I decided to rewrite Innocence purely because it's been four years since I started writing it and I want to see if I've improved. I read through it the other day and found myself crying over a shitload of mistakes I'm not going to mention here. And I also gained a lot of positive response and negative response about Mirim so I'm going to try to rewrite this story, and make it better, fuller, because let's face it, there's a lot of holes in the story in there. And as a side-note, I'm not trying to get more reviews on this rewritten version than the original. I guess that most of those who read the original won't bother reading this new version, even though there are some changes done to the story. I'm doing this purely to see if I have evolved at all as a writer. Perhaps I have, perhaps I haven't. I may even write a few extra chapters but it's only a maybe.

I also wish to alert those that read the original that there's a link on my profile to a drawing of Mirim a friend of mine did and that soon I'll post a link to the new one she's working on which is a huge improvement to the one she did during high school.

Wish me luck!

One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.

It was a sunny day in Alabasta, and the inhabitants went about their daily business as usual without any incident. Well, for the most part. There was one restaurant people were gathering outside of and it was not because they liked the food there. No, there was something far more serious than that.

A person had just died.

"What's going on?" A man who had wandered by and turned curious asked. "There's someone who died in there!" The man who answered him stared with frightened eyes before yells and screams could be heard from inside. A young girl pushed her way through the crowd, throwing polite apologies over her shoulder, and entered the restaurant despite the hushed protests of those outside.

"YOU FELL ASLEEP?" The mass of people realized that no one had actually died, that it had only been a misunderstanding and muttered in annoyance as they left the restaurant. What a waste of time.

While inside the man who had been thought dead was annoyed by all the screaming.

"Do you hire comedians or something?" Ace asked the owner as he continued to eat his dinner as if nothing had happened at all. He was so used to his narcolepsy attacks by now that he really didn't understand why others reacted to them so violently. It was no big deal, he just fell asleep at the most random of moments. Except for the surprise of someone suddenly falling asleep during a conversation or meal there was nothing to get anxious about.

"Uh no, but if you're okay then everything is alright." The owner was tired and this little incident did nothing to relieve him of any stress he had accumulated during this month but just as Ace went for another bite he fell asleep again. The owner twitched before he snapped.

"DON'T GO FALLING ASLEEP AGAIN!" The owner yelled angrily but before more was said the girl who just entered the restaurant sat down beside the sleeping pirate and the man on his back.

"Oy, Commander, wake up!" Ace instantly woke up and began choking on his food. He hurriedly grabbed a glass of water and chugged its contents down to ease the burden in his throat while she gently hit his back this time to help him. "We really need to cure that narcolepsy of yours." She chuckled.

"It doesn't bother me, Mirim." Ace answered the girl but she pointed her thumb at the owner and the guests who were all panting heavily in anger. "But you scared the shit out of these guys." It was easy to see that she found the situation hilarious as she grinned gleefully.

"Oh." Ace said though it didn't seem like he really cared much. "Anyway old man, have you seen this guy?" He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a wanted poster of Monkey D. Luffy. The owner stared for a few moments before shaking his head. No one like that had passed by his restaurant and he had not heard of anyone witnessing this person ever having passed through their little town.

"I guess you don't have a problem with eating in full public. Now, what does the Commander and Lieutenant of the Whitebeard Pirate crew Second Division want in this country?" A rough voice asked and Mirim glanced over her shoulder with a small smirk before turning around. How unexpected, she thought. Perhaps things would liven up a bit.

"Well, Portgas D. Ace, Mirim?"The marine addressing them still wondered why the Navy had no last name to give the girl in front of him but right at that moment it was unimportant. Immediately the guests pressed themselves against the walls, as far away from the two pirates as possible. There was not a single soul who had not heard about Edward Newgate, or rather Whitebeard as he was known as by most, and there were few who did not fear the man.

"Whitebeard? They are Whitebeard Pirates?"

"I knew I had seen the mark on his back before! Why are they here?"

"Congratulations Captain Smoker, you just managed to throw the whole place into chaos." Mirim giggled and Ace slowly turned around with a smirk of his own, Mirim resting her elbow on his shoulder. They were the picture of calmness and it aggravated Smoker. He did not take a liking to being written off as a pushover even if the two in front of him were seasoned pirates and not some overconfident rookies. Though he was outnumbered he was not one to be underestimated. "I'm on a search, for my little brother." The people in the restaurant began whispering to each other as the pirates smirked at the glaring marine. Suddenly Mirim looked up and away with a look of faint concentration on her face.

"Commander… did you hear that?" She asked Ace who did not look away from the marine. The man raised an eyebrow and she frowned. Apparently not.

"Never mind. I thought I heard someone yell…."

"I've heard of that marine Smoker!" One of the guests whispered terrified. Apparently the marines did not all have a good reputation, despite the fact that Smoker was known to uphold peace. It was just that he was ruthless when it concerned pirates and that did not make him any less frightening to the civilians.

"So…" Ace drawled. "What should we do?" The question was directed towards his companion but it was Smoker who answered. "Sit tight and let me arrest you."

"Rejected." Ace shrugged lazily, still with that confident smirk on his face. "Sorry, I think we'll pass on that."

"… I'm looking for a different pirate. I'm not interested in you." Smoker growled at them. "Then let us go, if we are so uninteresting." Smoker seethed in anger at Mirim's suggestion and spread his feet to stand ready to attack or defend.

"I can't do that, as long as you are pirates and I'm a marine!" Ace smirked and rolled his shoulders.

"That's not much of a reason now is it? How about I give you one?" It all happened so fast that no one could react properly. Something, or someone, crashed into Smoker from behind with such speed and power that he was sent flying forward and in his way Ace sat. Everything was as if in slow-motion. Smoker was coming closer to Ace whose expression turned from confident to disbelieving, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. Mirim instinctively reeled back and looked on in shock as Smoker crashed into Ace and together they were both sent crashing through several walls.

"Woooohooo! A restaurant! I'm starving!" A boy with a straw hat yelled. The people in the restaurant stared at the boy with wide eyes and some looked on the verge of crying in fear. The owner really wanted to cry, since there was a huge hole in his wall. He could feel all the stress accumulate in him at the thought of working overtime so he could cover the expenses that were needed to repair the wall. The customers did what they felt to be right. They fled the establishment.

"Hurry mister!" Luffy was quite energetic for being half-starved. "Food, food, food!"

"Yeah, but… you should probably run away kid." The owner said as he put plates filled with food in front of the boy, glancing at Mirim. He thought she would react in anger, having her comrade blown through the wall but her expression went from shocked to amused. It actually looked like she was on the verge of bursting into laughter.

"Thanks old man! You're a lifesaver!" Luffy exclaimed and dug into his food, ignoring the warning, just as a burst of laughter erupted beside him. He turned his head slightly, and looked past the partly destroyed counter and laid eyes on Mirim. He couldn't recognize her from anywhere but then again, he didn't read the news either. That was Nami's forte.

Her hair was a dark shade green and wavy, put up in a high ponytail with a few stray strands of hair framing her face. Her eyes were big and amber, her face heart shaped, her skin lightly tanned and she was no taller than at least 5'7". She wore a dancer outfit similar to Nami's though her top was red and there was no design of bubbles on it but rather golden bended strings. Around her neck there was a gold and silver choker, and around her left wrist she had one golden bracelet. On her right wrist there was two and high up on her arm there was a bandage.

During his examination Mirim had managed to calm herself. She was no longer laughing loudly but rather just chuckling to herself.

"Ah, I haven't had a laugh like that in a while. Tell me kid, do you know who you just sent flying through all those walls?" She had recognized the boy the moment she had gotten a good look at his face and therefore she didn't feel the need to beat him up for sending her Commander crashing through the walls. Luffy leaned over and looked at all the holes that he had created by crashing into Smoker. He shook his head and looked at her questionably.

"Well, if they had been normal humans they would have died but-" She was rudely interrupted by said individuals as they reached the restaurant.

"Hey, Luffy-"

"STRAW HAT!" Luffy, now known as Straw Hat, turned back to stare at Smoker who stared at the boy, furious being a mild word to describe his anger as the boy continued eating while trying to remember where he had seen the man before. A few minutes passed by as he continued to munch on his food before he spit half of it out in Smoker's face. Mirim fell onto the counter, hiding her face and banging her fist on the it as she trembled with contained laughter. This kid was hilarious!

"Oh god!"

"Thanks for the food!" Luffy yelled and grabbed it all, shoved it into his mouth and ran off with Smoker hot on his trail. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my fucking god!" Mirim gasped out as she began to recover from her laughter.

"Crap! Come on!" Ace hurried up from the ground and ran after the pirate and marine. "Oi, Luffy! It's me!" He yelled with Mirim stumbling after him as she failed to contain a new burst of laughter.

"…. They didn't pay…" The owner was confused and wondered if he should follow or just sit safely in his half-demolished restaurant. He decided on the latter.

Innocence

"TASHIGI!" Said person turned to Smoker and began rambling about how hot this country was until Smoker told her to shut up and stop Straw Hat Luffy but said boy managed to dodge her attack and jumped onto the roof tops with Smoker still following him. He would not let his prey get away that easily. He may have managed to escape from him in Loguetown, but he would not get away this time.

"Where the hell did the party go?" Ace looked around frantically before Mirim grabbed his shoulder and pointed towards a gang that ran with Smoker and a troop of marines following them. "Let's go crash the party, eh?"

Innocence

"He's going to catch me!" Luffy yelled as he ran as fast as he could but there was no use. The smoke was catching up and it was catching up quickly. There was no way he would be able to outrun it.

"Kagerou!" Someone yelled and great streaks of fire appeared out of nowhere and hit Smoker's attack. Swirls of fire blocked the marines from advancing any further towards the Straw Hat Pirates and the flames slowly dwindled to reveal a person who had his hand stretched out while being on fire himself.

"Cut it out. You may be 'smoke' but I am 'fire'. Your powers don't stand a chance against me." Ace explained calmly. "Who's that?" A marine demanded though it was clear who it was.

"Ace!" Luffy called confused. Smirking slightly, Ace turned around. "You never change Luffy. You never change." He replied.

Kagerou – Heat Haze