Note of the author:

This story is the first I post so please let me know if things are a mess or if the writting isn't good.

English isn't my first language so sorry for the miss translation or the grammar.

If you want to take some part of the story or else, please let me know. Don't be shy to let me some reviews and comment if you like it or not. I want to inprove.

I'll post as I feel like it but I have chapters already written so, feel free to ask if you want to know what happens next.

The story will follow the main event from the End of Punk Hazard to the beginning of Wano (more or less)
I follow the story and the events but I twist them a little since the story is based on what my original character is doing while the story that we know happened.

If you have any questions about the story or anything regarding the story, please ask.

I don't own the OP characters, only my Ocs.

Some chapters can contain some language warning and such.

I hope you'll enjoy it as I enjoyed writing it.

The Informer
Third chapter

The group that were going to rescue the cook had left a few hours ago. Everyone were preparing for the long trip inside the yellow submarine to reach the land of Wano and the crew of the surgeon was awfully loud and happy to take the sea with their captain after so long. From what Kate had understood, it had been almost a year since they had seen each other. After the meeting, Kate hadn't been seen by anyone, some were even wondering if she hadn't taken off with the others, the presence of the Strawhat had made them forget that idea pretty quickly. She had reappeared two hours before sailing, her notebook in one hand with some papers. She asked around some crew members where their stupid captain where at, she was happy to see that he was not that far away with the Cat and the swordsman, acting as official leader of the remaining Strawhats. She walked to them before to drop her bag near the table where a map had been laid, barging in the meeting as if she had been there all along.

"I could be there in a week or two." Said the Cat, pointing at an island near the Grand line. "If he isn't there, I'll try another island not to far…" Kate saw him pointing at another island, approaching to see better the writing on it. The surgeon eyed her before to look at the Cat again, trying to ignored the woman.

"He won't be there. You'll just waist your time." Kate interrupted making the two men and the Cat glanced at her. "I know why you think he would be there though and it would have been a possibility if it wasn't for the slaugther they have just suffer."

"Do you have something to share with the group Miss Kate." Asked the surgeon rather tense, hands holding on tight on his sword.

"I might." She said putting her hands into her bag at her feet.

"What make you think that he isn't there? I know the Whitebeards for a long time and…"

"I know. Yet he won't be there. If you want to recruit him, you should head east." She simply said not looking up. The Cat looked at the map after this, wondering. The surgeon glared at her, probably thinking how he would start tearing her apart if the chances present itself. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked him suddenly, straighten up from under the table. He grabbed her left arm firmly and teleport them near the forest. He didn't let go of her immediately, first, he made sure to crush her arm a little. The feelings of slowly cutting her members apart and exposing her organs becoming stronger and stronger.

"If you want to kill me you should do it a little bit harder." He let her go as she smirked, massaging her arm a little.

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologies." If he had been surprised by her statement he didn't show it, to much pride in hating her. "I wanted to tell you that I will come with you. My business with Marco can wait and I know that if you go without me you will be dead before I join you again." She told him. This sudden change of mind wasn't like Kate. It was even strange coming from her, and apologizing was something the surgeon had never expected. " We should join the again, I have some information on the phoenix whereabouts." Kate didn't knew if he had understood or if he was even a bit happy that his plan was being followed. She had even thought that he would refused to have her in his submarines after everything that happened. The surgeon had murmured something displeased and took her other arm, less brutal than he did with the other, and teleported them back to the table. The swordsman eyed them, wondering what could have happened to have the surgeon looking a little less murderous and the young woman a little bit more relax. Then, out of nowhere, she had put a little piece of paper and a envelope on the table, sliding them toward the Cat with care.

"I won't come with you, those morons need me more than I had expected." The Cat slowly grabbed the items looking at the woman who intringued him more and more each time. "You will find Marco with this, and, I need you to give him this too." She added, pointing at the envelope. "You can't opened it, only him." Making sure for him to understand how important that was she looked into his eyes, waiting for a nod from his part. "You should find him in a few days or a week, it depends on how far we are." She said before to take a few step back from them. "I'll be by your crew if you need me." She informed the surgeon before to grab her bag and leave.

"Is that…" The swordsman had started to say at te piece of paper pin to the envelope.

"Yes. A vive card." The Cat said, carefully taking it into his paws to have a better look.

"How the hell did she managed to…"

"She knows him." The swordsman explained to the Cat. "I don't know how or why but, it's clear that they know each other somehow." He had looked at the Cat, still not believing the piece of paper in his paws, before to glare at the surgeon. He was deeply in thought, clearly knowing something that finally made sense. The swordsman knew that the two of them had met before, the surgeon had even healed her after a pretty bad injurie at her arm. With the little information he had heard here and there, he was almost sure that they had met when his captain had been healed by the man too, right after the war with the marine. If she had been there, injured, she must have been at the war. Yet, the swordsman didn't have an explanation for a presence there at the time, not knowing enough about her or her affiliation. From what he had seen himself, Kate didn't look like someone keen of fights and war. But that, the piece of paper changed everything. That piece of paper meant that she had been, and still was, part of the same crew that the first commander or a close friend. Trusted enough by him and certainly his late captain, to be provided with a vivecard. If this was true, if she had really been back there, if she was friend or working with him before and was still in contact, this meant that she had probably been in contact with his captain's late brother. And this information, that might seemed insignificant for many, was troubling the swordsman deeply. If she was in fact in contact with the late man and had been his friend, did hid captain knew about it? Did they hated each other because of that or was it something totally different? He remembered clearly that they had fought. Was it before or after his death? Was she a long lost family friend? Knowing his captain it was possible. Hell, she might even be his sister for all he cared. The navigator had might been right saying that she was lying and maybe waiting to screw the crew over after all. The swordsman decided to keep a close look on the woman, closer than before. That his why the second they left, the first man of the Strawhat Pirate, the pirate hunter, the tree swords style swordsman, could always be found near the woman one way or the other. The submarine was small for twenty person before and adding almost ten persons to it had been hell. It was hard to found a place to be alone or to be shut from the world for a moment. Every time they were surfacing, the two of them could be found outside on the desk (like half of the people on the sub). He would always nap or train (not having enough space to train properly with the samurai inside). The woman, who hadn't talk to anyone expect the archeologist and the captain, would be found sat in a corner, alone, her notebook and den den mushi in hands, working or whatever she was doing. They had a few weeks of sailing before to arrived at Wano, and even if everything was according to plan, the crew knew that the tense situation between their captain and the woman would soon burst into chaos. Since they had set sail, the two of them had always been in arguments: he would ask for the information or tell her to do something, ordering her around and she would always respond, always. She never yelled or insulted him personally, but the remark and reminder that she was in power was upsetting him more than anything else. The rage was building up more and more and everyone could tell that he would cut her open with his bare hands if he had the chances. The crew had even started to make bet after the second day, joined by the Strawhats who were adapting well. The samurais and the little prince had even bet some rather good price. It lasted a week. That had been the time they had supported each other. No one knew what they had told each other for the argument to become that heated and almost end up into a fight. He had attacked her and failed after a remark from her. She had almost cut his throat out with her knife. The fact that he had, once again, lost against her without properly fighting had put the crew in a state of fear. They knew how their captain worked and how sadistic he could become. The same night, the woman had been found drinking alone in the cafeteria with the swordsman, not that it had been planed. When the captain arrived around 1 AM after finishing working, he had been surprised to see them drinking together. He had count the bottle rapidly before to grab a glass too. They must had been their since the end of diner.

"Can I join you?" He asked putting his glass on the table, grabbing the bottle in front of them.

"You're the captain. Do as you please." She said, looking into her sake. The swordsman slide his glass to the surgeon, asking to being refiled.

"I see that you have found were my cook hide the booze." He noted, pointing at the box of bottles next to the swordsman.

"He did hide it very well." He joked, grabbing the empty bottle from the hand of the surgeon and putting a full one in it. "You have some catching up to do." He said, eyeing at the seventh bottles perfectly in line up on the table.

"What are you drinking for?"

"Nothing special." Had responded the swordsman when the surgeon sat at the end of the table. Kate hadn't said a word, still watching her sake turning into her glass. The two men stopped talking too, enjoying the rare silence of the sub at night. They had stayed in silence for another bottle, filling the glass of each other when it was empty without saying anything. The woman had opened their tenth one an hour later. She filled their glasses, they drank it too fast before to fill them up once more.

"Ask it." She said to the men. They both looked at each other, perplexed, wondering what made her suddenly speak.

"What?" Asked the swordsman.

"Don't play dumb with me. You have been following me around since we sailed. So, ask me what you have to or leave me alone." She explained before to drink. He drink his glass in one go before to keep it empty. He looked at her for a moment before to sight.

"Even if I ask, I will keep an eye on you."

"I know." She responded emptying her glass. "You just won't be annoying me with that aura of yours." She grabbed the bottle, filled her glass but not his. "So, ask away. I even might respond honestly for once." She joked, lifting her glass as a cheer before to drink all of it. She shivered a bit before to turn to the surgeon that hadn't stopped looking at her since she had spoken. "You can ask your questions after his. With my luck, it would be the same one and we could enjoy the silence soon."

"I don't think you want to respond to my questions Miss Kate." He said to her. "And not with him around."

"I don't care who is around. I'd rather have you too know than the other. They are so…noisy and childish. Not that you aren't, childish I mean." She filled their glasses once more, pouring a bit on the table without care "Who want to go first?" She asked, looking at the both of them. The two men looked at each other before to decide silently.

"I want to know what is your relation with the first commander of the Whitebeard Pirate. How do you know him? Why did you have his vivecard and what information you wanted to deliver him?" The swordsman asked. Kate smirked a bit, emptying her glass, as if it was courage in it.

"I met him…what seemed a life time ago." She started, surprising the two men by responding honestly and with what seemed the truth. "I have always been passing information to anyone who were ready to pay a good price or offer me something worth the information given. I had an information rather unusual to deliver to them and, the moment I stepped on the desk of the Moby Dick, it had been bBuebird who had dealt with me. We had a good laugh."

"What information did you have?" Asked the surgeon, cutting her story. She glared at him as if he had been a child interrupting a lesson.

"Someone was searching for him. Business you know." She answered anyway, looking at her glass, a nostalgic smile on her face. "After that, I frequently dealt with the first commander when I had information or bargains to make, which was often. Between them and the Red hair, I have been busy for a while. After a few months I even stopped by just to see them, Marco, the Old man, and the others. I would stayed the night and be gone the next morning. The fucking captain even asked me to join them!" She laughed a bit before to finish her drink that had immediately been refilled. "I had said "no" so many time that I can't remember how many…"She stopped herself for a moment before to look up to the two men. "Anyway." She finally said, shaking her heads as if it would took the memories out of her head. "He gave me his vivecard a few years ago. I was moving a lot and them…well, it was hard to find them sometimes."

"And the information?" Asked the swordsman again.

"There never was information. She just wanted to see him." Said the surgeon, taking a sip, looking at Kate who was nodding slightly, trying to see if he had guessed right.

"And the envelope?"

"Oh, just me telling him to come and save your asses." She smiled a bit. "I hate to say it but with him, your plan might succeed."

"Having a little faith now?" Asked the surgeon, a smile rapidly showing on his face.

"Not at all. You're stupid to even think about getting out of there alive. Hell, Luffy is the winner! Going after his cook that decided to go with Big Mom! He's dumb and totally out of the reality! I get it, it's his friend and stuff but…does he ever think?" She asked the swordsman a bit concerned.

"He doesn't look like it but…he has some moment…He can. Does he want to? Mostly of the time no, but you can count on him to do…to do what Luffy does really. It might be totally madness to many but his stubbornness got us, myself, out of difficult time more than once. He saved my life many timeS and…I don't know…Luffy is Luffy and whatever happened he always be smiling and putting his life on the line to save yours in an heartbeat."

"That what am afraid of. He doesn't think! He jumped into the danger no matter what and doesn't care to die or to make people suffer in the end. How many time did you barely escape just because of luck? How many fucking time?!" She said a little mad. She put her head in her hands, elbow on the table. "I just want for once, to be around people who think before to act."

"you sound like you care." Laughed the swordsman refilling the glasses. "Do you care for us? For Luffy?" She didn't responded, grabbing the bottle out of his hands to drink, having enough to refill her glass.

"I think she cares, too much even." Smirked the surgeon, hiding his smile behing his glass.

"I don't."
"You look like you care, even a little." She looked the surgeon dead in the eyes, putting her hands on the table, serious.

"I don't care what happened to you. You could drown or be caught by the marine or even get sliced into piece I would sleep the same at night."

"But?" Said the swordsman. "There is a but and we all know it." She turn to him before to sight. She caught another bottle and opened it.

"I'm not that drunk to keep this conversation going. Ask another question?"

"Alright. Why do you stick with us if you won't care like you say? I mean, Nami says it herself last time." She emptied her glass and started the new bottle. She drank for a few seconds, drink half of it before to take a deep breath, pausing the bottle on the table.

"Not that drunk." She repeated.

"My turn then." Cut the surgeon. "When we met, you were barely alive." He started.

"Not that drunk." She repeated herself once again, still drinking.

"Your left arm…I have seen burned skin before but, never like that." He continued, not listening to her.

"I told you that I got hit." She responded annoyed before to keep drinking.

"I know. Yet, I can't understand how you ended up with an injured arm burned, almost as worst as Strawhat and Jimbe." She looked at him before to lower her head and the bottle. The swordsman had stopped drinking now, clearly wanted to remember the conversation.

"I…" She started before to cut herself, thinking. "I got hit with lave. I wasn't focus and…I got hit. It wasn't meant for me but, I got caught in the middle of the fire and…the rest is history." She said, emptying the bottle before to stand up. "I think that is enough for toni…"

"Did you knew Luffy's brother?" Asked the swordsman suddenly. "If you knew the Whitebeard and was at the war, you must have known him one way or another. Someone like you doesn't go to a war just for an acquaintance." He had thought about it ever since that day on Zou. For him, they were no doubt about that, they had met for sure at least once or twice. Kate sat back slowly, still looking at her empty glass and the empty bottle. She looked at the surgeon for a while, then at the swordsman. She was scanning him, as if she was diving into his soul. He wasn't uncomfortable but he didn't know what she was looking for. She grabbed another bottle, opened it and drank.

"I knew him." She finally said after a while. "I knew him for a long time, that bastard." She smirked a bit before to take another sip. "It was…fuck, ages ago. I met him while he was still captain, just set sail he had." She said with a fond smile. "He was looking to recruit a few people for his crew. He hadn't even made it to Grand Line yet. I helped him a bit, giving him what I give the most: information. He didn't have money on him. So, I told him that he would took me to Grand Line and that would be it." She took another sip. "I spend a week with them, The Spades Pirate, or the beginning of it at least."

"So, you met him again with the Whitebeard?" Asked the surgeon.

"No. When we met again on the Moby Dick…it wasn't like…we weren't just two people who had sailed together for a while. I knew him before I knew the Whitebeard. I knew him before his bounty and before…I knew him. End of the story." She said, emptying the bottle in one go.

"But…wait…Luffy he…"

"No." She said bluntly, dropping a silence in between them for a while. Kate was far away in her memories and the two men didn't know if they could ask more questions or not. So, they spend a few minutes in total silence, restraining themselves; dying to know more.

"I went to the war because that idiot had been caught and someone had to put him in place." She had spoken by herself, maybe because it would be the only moment she would be able to.

"Are you here because of him in a way?" Asked the swordsman.

"As in I made a promise to him kind of think?" She asked him. "No, I'm not as dumb as he was. Promising to never die…" She chuckled a bit, her jaw tighten a little, "I didn't promise him anything. The last time I had talk to him was a few days before he met with that…Black Beard. I…I didn't had the chance to talk to him after that and…well…I wouldn't be able to anymore." She shivered a bit before to hug herself. "Anymore question?" She asked, almost hoping for a no. She knew that they had so many others, especially the surgeon, he had an endless list of questions since the day he had met her.

"I think it will be all for me tonight." Said the swordsman getting up. "Thank you Kate." He bow a bit to her before to finish his glass, turning it on the table. "I liked Ace, he was a descent man." Kate knew that he left because she had opened to much and couldn't anymore. He knew that, even if she seemed fine with all this, deeply she was trouble and hurt. That woman had willingly given her heart and didn't want it back after all. Any normal human wouldn't have done that.

"Miss Kate." The surgeon said, trying to make her react a bit. "You should go to bed. It's late."
"Ask it." She said to him without moving. "Please, ask it." She begged, tears almost in her eyes. He could see that she was almost breaking from the inside. He had saw her break once, and only once. He didn't want to see it again, ever.

"It would not be wise." He said before to grab the three glasses in one hand.

"Please." She said grabbing his other hand into hers. "I need to say it, at least once." She begged again. "I need to...someone as to know...I ca…I need you to hear it…you already know anyway…"

"Miss Kate." He said, letting the glasses on the table to cover her hands with his. "It won't be good for you to…"

"Law. Please." She said, looking him in the eyes. He looked at her for a moment and nodded slowly, regretting already.

"It was him, wasn't it?" He asked her. "It would match what you said."

"…It was." She almost whispered, escaping his eyes, trying to keep the tears inside. Then, he had put his hands on her shoulder, offering a little bit of comfort as the best he could.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't do anything." He simply said to her. She didn't responded immediately, trying to keep control on her breathing. Then, she stood up too, grabbed her last bottle for the night before to step away from him, as if she had never been a second away from a breakdown.

"Its better this way." She said to him with a soft smile before to vanish into the hallways, leaving the surgeon alone with his memories and thoughts.

Since that day, a weird gentle aura had appeared around the submarine. No one knew why It came so suddenly or why the captain seemed a little less angry and frustrated that usual. They didn't know why the swordsman had stopped following the woman around. He was often with her, but not as much as before. The woman, she wasn't as bitter as she had been since they had set sailed, she had even stopped talking back to the captain if it wasn't something important. The three of them: the first mate of the Strawhat, the captain of the submarine and the woman had spend some other nights together, drinking. They didn't really talked about them, just teeling stories of battles or just memories of their crew. One night, Kate had shared something with them without them even asking. It had taken aback the two men but, they both had smiled a little, finally understanding the woman a little bit more.

"I missed this." She had started to say, after finish their eleventh bottles of the night. "Every time I went to see them we will party. Always. It was splendid. The food were so simple but it was the best you could found on the sea. Thatch used to make some kind of meatballs, I never knew what was inside but the spicies...God the spicies were like fireworks into your mouth. It would burn so hard that the first one would always made you cry." She said, laughing a little. "Even Ace! He didn't trust me off course, acting all tough as always. He had put five in at the same time! I thought he would have willingly jumped off board into the water just to make the burning stop!" She laughed, a big smile on her face. The two men were laughing too, more about her almost crying of laughter than the story itself, but it was something rare to see. "Then the music. Oh how we danced during those night." She said as she was relieving the memory. "They would always play the same songs, over and over again and everyone would sing along even though they couldn't remember the lyric anymore. And the booze! You would have been the happiest Zoro!" She said to him, addressing him by his name for the second time since they knew each other. "I drank alcohols from around the world, some were gifts from the people they were protecting or just peace offering. If you ever meet with the Red hair you have to drink their sake! The old bastard had never told me where he would get it but God, it would knock you out with only three bottles!" She explained as the surgeon was refilling their glasses. "I've never drunk something so sweet yet powerful. The taste stay in your throat for hours and hours until the morning." She said before to cheer with them. "The best one had been the one he had offered to the Old man." She said, her ton dying a little. "It was before…before Tatch died and before everything went to shit." She said making the sake turn into her glass. "I think it was the last time we all partied together like that. After…after the parties had never been the same without them. The food weren't as good, the meatballs weren't burning your mouth, the music seemed off a little, some voices missing into the loud crowd. The alcohol…it wasn't as good now. When I would leave the next morning, something was missing. The taste was still there but, it wasn't as enjoyable as the time before." The two men looked at her, so far gone into her memories that they didn't had the courage to interrupt her. They could tell how fond of that time she had been, it might have been the happiest time of her life. "The last time I had drink with a Whitebeard pirate it had been with Ace. Four months before…I was keeping track on him since he had decided to act as a suicidal prick. So, every now and then we would meet. He always had something nice to drink, but, the last time he had found a bottle. I don't know where he had get it or if he had saved it since he had left. For a moment, it had been as if we were back at home with everyone, as if nothing had happened." She said almost as a whisper. "The last time I have ever drank that sake…I was standing in front of their grave…it tasted bitter now." Her smiled had felt gradually as her words were getting out of her mouth. The two men didn't respond to her, nothing could be said to lighten the mood so, they filled their drinks and made a toast. She smiled a little before to join them. The swordsman started talking next, telling a crazy story about him killing bounty hunters years ago. She hadn't really listened to be fair, still caught up in her memories. She didn't knew why she had shared this with them, they weren't friends or anything. She didn't really trusted them and she knew that they didn't trusted her either. Yet, when she had started talking about that time and her old family, she hadn't been able to shut herself up, as if talking about it was keeping them alive.

End third chapter.

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