Nami gulped, realizing what she had done.

She had forgotten everything she had done for the last eight years, pulled into the rhythm of the dumbass that had invaded her boat barely a week ago.

And now, her little fairytale of having a fun piratey adventure had been snuffed out as reality came crashing down around her. She could already hear that horrendous laugh in her ears just at the sight of his bounty…

Memories flashed through her head at the speed of thought, the Straw Hat navigator losing her nerve and becoming unable to even look at Merry's mast, eyes focusing on the map in her hands instead. She couldn't shake the smell of rot from her senses even still.

She didn't want to do this, not anymore. It was painful to have everything she wanted while knowing that she couldn't keep it. But she didn't have a choice. She would just have to find a way to live with herself after.

She had already survived much worse.


"Oh my, Luffy, do you think they noticed us?" Robin asked, shooting a sidelong glance at the man, turning around to face him instead of the Marine ship that had appeared over the horizon.

The assassin also shot a look towards their Navigator while she was at it, a small pout growing on her lips.

Her captain looked like he was about to say something else, but sighed and looked out to the marine ship instead, crossing his arms over his chest. "Nah."

"What do you mean 'nah!' Of course they have, we have a giant flashy straw hat painted onto the main sail!" Buggy screeched, his head falling to the side and rolling on the ground with panic. "What are we gonna dooo?!"

Luffy caught Usopp shooting a sidelong glance at the cannon, then back at his captain with fear in his eyes. Zoro was already playing with the hilt of his swords. Nami looked vaguely distressed, but it was clear something else was still on her mind.

Luffy didn't even pay attention to Johnny and Yosaku.

Grabbing his hat, he glared at the other ship with a smirk. "If it attacks… We strike back."

He turned back to his crew with a grin. "Simple!"


Luffy was, in all honesty, not expecting the Merry to catch up to the other ship, nor the Marine ship to simply let them get so close. That fact disappointed him immensely, but he had already given his order, it had sounded awesome, and he didn't want to be a captain that went against his own word.

No matter how boring it was making this current moment was, as both ships approached the floating restaurant.

Finally, they were close enough where both the ships' sailors could make eye contact, Usopp's legs shaking as the marine crew took apathetic heed of their existence, Robin opting to go inside the women's quarters to read silently, Zoro napping once more.

Then, the tone shifted as a decently muscular, pink-haired man wearing a white pinstripe suit strode out to the upper deck of the Marine ship, glaring down at the crew of the Merry like they were dirt on his shoes. "Ah… the pirates my crew haven't shut up about. You're lucky, you no names, I, Lieutenant Commander Fullbody, am currently off-duty. So I'll let you go for now, scurry away, scum."

Luffy blinked up at the man, scratched the scar on his left cheek, then looked down at Buggy. "Is this normal?"

Buggy wiggled to face his captain. "Monologuing marines? Sure." His face bloomed in a smug smile. "Makes it easier to run away."

Usopp appeared behind the head and lifted Buggy over his own. "Yes! Let's do that! Run faaaaaaaaaaaaar away in a sudden rush so no one can chase us!"

Nami murmured something about how that would be impossible with the wind conditions.

"It's not like we can't take them," Zoro grumbled, seemingly in his sleep.

That's when Luffy took note of how Yosaku and Johnny were crawling back onto their deck after getting pummeled to a pulp by the Marine. He squinted with a shake of his head. "When did that…"

"Two-bit bounty hunters finally turned to the side of crime." Fullbody drawled, clapping his hands. "You pirates really go for the bottom of the barrel!"

Luffy had tuned him out, but he noticed a pair of arms paw at the man before pulling him back with a giggle, the Marine laughing smugly as he let himself get pulled into his cabin.

"...uhhhh huh." Luffy mumbled, looking at his crew, then the marine ship. "I'mma sink em."

Usopp was on him in an instant, shaking him by the shoulders. "Why would you make an enemy of the Marines already!?"

"Well, we are pirates." Buggy argued, then his face fell. "Wait, how is a pirate supposed to enjoy the booty without a body?"

"See! Even the head thinks it's a bad ide-" Usopp stopped and his head snapped to the head in question. "What?"

Luffy laughed, then he noticed how the Marine ship was turning slightly to aim its cannons at the Merry.

"Usopp, lemme go." The captain stated calmly, tugging the man's hands off his shoulders gently.

"Luffy?" Was the only thing the sniper could utter before a cannon boomed, the highspeed hunk of steel aimed directly at the Merry...

"Iron clad."

Only to hit the chitinous hand of one Monkey D. Luffy instead, the man gripping into the cannonball and pinning its horizontal momentum on the axis of his body before spinning with it, tossing it straight back into the side of the marine ship.

He laughed, pointing at the wreckage he'd just caused on the lower levels of the marine ship with his armored hand that rivaled his own torso in size. "That."

Usopp nodded sagely with his hand on his chin. "I see, I see." Then his eyes almost popped out of his skull, pointing at the man's warped and chitinous limb. "A-arm!?"

Luffy waved it with a smirk. "Arm!"

Buggy grumbled, "What's the point of cannons if you can just flashily toss the damn things… Should we sink em' so they get out of our hair, Captain?"

Luffy looked back at the Marine ship as the vessel started drifting away from them, the men on board rushing to patch the hole on the side of their lower deck and generally not caring about the smaller vessel that almost sunk them. "Meh, I don't think they'll try anything else, we should be good."

"A-arm?" Usopp repeated, still pointing.


In her attempt to keep her inevitable betrayal from her features, Nami had tuned most of everything out, most of the crew not taking heed of the changes. Why would they? She thought with a small muse. They had only known her for a week at most, and she had done this exact thing for eight years and counting now.

However, even her inner turmoil left her disconnected enough to miss the Marine ship they were slowly passing by, her highly tuned senses noticed a splash in the water before they turned to sink them with a cannonball.

For a moment, she forgot who she was sailing with, panic flooding her. If she went down here, then what would happen to-

The worry evaporated as Luffy basically backhanded the cannonball into the marine ship, demolishing the side of it as the crew started to panic, trying to patch the hole instead of dealing with the Merry.

For a brief glimpse of a second, Nami imagined something she wouldn't dare, looking wistfully at the straw-hatted man before hissing and hating herself for even thinking about it.

She had eight years worth of work done, she couldn't just ignore all of that. She had suffered too much to toss it all away on a bare glimmer of hope, eight years of sin on her back that nobody should forgive. Not now.

Turning back, she gripped the map in her hands tighter, glaring at the island nearest to the Baratie.

She didn't notice the concerned look from Luffy, nor the sharper looks from Robin and Zoro.


They finally docked next to the floating restaurant, Usopp and Buggy cheering wildly and hopping off post-haste, Robin considering the options before pulling her hood up and walking down. Johnny and Yosaku barely managed to pull Zoro off with the promises of treating him to a drink while the swordsman looked pissed about something, looking back at the Merry.

If Nami didn't know better, she would've thought the man had figured her out. But that was impossible. There was no way-

"What's wrong?"

The simple phrase caused her to flinch and back into the railing in front of her, spinning to come face to face with her current captain.

"Just wanted to map out where we are first," she answered, lying in his face as naturally as one would breathe. "Thought I told everyone that, did you miss it Luffy?"

Luffy gently blinked, readjusted his straw hat, and crossed his arms. "...I don't want to pry, but you're acting different. Why?"

For a moment, Nami was genuinely scared of how easily he was reading her, as if he had been with her for years. Giving up on any idea of logic with him around, she sighed. This was Luffy, and she was sure he could actually see into her soul if he really wanted to. "...what gave it away?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, just a feeling." He leaned onto the railing next to her with a soft smile. "Robin and Zoro thought you were gonna betray us, could you imagine?"

Nami gulped, sliding down the planks and onto her butt with a hiss. "...I was."

Luffy frowned, looking into the sky. "...that bad?"

Nami sobbed, starting to cry as she hugged her knees. "Worse than whatever you or the others imagined."

Luffy bent down, sitting next to her, one hand hovering next to her before he sighed and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Maybe, but I can guess. Did something happen to your village?"

Nami couldn't help but lean into his contact, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. "Please—I need to save them." She stared up at him with watery eyes. "I—I'm so close, please…"

Out of all the emotions, Nami didn't expect what she saw on Luffy's face. The shadow of his hat almost covered his eyes until he looked up, and instead of disgust or hate or anything else she deserved, she saw concern. The carefree wannabe Pirate King looked almost heartbroken to see her like this . "I—Nami… we can help. Whatever is happening, we're strong, just let us—"

Her fist grasped his shirt before she knew what was happening, pulling at him before pushing him away with force too weak to even budge the man. "No. No, no…"

Her voice cracked, and whatever walls she still had crumbled, unable to even look at her captain anymore. "L-Luffy please, I…I can't live if someone else dies for me again."

Ever the simple man, Luffy couldn't find anything to say to that, suddenly pulling her into a hug she didn't want to admit that she really needed. His strong arms made her feel safe as a rough and calloused hand gently patted her on the back.

For a moment, Nami truly enjoyed the contact, all her woes fading from her mind along with the tears from her eyes, her hands weakly returning the hug.

Then, Luffy pulled back and stared her in the eyes with such raw determination that she could almost feel it in her own mind. "I won't die."

Suddenly, the only reality Nami could accept was one where that was an absolute truth, and she would never argue against that.

She sobbed one last time, before leaning her forehead on his chest, gripping the sides of his cardigan tightly. "...I was going to betray you after everything you did for me…"

"I didn't do much…" He hummed, gently patting her head. "And, you're a terrible backstabber."

Her shoulders shook with a laugh that was still mostly sobs. "Only you would say that, dumbass."

"Are you still going to?" He glanced over at her, leaning gently against her shoulder.

"I…" Nami looked up at him. Part of her wanted to keep believing, and she buried her face against his shoulder, not trusting herself to meet his eyes. "...Would you do me a solid?"

Luffy grinned and gently placed his straw hat on her head. "First, let's eat and find a cook."


"Captain-san is taking a while." Robin mused, gazing at the menu a little harder as if that was going to summon Luffy to their table. She didn't know why she had opted to tell him about the possible betrayal, but she had.

"It's weird…" Usopp hummed, looking at the others around the table. "...do you think he's doing something with Nami?"

Buggy burst into laughter. "Like hell, that monkey wouldn't know what to do with a woman if he had written instructions!"

"If she's anything like Kaya…" Usopp mumbled, taking a sip of water while looking away.

Buggy froze, trying to comprehend that the long-nosed coward might've gotten more action recently than he had in a long time.

"Oh my, sniper-san." Robin murmured with faux embarrassment. "I didn't think you were the type to kiss and tell!"

Zoro grumbled, shooting him a glance before smirking. "Just don't let your crush get in our way."

"...You guys are really making a big deal out of a kiss," Usopp mumbled, looking down with a blush.

"IT WAS JUST A KISS!?" Buggy screamed, getting curious looks to their table. "Nothing more!?"

Usopp's head tilted, looking at the head. "...There's more?"

Zoro joined after flashing Robin a grin that Buggy couldn't see, putting on his best poker face. "Like sparring together or something?"

Buggy blinked. "...A-are you two fucking with me?"

"I must say, head-san," Robin added softly, tilting her head with a finger on her cheek, "I don't know a thing about this 'more than kissing' you are referring to either…"

"Don't screw with me! I'll give the flashiest birds and the bees talk in this restaurant right now!" Buggy screeched blushing with rage.

Robin giggled, facade dropping slightly. "Maybe wait till Luffy is here too, hm?"

"Oh yeah…" Buggy mumbled, looking down with an unreadable expression on his face. "Then he can't call me that! "

"Call you what…?" Usopp mumbled, focusing on the menu again. "Speaking of, seriously where is Luffy?"

"Had to take care of something." Zoro gruffly responded, his cheerier tone disappearing as he managed to get lost in the menu. "What kind of alcohol does this place have?"

"Whatever kind you want, moss head," a blonde, sharply dressed waiter snapped back, staring at him with one exposed eye. "What do you want to eat, you shi-" his voice dropped as he looked at the table, catching sight of Buggy.

"What the hell did you put on my table!?"

"Ya got a problem with flashy heads, bub!?" Buggy screamed back, veins popping on his forehead. "Come say it to my face!"

The blonde opened his mouth to respond before he took notice of Robin, who was still wearing her hood, spinning and getting on one knee next to her with a love-struck sigh. "Oh, mademasoulle! I'm sorry I missed you there around these bastards! I'm Sanji, the sous chef of this place, can I take your order?"

Buggy fell on his cheek, tears leaking from his eyes. "I've been ignored…"

"Oh yeah, can I have a salad as a starter?" Usopp asked, also ignoring the crying head.

"Get it yourself, shitty long nose." Sanji hissed in return, not even looking away from Robin. Who was more quiet than usual, not liking the barrage of attention she was receiving from a stranger.

Such things tended to make her life harder, in her experience.

"Oi." Luffy cut in, walking into the restaurant with Nami in tow, his straw hat still on her head. For a moment he just stared at the cook next to his crewmate.

Sanji slowly took notice and rose to his feet, glaring at the man with flames erupting from his back in anger. "What's your problem, shitty moron?"

"I'm hungry, could you bring us meat?" Luffy asked, completely shattering the tension as his stomach punctuated his request with a gurgle.

Sanji's features softened, putting the cigarette out on the ashtray of their table with a huff. "Should'a opened with that, ya prick. I'll cook something up good for ya, take a seat."

Luffy cheered, smile widening as he claimed a seat next to Robin, Nami quietly sitting on his other side.

Both Robin and Zoro shot Luffy a quiet look, which was answered with a simple determined grin. Robin smiled softly and thanked Luffy with a tap on his knee. Usopp, Yosaku, and Johnny started to exchange stories while Luffy called a waiter for a round of ales as the crew relaxed into the new locale.

That's when everything shuddered to a stop again as a sudden loud clash sprung up across the restaurant. The crew slowly turned along with most of the other patrons to watch the sous chef beating the absolute crap out of the Marine captain that had attacked them before they had entered the restaurant.

"...guys, didn't we attack that guy?" Luffy mumbled, gnawing at a bone in his other hand.

" You did that." Usopp deflected, returning to his salad. "I wasn't involved!"

Zoro poked the sniper on the forehead roughly. "You're part of our crew, remember?"

"Oh yeah… shit."

Buggy grumbled, his detached mouth floating back into place and reattaching to his jaw as he gulped down his soup. "Guy got taken down by a flashy sous chef, the Marines are getting weaker with each generation, I swear…"

"Wouldn't quite say that, Head-san." Robin countered, taking a sip of her drink elegantly. "Remember, we are in the weakest sea."

"I don't think that name applies anymore…" Nami mumbled, glancing between Luffy and Zoro, eyes lingering on Luffy for longer.

"We are outliers!" Buggy declared, tilting his head as if he was puffing his chest up. "Kings of this sea!"

Luffy turned back at him with a smirk, biting into the bone and pointing at him with a chuckle. "One punch."

"I'll kill you, you flashy captain!"

The rest of his crew burst into gentle laughter, but the short exchange was enough to attract the attention from the beaten Marine, who shakily got back to his feet to glare at the pirates. "You… Straw Hat!"

Luffy turned to face the sad excuse for a Marine, bone hanging out of the side of his mouth. "'sup, Pinky?"

"Didn't I order my crew to sink you?" He huffed, gripping onto his chair to remain standing. "But no- this is perfect. Both attacking a marine and serving pirates… I'll shut this place down for good!"

"You'll do what now?" Another man, sporting an impressive braided mustache and an even more impressively tall Chef's hat asked, his peg-leg clanking against the floor of the floating restaurant ominously.

Fullbody laughed, facing the older chef. "What's wrong, you didn't think you could get away with assaulting an officer for the world government, did you?"

The peg leg crashed against the man's ribs, the lieutenant commander pinging to the far side of the Baratie, crumpling down in a heap when he finally came to a stop. Suddenly, the rest of the chefs were there, grabbing the older chef and trying to pull him back to the kitchen.

"You think chefs wouldn't feed hungry people!?" The chef shouted, even as the others managed to pull him into the kitchen. Sanji walked smoothly past the entire fight and kneeling in front of the marine's date with a sad smile on his face. "Sorry your date is ruined, mademasoille, would you like a private seat and some of our best food as compensation?"

"...is he hitting on the lass?" Buggy mumbled, breaking the silence of the straw hat crew. "Isn't that…"

Luffy turned to him, before snorting and snickering under his breath. "Maidenless!"

"Ah, he said it again…" Buggy mumbled, then his forehead crinkled, veins popping all over it with untold rage. "I WILL END YOU, YA FLASHY STRAW HAT BASTARD!"

Luffy laughed harder, the rest of his crew joining him before a gunshot put everyone in the building on edge, most of the crew glaring at the source as a marine fell over near the doorway. A sickly-looking man stepped over him and slammed his ass down in a seat, kicking his feet up onto the table.

"...is that Gin?" Buggy mumbled, blinking a couple of times. "From the Krieg Pirates? I thought they went to the Grand Line…"

"Krieg Pirates?" Usopp echoed, again getting pulled away from enjoying his salad. "Who are they?"

"The second highest bounty in the East Blue…" Johnny answered, looking away with sweat running down his eyebrows. "Yosaku, wanna take him down while he's out of commission?"

The pirate crew looked at the two bounty hunters. Luffy swallowed the mouthful of meat he was chewing and blinked. "You two are just- terrible, you know that, right?"

"He's a pirate !" Johnny argued back, not noticing the man get kicked out of the restaurant, glaring at Zoro. "You agree right big bro? No need for sympathy!"

Zoro shook his head with a snort. "Cutting down a starving enemy would just feel wrong, man."

Johnny pounded the table, tears running down his cheeks. "Where did I go wrong!?"

Nami blinked, looking around, dread creeping up her spine. "...Guys where did Luffy go?"

Suddenly the crew noticed the absence of their captain, looking around the restaurant to try and catch a glimpse of the man.

"...he couldn't cause that much trouble, right?" Usopp offered.

Not knowing any better, the crew sighed and agreed.


"I don't want your charity." Gin spat, unable to even look away from the plate of rice in front of him.

Sanji smiled wider. "Eat, or I'll just dump this into the sea."

Gin paused, and somehow managed to look Sanji in the eye, before pulling the plate from his hands and starting to eat, eyes slowly starting to well with tears as he did so. "It's so good… I don't deserve this—thank you!"

Sanji smiled, leaning against the rail. "Don't mention it. I know how it feels to starve, unlike those chucklefucks that want to call themselves cooks." He lit another cigarette, blowing the smoke off to the ocean. "Feels good to eat again, right?"

"Shouldn't you have started with a soup?" Luffy offered, gnawing on a bone from the balcony above.

Sanji looked offended for a second, before recomposing. "Rice should be easy enough to digest in his state. Are you doubting my culinary skill?"

Luffy blew a raspberry, smiling down at the chef. "Nah, I bet you're a great chef, just wondering aloud… Say, wanna join my crew?"

"Crew?" Sanji mumbled. "Like hell I'd leave this restaurant, I still got a debt to pay to the owner!"

"Aw, cmon, it'd be fun!" Luffy argued. "I'm sure you'd love to try new ingredients in the Grand Line, too!"

"I refuse!" Sanji shot back, dropping his cig and stomping it out angrily. "Did you not hear me, ya shitty captain!?"

"Well, I refuse your refusal!"

"Why I oughta-"

"Grand Line?" Gin mumbled, finally catching his breath after inhaling the food on his plate. "Kid, did I hear you right?"

Luffy nodded, scratching his hair. He missed his straw hat.

Sanji's anger mellowed out, smiling at the sight of the empty plate.

"Forget about it. I'm glad I got out of that hell. It's not worth anything on this earth." Gin continued, looking down onto his hands. "Weather that doesn't make sense, monsters around every corner…"

"Dun care." Luffy cut him off. "I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates, I gotta go there."

"King of the pirates…" Gin mumbled, bursting out into laughter. "My Don couldn't manage that with his armada, what chance do you have?"

Luffy hummed gently, looking to the sky. "Doesn't matter if it's impossible, it's my dream and I'm gonna chase it to the end of the world."

Gin shook his head. "Reckless youth… thank you Mr. Sanji. Sorry for getting you into trouble."

The chef blinked, then kicked the silverware and the plate overboard. "What are you talking about, I'm just taking my smoke break."

Gin laughed gently, shakily standing up and walking to his dinghy, before pausing. "I've- I've got a lot of friends that are starving too, friends that can pay. Could you…?"

"Like you need to ask." Sanji huffed, blowing out a circle of smoke. "We'll be waiting for you."

Gin smiled thankfully, rowing away from the restaurant.

"You're a cool guy, Sanji. Join my crew." Luffy ordered, kicking his legs from his position on the railing of the balcony.

"Forget about that for a second." Sanji grumbled, then turned around, a dreamy shine in his eyes as he looked up to the man above him.

"Have you heard of the All Blue?"