Hi everybody. I will try my best to keep posting monthly, but school is about to start back and I have 5 classes, a part-time job, and I am working with a class of freshmen. I really hope people read and enjoy this. Please, send me some criticism. Read on, and I hope to see ya in a month!

Rowan sat on the head of the Merry and closed her eyes. The breeze was calming to her and the night had a slight chill to it. From what she could tell they were close to an Autumn island. They were always her favorite islands to visit when her father allowed her to leave their home. Rather, her adoptive father. At the thought of him her eyes opened slowly and she frowned.

"Rowan?"

Rowan jumped and turned to see Luffy looking curiously at her. "Sorry, Luffy. I was just thinking."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He nodded and joined her on Merry's head. There was just enough room for the two of them to sit comfortably together.

"You're weird."

Rowan smiled. "How's that?"

"You're strong, but you don't look like it." Luffy said bluntly as he poked her lightly in her arm as if he were looking for muscle.

"A girl has to have her secrets, Luffy. Don't you know that?"

"Well, I guess Nami may have some secrets, and I don't know much about Robin, but you're weirder than they are."

"Dahahahaha!" Rowan laughed. "My apologies."

Luffy smiled. "Don't worry. I like weird."

She smiled softly. "Good. Now, why are you up?"

"Oh yeah!" Luffy looked like he had just remembered something important. "I wanted a snack!"

"Want me to make it for you?"

"Oh, yeah! That'd be great!"

"Alright, Luffy, let's go."

"Land ho!" Usopp yelled from the crow's nest.

Rowan ceased her conversation with Robin as everyone looked to the horizon.

"Looks like a nice place to drop anchor."

Rowan smiled at Robin. "Yeah, and maybe I can finally get some real information on my father."

Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin elected to go with Rowan while the others stocked up on supplies. Nami said they would join later.

"So, where do we start?" Luffy seemed nearly more excited than Rowan about looking for information on her father.

"I'm not sure, really. I know he had to pass through an island around here to get to the island where I was raised."

"Do you know anything about him?" Robin asked.

"Not really." Rowan looked at the ground. "I only know he was a pirate."

"Very well. We should start in the local stores that have been around for at least...how old are you, Rowan?"

"Sixteen."

"Then we'll look for stores at least eighteen years old."

Everybody agreed to go with Robin's plan and started looking for stores that specifically sold baby food and milk that were around about two decades before.

"Hey guys!" Nami exclaimed as she, Usopp, and Sanji joined the others at a table in the bar they had agreed to meet at. "How goes the hunt?"

The looks of desperation on Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper's faces-and the solemn look on Robin's face-made Nami wish she hadn't asked. She glanced to Rowan and her heart sank. She had never seen such disappointment on another person.

"It seems that nearly seventeen years ago this island was attacked by a pirate crew and decimated. There were only seventy-three survivors; forty of which stayed. The other survivors found refuge elsewhere and there are none who stayed that still live. The current settlement is only nine years old."

Rowan's head hit the table hard and made the others jump. "So this must mean that my father came here looking for a family to take me and none wanted a pirate's baby so he killed them all."

"Rowan, you don't know that for sure." Sanji tried to comfort the girl but he could tell it wasn't working.

"Hey there, cutie. What's wrong?"

A tall, handsome man made his way to Rowan's left side and stood between her and Zoro. He had brown eyes and hair and a nice tan. He was obviously very proud of the looks he was blessed with.

"A pretty little thing like you shouldn't look so sad." He stated as he brushed Rowan's hair behind her ear.

Rowan put on a sickly sweet smile. "Would you like to know what happened to the last person who touched me without my permission?"

The stranger smirked at her.

Without any warning Rowan stood and put her right hand on the back of the guy's neck and slammed him into the table. With her other hand she removed the dagger from her left hip and stabbed it into the table at his nose. Rowan lay over his back in a very suggestive manner and placed her lips next to his ear.

"I killed them." Her whisper sent a chill through the misogynist.

"D... Don't be stupid, girl. I own this town. All the town guards are in my pocket!"

"Think I care?" Rowan's tone was bored. "We're pirates, dumb ass. We evade marines all the time. Your little island guards are nothing to us. More importantly: I'm the Demon of the Grand Line." There were some hushed whispers and gasps in the room. "You don't scare me." She pulled him up and pushed him to the door. Once he was out she calmly sat back down and the others burst into a fit of laughter.

"I thought he was going to pee himself!" Usopp screamed and the others laughed harder.

After a while the pirates stopped laughing, but one man didn't. A small, elderly man sat in the corner of the bar laughing loudly.

"Girly, your father would be proud of you!"

Rowan's eyes widened.

"What'd you say, old man?" Luffy asked as he stared at the old man who had finally calmed back down.

"Didn't you hear me, boy? Your girl's father would proud of her for handling that brat the way she did!"

Rowan snapped back to reality. "Do you mean to say that you know my father, sir?"

He frowned. "I cannot tell you what your father looks like, child; nor can I tell you what his name was. I'm blind, you see, and when he was here nearly seventeen years ago and I met him he did not tell me his name."

"Please, anything you can tell me would be greatly appreciated."

"I was sitting outside the barber shop when everybody started screaming about pirates. I was sure I would die, but then the pirates made it into town and the captain approached me and asked if there was any place that he could buy baby formula..."

"What?" The old blind man asked in confusion.

The kindly voiced pirate responded. "My daughter needs more formula. Is there somewhere I can buy some?"

"I don't hear any babies with you, lad. Don't tell me you left them on your ship!"

He chuckled. "No. Of course not. There is only one young one with us and she's right here in my arms."

"All this ruckus isn't making her cry?"

"No. My little girl is very well behaved."

"I could hear the love he held for the baby in his voice so I told him where to get more formula and then led him to my house to stay for a while. His crew followed, too; but they all stayed outside.

He told me that he had fallen in love with a young woman and that she had died during child birth. He was a pirate and had no way to guarentee the safety of his greatest treasure so he was on his way to an island where there was a woman who wanted to raise the girl. From the sound of it this woman was desperate for a child.

He didn't want to give you up, dear. He loved you deeply. He told me that it was his only regret that he would not see your first steps, hear your first words, bandage your first scraped knee, or scare off your first boyfriend. His only wish was for you to be kind and beautiful like your mother, but strong like him."

Rowan listened to the old man's words and tried to absorb them. It wasn't the same thing she had been told by her 'mother'. Her father had loved her. He WANTED her. Rowan's hand covered her mouth as she started to cry.

Robin noticed Rowan's tears and turned everyone's attention away from the girl. "What about the pirates that attacked?"

"While the nice pirates were still at my house we were attacked by another ship. The captain left his little girl with me and ordered seven of his men to stay behind to keep her safe while he went to deal with them.

Nearly everyone was killed, but her father ran them off in the end. When he returned I was astounded by the small bundle he had given me to protect. As he walked into my house she gurgled a happy little sound. She hadn't made any noise before he returned. She stayed silent, watching the door, as a terrible battle waged outside. When she saw him, though, she made that one sound.

I asked him if she was always so quiet and he took her and said 'She knows she never has to ask for anything. I'll always give her what she wants.' and they were gone."

Luffy turned in excitement to Rowan but stopped when he saw her tears. The others noticed his silent stare and turned to Rowan as well.

"Rowan, my dear, what's wrong?" Sanji asked, worried.

She closed her eyes and cleared her throat. "Thank you, sir. I cannot express my gratitude for your words here today." With that said she stood and ran out the door.

"Okay," Luffy said as he and the others stood at the edge of the forest a woman said Rowan had ran into, "let's split up and find her."

"Usopp and Chopper will go together." Nami started dividing them up. "Robin and I will go together and you three will go together. Sanji, make sure Zoro and Luffy don't get lost."

"Of course, my sweet!"

Rowan had made it to a small clearing before she finally collapsed. All the things her 'mother' had told her were lies. Her father loved her and wanted her to be in his life. He was proud to be a father. So why...

Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro found Rowan. She was sitting against a tree with her knees tucked into her chest and she was staring off into nothingness. They walked over to stand in front of her. Sanji started to say something to try to cheer her up, but Zoro put his hand on the other's shoulder and shook his head. Luffy squatted down in front of Rowan.

"Aren't you happy your old man didn't kill all those people?"

Rowan looked up finally and saw Luffy only a few inches from her and Zoro and Sanji standing directly behind him.

"Yeah, I'm glad he didn't kill innocent people."

"So, what's wrong then?"

"When I was six a maid accidentally told me that I was adopted. I asked my mom if it was true and she asked who told me. I lied and said I had guessed because I looked nothing like her or dad. She said it was true. She told me that my father was a pirate who had fallen in love with a woman and I had killed her when she tried to give birth to me." Rowan's eyes began to water again. "She said that he wouldn't touch me because he was sickened by the monster that killed his love, but he couldn't kill me because I was the last living part of her. Who would say that to a six year old?" By the end of the story the others were in the clearing as well. "Who would lie to a six year old girl and say that her real father hated her? What kind of monster would do that, Luffy?"

Luffy didn't know how to answer her question. He only knew that his new friend was crying and that made him angry. His plan was to punch a tree or a boulder, but then Rowan threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. He wasn't accustomed to situations where the person hurting someone he cared for wasn't around to get their ass kicked; he was certainly not accustomed to having a girl hug him and crying all over his shirt. Luffy awkwardly wrapped his arms around Rowan and let her cry. Eventually Robin sat behind Rowan and rubbed her back and Nami joined her. Chopper squeezed slightly in between Rowan and Luffy and hugged her torso. Sanji sat beside Nami and Luffy and simply placed a friendly hand on the girl's knee while Zoro simply sat behind Luffy and held Rowan's hand. Usopp sat with Robin and they all let her cry.

Rowan had cried herself to sleep in the forest. Sanji carried her back to the ship and placed her in the males' room in her little corner. It had bothered him to do it, but he had to follow the captain's orders. It had also made it a bit easier when Rowan immediately looked to be at peace when her head met her pillow.

Luffy went to thank the old man for the information he had given and then everybody went back to the ship.

"I should wake her and give her some food." Sanji frowned. Rowan was still sleeping and hadn't eaten all day.

"She'll get up when she needs food, Sanji. Just leave her alone." Nami swatted at the rubber hand that had tried to take the meat from her plate.

"I just don't get why we can't go kick her fake mom's ass." Luffy said through a mouthful of food.

"Idiot. You can't kick a lady's ass-no matter how evil she is."

"I'm just shocked you called a woman evil." Zoro muttered around his own mouthful as he stabbed Luffy's hand with a fork.

"Of course she's evil, moss-head! Did you see how much Rowan cried today? Any woman who lies like that is nothing less than evil!"

"So we can kick her ass?"

"I'm afraid not." Robin pulled their attention to her. "I was talking with our dear Rowan earlier today about it. She said her mother died two years ago and that she never told the father that Rowan wasn't their child. It seems they had had many failed attempts at having children and Rowan's father delivered her to the woman on the day she gave birth to her third still-born."

"What's that?"

"It means the child was born dead, Luffy." Chopper stated.

"Rowan's adoptive father died five months ago. With nobody left and wanting answers, she became a pirate to find the truth."

"That's so sad. Poor Rowan." Nami frowned.

"Don't say that."

Nami glared at Luffy. "Say what?"

"'Poor Rowan'. We'll find her dad eventually."

Rowan woke to the sounds of the boys snoring. She sat up and smiled in the darkness. How nice it was to be around something relatively familiar after the emotions she had dealt with. Getting to her feet she made her way to the galley where a plate was waiting for her and then to the girls' room.

"Hello, Rowan. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks." She sat next to Robin where the older woman had been eating. "So, how big of an idiot did make myself into?"

Robin smiled gently. "You were in pain. They all understand."

"Did you tell them about my parents?"

"Yes, though I didn't tell them that I think there's more to it than they simply died."

Rowan smirked. "Maybe one day I'll have to tell you everything, Robin, but until then I am glad you kept your suspicions to yourself."

Suddenly there was a strange horn sound outside the ship. It didn't last long and it only sounded once.

"That was...weird." Rowan stated around a mouthful of meat.