ONE PIECE

Two Worlds, One Family

A young woman struggling to find her place in the world wakes up to find a bunch of cats in her room...cats that turn out to be the characters from her favourite TV show, One Piece! Bound to each other, whether they like it or not, and trying to figure out a way to find a certain somebody's lost Nakama and get everyone back to their home, what follows is bound to be chaos, friendship, tears, romance - and, adventure! (Kind of a re-write of Straw Cat Pirates).

~Parental Warning~

The following chapter contains:

. Low-level adult themes

CHAPTER FORTY

Over The Hills

"Captain!" A little boy with olive skin and golden hair called. He urged his fat little Shetland Pony to go faster, but the best that Sir Lancelot could do was a very fast trot, and so the little boy bounced about as he called out to the two women at the top of the hill. "Doctor! A group of people just appeared in Dandelion Meadow!" The boy's big brown eyes were alight with excitement. "They're way out there!"

"Are they rebels, John?" One of the two women asked immediately. She had dark eyes and black hair with a greenish tinge. Seated side-saddle on a dark brown mare, she wore an old-fashioned medical gown. Her horse's saddle bags had medical equipment in them.

The boy nodded, and then shook his head. "Yes ... no ... I don't know . . . "

"That's okay, John." The second woman spoke, and John had to look up at her - her light grey mare was everything that Sir Lancelot wasn't; tall, lithe, and graceful. The woman took a long drag from a cigarette, and let it out slowly. "I have a feeling that I know what this is." Her dark grey eyes gleamed. "Send out the usual welcoming party."

The group landed on the grass, as the green and dandelions stopped swirling around them.

"I think that I'm getting seasick . . . " Nami groaned.

"That's not possible, we're nowhere near the sea." Chopper told her, his eyes practically swirls as he swayed slightly.

"Well, there's a river over there." Usopp looked in that direction. "Oh, and a horse."

"A sea horse?" Nami asked.

"No, just a regular horse." Usopp replied.

Emma had just been standing there, listening to all of this, and it was at this point that Ace and Law realised that she was about to lose her temper. They both knew her well enough by now to realise that not only did she want to get a better look at the horse, but, that she also wasn't overly comfortable with her current situation.

The situation being that Franky had her left hand, and Brook had her right hand. Chopper was clinging to her left leg, Usopp was clinging to her right leg, Luffy had his arms around her from the front, and Zoro had an arm around her from the back. This had left Law to hold onto her waist from the left, and Ace to wrap his arms around her chest from the right. Su-Chan had somehow ended up on top of her head. And, the ribbons that had shot out of her arms in those final few seconds before they'd teleported were still wrapped around Nami, Sanji, Vivi, and Robin, all of whom had began to try and detangle themselves from the red silk. Law and Ace were willing to bet that Emma felt like her arms were about to get torn off. They could see the look on her face, and knew the signs all too well.

But, before she could completely freak out, something very interesting happened.

They heard the shifting of rocks and gravel, and they instinctively all turned to look.

The little stone statue that looked like a man, which had transported them here, was now slowly getting to its - his? - feet. They all stared, which seemed to alert the stone statue to the fact that they were there.

Even without a face the little thing managed to look surprised, jumping about three feet into the air, before tumbling down a little hill.

"After it!" Luffy declared, finally letting go of Emma which is why she didn't try to stop him as charged down the hill in wake of the stone statue.

Nami, however, had had enough of everybody being separated. "Luffy, matte!"She complained, leaping to her feet and taking off after him, grabbing Sanji by the arm as she did.

"We'll bring him back!" The chef assured the others, yelling over his shoulder before he and Nami disappeared down the side of the hill.

The others exchanged a glance.

"Did he mean Luffy, or the stone guy?" Chopper wondered.

"Hopefully both," Vivi said quietly. She was sitting on the grass, and picked up a dandelion, which she blew on, scattering its fluffy seeds. "I'm worried that if that woman shows up again, that she might do to it what she did to Sphinx-San." She cast her eyes downwards. "Emma-Sa - " She began, and then trailed off, because Emma was no longer standing there.

They all looked around, and then saw where she had gone. She was now walking back to them, and, she wasn't alone. Walking obediently beside her was the horse that Usopp had spotted earlier. It was pure white, with dark eyes and a black saddle and bridle. It wore light blue leg wraps and a matching saddle blanket. And, even though Emma only came up to its shoulders, the horse followed her so obediently that it was almost like she had an invisible lead rope attached to it.

Emma and the horse stopped in front of Vivi, who quickly scrambled to her feet.

"Daijoubu, Vivi-Chama." Emma said, smiling her lopsided smile. She put one hand on Vivi's shoulder; the other hand held the piece of paper that Olvia had given to her. "I'm just glad that you guys are safe and I'm sure that's how my Mother feels, too." Her smile grew. "I know that's how Titi-Sama and Olvia-San felt, for sure."

Her smile was mirrored by Vivi's, as were the tears in her eyes.

Robin closed her eyes briefly and smiled slightly; she was remembering those final moments in the Desert Realm, and cherishing them.

I am so proud of you, my darling daughter - you have grown into every bit the strong and confident young woman that I always knew you would become! Keep on going, and growing more as you do!

Vivi was grateful for Emma's hand on her shoulder; without it, she would have probably broken down completely, remembering her own Mother's words to her.

I am so glad that you've found friends who can make you strong, and that you in turn are the kind of brave leader that has already made Arabasta proud! For, it will always be there within you, my beautiful daughter, and I couldn't be more proud!

A nudge on Robin's shouldersuddenly started her out of her reverie, as did Chopper's suddenly surprised 'oh!', and she opened her eyes to find herself staring into a pair of like eyes. They belonged to another horse, this one a sort of creamy white and a bit taller than the first horse that was currently being petted by Vivi. But, as Robin gazed over the shiny mahogany brown saddle and bridle that this new horse was wearing, her eyes taking in everything from the silver bit in its mouth to the violet leg wraps, the matching leg wraps, and the martingale, two thoughts crossed her mind:

What kind of a horse has blue eyes, and, why are these two here?

As if reading her mind, Emma spoke up. "Olvia-San mentioned something about how, in this realm, everybody gets around either on horseback or by carriage." When I die, I might SO live here forever. "And," she went on, more to Vivi, Ace, Law, and Robin than anything, because the others didn't appear to be listening. "These are two really cool horses, with really rare coat colours. That one's a dominant white," she motioned towards the first horse. "And, that one's a perlino - like Popcorn." She added.

"Who's Popcorn?" Chopper wanted to know.

"Oh, I did some riding and carriage driving back in the day." Emma replied, trying to make it sound like 'back in the day' wasn't referring to five years ago. "I didn't need Sara to come with me all of the time." She mumbled, and Robin and Franky exchanged a glance; just then, Robin caught sight of something reflected in Franky's sunglasses that made them all stop, and then turn around slowly.

Emma's eyes were alight by this stage, and she had her hands clasped in front of her chest - had she been in an anime, then, stars would have appeared all around her, as the group suddenly found themselves surrounded by horses of all different shapes and sizes and colours.

Robin, whilst she was secretly hoping that Emma wouldn't accidentally brush up against her compass and make the scene even more bizarre,could almost hear the glittery sound effects, as Emma drifted from each horse to the next, explaining their colouring and potential breed.

Chopper trailed behind her, asking each horse for its name, which he translated for the rest of them.

A pure black stallion that Emma said was most likely a Friesian (and, a beautiful one, at that) was named 'Blackjack'. He wore a striking red saddle blanket and leg wraps, black tack, and was even taller than the horse that was still standing beside Robin; apparently, she was a Gypsy Cob mare named 'Lady Liberty', and Robin liked this name straight away.

After moving past the dominant white Arabian mare named 'Princeps' (a name which Ace swore up and down meant both 'prince' and 'princess' in Latin, but Robin didn't know how he knew that), they were introduced to an orangey Standardbred with a black mane and tail (a 'golden buckskin', just like Cobber, according to Emma) named Samurai - probably because the white blaze on his face looked a bit like a samurai sword. The horse had black tack, green leg wraps and a matching saddle blanket, and seemed to be sticking close to Zoro.

"A fourth sword, I wonder . . . " Usopp mused, and then jumped about a mile when another horse nudged his shoulder. "Whaa?! Don't do that!" Usopp scolded the horse, which bowed its head briefly and snorted.

Chopper translated. "He says: 'sorry, I just naturally assumed that you would be more horse-savvy'." The horse nickered. "Uh-huh, uh-huh." Chopper nodded. "Is that so, Jasiri?"

"Jasiri means 'brave' in Swahili." Ace told them all and, when a few people gave him a weird look, he explained: "I learned a few things when researching Emiko's favourite movie - The Lion King." He patted the horse by his side. "Isn't that right, Twenty-One?"

"Isn't his name Blackjack?" Brook wanted to know, prompting an explanation from Vivi (of all people) on the correlation between Blackjack and Twenty-One, not to mention Ace.

Usopp, meanwhile, kept on edging away from the dark bay (brown with a black mane and tail) Morgan Horse with the white face, beige saddle blanket and leg wraps, and light brown tack. Jasiri followed him; Usopp would take a step back, and Jasiri would take two forwards, finally prompting Usopp to go and scurry behind Franky, as Chopper and Emma stopped before a very tall dapple grey stallion that was standing beside Law.

"This is a Thoroughbred." Emma explained to them all, gazing up at the very tall horse next to her First Knight. Her eyes were shining, as they took in the black tack, and yellow saddle blanket and leg wraps. "They're often used as racing horses back in my world; they're very fast, you see." She added, nodding wisely. She then turned to Chopper and asked: "Is his name Dark Heart?"

A few people rolled their eyes, remembering Emma's explanation just over a week ago on the Moby Dick.

Chopper looked up at the Thoroughbred also; the horse snorted, and Chopper listened. "Uh-huh. Okay," he turned to Emma. "He says: 'no, Dark Heart was my sire; my name is Sora'. What's the matter?" The reindeer added, as Law facepalmed and Emma started giggling.

"Nothing." The two pirates said in unison.

"The Goddess Of Karma is at work, again . . . " Vivi said quietly, smiling as she tilted her head slightly to one side. Next to her, Princeps nickered softly. "Oh, are you agreeing with me, Prinnie?" She asked the horse, who neighed, and then another neigh answered her. Princeps's ears pricked up, and she and Vivi both turned to see a sight that Vivi had never thought that she'd see outside of her dreams.

Riding towards them on a very dark brown, almost black, horse, who was decked out in black tack, a bright red saddle blanket and matching leg wraps, was none other than Monkey D. Luffy.

Vivi's mouth dropped open.

So did Usopp's, as he exclaimed: "Luffy! Wha - wh- where did you get a horse from?!"

"A Quarter Horse, at that." Emma added, probably more impressed by the horse than the one riding it. "They can outrun any horse breed in races of a quarter mile or less."

The horse that Luffy was riding stopped before them, and nickered as if to say 'damn straight', before he neighed.

Chopper translated, again. "He says that his name is 'King'."

"Shishishishi," Luffy grinned. "That sounds awesome!"

"Okay, Luffy, I repeat," Usopp rolled his eyes. "Where did you get him from?"

Luffy shrugged. "I dunno. We lost track of the stone guy, but, then some horses came up to us. Oh," he pointed to Franky and Brook. "There's two really big horses pulling a carriage back that way." He nodded his head in the direction that he had just come from. "So, you guys don't have to walk."

"Well, what about me?!" Emma and Chopper exclaimed in unison.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told my parents for years," Emma went on, hardly failing to notice that, like everybody else, she was dressed in clothes suitable for riding but, unlike everybody else, she one again did not have a horse! "'I want a pony'!"

Vivi was surprised that Emma didn't stamp her foot or something.

But, the horse that was suddenly standing next to her did, and it was Emma's turn to jump.

Luffy gave her an odd look. "There's one right there." He then looked at Chopper. "Oh, also, there's, like, a little pony and a fat little pony and then this kid who got hurt . . . "

Chopper gasped. "Wait, why didn't you say so?!" He transformed into his Walk Point. "Lead the way!"

Luffy gave King a small kick, and the Quarter Horse lived up to his breed's reputation, turning fast and racing off after Chopper.

"Matte!" Emma suddenly yelled after them. "What's my horse's name?!"

The horse that was standing next to her whinnied.

"'Eien'!" Chopper yelled over his shoulder, before he, Luffy, and King disappeared from sight.

"That means . . . " Ace began, but then he trailed off, as Emma turned away from Eien with a strange look in her eyes; hazel eyes met brown eyes, and the two of them stared at each other for a moment.

"Wakatta."Emma nodded, speaking very softly. "I know, from watching Sailor Moon. 'Eien' means 'eternity'."

It had been strange enough for Nami and Sanji, when they'd come across the herd of horses ... or, the horses had come across them. Either way, they and Luffy had been checking out the horses when a little boy had emerged from a small forest, riding a fat little pony which he had fallen off of. It hadn't been very far for him to fall, but, he had still gotten scraped up, and all three of them had run to him as his pony had cantered off, and the boy began crying that 'Sir Lancelot' might get spotted by the rebels. He had then passed out.

Nami had stayed with the boy, whose name was John according to a tag on his jacket, with four out of the six horses that they'd found (or, that had found them) for company.

Sanji had immediately jumped into the back of a tall cream-coloured horse, who wore a dark blue saddle blanket, black leg wraps and matching tack, nudged it with his heels, and taken off after the pony. How he knew to do that, Nami would never know.

She was more shocked by the fact that Luffy had then selected one of the remaining horses, climbed onto its back, and ridden off back the way that they had come, saying something about 'getting the others'.

"Wonders never cease." Nami had muttered, shaking her head.

She looked around her. John was still unconscious, with his head on her lap and, since he was only about six years old, Nami's maternal instincts had immediately taken over and she placed a hand on his back protectively.

One of the remaining horses, or it might've been a pony - it was about the size of a small dog, coloured patchy brown and white - cane over to her, and something about its pink head-collar (searching back in her mind, Nami recalled that the thing was called a 'halter') reminded her of Chopper.

"He'll be here, soon." She said to no one in particular, but a snort answered her. Looking up, she saw that one of the horses was looking at her. It was an orangey-red colour, with four white socks, black tack, and an orange saddle blanket and matching leg wraps. Something about the way that it was looking at Nami made her think of Bell-mére, although she wasn't sure why. Maybe she was just thinking that way because Vivi and Robin has just gotten to see their mothers.

Either way, Nami was startled out of this thought by Luffy's return; she was relieved to see that he had Chopper with him.

As Chopper began to look over the little boy's injuries, Nami and Luffy stood back, looking at the two horses who were as big as the one in the pink halter was short.

One was a creamy colour, with a long mane and tail, and aqua leg wraps. The other was bigger still, with a greyish, almost blue coat, and white leg wraps. Nami barely had time to wonder about this, when Luffy raised a hand in greeting and called past her: "There they are! Over here, you guys!"

Nami turned, and received another shock, when she saw the rest of her friends riding towards them on horseback - except for Franky and Brook, who were cats, and trotting along beside the group of riders.

"What took you so long?" Luffy wanted to know.

"It took some time to get Usopp into the saddle." Zoro explained.

Usopp, whose face was nearly as white as the mark on his horse's face, tried to look brave as he said: "I'm just worried about the rest of you! I knew somebody who was hurt in a bad riding accident!"

"Sure you did, Usopp." Zoro said, in a disbelieving voice.

"It's true!" Usopp protested. "It was Kaya's Mother, Corina, actually!"

"Corina?" A small voice said, and they all looked over to see that the little boy had started to wake up, possibly because Chopper had just put antiseptic on his leg. "The Doctor knows somebody called Corina . . . "

"How are you feeling, John?" Nami asked him.

"Okay . . . " He replied, looking around at them all. "Oh ... I saw you guys before ... where's Sir Lancelot?" He wanted to know, still sounding a bit dazed but otherwise fine.

"Sanji-Kun's gone to get your pony, don't worry." Nami told him.

John looked worried, despite this. "He could get jumped by the rebels . . . "

"Rebels?" Nami repeated, as the others exchanged a glance, and that was when she realised that not everybody was here. "Matte ...where are Em, and Ace, and that other guy . . . ?"

"They went in the direction that Sanji went," Franky said, somehow managing to adjust his sunglasses despite being a cat. "They should be back any minute now, Nami-Nee-Chan."

"Sanji-Kun should've been back before you guys." Nami pointed out. "That pony couldn't have run too far . . . "

John, meanwhile, was staring in awe at Franky and Brook, and didn't even seem to notice when Chopper put the last of the stinging spray on his grazes.

"There, all better now!" Chopper proclaimed.

"Thank you, Teddy Bear." John said, climbing to his feet even as Chopper stamped his foot in frustration. John looked around. "I saw you guys get here before." He told them. "You just 'peared in light, it was so groovy!"

"'Groovy'?" Vivi repeated. "What's that?"

John was saying: "This is near the rebel's turf, so I told Captain and the Doctor."

"Well, we're not rebels." Nami said quickly. "We're ... umm . . . "

"We're pirates." Luffy said.

Nami groaned.

John didn't seem fazed, however. "Oh, so you're port holers?"

"Umm ... I guess you could say that . . . " Nami wondered where the little kid had gotten that term from.

John was nodding. "Captain wasn't worried, and sent out the horses to come and find you, but . . . " He looked down at the ground. "I wanted to see you, too ... you guys look so way out ... so I followed them, but then . . . "

"John," Nami said gently, crouching down before him. "When you say 'rebels', who do you mean?"

He bit his lower lip. "I mean ... the ones who think that ... we should get to go everywhere. We're not 'apposed to - God said so - but ... they want to . . . " He sighed. "They used to be mellow, but now they're not . . . "

"Are they making that much of a problem for you?" Nami wanted to know.

John nodded. "They weren't always ... but, now they are." He repeated.

"So, they're bad guys, huh?" Luffy guessed. "Just because they want to be free?" He had dismounted from his horse by that stage, and so Nami took the opportunity to come over and whack him upside the head.

"It's a little more complicated than that!" She snapped. She put her hands on her hips. "This realm goes on forever!"

"And ever?" Luffy's eyes widened.

Nami has her hands on her hips by that stage. "Forever and ever! It has endless possibilities! Just like every other realm! The only reason that people would want to go to another realm is because - "

"They don't like what's going on in this realm?" Luffy suggested.

Nami hit him again. "Is because they don't like being told 'no', and they refuse to believe that it's for their own good!"

John suddenly started laughing, and they all looked at him. He said: "You're like the Captain. She's boss; she always says stuff like that." He sobered up suddenly. "But, she's been all uptight lately since some people started listening to that Saint guy . . . "

"Saint guy?" Nami repeated, not liking the sound of that.

Neither did anybody else but, before anybody could comment further, they heard the sound of hooves approaching, and turned, to see four people riding towards them. Nami was disappointed to see that Sanji was not leading the little pony, and came up to him as he jumped off of the golden horse.

"It was too late by the time that we caught up to him." The cook said quietly, and his horse nickered.

Chopper looked up. "Couronne here says that the ugliest man in the history of the Hills Realm took Sir Lancelot."

"The ugliest man ever, huh?" Nami repeated, and the little brown Miniature Horse near to Chopper nickered loudly.

"Donder says that it could only mean one person." Chopper said slowly. One of the horses that was harnessed to the carriage, the almost pure white one, neighed softly. "Astéri calls him 'a false god with dangerous ideals." Chopper was starting to sound nervous, as the blueish horse next to Astéri nodded its head in agreement and snorted.

"What did he say?" Brook asked Chopper, standing as the skeleton cat on a low stone wall.

"Zero says that: 'we must remember our rules - and, I do not wish to harm him, regardless of what he's done or is going to do'."

The red horse snorted, and tossed her head.

"What'd she say?" Nami wanted to know.

Chopper wouldn't look at her. "Nutmeg says ... err, she says that, yeah, same goes for her."

Nutmeg pawed at the ground twice.

"See, two stamps means yes." Luffy said brightly, and then he noticed that Emma hadn't really moved. "Emmy?"

She was sitting astride a golden-orangey horse with a silvery mane and tail. She looked perfectly at ease in the black saddle, her hands holding the matching reins, and a few of them happened to notice that her hair was the same colour as the horse's saddle blanket and leg wraps, almost as if they had been chosen specifically for her . . .

They also noticed the look on her face, and the tone of her voice, when she said: "Minna ...about the guy who stole Sir Lancelot . . . " Her hands gripped Eien's reins so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and Eien suddenly threw her head back, cutting Emma off mid-sentence.

And, John burst into tears. "Saint Jalmack took my pony?!" He wailed.

"Saint Jalmack took his pony. Emma confirmed, in a grim voice.

Canterdown Village was just one of the many villages in the Hills Realm, but it was the biggest and also the main 'go-to' place if you wanted to know what was going on. It was also where John's 'pad' was, whatever that meant.

He had gone back with them, after they had managed to convince him to go and let the Captain and Doctor know what was going on. Oh, and when he'd found out that nobody but Emma knew anything about carriage driving, but, she was hardly able to pay attention the whole trip back and so wouldn't have been able to handle drive two horses. Luckily, Eien had seemed 'bombproof' enough to get her rider back safely - according to one of the stablehands, who had come to collect their horses from them when the group had ridden into the village. Beryl had watched as Emma had slid almost robotically from Eien's back, before asking her if she wanted to help with the horses, and Emma had nodded numbly.

Ace, Law, Robin, Zoro, and Chopper had decided to stay and help. Beryl has nodded briskly and, in a clipped tone that would have reminded Emma of her Nanny Pax - had Emma not been so preoccupied at that very moment in time - began giving orders. But, first, she gave a quick demonstration on how to 'untack' a horse, as she and Emma both called it.

Zoro raised an eyebrow when he was told to help her take off the harnesses of Astéri and Zero, but did as he was told when Chopper pointed out that the horses had done the hard work and that this regime of untacking and grooming the horses was a little bit like Zoro cleaning his swords after an intense battle.

Chopper then went to break up an argument between Nutmeg and King, whilst Robin went to fetch the grooming supplies, which left Emma, Ace, and Law to begin untacking the horses.

"This is all my fault." Emma said, predictably, as she loosened Eien's girth.

"It's not." Ace and Law replied in unison, and glared at each other over their respective horse's withers.

"Yes, it is." Emma said, as she swung Eien's saddle up onto a rail. The stirrups clinked together, and so she shortened them for easier storage, before adding: "I killed Saint Jalmack. It's my fault that he's even up here in the first place."

"It was an accident, Emiko." Law reminded her, unbuckling Sora's bridle, and then glancing at the mare briefly when she quickly opened her mouth to release the bit, seemingly glad to be rid of it as she stamped her hoof. "You can't blame yourself for that."

"Yeah, but, I wasn't exactly upset about it." She recalled vividly the look of terror on the Celestial Dragon's face when he'd toppled over the edge and out the window to his death. I wonder ... did he see the Goddess Of Death in that very moment?

"Youdidn't have to be." Ace told her.

"You had a job to do at the time, and, you kept focused." Law added, finding it strange that he and Ace could work together when it came to reassuring the woman that they both loved. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." She replied, almost robotically, moving on to Sanji's horse Couronne; the stallion obediently lowered his head so that she could remove his bridle. "Thanks." She said, in the exact same tone of voice.

Ace and Law exchanged a glance, realised what they were doing, and glared at each other, before Ace moved on to Princeps and Law moved on to Samurai.

Chopper spoke up. "Ano ... on that day . . . " He was standing on a milk crate, helping Law to loosen Samurai's girth, but, he stooped down to peer at Emma underneath of the stallion's orangey-golden belly. "Emma, didn't you say to Law that Saint Jalmack had killed somebody that was close to one of our friends?" Emma dropped Couronne's saddle, but a pair of tanned hands that appeared in a swirl of pink cherry blossoms caught it for her - those same types of hands now began bringing out buckets full of grooming equipment. "I overheard you." Chopper admitted, twitching his ears, and Emma sighed.

She leaned against King's side, and the big Quarter Horse obediently stopped moving when he felt the woman's weight at his side. "I thought so, too . . . " She said slowly, as Robin came back carrying the last two buckets of grooming equipment. "But ... now I'm not so sure if Saint Jalmack did kill ... that person. He - and, the rest of us - might have just thought that he did." She met Robin's gaze, and the archeologist looked back at her with a look of understanding; she knew whom Emma was referring to.

"Well, either way," Ace said suddenly, and they all looked at him, including Zoro and Beryl, who had come back from storing the driving gear, with Zero and Astéri in tow. "I know what Saint Jalmack," he spoke the name with so much venom that Chopper flinched. "Did to Sumi, on more than one occasion." He added, and Emma felt sickened. She also knew that Ace was trusting them with this information, and that none of them would go about repeating it or anything. He folded his arms. "It's not something that I'd make a habit out of, personally, but, I would have done it if I'd gotten the chance to." He nodded.

"So, you're saying that it's better for Emiko to be a killer, rather than you, Firefist?" Law asked quietly, and Ace froze.

"What was that, Trafalgar?" Ace asked, just as quietly. The low tones of their voices weren't absent of any quiet anger.

Emma's eyes widened, and she hurried over to Nutmeg, who was standing between Ace (working on Princeps) and Law (working on Jasiri).

"Ne, ne, daijoubu desu." She told them, looking first at Law and then over at Ace. "Law-Chan's a doctor, remember? I'm sure he's just remembering his hippopotamus oath."

"His what?!" Chopper exclaimed, looking quickly over at Law, who looked startled. "I've never heard of one of these!" He looked thoughtful. "There's only a . . . "

"Hippocratic oath." Robin corrected Emma gently, smiling though as she ran a brush over Lady Liberty's cream-coloured coat.

"I . . . " Emma blinked. "Wait, what did I say?"

"Hippopotamus oath."

Chopper started laughing, and Ace couldn't help himself and joined in. The image of a hippopotamus wearing a doctor's coat and tending to patients was suddenly too vivid of a mental image. Emma looked surprised for a second, before joining in, and even Zoro smiled a bit, as he and Beryl each picked up a bucket of grooming equipment.

"What a lively lot you all are." The old woman said, shaking her head as she smiled a lopsided smile. "Much like my daughter. . . "

Law had turned away, but, not before Emma saw the faintest traces of a smile on his face.

The others, meanwhile, had split into two groups, after all three groups had promised Nami up and down and sideways that they wouldn't get lost or leave the village, and that they would meet back at the village clock tower when it struck seven. That gave the two groups leaving Canterdown Stables a little over an hour to find out more about this place.

Even though they had been told to keep moving, what with harbingers of Chaos running loose now and everything.

Because, they all knew that they couldn't leave without Emma. And, they also all knew that Emma wasn't going to be leaving until she'd sorted out the problem that - she believed - had been caused by her.

Usopp, Luffy, Vivi, and Brook had gone off exploring/looking for a place to buy meat/to make sure that Luffy didn't get lost/tagging along, which left Nami, Sanji, and Franky to take John back to his home and - hopefully - get some answers from either the Captain or the Doctor.

Neither the Captain nor the Doctor were there, however, but John's Father was. He was an olive-skinned man with deep brown eyes who introduced himself as 'Raymond but please call me Ray', and said that the Captain had gone out to a nearby village, and that the Doctor was making house calls but would be finished by about nine and usually went to the inn around that time.

Nami, Sanji, and Franky thanked him and, after promising John that they were going to get his pony back for him ("Scouts' honour?" John had asked them, holding out his pinkie finger. "Uh ... sure." Nami had replied, as they linked pinkies.) decided to find out where this inn was so that they knew where to go.

"You can't miss it!" Ray has assured them. "It's called the Albanus Inn, and, it's run by my old lady! Just look for the light grey Shire!"

"Thanks!" Nami had called back to him, before turning back to the other two and finally posing the question: "Does everybody here own a horse?" She was eyeing the neighbour's yards; all of them with at least one, sometimes several, horses occupying them.

Franky had a different question. He was eyeing the people that they passed. "Why don't John and his Dad and all these people have wings and halos, like they did in the Mountain Realm?" He thought about something. "Robin's Mum and Vivi's Mum didn't, either?"

"Maybe they don't need them in this Realm?" Nami suggested, as they waited for a carriage drawn by six white horses to go by, and a little girl standing nearby started singing 'She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain'. "I mean, you don't see any Pegasuses, do you?" She looked around. "Soooo . . . "

"Perhaps the people adapt differently to different environments once they die?" Sanji asked quietly, as they passed a group of nuns.

"God bless you." The youngest one stopped to say to them.

"And, to you, Sister-Chan!" Sanji exclaimed, before Nami dragged him away by the ear and a nun that she supposed was the head nun and and whom looked a little bit like Beryl, actually, called the youngest nun to hurry up because it wasn't a good idea to keep Aunty Nita waiting during Story Hour.

"Coming, Sister Evelyn!"

"Story Hour?" Sanji repeated.

Franky shrugged, and Nami said: "No distractions! Sanji-Kun, Franky - to the Albanus Inn!"

"That's run by Ray's Mum!" Franky added, striking a pose. "Right behind ya, Nami-Nee-Chan!"

"Wow, you can see everything from up here!" Luffy was standing on the small balcony that ran around the outside of the top of the clocktower, with his hand above his eyes to shield them from the setting sun.

"Hai!" Vivi agreed, as a gentle breeze blew back her blue ponytail. "I can see what Nami meant about this Realm going on forever and ever." A sudden thought struck her: what if they wander too far from home? She then turned back around, and said, coaxingly: "Come on, Usopp-San - there's a rail."

"Which has probably been there forever and ever and is just waiting to crumble." Usopp crossed his arms firmly, from where he stood at the top of the stairwell leading up to the clock tower lookout. "No thanks," he added. "I can hear 'Umi No Mieru Machi' just fine from here."

Brook was playing his violin from where he was standing at the very top of the clocktower, balancing atop the back of a rather sturdy rooster-shaped weather vane. As the music crescendoed, and Luffy excitedly pointed out what looked like a group of villagers that were holding some kind of a festival, Vivi allowed her mind to wander again, thinking back to what had occurred over the last twenty-four hours.

The memory of the woman ripping the necklace from around her neck still stung, but, it wasn't a physical pain. Emma may have said that she was okay with this, and seemed to believe that Undine would be okay with it, also. But, for Vivi, she felt like she had let down not only Emma but her entire family as well. That necklace was a physical reminder to Emma that Edward Undine had once walked the Mortal Realm. Vivi hoped that, wherever Undine was in the Celestial Realm now, that she either didn't know that Vivi had allowed the necklace to be stolen or, if she did, then, that she wasn't half as angry with Vivi as what Vivi was with herself.

And, there had been the small matter of the thief herself. She had worn a cloak to hide her face, but Robin's cry of 'her' had revealed their assailant's gender. Vivi vaguely remembered their attacker's swift and decisive movements, almost like she had been trained to move like that for her entire life. A right hand had painfully grabbed onto Vivi's shoulder, and a left hand with a silver ring on the fourth finger had torn the Ocean's Flower with such force that it was almost like the hands had been trying to tear out Vivi's throat.

Even with her eyes closed, Vivi could almost see her now ... that woman, with her sharp face ... the hood of the cloak seemed to disappear, as the woman turned around in Vivi's mind, her long blonde hair whipping out behind her almost as if in slow-motion, and her pale blue eyes stared coldly at Vivi from behind her glasses . . .

"Ino . . . " Vivi whispered, her eyes snapping open.

"Huh?" Luffy looked over at her. "Did you say something, Vivi?"

Vivi bit her lip, attempting a small smile. "I-Iie, it's nothing, Luffy-San."

Luffy gazed at her for a moment, before he reached up, took the hat off of his head, and placed it firmly onto Vivi's head, before he grinned, and then scrambled up the clocktower to join Brook.

Luffy-San . . .

Emma, Law, Ace, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin walked along the cobblestone footpath, heading towards the clocktower.

Emma was feeding bits of carrot to her Baby DenDen Mushi. Chopper had watched in awe back at the stables as Emma had dipped a carrot in this sticky black stuff known as molasses, and then dipped that into a bucket of bran, before reassuring them all that it was in fact tasty. The others ... all had mixed opinions on it.

"It's what all of the girls did where I learned to ride." She explained to them all.

"You mean Sara?" Chopper wanted to know.

Emma flinched. "No!" She snapped, and then softened her tone. "I mean, yes, Sara used to ride there - she introduced me to the place, actually - but, I kept going back, even after she ... you know." She looked up at the sky, which was slowly turning from dark orange to soft lilac. "She used to get annoyed at me for going on and on about learning beginner's stuff with equestrian . . . "

"Well, everybody has to start somewhere." Chopper reasoned.

"Not you guys!" Emma said unexpectedly, and they all looked at her. "Ace-Chan, Law-Chan, Robin-San, and even Zoro, you guys took to riding like it was nothing!"

"Oi, what do you mean 'even' me?" Zoro rolled his eyes. "It's not like I haven't been on a horse before." He mumbled. Chopper stared up at him in shock. "Before I became a bounty hunter." The swordsman explained.

"Oh, so that's how you knew how to stay on when Samurai bucked." Chopper realised, and Zoro nodded.

Emma's shoulders sagged. "He didn't fall off ... although," she went on, thoughtfully, as they passed by a square, where a lot of people seemed to be gathered. "My riding teacher said that you're not a real rider unless you've fallen off at least a hundred times!"

"Well, Usopp's halfway there." Zoro smirked.

"Hey!" Said an indignant voice from behind them, and they turned to see Usopp himself standing there with his arms crossed. "I resent that!" He marched up to them, with Brook in tow. "I just didn't want the rest of you to think that I was showing off my superior horsemanship skills!"

"Uh-Huh." Zoro didn't look or sound very convinced. He glanced around. "Where're Luffy and Vivi?"

"I'm here!" Luffy seemed to appear out of nowhere, making Chopper jump.

"Hi, Luffy," the little reindeer said, once he had recovered. "Where's Vivi?"

Luffy pointed, and they followed his gaze to the centre of the square. "She got dragged over there to take part in their festival." He explained.

"She what . . . ?" Emma blinked, and then shook her head. "But ... Vivi-Chama doesn't like public speaking."

"I think that she'll be singing." Brook said thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side as a nearby band (consisting of a pianist, a cellist, a drummer, a guitarist, and an ocarinaist) began playing music that made Emma think of The Corrs.

"Even so . . . " Emma knew the panicked look on Vivi's face all too well. It said: How did I get myself dragged into this?!

"Let's hope that she knows the song." Ace said.

"She knows it." Luffy said firmly, watching as Vivi reached up a hand to touch the straw hat that was still on her head, before she smiled and began to sing.

From the field where merry cats play,

Is a place where doth lay,

The lair of beast with noble plight,

This sett guards treasure out of sight . . .

A way there not for all to see,

Turn the knob with guiding key,

A painted totem bars the door,

To keep from switching shaw for shore . . .

Find the cairn to find the way,

For in the lea ye cannot stay,

What rules next on this map of thine,

Paves the road of Unda's design . . .

Tis' a port's port all in all,

Though beware draconem's call,

Ichor of aqua upon the stone,

Brings the beast down from its throne . . .

"My Mother used to sing that to me when I was little." Vivi explained, later on that night when they were at the Albanus Inn and waiting for the Doctor to get back. "It was a lullaby of sorts."

"What sort of lullaby has the words 'beast' and 'blood' in it?" Zoro wanted to know, before he took a swig from his mug of beer.

"Umm, yes, well ... it is a little strange . . . " Vivi said, sounding embarrassed.

"No stranger than the one that my Mother used to sing to me." Emma said peaceably. "You know, the one that calls Sea Kings."

"Yeah, but your Mother was the Ocean Goddess," Usopp reminded her. "She probably wrote that song herself. Who wrote that song that Vivi sang?"

"My Mother said that somebody named 'Anita' wrote it." Vivi recalled, and Nami nearly groaned.

"'Aunty Nita's Story Hour'." She muttered, and Sanji and Franky grinned.

"Still," Vivi went on, sitting up a little bit straighter. "I'm glad that I sung it. It provided some valuable clues. Even if I have no idea how my Mother knew about it before she died . . . " She realised that the others were all staring at her. "What? I really didn't!"

"Iie, not that bit, Vivi-Chwan," Sanji said gently. "The part about how your beautiful song contained clues."

"Yeah, what clues?" Zoro asked her, and Sanji glared at him.

Vivi looked flustered. "Uh, well, I mean . . . "

Emma and Robin exchanged a glance, but since Emma was currently on her way to use the ladies' room, it was left up to Robin to help Vivi out; and so, she told the others what she and Emma had talked about on the way to the inn.

As she was doing this, something very interesting happened.

Usopp had just left to go to the bathroom ("Tag, you're it." Emma had said, as she'd sat back down again and then set to work trying to wake up Ace, who'd fallen asleep) when the door to the inn opened, and a figure dressed in old-fashioned medical gear came in.

Nobody really paid any attention to this, except for Franky, who said: "She looks like a cross between Usopp, his old man, Mozu, and Kiwi."

"What about Kaku?" Emma asked him, as she drew on Ace's face.

"We don't count that guy."

"Ah."

They continued listening to Robin for about ten seconds after that, which is when Ace woke up and took the texta off of Emma, just as the door swung open for a second time.

In fact, it nearly flew off of its hinges and bounced off of the wall, causing the inn's owner to look up in frustration.

"Now, really, Raymond . . . " She began crossly, but then trailed off when she saw the look on the man's face. "What is it?"

"It's John!" Raymond exclaimed, and Nami, Franky, and Sanji looked up sharply. "He's gone! You have to help me, Doctor!" He added, and the person who had entered the inn just prior to him turned around and walked back to him.

"Excuse me a minute." Nami said quickly, standing up and hurrying over to Raymond and the Doctor, who had also been joined by the inn's owner.

They spoke briefly, with Nami at one point turning around and pointing out her friends, before she turned back and nodded firmly.

Raymond seemed to agree with her, and the Doctor, who had her back to them, put a hand in his shoulder before leading him out the door.

As the inn's owner went back behind the counter, Nami made her way back to them, looking determined.

"Okay, so, here's the thing," she said. "Ray said that John left him a note that he managed to decipher and it said that he was going to get his pony back from the Rebels."

"But ... that's really dangerous, isn't it?" Emma stated the obvious. "I mean, if they're led by Saint Jalmack . . . "

Nami nodded. "Exactly. Which is why we're going to help them to get John back, and we'll do it before we leave tomorrow." She looked around at them all, and then at Luffy. "Okay?"

Luffy nodded, also looking determined.

"Okay," Sanji said slowly; he was about to light up a cigarette when the inn's owner caught his eye and glared at him. "But, what about following those clues to find the portal to the next Realm?"

"Are we splitting up again?" Chopper guessed.

"Seems like it." Ace responded. He was still trying to get the texta off of his face.

"Do we have to?" Nami groaned.

"Don't worry, Nami-Swan, I will protect you!" Sanji declared.

Nami rolled her eyes, and then she turned serious. "Okay, well, I already said that I'll be going with Doctor Banchina to rescue John — " She broke off abruptly, as Emma's wine glass hit the floor and shattered into about a katrillion pieces.

"Eek!" Chopper jumped up onto the table to avoid being cut.

"Well, there goes the crystal wine glass." Zoro muttered.

"Shut up, Marimo!" Sanji snapped, before turning towards Emma. "Emma-Chan! Daijoubu desu ka?!"

"Hai! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Emma apologised, standing up quickly.

"Emiko, be careful - you're bleeding." Law said quietly, reaching out and taking hold of her left hand, where blood trickled from her palm.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Emma said again, as the inn's owner appeared with a broom and directed them all to move back; faced with an angry inn owner and a broom, they all decided to move back to the opposite wall. "But, look at Usopp . . . " She nearly whispered, and pointed with her free hand to the top of the staircase, where the sniper was standing motionless. The look on his face was enough to alert the others to the fact that something was wrong.

"Usopp?" Nami called to him.

"Hey, Earth to Usopp!" Luffy tried.

"Usopp-San?" Vivi said tentatively. "What's the matter?"

Usopp possibly had become catatonic. He seemed unable to move or speak.

Emma was busy having her hand tended to by Law ("I'm telling you, it's fine ... no, please don't detach it, I'll let you treat it! Sheesh . . . "), and so, once again, it was up to Robin to step in for her.

"If I recall reading Google correctly," the archeologist said calmly, her vivid blue eyes sweeping over their group. "Banchina was the name of Usopp's Mother."

"Oh." A few people said. Then: "Oh . . . "

They weren't sure what to make of that, as Vivi led Usopp down the stairs by his nose, and Emma continuously told Law that her hand was fine and that she didn't need anything on it.

He made her wear a small sticky plaster, anyway.

"Okay, so, you found him?" Boss peered down at Luck from behind his sunglasses.

Luck nodded. "He's in the Hills Realm."

Boss sighed. "And, why isn't he here?" He wanted to know.

Luck didn't look happy, either; the little leprechaun-like man's bright green eyes glanced quickly towards the ever-growing Pit Of Chaos, before he said: "It's because of her."

Boss understood immediately, and he sighed again. "I'm getting too old for this." He said to no one in particular. To Luck, he said: "What are their odds of being able to stop him from causing anymore problems for that Realm?"

Luck didn't reply but Chance, who had just stepped through a portal right next to him, did. The young-looking blue-haired God replied: "A hundred percent."

Boss looked at him. "Are you sure about that?"

Chance nodded. He still spoke in that same monotone, but said: "They're capable of miracles, that much is for certain. Together, they're sure to succeed." He shrugged. "That's why they're here, after all."

"Right." Boss agreed. "Because we can't do it, so we have to leave our fate up to the mortals."

"And, Emma." Luck pointed out, just as Fate herself stepped out of another portal.

She looked so exhausted that none of the other Gods said anything for a moment. Fate hadn't smiled in a long time, and for her that was unusual - they hated seeing her like this.

"Well," she said finally. "Aren't you going to ask me how it went?"

"Aren't you going to tell us?" Boss responded.

The smile that graced the Goddess Of Fate's dark lips was a sad smile, and not at all what they had wanted to see. "It's still ongoing," she said slowly, and brought up her stone tablets for them to take a look at. "However," she pointed to one in particular, which showed the Goddess Of Death taking somebody's hand. She then pointed to another one, which showed Death taking a different person's hand. "These two events . . . "

"You mean that they're both going to happen?!" Luck cried.

Fate nodded. "I'm afraid so. After all . . . " She looked at one in particular. "Ever since that day, it was slated to happen. The Lower Noble has just been living on borrowed time . . . "

"Okay, so this is the field where we first arrived." Emma said, as she drew Eien to a stop. "Dandelion Meadow, or so Robin-San heard." She glanced at the archeologist, who nodded. "That's the 'field where merry cats play'."

"So," Vivi said, walking Princeps over to the river. "Now, we just need to follow the river - I'm certain that's what 'paved the road of Unda's design' is referring to, since the next Realm is the Ocean Realm. And, a map of that Realm would show mainly water, ne?"

The others nodded. They all followed her - Emma on Eien, Robin on Lady Liberty, Law on Sora, and Zoro on Samurai.

"But ... which way is the right way?" Zoro wanted to know, as he looked first left and then right - the river went in both directions, and neither way seemed like it would be anymore correct than the other way.

"Think," Law said quietly. "The song said 'find the cairn to find the way' . . . "

"What's a cairn?" Zoro asked.

"It's like a small trail marker," Vivi explained. She jumped down from Princeps's back, and the mare stood patiently as Vivi took some river stones and placed them on top of each other. "Like this. They're used to guide people on trails."

Zoro was gazing at the little statue that Vivi had built, as the Princess climbed back into the saddle.

"An Inuksuk." Robin said quietly. "In Emma-San's world, the indigenous people in places like Canada used them."

Emma glanced at her. "You sound like Ace-Chan." She said. God, I hope that Ace-Chan and Luffy and everybody are going to be okay. I have a bad feeling about this all . . .

Law seemed to guess what she was thinking, but, before he could say anything, Zoro suddenly said: "That's it!"

They all looked at him.

"What's 'it', Zoro-San?" Vivi wanted to know. Her horse shifted uneasily. "Easy, Prinnie." She soothed, expertly tightening the reins in one hand and patting her mount's neck with the other hand - the way that she would calm a nervous Spot-Billed Duck. It was strange, though, feeling fur instead of feathers when she did.

Zoro pointed to the stone statue that Vivi had built. "That thing ... looks like the little rock guy from before."

They all knew what he meant.

"If only Luffy-San and the others had managed to catch it before . . . " Vivi realised. "Because, of course the little one that acted as the portal between the Desert Realm and the Hills Realm . . . "

"Would know the way to the next portal and its guardian." Emma finished for her, as the two young women exchanged a glance.

"Okay, so where's that little guy now?" Zoro wanted to know, and then he froze. He was staring at something across the river, and they all followed his gaze.

A tall, almost white horse that seemed to glow in the moonlight stood to attention, and its rider seemed to command just as much attention; she was very tall, and dressed in almost military attire.

She also had a rifle strapped to her back, which didn't help matters.

Zoro, Robin, and Law - being pirates - were immediately on edge.

Emma, being a new pirate but still shy at times, immediately dropped her gaze ... she saw that the woman's horse was wearing a western saddle and bridle (the kind without a noseband), and wondered why ... she noticed the horse's orange leg wraps ... she noticed the little stone Inuksuk peering out from behind he horse's legs . . .

Law followed her gaze, and, in that instant, the two of them exchanged a startled glance.

And, Vivi, ever the diplomatic one, called: "Ano ... are you by any chance the Captain?"

"Hai!" The woman replied, and Emma and Law, still looking at each other, both thought the exact same thing at the exact same time.

What world is she from?

"You were looking for this little guy to get you to the Ocean Realm, weren't you?" The woman went on, and nobody said anything.

At that exact moment, however, Emma's compass glowed, and sent out a tiny pinprick of light, which shot straight out at the Inuksuk.

The little rock guy immediately began jumping up and down, almost excitedly, and then moved a few paces, seemingly gesturing over his shoulder as if to say: 'follow me!'.

Emma, Robin, Vivi, Law, and Zoro all exchanged a glance, and then started to walk their horses across the river.

"Guess that answers that, then!" The Captain said cheerfully. "I got the sit rep from Banchina, before she headed out to meet the rest of your friends. I can give you the 411 on what's going on around here, so that you're more prepared for what might happen."

"Arigatoō." Vivi said politely.

Robin merely smiled calmly.

Zoro was still suspicious of this woman.

Emma was watching the Inuksuk, who seemed to grow impatient and marched back over to Emma, stamping his little foot as he looked up at her.

"Aww . . . " Emma said, almost automatically, smiling.

Law rolled his eyes.

They were all preoccupied, and so didn't see what happened on the other side of the river, as they followed the Inuksuk upstream.

"I don't get it," Nami looked around. "She said that she'd meet us here . . . "

"Something must have happened." Sanji realised, and Nami gave him a Look before nodding pointedly at Usopp; the sniper looked stricken. "I mean," Sanji said quickly. "I'll sure that your wonderful Mother is fine, Usopp."

"Look at this." Chopper said suddenly; he had gone over to the lamppost at the crossroads just outside of Canterdown Village, a place called Lookout Junction. A note was tacked to the lamppost, and Nami took it and read it out loud.

"It says 'heavy gunfire at Mediation Meadow, I have gone to Lookout Ridge and will await you there if you wish to help me sneak past them and get John back; I am sure that they could use your help in the meadow though, heroes - therefore, I will wait for half an hour only'."

"We're not heroes." Luffy said immediately.

"Hey!" Usopp turned to him. "Don't contradict my Mother! If she expects us to be heroes then we have to help!"

"I didn't say we wouldn't help." Luffy replied. King shifted impatiently beneath him. "I just said that we're not heroes. Relax, Usopp - we got this." He looked to the right; a signpost on one side of the lamppost read (thankful, not in glyphs): Mediation Meadow. Luffy pointed. "I'll go this way. Ace, you in?"

"That's why I'm here." The Whitebeard Pirate replied.

And not with Em. Nami though wryly. She nodded, though, and watched as a carriage - drawn by Zero and Astéri, driven by Raymond, and with Brook and Franky onboard - approached; eyeing the artillery in the carriage as well, Nami went on: "Okay, then, if you guys go and help in the meadow, that leaves me, Usopp, Sanji-Kun, and Chopper . . . "

"Just one change, though!" Chopper suddenly said, unexpectedly, and they all looked down at him. He looked determined. "I'm going to the meadow as well; they might need a doctor." He explained.

"Chopper, that's so sweet." Nami said, smiling. Noticing that some other people from the village had ridden their horses up behind the carriage as well, she went on: "Ano ... shinda hito o chiryō dekimasu ka?" She wanted to know if Chopper knew how to treat somebody that was already dead. She didn't think that they had to worry about Luffy, Ace, or Franky getting hurt. Did Brook fall into the 'already dead' category? What happened if a person in the Celestial Realm got so badly injured that they died for a second time? Where did they go?

Chopper peered up at Nami. "Well, it can't be that different, ne?"

"I hope that you're right. Oh, and you guys," she looked sternly at Luffy and Ace, drawing Nutmeg closer to them so that she didn't have to speak to them in the language that Emma called Japanese. "We've been pretty lucky so far, I mean," she cast her eyes over to Brook, who was speaking with somebody who had to crane his neck upwards to properly see the nine foot tall skeleton. "People have just seemed to accept that Brook's a talking skeleton, and that Chopper's a talking reindeer . . . "

"That's right." Chopper said, peering up at them. "What's wrong, Nami?"

"I just think that we should be careful about letting people know that we're . . . " Nami lowered her voice even further. "Not as living-challenged as what they are. They still bleed like us (somehow), and they don't have halos and wings in this Realm (that we know of), but, the one thing that could give us away is your you-know-what powers." She sighed. "Which means Luffy, no stretching,"

"Aww . . . "

"Ace, no fire-starting,"

"Gotcha."

"And, Chopper, no transforming - unless you absolutely have to." She stressed, and then she looked over at Brook, who was in the process of speaking with a lady riding a golden palomino; he then started to ask her his usual question. "And, Brook, no THAT!"

"There's an underground tunnel that runs under Mediation Meadow and through to Valley Deep," the Captain was explaining, as she, Emma, Law, Robin, Vivi, and Zoro all followed the little stone Inuksuk along the riverbank. "From there, we'll proceed on foot, since the horses won't wanna go underground. They don't like it."

"They're not the only ones." Emma muttered; she said it quietly, but, the Captain heard her.

Smiling from behind her cigarette, the woman - whom was a lot younger than they had actually first thought her to be - asked her: "You don't like small spaces?"

"I don't ... like being confined." Emma explained, shifting slightly. Eien, whom Emma suspected might be a Brumby, just like the ponies that she's learned to ride on, flickered we ears back briefly. Emma patted her neck reassuringly.

"Well, then, what do you like?" The Captain asked her.

"Hmm," Emma tilted her head to one side, thoughtfully. "I like being on the sea - now that I don't get ... umm ... seasick . . . "

The Captain laughed. There was something ... somewhat familiar about her laugh, Emma suddenly realised. "So, you're a 'portholer', as John calls them?"

Emma glanced briefly at Law, who was riding beside her, and he nodded ever so slightly. Turning back to the Captain, Emma responded: "H-hai. We all are."

The Captain grinned. "Me too, as a matter of fact. Never made it to Captain when I was in the Marines, but, that's what they all call me up here."

Thank God we didn't tell her that we're pirates. Emma, Law, and Zoro all thought in unison.

Robin, however, had a different train of thought. As the path grew narrower and the Captain dropped back, so that Emma and Law were still in the lead (after the Inuksuk), and Zoro was following behind her and Robin, the archeologist asked: "Captain-San?" The Captain's grey eyes flickered over to Robin. "I am curious to know more about this place."

"Fire away."

"What happens if somebody is so badly injured that it would usually cause death?"

If the Captain was at all surprised by the blunt morbidness of Robin's question, then, she didn't show it, and instead answered with: "Well, we usually try to prevent it from getting to that point."

"Mochiron."

"Demo . . . " The Captain looked thoughtful; her grey eyes seemed to burn in the light from her lantern, which was attached to her horse's saddle. "When that does occur, then, they are returned to Level Zero to face judgement again."

"From the Goddess Of Death?" Emma guessed, exchanging another glance with Law.

The Captain nodded. "You got it."

"Captain-Ya," Law said suddenly. Emma senses the Captain's eyes on her First Knight. "What do you know about the ones who took John?" His own grey eyes stared intently ahead. "Namely about the Celestial Dragon, Saint Jalmack . . . "

"Ah, that guy . . . " The Captain said. Emma was glad to hear from the tone of the other woman's voice that she didn't seem to be any more fond of the so-called gods of the world than what they were. "Right from the get-go he's been causing problems for us."

Law reached out his right hand and pulled Emma up by her left wrist, to stop her from sinking down any further in the saddle. Somehow managing to act like he wasn't doing that, he addressed the Captain. "How so?"

"With his ideals." The Captain explained, with a small sigh. "Those Celestial Dragons may have rocks for brains, but, they're smart enough to know how to bring people over to their side or, at least, this one is. He started by getting just a few people - mainly other noble-types - onto his side; people that had influence, who could bring over other people, and so on." Her voice grew slightly bitter. "It started out just small, but it really started to escalate once they got ahold of one of our main weapons manufacturers."

"People still make w-weapons here?" Emma asked.

"It's their craft."

Emma nodded. "I understand." If I end up here, then, it's going to see a lot of anime art. I wonder where Eiichiro Oda will end up?

"Focus, Emiko." Law murmured. To the Captain, he said: "What kind of ideals is Saint Jalmack instilling in these Rebels?"

"Very dangerous ones." The Captain told him. "Ones that upset the already delicate balance in a place like this. I mean, this is the afterlife that we're talking about; most people accept it and settle in for the long haul."

Zoro coughed. Emma glanced over her shoulder at him. She saw the swordsman raise an eyebrow, as he said: "But, clearly, this guy didn't?"

"Clearly." The Captain said dryly. "But, then again, he's not even supposed to be here."

"That," Emma said. "Is an understatement."

"I mean literally, Kiddo." The Captain said, and ignored Emma bristling at being called a 'kiddo'. "As a Guardian of this Realm, I'm entitled to this kind of information. But, of course, that's need to know classified."

"Well, we're the 'Chosen Ones'," Emma made quotation marks with her right hand - her left hand was still being held by Law, and so she directed Eien with her knees. "We need to know."

"Well, now you do." The Captain responded, as they drew their horses to a stop because the Inuksuk had stopped.

"Anything else we should know?" Emma asked her, and the Captain looked over at her.

"No, I'd say you're pretty much up to speed."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The two of them smiled at each other, just as there was an explosion from somewhere to the north-east.

"I hope that they're okay down there." Nami said. She looked to her right, down at the field where the obvious signs of a gunfight were going on. "They're really going at it." She added, just as the ground beneath their horse's hooves rumbled.

"Well, what are they using, cannons?" Sanji wondered.

"You know they are." Nami replied, and Nutmeg - apparently so named from 'megitsune' (fox) due to her reddish coat - nodded in agreement. She glanced at Usopp, who had come close to cantering off ahead of them at least eight times, and then watched as his posture changed; he had seen something.

Nami looked ahead. She saw, up ahead by another lamppost, a figure sitting on a dark brown horse. From the old-fashioned medical gear, Nami could tell that it was the Doctor ... Banchina.

Then, she saw what Usopp had also seen. Next to her, Sanji's shoulders tensed.

"We need to help her." Nami said quickly, knowing that they had only seconds before the - potentially armed - horsemen that were riding towards Banchina from the east attacked.

"Right." Sanji said. "Usopp and I will take out the horsemen. Nami-Swan, you . . . "

"I'll get Usopp's Mother." Nami agreed. "Don't hurt the horses." Em would kill us.

"Yeah, well, tell them that." Sanji remarked, as one of the horsemen fired his gun at Banchina and her horse.

"You tell them!" Nami shot back, as she nudged Nutmeg with her heels, and the mare burst into a rolling canter.

Behind her, she thought that she heard Sanji say: "Oh, I will."

"Daijoubu desu ka?"

Emma tried to nod, and then remembered that Law could probably only barely see her, and so she said: "S-sort of . . . " There was another rumble from somewhere above them. Emma immediately grabbed onto Law, who was walking in front of her. Only the light from the Captain's lantern and Su-Chan's halo lit their way through an underground tunnel that was way too narrow for Emma's liking. Every so often, there was an explosion or something from somewhere on the surface - that didn't help things.

A sudden thought occurred to her. "Are you sure that the horses are okay?"

"They are." The Captain said confidently. She was walking up ahead of them - Vivi was next, followed by Robin, and then Law (with Emma clinging to him now), and lastly Zoro. "They may not look it, but, they're pretty smart."

"Oh, I know," Emma said. "I used to ride."

"I thought that you were a sailor." The Captain remarked.

"That was ... before . . . " Emma said awkwardly, at the same time that Zoro spoke up: "Who says that we can't have other skills?"

The Captain laughed, then. Her laughter rang out throughout the darkness, and instantly gave Emma that sense of familiarity again. "Like I used to tell my kids, you can't pull the wool over my eyes ... you lot are all pirates, aren't you?"

Emma, Law, Zoro, Vivi, and Robin all stopped walking.

Up ahead, they heard the Inuksuk shuffle to a stop and then turn around impatiently; the Captain stopped as well.

"It's alright," she said, without turning around. They couldn't see her expression or read her voice. "I get it. I can tell. You're all good people. You wouldn't be doing what you're doing, otherwise." They didn't say anything. "Well, then ... shall we continue?"

Whether they wanted to or not didn't really seem to matter, because just then the little Inuksuk marched back to Emma; by the light of Su-Chan's halo and the Captain's torch they watched as the Inuksuk reached up and rugged on Emma's hand impatiently.

The Captain laughed. "Come on," she said, as this time they could hear the smile in her voice. "If being in the military and then raising kids has taught me anything, it's that 'that' means 'hurry up'."

The Inuksuk tugged on Emma's hand again, harder this time, forcing her to shimmy around Law (who couldn't help but close his eyes briefly as their bodies touched) and walk towards the front, with the Captain.

As they set off again, Emma dared to ask: "Ano ... you mentioned your kids . . . ?" The tunnel had started to become wider, and so Emma now walked with Vivi, as Robin dropped back to walk between Law and Zoro. It still wasn't really light enough to see anything, and Emma wondered how often this tunnel was used. Probably not that often.

The Captain chuckled. "Hai. Two girls - close to your ages, by now." She added, and Emma and Vivi both nodded. The Captain's voice grew wistful. "None of us is related by blood, but . . . "

"That shouldn't make any difference." Emma reasoned.

"What were they like?" Vivi wanted to know.

The Captain chuckled again. "Well, raising them was certainly very interesting!" They reached a wider part in the tunnel, where the path forked into two.

A small lantern was perched atop a signpost, and the Captain used her lantern to light it.

Emma was pleased to see that the signpost read that the path to the right was the way out. Even though it was written in glyphs; and, she was even more pleased to realise that she could read it, even if it was only because she recognised the symbol for 'way' (from the signpost back in the Mountain Realm that had read 'way down').

The Captain was still talking to Vivi over her shoulder. "Perhaps it because she's so much like me, that I could always tell when she was lying! I can still recall the longest argument that we had - for three days she tried to convince me that she hadn't been the one to try and steal that dress - that it was her sister - but, I knew better. She's too much like me - her sister was always the voice of reason, even more so than me, half of the time. That dress ... she'll probably never admit that she took it, even now, but I knew."

Emma froze.

Robin and Zoro exchanged a glance.

Law processed this latest piece of information.

And, Vivi said pleasantly: "How did you know?"

The Captain laughed. "Because the dress had pockets, just like the ones that I'd sewn onto Nojiko's dress recently, and Nami was quite vocal on how she wanted a dress with pockets, too!" She turned around, revealing her face clearly for the first time. The lantern light was reflected off of her dark red Chelsea Hawk hairstyle. "I wonder ... did I even raise them right . . . ?" Her grey eyes grew wistful. "How can I say that I did, when I wasn't even there when they needed me?"

Vivi's own grey eyes widened slightly. She turned to Emma, whose face had gone completely pale (they could all see it, even in the dim light). Neither one of them knew what to say.

Law and Zoro looked at each other, but didn't say anything. Law just held onto Emma's arm, in case she passed out or something.

The seconds ticked by.

The Inuksuk started tapping his foot.

And, just then, Robin spoke. She had her back to them, as she was checking the glyphs on the left side of the signpost. "Nami-Chan and Nojiko-San have not stopped ... they have both kept on going, and overcame things that would have made many others fall. They both fight with everything that they have, for themselves and for those around them. They do not give in - whether it takes three days or eight years; once they have made up their minds, they will not back down. They are strong-willed, tenacious, and above all caring young women." The archeologist then turned around, her blue eyes serene as she smiled gently. "Though I may be at risk of sounding presumptuous, in my belief those traits are what got them through, and those traits certainly came from somewhere, Bell-mére-San."

"Didn't Nami say' no stretching'?!" Ace yelled to Luffy, over the sounds of guns and occasional cannon fire.

"I won't tell her if you won't!" Was Luffy's response, as he used Gomu-Gomu No Muchi to sweep a bunch of the rebels off of their horses. When he landed, King was right there; Luffy had to marvel at how smart the horse was. Like him, King seemed to be ready-made for battle. The two of them already made quite a team.

Ace, meanwhile, was starting to think that something wasn't quite right with the people that he was facing. Well, true, there was something wrong with all of these Rebels.

However . . .

"Okay!" Ace had finally had enough; as he took out one Rebel, four more suddenly set their sights on him, and more were on their way over - they weren't doing that with anybody else. "Look, can one of you just tell me what your problem is?!"

"Oh, like you don't know!" One Rebel, on a tall skewbald gelding, fired his gun at Ace - the bullet, of course, passed harmlessly through Ace's flame body (not like he could help that from happening). "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, Fire Fist!"

Ace cringed. "Uh ... sorry, who are all you people again?" If I can do one thing for Emiko, it'll be keeping her kill count below mine, at least.

"WE'RE BAROQUE WORKS!" The Rebel on the skewbald practically yelled. "I JUST WANTED TO BE A NUMBER, DAMMIT!"

"That's not something to boast about." Said a voice from behind the Rebel, right before he was sent flying straight off of his horse by an improvised Longe kick from none other than Sanji; the chef then vaulted over the Rebel's startled horse, grabbing the reins of Couronne who had just cantered up right on cue, and slipped his left foot into the stirrup to pull himself back up and regain his seat once again.

At the same time Luffy, Franky, and Brook launched an all-our multi-directional assault on the rest of the Rebels using what Luffy would later refer to as The Billion Belly Jackpot, which took care of the rest of them and caused Sanji to exclaim: "Hey, be careful! Some of them are women!"

"Yeah, and they were all trying to kill us." Franky remarked.

They watched as Chopper appeared, followed by Zero; Chopper directed Brook to help an injured villager onto the blue roan Clydesdale, before heading off back to the makeshift base at the southern end of Mediation Meadow.

They noticed that the Rebels had started retreating, as well.

"What's going on?" Franky wondered. "Oh, and where are Nami-Nee-Chan and Usopp?"

Sanji looked grim. That was when they noticed that he was injured; not badly, but, enough to make them all suddenly pay attention. "Let's head back to the base camp," the cook said slowly. "And, I'll tell you what happened."

Back at the base camp, Luffy, Ace, Franky, and Brook watched as Sanji approached Chopper, who was healing a wounded villager. They spoke briefly, and at one point Chopper exclaimed: "I see!" And, then, Sanji came back over to them. Away from the patients, he lit up a cigarette. His one visible eye was scanning the darkness to the west, as he leaned on the fence railing.

Luffy grew impatient, and finally said: "San-ji! What happened to Nami and Usopp?!"

"Yeah, and Usopp's Mum?" Franky added, noticing the tense way that Sanji was handling his cigarette.

"They were captured, weren't they?" Ace said quietly, and Luffy and Franky froze. Brook gasped.

Sanji nodded. "Well, Nami-San and Usopp's Mother were . . . " He was speaking very tensely, and they could all hear it in his voice: complete frustration and anger, not only at the Rebels but at himself. He was blaming himself for what had happened. "Usopp's out there scouting now." He added.

"How is he?" Franky wanted to know.

"Not good." Sanji shrugged slightly. "Well, physically he's probably about the same as me."

"And, you just left him there?" Franky noted.

"He knows that the best way to get them back is for somebody to gather as much information as possible, and then come up with a plan." Sanji responded.

"You think that he'll be able to hold back?" Ace asked.

"After what his Mother said to him, he will . . . "

Half An Hour Ago . . .

It had seemed like Sanji and Usopp were winning against the Rebels, as Nami reached Usopp's Mother and began looking around for an escape route.

Just then, the ropes came flying out of nowhere, and neither Nami nor Banchina could do a thing as they were dragged from their horses.

Sanji, noticing what was going on, realised too late that the Rebels that they were taking on were just the distraction.

From the look on Usopp's face, he had just realised that too, as the sniper took out a group of Rebels that were surrounding Sanji, and the two of them were just about to go to Nami and Banchina's aid, when they realised just how many Rebels had actually just come out of hiding.

A tall man with a square face and glasses held a cutlass to the throats of both Nami and Banchina.

Usopp froze when he saw the man. "A Kuro lookalike?" The sniper trembled.

"Who?" Sanji barely even heard him, and tried to gauge how quickly he could rescue Nami and Banchina before the Kuro-Lookalike used that sword on them. Even if Sanji was somehow able to get through the mass of Rebels, his chances of getting to them in time were not good.

"What do we do with these guys, Yainu?!" One of the Rebels yelled.

"Leave them," Yainu said. "You heard what Jalmack said - just bring the Doctor and the girl!"

"What if it's not the right girl?!" Somebody else wanted to know. "Then what do we do with her?!"

Sanji wanted to kill him (if that was even possible).

Nami looked terrified, but, she didn't say anything, and instead looked at Sanji in a 'keep your cool' kind of way, as Yainu spoke again. "Jalmack will know if it's her or not. It's not up to us to decide. We've got the Doctor, that's what's important."

"S-says who we're letting you t-take them?!" Usopp was trembling from head to toe, but he still took a half a step forwards; immediately, at least eighty or so guns were heard being cocked, and were pointed straight at Usopp.

Couronne and Jasiri shifted nervously. Nearby, Nutmeg and Banchina's horse watched on.

Sanji could almost tell what Nami was thinking.

Nami thought that the horses looked nervous, and she knew that Emma would be upset if something were to happen to them. At the moment, these Rebels weren't going to hurt them - they needed them, for whatever reason. But, they might hurt the horses if they were that way inclined.

Nami took a deep breath, and made her decision. "Usopp, just take care of the horses!" She put on a brave face. "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine!" She added, when Usopp did not look convinced.

Sanji wasn't happy about the plan either but, before he could say anything, Banchina spoke up.

"I wondered when you Rebels would be in need of a Doctor." She said steadily. Sanji noticed that she was holding onto Nami's hand. Or, perhaps Nami was holding onto her hand. "Of course, I will go with you, if you have somebody that needs my help."

"Good." Yainu said gruffly. "We got lots of them."

"Oh, I wonder whose fault that is?" Nami said sarcastically, and then she flinched when Yainu glared at her.

"Quiet you." He threatened her. "And, don't you two," he added to Usopp and Sanji. "Don't get any ideas about following us. Or else . . . " He pressed the blade of his cutlass slightly against the throats of Banchina and Nami, and a small trickle of blood appeared.

Sanji let out a cry of outrage, which was drowned out by Usopp yelling: "Let my Mother go!"

"I'm alright, Usopp!" Banchina said suddenly, looking directly at her son for the first time. And, that was when Sanji noticed that the two of them really did look alike. He didn't know much about Usopp's Mother, but, he could well understand what his nakama was going through right now. "Be brave, my son."

"And, they just went with them?" Franky couldn't believe it.

Chopper, however, had a different view. The little reindeer had just finished treating a patient and come over to them, just in time to hear the end of Sanji's story. "Sounds like Usopp's Mother is pretty famous around these parts," Chopper said, as he joined Sanji staring out at the horizon by the fence. "She's one of the best Doctors that there is."

"Why do dead people still get injured here?" Franky asked no one in particular. He adjusted his sunglasses. "And, what was with the Rebels taking Nami-Nee-Chan?"

"They said that she might not be the 'right girl'," Ace said thoughtfully, and then he and Luffy exchanged a horrified glance. "What if . . . ?"

Luffy looked grim. It was bad enough that one of his nakama was captured now, along with the Mother of another of his nakama - whom was currently scouting, possibly within enemy territory. But, now, to learn that those Rebels were possibly after another of their friends . . .

What was going to happen to Nami when they found out that it wasn't her?

They heard a low sound, like a horn, just then, and were immediately on alert.

"It's Donder . . . " Chopper realised, and they all looked to where he was looking, to see the little horse galloping towards them. "Sanji, it's Donder!"

They all raced to meet the Miniature Horse.

"They use horses like Donder here to carry messages all of the time." Sanji explained to Luffy, Ace, Franky, and Brook. "Usopp couldn't write anything down, but . . . "

"But, we have Chopper!" Luffy realised, grinning. "What's he saying, Chopper?"

Chopper was listening to Donder, and nodding occasionally. "Uh-huh ... okay ... alright," he turned to face the others, looking grim but determined. "So, here's what's happening. The Rebels took them to their base to the north of The Valley Of Deep, which is where Saint Jalmack is. Usopp's Mother has been put to work healing the Rebels that were injured ... some of them have third-degree burns and a sudden fear of bubblegum," he added, and Ace and Luffy looked sheepish. "Doctor Banchina is a prisoner, but otherwise unhurt, and she's doing what she can to help them because that's what we do."

Ace and Franky nodded, and Luffy said: "What about Nami?"

"Well, she's being held prisoner, as well," Chopper looked worried. "But, they haven't hurt her ... yet ... because . . . " He glanced uneasily at Ace.

Ace understood immediately. "They think that she's Emiko." He said grimly, clenching his fists.

Chopper nodded. "Donder says that Nami's doing a good job of fooling the Rebels, but ... that might all change once she's brought before Saint Jalmack . . . "

"Okay," Luffy said loudly, crossing his arms. "We need to get them back."

"Preferably before Emiko finds out about it." Ace added. "You know what she's like."

"Right." Chopper agreed. "Donder says that Usopp got in and is successfully in infiltration mode."

"Wait, you said that he was just scouting!" Luffy told Sanji.

The chef held up his hands. "Well, that was the plan. But, if Usopp can do it, then, so can we." Way to be brave, Usopp.

"Okay." Luffy looked determined. "Donder, what do we have to do?"

Usopp crept down a hallway, wishing that his riding boots weren't doing their best tap shoes impersonation, or maybe that was his teeth chattering? But, every time he felt like turning back, he remembered his Mother, and his fear turned instantly to bravery.

Or, white-hot rage . . .

Either way, he had decided to get as much information as possible so that when his friends got there, then, they would have enough to go on to do what needed to be done.

Usopp turned a corner ... and nearly walked into a person.

"Hey, watch it!" The man was short, with long wavy grey hair and tattoos under his eyes that looked like the number one (one on each side). "And, you, get moving!" He added roughly, and that was when Usopp realised that the man was leading none other than John; the child was blindfolded, but Usopp could still see enough of his face to tell that he was terrified.

"I-I'm scared!" John whimpered.

"Yeah, well, you should've thought about that before you tried to be a hero!" His captor snarled, and Usopp made his decision then and there.

He had just been standing there, pressed against the wall as the Rebel led John by. But, now, when they were about six metres away from him, Usopp made his move. Stepping out, away from the wall, he took out his secret weapon - good old Ginga Pachinko. He hadn't used it in quite awhile, but, here it was, in the Celestial Realm, and he sure needed it now. It had helped him earlier on that night, and, now, it was going to help him again.

"Hissatsu . . . " He whispered (he didn't even think that he could have spoken any louder if he'd tried). "Kemuri ... Boshi . . . "

The Rebel never even saw the smoke star coming until it was too late, and by that stage Usopp had rushed forwards, grabbed John, and started running for both of their lives, back the way that he'd come.

The way that he'd been heading before was no good; it was a large and open area, with two tall watchtowers on either side.

The way that he'd come in was also no good - the guards would want to know where he was going with the kid.

That only left the other way, the path to the right of the entrance, and Usopp ran that way, dragging John with him and not even stopping to take off the kid's blindfold. There was just no time. Any second now, the guy that he'd just blinded would start yelling for help. Visions of Rebels swarming over him danced in his head, as he slid around a corner . . .

And, that was when John cried out: "Sir Lancelot!"

And, indeed it was; the fat grey Shetland Pony trotted up to them, as Usopp paused for about two seconds to remove John's blindfold and hand ties.

"Oh, it's you!" John recognised Usopp instantly, just as a voice from back the way that they had just come from suddenly shouted.

"There's a spy! He's got the kid!"

"Get him! Send him to Level Zero if you have to!"

"Jalmack's orders!"

Usopp began to panic.

But, John, on the contrary, seemed totally fine now that he had his beloved steed back. Climbing expertly into the saddle, he said: "Come on, let's book it!"

Usopp eyed the small shaggy pony warily. "Umm ... I don't think that . . . "

"Send the long-nosed one to Level Zero!" Came a shout from behind him.

Usopp immediately jumped up onto the pony's back behind John and, at once, Sir Lancelot took off at a full gallop.

Usopp was amazed at how strong the little pony was, and even more amazed at just how fast he could run.

The problem was, that the hallway seemed to end in a dead end. There were doors on either side of it, but, Usopp didn't like their chances of any of the rooms being unoccupied.

And, true to his predictions, one of the doors, the one on the left at the very end, suddenly swung open.

However . . .

"Hayaku!" Nami exclaimed, looking like nothing short of an angel in some sort of longe white dress.

They didn't need telling twice. Sir Lancelot charged into the room, which was a hospital room devoid of any patients and with only one other person in it other than Nami.

"Mum!" Usopp cried.

"Hayaku, you must hide!" Banchina gabbed both Usopp and John by their hands and dragged them to a nearby supply closet where she pushed them in, and then closed the door quickly. "Stay quiet!" She added.

In the dim light of the supply cupboard, Usopp and John exchanged a glance, before they promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would get to look through the keyhole, with much pushing and shoving until Nami hissed, from outside of the door: "Somebody's coming! Doctor!"

"It's alright," Banchina said, sounding a lot calmer than what Usopp felt. "It's probably just more of them bringing in their injured."

"They're certainly doing that a lot." Nami remarked, just as the door to the infirmary opened.

It banged off of the other wall, making Sir Lancelot jump.

Usopp, having won the rights to look through the keyhole, watched as a group of Rebels came into the room, led by the man from before that Usopp had managed to get John back from.

As soon as the man began to talk, John cowered back. Concerned, Usopp moved back to try and comfort him. John promptly scurried forwards and peered through the keyhole, as Usopp seethed silently.

He then got an idea; seeing a small mirror on a table (he noticed it only because some light from the room outside was shining through on it), he grabbed the mirror and held the edge to the ground, kneeling down and looking straight down at the mirror. When he angled it just right, he was able to see everything that was going on under the gap in the door, on the other side of the room.

"Your son nearly blinded me, woman!" The man with the ones on his face snarled.

Banchina stood her ground. "And? Do you need me to take a look at your eyes, Mr. Eleven?"

"That's not my real name!" He snapped back. "And, I don't! I need you to tell me where he is!"

"I wouldn't tell you, even if I did." Banchina replied evenly, crossing her arms, as Nami stood beside her, looking equally as stubborn. Usopp noticed that she appeared to be glaring especially at a man standing near this Mr. Eleven (was he a former member of Baroque Works?!); he had a round head, and a mohawk, and sevens tattooed onto either side of his face.

"Why are you even in here?" Nami wanted to know. "It's obvious that nobody's in here but me and the Doctor and this pony!" She gestured to Sir Lancelot; the Shetland Pony stamped his hoof.

"Because I'm supposed to take you to Saint Jalmack, now!" The man with the sevens tattooed onto his face snapped back, and reached out and grabbed her arm.

"What for?!" Some of Nami's bravado seemed to falter just then. "I haven't got the Compass! I can't open the Portal, I told him that!"

"She's been assisting me in here," Banchina said quickly, stepping forwards, but a few of the Rebels blocked her way. "Please, why would he be needing to speak with her again?"

"To make sure that it's really her," the man still had his hand clamped tightly around Nami's wrist. "Saint Jalmack didn't get a good enough look at her before, but, he's sure that he's got a way to prove it now!"

"Once that lady gets here again?" Somebody else spoke up.

"Yes, which you're NOT supposed to tell everybody about!" The man snapped impatiently, and began to drag Nami out of the room, but not before Usopp saw that she discretely dropped a small piece of paper onto the floor.

Banchina walked over to the door and closed it after them, picking up the piece of paper before she directed Sir Lancelot to stand at the door.

Usopp and John waited for two minutes (it felt like an hour), and then they emerged from the supply closet.

Banchina was waiting, and Usopp couldn't help it - he ran straight into her arms, and she hugged him back, as tightly as she possibly could.

All too soon, however, there was a light but urgent tapping at the door, and John hurried to open it.

"Wait - !" Usopp began, but his Mother stopped him.

"It's alright," she explained, keeping one arm around him. "It's the secret knock."

John opened the door as Sir Lancelot sidestepped, and Chopper, Sanji, and Donder stepped into the room.

As soon as Banchina spied Donder, her face broke into a hue grin. "Perfect!" She exclaimed, and immediately hurried over to the Miniature Horse; taking a scroll of paper out of her dress pocket, she placed the paper into the horse's little saddle bag (though he wasn't wearing a saddle, although maybe his saddle blanket counted?). "Donder, I need you to take this to the base camp - it's a map of this Rebel Base, and is exactly what we needed."

Donder nodded, and raced off again; they could hear his little hooves clattering on the wooden floor outside, as Banchina turned back to them all.

"Now, this is a map for all of you," she handed the piece of paper that Nami had dropped to Sanji. "She's an amazing cartographer, that girl."

Sanji opened up the piece of paper. "Oh, Nami-Swan!" He exclaimed softly, and then he sobered. "Where did they take her?"

"Most likely to here." Banchina pointed to a spot on the map. "That's where the Rebels' leader sits all day and night on a pedestal. What for, I don't know, but, it can't be good news."

"He's waiting for that lady." John spoke up. They all looked at him. "She caught me when I tried to escape days ago."

"John, you've only been here for a few hours." Banchina reminded him. "I saw that lady, too. Just briefly." She then expertly covered up John's ears and, in the few seconds before he managed to prise her hands off of his ears, she said: "Like you all, she is not meant to be here."

"She's mean," John said, crossing his arms and biting at his lower lip. "I only saw her for a second before they put my blindfold back on. She has blonde hair and cold icy eyes, she's really way out and not in a good way. She's the one that stole the straw doll from the Underground."

"You mean the Tiki?" Banchina began to look worried. "Oh dear, that's not good . . . " She sighed. "Alright, I'll keep John here with me,"

"Aww . . . "

"You all need to go and do what you have to do." Banchina held up her hand, when Usopp opened his mouth. "Right now, your friends need you. Go."

"I'll make you proud, Mum." Usopp promised her, raising his head up high. "I promise."

"You already have, Usopp." She told him. "You make me proud every single day. Now, on your way, all of you." She said, and turned away so that they wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.

As Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper left, John looked up at Banchina.

"Is that your son?" He asked her, and, when she nodded, he said: "I wonder what my Mummy's doing? That other girl reminds me of her . . . "

"Which one?" Banchina asked him, quickly wiping away her tears. "Nami?"

John shook his head. "No. The girl that she's pretending to be."

"You mean Emma." Banchina realised.

John nodded. "Uh-huh. Doctor . . . " He slipped his hand into hers. "What's gonna happen when they find out that Nami's not Emma?"

Banchina didn't have an answer for that.

Nami was beyond scared, and, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she was standing practically at the edge of a ravine.

Standing at an obvious distance away from her was Saint Jalmack; the Celestial Dragon that Emma had accidentally killed was talking to a woman whom Nami couldn't identify, because she kept her back to Nami.

But, there was something about her long blonde hair, and the way that she stood that seemed very familiar.

Saint Jalmack seemed distressed, but also frustrated, as he kept on saying that it wasn't his fault that his minions hadn't brought him the correct girl, and that he couldn't help it if the correct girl was being guarded by her First Knight, and would she please do something about this now?!

Nami was surprised that he had used the word 'please' at all. She didn't have much time to wonder at that, however, because just then the woman that Saint Jalmack was talking to threw out her right hand.

At once, a portal opened up next to her, and two things happened.

One was that she walked through the portal, and Nami barely had time to catch a glimpse of the familiar sapphire blue necklace around her neck, before she disappeared from view and then the second thing happened.

A huge stone statue, that resembled the Inuksuk from before but was nearly ten times its size appeared. It was surrounded by glowing black energy that Nami, with a thrill of panic, realised at once must be raw Chaotic energy.

It loomed menacingly over Nami and Saint Jalmack.

Saint Jalmack recovered first, and exclaimed: "Kill her!" He pointed at Nami. "Send her straight to Level Zero! Make an example of her! Just let me get out of the way, first!" He jumped onto a poor grey gelding that Nami didn't think was his, and rode away quickly, leaving Nami to face the huge stone monster by herself.

She could do nothing else; she was caught between a rock (monster) and a hard place - a hundred foot fall called The Valley Of Deep.

Nami contemplated what little choices she had, and then she yelled: "SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Just as the stone titan began to fall towards her, and then her world went red.

"Go, go, go!" Luffy yelled, when the stone titan appeared.

"We gotta save Nami-San!" Sanji added, as they raced down the stones steps and across the pavilion.

However, just then, somebody appeared to bar their way.

"You're not going anywhere, you eight!" The man that had dragged Nami out to the ravine before now brandished a sword at them.

"I'd marvel at your quick counting, except that there's only seven of us here, like what's on your face." Sanji began, and then he realised that somebody was standing next to him. "Whaaa . . . ?"

"Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed. "How did you get here?!" He wanted to know.

"Never mind how I got over here." Zoro replied.

"You have no idea, do you?" Sanji remarked.

"Not as such, no." Zoro replied, as he finished tying his bandanna, and then pointed one of his swords at their foe. "Hey! Mr. Seven! How many more times do I have to kill you?!"

"Come on!" Sanji said to the others, as Zoro and Mr. Seven faced off again. "Nami needs us!"

"Where's Emmy?" Luffy wondered, as the sounds of sword-on-sword could be heard from behind them. "She'd love to see this!"

They suddenly found their way barred by a mass of Rebels.

"Okay . . . " Ace began, just as his heart gave a jolt, and he happened to look across the ravine to see a small cliff.

Standing there was Emma, Law, Robin, Vivi, and a woman that Ace didn't recognise.

He did recognise the stone Inuksuk from before (it was holding onto Emma's left hand). Emma's right hand was pointing at the much larger stone titan that was currently about to fall down and crush Nami - Nami has nowhere to run, and, she couldn't get away!

But, Ace's eyes were on Emma, just as Nami yelled out for somebody to save her.

Emma's hand twisted, her palm flicked upwards; Ace had seen that gesture from her before, which was why he knew what she was going to do before she even did it.

Law must've seen it too, and known.

They both yelled out: "EMIKO!" At the exact same time and in the exact same tone of voice.

"Ribon-Ribon No Body-Swap!"

And then there were two flashes of red - one where she was standing and one where Nami was standing.

Nami suddenly appeared over where Emma had just been. She looked confused for a second, until she suddenly saw that the rock titan had fallen on the spot where she had just been, and that there was a mass of red there.

Time seemed to stand still for a second, and then everybody reacted at once.

But, it was only Nami's yell that could really be heard clearly; actually, it was more like a strangled scream.

"EM!"

The orange-haired girl staggered forwards; Law and the unfamiliar woman in military attire both grabbed onto her shoulders . . .

And, that was when there was a startling burst of light from where the rock titan had just fallen.

I'm dead. Emma thought, not even bothering to open her eyes. For reals, this time . . .

From what seemed like very far away, she heard distant screaming, and thought: Yup, this is it. So, this is how it ends. She opened up her eyes. Yes, my body is cold, I'm staring into a tunnel of light. We are talking deceased here.

Just then, she realised that the light was coming from her compass, and also from her left hand. Sitting up, she looked down, and saw that her cut had opened up again - she must have lost the bandaid somewhere back there, probably when she'd tripped over that stone tablet that had been unearthed when somebody had stolen the Guardian for the next portal.

That same stone tablet had reiterated a part of the song that Vivi had sung before.

'Ichor of aqua upon the stone . . . '

Law had explained to them that 'ichor' was the fluid that flowed from a wound - not exactly blood, but, more like that clear stuff. It certainly fit a lot better than Robin's description - that 'ichor' was the blood of the Gods.

I mean, that would only make sense if I was like that . . . Emma thought, as she slowly pulled herself to her knees, and the light began to return to her Compass. But ... 'aqua' ... now that's a tough one to explain . . .

As the light around her disappeared, it suddenly became apparent that trying to figure that out was the least of her worries.

The little stone Inuksuk had grown to roughly the same size as the other one, which Emma now suspected had originally been that one that Vivi had created - it must've been tainted by the woman that had stolen the Ocean's Flower off of Vivi.

But, now, the little stone Inuksuk that had journeyed with them from the Desert Realm and which had just saved Emma was glowing, his rocky body shining like precious stones as he faced down the Chaos corrupted Inuksuk.

Emma clung to his head for a second, before a blue dome appeared around her and, a second later, she was standing next to Law again, this time on the same side of the ravine.

"Law-Chan?!" Emma began, but, he cut her off - by kissing her.

She was going to give him Hell for it later on, but, right now, he didn't care - he was just so incredibly relieved and she was obviously too startled to protest, and God damn it, this just felt so right! Law couldn't explain why. He didn't even hate the fact that Portgas D. Ace had been right about this - that Law was definitely still in love with Emma.

Absolutely nothing was going to stop this kiss until Law himself wanted to end it. Nothing at all . . .

"Mum!" Usopp could be heard yelling over the din; the fight was still going on around them. "Did you see what happened Nami and that woman with the red hair?!"

"They chased Saint Jalmack up to the rooftop!" Banchina responded. "Usopp, be careful!" She added.

"What if that lady with the blonde hair and blue necklace comes back?!" John suddenly cried.

Except for that.

As Law drew back from Emma, the two of them exchanged a glance, and then together the two of them vanished into a swirl of ribbons.

Ace couldn't be quite certain if he was angrier at Law or the Rebels right now. But, when he heard this latest piece of information, and knew that Emma was going to the rooftop as well (he didn't really care where Law went), he made his decision in a second, and sprinted for the staircase that Nami and the red-haired woman had followed Saint Jalmack up.

Emma had teleported ... she and Law were going to get there first. Ace just hoped that he could get there before something else happened to Emma.

The villagers had swarmed the base - it seemed like tonight, or rather, that morning, was the time to storm the base and sort out this problem with the rebels once and for all.

As Ace sprinted up those stairs, taking them three at a time, he nearly collided with somebody that was coming out of a small hole in the wall that had been formed by one of Luffy's Gomu-Gomu attacks.

"Ow ... my everything . . . " The strange little man, whose overall motif made Ace think instantly of a tropical island, groaned. "Hey, watch it! I could fall!" He warned Ace. "And, so could you!" He added.

"Sorry." Ace said contritely, bowing, despite his rush. "But, I won't fall." He added.

"Well, then, what about me?"

"Are you a Devil Fruit user?"

"I most certainly am not."

"Then, no problemo," Ace pointed to the ravine. "That means that you can swim! And, if you fall, there's a teeny tiny little skinny river way down there that you might land in!" He thought about it. "Maybe . . . "

"Oh, thank you, I feel so much better now!" The little man said sarcastically, grumbling to himself as Ace continued with his tower climb. "Honestly, pirates these days!" He peered over the side of the stairs. "Hmm, what's Stoney doing now . . . ?"

"How - how dare you lower life forms do this to me!" Saint Jalmack yelled, looking from Nami to Bell-mére to Emma to Law, and finally back at Bell-mére. "You're a Marine, you're supposed to protect me!"

"You kidnapped one of my daughters, forced her to wear a pocketless dress, and then attempted to have her killed!" Bell-mére responded, aiming her flint locked blunderbuss directly at the Celestial Dragon's heart - she was standing the closest to him and, therefore, her close proximity to him could easily make up for the pistol's lack of accuracy at longer ranges. She was speaking very calmly, but, there was no mistaking the anger in her voice, either.

Here was a woman that had died protecting her children. And, even after her death, she was still continuing to do that.

Emma thought that she resembled a Mother bear, or perhaps a lion.

Perhaps Saint Jalmack thought so, too; he scampered backwards, and then held his hands up to the sky. "Please, save me!" He begged. "I. Thought you the girl!" He pointed at Emma. "Her and her magical Compass!"

"Who's he talking to . . . ?" Emma began, but then the words died in her mouth.

"Fool." Said the cold voice, belonging to none other than Ino; she had just stepped out of a portal next to Saint Jalmack. Her blonde hair swung around her shoulders, and her cold blue eyes pierced directly into Emma's own hazel eyes, although it was clear to everybody that she was still talking to Saint Jalmack when she said: "I told you to make sure that she was alone, didn't I?"

"Y-you wanted me to be a-alone with the demon that killed me?!" Saint Jalmack wailed. "It's not my fault that that other pirate's always with her, he was even there on the day that I died!"

"That isn't my concern." Ino seemed to sigh. "However . . . " And, she reached up a hand to touch the blue flower necklace that she had around her neck.

Saint Jalmack's eyes just about bugged right out of his head. "Th-that's the - ?!"

"Yes, I know." Ino spoke coldly. "That girl loved to steal even before she became a pirate." She was glaring into Emma's eyes, now, but the look was mirrored. Emma's hands were also shaking, as Ino continued with: "Oh, how angry I was when I realised that she'd taken it with her ... after I worked so hard to get it back . . . "

"You didn't!" Emma suddenly shouted, something akin to white hot furywelling up inside of her. "It was never yours at all! It belonged to my Mother, the Ocean Goddess Undine! She gave it to me before she had to leave me and come back here to the Celestial Realm, and then you took it from me when you killed me twenty-one years ago! And, just recently, you took it from Vivi-Chama! So, if anybody here loves to steal things so much,then, it's gotta be you, Ino-Pig!"

She wasn't sure what made her add that last bit in there. But, at once, Ino's eyes glazed over, and a touch of pink appeared across her face but, before she could say or do anything, a figure appeared behind her and grabbed the necklace from around her neck.

Ino dodged the flame fist that followed through, and turned to counter, but then she stopped, just staring at Ace standing there, holding the necklace out in front of him.

Very slowly, she said: "You . . . "

"I." He agreed.

Ino shook her head. "You have no idea, do you?" Her eyes glittered dangerously. "The day that you saved Sumi's worthless little life ... is the day that your fate was sealed." She threw open a portal just behind Ace, so that she had to walk past him to get through it, and, he didn't move when she did that; in fact, it looked like she said something to him.

Whatever it was, Emma didn't hear it and, at that very moment in time, it didn't matter, because, just then, as Ino disappeared, and Ace turned around, Saint Jalmack saw him properly for the first time, and let out a strangled yell.

"Y-you!" He pointed a finger dramatically at Ace. "You're the Captain of that crew that stormed my ship and stole my slave!"

"You won't ever hurt Sumi again!" Ace told him coldly.

BANG!

The bullet from Bell-mére's gun flew straight through the air, hitting Saint Jalmack directly through the chest and sending him flying backwards.

He flew backwards, and then seemed to shatter into a million pieces of dark light. The particles hung around for a moment, before vanishing.

"Wh-what just happened to him?" Nami wanted to know.

"He went back to Level Zero to face Judgement." Bell-mére said calmly. "Hopefully he'll stay there, this time." She added.

"Yeah . . . " Nami agreed, and then glanced at her Mother. Her lower lip trembled. "Bell-mére-San . . . ?"

"Wakatta . . . "

Emma, meanwhile, had started to approach Ace.

He was staring at the necklace with an unreadable expression.

"Ace-Chan . . . ?"

He glanced up at her. "I think that she'd forgotten about this." He held up the necklace. Its sapphire blue flower petals glimmered in the first rays of morning sunlight. "She was telling me and Tama about it; how a voice told her to throw it into the ocean, and so she did, and then she felt better after that, like maybe she'd returned it to its rightful owner or something . . . " He trailed off, suddenly, noticing how bright Emma's eyes were. He smiled slightly, and held out his arms. She rushed into them.

Law, meanwhile, had strolled up to the edge of the rooftop, and observed as the stone Inuksuk that had saved Emma lifted up the corrupted stone Inuksuk, and tossed it into the ravine below.

And, as a mighty cheer went up from the crowd, the tropical-looking guy that Ace had first encountered in his way up the staircase appeared in the landing just below where Law was standing, and said: "Well, now that that's taken care of," he peered up at Law. "Yo! First Knight! Just let me know when you guys are ready to leave for the Ocean Realm!"

"Okay, everything's taken care of." Emma smiled. We've all said goodbye and thank you to our horses, Usopp and Nami have said goodbye to their Mothers, Bell-mére's-San's actually thanked me for saving Nami, Vivi-Chama's got her necklace back on, Stoney's got a job in the quarry, now . . .

"And, now, all that's left to do is to jump off of this cliff." Ace said, peering down. "And, no, Emiko, it's not a wall." He added.

"I never thought that it was." She replied evenly. "But, I'm also not that scared. Chopper's the one that we had to drag over here." Normally, she would have mentioned something about Nami and / or Usopp as well, but, she had a feeling that their reluctance this time was caused by something else.

I finally got to meet Bell-mére-San and Banchina-San! Emma thought, her eyes shining. And Titi-Sama and Olvia-San and Sora-San (even though I didn't know about her before all of this) and Brook's whole entire crew!

"Focus, Emiko." Ace told her, wrapping his hand more tightly around hers.

"Why?" She asked him. "Are you scared?"

"Iie."

"Not so sure now, are ya?" The Tiki seemed to smirk. "Better hope that your girlfriend remembers the incantation!"

"Of course I do!" Emma snapped.

"Besides," Luffy spoke up. "Emmy is Ace's finance."

"Fiancée." Robin corrected him gently, although she was smiling.

John had come to see them off. He held onto Banchina's hand. "Can I come with you?" He asked, for the eight hundredth time.

"No, John," Chopper told him. "Sorry." He added, when John looked upset.

"Can you stay with me then, Teddy Bear?"

"I'm a reindeer!" Chopper cried.

John brightened. "You mean like Santa's reindeer?!"

"Yes!"

"Have fun, Heroes!" Somebody called.

"We're not heroes!" Luffy called back to them, waving. "But, thanks, we will!"

"Take care of yourself, Nami." Bell-mére nodded to her daughter.

Nami nodded back to her, clearly not trusting herself to speak. Her eyes were very bright.

Usopp looked like he wanted to rush over to Banchina and give her one last hug, and so Law whispered to Emma: "We should get moving, before Aunty Nita shows up and wants to tag along."

Emma nodded. "You know, they told me that she wrote some books when she was alive. Going by the names, I think that she may be one of my relatives - she even had a sister called Evelyn."

"Sister Evelyn-Chan . . . " Sanji sighed.

"She still can't come." Law smiled, slightly.

"I know."

"What's the incantation again, Emmy?!" Luffy called to her.

"It's Open!"

And, all at once, a cold and salty air seemed to surround them.

"Are you sure that I can't come with you?!" John called to them.

"Yes, John, we're sure!" Nami called back to him, as she and the others stood by the cliff, all of them holding hands and none of them wanting to make the first move.

Except for the Tiki; he immediately cried: "Woohoo!" And jumped down into the ravine. "Catch me if you can!" He added, as he was swept up into a bright light.

Luffy looked excited. "Yeah! Come on, you guys!" He yelled, and somehow managed to drag them all over the cliff.

"LUFFY!"

"Noooo!"

"Luffy-San!"

"Bye, Mum!"

"You can hold onto me if you want to, Nami-Swan!"

"No, Sanji-Kun, I DON'T want to!"

"But, I promised Nojiko-Chan that I'd protect you!"

"That's NOT what my sister meant!"

"Hey, didn't Zoro promise that, too?"

"Oi!"

"I miss my Mummy." John said immediately, once they had all gone. "She can't come to visit anymore."

"I know, John," his Father, Raymond, had just shown up, and John ran to him. "But, it's very dangerous for them to be travelling at the moment." The son that he had lost to .S.I.D.S. at the age of one stared back up at him. "That is why those people are making their way to Level Zero - to make things better so that your Mother, the Goddess Of Grace, will be able to see you again." He stared at the spot where the granddaughter that he had never met whilst alive had just been standing, mere moments ago. If anybody can do it, then ... I feel for certain that it is them . . .

The Goddess Of Death stood back, in the shadows that separated the Mortal Realm from the Celestial Realm.

Her skin felt cold. She felt as though she was trapped in a time-warp.

If she had to go through with this, then . . .

She might never forgive me . . .

"Sengoku ... you and the World Government ... fear the Great War that will come to end this world one day . . . "

I've already taken so much from her . . .

"I'm not interested in the treasure ... but, when it's found . . . "

Is it really fair to ask me to do it again?

"The whole world will be turned upside down!"

Death's ruby red eyes reflected the colour of blood, which even now trickled in two tear tracks down her face as she cried silently, knowing what was to come.

"Somebody will find it ... that day will come . . . "

This is what I am. There's just no escaping that.

"The One Piece ... does exist!"