Zoro raised an eyebrow as he entered the boats small kitchenette, the smell of bacon pervading his senses. "Hm, I must have joined a good crew. Bacon."

Nami, who stood at the small oven, laughed. "How did you sleep, Zoro?"

He shrugged as he took a seat at the table. "I can sleep just about anywhere, really. That's why I didn't fuss at all about the lack of space."

"Sorry," Nami said as she flipped a couple pancakes. "This is just an in-between. We're enroute to Orange town to pick up an actual ship."

The swordsman blinked, "How'd you swing that? Orange town is one of the better shipyards in East Blue."

She grinned over her shoulder at him. "I've been stealing from pirates and bandits for the last couple years. Saved up plenty for a decent caravelle."

The green haired man blinked, the navigator was wearing a tanktop showed off a tattoo he hadn't seen the day before; a Jolly Roger wearing a straw hat. He smirked, "I thought we were just three pirates, a small ship and no mark?"

Nami giggled, "Oh, this?" She playfully flexed to show off the tattoo, the the sinewy muscles showing that she didn't mind working out a bit. "Well, it's not a mark I've ever seen on a sail before, have you?"

Zoro chuckled, "Nope. Never even heard of it before." He eyed the bed in the small rooms corner. "I was expecting him to be up as soon he smelt food, from the way he was at dinner last night."

"Meh," Luffy groused from the bed, clearly awake. "Nami doesn't like it when I snitch while she's cooking."

They spent breakfast talking about whatever came to mind, the conversation flowing smoothly between the three of them.

Zoro was surprised by how… easy this felt. Other then a pair of bounty hunters he'd met a year or two back, he hadn't met anyone he'd really gotten along with since he'd left the dojo. If he didn't rub someone the wrong way, they normally rubbed him the wrong way. He'd have to wait and see… but so far he was getting along with his two crew mates far better then he had expected.

After dutifully helping with the dishes, he set out to do some katas and then nap until they reached Orange town.

-Meanwhile, in Orange town-

"Gyahahahaha," Buggy the Clown laughed as he and his men headed for Orange town's tavern, the townspeople having ran for it at the sight of his flag sailing into harbor.

His crew's top swordsman, Cabaji rolled up beside him. "We should have a day or two to party it up before they cane get word to the marines."

The Clown pirate laughed, "Don't forget that the nearest base seems to have it's own flashy issues, Cabaji. We'll be having a flashy time all week!"

The Buggy pirates laughed as they flooded into town.

-Several hours later, Orange town docks-

Zoro cracked open a single eye to look up at the orange hair navigator standing above him. "Yes?"

"We've arrived, Zoro." She wasn't looking at him, however.

He turned so he could see what held her attention, it was a large ship with a clear circus theme.

"I don't recognize the mark." Zoro commented idly.

She shook her head, "Weren't a bounty hunter?"

He shrugged as he stood, placing his three katana at his hip. "Most of them just had the bad chance to meet me, I didn't actively hunt most of them."

"Bad chance, huh?" Nami smirked, "Well, that's the Big Top, the ship of Buggy the Clown."

"The ship certainly seems to be fit for him, then." The swordsman looked around, "Where's Luffy?"

"Ran off into town, figured I'd let you know what was going on before I did the same." So saying, she stepped off the boat and onto the pier. "They don't seemed to have left anyone on their ship, so I'm going to give it a once over." Her meaning couldn't be any clearer to Zoro if she'd had belli signs for eyes. "What're you going to do?"

With another shrug, Zoro stepped towards town. "What's the policy if I run into any circus actors?"

Nami laughed, "We may be pirates, but we've got nothing against Orange town, besides I'd bet Luffy will get into a fight with them before you do."

Zoro grinned as he headed into town; challenge accepted!

-With Luffy-

The straw hat wearing pirate aimlessly strolled through the deserted town humming an old pirate song. He'd ran off looking for a fight, but his enthusiasm dried up quickly when he hadn't found a single person.

He also kinda needed some space from Nami. She was his bestfriend, but it was going to take some getting used to seeing that tattoo of hers! He had never seen it before, meaning she'd gotten it sometime in the last couple weeks, but the image of his Jolly Roger on her skin…

He felt… excited, though he thought that wasn't quiet the right word.

So he'd ran off looking to pick a fight. He'd long since learned that fighting could get his mind off almost anything. Besides, they'd probably have to kick Buggy's ass to get their ship anyway.

"Boring," the teen whined as he turned a corner to find an odd sight. An old man wearing a few pieces of armor over plad colored clothes was arguing with a white dog.

"Damnit, Chuchou! The buggy pirates are infamously cruel! They'll have no problem killing a dog! Come with me to safety!"

The dog, it seemed, was resolute to stay on guard in front of the building behind it.

Luffy smiled, and quickly walked forward to scratch the dog behind the ears.

"W-who are you!" The old man exclaimed, jumping back in surprise at the sudden arrival of the raven haired man.

"I'm Luffy," he replied, still scratching the dog behind the ears.

The name seemed familiar to the old mayor, but worry for the teen took precedence, "I don't know what you're doing here, but the town's been invaded by the Buggy pirates! Most of the town escaped to the next village, and you should to! Tell them mayor Boodle sent you and you shouldn't have any problem getting sanctuary."

"Shishsishsi, no worries. I'm strong." Luffy declared with a bland smile. "And I'm here to pick up my ship."

Boodle blinked. That's why the name sounded familiar, the shipyard had finished a ship commissioned for a 'Luffy and Nami' earlier in the week. "Be that as it may, there are more important things than a ship, boy!"

Before anymore could be said, a new voice spoke. "Lookie here, boys. A boy out on a walk with his gramps and dog. Heart warming."

The speaker was a rough looking man who might've looked intimidating if not for his clownish getup. He was with a group a dozen or so similar men.

Luffy couldn't help but snicker at their appearance, which of course pissed them off.

-With Zoro-

The swordsman was kind of disappointed.

He may not have known Buggy's Roger, but he had heard of the crew's reputation. The captain clown was the only one with a bounty, but word was his crew was still pretty tough, with his top two men almost being worth a bounty themselves. Sighing he seethed one of his black katana, walking away from the bodies of several Buggy pirates. "Yosaku and Johny really need to get their rumors straight one of these days…"

The swordsman had never really appreciated just how different his definition of 'pretty tough' and the bounty hunter duo's were.

-Nami-

The orange haired kleptomaniac smiled as she leapt off the Big Top and headed for the shipyard, a sack heavy with three times her own weight in gold and jewels slung over one shoulder. "The ship might have been an eyesore," she giggled to herself, "but the treasure hold surely hadn't been!" There had even been a map of a portion of the Grand Line among her plunder, which she would study later.

'Yes,' she thought as she walked up to the caravelle she and Luffy had commissioned, taking a moment to admire the workmanship as it stood in a dry dock. 'Today is going rather well. Maybe we can get a discount for driving out Buggy's crew?'

Crossing the gangplank, she went though the door leading inside ship, planning on stashing her bounty from the Big Top before joining her crew mates in town.

-Buggy-

The clown pirate laughed as he chugged another jug of beer. "Bring out the canon!"

His crew laughed, two of them rolling out a plain looking canon, another walking behind them handling a canon ball with care.

His and his crew's favorite party game was shooting of his 'Special Buggy Balls' as they drank and partied at the expense of whatever bar they'd taken over. Of course, his one shot of a Buggy ball was a hundred times flashier then any normal canon fire!

"Hmm," pulling a telescope from his overcoat he peered around looking for something to blow up in a flashy manner. After a minute, Buggy found just the thing, and had his men aim the canon accordingly before loading the Special Buggy Ball.

With a refilled jug of beer in one hand, he lit the fuse. With a roar, the Special Buggy Ball shot at the dry docked ship in the shipyard, leveling buildings it went before crashing into the ship, blowing it to pieces.

"Gyahahaha! Now THAT'S FLASHY!"

-Luffy-

Boodle could only stare, wide eyed at the the teen he'd just a minute before been warning about how dangerous the Buggy pirates were. Told him to go find safety in the next town! The old mayor had apparently had it backwards, and the pirates were the one in danger!

The strawhat wearing kid's smile had never left his face as the dozen men had rushed him with weapons drawn, incensed by his unabashed giggling at their clown themed clothes. And it didn't leave until the men, all at least half again as big as himself, were unconsciously strewn at his feet. "Wow," Luffy frowned at the pirates. "You guys are pretty damn weak."

Boodle gulped when the boy looked his way, "Oi, didn't say these guys were strong?" Luffy asked with a pout.

The old man blinked, unable to get a read on the younger man. "Um, I thought they were?"

Luffy huffed, "No worries, maybe their captain is!"

The sound of a canon going off caught their attention, and they turned towards the sound just in time to see houses get blown away as the canon ball shot towards the dock, where a large splash with wood shrapnel indicated a ship had been destroyed at the canon balls end target.

The three, for even the dog's eyes popped, watched in shock at the destruction.

"If I remember right," Boodle mumbled. "The only two ships in port are the Big Top and your ship."

Luffy started at that, "Nami was around there!" He closed his eyes as he strained his senses. He wasn't very good at what his grandpa had called kenbonshoku haki, but he knew Nami well enough that he could find her relatively easily most of the time.

-Zoro-

Zoro gave a low whistle as he watched the dust settle, from a few streets away. "What kind canon ball…?" He grinned, "Oh well, left me a pretty clear trail to follow."

A low growling sound caught his attention, and he tilted his head towards a side street. "I hope you're tougher then the last bunch I ran into."

A lion walked out of the shadows, it's bared teeth shined in the light as it continued to growl at him. It was a massive creature, the swordsman barely pulling even with it's shoulder. The feline predator would almost be intimidating, if not for the man riding on it's back a scrawny looking guy with…

"Is that supposed be some kind of fashion statement?"

The man looked pissed, "This my hair!"

Zoro grimaced, "Weirdo."

"I'm Mohji the Beast trainer! Vice-captain of the Buggy pirates!" The lion roared, leaping forward. "And this Richie!"

Zoro smiled as he prepared an iai technique, "Roronoa Zoro, pirate swordsman."

A/N

Another chapter down. Much shorter then the first two, but 2-3 thousand word chapters are going to be more the norm. The prologue just felt better as a single chapter, and the second felt similar enough to canon that breaking it up for a little extra drama didn't feel worth it.

Thank you to all my reviewers, and those who reviewed but chose to do so in a PM.

To those of you who were turned off by my representation of Nami's sexuality as a forced plot device for a harem, I rewrote that scene and I hope I did a better job of it. I also hope that I killed to birds with one stone with Luffy's thoughts on Nami; firstly, yes, he is not asexual as he seems to be in canon and is actually, at least subconsciously at this point, aware of desire. Secondly, while he is smarter then canon, thanks to Nami having an influence in his early life(I seriously doubt canon Luffy can write, while I already have it implied in this story that he can)he is not going to be a genious. He's not some how in cahoots with his father or grandfather on some grand scheme. He's still just a man chasing 'freedom' on the sea, which I believe is the cornerstone of his character.

Shijiro also pointed out that it was weird that Nami thought they had more status in the east blue then a captain. They're pirates so infamy can be taken as a form of 'status', they'd certainly have high bounties already if the marines knew about them. It was just a throwaway thought to foreshadow that they do know who his father is. Sorry.

So, I have some votes in for crew, and they're about who you'd expect. Yosaku Johny Kaya and Nojiko have all gotten some love. I have roles in the crew planned out for each, so please don't hold back and vote for whoever, even someone else.

As for pairings, the standard 'gone to war for' girls have been suggested, ie Nami, Robin, Vivi. And Shhirahoshi and Hancock have also been suggested. You can vote for other pairings as well, not just Luffy.

Till next time. The Three Ring Circus.