Author's Note: I'll let my story do the talking. If I have anything important to say or announce I'll put it up here though.

Disclaimer: I highly doubt I'd ever get sued for writing a Fanfiction but…I do not own One Piece or any characters nor do I make money off them. This and the franchise belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Shonen Jump I think.

Enjoy

Troubling Tides

"Where are you taking me?"

I yanked my hand away from the pirate's with a little more force than needed. The boy unfazed fixed his straw sun-hat atop his mass of black hair and looked out from the large window. I watched him with arms crossed as he seemed to survey the distance in height between where we stood on top of the light house and the rough waters below. Then he lifted his head to see a ship not too far off on the water. I followed his gaze out towards the sea. The waves were much rougher than usual and crashed against the lighthouse's walls and the cliffs surrounding it. It didn't help that the sun had long set and the only source of light was flickering weakly from the old lighthouse's bulb we stood by.

I hope this guy knows what he's doing because if he plans on jumping he's jumping alone.

The mist from the waves rose up and sprayed my body with a cool mist. If it hadn't been for my yellow raincoat I would be completely exposed to the harshness of the cold weather. All except for my legs which only had already damp jean shorts to protect them.

"The Thousand Sunny is the big ship over there!" The teenager pointed out with pride. I squinted to inspect it further. No details could be made out from where I was standing, besides a lion like creature adorned to the mast and the suggestion of a black flag with a cartoony skull fluttering in the wind. Not very intimidating décor for a pirate ship, but I guess the abnormalness of it fitted with the abnormalness of its supposed Captain.

I dropped my faded army green back pack by my feet, relieving my shoulders of its heavy weight. When I looked at the sea my stomach lurched in opposition. I hadn't been on a ship that big in four years. Just the thought of being surrounded by water again made me nauseous.

Maybe this isn't a good idea.

"I think I might throw up…" My voice was blocked out by the sounds of yelling men from below at the lighthouse's bottom floor. I looked down out a large window at the ground below us in order to see the commotion. Uniformed men of white and blue rushed into the light house doors below.

Crap, they're here!

"Make sure they don't get away!" Their Captain's faint voice echoed against the concrete wall of the building.

I forced my eyes away from the heart racing scene below. There was just only so much added stress a person could take. My eyes landed on Luffy who stood with his hands behind his head still staring out at the Big Blue. Why was he so relaxed when an army of people equipped with weapons were climbing up the stairs towards us? I couldn't tell.

"Are you joining?" He asked hopefully with a grin on his face. I turned toward the village, opposite from the Sea, where the wind carried a scent of smoke that wafted through the air. A fire amongst its docking station.

Once again I watched helplessly as the men stormed the lighthouse we stood in. The anxiety starting to build up even more each second I stood there.

It's not like I have much of a choice.

"Fine! I'll do whatever; just get me out of here." I said hurriedly not turning away from the scene below. There was no time for idle talk when people are chasing after you.

The angry shouts of the Marines seemed to double in volume.

Luffy beamed upon hearing my form of a yes. His smile resembled that of a small child's and reached ear to ear showing the whites of his teeth. All in all, I was a bit unnerved. People shouldn't be allowed to smile that big.

Luffy grabbed the two pillars, each with one hand, stationed in front of a large window. I stood between his arms just in front of said window that overlooked the sea and the ship, The Thousand Sunny.

"Stand here." He commanded taking on a much more determined face but still retaining his cheerful demeanor.

Then he began to walk backwards, still facing me and still holding on to the pillars, to the opposite side of the room. My eyes widened. I watched him narrowly as his arms began to give way and elongate. If I wasn't so distracted with how he was doing what he was doing than I would have realized what he was actually planning on doing. And what he was planning on doing could very well defy the laws of gravity.

My mouth hung open.

How can he stretch that far with his arms? What is this guy made out of?

"Gum," He began, as if summoning a beast.

The door leading up to the top of the lighthouse rattled until it was blasted clean off its hinges. The smoke and dust from the wood chips of the door settled.

"Hey…You two…Stop…in the name of the law!" An exasperated Marine wheezed once he climbed into the room. Luffy continued moving backwards until his arms were stretched across the length of the room.

"Luffy?" I questioned raising my voice in a frantic manner while reaching for my backpack.

Luffy forced himself back even further stretching out his arms. I looked around feverishly. I was positioned right between both of his outstretched arms and in his line of fire.

Does he really think this will work?

"Gum!" He yelled once more stretching his arms as far as they would go.

My heart was beating quickly and the fact that the Marines were starting to pour in from the floorboard door and position their guns at us didn't help my blood pressure levels either.

He's going to kill me!

"Luffy! I change my mind!" I continued to yell clutching my backpack closer to my stomach as if it would protect me from impact.

Of course, he couldn't hear me though.

"We've got you surrounded. Now put your hands on the ground in a docile manner. If you surrender now will halve your time in jail." The injured Marine Captain announced standing in front of his fleet. They readied their guns in their hands, prepared to fire at the command of their superior.

Luffy didn't hear his order though as he jumped up relieving the tension from his arms and sending himself flying towards me with a great amount of force.

"Slingshot!" He shouted as he shot through the bodies of the Marine force wrecking their formation like a bowling ball.

In only mere milliseconds, the force of Luffy's fast approaching body launched us out of the Light house building window and into the cold dark air. All the while, only one question plagued my mind.

How the hell did I get into this situation in the first place?

Earlier the Same Day…

It was a rather peaceful day on Cheery Dock. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the air was filled with joyous laughter from little youngsters. Even the usually grumpy old hag selling cabbage on the corner of the street wore a cheesy grin on her face as she greeted passersbys. To the untrained eye this area would appear to be the perfect little seaside town with pleasantly colored buildings. Little would they know that the sun was scalding hot, the birds sung nonstop, and the children helping you cross the street were actually notorious thieves and murderers in the making, out to steal your money. Even the seemingly nice old lady was actually a con artist in disguise, waiting for you to buy one of her overly priced jewelry only to have it break the next day. This place was filled with deception and deceit. Under the lightly colored buildings decorated with wall flowers there slept criminals and pirates. Everything was sketchy and two faced at Cheery Dock which made the name itself an oxymoron.

But who was I to judge. I, who lived a life like many townspeople here, one where you had to mask your true intentions. If you were a visitor here and happened to pass by an old shack between the times of six and five with the name Rick's Fireworks written on the front you'd probably assume that this place sold fireworks. Well, it does. But it also sells ammunition, cannonballs, cannons, and a number of other artillery items one might need.

I've always liked fire for some reason and somehow this interest got me into the artillery business. Despite being eighteen, and a girl, I've had a lot of experience with guns. Ammunition and gun designing are my specialties and how I make a living. I even travel to create weapons for others.

While manufacturing guns and ammunition isn't necessarily a crime…it does become one when you sell them to pirates, which I've been guilty of countless times, needless to say. Even though I don't like doing business with pirates, doing business with Marines isn't all that lucrative either, especially when they force you to sell your products for ridiculously low prices under law of The World Government.

I wiped the short choppy strands of dark brown hair out of my face. The sweat caused by the sun was dripping on my body and sticking my jacket against my back. To a normal person, seeing someone like me walking down the road they'd think I was crazy, with my mid thigh length yellow rain jacket and beige boots on in the middle of the day. I would think I was crazy too if I hadn't just come from the bank. You'd be crazy to just walk around flaunting items of any value around here.

My eyes looked up weakly at the sun again. The bright ball of fire seemed to be closer than it was only mere seconds ago. In the distance, I could see my shed like building a few blocks away. The sign had been painted over with the words Rick's Fireworks on the front, in crayon colored rainbow letters. If that wasn't inviting enough a unicorn had been added next to the words.

Note to self: Hire a professional to do your sign next time, not a seven year old little girl.

As I neared closer, a ruckus sounded from within the building, as if someone had dropped a bunch of pots and pans.

"Where is he? I want to see that artillery punk!" An unfamiliar voice bellowed.

Who's the guy causing problems now?

I cautiously pulled open the rusty shack door and observed the situation going on in the shack.

"I want to see him NOW!" The voice now coming from a large man yelled once more. He slammed his clenched fist on the desk of my trembling associate. The young boy shrugged his shoulders before muttering something indecipherable.

Just one of the reasons I don't like doing business with pirates. They have no manners what so ever. I walked towards the large man, tapping him on the shoulder. He was a lot larger than I had calculated and towered a good two feet over me.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

It was dangerous to converse with scary looking men with a temper, but I came to learn quickly that in this business most people were all bark and no bite. Besides, no one's just going to come in here and disrespect my place.

My heart skipped a beat but I kept face and forced my grey eyes to peer up at his beady black ones.

He had scruffy brown hair and a scruffy black beard. His skin had a brownish tone to it and his arms were hairy. The smell radiating off his unwashed clothes was his most memorable feature as it burned my eyeballs and my nostrils. My poor nose wasn't at all prepared for this odor but I kept strong anyways.

"Listen punk," He began, bending down to my level, which was saying something since I was kind of tall for the average girl my age. My eye involuntarily twitched at his insultingly boyish nickname.

"My problem is that I need to see the guy in charge here, Bleu. The one who's famous for making weapons, you know, the am-mah-ni-tion expert. Not his garbage boy. " The pirate said slowly as if talking to a child. I bit my lip to keep myself from lashing out. It wasn't the fact that he had mistaken me for a boy that made me a little angry. I was used to this and even accepted it, or as much as anyone could accept being called the wrong gender. My dark brown hair was, in reality, awfully short and choppy, similar to a boy's cut. My bangs were wispy and reached the top of my eyebrows then it feathers out in random directions and the hair in the back is cut shorter. Also contributing to the gender misidentification problem was my lack of makeup and excess of freckles, thick eyebrows, and a constant layer of soot covering my body. I was rough around the edges and didn't mind getting dirty and doing rather unfeminine things in public. I had never considered myself a tomboy but the type of job I had sort of forced me into that label. It was no excuse for calling me a boy though, I wasn't that butch looking. At least in my opinion.

Even him pronouncing the word ammunition the wrong way didn't bother me that much. But then he had the audacity to spell it out to my face like I was some newbie and he was the expert.

I can't believe this guy!

I closed my eyes for a second and breathed in deeply my mind calculating how long it would take to whip out my gun in my jacket pocket.

"I'm not a garbage boy, I'm a girl, and the guy you're looking for is me. I'm the boss here." I said mocking his previous tone of voice as I did so . He scrunched up his face in disbelief before throwing back his head and chuckled heartedly, shaking the thin metal walls of the shack.

Once he collected himself he now watched me with a more serious facial expression.

"Do you really expect me to believe that some punk girly is Bleu the Gun expert? Now tell me where he is." He said sharply.

Do I have to deal with this sexist crap every single business transaction?

"I am him!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Or her!" I corrected myself.

He gazed at me with a wild look in his eyes. It was unnerving but I forced myself to hold eye contact. He released a grunt then his face took on a smug look.

"Whatever, just tell your boss or whoever that Captain Blackbeard's been looking for him and if my Captain doesn't get his stuff by tomorrow morning..." He shot a menacing glare towards the boy sitting at the counter causing the youngster to wet his undergarments. Then he made a slicing sound and moved his hand across his neck in a cutting motion. He left me with the weight of the threat bearing down onto my shoulders.

Something cold gripped my heart and forced a numbness to spread throughout my body's limbs.

He had found me. And now he was coming for my life.

Crap.

~ End of Chapter

Chapter Two Preview:

Stop the World and Let Me Off

"You!" He yelled in my direction. My body went rigid and dread filled my stomach.

"You thought you could hide from me didn't you."

Well this is it then.

Release Date:

7/24