S.R: Um… For all the folks that like to see the fighting scenes in my stories (when I actually do a fight and not try to leave it to the imagination) I apologize. There isn't a real fight until Chopper vs. Whapol. Also when we get to the fights in Alabasta you can expect some good stuff. So to the action junkies I beg you not to leave just yet!

While Nami gushed over how cute the young girl was, Luffy just glared at the man that was trying to push Vivi into another room. The man, who's hair was curled into the shape of three gulped. He had made the walls of the house fairly thick yet the teen glaring at him had broken them rather easily. Since the boy had displayed a level of power he wasn't sure he could win against he let go of Vivi and raised his hands in surrender.

"Who are you?"

Luffy asked the man, ignoring Nami and her pleas to keep the little girl.

"Well… Since you already know about our organization I'll introduce myself as Mr. 3… As for the young lady there. I'm supposed to keep an eye over her, I don't know her actual name, but because it was Goldenweek when I first met her I've taken to calling her by that nickname."

"Does she have any clue about what you actually do?"

"None at all. I've been keeping her in the dark about everything. After all she's just a child."

"Hey Nami, since you've taking a liking to her, why don't you take the little one and play while I get more info out of this guy?"

Luffy asked, tilting his head in his girlfriends direction. Nami smiled widely as she decided to take the girl into the room she had appeared from. Letting out a sigh Luffy turned back to Mr. 3.

"Now then…. What exactly is going on here?"

"I had been given orders to eliminate the princess here. Because you were distracted I took the opportunity to kidnap her. Goldenweek was taking a nap at the time, and I wasn't sure how long I'd have so I was just going to stuff the princess into a secret room until night time when Goldenweek was in bed."

Mr. 3 explained nodding his head towards Vivi when he mentioned his kidnapping of her.

"Why are you so forthcoming?"

Vivi asked him a little hint of anger in her tone.

"I made this building with the power of my Devil Fruit, yet this boy here was able to easily destroy that wall. I'm not certain I could win a fight against him, even if I can outwit him."

Luffy on the other hand was completely calm.

"I was trained by the Whitebeard pirates, of course you couldn't beat me."

Despite having heard Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp mention it a few times already Vivi still gasped along side Mr. 3 at the statement. But Luffy ignored that and asked Mr. 3 another question.

"I can understand everything you've mentioned already. But… Why is that little girl with you? What reason does Baroque Works want her for?"

Due to the edge in his voice, Mr. 3 knew that trying to hide the reason wouldn't fly. The tone that Luffy's questions had, told him that he wasn't happy.

"Her parents were known world wide as master painters. Her father was something of a chemist as well. He had tried to make a special kind of paint that when seen by another person it would influence their emotions… He had only gotten so far in the project to have a prototype, but this prototype had to be applied to a person or their clothes to take affect on them."

Mr. 3 started, hoping that by giving the context he could possibly appease the teen in front of him.

"But there was an accident and the two passed away… Mr. 0 had ordered me to get a hold of the recipe for the paint, possibly to be used in controlling people. But we learned that without a special painting technique it wouldn't work. Mr. 0 figured out that they might have taught their daughter, who was already a prodigy painter in her own right, the technique that would allow the paint to work like it was supposed to."

At this point Luffy had heard enough and cut in. Growling angrily as his hat covered his eyes.

"So he sent you to kidnap the girl and raise her to be an agent?"

Panicking Mr. 3 refuted Luffy's idea, desperate to calm him down so as to avoid being harmed.

"No! Not at all! I was merely supposed to study her, and see if I could replicate her skills. Neither Mr. 0 or myself would bring a person into Baroque Works like that. We may be shady bounty hunters, but to increase our members through shady deals like that is something we will not do."

It didn't calm Luffy down as much as he'd hoped the words would.

"So you were just going to use her? And then what? Kill her? Toss her aside? NO! You don't do that to a child."

Even Vivi was taken aback by the anger Luffy displayed at the thought. When Luffy saw her flinch back from him at that he calmed a bit.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you there Vivi… It's just. After seeing how Whitebeard treats his crew as family, and how they took care of Zoro, Usopp, and myself… I firmly believe that children should be free to live and grow up as they please."

Unknown to Luffy at the time, because he had gotten loud when he was angry, Nami and Goldenweek had heard. As the two went quiet in the other room they heard Luffy explain why he was angry at the thought of the little girl being with Baroque Works.

Nami who recalled Luffy being her hero by destroying Arlong drew the similarities between her and the little girl, knowing that Luffy was going to save her from Baroque works.

Goldenweek however listened very carefully. She wasn't just a painting prodigy, she was very smart for her age too. That's why when Mr. 3 approached her she went along with it. Sure she was scared, but she didn't have another option. She had only been around the man for a couple months, so she was still unsure of how things were going to turn out.

But with Luffy entering the picture, she was now able to see what would have happened. While she felt that the orangette that had been hugging her and keeping her company since the strangers had shown up was a weirdo, she felt it would be safer for her to try and go with the one wearing the straw hat.

"So what are you going to do with me?"

Mr. 3 asked, wanting to just get things over with already. Luffy turned to Vivi, wanting to let her make the call since she was the one that Mr. 3 was after. After thinking about it, she decided.

"Well, I don't think we need to kill you as repercussion… Nor do I think Luffy needs to harm you in any way so… As long as you agree to leave Baroque Works I'm okay with forgiving you."

"Not that I don't mind the peaceful way, but why? What reason do you have to ask me to quit my job?"

"Mr. 0 is using Baroque Works to instigate a civil war in Alabasta. That's why I infiltrated the group. I wanted to find out who Mr. 0 is so I could put a stop to it."

"So you're just protecting your country. Asking me to leave is just removing an obstacle from your way of getting to the boss… Very well. I will no longer work for Baroque Works."

With everything settled Luffy and Vivi moved to leave the building, with Luffy calling out to Nami.

"Hey Nami, come on we're done here."

But to his surprise when the door to the other room Opened the dark red haired little girl that Nami seemed to be enamored with came running up to him, and latched on to his leg.

"Please take me with you!"

Everyone was shocked at that. No one expecting the little girl to want to go with people who were strangers, or at least more so than Mr. 3.

"I can't really say I'm surprised she doesn't want to stay with me… I haven't exactly treated her like I wanted to spend time with her."

"It's not that."

Goldenweek said, shaking her head at Mr. 3.

"Is it what I said? About how children should be able to live free and grow up as they please?"

Luffy asked with a smile, his face showing that he wasn't entirely against the idea.

"… I went along with Mr. 3 because it was the best idea, but even then I was never sure of what was going to happen next. I was always scared that something would happen. But I get the feeling I wouldn't have to be scared if I was with you."

Gently prying the girl off of his leg Luffy crouched to look her in the eye. At first he was going to turn her down, recalling Shanks refusals when he begged the red haired man to take him along when the crew left Foosha, back before the Buster Call. But when he looked the little girl in the eye he saw her determination. He could see it in her eyes, that she'd follow them.

Luffy opened his mouth to humor her, but as he continued to think about it he realized, that letting her join the crew would be the only way she'd be able to group up free and allowed to chase after her dreams. Mr. 3 wouldn't be able to handle keeping both of them clothed and fed now that he was jobless.

'I know the Grand Line is a dangerous place that she really shouldn't be raised in… But Pops and his crew did an okay job with us. Maybe it'll work out. Besides Nami seems to really like her.'

Luffy thought to himself before he finally spoke.

"I only have one rule with my ship. Everyone has to have a dream they wish to achieve."

"I've always liked painting, and I have always dreamed to be a famous painter like my mom and dad were. I want to be a painter who's name is known by everyone!"

"A famous painter huh? That's a nice dream."

With a grin Luffy picked her up, and placed her on his shoulders. He nodded as he spoke.

"We've got another person with huge dreams on the crew now. Nami find out everything you can from Mr. 3. Vivi you're free to do what you want. As for us? Well we're going to go outside and enjoy the weather."

Leaving through the broken wall Luffy chuckled as he playfully shook himself, which in turned caused the child on his shoulders to shake and laugh. Nami shook her head as the two left her sights, the last thing she heard from them was Luffy asking if she wanted to climb a tree. Vivi decided to stay with Nami, though she finally noticed Carue had been sitting outside, after determining that she was okay the duck had laid down but kept an eye on her.

At this point Mr. 3 was thinking he might be able to salvage things if he killed the two in front of him and kidnapped Goldenweek back. But because he didn't want to let either of the female teens in front of him know what he was thinking he sat down at the table that had been made as furniture, keeping his hands out of sight as he manipulated the floor to liquefy and slowly encase the two.

His plan didn't work as well as he'd hoped. Nami thanks to the training Luffy had been giving her was able to notice the shifting floor relatively quickly. Quickly pulling the three sections of her staff, the Clima Tact she whacked the man upside the head. The attack wasn't very strong or damaging, but it was enough to disrupt his focus for a moment, the liquid wax like substance the floor was made of falling back down to the ground and smoothing out across the surface once more becoming solid..

"Just because my boyfriend isn't around, doesn't mean you could take us easily."

"You think the two of you would be able to defeat a Devil Fruit user? Especially when you have no idea what kind of fruit it is?"

Mr. 3 responded slightly angry at the fact that his plans were falling apart. The anger causing him to jump up out of the chair he had sat down in.

"Think? Let me correct you there. I know we could. My boyfriend is also a Devil Fruit user so you aren't all that special."

Nami replied, a grin on her face though her mind was racing. 'I haven't really learned much about haki yet. I know what it can do according to the others, but even with their help I haven't unlocked it yet. The best I could do would be delay him until someone came to help...'

Her bluff worked however as Mr. 3 slumped down into his seat again. The reason for that was the glasses wearing man realized that if he harmed her, someone who the straw hat wearing boy cared about he'd be returning. If that dark haired boy came back he'd likely beat the older man senseless and that was at the very least. Seeing that she had won Mr. 3 over with her words, Nami decided to push on with the original task of learning about Goldenweek from the man..

"Okay, what all do we need to know about Goldenweek? Also I want a copy of the recipe for the special paint that her parents came up with."

"Why do you want that paint recipe?"

Mr. 3 wondered.

"If I know my boyfriend he's going to teach her to defend herself. But she's still young so I'm thinking we can get our sniper slash resident inventor to mix it for her to use and possibly calm down anyone that would be aggressive towards her. In other words her weapon will be that paint."

"That's an interesting idea Nami. You're really smart."

Vivi commented as she realized that it could be an effective way to end a fight peacefully. Mr. 3 accepted that as a reasonable answer and handed over all of the notes about making the special paint before telling the orangette about all the things he'd noticed about Goldenweek. The list of things she learned included the fact that the girl was 6 years old. Apparently she wasn't a picky eater and she didn't have any allergies that he had found out about.

After about half an hour the two women left Mr. 3 behind, having learned a lot about the girl. It wasn't until they caught up with Luffy and Goldenweek who were sitting in the clearing that was Dorry's home that Nami even remembered that it was supposed to take a year for the Log Pose to reset.

"Luffy, what are we going to do now? If it takes a year to get the Log Pose to set, it'll be far too late to get Vivi home in time to stop the civil war that's brewing."

She asked as she sat down next to Luffy and Goldenweek, slightly worried that they'd have to spend too long on the island. A loud chuckled brought Nami's attention to the figure of Dorry returning to his clearing.

"You could always test your luck, and sail off randomly. There's a chance that leaving in a random direction will cause the Log Pose to lock onto a different island, within a day or two of leaving here."

The giant told them as he cut down a couple trees to make a stand to have a spit roast on over his fire. Nami being the crew's navigator decided to run a few mental scenarios about how things could turn out if the left without following the Log Pose properly. But she shook her head after the fourth one because she had no way of knowing how far apart the islands were.

Luffy however thought it was a decent suggestion, as he knew if things became desperate they could fish for food, and he could always take his Thunderbird form to fly around and find land. Holding his right hand out palm up, and his left in a fist he gently slammed them together as he spoke.

"Okay that sounds like a plan!"

Nami started freaking out about it telling Luffy not to be reckless, but she went quiet when he reminded her that thanks to his Devil Fruit he could fly. Sighing she gave in. After talking with Dorry for a bit longer Luffy decided it was time to return to the Going Merry. As they walked back to the ship, Luffy started talking.

"You know, it feels weird calling you Goldenweek… Do you remember what your actual name is?"

He asked the little girl he was currently giving a piggy back ride to. Her eyes went wide as she answered.

"It's only been a couple months since Mr 3 first started looking after me, but I've gotten so used to being called Goldenweek that I forgot my name."

"That's okay. We can just give you a new one. How do you like that idea?"

Luffy told her with a calming tone, trying to comfort her as she sounded distressed by the thought of forgetting her name.

"I… I guess that's okay."

The group started tossing around names, trying to get a feel for what sounded appropriate but she vetoed most of them. The others the entire group shook their heads at after hearing out loud. Eventually they had made it to the Going Merry. Goldenweek was starting to nod off on Luffy's back so he took her into the girls room and laid her down on a bed to sleep. He quietly returned to the deck with Nami and Vivi.

"Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji are still hunting for food it seems…"

Vivi mentioned, having looked around but didn't find them. Luffy just nodded his head having already noticed that with his Haki. Normally he'd take his seat on the figure head, but Luffy sat down on the deck and leaned on the railing next to the table that Nami had sat down at as she looked at her tangerine trees. A few very small tangerines had started to grow on one or two of the trees, but even when those fruits were fully grown Nami wouldn't pick them to be eaten, since the trees were still a bit too young. Nami estimated that it'd be another two months or so until the trees would bear fruit that could be eaten.

"Hey Nami… How do you feel about giving Goldenweek the name Annabelle?"

Nami's eyes went wide at the question, especially as she heard the second half of the name Luffy had come up with for the little girl. Her boyfriend was basically asking her if the newest member of their crew could be at least partially named after her mother Belle-mere.

"I don't mind. I actually kinda like it. But where's the Anna part of the name coming from?"

Vivi, now curious as to what they were talking about asked Nami what she meant by that. Nami told the blue haired girl about her mother's name and what had happened when she was younger. After learning about Nami's past Vivi bowed her head low as she told Nami she was sorry about the fact she lost her mother. Luffy sat patiently while Vivi's question was answered before he brought their attention back to him.

"Well Nami, Anna was my mother's first name…. I was two when she died, but my aunt Makino told me about her."

"I didn't know you'd lost your mom too Luffy..."

"It's fine Nami. I was too young, so I don't even have any memories of her."

Luffy stated as Nami left her seat to give her captain and boyfriend a hug. Around the time Nami stepped back and returned to her seat Zoro had come back to the ship, two massive dinosaurs being pulled along behind him.

"Hey, I brought back some meat."

He called out. Nami, took one look at the two dinosaur corpses and shook her head, exasperated with her crew mate. He had brought back enough that she was certain their meat locker would be packed full and overflowing. After a moment she called out to him.

"Zoro, start cutting that meat up so we can properly store it."

The green haired swordsman rolled his eyes at her order but set about cutting it up anyway. Half an hour later saw him on deck in his usual spot napping as Nami confusedly looked at the bones from the two dinosaurs wondering how there was still room for more in the meat locker.

As her eyes started to water from going so long without blinking, Usopp and Sanji returned as well.

"Oi moss head. I thought you said you'd hunt down some meat to bring back!"

Sanji hollered as he attempted to kick Zoro awake. But even while asleep Zoro's senses were sharp enough that he dodged the attack.

"Calm down Sanji… He brought back two dinosaurs. I had him cut the meat up so it could be stored in the meat locker already."

Nami spoke.

Upon hearing her words Sanji started swooning over her, commenting about how smart she was. Usopp rolled his eyes at the cooks actions, mentioning that after a while he decided to bring back some fruits so they'd have more than just meat to eat, showing everyone the basket full that he had collected. Shoving Sanji out of her face Nami commented that it was good thinking on Usopp's part.

"Okay now that you guys are back there's a few things you need to know."

Nami spoke, knowing Zoro was still paying attention enough to clearly hear her despite being asleep. She told them about the attempted kidnapping on Vivi which lead to them gaining a new member who was currently taking a nap.

"Just remember she's still a little girl, so I'll be keeping an eye on her. Luffy's going to be teaching her self defense, and I'd like it if you could teach her how to handle a gun in emergencies Usopp. Other than that I think we'll all have a hand in teaching her about how to sail a ship. But if I think someone's being to hard on her… let's just say you don't want that to happen okay?"

Towards the end of her explanation she gave an evil grin as a chill ran up all of the males backs causing them to shake in fear for a second. Even Zoro, who was asleep.

"When she wakes up Nami and I are going to see what she thinks about the name Annabelle."

Luffy chimed in. Ironically as he spoke the door to the woman's bedroom opened and the dark red haired girl walked out rubbing her eyes. She looked around confusedly before seeing Nami and Luffy, and recalling what had happened. Luffy was still sitting on the deck and leaning against the railing so she sat down in his lap with a small smile.

"Feel better now that you've gotten a bit of sleep?"

He asked. Her response was a nod.

"Nami and I were talking while you slept and we came up with another possible name…. What do you think of being called Annabelle?"

Her eyes lit up at the name, and she nodded eagerly as she spoke.

"I like that one. That's a cute name!"

Luffy agreed with her as he continued speaking.

"I like it too. Anyway, while you were sleeping the other crew members got back to the ship. Would you like to meet them?"

While Luffy handled the newly dubbed Annabelle, Nami had a thought. He's really good with her. That means he'd probably be really good with kids. Nami watched the two with a smile as he introduced her to the other members one at a time though he had to wake Zoro up. Once he was done introducing her, Luffy brought her up to the table by the tangerine trees and let her have a seat as he asked what she wanted to do.

While he tried to entertain the little girl Nami sent Sanji back to the kitchen since it was almost dinner time. Though she did warn him that he needed to cut back on cursing now. She gave Usopp and Zoro the same warning about cursing, before explaining to them that Luffy had decided they'd set sail the next day, because it was going to take to long for the Log Pose to reset.

Since neither one of them had a problem with it Nami returned to the table and sat down with Annabelle. Luffy had gone into the men's bedroom to grab a fishing pole to kill time since Annabelle just wanted to sit and look out at the sea for a bit.

"So what do you think of the ship?"

Nami asked the little girl, hoping the get her to open up to someone besides Luffy.

"It's a nice ship. Seems a little small, but it's comfy."

"Yeah. I think after a few days you'll be used to it."

"I'm getting a little thirsty. Is there any tea to drink?"

"There should be. Let me go ask Sanji."

Nami replied, as Luffy returned with a fishing pole.

"Do you want to join me? Or do you want to sit and watch?"

He asked the girl. Annabelle for her part shook her head no.

"I'll just sit here and watch."

Understanding that she was trying to settle in Luffy just smiled and nodded at her answer, he moved a short distance away and cast his line before leaning on the railing. After a few minutes of silence Nami was back with two glasses of iced tea.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted hot tea or cold tea, but since it's pretty warm outside already I thought cold tea would be better."

Annabelle just nodded her head before taking a sip from the glass that Nami handed her.

"Are you two going to be the ones I spend the most time with?"

She spoke up, suddenly which surprised Luffy and Nami. Unsure of how to answer Nami just settled for saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Well at first yes. But once you get used to things, we were planning to have the others teach you a bit about how to sail the ship. Luffy and Usopp are also going to help out in teaching you how to defend yourself in case something happens. Since you're still pretty young I'm going to be watching over you a lot so they don't push you too hard though."

Satisfied with the answer Annabelle just nodded her head. She still thought the older girl was weird, but it was a tolerable weird so she didn't mind spending time with her. Luffy, just exuded a comforting feel to her, so she was happy that they would be around the most.

Usopp seemed like the kind of person to lose track of what was around him when he focused too much. Sanji was okay, but she wasn't sure she wanted to spend a lot of time with him. Zoro on the other hand slightly scared her. His rough and tough personality being partially to blame. But she saw that he took extra care to be gentle when he offered his hand for a handshake, so she knew he wasn't a bad person.

"Um… Do you have anything I can paint on?"

She asked Nami after a bit. Nami left the table to get some paper and paint for the girl to use. When she got back to the table she just sat and watched as Annabelle started painting. Nami's jaw dropped as the girl painted the island they were currently at with great detail. It was an amazing piece of work and she hadn't finished yet.

As she began putting the finishing touches Annabelle started speaking.

"Most of my memories of my mom and dad are of sitting in their laps and helping them paint, or having them looking over my shoulder as I worked on a painting of my own. Sitting here and working on this painting… It feels just like those memories."

S.R: to those of you that read these, all I have to say is yes. Yes I did alter her personality to fit being younger than canon. It was also to make her fit in a bit more with the crew since after she warms up to them she'll be more like Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp are in canon.