I was just getting out of my bed, the sun shining brightly outside of my window. I yawned happily before proceeding to do my morning routine. Today, Sanji had insisted that he would take the morning shift, that way I wouldn't have to start until two o'clock in the afternoon. I was very grateful for his thoughtfulness, because I felt like I needed to absorb the information from what Luffy had told me.

Yesterday night, I met his crew. His first mate whom I had met before, Roronoa Zoro, did not remember me, so I reintroduced myself. Then I met the navigator, Nami. She seemed really nice, but I felt like she had something to hide. I could not put my finger on it, but she was up to something. I assumed this by the way she manipulated Sanji as if he was a boy toy. Finally, I met Usopp, their sharpshooter. When I asked him about his nose, he said it was real which I doubted at the beginning.

"Usopp?" I blinked.

"…your name sounds familiar;" I said thoughtfully, rubbing my chin slightly. Zoro and Ussop decided that they would hang around with me, while Luffy worked off his breakfast and lunch. Nami was supposedly somewhere on their boat, perhaps preparing for another adventure.

"You must have heard of me from all the fallen enemies that I have defeated," Usopp grinned mischievously.

"I beat them all single handed, a broomstick my only weapon," Usopp continues. You could tell he was actually lying to me; he did not seem to be the type which fought bravely. I looked at him with a disbelieving face.

"No, It was from another job I had, eh…Kasha…Kayla. No …no," I stated absentminded, thinking about the people I had worked for. I could see her face in my mind, but I couldn't think of the name. Usopp's mouth dropped, eyes practically popping out of his head.

"You mean Kaya?" he asked me with a shocked expression. I smiled and nodded, the name rang a bell.

"Yeah…" I giggled, "so you do know her?" I questioned him in return, Zoro only listening to our conversation.

"Yes, I do!" he announced happily, a large grin spreading across his façade.

"She's my best friend on my home island," he replied, a blush creeping on his face, "I use to tell her a lot of fantastic tales!"

"How is she? How is Merry and what is Kuro up to?" I promptly asked. I was glad to know a little more about them, it had been so long. My tone was full with concern. But there was something, a sudden burst of sadness in Usopp's expression. His face changed into one that was more serious.

"Hn…?" Zoro managed to bring forth and looked at Usopp lazily.

"Angel-san, how long has it been since you left there?"

I looked out the window to the vast ocean. Just thinking and letting my mind run riot. Everything was going too fast for me, it was hard to digest. Usopp told me carefully and in detail what had happened to Kaya behind her own four walls. I would have never thought that Kurahadol was a pirate, a merciless killer! He just didn't seem that way. I sighed and hugged myself for comfort. I knew that my sanity could break today, break into shattered pieces. It all seemed so confusing, so unreal,so wild.

Then something instantly happened outside. I opened the window to see it clearly. It was a huge ship. Its flag had crossbones with two hourglasses on it. As it came closer, I climbed down the stairs to the main lobby and heard the commotion going on.

"That's Don Kreig's ship!" a man shouted in fear, staring at the massive war boot.

"What's he doing here?" another customer questioned, "is he here for the money?"

I looked around, trying to find Sanji in all the mess. For some reason, the air seemed rather heavy and thick.

"There!" I smiled thankfully as I spotted him next to the exit. I climbed down and called his name, "Sanji!"

He blinked once and looked around to see me running towards him. For a moment I thought he would go "lovesick" on me, but he didn't He stayed where he was.

"Pirates are here," I told him, stating the obvious. He nodded and blew some smoke from his mouth, the cigarette shrinking a little.

"I want you to stay upstairs until it's safe…That ship…looks so worn out…" he seemed worried. I bit my lip, picturing dreadful things that could happen. I did not want anyone to get hurt, to suffer. It just wasn't right.I turned a little to the side and saw Luffy behind him with a clueless look all over his confused expression. I slowly walked up to him.

"Luffy…" I whispered, looking down. I heard more commotion.

"We're dead," one man announced in panic.

"Let's leave!" another woman shouted from the side lines.

"We might die!" a stranger added in the hassle.

I looked at the Straw Hat sitting beneath me and took a deep breath,.

"Please," I began as quietly as possible, "take care of Sanji," I stated, making sure Sanji did not catch my words.

"Mmm….." Luffy replied, tilting his head to the side. I forced myself not to tear up.

"If you do…" I must have been hopping mad, "I will make sure Sanji becomes a pirate," I added, looking into Luffy's dark eyes. Luffy thought about it and grinned.

"….Really?" he yelled, gaining attention. I only nodded and hugged him, but secretly whispered my answer.

"Yes…just watch over him."

I ran upstairs into the safe zone, but I stood near the door, just in case.

The world was not ready for this, this meeting between Yumi and Tsuki Mitsuwa. They met in Yumi's school office. The office was located at the end of the school's many hallways.

"Yumi, what have you done? What are you DOING?" Tsuki questioned; frustration and disappointment vibrating in her voice. She glared at her baby sister, who returned the favor abruptly. She knew Yumi had been misusing her powers, but she had always looked away from that. Yumi always sent people who wanted to go, to other worlds. These people were always older adults who made many mistakes but never a teenage girl.

"I've done nothing wrong," Yumi replied, crossing her arms. She was not surprised that her sister was here. She had been actually counting the days until she would come to visit.

"Angelina…needed to learn a lesson to stop being selfish, and her brother….made a deal with me," Yumi explained, justifying her actions, "that is my only sin." Tsuki just shook her head and sighed loudly.

"A simple exchange…" the younger sibling added, "..I gave him a life without his sister in it, for a small price….and for a little time as well. Then the deal is off…Then-" Yumi continued.

"Yumi! ….I had to lie to the girl," Tsuki was rather annoyed, "…I'm making her do odd jobs to buy me at least some time to figure out a way to help her get home again….If you had kept contact with me…you...would have known that I don't have my powers anymore…."

Tsuki exclaimed loud enough, letting her words sink in. Yumi processed those words and was utterly shocked. She was counting on her sister to bring Angelina's soul back here. Yumi only had the power to send souls, not retrieve them.

"Y-you don't have your powers….!"Yumi's jaw dropped from utter shock, the female dropping the pen she had been playing with, "but then...what am I going to…? How…" guilt washed over the teacher and slowly but surely reality crawled up her spine.

Alejandro had been called to Ms. Mitsuwa's office. He did not really want to go there for many reasons and he despised the thought of actually facing the woman again. He regretted making the deal. He knew giving up his special treasure.

He had thought that she had been only kidding around, but then his sister went into a coma and she was not waking up anytime soon...he could feel that. Alejandro sighed. There was nothing he could do and he hated the thought of that. He looked up from the floor and saw her office. He hesitated a bit. His hand hovered over the knob, shaking a little. He took a deep breath and opened it, 'please let it be good news.'

He pulled the door open, went into the room and closed the door behind him as swiftly as possible. Her office was dull; it had off-white walls, one desk, two chairs, and one motivational poster.

"Back to school. Resistance is futile," it read. Ms. Mitsuwa was biting her lip. She did not know what to say.

"Alejandro, I have good news and bad news," she told him, pointing to the farthest seat from her. She did not know how he would act. As Alejandro sat down, he started to think.

"…It's about your sister," she added, looking down to her lap. She felt guilty, guilty for sending an innocent child to that place. She had always thought that Tsuki could send her back, but with the current situation.

"...What about my sister?" Alejandro asked, worry pounding against his chest. He just wanted her back now; life seemed so…so…empty without her.

"…Is she coming back….is she okay?" he questioned again earning a sigh.

"The good news is that my sister came here and told me that your older sibling is doing just fine…in the world of pirates," she almost choked on the last words and looked up to see him smile.

"That is good to hear," his heart skipped a beat, "...But what's the bad news?" he asked, innocently. He did not know how to react to what she said.

"She is not coming back here,"

That face…that expression…it would haunt her for the rest of her life…

"Guys, what are you doing?" I yelled from my hiding spot. I gained everyone's attention. The cooks, Gin, Luffy, Don Kreig, and Sanji just looked at me a bit and resumed whatever they were doing. Before they started to point their guns at him, Sanji gave food to the starving captain, Don Kreig.

Don Kreig was a creeper. His name and actions just resembled that in so many different ways. He was a very tall, bulky male. He was one of those guys whom only his mother could love; his face was rather repulsing to look at. He had short grey hair with long sideburns. I was thinking that he was a little too old for playing pirate. From what Carne said, he used to be a marine but changed his status. He played dirty if it meant he would he win.

I thought we could have gotten through this unpleasant situation without fighting, but I underestimated the pirate's words. Even though everyone hadn't wanted to give food to him, Sanji had still given him something to eat. I smiled inwardly at his kind and giving heart. Once the pirate had eaten his fill, he had attacked Sanji and the others. Gin had begged him to stop, but Don Kreig had continued his ruthless actions all the more. He didn't seem to realize how fortunate he had been.

Then he had announced that he would take over the ship and restaurant, which made most customers run for their lives, leaving the staff to deal with the crises. Luffy and his crew had stayed behind, though. Luffy might be a reliable person, if only he would act his part as well then I could believe it even had reminded his captain about his promise, the promise not to attack the Baratie, but he was totally ignored.

The Pirate captain smiled maliciously, and then ordered us to prepare 100 meals for his men. It was almost as if it was our fault that they were starving to death!

I was about to go down there and reason with him, thinking he might be able to change his mind, but he said if we didn't do as he wanted, we would die by his hands…gruesomely.

I stood behind the crowd, watching the scene before me.

"For a chef, if someone asks for food, he must cook for them…no matter who stands in front of him," Sanji replied calmly, awaiting their reaction,

"What's wrong with that?" he questioned bravely.

I was about to step forward and say something, but Patty passed me in a flash, hitting Sanji and slamming him onto the floor.

Two cooks held him back while Patty shot with his cannonball shooter at Don Kreig. I closed my eyes. I never liked violence. I looked away and let everyone talk about how they were going to fight his crewmates. It felt off and awkward to hear all those strange words escaping their mouths. Fighting was just not a risk people should be willing to take. No matter what!

Then, like a monster, Don Kreig rose again and made a horrible joke, laughing at his own words.

"How can that simple armor stop a cannonball?" I asked myself, "Something is just wrong!!"

"Let's get him, everyone!" Patty yelled, "We won't go down without a fight!" he added, charging at Don Kreig with a giant fork. I took the chance to see if Sanji was okay, rushing to his side. I placed my hand onto his shoulder, earning a smile as he looked up at me. I returned the gesture.

"Are you okay, Sanji?" I questioned him, "Are you hurt in any way?"

I heard footsteps behind me and blinked. I turned around and saw Luffy grin at me, a change in his aura. I was about to say something, but gunshots suddenly rang through the floating restaurant, drowning them out. I looked up to see Don Kreig armed with many guns and my somewhat-friends on the ground.

"The bullets came out of his armor!" Luffy exclaimed with horror, yet there was a hint of excitement mended into his voice. I held my breath. Was anyone hurt, did anybody need help? Did someone get hit fatally? Am I going to be alive after this?

"No one can defeat me... I have the weapons…the iron body..." Don Kreig ranted on, praising himself as high as possible.

"Basically, a dumbass is what you are," I whispered and giggled to myself.

"What did you say?" Luffy said, scratching his head. He probably didn't understand my language. I looked at him.

"If I survive, I'll tell you," I told him sweetly, laughing quietly.

Suddenly, Honor Zeff walked into the battlefield and towards Don Krieg. He threw a bag of food in front of the scum, snorting at the person standing before him.

"Ol' Geezer," Sanji whispered, a tiny amount of smoke escaping his lips. I just stared at my Boss in disbelief.

"Take this to your crew," he simply stated, "this should be enough for you," and with that he walked away.

That was a true cool moment. His cooks and I started to complain that once the pirates regained their strength, they would attack the Restaurant itself. Honor Zeff just looked at us.

"That will depend on their spirits and what they are made of," he chuckled quietly, still walking away from us. Then he looked back.

"Isn't that right, fugitives from the Grand Line?" he questioned loudly, gazing into the enemy's eyes.

I just stood there with the rest, wondering how bad the Grand Line really was. I mean, it couldn't be that dangerous or even that monstrous. Now, I had to know the truth! I wanted to go to the Grand Line and I wanted to find out a lot more about it! Everyone around me was astonished that even the infamous Don Krieg couldn't make it through the Grand Line. Gin started to tear up as if he was remembering those horrible times, shivering ever so slightly.

"Grand Line?" Luffy exclaimed at random, catching my attention. I looked at him. 'Is he…that dumb?' I thought to myself.

"You're Zeff, the Red Leg," Don Krieg replied, his eyes widening. I tensed up a bit. 'How does he kn-…..is he that famous?' I thought, starting to wonder about my boss. When Honor Zeff and that creep started to talk, I took a seat on the floor next to Sanji. I zoned out completely. I think it was because of the nonsense and useless information, or it could have been, because I did not want to hear another word.

It reminded me of a lecture from school. I started to think of what would happen. I could protect myself against the pirates. I could dodge their swinging their swords and knives, but not the guns. I had only pepper spray to keep me safe. If push came to shove, I would swim out to the sea. I was the fastest in my swim team, but I never had medals to prove it. I always let someone else get medals. I did not know why. I thought about it a lot, but nothing came to mind. I continued to zone out, but someone snapped me out of it.

"I'M GOING TO BE KING OF THE PIRATES!" Luffy shouted to Don Krieg, giving me an utter heart attack. Then they started to go back and forth. Don Krieg wanted him to take it back, but Luffy didn't, he refused point blank. Luffy's dream was to become the Pirate King. I did not blame him, though. I had dreams that I shared with others, so we must compete our goals and missions with others as well. Of course, the ambitions had to be somewhat the same or at least related.

"You need help, Luffy?" a voice came from one of the tables. I stretched my neck to see who it was. It was Zoro and Usopp. Where did they come from? I thought they were back on their ship.

"No, you can sit there," Luffy replied without taking a glance at them. I just sat there, looking back between Don Krieg, Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp very confused. Don Creek started to laugh at him, almost snorting at the younger male.

"Is that your crew….a bunch of kids…hahaha," he announced rudely, laughing in-between words. Luffy put on a serious face. He lifted three of his fingers.

"No, I have three more..." he said, seriously. I tilted my head a bit and thought about it. The only people I knew were Nami and maybe Sanji. Who was the third person?

"Oi…are you counting us?" Sanji questioned abruptly, pointing at himself and me, "we haven't even agreed yet!"

Then I realized that Luffy was talking about me as well. Me? A Pirate? Why would Luffy want me as a crew member?

Then Don Krieg left, but he said this before he went:

"You would never survive the Grand Line….I was defeated in seven days… Anyway, I will give everyone a chance to leave this ship while I feed my crew…..so if you don't want to die, leave…..my goal is this ship and the journal?"

Everyone was quiet for a bit. Then Gin broke the silence. "Sanji, I am so sorry... I never thought it…would end like this, I …" Gin looked defeated, stopping in the middle of his apology. He looked down, standing up.

"You don't have to feel guilty…everyone here does something for their own sake…" Honor Zeff stated in a simple manner. The cooks asked Honor Zeff to explain himself, but he said he did not want to talk about the past. Then Sanji sighed. Without hesitation, everyone armed themselves with weapons, saying that they would not leave this ship without a fight.

"Gin," Sanji started, "as a chef, my duty is to feed starving people, people in need and people who come here for the exquisite taste," the cook carefully got onto his legs. He approached Gin with me beside him.

"But that man robbed us of food…" his words suddenly turned darker, "so if I'm going to kill him, you have no right to stop me…whoever dares to take this restaurant, even you…..I will kill without mercy," Sanji ended his words in a deadly tone.

I never knew Sanji could kill, none the less think of such a deed. I knew he could wound someone, but to kill? I would try to stop it if that happened. I knew that I couldn't stop the cooks nor anyone else from fighting, but I could try with Sanji. I would try to protect him along with Luffy at any cost. I held my breath for a second. I was already thinking like a pirate. 'OH, my…I'm a pirate,' I thought to myself. 'This feels weird…..first I was a waitress, then a maid, next a waitress again, and finally a pirate…..Luffy doesn't look like a guy who would kill anyone….He'd just eat their food,' I thought to myself. Him as my Captain…it was a weird thought.

"…It happened so fast…" Gin stated desperately, "I just…don't know…" I blinked a few times, 'Damn it I zone out too much….' I thought and tried to focus on the conversation they were having.

"Fifty powerful ships were destroyed and that by only one man," he said, tearing up. My mouth dropped. I could not believe it. A single man crying and a lone male destroying fifty ships in one day…it just seemed ridiculous!

"What?" I whispered.

"One by one our ships fell…" he continued to explain, "luckily, a storm appeared and the mother ship got away just in time. I don't know if the others escaped or not or if they have drowned. It's hard to believe this nightmare…when we saw that man's eyes…sharp and yellow...we felt like we were dead already." Gin kept on crying, shaking a bit as his tears fell one by one onto the floor.

I felt sorry for him, he had gone through so much pain. The person he had to be talking about must have been a man that was extremely powerful to sink fifty ships isn't a very easy task. I thought Gin might have made a mistake. There were other possibilities that may have occurred when he had met that person. Under-water mines could be one of the reasons or even magical powers! This world seemed full of unbelievable things.

"I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT THAT 'HAWK EYES' MAN!" Gin shouted, with all his might. I was taken aback. He had a pair of lungs on him.

"So the 'powerful' Krieg pirates were completely destroyed by one man, a single person?" I questioned out loud, putting air quotes around the word powerful. Gin started to shake badly. I could not help but comfort him. I walked to him and kneeled down. I slowly patted his back and tried to soothe him and calm him.

"The man must have been the famous 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk"? Honor Zeff told us, staring at Gin thoughtfully.

"The…Hawk Eyes…" I mumble to myself, the symbolic meaning of his name probably referring to his attitude. Gin finally calmed down and looked up at Honor Zeff.

"Thank you," Gin whispered to me, still staring ahead of me. I smiled a little bit, happy that I could at least help a bit.

"Based on your story, those eyes are not evidence, but what he did to your ships…I think that it was the 'Hawk Eyes'…." Honor Zeff seemed thoughtful himself, crossing his arms. I stood back up and took a seat.

My knees were red from the kneeling and hurt a little from the rough contact. I rubbed them a bit, trying to get the feeling back into my legs. I looked at Honor Zeff in a confused manner. There was a lot that I wanted to know about this "Hawk Eyes". Who was he? What was his real name? Why was everyone so scared of him? Could he really have destroyed that many ships? Was he nice? Was he a pirate? Was he…a human?