It was a clear blue sky over the Grand Line. The Going Merry remained stable and, for once, quiet. All of its crew members were doing their own thing. Zoro was sleeping up in the crow's nest, Sanji was in the galley preparing lunch, and Nami was overlooking the Log Pose and their current course. Robin was sitting and reading on the upper deck, and Ussop was telling another one of his unique stories to Chopper, who was, for some reason, always eager to listen. A gentle breeze was all that kept the small ship going, and the weather looked like it was going to stay nice out all day.

However, that calm wasn't going to last, as usual. The captain, usually the most revered of a pirate crew, was sprawled out on the deck with his tongue hanging from his mouth. This captain was Mugiwara no Luffy (Straw Hat Luffy), a supposedly infamous and well-known pirate whose bounty was about 100,000,000 beli. In his current state, though, he looked like no more than a whining child.

He was complaining that he was hungry to anyone who would listen. His nakama (comrades, friends, etc.) weren't too interested, since this happened constantly. It was a peaceful sail nonetheless.

Until something woke Zoro from his midday nap that is. He looked out on the ocean and saw a small silhouette of some people on the ocean. From there he heard cries for help, he supposed, and tried to alert the rest of the crew.

Before he could get the chance, Ussop called out, "Oi!" (Hey!)

Everyone turned to him as he pointed toward where Zoro had seen the figures. They followed his hand to see what both crew members had seen. All of them heard it now, save for Sanji, who was still in the galley. The desperate cries for assistance. Nami called for a change in the ship's course so the Mugiwara pirates could help the people.

Noticing the change, Luffy jumped up and assumed his position on the distinctive figurehead of the Going Merry, the goat. Zoro came down from the crow's nest to meet the rest of the gathering crew on the deck.

When they came closer, they could make out the figures that were calling. Two males in their late teens swimming with a broken piece of wood, trying to keep another person, a female, it looked, on the plank. She was halfway in the water, though, and looked unconscious.

"OI! Help!" the younger looking one called, waving his arm. "We need a doctor! She's injured!"

As the ship stopped beside them, the doctor of the ship, Chopper, readied his medical supplies. Zoro lowered a rope down to them and the older male climbed up. He immediately bent over the rail of the Going Merry to try to lift the female up to the ship. This took a few moments, but when he had her securely in his grasp, he lifted her up. The male turned, with the girl cradled in his arms and said pleadingly, "Please, could you help her? I beg of you! She'll die if she's not treated!"

Chopped nodded and motioned toward the cabins. The male took a step closer to the doctor and stopped. He noticed the strange creature that was supposedly going to treat her and gave a surprised look. After a second, he disregarded it thinking that whatever it took to save this girl, he would do.

"Domo arigato!" (Thank you very much!) He said, bowing as far as he could without dropping the female in his arms and hurriedly walked into the place where Chopper had mentioned, with the younger male trailing closely behind.

When they arrived in the room where the treatment would take place, the older male gently placed the girl on the bed, and let the unique doctor look over his patient. The two of the female's companions stayed close.

The girl had deep wounds, from a sword most likely, slicing from her shoulder to her stomach, and a diagonal cut from the other side of the stomach to her hips. Also, there was a wound on her left arm as well, along with many other minor cuts on her chest and abdomen area. It made Chopper and the rest of the people in the treatment room wince seeing the blood soaked gashes. Her breathing was raspy, and she was trembling in her sleep. Sweat was visible on her forehead, and the pale tone of her skin didn't look healthy.

Chopper scrambled through his supplies looking for the right tools. During this, the males turned to the Mugiwara pirates and thanked them sincerely. However, their attention was on the sickening wounds the girl had. The males could see the disgusted and amazed looks on the pirates' faces. They turned back to their nakama and saw that the cuts left too much of their friend exposed.

They whipped around, traces of blushes on their faces and asked the pirates to leave. Robin and Nami realized this as well and quickly booted the men from the room, unfortunately, including the girl's nakama. Soon after, they left, leaving Chopper to finish his work.

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...Where am I . . . ? Am I dead? the girl thought as she awoke to some dimly lit room hours later. The cabin was blurry at first, but after a moment, the view stabilized and she was able to see her surroundings. Nope, not dead...but where the hell might I be?

She tried to lift herself from the bed, but the stinging pain she felt made her drop onto it again. The girl reached toward her wounds and found them bandaged. She had no idea who could have done this.

Is this a dream? No, it feels too real. she thought and closed her eyes. She would figure it out when she had the strength, she determined, and fell into a deep sleep once more.

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In the morning, the Mugiwara crew and their new nakama (from their drinking the night before) checked on the girl. Their friends didn't tell them too much about her, since they were too worried. They had stayed up practically all night waiting for her to wake up, but ironically fell asleep when she did.

Today, Zoro noticed something he hadn't the day before. Two swords, shorter than his three katana, were strapped on the girl's hips. Out of curiosity, he walked over to her and tried to grab one of the sheaths. He got as far as tapping the cover of one until the girl's snapped open and she jumped up into a crouching position, grabbing her swords. In a spinning motion, she took her sword's sheath and smacked it up against Zoro's face. When the move was completed, both swords were in her hands, one scabbard on the bed next to her, and one on the floor.

"What the hell was that for!" Zoro yelled angrily, clutching at the welt forming on his face.

"What the hell were you doing!" she shouted back from her crouching position on the bed.

It became a glaring contest between the two until Chopper intervened.

"Hey! You should be resting! Please lie down." He said, pushing Zoro back and trying to calm the girl down.

She looked down to the creature speaking and raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you exactly . . . ?" she asked in a calmer, but still wary voice.

"Please sit down." The creature replied, completely disregarding her question.

The girl looked up to her nakama and the crew of the ship, and jumped down from the bed.

"What happened now, nii-san?" (elder brother) she asked while walking closer to the elder male.

"Nokomi-chan! Please listen to what Chopper says! You shouldn't be up!" the boy said while patting his hands in the air to try to calm her. (Note: Nokomi means hope.)

The one called Nokomi raised her sword to her elder brother's neck and said threateningly, "Don't call me '-chan'."

"Nesan! (Elder sister, it's pronounced "nay-san") Please!" the youngest of the three said.

Nokomi put her sword back down to her side and stared at her brothers. Then she asked them in a hushed voice, so only they could hear, "What happened after my fight with Mihawk?"

When the girl looked up, she could see the whole Mugiwara crew had heard her. She sighed, and slowly went to retrieve the sheaths of her swords while the surprised comments came flying out.

"Wow! You fought with him? Sugoi!" Luffy cried. (Sugoi means "Cool" or "awesome")

Nokomi could not see, but Zoro's eyes went wide at her statement. He had fought the legendary swordsman once before as well, and it did not go well.

"Well . . . " the younger brother started, but the green-haired samurai cut him off.

"What happened!" Zoro asked frantically, which made his nakama look at him.

"Baka (idiot), does it look like I won?" she replied after she sat on the bed. There was a hint of anger in her voice, for she didn't want to be reminded of that one-sided match. Zoro calmed down, and didn't say anything more.

A silence filled the room until the cook of the ship came running into the room with a love struck expression on his face.

"Oh beautiful angel of the sea! Are you well? I waited all night for you to wake!" Sanji practically danced in, heading for Nokomi. The girl was about to draw out her weapon to strike at the love cook, but her brothers beat her to it. They jumped in front of her and stopped her.

The older one pulled the mace from his belt and held it at an offensive position, and the younger pulled the double bladed spear from its place on his back and held it to Sanji's neck. He stopped and his expression turned serious.

"Keep away from our sister, bastard!" Nokomi's older brother yelled.

Just when Sanji looked as if he would go on the offensive, Nokomi shoved her brothers off to the side, stood up and faced the cook.

"Please," Nokomi said to her siblings, "if he wants a fight, I'll give it to him."

The female unsheathed one of her swords with her thumb slightly, and just when she was going to pull the blade from its home, she felt a hilt at her back.

How did he get there . . . ? Nokomi wondered as she stopped her movement.

"If it's a sword duel you want, you've got one." Zoro stated from behind her, and stepped back.

During all of this commotion, Luffy had not stopped laughing, finding the whole situation funny. Chopper was telling the girl to lie down, and Ussop had long ago found shelter from the fight behind a desk in the room.

Nokomi intended to face the swordsman, but she never finished turned about. Also she was in mid-sentence, engaging the man when her vision blurred and she fell backwards.

"Nesan!"

"Nokomi-chan!"

Both of her brothers ran to her aid, and kept her from tumbling to the ground, knocking Zoro over completely in the process. He cursed quietly but no one paid any attention to him. Their attention was on the injured girl.

Her brothers guided her to the bed where she sat for a moment, holding her head with one hand in pain. It was throbbing a bit, and her limbs felt numb.

"Damn, I didn't think the damage was that bad." Nokomi said to herself quietly.

"He did a number on you. Rest, sister." The elder brother requested.

"Are you sure that it's safe?" she asked.

Already, the females of the crew were pulling the men out of the cabin, since they were causing a ruckus, and after, Nokomi finally lay back down.

"Sister, do you know who they were?"her older brother asked when the siblings were alone.

"Baka, of course I do." Nokomi responded, eyes closed, and hands crossed over her stomach. Then, she said softly, "Out of all the ships you could have brought me to, you had to choose the one with the pirate captain worth one hundred million?"

"That was the only ship that came, nesan." Her younger brother explained.

"You could have waited until another one came."

"You would have died, Nokomi-chan." Her nii-san said.

She punched him for that, and he fell to the ground, glaring at her.

"Don't call me '-chan'," she told him, and he picked himself off of the floor, "and I guess it's better than arriving on a ship full of bloodthirsty pirates."

"Yeah," the younger male agreed, "isn't the monkey boy supposed to be infamous? From what we saw last night, he seems more of a complete dumbass."

That drew a small chuckle from his sister, and then she frowned in pain. Her brothers knew she needed to sleep, so they left a minute later.