DISCLAIMER: All rights to 'One Piece' go to Eiichiro Oda, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and FUNimation, as well as any other parties involved with licencing that are not already listed in this disclaimer.


"Pom-Pom Pom!"


Arc One: 'Darkest before the dawn!'


Episode 3. Becoming the Captain! Drama on Pastello Island!


Though Li-Anne reassured her that her face was in fact, not green from nausea, Hari groaned- feeling more bile rise to her throat. Her cheeks puffed out again. "Please tell me that we're never going through that ever again," she said, though it was muffled by the palm clamped down over her mouth as she heaved.

"Not unless shit hits the fan big-time or we reach the end of it all, no, we won't have to do it again," Li-Anne rolled her eyes.

"Oh goody…" Hari replied with little enthusiasm. "So, where do we go now?"

Li-Anne rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Wherever the Log Pose directs us, I suppose."

"'Log Pose'?" Hari frowned, trying to remember where she'd heard that phrase before.

Li-Anne shot Hari a withering look; "You lived in Logue Town, near the entrance to Grand Line, which had Marines and Pirates alike comin' and goin' all the time- surely you must have heard somethin' about it?"

"I have, but I just don't remember is all," Hari snipped back defensively, crossing her arms, "My trade was bespoke tailoring and haberdashery- not sailing, remember?"

"I do, for what little good it'll be out here. Roger give me strength…" Li-Anne groused. She flounced out her bouncy sundress' skirts with her small palms; the fabric making a sufficient swishing motion.

"For one," Hari continued, not discouraged by Li-Anne's disinterest, "I'm very good with my hands."

"…"

"…"

"… I'm not even goin' to go into the depths of how much trouble that particular sentence could (and probably will) land you in," Li-Anne mumbled as Hari flushed.

Hari began to frantically wave her hands; "I didn't mean it like-"

Strapped to Li-Anne's wrist was one of the Log Poses she had bought prior to leaving Logue Town. A second and spare pose remained in the woman's room, along with her navigational charts and Junky's Log Book. The diamond shaped 'compass' in the centre of the glass sphere of the pose Li-Anne was wearing, situated on the lightly tanned wristband around her fragile wrist, began to whir uncontrollably.

"Oh, would you look at that," the older woman voiced, shoving her wrist in Hari's face, "We've got a hit."

"Why is it spinning like that?" Hari inquired, dizzily watching the compass point twirl.

"It means that it's begun to pick up a magnetic field in the distance. Very soon it will probably settle and point towards the nearest island. What surprises me is that we've located on in such a short time of sailin'," Li-Anne mused.

Hari's eyes widened, "Is that normal?"

"I'm not sure. Every route is different on Grand Line," Li-Anne told her, "Perhaps the island after this will take longer to reach? Perhaps we'll visit many islands? Perhaps fewer than normal? Perhaps our route will overlap with someone else's? Who knows?"

True to Li-Anne's earlier words, the red and white needle in the Log Pose stilled, pointing roughly to the north west. Both women squinted in an attempt to spot some land, to little avail. The high afternoon sun reflected off of the ocean and into their eyes.

"You seem very knowledgeable," Hari marvelled- a hand cupping her eyes to protect them from the sudden glare, "Have you been to Grand Line before?"

Li-Anne didn't answer straight away. The small woman turned her back on Hari to check the wheel. She withdrew a pair of children's binoculars from within the folds of her skirt and raised them to her eyes. Though she was loath to use them often, they were the only pair she could find suited to the size of her body. She'd found them in West Blue, and though she'd cringed at the pink floral pattern, Li-Anne was desperate enough to buy the set. "I'd give it about two hours before we reach land. You may as well go and unpack your stuff in the room you stayed in earlier."

Knowing that the older woman had conspicuously skirted around her question, Hari faltered. For a woman whom she had only known for a few days, Hari knew that she couldn't expect secrets and personal stories to come spilling forth. For now, that conversation topic was taboo around Li-Anne, and she would respect that the older woman was not ready to share her story. All people were uncomfortable on some level about their private lives; perhaps Li-Anne had more reason to be more guarded than most?

Hari rose from where she had been sat on the deck and made for Junky's cabin:

"Y'know, I'm glad it's you I'm sailing with- even though I've known you for so short a time," Li-Anne flinched, but said nothing. Her hands tightened on the ship's wheel a fraction. "Someone's got to know what they're doing on this ship, after all!" Hari chortled.

"Cliché as hell, Kiddo!" Li-Anne shouted, throwing the binoculars with force but missing her intended target.


Beyond the reach of Li-Anne's overtly-juvenile binoculars, awaited a spring isle; the first on Hari and Li-Anne's journey which their Log Pose had detected earlier. Its name was Pastello Island. With a small surface area, and an aging population of around three-hundred people, the hopes of the island's elders lay with their children and the youngest generations to continue on the naturally inherited skill of all of Pastello's people.

Though a spring island, the weather itself mimicked that of a season somewhat adrift of spring but not yet summer. The air was heated, but a refreshingly cool breeze reduced the temperature. It was a placid climate, suited to those who did not cope well in either the freezing cold or the scorching hot. The muted colours of the flowers growing on grassy banks and potted in people's gardens were perpetual. The leaves on the shady trees and the gentle hillocks, pale puce. Even the sand lining the beaches had lost some of its butter-yellow vibrancy; the foamless sea stretching into a milky blue as the tide rolled in.

As its name suggested, most things growing, built, and breathing were either cultivated, coloured, or clothed in pastel shades. But that did not mean the island was any less beautiful because of it's muted colours.

Despite their paled habitat and nature, the people of Pastello Island were in truth very differently inclined. 'An island of intuitive eccentrics', or so one high-ranking Marine official had commented when stationed with a full crew there in the past. They were pleasant people, had sedate lifestyles and little trouble caused by the islands citizens, but they were more well-known on the Grand Line for their abilities.

Each and every person born and raised only on Pastello Island inherited a gift, no matter if one of their sires were not directly from the island itself. As they grew, children were nurtured into their gifts by watching the quiet lives of their peers and elders and learning to adapt; and when it did strike, inspiration struck much like a passing sneeze.

In the rush of an 'Achoo!' or a 'Bless you!', a weapon could be crafted. An ergonomic utility to ease the already tranquil lives of Pastello's inhabitants. A way to entertain young bratty children for mothers at their wits end. To organise your shoes. To strain your noodles. To-

Well, in the space of a sneeze new things were always being invented on Pastello Island.

Hari, having spent an hour or so under the deck packing away her things and getting used to her new room on the ship, began to wonder about what the first island she would visit on Grand Line would be like. A cloud of dust made her sneeze as she ran a hand across a bare bookshelf adjacent to the single bed.

Somewhere on Pastello Island, a person shuddered; feeling a cold chill slip down their neck and back.

Having sorted through the… liberated, Doskoi Panda clothes, Hari quickly changed. A pair of gaudy jeans and a strappy vest replaced her makeshift dungarees. She took the shoelaces from her sneakers and threaded the heavy ornate key to Argyle's front door onto it; placing it around her neck underneath the vest. With one lace missing, she couldn't very well wear the other shoe until some more shoe laces could be found, so swapped her footwear for some more liberated goods from Doskoi Panda; this time, a pair of plain flat sandals.

Another hour of sailing was spent up on Junky's deck, waiting quietly for Li-Anne to announce a sighting for land. Hari began to fidget after about fifteen minutes into said hour:

"Can we not go any faster?"

"I'm tryin' not to rely on Junky's gearbox, I pushed it hard going up Reverse Mountain earlier," Li-Anne had ceased using the powerful motor in the descent from Reverse Mountain to keep from unnecessarily using it. "Besides, we're not always goin' to have the luxury of usin' it- what happens if the thing blows one day and we're stuck relyin' on the wind or paddlin'?"

"But I'm getting antsy," Hari whined. She began to fidget and shuffle even more, just so Li-Anne got the message. "My Da' always hated it when I got antsy; said he couldn't get anything done."

Fortunately for Hari, Li-Anne relented in much the same fashion as Argyle had in Hari's youth: "Once- and only this once. I'm never havin' kids," the elder woman muttered and huffed out of breath of exasperation; "Do you want to pull the rip cord again?"

"Oooh!" Hari's eyes sparkled, "Yes please!"

Having pulled the cord to start the motor, Hari settled back to the smooth wooden deck and crossed her legs. Junky's engine sputtered to life; Li-Anne struggling to slide the ship into gear. Reluctantly, the ship gathered speed, and chugged along the supple water with only a little disquiet. Li-Anne shifted up to the higher gears grudgingly as the engine note began to scream. For a short while, the ship settled- though some strange noises could be heard from the engine below. Then she ran out of gears:

"I knew I'd overdone it over Reverse Mountain," Li-Anne cursed, "We need to slow down before-"

BANG!

Black smoke filtered out from beneath where the gear stick and rip cord were situated.

"Uh-oh!" Hari scrambled to her feet and began wafting the thick fumes past. She sputtered as some of wisps tickled her nostrils. It smelt awfully like the arson of Argyles, and brought tears to her eyes. Li-Anne made a hasty retreat below deck to check the engine room: Hari nearly reached out to stop the older woman. Instead, she grasped the key under her vest top firmly- as though she were holding her heart.

A few minutes later, Li-Anne re-emerged; stomping in her freshly-lifted Doskoi Panda boots, grim faced and covered in soot. Hari let out a breath she had been holding.

"Nothin's burnin', but the motor's shot," she said, rubbing her temples and grimacing when her fingertips came back a dull grey. "Everythin's goin' to smell wretched for a bit until it's repaired and we've cleaned the place up again."

"It's nothing serious though?" Hari asked hopefully.

"Depends; if the island we reach doesn't stock parts then we'll be sailin' off the back of currents,

wind, or just plain ol' paddling until we reach the next one."

"Please, no- anything but that!" Hari groaned, "I'm going to get so bored-"

"I thought you only get 'antsy' after so long? Where's this boredom thing comin' from?" Li-Anne quirked. "Honestly, what did you think life at sea would be like: all sunshine, islands and happy smilin' loonies?" Hari opened her mouth- "You know what, save it. You probably did."

"I didn't think there'd be so much time spent travelling between islands," Hari mumbled, "I'll need to pick up some supplies or something else to do when we get there- by the way, how far away are we?"

"About ten minutes now," Li-Anne confirmed and Hari cheered. "Don't get your hopes up, they might not allow pirates to come in-land."

Hari looked perplexed; "But you don't have a thingy-ma-bob."

"Thingy?"

"Y'know," Hari flailed, "The flag thingy that pirates have. I've seen them when they've been docked at Logue Town- they cover the sails and stuff."

Confusion flickered over Li-Anne's face, "Do you mean a Jolly Roger?"

"Yeah! The thingy!"

"Huh…" Li-Anne scrubbed at her sooty cheek, "You're right. Didn't think about that, actually… I suppose we could just not mention the piracy thing unless we get found out? We're a crew of two, so that might actually be safer."

Hari smiled; "I'm not really the pirate-y type, truthfully."

Li-Anne didn't grace that with a response and just rolled her eyes. "We'll worry about our Jolly Roger later then, when we agree that I'll be the Captain of this ship," she stated fondly.

"Why do you get to be the Captain? You're already the Navigator, Mechanic and Cook," Hari objected. "I should be Captain! After all, I've got nothing better to do but supervise until I can start sewing again."

"I call Sea King shit!"


At the centre of Pastello Island lay the Town Hall, which also doubled as the home of the current Chieftain of the Island and his family.

Chief Coquelicot, his wife, and his sixteen-year-old daughter resided behind high stretching pale-lime walls. Yet although the outside of the sprawling mansion house, with its luscious pastel gardens and muted gravel pathways portrayed the epitome of what the citizens of Pastello Island should seek to emulate, inside the home was anything but tranquil.

The self-regulating marble floors and aerodynamically twisting staircases made a great setting for dramatic moments, or so Coquelicot had begun to learn when concerning his daughter, Carnation.

Carnation, who preferred to go by 'Cana' when not being spoken to by anyone but her parents, was currently stomping up the translucent spiral stair case after using the heels of her shoes to intensely click across the marble. She stopped about halfway up to turn and pierce her father with a dramatic look as she ground her teeth stubbornly; "I love him, daddy- and he loves me! We're going to be together, and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

With that, Carnation stomped up the remaining steps. Chief Coquelicot could recall off by heart the number of strides before she reached her room and there it was-

SLAM!

-Cana's bedroom door slammed shut.

"I don't understand that girl," the Chief grumbled to his wife, "What happened to my precious Little Flower? She no longer wants to invent things with me or spend time in the workshops! All it is is 'Lucien this' and 'Lucien that'! Bah!"

"She's young and in love, dear," replied his wife with a coy smile, "You remember that well, do you not?"

Coquelicot flushed; "Er, well… She's too young to fall in love! I forbid it!"

His wife sighed, "She can't be your 'Little Flower' forever, my love. She's already beginning to blossom into a fine young woman."

"We'll see about that," the chief groused.


Meanwhile, Li-Anne was lashing Junky to a wooden jetty on the coast of the island.

"Are you ready to go?" She called to Hari, who was collecting a wad of Beli's from the memory box in her room.

"Yeah!" Hari cried, leaping over the side of Junky and nearly losing all of her money.

Li-Anne watched without amusement, beginning to note that Hari was usually one to get herself into scrapes and wondering if she shouldn't have allowed her on the ship back at Logue Town. "Roger, I need a drink."

"We may as well go to a bar first then, we'll be likely to find out about the island there; drink-loosened lips n' all, yeah?"

"Hari, sometimes your logic astounds me," Li-Anne stared, as Hari raced on ahead- kicking up sand in her wake. "Hey- wait up! I've only got little legs!"

Eventually, in the pastel streets they located a tavern; this painted a slightly darker pastel-eggplant-purple than its surrounding buildings. Before entering through the automatic saloon doors- painted duck-egg blue, Li-Anne collared Hari; "When we go in there, you're goin' to have to order somethin' alcoholic and a juice or somethin' for yourself- you'll give me the booze."

"Why would I-?"

"Do you remember the first time we met back in Logue Town?" Hari nodded; vaguely recalling that there was much protestation, biting, and mockery in that one bar than there should have been. "I don't want a repeat of that, so you'll do the orderin'."

Li-Anne, salivating over the prospect of alcohol, dragged Hari inside; "Go on Kiddo, I'll go get us a table."

Gingerly, Hari made her way to the bar. A weathered woman with gentle features smiled as she approached, but cast a man leant against the bar a dark look as his head turned to Hari out of interest.

"What can I get you?" The woman asked, her voice smooth. Her greying blonde hair hung in heavy spikes around her head, a loose simply cut blouse with rolled up sleeves covered her caramel shaded skin.

"Ah… May I have the house special and a fruit juice, please?" Hari asked, unsurely.

"Such polite manners," the woman crowed, then spat; "You'd do well to take notice, Lucien."

"Oh, don't worrrrry," the man purred. "I have alrrready taken notice." His tapered eye's trailed the length of Hari's body, gaudy Doskoi Panda jeans and all. He winked; "I think I can learrrrn much frrrrom you~"

Hari's eyebrows rose, and she willed herself not to snort. The rolling 'R' sounds were getting to her. Perhaps the man had issues, or it was an inflection he had been raised with- however, if his purring usually attracted women there must have been something terribly wrong with the female population on this island. Not that Hari was really bothered about attraction or romance: she'd tailored enough suits in the Argyle's' heyday and acquired enough knowledge to determine whether someone was deemed handsome or not. Working with an array of snooty characters over the years had also taught her that beauty wasn't everything.

"Don't you go heckling my customer, boy. You forget you've got that sweet girl of yours, skirt-chaser."

"Therrrre is no harrrrrm in looking, Mirrrriam," Lucien grumbled. "Anotherrrr glass of yourrrr finest, if you so please?" Cockily, he held his glass aloft.

Miriam's eye's narrowed, but she took the glass.

"So… wherrrre do you come frrrrrom?"

"Ah, we've, um, just entered Grand Line…?"

Lucien's eyes gleamed with the intensity of a predators, which made Hari more than a little nervous.

Hari narrowly escaped an onslaught of smarmy attention as Miriam set a tray containing two drinks down on the bar top. "Here you go, my lovely- the tray will keep the drinks at optimum temperature until the glasses are empty; so you and your little friend in the corner there can enjoy them for as long as you like."

Lucien began to growl, and Hari shifted uneasily; "Ah, how much will that be?"

"On the house, my dear- you go enjoy yourself," Miriam smiled, the lines on her face softening.

"But surely-"

The tray was thrust into Hari's hands; "Go, it's a rare treat not to be grunted at and have money thrown on the counter by a patron. For me, that's payment enough from you," Miriam told her firmly.

So, Hari located Li-Anne in the far corner, and made her way through the various empty tables to get to her crewmate. "You just had to pick a table that was out of my way, didn't you?"

"Mm, yeah sure, give me my drink," Li-Anne replied distractedly. A small trickle of drool leaked from the corner of the elder woman's mouth in anticipation. She grabbed the cooled tumbler out of Hari's hand and gulped back half of it before coming up for air; "Woo, that's the stuff…"

Li-Anne wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. When she spoke, her smoky voice was quiet; "As for why this table, I don't trust tall, dark and feline over there."

"Hm," Hari tapped her chin as she twirled the long curly straw in her juice drink. She took a sip; "Oh, lovely, orange and pomegranate!"

She took a deeper sip and grinned appreciatively at the taste.

"You done?" Li-Anne said, deadpan. Hari nodded.

"I swear on my memory box, the man purred," Hari whispered, leaning closer to Li-Anne. "I didn't like the way he was looking at my jeans too- I mean, they spangle."

Li-Anne face contorted, "I don't think he was checkin' out your jean's, Kiddo. Still, best to keep an eye open for that one."

The two sipped their drinks in content silence, marvelling at how the tray did in fact keep them at optimum temperature whenever they placed the glasses back down. The duo tried to work out where the coolant source came from, going so far as to flip the trap over to inspect the bottom and sides. No vents or storage spaces for ice could be found, only a small sliding dial under the lip of the tray that ranged from one temperature extreme to another. The tray was currently set at '3°C', and had kept the tall tumblers containing their drinks and cubes of ice cool through the duration of their sipping.

"That is so well thought-out," Hari stated, Li-Anne nodding along with her.

"What is this island?" Li-Anne thought aloud, "They can make things like this, but none of it reaches beyond here- unless they can't get goods out into the Blues. Grand Line should have been a doddle though; people would pay for this kind of tech."

"The 'goods' as you so put it," chimed in a third voice, "Arrrre specialites of Pastello Island."

"Oh, so that's where we are," Li-Anne exclaimed. "Could you tell us more?"

If Lucien had noted that the older (though not in appearance) woman's voice didn't quite match to her youthful exterior, he said nothing; "Of courrrrrse. I would be delighted to." Here, he leered at Hari, who wiggled in her seat and tried not to make eye contact with the purring stranger.

"Would you mind takin' us to the person in charge here then?" Li-Anne requested, and Lucien blanched.

"I can take you as farrrrr as the Town Hall, but no morrrrrre."

"Deal. Drink up Hari, we've got information to collect."

Hari startled and shot Li-Anne a betrayed look, while Lucien grinned like a cat; "Yourrrr name is Harrrrrrrrri?"

"Hari."

"Haaaaaaaaari?"

Said woman in question's cheeks puffed out; "No. Hah-ri."

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr-rrrrrrreeee?"

"Close enough," Li-Anne snorted, tapping her foot impatiently.

During the walk to the Town Hall, Hari- much to Li-Anne's disgruntlement, used the small teen-shaped woman as a buffer to the purring-moron. The latter kept sending appreciative glances- that were not all that appreciated, to Hari's vicinity, and failed to initiate benign small-talk at every opportunity available.

Li-Anne found it all very amusing to watch the younger woman squirm. From what she could gather, Hari had been quite sheltered; the only man in her life being her father and then the despicable oaf who burnt down her family business- though the previous crime could not be proven. Watching Hari fumble around Lucien, an older and interested- if a little… odd, party, was enough to forget all of the times Hari had managed to test her patience in the short four hours they'd been sailing together.

And there had been a lot of patience-testing moments.

"Lucien!" A lilting voice called. The trio walking to the Town Hall halted; Lucien's body stiffened to likeness of stone. "Lucien, I was just on my way to see you."

"Cana," the man hissed, shooting panicked glances to the two travellers with him.

'Cana' could not have been more than sixteen, and the complete opposite of the man she was trying desperately to draw into her willowy arms. Where she was small and lithe, with dextrous hands and luscious, long flowing, light brown hair, he was tall and bulky; his nose was crooked and hooked, his hair slick and dark. His features were pointed, and hers rounded and dainty- his eyes heavy lidded and a rapacious yellow-green, while Cana's were wide and bright.

"I missed you, and Daddy was being awful. So I snuck out!" The girl chirped, her cheeks dimpling. Lucien managed to sneak a covert look at Hari, who watched the scene with veiled interest. The glance was not missed by Cana, who cleared her throat expectantly.

"My darrrrrling, I missed you too," Lucien replied robotically. "But I am in need of yourrrr fatherrrr's assistance with these two; they arrrrrre new to the island, my love."

Cana's dazzling smile twisted, tears glazed her eyes: "But I only just escaped the house- I thought you'd want to spend time with me," she said pointedly, eyes locking with Hari's.

"Everrrrry moment I spend away frrrrom yourrrr beauty pains me, Cana, but as a citizen of Pastello Island I have a duty to these newcomerrrrrrs to guide them," Cana seemed to swallow his excuse, and slipped her slim hand in his.

"I'm sure that Daddy will be able to help them," she reached up on tip-toe to kiss his shadowed cheek, "I shall lead you there!"

She pulled Lucien along with her, who mournfully stared back over his broad shoulder at a bemused Li-Anne and Hari.

"Well, that was…" Li-Anne smacked her childishly plump lips together.

"'Interesting'?" Hari supplied.

Li-Anne made a sound of agreement, "That too, but I was thinkin' more along the lines of 'overly clingy'."

Lucien cast another sad look at the pair. Cana noticed, and tugged on his arm hard enough that an audible crack could be heard, even from where Hari and Li-Anne were standing. The pair winced, and Lucien provided them another pleading puppy-dog look.

"Shouldn't we be following them?" Hari asked.

"Eh, I guess so," Li-Anne shrugged.


Chieftain Coquelicot, as Hari and Li-Anne soon came to understand, was very protective of his daughter. He had noticed her missing, having knocked on the door with a platter of her favourite foods in hand as a white flag; the melodramatic gentle swaying of the voiles surrounding her balcony window revealing an all to empty room and one successful escape attempt.

Having gone spare at finding his daughter gone, Coquelicot scoured the whole house, then the gardens, and to Cana's mortification… the streets.

"Carnation! Remove yourself from that heathen's arm this instance!" The Chieftain roared himself red in the face.

Lucien was all too happy to slip out of Cana's arm-crunching hold and sidled behind Li-Anne and Hari, who had caught the 'happy' couple up.

"Honestly, Dad, you're so annoying," Cana flipped her caramel-brown locks over her bird-like shoulder, "I'll see you soon dahrrrrling~"

She blew a kiss to Lucien, who caught it clumsily. Both of the travelling duo's faces crumpled up in humour at the teen's imitation of her lover's rolling 'R''s. Cana skulked past her father and towards her home; the pastel-puce Town Hall.

"You won't be seeing him again in this lifetime!" The Chieftain commanded at her retreating form, "As if I would let my precious Little Flower be snatched away by this wolf in sheep's clothing."

Lucien's eye's narrowed dangerously, and he smirked; "You know perrrrrfectly wherrrre my interrrrests lie, Sirrrrr."

The Chief inclined his head, sizing up the other man.

Cana scoffed from hallway across the house's threshold; "With me, obviously." She turned to Lucien expectantly, who gave her a strained smile.

"Go inside, Carrrrrna, yourrrr fatherrrrr and I must talk." The girl did as Lucien bid, while the Chieftain hissed and spat in the background; positively narked off by the fact that his daughter wouldn't listen to him but hung off of every word that spilt from her (greasy, good for nothing, scummy, 'I don't trust him- people who are trustworthy don't purr!', free-loading, low-life) boyfriend's mouth.

"Sirrrrrr," Lucien began tentatively, "These two ladies arrrre new to the island. They wish to know morrrrrre about Pastello- I thought it best forrrr them to meet you. Ladies, this is Chieftain Coquelicot, leaderrrr of Pastello Island."

Chieftain Coquelicot was a squat man with peppered curling grey hair. The wiry texture had turned as silvery as precious metals by his temples. His skin was tanned from hours spent working under the sun when inspiration hit. Kind lines marred his forehead and lower face, and his eye's crinkled when he smiled and laughed- both actions which were becoming rarer during the latter part of his reign as his only daughter grew older. The tropically patterned shirt (in wishy-washy purple and soft yellow) was neatly pressed and buttoned, and paired with relaxed beige trousers befitting a man in his late fifties. The rubbery beach sandals on his feet creaked as his toes curled inwards when Lucien smirked and left.

"I despise that man," Coquelicot confided in them, as though it wasn't already apparent that there was conflict between the two. "He turned up out of the blue about two years ago, when my Little Flower was fourteen or so. Wanted to settle down here, and is far too interesting in trying to know more about our skills and the technology we make."

Coquelicot directed them inside his home, "Of course, he only began to notice Carnation when she turned sixteen. It's the only thing that's kept me from leathering him before now, that he knew when it was appropriate to approach her."

Hari knew she would regret asking this; "Why? How old is he?"

Coquelicot 's foot stomped onto the marble flooring in the hallway, causing a foot-shaped dent to appear in the surface. One of many, if the patching on the floor had any say. "Twenty-six," the Chieftain bit out.

"Oh wow," Li-Anne said flippantly as Hari hid her face behind her hands, "Ten years is… ah, um… 'Wow'?"

The Chief smoothed down his wiry hair, it having come uncurled in his rage. He coughed; "Ah, you wished to know more about the island?"

Li-Anne stepped forwards, "Yes, we've only just entered the Grand Line you see, and my guidebook on the islands has a few gaps in its knowledge- it's quite a few years out of date you see…"

"You're pirates then?" Coquelicot inquired, brightening at the prospect.

"No!" Li-Anne vehemently denied.

"Yes, actually," Hari chimed.

The two shared a pointed look, silently communicating through snarling teeth (Li-Anne), and worried, wide eyes (Hari).

"Yes, we are pirates-" Li-Anne began, nodding her head.

"No, no, pirates? Pfffsh! I couldn't 'Pirate' even if my life were at stake!" Hari laughed apprehensively.

When the two turned to look at one another with equally betrayed glowers, Chieftain Coquelicot howled with laughter:

"Pirates or not, I like the pair of you. Feel free to ask me about the island as much as possible. Darling?" The Chief called, "We've got guests!"

"Oh my!" A tall, bird-like woman exclaimed rounding the corner. She bore a striking resemblance to Cana; the greying caramel-brown hair hung loose and long to her collar bones, straight as a pin except for the two fat curls that spiralled away from her shoulders and up to her chin like the colourful lollipops Hari has seen children snacking on around Logue Town. Rosy strings of pearls adorned her neck and dangled from her earlobes. Her features were fine and elegant, only a few laughter lines and creases folding on her face as she smiled prettily. It appeared that Cana had inherited her mother's beauty, but also her father's height; the Chieftan's wife towered over him. Cana had also inherited her father's small nose, for her mother's hooked like the beak of an exotic bird.

"Darling, I'd like you to meet…?"

"I am Li-Anne, and this is Hari," Li-Anne stuck a thumb out to Hari's general direction; the girl was still wondering if this was Coquelicot 's term of endearment for his wife or literally the woman's name.

"It is lovely to meet you, we so rarely receive guests- please, call me Darling," The woman- Darling, Hari mentally corrected (because it was her name after all), smiled again; her eyes glowing with happiness. "Dear, why didn't you tell me they were coming," Darling admonished her husband.

He shifted under the warm look she shot him, "I didn't know, my love. He brought them to the door, along with Carnation."

Darling sighed and clasped her hands under her chin forlornly, "That girl… what are we to do with her?"

Coquelicot squoze his wife's forearm tenderly- it was the only appropriate place he could reach, considering her lofty height. Hari and Li-Anne fidgeted awkwardly and looked away from the touching scene of two troubled parents with a tearaway teenager daughter in love to watch over.

Darling gasped, her erect spine straightening out more, if possible. "Tea!" Her eyes widened, "I'll go and make a pot-"

With that, she dashed away.

Chieftain Coquelicot grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He directed the pair of half-hearted pirates to a seating area, and prompted them for their questions:

"We stopped at a bar before coming here," Hari told the Chief, "And the barwoman gave us a tray that self-regulated the temperature of the drinks until we had finished with them and the glassed were empty."

"Miriam's always been good at tinkering with her bar equipment. The tray she gave you she whipped up in a snap a few years back, when we had this horrid turn of hot weather- she's a right dab hand, though most people are on this island. Couldn't do anything but sit and try and drink something cold, that is, if you could get one before the damn sun made it lukewarm," Coquelicot told them, frowning as he recalled one of the previous summers.

"Surely it can't have been that bad?" Li-Anne was sceptical.

"We lost Trev that year. Poor bloke spent three hours outside lost in his own plans, and dropped out of absolute heat exhaustion. Nice chap he was too."

Hari's face was a perfect mask of horror. Li-Anne decided it was in both of their interests if she didn't ask in depth about how dangerous the local climate could be: "You said Miriam 'invented' her tray; what do you mean by that? Surely somethin' like that would be commercial by now, it'd certainly sell."

Chieftain Coquelicot chortled; "Pastello Island's inhabitants- those born here with one parent already from the island, that is, are all gifted. We don't know how we do it, but it's as though there is a fuse lit in our heads from a young age. When the fuse runs down, there's an explosion!"

The Chief's hands suddenly spread wide, causing Hari to jump out of her seat: "Then we get these ideas. No one really knows where it comes from, or why, but they do and then things get invented."

"Only people born with one native parent though?" Li-Anne probed.

Coquelicot made a sound of affirmation, just as Darling smoothly laid a tea tray onto a small serving table. "It seems that way; but we don't really hear from people who emigrate to elsewhere. The children brought up here see adults inventing all of the time, so it is natural that on top of the innate skills passed down they would learn to fine tune their abilities."

Darling poured equal measures of pleasantly floral scented tea into a fragile pastel patterned cups and handed one to Hari.

"How long does a Log Pose take to register here?" Li-Anne asked, as Darling handed the woman her own cup.

"About four days," Chieftain Coquelicot reeled off, and without further ado he began to spout about the history of Pastello Island with pride. Hari leant forward and sipped her tea, listening intently.

"Excuse me," Li-Anne whispered loudly as Darling made to sit by her husband. The woman leant down closer to Li-Anne, who tapped the rim of her tea cup; "Would you happen to have any gin I could pour in here?"

"Oh my!" Darling covered her mouth with a slender hand, "Are you not a little young for something so strong?"

Li-Anne shrugged; "The kid next to me maybe, but I'm thirty-two."

"Oh my, oh my!" Darling giggled, "How do you stay so fresh looking?"

"Honestly, I couldn't begin to know in order to tell you. It sure surprises people though, when the pre-teen lookin' shrimp can drink like a fish and them under the table." Li-Anne continued mulishly; "I wish I could have stopped growin' at about eighteen instead though; people might take me a little more seriously then."

Darling patted the woman's shoulder; "People believe that I'm only a pretty face, never mind the fact that I made the most potent Government-sought defensive weapon on this island. My husband married me for a reason, after all."

The women smiled wryly at each other; it seems they had struck an accord.

"I'll see about that gin," Darling said.


Finally escaping from Chieftain Coquelicot 's lecture, a slightly sautéed Li-Anne had to be carried by Hari back to Junky.

"Roger, that man could drone on- I don't know how Lin-Lin -hic-," since this was the overly affectionate name a drunken Li-Anne had dubbed Darling with, "-puts up with -hic- him."

"You're a very mean drunk, do you know that?" Hari said as Li-Anne took fistfuls of Hari's short brown hair into her small fists and began to tug on them like a horse's reins.

"Feh!" Li-Anne puffed.

"There was no need to make him cry; he was being very helpful, and the island's history is very interesting."

"I've got nearly three more days of gettin' wasted enough to block him out," Li-Anne planned out loud, fists tightening around Hari's hair. "Lin-Lin will drink with me! She understands."

"Understands what exactly?" Hari muttered under her breath, wincing. For someone so small, she was definitely strong. Li-Anne, though buzzing from the gin, overheard her mumbling.

"What it's like to be un'dres… un… urghunderestimated," Hari could believe that Li-Anne's bottom lip was pushed out in sheer stubbornness, as the tone of her voice indicated childish whining when her gin-numbed tongue could properly function again. "Can you believe that she's responsible for inventin' most of the weaponry and defences on this island?"

Spotting Junky bobbing about in the harbour, Hari released an enormous sigh of relief; "Looks can certainly be deceiving, Li-Anne. You surely wouldn't be mistaken for a woman in her thirties, and Darling seemed like, well, a darling."

Hari pulled Li-Anne aboard Junky with little patience, and let the older woman topple onto the deck in an inebriated heap.

"Can you believe this body of mine?" Li-Anne slurred, her slim index fingers poking at her plump, flushed cheeks and dimples; "I look thirteen- Mariejois! I get pimples still at my age."

"How interesting," Hari said, unenthusiastically.

Unknown to the two women, a figure shaded by the night's shadows had overheard their conversation. He- the figure, grinned and pulled a baby Den-Den Mushi from the billowing sleeves of his white shirt.

The Den-Den Mushi's dialling tone cut off with a sharp click as the receiver was picked up.

"Report," a voice garbled through the tiny snail's mouth.

"I have some interrrrrresting news forrr you, Sirrrr. The girrrrls motherrrr is a specialist in crrrrreating weaponrrry- if I could-"

"Forget the mother," the voice crackled, "Bring the girl. She will be easier to deal with."

"As you wish, Sirrrrr."


Over the course of the next two days Hari leant many things about life on the Grand Line. The first was that the weather conditions could change at the drop of a hat:

On their second day at Pastello Island, Hari and Li-Anne had spent most of their time at Miriam's bar just for something to do as the rain poured down. Miriam's serving trays kept their hot drinks toasty warm, and the amiable elderly barkeep was only too happy to provide Li-Anne with a little tipple to pour into her spiced tea; her reaction similar to Darling's about Li-Anne's age and appearance.

Hari also learnt that the smell of burnt-out motorised boat permeated through everything, so many of the doors on Junky were left wide open when the weather cleared to try and rid the ship of the stench.

On the third day, though the ground and air felt damp and heavy, the duo explored the island. Li-Anne made sure to pick up a few perishables that would hopefully keep in Junky's refrigerator until the next island. Hari found a small shop that sold household supplies, and purchased a small handy-to-have-nearby sewing kit. The needles weren't the best grade compared to the one's in the kit in her own bag- which she had left on Junky, but they would serve as replacements should others go missing or get broken.

The third day, shopping trip aside, was spent with Chieftain Coquelicot and Darling; the couple had sent them an invitation for dinner, and Li-Anne accepted. Free food and booze was not to be sniffed at, according to Li-Anne. Hari voiced some complaint, knowing that Carnation would also be present at the dinner table. The teenager had sent Hari approximately seventy-eight withering glances to count, though Hari wasn't sure about what she had done to earn such looks.

"Her 'boyfriend' givin' you the eye isn't reason enough to go on the defensive?" Li-Anne questioned when the pair's conversation turned to that precise topic.

"I can understand that, but I didn't exactly encourage him," was Hari's muffled response as she struggled to pull another skimpy Doskoi Panda shirt over her head.

"See, this is why I told you not to trust a man who purrs; they come with problems that differ than the ones with their speech." Li-Anne surveyed Hari's outfit, which revealed far too much of her midriff than the young woman in question would have liked. "I think we need to get you some new clothes…"

"I think so too," Hari agreed mournfully. "You look very nice though."

Li-Anne had dusted off a pink tea-dress from the back of her wardrobe. She kept her fluffy trademark pigtails and heavy boots though, in order to look every bit the rebellious princess. On later reflection, Hari wasn't sure why she strapped her portable sewing kit to her belt. Perhaps so she could work on something if dinner got too awkward at the Town Hall, or if Cana became overbearing. The familiar weight by her right hip soothed her, as did the key to Argyle's hung around her neck. The other keys on the ring were still in the memory box, a dull, heavy reminder as to what she had lost recently.

Dinner was exceptionally awkward, though Darling was cordial as ever; but she had taken Hari's sewing kit away from her on the doorstep with an intrigued expression, panicking Hari somewhat. The young woman had thought she'd committed a social faux pas, but when Darling joined the dinner table some time later and placed the kit beside Hari again, her smile was serene if somewhat sorry for having taken the kit away in the first place. It contrasted greatly from Chieftan Coquelicot and Carnation's own stormy facades. The tension during the starter course was thick enough to saw through with steak knife, but reached its peak as the main course was served.

"So you would invite riff-raff to dine with us, but not the love of my life?" Cana sniffed.

"Over my dead body will that man be allowed into this house," Coquelicot flung back.

"That can be arranged, urrgh!" The Chief's daughter snarled, grasping her dessert spoon tightly. Her chair scraped back inelegantly, and the teen threw the spoon harshly to the table top before she flounced upstirs to her room.

Thick tears began to roll down Chieftain Coquelicot 's face, which he covered with his gnarled hands. Darling rubbed her husband's back as he began to sob.

"Where did I go so wrong raising my little girl?" The husband asked his wife. "Where? Can I ever put it right?"

As Darling looked too unsure to answer the man plainly, or didn't know where the tracks had derailed herself, Hari cleared her throat:

"My own father passed away not long ago," she said to the couple, "And there are so many things I wish I could say to him that I hadn't when he was still alive. Would he be okay with me just upping and leaving when someone burnt down the business he had built from scratch? I don't know, he'd probably be livid with me for abandoning it. What he would be happy with about my decision to do so is that for the first time in a while I am genuinely happy."

Li-Anne looked up from her emptying dinner plate in surprise. Hari had always seemed more reserved in the scant few days she had known her in Li-Anne's own opinion; her smiles always falling short.

"I'm not as happy as I could be, but I'm getting there," Li-Anne snorted; she had her answer. "But it was my own decision to sail out with Li-Anne- mine, and mine alone. If this venture ends badly, then on my own head so be it. But for the most part, this past week I've smiled and laughed more that I had in the three years since Da' passed away."

"Is that why you turned to piracy?" Coquelicot queried.

"M'not ah pi'wrate," Hari protested, mouth full of the creamy chicken Darling had cooked for the main course. She chewed and cleared her throat; "Yet."

"Exactly," Li-Anne drawled, "What kind of pirate ship doesn't have a Jolly Roger or a designated Captain?"

"Ours, considering we left in such a rush," Hari returned as she dabbed at her lips with a napkin. "But to answer your question, no. I honestly thought Li-Anne was joking about the pirate thing. Turned out she wasn't, and I'm in it for the long-haul now. More importantly than that, what I'm trying to say is that Carnation is at the age where she's ready to make her own mistakes and that you must let her do so."

Darling clasped her hands together over her heart; "Even if it will break her heart?"

"Even then," Li-Anne nodded.

The pudding that Darling served was delicious, even if those eating it were somewhat subdued.


When the sun rose on the fourth morning Li-Anne and Hari spent at Pastello Island, it was to the chorus of ripping seems:

"I don't care about your stupid grudge with that lard-tub," Li-Anne growled, "It's bad enough that my boat stinks like a bonfire, but I swear on Gol D. Roger's grave if I have to hear you try and fail to put on another Doskoi Panda shirt without it rippin' at the seams, I will murder you Hari."

Li-Anne held up the pathetic remains of three other shirts; "What did you steal this shit for again? For cryin' out loud, your room is across the hall and I could still catch the stiches poppin'! Some people are trying to sleep at five in the mornin', unlike you Doskoi Panda-nabbin' early-bird freaks!"

The woman rasped unintelligibly about cheap, mass produced clothing as she stomped her way across the hall back to bed. Hari salvaged what remained of the shirt she was currently wearing, and made herself a light breakfast in Junky's kitchen. She nibbled on sliced fruit on the deck, watching the pastel tones of the sunrise.

Scrubbing her hands together to remove some sticky fruit juice, she stretched and murmured to herself: "Right, clothes time."

She slid the lid from the top of the memory box in her room and took out a handful Belis; she hoped that it could buy her some affordable, sturdy clothes. A quick look at the clock however, told Hari that it was still far too early for any shops to be open, so she waited on the deck for a few more hours.

Not an awful lot happened that was interesting, she noted, having snaffled Li-Anne's pair of kiddy-binoculars to peruse the local scenery. A small fishing boat made its way offshore, a large ship with a navy coloured 'M' could be spotted in the distance, and Lucien had been stood on the beach for about ten minutes now; staring at both her and the large ship in the distance.

Hari chose then to retreat below deck to hide from the man until it was an appropriate time to go shopping. Li-Anne was still snoring away when Hari emerged; the sun high enough to cast lengthy shadows on the dappled pastel ground. The beach was vacant, Lucien having disappeared. Hari breathed a sigh of relief. She tied her sewing kit to her belt, and placed the folded wad of Beli's inside it. The pom-pom charm attached to the flap jangled as she patted the side of the kit reassuringly.

When Hari found a suitable store, she set to work trailing through the stacks of clothes and hanging rails. She took the items she wanted to the store's clerk, paid and inquired whether she could use their changing room.

Sometime later, Hari slid back the lock on the changing room door; happy with her appearance. Her ripped Doskoi Panda shirt had been replaced with what the clerk called a 'baseball tee'- whatever than meant, Hari wasn't sure, but the main body of the shirt remained white while the sleeves and collar were a faded magenta pink. The gaudy trousers she had been wearing were swapped for denim bell-shaped shorts and horizontally stripped green and purple leggings. Pink sneakers- the only items from Doskoi Panda that hadn't disintegrated so far unlike the strappy sandals, remained on her feet; Hari having forgotten she had nabbed the pair, and that she could have used the cheap pair of shoe's laces to make her necklace instead of the one's on her own pair. Hari had taken a strip from the torn green shirt she had been wearing and wrapped it around her head underneath the bulk of her hair. She tied it with a chunky knot on the top of her head, and smoothed out her full fringe.

"Not too shabby," she muttered, catching her new appearance in a nearby mirror.

She made sure to dump her old clothes responsibly in a bin outside of the clothing store. Li-Anne was right; she didn't know why she had bothered to steal the clothes from Doskoi Panda. Probably because they weren't worth buying in the first place.


Carnation's morning had been anything but successful. She had flounced away from dinner and spent the night in her room, hungry and alone. Cana had slept fitfully; her gurgling tummy and swirling thoughts keeping her wide awake. She knew she had no reason to be jealous or fearful, so why had Lucien been so attached to one of the travellers- the brunette one?

Was not Cana also brunette?

Was she not better than some lowly piece of drift wood that had drawn up on shore?

Surely she was! She needed to know, needed affirmation. Lucien had always been so attentive, and Cana knew she was lucky to have gained the affections of a man ten years her senior. He had caught her during the midst of an idea upon his arrival to Pastello, and they had begun to talk.

She had been fourteen at the time, but as she grew older and more familiar with him, the more she grew to like and became conscious of the fact that he was a 'Man'. Someone she as a woman could definitely appreciate. Perhaps it was silly of her, at sixteen, to presume that he would be the love of her life- but Lucien had been the one to pursue her, to open her eyes to this wonderment called 'love'. She trusted him, had bared her heart to him, but she couldn't open her mind.

Carnation, daughter of Coquelicot and Darling, hadn't invented a single thing since Lucien had called her his own and stole the most precious of kisses. Her first. It was a piece of fiction, a fairy tale made flesh, but Cana had been cursed by that man's lips.

Lucien was growing desperate.

He was fascinated by how the natives of Pastello Island could intuitively create something with there are hands and limited materials. It was as though they did it unconsciously, like a switch being flipped in their head that told them not to think, but instead do. He wondered how much the World Government would be able to achieve with a team of intuitive creators on their side. Total domination? Complete control of the masses? Perhaps the total eradication of those who chose to abandon the law?

Lucien had noticed Cana; he wormed his way closer, hoping to befriend the girl and learn the secret to Pastello Island's success. The Chieftain was loathe to trade outside of the islands bounds; inventions made by the natives were one of a kind and not easily replicated- the intuition did not stretch to comprehension, only a desire to build- no matter if the creation was unstable or successful.

The girl falling in love with him had been an unwanted, yet useful coincidence. Young and in love, Carnation had been easy to manipulate. He drew closer to her, as she spilt secrets from her pouting lips like a flowing stream. His superiors told him to exploit her attachment; perhaps in a few years she would fall for his charm even further, and he would be blessed with a child he could deliver to the World Government- as the skills of those native to the island only passed down to their children raised on Pastello.

Coquelicot had been another unwanted obstruction. Lucien's plan to pursue Cana had not had the desired effect on the Chieftain, who had seen through it as a ploy but would not reveal the truth to his daughter, in fear of breaking her heart.

It was foolish, Lucien thought as he threw a stone at the glass door of Cana's balcony; had he done so, perhaps Lucien could have bowed out and labelled his attempts a failure to his superiors. Having events escalate so far meant there was no turning back now. He was to take the girl away today on the ship, failure was not an option after two years of scheming. To fail would be to disgrace himself.

Cana's heart lurched when she heard the first stone connect with the glass door. When the second one made contact, she flew out of bed and whipped open the door like a woman possessed.

"Lucien!" She cried breathlessly, hanging over the wrought iron railings of the balcony.

"Cana," the man purred, backlit by the early morning light. "Come down, my darrrrrling."

Cana clutched a hand in the skirt of her long white nightdress; "But I'm not decent…"

"I missed you, Cana. I do not carrre what you arrrre wearrrring," Lucien's throat warbled uncertainly, as though it were to rebel against his falsity, "You will always be beautiful to me, even if you werrrre to wearrrrr potato sacks forrr eterrrrnity."

Cana's eyebrows raised sceptically at the analogy, though her face flushed at his compliment. Her hands released the scrunched silky material, and smoothed out the frilly edged skirt.

Lucien was still waxing poetic; "I fearrrrr I cannot live without you by my side, afterrrr trrrying to distance myself frrrrrom you- because you arrrrre so young still, but I am afrrrraid I cannot do that any longerrrr."

Though that did explain Lucien's recent strange behaviour, his desire to be apart from her and looking for her in another woman's features- like the brunette riff-raff traveller, Cana wasn't entirely sure what his not being able to live without her meant. Was is purely romantic gesture? Did it affect his health? She decided to ask:

"What do you mean?" Cana leant forward over the balcony railings.

"Rrrrrrun away with me, Cana. Yourrrr fatherrrr is trrrying to keep us aparrrrt- and I cannot live without you," Lucien extended his arms beckoning her, and looking slightly green in the face; "Rrrrrun away with me, and I will take you as my wife; my one and only."

Cana felt her mouth drop open and tears pull to her eyes. "Oh Lucien…"

She bit her lip and shook her head. Though she did not always gel with her father in recent times, she was still expected to be his successor in the near future- and lead Pastello Island in his stead. "What about my parents?"

"We can always come back and visit, my love," Lucien shrugged and Cana caved.

"Okay then." She threw her legs over the railings and fell into his waiting arms.


Hari took a gentle stroll back to the harbour, appreciating her new clothes. The denim shorts had little yellow pom-poms sewn onto the hems on at the legs. They jiggled as she walked, and tickled her legs through her stockings.

Smiling so widely that she was forced to close her eyes in unadulterated happiness, Hari approached Junky in the hopes of simply climbing aboard. What she discovered on opening her eyes again made her stop and think again.

Li-Anne sweating bullets near the head of her ship as she stared at a Marine vessel wasn't what Hari expected. The elder woman clocked Hari standing on the sand, and her expression promised pain. With a wince, Hari scrambled aboard.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a Marine ship in the area!" Li-Anne hissed, grabbing the front of Hari's new t-shirt so she could closely intimidate the younger woman.

"In my defence, I didn't know it was a Marine ship, and it was a long way off from here- also, you were asleep. I didn't dare wake you after the DP-incident."

Li-Anne seemed to take this into consideration, cocking her head to one side. The seams of Doskoi Panda clothing ripping had made her plenty angry.

"Your binoculars were that shitty I could only make out the giant seagull shape on the side of the ship anyway," Hari continued, and Li-Anne's eye twitched in irritation.

"Well even if they are shitty, go fetch 'em and keep an eye on everythin' while I go and dress," Li-Anne snarled.

Sighing Hari brought the binoculars and altered their intensity to her own eyes. The Marine ship had a few officers walking around on deck. Li-Anne, now appropriately attired, tugged on Hari's arm:

"What's goin' on out there?"

"See for yourself," Hari handed her the binoculars. "None of them look like they're in charge, so I don't know where their senior officer is."

"I'm impressed," Li-Anne drawled, "You're right though; I can't see a big wig in a coat out there. There's no-one on the beach either- wait, I spoke too soon."

"Oh! Let me see! Let me see!" Hari cried. When the binoculars were offered to her, she took one glance and gasped.

Li-Anne smirked, "See, this is why I told you never to trust a man who purrs."

Cana thought this was all very romantic, being carried through the quiet streets of Pastello Island in her nightdress, cradled in Lucien's arms.

The man in question was grim faced, and his features hardened further as his feet hit the beach and spotted the Marine ship docked adjacent to the two travellers' own vessel. Those on the deck of the Marine ship brightened and began to call him home when he and Cana were spotted.

"Lucien…" Cana whispered, "How do those men know you?"

"Ah… they arrrrrre old acquaintances," he uttered back, and tightened his hold on her body. He had come this far, and Mariejois be damned if he threw it all away.

"Are they going to take us elsewhere- is that why you asked me to come with you?" Cana insisted.

"Not entirrrrrely," Lucien began, irritation rising.

"Oh, so you were just going to leave and not tell me then?" Cana fumed, she struggled out of his hold and dropped to the sand. "Do you love me so little?"

The tether of Lucien's temper snapped; "Yes, I despise you little girrrrl. But you arrrrre necessarrrrry forrrr my success, and I will not fail because of you!"

Shocked, Carnation trembled. He roughly grabbed her arm and began to drag the teen towards the Marine ship.

"Well, what do you know," Lucien halted, gritting his teeth in anger. "Apparently there are people stupid enough to carry out kidnapping attempts in broad daylight."

"You…" Lucien ground.

"Me," Hari pointed to the printed emblem on her baseball tee- coincidently, a pair of scissors and the caption: 'Snip', which meant she just definitely had to buy it.

Lucien wrapped an arm around Cana's waist and cinched her closer. "Would you please move, we'rrrrre late to leave the island. Cana has agrrrrreeed to marrrrrrrrrrrrrry me."

Hidden slightly behind the man and starting to realise she may have made a colossal mistake; Carnation shook her head frantically. Hari caught the girl's eyes and smiled.

"Your blushing bride doesn't seem so sure about taking wedding vows, and you haven't even invited her family to attend the ceremony- let alone told anyone you're leaving via Marine ship. Shocking, I thought you'd allow Darling to come at least." Hari's eyes widened; "Li-Anne? Why don't you go and fetch the mother of the bride?"

"On it!" Li-Anne grinned devilishly.

"Yourrrr efforrrrts to detain me arrre valiant, but I'm afrrrraid this is werrre yourrrr endeavourrrr ends," Lucien purred.

"Seriously, have you got a problem or something?" Hari asked. "All of the rolled R's are a bit distracting…"

Lucien snarled; "You die: now!"

He withdrew a gun from his billowing shirt sleeves and sent a shot Hari's way. She dived to the floor on hearing the gun fire, and having dodged a bullet (quite literally) spat sand from her mouth unattractively.

"For fu-" Hari looked at Cana unsurely, "-forks sake, you could have taken my head off with that!"

"That was the plan," Lucien muttered. One Marine had descended from the ship. As he drew closer, Lucien threw Carnation to him. The girl stumbled and fell. "Take herrrr to the ship."

"Sir?"

"Take herrrrr to the ship and do not interrrrrferrrre- no matterrrr what happens next. I will join you shorrrrtly."

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

Hari watched as the Marine led Carnation away, though the girl tried pitifully to escape; kicking out her legs and attempting to bite the officer with her dainty teeth. Hari then turned her apprehensive gaze to Lucien:

"I am Marrrrrine Commodorrrrre Lucien, stationed at the entrrrrrance of Grrrrrand Line. I will not fail my assignment herrrre, not afterrrr these two long yearrrrrs of torrrture- not even to keep frrrrrom marrrring yourrrr prrrrrety face." Lucien pulled a throwing knife from his shirtsleeves and wrapped his fingers firmly around the handle. The hand holding the gun ran across the top of his head, smoothing the slicked black hair and dangerously posturing the gun.

Alarmed, as Lucien was now holding two weapons which could be used against her at any given time, Hari grimaced. Her mind raced over how she could possibly defend herself; hands patting her sides nervously. She stilled as her fingers glanced against her sewing kit.

Discreetly, she dipped her hand inside and withdrew a small sewing needle from the pin cushion in the bag; a needle which she had used only when customers requested items made of leather. It's curved shape pierced through the fabric effortlessly, and was handy when she reached awkward shaped seams. The strangest feeling washed over Hari; a torrid of excitement and restless energy. It was as though a switch had been flipped, a button pressed, or a candle lit. Like a captured bird in a cage released after so long and soaring high- no, higher than thought possible. Hari embraced it. The needle clutched by her fingertips grew exponentially in size.

"I thank you for the compliment, I've never been considered pretty before," Hari bravely told Lucien, her knees knocking from the barest amount of fear. "But I cannot let you take her away so selfishly. Not without good reason."

"The technology of Pastello Island could save countless lives- I must complete the task given to me by my superrrriors. Who arrrrre you to stop me!" Lucien growled.

"I am Hari. I think I might be a pirate- not sure, but I might be. I'm afraid I'm going to kick your arse if you're only going to hurt Carnation," her eyes narrowed, and she tightened her grip on the enlarged needle which was roughly the size and shape of a cutlass. Lucien smirked, and readied himself to attack. "I may not like the brat, and she also dislikes me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let her be ripped away from everyone she loves and get her heart broken by you of all people!"

"CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRNAAAAAAAAAAAAAATIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNN!"

Chieftain Coquelicot careered past the two about to duel towards the Marine ship. Hari and Lucien stared at him numbly as he tore through the layers of the ship in search of his daughter.

"Oh my," Darling stuttered, clasping her hands sweetly, "Did we interrupt something?"

Lucien ground his teeth as Li-Anne waved to Hari: "I brought them!"

"… So I see," Hari replied dazedly. The Chief, having battled his way through Lucien's men, brought Carnation back down to the beach. He ushered the girl towards her mother and Li-Anne, glancing venomously at Lucien. Carnation's hand was clamped in her fathers, and he tightly squeezed back in tentative reassurance.

"It matterrrrs not," Lucien purred, his eyes sparking dangerously, "If you have brrrrought them orrr if that fool has managed to rrrrrescue herrrr. Nothing will stand in the way of my duty to the Worrrrrld Goverrrrnment and Absolute Justice. I'll slaughterrrrr you all on the sand and simply pluck herrr frrrrrrom yourrr dead fingerrrrrrrs!"

He flung his knife at Hari's forehead. With only split seconds to spare, Hari managed to drag the cutlass needle in front of her, blocking the knife's path. It connected with her blade with an almighty clang and bounced away onto the sand uselessly. Now, only the gun remained in Lucien's hand, and he yowled, cocking it before him and straight at Hari's heart.

Hari began to panic as the needle began to shrink- this time to the length of a standard crochet hook, nearly six inches long. She bounded into action, her plan obscure.

Hari was a tailor. She was the daughter of a master tailor from a long line of those who had been in the same business, and she had been making clothes for people since her father judged her stitches and pattern following perfect. Nothing less would have appeased Argyle, who's skill, knowledge and customer service were impeccable.

Sand kicked up under her feet as she began to sprint across the short distance between her and Lucien. The Commander's finger tightened on the trigger, ready to shoot.

"Kick his arse!" Li-Anne bellowed; the others stood with her looking grave. Carnation buried her head in the patterned shirt on her father's chest; unshed tears of unadulterated anger and hurt pooling in her eyes. Coquelicot grasped the girl's shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He would have liked to have forced her to watch- to see the man who had fooled her heart taken down. But he could not do it. His Little Flower was in pain, and this was one of the ways he could help her through heartbreak.

Hari knew the human body extensively; she had to know in order to understand how clothes could make a person. Argyle had given her anatomical lessons and biology textbooks since she was little; she could gauge a person's fitting without a tape measure- her eyes being the only precise form of measurement she needed, since the age of seven. So she knew the body; knew every singly last nook and cranny.

Including the pressure points.

A sharp bang sounded as Lucien fired the gun, but Hari was now close enough to see his intention and manoeuvre out of the way before his fingers fully wrapped around the trigger. The needle jabbed into the pressure point on his neck with utmost accuracy.

Lucien, the purring Marine Commodore, stationed at the entrance of Grand Line and under orders to obtain the secrets of Pastello Island… dropped out like a light.


"Is it just me," Li-Anne said as she spun her new toy in the air, "Or did that fight seem really anticlimactic, Kiddo."

They had been waiting for the remainder of the day after the fight that morning for their Log Pose to set, and had invited the Chieftain and his family on-board Junky until it was time to leave.

None of the fellow islanders had noticed the scuffle, and the family agreed to keep it under lock and keep, to prevent an uproar. Lucien's men had scraped their Commodore off of the beach and scarpered. Carnation was hurting, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle after her heart healed in time. One's first love was always the most difficult to move away from, and hers had been much more of a dramatic turn-out than in general.

Darling admitted to tinkering with Hari's sewing kit; her sewing and knitting needles, crochet hooks, pins, cotton reels, ribbons and balls of yarn (all of which were crammed inside the small sewing kit, which had an admittedly larger interior) were now lethal. They responded to her intent, of all things: so if Hari willed the items to become weapons, they would do their best to aid her. Similarly, if she wished to disarm herself or lost confidence in her attack like with Lucien earlier, the weapons would shrink to their original scale. This epiphany had led to Li-Anne also receiving a weapon from Pastello Islands chief deterrent creator, Darling.

Watching Li-Anne spin the giant pink mallet- disproportionately bigger than the older woman, Hari smiled; "I thought so too, but then again, would you rather it have dragged on and ended up with more serious injuries?"

"Scarily pragmatic," Li-Anne mumbled. "How long do you think it'll be now, Lin-Lin?"

Darling looked up from where she was painting on a black piece of fabric, "It shouldn't be too long now, Annie. They'll be finished by the time the Log Pose fully sets."

Chieftain Coquelicot had taken one look at his daughter when Li-Anne announced that Junky's gearbox was damaged, and disappeared below deck. Cana had raced off to their home; when she returned, she was carrying all sorts of materials, odd pieces of metal, and Coquelicot 's tool kit. She had looped a large bundle of electrical wire around her body.

There was one way the family could repay Hari and Li-Anne, and it was in the true Pastello Island fashion.

"That should do it," the Chief said, scrubbing his hands clean on an oily rag. Carnation descended from where she had been tampering above the masts. "The gear box was salvageable, but the power source you'd been using was, well, I don't know how to explain it. We've changed it anyway."

"Mm," Cana pointed to above the sails, where turbines could be seen whirring around already, "See those? They should now power the rechargeable battery in the ship, I think?"

"You 'think'?" Li-Anne bit.

"We're good at this kind of thing," Coquelicot shrugged, "But hell if we understand what we're doing."

Filled with all sorts of confidence, Li-Anne and Hair waved goodbye to the family. Darling handed Li-Anne the folded piece of black fabric she had been toying with before. She set it down on the deck as she reversed Junky out of the harbour, the new and improved motor humming brightly in the water.

"What's that?" Hari asked, picking up the bundle. She unfolded it, and laughed; "It looks like Darling wants us to go down the Piracy route then."

On the fabric, painted in clean white paint, was a skull. Behind it, lay a needle and a mallet- forming the crossbones. Snaking around them and the skull were vines; blossoms bloomed at certain intervals on the thorny loops. It was their own Jolly Roger, and it deserved pride of place at the top of the mast.

"Why don't you raise it, Captain?" Li-Anne intoned smoothly.

"Captain?!"

"Well, I'm already the Navigator, and the ship's Mechanic. I cook too, so I'm also the Chef. I've got too many roles already, and you've proved you can handle yourself in a fight… so why should I be the Captain as well?" Li-Anne didn't look at Hari as she said this; the tips of her ears were read.

"Li-Anne…" Hari's bottom lip wobbled, overcome by Li-Anne's brisk kindness.

"Raise the Raftel-damned flag already!" Li-Anne demanded.

The Log Pose had already begun to pull them towards another Island; as a result, Li-Anne let Junky drift in the steady current. She joined Hari in looking upwards, staring at their newly minted Jolly Roger.

"What do you suppose the flowers are for?" Hari wondered.

"Who knows," Li-Anne nodded indifferently.

They stared for a few minutes longer. Hari toyed with the key around her neck: "I'm a Pirate now, not just a tailor from Logue Town. There's no going back now is there?"

The new flag danced- whipped by the sea breeze. Li-Anne shook her head and smiled grimly. Hari brought the rest of the keys from her memory box and lobbed them off of the side of the ship; though she kept the front door key strung on a shoe lace round her neck. It was time to move forwards, after all.


"Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn […]"

– 'Shake it Out', Florence + the Machine


"Pom-Pom Pom!" – Arc One [END]


Arc One – Musical inspiration:


"Shake it Out" – Florence + the Machine, 'Ceremonials'

"I couldn't care less" – Leslie Clio, 'Gladys'

"Arsonist's Lullaby" – Hozier, 'Hozier'

"Prologue" – Two Steps from Hell, 'Colin Frake On Fire Mountain'

"Starfall" – Two Steps from Hell, 'Classics, Vol. 2'

"I'm Becoming the King of Pirates" – Kohei Tanaka and Shiro Hamaguchi, 'One Piece: Original Soundtrack'

"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" – Nico Vega, 'Lead to Light'

"Luffy's Sorrow" – Kohei Tanaka and Shiro Hamaguchi 'One Piece: Original Soundtrack'

"Snowy" – Toby 'Radiation' Fox, 'UnderTale: Soundtrack'

"Ura omote Lovers" – Wowaka, feat. Hastune Miku

"Housewife Radio" – GHOST, feat. GUMi English

"Killer Lady" – Hachioji-P, feat. GUMi


Author's Trivia:


1. I had a really good idea for a heroine who used household haberdashery as weaponry- hence Hari was born in my mind. 'One Piece' was of course the only irrational world she could be dropped in to; seeing as a woman wielding giant needles and balls of wool wouldn't be strange at all on Grand Line.

2. Hari translates to 'Needle' in Japanese. The degree of my Google Translate prowess is amazing, I swear.

3. Argyle, Hari's father, liked wearing Argyle sweaters (bet you didn't see that coming, eh?). He also liked thick knitted socks in the same style.

4. Pat is disturbing, and I have no idea where the idea for his character came from… this story needed a weakling antagonist to begin with and to kick-start proceedings, but hell, he makes me cringe!

5. "Doskoi Panda" is a clothing brand within 'One Piece', but "Heart Kreuz" belongs (that I know of,) in both Hiro Mashima's 'Rave Master' and 'Fairy Tail'.

6. Junk ships originate from China and were used as early as the 2nd century (AD, that is). I decided to name Li-Anne's ship 'Junky' because for one she looks like a child: why not have the same imaginative streak that causes children to name things by their, well, name? Plus, Junky's cute. Junky has a six-speed gear box like many modern luxury cars; don't ask me how that works on a ship, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it powers the propeller. Li-Anne had a bit of a tinker with mechanics during her tour of the Blues and installed one. It certainly made her life easier.

7. The "felt tip pens" curse came from an advert I saw in the cinema when I went to see 'Suicide Squad'. It made me giggle, and I knew I could recycle it somehow- perhaps making it a thing for Hari to censure herself.

8. My cat Mia helped to me to write these first three chapters, by curling up beside me as I typed, sitting all over the plot and character notes I'd made, and chewing the jack plug of my headphones. Very encouraging, don't you think?

9. In my head, Lucien resembles a young, if slightly rougher looking, Antonio Banderas- with long hair.

10. My knowledge of One Piece has gotten iffy over the last few years; I read through everything one day a few years back (around the when Marineford Arc came out- I distinctly remember that it was raining when you-know-what happened to a certain fiery someone, and it really upset me reading that chapter…), and then just stopped. Big mistake. Now I need to re-cap from the beginning and have literally no time to do so. I'm getting by with 'Pom-Pom Pom!' because it doesn't follow cannon until later chapters.

11. According to Word, the total writing time of this document is a whopping 76 hours spread over two weeks of me slowly chipping away at my sanity. This is excluding the time taken to proofread and edit. Not bad, considering the only time I deem perfect enough to write is in the small hours of the early morning; which is unfortunate, because I also enjoy sleeping. Your own random stalker agreed to Beta for me, and I have to say they've done a stellar job! I can't thank them enough. The next Arc should be Beta-d and ready to be posted around Christmas time, but meanwhile if you have any suggestions for Omake or short filler tidbits you want to read, why not leave me a plot prompt in a review? I do so love reviews...

12. The Tumblr account for my work and this story is now up and running. Be sure to check my Bio for a link, as there will be teasers, artwork, GIF sets and so forth to peruse. There will also be a link to the full playlist (See Above) on YouTube, which you can find on my Bio and Tumblr also.

13. Mia, when not helping me procrastinate, discovered a love for plastic wallets- the one's you keep important documents in, oh, y'know, like 'Pom-Pom Pom!' planning documents, drawings, character profiles and the like… They've all got puncture wounds now.


Character Profiles:

(In order of appearance…)


Hari

Age 19, daughter of Argyle. Now the Captain of Junky, Li-Anne's Junk ship, though remains an extremely good seamstress and tailor.

Pat

Age unknown, manager of the new Doskoi Panda store in Logue Town. Suspected Arsonist.

Argyle

Hari's father and the establisher of Argyle's Boutique and Haberdashery. Deceased three years before the start of 'Pom-Pom Pom!'

Li-Anne

Age 32, background currently unknown. Navigator, Mechanic and Chef of Junky.

Chieftain Coquelicot

Middle aged, Chieftain of Pastello Island. 'Coquelicot ' is a shade of red, and originally the vernacular French name for wild red corn poppies. Say it with me now: "Coke-lee-ko'.

Carnation 'Cana'

Age 16, daughter of Coquelicot and Darling. Supposedly in love with Lucien. From the top of my memory, most associations with 'Carnation' in flower language is good; usually dealing with affection, love, and luck.

Miriam

Age unknown, runs a bar on Pastello Island. Was the one to invent a self- temperature-regulating tray for drinks.

Lucien

Age 26, Marine Commodore Lucien stationed at the entrance of Grand Line. Does some shady stuff in the name of Justice. His other titles include 'Skirt chaser' and he may or may not have a thing for Doskoi Panda clothing which spangles.

Darling

Middle aged, wife of Coquelicot and mother of Carnation. Darling is the chief weaponry inventor, and created most of Pastello Islands defence mechanisms.