A/N: A bit late...again. Hopefully you were appeased a bit by my short story?

---

Zoro looked down at the city that was about to be overturned, smashed, and rebuilt by the delicate hands of a princess. He stood on the rooftop of the city's clock tower, looking at the trails of paint running all over the city. He could see oranges, blues, purples, reds, greens, and so on. He looked behind him and laughed ruefully at the green line that he was standing on.

The paint had been Usopp's idea. It was disguised as a city-wide art project under Donquixote's name. With both Donquixote and Crocodile out of commission, there was no one to question this, and the citizens merely shrugged it off as another one of the Shichibukai's eccentricities. After all, what else would you expect from someone as flamboyant as that? They had stationed themselves all over the city, in case there was a problem from an outside source.

Zoro snorted. The lines were all nonsensical, painting a pattern that was aesthetically pleasing around the city. Only the green lines had any meaning.

They were to keep him from getting lost.

He yawned in boredom, wondering if he had time for a quick nap.

---

Vivi walked confidently through the tents, ignoring the stares from the men and the bristling weapons that were strewn all over the place. She walked right up to the central tent, grimacing as she saw the stamp of the rebellion on everyone's faces in the form of despair.

She didn't enter the tent. Instead, she shouted.

"KOHZA!"

The men around her stiffened and pointed their weapons at her. Even if she was a woman, she was still veiled, and one couldn't be too careful in these times. She knew that even if the situation was dangerous, that help was nearby. Even if Usopp was the closest—for strategic reasons—she was still comforted.

A tanned man threw back the flaps of the tent, his dark glasses reflecting the light of the afternoon that passed through the canopies of tents.

"Who might you be, miss?" he asked politely, ignoring the fact that she had simply walked up and called him out in broad daylight.

Vivi kept her veil on, and lowered her voice. "Are you truly the leader of this rebellion, Kohza?" she asked.

He nodded. "Aye, I am. I don't believe I know your name yet, though."

She hesitated, and then threw back her veil and hood, revealing her face to him. "It's been a long time."

The first few seconds, he simply gazed at her coldly without recognition. When it hit him, it was as though a bullet had struck his chest. He gaped at her, not quite believing his eyes. "Vivi? Princess Vivi!" he shouted. Around him, the men were hastily pointing their weapons away from her. "What are you doing here? Everyone thought that you were dead!"

"I may as well be dead, Kohza, for all that has happened to my country in my absence. How did things get so bad?"

"Oh, you mean the slavery and the whole Crocodile-Donquixote affair?" He looked around cautiously. "Come with me into my tent. It's not safe out here." He brought her back into his base.

"Why are you rebelling, if you know the causes of the turmoil?" she demanded.

Kohza sighed. "It's a long story, Vivi…"

---

Zoro grumbled as he squatted in the clock tower, thinking that Luffy was a little smart to carry meat around in his pockets in case of an emergency. His stomach rumbled, complaining about the lack of fuel.

"That cook's been spoiling me," he muttered angrily. "I used to be able to go for days without any food, but look at me now."

He heard the faint sounds of three gunshots in quick succession and sprang to his feet, scanning the horizon. A few moments later, he saw a flash of fire rising in the sky in the shape of a phoenix, and he knew it was time. He ran down the stairs, down the path that the green line made for him. He ran through the streets, watching the people around him to make sure that no one was running in the same general direction as he was. Suddenly, he stopped.

He realized that he was running on a blue line rather than a green one.

---

"Vivi, the king is the one that has been buying the most slaves," Kohza said seriously. "Not just laborers, but women too."

"That's a lie! Why would you say something like that?" Vivi cried, pounding his chest weakly. "My father—"

"I've known your father for as long as I've known you, Vivi. I know that he's not that kind of man. But…we've seen him. We have people working in the auctions, and we've seen him bidding on slaves with outrageous prices—tax dollars, in other words. Even if slavery is a vice, he encourages it. If we want to get rid of it, we have to remove the man supporting it first. He's stated that it anyone tries to abolish slavery, then they will have to answer to the Royal Armies."

Vivi sniffed, searching desperately for an answer. "Maybe…it's all a mistake…"

"There's no mistaking it, Vivi. I went myself and saw with my own eyes. He took one of the women that he bought and brought her into the palace. Even Chaka and Pell were there, although they didn't look like they approved."

"Please, Kohza…give us time. Just a little time. I'll prove that what you said is false, and that my father wasn't the one doing that." The sound of strangled cries interrupted their conversation.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible," a voice said from the doorway. Vivi and Kohza looked up and saw a man leering at them, his blade dripping with blood. Vivi paled when she saw that a Baroque Works tattoo was on his arm, where someone had managed to slice his sleeves.

"Baroque Works…!" she gasped. Kohza stood, drawing his gun, but didn't have time to avoid the slashing motion that the other man made.

Vivi ran outside and pulled out a pistol, shooting it three times into the air.

---

Usopp sat, waiting for the signal. At the sound of gunfire, he counted the number of shots carefully. Although he blanched when he counted three, he immediately loaded Kabuto and let a missile into the sky.

"Hissatsu Fire Bird Star!"

After firing, he leapt down the stairs from the rooftop he was stationed on and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

---

The butt of a gun slapped Vivi hard across the face after she had fired the three shots, knocking her down. Rough hands grabbed the gun, which she relinquished without a struggle, and began to tie her up.

"Kohza…" she whispered, looking into the tent to see his prone form. His eyes glittered as he looked at her sadly, unable to move due to his injury. His glasses lay on the ground, crushed.

"So, Princess Vivi has finally decided to return, has she?" the BW man growled, kicking her to turn her face-up. "I'm sure your father will pay a pretty penny to buy his slave of a daughter. Men, tie her up!"

"Gladly," a familiar voice growled. Vivi squirmed to see what was going on as she heard the men grunting in pain as someone—a very chivalrous someone—beat them within an inch of their lives. "Vivi-chan, are you alright?" Gentle hands removed her bonds and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun," Vivi said in relief. "Where are the others?"

"I'm sure they'll be here soon. I probably made it here first because…" He twirled madly. "…love defeats even logic! Even if I was stationed the furthest, I came first because—"

"—because you're a pervert," Zoro finished. "Huh, so I did follow the right line." His legs were splattered with wet paint in all the colors of the rainbow.

"You!" Sanji scowled. "Why is there so much paint on you? All you had to do was follow the green line, baka."

"Well…the green line turned blue, and then red, and then yellow…but I got here just fine," Zoro said with a mite of pride.

The sound of running feet signaled the arrival of the rest of the crew.

"Awe, Sanji, you already took them out? That's no fun," Luffy pouted. "At least I got to fight those guys who were running in from the neighborhoods. What happened, Vivi? I heard three shots…"

"Ah, Kohza! Chopper, I need you to take a look at him," Vivi said desperately. "He was injured by a sword." Chopper ran into the tent. As they waited for him to come out, Vivi explained what had happened.

"He said something about my father buying slaves. It can't have been him, Luffy. I know that my father wouldn't do something that foul. Even if they saw him doing it, there must be…some mistake."

Zoro wracked his brains as her words triggered a memory in the back of his mind. "Is Baroque Works still active, then?"

She looked at him in surprise. "The groups are pretty autonomous. Crocodile and Donquixote are just there to put a bit of force and reputation behind them, and to make the big decisions. In affairs like this, I'm sure that they can go along without too much guidance. Why?"

"Someone's still working on Crocodile's orders."

---

Vivi had had Kohza speak to the rebels, telling them that all plans were halted until further notice. While the injured man spoke, other BW members had swarmed into the rebel's base from all over the city, flooding the area with raucous yells and calls for backup. They had been quickly dispatched when the pirates had run through the city from their stations, effectively hitting every stream of men that tried to interfere with their plans. Vivi then joined the pirates in their new set of plans.

"We're going to storm the castle."

Her words rang clearly in the little tent that Kohza had commissioned for their use, and she slammed a hand on a crate that served as a makeshift table.

"What were you talking about before, Mr. Bushido?" she asked, using her pet name for him.

Zoro hummed slightly as he tried to remember what Donquixote had said when he had first met him.

"Well, you remember at the auction? I was being sold with you guys, but…that wasn't me."

Nami's eyes widened at the mention of that incident. "Oh, yeah! We all just passed it off as you having been captured but…something was off. We all forgot about it after you had, ah, begun working for Donquixote. What was that?"

Zoro thought back to the auction...

"A Devil Fruit user," Donquixote said with a grin. "He goes by the name of Bon Kurei."

"Apparently this Bon Kurei guy can masquerade as anyone because of a Devil Fruit. Really troublesome, that," Zoro remarked. "If he was acting in my place at the auction, then it wouldn't be surprising if he was acting as the king, too."

"But then, what happened to the real king?" Chopper asked.

"I don't know," Zoro said worriedly. "It could be anything."

---

Dark lashes blinked over thick black lines painted on a surprisingly pale face for the desert climate. A sigh echoed by the soughing wind blew lightly, and he jumped off the roof.

Pell felt the wind rushing under his fingers and willed himself to gain his falcon form, breathing in deeply as he rose on the warm currents of wind. Even if he could never swim (a fact that was not much of a problem when there wasn't any water here, anyway) he reveled in the fact that the wind was far warmer and friendlier to a man like him.

Fate, however, was far less amiable. The king had just ordered him to go launch a surprise attack in order to allow the ground troops to storm the rebel's base.

He flew, knowing that it was only in the air that he was free from the king's strange disposition and orders.

Unusual movement in the streets caught his eyes and he looked down, wondering what was going on. Moving in large groups had been forbidden, due to the danger of rebellion, so why were there ten people running towards the castle?

He changed his course, the wind whistling in his feathers as he raced back to the palace.

---

"So, we're just going to run into the palace?" Franky puffed incredulously as they ran along. "Seems a bit far-fetched to me."

"There's no reason for the princess of this kingdom not to, is there? Especially after her long absence," Brooke supplied. "I'm sure the king will be overjoyed to see her."

"If he's the real king," Zoro muttered. "Oi, Vivi, how can you check if he's the real deal?"

They stopped in front of the long flight of stairs that lead up to the palace doors. "If he cannot answer questions about my childhood, then I'll know. That's the only real way," she said sadly. They began to run up the stairs.

"Halt! State your name and purpose!" Two guards stepped in their way, wary of their unknown faces and foreign appearance despite their attempts to blend in. Japanese heritage just doesn't blend well with Egyptian ones.

Vivi stood, her hands on her hips and a glare on her face. "Do you not recognize your princess?" she cried. They paled, and bowed in apology.

"Princess…you have returned!" one muttered.

"Please excuse our rudeness," the other said, waving them through.

Sanji grinned. "It's kind of nice to have royalty on your side, huh? Looks like we don't need to 'storm the palace, if we can just walk on in."

They were met at the doors by a well-built man with hair cut at a sharp angle and a face that was just as angular and stern. His severe countenance melted when he saw Vivi.

"It can't be…Princess Vivi?" he whispered. "You have come back." It was more of a statement than a question, and his eyes crinkled into a wide smile as he pulled her into an embrace. "So you were the intruders that Pell spoke of!"

"Are Pell and Igaram here, too?" Vivi asked, looking around. The man she was looking for jumped lightly down from the sky, all traces of feathers gone as he was in his human form, and Igaram ran out from the palace doors.

"Welcome back, Princess," Pell said gently. "We're all very relieved to see that you are safe and well. But who are these people?"

Igaram wrapped his arms in an undignified bearhug around Vivi. "You've arrived safely!"

Luffy jumped forward with a wide grin. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet you!" The two palace guards smiled in return at this exuberant greeting.

"Ah, but I'm sure that there is a very good reason for your return," Chaka said. "Let's go in, shall we? I will call the king, as well."

They were brought to what appeared to be the main dining hall. Guards stood at attention all around, giving the atmosphere a tense feel. Vivi shifted nervously as she sat beside Luffy, waiting for the king to appear.

"Ah, my daughter has come home!" A loud and animated voice shouted from the door. Vivi winced at the sound—he was already too exuberant, too rowdy to be her father. Cobra leapt towards his daughter, with one leg trailing behind him in a ballerina-esque fashion. "Come give your father a kiss!"