I've been busy with essays and such at school so don't expect me to update regularly. Thanks for reading and remember to leave a review! They help me out a bunch and I'm always for improvement!

The boy threw his arms into the air excitedly.

*gurrrrrr*

Suddenly he pulled his hands from the air and put them on his stomach, "SAAAaaanjiiiii, foooood," Luffy whined to the cook.

He blew out a puff of smoke, "Fine, dinner's probably ready by now anyway."

"YAY!" with that the rubber shot straight to the galley.

"Wait you idiot!" Sanji ran after him hot on his heels.

The others followed, except Robin who walked up to Gatling.

"Your homeland sounds quite interesting. Could you explain to me what it's like?"

"Oh well, it's kind of hard to explain. It's covered in forestry and it's got a tropical climate. Anything else you'll probably have to see for yourself."

"I see."

"Oh, and-um-" she paused scratching the back of her head, "I wanted to say thanks, ya know for before."

Robin smiled, "Of course. We should probably get to the galley. Mr. Captain has quite the appetite."

Gatling smiled, "Okay."

They both walked to the galley.

***Night***

The sound of light footsteps moving across the deck woke Nami. She looked over at Robin's bed, of course Robin wouldn't be there, it was after all her watch, but something still wasn't right.

That girl! She wasn't on the couch across the room!

Panicked, Nami shot up and went out the door.

The footsteps were heading toward the front of the ship and so she would check there first. She peered around the corner. Gatling was sitting on the Merry's sheep head looking out into the ocean. Cautiosly, Nami walked up to her, and she made sure not to make a sound.

"My captain will be mad if he sees you there."

The girl jumped, "Ah, it's just you. Nami, right?"

"Yep."

"So he'd be mad would he?" she exhaled, "I can see why. It's really calming sitting here. Sitting her, he's always the first one to see danger. He seems like a great man to me."

"Yeah," Nami leaned against the railing, "he is great."

Gatling looked down at the navigator, smiling.

Nami noticed her gaze, "Wh-what?!"

Gatling rested her head on her hand, "You like him, don't you?"

Nami's faced turned hot red, "What!? Are you crazy!? He's-he's just my Captain. I respect him and all but-" she looked down avoiding the girl's eyes.

Gatling giggled and then continued to gaze into the sea, the sun would rise soon.

"It really is beautiful."

"OH! LAND! I CAN SEE LAND!" Luffy yelled from his special seat, "Hey! Ling, er, no! Gat! Where are you?! Tell me about the island again!"

No response.

"Ah! Don't tell me she tried to leave again!" Usopp said palming his forehead.

"We should find her!" Chopper exclaimed.

They all frantically searched the ship but she was nowhere to be found.

"She didn't take anything at least," Nami said.

"No worries everyone," Robin said from the crow's nest. She pointed to the mast where Gatling was laying limp above the sails, asleep.

"What?! You're kidding, right?" Nami said.

"Let her sleep," Zoro said, he almost sounded proud, like sleeping was an accomplishment.

"OI! Gat!" Luffy yelled, "Wake up we're almost to the island!"

She lifted her head and looked in the direction the ship was heading.

An island shaped like a thistle.

Home.

She smiled and jumped down from the mast.

"It's been a long time."

They arrived at South Port about half an hour later. No one was there to greet them.

There wasn't even a boat anchored anywhere in sight.

"Some welcome."

"Don't worry, they probably aren't sure about you guys. They probably all went to the village."

"Alright! To the village!" Luffy yelled.

They were probably in the village.

It seemed logical, but it was wrong.

As they entered the village the stench of blood filled their noses. The building were in shambles, skeletons adorned the pathways.

"M-maybe we shouldn't be here guys…" Usopp said shivering with Chopper hiding behind him.

Gatling's expression did not change, it was unreadable.

She lead broke off from the group, walking into a house that was probably in the best shape, although that wasn't saying much.

She stood in the middle of the room kneeling down and staring at a specific place on the floor.

Nami opened her mouth to speak but closed it when Gatling spoke first.

"Something isn't right here. It looks like the skeletons and broken houses have been like this for months, but it that's true why is this cup still full of coffee?" she looked to the fireplace, reaching out and feeling the coals with her hands, "And these coals are still warm. I think someone wants us to think it happened long ago, when really, this could have happened only a few hours ago!"

"But bodies don't decompose into skeletons in a matter of hours," Nami said.

"These bones are only a few hours old," Robin said examining one of the skeletons.

"But, that's impossible," Chopper mumbled.

"There is a species of spider that eats larger animals, like humans. It spits out their bones minutes later. So it is possible," Gatling said standing, "Someone wanted to make it seem like this happened awhile ago, but why?"

"Perhaps they anticipated to conceal the fates of the villagers," Robin suggested.

"You're probably right," Gatling said looking away, trying to mask her anger.

"Gah," the brown-haired girl clasped her hand on her collar bone.

"AH! That was a Recluse Spider!" Chopper pointed out and dashed over to her, "I should apply an antivenin so it doesn't hurt you!" He began rummaging through his bag, but she stopped him.

"Don't waste it on me, I don't need it. My ancestors injected small amounts of venom into themselves to create immunity long ago. No venom on this island can hurt me."

"Ah! That must be what I picked up in your blood stream! GAH!" Chopper yelled surprised.

She nodded, "So save your cures for your nakama."

"We should probably check the rest of the village for any surviv- I mean residents," Sanji said catching himself before he said something he'd regret.

"You can try, but you'll find no one, alive at least," the voice came from outside.

They all froze before shooting out the door. Sitting on the village fountain with his legs crossed and his head resting in his hand was a lean man in a suit with metal pauldrons and cuisses. He wore a plain white mask that covered the tops half of his face. He smiled when they took notice of him.

"Welcome to the masquerade."