Roger pushed up the brim of his captain's hat before pushing open the swinging doors that lead into the small tavern.

The noise from inside greeted him as there was a heavy smell of smoke floating through the air. He stepped inside and looked around. It wasn't a huge tavern, but a moderate size and was crowded with the evening rush for dinner. It was one of the few times that he had found himself in a quaint place where his appearance didn't automatically lead to a bunch of people charging at him for an attempt to get his bounty.

Roger could hardly remember a time when people weren't trying to kill him for one reason or another. Roger loved being a pirate but there was an occasion where he just wanted to enjoy some time with his crew and by himself. Roger made his way towards an empty table in the corner of the tavern and dropped into the chair, his eyes scanning around the room as he looked at all the different people that had gathered here.

Half an hour ago the Oro Jackson had docked at the small harbor, preparing to get supplies that they needed before they set back to sail for the Grandline. His first mate and right hand man had assured him that he would get the crew and supplies together and that Roger should go and enjoy himself. Roger knew his crew would eventually join him, but they would probably wait until the slower time, when the tavern wasn't so crowded.

A slim figured girl was walking around the tavern, carrying a tray of drinks and food in her hands. She had long strawberry-blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back. She wore a long, short sleeved blue dress. Roger tried to peer through the crowd so that he could get a better look at the woman.

"What do you want?" Another waitress approached him, blocking his line of sight as she gave him a warm smile and pushed a strand of red hair out of her face. She was holding her tray close against her chest.

The question surprised him at first. He had been so focused on trying to get a good look at the woman across the bar that he hadn't noticed that the other waitress had approached until she moved into his line of vision.

"A mug of your best ale."

She smiled and nodded. "Anything else?"

"Do you have a menu?" Roger asked as he glanced over towards the bar, he didn't see a list of food offered and he couldn't ignore the fact that he was hungry. Of course if you asked anyone in his crew he was always hungry.

The red haired waitress nodded, heading to the bar and returning quickly with a frosted mug of ale and a small menu for him to look over.

"Whose that young woman over there?" Roger asked as he looked down at the menu to see what they offered.

The waitress glanced over her shoulder. "That's Rouge," she said as she wrote down his food order when he gave it.

Roger smiled at that name. It had been a long time since he had seen such a beautiful woman, even if it was from a distance. "Do you think you could convince her to come over here and chat me up for a little bit?"

The waitress looked at him for a long moment. "I'll see if she's got a moment to spare to talk to you," she said with a shrug.

Roger leaned back in the chair. Been awhile since I've flirted, I'm a bit out of practice he thought to himself with a chuckle.

The ocean was a harsh mistress, but she could not offer the same embrace that a woman could offer and it had been a long time since he had felt that. Even if nothing came from it, he would at least enjoy having a nice conversation with her.

888

"Two mug's of ale."

Rouge stood at the bar and gave her order to the bartender with a smile as she leaned on the bar a little. She was dressed comfortably, which made working in a tavern much easier, especially considering that most of the people that came here were people she had known from the town and got along well with.

Rouge slipped her feet out of her sandal's and enjoyed the feel of the cool wooden floor against her skin. She hoped that the people moving around the bar didn't step on her bare feet, especially the men that were sitting at the bar laughing and drinking. Most of them were wearing heavy boots for working at the dock.

Rouge wished that she could ease the restlessness that had been gripping her heart for the past few months. Things in the town have grown slow and boring for her, everything had become so routine that she barely noticed anything anymore. The town rarely changed and with the exception of an occasional merchant ship docking, nothing interesting ever happened here and she longed for something to happen.

It was Friday and everyone at the docks had been paid and immediately came to the tavern to blow their money on good ale and food, enjoying the company of the women that worked there and each other.

The bartender pushed the two frosted mugs of ale towards her with a smile and a nod as she picked them up and put them onto the tray. She let out a soft sigh as she slipped her feet back into her sandal's and carefully picked up her tray and turned to deliver the order to the table when she almost knocked into Dannie.

"Rouge, you are a lucky woman," the other waitress said with a laugh as she placed her metal tray down on the bar.

"How am I a 'lucky woman'? I'm just trying to get my order's to their destination without spilling them." Rouge smiled as she shifted the tray and looked at her friend, interested in what Dannie could mean.

"There's been a man asking about you," Dannie replied as she reached behind the bar and picked up a cigarette that had been hiding in a ash tray beneath the bar. She took a long drag and blew out the smoke with a smile, giving Rouge a sidelong glance as she seemed to think Rouge had this entire thing planned.

"A man asking for me?" Rouge looked around, hoping that she could figure out who Dannie was talking about, waving the smoke from Dannie's cigarette out of her face.

"Yeah, a really handsome man at that. If you're not interested in him, I can give it a go, if you don't mind." Dannie grinned and winked at her friend.

"Did he know my name?"

"No, but I told him," Dannie said as she took another drag of her cigarette and then reached back over the counter and stubbed it out. "He clearly isn't from here, I'm willing to bet he must have come from the ship that docked," Dannie watched Rouge scanning the crowd. "Granted all I know is what I've heard from some of the dock workers that came in a little while ago, saying a huge pirate ship as pulled into port." Dannie leaned in and whispered quietly, as if she was afraid other were listening to their conversation.

"Did he tell you what he wanted?" Rouge asked Dannie as she was ignoring her friends obvious hints to try and get a reaction out of Rouge. The thought of some strange man, a pirate at that, asking for her had certainly raised her own curiosity. "Was he alone or did he come in with the rest of his crew from this 'huge' pirate ship?"

"Right now he's drinking alone," Dannie said as she watched Rouge, her smile slowly fading away to a frown. "But if he's really part of that pirate ship he probably won't be alone much longer, and I don't think the tavern is big enough to hold all the regulars and a pirate crew at the same time. Especially if they might be bringing trouble."

"Can you point him out to me?"

Dannie pointed and Rouge pulled her friend's hand down.

"Don't point!" Rouge said. "I don't want him to see that I'm asking about him, just tell me where to look."

"By the back wall near the exit actually, you can't miss him. He's the big guy with the black mustache that sticks out." Dannie looked at Rouge for a long moment, leaning in closer to her friend and gripping her arm. "You going to talk to him?"

"A quick chat wouldn't hurt."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"If anything happens I can take care of myself."

Rouge picked up her tray again and made her way through the crowd to deliver her customers order. She eased through the crowd and the tables, occasionally managing to glance over her shoulder to the direction that Dannie said the man was sitting in. Rouge was certain a pirate wouldn't be hard to spot.

She finally reached her customers table, two older gentleman that often visited the tavern since their wives died. She gave them a smile and stayed and had a small conversation with them. Rouge knew everyone in town and had a good relationship with most people. She was a friendly and kind person and enjoyed taking the time to make her customers feel welcomed, it's what brought them back every night and that was just the kind of person she was. It also helped to get her some pretty decent tips as well.

When she turned to head back to the bar she finally saw him.

The only thing that she could see under his red pirate hat was his long, black mustache that stuck out at the sides. He had a big smile on his face and a powerful jaw line that accentuated his handsome face. He had long black hair that fell over his collar and was messy and his red coat sat nicely on powerfully broad shoulders.

Everything about him said pirate, and it made him stand out in the crowd. He had on a blue shirt with a green sash tied around his waist. There was a white cravat around his neck and dark blue pants that fit his long legs that were stretched out in front of him. He wore black boots with golden buckles on them. His legs were currently crossed on top of each other as he had struck up a conversation with a dock worker sitting at the table next to him.

The man had just finished his mug of ale, and was laughing at something funny. Even with all the people in the tavern the man stood out against them all. He had a presence about him that commanded anyone's attention.

Rouge tried to place where she knew he from, the man's face was eerily familiar as she was certain she had seen it before. If he was a pirate she was certain he had a wanted poster, but the name was escaping her.

The man pushed his hat back slightly and he turned his head, his eyes locking with Rouge's and his smile was broad and contagious. He looked like a man who was just trying to enjoy the company of those around him. The bridge of his nose was long and narrow, but it was his eyes that held her in place, they were dark and piercing.

She suddenly felt nervous and stepped back.

"ROUGE!" came a shout from a man in the kitchen. He was Dave, her boss and owner of the tavern. "Why are you just standing there?"

Rouge took a deep breath, his voice had caused a chill to go through her body. Out of all the people in the town, he was the one person she didn't like.

Dave was now standing beside her. He was heavyset and domineering, his cologne overpowered the smell of cigarette smoke and the combination of the two almost made Rouge feel nauseous as he stood over her. Rouge could see by how his bulldog jaw stuck out that Dave was looking for a reason to get into a fight. "We are in the middle of the dinner rush and you're just standing in the middle of the room like you don't have a clue what you're doing," he growled at her as he leaned down a little closer. "If you can't do the job, get out and go stand on a corner."

"I'll get back to work Dave," Rouge said as she moved away from him in hopes of putting enough distance between them that she could get away from his powerful scent. She knew he would look for any reason to fire her and if she didn't need the money the job paid she would have left a long time ago. She had tried to find other work in town but everyone else was not hiring or it was a small family business and didn't hire outside the family.

"She was looking for me. I asked to talk to Rouge and she didn't know where I was sitting since I asked the other waitress to find me." The man had approached, he was now holding his hat in his hand.

"Who are you?" Dave demanded. "I think you should head on back to your little ship and leave my girls alone so they can work."

"My ship is far from little," the man replied with a grin, remaining calm in the situation as his eyes stared down at Dave. "I just want a few moments with the young lady, and the business my men will bring in will make her time worth it," the man promised Dave.

Dave looked at the man and then glanced at Rouge and leaned in, grabbing her arm and whispering in her ear. "Give him anything he wants Rouge." He said with a sick grin before turning to return to the kitchen.

Rouge rubbed her arm where Dave had grabbed her, his touch made a chill run down her body and she felt sick. "Is there any reason you had to humiliate me by buying my time like that? I'm not a lady of the night that you can wave money around and get my attention."

"I didn't mean to offend you," the man said as he rubbed the back of his head and gave her an apologetic smile. "I just figured that was the only thing that man would understand and you looked like you were being bothered by him."

"I do owe you that," Rouge admitted.

"You look so out of place here."

Rouge looked at him confused, raising her eyebrow as she held her tray against her chest as she was confused by his comment.

"Will you sit with me?" He asked as he gestured back to the table where he had been sitting at. "Standing in the middle of the room just seems a little strange."

"What is your name?" Rouge asked, having been spending that entire time trying to put a name to the face. She knew she had seen him somewhere before but now it was really beginning to bother her that she couldn't figure out who he was. A man that commanded a presence like he did had to be pretty important, and she knew that if she could just get the name it would all click where she had seen his picture before.

"Oh? You don't know who I am?" The man looked around the tavern at that moment, as if he was trying to spot something that could help answer the simple question. "I guess I could lie, but there really isn't a point and I'm not very good at it anyway. I am Gol D. Roger, and this has to be the first tavern I've been in that didn't have wanted posters from the Marines plastered all over the wall. I can't deny it's a nice change to be somewhere that people don't know who I am at first sight, a nice change." Roger chuckled lightly.

Rouge was shocked as the realization of his name and how famous a man he was hit her at once. This man was more than just some simple pirate captain, he was the first man to don the name of Pirate King.

Rouge swallowed as she sat down across from him, sitting down her metallic tray on the table as she tried to figure out a reason why the Pirate King would want to talk to her. She was having a conversation with the most wanted man from the Marines. This would certainly get her in trouble too. "Why do you want to talk to me?" she finally asked.

Roger sat down across from her and leaned back in the chair and gave her a large, and charming grin. "It has been a long time since I've had a conversation with a beautiful, and wonderful woman like yourself. So I can't deny that some of my reasoning is a bit selfish, the ship can be kind of lonely on long trips." Roger leaned forward and held the mug in his hand, his fingers tapping against the empty glass as he spoke to her. "I was just hoping to have a nice conversation about this town and the area around it, maybe you could recommend a nice little place where I might want to stay if I didn't want to sleep on the ship. Or maybe where I can pick up some supplies for myself, maybe a new outfit or some boots?"

"You want me to tell you where the tailor is?"

Roger played with the empty mug absentmindedly. "Do you happen to be married, or have any kids?"

"That's a random question."

"I was just wondering if I was wasting my time."

"Would you stop talking to me if I was?"

"Probably not, but I would change how and what I would like to happen if you were married." he admitted.

"What you would 'like to happen'?" Rouge repeated and shook her head as she rolled her eyes slightly. "I'm not fond of this place, do you think if I had someone that I would be working in this tavern? I would probably be at home taking care of the house and children if that were the case, don't you think?"

Roger looked up at her, his eyes holding hers as she could feel a thin thread of fear spreading through her body.

"You seem like the kind of woman who would do whatever she wanted, regardless if she was married or not."

"I'm not married," Rouge replied as she reached up and fiddled with the flower that was tucked behind her ear. The flower helped keep her long hair out of her eyes and she felt the need to fiddle with something while he was staring at her. She had never so out of place by admitting that she wasn't married.

"No one good enough for you?"

"No," she replied simply. "And I haven't really been looking, it wasn't something that crossed my mind as being important."

Roger smiled as he slid the mug between his hands and he couldn't help but chuckle a little at her replies and noticed Rouge was getting ready to leave. "Do you think you could spare a few more minutes with me, maybe you would be interested in having a meal with me when you get off of work, or the next time your off?"

Was he asking her out on a date?

Rouge blinked and looked at him, her thoughts swirling around in her head as she found herself getting lost in his eyes. Her entire life on the island she had seen other men of the sea coming and going and none of them had ever stuck out in her mind before. She had listened to their many stories of the ocean and she had begun dreaming of them as a young girl and had always thought of someone coming to sweep her off her feet and take her on grand adventures. Now here she was talking to a man who called the ocean his home, not just any man but the most wanted man in the world. The things he had done in the world had only been whispered on the lips of other sailors, of the towns he had razed and the money he had pillaged from countless ships. This was the closes she had ever been to having a chance of leaving South Blue and exploring the world.

Rouge had listened to the stories from the sailors that had come to the tavern, but never had she thought that the Pirate King would ever bother coming to Baterilla, it was just so small and out of the way that the only other ships that ever came into port were trade ships, and even they weren't very big. Her family had called that town her home for many years, but in truth Rouge had no one left here to keep her here. Her mother lay in the grave and her father had left a long time ago, telling her the call of the ocean had been too strong to ignore. It would be a lie if Rouge had never said she didn't feel the call at time's as well, but she had never had the opportunity to leave the island before, but now it came in the form of a powerful, and wild looking man.

Now she wasn't completely sure what this man would say or do, but she didn't want to walk away without even taking a chance that she might never get again. It would be foolish to ignore this opportunity.

"Rouge!" Dave's voice pierced her thoughts as he was approaching from the kitchen again. "Get back to work, you've had a long enough break!"

Rouge pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at the pirate. "I have to get back to work, but thank you for the break." Rouge stood up as she picked up her metal tray from the table and gave him a gentle smile. "If you are still around when my shift is over I can talk to you again, without someone breathing down my neck. So if you really want to carry on this conversation, just give me some time alright?"

"Stop talking and get to work!" Dave shouted, his eyes narrowing and she felt like his gaze was impaling her.

"I'm going!" Rouge snapped at him.

"You really want to talk to me Rouge?" Roger asked with a grin, his voice didn't rise but it still had a power that held Rouge in place. He still had a smile on his face and he completely ignored Dave's presence.

Rouge turned and looked at the tall, powerfully built man. Even sitting down she could tell he was a man who could tower over her.

"Rouge, I told you to get back to work!"

Rouge whirled around, finally loosing her patience with the man, which normally was a very difficult thing to happen, as she was normally a calm person. "Will you stop pestering me?!"

"Drop that tone with me, woman." Dave was on top of her faster than she could register what he was doing, pressing a nicotine stained finger into her chest, putting as much pressure as he could to try and push her back.

Rouge slapped his hand away. Dave's face switched to rage and she quickly realized that she had made a terrible mistake as Dave raised his hand to strike her. Rouge raised her hands to shield herself from his blow.

Rouge felt a little foolish after she raised her arms, Dave would be a fool to hit her in front of so many people, he would prefer to do that once they were closed.

She felt someone move past her and Roger put a hand on Dave's shoulder and yanked him back from her. "You're not going to hit her," his deep voice said with a tint of anger. Dave whirled around to face him.

"Get out you filthy sea rat!" Dave tried to shove Roger backwards.

Rouge saw everything happen in slow motion. Dave suddenly stumbled backwards and fell with a heavy thud onto the floor.

He never even hit Dave, Rouge thought as she saw anger on Roger's face.

Rouge straightened up and hurried to the door to exit the building, she wasn't sure what the Pirate King was going to do but she didn't want to get caught in a bar fight, which usually followed after these situations. Rouge pushed open the double doors and stumbled into the cool night air. She closed her eyes and leaned on the wall next to the swinging doors. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her head as she tried to calm herself. She couldn't believe she had lost her temper and let things escalate so quickly.

Rouge knew she had lost her job, and she wasn't too upset about that. She realized that she had grown tired of working there and was looking for a reason to quit, she let her hands fall to her sides as she let her head fall back against the wall with a gentle thud. She wondered what the Pirate King had done to knock Dave down without even laying a finger on him, the man was as powerful as his legends said.

The door's swung open to her right, the voice's of the shocked people inside were still drifting into the night air as people were trying to figure out what had happened and people shouting about getting the town's doctor.

Gol D. Roger was now standing next to her.

"You okay?" His voice was filled with concern.

"I'm fine," she replied as she calmed herself. "Thank you so much for helping me out back there, I just wish it hadn't been the last job in Baterilla. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that, which isn't like me." Rouge tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at Roger with a small smile and gripped the fabric of her dress as she was trying to gather her thoughts about what she wanted to say to him.

Roger stood in front of her, his stance was calm but wary, as if he was prepared to spring into action at the first sign of trouble. His eyes stared long at her, the concern in them made them soft and gentle. "He was going to hit you."

"Dave wouldn't have hit me, not in front of so many people that would have retorted against him." Rouge assured him, shivering against the night air. Her dress was not really meant to endure the cool of the evening air.

Rouge pushed herself from the wall. "Thank you again, but I am going to be heading home, there's no reason for me to stay here and I don't want to head back in there for my things, Dave would be waiting for me."

"I can get them, just tell me where they are?"

"I know you could probably just make him faint again, which might I add was pretty neat. How did you manage to do that without even laying a hand on him? That was something I've never seen before." Rouge smiled and watched him, finding the tension of the past few moments melting away and she was beginning to become more interested in the things that he could do. The Pirate King was just a legend to the everyday person and here she was having a conversation with him just like he was a regular person.

The door's swung open again and Rouge turned as Roger was preparing to act against whoever was coming through.

Dannie came out and handed Rouge her purse and the coat that Rouge had brought for the evening.

"Dave is out like a light, but I am pretty sure that he isn't going to let you have your job anymore. I just made sure to grab your things, I figured that you didn't want to go back in there with all the tension." Dannie then handed Rouge her purse and touched her friend's shoulder and gave her shoulder squeeze. Her friend glanced over her shoulder back into the tavern that was beginning to settle down now. "He's going to be angry, well whatever is past angry if I might say. But I have to admit that this was pretty exciting." Dannie turned around and looked at Roger with a smile on her face and crossed her arms across her chest. "What did you do to him?"

"He wasn't worth the energy to hit," Roger replied.

Rouge looked at him, most people would say that pirates would want to fight for any reason, but this man was different. "You are not like what most people say pirates are like."

Dannie turned back to Rouge and gave her a gentle and concerned glance uncrossed her arms and spoke gently. "What are you going to do?"

Rouge shrugged her shoulders and put the jacket on, glad for the warmth it was giving her. She looked inside her purse and counted the money in there and let out a sigh, hoping she had earned more in tips but she would make it work, she always did. "I don't know, I guess I'll just wait and see, that's all I can do."

"Well if you need anything Rouge, you just need to let me know. I'm always willing to help you dear."

"I know you will," Rouge replied as she wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a tight hug. Rouge smiled and she couldn't deny that she was feeling so much better now that she didn't have to worry about working in that horrible tavern. The only thing that made Rouge sad was that she might not be seeing Dannie again. For those moments she forgot that Roger was standing there, silently watching them.

Dannie put her hand again on Rouge's arm and Rouge reached up and gave her friend's hand a squeeze as Dannie smiled sadly. "I would love to see you finally have a sparkle back in those pretty brown eyes."

"A sparkle in my eyes?" Rouge repeated, feeling a little foolish that her friend felt that Rouge wasn't happy. True she felt that she was missing something, but she still thought that she was happy for the most part. Rouge gave her friend another hug and made it tight as she stepped back to start leaving. "I'll be fine, because I have a friend like you."

Dannie grabbed Rouge's hands again and held them tightly, reluctant to let her friend go. Rouge wondered if Dannie was afraid that she would never see her again and Rouge wondered if she sensed something that Rouge did not.

"You are going to see the world Portgas D. Rouge," Dannie smiled and gave Rouge's hands a squeeze again. "Don't stay around here any longer."

"I don't really have any money to go anywhere, but we will have to wait and see what the future holds." Rouge smiled as she wondered if everything was happening to give her no reason not to hesitate in taking a great step into her future. Dannie was a tough person, but she was a loyal friend who wanted the best for those she cared for. "You better get back before Dave wakes up."

Dannie reached into the front pocket of her apron and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handing it to Rouge. "My husband Mike was talking to a merchant whose ship he was doing some repair work. The man was complaining that he needed someone to work the front of his shop, his last employee quit to have a baby." Dannie smiled at Rouge and looked her friend up and down and nodded approvingly. "You're friendly and pretty, so you could have no trouble selling whatever the guy has in his shop."

Rouge looked down at the folded, white piece of paper. A man that was traveling on a merchant ship at least meant that she would travel to a different island. That would be at least a change of scenary and some time on the ocean.

"I better get back, I can't loose this job. Mike's still trying to get his own shipwright business going, and once we've got it going you can also come and work for us if you don't want to go work for the merchant." Dannie glanced back inside and then quickly gave Rouge a tight hug once more and whispered in her ear. "I have a good feeling about this guy, give him a chance to get to know you." She whispered with a grin. "Don't be too hard on him."

Dannie let go of Rouge and looked at Roger and gave him a big smile before turning and heading back inside.

Rouge turned around and wrapped her coat around herself tighter and began to walk down the main street.

"I should probably get away from here," she looked at Roger to see if he was going to follow her. "I better get heading home."

She continued walking away.

Roger caught up to her quickly with the long strides of his legs. He put his hands in his long, red coat's pockets.

"Is there anything that you plan on doing now? I didn't mean for you to lose your job, I just hate when a guy hits a woman." He stated simply.

Rouge wasn't sure what she should say to him, everything she had planned in her head seemed to become jumbled when she was standing there with just him. She stopped and the end of the main street and she turned to head to her home. It was just a little bit outside the town, perched on a hill that allowed her to over look the ocean. It was one of her most favorite places in the entire town, where she could think and dream.

The sun still hovered over the horizon, it wasn't going to be up much longer and the warmth it would have provided was long since gone. Rouge knew it would be a long walk home, but she didn't mind that. She was pretty certain that she wasn't going to spend a lot of this walk by herself and she didn't mind that.

Roger still remained beside her, the slight breeze lifted his dark hair off his neck and caused his coat to flutter in the breeze. She was glad he didn't leave, she wanted to see if he was anything like the rumors she had heard.

"Portgas D. Rouge," he repeated her name slowly. "The D belongs to some strong people."

Rouge had never really thought about the importance of the D in her name, she had just assumed it was a simple letter of her name.

The D belongs to strong people.

Rouge had never thought of herself as strong, but there was no question that someone like Roger was the very definition of strong. He perhaps knew something about the D in her name that she did not know.

You've always wanted to go to the ocean, you have a chance now. Rouge's thoughts were growing more and more brazen with her dreams of the ocean that have always plagued her dream since she was a child. With a sigh she gathered her courage and turned around to completely face the Pirate King.

"Can I travel with you?"

Roger tiled his head slightly. "You know who I am, don't you? Why would you suddenly want to go traveling on the ocean with me? Aren't you afraid that I might capture you and keep you for myself?"

Rouge turned her attention to the road to ignore his question. She hadn't really thought of it before and it was such an obvious realization that she should have thought about it and wouldn't have asked him to let her join. The Pirate King was wanted by the Marines and anyone who was caught with him would certainly be executed, because if you were with the Pirate King that meant you were guilty by association. Rouge wanted to go to the ocean but she didn't know if she was willing to risk her life so easily, but then again could she ignore the thrill of the adventure and ocean that this man was promising her?

She was confused and she didn't like that feeling, before meeting this man things had been pretty simple but that also made her realize how boring her life was now that she was able to look back on it.

She remembered standing on the dock and watching her father getting on his ship and sailing away from his family. He had taken her to the docks a lot when she was younger, but she hadn't expected him to leave and had wanted to go with him. To go adventure on the ocean was something she wanted to do and she had never realized how strong it was becoming until she found the courage to ask him to let her come along.

"You can head to the dock in the morning and board my ship," Roger replied as he walked with her. His voice was quiet and thoughtful, as if he was well aware of the weight of the words he was saying to her. "You will be a pirate if you come though."

Rouge looked at him again. He was tall and broad shouldered, a handsome man there was no doubt.

And very dangerous.

Rouge realized she must have lost her common sense if she was seriously willing to agree to his terms.

Finally Rouge shrugged her shoulders and smiled. It had been a long time since she had done something reckless and her younger self would have really enjoyed having a chance to rush forward and leave everything behind. She was excited, there was no doubt about that, but she was also aware that she could be throwing her life away for just a small chance of having an adventure but you couldn't just waste your life away dreaming. That wasn't the type of life that she wanted to continue living.

"I'll be there, I give you my word."

Roger nodded. "Welcome to the Roger Pirates."

"Thank you," Rouge replied as she tucked her hair again behind her ear once more, a little annoyed that it kept getting in her face, but it didn't dampen the excitement that she was feeling about going out onto the ocean.

"Rouge, do you want me to walk you all the way home?" Roger asked as she walked ahead of him.

Rouge didn't know if she wanted him to follow her all the way home, she felt that her final night there should be private. But it was also due to the fact that being around him this long was causing her stomach to knot and the thought of him walking away made the knot even tighter in her stomach that it was making her sick. She finally nodded and waited for him to catch up, certain that with those long legs it wouldn't take him too long. It would be nice to try and get to know a little more about him before she packed up everything and went on his ship. She was being a little reckless, no argument there but that was the point of adventure, or that's what the sailors often said about going out to sea.

Roger followed her, but he was able to keep pace with her. His eyes were staring ahead, as if he was deep in thought but she would occasionally catch him glancing in her direction, and if their eyes met he would look away and stare up at the road, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets as they were walking.

Roger was a quiet and the smile that had been on his face at the bar had finally completely vanished while he was thinking.

Roger stopped at the edge of the town and looked up at the small house that was standing on top of the small hill. Roger followed where the porch faced out into the ocean and Rouge tugged on her skirt nervously. She was wondering what he was thinking about, if he was judging her home and trying to connect the house to her and making a judgment on her. Rouge wasn't sure why it bothered her so much what he thought about her.

Rouge watched Roger as he was just standing there staring. For a moment she thought that he became completely lost in his thoughts and she was wondering what he was thinking about and she didn't know if she was in the right to try and break him from his thoughts. She reached out and gently touched his shoulder.

Rouge turned her attention to her old home and found herself beginning to second guess what she was doing. The Roger Pirates were a famous and dangerous group and she wondered why she would want to do this and was becoming annoyed with herself for having doubts about her plans and this long moments of silence was adding to her nervousness and the knot in her stomach was becoming even tighter.

What am I doing? Becoming a pirate isn't the answer to being bored. Rouge thought as a shiver of nervousness raced through her body. She kept flipping back and forth on her dreams going against her common sense. She didn't know if this was a good idea or not but she couldn't just keep second guessing herself because that could cause her to loose her one chance.

Drawing a deep breath, Rouge decided to plan out the rest of the evening. She would head back into the house, run a hot bath and relax and pack her clothes. If she stopped second guessing herself and just do this she would be glad for it because it was her dream, and many other people didn't get a chance to go after a dream.

"I'm nervous and excited," she whispered and was even wondering if he could hear anything she said.

Roger turned his head and looked at her and the smile that had vanished from his face slowly returned and he began chuckling. The warmth of his laugh filled her body and warmed her against the chill of the air and she saw, for a brief moment, what she thought he saw. A small town with houses shoved together, people going about their daily business without a second thought to the world around them. Waking up, going to work or school, doing their errands and then coming home to go to bed and repeat the cycle all over again.

That wasn't what Rouge wanted for her life. She had begun falling into the rhythm of things the day her father left and she almost lost herself to the mundane. That wasn't something she wanted, and she knew why her mother did what she did but she wasn't her mother's daughter she was her father's daughter.

"I am glad you're letting me go," she turned back to Roger.

"I'm the captain, it's something I'm allowed to do." He smiled as he put his captain hat back onto his head. "I always like causing trouble for the whole world."

Rouge gave him a bright smile. "That is part of the rumors that people are always whispering about you." She said as she was looking him up and down, finding his personality being something comfortable to be around. "Dave had no idea who he was dealing with, he would have probably had a heart attack if he did."

"Should I go back and introduce myself to him?"

"No, it's not necessary," Rouge smiled at Roger and chuckled at the thought and she continued walking up the path that lead up the hill to her house. This would be the last time she would be making this familiar walk.

She unlocked the door when she reached it and she turned and looked back at Roger and gave him a polite nod of her head, but she was surprised to see him standing there and watching and waiting for her to enter.

It was surprising to Rouge to find that Roger was being a gentleman, that was again against the rumors of what pirates were.

Rouge stepped inside her house and closed the door behind her and leaned against it, letting out a deep breath. There is no turning back now, I'm going to do this. Rouge told herself. I'm finally going to see the world.

888

Roger walked onto the deck of his ship, watching as his crew was finishing getting the supplies and putting them in the cargo hold. He looked around the ship and watched his men doing what they did best. The Roger Pirates were a family, nakama was a special type of family that you were able to chose and meant more to him than any of the family he had before. Nakama had to be there to support each other through the good times and bad, and now he was bringing in a new person to this close net family and he wasn't even completely sure why he was doing it, he had just spoke without speaking, something he was guilty of doing quite often actually.

Roger went into his cabin quarters, staring at his desk against the far wall where he would write letters at stare at maps to plan their route. Rouge was still on his mind, standing out beautifully against the cool night as he had walked her back to her house. How her face had broken into a smile when she had made him laugh. She had delicate and soft features that weren't like any woman he had ever seen before. Her strawberry-blonde hair around her face, tucked behind her ear with a pink hibiscus flower that just seemed to look natural. Rouge was a beautiful woman with a slim body and wore simple clothes but that hadn't taken away from her beauty – if anything it happened to add even more to her beauty.

Roger than found himself remembering the fear she had showed when Dave had raised his hand to strike her. A rage of anger raced through him and he clenched his fist tightly as he tried to keep himself from loosing his temper. Now that he was away from the heat of the moment Roger was certain that Dave wouldn't have hit her because it would be stupid to do that in front of people, but he had seen people do stupid decisions all the time.

He looked around his room.

Roger let out a sigh and turned around to leave, running into another man before he exited his room.

"You need something Rayleigh?" Roger asked his first mate.

"Where have you been this entire time?" Rayleigh's voice was light hearted but it was also filled with concern. Roger knew that Rayleigh took his job seriously and he greatly appreciated that type of loyalty.

"Getting another person to join our crew."

"Why are you letting another person join our crew? Don't you think we have enough men on our crew?"

Roger smiled a little and shrugged his shoulders, knowing it would agitate his first mate even more. "She wanted to join, who was I to tell her no?"

"SHE wanted to join?"Rayleigh repeated with shock in his voice. "Why do you keep doing this things without thinking?!"

"Well, I'd like to say I was thinking, but in truth I was only partially thinking. Most of it was just a spur of the moment but I can't deny that this would make things a little more interesting for us, don't you agree?"

"Oh yeah, it'll make things more interesting that's for certain, and give me one more thing to worry about." Rayleigh let out a sigh. "Captain, don't you think that, maybe, this might not be a good idea?"

"I get a feeling that she is going to be just as important to the crew as everyone else is, that much I can tell you."

Rayleigh was quiet for a moment and Roger saw he was thinking. "Where is she then? I didn't see anyone new on the ship." Rayleigh looked around the cabin as if Roger was hiding her somewhere in the room.

"She wanted to pack some clothes, so since I caused her to lose her job I figured we could wait to leave in the morning."

"How did you make her lose her job?"

"I made her boss faint."

The laugh that escaped Rayleigh's lips made Roger grin even wider. He knew his friend would be fine with his decision.

"What happened to staying 'low key' this time Roger?"

"Well I was until I thought he was going to hit her. So I kind of lost my temper at that moment." Roger replied, his smile fading as he remembered that moment. "That's not the important thing now," Roger wanted to forget about that brief encounter. "She asked me if she could come with me and I told her she could. She looked like she was lost on that island, longing for a chance to get out of the small town and see the ocean." Roger remembered that feeling that had plagued him when he had been a child.

"Well, I think we might have one more room that we could make into a bedroom for her, since she will need her own place," Rayleigh said thoughtfully. "It'll be smaller but she'll have to make due with it."

"I knew you could figure out someplace for her to belong, if I had to we could split the lower cabins." Roger said thoughtfully as he tried to figure out the best way to situate a living situation for one woman on an entire ship of men. He did come to a realization that he hadn't planned that completely out before he agreed to let her join.

"I'll make Buggy and Shanks clean it out," Rayleigh said, having already planned it all out. "They need to get some more cleaning done anyway."

"Have they been fighting with each other again?"

"Yeah they have been fighting, but that's not really any different from how they normally are any other time."

"Then put them to work Rayleigh," Roger said with a chuckle as he tried to stifle a large yawn as he was growing tired. "Her name is Portgas D. Rouge, when I learned that I couldn't ignore the fact that there was another D. She also looked so sad and lonely there, I remember what that feeling was like."

"You have always had a soft spot for those who were lost and hurting, hell, it makes up half the crew," Rayleigh said with a chuckle and Roger nodded, his own face once more breaking into a wide smile.

"Put those boys to work, the room needs to be ready for tomorrow." Roger said, giving the command, knowing that his words would be carried out and by tomorrow morning there would be a room for Rouge to call her own.

Rouge's face came back to him at that moment, her delicate features, soft brown eyes that were framed by gentle arching brows and beautiful hair that seemed to go on forever as the wind would catch and blow around. That hair tempted any man to run his fingers through it. Roger had seen many beautiful girls but she held a certain fascination for him that no other woman had ever managed to hold on him.

Roger chuckled as he sat down in his chair in front of his desk. He leaned back and looked at a map that was pinned against the wall. He had drawn lines to places they had been around the Grandline and the different islands he had been to. A few of them held women he had laid down with on lonely nights, because being a pirate could often be lonely and it wasn't uncommon for them to find comfort with a woman of the night, but they hadn't interested him the same way that Rouge has interested him. He felt like he wanted to get to know her, but he wasn't sure if that she really wanted to get to know him in the same way that he wanted to get to know her, but that was something he would have to explore eventually.

Roger got up from his chair, feeling restless as he paced around his cabin as he tried to settle with his own inner feelings, which he had never been so conflicted and back and forth with before now, it was a little annoying.

The Roger Pirates were a large crew, and they had allied with women pirates before, but Rouge had never been off the island, Roger was willing to bet, but if you were going to do something you had to start somewhere, right?

Roger finally came to a conclusion, as a captain when he made a decision he couldn't second guess it, because if he did it would cause the crew to loose faith in him. He had cast the die and if anything Rouge had wanted to come as much as he wanted her to come. The reasons might be different, but they lead to the same result and he knew now that he would protect her as much as he protected any member of his crew and while she was with them they would help her find her strength to support the ship.

Roger leaned against the door frame and watched the happens of the deck as Shanks and Buggy were being marched by Rayleigh to the small storage room, moving the supplies that had been in there down below the deck. Buggy was grumbling and complaining but Shanks just seemed to be has happy as he always was.

Roger thought of Rouge again and tried to imagine what she would be like standing against the railing at the front of the ship. Rayleigh would try to find a way to put her to work, as everyone on the ship had to pull their weight or the ship wouldn't make it. Roger couldn't imagine her being the kind of person who would just stand around. She had worked in a tavern so she could help in the kitchen, which was a pretty big job given the size of the ship.

Roger pushed himself away from the door and finally took his long, red coat off. He hung it on the back of his door and closed it shut for the night. He sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled his boots off, tossing it to the side as he laid back, putting his arms behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. He found comfort in the gentle rocking of the ship, which was the only way he was ever able to fall asleep.

With a small grin he could hear Rayleigh shouting at the boys about doing the work right, and he doubted Rayleigh would shout at Rouge. If anyone would it would probably be Cookie in the kitchen, since that was the cook's sanctuary and he liked things to be ran a certain way, which helped keep the entire crew fed and healthy.

They would set sail tomorrow and he would find the embrace of the ocean and the comfort it gave him. The ocean always helped guide his hand and whatever would happen, once they set sail, there would be no turning back for anyone.