See. There is a ship that has departed from that shore. It is a familiar ship - the voices and smiles, the mark on its sail, and the boy who stands laughing at its prow are all known by those people, the people from that shore.

But say there is another ship. There is but one voice that sleeps in it, and it does not have a mark on its sail, not yet. But the same wind is filling its broad white cloth, and the same waves have already begun to tease at the hull still resting on the sand. And with the same eager joy as the ship of that other sea, if you look away one moment, it will have left this shore without you.

Look - see - it is setting sail.

She gritted her teeth. The heat, the thirst, the indignity were dull pains in the back of her mind, like the bruises from the wooden post pressed tight against her back by rough rope coils, but she could bear it, she was almost done. Just a few more days now.

Low, rapid hissing sounded behind her; and then a yelp of panic. She jerked her head around, trying to see. The angle of the post constrained her movements, though.

"Are you crazy!? Get back here! You'll die!" someone squealed in a high-pitched voice she didn't recognize.

Footfalls behind her. Someone had jumped over the wall? Not the little girl, these steps were broader, almost jaunty. Two strangers, then. One on the other side of the wall, one coming rapidly closer. She ran her tongue over her parched lips and tensed in preparation for danger.

A boy trotted around to face her, into her line of view. He stopped when his eyes were level with hers.

And the first thing she ever heard him say was: "Hello! I'm the man who's going to be the Pirate King. It's very nice to meet you!"

He held his hat in place as he bowed into a perfect 90 degree angle. When he stood straight again, he shook out the loose black hair from his face and grinned broadly.

She blinked, the thoughts in her mind running in circles and crashing into each other. After a pause, she decided to take things one at a time and picked the question that bothered her the most.

"A pirate?" she breathed.

He laughed. "Yeah! I'm a pirate - a real pirate!"

Her voice became frigid, then. "What do you want?" she spat.

"You're the Yuki Onna," he said, as if calling her a snow monster were the same as commenting on the weather. "They say you're a bad person. I came to check if it was true, because you can't always put your faith in rumors, you know, I learned that a way long time ago."

"Well, then, get lost. You will find nothing here."

"What? Why?" Two bright black eyes gazed at her in bewilderment.

"I don't speak to pirates."

The boy scrunched up his face and stared at her for a moment.

"I came, you see, because I heard from Rika about what happened," he mused aloud. When he got no response, he put his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky. "You're not a bad person at all, are you? It's the marines who're bad. I wanted to see you first just in case, but Rika was telling the truth, you're a good person.

"The same thing happens to a lot of pirates, you know - some of us are better than the marines. People get black and white mixed up a lot when they can't see from close up, that's why. But I can tell. What makes us pirates isn't that we're bad, it's that we don't have to listen to anybody. All we need is the big, wide sea, and we can do anything we want out there, have any kind of adventure. It's about freedom. It's a Romance Dawn."

He moved his hands, put one on his hat and one on his hips. "Yuki Onna," he said gravely. "Are you strong?"

The response was automatic. "Yes."

"How strong?"

"I'm going to be the greatest swordsman in the world." She glared at him, dared him to challenge it. "And I'm stronger than you, so I will never bow down to you. Pirate scum," she added for good measure.

He burst out laughing.

She growled, clenching her fists threateningly, and she hated every speck of this stranger's guts until he finally wheezed between guffaws, "See, you do speak to pirates! You're talking to me right now!"

"That was an exception!" she snapped.

"See! See! You did it again!" he cackled.

"Oh, for the love of - will you please just shut up!? I told you to get lost!" She glared at him furiously.

"But you're funny! And you're strong! I like you already!" - and perhaps, somewhere inside of her, she might have begun to warm to him, just a tad.

His laughter died down after a little while, but the smile remained. He crossed his arms across his bare chest and grinned at her. "I've decided!" he barked, and she jumped. "You're joining my crew!"

"...Excuse me?"

"I like you! So you're joining my pirate crew!"

"I refuse!" she sputtered. "Why would I become a pirate!? I hunt pirates for a living!"

"But that's boring! You can do better than that." He held out his hands. "C'mon! You've got a sword, right? I'll go get that, and you'll be my friend!"

"Friend-!? I told you, I refuse! Give me my sword and I'll kill you first!"

He stuck his tongue out childishly. "You can try, but it's not going to work, I'll bet. Hold on a sec, I'll be right back."

And then he skipped off happily, straight toward the marine base where her captor lived. Behind her, the other stranger screeched a warning, but he had already jumped over the wall and disappeared from sight.

There was a wild moment of speculation - would he be killed? or tied to a stake next to her? who was he anyway, and what kind of pirate waltzed into marine bases all by himself like that? - and then there was an explosion. She could see a tongue of flame leap up around where the base entrance should be, before black smoke obscured the view. Marines were screaming.

"What on earth is happening?" she hissed under her breath.

A squeak, and then a body tumbling to the floor. She twisted her head around futilely.

"Who is this now?" she shouted at the other stranger.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a short, pudgy boy flinch. "M-m-my name is Coby, Ms. Onna," he stammered. It irked her to no end that he wouldn't step up so she could see him properly. He sounded weak, and frail of will. He shouldn't be somewhere as dangerous as this.

"So, Coby. Are you another suicidal madman?"

"N-no, not r-really, haha."

"Then you're only a fool trapped beneath that pirate's thumb. You should run now, while you still have the chance."

And the weakness was gone, like so much smoke. "I'm not under his thumb," the boy said evenly. "I'm his friend. And I'm going to get you out of here."

Another explosion shook the marine base. A window shattered and spit out a plume of fire magnificently.

"His friend?" she asked. Her hands were tied behind her back around the post, numb from days of restricted blood flow, but she could dimly sense nervous fingers worrying the rope knots. "What're you doing? Stop that!"

"I was there, too," he persisted, "when Rika was talking about you. It's horrible what the marines did. I won't let such a disgraceful act go on."

"I don't need your help! The Lieutenant's son promised to set me free in just a few more days, as a challenge for my endurance - don't get in the way when I've almost completed it!"

"No - no no no, it's a lie, he lied!" he wailed then, throwing up his hands in despair. "He never intended to set you free! He said he was going to execute you publicly in three days!"

She felt her chest grow cold, and swallowed a sudden uncomfortable nausea.

"...What?" Her voice cracked a little.

"He was just toying with you - tricking you this whole time! He doesn't deserve to be called a marine!" Coby attacked the ropes with renewed vigor.

The explosions in the base were growing more frequent, each time higher up the building. She watched their progress in fascination.

"One day I'm going to become a real marine," Coby continued. "I'll make sure something like this never happens again."

"A future marine? Conspiring with a pirate?"

He laughed nervously. "You're right, it's strange, isn't it? But after getting to know him it doesn't feel strange at all. He's the one who inspired me to follow my dream, in fact. I'm going to do it, just like he's going to become the Pirate King."

"He's serious about that," she said quietly.

"Yes. I was surprised, too, but he is."

Then the shot was fired.

She saw it, out of the corner of her eye. A flash of movement. A spray of red. The bullet struck Coby, and he fell forward, into her line of view, were he lay spread-eagled on the ground and screaming in pain. A circle of marines stepped into the grounds seemingly out of nowhere. Their guns were pointed at her and her would-be rescuer.

She turned and saw the man who had fired the gun. The Lieutenant himself, finally appearing for the show. She recognized him immediately, not because of any resemblance to his son (of which there was none), but for the arrogant fierceness with which he carried himself and the giant ax that made his right hand. A growl rumbled in the back of her throat as she leveled her darkest look at him. How dare he. Coby was unarmed, had been unaware, and now that she looked at the figure in the dust she realized that he was just a boy, barely a teenager. The man had no concept of shame.

"I'm going to die! Oh God! I'm going to die!" Coby screeched. He was hyperventilating.

Which meant he was breathing. A bit of the tension in her released at the realization.

"Hey. Hey, can you walk?" she said callously.

"I, I don't know, it hurts, it hurts!"

"Surround the base!" the Lieutenant barked. "Don't let the firefist escape!"

Firefist?

"Save yourself, Coby," she whispered to the boy with her eyes trained on the Lieutenant. "Leave."

Coby sat up and gasped, "No. Have to...have to set you free...promised him, he..."

The Lieutenant stomped heavily toward her, his ax hand resting on his shoulder. "How interesting," he said. "The three of you are planning to cause political upheaval? Yuki Onna...I've heard of your feats for a very long time, but today you have underestimated me. Before my great strength you're nothing but a weakling." He smirked around his metal jaw. "What can a woman do?"

How dare he.

"I'm going to free you," Coby blubbered, "really quick, just please! You gotta go with him! You don't have to be a pirate - but just help him escape from this town! He's my savior! Please!"

She realized with shame that she had misjudged him - this boy had strength in him, too.

"Ready!" the Lieutenant roared. The twenty marines aimed their guns.

Coby screamed again. In the highest floor of the marine base, a final explosion rocketed into the sky. The guns fired.

Time seemed to slow as sound became limited to her heartbeat. She stared wide-eyed at the bullets approaching fast, fast, fast, and she strained against the ropes (such weak bonds but she was weaker, she had failed, she couldn't-) willed them to stop with all her might.

She couldn't die here, not now, not yet.

She had a dream to chase. A goal to reach.

A promise to keep.

"I'll become the best! Until even heaven will hear of my name! I promise you, Zoro!"

A jet of flame burst before her eyes, dazzling her.

The seconds passed. She shook her head clear and stared at the spectacle.

The pirate had taken the bullets for them.

And now he was on fire.

"Ace-san!" Coby cried.

"Hey, Coby!"

Briefly, the boy turned to the gaping marines and gave a perfect right-angle bow, still smoldering. "Sincere apologies, but guns don't work on me." Then he spun around to her and flashed her a smile that flickered in the corners. "Hey, Yuki Onna! I found your sword!"

She returned his unflappable amiability with a crooked smile. "...Thanks."

"Oh, but wait, I almost forgot. You know you're going to be an outlaw if I give it to you and we beat up these dumb marines, right?"

Her smile broadened to a full-on grin. "What are you, the devil incarnate? Fine. It's a deal - I'll be a pirate!"

The pirate called Ace let out a whoop. "Alright! A crew mate!"

"Now what on earth are you?" she cut in.

"Oh, yeah. I ate the Mera Mera Devil's Fruit, so I can turn into fire. See?" He reached forward and laid a flaming hand on the ropes. Upon contact, they crumbled into ash instantly, and the bindings fell limply away to leave her free. "I'm not too good at controlling it yet, but I can shoot smaller flames and I can make the fire hot enough to redirect bullets."

A boy made of fire. She already liked being a pirate.

"A-a-a-ace-san!" Coby wailed. "They're coming!"

She only took a moment to measure the strengths of the charging marine swordsmen. She turned back to Ace and raised an eyebrow.

"Sword," she demanded. Wadou Ichimonji was placed into her open palm.

"Wait. You got a name besides Yuki Onna?" he asked, just before she stepped into battle.

"Of course. Yuki Onna is just something people started to call me. I only give my name to the people I respect."

When he didn't prod, only waited expectantly, she smiled gently at him in appreciation.

"My name is Kuina."

He nodded. "And my name is Ace. I'm glad you're my friend, Kuina."

And though she wouldn't admit it, she was, too.

The blade whispered out of its sheathe with a serene glint of steel.

Words of the Sheep: I read Overlap by Tonko and was so utterly floored by that AU concept that I made up an entire plotline to go with it. I so, so, so want to see how each character ended up on that Sunny instead of the crew of our Sunny. And also I love Tonko's Kuina and Ace, in fact I love Tonko's everybody. So here, chapter one of an experimental fic that may or may not be completed depending on reader input.

enjoy.