Ichigo sat on the grass, his hair being brushed by the wind from the ocean. He was seated upon a grassy plateau that overlooked the endless blue of the sea. He could remember a time where he would be angry at what had happened, forced himself into a depression. But he now knew he couldn't fall into such a state. There was always the lingering hope of Kisuke finding a way, but Ichigo honestly wasn't counting on it. Seventeen months he had been without his power, hounded by the feeling of uselessness. But here… it was different. Not to say he would ever forget the home he came from, it's just he was mature enough now to accept his circumstance. There was no way home, this is where he would live out the rest of his life. The sooner he came to terms with that the better off he would be. It wasn't easy, but it was reality.

The ocean spread out before him was honestly an unbelievably beautiful sight. He had been to the beach a few times with his family and occasionally with friends, but looking at this ocean… it was strange, he felt a seemingly never ending feeling to simply go out and explore it. As if the very sea itself was somehow calling to him. While he still felt the ache of loss after what had transpired with him, he couldn't help but feel calm at the sight of the ocean before him. Maybe that was the truth behind this so called great pirate age, sure the One Piece would be a goal to achieve but something had to be calling all those that became pirates other than the promise of gold. Perhaps they all had this same pull for such an adventure.

Bell-mère stood beside him however her gaze wasn't on the ocean like Ichigo's own, instead she was looking off back over the island. A small wooden makeshift headstone sat on a mound of dirt that hadn't been disturbed in years but was still present just a few feet behind Ichigo, it was where Bell-mère was buried. The woman had been surprised when Ichigo had offered his respects to the grave when he had first arrived. In truth, the ghost was still completely stunned that she was actually communicating with a living being once more, and more to the point, Ichigo was seemingly use to this situation.

"Geeze Nami, you sure get yourself mixed up in a bunch of weird people." Bell-mère thought with a smile as she glanced over her shoulder to see Ichigo staring off at the ocean, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You may not look like the pirate you say you are, but you sure as hell look out at the ocean like one." Ichigo glanced back to look at her, a surprising smile coated his face; she believed it to be the first smile she had seen him give.

"Just drawn to it, is all." Ichigo explained to her getting a nod from the ghost. It had been a while since the two had met, Bell-mère had given Ichigo a version of the story of Conomi Island, how it had been a nightmare for the islanders, even more so for Nami. It had pained Ichigo to hear how much Bell-mère wanted to help Nami, and her other daughter Nojiko, but not being able to do anything but watch as the horror of the Fishman continued on.

For years she had watched her home, her friends and family be subjugated by the Fishmen without any means to help or aide her loved ones. Ichigo was truly stunned that she hadn't turned into a hollow the entire time that she had been among the deceased. It showed just how much willpower she had to stay herself or how much information he was lacking on this worlds afterlife. Kisuke would have a field day here.

"Nami sure has a history." Ichigo breathed out quietly, the story he had been given was not one he was okay with. "I never would have thought she hid such a haunted past." Unconsciously his hand slipped into his pocket, reaching for his badge, seemingly remembering the events of his own past and what had led him up to this moment. While no way did his childhood hold such horrors like Nami's nightmare did apart from the loss of his mother, but he had his own wounds to bare. However as he reached into his pocket… it was empty.

Standing up abruptly surprising Bell-mère as she gave him a curious look as he started to hastily empty his pockets, checking the ones in his pants, his jacket, the inner linings of his jacket. Bell-mère had no idea what had the teen so worked up. His badge, it was gone. That's when it hit him. Nami's forceful push to barge past him before she hurriedly rushed off.

"She nicked something off of you, didn't she?" Bell-mère questioned, Ichigo could tell she was smirking without looking at her.

"Don't act so proud! What kind of parent would be proud of their daughter stealing!?" Ichigo roared, face furious as he already began to march away from Bell-mère who was trying to stifle her laughter. Bell-mère having regained somewhat of her own composure blinked once then twice before her eyes widened as she turned to see Ichigo already further away then she had expected him to be. He was heading somewhere with no intention of stopping it would seem. Whatever it was that her daughter had stolen, it was clear Ichigo wasn't going to let her keep it.

"Where the hell do you think you're going!?" Bell-mère shouted down the hill towards him.

"To get my damn badge back!" Ichigo shouted back up without turning to face the ghost, not seeing the sorrowful look on Bell-mère's face as she watched a teenager run off to where the horrors of this island waited. "It's the only thing I've got left." Ichigo scowled leaving Bell-mère behind, the orange haired ran off in the last known location of Nami, he'd find her by starting where he left off, at least he hoped so.

It took a while to retrace his steps not having paid that much attention to the trail when Bell-mère had led him up to the grave site, having been intent on listening to Bell-mère's words. But finally reaching the road that led up to the Merry he headed in the direction that Nami had run off in. However, before long, Ichigo was lost. The numerous rice fields the similar paths and not noticeable landmarks, the teen was walking around in circles before he knew it. Soon enough, Ichigo spotted a town off in the distance and sighed, maybe someone could give him directions to track down Nami to find this Arlong Park that Bell-mère told him about, if Nami was apart of Arlong's crew then she'd be there, right? It was only logical.

However as Ichigo came up to the town, his eyes widened at the state it was in. Building's were literally flipped on their roofs, the road through the centre of the town was completely destroyed leaving a crevice as if a giant monster had ripped right through the centre of town. Seeing a broken sign off to the side he walked towards it, clearing the dust and grass away from it. 'GOSA' was written across the sign. Had the Fishman done this? Bell-mère mentioned something about a monthly tribute and there were dire consequences should those not be able to come up with the money. It was clear that these Fishman meant business when it came to paying the tribute.

Walking through the town Ichigo's scowl set in place as he saw the obvious signs of blood and destruction through the ruined houses and across the street. It was even more surprising that there weren't any ghosts present in this area. If the town had been wiped out then there would be at least a few ghosts, but even Bell-mère had told him she hadn't seen another ghost on the island. Something just didn't feel right about the supernatural here, as if they didn't abide by the laws of what he himself knew. He was in a different world after all he couldn't expect that the souls here would go to the Soul Society or Hueco Mundo. Stopping by a house as he heard rustling inside, his scowl fixed as he pulled his hands into fists. However relaxed his hands as he saw a young boy crawl from the top story window which was now closest to the ground carrying a bag and a sword.

The boy had tears in his eyes as he got to his feet, the obvious sight of a mark of being hit by someone covered his face. Even kids here didn't get a break from the Fishman it seemed, if Bell-mère's story had any truth behind it he shouldn't be surprised seeing what happened with Nami. Shaking his head to get his mind back on track on finding the damn thief, the boy spotted him.

"N-Nojiko! Someone's out here!" The boy cried in a panic as he backed up against the house, Ichigo raising an eyebrow as another figure appeared from the window the boy had climbed out of. Just as Bell-mère had described her oldest adopted daughter. Nojiko, Nami's older sister. Finally, maybe he could get some answers as to where he could find Nami. Nojiko barely gave Ichigo a glance as she handed the bag she had with her to the boy.

"Here Chabo, another bag of your clothes. You won't be coming back here for a while and if your mother hears that you came back here, we'll both be in trouble." Nojiko told the boy getting a slight sniffle and nod from the boy as Nojiko sighed gently, crouching down before the boy examining the bruise forming on the boy's face. "She didn't mean it, she was just stopping you from doing something stupid."

"She's a mean witch." The boy muttered under his breath before rustling in his pockets pulling forth a large wad of bills. "She threw this at me." Nojiko sighed and pushed it back to him, urging him to keep it.

"Give it to your Mother, tell her to put it towards the next tribute." Chabo nodded. "Now go on, don't let me catch you sneaking off to Gosa again, otherwise I'll have Genzo lock you up, got it?" Chabo nodded before he turned and ran off with the two bags he had gotten from inside the house. Nojiko sighed and turned back to Ichigo, the look of confusion crossed her eyes as he walked up towards her. "You're not from around here."

"No." Ichigo shook his head. "I'm looking for someone."

"Oh yeah? If they're form Gosa, they're likely dead." Nojiko told him, her tone stern however Ichigo didn't bother with it. "You better get out of here before you're caught, the Fishman catch you and you're as good as dead yourself." She continued as she began to walk away. "Don't head East, if you do you'll run straight into them."

"So Arlong Park is East?" Ichigo questioned turning in the direction Nojiko had told him. "Thanks." He stated beginning to walk East causing Nojiko to falter as she turned to watch him straight down the path that would lead him into the jaws of the Fishman.

"Are you an idiot!" Nojiko shouted running past him and holding her arms out blocking his path halting the teen in his advance. "If you go to Arlong Park, you'll be dead! Do you have a death wish!?"

"The person I'm looking for is there." Ichigo stated. "She stole something from me and it's important." He added. "Nothing will stop me from getting it back."

"You're after Nami then." Nojiko started getting a nod from Ichigo. "Surprising you tracked her all the way here, she usually makes a clean break from the people she robs." She explained, Ichigo's scowl increased. He could sense it in her voice, that slight hint of pride in her words, just as Bell-mère was proud of Nami's actions Nojiko hid it well but she was proud of Nami.

"Like mother like daughter." Ichigo scoffed mentally. "Look, Nami took something important from me. As soon as I get it back, I'll get back to my ship wait for the rest of my crew and let the Captain decide on what he wants to do about Nami abandoning the crew." Ichigo explained figuring Luffy would do something about it. "Now, get out of my way." Nojiko was slightly baffled as Ichigo pushed past her, Nami had robbed an entire crew and hadn't given them the slip? That didn't sound like her sister in the slightest. This was just going to cause trouble and the Fishmen might take it out on the villagers. Gritting her teeth she encased her hand around the handle of the wooden mallet she carried around. She couldn't let this guy cause problems for Nami, not when she was so close.

Ichigo sighed as he heard Nojiko's rushed footsteps, he didn't realise turning to face her was a mistake until the mallet she had with her struck him right in the face sending him to the ground with a thud. Nojiko was wide eyed as she stared down at the bruise she had just inflicted on the unknown man's face. She had just been intending to hit him in the back of the head, not right in the face. Placing a hand on her face she let out a groan, what was she supposed to do with him now? Leave him here? The Fishman would eventually find him or he'd wake up and everything she had just done would be for nothing, he'd end up dead and if he didn't he'd end up finding Nami.

The last thing Ichigo heard before he passed out was Bell-mère's laughter as the ghost stumbled upon the scene while Nojiko hefted him up onto her back and began to take him somewhere. This family was starting to get on his nerves.


Tension left her body as Nami closed the door to her own private prison within Arlong Park. The greeting she had been given upon her return had no warmth, no good intentions. But in here, she could at least let that tension free, even if a little. This was a prison after all, even if she had free reign of Arlong Park she was still a prisoner, the tattoo on her arm didn't make her one of them. Just by being here made her wish for the smiling faces of the latest crew she had been with. The idiocy of their antics, how carefree they all were. How she had felt apart of them, unlike the Arlong Pirates. Instead, she was here chained by invisible shackles instead of on the ocean probably berating her crew for doing something stupid.

Yeah… her crew.

Looking over the room, filled with hundreds of charts, all stacked upon one another. Countless years worth of charts that Arlong had demanded she draw. It had almost broke her wish to map the entire world but she would be damned if she'd let Arlong take that from her too. Sighing lightly she rose the object she had recently come into possession of. It had been her only chance to do so, he had been distracted, if only for a moment. More focused on her than on what was in his pockets. The wooden badge he always had with him, the weapon she didn't understand. Taken with all the expertise she had gained through years of experience. Of course by now there was no way he didn't know she had taken it and with what she knew of Ichigo, he was already aware she had taken it.

Would he come to get it back? Was that why she had taken it in their last moments together, a chance just to see a single member of the crew she had so much fun being with? It was foolish, selfish and beyond reckless. But if he did come, saw her state… would he attempt to break her chains? Would Luffy and the others come just as Ichigo would to retrieve what was stolen from him?

"No… they're just pirates, they don't care about me." She muttered out, wiping at her eyes as she focused on the badge in front of her. There had to be a way to get the blade out right? She hadn't asked Ichigo about it, not wanting to alert him of her interest in the weapon. Taking in it's appearance, it looked like a roughly crafted badge, the strange black design on it didn't hit any memory of a mark on what it might be. "Maybe Ichigo was a part of another crew before he fell out of the sky?" She hummed inspecting the badge to see if there was some kind of mechanism for the blade to come out. But as she continued to search the badge, there was nothing. No sign of a switch, no sign of a place the blade would even come out of. Nothing. In her hands it was just a piece of wood… while in Ichigo's hand was a weapon. "Useless." She growled, gripping the badge and ready to throw it out the window, however she stopped and looked at it once more. Her thumb running over the markings.

"If I can't use it, I might as well give it back to the idiot." She sighed placing the badge in her back pocket.


Groggily opening his eyes, he felt the bandage on his cheek he rose his hand up to it, wincing slightly at the touch, the hammer didn't seem to have cracked his cheek bone so that was a plus. Didn't seem Nojiko had put that much strength into it, didn't stop it from hurting like hell though or knocking him out. Sitting up he found himself in a small open home, no one was present but by the looks of it, and the photo by the bedside table, it was Nojiko's and Nami's family home. Swinging his legs out of bed, seeing his shoes by his feet he slid them on. Before he stood up, the door of the house opened and Nojiko walked in with what he presumed to be tangerines, Bell-mère having mentioned the tangerine orchid in her story.

"You're awake." Nojiko simply stated as she walked into the room.

"No thanks to you." Ichigo mumbled in reply. "The hell did you think it was okay to hit someone in the face with a hammer for?" He growled at her. Nojiko placed the basket of tangerines down on the table before plucking one from the basket and tossing it to him, ignoring his outburst.

"I can't have you just rushing into Arlong Park like an idiot." Nojiko growled. "Now eat up." Ichigo glanced down at the orange fruit in his hand that he had effortlessly caught and began to peel it, feeling a pang of hunger. "The doctor said you'll be fine, you're just thick headed." She told him making his eyebrow twitch. "Once you've had something to eat, you can just leave." Ichigo placed a piece of the fruit into his mouth as he looked up at her. "Don't even think about going to Arlong Park, or you're dead."

"Funny, Nami said something similar." Ichigo shrugged. "Not dead yet."

"Stupid outsider." Nojiko huffed out. "I'm sure whatever it is Nami took from you, isn't worth your life."

"You'd be surprised." Ichigo frowned slightly. "Look, I don't need anyone looking out for me. I intend to go and get what's mine, I don't care who's in my way. I will get it back." Nojiko glanced over to him to see him staring back at her, an unshakeable resolve in his eyes, the intensity surprised her. "Then I'm going to have a chat to Nami about the subject of stealing."

"Yeah, good luck with that, Nami's been a thief long before she ever joined up with Arlong's crew, it's in her blood." Nojiko explained a grin on her face at past memories of her childhood before the nightmare started. "Plus, you'd be dead before you even got the chance to ask for what she stole back, the Fishmen don't take kindly to outsiders."

"Yeah well, I don't care if it's human or not, nothing's stopping me from getting what's mine." Ichigo reminded as he stood up, finishing off the tangerine. "I'm sure you want me to stop because Nami's getting close to the price Arlong posed for her right?" Nojiko's eyes widened.

"H-How'd you know about that?" Nojiko questioned in disbelief, there was no way Nami would have told anyone about that.

"That doesn't matter." Ichigo stated. "The fact is, I don't care about that. Just like you don't care about what Nami stole from me, so I'm going to get my badge back, kick anyone's ass that gets in my way and head back to the Merry and wait for the rest of my crew." Ichigo continued as he headed for the door.

"You're not even armed; you can't attempt to fight the Fishman like you are now!" Nojiko shouted only for Ichigo to close the door behind him.

With a frown Ichigo shook his head, while he could understand Nojiko's plea to leave the island, to not want to have someone's death on her hands. He couldn't oblige. The badge was too important to him, the only thing he had left apart from the clothes on his back of where he came from, of who he was. Not to mention, without the badge he wouldn't be able to use the full extent of his Fullbring leaving him at a severe disadvantage. While he hadn't come across anyone that he couldn't handle with his fists he didn't want to risk it. There was no way he was leaving this island without that badge.

Not only was he going to get his badge back, he was going to see these Fishmen for himself and to see if he could help Nami at all, everything about these Fishmen left a bad taste in his mouth, he wouldn't be who he was if he just left things the way they were. Plus he owed her that much at least, she had pulled him out of the water when he first arrived, taught him numerous things since joining up with the band of misfits not to mention kept him sane through it all so far. Feeling the all too familiar presence of a ghost he looked over to see Bell-mère leaning against the side of her home, looking out over the orchid.

"You think you can do it?" Bell-mère questioned with a glance at Ichigo, a scowl on his face. "Fishmen aren't just a stepping stone, they're ten times stronger than a human. Arlong… he's even stronger. One wrong move and you're dead. You're just a kid, do you really think you're capable of storming Arlong Park and defeat Arlong among his other cronies all on your own."

"What's it matter what I think about it or not." Ichigo stated. "Whether I think I can do it or not, it's not going to change what I'm going to do. I'm going to get back what's mine." Ichigo told her, Bell-mère smirking slightly as she shook her head.

"That's pretty selfish of you."

"Haven't you heard?" Ichigo questioned. "I'm a pirate." Bell-mère shook her head as she pushed off the wall, about to speak up before someone came running up through the orchid. From what Ichigo could see it was clearly a doctor of some kind, he didn't bother with speaking with Ichigo running straight into the house calling after Nojiko. Not even a minute later Nojiko dashed out of the house, swearing under her breath as she disappeared down the road. The doctor came out a few minutes later, wiping his brow of the sweat that had accumulated in his short sprint to the house. Seeing Ichigo standing on his own, the doctor approached.

"I see you're on your feet again." The man spoke. "Any nausea, or dizziness."

"I'm fine, the swelling will go down with time, from the feel I don't have a concussion so I'll be fine." The doctor seemed a little surprised at Ichigo's own analyses of his condition before he nodded. "Where did Nojiko run off too?"

"Chabo headed to Gosa again, damn that boy." The man explained shaking his head. "He'll worry his poor mother to death at this rate. But I can't blame him, the Fishmen took his father away, it's only natural the way the boy is feeling." Ichigo frowned slightly at that. "Nojiko will set him straight, while blunt she means well." Ichigo nodded as he glanced at Bell-mère.

"I should get going, thanks for your help Doc." Ichigo bowed his head slightly.

"Be careful now." The doctor replied as Ichigo walked off down the track with Bell-mère.

"That was Dr. Nako, the islands resident doctor." Bell-mère told Ichigo, the two walked in silence for a while before she spoke up once more. "So you're really going to Arlong Park, just like that." She questioned a frown on her face.

"Just like that." Ichigo nodded.

"I'll take you there this time, so you don't get lost." Bell-mère told him with a teasing smile. "You just have to do one thing for me." Ichigo glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "Beat that son of a bitches face in for me." Ichigo simply smirked as the two walked to Arlong Park.