Okay, so this is my first fic for the wonder world of One Piece. It's set a few weeks after the Baratie arc. Gin has left the Krieg pirates and is now on his own. He ends up at East Seaport, the biggest port in the East Blue Sea. With all the people there for him to meet, he somehow ends up meeting and falling in love with the most unexpected person, Suki Krieg. Not to mention, this port is also the hometown of one Don Krieg himself. What Gin gonna do when he finds out who Suki really is and what this town's biggest secret is? Will he stay with the woman he loves, despite who her father is, or will he give her up? And what's going to happen when an old 'friend' comes home? Read and find out!

Chapter One: Big Mamma's Deli

"Here you are, Mr. Haku, ham on rye, like always." Suki said while placing the sandwich in front of her most regular customer.

"With?"

":sigh: With pickles, tomatoes, coleslaw, and ketchup." She said the last condiment with slight disgust. 'A year of making this sandwich for him and I still get grossed out by that combination.'

"You know me all to well, Suki." She smiled at him and patted his shoulder.

"That's right, now shut up and eat." They both laughed and he did as she said. 'You know I wouldn't know you so well if you wouldn't come here so damn much.' She thought to herself as she walked back to the kitchen.

"Was Mr. Haku pleased with his meal?"

"You know he always does, Big Momma. " Suki sat down behind the counter and sighed, bored out to her mind. Big Momma, having noticed this, stopped sweeping and took a seat in front of her.

"What's the matter, child?"

"I'm just bored, I mean, we have the best deli for miles, yet it's always the same shit, different day. Not to mention the same people. Nothing exciting ever happens here."

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"Seriously? But there's still things to do."

"Big Papa and I can handle things. We was running this place when you were in dippers." She smiled, "You work so hard and never ask for a break, so go on. Go have some fun."

"I'd love to, Big Momma, but I really can't." she said standing up and walking away.

"And why not, child? You need to go out." Suki stopped on a dime and, hands on her hips, turned around.

"Really? Now why is that?" Big Momma got up and walked over to the young girl. She placed a hand on each of Suki's cheeks, and looked her straight in the eyes.

"You're a beautiful young lady with many of young men waiting to take you on a date."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Suki, when was the last time you went on a date?" Big Momma asked in a 'matter of fact' tone.

"I…well…I…uh…I…um…I…a year………or three."

"You are 20 years old, Suki; you need some enjoyment in your life." She placed a lock of Suki's lavender hair behind her ear. "You are as sweet, gracious, and caring as your mother, God rest her soul, and as adventurous, brave, and headstrong like your father. Hmpf, that and your looks are the only good things that man ever gave you." Suki laughed her grandma and took her hands in hers with a smile.

"You really are something, Big Momma, and you always know what to say." Big Momma returned the smile. "But I can't go."

"What! Why!"

"Because I know as soon as I set foot out that door, something exciting is going to happen." Big Mamma watched her as she got back to work taking orders and preparing meals. 'Stubborn as a mule, just like her daddy.'

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"Welcome to East Seaport!" the check-in officer exclaimed with glee to the young man as he stepped up onto the dock. "Will you be staying long?" He asked looking at the small boat the man had arrived in.

"Dunno." He signed the information sheet and paid the officer. "There any good places to eat around here?"

"Of course, there are plenty of lovely restaurants in this great town of ours."

"Yeah, well, you got anything not so fancy?"

"Oh, yes, Big Momma's Deli. Great food with affordable prices. Just a quarter of a mile down the road, make a right, and it's the third building on the left. Can't miss it."

"Thanks." The young man set off down the road, tying to relax. He had been in that cramp boat for two days with no food. He placed a hand on his growling stomach and groaned. "Man, I haven't been this hungry for a while." He continued to walk, talking in the scenery. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to stand staying here. He had never been one for living on land. "Finally." he ran up to the deli door, but froze when something caught his eye. "Beautiful." He whispered to himself. He watched the girl move about, her lavender mid-back length hair flowing about, the white tank top complementing her luscious curves, and the long skirt showing off her hips. "Wow." Just then Mr. Haku walked out only to be grabbed by the young man.

"What the—"

"Who's that's?" He asked pointing at the window. Mr. Haku followed the direction of his finger and smiled.

"Oh, you mean her? Why that's just Suki. She works here."

"She's beautiful."

"Yes she is, and she can make a mean ham on rye, too. Go on in and have a bite." The man let go of Mr. Haku and he went on his way while the other continued to stand there.

Inside, Big Papa was taking care of preparing the meals when he glanced up at the window. 'Huh, I've never seen him before. He must be new.' "Hey, Big Momma, have you ever seen him before? " He nodded towards the window and she looked, but shook her head.

"No, can't say I've have." Just then the young man walked in, "Just sit anyway, sweetie, someone will be with you soon." She called out to him. Big Momma walked back into the kitchen, "Suki, we have a new customer; a young man around your age. And I must say, he doesn't look to shabby either." She said with a sheepish grin. "Why don't you go and get his order?" Suki glared at the old woman and rolled her eyes. 'Yeah well, you also thought that 'ex-convict' wasn't too shabby and a few hours latter he was arrested.' With a huff, she grabbed a menu and headed for the young man.

"Alright, I'm going."'He can't be that spec—' she stopped dead in her tracks. 'That guy…I think I know him, or at least, seen him somewhere.' Grey jacket and pants, green T-shirt, head band, dark brown hair, and a tanish complexion; she had definitely seen him somewhere before. No doubt about it, but where. She returned to reality and continued on her way. "Here you are, sir." She said handing him the menu.

"Thanks."

"This your first day in East Seaport?"

"Ay, it is, how'd you know?"

"This may be one of the biggest ports in the East Blue, but the number of people who actually live here is pretty small."

"How many?"

"About 200."

"Anyone famous?"

"Yeah, a pirate." 'Shit! Me and my big, damn mouth!' He looked up at her, eyebrow raised with curiosity.

"Really? Who?" She tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. Luckily another customer started to complain that she was taking too long and that they were starving.

"Shut the hell up, you know you ain't starving!" she yelled back, then looked back down at the new guy. "Look over the menu and I'll be back in a minute to take your order." He watched her walk away, admiring her nice figure, and as he did he felt like there was something familiar about her. It's not that he had seen her before, God knows he'd remember if he had, but there was still something familiar. And he was going to figure it out.

Suki too the customers' orders and brought them to Big Momma. "So who is he?" she asked.

"I don't know, I didn't ask, but I swear I've seen him somewhere."

"Has he been to East Seaport before?"

"No, I'd have remembered." She held the locket she wore, like she always did when she was thinking, as she thought hard of whom he could be or where she had she him. 'Maybe I've seen his picture, or perhaps—' That was it. She looked down at the locket, she remembered now; it was a picture she had seen. "He's a pirate." She whispered.

"What was that, child?"

"He's a pirate." She repeated; she squeezed the locket in her fist. "I remember my dad telling me about him in a letter."

"But how do you know it's the same guy?" Without answering she hurried around to the back of the counter and, opening a small door near the far left bottom, she pulled out a shoe box. She sat down taking the top off to reveal near a hundred and began rummaging through it. "Suki, it's going to take forever to go through all these—"

"AH, found it."

"The letter?"

"No, better, look." She laid the picture on the counter and pointed to a person, "There, right there." Big Momma looked at the picture closely, and sure enough, there he was, right next to the Admiral. "His name is Gin. He's the General Battle Commander of the Krieg Pirates."

"Well, I'll be damned; how ironic. What should we do?"

"Well, he is one of my dad's goons, but he doesn't seem to want to cause any trouble. I guess we don't have to kick him out."

"Alrig—"

"HOWever, we cannot let him know that we know. Things could get ugly. We can't trust him….yet." The way she figured, if he found out they knew, he might try to harm them. 'Yeah, I'd like to see him try though.' She thought while staring at him, smiling.

"Yes, well, your staring says otherwise." Suki looked down at the floor then back to Big Momma.

"I was not staring." She grabbed her notepad and pen. "I'm going to get his order." She murmured and started off toward Gin. "I'll be right back."

Gin looked over the menu for the menu for the umpteenth time, and finally decided. He looked up just in time to see Suki walking to his table. "You made up your mind?"

"Uuuh, yeah, I'll have the Roast beef and cheddar on pumpernickel with fries."

"Good decision. It's one of my favorites. I'll just give this to Big Papa and it should be ready in a few minutes." She commented and wrote down the order down. Again she walked away leaving Gin to his thoughts. He thought about his time at the Baratie and the first real friend he ever made. 'Sanji, you were the only person to ever show me kindness. I told you I would see you at the grand line, and I tend to make that happen.' He grinned when the image of that straw hat pirate came to mind. 'How that kid ever went up against the invincible Don Krieg and survived, I will never understand.' He leaned back in his seat and continued to reminisce about the past: from his childhood, to joining Krieg's crew, to becoming Battle Commander, to his leaving the Krieg pirates. That was the hardest decision he ever had to make; he had been with them for so long, but all that was in the past now and it was time to move on.

"Here you are." Gin looked down at the plate of food in front of him. "Enjoy."

"Thanks, uh—"

"It's Suki."

"Well, Suki, I'd enjoy this more if I had some company." Suki looked around the deli then back to him.

"Sucks for you, cuz you the only one left." She smirked at the hurt expression on his face. "I'm just kidding. Damn, don't look so depressed." She pulled out the chair in front of him and sat down. 'I might be able to find out if the rest of them are coming here. If they do, maybe they won't do anything bad. I mean, my dad wouldn't want to cause me any trouble……would he?'

"So, are they your…" He pointed to Big Papa and Mamma. Suki shook her head and smiled.

"No, they're not my parents."

"But you called them—"

"Everybody calls them that. They're my grandparents. Well not biologically. See, the two of them also helped take care of both my mom and dad when they were going up; that's how my parents met. They became best friends when they were 7, thanks to Big Papa and Mamma, and ended up marrying each other when they were 19. Two years later they had me, so naturally Big Papa and Mamma helped take care of me as well. Now I live here with them upstairs."

"Where are your parents now, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My mom died when I was 6 and my dad's away on 'business.' " Again, she took hold of locket.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, so what about you? Where are you from?"

"The Grand Line. Never really had a family. When I was old enough to make it on my own I joined this group of guys and their line of work."

"Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow, "What business was that?"

"The trading business." 'Smooth.' She noticed he was trying not to grin, but somewhat failing. "How much do I owe you?" He asked motioning toward the now clean plate.

"It's on the house."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I don't feel like messing with the cash register." Both laughed and continued with their conversation.

Across the room, oblivious to the two youths, stood Big Papa and Mamma watching with joy. Big Momma sighed happily, "They do make a lovely couple, don't they, Big Papa?"

"They sure do, Big Momma, but do you think it could ever work?"

"Love always finds a way." Big Papa smiled and kissed his wife of 57 years on the head.

"Yes, but love can also cause a lot of trouble. And besides, you know good and well Suki will never consider dating him. She would have to see him every day."

"I think I can help there."

"You know, we've been telling each other all bout ourselves, and yet you've lacked in tell me your name."

"Shit, your right. Sorry, it's Gin." 'Well at lest we know he's not too much of a liar.'

"Young man." Gin nearly jumped clean out of his seat, and possibly his skin. 'Holy shit! Where fuck did she come from!' "Young Man?" Big Momma repeated.

"Y-y-yes?"

"Do you plan on staying in East Seaport?"

"For a little while, I guess."

"Do you have some kind of income?"

"Well no, I just got here." Suki eyed her grandma 'What's she up to?'

"That's GREAT!"

"It is?" The two asked in unison, both equally confused.

"Yes, we need some help round the deli and we have an extra room upstairs. So, why don't you stay here?" Gin was speechless, he couldn't believe this woman would just up and ask him something like that. Suki, on the other hand, was more or less in shock; white as snow and emotionless as a statue. Was Big Momma out of her mind? What the hell was she doing? 'I'm gonna kill her.' "Well?"

"I….uh, sure?" He agreed not wanting to upset the rather large woman.

"Good, come along, I'll show you where you'll be staying." She took him by arm and practically dragged him away to the upstairs. Suki remained sitting there, staring at the empty seat where Gin, her father's right hand man, had just been sitting mere moments ago. 'That didn't just happen. Why would she do that? More importantly, why did he agree? Shit.' She looked out the widow to the deep blue sea. She envisioned her father, both before he left and how he is now. 'Where ever you are, dad, I hope you're safe.' Suki released a sigh of frustration and sank down in her seat and muttered to herself. "You best know what you're doing Big Momma, cuz I sure as hell don't."

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Well there you go, chapter one. I hope it filled your appetite, yet left you wanting more. If you do, R&R and let me know.

Luv Ya!

Dyno