Chapter 36

Bounties and the Thousand Sunny

The next day, the newspaper came in with news of their raid on Enies Lobby.

Hawke was glad that there was no mention of the Franky Family. They wouldn't have to become fugitives and live undercover, they could stay here and continue constructing and deconstructing ships.

"They blame us for setting the island on fire," Zoro grunted as he read the paper, "Our bounties will go up for sure."

He looked up and gave Hawke a smirk.

She returned it with a smile.

He's been giving me much more attention lately, she thought and blushed, or maybe I've been giving him more attention…

She had to admit that she'd caught herself dreamily watching the strong, muscular swordsman more than once. Always causing her to look around frantically, hoping no one had caught her. She had been embarassed when Tank and had told her that Zoro had been giving the other men hostile glances. But she found that she liked that protective gesture on the swordsman's part…

I think I've fallen hard, she thought, biting her lip nervously.

"Oh!" exclaimed Chopper, snapping Hawke back to reality, "Will I also get a bounty on my head?!"

"It's probable," said Sanji, taking a drag from his cigarette, "But the most terrible will be me."

He raised his hand.

"A big star appears!" he declared dramatically.

Hawke laughed.

"Well I hope I get one too!" she smiled.

"Eh?" Zoro looked over at her, "Why are you so eager?"

"If I have a bounty on my head," Hawke explained, "Then who will ever think that I'm the Dark Angel! There can't be two bounties for the same person."

Zoro gave her a smirk.

"I guess that'd be good for you," he said and returned to reading the paper.

"What are you getting excited for?!" Nami exploded, "Are you idiots?!"

Everyone put on a serious face and quieted down, but every now and then Hawke could see excited glances being stolen over the navigators head.

As long as those posters don't come too soon, she thought, we can't go anywhere until Franky finishes our ship.

She blinked.

"Oi, Luffy!" she called, "Did you know that Franky said he'd build us a ship for free?"

The captain sprang out of his chair and began waving his limbs around excitedly.

"Really?!" he shouted, "Franky's building us a ship?!"

"Oh yeah," Sanji handed out sandwhiches to everyone, "You were asleep when that happened."

"How about that!" shouted Luffy in excitement, "He was a good guy after all! What kind of ship will it be? I'm looking forwad to it!"

A constant stream of excited questions and comments continued to spill from Luffy's mouth as he bounced around the room.

There was a commotion as Nami discovered that almost all of their money had been spent on the party. The navigator beat Luffy pretty badly, so Hawke suggested that the girls all go out for a shopping trip to take their mind off things. After all, there was a little money left.

The three women spent the rest of their vacation time looking through the shops and being accosted by reporters and citizen who were eager to thank them and hear their stories about what had happened at Enies Lobby.

Hawke and Robin were exiting a book store when Zoro suddenly appeared before them. Hawke choked on her breath and tried to stifle her laughter as she saw what the swordsman was wearing and carrying.

He had a very small, tight yellow shirt on and had three very young babies tucked into it in a kind of chest pouch thing. It looked like he was out of breath. He was walking with hunched shoulders and didn't seem to be paying attention to what was around him.

Hawke and Robin fell into step on either side of the swordsman.

"Damn, I'm tired," he grumbled.

"Looks pretty rough," Robin said quietly, covering her smile.

"Yeah, whatever," Zoro grunted, still looking ahead, "Why do I have to do something like this?"

"And what exactly are you doing?" Hawke asked in amusement.

She couldn't help but feel a little flushed. Seeing Zoro taking care of babies was surprisingly enjoyable for her. She had never thought of Zoro in the role of a father, or having anything to do with children at all. Sanji was usually the one who was good with kids. But Hawke found herself really liking this side of the swordsman.

Just then, Zoro seemed to notice who he was talking to.

"You?!" he looked mortified as he glanced back and forth between Hawke and Robin.

Before they could answer him, he pushed the women into an alley and confronted them.

"Damn," he muttered.

"Robin! Hawke!" they heard Nami's voice calling, "Where'd they go?"

Hawke smiled as Zoro tensed and peeked around the corner into the street.

Robin stepped back out.

"You don't have to worry, I won't tell anyone," the archeologist smiled, "And besides, it suits him, don't you think, Hawke?"

The scout felt the colour rise in her cheeks, matching the hue that Zoro was showing off.

"Haha," she gave a nervous little laugh, "Yeah, don't worry, Zoro. I won't tell anyone either."

Robin caught up with Nami, but Hawke hesitated at the mouth of the alleyway.

She looked back to Zoro, who was still standing there with the babies' strapped to his chest.

"It really does suit you," she blushed, "Do you need any help with them?"

Zoro's look of mortification increased ten-fold and he shook his head furiously, his teeth clenched and his face becoming an even brighter shade of red.

"Alright then," Hawke laughed, "Well, make sure you come back before it gets dark. And not with them," she pointed at his chest.

Then she turned and caught up with the other girls.

"Huh?" Nami glanced over at her, "Why are you so flushed, Hawke? Are you feeling sick?"

The scout shook her head.

"No, I feel fine," she stammered, "Let's go look in that store."

But before the trio could enter the shop, there was a flurry of feathers and Hawke felt a weight on her shoulder.

She heard a caw and felt feathers tickling her ear.

"Caracass!" she exclaimed as she saw the raven, "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Nami asked, "Hawke, what is that bird doing on your shoulder?"

Hawke gave the navigator an embarrassed smile.

"I don't know," she admitted, "But I met him a few days ago. Him and a mechanic."

"Well I'll be damned," Hawke heard a familiar voice behind her.

She turned and smiled.

"Speak of the devil," she laughed, "Hayato!"

The short old man bowed his head.

"It's nice to see you again, Hawke-san," he said gruffly, "You have friends who are just as beautiful as you are."

Hawke blushed and introduced her crewmates.

"Nami, Robin, this is Hayato and the raven is Caracass," she motioned to each as she mentioned them.

"Well it is certainly nice to meet you, Hayato-san, Caracass-san," Robin nodded, "Nami and I shall continue shopping, you can catch up with us later."

She waved at Hawke and gently tugged Nami along.

Hawke turned back to face Hayato.

"We're just enjoying our vacation while our new ship is being built," she explained, "What are you doing in this part of town?"

The old man gave her a smirk.

"I was just taking a trip down memory lane," he said, pointing down the street, "That's the bar I used to work at."

Hawke followed his pointing finger to a small building on the corner. Caracass shuffled on her shoulder and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Have you decided?" the raven croaked quietly into her ear, "Will you carry on Salem's search?"

Hawke blinked.

"I guess I will," she said quietly, "I want to find out what Salem was looking for…It might be really important…And maybe it's what I'm looking for too."

She saw Hayato smile.

"You are going to go far, missy," he chuckled.

Hawke watched as he reached into his jacket and took out an old-looking camera.

"Would you mind if I took your picture?" he asked politely.

Hawke smiled and put down her parcels, smoothing out her shirt and skirt.

"Are you planning to show it off after my captain becomes the Pirate King?" she asked, winking at him, "You'll have a one of a kind collection started."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Hayato grinned and raised his camera, "I can tell you're going to do great things. You have the same aura as that Gold Roger did."

Hawke felt Caracass shift his position on her shoulder, but she smiled and waited until the flash of the camera had gone off before she moved.

"Thank you very much, Hawke-san," Hayato bowed, "For the picture and for carrying on Salem's will."

Hawke smiled.

"You don't need to thank me," she blushed, "And I promise to send you back some letters."

Caracass cawed happily.

"I would like that," Hayato said quietly, "Well, you better get going. Your friends will be waiting for you."

Hawke stepped forward and hugged the old man. She felt Caracass hop off her shoulder onto Hayato's.

"You've helped me a lot," she whispered into his ear, "Much more than you know… thank you."

She stepped back and picked up her parcels.

"I hope to meet you again," Hawke bowed respectfully.

"Same to you," Hayato returned her bow.

"Farewell, Princess," Caracass croaked, "You will find the truth."

Hawke blinked and watched as the man and the bird disappeared into the crowd.

Then she turned and quickly hurried on to find Nami and Robin.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The crew stood around in tense silence.

"It's unfortunate," Sanji sighed, blowing out a cloud of smoke, "Just for this time, what he's saying is right."

"I agree," Hawke said quietly, "Usopp needs to apologize. That's the only way he can rejoin the crew."

She glanced back to Zoro. He was standing in front of the doors with his sword embedded in the floor, blocking the way.

"We can't keep trusting a guy who started such a thing on a whim," Zoro said seriously, "Its simple. If Usopp's first words are a deep apology, fine. But if not, then there's no place for him to come back to."

Hawke held her arms around her waist and looked at the floor. She knew that this was the right thing to do, especially for Luffy. But it was really painful to think about carrying on without Usopp.

Zoro caught sight of her stance and sheathed his sword.

"What we're doing isn't a childish pirate game!" he snapped.

Luffy's shoulders relaxed.

"You're right" the captain said quietly, "We've separated once. There are still many days until the ship is ready. We'll wait for him quietly."

He sat down on the ground.

Hawke clenched her fists and went to the window, drawing back the curtain that Nami had closed a few moments prior. She looked out at her reflection in the dark glass.

Usopp, you idiot! She thought, her fingers clenching around her arm, hurry up and come back!

She heard footsteps coming up behind her and felt a soft touch on her hip.

"If he apologizes, everything will be fine," Zoro said quietly.

Hawke stayed still, keeping her gaze locked on the window.

"He will…" she muttered, leaning towards him a little, feeling the pressure on her hip and sighing, "I know he will."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A few days later, the crew was happy to find that the logpose had finally set.

"Do you know where you're headed next?" Kokoro asked with a smile.

"No," said Nami, peering at the logpose on her wrist, "It looks like it's pointing downwards."

Kokoro laughed.

"That's right," she said, taking a drink from her bottle, "The next island is Fishman Island!"

Hawke's ears perked up.

"Fishman Island!" she exclaimed.

"Mermaid Island!" Sanji was extatic, "At last!"

He began spinning around the room, spouting praises about mermaids before he was struck down by a glance in Kokoro's direction again.

Kokoro then informed them of the Florian Triangle. A mysterious sea where ships sail in with full crews and then sail out months or years later with no one aboard. She cautioned them to beware of that dangerous sea.

"Scary," Hawke shuddered.

"Don't worry," Sanji said, returning to his usual self, "I plan on stocking up on previsions in case we run into trouble."

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Chimney flopped onto the floor.

"Strawhats!" she exclaimed, "Franky told us to come call you! The ship is finished and it looks great!"

"Awesome!" shouted Luffy, "That was fast! Let's get going!"

The crew busied themselves with packing up their supplies.

Just then, another call came from outside.

"Strawhats!"

Hawke looked out the window.

"It's the Franky Family," she said.

The crew went outside to see what they wanted.

The group fell to their knees, panting.

"Did you see the wanted posters?!" one of them panted.

"Wanted posters?" Luffy asked.

"You've been given an unexpected bounty Strawhat," another Franky Family member gasped, "Everyone else as well!"

Hawke's eyes lit up as wanted posters were layed on the ground in front of them.

"All eight of you now have bounties!" the Franky Family exclaimed, "Strawhat Luffy: 300 million beri, Pirate Hunter Zoro: 120 million beri, Cat Burglar Nami: 16 million beri, Sharp Eyes Hawke: 50 million beri, Cottoncandy Lover Chopper: 50 beri, Devil Child Nico Robin: 80 million beri, Black Leg Sanji: 77 million beri."

The crew's reactions were varied and instantaneous.

"Sharp Eyes?" Hawke crossed her arms, satisfied, "It's not a bad epithet. And 50 million's pretty good, now I won't be suspected."

Hawke surveyed the rest of the posters.

"There's even one for Sniperking!" Luffy pointed, laughing.

"Hang on!" the Franky Family interjected, "I know you have a lot you want to discuss, but we have a favour to ask of you!"

The crew gave the Family their attention as the man who'd had their posters took another one out of his pocket.

"Cyborg Franky: 44 million beri," he stammered.

"This is terrible! Aniki's got a bounty on his head!" exclaimed the Family, "We somehow managed to avoid it, but Franky couldn't. Aniki's life will be in danger if he stays here at Water 7. If he get's caught this time, we won't have the power to save him! That's why we came to talk to you… I beg of you, even if it's against his own will, take Aniki out to sea with you!"

Hawke smiled as she saw Luffy stand up.

"You don't have to say it," their captain smiled, "I've already decided to make him my shipwright!"

The Franky Family was elated and immediately left, saying something about having unusual things to do.

The crew resumed their packing.

Hawke picked up her backpack and held up her wanted poster.

"I didn't see any reporters at the party," she muttered.

The picture of her had been taken while she was dancing during their celebration, you could even see Usopp's huge pile of chairs in the background. She was wearing her white t-shirt and long, blue and white stipped skirt. Her hair was down and her braid was keeping her bangs out of her face. The camera had caught her in a finishing pose. Her legs were crossed and her hands extended outwards, towards the viewer. The skirt was flaring out around her waist and hips. She was facing the camera full on, giving it a happy smile.

"At least it's cute," she sighed.

"That's a pretty good amount for a first time," Hawke started as she heard Zoro's voice in her ear.

"Well technically it's my second," she smiled, turning to face him, "But this time everyone knows it's me!"

She held up the poster.

"What do you think?" she asked.

To her surprise, Zoro squinted at the picture with intense concentration. Then he stepped back and looked her up and down.

"What are you doing?" Hawke asked in embarrassment.

The swordsman smirked, gave a satisfied grunt and turned to leave.

Hawke stayed rooted to the spot, her face flushed.

"Hey!" she shook her head and ran after him, "What was that for?!"

But she couldn't get an answer out of him, so she followed the others through the city in a contemplative, if slightly blushing, silence.

The crew made their way down to Scrap Island and Iceberg unveiled their new ship.

"It's amazing!" Hawke gasped as her eyes swept over the lion's head, the grassy deck and the huge sails.

She followed Luffy and the others as they boarded the ship and began exploring it, making a beeline for the mast. She climbed up to the small room that was at the top of it.

She lifted the hatch in the floor and climbed in.

The room was large enough so that there was plenty of space to move around in it, and there were weights and benches lined up against the walls.

"Is this supposed to be a training room?" she wondered.

Then her eyes caught sight of the crow's nest, that was on the other mast, through on of the windows and she climbed down and over to it.

"This is perfect!" Hawke exclaimed as she boosted herself into the basket, "This is much bigger than the Merry's! There's even enough room to actually lie down. "

She hopped around excitedly and then descended to the main deck.

Bending down, she ran her fingers through the grass.

"This is the most amazing ship I've ever seen!" she sighed happily.

Then she looked around.

"Where are the guys?" she asked as she stood up.

Only Nami and Robin were left on the deck.

Robin turned to her and smiled.

"They've gone to bring Franky back," she said.

Hawke joined the women at the rail.

"We sure are lucky, aren't we," she sighed as she looked out at Scrap Island.

"Indeed," Robin said from beside her.

"There's so much room for my trees!" Nami chirped happily.

Hawke looked down at the Galley-La workers who were resting on the island.

"Hey, Iceberg!" she waved down, "Paulie! Thank you so much!"

The men returned her wave.

Just then, something came rocketing out of the sky and landed with a tremendous crash a ways away from the ship.

"What was that?" Nami shaded her eyes.

Hawke looked out in the same direction and recognized Franky.

"Eek!" she screeched and covered her eyes, "Why isn't he wearing pants?!"

Just then, Luffy and Chopper returned and triumphantly waved a speedo in the air.

"If you want your pants back, you'll have to join our crew!" Luffy shouted across to the Franky.

Initially, the cyborg refused. But Robin asked if she could use a little force and she managed to immobilize him by grabbing his exposed sensitive area.

"Ah!" shouted Luffy, "Oi, Robin! I still want him to be a man when he joins our crew!"

"They'll be torn off!" Chopper wailed.

Hawke stared at Robin in disbelief.

"That must feel gross," she stammered.

The archeologist gave her a smile before giving another squeeze.

Franky wailed at the top of his lungs.

"Don't be to rough, Robin!" Nami gasped as the cyborg flailed about in the debris.

"I won't let go unless you give us a good reason not come with us!" Robin called across to Franky and squeezed her hands tighter.

Thankfully, Iceberg went out and spoke with the cyborg. It ended with Franky lashing about, crying, but Hawke saw that the archeologist had lowered her hands.

After that, Sanji and Zoro returned saying that they had to leave because the marines had come back to attack them.

Luffy threw Franky's pants back to him.

"Come on, Franky!" he called down, "Get on my ship!"

The cyborg stood up and flashed them a smile.

"It can't be helped!" he declared, "Your ship's shipwright will be the great Franky!"

"Alright!" Luffy whooped, "A new nakama!"

"Hurray!" Hawke cheered.

But she cast a worried glance back at the city.

Usopp…

Her mind went back to the story Hayato had told her about Salem and Roger's crew. Would the same thing happen to them and Usopp?

"Set sail!" Luffy called, snapping Hawke out of her thoughts.

"Aye, captain!" she said and ran to help unfurl the sails.

"Oi, Luffy!" Nami snapped, giving him an angry look.

"Luffy!" Chopper whimpered.

"Aren't you waiting for one more?" Franky asked, setting his bag down on the grass.

"I've waited," Luffy said in a strained voice, "We waited for him the entire time in that place, but he didn't come."

Hawke could see the beads of sweat on her brother's forehead. She knew he was trying to be a strong captain, but it was clear what his thoughts were.

She glanced over at Zoro.

He was sitting on the grass with his back against the wall.

She blinked when she saw the hand that was clutching his sword begin to shake.

So he's nervous too, she thought, even though he was talking so tough.

Luffy let out a nervous laugh. It pained Hawke to hear the strained sound and she stalked off to the rail as the ship began moving.

Just then, there was a whistling sound and the water around the ship exploded.

"What?!" Hawke gasped as she was thrown off her feet, "The marines found us already?!"

"Grandpa!?" she heard Luffy exclaim.

Hawke ran to the rail and suddenly they heard a voice coming over the water.

"Oi Luffy! Hawke! Can you hear me?"

"That's him!" Hawke muttered.

"Oi Grandpa!" shouted Luffy, "What's wrong with you!? Didn't you say you weren't going to capture us here?!"

"Well a lot of things happened!" shouted Garp, "I'm sorry, but you're gunna die in this sea!"

"What?!" Luffy gasped.

"There's no apology I can give you, but I'll take care of you both myself!"

Hawke squinted and saw a soldier passing him something.

"Everyone duck!" she shouted, "He's throwing a cannon ball!"

"With his bare hands?!" Sanji exclaimed as the ball whistled through the air and barely missed them.

"We have no choice!" shouted Nami, "We have to escape or our new ship will get blown up!"

"Full speed ahead!" Luffy yelled, "We'll smash those cannonballs!"

Hawke kept her watch at the rail.

"He's going to throw a whole bunch at the same time!" she shouted.

Damn, she thought, her eyes going back to the shore, is he really not coming?

Just then Chopper let out an excited squeal.

"He's there!" the reindeer ran over to the rail, "Usopp came!"

Hawke felt her heart skip a beat and she turned to scan the crowd.

"Oi, Hawke!" Zoro shouted at her, "We could use some help over here!"

"R-right!" Hawke answered, tearing her eyes away and taking out her sword, slicing through an incoming cannon ball.

"Protect the ship!" Luffy yelled his order as he bounced some of the shots back at the marines.

Chopper ran frantically around the ship.

"Luffy, Usopp is calling for us!" he yelled.

"I can't hear him," was the reply.

"Zoro!" the reindeer wailed.

"I can't hear anything," the swordsman grunted.

"You liars!" cried the doctor.

"Chopper!" Hawke said, landing beside him and put her hand on his hat, "He needs to apologize!"

The reindeer looked at her with watery eyes. But then he bit his lip and nodded, turning and running back down to the rail.

Hawke grit her teeth and lept up to cut through another barrage of cannon balls.

Come on, Usopp! she thought, I know you have it in you!

"I'M SORRY!"

The words sent a ripple through the crew as they came over the water.

Hawke turned and stared back towards the shore.

"I'm sorry for my stubbornness! I was wrong!"

"Usopp!" Hawke gasped and felt tears coming to her eyes.

"Even though I was stubborn until now! Even though I said I was leaving the crew! I want to change all that but I can't! I can't, so I beg of you!"

Hawke ran to the rail and looked back at the fading shore. She could just make out the form of the sniper, kneeling on the ground, watching the ship as it sailed away.

"Please take me back with you guys! Just one more time! Let me be your nakama!"

Hawke felt her smile widen. She looked over and saw Luffy shoot out his arm towards the shore. She watched as Usopp looked up and saw the hand outstretched in front of him.

"Take it, Usopp," she smiled.

"You idiot!" shouted Luffy, his face a blubbering mess, "Hurry up and grab on!"

As soon as Hawke saw the sniper's hand grab her brother's, she felt a huge sense of relief.

"He did it!" she gasped, running over and hugging Luffy, who began bawling onto her shoulder as he pulled Usopp out to them.

As the sniper flew aboard, he collided with the siblings and they all tumbled to the deck.

"We're finally complete again!" shouted Luffy, jumping up and screaming to the sky, "Let's hurry and get outta this bombardment to go on more adventures!"

Hawke stood up, her eyes drifting back to the shore one more time.

She caught sight of a black shape perched on the wrecked mast of a ship out on Scrap Island.

"Goodbye, Caracass, Hayato," she whispered, "I'm heading to Fishman Island. I'll find out what Salem was looking for!"

The black silhouette spread its wings and took off, disappearing back into the city.

Alright, Hawke squared her shoulders and turned her back on Water 7, it's time to escape!

"Hurry up!" Franky was shouting, "Furl the sails!"

"That's right!" Luffy yelled, "Furl the sails!"

Hawke jumped into action and helped Zoro wring up the main sail.

"What is Franky planning?" she called over to the swordsman.

"Hell if I know," he called back, "As long as it gets us out of here!"

They descended to the deck and joined the others.

"We furled the sails, Franky," Hawke panted, "Hurry and get us out of here!"

"Not yet!" the cyborg raised his hand, "We haven't named the ship yet."

"The ship's name?!" shouted Sanji, still kicking cannon balls away, "At a time like this?!"

"A ship without a name won't be any good at sailing," countered the shipwright.

"I just thought of an awesome name for it!" Luffy raised his hand, "The Bear! The Polar Bear Lion!"

"That's such a weird name for a ship!" Usopp retorted.

"Then the Tiger Wolf Lion!" Luffy continued.

Hawke rolled her eyes.

"Well Lion is a good start," Franky said, lifting up his sunglasses, "Iceberg suggested this name for it, since it's a ship that can sail a thousand seas… the Thousand Sunny!"

"That's so cool!" Chopper jumped around the deck.

"That's much better than the Dingo Gorilla Lion name I just thought of!" Luffy said excitedly.

"That's even better than the Lionel Master that I thought of," Zoro muttered.

"Better than my Being of Darkness…" Robin put in.

"And my Monsieur Sunflower," Sanji admitted.

Hawke smiled.

"I like it better than my Rising Sun," she giggled, "A ship that can sail a thousand seas sounds nice."

"Let's go with Ice-pop's name!" decided Luffy.

"Nice to meet you, Sunny!" Chopper continued to bounce around the deck.

"Now that the name is decided, our trip is finally underway," grunted Zoro.

Just then Hawke noticed Franky off pouting in a corner.

"What's up with him?" she asked.

"Oi Franky," Sanji had noticed him to, "Hurry up and shake off this so called secret weapon!"

"Yeah, make haste," Zoro added, "The warship has almost caught up to us."

"I know, shut up!" the cyborg stood up, "Take one last look at the beautiful Water Metropolis. In moments, you won't even be able to see this isand's shadow."

"I see," Luffy said, "Then…"

He jumped onto the rail.

Hawke looked up at her brother curiously as he took a deep breath.

"Grandpa!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Also Coby and… I'm glad I had the chance to see you after a long time!"

"You forgot the other guy's name, didn't you," Hawke sighed.

"What are you talking about, Luffy!" Garp called over, "There are still many cannon balls left! Don't you underestimate me!"

He drew back his arm and shot another cannon ball at them, but Luffy easily punched it out of the way.

"From now on, we'll be serious about escaping!" he called over, "Let's meet again some day!"

Hawke smiled and climbed up beside her brother.

"Bye Grampa!" she called, "Let's meet again, Meeko, Gavin, Tank, Bran!"

"I'll show you to underestimate me!" Garp roared.

Just then, a huge shadow emerged from the marine ship.

"What's that?" Luffy stared across the water.

Hawke's jaw dropped.

"It's a giant cannon ball!" she shouted, jumping back down, "Franky! Get us out of here!"

The crew watched as the enormous ball was launched and descended down on them.

"We're dead!" shouted the crew.

Suddenly, right at the last second, there was a bright light from the ship's rudder and they were shot forward. They flew up into the air at an amazing speed.

Hawke watched as the sea flew by below them and Water 7 became a speck on the horizon.

"This is awesome!" Luffy and Chopper joined her at the rail.

"I remember this sensation," Usopp muttered, "When Merry flew…"

Franky came up on deck.

"There's nothing that your little ship could do that this one can't do better," the shipwright declared proudly, "However, that ship's brave soul lives in the Thousand Sunny!"

Hawke felt a wide smile spread across her face.

"Merry!" she sighed and stroked her hand along the rail.

They landed with a thud back onto the water and sailed on.

"I can't wait to see Fishman Island!" Hawke let a little of her excitement show.

"You seem pretty eager to get there," Zoro muttered as he came up beside her, "Why the sudden interest?"

Hawke smiled at the swordsman.

"I met someone in Water 7 who got me interested in going there," she said mysteriously, "There's someone there I want to meet, if I can."

"Huh?" Zoro raised his eyebrow at her.

Hawke shuffled her feet and became shy.

But I should tell someone, she thought.

"There was someone who was… kind of my ancestor," she started, reaching out to grab his hand, searching for some reassurance, "His name was Salem and he was part of Gold Roger's crew until they came to Water 7. Then he left the crew and went on to search for something."

Zoro was watching her. Hawke blushed when she felt him squeeze her hand in return.

"He was searching for something?" he asked huskily.

She nodded.

"And I want to find out what it was," she said, taking the letter out of her jacket pocket, "I met an old man named Hayato and his friend, a raven named Caracass. Caracass sailed with Salem on Gold Roger's crew. Anyways, they gave me this."

She let the swordsman read the letter.

"It sounds like he was being chased," he said as he finished and handed it back to her.

"Yeah," said Hawke, putting the parchment back into her pocket again, "And this was the last letter he sent back. That was twenty years ago."

She looked out at the gently rolling waves.

There was a small pause.

"So when you say this Salem guy was your ancestor…" Zoro muttered.

A confused look passed over Hawke's face.

"Well, he could talk to ravens," she muttered, taking pauses in between her thoughts, "And Caracass said that he was a very distant grandson of the Sky Spirit and the "old generation"… and he said that I was the direct daughter of the Spirit, so I am the start of the "new generation"…I guess I'll have to believe that my father was a man possessed by the Sky Spirit… because that's the only way this all makes sense."

Zoro had let her take her time, which she was grateful for. Hawke leaned sideways and rested her head on his shoulder.

She watched his chest begin to rise and fall at a faster pace, matching her increasing heart beat.

"Well it sounds like you're figuring things out," he said quietly.

Hawke smiled and looked up to greet the swordsman's gaze.

They stood in silence for a moment.

Her breath caught in her throat as she registered just how close their faces were.

"Umm," she stammered, looking down.

Then she caught sight of the three swords at the swordsman's waist.

She slowly reached out and traced the hilt of the one that had been rusted away.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked quietly, "I know they're very important to you…"

Zoro stiffened.

"I think so," he muttered jerkily, "But I'll need a new one soon. I can't do three-sword style with only two swords."

Hawke could tell that he was keeping his true feelings hidden. She pulled him into a tight hug.

"Take your time," she said quietly, "Losing a dear friend is hard. You don't have to rush forward."

She felt his body stiffen, but then smiled as Zoro relaxed into her embrace.

"Hey… Hawke?" he muttered quietly into her ear.

The scout stepped back.

"Yes?" she asked.

Suddenly they heard Luffy's voice call up from the main deck.

"Everyone!" he shouted.

Zoro seemed to snap out of his thoughts and frowned.

"L-let's go then," he stammered, turning and heading for the main deck.

Hawke smiled after him, feeling a warm sensation in her chest.

She quickly joined the rest of the crew, gathered before their captain.

A table and some mugs had been assembled. The crew each took one and raised it.

"Then for the return of Robin and Usopp!" Luffy started, "And for our new nakama, Franky! And the pirate ship The Thousand Sunny! Kanpia!"

Hawke shoved her mug up into the air with a huge smile.

"Kanpai!" the crew shouted.

Everyone laughed and enjoyed their picnic in the sun, on their new ship, with their nakama, old and new.

"Let's go!" shouted Luffy, "Our next step is Fishman Island!"