It was an average day within the city of Water Seven and Luka did her normal rounds. She walked pass shops and stretched her limbs. It didn't seem like the Franky Family had anything up their sleeves today so she had nothing to do. Beside her in the water was a Yagara Bull who traveled along with her in her daily errands.

"Today is boring…" she complained. Her face didn't twitch or crack; it stayed emotionless as she passed bystanders. Without anything to keep her activity she became bored quickly.

"Good morning Captain Luka!" a citizen greeted with a wave of his hand. She was in charge of the marine base stationed on this floating island as her disguise for this mission. And this façade has been going on for five years so she was welcomed by the citizens of the island.

"Morning," she greeted quickly to the one man. She kept her pace and passed him. She sighed and went to a store. The lady nodded her head at Luka's request, but she already knew the request to heart. The lady handed Luka a small snack and Luka, in exchange, gave her a dollar.

It was around mealtime, about noon, and Luka stuffed her stomach with a single bar to last her till dinner. This was her daily diet. She came back to the river that ran through the city, and broke a piece off of her bar and gave it to the Yagara Bull to feed on. The bull contently ate it out of her hands and smiled up at the young girl.

When she straightens her back, she heard a whisper behind her. She turned around at the noise and within five feet from her was a man dressed in posh uniform. The Yagara Bull shifted in its position to have a glimpse of this man.

The man lifted his hands together and smiled kindly at the young girl. "What a fine day it must be to see such a beauty like you, a young maiden."

Luka jumped inside of the carrier of the Yagara Bull and looked around to see what he was talking about. "Must be a miracle since I don't see nothing," she shrugged her shoulders and commanded the bull to head somewhere else.

The man with brown hair stood there at the side of the sidewalk and watched as Luka was carried away. He itch his head and bite his lip trying to think of what he did wrong.

"Thatch! Get your ass over here!" Marco yelled down the street.

"Oh, oh yeah," Thatch grabbed his bags of foods and headed wards Marco. He looked back but Luka was already gone. He couldn't help but feel like he seen her from somewhere. There was something about her that was familiar. He tilted his head and just shrugged; there were other gems in the city than that one girl.

Marco rolled his eyes once Thatch reached him. "What took you so long?" he complained.

"Just checking out something," Thatch excited.

"Something as in girls?" Marco raised his eyebrow. He laughed once Thatch's face turned red. "When don't you?" he asked with sarcasm.

Thatch laughed with him but halted when he understood the joke. "Hey!"

"What?" the blonde asked as if nothing was the matter.

"You're just jealous," the brown haired muttered with a sly tone. "Anyways, where are we meeting Ace?"

"Galley-La."

"I want to get a drink though…" Thatch moaned. "I heard there's a bar around here somewhere, I heard from Kokoro about it."

"That old coon?"

"The exact one. Come on, let's go there."

…

Ace stood impatiently at Dock One. He was waiting for Marco and Thatch, but he saw no sign of them. His foot tapped the pavement and he looked at his wrist as if he had a watch. They were supposed to be there by now. Knowing Thatch, he was probably scaring the local girls away or drinking.

"I sent Kaku to check on the condition of your ship. He should be back soon," Iceburg informed as he walked out of a door. Behind him was his loyal secretary Kalifa.

"Mayor Iceburg, your meeting with the bu-"

"I'm not going."

She repositioned her glassed and checked something on her clipboard. "I rescheduled it next week."

Ace looked at the duo and bites his lip. He really didn't know how to think about them but he knew he couldn't laugh at the mayor of the island. At least not with Kalifa around; he already had a sight of what she could do.

So he had to wait for three people, and the two he was most counting on didn't show. Kaku appeared flying in the sky and he landed right in front of Ace. He shifted his hat and stood up straight. He was taller than the black haired boy.

"How's my ship?" Ace asked swiftly as he crossed his arms.

Kaku moved and faced the other male. "Your ship? Oh, that bronze nickel! She will be fine in a jiffy. Just needs some work on the top and she's new."

With a slightly lower tone, he asked, "How much would it cost then?" Ace wasn't really one to manage his money, which was all Sabo's duty; that wasn't here right now.

Kaku started talking about the condition of the ship and all of the prices it would cost. Ace zoned out and only heard tiny pieces there and there. After what felt like an hour, Kaku finally stated the closing price.

"That much?! Oh fuck…" Ace made a fist with his hand. He really needed Sabo here right now; or any body. "I will have to get back with you later on that," he waved and turned away. He didn't even know he had any money for the repairs; it has been awhile since he stuck gold and that was when he met Robin. Hopefully Sabo took preparations for this or they would be loners. Maybe he could get his crew to work for the funds; but he cast that thought away. Thatch and him working? That would probably make them owe more money than they own.

He walked down the sidewalk and went into a bar. He needed something to get him mind off the repairs. As soon as he opened the door, he spotted a blonde and a brunette drinking together at a nearby table. 'So that's where they went...' Ace thought. He went up to the counter and ordered himself a drink and then headed to the table with his two crewmates. "Are we having fun?" he said with a threatening tone.

"Fuck..." muttered Thatch. He had his cup halted at his lips and he sat the cup down. "Hello Captain."

"Hey Ace," Marco greeted with a sober tone.

"I didn't know the bar was where we were suppose to gather. Man, and I thought it was the Gallery-La," the freckled face stated as he looked Thatch in the eye.

"You didn't know? I thought we talked about it before we left," Thatch tried to play it out. "Isn't that right, Marco?"

Marco shrugged and took a slip of his sake. He watched above his drink at the two. There was no way in hell he would be caught in the middle of this. Thatch sweated and took a big gulp of his sake while Ace watched him like a hawk. The waiter came and went; handing Ace his drink. Ace took his eyes off of Thatch and drank with him.

Within the hour the two fools were as drunk as ever. Marco sighed heavily. The two acted like babies whenever they drank. With one final slip of their sake, the two rested their heads on the table and fell asleep. How in the hell was he suppose to get them to the ship. Luckly the door opened and Jozu appeared. "Ace's asleep?" he questioned and shook his head. Sabo asked him to go find the missing captain so he checked the dinners first and then the bars.

"Yeah, can you get them. I will go pay their bills...which I better get back," Marco said. He rested his drink on the table and stood up.

Jozu picked the two drunk bodies and carried them over his shoulder. "See you on the ship," Jozu said and left the bar.

Marco nodded at his crewmate's statement and pulled out his wallet. He headed to the bar where a single woman drank. She had a brown hat over her wild black hair. A scar stitched under her eye. And he, who was too busy looking at her, knocked her drink down. "Oh, sorry," he muttered as he grabbed some napkins from the counter. He handed some to her and wiped the mess on the table. He sat the cup back up in place.

"It's no problem, this shirt was dirty anyways," the girl stated. She wiped her shirt, but soon gave up.

Marco's lip lifted and he smiled at the lady. He started talking with her with him carrying on most of the conservation. Most of her answers were nods, or shakes, and one word answers. He didn't notice her silence since his mouth kept moving. He told about what he seen in the city and he even mentioned his friends; which he regretted but she gave a slight laugh. It was just easy to talk to this girl; that was what he thought at least.

A hand came through the crowd and tipped her shoulder. Her slight smile on her face disappeared and her voice came rashly. "I have to go now."

"Then I will see you around, uh..." He didn't even know her name, but no answer came once she stood up. When she stood up, he saw her uniform. "She's a...marine...?" he stated in surprised. He shook his head and watched her as she disappeared in the shadows. A waiter appeared in front of him behind the counter. Marco nodded and remembered his task. He took out his money and paid their bill.

He better get his money back.

Well, this chapter wasn't in the original story, nor the romance between Marco and Luka. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Shirani-Chan: Thanks, and hopefully this ends up better than my first attempt.

EpicAsianOrangeTiger26: Are you talking about Lunacii's stories? I think that was where I first gotten the idea of doing my own, but I can't remember; now that I read the summary of hers, my first draft seems oddly familiar (I was bad at coming up with my own ideas :/ ). And I will finish this story, it's a big pet peeve of mine.

Rosekittylol: Thanks and I'm trying to redo the whole thing since I know I missed up with the first version. So yeah, thanks.