here, old man!" she told Gin importantly. "And you were scared!"

Gin growled, reading the red block letters on the sign. "I wasn't scared, brat. Just being careful!"

"Scaredy-cat!"

"Okay, that's it," Gin grumbled, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Luffy, let me at her!"

Kimi didn't bat an eyelash, sticking her tongue out. "I'm not afraid of you, you dumb pirate!"

"Why you-...once I get some new tonfa you better watch out, little girl!"

"Father would stop you in a heartbeat! Just try it!" the 8-year-old retorted smartly.

Luffy laughed loudly at their heated antics, drowning out any further comments either Gin or Kimi might have had. "You guys are too funny!"

"Shut up, stupid!" Kimi answered, knocking him on the head with her small fist.

"Ow!" The rubber man pouted. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Because!"

"That's not a reason!" Luffy responded in mock outrage.

"Yeah huh!"

"Okay okay," Gin finally interrupted, a small smile on his face. "Enough. In all seriousness, this is a good thing. I had been expecting the worst, but let's just be glad it turned out to be nothing."

"Right, onward!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Hey now, wait! Hold up," Gin stopped him in exasperation, shaking his head. "Luffy, you're really just gonna walk out there looking like that?"

Luffy glanced at the man before looking down at himself, frowning. "Eh? Well...yeah! Why not?"

Gin brought a hand up to his face, rubbing his forehead wearily. "You'll be instantly recognized with that hat! And then there's gonna be marines all over the place!"

Luffy stared at him for a moment, tilting his head sideways. "So? I'll be fine!"

Gin let his jaw drop in disbelief. "You really don't care?"

"It's never been a problem before!"

"Seriously? There's no way..."

Luffy shrugged. "If I'm seen, oh well. Can't help it!"

Gin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He massaged his temples, before dropping his hands and letting his shoulders slacken.

"Alright," he eventually breathed out, knowing it was hopeless to try and change Straw Hat's mind. "Fine, but if there's trouble, I'm leaving at the first trace of it! I don't wanna get dragged into anything - I just escaped that lifestyle. Being chased down for being your accomplice would completely ruin the second chance I've been given!"

Luffy considered that, nodding. "That's fine, Gin. I wouldn't expect you to," he told the man, before getting an idea. "And here, this might help a little."

He took his straw hat off and reached behind him, placing it on Kimi's head instead. "There, you can borrow this until I drop you off, 'kay?"

"Unh!" Kimi let out in surprise, about to complain before stopping and reaching up to adjust the brim. It was actually pretty cool, she decided.

Gin appeared to grimly accept it. "Well, any bit helps I guess. I still think we should come up with a better disguise though, so there's less of a chance you'll be recognized."

Luffy waved him off, "Don't worry, Gin, we'll be alright!"

Kimi looked between the two curiously, annoyed she was being ignored. "Oi! What do you mean stupid-head will be recognized? Are you famous or something, Luffy?"

Luffy shook his head, a grin forming. "Nah, not really. Not yet anyway."

Gin choked, gaping at the rubber man in shock. Did he really believe that?

"So what's the problem then?" Kimi asked, anxious to go back her parents. "Let's go! I'll show you the way to my house!"

"No problem," Luffy chuckled, excitement returning. "Yosh, let's go!"

Gin closed his eyes with another sigh. He tiredly told himself to just forget about it. Being around Straw Hat was way too exhausting! It definitely wasn't worth it to try and make any sense out of Luffy's actions.

Slipping through the wide opening to the side of the fence barricading the pathway, the trio plus Krieg entered the edge of the outdoor market.

Vendors of all sorts stood behind stands displaying their assorted goods and dealing with potential customers, and no one was paying any attention to Luffy at all. Gin was happy for this, if they weren't noticed as pirates then things would go much smoother.

"Gin, why don't you take Krieg and turn him in for the bounty while I take Kimi to her parents," Luffy suggested distractedly as he was glancing around the marketplace with interest. "That way you won't be seen with me, right?"

Gin was about to protest against splitting up, but then stopped himself. Luffy would instantly be recognized if he went anywhere near a Marine station, much less trying to collect a bounty, whereas he himself would have no such trouble!

"That's a good idea, actually," he quickly agreed, admittedly a bit surprised it had come from Luffy. Maybe it was a fluke. "Then we can meet back here when we're done, okay?"

"Great! Let's do this," Luffy answered happily, casually handing the arm he'd been dragging Don Krieg by to Gin.

Gin stared at the arm, which had by now been at a very awkward angle for quite awhile. Shaking his head, Gin bent down and pulled the large man's body over his shoulders with a grunt. It would certainly be a workout carrying his former captain around, especially since he had no idea where the Marine outlet in this town was and would have to look around.

At the very least, he knew that there would be one somewhere in a busy port town like Martasa!

OOOOO

Luffy maneuvered himself through the crowded street, browsing all of the things that were on sale in each stand. There was just so much delicious-looking food and so many awesome items on display! Except, he reminded himself, he didn't have any money to buy anything yet. He reluctantly turned away from one particular vendor who was selling some cool souvenir trinkets.

"Just follow this street for awhile, Luffy!" Kimi instructed, still perched on his back. It had soon become her favorite spot, not only because she didn't have to walk on her own but it also turned out to be surprisingly comfortable.

Luffy continued walking, blending into the crowds and following her directions. Bricked buildings sat lined up on both sides of the street, some being shops or businesses while others appeared to be houses and apartments.

As soon as they'd passed the block or two of vendors, however, the cobblestone streets were much less busy. A bit higher risk of getting recognized, sure, but at the same time it made the street much easier to traverse. It wasn't like they were drawing suspicious looks or anything though, as there were still a fair amount of men and women going about their daily business.

Eventually, they came to a fork in the road. "Left," Kimi told him, and he complied. This went on for a few more turns, but his luck ran out just as they came upon small garden area with a beautiful water fountain in front.

"S-sir! Please halt!" a voice suddenly sounded off from their right, talking to them.

Luffy stopped and slowly turned, only to find that the one who had spoken had been one of the guards posted along the street they were currently on.

There had been many guards before this, standing resolutely in intervals along the streets or at intersections. They were all wearing armor with a sword in its sheath at their waist and watching out for any trouble, but up until now he'd been able to simply walk by them without incident. Yet, it seemed this one must have been watching a little closer than the others and noticed him.

Seeing Luffy's face more directly now, and the infamous straw hat atop the head of the child on his back, the guard's eyes widened as he made the connection.

Damn! Luffy cursed to himself. He'd been found out!

"I-I was right! It is you! You're...you're-" The guard abruptly cut off, paling as his gaze focused more on the girl on Straw Hat's back. That hair peaking out from under the hat...it looked brown at first glance, but no...no! He'd recognize that green hair anywhere, no matter how grimy it was. "K-Kimiko-sama!"

Luffy's brow scrunched, "Eh?"

"Take me home now, Luffy!" Kimi said impatiently, eyeing the commotion this was starting to cause as passersby stopped to see what was going on. "Please!"

Hearing this, the guard narrowed his eyes. Drawing his sword and attracting the attention of any nearby people not already watching, the man pointed his sword at Luffy threateningly, "Straw Hat Luffy! Release the princess at once!"

OOOOO

Gin stood in front of the entrance to the Marine building, out of breath. It had taken awhile of navigating the streets and the directions of a helpful citizen before he'd finally managed to locate it. Don Krieg was still out cold, his massive weight feeling heavier and heavier by the minute. His back was killing him!

Pushing through the discomfort, Gin moved forward and through the double doors. He entered into a welcoming area with a secretary's desk near the back, which he immediately approached. The man behind the desk looked up from his work in alarm when Gin dropped his former captain on the floor.

"I'm here to collect a bounty," Gin stated, seeing the man's eyes travel down to where Krieg was sprawled haphazardly on the floor.

"Very well," the man said, standing and coming around the desk to take a closer look. "Who is this?"

"Don Krieg," Gin answered, stretching the kinks out of his back.

"Ah, yes," the man pulled out a thick packet of 'wanted' posters, rifling through it quickly. "The pirate from East Blue."

Once he found Don Krieg's, the secretary set the other posters back down on his desk. He compared the picture with the person lying on the ground before nodding. "Indeed, this seems to be him. Let me get someone down here to take him back to a cell. It has been reported that this particular pirate has eaten a Devil Fruit, can you confirm this?"

Gin nodded, "Yes. He is a Zoan type."

"Excellent," the man replied, moving to a shelf behind his desk and pulling out a pair of handcuffs. Sea stone handcuffs, Gin realized. The man secured them around Krieg's beefy wrists.

Two Marines in full uniform soon entered through a hallway off to the right, to which the secretary man ushered them over. "Take this man to the prison block, please. Cell 7F."

They nodded, picking Don Krieg up without much trouble between the two of them, and carried him out of sight.

The secretary returned to the seat at his desk. "Now, for the sake of our records, may I ask what your name is?"

"Gin," he told him after a second, figuring there was no reason to come up with a fake name. His name wouldn't be recognized like Don Krieg or Monkey D. Luffy's would be. "Xi Gin."

"Okay, Gin, and where might we be able to contact you if necessary? Are you a resident of Martasa?"

Gin blinked. "No, I just arrived here. To contact me...well, I've actually been traveling quite a bit lately and don't really have a place I can be reached at reliably. Do I need to provide that information in order to receive the reward?"

The man considered him briefly, before shaking his head. "No, it's not required to collect the bounty per se. However, it would be in your best interest to provide one. Yet, seeing as you have no permanent residence I'll just jot that down and that should suffice."

Gin nodded, letting out a subtle breath of relief.

It was quiet for another few moments as the man filled out paperwork. He glanced up when he eventually finished. "Very well, everything seems to be in order. Gin, for your capture of the pirate Don Krieg, your reward is 32 million beli as noted on the wanted poster. That means, after taxes and fees, you will receive 29,780,100 beli. Is this acceptable?"

Gin gulped at the large sum, "Yes."

"Would you prefer a credit note or cash for this transaction, Gin?"

"Cash, please."

"Great, and would you like that distributed as one lump sum or several delayed payments?"

"One lump sum," he responded as calmly as he was able.

The secretary gave a nod and passed him a piece of paper. "I'll have that brought right out. Now, if you would just sign here and here, you are free to go."

Gin smiled as he took the paper and quickly scribbled out his signature. "There you go."

OOOOO

"Did you hear that?"

"He just said..."

"Is it really him? He hasn't been seen since-"

"And the princess!"

"The son of that man..."

"He's the one that took her!"

Murmurs of unrest washed through the crowd of onlookers - everyone had heard that name before! And he had the princess as well! Was it really true that Straw Hat Luffy was behind her disappearance?

At the same time, Luffy's jaw dropped.

"Princess?" he shouted in disbelief. "Kimi! You're a-"

Kimi giggled, "Yeah, silly. I thought you knew!"

Luffy shook his head, growing more serious as another dozen guards arrived on scene and began surrounding him.

"Scum!" One of the new guards yelled hatefully. "Hand over Kimiko-sama!"

Kimi was troubled hearing this. Why were they being so mean to Luffy? It didn't make any sense after he had rescued her and everything!

"Hey, stop!" she cried out from her spot on Luffy's back. "He saved me from bad people!"

The guards paused in confusion, before one suddenly narrowed his eyes in understanding. "The princess doesn't realize she's been taken hostage, Straw Hat has brainwashed her! We must rescue Kimiko-sama at all costs!"

They began closing in again, poised to slash their swords at any moment.

Luffy watched on with a blank face. He knew he wasn't the brightest bulb out there, but these guys were taking stupidity to a whole new level!

Kimi was bewildered, and getting quite upset. "What are you talking about, you dummies! He's taking me home right now!"

"Do not worry, Kimiko-sama!" one guard called out. "We'll get you back safely!"

"No, listen to me! Luffy's not bad!" Kimi screamed out as the guards moved even closer, now within the reach of their swords.

"Please stay calm, Kimiko-sama! Everything will be alright!"

"Straw Hat Luffy!" another guard bellowed, glaring at him in disgust. Straw Hat's actions against the princess were unforgivable! "Release the princess or we'll be forced to attack!"

The others roared in agreement, more threats ringing out.

"You're trapped now!"

"Give up, you fiend!"

"We won't let you escape!"

Kimi slackened, almost in tears. Her words weren't getting through to them at all and now they were going to hurt Luffy!

"Which way was it again?" Luffy muttered so that only she could hear.

"Luffy..." Kimi trailed off hopelessly.

"Which way?" he repeated under his breath.

Kimi sighed, "Straight and then right at the next turn, but-"

"Hang on tight," he interrupted, a grin coming to his face.

Leaping straight into action, the guards didn't even have time to react as Luffy dashed forward and knocked two out of the way, creating an opening that he immediately sprinted through. The other guards gave chase with collective shouts of rage.

Luffy skidded around the next corner - right just as Kimi had said - and ended up almost smacking into a group of old men walking together, but managed to twirl around them just in time before accelerating down the street once again and putting a bit more distance between the pursuing guards and Kimi and himself.

Getting over her surprise at how easily Luffy escaped the city guards, Kimi suddenly pointed ahead. "That's it! That's my house!"

Luffy's eyes followed where the tiny hand in front of his face was lined up with and his eyebrows rose, even as he dipped and side-stepped around the oblivious passersby moving in the other direction.

"That's...your house?" he responded in awe, gazing up at the large palace that could now be seen in the distance. That was where she was pointing.

"Yeah! I'm a princess, remember?" she giggled happily at finally being back home, the distraught guards hounding them not even fazing her as she stared up at the palace overlooking Martasa's streets.

With the guards still on their tail, Luffy wasted no time in running up the main street, his destination in sight. He continued weaving through the citizens, passing them by the time they could wonder why he was in such a hurry and leaving in his wake more obstacles for his pursuers.

The buildings on either side of them blurred by until Luffy was eventually forced to slide to a stop just as they were running up the slight slope in front of the palace gates. This was because of the line of palace guards waiting for them, pikes held standing in front of them. Clearly they'd been alerted to his presence.

"Halt!" The guard in the center called, poising his weapon. "The gates have been closed, Straw Hat! Return the princess, you have nowhere else to run!"

The city guards finally caught up at this point, gathering in a disorganized group behind him to block any retreat he may attempt.

Luffy blew out a breath, turning his head to the side. "They're really determined, Kimi, is it alright if I drop you off here?"

"Yeah," she sighed in disappointment at his muttered words. "I really wanted you to meet my parents though."

"Well, m-" Luffy started, but was cut off by a loud creaking racket coming from...from the palace gates!

The guards all balked in surprise, apparently this was unexpected to them as well.

"The g-gates! They're opening back up," one of them cried out in disbelief.

OOOOO

Inokuma Sadao sat at the desk in his study, halfheartedly writing out some inconsequential paperwork. Brow furrowed, he placed the quill back in its holder and tiredly leaned back in the high-backed chair.

He rubbed his eyes with a frown, he shouldn't be sitting here doing paperwork. Not with all that had happened over the last month...none of this stuff was important! Yet, he didn't know what else he could do, which is why he'd been trying to get some of this work done in the first place. To keep himself busy.

Except it wasn't working.

Recent events had...well, they constantly plagued his mind. How could they not though?

First, his brother-in-law had gone missing. Not only had Akio been Martasa's strongest protector, he was also his wife's younger brother and a part of the noble family. And that wasn't even the end of it! To make matters worse, marital arrangements had been made on his behalf with their sister kingdom that were now made quite complicated.

The snail phone call to Cobra had been especially humiliating for one, where he'd had to explain to the man how their plans had to be put on hold indefinitely until Akio could be located. The genial king had been very understanding, of course, and had even offered to send one of his top guardsmen to help in the search (which he'd politely refused - Martasa could handle its own problems thank you very much!), but such a postponement could have potentially rendered the political agreement entirely null had his colleague had a less favorable reaction to such news.

He only hoped the young man was okay, though truthfully if Akio hadn't shown up by now, it was not looking well. He would never admit this to his wife, but he was beginning to fear the worst.

Then, if Akio's disappearance wasn't enough, Sadao's own daughter had been kidnapped two weeks ago. And by dirty, rotten pirates no less! As a father, this was his worst nightmare. His sweet little princess was in the hands of criminals who could be doing who knew what to her! His expression grew pained as he imagined how they were probably treating her and how scared she must have been at that moment.

Originally, when that pirate fleet had showed up in the port, it'd logically been thought they were making an attempt at taking over the kingdom. It wouldn't have been the first time pirates had tried such a thing! But soon it was discovered that was not their intent, and they'd somehow gotten a hold of Kimiko in the resulting chaos.

Had his brother-in-law not been missing at the time, none of this would have happened, he was sure of it! Akio would have been able to stop it, but without him, the rest of Martasa's strongest men didn't stand a chance against the army of pirates. Even the second most powerful guard he had, Augustus, who was almost on par with Akio's strength, couldn't take them all on by himself and the pirates had managed to escape.

He'd since sent Augustus with a group of his best men out to the seas in search, but so far they'd had no luck. This, unfortunately, temporarily left Martasa's defenses very weakened, but what was he supposed to do? It was his daughter, the princess! He had to send out his best if he ever hoped to get her back safely.

Every day he was losing more and more hope, however. He'd never give up, as it was his daughter for goodness sake, but each passing day the realistic chances of recovering her unharmed got slimmer. And it tore him up inside! He hadn't slept in he didn't know how long, his other duties were piling up because of his negligence, and this wasn't even considering the condition his wife was in.

Eri had it worse than himself. She had lost both her daughter and her brother in the span of a couple weeks! Despite the fact she was a dozen years his senior, Akio and her were exceptionally close siblings, which only made it harder for her.

He sighed to himself, if only th-

RAP RAP RAP

His musings were abruptly cut off by hurried knocking at the door.

"I thought I said I was not to be disturbed," he answered a bit sharply.

There was a pause before a shaky voice responded, "S-sir! I apologize, b-but it is urgent. Straw Hat Luffy has been sighted in town, a-and he has Kimiko-sama!"

Sadao's eyes widened, his heart rate speeding up as he ripped open the study door. "What did you say?"

"Straw Hat L-"

The man waved a hand in agitation, moving swiftly out of room and down the large corridor, talking mostly to himself. "Never mind, I heard you! Straw Hat Luffy...why does that name sound familiar?"

The guard closed his mouth in embarrassment, before catching up with his king as they hastily descended a flight of carpeted stairs.

"Sir," he said, handing over a wanted poster to Sadao. "He's the pirate with a 400,000,000 beli bounty on his head! One of the pirate captains the World Government is hunting most vigorously, but he hasn't been seen since Whitebeard's War."

"But what is he doing here!" the king bit out in frustration as he glared at the picture on the poster. He had no disillusions - Martasa couldn't take on a man that dangerous, not even at full strength! And the man had his daughter!

"I-I am not sure, Sadao-sama," the guard stuttered, keeping pace with him as they walked down another hallway. "But we have men surrounding him at this very mo-"

As they entered the front palace foyer, another guard came running through another connecting passageway. "Sir!" he blurted out as he saw them. "Straw Hat Luffy is running in the direction of the palace! We've closed off the gates and are preparing a barricade, but we must get you and Eri-sama to the panic room!"

Sadao considered what he'd been told as the guard bent over, breathing heavily from running so quickly in order to deliver the message.

His lips formed a determined line, "No, forget that," he snapped, just as his wife was being ushered into the room by two other palace guards. "That won't help any if Straw Hat is indeed here for us. Open the gates!"

Both guards by him didn't seem to register the request for an instant. "Sir?" they stammered out together in shock. "You can't be serious!"

"Sadao!" His queen said worriedly as she approached. "What is going on? They said something about K-"

"Yes," he interrupted grimly. "She is in the possession of a dangerous pirate, dear, but I will get her back. I promise."

The king turned back to the guards, who were now joined by the two escorting his wife. "I am quite serious, I assure you. Open them, now! Keep my wife safe in here."

"Yes sir," they saluted quickly, clearly not agreeing with this course of action but unable to disobey their king.

Sadao was out the large front doors a moment later, just when the outer gates creaked open. Walking forward, two more of his guards attempted to stop him, but he disregarded them. Once they accepted the fact they weren't going to change his mind, they took positions behind each of his shoulders, figuring they could at least do their best to protect him.

He didn't protest their actions, instead giving them both a grateful nod before proceeding out through the now open gateway.

The scene that greeted him gave him pause.

His guards, a mix of both palace and city, were swarmed around a central figure who was in turn standing there calmly. Though the man wasn't wearing his infamous straw hat, Sadao immediately recognized him for who he was from the wanted poster he was still grasping in his left hand. And...and there she was on his back! His Kimiko was indeed here!

Seeing her so close sealed his resolve. He knew what he had to do. Stuffing the poster into the vest of his robe, the king of Martasa prepared himself to move forward and plead with the pirate to release his daughter. He would do anything for her, no matter the man's price!

Just as he stepped forward, something else stopped him. It wasn't until now that he realized his daughter was wearing that pirate's hat - THE straw hat. What...unless it was a clever attempt to hide her identity! Of course, the Inokuma green hair was fairly well-known after all. It figures Straw Hat would need to conceal that feature the best he could to keep from being discovered!

He's smart, Sadao thought, eyes narrowing. I'd expect no less from such a legendary criminal. Yes, he wouldn't be so highly sought after by the World Government if he wasn't devious!

He'd have to handle this carefully. One wrong move and the pirate could hurt her!

Recollecting himself, the king opened his mouth to begin negotiations, but before he could let out a sound he was halted once again. This time because he saw Straw Hat turn his head and say something indistinguishable to his daughter. He saw his Kimiko's lips move in response, and she looked upset.

This instantly brought his ire up, whatever that pirate had whispered to his baby girl had hurt her feelings! His fists clenched, but he calmed himself like only an experienced politician could do before he did something stupid to make the situation worse.

Reaching deep within, he pulled himself together and expertly put up the blank mask he was so used to. "Straw Hat Luffy," he addressed levelly, the lack of a waver or shake in his voice a testament to his inner resolve. "Why are you here? What do you want for my daughter? Name your terms!"

"Father! You d-" his princess started to say before he stopped her with a raised hand.

"Quiet, Kimiko. You'll be safe in no time," Sadao assured her, softening his tone slightly.

"But n-" she argued, but was interrupted this time by the pirate himself, who grabbed the arms wrapped around his neck.

"Don't bother, Kimi," the young man told her quietly. Sadao could still make out the words, though he couldn't make any sense out of them. Why was he saying that? His daughter sadly looked at the back of the pirate's head for some reason. "It's fine, really."

Sadao inwardly tensed as the pirate's gaze then hit him. This...this was how intense it was to have the eyes of a man worth 400 million beli on you. As the leader of a country, he'd been in the presence of important and powerful men in the past, sure, but never before had any of them looked at him so directly or been so focused on him. He got the feeling this pirate wasn't very approving of him either, although he couldn't really tell why.

The young man didn't say anything, which bothered the king more than he wanted to admit. Was he just trying to make him sweat? Well, it was certainly working...he just hoped Straw Hat's demands were something he could realistically meet. If he couldn't, he didn't know what would happen to his daugh-

Those thoughts suddenly scattered and his mask unwillingly cracked when he saw Straw Hat let his daughter down off his back, replaced by a large amount of confusion. He, along with his guards, watched in disbelief as his baby girl giggled at something Straw Hat had muttered to her, and gave him his hat back, which he quickly placed on his own head. Then she twirled around and began frowning at all of the guards as she walked through them toward him.

After passing them, her pout turned to him before a smile finally broke through. He bent down, relieved to see her smiling. Her happiness at being back home overcoming her apparent frustration, she ran the last few steps into his open arms.

"Daddy!" she cried out in joy as she hugged him tightly.

He laughed and returned the embrace, grateful to have his daughter back. The wide smile on his face, however, lessened marginally as his eyes met those of Straw Hat Luffy above her shoulder.

The man was staring at him, one hand holding the top of his straw hat in place. The brim was tilted downward slightly, enough that shadows covered the upper half of the pirate's face. His eyes were still visible through the shadows though, and they were trained on him. It was quite intimidating.

The breeze lightly rustled the young man's loose clothing as the eye contact continued. Sadao couldn't look away.

The stare down was broken by a guardsman's shout. "The princess is safe! Men, capture Straw Hat Luffy!"

The guard that had spoken rushed up from behind Straw Hat, slashing the sword at his unguarded back. The king's jaw dropped as the pirate ducked, somehow avoiding the attack without even looking. This took the guard off-guard (heh) too, who ended up overextending and stumbled forward right into Straw Hat's headbutt as the young man jumped back up, ramming into the guard's head.

The guard fell to the ground, clearly knocked out. The other guards hesitated as Straw Hat glanced around himself unconcernedly, cracking his neck.

Kimi having heard the declaration, shook herself out of the long hug, drawing his attention back to her. "Father! He saved me, stop them!"

He stared at her in surprise, "What? What do you mean, sweetie?"

She stamped her foot impatiently. "He took me away from the pirates and brought me here! Why is everyone trying to hurt him?!"

Sadao's forehead creased, mind racing as he comprehended what she was saying. What? But how could that be? "A-are you sure, Kimiko?"

"Yes!"

Her confirmation jolted him, as he thought back to the last several minutes he'd witnessed. It all made sense now, the interaction between Kimiko and the man, and why he'd come to this place in the first place. If Straw Hat had kidnapped his daughter, he would have never returned to Martasa, much less to the palace.

Sadao still didn't know why that infamous man had brought his daughter back, but he clearly hadn't been the one to take her.

Eyes widening in realization, his head snapped back up to stop his guards from attacking. About to yell out for them to cease, his open mouth clamped shut as he saw all of his men already down on the ground. They were all incapacitated, and Straw Hat Luffy was walking away. Not even looking back.

How...? He'd only glanced down at Kimi for a couple moments at most and hadn't heard any more fighting! What had just happened? Were they all dead?

Kimiko turned around and saw this too, her little face expressing a similar shock. "What...?" she murmured. "It happened again!"

Again? What did that mean? Had she seen this happen before, the king wondered?

His daughter shook away her surprise, giggling as she cupped her hands over her mouth. "Thanks for everything, Luffy!" she screamed at his retreating form.

At this, Straw Hat glanced back, a wide grin on his face just like the one depicted in his wanted poster. He waved a hand, "Bye Kimi!" And with that, the pirate rotated back around and took off running down the main street until he was out of sight.

Sadao could only look on in further disbelief. That man... He trailed off. He brought her back! For whatever reason, he did it.

The king was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice the little princess catch a glimpse of the crinkled piece of paper sticking out of his robe pocket. Curious, Kimiko plucked it out and straightened it. She scanned it for a second before dropping it and staggering a bit, stunned.

"WHAT?!" she shrieked in alarm, almost giving her father a heart attack. "Luffy's a bad man?"

OOOOO

Gin stood up from the box he was sitting on as he saw Luffy running toward him. He'd arrived at the south port a few minutes ago only to see that Luffy hadn't returned yet, so he'd picked the nearest seat he could find by the docks. At least he hadn't had to wait long, though the fact that Straw Hat was running worried him a bit.

"Gin!" Luffy greeted exuberantly, coming to a stop next to him. "You got Don Krieg's bounty?"

Gin held up the bag in answer, earning a grin from Luffy. "You dropped the brat off then?"

"Yeah," was the rubberman's response, looking back toward the fence barricading the docks off. Satisfied there was no one following, he continued. "I was recognized like you said, but I took care of it. We should go now though, if you're still coming with me that is!"

Gin mentally rolled his eyes, of course he'd been recognized! Luckily, no seemed to be chasing after him, so Gin took Luffy's word that he'd handled it and nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay with you for awhile more if that's alright with you. At least until I figure out what I want to do."

"Sure thing!" Luffy agreed, turning toward the sea. "Ace! We're ready to go!"

After Luffy brought them both onto the monstrous Sea King, Gin shot him a questioning glance. "So where to next? I suppose you want to visit Ilias, right?"

Luffy ignored the dread in Gin's tone, laughing as he brought his wrist up to show off the Eternal Pose. "Yeah, that's right! You ready?"

Gin sighed in exaggerated exasperation, before shaking his head in amusement. "Yeah yeah, I guess. This is your ride anyway, so I don't think I have much of a choice."

"Great!" Luffy grinned excitedly. "Next stop, Ilias!"

Alright guys, so here's how it's going to go down. If the next couple chapters go as planned, then we'll be in Alabasta. Yes, that's right, you didn't read that wrong! Just two more chapters before we get to what we've all been waiting for! Are you ready for it?

I know I am. But until then...