Iceburg and Kate walked through the hallways of the main Galley La building, which also served as Icebug's mansion. The walls were a stark white with gold accents. A lot of the flooring and furniture was made of marble, and the main receiving area was lit by a large diamond and gold chandelier.

Kate felt very tense with Iceburg. While he seemed carefree and light hearted, he was well known all across the Grand Line. She was still unsure as to why her application was accepted, but she was grateful.

"Mr. Iceburg, may I please ask you something?"

He turned to her as he stroked a lizard in one hand.

"Hm?"

"What was it about my application that made you even consider me? There wasn't a job posting listed, but your reputation on the Grand Line in the ship building industry, as well as several others made me want to work under you...so I sent in my application anyways. I'd like to learn as much as I can from you during my time here!" She beamed.

Iceburg looked away nervously. He remembered seeing her picture in the file and having Kalifa make every arrangement needed to bring her to Galley La.

"Your interest in architecture was unique from other applicants we've had.".

I hope she doesn't ask more questions..

Kate simply smiled back at him, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"Thank you again, Mr. Iceburg."

He moved the lizard to his other hand.

"Just Iceburg is fine. That should do it for today. Where will you be staying?"

Kate pulled out her map, looking for the marking she had put.

"I'll be staying here" she pointed to a small house not too far from Galley La. "It should only be a 20 minute walk or so. The owner lives elsewhere and rents his house out for long periods of time." She smiled as she placed the map back into her bag.

"I'm glad you found somewhere close. Accommodations are quite challenging around here. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow." He stroked the lizard's head as he opened the door for Kate.

She bowed before looking back up at Iceburg. "Yes, I'm very excited to learn. Thank you again, Iceburg. I'll see you tomorrow."

He closed the door slowly as Kate walked away.

Iceburg entered his room, closing the door behind him. He slid down to the floor and sat, holding his head in his hand. His room was extremely large. The stark white walls continued through his room. It contained a large desk, a navy blue canopy style bed, and had several different cages containing different animals he had rescued over the years.

He thought back to how she looked up and smiled at him and it sent his heart into a frenzy. The lizard leapt out of his pocket and into his cage on the desk.

No it can't be...there is no way...

4 Months. 4 Months was all he had to find the answers he'd been looking for.

Kaku made his way back to his station at Dock 1, replaying the events from earlier in his head.

Not only was he attracted to her, but he also felt extremely comfortable with Kate. He shook his head, surprised he had mentioned the story about his grandfather.

A memory of his grandpa carving a toy ship danced through his mind.

"Grandpa, can you please show me how to do that?!" He must have been around 5 at the time. He wore a blue tracksuit style outfit with shorts, and a white cap.

His grandpa had short curly white hair and a long nose similar to Kaku's. He wore a stained white t-shirt and khakis. They lived in a small cottage on a mountain near the East Blue Ocean.

The old man chortled.

"Darn skippy I can! When you have little ones of your own one day, you'll be able to make them toys like this too!"

Kaku laughed and moved his seat closer.

His grandfather lowered his project and turned to face Kaku.

"Now my boy, make sure you find a real nice lady like your grandma one day. Make sure they love you for your heart above anything else. That is how you'll know they're the one!"

The boy looked at him excitedly.

"Darn skippy I will!"

Kaku's memory was interrupted by the sound of extremely heavy footsteps coming towards him.

Tilestone ran frantically with Paulie and Peepley following close behind.

"KAKU TELL US EVERYTHING!"

They stopped in front of the carpentry foreman and stood in anticipation.

"About what? The ship I'm working on?" He smiled at them cheekily.

Paulie wrapped an arm around Kaku's shoulder.

"Come on kid, spill."

As much as he wanted to taunt them longer, having to take Kate around had put him behind schedule.

"It was all dandy. Showed her 3 of the docks, got her shoes, then had lunch. Real simple."

Tilestone stomped.

"No fair! You get to go on dates and I've had to caulk 10 whole ships so far!"

Paulie lit a cigar. "We missed you here kid. Lots of work to be done."

Kaku strapped his tool belt on.

"Don't worry, Paulie! I'll work extra hours to make sure we don't get behind schedule."

The blonde haired man squeezed his shoulder as a sign of thanks before the three of them returned to their respective work stations.

Kaku began to work away excitedly. He would use this extra time to not only ensure that were on schedule- but to get ahead of it as well.

This way I won't have to rush my time with Kate!

He shook his head. He felt as giddy as a teenager. If Kalifa and the others grew suspicious, at least he could say it was for the mission. A rule of espionage was to always stay in character. If he were truly Kaku, the 21 year old shipwright who happened to meet a beautiful young lady- it would be true to character to pursue anything that may come out of it. That is assuming she would like him back somehow.

He looked forward to tomorrow.