AUTHOR'S NOTE:

OMG You guys, it's been over a year since I last updated and I'm so sorry. I hope you'll continue this story with me! I edited the previous chapters for continuity and because they really needed it. Nothing major changed, but feel free to go back and read since it's been a WHOLE YEAR! This chapter is a little AU as I wanted to set up some back story for Emi. Without further adieu:

Bashsister23- To your request, an Ussop moment. :)

Emi couldn't believe her ears as the ship's master marksmen painted her a picture of his incredible adventures. Ussop stood powerfully, with one foot on the ships bow and his arms were illustrating his points with ease. Chopper and Emi would 'Ooh,' and 'Ahh!' at the appropriate times and the whole situation had the Swordsman who was sitting a few feet away unnerved.

"None of that is true, Ussop and you know it." He muttered and Emi shot him a disapproving look.

"Regardless, his stories are incredible! And it's rude to interrupt. Please, Ussop, continue!" She smiled up at the man who pulled a slingshot from his bag and began to explain how he'd managed to shoot a fish the size of his village from 1000 feet away with a slingshot made of twigs and underwear elastic.

"THEN my friend Onion ran away behind a tree and begged me to finish the beast off! So I pulled back and the elastic snapped! That's when I had to convince the mayor of my village to take off his underwear! Of course, he obliged because I'm an amazing word smith. After fastening the new, albeit large, underwear to my twig I placed a rock delicately in its place. Lined up the shot... and..." He paused momentarily as he lined up his slingshot with a near by rock, pulling back and letting it go with a determined gaze. "It hit the fish right between the eyes!"

When the bomb made contact with the rock, an explosion caused Emi and Chopper to squeal with delight. Emi applauded Ussop at the grand finale of his story and Chopper nodded knowingly at the awesomeness of one of his best friends.

"The only crazy thing that ever happened in my village was you guys! I can't imagine growing up in such an interesting and violent place!" Emi said and she stood up, she nodded to Ussop with her words and placed a finger on her chin in thought. "In fact, I am hardly as qualified to be a pirate as you! And my Mother was apparently a really great pirate!"

"Well, don't feel too bad. My dad was a pirate, too! In fact he is on the crew of Luffy's hero Shanks!" Ussop boasted. "Where do you think he got that straw hat of his?"

"Red-haired Shanks?! Come to think of it.. I think I remember him coming to visit once!" Emi thought very hard back in time, remembering one of the parties her mother threw before leaving town. "Yes... It was right after he lost his arm! He told me he saved a stupid boy from a giant sea monster! You don't mean... Luffy!" Emi called for the Captain at her recent revelation. "Luffy, where are you?!" A hand whizzed passed her face and soon her entire captain crashed into the hull beside her. The force rocked the boat a little and caused Emi to fall backwards into a sitting position. Zoro sat up and yelled at Luffy to be more careful, but when Emi started laughing he relaxed back into his seat.

"Luffy! You know Ace!" Emi sat up and exclaimed, she didn't know how she had missed it all this time. "Ace is my cousin!"

"Ace is my brother! Does that mean you're my sister?!" Luffy said excitedly, but Ussop and Zoro shook their heads.

"SHE JUST SAID THEY WERE COUSINS, SO AT MOST YOU'D BE COUSINS NOT SIBLINGS!" Ussop exasperated, but Zoro drew another connection in his head.

"How are you related to Portgas D. Ace?" He asked, his eyes narrowing at the implication on the tip of his tongue.

"Well, I'm not really sure! It was definitely on my Mom's side because she always told me about him when I was little. He's older than me, and she always wished we could meet but she said it was too dangerous because of who his dad was. I think his Mom must have been my Mom's sister though, because she always she said her sister died in childbirth and that Ace was her nephew." She nodded as she drew the dots, it made the most sense.

"Oh yeah, Ace's dad is Gol D. Rodger, so that makes sense." Luffy said like it was the simplest and least interesting fact he had ever recited.

"WHAT?!" The entire crew yelled at the rubber man who might as well have sprouted three heads and a tail.

"D..do..does that mean...Your Dad is Gol D. Rodger, t..t..too?" Ussop stuttered while slowly lifting his outstretched finger at Luffy. Zoro couldn't help but share the sentiment as he awaited the answer with baited breath.

"No, Ace is my adopted brother." Everyone let out a huge sigh, "Monkey D. Dragon is my Dad."

"THE REVOLUTIONARY?!" Ussop yelled as the breath he began to let out caught in the back of his throat. Chopper and Ussop felt the panic rise in their bodies and force itself free through the running of their feet, they lost control and only pivoted when faced with the side of the large ship. Their fingers clung tightly to their cheeks almost afraid that the world government would spite them right where they stood. Zoro grinned with a mischievous smile Emi didn't quite recognize, but her heart skipped at the fire behind it.

"Well, as scary as that is, I guess it makes sense that my Mother was a Gol D. Rodger pirate if her sister was in love with him...Or maybe it was vise versa? Who really knows! I am a little disappointed we aren't really related though, Luffy." Emi said while trying to ignore the chaos of her crew mates' panic attacks.

"You're part of my crew now! We're all family!" The dark haired captain exclaimed as his smile grew beyond his cheeks.

"OHNOYOUDON'T! I can't be the family of some big revolutionary! The World Government will spite me where I stand!" Ussop yelled as his path around the Sunny continued, the frustration mounting in Zoro grew like carbonation in a shaken soda bottle. Every foot step of Ussop and Chopper pushed him further into the danger zone, his finger inching toward his blade. He clenched his muscles in preparation to pounce, aiming his fury and preparing for the explosion that was inevitably building in his chest.

"I'm sorry to say this Ussop, but you are already wanted by the World Government. Apparently so am I and everyone else here, too. I just think it's really great we have each other for support and protection." Emi smiled at the reindeer and marksman, and while it wasn't totally comforting what she said, the idea that they had an entire crew of strong and powerful pirates standing with them was enough to bring Chopper and Ussop to a halt.

Zoro lifted his eyebrows from his stance, but when the pair slid down the hull into sitting positions on the other side of the deck he relaxed back into his own seat.

Well, I'll be. He thought to himself, ever impressed with the woman's ability to change the energy in a room.

"Of course, I'm not very good in a fight and the World Government has sea-prism bullets that completely paralyze anyone with a Devil Fruit so that eliminates half our crew... b..but I'm sure we'll be okay!" She stuttered with a worried smile and large sweat drop on her face, her hands waived in front of her like she was trying to grasp at any sense of comfort. When her words sank in the chaos erupted again and Zoro sprang into action, striking Chopper and Ussop in the back of the head to quickly knock them out before they could shake his bottle again. The pair fell back to back with huge knots and lax faces and Zoro stepped to Emi and looked down at her concerned face.

"I will always protect you." He gruffed seriously as Emi's wide eyes went between him and her newly unconscious friends. "Watch them try to take you." Zoro's lips twitched on the side in another sadistic smile, and while the nurse knew she should be afraid of the blood lust in his eyes, all she could feel was the heat rising from her core. The heat reached her cheeks and he watched the pink blush form under her eyes.

Fuck. His body pulled towards her and he almost couldn't resist the urge to wrap himself around her now in front of the entire crew. Her eyes locked with his and she couldn't have moved if she wanted to, afraid that her arms would snake around his waist before her brain remembered they were out in the open.

"Gee guys, bedroom eyes much?" Nami teased as she looked up from her map. Her legs stretched out in front of her on a very comfortable looking deck chair. Emi's cheeks blazoned at the reminder of her uncouth display, and Robin smirked from behind a book. Her ghostly arms checked the two pirates still comatose from Zoro's wrath. Luffy let out a hardy laugh, the pressure building in his rubber stomach until he resembled an over sized basketball. The crew had to admit, if it were between death and living life under the thumb of tyranny, they liked their chances.

This is a short return! But more is on the way!

Please forgive the long, long absence. :)