A/N: I hope that you're all doing well, and that you enjoy this chapter!

I'm currently in the midst of exams, so the next chapter may not be out for a few more weeks.

(Also for those looking forward to the next chapter of The New World State, it is coming and is pretty much done, but with exams and stuff it may be delayed a bit more.)

The next sequence of events was almost a blur of colour amongst the clouds. Firstly meeting Gan Fall was interesting, as he'd promptly given us the whistle before riding off into the distant clouds. We'd had our photos taken by the woman who had let us through without needing to pay the fare and then we'd met Conis.

She was incredibly pretty. Like seriously pretty, almost delicate. I don't think I'd seen anyone that delicately pretty before, maybe it was the wings?

Her and her father were acting incredibly suspiciously, even after Nami had taken off on the bike into the unknown. How she managed to control the thing, I had no idea. I wasn't game enough to risk it, knowing with my luck I would fall right through the cloud sea and fall through the sky, plunging into the murky depths of the actual ocean below.

The two served us a rather delicious lunch, with Sanji trading recipes with the pair. Everything was going well until we were interrupted by a rather tall man with almost comically small wings, and a group of other equally tall men behind him, all wearing virtually the same outfit.

"You're the ones from the blue sea! The eight trespassers!"

The guard uniform looking really silly, and the slouch cap that they all wore looked more like an oversized chefs cap than anything militaristic. Though considering that they were meant to be berets, maybe that explained more? They just looked far too big to be berets.

"Trespassers? What?"

Usopp was comical in his outrage at being called a trespasser.

"What's that?"

Luffy on the other hand really didn't give a shit.

The guard looked flustered at the lack of reaction from one of us, and the overreaction from another.

"Don't try to talk your way out of this one! The gate inspector sent us your picture!"

Conis' father seemed shocked, "Captain McKinley! This must be some kind of mistake, these people cannot be criminals!"

Sanji was in agreement with that statement, "The only criminals amongst us are the moss head and rubber boy."

His statement was muttered, but it wouldn't have surprised me if any of the guardsmen had heard him. I gave him a mock glare, prompting him to remember that both Robin and I had bounties now, too. Four of the crew were now wanted for their crimes.

Sanji sighed, "Yeah, I know. But you two don't count!"

Usopp was still outraged, "That old snitch said that we could pass!"

"Well, we didn't end up paying the entrance fee."

I pointed this out to a pouting Usopp, when Robin added in her two cents.

"It was one billion extols each, wasn't it?"

Captain McKinley wasn't having any excuses, and he said so.

"No excuses from any of you, just accept responsibility of your actions. There's no need to panic... just yet."

The yet was the key word here, especially when the man began to grin. It didn't meet his eyes.

"According to the Heaven's punishment statutes, trespassing is only.a class eleven offence. If you pay the fine, which is ten times what you would have paid at the entrance. Eighty billion extols for the eight of you, and if you pay up now then your record will be wiped clean!"

"Hmm, what's the conversion rate from berries to extol?"

Usopp was being pragmatic about the whole thing, if our records could be wiped then we wouldn't have any issues. Unlikely, since Luffy had already been told about the 'place that no one is allowed to enter'.

"Berries? That's the blue sea currency, correct?" The guardsman took a moment to think about it, before talking. "A single berry is equal to ten thousand extols."

Usopp turned to Robin, who had already figured the maths out in her head.

"How much is that again?"

"Seventy billion extols are roughly equal to seven million berries."

Sanji was furious, and it was a good thing that Nami wasn't there because she would have steam rolled the Captain with her bare fists, damning any and all consequences.

"That's an absolute fortune! Do you know how many tonnes of rice that could be bought with that?"

Sanji was winding up even more, "We risked our lives getting here, and now you want us to pay you lot a fortune to even look around, let alone stock up?"

McKinley was also angry, shouting back at the enraged chef. "It's your own damn fault! You should have just paid the initial entry fee!"

"Bullshit! It was too much!"

It was a good thing that there was a significant distance between our ship, and where the guards were because Sanji was a fingernails width away from pummelling the man into the ground.

As it stood, I reached out to the chef and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ignore him, we have to go and find Nami."

He backed down slightly, taking in a deep breath, fingers twitching as though he were about to reach for a cigarette that wasn't there.

"I should warn you all, that we White Berets serve as Kami's vassals and that you'll only make things worse for yourselves if you resist."

Adding more insult to injury, McKinley went on to point out all the other 'offences' we had committed, including property damage and theft. It probably would have risen to assault if Nami hadn't have arrived when she did, as Luffy was very, very close to punching the man in the jaw.

Sanji was incredibly happy to see her, hearts in his eyes as he danced. My hand the whole time staying on his shoulder as he swayed.

"LUFFY! Don't argue with them!"

Nami was a voice of reason one moment, but once Usopp had spoken up saying the amount that we were being fined, all tat reason went out the window as she mowed down one of the White Berets with her bike

I sighed, "Well, that'll make the fine go up."

Usopp wailed, burying his face in his palms as Chopper stared on in shock as Nami started to shout about the unfairness of the fine, before going on to thank Conis and her grandfather for the use of their bike.

Nami then grabbed Luffy's arm, taking off towards the Going Merry whilst the guards looked on in shock behind them.

"YOU'VE VERBALLY AND PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED US! THAT WAS CLEARLY AN ATTACK ON A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, A CLASS FIVE CRIMINAL OFFENCE! IN THE NAME OF KAMI, ENEL, I DECLARE YOU EXILED TO THE CLOUDS!"

Oh shit.

Here we go again.

Sabo would have been worried about his brother, but he seemed to be in good hands when Doke no Buggy told him story after story about his mother. He had noticed that Buggy seemed to be avoiding any mention of whom his Captain was when he was a cabin boy, something that Ace had picked up on as well, but was happy not to mention as long as he could hear more stories about his mum.

"Once we'd arrived on island that was controlled by the Golden Lion, but unfortunately we'd missed their flag when we arrived. Shanks and I went exploring and landed in a bit of trouble for a couple of cabin brats that had really no adult supervision."

"You wouldn't count your Captain?"

Sabo interjected dryly, a wry grin on his face.

Buggy laughed, "I'd say the first mate was his babysitter to be fair! But yeah, two ten year old brats run into one of Shiki's commanders, can't remember which one, but he didn't like our Captain and thought to take it out on the two of us."

Ace looked horrified, that thought had been one that he was trying to avoid thinking about when it came to his own situation.

"What happened?" He asked in a whisper.

Boggy let out another laugh, "We tried running, which only got us so far, but it was far enough to bump into Roulette, who took great pleasure in taking down the man pursuing us."

He looked off into the distance, no longer in the then and now. "She took him down without a sweat, and then started to lecture the two of us and she dragged us off towards where the ship was docked."

Ace, who was particularly tense throughout this was gradually loosing that, enthralled.

"Then she gave Captain a tongue lashing. Davy Jones, I've never seen a grown man so lost before, nor so ashamed. I think he shrunk a foot or two during that dressing down. The crew tried to laugh it off, but she turned on them too. I think it worked, since Captain wasn't as reckless with the lives of his cabin boys much after that."

"Much?"

Buggy looked down, shoulders tense. "He tried, but there was too much ocean in his blood, too much adventure. There was only so much of it that he could ignore for the sake of us before he burst."

Ace was quiet for a moment, a look of wistfulness on his face. "She sounded like an incredible person, I wish I could have known her."

"I figured that she was gone when you didn't react to her epitaph."

Buggy looked as though he was struggling to say something, before he blurted it out.

"How did you end up with Monkey D. Garp?"

Ace tensed, as did Sabo, but Buggy didn't notice.

"i mean, Captain was dead and so was Sayyida, so you wouldn't have been raised by either of those. And Rouge had other crew-mates, so why were you raised by Garp?"

Ace and Sabo had no idea who Buggy's captain was, nor Sayyida, but he seemed genuinely curious as to why Ace (who was the child of two well-known pirates) was raised by Monkey D. Garp (a marine known by all to be the Hero of the Marines).

Sabo and Ace looked at each other, wondering if they could trust this man enough to say that it was what his mother (and Roger) wanted and so as to keep him safe from Roger (and probably Rouge's) enemies.

Buggy seemed to realise that this was causing some concern amongst the two brothers, and went to say something but Ace had already begun to speak.

"All I know is that my mum wanted me to be safe, and who safer than the Hero of the Marines?"

Buggy scoffed, "I could name a hundred different people safer than that madman, Neptune (raising a human underwater would have been fun) and Toki (if she was still alive) for a start, even Newgate (you ended up with him anyway), but I do see your point."

Buggy kept interrupting himself, but they could get the picture. Why had both Roger and Rouge entrusted Ace to Garp? Surely there were other reasons other than to keep him safe? Maybe (and that was a very big maybe) if they were to ever run into Garp they would ask.

They were silent for a moment, all they could hear were the sounds of a party going on upstairs on the deck. The crew of the Big Top had been kind when they'd heard who Ace's mother was, and that whilst pirates were nosy people by nature, knew that tis was something that was only to be privy to those who needed to hear it.

"I wouldn't mind if you both stayed the night, but i get it if you don't."

"What do you mean?"

Ace's voice was curious.

"You're hunting Teach, aren't you?" Ace was tense enough to flame up, when Buggy turned to Sabo. "And you're going to help a few Outliers for the Crow Queen and the Revolutionary Army."

This time is was Sabo's turn to tense up, "How…"

Buggy let out a laugh, one almost hysteric, "I've been around for thirty-seven years and I travelled the New World and the Grand Line multiple times. I know Outliers when I see them, and they don't deserve the awful lot they've been given in life. I've also met Dragon a time or two, and you top hat, walk exactly like the man. That, and the way you move your hands, only someone who knows ryusoken can move their hands like that."

Turning to Ace he continued, almost pleading, "I know that Ebony has warned you not to go up against him, and you probably won't listen to me either, but know that I saw that man go up against several members of the Roger pirates and win, easily. He can go for days without sleep, and will continue fighting even when the world around him has stopped. Please Portgas, please go home to the Moby, and live."

Staying with Chopper whilst everyone else went to explore was my own idea, despite how much I wanted to go off and see as much as I could. The ships doctor he may be, but he was still technically a kid. Not defenceless by any means, but it didn't make Chopper any older than fifteen regardless.

"Do you think the others will be back soon?"

Chopper was playing with the whistle around his neck absentmindedly, swinging his legs from where he sat on the stairs.

I'd removed my long hooded cloak, swapping it out for a hooded singlet, and swapped out my cotton pants for some sturdier jeans, with rubber soled combat boots. It was a lot warmer up here than what I had originally thought it may be, but I also needed to think about functionality over whatever fashion sense I had.

"I don't think they'll be gone for too long."

I went to sit down beside him, but a shadow descended upon us. That wasn't unusual, there were plenty of large shadows here in the sky, but this one got larger and larger as it came closer and closer.

"Chopper, now might be a good time to blow that whistle!"

He nodded, blowing the thing as hard as he could whilst I prepared to defend where I could.

I wasn't expecting the flame thrower.

I dove out of the way, crawling my way towards the hose. It took a bit of fiddling around for the hose to actually work, but the water did help. The fires being put out almost as soon as they had begun.

Not that it stopped our attacker from attacking, and it didn't.

Merry's main post was beginning to sway under the pressure, whilst Chopper tried his best to keep it upright.

"I WON'T LET YOU HARM MERRY!"

I saw the mast snap before Chopper did, so I screamed.

"CHOPPER MOVE!"

He was currently larger than me, but that didn't stop me from trying to get him out of the way of the snapped mast. Lunging, and still somehow holding onto the hose, I managed to grab one of his arms and pulled him out of the way as the mast landed with a crash onto the deck of the ship. We could both hear Merry crying out in pain, but also her encouragement to fight back where we could.

Another shadow could be seen overhead, as Gan Fall descended to fight the flame throwing disciple.

As the two were fighting, Chopper and I were trying our best to put out any of the remaining fires that appeared.

"FULL SPEED PIERRE! WE NEED ONE MORE THRUST!"

It seemed that Gan Fall was almost done with the attacker, however the disciples next words made my blood chill.

"INSOLENT OLD FOOL! YOU WILL FEEL THE WRATH OF MY POWER!"

"Chopper! We have to move!"

He turned to me, smothering a fire with a blanket, "Why?"

"I think…"

I didn't manage to get the words out when the disciple of Enel managed to overcome Gan Fall, who went plummeting through the cloud ocean bellow.

"I've got to save him!"

Chopper, the courageous and incredibly compassionate doctor that he was, always forgot that he was a devil fruit user and that it probably wasn't a good idea to dive into the ocean, sea or cloud.

"I'll go! You hide!"

I really hoped that he would take the advice, and that Merry would help as I then threw myself off the side of the ship. Not knowing if I would survive the jump but hoping to all the gods in the multiverse that my strangely good luck in this world would survive just that fraction longer.

Hitting the cloud ocean was much like hitting the sea ocean beneath us, and I had to remember that otherwise I'd probably accidentally drown myself. Not that it mattered since something caught one of my legs, feeling a lot like a clawed foot from a bird, but much, much, larger.

The giant bird flew me upwards, closer to another, who was gripping Gan Fall in its own claws. They must have been the southbirds that I could vaguely remember and they must have decided that it was safe enough, as they brought the two of us near to where Robin and the others had jumped off towards, and then back towards the ship.

Chopper had listened to my advice, as another southbird was standing next to him, waiting for us to return.

"You okay?"

I worriedly called down to him.

He nodded, grinning back at me.

"Yep! Merry kept me safe, then this southbird came and said that he had something to tell me!"

The southbird carrying me flew closer towards the Merry, placing me as gently as they could whilst holding a leg onto the deck. That is to say, I had to do a somersault to sit myself upright.

"Thank you!"

Gan Fall had a much nicer landing, but then again the southbirds probably knew him and were much more careful with him.

Chopper started to panic.

"Someone! Get a doctor!"

"You are a doctor, little deer."

It was a gentle reminder as he blushed and set to work.

The mast was going to be difficult to reattach, but between Chopper, Merry and myself we managed to do a somewhat patchwork job before the others arrived back. Getting to Water 7 was more important than ever before, but it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, even though the Going Merry really needed some help with properly done repairs.

When the others arrived, they inspected the damage done to the Merry, knowing that we had done our best to protect her.

"Are you all okay? Everyone's wounds taken care of?"

Usopp was the most worried about Merry, everyone could tell, but he was putting on a brave face for everyone to see. His concern though was appreciated and I told him as such. He smiled, worry in his eyes. Chopper was talking to Luffy about Gan Fall and how he'd come when called.

"Hey Chopper! Where's the old guy? You said he was badly injured?"

"He's in the infirmary!"

And off he went, leading the others (namely Sanji, Luffy and Nami) to see how the sky knight was going. Pierre was also in there, terribly worried for the man. I couldn't blame him at all, the condition that he was in wasn't the greatest, but he kept pushing himself forward to fight for those who needed help.

"I'd really like to ask him some questions, thank him." Sanji took one look at the giant bird, before inclining his head towards him.

"Thanks to you, too."

Pierre gave off a soft cooing noise, glancing at Sanji for a moment before looking back at Gan Fall.

"Maybe we should leave him to his rest, I'm sure his friend is well equipped to keep him company."

My voice was quiet, and gentle as I could possibly make it.

"Agreed, and Luffy?"

Luffy hadn't looked up from where he was playing with Gan Fall's beard.

"Yes Nami?"

"Stop playing with the man's beard and let him rest."

Camping that evening sounded like a great idea, and it was, but I had almost forgotten how persistent mosquitoes were when they found a blood source that they particularly liked. I was swatting them away every few minutes, and would probably continue to do so throughout the entire trip. (I didn't remember having this issue when on Little Garden, but I'm pretty glad I didn't since who knew how many ancient diseases they could have had?)

"Oi! Luffy! You don't have to keep watching the pot! When there's enough distilled water, just pour it into the flasks, enough for each of us tomorrow."

Sanji was instructing our incredibly bored Captain, who was staring rather intently at the boiling pot.

I'd been helping peel vegetables, having only just slightly bullied Sanji into letting me actually help him cook.

"Did you want them to be sliced?"

He turned to me, a small smile on his face. "Thank you, can you dice them? Into cubes?"

I nodded, that was something that I could do. Sanji was a chef, and one that was trained very well, but I'd learnt to cook at the knees of my grandmother, who enjoyed to cook (and was very good at it), but measurements and exact weights were never a top priority.

The rest of the crew were almost back, if the noise coming from the forest was an indication.

"Sanji! We've got lots of you my things!"

"Brilliant! Bring them over!"

Chopper did so, separating out what he would need to help out Gan Fall, and what Sanji could use for the stew.

"Here's a rat, and a frog. Do they go into the stew?"

I couldn't tell if Zoro was being serious, or if he was being a little shit, since his words certainly got a reaction out of Nami.

"Hold it!" She stormed over to where Sanji was and spread her arms out in warning to Zoro, who was inching closer. "Those are some pretty strange ingredients!"

Sanji, who was most definitely not be a shit, cheerfully grinned at Nami, "That's right1 You're allergic to garlic, aren't you?"

I snorted, bringing attention to me. "That's not what she meant, Sanji."

He tilted his head, it would have been cute if he wasn't who he was.

"She means the rat and the frog, and yes I know you could probably make both taste delicious, but not everyone has a particularly gourmet taste."

"Rats aren't gourmet!"

I shrugged, not knowing enough about this world's cuisines. There could be a city, a town, an island out there where rat stew was the best known and most beloved dish, who knew until we got there and Sanji tried it?

Robin, who had just arrived back, distracted Nami from whatever it was she was about to say next, carrying a large slab of rock salt.

I pointed to her with the knife I was holding, "Now that, that looks delicious. That I would eat."

Robin laughed, "I think if you tried eating it all, you'd most likely end up dead."

Nami, bewildered, said. "If it'll kill us, why add it to the stew?"

Sanji, who knew exactly what the ingredient was gave Nami an indulgent smile, "That's rock salt. Salt can and will kill if you eat way too much of it, but it can be good for you."

I nodded in agreement, "I used to be lacking in salt when I was a kid, and then pretty much every meal thereafter had to have extra salt added to it. Probably why I like my food a little more salty than what others do."

"That would do it."

Robin placed the giant slab of rock salt near by, whilst Sanji bullied Zoro into slicing the rock salt into the stew, saving a portion for later on.

"Want the veg, Sanji?"

He nodded, and I swiped the now diced vegetables into the stew.

I had to admit, the stew did look incredibly nice.

"Hot rock stew, nice."

After the party, after cautiously staying the night and after Sabo had left for Alabasta, Ace had some time to think. And think he did.

Ace hadn't asked if Buggy knew whose biological son he was. He just knew that the clown knew, but hadn't brought it up. Not once. He had given him a few strange looks, like he hadn't been sure if Ace actually existed and wasn't some sort of ghost come back to haunt him.

Funnily enough, it was the same look that Shanks had given him when he had gone to thank the man for saving his little brothers life. Add in the fact that Buggy apparently knew Shanks? Shanks, a man formidable in his own rights and could probably stand toe to toe with Oyaji, but was still treated as though he was a cabin brat by the man? Who Marco would rib, and would be ribbed in return whenever they'd meet up?

(Something about being stopped by the first mate with a single finger? And a rock being broken because someone had ducked in time?)

He could have a guess as to who the two had once sailed under, and he had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Sabo had tried, but knew that this was something that his older brother had struggled with his whole life.

Buggy had spoken, very sparingly, about his Captain. Fondness was present, even love, but there was a large amount of anger. Not really directed at the Captain, sometimes, but more at the world and how it had treated those under his protection just because of who his Captain was. Sure, Buggy was angry at his Captain and at the world, but there was mostly love whenever they were mentioned.

And the fact that Teach had always been a little... off.

He was legitimately questioning if he should be going after him alone, if he had brought another of his siblings, if Sabo was available to help? He couldn't drag his only just rebound brother into this, for one, it was Whitebeard Pirates issue and two, his brother wasn't a pirate. He was a revolutionary, and he had other things to be thinking about, like helping the Outliers that Ebony had found.

Maybe he should contact Whitey? Andre? Deuce would come, as would the rest of the Spades, if Ace called.

He had to think about it, just a bit more.

A/N: So I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! It's got a fair number of headcanons in it, but what is fanfiction for if not to project and headcanon the shit out of canon.

Sayyida is based on the infamous pirate and actual muslim queen Sayyida al Hurra. Honestly, I only know about her due to wikipedia and I really want to read more about her since she sounded like an incredible woman. Her namesake in this story was once Portgas D. "Roulette" Rouge's first mate who passed away in mysterious circumstances.