A/N: I'm kind of pleasantly surprised you guys didn't hate the first chapter. You're all awesome. Have free food.

He had once thought that he would never admit to this. That he wasn't that desperate, that things would work out in the end. But he was hungry, he was trapped with an idiot, and he didn't want to risk rusting his swords with swimming in hopes of reaching shore.

They were lost.

Hopelessly, horribly, undoubtedly, lost.

And if even Zoro, of all people, who could get lost by walking half a millimeter could admit that, then their situation was desperate.

Groaning as he hung his head over the side, he looked up at the sky pleadingly. Please… just let us land on an island! I'm going crazy here! Oh, wait, he was already crazy. After all, he had willingly come onto this tiny dinghy with a smiling idiot even though he knew that it was a bad idea…

"What's wrong, Zoro?" Luffy's innocent question caused him to scowl and glare darkly at the blinking, confused boy. "Why are you so upset?"

"Because I'm hungry!" He replied. "Since someone ate all of our food!"

Luffy laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Oops, sorry!" He replied awkwardly. He didn't sound very sorry, Zoro mused to himself. The thought provided no consolation. If anything, it made him feel even sourer than he had felt before.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Zoro asked, though he already knew that it was futile.

"Nope!" The dark haired teen grinned widely at him, and added, "Besides, it's more of an adventure this way!" Though it wasn't much, those words stirred up something inside of Zoro, and made him feel much more content with the idea of drifting aimlessly around if it meant that it was more of an adventure.

Not that he was about to admit it, so Zoro merely grunted in response, which made Luffy chuckle. "What made you want to become a pirate anyways?" He asked curiously, eyes flickering to the round faced teen in honest curiosity. "Pirates are supposed to be the evil doers, scourge of the seas, beware. They're not exactly heroes."

Luffy laughed as though he were a child, something that disturbed him slightly since the teen had the mentality of a 3 year old (at best). "Those are the wrong kind of pirates." He replied with a knowing laugh. "They're imposters who give real pirates a bad name. The real pirates are adventurers!"

"Oh?" Zoro asked disinterestedly. "And who are these so called real pirates?" He waited for the silence, and was slightly surprised when Luffy answered with vague words.

"Pops." Luffy held up a finger. "My family." He held up all his fingers, and chuckled. "But there are too many to count." He paused, and a nostalgic expression crossed his features. "Shanks." The name rang a bell, but Zoro wasn't quite sure why the name seemed so familiar. "Benn. Yassop. All those guys. My brothers." He paused once again, and then smiled brightly. "Us!"

Zoro laughed slightly at that. "We need booze." He mused. "All pirates need booze."

"And meat!" Luffy chirped, grinning. "Meat is good." The two smiled at each other, and suddenly, drifting around the sea with his new captain didn't seem all that bad.

0o0o0o0o0o0

As Armaken leaned back, lighting his cigarette lazily, he waved dismissively at his slave. "Go get me some food." He commanded. "And make it fast." His eyes narrowed as he turned to the man standing before him. "I have an important guest."

The man before him smiled, though there was no humor in it, and took off his hat, pressing it to his chest as he offered Armaken a shallow bow. "It's nice to meet you." The blond offered, eyes sparkling in amusement. "I've come to make you an offer."

Armaken frowned slightly. "What type of offer?" He asked coldly. "I don't usually deal with lower nobles than I. Make it fast, Sir Outlook."

The blond before him spread his arms out wide. "My offer is this. Let's play a game, shall we?"

"Cut the theatrics." Armaken barked icily. "I'm not here for your amusement. Get on with it, or I'll have you imprisoned, and you won't find it very funny down in my dungeons."

The blue eyed teen before him laughed again, seeming to find it quite amusing that Armaken was threatening to trap him, and responded, "This game is more of a bet, I suppose." He offered smoothly. "It's like this…" He pulled a small, white pawn from his pocket. "I have this friend, you see. He's one of your slaves, the idea of which I'm not very fond of. So I'd like to free him."

The noble rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just offer me a nice sum, then?" He asked. "What's all this jibberish about a game and bets?"

"Ah, that." The blonde's smile widened and turned predatory. "Well, you see, that's not good enough for me." He formed a fist around the pawn, and when he opened his hand, white sand slid smoothly down to the ground from his palm. "Everything you own. That's my price."

Armaken's lips pressed together to a thin line. "And how do you plan on gaining that?" He asked.

"Everything I own." The blond smiled sweetly. "And information about the Revolutionary Army is sure to get you promoted to a Tennryubito…" He paused, and gave Armaken a meaningful look.

"Right." The noble replied gruffly. "What type of a game?"

"Hm…" The blue eyed teen pretended to think for a while, then suggested brightly, "How about this?" A wide smile graced his lips. "Let's make a bet and see who makes their opponent give in to defeat first." He smirked. "The deadline is 24 hours. If you can make me concede defeat, you win. If I do, I win. Winner takes all."

Armaken smiled. "What if the other is eliminated?" He asked sweetly. "What then, sir Outlook?"

"Oh, no worries." Suddenly the bright blue eyes seemed to be as frosty as ice. "In that case, we just name each other our heirs. Your slaves can surely serve as witnesses?"

"Ah, yes." Armaken nodded, eyes barely slits as he smiled as sweet as honey. "Surely, dear Sabo."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Murderer!"

Staring at her hand, Nami could feel something lodge itself in her throat as the scream rang inside of her head.

"Why can't you just leave already? It's torture to even breath the same air as you."

Pressing her forehead into her knees, the orange haired girl felt the strange urge to cry. Why do I feel like this? She had gone through this routine so much times that she felt like a robot. She should be used to it. Numb to what was happening… what had been happening for the last few years. And yet, it still hurt to feel the rejection.

As the insults swam through her head, a familiar red haired memory flashed in her mind. "No worries, kiddo! It'll all be alright!" Liar. Bellemere was such a liar. It wasn't alright—and it probably never would be.

"Are you alright?" Raising her head slightly, Nami let her eyes connect with Nojiko's.

Giving a weary smile, the reluctant pirate nodded. "Yeah. Just a little tired." She rested her head against her sister's shoulder. "I'll sleep a little, then I'll talk to Arlong and set sail again. I'll be gone a little longer this time… I want to track down a map to the Grand Line, so it may take some time."

Alarm flickered over Nojiko's features. "You're not honestly going there, right?" She asked in breathless fear. At the stony expression on Nami's face, Nojiko's voice turned soft with her pleading. "But the rumors—you must have heard them, Nami! That place is dangerous… you shouldn't go there!"

Nojiko's face fell when she realized that her pleas were falling on deaf ears. "I love this village." Nami told Nojiko. "I don't care if they hate me—I want to see everyone smile again. I want them all to be happy. And once I'm on the Grand Line, I'll get money much faster, and we'll be free soon! Don't you want that, Nojiko?"

"Not if it means that you'll die." Nojiko replied angrily. "It's not safe! Stay in the East Blue—you're much more likely to live when you're in the East Blue!"

"I'll be fine." Nami insisted. "I know how to fight, and my navigation skills are top notch! Stop worrying, Nojiko!"

"But I'm your sister!" Nojiko insisted. "It's my job to worry about my little sister." She paused and took Nami's hand, their fingers interlocking. "Promise me that you'll be safe?"

Nami stared at their hands for a moment, before a slight sigh escaped her lips. "Alright." She agreed, smiling slightly at her sister. "I promise."

Nojiko studied her features for a moment, searching for a lie or hesitation. "I can't afford to lose you." She said, her voice firm in conviction. "Don't make me lose my last family."

Nami's features fell. "Gen's family." She offered weakly.

Nojiko gave her hand a slight squeeze. "It's not the same and you know it." She responded, her voice like stone. "Whatever happens, I have faith in you."

As she kissed Nami's forehead and left, Nami stared blankly at her hand as Nojiko let go. "You shouldn't." She whispered. "After all, I'm nothing but a pirate."

She was worthless. And she despised it.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Flames danced almost violently in the air as Ace's fist connected with his enemy's face.

"Stop, Ace!" Thatch exclaimed, his naturally loud voice carrying over the shouts of anger and fear as the pirates battled with each other. "We're done raiding, so let's go back onto the ship!"

Ace blinked slightly, before grinning and calling, "Alright, just a minute!" Hopping onto the Moby Dick, something warm swelled in his chest. There couldn't possibly be any other place like his home, not when he lived with Pops and his family.

"Done sulking?" As he boarded the ship, Thatch smirked at Ace and bumped shoulders with him.

"As if." Haruta snickered, shamelessly revealing that she had been eavesdropping on them. "This little bro con's going to sulk until Sabo comes back. He always does."

"Look at the pot calling a kettle black." Ace snorted, swinging a teasing punch at Haruta which was dodged with a slight giggle. "Who was the one who cried all day when Luffy declared that he was going to leave?"

Haruta's face fell. "Don't remind me. When Marco found out about the prank we both pulled on him, he took it all out on me because the little bugger decided to go and run away!" She gave an undignified snort. "Little coward."

"I think that he was looking for more adventure, not chickening out because of a prank." Thatch pointed out with a slight smile. "Where is our dear little Great Flaming Turkey of Fire anyways?"

"In two seconds?" A voice cut smoothly into their conversation, slightly lilting in amusement. "Beating you up, our dear, dear chef. No worries, I'm sure that you'll be able to move again in—oh, a few years at most."

Paling, Thatch squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm just imagining this, right?" He asked, his voice coming out in a high pitched squeak. "This isn't actually happening… right?" The panic in his voice was unmistakable.

"It's actually happening." Haruta responded, sounding slightly sympathetic. "You'd better start running, Thatch."

He didn't need to be told twice. The chef practically flew away, face milk white in terror as Ace burst into laughter. "Thanks for going along with it, Haruta." He snickered.

"No need for thanks." Haruta replied, high fiving him. "You've been working on imitating Marco for years. You're like a parrot… how do you do that anyways? I've always wanted to do that but I never can."

Ace shrugged. "Do you want to go find Marco?" He asked.

Haruta grinned. "I'd be delighted to." She giggled.

And suddenly, even though Luffy wasn't there, they were smiling again.

A/N: Sooo… good, bad, so awful that being blind would be better than reading this? Sorry that it was so short… no omake either… (sweat drops) I'm an awful person… I'm sorry…