A/N: Yes, I'm alive! Amazing! Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I have gone back and revised the older chapters, mostly for grammar and consistency. There aren't any "significant" changes to scenes except for Chapter 7 and 8. Though, they're not significant enough that you must go back and reread them if you don't want to. If you decide not to reread anything, just be aware that Lavi no longer has a weapon; she's just using her good ol' fists now. The weapon will still be relevant in certain flashbacks that will come up in future chapters, but not in the present time.

I'm hoping to get back to updating a little more consistently, but no promises! Punk Hazard is next and I have the whole arc outlined already so hopefully it's smooth sailing for a bit.

[~ 1 year ago; Lavi, age 17]

"Hey, have you seen my son's wanted poster?" Slurred a drunken and grinning Yasopp to the rest of his crew.

"Only about a million times," one of the crew members that were seated on the beach told him with an eye roll. Some snickered at the response.

"30 million beri already!" Yasopp continued as he held out a poster of a masked man with the title of Sogeking. "I'm so proud of him. He's gonna be just like his old man!" The crew chuckled at the man's excitement. "Just wait, everyone. One day—"

"Shut up," someone said, cutting him off. Everyone stopped talking and looked over at the speaker. There sat Lavi with a look of annoyance clearly present on her face. Yasopp raised an eyebrow questioningly at the young girl.

"You have no right to be proud of him!"

"Lavi, what are you—"

"You were never there for him. No matter what anyone says, you have no part in any of the achievements that that boy has accomplished. Stop talking about him like you are some great father because you are not." Lavi scoffed. "What kind of parent leaves behind their child like that?"

"Lavi," spoke up Shanks from behind her in a warning tone which she chose to ignore.

"You have no right to be proud of him and you have no right to call yourself his parent because a parent is not just someone who brings you into this world; it is someone who is there for you and takes care of you and you did neither of those things. Instead, you chose something else over your own child. That is not what a father would do—it is not what family does."

A tense silence fell over the Red-Haired Pirates as everyone tried to process the sudden angry outburst from the usually cheery girl. Shanks stared at the girl with knowing eyes as she abruptly stood up from her seat on the sand and walked away from the crew quietly. Shanks sighed as he stood up afterward.

"Don't worry. I'll handle it," he said to his crew as he followed after Lavi. "Lavi?" He called to her in a cheery voice once he had caught up with her. She stopped in her tracks at the sound of her current teacher's voice and turned to face him.

"What do you want, Mr. Tomato-Puff?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"What was that all about?" Shanks questioned.

"What was what all about?" Lavi questioned back, attempting to sound clueless.

"You know what I'm talking about," he said in an authoritative tone which caused Lavi to puff up her cheeks.

"I just got annoyed," she answered.

"Why?" Shanks continued to question.

"Because what I said was true. Yassop has—" Lavi stopped as Shanks stepped closer to her and placed his hand on top of her head in a comforting gesture. The action caused the bill of her cap to fall slightly forward over her eyes.

"I have a feeling that it was a lot more personal than just that, Lavi," Shanks said in a soft voice. Lavi was glad that her cap was shielding her face from Shanks because she felt her eyes widen at his words. "I know that—" Shanks continued but was cut off by Lavi slapping his hand away from her head. Shanks frowned.

"You know what?!" She questioned angrily. "That I do not have a father?! That has nothing to do with this, okay?! I do not need a father in my life so stop trying to act like one!" Lavi grit her teeth together as Shanks looked down at her, surprised by her second outburst of the night.

"Lavi," he said softly. "I'm not—"

"All I need is Luffy," she added in a calmer tone. Shanks only frowned in response, unsure of what to say at this point. "I am going to go train for a bit," Lavi said before turning around and walking away from her red-haired teacher. Shanks sighed as he watched her figure move further away.

"You sure know how to make the people around you worry, Lavi," he muttered to himself.

[Present; Lavi, age 18]

"That's right. Luffy, Mosshead, Bones," said Sanji. "You guys are very strange. Leave the information gathering to us. Isn't that right, Nami-swan, Robin-chwan, Lavi-chwan?"

"You're strange too, Sanji," Nami told him. "A lover face also won't do. The rest of us will gather the information!"

"No," said Sanji dejectedly. "But I wanted to go with you..."

"You can come with me instead, Mr. Sanji," Lavi told the blond in the hopes of raising his spirits. Her plan worked accordingly as she saw Sanji's face light up once again. "I need to restock on sweets!"

"That's actually a good idea," said Nami. "I have a feeling if you came with us, you'd only cause trouble." Lavi grinned and let out a laugh. "That's not something to be proud of," Nami told her. The ginger pulled out the money that she had earned with Chopper's help and pulled a few bills out, handing them over to Lavi.

"Huh?" Lavi questioned as the money landed in her hands.

"You'll need money to buy your sweets," Nami explained. "Just think of it as payment for this dress." She motioned to the plain white dress that Lavi had managed to fashion for her. Lavi grinned at her crewmate's generosity.

"Hey! Do I get some money too?" Asked Luffy. "I wanna buy meat!"

"No," said Nami. "We have more important things to buy."

"But you gave Lavi money to buy food," Luffy whined. "That's not fair." Nami sighed. She pulled out a couple of bills and handed them over to Brook.

"That's for all of you," she said, pointing at the swordsman, the skeleton, and her captain. "Since none of you guys will be coming with us."

"Let's enjoy the hot springs," suggested Zoro. "How about we rest before the battle?"

"Okay," Brook agreed. "Leave the new clothes to me. I'll take care of them. Looks like there are some great brands on this island."

"Mr. Brook!" Said Lavi. "If you are gonna go do that first then Mr. Sanji and I can accompany you. I need a new bag to carry my sweets in anyway.

"Alright," Brook responded.

"Okay, we're here," Nami announced as the train came to a stop. All the passengers exited the train, taking in the sight of the new city as they did so.

"Guys, don't get yourselves caught by the Marines!" Nami ordered once they were all off the train. "Spread out!"

"Yes!" Shouted everyone in response before taking off to their respective destinations.

The group of "strange ones"—Brook, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Lavi—as Nami had previously dubbed them followed Brook as he picked out a new set of clothes for all the male crewmembers in the group. Lavi settled for simply a book-bag (with several inside pockets) for herself. Afterward, the group split up, with the first three members heading to the hot springs to relax, and the last two members heading in search of a sweet shop.

"Come on," Lavi said, grabbing onto Sanji's right hand with her left and pulling him down the street. "My stomach is telling me that there are good sweets in this direction."

"I will follow you wherever you wish, Lavi-chwan," Sanji said in a lovestruck voice.

"I was right!" Lavi cheered as the pair found a sweet shop within a few minutes. Lavi let go of the blond's hand as she rushed into the store, glancing at all the sweets with a grin.

She enthusiastically grabbed one of the small baskets by the door and started moving from aisle to aisle, choosing from among her favorite sweets. She was methodical with the way she moved from one sweet to the next, and nothing distracted nor hindered her until she came across one of her favorite candies—konpeitō. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the sugary sweet, but then dimmed as she realized that the bag was much too high for her smaller size. Why did fate have to be so cruel to her, she thought. She puffed up her cheeks as she jumped up and down, trying to reach for the bag of konpeitō in her temporarily child-sized body.

As soon as Sanji saw her struggling, he quickly covered the distance between where he had been browsing and where Lavi was. He walked up behind her and reached out for the sweets with ease, placing the bag of colorful candies gently in the basket.

"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Sanji!" Lavi said with a bright smile.

"I'll always be here to assist you, Lavi-chan," Sanji said in a half-whimsical tone. Lavi's cheeks darkened slightly at the reassuring comment and her smile widened slightly before she turned her attention back to the sweets around her. Sanji remained close behind her, ready to help her reach anything that she couldn't.

"It must be really strange to be in such a small body all of a sudden, huh?" Sanji asked aloud after a few minutes had passed.

"No, not really," Lavi replied without removing her attention from the sweets. "It is not like this is the first time that I have experienced something like this." Sanji raised his eyebrow in confusion. He opened his mouth ready to question the girl, but she knowingly began explaining before he could utter a word. "Remember I used to be part of the Bonney Pirates," Lavi said. "Bon-bon's devil fruit power lets her change the age of others as well as her own. We have both escaped some sticky situations with that ability of hers. Still," Lavi paused and turned to look at Sanji with a frown. "Whenever she changed my age, it was always with my permission, and she would change me back whenever I asked. The fact that I cannot change back just because I want to right now makes me want to punch something. Anyway, let us go pay for these," Lavi said, bounding off toward the front counter. Sanji followed after Lavi, watching her as she handed the basket of sweets toward the older man at the counter. She paid for them with a gleeful look on her face.

The older man chuckled as he watched Lavi exuberantly stuff all the sweets she had purchased into her new, child-sized bookbag.

"I know fathers like to spoil their daughters," the older man said in a friendly manner as he looked at Sanji, "but you shouldn't let her have so many sweets." Lavi looked up at the older man with confusion written across her face. It took her a moment to realize what the man was implying, but once she had, she felt a familiar fire rage inside of her.

"Are you blind?!" Lavi shouted at the older man whose eyes widened at the sudden outburst. Sanji, who had opened his mouth to correct the man was left with his mouth open in shock. "Mr. Sanji does not look like a shitty person at all!" Lavi zipped her bag aggressively and slung it over her shoulder before storming out of the store with Sanji trailing behind her.

"Let us go find Luffy now," Lavi said in a monotone as she grabbed onto Sanji's hand once again and began to pull the blond along in the direction that her gut told her Luffy was. Sanji stared curiously at the girl as he followed along. He decided to wait a few minutes to allow her to cool off before trying to sate his curiosity about her outburst.

"Lavi-chan, what did you mean back there?" he asked Lavi. "When you said that I don't look like a shitty person?" Lavi suddenly stopped mid-step at his question, causing the blond to also come to a halt. For a moment, Sanji thought that this was something that he shouldn't have pried about, but the girl swiftly started walking again.

"You do not. In fact, you are one of the best people I know," Lavi told him with a small smile. Her smile fell and her brow furrowed as she continued. "But fathers—they are the worst. They are so selfish. And you are not selfish at all! How dare he think you are that kind of person!" Her words baffled Sanji, leaving him unsure of how to respond. He wasn't sure how to take the odd statement—he could tell that she had fully meant and believed every word that she had said.

Perplexed as he was, though, Sanji's mind brimmed with newfound interest—did her conviction stem from her own father, he wondered. He knew that her and Luffy's father had not been present throughout their lives. After all, Luffy hadn't even known about the man when they had met Garp in Water 7, but Luffy hadn't cared about him at all. Was this another difference between the siblings, Sanji pondered. If it was, it wouldn't surprise him considering how passionately Lavi seemed to care for her family. But then, the cook wondered, was the anger fueling her previous statement to be taken at face value? Or did it come from a place of pain? For her sake, he hoped it didn't. He knew from firsthand experience that the pain that came from a parental relationship was not one that was easy to cast aside.

"There he is!" Lavi said joyfully, pulling the cook out of his thoughts. Sanji realized that they had finally reached the crewmates that they had been looking for. Lavi pulled her hand away from Sanji's and ran toward her brother, immediately showing him all the candy that she had bought and offering him some.

"Oh, look. Usopp and the others have arrived," Brook said, causing the others to turn their attention in the direction of their other crewmates. Brook waved at them to attract their attention as they ran.

"And they brought a lot of friends along," Zoro said, referring to the horde of marines that were following behind them.

"In the end, they caused a mess," Sanji said as he and Zoro both readied themselves for a fight. "If so, we should have—" he stopped as he watched Luffy walk ahead of them, toward their enemies.

"Hey, Luffy!" Said Zoro. "Let's ask them where Z is—leave a few unharmed." Luffy didn't acknowledge the swordsman's words as he continued forward.

"Luffy, take care of them," Usopp told him as he ran past the pirate captain with Nami on his back.

"Please," added Robin as she ran past with Chopper on her head.

Luffy quickly fulfilled his crewmates' request, using his conqueror's haki to knock out all the marine soldiers except for their leader.

"Hey!" Luffy says, addressing the remaining conscious marine. "Where's Z?"

"On the other side of the island," the marine answered. "My squad should be pursuing him now." Luffy turned to look back at his crewmates—they all knew what that meant. Zoro, Sanji, and Lavi were the ones who stepped forward, ready to follow their captain without hesitation.

"Alright, so let's split up then," Usopp said. "Half of us go after Z and the other half wait by the sea train. I'll happily sacrifice myself and be part of the second—"

"Oh no," said Zoro, cutting him off. "You're coming with us."

"But, but—," Usopp tried to think of an excuse, but he knew that there was no getting out of this. He sighed in defeat.

"Lavi," Nami said. "I think you should come with us. It's gonna be dangerous over there." Lavi shook her head.

"I will go wherever Luffy goes." Nami frowned at the response, but nodded, knowing that she wouldn't change her mind about this.

"Alright then. We'll meet by the sea train." And with that, each group headed in a different direction.

As the five Strawhat crewmembers that had gone after Z grew closer to him, they saw the chaos around them gradually increase. When they finally caught sight of the man that they were looking for, Luffy was the first one to go charging at him.

"Gum gum rifle!" The pirate captain shouted as he attacked the ex-marine who easily blocked the attack.

"What are you doing here, you pirate brats?" Z asked them.

"Who are you calling a brat?" Sanji questioned.

"We are here to kick your ass!" Lavi shouted at the same time.

"Old man," Luffy spoke up. "Return my friends back to normal!"

"Ain, Binz!" Z called out to his subordinates.

"Yes!" Ain responded before moving away from the area.

"Understood," Binz said as he did the same, going in a different direction from Ain.

"I'll take care of the swordsman," Zoro let the others know before heading in the same direction that Ain had gone.

"Damn, mosshead, going ahead like that," Sanji growled. He took a step forward to go after Binz, but then paused for a moment. He looked over at Lavi, not wanting to leave her unprotected since Luffy would be occupied fighting Z. "Usopp, make sure Lavi stays safe," Sanji shouted before running off.

"Right!" Usopp said. "I don't even need to fight! You can count on me. Go on, guys!"

"I do not need to be protected!" Lavi shouted, loud enough for the retreating blond to hear her before sending a warning look at Usopp. The sniper put his hands up defensively.

"Hey, I'm not the one who said you did," Usopp said. Lavi shook her head before turning her attention over to Z.

"When a pirate wants something, they take it by force, right?" the man said. "If you want to return your friends to normal, come and get it the pirate way."

"Damn, we've got no choice," Usopp said, pulling back his slingshot, ready to fire.

"Fine by me," Lavi said as she covered her small fists in haki, readying herself to run forward.

"Lavi! Usopp!" Luffy said, calling their attention to him. "I'm going to fight Z one-on-one!" Usopp lowered his slingshot and Lavi gritted her teeth at their captain's words. She did not want to let her brother do this on his own. She wanted to help him, to protect him, but she was also aware that she had to respect his wishes, as he would if she were in his place. She removed the haki from her limbs, though begrudgingly, and kept her eyes focused on Luffy's form, ready to step in if necessary.

She watched the fight from the sidelines, ignoring the volcanic eruptions around her. Her worry remained solely on Luffy as she watched every punch with nervous anticipation. Lavi felt relief with each blow that her brother managed to dodge, but it would almost immediately be overwritten by more worry as the next attack was aimed at him. This vicious back and forth inside of her continued until a shot rang out and a bullet pierced through Luffy's rubber skin.

"Luffy!" Lavi shouted, ready to spring forward, but Usopp held onto her backpack, effectively holding her in place. "Let go of me!" She shouted aggressively, but the long-nosed pirate shook his head.

"It's too dangerous for you right now," he told her. A furious look rose in her eyes at his words and Usopp immediately regretted his words. "I—I mean, look! Luffy's standing up. He's okay." Lavi looked away from her crewmate and back at the battlefield to see that what he had said was true. Luffy was back on his two feet, which provided Lavi with some relief, but that feeling wouldn't last for long.

The two watched as Luffy ran straight for Z who held their captain's beloved straw hat in his hands. Lavi eyed the accessory anxiously, hoping that no harm would come to it during the fight, before switching her nervous gaze back to Luffy. She did so just in time to see him get caught in Z's grip. Upon the sight, Lavi felt a familiar feeling grip her body—a memory flashed in her mind of Luffy being held up by Z on the ship, seconds away from possibly being killed, and then it felt like she couldn't breathe again. Her vision blurred slightly as she slipped her arms out of the straps of her backpack, freeing her from Usopp's grip; she vaguely heard Usopp call for her, but the shout was ignored as she ran forward toward the man that held her brother.

"Lavi, no!" Luffy struggled to shout as he watched his sister near them. "Stay back!" His plea was ignored as Lavi covered her arms in armament haki and started repeatedly punching Z's leg. The man, having witnessed her strength previously, promptly covered the leg in haki.

"Let go of my brother!" She shouted.

"Ah, I see," Z said to himself as he looked down at Lavi's small form. "So, you're also Garp's grandchild. That explains a lot." He moved the metal arm that was holding Luffy over, hitting Lavi with it, which sent her flying back.

"Lavi!" Luffy shouted, gritting his teeth as the grip around him tightened.

Lavi ignored the growing bruise on her face from where she had been hit and the scrapes on her body from when she crashed on the rocky ground and quickly got up to see if her brother was alright. She was, however, met with the sight of an explosion from Z's metal arm hitting Luffy directly.

"Luffy!" She shouted, tears welling up at the corner of her eyes as she watched Z drop Luffy on the ground. She ran to him as fast as she could, ignoring Z as he walked away from the pair. "Luffy, please," she pleaded in a small childlike voice as she dropped onto her knees beside him. She attempted to shake him awake but received no reaction from him.

"Please be okay," she said as she lay her head on his chest, listening for his heartbeat. When she found it, she felt her heartrate slow down to match his. "I am sorry, Luffy," she said as she lifted her head up from his chest and looked at his face.

"Luffy! Lavi!" She heard three familiar voices shout. She looked over to see Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro running toward her and her unconscious brother.

"Are you guys alright?" Zoro asked they reached the pair of siblings.

"Luffy is alright," Lavi said. Sanji frowned at her answer.

"I'll grab Luffy," Usopp said and proceeded to pick up the rubber man as Lavi moved away from her brother with a frown. Sanji eyed the scrapes on Lavi and ignored the urge to chastise Usopp for failing to do what was asked of him.

"Lavi-chan, you're hurt," Sanji said gently. "Let me carry you." Lavi looked up at the man with tired eyes and nodded softly. She didn't feel like moving at all, so she was more than glad to take him up on his kindness. Sanji gladly scooped up the small girl in his arms, being mindful of the scrapes he saw on her, and took off right behind Usopp and Zoro.

Lavi shut her eyes as Sanji sped away from the volcanic eruptions that Z had caused. She could see nothing but Luffy's unconscious face in her mind and it made her chest feel like it was bursting with pain. She reminded herself that he was fine now—that she had heard his heart beating strongly, but a part of her couldn't shake off that feeling of utter helplessness that had settled inside her for the few seconds that she had thought that her brother might have been dead. She felt a few stray tears leak from her eyes at the thought.

She took a deep breath to try and calm herself and realized that she was surrounded in a familiar and comforting scent of tobacco and spices. She sighed softly as she let the image of Luffy's unconscious face slip to the back of her mind for now. She could deal with that when this was all over, she thought, but for now, she would let this scent that she's grown fond of lull the painful roar in her chest into a dull murmur.

Lavi sat unnaturally still on a low stone wall with her legs hanging off the side. The only movements that could be detected from her were the rising and falling of her chest as she breathed. She stared out at the tumultuous sea before her as the rain pelted down on it as remorselessly as it did on her, soaking through her clothes, her cap, and the bandages that Chopper had applied over her wounds.

She had felt relief wash over her when the reindeer had told her that Luffy would be alright, but that relief had been quickly consumed by a feeling of dread that had overwhelmed her to her very core and pushed her to run off without a word to the crew once they had arrived on the island they originally crashed into. She had now had enough time to think that she could finally place what was the cause of that sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach; although, a part of her still didn't want to face it.

Lavi's eyes snapped away from the sea as she felt the rain no longer beating against her skin. She felt her chest ache slightly at the sight of the blond man beside her, holding an umbrella over them both. She briefly watched the smoke from his cigarette rise and hit the underside of the umbrella above them before turning back to face the sea without saying a thing.

"You're going to catch a cold, Lavi-chan," Sanji told the girl in a gentle voice. Lavi shook her head.

"I have never been sick," she said. "Colds are scared of me, so I will be fine." Sanji stifled a chuckle at the girl's logic as he expertly shrugged off his jacket one arm at a time and then draped it over her. Lavi's eyes widened in surprise as she felt the sudden weight on her shoulders, but she quickly relaxed under it as she felt his scent engulf her once again.

"Thank you, Mr. Sanji," she said.

"Are you alright?" he asked her after a few moments of nothing but the sound of the rain beating against the umbrella over them. Lavi pursed her lips at the question. She had known that it was coming solely because it was him, but she still had to search her mind for the right words.

"I," Lavi began quietly, but just loud enough to be heard over the rain. "I could have lost him. Again. And I would not have been able to do anything about it. Again." Sanji couldn't see her face through her soaking hair that clung to the sides of her face, but he could tell from the sound of her voice that if he saw it, it would break his heart.

"Luffy wouldn't die that easily," Sanji tried to reassure her. "You know how strong he is."

"I do!" Lavi shouted suddenly, turning to face Sanji. His previous thoughts were confirmed as he saw her glossy eyes and her quivering lip. His heart hurt at the sight of any woman's tears, but it ached in a very particular way at the sight of hers. "I know it so well! But—but…" Lavi's voice cracked as she struggled to continue. "I knew that about Ace too! I never won a fight against him! Not even close!" Lavi explained as a few tears finally started to stream down her eyes and light sobs started to cut in between her words. "I thought he could take down anyone that crossed his path. That he would always be there as my big brother to protect me. But in the end, it didn't matter how strong he was. He still died! And I couldn't do anything about it! At all! I was so helpless! And," Lavi trailed off as she forced herself to regain control of her sobs. She sniffled as she wiped away her tears with the sleeves of the jacket draped over her shoulder and took a few shaky breaths.

"I know that what you said was true, Mr. Sanji," Lavi continued solemnly. "I know that there are a lot of things that I cannot control but knowing that does not make these feelings go away. No matter how hard I try. I cannot stop feeling this constant dread—this fear." Sanji took a deep breath and exhaled smoke before speaking.

"I think it's okay for you to feel afraid, Lavi-chan," he told her. Lavi tilted her head at him, not having expected the response. "It just means that you care. It's okay as long as you don't let it consume or destroy you." Lavi let out a short, dry laugh.

"And how do I do that?" she mumbled. Sanji shook his head

"I'm sorry. I don't really know. Different people have different ways of dealing with things, and you have to find your own." He paused. "But I'll gladly help you with that," he said, sending her a soft smile. Lavi relaxed, her shoulders dropping, at the gesture.

"Thank you, Mr. Sanji," she told him gently, returning his smile with a larger one. Sanji sighed in relief at the sight of the brighter look on the girl's face.

"I'm sure Luffy feels the same way you do," he added as an afterthought. Lavi tilted her head again.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I think he's also afraid of losing you. He just shows it differently than you do," he clarified. Lavi's eyes widened at the realization—she thought back to when she had ran toward Z to help her brother. He had told her to stay back, knowing that his own life was in danger.

"I'm sure that if both you and Luffy were in a situation where only one of you could survive," Sanji began, "you'd both end up fighting each other—you'd want to save Luffy and he'd want to save you." Lavi laughed at the thought.

"Then we would both end up dying because we would waste all our time fighting!" she said.

"I'd show up and save you before anything like that could ever happen~," Sanji crooned eliciting another laugh from the girl.

"I truly do appreciate you, Mr. Sanji," Lavi told him with a grin; the compliment filled the cook with warmth once again.

"And your words truly do fill my heart with joy, Lavi-chan~," he replied.

"Oh! We should probably head back to the others," Lavi suggested.

"Of course," Sanji agreed as he watched her jump off the stone wall she had been standing on. "Make sure to stay under the umbrella," he instructed affectionately.

A few hours and an outfit change, later, the straw-hat crew found themselves back on the Sunny and heading to the island that they knew Z and his comrades to be located at.

"Lavi-chan," Sanji called out to the small girl who was lounging on the grassy deck of the ship. Her new bookbag was settled on her lap with the bag of konpeitō that she had bought earlier on top of it. She had been munching away at the pieces of candy with a contented smile on her face but paused as she heart the cook call for her.

"What is it, Mr. Sanji?" she asked as she turned her head to look at him. Sanji bent down on one knee next to her and grabbed a hold of the hand that wasn't holding candy.

"Would you listen to a request from an unworthy man, such as myself?" he asked, knowing that would probably reject his request. Lavi raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, but can you let go of my eating hand?"

"Of course!" Sanji said pulling his hand back, allowing the girl to continue eating her candy without restraint.

"So, what is your request, Mr. Sanji?" she asked.

"Would you please consider staying out of any big fights? At least until you go back to your regular size."

"What?!" Lavi exclaimed. "How am I supposed to get back to it if I do not go and kick that Ain-girl's ass?!"

"The swordsman is mine," Zoro said, inserting himself into the conversation. "You'd just get in the way if you tagged along so—I can't believe I'm saying this—listen to the shitty cook."

"Oi, who you calling shitty, mosshead?" Sanji retorted aggressively.

"And who are you saying would get in the way, Mr. Kusamochi?" Lavi added. "If anyone would get in anyone's way, it would be you getting in mine!" Zoro scoffed. "But anyway, fine! I will agree to stay out of big fights, but only because Mr. Sanji asked—not because of you, Mr. Kusamochi," Lavi said before sticking her tongue out at the swordsman. Sanji sighed in relief at the girl's unexpected agreement. "If you mess this up," Lavi told Zoro, "be prepared to get your ass kicked."

"Like you could," he replied. Lavi growled ready to argue back, but Nami's shout about an enemy fleet distracted her from what she was about to say.

Zoro ran to one side of the ship while Lavi ran to the other. Sanji tailed after her, prattling about how he was going to protect her, and the two worked together to stop any incoming cannonballs until Usopp blew away the fleet with the Sunny's Gaon Cannon. With the fleet gone, the crew was finally able to reach their destination.

"Where the hell is Z? Let us pass!" Luffy shouted at the hundreds of Neo-Marine soldiers in front of them as soon as the crew stepped foot on the island. The only answer they received was in the form of the soldiers attacking them.

The crewmembers ran into the fray without hesitation, each member taking on their own set of soldiers.

"What's this little kid doing here?" one of the soldiers said as they spotted Lavi running toward them. "I didn't sign up to shoot at kids." The soldier next to him shrugged.

"Hey!" Lavi shouted as he stood in front of them. "I heard that! And I am not a kid! Do not expect me to hold back!" she said as she jumped up and sent a haki-coated fist at his torso. The soldier found himself being pushed back as pain shot through his chest.

"Agh! I think she broke my ribs!" he said.

"Woah!" the second soldier said, quickly aiming his gun at the girl's head and pulling the trigger several times. Lavi casually coated her forehead in haki, allowing the bullets to hit the firm surface and then fall onto the floor. The soldier that had shot her cursed to himself and fumbled to reload his gun. Before he could finish, Lavi had reached him and jumped up, using the gun as leverage to propel herself higher, and punched the soldier right in the face. The soldier cried out in pain.

"If you are going to hit someone in the face, you should be prepared to get hit right back!" Lavi told him. More soldiers began to surround the girl, aiming guns and swords at her, but she blocked every attack that came her way with armament haki, aiming punches left and right with a huge grin on her face. Each punch was followed by a cry of pain and the occasional sound of crunching bones.

As usual, Lavi found herself quickly lost in the thrill and exhilaration that came with a fight. Her mind temporarily forgot about anything that wasn't the enemies right in front of her. Her focus remaining solely on the movement of her body, her muscles, and the sporadic coating of armament haki throughout it. Her focus remained like this until there were no more enemies in front of her.

She stopped, panting from all the movement, and looked around to see that all the grunts had been taken out. She pouted when she realized that she wouldn't be able to fight anymore.

"You guys defeated a lot of them," Lavi heard Brook say as she moved toward the other crew members that had been fighting off the grunts.

"Where's Luffy?" Lavi asked, noticing that her brother was no longer with them.

"He went on ahead," Nami told her.

"Then let us go find him," Lavi said.

"Guys, look!" Brook suddenly shouted. Everyone turned around to find a group of Pacifistas marching toward them.

"Those are the Pacifistas!" Usopp exclaimed.

"But those are different from the ones we saw before," Chopper pointed out.

"Either way we have to destroy these things!" Lavi said before the robots shot several lasers at the group. They managed to just barely dodge the attack, but the robots began to immediately start charging their next attack. Lavi readied herself to charge at the robots and take them down one by one, but before she could begin to coat herself in haki, the Pacifistas started to get shot at.

"Yow! Sorry it took so long, guys!" Franky said. The crewmembers turned around to look at the cyborg, only to see him getting inside of the General Franky. "Let's go, partner." Lavi gasped at the sight as stars appeared in her eyes.

"Is that a giant robot that can be piloted?! That. Is. So. Cool!" she cheered, elongating the last word.

"It's here!" Chopper cheered beside her.

"Iron pirate! Franky Shogun!" Franky said from inside the General Franky as he struck a pose. As Franky proceeded to defeat the Pacifistas, Lavi, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook all watched on excitedly while Nami and Robin remained unimpressed.

Shortly after, the de-aged crew members found their bodies finally going back to normal.

"Finally!" Lavi shouted as she readjusted the straps on her bookbag to fit her larger body better.

"I'm back!" Brook shouted. "I've also returned to normal!"

"Really?" Usopp asked.

"Yeah! It's really great! The 90 years!"

"Zoro and the others did it!" Chopper cheered.

"Damn," said Lavi with a knowing smile. "I really wanted to kick his ass for failing."

"Now there is only Z left! Let's join Luffy!" Usopp said.

"What are we waiting for then?" Lavi said, running off ahead.

"Let's go!" shouted Chopper prompting the rest of the crew to follow her.

They arrived to see that Sanji and Zoro were already watching the ongoing fight.

"Luffy!" Lavi shouted once her eyes landed on her brother.

"Lavi-chwan, Nami-swan, Robin-chwan!" Sanji shouted. "You're all okay!"

"Did we miss anything important?" Nami asked as the group moved toward Sanji and Zoro. Zoro shook his head.

"Not really," he said.

Lavi kept her eyes on her brother, her breath caught in her throat and her heart began to race as she watched him exchange punches with Z. She bit her lip in worry, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by the blond cook, who swiftly closed the distance between the two of them. He stood beside her unsure if there was anything that he could do to ease the anxious girl.

Lavi immediately noticed his presence as his familiar scent reached her nose and she instinctively found herself starting to calm slightly. She gripped onto the side of his shirt, wanting to be closer to her current source of comfort. Sanji's eyebrows raised in surprise at the sudden contact, but he willed himself not to draw attention to the action. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, but he hoped that it was somehow helping to ease her.

As Lavi found herself calming down, she remembered Sanji's words about not letting herself get consumed by fear; about her needing to find her own way to deal with it. She still had no idea how to do that, but she couldn't deny that something about Sanji, about his words, his presence, soothed her tremendously. She wasn't sure exactly what it was or why it happened. But, Lavi thought, that didn't really matter.

She refocused on her brother's fight, watching with bated breath as Luffy managed to finally break the contraption on Z's arm. The fight continued after that until both men fell to the ground. Lavi sighed in relief as she watched Luffy stand back up. A huge grin appeared on her face as she let go of Sanji's shirt.

"That battle ended right on time," Sanji said as he blew out smoke. "What a close call."

"Luffy!" Lavi, Usopp, Chopper, Nami, and Brook shouted as they started to make their way toward their captain.

"Luffy!" Chopper shouted as he leaped onto the pirate, causing him to fall under the weight. Lavi, who was already right behind her brother, caught him before he could hit the ground.

"I got you," she said, grinning at her brother.

"Are you alright, Luffy?" Usopp asked him, standing in front of them.

"Guys!" Luffy shouted.

"'Guys', nothing," said Nami. "You went on ahead again!"

"It seems everyone is gathered here again," interjected a marine admiral after Ain and Binz had regrouped with Z and exchanged a few words. The straw-hat crew gasped at the sight of the familiar man.

"Kizaru!" Robin exclaimed.

"It's a shame that the straw-hat and master Zephyr are almost dead. But seeing as you're all going to die anyway, it's the same."

"Damn it," cursed Usopp. "Just at a time like this." Z scoffed.

"You brought all of them," he said before he walked toward the marines. "At the end, I did what I wanted. Now I have to pay the price for doing what I wanted, or I wouldn't be able to face the ones that went before me. Straw-hat Luffy, you have your own adventure, don't you?" Z questioned as he put his sunglasses back on. "Leave the rest with me, Z!"

"Old man!" Luffy said.

"Master! Please wait, Master!" Ain protested as she chased after the man, but a sudden wall of ice prevented her from reaching him.

"Let's go back, everyone," Luffy said. Everyone nodded at their captain's order.

The walk back to the Sunny was a silent one, a heavy air hanging over the crew. An atmosphere that remained as they sailed off and away from the island.

They may not have had the chance to grow to understand Z the way that Luffy had, but they all understood that the man that had caused them so much grief before deserved their utmost respect now—especially as he remained behind, choosing his own death, and helping the straw-hat crew escape in the process.