I am so sorry for taking this long to post the update, my computer had a run in with a bathtub and I only just now got one for my birthday. Any way here is A New Piece of One Piece brought to you by my new Macbook. Oh I love this baby…

Lucy sat at the dining table thinking to herself and how she knew Ace. She was so sure of herself when it came to knowing his name but anything else was just a blur. The blonde thought and thought that she could almost feel the gears turning in her head. Not only did she know this mysterious stranger… he knew her too… and what is this about dragons.

Was he referring to the giant scaly lizards with wings that breathe fire and keep princess' captive in tall towers? Those clearly don't exist, but you could never be to sure on the grand line…

Lucy shook her head in rejection, it must have another meaning, but before she could ponder anything more her dimwitted captain charged into the kitchen. "Luce! how do you know Ace?" Lucy could only clutch her head in defeat, she couldn't even answer that question.

Unfortunately this isn't the first time Lucy has been deprived of information because of her so-called amnesia. But, when she lived at the academy she never really minded her memory loose, but now she understands why its such a pain.

"Leave the lady alone, she must be exhausted from all this heat" Sanji entered the kitchen followed my Zoro. "Would you like something cold to drink Mademoiselle?" The blonde cook grinned, warmth spread through Lucy as she agreed to the beverage. Overthinking the situation would not solve anything anytime soon.

Before Lucy knew it the merry was docked and the crew already arrived at a town called Eremalu, as Vivi described. To clear her mind Lucy downed her cold drink and fled the boat, maybe a good walk would help steer her thoughts away from her troubles.

"What a dump" Luffy bluntly insulted the deserted town. Boy was he sensitive, Vivi had a sad smile frozen on her pale face as she observed the ruins of the town. By her feet was a dried up human skull, Lucy had to take cation so she wouldn't step on the bones.

"Vivi-chan, wasn't this supposed to be the city of Green?" Sanji asked careful not to be too blunt.

Vivi clenched her slender hands and spat "I won't forgive that man! Crocodile was the one that did this all, he is tearing apart my country so he can gain control and he doesn't care who dies in the process" The desert princess grabs the skull near Lucy's feet and presses it to her skull. Small tears slid down her pointed cheek bones.

Lucy found her body shuddering in hatred as she watched her friend cry over the skull. Lucy may not know much about running a country or usurping power but she did know what its like to be up against selfish people who only care about themselves. Lucy looked to the ground not knowing how to convey her anger.

Suddenly she felt the sand beneath her feet rumble, beside her Zoro spat "Such children…"

Not too far from where they stood a tall building collapsed rubble. Dust and smoke flew every where causing Lucy to cover her face with her garment.

Once the sand settled down she took this chance to look at the remaining structure, she caught a blurry glimpse of her crew, Luffy, Ussopp, and Sanji, walking away from the rubble. Each with a cynical look, so Lucy wasn't the only one who felt angry.

"I'm ready to kick some ass" Luffy interrupted Nami's snarky comment about their stupidity. Everyone silently agreed with their captain. They set out to our next destination following Vivi, all thinking deeply to themselves, Lucy was thankful she wore her sandals instead of combat boots to travel, her feet would smell like crap in that baking leather.

The sand proved to be a hard opponent in her walk. Every step her foot would sink up to her ankles and it wasted valuable energy just to pull them out. It wasn't long until the joints of her thighs grew sore from the extra force.

"I'm thirsty" Luffy complain for the umpteenth time as they dragged across the scorching desert. Lucy was beginning to worry about her calorie intake, she wasn't necessarily hungry but who knows when she would run out of calories and experience extreme hunger.

"We got that Luffy" Nami replied to her desperate captain. Beside Lucy was Zoro pulling Chopper on some scrap wood he found. Looks like the other zoan type wasn't faring to well in this heat either, she couldn't blame him, he did have that fur coat on 24/7. Surprisingly Vivi was handling herself quite well despite the violent sun, Lucy could hear Vivi talk to Sanji about the perks about being raised in this climate.

Lucy looked back to her Captain and found her navigator and sniper assaulting the poor fellow, apparently he took a big swig of water. Lucy was just too hot to intervene. "Oi Sanji lets have lunch."

This time Lucy snapped back to reality at the thought of eating, this would solve her worries. "But Luffy-san we are not even halfway to—" Vivi tried to explain but Luffy interjected "Haven't you heard the old proverb? You must eat when you are hungry!"

"You made that up idiot" Nami scolded while hitting Luffy over the head with a stick, of course the Captain did not feel even a pinch of pain. He just continued on with his painfully goofy smile, Lucy wanted to take a crack out at hitting her Captain but she had to conserve.

"How about at the next rock we eat our lunch" Vivi attempted to sympathize with the starving straw hat boy, Luffy cheered at the idea. The captain began chanting "Next Rock, Next Rock" like it was some kind of prayer.

"Oi Minna, lets play Rock-Paper-Scissors, whoever loses has to carry everyones stuff!" Luffy shouted, where did he get all this amazing energy?

"Why would we do something that stupid?" Zoro called obviously not amused in the slightest. Neither was the rest of the crew, what sucker would even accept to playing this game in all this heat?

"NANI! How did I LOSE?" Luffy cried as Nami threw her small backpack over his shoulders. Before Lucy knew it everyone was handing their baggage to the crying Captain, but knowing him he wouldn't refuse the terms of his defeat.

Sanji, noticing Lucy's hesitation took her satchel and threw it over Luffy's side. Despite the blondes humble protests Sanji would hear non of it and told her to keep walking.

Lucy swiped a bit a sweat from her brow and continued behind her navigator and the desert princess.

Minutes passed by and the crew was at a total silence, no one spoke a word accept for the moaning Luffy at their tail.

Suddenly Luffy began to yell in gibberish, something about shade and before she knew it the captain launched himself toward some rocks in the far horizon. For a moment Lucy was glad she wasn't thrown into another misadventure with her reckless Captain, but she did feel a pang of annoyance when she realized she would have to walk all the way their by herself.

"Jeez what an idiot." Sanji muttered.

But just as fast as Luffy left, he was back only this time in a worried panic. He was screaming at the top of his lungs "CHOPPER, BIRDS, HELP!" The whole lot of us raced to the rocks in distress.

By the time we arrived there was nothing but sand, no birds that Luffy claimed as "Dying"

In seconds Sanji was gripping Luffy by his shirt "WHERE IS OUR STUFF BASTARD!"

"Now that you mention it where were the bags Luffy was carrying, they couldn't have disappeared?" Lucy pondered.

While The cook and Captain were wrestling it out Lucy strolled around the rocks in search of her bag and axe, she shouldn't have left her weapon in her bag to begin with. Well no use crying over spilled milk— SQUAK

Lucy lifted her head and found a bunch of very much alive birds, one gulping down a barrel of water. "Shit" she cussed "give that back!"

But as soon as the blonde made a step to close the birds flocked away. Not wanting to lose Lucy stretched her wings to their full capacity. But they fell to the floor like too heavy bricks.

She didn't think of the consequences, just moving her wings took a lot of energy from her body. Attempting at flight only made a worse impact on her petite frame. Lucy sunk to her knees and called after the birds. Her crew rounded the rocks and found the frail blonde collapsed in the sand.

In seconds Sanji was by her side helping her to her feet, as shaky as she was Lucy had to swallow her fatigue and pretend she was alright. "Those stupid birds… stole my axe… and our stuff!" Lucy tried to keep her voice even.

"Not you too, these birds don't exist Lucy-chan!" Nami sighed.

"By chance were these birds white and have orange beaks" Vivi asked the unsteady blonde. "Yeah, why?" Lucy responded gaining her composure. She was stable, but not for long, Lucy will need to find something to raise her calorie level.

"These birds are called swindle-herons, they like to take advantage of the tourists by posing as sick or helpless" Vivi spoke in a grave tone, Nami only cursed under her breath "So these birds play dead in order to steal!" Ussopp sounded scared.

"Hence the name…" Vivi continued. If only Lucy weren't so weak then she could have caught the birds.

"Oi LUCY WHY DIDNT YOU FLY AND GET THEM!" Luffy exclaimed but was immediately hit in the face by Sanji's killer foot "Can't you see she's exhausted!"

Everyones attention was now focused on Lucy and her limp wings in the sand. Quickly she with drew them back into her shoulder blades. Zoro continued to stare while the rest of the crew switched topics "What are we going to do for food now!" was the latest concern.

"Let's just rest for a bit" Zoro lost interest in Lucy and sat by a shaded rock. "If we keep worrying ourselves we won't accomplish anything."

Like Zoro was the captain everyone sat down and took a well deserved break from the situation at hand. Even Lucy rested her head against a cool rock to clear her mind.

But of course this day wasn't complete without a giant lizard attack. And of course it was Luffy who found the beast while walking about. Without a word both Sanji and Zoro stood up and walked towards the frantic captain. Lucy, not wanting to see the pain the crocodile would be put through in a moment, closed her eyes and pictured herself in a cold place. She heard a few violent screams from the crocodile before pure silence.

"This is great, we can use the rocks to cook the lizard" Sanji exclaimed in happiness as he began roasting a large piece of lizard meat. In reality the chunk of protein looked really gross but that didn't stop Lucy from taking a giant bite from her skewer when handed one.

Eating the meat rejuvenated the blonde's body and mind, she felt her life force return as she digested all the precious calories.

With this fuel she felt invincible, like she could run a mile in the desert, of course she wouldn't do something that stupid.

Lucy finished her meat and walked over to Vivi and Nami, who were both looking at some weird animal discussing something. "What is that?" She asked both girls.

"You never seen one?" Vivi giggled, Lucy shook her head "It's a camel, they are great transportation in this type of climate!" The desert princess explained the whole history behind the camel but Lucy could only think of one thing, transportation. that means she wouldn't have to walk!

"So that means we could ride the horsey to Yuba!" Luffy exclaimed spewing what chucks of lizard he had in his mouth. It was revolting enough for Lucy to whack her Captain but she was overjoyed as well.

But then the camel began to ramble about something Lucy couldn't understand at all, good thing Chopper wasn't far behind to translate the camel tongue.

"He says he only allows the ladies to ride him because he is a prince like that." Without another word Lucy jumped over the camel and closed her eyes to take a nap.

"Works for me.." she mumbled into the camel's fur, in seconds she was out like a light, Lucy ate so much that she no longer cared what anyone thought and last night she didn't get the best of rest.

Lucy awoke to a rapid wind that threw her long braid in every direction. She heard Vivi screech "It's a Sandstorm"

Lucy clung to the camel and kept her head down, it only took a few minutes for the harsh winds to die and the heat settle back in. The blonde heard a terrified gasp before looking up. Before her lay a desert city in ruins, this run down town was supposed to be Yuba?

"Oh no" Vivi gasped. Lucy looked over and found strained expressions on everyones face, this was obviously not what everyone was looking forward too. Lucy hopped off the camel and walked over towards Vivi to observe the city. She could only lower her bangs for a moment of silence.

"Sorry, but the folks in this town are dried up a bit" Lucy heard a voice call. The crew followed the noise and approached a deep ditch with a man shoveling sand.

The man was old and frail, skinnier than Lucy which was a shock. "We have plenty of rooms for you to stay the night though" he offered.

Instinctively Vivi covered her face with her cloak to hide her identity, "Ano, Are the rebels stationed in this town?" Nami asked, but instead of a response a large barrel was flung at the navigators feet "Don't tell your here to join up with those DEGENERATES. I'm happy to say that they aren't here anymore!"

All in unison the crew groaned in defeat, we came all the way here but there is no sign of our goal. The sun was setting fast and the chilly desert air finally sunk in. Lucy clung to her robe a bit tighter to keep warm. "So what do we do now Vivi?" Luffy asked

"Vivi?" The man echoed the Captain "Vivi!" He looked up at the blue haired girl "Is it really you?" With that Lucy moved in front of the princess to defend her. Even without her axe the blonde could hit pretty hard with her wings. But she could feel in the back of my mind that this man had no malicious intent. "There is no Vivi here" Lucy tried to cover up.

"This is definitely not the lost Desert Princess" Luffy also tried to cover up his mistake, only he made the situation worse. I performed a face palm which distracted me from the approaching stranger.

"I'm so glad you're alive Vivi" he grasped her shoulder, I was one step away from knocking the man on his ass when Vivi cooed "Toto?" This revelation caught everyone off guard. "Yes" The man became teary eyed.

"Toto?" Luffy repeated to himself. "Vivi I still believe in the king. But the rebels are out of their minds!" The man cried steadying himself on the princess.

Vivi looked into the mans eyes and spoke slowly "Don't worry, I'll stop the rebels no matter the cost."

Lucy sat on a top bunk looking at the stone ceiling above her. Stopping the rebels and Boroque works was going to be a challenge. Of course she would never abandon Vivi, but the blonde just couldn't help but contemplate the challenge ahead.

Ussopp on the other hand was in the center of the room congratulating the crew and a good day of work. But he was hit over the head with a large pillow before he could finish.

"Lucy-chwan, I could sleep near you tonight to fight away all your nightmares. But before Lucy could refuse Nami already interfered "Don't even try punk" she pulled away the cook by his ear.

Giggling Lucy hugged her covers and shut her eyes, in moments she slipped into her sweet dreams.

Lucy's breath was short and rapid, each inhale was a fight for oxygen. Her mind was as cloudy as the steam room she was in. Her thoughts were jumbled and her limbs were numb. A small bead of sweat rolled down her porcelain cheek, the blonde moved to wipe it but found her wrists restrained upwards.

The blood left her appendages long ago, all that was left was a funny prickled feeling at the tips of her fingers.

She attempted to pull her arms free of their bounds, the hot metal dug into her purplish wrists and had her gasping in pain.

Lucy's chest and neck felt tight, she could barely keep her eyes focused on the metal walls that surrounded her.

Suddenly there was a loud clank and the sound of footsteps. Fear erupted in the blonde's body and the steps grew closer and closer. Her body began to shake from nervousness, a small chill ran up her stiff spine.

Lucy began to recklessly pull at her restraints for freedom, but this reveal futile. There was no way out of the bounds. She began to cry from her throbbing wrists, the footsteps only came closer.

The blonde cleared her throat and rasped "No…"

—-

"Lucy-chan! Are you okay?" Chopper sat at the blondes feet slightly nudging her shins to wake up. By the rooms door stood Zoro staring intently "You're covered in sweat." He deadpanned.

Lucy touched her cheek and found it wet, actually, her whole body felt sticky and in a cold sweat. She pushed off her covers and jumped off from the top bunk. The blonde instinctively rubbed her wrists, but found that they were perfectly pale and healthy, no sign of a bruise.

"Just a bad dream…" Lucy trailed off remembering her nightmare, on Drum island she had a similar one but this time she…

"Well we are all ready to leave, get dressed and come out." Zoro spoke without looking at Lucy.

Lucy looked down and found herself only wearing her pink frilly underwear. Felling the heat rush to her cheeks she quickly slipped on her desert skirt and sandals. Grabbing Chopper she ran from the room, but before she crossed the threshold she spotted a large chest by the door. Out of curiosity she popped open the wooden truck and found an assortment of tools, and… a smaller version of her axe.

Grabbing the elegant metal weapon she slipped it into her sash and ran to her crew.

"That's genuine Yuba water" Toto spoke to Luffy handing him a wooden bottle. "Now take good care of it" Tto smiled as we made our way north.

We all waved our goodbyes to the generous man and left the town, on to our next destination. The sun was just as hot as yesterday but at least Lucy had a better night sleep then before. Her dream long forgotten.

It was until they walked a few kilometers when Luffy slumped over on a passing palm tree. "Luffy? Are you taking a rest?" Lucy asked truly perplexed. He can't be this tired already. "Is there something wrong Luffy-san" Vivi asked behind Lucy.

"I quit" The Captain stated, his face as cold as stone.

"You quit?!" Nami erupted in annoyance

"We don't have time for one your jokes!" Ussopp yelled.

"Vivi, I want to kick crocodiles ass." Luffy continued ignoring the crews attempts at reason "But even if we stop the rebels do you think Crocodile will just stop? And remember we are pirates after all, we don't look good relating to whats good and bad here"

The reality of the situation finally dawned on Lucy, she took history class at the academy, she's learned about countless wars that were inevitable. And here is her bumbling captain reminding her of all those events. "I can't believe this idiot hit all the marks" Sanji muttered.

"The truth is Vivi, you can't stop everyone from dying, don't be that naive." Luffy continued but Vivi remained silent.

"Luffy consider Vivi's—" Nami began but was immediately shushed by Sanji.

So thats it, Lucy thought, we came all this way to give up. Lucy didn't think this low of her Captain before, she put her head down in shame.

"Vivi, Someone is going to die…" And with that Luffy went flying. Vivi hit him square in the jaw. "No one is at fault but Crocodile… No one should be punished but him. Why should good people lose their lives!" Vivi panted.

In a flash Luffy rose and punched the Princess back "You think risking your life alone will be enough!" With that remark Lucy smiled, Luffy wasn't giving up. The blonde lifted her head to look at her Captain, "Baka" she muttered.

"But I don't have anything else to risk!" Vivi said as tears formed in her eyes.

"YOU COULD AT LEAST RISK OUR LIVES, I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS" And with that Vivi burst into tears, they streamed down her cheeks like tiny rivers.

"So now tell me where this crocodile is" Luffy rose and fixed his hat. Vivi wiped her tears and stood up alongside him.

"We must head north to Rainbase" Vivi spoke finally gaining her composure. "Its a casino town."

Immediately Nami's eyes turned into bright Berry signs at the word casino. "We aren't here to gamble, Nami" Zoro spat.

"Alright! Let's get going" And the crew marched off.

Lucy couldn't but smile at the Captains resolve to help Vivi. She felt confident in her ability to help her friend save her country. Lucy was just itching to use her axe and beat up some agents of Baroque Works.

While riding the camel Lucy restyled her braid into a crown style, her bangs fell out along with some other strands of short hair but mostly everything was tucked away to her scalp.

"I could never repay you guys for helping me" Vivi said smiling at the sand in embarrassment.

"Feed Me!" Luffy commanded. This gave Vivi a perplexed look. "When all this is over I expect a lot of food"

The desert Princess giggled "Of course"

Lucy noticed that Vivi smiled all the way to Rainbase, whatever she was thinking it must have been good. Lucy leaned back on the camel and decided to rest her eyes as they approached to casino town's shadow in the horizon.

On the way there Ussopp handed Nami her new weapon, the Clima-Tact, if Lucy recalls correctly. Also Sanji offered to let the ladies sit this fight out but of course they all refused. Nothing was going to stop Lucy from participating in helping Vivi.

Maybe she wasn't around from the beginning of this quarrel, but she did hear enough stories to hates this bastards guts.

"LET'S GO KICK CROCODILES ASS" Luffy yells as we near Rainbase. "Yeah, just scream it a bit louder so that the whole city knows of our intentions, baka" Lucy commented. But deep inside Lucy was nervous about confronting the head of Baroque Works. To do all these bad things he must be one despicable piece of trash.

Lucy instinctively groped her axe, playing with its shape, getting used to the feel of the cold metal on her bare palm. Her dark green eyes stared intently at the town entrance "No turning back…"

One more thing… I'm still looking for ideas for the filler arcs I'm gonna make up. Just review your plot and I'll try my best. Also tell your friends about this story ^.^