I don't own One Piece. If I did, Ace would be alive.

Zoro frowned as he glanced towards his silent traveling companion. He wasn't sure what had made him invite the boy along. His way of life would probably get the kid killed, but something about him made the swordsman uneasy about leaving him back at that marine base. Maybe it was the way he'd stood in front of the marines who were ordered to shoot him, not making the slightest effort to move or get away. Maybe it was because he'd gotten Zoro's swords back for him. Maybe it was that blank expression on his face, or the almost non-existent look of confusion that would cross his face when someone patted his shoulder.

He didn't know. All he knew was that something in his gut was demanding he take the kid somewhere else. Zoro was sure he'd be able to find someone else to take care of him at the next island. For now, though, he was stuck with whoever the kid was. Scowling, he realized he didn't even know the kid's name.

"Oi, kid." The younger boy turned to look at him, eyes directed towards the bottom of their little boat rather than looking the swordsman in the eye. "What's your name?" His scowl deepened when he didn't get an answer. "Well? I can't just call you kid all the time. What's your name?" The kid didn't move and didn't answer. Zoro wasn't sure if it was because he didn't know his name, or if he couldn't speak. He couldn't exactly ask the kid to write it, seeing as how he didn't have paper with him. Or anything to write with.

Deciding he'd deal with it later, the green haired male laid back against the boat and closed his eyes. He needed a nap.

Nami glanced at her two companions, guilt settling into her stomach as she caught sight of the bruises and scars. The green haired one was Pirate Hunter Roranoa Zoro. She figured he could handle Buggy and his men. She hadn't meant for the other kid to get so hurt. She hadn't even seen him until Zoro had said something. How was she supposed to know the feared demon had a kid traveling with him? And the kid didn't even bother to move when the pirates were about to kill him! She wasn't sure if it was trust that Zoro would protect him, or if he was just an idiot.

Either way, she still felt bad that it was because she'd asked for their help that he'd gotten so hurt. At least Zoro had agreed to her traveling with them after she said she'd patch them up. She'd tried talking to the kid while bandaging his cuts, but was met with nothing but silence. She hoped Zoro would have been able to explain, but apparently, he'd only met the kid a few days before she'd run into them. That had surprised Nami, since the pirate hunter had seemed rather protective of the younger male while they were fighting Buggy.

"We're a few days from the next island. We should be able to resupply there." Zoro grunted in reply, looking for all the world like he was about to sleep. The kid didn't even react, sitting curled at the front of the little boat he and Zoro were sharing. He seemed so small. Nami wondered how old he was. Probably no older than fourteen if she had to guess. With a sigh, the navigator went into the cabin of the small ship she'd taken from Buggy to recount her treasure. There was no need for her to get attached if she was just going to leave them anyway.

Usopp had been so excited to start on his adventure to become a real pirate. The strange people who had helped save his village had agreed to give him a lift to a more populated town so he could either find a crew to join or start his own. Kaya had even given him a ship! Although, technically she'd given it to the others. He wondered if they'd be willing to part with it.

"So where are we headed?"

Nami smiled and gestured towards the horizon. "We agreed to get you somewhere you could start on your pirate journey." Usopp got the feeling she wasn't as happy about that as he was. "The best place to do that is probably Logue Town. It's near the entrance to the Grand Line, so there're bound to be a lot of pirates who stop by."

"I've heard of that place! It's where the Pirate King was executed, right?" Nami nodded.

"It's also known as the town of beginnings and endings for that reason. We can drop you off there while we resupply." Usopp nodded. He'd be sad to leave them, but now that he's finally set sail, nothing will stop him from becoming a brave warrior of the sea like his father!

He faltered a little when he saw the kid on his hands and knees, scrubbing at the deck from the corner of his eyes. Usopp didn't know what to think about him. The kid didn't speak, didn't react to anything, and always seemed like he was spacing out. When he'd asked, Nami had just shrugged and said Zoro had picked him up before she'd met them. The sniper didn't think Zoro was the type of person who would pick up random kids and whisk them away from their home, but when he'd asked the swordsman had just said he'd promised to find someone to take care of him on his way.

"Hey, kid," He hoped the boy would tell them their name soon. It was weird referring to someone as kid or you all the time. "You don't have to do that; the ship is brand new." He didn't get a response as the kid continued as though he hadn't heard him.

Going over to where he was cleaning, Usopp knelt and put his hand on the kid's, making him stop. "It's okay." He gently tugged the rag – which looked suspiciously like part of the shirt he was wearing – out of the boy's hands. "You don't have to do that." The kid just continued to stare down at his hands. Getting up, he gave the kid one last glance before making his way back to Nami and Zoro. The redhead was frowning in thought, and the green haired male had one eye partly open to watch the kid before it slid back closed and he appeared to go back to sleep.

Before he could ask why the kid felt the need to scrub the new, clean deck, Nami walked past him. Turning to see what had caught her interest, he frowned at the sight of the boy once again scrubbing at the deck, his shirt obviously torn now. He kept silent as Nami proceeded to take the rag from the kid's hands and explain how he didn't have to clean. Usopp wasn't sure if the kid was even understanding what the navigator was saying.

He didn't get a chance to voice his thoughts when Zoro opened his eyes. "Kid," he waited until the boy turned to look at him, "Come here." It was silent as the boy made his way over to the swordsman. The green haired male pat the deck right next to him. "Sit." Once he was seated, Zoro wound an arm around the scarily thin waist to keep him there. Usopp didn't know why, but something about this entire situation made him feel uneasy.

Nami smiled as she watched the long-nosed male moving about the kitchen. "I didn't know you could cook Usopp."

"Of course! The great captain Usopp can do anything! Why, kings and queens have been begging me to cook for them for ages!" The navigator rolled her eyes but didn't comment. She was preoccupied by thoughts of the kid. She'd seen the old scars when she'd bandaged him earlier, and from where he'd ripped his shirt for a makeshift rag. There were a lot. Too many to count, and that was only from the bit she'd seen.

It made her wonder, was it his parents? His family? Were they so abusive he ran away? Or did they throw him out? Maybe it was some relatives? Or maybe he was an orphan? He could have been kidnapped as well. If he was, was his family looking for him? Were the people who took him still after him? How long had it been going on?

There were too many questions and no answers. She'd tried asking the kid, but he'd kept his silence. And that made her wonder if he could speak at all. Maybe he was mute. Or maybe Usopp was right and he didn't understand what they were saying. Unless he couldn't hear them? Groaning inwardly as more and more questions surfaced, the navigator rubbed her temples to ward off the incoming headache.

She shouldn't even be worrying about this. She was going to ditch them as soon as she could, take the money she'd stolen from Buggy and add it to her collection. She was getting so close to being done. Just a few hundred more and she could finally buy back her village. Then she wouldn't have to 'work' for Arlong anymore. She'd be free do travel the seas and work towards her dream of mapping out the world.

Taking a deep breath, she put aside thoughts of her dream. She could think about it and get excited about it after Arlong was gone and her village was safe. As much as the small group was growing on her, she knew she couldn't stay with them. Strong as Zoro was, she didn't want to put the kid in harm's way again, and Usopp was the strongest or bravest person alive. And if Arlong found out she was sailing with them? He'd sink the ship and kill them all. She couldn't live with that. Not after they'd helped her. She had to leave. Once they got to Logue Town, while the others were distracted, she'd take the ship and head out.

Turning away from her plans as a plate was set in front of her, Nami thanked the sniper and took a bite. "It's good, thanks Usopp."

"Of course! My food is the best in the world! All other chefs cower-"

"Don't push it, I said it's good, but I've had better." Usopp wilted but stopped nonetheless. Opening the door to the galley, the sniper called the other two in to eat. It was nice, eating with others. It almost reminded her of when she was younger – before Arlong came – when she would eat with Nojiko and Belemere.

Looking at the others making their way to the table, she smiled a little. It wasn't the same, but it was still better than eating alone – or with Arlong and his crew.

Nami was halfway through her meal when she noticed the kid wasn't eating. His eyes were staring blankly at the food in front of him as though he didn't know what it was, hands in his lap, and making no move to eat. She looked up and nudged Usopp's and Zoro's legs under the table, tilting her head towards the kid when they looked – glared, in the swordsman's case – at her. With his shirt ripped from where he'd torn it for rags to clean with, it was painfully obvious he was severely underweight. Nami could easily count his ribs from her spot at the table.

It hurt, seeing someone so young suffering like this. "What's wrong?" She kept her voice quiet, unable to speak much louder lest her voice start wavering. "Aren't you hungry?" The boy didn't move. "You probably haven't eaten in a long time, but it's okay. You can eat now. Nobody's going to stop you."

"Damn it! I'm such an idiot!" Nami glanced over at the sniper who was gripping the sides of his head. "I can't believe I forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Zoro's eyes narrowed slightly on the long-nosed male.

"Kaya!" Nami wasn't amused. How could he be thinking of a girl right now? Usopp noticed her expression and shook his head. "No, I mean, when Kaya lost her parents she got really depressed and didn't eat much of anything for a while. There were some days she didn't eat anything at all. It's part of the reason she was bedridden. She told me that when she was feeling up to eating again, she had to do it in small amounts at a time. I didn't understand why at first, but she told me that if she had started eating normal meals after basically starving herself, she could have made herself even worse." He gestured to the kid who still hadn't moved. "I don't think it's that he doesn't want to eat, I think it's that he can't eat. He's probably been starved for so long anything he eats gets thrown right back up."

"And you just remember this now?"

The sniper flinched at the growl in the green haired male's voice but glared back. "She told me this a long time ago! You can't expect me to remember everything I was told!"

Nami glared at them both. "Now's not the time! Usopp, can't you just make something else for him? Something he can eat?"

The sniper shook his head sadly. "I only know how to make a few things, and he wouldn't be able to keep any of them down."

"What are we going to do then? We can't just let him starve to death!"

"Maybe we can find a doctor who can help us."

"We're another few days from Logue Town at least. We don't know how long the kid's gone without food – what if he can't make it that long?

Usopp and Zoro frowned, neither liking the thought of the kid starving to death. "Why don't we just turn around and go back to your village? There's a doctor there, right?"

The sniper shook his head at the swordsman. "There is, but it's a small village. He probably doesn't know how to help with a case this bad. Kaya only went a day or two without eating anything at all – Merry got her to eat at least a little bit otherwise."

Zoro was the one to break the tense silence that had settled after Usopp's statement. "Nami, is Logue Town the only island that could have a doctor that would know how to treat this?"

The navigator thought about that. There were islands closer, but from her knowledge they all had small towns or villages the size of Usopp's. Logue Town was the closest island that had a big enough town to reasonably find a doctor knowledgeable enough to be able to help. It also had a large amount of people going to and from said island, meaning the doctors there had probably seen a lot more types of illnesses than the other islands they could go to.

Finally, she shook her head. "Logue Town is our best bet to find a doctor who might know what to do."

The green haired male nodded. "Then we'll go as fast as we can and hope we make it on time."

Sanji, for all his talk about leaving one day and becoming a better chef than Zeff and finding the All Blue, never really imagined actually leaving the restaurant. Let alone this early. But then his sweet Nami-swan had entered and asked for the head chef, worry in her eyes and snapping at him for wasting her time flirting. He'd reluctantly gone to get Zeff, part of him realizing whatever she wanted to ask was serious.

When he'd heard she had someone – a child – on her ship that they'd found starved and asked if they could help, all thoughts of flirting went out the window. Zeff had told her to bring him in and when Sanji finally laid eyes on the child, he was violently reminded of what he'd looked like after finally getting off that godforsaken rock with the old geezer.

Zeff had brought them upstairs, not wanting the other diners to stare, and Sanji didn't even wait to be told before heading to the kitchen. When the green headed brute who called himself Nami-swan's companion had seen nothing but a glass of milk in his hands, he'd accused them of not knowing what they were doing. If the old timer hadn't cut in and explained why they were only offering a glass of milk to the starved child, Sanji would have killed him.

Nami-swan, the kid, and the mules they were with were allowed to anchor their boat and stay until the poor kid could at least eat a bit. The geezer refused to charge them for it, saying it was a chef's duty to feed those who were hungry. A few days later, the old man had told them the kid had probably been a slave. Sanji wanted to kill the bastards for starving a child like that – nobody should be subjected to that – and for making Nami-swan cry when she found out.

When Don Kreig showed up demanding food and their restaurant, Sanji and the other chefs had stepped up to stop him. Unfortunately, the bastard had some annoying tricks to that gaudy armor of his and decided that since they wouldn't give their restaurant to him, he'd destroy it instead.

And then Mihawk had appeared.

The idiot moss head just had to go and challenge him, getting himself nearly cut in half after doing so. The long-nosed idiot had pulled him into the small boat they were in and yelled to Sanji they'd be back for the kid once they found Nami-sawn and their boat. The fucking idiots probably didn't even realize Kreig could have killed them all. No doubt would have been safer with them than leaving him with Sanji and the other cooks.

All said and done though, it was a good thing they had left the kid. If it hadn't been for him, the restaurant would have been destroyed and everyone killed. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but one minute the kid was behind him and Zeff, and the next he was in front of Kreig and punching him so hard the man flew overboard where the armor he'd been so proud of dragged him to the bottom. Kreig's crew had gone after him, managing to save him, and would have continued their assault had Mihawk – Sanji swore he watched the man sail away after almost killing that sorry excuse of a swordsman – not finished off what remained of Kreig's ship (thankfully after they'd gotten the kid back to the restaurant), leaving them nowhere to fight. They'd cursed and swore revenge on the restaurant and Mihawk as they swam away.

Sanji had seen the boy staring at the hand he'd punched Kreig with as though he didn't know what it was. Zeff had reasoned the kid had moved on instinct rather than making the conscious choice to help. The blond wasn't sure, but he knew that if the kid could punch Kreig that hard while still weak from starvation, then he was probably a monster when at full strength.

When Zeff had asked Mihawk why he'd come back, the swordsman had simply replied he'd decided he was tired of his provisions and made the decision to eat at the restaurant instead. Sanji wouldn't put it past the man who'd sunk a fleet of ships because he was bored. The old man then had the gall to kick Sanji out while telling him to take the boy to his friends. The blond was pissed at the geezer, but he understood what wasn't said.

The kid needed a cook – one who knew what he was doing when it came to reintroducing food to a starved individual – wherever he was going or he wouldn't last. And while he trusted Nami-swan to look out for the boy, he didn't trust the other two not to screw him up worse.

So now here they were, sailing off in the direction they'd seen the others leave in hours earlier. It was pure luck they managed to fish out Johnny, one of the two idiotic bounty hunters that had come in with Nami-swan, who was able to direct them to the right island.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, the cook placed a small bowl of soup in front of the kid – and damn if it didn't piss him the fuck off that there was no name for him, he'd have to talk to Nami-swan about giving him one. "Eat what you can, whatever you don't finish will go to that idiot." He jerked a thumb back towards Johnny, who was more interested in fishing than listening to what he was saying.

As much as Sanji despised wasting food, he knew better than to force the kid to eat more than what he was able to. He'd made the mistake of just telling him to eat their first day at sea and had spent the next few hours cursing himself as the kid finished the whole bowl and then proceeded to throw it all back up.

If Sanji ever found out who the bastards where that had the kid before, he'd show them what he thought about them starving a child.

Nami felt her anger at the paper in her hands was justified. Thirty million. Thirty. Million. That's the price they put on the poor kid's head when he didn't do anything except save her and her village. That damn rat who had been in Arlong's pocket for years had put a bounty on the kid who defeated the pirate, and then that the nerve to label that same kid a pirate as well.

She'd been surprised when Zoro and Usopp had shown up at her village – the former with a serious wound that hadn't been there when she'd left. She'd been angry when the blond from the restaurant had shown up with the kid in tow. Arlong was going to kill him, and the kid had been through more than enough already. So when the rat bastard had taken the money she'd been saving all this time, she had, admittedly, snapped. She'd yelled, screamed, cried, and finally begged the people she'd been sailing with for help. She couldn't go back to work for Arlong after he did this. She couldn't.

The navigator hadn't known what to expect – Arlong was a lazy bastard who had his subordinates do all the work for him, but he was a fishman and a lot stronger than normal humans. So when she arrived at Arlong Park after calming down, she was surprised to find it in ruins. Zoro and Sanji were collapsed on the ground, both bleeding and completely worn out. Usopp, who was a little ways back, was roughed up and exhausted as well. All the fishmen were unconscious, and Arlong was missing. Nami's heart skipped a beat when she realized the kid was gone too.

Before she could ask her older sister what had happened, her desk – the one she'd been forced to work at until her hand bled – flew out from the room that had been her prison all these years. Tears once more gathered and fell as she watched all those damned maps fly through the air. How many times had she imagined this. How many times had she wished she could destroy her cage and finally be free?

And just when she thought everything was over, Arlong came flying out with his nose broken and completely unconscious. The kid she'd been terrified Arlong would kill fell from the hole in the building, saved from a landing that would have killed him by some of the villagers.

When Nami caught a glimpse of the boy as they villagers took him to the doctor, she'd thought he was dead. There was so much blood, his face was a mass of bruises and cuts that made identifying him all the harder.

She'd stayed nearby the whole time he was being operated on, and sat by his side as he slept. This boy, who'd been a slave for who knows how long, who was starved to the point he was almost a walking skeleton, who didn't – wouldn't? couldn't? – speak, and who had probably been hurt more than anyone else she knew, had been the one to destroy the chains Arlong had on her. Nami knew that no matter what happened, no matter how much she tried, she could never repay him for that.

And now because he'd saved her village, because he'd saved her, the marines were going to be hunting him down.

"So what are we going to do now?" She looked up at the sniper, raising an eyebrow, and he elaborated. "The marines think the kid's a pirate, they're going to keep coming after him. Not to mention bounty hunters! I know he took down Arlong, but he almost died doing so!"

"Besides," Sanji exhaled a cloud of smoke as he came over, offering Nami a chilled drink, "if we stay with him, we'll be labeled pirates as well. I don't know what anyone else is thinking, but I'm not gonna leave the kid. He'd probably go back to being starved if I did, and I don't trust any other two-bit chef out there to know what they're doing when it comes to feeding him – or getting him to actually eat for that matter."

The cook's voice was bitter, but Nami could understand. The kid never ate unless everyone else was finished first, and even then he wouldn't until most – if not all – of them left. If Nami had to guess, she'd say it was ingrained in him – he couldn't eat until everyone else was finished and left. It made her sick. And even then Sanji had to tell – she refused to call it a command – the boy to eat before he would. If it upset her this much, she could only imagine how horrible it made the blond feel.

"I don't want to be a pirate," Nami said slowly, "But if being a pirate means staying with him, then I suppose I don't have a choice. Besides, you all wouldn't make it to the next island without me."

Usopp scratched the back of his head. "I set out to become a pirate in the first place, so if we're gonna be pirates now, then I have no reason to leave."

Nami turned to the sleeping swordsman. "What about you mister pirate hunter?"

The green haired male cracked an eye open and yawned. "My only goal is to be the world's greatest swordsman. It doesn't matter whether it's with the law or against it."

"Well, since we're pirates, I suppose we need a flag."

Usopp nodded to himself, glad to see the wounds Arlong had given the kid were healing well. Nami had gotten some sedatives from the doctor along with painkillers, not wanting the kid to deal with the pain and knowing he wouldn't tell them if it hurt. The sedatives were to make sure he got some actual rest – they'd learned early on in their travels together that even if they could get him to stay in the bed, as he had a habit of leaving once the rest were asleep to clean, he wouldn't sleep unless he passed out.

Both he and Nami had explained to the kid what they were giving him and what it would do, giving him enough time to refuse if he wanted. They'd been careful to watch for any sign – even tiny ones – that the idea of the drugs made him uncomfortable, but found none. It gave them hope that drugs weren't something that had been used to hurt him.

While the doctor – Usopp had learned so many names that night it was hard to keep track of who was who – had wanted them to stay until the kid was fully healed, Zoro had made the call that once his smaller wounds had healed and he was up for travel they would leave. Everyone had protested at first, not wanting to leave until the kid was fully healed and had a proper checkup afterwards, but looking back now the sniper understood why the swordsman had made that call. That rat freak of a marine had been in Arlong's pocket – it only made sense he would be upset and have some form of retaliation. And the longer they stayed, the easier targets they'd be. Not to mention the village would also be in danger once again.

That was why when Nami had brought up the question of who the captain would be, no matter how much he bragged about being the great captain Usopp, he'd honestly thought it would be Zoro. Only the swordsman had refused. He didn't want to be the captain – and Sanji sure as hell refused to serve under him. Nami shot him down and refused being the captain herself. The cook didn't even pause before refusing. He and Zoro – in a rare show of agreement – had said they already had a captain.

Usopp supposed it was only fair. If it hadn't been for the kid, none of them would be here – even if he was only there because Zoro had found him. Besides, he was the only one with a bounty – the only reason they were now pirates in the first place.

Keeping that in mind, the sniper had drawn a few designs for their new flag. It had taken a bit or arguing, but they had finally settled on a simple scull over crossbones with a scar under the scull's left eye. Behind it was the word Lost – Nami's addition after Zoro had said it wasn't very distinctive. Sanji had said to put something in the background and that had been the end result.

Because that's what their new captain was – lost. He'd endured only god knows what for who knows how long, only to somehow escape into a world he probably knew nothing about. And now he was struggling to understand that things were different. He didn't have to clean all the time. He wouldn't ever be starved. And nobody on the crew would hurt him.

Seeing his new captain's eyes scrunch up slightly before opening, Usopp smiled. He'd find himself one day, and his crew would stick with him until he did.

Don't ask where this idea came from, because I have no idea. It just popped into my head one day and demanded to be written. Let me know what you thought and if you want more, because I could just leave it at this.