Chapter 1 - Plus One*

The Straw Hat Pirates and their resident princess Vivi simultaneously relaxed when Little Garden finally fell out of sight in the horizon. Those who were awake at least. Zoro was still having problems with his legs, an unfortunate side effect of attempting to cut them off, resulting in a far deeper and longer nap on deck than was the norm. Other than Zoro however, all in all the crew was fine. Surprising considering they had just spent time on an enormous island covered in giants and dinosaurs. Their heading was for Alabasta, where they were sailing to deliver Vivi home and do what they could to give her support. Of course that was the plan but then again, plans generally never worked out when you had one certain captain at the helm of your crew.

"Nami…" Luffy complained, hanging upside down from his usual post on the head of the Going Merry. Nami blatantly ignored him while carefully checking their velocity and the angle of the Eternal Pose. Luffy seemed not to notice her apparent disinterest.

"Nami," he said again, voice slightly increased in volume. Nami could already feel a vein in her forehead twitching, her usual reaction to the more annoying crewmates.

"Nami!" Luffy yelled this time, swinging his arms below him aggressively, allowing them to stretch out and swing dangerously close to the water. Nami slammed her hand down on the railing in front of the galley she had been leaning on and sent a hard glare towards her childish captain.

"Luffy! Enough!" She yelled at him, face tensing in irritation. The creak of the door sounded behind her, but her attention was on her now indignant captain.

"I'm bored Nami," he whined crossing his arms over his chest as he continued to hang from the Merry's figurehead.

"Then go irritate Usopp!" Nami growled, throwing her arms to the side in a gesture of her annoyance. So aggravated was she in that moment, that she didn't even register the pressure on her hand as her closed fist crashed into the recently arrived Sanji's head, sending him twirling back into the galley.

"Maybe later then," he mumbled eyes blinking rapidly in an attempt to focus as he crawled through the door and back to the safety of his kitchen. Nami sighed as Luffy finally flipped back onto deck, and jogged over to where Usopp had been calmly fishing for the last two hours. Nami tuned out her captain's voice once he was no longer her concern, gazing back down at the Eternal Pose. She felt, rather than saw Vivi sidle up next to her. A quick glance to her left made Nami frown at the princess. Deep black shadows spread under her red-rimmed eyes and her skin was far paler than normal. Nami opened her mouth to suggest more rest however was quickly cut off when Vivi began to speak.

"He's always so cheerful isn't he?" She asked in a quiet voice, gazing vacantly towards Luffy. Nami followed her gaze and sighed.

"That's just the way he is." Nami stated, watching as Usopp barely prevented Luffy from sinking to an early death in the depths of the calm ocean.

"I used to be like that." Vivi said, a wistful smile on her face. "When I was forced to leave Alabasta everything changed. It's been two years since I've been able to relax and have friends and just trust people," she said, face tensing again before it relaxed as she sighed.

"Even now, with you all I can't fully relax." A self-patronising expression crossed her face and she smiled at Nami. The navigator returned the smile with an exaggerated sigh.

"I even checked for islands this morning," she said teasingly. "Not a single resort or day spa anywhere nearby. No islands at all to have a vacation." She grinned. Vivi laughed, her expression fully clearing up.

"Well that's just poor navigational organising-" She was cut off as the ship slammed to a halt, the sound of the keel grinding across the ground reverberating through all the wood of the structure. Vivi and Nami were thrown forward into the railing, both becoming winded as their stomachs slammed into the wood, pushing all air forcibly from their bodies. Usopp and Luffy fell crashing onto the deck, fishing rods dropped, forgotten into the water. Zoro's unconscious form slid a couple of paces to the side, stopping only once he was resting against the side of the ship.

Finally the shaking and grinding of the ship stopped and the crew climbed back to their feet.

"What was that?" Vivi asked, running over to the side of the ship to peer over the edge. Half of the Going Merry was beached on what seemed to be a large sandbar, the remainder barely in enough water to be counted as floating.

"We found an island!" Luffy exclaimed leaning far over the railings on the side a wide grin on his face.

"This isn't an island," Nami said, frowning slightly. "Whatever it is, it wasn't on the map. It shouldn't be here." She said. She was ignored by the others as Luffy and Usopp began to sing raucously, the only comprehensible word in the entire song being 'island'. Nami was about to order them to wake Zoro up and get the Merry back into the water when Sanji peeked a cautious head back out the galley door.

"We've landed have we?" He asked. Nami gave him a distinctly unimpressed look, causing him to quickly mentally backtrack. "I just meant that its lunchtime and it's always nice to eat on land for a change." He explained quickly. Nami sighed as he stared at her expectantly. Her gaze wandered over to Vivi for a moment, re-evaluating the princess' current state.

"Okay." Nami said. Sanji grinned and withdrew back into the galley.

"Everyone!" She called out to the deck. Once all eyes were on her she continued. "We'll be stopping here for lunch, so get Zoro up and the picnic gear prepared." She ordered. The two boys on deck quickly went about following Nami's instructions and the navigator walked over to Vivi. The princess had a markedly anxious expression on her face.

"Is this alright?" She asked, gesturing in the vague direction of the island. "Will it take much from our travel time?" She continued.

"Vivi it's okay." Nami said with a comforting smile. "This will take an hour off our time at most, and besides we're beached. We're not moving anytime soon." She said, walking off to her room to retrieve her charting paraphernalia. Vivi sighed, placing her head in her hands as she watched Luffy stumble across the deck, arms completely laden with blankets and eating utensils.

Inside the kitchen, Sanji had painstakingly packed four medium baskets filled to the brim with cakes, sandwiches and salads. One basket was more organised than the others, this one he had dedicated to the two beautiful ladies gracing the ship with their presence. Another of the baskets had less organisation, but still had a fair amount of care put into it. This basket was for himself and the other two non-rubbery crew members. The last two baskets were dedicated singularly to Luffy, enough attention placed in them to appease Sanji's morals as a chef, but not enough for him to get angry when Luffy inevitably decimated them. He slipped one of the more expensive bottles of wine and two glasses into the girls' basket, one bottle of sake, a bottle of juice and four of their more damaged cups into the remaining basket that didn't belong to Luffy. He gathered the four baskets into a haphazardly stacked tower before walking over to the galley door, gently pushing it open with his foot. Luffy's reaction was immediate. His head snapped up, nostrils flaring as he ran back up the gangway, eyes fixed on the baskets in Sanji's arms.

"Food!" He cried, launching himself towards the cook only to be swiftly and forcefully kicked into the mast.

"Get out of it!" Sanji shouted, holding the food closer to his body as a scowl crossed his face. "You can wait until everyone else is eating." He walked in a large circle around Luffy before descending down towards the sand. Luffy groaned in disappointment, though followed him in a no less subdued manner.

Usopp stood in front of Zoro, face tense, brow sweating and eyes wide with fear. He had seen some of the fights Sanji had gotten into with Zoro for merely waking him up and wanted no part of that. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"Zoro! Wake up! We're having a picnic on an island!" He shouted as loudly as he could, mouth cupped by his hands to increase the volume. He waited for a moment before slumping in defeat as Zoro didn't even twitch. His eyes fell on Zoro's three swords, which for once were not on his belt but rather lying next to him. He slowly moved closer and closer to the swords, and carefully reached out a hand towards them. He was still at least a foot away from touching them when Zoro suddenly sat up, eyes wide and directly focused on Usopp's hand. The sniper jerked his hand back, stumbling slightly in surprise. Zoro ignored him, standing and quickly tying his swords back to their rightful place at his side. It was only then that he turned to face the trembling Usopp.

"What?" He asked brusquely. Usopp's eyes widened and he took a few steps back, pointing over the railing and laughing nervously.

"I-island. P-picnic." He managed before he literally threw himself over the railing, running to catch up with the rest of the crew. Zoro yawned, scratching his head before vaulting over the side of the Merry. A twinge shot up his legs as his boots hit the sand, though Zoro ignored it as he stretched his arms and shoulders. He glanced around the island for a moment. It was more aptly named a sandbar, as it had only sand, and was small enough that he could probably walk around the whole thing in a couple of minutes. He paused slightly in confusion when he saw the crew not in the middle of the small island, but crowded together closer to the shore-line. He rubbed his head once more and yawning, rested his hand over his swords as he began the short trek towards his crew. He was actually surprised by what he saw, which in itself was a miracle. As he peered over Sanji's shoulder, he could see a person stretched out on the sand; a man to be exact.

He seemed to be tall and thin, short dark brown hair fell unevenly into a face that was all sharp angles, slightly tanned skin and dark shadows that looked very similar to those adorning Vivi's face. A seemingly silk blood red scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck, appearing long enough to reach near his feet were it not mostly crushed beneath his body. He wore a loose white tunic that was rolled up to the elbows, ties done up to his collarbone. Over the tunic was a black leather vest, splayed open to reveal a black and white weapon belt filled with an assortment of knives. The belt was tight around his hips, with hoops coming down from the sides onto his thighs where the sheathes for the knives sat. He wore deep maroon coloured pants with a single black stripe going down the side of each leg, and calf-high black boots that fit him snugly and seemed well worn. Zoro turned his gaze back to the others in confusion.

"Who's he?" He asked, nudging Sanji firmly in the ribs. The cook tensed, only the raw scars adorning the swordsman's legs protecting him from a sharp kick to the ankle.

"No idea," he said instead, frowning down at the man over his baskets of food. He heard a chuckled from Luffy at his side and tilted his head to see the captain with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Let's find out then," he exclaimed, smile expanding as he moved forward. The crew groaned in unison as Luffy literally jumped on top of the man, pulling his legs up to sit cross legged on his chest. Luffy peered down at his face for a moment before beginning to steadily poke him in the forehead.

"Luffy!" Nami shouted, reaching out for their wayward captain. "What are you doing?" Luffy glanced up at her in surprise.

"Waking him up?" He asked uncertainly, as if he wasn't sure himself anymore, momentarily ceasing in his prodding. A low sigh stopped Nami from retorting and all eyes snapped back to the sleeping man, who subsequently was no longer sleeping. Light grey eyes blinked blearily and he looked around slowly, eyes finally settling on Luffy who was once again leaning forward to stare at him. The man stared at Luffy with blank eyes for a moment.

"Hello," he greeted in a monotonous tone as if it were completely normal for him to wake up on a sandbar, a teenager sitting on his chest and crew of pirates standing around him.

"Hi!" Luffy responded excitedly, his typically goofy grin plastered on his face. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, what's yours?" He asked. The man beneath him blinked slowly.

"Kaien." He stated bluntly with a smothered yawn, shifting slightly under Luffy.

"That's a cool name," Luffy mused, rocking backwards and causing Kaien to let out a jerky breath as Luffy crushed his diaphragm. Vivi giggled at Luffy's antics.

"Luffy, you should get off him now," Zoro suggested, even as he physically pulled his captain backwards by his vest, jerking him off of Kaien. Luffy spared Zoro a grin before turning his attention back to Kaien, a now familiar fascination gracing his features.

"That's Zoro," Luffy mock whispered, eyes bright with mischief. "He's really angry and scary but he's going to be the best swordsman in the world, so it's okay." He laughed. "The guy with the weird nose hiding behind Zoro is Usopp; he's the biggest liar in the world!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning as Usopp glared at him in outrage even as his knees hit together as he shook in fear behind Zoro.

"Oh yeah, he also the best sniper ever," Luffy added almost as an afterthought as he pointed a finger towards Sanji. "That's Sanji, he's the best chef on the grand line and he kicks really, really, really hard." He paused for a moment when his eyes fell on the food and his mouth began to water. Sanji quickly kicked him in the back, causing him to stumble forward slightly. Kaien raised an eyebrow.

"You heathen! Introduce the ladies as you should have at the beginning!" Sanji growled, eyes dark. Luffy frowned, but continued with his introductions.

"This is Nami, she's the best navigator ever, but she's really stingy with the money," he complained, quickly being punched in the head by said stingy navigator.

"Ow. Finally there's Vivi. She's only part of the crew for a bit, because she has to save a kingdom and do princess things." He finished with a grin. Sanji broke away from the group first, heading further up the sand to start setting up the food. The others slowly broke away as well, each summoned by the wafting smell of Sanji's cooking.

"Nice crew. Bit small," Kaien commented, still splayed out on the sand in the pose he had been discovered in. Luffy grinned down at him, used to the comment.

"I know," he said. "I'm the captain so I can get a musician." He said, as if that comment was completely relevant. The two stared at each other for a moment until Sanji's voice broke the newly arisen silence.

"Luffy! Food! Bring Kaien!" He called as he began to unstack the piles of food. Luffy's and Kaien's heads simultaneously snapped up, both staring at him with the same blank expression. It didn't last long as Luffy almost ran off towards the food, barely able to keep himself by Kaien's side. Luffy waited anxiously, jumping from foot to foot as Kaien sighed, slowly pushing himself to a sitting position.

"Best cook on the Grand Line, huh? I suppose I'll have to give it a go then." He said, climbing to his feet. Luffy shot over to his crew as Kaien carefully stretched. He rubbed the back of his head and carefully adjusted his scarf before he strolled over to the group. To his mild surprise, there was already a space made for him between Luffy and Sanji. He essentially collapsed on the ground and smoothly folded his legs beneath him. The numerous baskets of food were spread out within the circle of people, Luffy's basket's closest to him while the girls' basket was placed directly in front of them. Sanji passed Kaien a plate and shot him a grin at the slight awestruck expression on the other man's face.

"Have as much as you want, though you should get some quickly. Luffy's a bottomless pit, so he'll start on everyone else's food the moment he's done with his." Sanji warned, leaning forward to snag himself some meat. Kaien watched in mild amusement and more than a little amazement as Luffy's arm, as if summoned by Sanji's warning, stretched far longer than physically possible around Kaien towards Sanji's plate. Noticing Kaien's bemused stared, Zoro elaborated.

"Luffy ate a devil fruit, the Gum-Gum fruit, so now his body is made out of rubber."

Kaien nodded and after a quick analysis of the contents of the basket closest to him, reached out to grab some of the steaming, well-cooked meat. Just as his hand was about to close around it, another hand snapped out and ripped it from his light grasp. Kaien flicked his sharp eyes towards Luffy, who was staring intently at Kaien's hand. Kaien reached for another piece, still watching Luffy but just as his hand began to close around it, Luffy shot out once more and snatched it. At this point, the entire crew was watching in amusement, far too used to Luffy's antics.

Kaien was still for a moment before his hand snapped out with sudden speed and grabbed one of the smaller pieces of meat, flinging it just out of Luffy's reach on his other side. Luffy's eyes automatically followed the food and both hands reached for it. He narrowly missed clocking Usopp in the head; the sniper only being saved thanks to Zoro nonchalantly pushing his face into his food. During this short period of time, Kaien calmly filled his plate with as much food as it could hold before leaning back to a comfortable position. By the time Luffy's eyes were back on Kaien, the meat having been quickly inhaled, the man was happily chewing on his own piece of meat. Luffy frowned, pouting and crossing him arms.

"No fair," he complained as the crew laughed at him. The rest of the picnic was spent by the group avoiding Luffy's searching hands, with varying levels of success, until the expected questioning session began.

"Say Kaien," Vivi began as she carefully de-seeded some grapes, eyes darting between her task and the guest sitting across from her. Kaien hummed in question, glancing up at the bluenette from his plate. "How did you even get on this island? It's in the middle of nowhere and the only ship around is ours." She asked. Kaien nodded thoughtfully, swallowing.

"Good question," he said finally, casually slapping Luffy's hands from his plate. "Well, I used to be the captain of a crew. Unfortunately, they decided that our current direction was not the direction they wished to go so they marooned me on this island in a less than subtle change in leadership." He said nonchalantly, holding his plate above his head and pushing his foot firmly into Luffy's chest in an attempt to protect his food. Usopp gaped at Kaien, stunned.

"You were okay with that? With your crew just ditching you and stealing your ship?" Usopp asked in confusion. Kaien shrugged, one arm wrapping around Luffy's neck in a tight head-lock while his other hand held his food far to the right.

"I guess. What else could I do? I wasn't going to hurt them, and to be honest I don't blame them either. So I just let them do as they pleased." He answered. The girl's looked at him with respect, the boys with disbelief.

"That's a very honourable thing to do," Nami said with a smile. "Why don't you blame them?" She asked. Kaien shifted uncomfortably at the compliment before shrugging.

"They're pirates. They have certain things they like to do, and once I decided to focus on a rather… more specific goal, we reached a disagreement." Kaien explained, one of his hands firmly holding Luffy's wrists. Luffy then proceeded to stretch his neck out. Kaien sighed in exasperation, tossing his plate to Sanji who juggled it with his own plate in surprise. Kaien then pushed Luffy chest first onto the ground, folding his arms behind his back and then sitting on them. Kaien took his plate back from the cook and continued to eat. Luffy, now trapped, began to complain beneath him but was easily ignored.

"You seem very good at protecting your food from Luffy," Nami pointed out, smiling in amusement as her captain attempted to stretch his head up to the plate, getting swiftly kicked in the head. "It took all of us quite a while to figure it out," she mused with a somewhat fond smile. Kaien smirked.

"It's typical with most Devil Fruit users. I hand one in my own crew and we always had to fight for our food with him as well. We learned quickly to not hold back. I've had a lot of practise." He stated, finishing the last piece of fruit from his plate and placing it front of Luffy's face, adding insult to injury. The captain groaned in misery, burying his face into the sand. Kaien climbed off of Luffy, who immediately shot towards Vivi. Sanji's foot quickly halted his progress, leaving a large red mark on his forehead.

"Keep your filthy hands away from my lovely Vivi-chan!" Sanji shouted at the captain. He was subsequently ignored as Luffy dove towards Vivi once more, hands reaching for her plate. Kaien rubbed the back of his head and leant back onto his hands, stretching his legs out comfortably before him. He tilted his head up towards the late-morning sun and closed his eyes for a moment. A shadow crossing his face made his eyes open once more. Luffy stood before him, a grin on his face and hands on his hips. The rest of the group slowly climbed to their feet around them, sans Sanji who was quickly tidying up.

"You!" Luffy shouted, pointing a finger at Kaien.

"Me." He responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, you!" Luffy yelled.

"Me what?" Kaien asked finally, rolling his eyes in exasperation. Luffy grinned.

"You're joining my crew!"

There was silence.

"… No thanks." Kaien said. There were a few chuckles from behind Luffy, who still hadn't moved from his first declaration. Kaien tilted his head to the side to glace at them.

"Have I missed something?" He asked. Nami shook her head.

"No, it's just that once Luffy chooses you to join his crew, you end up joining it no matter what you say at first. All of us were intent on not joining his crew at one point, yet here we are." She explained. Kaien hummed in thought and brought his gaze back to Luffy who continued to stare at him from beneath the brim of his straw hat.

"I really don't want to," Kaien tried. Luffy shook his head, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Don't care. You're joining." He ordered. Kaien tilted his head in confusion at the teenager.

"Why?" He asked. This time it was Luffy who tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you mean why?" He asked. Kaien crossed his legs, rubbing the back of his head as he sighed.

"What benefit do you gain from having me on your crew?" Kaien asked. "You've chosen the members for the specific roles they play, yes?" He asked. Luffy nodded. "You're the captain, and you recruited a swordsman, a cook, a navigator and an engineer. I used to be a captain, and now I have no useful role to play. As such, I will have no purpose on your ship. Dead weight if you will." Kaien explained. Luffy just stared at him. "Besides, don't you think you're inviting me onto your ship, your home mind you, too easily?" He asked.

"No." Luffy said easily. Kaien glanced at him in confusion. "The fact that you're worried about that means I have nothing to worry about. Besides, you're wrong about being dead weight. You may not be captain any more, but roles on a ship are just that. Nakama don't have to be certain roles to each other. They just have to be Nakama and look after each other. You're strong, I can feel it. I know you can and will take care of your Nakama." He said, voice serious in a way the others on his crew had heard very few times before. Luffy's face suddenly brightened.

"Besides, if you don't come with us you won't be able to get off the island!" He shouted, laughing triumphantly. The others sighed behind him.

"You could have used that argument in the beginning," Zoro complained.

"Yes, but he's Luffy, and that would make sense." Sanji grumbled. Luffy grinned at the duo before turning back to Kaien.

"So? You going to join us or not?" He asked. Kaien stared at him for a moment before sighing and climbing to his feet. He stretched his arms and walked over to Luffy. He gave the teen a firm pat on the head, knocking the hat askew as he walked past the group towards the Merry. After a moment he turned back to them with an amused expression on his face.

"Well? Are we going or what?" He asked. Luffy whooped and sprinted up to Kaien, leaping onto the man's back and wrapping his limbs firmly around his body. Sanji laughed and patted Kaien on the shoulder as he walked past. He was followed by the two girls who gave him matching smiles, and Usopp with a smack on the shoulder that made him stumble under Luffy's weight.

"You know," Zoro began as he paused beside the two, giving Kaien a sidelong glance. "You're the first member that didn't participate in a fight before joining." He mused, giving Kaien a pointed look before following his crewmates up the gangplank. Kaien felt a knock on the top of his head as Luffy rested his chin there.

"Come on Kaien, we've got a princess to take home." He said. Kaien sighed for the umpteenth time as he clambered on board the small ship, narrowly dodging a running Usopp. Luffy leapt off Kaien's back and ran to his post on the Merry's head and pointing a hand to the sky.

"To Alabasta!" He shouted. The crew paused in their actions to respond.

"Aye captain!" They shouted there was a moment of silence.

"You know, we're still beached right?" Usopp's voice called out. There was a loud thud as something slammed into his head. Kaien sighed, leaning back against a wall. He was already starting to regret his decision.

This is the edited chapter 1. From here on, any chapter without this little symbol next to the header (*) is unedited.