Chapter 1

A cloaked figure follows a deserted tree-lined path. This path leads to the top of the only hill on Arch Island. The figure is some what tall, covered head to toe in a dark hooded cloak. The figure pauses for a moment. The hood, which had previously been pointed toward the ground, tilts to the right. Stepping off the path and into the bushes, the shadow knelt down to find a blue jay with a broken wing. A pale hand extends toward the shivering bird and gently strokes the plumage atop the bird's head. The figure picks up the bird carefully. Holding the bird in one hand the figure continued it's trek up the hill.

Upon the Thousand Sunny

"Island ahead!" Usopp shouts from the crows nest down to the crew. He focuses his goggles to further examine the island. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he climbs down to the deck.

"Thank kami we finally entered a summer climate again. All that cold weather was starting to chap my skin. " Nami started rubbing at a particularly dry patch of skin on her shoulder just beyond the strap of her bikini. She started swooning over the possibility of more maps to add to her rapidly growing collection. Not to mention the best skin lotion that money could buy. Chopper lifted himself over railing of the ship. Dangling his feet, he held himself up with his arms, his hooves grasping the edge to keep him aloft.

"What is everyone going to do when we get to the island?" Chopper asked his fellow crew mates, looking around with a smile on his face. Franky pointed to himself with his thumb and answered immediately with his unusually high energy.

"Supa! I need to collect some supplies to make more weapons!" Usopp quickly agreed to accompany Franky for the same reason. Stars lit in his eyes when he thought of his newest idea for a long ranged weapon. Seeing the bright and thriving island seemed to have staved off his perpetual case of 'I-can't-go-to-this-island disease.'

Zoro was not fazed by the exuberance of his crew mates. "I need a new sword. I haven't been able to replace it since that freak rusted it with his devil fruit powers."

"We've started to run out of perishables. I will need to buy more food at the market." Sanji stated this after a draw on his cigarette. Having only recently started on their journey on the Thousand Sunny they shouldn't need to buy much. But due to the fact that Luffy ate as much as the rest of the crew all together, Sanji needed to restock the kitchen.

Luffy jumped up on the railing of the ship to get a better look at the island. "I'm going to find the closest restaurant and eat!" He shouted putting his hands in the air. A few of the crew members sighed at the predictability of their captain.

"I want to see if they have any new medical technology. I also need to gather more bandages. It seems like we never have enough." Chopper's eyebrows contracted at this thought before his face suddenly lit up. "Maybe they have some medical texts that I have been looking for!" Robin smiled lightly down at chopper.

"If you are going to the book store I will accompany you. One can never have enough books. Each island we come across has the chance of holding a book we have never seen before."

They quickly docked their ship and headed towards their respective destinations. Sanji began by wandering around the market observing all the things he could possibly buy. He preferred to see everything the island had to offer before he bought anything. He didn't want to spent all of his money in one place. He always regretted the day he had no money left to buy a rare spice that was unique to only one island. He was taking a closer look at the fruit stand when a scene at the bread stand next to him caught his eye. He raised his visible eyebrow in curiosity.

"Please sir, I just need a loaf of bread. I can pay you for it, see?" A hooded figure held out a sphere of what appeared to be pure gold. Sanji could see it from where he was standing. It was flawless. About the size of a marble, it was polished so meticulously that it looked more like a small golden mirror.

The shop keep glared under the hood. Sanji switched his attention to the man standing behind the piles of fresh bread. The look of disdain on the man's face was more appropriate for finding something disgusting at the bottom of one's shoe. Sanji couldn't see why anyone would look at a fellow human being in such a way. There is no excuse for such rudeness. Sanji was about to speak up when the man spoke to the hooded figure. Sanji was shocked into silence at the tone of the man's voice. He spoke to the figure as if he were scolding a dog.

"I don't sell my wares to the likes of you. I have no use for anything made by black magic." The man slapped the gold ball out of the proffered hand. With a small gasp the other hand came up and clutched the scolded hand to the figure's chest. The gold ball rolled the few steps to Sanji's feet. "Get out of my sight!" With a shove, the man caused the figure to fall backwards and land on their back side with a sharp gasp. The figure barely had enough time to throw out their hands to catch themselves from smacking their head on the ground.

With a flutter the hood fell back to reveal the mysterious face. Sanji's eyes widened and he lost the cigarette in his mouth when his jaw dropped. A woman more beautiful than he had ever seen was laying on the ground just feet from him. He was so stunned he couldn't even move to be the gentleman he always was and help the poor woman. Her hair was as white as freshly fallen snow, straight and long tucked into her cloak to hide it's real length. Shorter strands framed her oval face, stopping at different lengths around her small chin. Her nose was short and straight. Her whole face was a pale peach color. But the fair color of her hair and skin made her eyes that much more noticeable. Her eyes were the color of evergreens. The eyelashes were long enough to touch her cheeks when she closed her eyes.

Her eyes remained distant, as if she was trying to keep herself from feeling embarrassment at the situation. She kept her eyes locked on the ground avoiding the gazes of the villagers around her. When Sanji looked up he realized that most people were avoiding looking at her. A few of the villagers threw her glances like the shop keeper. Their eyes suggested that she was unworthy of the time it took to spare a look her way. She stood up quickly and threw the hood back over her head. Turning away from Sanji she started walking.

Only after her second step away did he realize he could move again. He was torn between scolding the bread maker or going after her. Taking a second to weigh his options, he decided on a different course of action. He stooped down quickly to grab the ball at his feet and pocketed it. He hurried the two steps to the bread stand and quickly dug out his wallet to pay for a loaf of bread. Glaring at the bread maker as he handed over the money, he made a mental note not to shop here in the future. The man selected a loaf of bread and bagged it. Handing it to Sanji, the man wished him a good day. Scowling and mentally calling him names he grabbed the bread and hurried off in the direction the woman was headed. He would have taken the time to give the man a lesson in manners to a lady if he hadn't been afraid of loosing her in the crowd. He scanned the scene in front of him trying to pick out her figure. Another minute of walking on the same road lead him out of the market and into the housing part of town. It was much less populated here so he quickly saw her ahead of him. Walking quickly he caught up to her in no time.

"Well hello, beautiful lady!" he nearly shouted at the woman when he caught up to her near the edge of town. The woman didn't even acknowledge he was there. He fell into step right next to her and repeated the exclamation, making sure she heard. She whipped around frightened. Studying her face carefully, he realized two things. Firstly she was genuinely surprised and startled which meant she hadn't heard him the first time. Secondly, she almost seemed scared. Her eyes kept darting to different sides as if looking for an escape route. So he decided to dial down his usual flamboyant spirit so he didn't scare her off.

"Hello. I'm Sanji. I saw that you left this back there." He held up the gold ball. She gazed at him for a moment before taking the ball with a small thank you.

"May I ask your name? A woman as radiant as yourself must have a name to compliment such beauty." Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked at him.

"Mezumi." She said quietly. She looked like a scared little fawn eager to run back to her mother.

"Mezumi-chan. Well I suppose I was right. Your name is beautiful." He paused, remembering why he was there. He held out the bread wrapped in a paper bag. "Here. I over heard you needed bread." Internally he scolded himself. He sounded like a stalker. A stalker with a substandard vocabulary. Despite his feelings towards his own words he smiled lightly at her.

She shook her head. "Thank you, but I don't take hand outs."

"I insist. It is the least I could do to help a woman that was treated so poorly by the shop keep. I am nothing if not a gentleman." She considered him for a moment. Looking slightly defeated and reluctant she took the bread from his out stretched hand.

"Did the villagers put you up to this?" A cold look covered her face so quickly, his smile disappeared.

"Why would they do that?"

Her face slowly changed from cold to indifferent. "You are not from around here." It wasn't a question.

"No, I just arrived this morning. I'm the cook of the ship that just docked here." She seemed ready to leave. Sanji thought for a moment. He didn't want to say goodbye to Mezumi yet. "It's nearly lunch time. Please accompany me back to my ship and I will make you lunch." He said with a smile.

"No, I couldn't. You have done far too much for me already. In fact you should take this as payment for the bread." She held out the gold ball he had just returned to her.

"It would be a great insult to turn down a meal offered by the cook himself. And I will not be taking any sort of payment from you."

"You make it sound like I have no choice." She raised an eyebrow at this.

"Mezumi-chan, you always have a choice." Sanji looked intense.

She searched his eyes as he waited for an answer. Sanji didn't know what she was looking for but she must have found it. She nodded and finally pocketed the gold ball he handed her a moment ago. They started on their way to the Thousand Sunny. They took the main road past all the shops when Sanji realized that she had her hood up and her head down again. He noticed they were getting disapproving looks from passers-by again. Since he had received no such looks when he was alone, he could only assume their looks were directed at this woman. In turn the looks were thrown at him for choosing to treat her like a decent human being. Soon enough they had reached the ship and Sanji lead her to the kitchen.

"Where is the rest of the crew?" She sat down at the farthest end of the table facing Sanji.

"They are all out shopping. We had to restock our supplies here." With that being said Nami walked in the door.

"Sanji-kun, I'm hungry." Nami stopped at the sight of an unfamiliar body at the table. "Who are you?"

"I'm Mezumi." She said quietly.

"Nami-swan this is Mezumi-chan, Mezumi-chan this is Nami-swan our navigator. She is joining us for lunch." Nami just shrugged. She sat down on the same side as Mezumi a few places away and started talking to Sanji about the new maps she had found, the weather and the next island among many other things. She hardly let Sanji get a word in. Mezumi just stayed silent choosing to stare at the table when she wasn't glancing around the room in interest. After a few minutes Chopper, Robin, Franky and Usopp walked in. Sanji made the necessary introductions as they sat down.

It was Robin that spoke to Mezumi first. "You must be from this island. Yet you wear a heavy cloak even in this mild weather." Mezumi looked nervous at being put on the spot by the woman sitting diagonal from her.

"I... prefer not to be seen." Mezumi stated blandly. Zoro and Luffy barged in the door of the kitchen. Zoro carrying Luffy by the collar of his shirt, yelling in Luffy's ear. Luffy looked uninterested as he rubbed his full stomach.

"...Told you before not to skip out on the bill. Soon there won't be any restaurant in the world that will serve you." Zoro yelled at Luffy as he threw him across the room. Landing on the opposite wall, Luffy looked like he might be sick at the thought of not being able to eat in a restaurant ever again. Zoro sat down across from Mezumi. Before he could do anything but give her a grumpy look Sanji walked in with a tray full of food.

"Mezumi-chan this is our captain Luffy and the marimo is the shitty swordsman."

"Who are you calling a marimo, you shit cook?"

"I don't see anyone else around with green hair. Are you blind as well as stupid?" Sanji started to lay down the food on the table.

"MEAT!" shouted Luffy from the head of the table. Despite the fact that he had eaten recently, Mezumi was surprised to see that he started to eat anything he could reach. He didn't bother to put it on his plate. Instead he chose to shove it in his mouth as quickly as possible. Only after his mouth was stretched farther than she though humanly possible, did he pause to chew. His hands, which had been preoccupied with shoving food in his mouth, now started to pile food on his plate higher and higher until he started placing food in his empty mouth again. Mezumi was so busy watching him that she wasn't aware of anything else until Sanji set a plate in front of her. Startled, she let out a small squeak of thanks that she hoped he heard. She looked down at her full plate. In front of Mezumi he placed a plate of steaming grilled salmon, white rice and mixed vegetables. The mere sight of it has her shaking in anticipation and the smell had her mouth watering. It looked so wonderful that for a second she didn't want to eat it and destroy it's beauty. Feeling both sad and hungry she picked up her fork and knife and cut into the salmon. Taking a bite she almost forgot she was in the company of others and shuddered at the taste. Barely repressing a moan of delight, her cheeks turning pink at the possibility, she continued to eat. Mezumi was hardly aware of their conversation of the days events. The crew shared the stories of the day. They told whoever was interested about their purchases from earlier.

Suddenly a hand appeared in the bowl of rolls in front of Mezumi. She looked up to see that the captain had stretched his arm across the full length of the table. Her eyes widened and she gasped. "What... H-How did..."

Luffy smiled widely. He grabbed both sides of his face and pulled each side out about a foot. "I'm a rubber man." Mezumi looked shocked to say the least. Luffy went back to stuffing his face.

Seeing the confused and surprised look on the girl's face, Nami rolled her eyes. "What Luffy is trying to say is that he is a power holder. He can manipulate his body as if he were made of rubber. That is what happens when someone eats a devil fruit."

"So there are a lot of stretchy people out there?" Mezumi asked.

"No each power is different." Usopp answered. "Chopper here used to be a regular reindeer. Now he is part human." He gestured to Chopper.

"It's true." Chopper said quietly, nervous around an unfamiliar person.

"So are all of you power holders?"

"No. I am the only other power holder among the crew." Robin smiled.

"What can you do?" Mezumi asked excited. A hand appeared in front of Mezumi's plate holding the bread bowl out to her. "That's amazing!"

With a mouth full of food Usopp turned to Zoro. "Zoro did you get a new sword?"

"No, the cheapest I could find was for 10 million Beri." Nami choked on her food.

"What? There is no way you are spending all our money on a sword! We need that for supplies!" Nami shouted.

"I know that! I also know that I can't protect your danger-prone ass without another sword! If it wasn't for that rust freak I would still have it!" Zoro was shouting louder than Nami.

"May I see the sword?" a small voice asked. Zoro looked to Mezumi in front of him. She blinked and tried to hide her fraying nerves from his sharp gaze. He unsheathed half a sword with a rusted end. Mezumi regarded the sword. She looked torn for a moment but she came to a decision when she spoke. "I can fix it for you."

"It's beyond repair. Any blacksmith could tell you that." Zoro looked at the rusted end.

"I mean it. I can fix it for you. Please, you have all been so nice to me. Let me repay your kindness."

"How do you expect to fix something that can't be fixed?" Zoro asked angrily. Mezumi flinched at his tone.

"I think I am a power holder too." No one spoke as the statement hung in the air.