I know, you're probably wondering why I'm updating so quickly. I'm going on vacation in a couple weeks, so I want to try and finish my first story before then. Maybe I will, maybe I won't...I'll see how that works out. I would like to say thank you to my first reviewer and the person who favorited my story! You have made me so happy! You have no idea!

This chapter came about because I wanted to better explain life, if only a little bit, on the Sunny post-Caout incident. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: After reading this, do you honestly believe I could ever own One Piece? As if...

Nami sat in her room, looking out the window and not even glancing at the warm bowl of soup next to her. She wasn't concerned about food…Her husband, on the other hand, was a different story.

Nami could still picture the day her Caout was taken away. She had been sobbing, unable to stand up. But Luffy…lost it. Yelling, punching, wailing…If Zoro, Sanji and Ayrel hadn't grabbed him and held him down…If Chopper hadn't sedated him, the Sunny would've been shattered for sure.

She understood what Luffy was going through perfectly. But she was handling things better than he was…It had taken a while but Nami had recovered just enough to keep living. Luffy hadn't…It was as simple as that. Even after eight years, even though there is certainly no hope, he hasn't given up. Luffy still believes that somewhere, waiting for him, is the little girl he lost.

There was no way that anyone on the crew was going to tell him otherwise. This unwavering belief in the impossible…It was one of the many things they admired about their captain. It was why they still went along with the search. But they all knew that unless Luffy started taking better care of himself, this search would be the death of him. There had already been far too many close calls. Heatstroke…Dehydration…Fever…Nervous breakdowns…The list goes on forever.

But they didn't want him to snap out of it just for his sake…Or even for their own sake…It was for the sake of someone else.

"Mama?"

Nami looked up at the doorway and saw the very person Luffy had to get better for. Her long orange hair was tied back in a ponytail, her dark brown eyes looking inquisitively at Nami. She wore blue jeans and a purple and white plaid button up shirt with short sleeves. Her glasses were hanging off of her silver necklace.

Her name was Monkey D. Hazuki…Luffy and Nami's seven year old daughter…

Hazuki had been conceived a week before Caout was taken. When Nami had found out she was pregnant, she all but lost it. She didn't want another child; she didn't want something to happen to this one. She wouldn't be able to bear it. But Luffy said they would have the child…And he would protect her. Luffy made sure Hazuki never trained like the other kids; that she never got involved in fights. It helped that Hazuki didn't have any special powers. As long as Luffy was around, Hazuki would never be part of a single battle. She would always be safe, hidden away on the lower decks of the ship whenever an enemy came.

"What is it, Haz?" Nami asked softly, smiling at her daughter.

"Is Papa not eating again?" she asked.

"Well, Ace and Ayrel already tried to convince him otherwise, sweetie. You can try your luck."

Hazuki nodded determinedly and ran off to the deck. Along the way she ran into her two best friends, Anna and Annetoinette.

Anna, Tamaki's sister, was born a few months after Hazuki and was the splitting image of her mom. Same hair, same eyes, same powers…But she got her love of cooking and liveliness from her dad.

Annetoinette was Usopp and Kaya's girl, born a couple months before Hazuki. Annetoinette had wavy blonde hair and bright black eyes. She was also quite the archer. And no, she did not have Usopp's nose!

"Hey, Haz!" Anna called out to her friend, "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna make Papa come down to eat!" Hazuki yelled as she passed them.

"Wait for us!" Annetoinette said. Her voice was followed by hers and Anna's footsteps.

The trio burst onto the deck and looked where Luffy sat. He was as still as a statue.

"So, what's your plan this time?" Anna asked Hazuki.

"Mmmm…I'm not exactly sure…" Hazuki admitted, "The main problem is trying to get his attention. Such a pain…"

"Haz, I don't think you'll have much luck…" Annetoinette said.

Hazuki stuck her tongue out at the girls. Anna and Annetoinette rolled their eyes at her. They both knew for a fact that Hazuki never had good luck when it came to this sort of thing. Hazuki silently told her friends to wait while she casually walked over to her dad.

"Hey, Papa!" Hazuki greeted, earning no response, "I said, hi! …Hi, Papa! Hi there! Heeelllooo! HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Hazuki frowned at her father's lack of attention. She jumped up and down, made weird noises, anything to get his attention. But Luffy still stared blankly ahead, dead to the world.

"Sheesh! What does a girl have to do to get her own dad's attention?" Hazuki said to herself.

Hazuki looked around, trying to find something that could get her dad to notice her. Finding nothing, Hazuki looked at the railing of the ship…If Plan A was a failure, there was always Plan B…

It would be cruel but it was the only thing that would work…

"Haz, what are you doing?" Annetoinette whispered as Hazuki climbed onto the railing.

"Shut up!" Hazuki hissed.

Anna and Annetoinette gave each other worried glances. Hazuki had done this before, a bunch of times. Her stupid back up plan…It would be the death of her one of these days…But they couldn't stop her no matter what. Hazuki was stubborn and did things her own way.

She was Luffy and Nami's daughter after all.

Hazuki slowly stood up on the railing, wobbling slightly from the rocking motion of the ship. She looked over at Anna and gave her a look she knew all too well. Anna sighed, not believing that she was getting herself involved, and sprouted two hands to hold Hazuki's feet. Hazuki grinned, looked over at her father and took a deep breath.

"WAAHHH! HELP! HELP! HELP!" she screamed as she shook her arms and moved her body as wildly as possible.

As fast as lightning, her dad shot his arm out, wrapping it around Hazuki's waist. Hazuki grunted as she was propelled towards her father. The second she reached him, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, squeezing her. Hazuki felt him trembling and breathing shallowly. Guilt was setting in…as it did every time she did something like that.

"Haz, you idiot!" Luffy yelled as he put his daughter down, "How many times have I told you not to pull a stunt like that again?"

"You wouldn't say anything no matter what I did," Hazuki reasoned, "That's the only thing that will get your attention every time!"

"Do you have the faintest idea how easily you could've died?"

Hazuki wouldn't admit it but her dad had a point. Whether it was standing on the rail, balancing on the yard of the main mast, playing around with the cannons or falling in the fish tank…she had nearly killed herself plenty of times.

Luffy sighed and placed a hand over his eyes. He dropped down to his knees and put his hands firmly on Hazuki's shoulders. Hazuki looked at his firm gaze.

"Haz, I know I zone out a lot…" Luffy began, "But putting yourself in danger like that isn't going to help anyone…I don't want you getting hurt, or worse."

"Kind of impossible to get with you babying me all the time…" Hazuki muttered, knowing Luffy had heard.

"I'm not babying you, Haz. I'm keeping you out of trouble…"

"Oh yes, like when you only let me play in ankle deep water. Or when you drag me away when a dog comes within five feet of me. And let's not forget how I'm the only one on this ship who has never seen battle…Even Anna and Annie have fought and they're the same age as me!"

"Unlike you, Haz, they have battling abilities," Luffy replied, "Anna has Robin's Hana-Hana Fruit powers. And Annetoinette is as good a shot as her father."

"I'd probably be an awesome fighter too if you would train me!"

"Hazuki," Luffy said, "I know it seems unfair but I can't let anything happen to you! If you died cause I couldn't protect you, I'd kill myself! I don't want a repeat of-"

Luffy's voice trailed off but Hazuki knew what he would've said. He didn't want a repeat of what happened to Caout. Hazuki angrily pushed her dad's arms off her and stomped her way past her friends. Anna and Annetoinette watched as she ran off to the girls' bedroom and slammed the door shut.

Hazuki jumped into her hammock and stared angrily at the ceiling. This was all her fault. Her stupid older sister…Hazuki knew it was wrong to be mad at Caout. She hadn't asked to be kidnapped as a baby. But Hazuki couldn't help it. Her life was a miserable pile of crap because of a sibling she had never met before.

"…I hate that girl…" Hazuki murmured into her pillow. And she meant it too.

At least, she sort of did…

"So you and Hazuki had another argument," Zoro said indifferently as he walked up to his captain.

"Oh…Zoro…You heard that, huh?" Luffy said as he got up from the floor.

"The whole ship heard you guys. You know, I can see where Hazuki is coming from. It must be annoying, wanting to protect others but not being allowed to."

"Zoro, you know why I can't let her get involved," Luffy said, staring at his friend.

"Luffy…" Zoro said, "I know what happened to Caout is painful for you. And I know you would do anything to keep the same thing from happening to Hazuki. But it's impossible to keep her safe from everything. And sheltering her won't help her in the long run."

"I will never let her get hurt," Luffy growled, "I'm going to protect her! It was because I wasn't strong enough, because I couldn't protect Caout that she was taken away!"

Luffy turned away from his friend and marched over to the side of the ship, looking down at the waters below. It was at that very spot that, eight years earlier, he had watched that cloaked man disappear with Caout.

"Zoro…I will find Caout. She's still alive. I know it. Then, I'll find that guy with the cloak. And when I do find that bastard, I'll kill him….I will kill him…without hesitation…That's a promise."

Oooohhh, Luffy's gotten kinda dark! On the plus side, you guys meet three new kids!

Hazuki's hair is about elbow length. Her bangs are kind of long so she's constantly brushing them out of her eyes. Hazuki has a hard time seeing sometimes, that's why she has glasses. She doesn't need them all the time though. Her eyes are weird like that. Hazuki resembles Nami as much as Caout resembles Luffy. Most people call her Haz; people rarely call her Hazuki, unless they're really upset or they have something serious to say to her.

Anna is basically her mother's twin to a T. But she's her opposite when it comes to personality. She is three months younger than Hazuki but she's taller than her and Annetoinette. She is a daddy's girl, for sure. She loves to cook, but tends to set things on fire. She almost always goes along with Hazuki's plan, no matter how crazy they are.

Annetoinette's hair is about half her back in length. She was conceived when the crew returned to the East Blue for a visit a month before Caout's kidnapping. She was given to the crew after Kaya died from complications (Don't hate me for killing her! It was the only way this would've worked out). She didn't like guns but archery was another story. She is occasionally called Annie. She is the oldest and calmest of the trio and the one who constantly tries to keep Hazuki from getting in trouble.

I'll explain the other kids as the story progresses. Next chapter, we'll see the mysterious person Caout ran into. Please keep reading and I would love more reviews please!