Author's Note: I know, it has been so long, and you guys have kindly requested me to return to the story. I'm sorry, I honestly had thought about abandoning it, but I don't think I should just leave it unfinished. So it is back! With a few adjustments to the chapters but nothing serious. Just an extra grammar check and some changes on stylization.

"Our destination is the Sea Restaurant Baratie!"

Chapter 9: Fighting chefs?

Levia's POV

And here we are, at the beginning of our next adventure. I swear, quiet moments are few and far between on this ship. Even then, our crew attracted trouble like a magnet.

A new crew member, an essential one. No offense… but a chef is kind of more important than most of the rest of us. Aside from our navigator that is. Hell no was I going to eat toasted bread for another night. Not that I had much choice but…

Not that a new crew member would matter much if our first mate was stupid enough to get himself killed in a fight. So I confronted Zoro, striding over easily, hopefully more intimidating than usual with Byrne on my shoulder. Who am I kidding; pretending to be intimidating to Zoro is like a little kid trying to beat the old chess master. So while Nami was questioning Johnny about the restaurant and directions, and Usopp and Luffy were doing god knows what, I slide down to Zoro's left, Byrne resting on my own left shoulder. Here we go, "Why are you looking for a man?" Aaannnndd…. Let's have a round of applause for the brilliant Levia O'Leary. That certainly didn't come out how I intended.

Apparently Zoro didn't notice the alternative ways that sentence could have been taken, since he just turned and looked at me before he said anything else. "He is considered to be the best swordsman in the world." Or…. He could be too dead freaking serious to consider any alternative meanings…

Great, step two. Step two? Make sure he doesn't get himself killed… Right, like I could do that. He probably was going to fight this guy, no matter what. Deciding there was little I could do, I said, "Just don't do something as dumb as getting yourself killed."

The Next Morning

It didn't seem I was to get anything done that day, or any day later on for that fact, but I still had the vain hope… Oh that vain hope. I mean come on! My freaking job is the ship's artist and the only time I can do work is when we're traveling, so why do these people keep interrupting me?!

There I was, starting up on the series of Usopp's home, focusing intently. It's not easy to try to capture an image so important to another person, someone you are going to live with for who knows how freaking long. Nevermind that I wanted the painting to be good, because Usopp's home resonated so much with my own! The green cliffs and trees of Usopp's home resonated with images and sounds of green grass flowing along the waves of hills. With images and sounds of a Golden Hawk's call, of the spindly breakage of tree limbs among the forests that blanketed the valleys and hills. So I was reliving that peace, transferring it to the painting, except my Captain chose that moment to break into my room. "COOL!" he had yelled.

Yeah…cool… Luffy began to stare over my shoulder and make comments before I finally snapped. I swear it wasn't my fault, I mean my scythe just happened to find its way into my hand, and it just decided to swing down a few inches in front of my captain's face. Honestly, it just has a mind of its own. My mouth stretched so far into a smile that I was speaking through my teeth. "Why don't you fish, Luffy?"

Of course, my apparently invincible captain paid little attention to the blade but attached to the idea of fishing, apparently missing my tone. So he ran out and I was left to focus on the painting again. From the trees, I began to paint the curved lines of the playful children, of the innocent determination they displayed. And of course that was when the supposedly only sane one of the ship decided to intrude upon me. Yep, Nami came barging in, looking momentarily at my work in progress before she started rooting through what little clothes I had. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"You need to increase your wardrobe."

"Um yes..."

"I would be more than willing to offer a discount deal, you know between us girls. I'll lend you money for new clothes at say… 300% interest?"

Uh nope. I swear it wasn't me swinging my scythe towards my own crewmates. That weapon is just murderous you see. So really, it wasn't my fault that Nami shrieked when the scythe implanted itself in the wood of the dresser she was searching through. So off she went, and I was left back to my work. At a perfect point too, I had just begun to illustrate Luffy. We were an intrusion upon this home, a marker of change that is so starkly noticed by the lone image of Luffy I created, standing in front of the cliffs. To the cold colored peace of Usopp's home, Luffy marked the instigation of change with warm, bright targets and harbingers of change. The hat that he cared for so much became like the sun, yellow straw a beacon for us to follow as if we were traveling west, as if we were traveling to our new homes.

Which continued to be intruded upon, I swear. Now it was Usopp himself who came in. Really did no one know how to knock? Well… apparently they all did. I just didn't hear. Nevertheless, Usopp began asking me so many questions. He had apparently just found out that I had been a government inspector. And that apparently meant I had limitless time to expound upon a story. "Usopp." I growled, "I am working right now. And while your presence would be much appreciated when I finish the series of your home island, that point still has not arrived, so would you kindly… leave?"

Usopp was perhaps the fastest one to leave. Huh, apparently I can be a little intimidating. Not that it's saying much considering it was Usopp. Now the only one left to intrude was Zoro. Probably wasn't going to happen, he was probably training all day. So there I was in the final stages of the painting. It was time for me to finish up any and all details. And just as I lifted the brush off of the work for the last time, Zoro entered.

Zoro's POV

My goal, my dream, of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world was within reach. Of course I was going to f**king fight Hawk Eyes, what else was there for me to do?

We weren't getting to the Baratie fast enough, training wasn't going well, and I needed a sparring partner. And seeing as Levia kept complaining about being considered weak, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. She fought with a type of blade, after all.

Question was, where was she? Where did she even sleep? Her bird was just soaring around the ship, Luffy and Usopp were attempting to fish…. And there was the troublesome navigator. Striding over to her at the low table she worked at, I got straight to the point. "Where is she?"

She looked up a little too conspiratorially, "Who, you mean Levia?" I just stared her down, really. Finally Nami gave up, and nodded to a room I hadn't been in before. "She has her own studio. She's been blocking any intruders though."

I grunted, turning to the room and knocking. I was left standing there for another couple of minutes before I opened the door myself. Levia turned at that moment and sighed. "I really need a freaking 'Do Not Disturb' sign. Maybe it should be on pain of death…"

"Are you done?" I asked, motioning my head towards the painting.

"Yeah, you are possibly the only one on this ship to have good timing. I just barely finished." I nodded, staring at the artwork, really staring at what I had seen just a few days earlier. "What did you want?"

"I needed a sparring partner, and since you keep complaining about being considered weak…"

Her reaction was immediate. "Let me just clean up my stuff. I could do with blowing off some steam." I leaned back, staring mildly as she put all her materials away, noticing in the process that she had her own hammock in here. Huh, so she wasn't staying in the same room as Nami… And then she was standing there, ready with her scythe in hand. "Where should we go?"

I nodded behind me, and moved to the back of the ship, where there would be no interruptions. Levia was idly twirling her scythe, striding along behind me. And finally, when we stood face to face about to start, when I finally was going to figure out just how strong she was, Usopp called us all in for food. "Looks like it will have to wait," she said, "I really hope we get to the Baratie soon, this toasted bread deal is getting a little tiresome."

And she just walked off. Sighing, I sheathed my swords and watched as she offered a mouse for her hawk, before following her into the kitchen. "We really need that chef." Levia muttered.

After we ate Nami switched the subject. "We should arrive at the Baratie late tomorrow morning."

"What even guarantees that one of the chefs will want to come with us?" Usopp asked.

Johnny stepped closer, "Well they're fighting chefs."

"But they fight pirates." Usopp pointed out.

"So did I." I said.

"They fight?!" Luffy cried, "COOL!"

What the f**k? Does Luffy ever listen? Everyone continued talking, but I phased out, leaning against the wall contemplating Hawk eye. At that point I had little idea of who he was, what his power level was, and how a fight would turn out. I would soon find out… Truly knowing would have made no difference, as long as there was a chance I had to take it. There was no other option.

The Next Morning

Nami's POV

It was almost time. I didn't know it yet, and there was no way anyone else could have guessed, but it was almost time. My temporary stay was coming to a close.

Right on course right on time, I prided myself. That morning we approached the restaurant… or should I say fish. The restaurant was a huge red fish shaped boat, colorful in banners and paint. When we got closer and everyone stood at the bow of the ship, Johnny spread his arms widely and proudly, "What do you think everyone?" he asked.

We weren't given much time to take it in, no. Because of course the idiots I stuck myself with couldn't stay out of trouble. A Marine ship pulled up next to ours. Out of nowhere, what the hell were we going to do? We were flying a pirate flag, there was no way they were going to ignore that! Just our luck! Where did they even come from? "S-surely they're not going to shoot at us are they?" Usopp asked nervously.

"Hmph!" Zoro grunted, "What an unpleasant bunch we've run into…"

Yeah Zoro, it is an unpleasant bunch. What gave you the hint? "W-When did they?" I attempted to ask. I was too distracted by the Marine that now stepped to the edge of the ship. A tall tanned man with surprisingly pink hair, donning a pinstripe suit, addressed us. "I've never seen that pirate mark before." He stated. "I'm Iron Fist Fullbody, Lieutenant at Navy Headquarters!" A freaking Lieutenant!? Just our luck, we've run into an officer?! "Hey, who's your captain? Come out and say your name?"

"I'm Luffy!" Luffy stated, moving to the railing, but not a second later…

"I'm Usopp!"

"We just made our pirate flag the day before yesterday!"

"And I'm the one who drew it!"

"Stop lying Usopp." Levia muttered.

Those idiots never knew when to quit did they? Oh no, nooooo. We were facing a Navy ship and they were practically provoking the Lieutenant. And here I thought I could count on Usopp as another voice of reason among maniacs. The Lieutenant was about to say something, when he noticed Johnny and Yosaku hiding behind a door. "You two over there, I remember seeing you before. If I remember correctly, you're a pirate hunter duo going after small fish. So you finally got caught by pirates…" he stated, provoking the two.

It worked, as the two of them stepped out from behind the door.

A petite woman appeared from behind the Lieutenant, clutching his arm. Her hair was up in a bun, only parts of it trailing down to her shoulders, and she wore what was obviously a red dress for an upcoming date. "C'mon, let's go," she urged.

Fullbody readily agreed, slinging an arm at her shoulder and tuning her to walk away. Johnny, however, was not finished with the conversation. He drew out papers from within his jacket, all wanted posters, and tossed them to the ground in anger, declaring their targets as more than small bounty price. That's when it caught my eye, that's when I saw the poster I had been running from for months now. That's the poster that reminded me that I couldn't get too close to these people. I was just a thief, a thief who stole from pirates. I wasn't one myself. Except I was… I too truly was.

Levia's POV

And here we are, at the Baratie. Just what was it to hold? Well it all started with that cannonball.

"We-We're in trouble! They're aiming at us!" Usopp cried.

The cannon shot seemed to last forever and all anyone could do was stare. That is all everyone but our childish captain could do. He instead stretched his arms out wide so that he clung to the mast and figurehead. "Gomu Gomu no…Slingshot!" he announced as the cannonball stretched his body backwards, surely rising the tension in his rubber body until one of the curly horns on the figurehead couldn't hold and Luffy's grip snapped off a piece, retargeting the cannonball directly towards the Baratie-crashing through the roof.

The smoke rising over the roof only indicated what issues could arise next. Luffy was eventually dragged into the restaurant to do who knows what. Leaving us here… not knowing how to fill our time when we didn't know how long we were to sit there. Usopp and Nami just chose to stare forlornly at the restaurant. Which, by the way, seemed to be out of our pay grade. Rumbling stomaches aren't to be ignored though, and hell if I was going to eat bread when there was a perfectly magnificent restaurant just waiting for us. Nami got Usopp and Zoro to row her old boat, but when Usopp was tying the boat to the railing, a loud crash came from inside the restaurant. Zoro took the lead in pushing the door open, to reveal a very scared looking crowd staring towards a blonde man in a suit holding Fullbody up by the neck over what looked to be a broken table and the remains of a meal. A fight?" Zoro asked.

Oh hey, I was wrong. Luffy wasn't in the middle of this. Fighting chefs hmm? It sure looked like it. I would later discover that the man at the root of this had more of a temper than most. "Don't… waste food." The blonde man said. I took that moment to look at the Marine's bloodied face, obviously beat up rather easily by this random man. The very same Lieutenant who had so recently threatened our lives. The blond man continued, "At sea, provoking a cook is the same as committing suicide, remember that."

It seemed that the fight was about to become more complicated, as a large chef walked out of the door, "Our customer!" he yelled. "You, again Sanji!" he accused. "What're you doing to our customer?! Of all people he's a Navy Lieutenant!"

"What is it you damn cook? Don't call me by first name like you're my friend."

"A damned cook has no right to call me a damned cook! Restaurants can't exist without customers! Hurting our precious customer… what do you think you're doing?"

"What's the big deal with customers? He treated the food carelessly. On top of that, he insulted cooks." The blonde man let him fall, "So I taught him a lesson."

And here's another for Luffy to pick up. Misfit alert? Trouble alert? All ringing. "What's with this restaurant?" Fullbody muttered from the ground, "No restaurant should treat its customers like this. I'll shut it down. I'll shut down this restaurant! I'll shut it down! I'll contact the government immediately and…"

"Then I'd better finish you off here…" the blonde man said. He began running towards Fullbody, before he was restrained by other chefs. He continued yelling amongst it all, struggling against the others' holds. "So you think you're a big shot?! Huh?!"

And this is when Luffy decided to crash through the ceiling with who looked to be the head chef based on the tall hat. Oh hey, here was the center of trouble himself. "Boy, that startled me." Luffy said.

Just startled? Really? Really? Briefly after the two of them were in a staredown, blaming the other for the hole in the ceiling, before the chef's grabbed his attention. "Hey Sanji!" the head chef addressed the blonde. "Are you going on a rampage in the restaurant again, you idiot."

Strangely the blonde, Sanji, stopped resisting and the chefs let him go to face the Head Chef. The Head Chef was obviously imposing, with natural command. Sanji, however, just said, "Shut up you damned geezer."

"What'd you say? Who do you think you're talking to?! Are you trying to put my restaurant out of business?" the chef raised his wooden leg and struck Sanji across the cheek with it, with the impact I was wondering how Sanji still held that cigarette in his mouth… "You brat!" And then the Head Chef turned on Fullbody, "You, too! Get out of here already!" and he kicked Fullbody much harder.

"You listen! The customer is king!" the big broad man yelled.

"Just those who eat your damn crappy dishes." Sanji muttered.

"Patty, Sanji! If you want to fight do it in the kitchen!"

The drama just seemed to keep escalating quickly, as a Marine stumbled to the doors, "L-Lieutenant!" he called, "Lieutenant Fullbody! W-We've got trouble! Pirate Krieg's underling escaped!"

"What?!"

"After seven of us finally captured him to get a lead on pirate Krieg!"

"Can't be! When we captured him three days ago, he was close to starving! And we haven't fed him at all since!"

The words caused panic… really couldn't the Marines have been a little more discreet about this? Apparently not. The Krieg pirates, even I knew that they were renown as the most dangerous pirates of the East Blue, something that got mixed up with being the most powerful. It certainly didn't help as the Marine messenger was shot in the back in front of the crowds very eyes, revealing a black silhouette against the bright sky. The customers immediately ran for the far side of the room, leaving the cooks and my crew.

Patty, the customer obsessed chef, didn't let me down. "We have a new customer." He said.

"He'd better not go on a rampage in my place." The head chef said.

The pirate moved to one of the tables, sitting down casually as he lifted a foot to rest against the table itself. He provided stark contrast to the glistening whites, golds, and blues. "Anything's fine, bring me food," he said, looking up to reveal blackened eyes and a hardened face resting under a headband, somewhere above blood trailed down to reach his neck. "This is a restaurant, right?"

Patty moved immediately to the pirate with a ridiculously huge grin on his face as he clasped his Popeye esque arms in front of him, "Welcome, ya damn crook."

"I'll say it only one more time. Bring me food."

Patty looked a little disconcerted. "Sir, I'm terribly sorry, but do you have money for that?"

The pirate lifted the gun to a mere inch away from Patty's forehead. "Would a bullet do?"

"So you don't have money, right?" Patty's tone changed to anger as he slammed his fists down on the chair where the pirate had been, mincing it into pure splinters.