Ahoy pirate fans and welcome to the new chapter of the Alabasta saga! I know it's been a while and I'm SO SORRY! A year and a half is way too long but I had other projects I wanted to do. I hope what I'm about to do in the coming chaos will help make up for it. So without further ado… LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Past Ghosts and Forward Thoughts! Eyes on Warship Island!

Morning broke over the horizon as the Straw Hats prepared for the new day. The anchor was weighed, the sails unfurled, and it was almost breakfast time. Yet even though the ice had been broken with Apis, there was still the matter of what to do with her; a quandary the group was now discussing.

"We can't bring her with us," Gin insisted. "The Grand Line's gonna be dangerous enough without worrying about a little kid all the time."

"But we're not gonna drop her in the ocean!" Nami shot back.

"Well we have to do something," Zoro said. "Maybe there's an island we can drop her off at-."

BOOM!

Suddenly an explosion from the kitchen interrupted Zoro's two bits on the matter (and gave Usopp a mild heart attack).

"W-W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?," he screeched.

The door to the kitchen open and out came a ton of billowing smoke and a singed and dazed Apis.

"Hey are you okay?" Sanji asked as Apis got her wits back together.

"Yeah, I just finished cooking breakfast! Come and get it everyone!" she replied enthusiastically.

The 'food' as she called it was remarkably awful looking. It was literally burnt to ashes and was black as coal. You can imagine then the reluctance of most of the crew (sans Luffy of course) as the stared at Apis' culinary 'creation'.

"You, uh… you made this all by yourself huh?" Nami asked carefully to which Apis nodded cheerfully.

"It looks quite uh... unique!... yeah heh heh." Usopp added nervously.

"I wanted to do something to help you, after all you guys rescued me and gave me food and shelter," Apis explained as Sanji looked to the sink and saw seven warped dishes! (An omen, I'm sure you'd agree.)

Still the girl meant naught but to help, a fact that Nami nervously thanked her for before a rude comment was made by…

"This can't seriously be food," said Tactless Wonder aka Zoro. (Bingo)

STOMP!

His careless comment earned him a high heel to his foot courtesy of Nami who proceeded to shove the whole plate into his mouth whispering angrily to just get it over with. Despite the overall reluctance the rest of the crew began to eat smaller bites to try it.

Five seconds later….

"AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHHHH!"

Five of the six Straw Hats had their mouths burning like a kerosene fire! Sanji barely contained his scream as everyone except Luffy chugged down water like it was the last day of their lives. Flabbergasted, Apis wondered if her creation was really that awful and took a small bite herself… she regretted it.

"YEEOOUUCH! THAT'S WAY TOO SPICY! I MUST'VE USED THE WRONG SEASONING!" she wailed.

"Don't worry that's a common mistake. Now you'll know which one to avoid next time," Sanji reassured her as he regained his own composure before turning a stern eye to his crewmates.

"Don't anyone of you dare think of leaving this table until you finish your plate."

"WHAAT!" Usopp explained as he and Zoro glared with horror at Sanji.

"Burnt or not, Apis went out of her way too make this for us. And trust me when I say food is food here on the sea," Gin said as he continued to eat through his tears and burning throat.

"Although I think a round of wine might help a little Sanji," he requested.

"That'll be fine. Just make sure Usopp and Mosshead follow your example", Sanji responded before Apis spoke up with her head bowed in shame.

"I'm sorry. I know I messed up, I just wanted to do something to repay you for your kindness."

"Don't worry Apis, no one's mad at you," Nami assured her with a smile as Sanji returned with a bottle of wine.

"How about you let me handle the food from now on," he suggested as the rest of the crew finished the botched meal (and marveled as Luffy finished his plated WITHOUT anything to drink).

Five minutes later as the dished were rinsing in the sink the conversation turned to just how Apis ended up floated aimlessly in the ocean. When Apis told them she escaped a Marine ship during a storm a couple days ago, the Straw Hats instantly began questioning why the Marines were so interested in a little kid. The little girl's refusal to answer only made some of them ask more until Sanji stepped in.

"Back off guys. If she doesn't want to tell us she doesn't have to."

"Yes, I agree," Nami said. "But could you at least us where you come from?"

"I-it's a place called Warship Island."

PPFFFFTT!

All heads turned to a wide-eyes Gin who was drinking a cup wine, now covered in it back out in surprise mid sip.

"What the hell Gin!" Usopp shouted. "All she said was the name of her island!"

Though Gin didn't answer, Nami redirected everyone's attention by pulling out a small map of the East Blue. After looking for a few seconds she showed everyone just where Warship Island was.

"Here it is right on the edge of the Grand Line," she said pointing to the island.

"Wow! It looks just like a warship!" Luffy said excitedly.

"And it's not that far from our course," Usopp added.

Nami suggested to Apis that they could bring her home before heading out, making the young girl quiver with hope. But not wanting to seem selfish, instead suggested they let her off on the first passenger ship they saw… a request that was shot down immediately. Being pirates meant that any ship they tried to get close to would fire on them in blind fear.

"We're on no one's time but our own. It's really no big deal to make a small detour, right dear Captain?"

Nami said turning to Luffy with a knowing smile.

"Shishishi. Oh yeah, we can definitely take a detour. Besides I want to see this island up close," Luffy answered with his trademark smile.

As the rest of the crew made similar remarks of approval, Apis began to jump up and down in sheer joy! After all, she was finally going home after so long at sea. The rest of the crew smiled at her jubilation until she said…

"I'll prepare ton of dishes for everyone as thanks!"

"NO! THAT OKAY!" everyone shouted hastily.

That is, everyone except Luffy (who saw nothing wrong with the last dish) and Gin who still had a faraway look in his eyes.

'Warship Island," he thought with a slight shudder.

'I wonder if you're still there… Bridget.'

At about this same time, in a totally different location, Smoker and his crew were sailing into the Grand Line in preparation of confronting the Straw Hats again. Though they were doing so without official permission from Marine HQ, things aboard were going routine… except for one thing. One person rather; the swordswoman Tashigi. Many of the sailors including Smoker himself were baffled at the Master Chief Petty Officer's near 180-degree shift in behavior. Whereas before she would be taking umbridge at nearly anything she could possibly perceive, and so scatterbrained she would literally trip on her own feet, this Tashigi had the cold, unbreakable focus of a woman with a mission. Previously she would spend all her free time cataloging her personal collection of swords and ranting to herself about them being in the hands of criminals and bounty hunters. Now she every second of free time training with her own sword, Shigure, slowly developing a more unique fighting style. Even more odd was her curt response when ask about said shift in demeanor.

"I have a promise to keep, and I'll die before I break it."

Most of the troops quickly assumed that it was a response to her confrontation with Zoro, wanting to avenge her 'unfair' defeat against the pirate hunter. Smoker, however, was not so easily assuaged. He was certain something about his protégé was changing inside and had been changing since that day at Loguetown. Though the Marine Captain was not one to give the supernatural much thought, he wondered if the swordswoman had seen a ghostly image similar to the ones he'd glimpsed just before the mysterious Dragon had saved Straw Hat.

Little did he know how right he was… how another vision the night of that storm had changed Tashigi… by shocking her to the core!

An ominous feeling hung in the cold and densely foggy air as the swordswoman Tashigi stumbled about in an equally dense daze. As she struggled to take in her surroundings, she noticed there seemed to be no end to the eerie purple and green fog that blanketed the area, nor could she see the sky nor the…ground?

"WHAT THE HELL!?" she screamed with a start as she realized she was floating in an endless foggy zone!

Now thoroughly disturbed, Tashigi snapped her head left and right rapidly in a panic trying to wrap her mind around her current situation. And her lack of comprehension of where she was became aggravated even further by a semi-mocking female voice coming from behind her.

"Took you long enough to come out of your daze."

Tashigi whipped around to see a young girl with a scowl on her face… the same girl that appeared during her confrontation with Roronoa!

"Who are you and why did you stop me from putting Roronoa in his place," she demanded earning a glare that nearly made her flinch.

"First of all, you didn't put anyone in their 'place'! the girl snapped. "You lost pathetically to someone you know nothing about. Second, you know damn well who I am, or did you forget all about your look-a-like cousin?"

THAT made the older girl freeze from head to toe!

"N-no… i-it…it can't be!" "K-Kuina!?" she stuttered with eyes of glass.

"Yep. Hiya cuz."

"B-b-but how? I.. I thought you were dead," Tashigi said through the forming tears.

Kuina's smirk and scowl softened into a sad and gentle frown as she looked at her older cousin.

"I did die Tashi. What you're seeing is just a spectral image inside your mind. I'm sorry about slapping you but it was the only way to get you to stop plus I needed to connect with you to explain a few things."

"About Roronoa?"

"Yes."

Now realizing Kuina knew Zoro and that she may have had the man all wrong, Tashigi wiped the tears from her eyes and adopted a soft but stern expression as she addressed the ghost of her younger cousin.

"Alright Kuina," she said gently. "What is it you needed to tell me?"

"Well first and foremost, Zoro is anything but sexist. In fact, he's the one that snapped me out of my depression when my father told me being a girl was detrimental to swordsmanship."

"What!? Master Koushirou said that?" Tashigi exclaimed in disgust with Kuina nodding in bitter acknowledgement.

"My father always meant well, and I love him, but he's too set in his own ways to recognize the flaw in his views. After beating Zoro for the 2001th time I told Zoro of my own fear regarding my gender. But instead of agreeing with it, he got mad and told me that if he ever beat me it would be due to a difference in skill and NOT in sex."

Tashigi closed her eyes and lowered her head as a feeling of shame bubbled up inside her.

'I guess I misjudge him,' she thought before looking up in confusion.

"But then why was he using his swords for evil," she asked.

Her rather poor choice of words earned her a highly incredulous glare from the younger girl.

"Seriously? Bounty hunting is considered evil now? He needed food that cost money. It's called surviving! The only other option would be to get a job and I can tell you THAT would've ended in disaster."

"That bad at following orders?" Tashigi asked.

"Let's just say there were more than a few people on our island that outright banned Zoro from their kitchens," Kuina responded with a wryly smirk.

The two girls laughed a little at that before Kuina continued

"After we parted ways, I went home to get a sharpening rock for my sword, Wado Ichimonji."

Tashigi's eyes went wide.

"That's right I know of your obsession with the blade," Kuina sneered. "Eyeing swords like collectibles… WAKE UP! Swords are weapons not trinkets of art!"

The older girl felt like a child being chastised by her mother. She had forgotten just how fierce Kuina was when angered.

"Anyway, it was on route to get the stone that it happened," Kuina continued after calming down. "That last fight was with real swords rather than training poles, and both of us were exhausted afterwards. Of all the possible times for the fatigue to take full effect, it happened on my way down the stairs. My foot missed a step causing me too… well you can guess."

Both girls' eyes once again welled up with tears upon recounting this tragic tale, but Kuina wasn't done and she struggled to continue through her own sadness.

"My death… it hit Zoro very hard. He was sad, he was angry, he struggled to accept that I was gone just after making that vow. To him … and me as well…dying after making a promise is the same as running away from said promise, regardless of how it happened."

She paused to looked at her grieving guilty cousin half expecting an accusatory remark, but Tashigi was far from willing to do so now so she continued.

"After the funeral Zoro made a vow of his own to himself, me and father. He begged father to be given the Wado Ichimonji, promising to use it along with his own swords to become the world's greatest swordsman… for both of us."

Despite floating in a void Tashigi had sunk to her knees as this new information hit her like a train. Some part of her had been in denial that this really was Kuina taking to her. Scolding her. Such doubts were long gone now as everything about this girl, her mannerisms, her speech, even her emotions were exactly how Kuina always was, and that meant only one thing…

"I guess I really had him all wrong," Tashigi said sadly.

"VERY wrong," Kuina snapped.

Tashigi noticeably flinched at her tone; she was obviously still angry with her for her attitude towards her childhood friend.

"What can I do to make it up to you?" she asked in a repentant tone and a bow that softened Kuina's face.

The girl stared at her older cousin for a few seconds before issuing her instructions.

"I want you to get stronger."

Surprised and baffled, Tashigi looked up as the younger girl explained.

"As a Marine you can't allow any pirate to roam free, but as a swordswoman you fall woefully short of posing any challenge to Zoro never mind the whole crew. He will only get stronger from here on out, he must if he plans to travel the Grand Line. So, you need to up your training as well. Make sure the next time you confront him you do so as a fellow swordsman, not some whiny hypocrite who uses her gender as an excuse for everything! If you want to be taken seriously, then prove you're a force to be reckoned with! And most importantly…STOP USING MY EXPRESSIONS!"

Tashigi almost laughed at the last command, it really was what she was doing with Zoro in Logue Town. She wiped her tears with a smile on her face and determination in her eyes as she stood up.

"Understood. I'll get started first thing in the morning," she said firmly. "I only hope It'll be enough for you to forgive me for insulting you and your childhood."

That was when the anger vanished from Kuina's face to be replaced by a look of sadness and pain; pain that she could never interact with the mortal world and be with the ones she behind. Without warning she surged straight at Tashigi enveloping her stunned cousin in a hug.

"No Tashi, don't do this for me,' Kuina wept. "Do this for yourself. I can't stand to see you held back by a such a chip on your shoulder! Just promise me you'll never think like that again. Gender doesn't matter, only your skills and determination will make your dream come true."

"M-my dream?"

"Yes. Do this for your dream. Keep collecting high grade swords if you want, but you only get one life. Make! It! Count!"

Kuina's powerful words pierced Tashigi heart like a bullet from a rifle. She was pleaded…BEGGING HER not to do this for her. She wanted her to live her life to the fullest. She wanted her to do this not to earn the forgiveness of the dead, but to achieve her goal with her own strength; something Kuina no longer do. The swordswoman wrapped her arms around her crying cousin in a strong hug and amended her vow.

"I will," she said through her own tears. "I'll get stronger and I WILL make sure that the next time Zoro and I cross blades, it will be a battle of honor."

At last Kuina smiled a true smile as she separated from Tashigi. Both girls knew their meeting was coming to an end as the fog around them began to fade to white.

"Good-bye, Kuri. And thank you" Tashigi said, uttering her the nickname as her cousin faded from sight.

"You're welcome Tashi. Good luck."

As the area faded from white to black, Tashigi open her still tear-filled eyes as she woke from her dream. The swordswoman knew though, that was no ordinary dream. Somehow her long dead cousin had reached her from the great beyond to deliver a message. A message that reignited a fire that had long been extinguished by years of ridicule and a jaded outlook on life. It was this fateful encounter from two nights ago that had Tashigi training like a woman possessed. She did not tell anyone of this, knowing few if any would believe her. Not that it mattered, for she would not stop until she fulfilled her vow… or died trying.

Meanwhile back on the Going Merry…

"GUYS GET OUT HERE! IT'S THE MARINES!"

Usopp's cry of alarm had the entire crew leaving the dining hall to see an entire fleet heading right toward them! As the ships moved closer another cry of alarm came from their child passenger.

"THAT'S MARINE BRANCH 8! THEY'RE THE ONES THAT KIDNAPPED ME!" Apis cried.

THAT had everyone on ever higher alert. It looked like the marines had come back to take Apis back into custody.

"They're not taking you again kid," Gin growled as he held his tonfas in a defensive position in front of the girl.

"Yeah, these bastards are gonna sink to the ocean floor," Luffy confirmed as he, Zoro and Sanji got into their battle stances.

What they didn't know was there was a bigger threat aboard the lead ship. Commodore Nelson's assassin Eric was with them! Eric was determined to recapture Apis and was very condescending to Lieutenant Commander Hardy. To him there was nothing more important than getting what he wanted. But just as all cannons were aimed at the Merry something happened that stopped them cold. Suddenly, the Merry started hurling in a particular direction that made Hardy order an about face. Eric didn't like that

"Do you want to answer to Commodore Nelson!?" he threatened. "I don't care what's in that direction, that girl is too important!"

"And I don't care how loud and long you yell!" Hardy shot back. "I won't damn my men to the depths of the sea to satisfy your selfish need! All accept the Commodore's punishment, whatever it may be, but this chase it over!"

Eric seethed over the Commander's 'idiocy', unaware of just how lucky he was…

The Straw Hats had opted to flee instead when Apis had mentioned a massive breeze was coming, information that strangely seemed to come from a bird perched on one of the Merry's supports. Ludicrous though it sounded, Nami chose to take the chance, feeling is was better to try to outrun them (much to Luffy's chagrin). It seemed like a good idea… until the sails fell flat the water became stagnant.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGH!"

Nami's scream everyone's attention to her horrified face!

"What's wrong Nami?"

"WHAT'S WRONG!? WE'RE SCREWED THAT'S WHAT! WE'VE ENTERED THE CALM BELT!"

Phew! That was a long one! I hope you guys enjoy it. Once again, I'm sorry it's been so long but I hope this was worth it. See you next time!