Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to One Piece. All properties therein are those of their creator. I am just a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Note: Thank you all for your continued support of this story.

Note: Gonna skim the Don Krieg plot here, mainly because he fricking sucked as a villain.

Part Three: Baratie

On the blue expanse of the sea, the clang of metal on metal screeched through the air, as on the deck of a great military cruiser two men were engaged in mortal combat. Blades swung, sweat fell, and curses reigned as the two circled each other over and over. It should be noted however, that only one man was actually struggling.

"Come on Zoro!" Nami crowed from her navigator's table beside Koby at the wheel, "You haven't even made the Commodore break a sweat yet." In comparison to the pristine looking officer, Zoro was drenched in perspiration as he gasped for breath. Nami was right. Years of training spent creating his own unique sword style, and he hadn't even made the Commodore blink. Luffy was an absolute monster with a blade. If he'd had any doubts about taking the man's deal before, they were certainly gone now. Sure they'd danced around a bit, but Zoro had not been able to make his new leader take a step back once since they'd started this bout of training.

His thoughts were disrupted however as in an act totally against any conceivable logic, Luffy sheathed his sword and began to remove his clothes!

"Ugh… Commodore?" The bandanna wearing swordsman asked warily as the man in question removed his vest and started to unbutton his shirt. "What are you doing?"

Luffy finished undoing the last of his buttons as he answered, "Showing you the next step of your training. Your form is good and your footwork is excellent. So in terms of personal style what you need the most is further practice and practical experience. Those I can supply in spades, but in addition I am going to also teach you something else." He held his arms out wide allowing the wind to billow his now loosened shirt away from his torso. "Cut me."

"What?" Zoro blinked.

"You heard me, sailor! Cut me! That's an order!"

The green haired man thought the order over, and ended up shrugging. If the man wanted a new scar who was he to argue. He planted his feet, squared his stance, and with a quick exhale of breath launched himself across the deck to strike his opponent. Something strange happened at the moment of impact however. His experience told him he should feel a slight tugging resistance as his blade tore through skin, muscle, and bone, but instead of that his forward momentum was halted in an instant, the blade of his sword clanging loud in the afternoon air.

Hardly believing what had just happened, Zoro looked down and saw something that took his breath away. The only damage done by his attack was to his sword. The blade had been broken in half at the point of impact by what appeared to be a layer of black steel covering the commodore's clearly defined abdominal muscles. So amazed was he by what he was seeing that the fact that one of his three blades was now useless didn't even register in his mind. "What? How?"

Luffy grinned beneath the brim of his straw hat. "This is a special navy technique known as the iron body, or tekkai. There is a stronger version of haki that does something similar but I don't know if you'll be able to do that yet so for now this will do. Basically you exercise full physical control of your body and harden it as much as you can to negate the damage of an incoming attack. With enough practice you'll be able to do it in the time it takes to blink your eye." A cruel gleam started to grow in his eyes, "And I'm planning to give you a 'lot' of practice."

Zoro gulped and asked, "Are there other techniques like this I'll learn from you?"

"But of course. Just… let's get this one down first. The others can be a little dangerous in training and I'd like you to have access to some 'body' armor first. For now, give me one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and then run around the deck for thirty minutes."

"That's it?" The greenette couldn't believe his ears.

The commodore grinned again, a look Zoro was quickly starting to associate with pain. "Did I say that? You'll be doing it one hundred times, or until you pass out. Whichever comes first."

The swordsman grumbled but nevertheless moved off to begin his workout.

In the meantime, Luffy looked across the deck for his next victim, student! Next student. His eyes landed on Nami, and he saw to some amusement that her own gaze was firmly locked on his still exposed chest. Wasn't that interesting. He'd need to talk to his wife about this. Making a mental note to call her via snail later he made his way up to the wheel where she was leaning on a rail.

"Your turn, Nami."

She blinked, broken from her daze. "My turn?" Gaining a wicked grin she sashayed over the deck before draping herself along her Commodore's exposed, delicious, chest. "You wouldn't really make me get all sweaty and disgusting would you, Luffy?"

The dazed look that now filled his eyes gave the orangette hope that she could get out of the physical exertions ahead, but a slap to the Commodore's head via an annoyed Bartolomeo quickly brought him back to reality, shattering her expectations.

"Snap out of it, idiot." The greenette muttered before wandering off to find Koby. Luffy had responsibility for the main crew's training but he was supposed to look after their helmsman's progression.

"Yeah, he's probably right." Luffy rubbed the back of his hat covered head sheepishly. "But don't worry, your training won't be as crazy as Zoro's. He's focused on building powerful attacks, but I see you as a more lithe combatant."

"Lithe?" Nami gave the man a wink that had his blood pumping all over again. Her little sneak attack earlier had almost done him in too for that matter.

"Exactly. Speedy and quick on your strikes." The man walked over to a panel on the wheelhouse and smacked it with the side of his fist. Nami could only gasp as it flipped open to reveal rows upon rows of pistols and rifles. The commodore took two identical pistols from the group as well as a box of ammo and brought the lot to the former thief before handing the weapons to her by the barrels. "What we're going to focus on with you is speed and accuracy."

"So I'm going to be…"

"Our quartermaster and sharpshooter." A large grin worked its way onto the cheerful man's face. "Come here, I'll show you how to break them down, care for them, and fire them. These weapons are your life now. Treat them well." For the next hour they went over assembly, use, and gun safety, until Nami felt reasonably comfortable with the weight of the weapons in her hand. Then the real training started.

Luffy took the girl on a circuit of the boat for the next two hours. Together they ran, climbed, and performed strength exercises in the crows nest of all places, before returning to their position by the weapons wall. The commodore was barely sweating, but Nami was practically keeled over.

"I-I thought you said my training wasn't going to be that bad?" She gasped out.

"It's not. You only had to do that once. Compared to Zoro you're getting off really easy. Also, your workout is meant to increase your speed, so the faster you get at this circuit the faster you can finish it for the day. Now," He reached to the side and produced a jingling leather sack from out of nowhere. "Time for some target practice."

"O-Okay." Still catching her breath, Nami cast a nervous gaze at the sack. "Luffy, what's in the bag?"

"Your targets." The dark haired man opened his bag to reveal a bunch of copper coins. "Now these are pretty much useless to us, but some places on the high seas actually value copper so every naval vessel keeps a bit of it on hand. But tell me, Nami, what is it you love the most?"

"Money." She said without a hint of hesitation.

"As I guessed." Luffy's face turned serious and he walked forward to take her hands gently in his own. "I want you to listen very carefully to me Nami. I care about you. You are a member of my crew and that means something to me. So you need to know that Arlong is going to die and you will not need to pay him anything anymore. You do understand that right?"

The orangette shakily nodded her understanding.

"Good." Luffy's grin returned and he stepped back to toss one of the copper coins into the air. See that? That's what you are shooting at." He reached to the side again, (where was his hand even going?) and pulled out a much puffier bag, "And this is what I'm going to be throwing away every time you miss." He opened it up to reveal an interior bursting at the seems with single Berry notes.

Nami could only stare. "Y-You wouldn't seriously waste your treasury on a silly exercise would you?" At that moment Nami was exceptionally happy that Luffy had reminded her she needn't pay Arlong back anymore. If he hadn't she was sure she'd have broken down at the very thought of wasting money like this. Even now though, it was still difficult for her to process.

"I don't want to, but I will to help your training. When my grandfather was training me as a child, he knew my favorite thing in the world was meat, so he made it clear to every cook on the base that if I didn't meet certain benchmarks in my training each day I was not to receive any. It was an excellent motivator and he had me do the same thing with Bartolomeo when he was training to be my second in command."

Pushing aside her slowly diminishing horror, Nami found her curiosity piqued by that. "What was held back from Captain Bartolomeo?"

Luffy snickered lightly beneath the shade of his hat, "His collection of bounty posters."

Nami's jaw fell, "He… collects wanted posters?"

"Oh yes. They're like his favorite thing in the world and he fanboys over them constantly. If you ever want to see him make a fool of himself just take him to a local bounty board." The two shared a laugh before things got back on track.

Luffy held a coin in one hand and a Berry in the other. "Remember Nami, aim small, miss small. Treat the gun like an extension of your arm and you won't miss." Then he threw the coin into the air.

The first attempt… failed miserably, and Nami had to watch in dismay as Luffy kept to his word and dropped the single note over the side of the hull.

The second attempt… was closer, but she still missed, and more precious money was lost.

Over and over this pattern continued, and by the end forty-three berry notes had been discarded, but the stress had been worth it as Nami was consistently hitting the copper coins out of the air.

A few more minutes of constant coin shots and Luffy called a halt. As Nami lowered her barrels Luffy walked right up to her and pulled her into a hug. Hating how much she was shaking. "Sh. It's alright Nami."

"B-But I lost you so much money."

"No, you invested it in your future. In ours as well. Each berry was a downpayment on your developing skill and accuracy. It was money well spent, and you will only get better as you go. Do not worry, we are done with the money for now. I don't think we'll need to do this again for a while. So smile okay."

"O-Okay." The two held each other close for a few moments more. Each simply enjoying the other's presence. For her part, after the death of her mother, being forced to serve Arlong, and taking on the suffering of her entire village, Nami had never thought she'd be able to feel this close to a living being again. But there was just something about Luffy. It was kind, warm, and welcoming in a way that she didn't quite understand yet.

"Feel better?"

"You know what, I actually do." Very much calmed by that point, Nami was able to look at the guns in her hands in wonder. Only then coming to terms with the fact that she had been shooting small coins out of the air like it was nothing only minutes before. "I can't believe I actually did that."

"Believe it, and when I teach you the flash-step and Geppo you'll be able to do even more amazing things."

For the first time in her miserable life, Nami actually felt a little powerful. The strength her commodore was offering her, after a lifetime of being beaten into the dirt, was incredibly intoxicating.

"So what's on the agenda now, Commodore?" She asked innocently. The slight tinge to his cheeks letting her know that her feminine wiles were having their desired effect.

"Well, we at least need to find ourselves a cook cause I'm tired of living off of rations, and I have an "associate" coming to meet us as well to help deal with the Arlong situation, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone." He replied.

"Oh really? How so?"

"Like this." Luffy took his navigator's hand and led her across the deck to the wheelhouse where the ship's charts were located. One in particular was already laid out and he gestured for her to inspect it, though neither of them let go of each others hands while doing so. "If I asked you for a good place nearby to find a collection of skilled chefs, where would you suggest considering the fact that we are currently about here." He pointed to a specific spot on the map.

Drawing on her years of navigational knowledge, Nami examined the map and quickly came to a conclusion. "The famous sailing restaurant Baratie carries on a continual route along this line here." She drew a finger along a certain point and added, "at our current speed we should touch base with the ship in two days."

Luffy smiled at the confidence the woman was displaying with her answers. "Very good. Exactly what I would expect from my navigator. Yes, we'll be there in two days. And when we arrive we'll have a little time to convince a cook to join us while we wait for my friend to get there. Once he is with us we'll head over to your island and take Arlong's head. Or, rather," he reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair from the girl's face, "you'll put a bullet in it."

She gasped, "You mean-"

"Arlong made your life a living hell, Nami. Do you think I would take your kill away from you? Oh I intend to pulverize his body into paste to be sure, but the last blow will be yours."

Once more the commodore found himself wrapped in the embrace of the orangette, but he did not mind. He rather enjoyed being held in the arms of a beautiful woman, as his wife, and several others, could attest.

They spent the next two days of travel in a similar manner. Training, shooting, learning, and altogether getting closer as a crew. It was a grand time for all involved (okay maybe Koby might've passed out from exertion but that's beside the point). When the fish inspired ship, Baratie, finally came into view, it was to wide smiles and heartfelt backslaps. By that point they were all sick and tired of navy rations and ready to partake of some real food.

As they were pulling up to the extended ship dock off the rear, they were all surprised to see another naval vessel docking closer on. Strangely enough, only two people were leaving the gangway, a man in an officer's coat and a rather scantily clad woman in a dress.

"That's a First Lieutenant if I ever saw one." Bart grumbled. "Probably been given command of an out of the way shipping lane and thinks he's hot shit."

As the greenette continued to wax on, Zoro leaned in to speak in Luffy's ear. "Hey Commodore, what's Bart got against First Lieutenants?"

The straw hat bearer shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "He had an experience with a few of them back in the day that soured him to the rank. They tried to haze him by shaving his head. Needless to say, I left them with only two unbroken bones… each." Having said his piece, Luffy offered Nami his hand, a gesture that was becoming more and more common, and the two headed up on down the dock. Bartolomeo and Zoro behind them. Koby had elected to stay with the ship.

They wandered for a while, experiencing what the decks of the great ship had to offer, before finally heading to the dining room and being led to the only empty table out of many. Surprise of surprises, the officer from the dock was seated at the table in front of theirs.

Their order was placed first, so they were all ears to hear how the mystery officer degraded the restaurant, staff, and food, all in short order. It was insulting in every way that a man of the navy would come to a high class place like this and act in such a manor.

Without any further fanfare, Luffy stood and placed a hand on the waiter's shoulder. "I'll take care of this."

Said waiter took one look at the new man's coat, smiled gratefully, and said, "Thank you sir." before spinning in place and heading back to the kitchen. He had other orders that needed fulfilling after all.

Luffy stood tall before the table, his straw hat casting his eyes in shadow and his coat seeming to sway gently in a nonexistent breeze. "Name and rank, soldier."

The lieutenant eyed the newcomer with disdain. He believed the stranger with the hat was in the Navy as he was, but he couldn't read the rank insignia he held as it was typically printed beneath the symbol for justice on the back of the coat. That being said, as far as he knew there was no one above him in rank on this travel route. The naval presence in this sea was rather minimal after all. So this was no doubt an upstart trying to look big by messing with him in front of the entire restaurant. Well he could play that game too.

"Lieutenant Fullbody. Every idiot in this sea knows who I am. Now who the fuck are you?"

Instead of answering, Luffy looked pointedly at the other man's table, where only he and his apparent date were sitting. "A Lieutenant that dines in luxury while his men remain behind eating what I assume is nothing but rations. You dare to call yourself an officer of the navy?"

Fullbody leapt to his feet, indignation clear upon his features. "How dare you!"

Any potential tirade was broken however as Nami came up to them, her own coat over her shoulders (The crew had uniformed up because they were going to be amongst civilians) and said, "Is there a problem here, Commodore?"

Knowing exactly what she was doing, Luffy smirked within the shadow of his hat. "Not at all, Lieutenant Nami. I was just about to inform this ant about how badly his actions here reflect on us all."

"C-C-Commodore?" Fullbody couldn't believe what he was hearing, but when the mystery man turned to address his apparent subordinate the back of his coat came into view and there it was for all to see. His rank proud and clear. "C-Commodore!" The Lieutenant jumped to his feet and saluted. "My apologies sir, I was not alerted that you would be in my waters."

"None of you were. That was kind of the point." He gestured to the man, "To catch you all doing shit like this. You better hope I don't find anymore problems when I inspect your ship or your ass is grass."

"I-Inspect my ship?" Now Fullbody was really getting worried. Insulting a superior officer was bad, but he could survive it. However all the contraband in the hold of his ship would sink his career forever, as would the chest of bribes in his quarters.

"Yes. Now how about we go-" Luffy's planned threat was interrupted however by a rundown man in rags barging into the dining room with a pistol in hand.

"Food! Now!" He gasped.

"How did he get out!" Fullbody exclaimed, and regretted it instantly when the Commodore's eyes latched on to him.

"Out?" Luffy gestured to his crew to handle the man and got in the other officer's personal space. "Explain."

Before the doomed man could, a commotion caught their attention. A blond man, smoking a cigarette, had apparently led the gun toting criminal to a table and provided him with a meal. The noise that had alerted the Commodore was the thunk of the platter hitting the wood.

Still distracted by his ravenous eating with both hands, the criminal didn't notice when Luffy swept past the table, grabbed the gun, and led the smoking savior aside. He trusted his crew to make sure the aggressive man didn't escape.

"Please understand that the navy as a whole does not condone the forced starvation this prisoner clearly underwent. You have my thanks for feeding him and we will of course pay for his meal."

"Don't worry about that." He snubbed out his cigarette under the heel of his shoe. "A man is hungry, you feed him. It's as simple as that. No need to say anything else about it."

Just then another sailer ran into the dining room making a beeline for the disgraced Fullbody. "Sir!" He exclaimed, "Three prisoners escaped immediately after we landed here!"

"I know that idiot! He held us at gunpoint here and-" Fullbody blinked, "Three? You said Three?" At the answering nod he whispered, "Where did the other two go?" The answer came in the form of a loud boom and a wildly rocking ship.

Giving the officer a dirty look Luffy muttered, "I guess that answers that question. They went to get some friends." Waving his crew to join him he asked the Chef, "We're gonna investigate that. You coming?"

"You didn't even need to ask. The name's Sanji by the way." As the blond spoke, a team of chefs and busboys rolled up with all manner of weapons drawn and ready. "This is the floating restaurant Baratie and we know how to fuck up disruptive customers just fine."

Luffy smirked at the bold declaration. "I think I like you. Why don't you join my crew?"

"Be a marine? I don't think so. Come on, we need to check that out." Suddenly taking the lead, the blonde ran outside followed by his mess staff, the marines hot on their heels. Upon reaching the open deck they came upon the sight of a nearly sunken frigate limping its way to the dock the men on board seemed nearly dead on their feet, and only the man that was clearly the captain, resplendent in a giant suit of armor seemed in any amount of health as he hopped lithely to the dock and beheld the force ready for him aboard the ship.

In a flash his arms were raised and twin canons extended from the pressure loaded sheaths in his metal greaves. "Alright then!" He roared. "My name is Don Krieg! Captain of the Krieg Pirates Fleet. As of this moment I am commandeering this sheep for my fleet!" Spying the line of chefs and kitchen staff he declared, "You lot go back in that kitchen and make us some food. We'll need sustenance if we are to take this vessel into the Grand Line."

Sanji seemed about to reply in a negative manner when an even bigger boom sounded in the air, followed immediately by a gigantic crash of ocean water before them, causing all present to cover their eyes to avoid the salty spray. When they lowered them again the Krieg pirates were gone and so was there ship… and the dock that had been holding them. All disappeared beneath the waves.

"Well," Luffy noted, "that was anticlimactic." As he spoke a strange noise began lilting on the air.

"y"

"ffy"

"Lord L"

"Lord Luffy!"

As the words became clearer in the tones of multiple women cheering, the Commodore's face started to get drawn with worry. "Oh no."

"Commodore?" Zoro questioned, loosening his blades in their sheathes. "Is there a problem?"

When he didn't answer right away Nami took her shot, gripping one of his hands in her own. "Luffy?"

Eyes glued to the sea, or more accurately the vague outline of two ships on the horizon, one massive and the other minuscule, Luffy muttered, "That can't be her. Why would she even be on this side of the world unless… Hawkeye you idiot!" He roared over the waves, earning a flinch from all present. Especially Zoro.

"Hawkeye!" He exclaimed, "He's here?"

Instead of answering, the Commodore turned away from the rapidly approaching vessels, and slammed both hands on Bartolomeo's shoulders. "Run for your godsdamned life!"

"What?" The greenette inquired. "Why the hell should I-"

"It's Hancock, Bart!" The other man paled at once and took off as if the devil herself were after him. As it turned out she was, as the moment he reached the second landing the bigger ship came close enough that everyone could clearly hear the all female crew chanting "Lord Luffy!" and see the line of heart themed arrows launching from the helm toward the retreating officer.

To his credit he ducked, weaved, and dodged his way around all but a few of them (those he blocked with barriers) before finally taking refuge behind a particularly thick pillar that suddenly found itself bristling like a porcupine.

"Luffy! Call off your woman, man!" He screamed.

"Your woman?" Nami's brow twitched a bit as she eyed her worried leader. Their hands still locked together.

"It's complicated and I'll explain it to you soon." He promised with a hand squeeze. "But for now we need to focus on stopping my wife before she murders my second in command."

The orangette cringed at the word 'wife' but she trusted her Commodore, and she didn't think the feelings that she knew were developing between them were false. Even he wasn't that good of an actor. They may not have made any commitments, or gone that far physically, or even really talked about it, but she thought that both of them knew things were going that way and he wouldn't play with her like that. "Why would she want to kill him?"

Before he could answer, the large vessel drew level with their own and a powerful, regal, voice erupted into the air with clear outrage, "Bartolomeo! Come out and face your fate!"

Behind his pillar Bart shouted back, "You crazy bitch! You could have killed me!"

"That was the point!"

"So you want me to come out so I can die?"

"Exactly!"

"Not happening, crazy lady!"

"You invaded my home!"

"I was invited with Luffy!"

"You slept with my sister!"

"She seduced me!"

"You got her pregnant!"

Silence reigned for several seconds before Bart reluctantly admitted, "Okay you have me there. But I took responsibility! I send money for his upkeep every month and Sandersonia brings him to the fort every year so I can see him when I'm not deployed!"

"The boy needs a father and you must return to the island to raise him and marry his mother or die!"

"Luffy still needs me you crazy bitch!" He roared back.

Silence followed that statement as the other speaker thought this over and Luffy took the chance to try and save his best friend. Cupping his hands over his mouth he hollered out, "Hancock! He's right, I do need him!"

All at once the ship erupted into fresh cheers as the crew found the source of his voice and a gangplank was lowered down. Gently removing his hand from Nami he placed her behind him as a statuesque woman of unparalleled beauty practically sprinted down the ramp, gripped him by the shoulders, and pulled him into a mighty hug, an act that because of the height difference sandwiched his head between her enormous breasts.

"Oh Luffy! I've missed you so much, honey!" She pulled back a bit and literally shoved her long tongue into his mouth for several seconds before continuing, "I'm sorry for surprising you like this, but that silly swordsman Hawkeye mentioned he was coming here at your request and it was just too perfect an opportunity to miss. Are you happy to see me?"

Luffy smiled into the soft lips of his wife and answered, "I'm always happy to see you, my love, but I do wish you'd told me first so I could schedule more time with you." Hoping to head off any future angst he leaned into her embrace and kissed up her neck to her ear where he whispered, "I found a new one, but I haven't had a chance to explain our situation to her yet. I imagine she feels a little shocked at your presence. Could you reassure her?" His wife responded at once.

"Oh, a new girl!" Like a cobra striking, Hancock released Luffy and latched her arms around the orangette who was suddenly confronted with the close up view of the tall woman with clothes that cost more money than she would ever see and breasts that put even her enviable cleavage to shame. In her ear, the snake princess whispered, "I saw how you were looking at my husband while I kissed him. Know that we will talk more later, but for now stand assured that I have no problem with sharing him."

Nami blinked in surprise, but before she could ask more Boa Hancock, snake princess of the Kuja pirates, and warlord of the sea, released her, grabbed a hold of Luffy's arm, and strutted off back toward the restaurant proclaiming to all that could hear that she was treating her husband to a fine meal. All the while her crewmates aboard ship screamed out their support and envy. Clearly Luffy was well liked.

As the two walked off, the chefs that had gathered to fight returned to their regular duties (with Sanji staring longingly at the Kuja pirates' vessel), and Bart limped back over to them, supported by a curvaceous woman with a rather large head. She was wearing a green bikini with a white cape and a small child of perhaps three or four was scuttling around happily down by their legs.

"Sorry about that, Bart." The Straw Hats heard her say as they finally reached them. "You know how she gets whenever she sees you."

"Yeah, I know. I just wish she'd stop trying to kill me on sight so I could explain our situation was by mutual choice. You know I'd marry you if Luffy didn't need me right?"

She smiled and instinctively tasted the air with her forked tongue. "Of course, darling, but try telling her that. You know how protective she is of us."

"Yeah, almost as protective as I am of you, eh Little Man?" He laughed out loud as he raised the small, green haired child high to sit on his shoulders. The boy was short and wearing red shorts and a blue shirt with a snakehead design. His hair was green and his eyes were slitted like a reptile.

"Oh, who is this?" Nami cooed happily as she examined the boy, pinching his cheeks lightly.

"That," A new voice intoned, "Is one of the biggest pains in the world."

The crew turned to find a golden eyed man standing next to them with a massive sword on his back. None had even heard him approach. "Sorry to interrupt, but my name is Dracule Mihawke. I was supposed to meet Commodore Luffy of the Navy here. Can one you direct me to him?"