"Watch this!" Luffy laughed winding up his arm. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Apollo watched in amazement and awe as the Straw Hat Captain slung his arm forward in a punch. And forward. And forward. And it kept going as if it were made of rubber. Most of the kids that were listening to Usopp heard Apollo's gasp of shock and leapt up to see. Usopp just rolled his eyes but cringed as he was slightly worried to what the captain was up to. Zoro stopped behind Apollo watching to see just what he was aiming for. Luffy laughed as his Gomu Gomu Pistol rocketed through the air all the way down the empty street, towards the docks, on top of the Going Merry, and his hand clutched the mast. Nami panted as she caught up with them glaring at her idiot captain. But Kiwamae, Futai, and Apollo just stared glossy eyed, "Oh wow."

"Yeah!" Luffy laughed still holding onto the mast, while his feet remained on the ground. "Cool huh?"

"That is so cool!" Apollo laughed in pure shock. Luffy nodded enthusiastically.

Shaking his head, Sanji just lit himself another cigarette. As he did, a thought came to his head. "Luffy, shouldn't you be snapping back about now?"

"Uh oh." Luffy's feet left the ground and began launching him towards the Going Merry.

"Luffy!" the crew shouted, along with the town natives who were surprised to see the action.

The captain was thrown towards the Merry, but he knew that if he let go of the mast he would fall into the water. And that would be bad. So he just held on. And flew towards the ship. Right towards the sail.

And made a nice Luffy size hole through it.

"Shit you idiot!" Zoro hissed gritting his teeth at the mere stupidity of the boy. Sanji put a calming hand on Nami's shoulder as she tried to run over and murder him. Usopp's jaw just went slack. Apollo bit his lip feeling guilty, but felt even guiltier as Luffy's rebound action snapped him through the sail again. Making another hole.

"Dammit Luffy!" Usopp shouted. "I'm not a seamstress either you know!"

Now Apollo felt REALLY guilty.

"AH!" Luffy cackled as he was flung back to the group. He hit the dirt a few feet from them and slid on his butt all the way to Nami's dainty feet. He smiled up at her, still on a high from his high-flying demonstration. "That was fun. Can I do it again?"

"NO!" the navigator snapped whapping him on the head. Apollo winced feeling sorry for him. Before Sanji could get in a kick, the red head grabbed him.

"Wait! This is all my fault," he admitted. "If I hadn't gotten so curious about his Devil Fruit power then he wouldn't have wanted to show me."

"He would have done it anyway," Zoro muttered. Apollo shook his head, still apologizing for actions he had no control over. Some of the kids who had witnessed the act were jumping up and down asking Usopp endless questions about the rubber man.

"No, it was my fault. But," Apollo sighed aiding Luffy to his feet. He took a deep breath looking over to the sails. "I know someone who can fix those for you. She's a wiz with stuff like this – almost anything boat related she's a master at." The crew began to feel more hopeful and less angry with the captain. "If you want, I can take you over, and I'll even pay for the damage."

Nami raised a brow skeptically, "Why would you do that?"

"Because you're pirates," Apollo smiled warmly. He turned to Kiwamae and Futai shouting, "Go watch the kids for a while! Usopp, come with us!" Turning back to the rest of them he continued, "I know from experience money's really tight for most pirates, so spending what little you might have on something like that could really hurt you later. So, this is on me!"

"That's pretty damn decent of you," Zoro smirked following behind him as he led them back into town. "We usually get the 'Arrest them!' reaction."

Apollo laughed heartily as Luffy ran up to join him, throwing an arm about his neck like he was a lifelong friend. "Pirates are always welcome in Moray, just as long as they don't cause too much trouble."

"Why is that?" Usopp questioned falling in step after prying off the last tot from his leg.

"For one thing," the red head grinned patting Luffy's shoulder in an equally friendly manner, "my father was a pirate." Instantly, the entire crew, minus their captain, stopped dead in their tracks. Noticing the halt, Apollo swung their captain around to face them. "He retired though. Long before he came here."

"Oh," the whole crew muttered feeling slightly embarrassed for having jumped to conclusions. Usopp however, was thrilled to have another protégé pirate descendant around.

"See, my dad was really popular with the locals," Apollo explained motioning for them all to follow again as they continued through the town towards Apollo's home once more. "Because of his life as a pirate he was skilled in defense. Few weeks after we moved here, pirates attacked the town. My dad automatically helped the people in town to defend themselves. After the fight was over – "

"Obviously you defeated the pirates," Sanji interjected. Apollo nodded.

" – the village asked him to help keep the town safe, set up some laws, defense systems, and the sort. From then on my family has been keeping this town safe. Most of the time pirates wander into Moray looking for a port, some rest, and food, so we let them on in under the condition that they won't do anything to the people, the land, or bring any harm to anyone." By the time that was explained, they had passed Apollo's home and were nearing the edge of the forest at the end of the village. If one looked closely, just beyond the first ten feet of the dense wood was another home, much smaller, and older than any other building in the town. Detangling himself from Luffy, their new friend led them single file through the trees, motioning for them to be quiet as they followed.

Sanji, who stayed close in line, near the rear with Zoro, was skeptical of their situation. "Why are we going into the woods?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Probably where this woman he keeps talking about lives," Zoro answered. Not even a minute in the forest and they all found themselves in a clearing at one end of which the small wooden home sat.

"Here we are," Apollo announced. "Just let me see if she's in." He approached the door slowly, and then knelt down in front of it. He reached up and knocked on the door lightly, calling out, "Hello? Are you home? Old Woman?"

There was a long and heavy silence. The Straw Hat crew stared at him wondering what was going on. Until suddenly, an old, short woman appeared from the side of the house, crept up on the boy, and smacked him on the head with the staff she was carrying.

"JESUS H. TAP DANCING CHRIST!" he shouted rolling away from the woman and rubbing his head at the same time.

"Not how did we not see her coming?" Nami laughed.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?!?" Apollo screamed at her scrambling to his feet. The old woman smacked him again, this time in the shin. He didn't even flinch, but glared at her.

"What are you doing here Apollo?" she snapped in a gravelly voice. "And why weren't you aware of my presence?" Apollo, seeming quite angry, threw his hands up angrily.

Luffy poked the old woman's side with interest, "Woooooowww. She's old! How much of her body is wrinkles?" Before Nami or Zoro could get to him, the woman bashed his head too.

"Uh ma'am," Usopp stammered. "Apollo said – "

"That I could help you pirates?" she barked. Everyone jumped back form her.

"Look G Baba," Apollo sighed, "their sail is torn in two big rips and they need it patched."

G Baba cleared her throat nodding curtly, "And you of course offered to pay."

"Yes. So I'll give you 200 for the job," he continued.

"400."

"300 or I do it myself," he snapped back with a grin.

As if horrified by the idea, she shot back, "Yourself? It'll take you weeks and neither you or they can afford it."

"Well the festival will be postponed then," Apollo shrugged turning away. He winked to the crew before him. "And I'll leave some of the others in charge for defense so I can work."

Oh I get it, Nami thought. If she knows he'll screw up or the town's in danger she'll do the job. That's almost as good as one of my plans!

"If you think that stupid plan is going to work, then you're just as stupid Apollo," G Baba growled, whapping his head again.

As Zoro and Sanji sniggered about his abuse, he hollered, "Dammit!"

"But," G Baba answered going over to Nami, "I will repair your sail for 300 Beri as paid by Apollo. So tell me miss, where is your ship and how big are the tears?" Instantly the old woman's attitude, although still a bit scary, seemed to soften around Nami and the others. Apollo meanwhile, was furious and standing still except for the shaking of his fists and arms from his rage. Zoro and Sanji both saw this, quietly creeping up to hold him back if necessary. The elder woman, before walking off with Nami and Usopp, reached into her pocket and tossed something to Apollo. "Here, this is for restraining yourself. At least you didn't punch anything this time."

It turned out to be a cookie, which he ate turning back into the laid back boy once more. Sanji stared at him incredulously, "What does she mean 'this time'?"

"Oh that," Apollo mumbled around the last bite of cookie. "She smacks me around a lot so I usually end up punching a tree or a wall of her house or something." He pointed to a tree nearby, "That happened last week, and she only hit me three times then."

Zoro raised a brow; the tree had a huge split in it running from a foot above the ground to the very top of the large elm. "You punched it?"

"Yup," Apollo nodded. Remembering something he added, "Oh, we should follow. Hey Luffy! Quit playing with that hammock and come on! Once she evaluates the damage we're going to need to find you a place to stay." Luffy jumped off the hammock he was inspecting and ran to Apollo, leaping onto his back as if they were brothers. "Ack!" the captain's new playmate chuckled regaining his balance. He smiled brightly at the swordsman and cook, "Your captain's friendly isn't he?"

"Unfortunately," they both nodded following them out of the clearing and back to town.

G Baba was leading Nami and Usopp back into town towards the dock so she could inspect their pathetic sail. They had lost the others farther back and neither the crewmen or the old woman seemed to care or notice. Usopp, without his captive audience, was much more subdued, but actually fascinated by the woman's authority. Strangely enough, she reminded him a little bit of a female, even more crotchety, Zeff. If that was possible.

"Uh, ma'am," he started tentatively. "When Apollo was talking about when he moved here, he kept referring to his dad in past tense. My dad's a pirate too, and I thought maybe they know each other. Was there any reason – "

"Apollo refers to his father in past tense because his father is dead."

Both navigator and sniper were shocked. Nami never knew her family, but it seemed awful for someone as happy and friendly as Apollo to loose someone he obvious looked up to. Usopp felt even worse; his father, he prayed, was still alive somewhere, but it was almost as bad. Nami was the first to pipe up again, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Maybe he's still out at sea?" Usopp offered sadly.

"Impossible," G Baba sighed, her staff clicking on the cobblestone road with each step. "Apollo watched his father die." As if their silence egged her on, she continued, "His father was killed by a giant, poisonous, spider which was a pet to the most feared pirate in these waters. Apollo's father was trying to save his children from it until the marines would come and help him dispose of it." Darkly she said, "They didn't arrive fast enough. The beast was already gone by the time the marines came."

"What about Apollo's mother?" Nami asked cautiously. "Where is she?"

"She too died, years before her husband though. She was deathly ill," she explained. Usopp felt his heart skip a beat: mother died of sickness and the father was a pirate? Practically a tragic version of the story of his life! "But Apollo and his family never brooded long on it, but the loss of his father was a shock to him. It only encouraged him further to protect this town and work harder to become strong enough to do it alone."

"That's why he was able to defeat the Camans on his own," Nami assumed nodding slowly. Apollo's life certainly seemed difficult, but then again, everyone on the Going Merry had a sad story to tell. It was as if Luffy knew how to pick out the people whose tragedies made them stronger. Bad idea, last thing I need is another MALE crewmember. As they found sight of the dock, G Baba stopped staring up at the boat.

"How did that happen?" she asked almost amused.

From behind them, Apollo's voice laughed, "HE'S how it happened!"

"Bloody idiot," Zoro commented gesturing to the captain, who found Apollo a perfect substitute for legs. Apollo chuckled completely uncaring, or accustomed, to the weight on top of his back. He dumped him before G Baba's feet wiping his, still covered, brow. The first mate huffed slightly, "Can you fix it?"

"Of course I can," she snuffed. "But it will take a day or two, perhaps even three. So I suggest that you get it down and to my home as quickly as possible."

"Na?" Luffy asked slightly confused. "We have to take it down? Usopp how do you take a sail down?" The sniper shrugged and turned to Zoro. Zoro shrugged as well before nudging Sanji, who shook his head. Nami groaned in exasperation.

"I'll tell you, let's get going." As the crew began to make their way up the gangplank, G Baba following behind, Apollo called out to them from the bottom of it.

"Normally I'd help you guys with that," he explained. "But you heard me mention that festival earlier? Well I'm chairman for it this year, and I've got loads of work to do before tonight. Once you all get the sail down and to Baba's come back to my place. I'll have Futai and Kiwamae set you up for the night." He bid them goodbye, and muttered something about luck with the crazy bat.

Zoro, as he was holding back a fierce line alongside Sanji, asked him through grit teeth, "That kid, Apollo, pretty weird eh?"

"He's got more brains than you," Sanji smirked. They let up slightly as ordered by Nami. The strange new boy was preying on his mind as well; nice enough kid, friendly, smart, pretty funny too, but something was very wrong about him. "You think," he asked growing serious, "that he's hiding something?"

"Give it more line!" Nami shouted. "Usopp don't let that fall into the water you idiot!"

The swordsman turned his head slightly to raise a brow, "What, you saw it too?"

"Of course," Sanji scoffed as they slid more of the rope from their grip. Usopp and Luffy were waiting on the other side with open arms to catch the sail as it was lowered, Nami folding it and smoothing it out for easier movement. "He's too carefree, too trusting, and he just seems to be so damn happy. He's got something up his sleeve."

"Don't forget the way he fought," Zoro added with a smile. "To go from the friendly smile to that sheer determination in pretty rare."

Sanji smirked, "Yeah, except with us." As an afterthought he said, "By 'us' I mean You, Luffy, and I."