Hey guys, a couple of things before I start the chapter. Firstly, thanks for all the reviews recently. I'm actually amazed by how well this story is doing, you guys really are amazing.

Secondly, I think I mentioned it last week, but its approaching exam season again, so I'm gonna need to take a break from writing. That means that I think next week's chapter will probably be the last chapter until July maybe. I'm really sorry about that, but it's necessary for me.

And thirdly, on a happier note, the crossover story which I mentioned on the last chapter of my Fairy Tail story! I'm really excited to write that, although I'll only finish it after my exams probably, so what I wanted to ask was how interested in that story/chapter would you guys be? Do many of you guys read the Fairy Tail story?

Law smiled, picking his Math textbook out of his bag. He knew it was Friday, but this was his only homework for the entire weekend, and he figured he could do it in about twenty minutes if he hurried. Plus, seeing as it was so pleasant outside, he figured he may as well make the best of the weather and do it outside. The grass was probably nice and warm.

However the teenager, as you would expect, wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him when he stepped outside. Two intruders were standing there, one of whom was his teacher, Mr Corazon, who just happened to be holding a gun. The other Law didn't recognise. Mr Corazon's eyes widened. "Law!"

With Mr Corazon distracted, Vergo took the opportunity to quickly hurdle over the wall leading into Law's neighbour's house. Corazon cursed, firing a bullet in the direction Vergo ran, which was nowhere near hitting him. It was too late. Vergo was long gone.

Law just stood motionless. Corazon sighed, hopping down from the wall. Law, seeing this, recovered and edged away, taking a defensive stance. "What's going on? Who are you? Who was that? What are you doing here?"

Mr Corazon continued approaching Law, who backed away. Mr Corazon held up his hand, as if to say he meant no harm. "Relax. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have shot you by now, wouldn't I?"

"I… I guess…"

Corazon smirked slightly. "In terms of those questions before…. I'll answer the last one quickly now. What am I doing here? I came here to save your life. And seeing as that bastard's run off with his tail between his legs, I'd say mission accomplished!"

Suddenly, Corazon's face broke into a wide grin, shocking Law. Corazon had literally shown no emotion whatsoever in school, he seemed like a totally different person now. Law continued to eye him cautiously. "And my other questions?"

Corazon sighed. 'They'll take a little longer to explain. May I come in?"

Law stared down Corazon for a couple of seconds, before nodding and stepping aside.

######

Nami suddenly stopped walking, surprising Robin. The two were currently walking together towards Zoro's house.

After telling them the name 'Gecko Moriah', Coby had left, saying he needed to go, with Bartolomeo also leaving. After staying at Nami's for another half an hour or so, Robin had also gotten home to get ready for tonight. After another hour, Robin went back to Nami's house, the two setting off together for Zoro's.

Nami had spent the whole time worrying about what Coby had said. She didn't know who this Gecko Moriah was, but the prospect of the events of the summer happening again terrified her. The last thing she wanted was Luffy, or any of her friends getting in danger.

Robin, knowing what was upsetting Nami, sighed. She placed her hand comfortingly on Nami's shoulder. "Nami… I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Robin… I'm not ready for this to happen again…"

Robin winced slightly, the events of the summer coming back to her. "I know… but we still don't know anything about this person yet. For all we know, he could just be like the person Mr Birdy fought earlier. This doesn't have to be as bad as that."

Nami nodded, although she didn't look convinced. And what was worse was that Robin, who hadn't been too concerned by what Coby had said, was starting to get worried too. Suddenly, both girls really wanted to get to Zoro's house as soon as possible.

######

Vergo opened the door to his apartment. That had been a close one. But he was far from Law's house now, and it didn't seem like he had been followed. Still, what had happened was bad news for him. It meant that he couldn't approach Law in his house, since someone was apparently watching over him. "That troublesome Rosinante… I'll have to tell Joker about this…"

Upon opening the door, Vergo was greeted by silence. This surprised him, seeing as school had ended a couple of hours ago. Should Violet not be here by now? Where could she be…?

Just then, a heavy, impatient, knock sounded on the door. That alone meant Vergo instantly knew it wasn't Violet. Nonetheless, Vergo went to the door, pretty certain it wouldn't be Rosinante or Law.

Honestly, he was pretty startled by the sight of an inanely grinning blonde boy standing in front of him. Vergo could instantly make out a bruise on the back of his head; looked like this kid had been in bit of scuffle. "Can I help you?"

"You're Vergo, right?"

Vergo tensed. In an instant, he had the boy pinned against the wall, although that didn't remove the annoying smirk from his face. "Who are you?"

"The name's…" the boy gasped, Vergo's grip making it a little hard for him to speak. "Bellamy. And don't… worry. Joker…. sent me."

Vergo blinked. Bellamy expected him to release him, but Vergo merely tightened his grip. "I doubt that. Someone as weak as you would be of no interest to him."

"I… It's true…. Just ask…. him…."

Vergo's expression remained neutral as he inwardly contemplated whether to kill Bellamy then and there. However just as he was about to crush Bellamy's windpipe, his phone started buzzing. Without weakening his grip, he removed the object from his pocket with his left hand. "Hello?"

"Hey Vergo!"

Vergo sighed slightly at the familiar voice. "What do you want Dellinger?"

"Hey, why do you sound so annoyed? It's been such a long time since we've talked! So how've you been man!"

Vergo squeezed Bellamy's neck tighter, causing him to choke. "Is there a point to this call?"

Vergo could hear Dellinger huff. "Alright then, have it your way. Listen, the boss is sending some kid to come help you. His name's Bellamy I think…"

Vergo loosened his grip on Bellamy slightly. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. I know he may not seem like much, but the boss wants to give him a chance to fulfil one little job…"

Vergo eyed Bellamy carefully, his hand still around his throat of course. "And what job is that?"

"To eliminate Monkey D Luffy."

######

Violet frowned. What was this uneasy feeling she had?

After school had finished that afternoon and Violet had watched Rebecca get picked up by Kyros, the chemistry teacher couldn't help but feel down. She wanted nothing more than to be with the two, part of the family, which she was! But she couldn't. Because of that man….

Anyway, the thought of instead going home to Vergo made her feel sick, so she'd instead decided to stop somewhere for coffee for twenty minutes, which had quickly become two hours, before deciding that she would probably get in trouble if she stayed out any longer. She didn't trust Vergo, but he didn't trust her either. Violet knew what that man was capable of, and she knew that she didn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

However for the entire walk back, she'd had this weird feeling, like she was being watched. Suddenly, Violet's eyes widened. Could it be… some of Joker's men? It would make sense, they didn't trust her after all…

Suddenly, an even worse thought popped into Violet's mind. Joker was a powerful man, who was likely to have many enemies. What if… it was one of them?

Violet increased her pace, Vergo's apartment starting to feel a lot safer. Suddenly, out of an alleyway in front of her, a man emerged. Violet skidded to halt, aware that there were a couple of men approaching her from behind as well. The man in front of her smirked evilly. "So you're with Joker, huh?"

Violet tensed. Looks like she had been right. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

The man laughed. "Of course you don't. You know, word on the street is that Joker's got a stash of SMILE in this town. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would ya?"

Violet briefly glanced behind her. There was no escape. She put on her best innocent face, smiling kindly at the man in front of her. "I'm sorry, I think you have me mistaken for someone else."

He gulped slightly, instantly feeling infatuated by Violet. Violet inwardly smirked, he had let his guard down. She was about to attack the man in front of her, when someone got to him first.

"Looks like there are three shitty jerks who need to be taught some table manners. I won't forgive anyone who picks on a lady…"

The man in front of Violet turned around. He didn't have time to react before Sanji knocked him out with one kick to the side, sending him crashing against the wall of the building next to the pavement. The two men behind Violet lunged for the woman, but Sanji got between her and them before they reached her, knocking those two out with two further kicks. Violet's eyes widened. Sure, she probably could have handled them, but this boy, who she recognised as a student at the school, had beaten them all without breaking a sweat!

Sanji turned around, his eyes turning to hearts. "Are you OK, Miss?"

Violet blinked, Sanji's perverted grin taking her by surprise. She inwardly rolled her eyes. He only helped her because he was attracted to her. He was barely better than the men he had just beaten up. Nonetheless, Violet smiled politely. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you ever so much for dealing with those thugs. I was so frightened."

Sanji smirked, giving her a thumbs up. "No problem. There's nothing I hate more than people like them. I won't forgive anyone who tries to take advantage of women."

Violet nodded, although she was rolling her eyes so hard in her mind. Was this kid for real? His intentions were just as bad as there's were. He was only doing this to impress her. Which was weird considering the age gap between her and him…

"So Miss… would you like me to walk you home?"

Violet wasn't sure what Vergo's reaction to this boy arriving at the apartment would be. She wouldn't be surprised if he killed him just for the heck of it. And whilst Violet was feeling a strong dislike for this boy, she figured she did owe him for helping her. Plus, disliking someone isn't a good reason to get them killed.

So Violet shook her head. "I'm fine. Thanks again for saving me."

Sanji grinned widely, causing Violet to wince slightly. "Of course! Any time!"

Violet turned around and began to walk off, finally able to roll her eyes now that Sanji couldn't see her. "What a strange kid…" She muttered to herself, too quiet for Sanji to hear.

######

Sabo sighed. What was he supposed to do?

He was currently standing outside the restaurant, excusing himself from the table to answer a call. Luffy didn't mind, obviously. He had an all you can eat buffet to demolish. Although he would mind if he knew who the call was from…

Sabo shook his head. There was no way he could tell Luffy. Not yet. It had only been a week, and he had a whole year to work this whole situation out. Ace was suspicious of him though, which was a problem. That was another thing he had to consider. How would Ace take the news? I mean, the three of them were brothers, that would never change. But Ace and Luffy had always been… real brothers. As far as they knew, they were actual brothers, who shared actual blood.

But that was only as far as they knew.

Garp knew. Sabo wondered how the old man could have raised the two knowing the truth. I mean, surely he must have looked at the two differently, even if it was only slightly. Luffy wouldn't have been perceptive enough to pick up probably, but Ace would have. That would suggest that Garp really had always treated the two the same, which seemed very impressive to Sabo. To be able to keep an illusion like that up for so long. He probably intended to keep it up forever.

Sabo groaned. Did he really have the right to shatter that illusion then? He wasn't sure he did, and sometimes he felt like he didn't even want to. But he was doing this for his sake. And he did have the right after all. Plus, it wouldn't be right for the two to never know. Ace was an adult, and Luffy was a couple of months away from becoming one. They were no longer children and so should know the truth about their family.

Suddenly, Sabo felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Standing behind him was a grinning Luffy, completely oblivious to the inward struggle that Sabo had just been having. "Sabo! The food's really good here! If you're done, you should come and eat! You'll love it!"

Sabo smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm done. Go back inside, I'll be with you in a second."

Luffy nodded excitedly and went back inside. Sabo looked up at the evening sky.

How would Luffy take the news? Would he even care? He seems so happy, all the time. Why would he want everything to change? Surely he must have been curious though, at least once before. His family was him, his grandpa and his brother. There were some notable absentees in that group. Does he ever think about who they might be?

Sabo opened the restaurant door, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. He didn't have to do this tonight. He had a whole year to deal with this.

######

Zoro frowned, leaning back in the sofa. "Gecko Moriah?"

Usopp looked at Nami. "So who is he?"

Nami shrugged. "I dunno. Coby only gave the name before going. He did say he was an adult though, if that makes a difference."

Zoro pictured Coby, the short, timid boy who used to hide behind him and Luffy. "I wonder how he got in trouble with this guy…"

Nami nodded. "Yeah, he doesn't seem like the kind to go out looking for trouble, does he?"

"Neither am I…" Usopp grumbled. "And that hasn't helped me much…"

Franky laughed, heartily thumping Usopp, who had been totally serious, on the back. "That's a good point!"

Zoro yawned, before scowling at his TV. "Can we just start now? Who cares if Love cook's not here?"

Usopp frowned. "I did want to wait for Sanji… but he is really late."

As if on cue, someone rang the doorbell. Zoro sighed loudly. "Damn. Just when I was starting to think he wouldn't show up…"

Nami rolled her eyes and hopped up from her seat, disappearing into the corridor. She reappeared a couple of seconds later with Sanji, who smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late guys. I got a little sidetracked…"

Usopp shrugged, him and Chopper looking through Zoro's DVD collection. "We figured. What happened?"

Sanji's eyes turned to hearts. "I had to save a beautiful lady from some shitty jerks! She was soooooo impressed, you should have seen it!"

"Oi love cook, remember Hancock?"

Sanji glared at Zoro. "I've lost count of how many times you've used that now!"

"Whatever Dartboard…"

"Shitty Moss head…"

Nami sighed. "This always happens…"

Robin giggled before turning to Usopp and Chopper. "Have you two found anything yet?"

Chopper shook his head. "Not really. We've seen these all before. Zoro doesn't really have a big collection…"

Sanji glanced at his watch. "It's only eight. I reckon the video store will probably be open for another hour or so. If we hurry, we can go there and pick up something we haven't seen before."

Zoro nodded, standing up. "Right. I'll go. I'll be back soon."

"Wait!" Nami, Usopp and Sanji yelled simultaneously, whilst Franky, Brook and Chopper all glared at him.

Zoro scowled at them. "What?"

"Why would you, of all people, be the one to go?" Nami angrily retorted. "You're guaranteed to get lost on the way there!"

"I swear sometimes you're just stupid for the sake of it…" Sanji grumbled.

Nami nodded. "I'll go. You guys all trust me to pick out something good, right?"

Sanji also stood up. "I'll come too. The city can be a little… you know… at this time."

Nami smiled gratefully at Sanji. "Thank you." She then turned to address the others. "We'll be back soon. While I'm gone, Robin's in charge."

Zoro glared at her. "Wait, why her? This is my hou-"

The green haired teen was silenced by a glare from Nami, Zoro forced to silently accept Nami's decision.

"Why does he even bother arguing?" Usopp whispered to Chopper, who merely shrugged.

"Dunno. Nami always wins."

######

Sanji's eyes turned to hearts. Entering a club opposite the video store was a crowd of around 10-15 girls, all 10/10s in Sanji's eyes.

Without even noticing it, Sanji floated towards them, leaving Nami, who hadn't noticed what Sanji was staring at, alone. She continued to walk through the street back towards Zoro's house, oblivious to the fact that her companion was gone.

Sanji, of course being 17, was denied entrance to the club. After angrily arguing with the bouncer for a couple of minutes, Sanji was forced to give up trying to gain entrance to the club and turned around, expecting Nami to still be there. She wasn't.

Sanji's eyes widened. Where was she? He looked around frantically, Nami completely gone from sight.

The blonde teen bolted down the street. Like he'd said earlier, the streets weren't always 100% safe at this time, especially on a Friday night. Plus, if he couldn't see her, that would mean Nami had walked quite a distance away. If she had done so, she'd surely have noticed that he was no longer with her and would have come back. If she hadn't, that would suggest that going back wasn't an option for her…

Sanji gritted his teeth and increased his pace, looking desperately into every side street that he passed. He saw no sign of his female friend though.

"Hey Sanji!"

Sanji skidded to a halt at the familiar voice. Luffy, who had just emerged from a restaurant on the opposite side of the street, was waving at him, Sabo at his side. "Luffy!"

A grinning Luffy jogged up to him, not seeing how panicked his friend was. "What are you doing here?

Sanji gulped and turned away slightly, embarrassed to tell Luffy what had happened. "Uh… well…"

Sabo, who by this time had joined the two teens, frowned. "Are you OK? You were running pretty quickly before."

Sanji sighed. "I… I was with Nami earlier, and I kind of lost sight of her. I don't know where she is. Normally it would be fine, but at this time…" Suddenly, the blonde burst into tears. "Nami's in danger because of my carelessness! I'll never forgive myself!"

Sabo and Luffy glanced at each other, Sabo a little taken aback by the over-reaction, whilst Luffy was more used to it. The dark haired teen looked around. "If Nami's in trouble… I'll definitely save her."

With that, Luffy bolted in the direction Sanji had originally been running, leaving Sanji and Sabo behind. Sabo smirked. "He really hasn't changed at all… Still acts first and thinks later. Well, we should probably follow him, huh?"

Sanji, still slightly tearful, nodded. "Yeah."

######

Nami increased her pace. There was no doubt about it, someone was following her.

In retrospect, Nami really should have paid more attention when leaving the video store. She didn't notice Sanji peel away from her since she was so busy thinking about what Coby had told her about Gecko Moriah. At some point during the journey to the store, that name had crept into her mind again.

That all changed when a couple of minutes after leaving the video store, Nami noticed a man in a dark jacket following her, a hat covering his face. When the man saw Nami look at him, he ducked into a side street, disappearing from sight. Nami continued walking, but she'd noticed the man briefly a couple of times more since then. He was doing a pretty terrible job of following her honestly, but that didn't make Nami feel any safer.

Nami froze at the sight ahead of her. A dead end. She mentally slapped herself. She hadn't been paying attention at all to where she had been going, too busy worrying about getting away from whoever it was who was following her. And now she was trapped.

Her pursuer, seeing this, emerged from an alleyway. "I'm glad to finally have the chance to finish what I started before…" he muttered audibly. Nami's eyes widened.

"What does that mean? Who are you?"

The man removed his hat and grinned at Nami. "Remember me?"

"Y… You!"

######

"Reasons…" he thought.

Kid stepped out of the classroom, pondering what Luffy had said, when he heard the sound of a girl shrieking. He hurried towards the source of the shout, disgusted by the sight that greeted him upon reaching it. Nami was being pressed against a locker by Absalom, who had a bad reputation when it came to women…

"Reasons to fight huh?" Kid muttered to himself. "This a good enough reason for you Straw Hat?"

Kid calmly strolled up to Absalom, tapping the boy politely on the back. He turned around, clearly annoyed to be disturbed.

"What? Can't you see I'm-"

BANG

Absalom fell to the ground, knocked out by one punch. Nami looked in shock at Kid. Honestly, he was the last person she expected to come to her aid.

"Th… Thank you."

Kid smirked. "No problem. Where's Straw Hat though? I would have thought you'd be with him. He could have easily handled this freak."

Nami sighed. "Detention." Kid chuckled.

"He sure gets in a lot of trouble, huh?"

Nami laughed too. "He sure does. But that's the way he is."

######

"Pervsa- I mean, Absalom!"

Absalom laughed. "Nah, you were probably right the first time. I know what I am, and I don't care. When it comes to girls like yourself, there's only one thing I want. And I've waited so long for you, Nami…."

"Stop."

Absalom turned around, irritated by the sound of a familiar voice. "Why?"

A tall, pale, almost ghostly, man walked up to Absalom's side. Nami didn't recognise this guy. "So this girl was the one with that child earlier, huh?"

Absalom nodded. "Yeah, she was the one with that Coby kid. What does it matter though? She ain't gonna do anything Ryuuma!"

Ryuuma crossed his arms. "It would certainly appear that way… But why would he appeal to this girl? She's no threat to Mr Moriah."

Nami's eyes widened. Moriah? Ryuuma examined her carefully for a second before sighing and turning around. He began to walk away. "Right. I'll inform Mr Moriah immediately about this. I've no interest in this girl any longer, feel free to do as you please Absalom."

Absalom licked his lips as Ryuuma disappeared from sight. "I will…"

Nami edged backwards as Absalom closed the gap between him and her, until she eventually hit a wall.

"Oi you!"

Nami's heart leapt at the sound of a familiar voice. Absalom turned around just in time to be instantly knocked out by a single punch to the face, breaking several of his teeth in the process. Nami smiled relievedly at the person standing before her, his wide grin her favourite sight in the whole world.

"Luffy!"

Luffy laughed as Nami jumped into his arms. He pulled her tighter as she dug her face into his shoulder. "I was so scared…."

"You don't have to worry Nami. I'll always be here to protect you!"

"R… Really?"

Luffy released Nami, so that he could flash her his signature toothy grin. "Of course! I won't let anything happen to you! I love you Nami!"

Nami laughed slightly, hugging Luffy again. It had been a while since she'd heard him say that. "I love you too Luffy."

Nice LuNa ending there. It's been a while since I've written some actual romantic stuff for those two, so I hope you guys liked it! And the other stuff which happened in the chapter as well of course.

As always, thanks for reading, and please do leave a review if you can.