Disclaimer: Must I do this again? Alright, I don't own One Piece.

Chapter Three: Farewell

Jackie turned to look at Hina with an are-you-stupid? face, before obliging to the woman's weird request. "I said," she started, with exasperation evident in her tone, "'Your face is bothering him.'" here, she used quotation marks to indicate that she was citing herself.

The dark cloud flashed and illuminated Hina's face once again.

Euro placed a hand on Jackie's shoulder. "Uh, Jackie? I think that was a rhetorical question."

"…Oh." Jackie blinked and looked at Hina, who was looking scarier by the second. "Err, sorry about that, then." she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Euro rolled his eyes to the heavens.

Hina was not amused. "Don't you... ever... insult my face again. Got that?" she whispered menacingly.

Jackie made a weird face. "We didn't... we weren't... it's a joke," she finally said, as if explaining to a child. "You know... your face? Your mom? Your mom's face? Jokes. We weren't insulting your face... It's like a comeback." she finished lamely.

Slowly, Hina relaxed her tense muscles. "Oh." she blinked. "So, you weren't insulting my face?" her eyes lit up and she tossed her hair elegantly. "You think I'm beautiful?"

Before Jackie could reply, Euro spoke up with irritation evident in his tone. "That doesn't matter. Why are we even discussing this with you, when I should be beating you up, right now?"

"Wow... that was cool, Euro!" Jackie said, nodding her head in approval. She gave him two thumbs up and flashed a cheesy grin. "As expected of my first mate!"

Euro got a tick in his forehead, ignoring her 'first mate' comment. "Urusai,"

Suddenly, Kagemine ceased drawing circles on the floor and stood, dusting off his pants nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just been in a deep depression.

Both Jackie and Euro turned to him, and deadpanned, "Oh. You're still here."

Kagemine, rather comically, returned to muttering to himself, drawing circles on his palm once again. "If I were to be reborn, I would want to be a gnat..."

They both ignored him.

Furious, Hina said, "You two will stop insulting my captain right now! Captain Kagemine-kun?" Kagemine's head perked up, and Hina smirked deviously. "How about we show these two amateurs what being a pirate is all about?"

"Of course, Hina-san!" Kagemine said in determination, no longer sulking in his corner. His face turned confident and calm immediately. Jackie secretly thought that one would think Hina was the captain with the authority she exuded, rather than Kagemine.

Euro sweat dropped at Kagemine's newfound confidence. "This guy has severe mood-swings. More than you do." he told Jackie in a whisper, who started to nod in agreement before realizing what he had said, and promptly reached up and flicked his forehead.

"Shut up!" Jackie said with a scowl, before chuckling quietly to herself for no apparent reason.

Euro shook his head. "See what I mean...?"

Jackie ignored him.

"So, you two want a fight, or something?" she asked the two before her with a slight tilt to her head.

Euro cracked his knuckles easily. "I wouldn't mind fighting the people who trashed my grandfather's tavern."

"Are you sure about this?" Kagemine asked, amusement evident in his tone.

"Bring it on." Jackie replied with a smirk.

"As you wish. Chaku-chaku no..." Kagemine started, arms extended before him. Jackie and Euro exchanged a quick glance, both thinking 'devil fruit', "arm!"

Jackie grabbed Kazekaki and tossed one to her opposite hand, in the normal fighting stance. Euro tightened his hold on the hilt of Same no Ha.

…And they both sweat dropped, because instead of a supernatural power charging at them, Kagemine ran for the two, his arm completely normal.

Setting aside her confusion, Jackie stepped forward and slashed his arm in an upwards motion, easily cutting down to the bone. She blinked, surprised. Why had it been so easy…?

Kagemine fled back to Hina, clutching his arm. However, instead of bleeding to certain death, Jackie and Euro watched in fascination as a thick, white substance appeared on the edges of Kagemine's cut, fusing the lips together and sealing the injury. A flash of pain flickered in his expression, but then he replaced it with a taunting smirk.

"I ate the Chaku-Chaku no Mi." he said, proudly. "The glue-glue fruit. Any cuts I obtain will fuse themselves back together with glue." He looked extremely pleased of himself, exchanging a grin with Hina.

Not bothering to reply, Jackie ran for Kagemine, Kazekaki's sharp edges glinting.

Suddenly, glue shot from Kagemine's outstretched fingers, coating Jackie's left hand, but fortunately missing her weapon. She staggered back, surprised. Glue laced between her fingers and over her knuckles. Choosing to ignore it, she flexed her fingers, and…

Kagemine curled his lip in satisfaction as Jackie attempted to spread out her fingers. "My ability can harden instantly." He explained, briefly.

Jackie struggled in vain, trying to rid herself of the hardened substance that fused her fingers together. Frustration written clearly in her features, she didn't notice the fist connect with her jaw until it was too late.

With a short yell, the raven-haired girl flew back. The weapon in her left hand skittered across the floor, and her hand made sharp contact with the brick wall behind her. Craaack! The coating broke open, and Jackie flexed her hand in satisfaction, ignoring her smarting jaw as best she could.

"Alright..." she rolled her shoulders back, and cracked her neck from side to side, before grabbing a throwing knife in her boot and getting into the standard defensive stance. "Euro," she called behind her back, keeping her eyes trained on Kagemine.

"Yeah?" Euro asked idly, raising an eyebrow.

"You get the girl, I the captain." Vaguely, Jackie registered Hina pulling a katana seemingly from thin air.

"Roger that." Euro replied with a mock salute.

And together, they charged forward.

"It's useless!" Kagemine crowed, side-stepping Jackie's dangerous swing. He lightly touched her arm, coating the aforementioned limb in glue, the thick substance spreading fast. With a hiss, Jackie pulled away harshly.

Both captains stepped back.

Jackie quickly made her way to the wall to her left, and sharply crashed her arm to the hard brick wall. The glue coating broke open with little effort, and Jackie flexed her limb for a few moments. Then, she charged again.

Kagemine stretched out his fingers, glue shooting out from the tips, but Jackie vaulted up and over his head, landing poised behind him. Then, as if dancing, she gracefully registered cut after cut to Kagemine's body, before back-flipping a respectable distance away, Kazekaki and her throwing knife glistening red.

Blood flowed continuously out of his wounds, but other than a slight wince, Kagemine ignored the pain as the lips of the cuts fused themselves together, and the bleeding ceased after a few moments.

"I told you, It's useless!" Kagemine cried. "Just give up now, and surrender!"

"Like hell I will," Jackie growled in reply. She reached for Kagemine once more, weapons at the ready.

Cut, slash, dodge, smack a limb into a wall. No matter what Jackie did, where she cut, how deep the cut was, the wounds would always glue back together. Her stamina was slowly dwindling, her patience thinning. Kagemine had managed to get in a few lucky shots, and he was a little breathless as well.

Ten minutes had passed, and from the corner of her eye, she noticed that Euro was gaining the upper hand against Hina, who was bleeding in several places and was currently yelling profanities at Euro, for ruining her once perfect hairdo. Well, she thought, if he's almost done… I should get this over with as soon as possible.

"I see why they call you the Infallible Iichoruu Kagemine." Jackie said with a grin, panting slightly. "And why you call yourselves the Eternal Pirates."

Kagemine beamed. "Yes, that was pretty clever, wasn't it? I made it up myself. No one has ever defeated me, before."

Jackie looked amazed. "Really! What about people with rifles? Are you saying that even bullets can't hurt you?"

At this, Kagemine looked shamefaced at the ceiling. "…No, they can injure me." he mumbled quietly, as if Jackie were reprimanding him for dropping his ice cream, "But!" he recovered the next second, "I am still Infallible! And I will defeat you!"

"Good luck with that," Jackie replied, a little disappointed at his response, "but I'm not going to let you stop me now, when I've just barely begun my adventure. After all, I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

Ignoring Kagemine's wide eyes, bugging out of his head at her near casual remark, Jackie sped forward, until she was right up in her adversary's face. "Game over." She said lowly, and with that, brought the hilt of her throwing knife down hard on the top of his head, watching as his eyes narrowed in disbelief, before rolling back in his head, his form crumpling to the floor.

Stepping back, Jackie nodded to herself in satisfaction as she looked down on Kagemine's unconscious form. Turning to see how Euro's fight was going, she grinned when she saw him looking at her calmly, Hina passed out and bleeding at his feet, her hair a rat's nest.

She strode across the room, stooping low to pick up her fallen Kazekaki. She attached her weapons back to her hip, and was just about to re-sheath her throwing knife when she heard a voice that wasn't Euro's.

"S-stop right t-there!" a pirate, presumably one of Kagemine's men, stuttered. He held a cutlass in one hand, and Jackie's eyes narrowed, as did Euro's, when they saw Gin, Euro's grandfather, held defensively in front of the pirate, the tip of the cutlass held threateningly at his throat. The dirty rag had been stuffed back into Gin's mouth, who was glaring at the hand holding the cutlass, as he was facing away from his captor.

"Why you little…" Jackie started, hand clutched her throwing knife in frustration.

Euro put a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up at him, shook his head with a small smile.

As Jackie opened her mouth to demand why he was being so calm, she heard a sickening crack and quickly whipped around to see…

Takayoshi Gin took off his gag and spat on the floor in resentment, right next to the unconscious pirate's head. "Dirty bastard, thinking you can get the better of me…" he cracked his knuckles in satisfaction.

Jackie stared in slight shock, before laughing uproariously. "Wow! Old man, you can really pack a punch!" she laughed some more, shaking her head as it dwindled to small chuckles.

Now that everything was taken care of, Jackie studied Euro's grandfather carefully. He had was nearly bald, with what hair he had left grey-turning-white. Drooping grey eyes locked with hers steadily. A grey handlebar moustache was his most prominent feature, and he was in rather good shape, about as tall as Jackie was. He was wearing a normal floral print shirt and white khakis. Sandals adorned his feet.

Gin turned his stare to the violet-eyed girl, his gaze calculating. He took out an old-fashioned pipe out of his pocket, lit it, and stuck it in his mouth. He leisurely blew a ring of smoke. Then, he turned to Euro. "Clean this mess up, boy."

"What?" Euro asked incredulously. "No! I'm not the one who messed up the tavern, old man!"

"Yeah, well I'm too old to clean it up myself."

"You just took out a pirate!" Euro protested, irritation evident in his tone.

"A rather weak one, too." Gin muttered to himself.

Jackie laughed again. "I like you, ossan. You're funny!"

"I don't believe seeing you around. Are you a traveler?" Gin asked her gruffly, ignoring her comment.

"I'm Jackie. I'm a pirate. I'm gonna be the Pirate King!" Jackie introduced herself with a grin.

Gin raised an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed. "Are you one of his men?" he jerked a finger at the unconscious Kagemine.

Jackie made a face. "No way. I'm my own captain. Oh, and Euro's my first mate!"

Gin turned to Euro, then looked back at Jackie. Then, he started laughing boisterously. "This little squirt? Euro?"

"Shut up, old man!" Euro retorted. "And I'm not her first mate, okay? She's dead set on it, but I never agreed."

Gin waved his hand carelessly. "Why not? Just go, puny eggplant. I can finally get you out of my hair."

"You don't have any hair," Euro muttered sourly.

Gin ignored him, chuckling. He turned to Jackie. "Take him! He's of no use here, anyways."

Jackie laughed. "Thanks, old man!"

Muttering to himself, Euro glowered at them both, before turning at walking out of the tavern without another word.

"Where's he going?" Jackie asked, cocking her head to the side.

Gin blew another ring of smoke without bothering to reply, watching through a smashed window as Euro jogged around the corner. When he was gone, he sighed heavily. "Listen, Jillian."

"It's Jackie."

"Whatever. Anyways, I have a question for you." He looked Jackie in the eye, searching. After a while, he spoke. "Are you really serious, about taking the little squirt with you?"

Jackie nodded seriously. "Of course. I've decided ever since we met at the harbour."

Gin nodded approvingly. "Good, good. He's a strong one, that boy is." He blew another puff of smoke, exhaling noisily. "Listen. I know Euro. And he isn't going to leave this village that easily."

"Why not?" Jackie asked with a frown.

"Because, he feels obligated to the people." Gin replied. At Jackie's questioning look, he elaborated. "Euro never knew his parents, not really. His mother; my daughter… She died giving birth to him. His father died when he was three… He never knew his father. I barely even knew him." He sighed once more, exhaling smoke.

"Euro loves the people of Fairmill Village; this village. Ever since he was old enough to hold a weapon, he fended off pirates and mountain bandits from this place. He feels as if he's the only one who can save us; take care of us.

"But that's not true. We can take care of ourselves here; he's just too damn stubborn." Gin chuckled. "He takes after me. But that's beside the point. The squirt has this dream; an ambition that he can't fulfill if he stays here."

"What's his dream?" Jackie asked curiously.

"That's for him to tell, not me." Gin replied, pipe clenched firmly between his teeth. "But he needs to get out there and accomplish his dream, and he can't do that if he feels obligated to this place. D'ya understand, Ginny?"

"Jackie."

"Whatever."

"…Yeah." Jackie finally replied, after a long silence had passed between the two. Gin looked at her, and she grinned. "I told you already, ossan, I've decided; he's gonna join my crew, whatever it takes."

Gin smirked. "Then, I'll leave him to you."

"You can count on me, old man!"

"No! OW! Jackie…" Euro growled, narrowed eyes trained on the aforementioned girl. "Where are you taking me?"

Jackie managed to plaster an semi-innocent look on her face, but Euro wasn't buying it for one second. "I just wanted to show you my… my uh, ship!"

"It's not a ship, it's a boat." Euro replied. "And I've already seen it; it's nothing special."

Jackie stuttered, "Well… I, ah, you need to look on the inside of my boat. Yeah, the inside!" she inwardly congratulated herself at her quick thinking.

Euro gave her a flat look. "What are you planning?"

"Planning?" Jackie asked nervously, "I'm not planning anything. What are you saying? Psh. The very idea."

"Jackie… You are a horrible liar."

Jackie gave him a droll look, still pulling him by the arm. Euro chuckled a little, resigned to his fate. He'd let her take him… wherever she was planning to take him, but only for now.

They arrived at the harbour a while later, Jackie still marching determinedly with Euro in tow. Euro rolled his eyes as she stopped right in front of the boat, and chuckled when he saw his things, save for Same no Ha, whom he had in his opposite hand, stowed away in the small space. "Jackie, I told you, as much as I would like to come with you, I can't. I won't."

"But why noooot?" Jackie whined. "Everyone else says you should go!"

Euro clenched his jaw, his face turning hard. "…They said that?"

"Yes, we did."

Euro and Jackie turned around to see the whole of Fairmill Village standing behind them, a few choice people at the head of the group.

"Everyone…" Euro said, confusion laced in his tone. "What are you all doing here?"

A middle-aged man looked from side to side, before stepping forward. "Euro-kun, you have saved us from pirates and mountain bandits for too long. We can take care of ourselves," he said earnestly. "You have a dream to fulfill, don't you?" the people around him murmured their agreement.

Euro frowned. "Well, yes, but that doesn't matter. You all need me."

"Squirt!" Takayoshi Gin's voice echoed throughout the crowd, and he stepped forward with something in his hand. Confused, Euro stepped forward. "Where is It?" Gin asked. Euro seemed to know what he was talking about, and his hand flew up to clutch something against his neck.

Tilting her head, Jackie strained to get a better view of the necklace. Huh, she'd never noticed it before. The long-ish chain was attached to a small, silver coloured key that glistened in the sun light. Jackie stared at it in fascination.

"It's here, grandpa." Euro replied, still confused. "But what…?"

"Here." Reaching out his hand, Gin placed something in Euro's open palm.

Jackie and Euro looked at the object. Euro gasped quietly. "Old man… This is…"

The locket was circular in shape, and looked as if it could be opened. It was the same silvery colour as the necklace, and about the same size as well, and rather thin. On the front of the locket were the engraved words, "New World." And below it, two faded letters which Jackie guessed to be initials.

Euro suddenly felt the familiar pressure of tears behind his eyes; tears that he hadn't shed since… Well, since that day. Euro stubbornly refused the tears to fall, leaving his eyes wet and glistening. Slowly, he closed his hand over the locket, clutching it protectively in his hand.

"Thanks." He said, simply. Gin nodded gruffly, before turning around and taking another smoke, effectively hiding the tear trekking down the side of his face. "Thank you, everyone." Euro said next, this time directed to the whole village.

He looked up into the faces of everyone he had ever known. They were grinning, nodding in encouragement, putting on their brave faces, just for him. Euro felt the pressure behind his eyes build again, and quickly turned away.

"Well?" he asked Jackie, one eyebrow raised, "Are you coming? Captain." He added with a slight smile.

Jackie grinned, pumping a fist into the air. "Alright!"

The two got onto the two-man boat, and Euro set down Same no Ha as Jackie got ready to set sail.

Once the rope had been untied, the boat began to drift away from Fairmill Village.

Euro turned around, facing his people… his family. "Everyone!" he yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Thank you for everything!" he grinned, "Make sure to look out for my bounty in the near future!" taking a deep breath, he said his last words to Gin.

"See ya, old man! I'll find it! I'll find it, and make you proud!"

Crew Members

Jackie - 17 years old, Captain.

Takayoshi Euro - 19 years old, First Mate.

Author's Note

Well… I bet you're all wondering what Euro's talking about, right? Don't worry! Next chapter, his past (well, part of it, at least) will be revealed! And Jackie's past is not to be discovered for a while, still… Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS! And this marks the end of the Katarina Arc! There should be one more chapter before we start the Ichigo Arc!

- Posted on Sunday, December 25th, 2011