A/N Well Taaze is back. Is he making correct life choices? R&R

I woke up in my bed feeling rested for the first time in years. Two nights ago I'd had the best night of my life. I'd take a nap on a bench, in public, with a beautiful nice girl named Talia. I had realized that I should take life more lightly. I was going to find Yon one day, I just needed to be patient. I stretched, yawn, and crawled out of my cozy bed. I actually didn't make my bed, but went straight down to the kitchen where Maria was making pancakes. She turned to me with the usual hopeful smile. I knew she was hoping that maybe I'd smile, that maybe I'd hug her and eat her pancakes, instead of avoiding her and going straight down to the dojo and buying a cheap burrito from the market in spite. So I smiled. I walked over to stove and took two of the biggest blueberry pancakes I could find. She looked astonished.

"Good morning, Mom!" I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a big hug, still smiling. I hadn't done this yesterday - I was too deep in thought. Last night, I had come to my conclusion: I was going to behave more light heartedly and take life a bit easier.

"Taaze… are you feeling ok?" She broke apart, a concerned look upon her face which was still youthful, despite her years.

"Never better. " I grinned and sat down. The pancakes smelt delicious, so I ate them. I'd never eaten her pancakes before. She looked at me curiously.

"Ok, Taz… would you like me to get Doctor Renne? Because I totally ca-"

"Mom. Seriously, I'm fine." She looked so worried… I had to find some way to reassure her. "I'm going to take a week off from training, ok?" She looked doubtful. "Why?" she asked, her voice growing higher. I thought for a moment. "Because I would to spend some time with you and Dad." I smiled winningly. She lost it. I knew she was holding back tears from the moment I said "Never better." She must think I'm insane.

"Oh, Taz, are you really ok?" She sobbed, grabbing my shoulders, tears streaming down her face. Wow, my mother was emotional.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm fine." I tried to act tough, though my eyes were watering too. She tried to pull herself together and wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry. It's good to have the old you back." She smiled through her tears. I laughed. "I bet it is, Mom."

For then on, things were different. I didn't stop training, however. I still had the fire in my pants to find Yon. I just wasn't dark and moody anymore, but I certainly didn't follow Tseini's path. Tseini was wild at heart. He went to parties a couple times a week. Even though he was fifteen, he got into NHC10, a deadly drug. He had everything he wanted. He became what I was: a dark secluded druggy. My drug was revenge. His drug was the killer NHC10. My parents tried to stop him but he was out of control. Within two months of the start of his drug addiction, he was sent to a rehab center. Before then, he had already been drinking extremely expensive saké. Personally, I didn't expect to see him for a while.

Meanwhile, Talia was still head over heels for me, and I was glad, because I liked her. Eventually she met my parents and her parents mine. That was how I was betrothed to her. Both of our parents happily agreed, as we were both rich, educated kids, and,our marriage in the long term would heavily help both of our parents business'. The highlight of my year? I killed some pirates when I was in an outlaw district, searching for someone who might've had an idea where Yon was. I never found him, but while I waited, I sat at a bar drinking some non hard-core saké. A little bit of it wouldn't hurt.

While I was drinking my saké, a couple pirates came in the pub. I had my hood on, and to them I was a nobody.

Three filthy looking pirates entered the club. Everyone looked up at them for a minute, then resumed what they were doing, like it was normal. I ignored them, as well as several other cloaked rangers or outlaws. This angered them immediately.

"Pirate scum." I heard someone mutter.

"Who said that?" the biggest pirate roared. Nobody replied. I could tell that they were used to receiving attention in the other pubs. What they didn't know: This was the Blue Tiger pub. It wasn't exactly a forgiving place. The speaker turned around from his stool and removed his hood. "I said," he repeated loudly, "Pirate scum." The pirates glared at him. He was a tall clean shaven man with short black hair, cropped neatly to the side. He sat calmly, smoking a pipe.

"Filthy piece of shit." the huge pirate stepped forward and raised a blunt looking cutlass. "Get up and fight me." At this everyone roared in laughter. "He wants to fight Trost!" a bearded man laughed uncontrollably, wiping away tears of laughter. Trost stood up. He was at least a head taller than the pirate. "You all have the most stupid expressions." he said, sober. "Shall we fight till disarmed or would you like me to get you your lawyer." He folded his arms. "You must hurry though, I have business to get to." He looked at another hooded figure who was sitting quietly at the counter. The pirates face turned red. "How dare you" he spluttered furiously.

"I dare." Trost said coolly. He pointed at the other pirates. "Get out or be killed." he said casually. "I would like to spend some time with your friend before you bury him." The other two pirates, smaller, and less bold, scurried out immediately. Goes to show how much they care about their friend, I thought, smirking.

Trost sat back down as the pirate looked blankly at him, as if trying to decide what he should do. The pirate suddenly lunged forward, yelling: "This is for insulting and embarrassing me crew and I." No one stopped him, as if they knew the outcome of this action already. Right before the end of his dull scimitar reached Trost, quick as thought, he whipped around, side stepped neatly out of the sword's way, grabbed the handle of his scimitar, and shoved it straight up into the pirate's throat. The pirate stood gurgling for a minute, blood rushing out of his throat, and then crumpled to the ground.

Trost sat down. "Someone dispose of his body." he sighed. "I would hate for Marcel to have his floor ruined by the blood." No one blinked an eye. I guessed they were all regulars here. I knew immediately, Trost was not an ordinary citizen. I had to find out what he was. He certainly wasn't an average pirate: I guessed he had eaten a devil fruit. I had read all about them. Trost seemed to emit an vibe of power and nobility. I wasn't sure what devil fruit he had, but he was definitely quite adept with his hands. I was about to go introduce myself to Trost when he got up and left. I was disappointed he didn't notice me - I could've learned some useful things from him.

A/N life is sure going easy for Taaze.