Hello! Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. If you notice I have been updating daily. That trend is coming close to ending. I am trying to stay ahead of the game and give you, the readers and fans, something juicy on a daily basis. Unfortunately It might dwindle down to every two days until I can get more chapters saved up in the New Document Folder. I'll keep you posted and let you know when things have to slow down.

Almost a half hour passed when Katie stirred once more. Tashigi listened as she stayed relatively close. "Grandpa...", a whisper came to life. "I told you not to use your jacket as a blanket...", she half scolded in her sleepy state. The chief petty officer turned her head and stifled the bubbling chuckles that had threatened to break free.

"Wait", Katie spoke a little louder after actively taking in deep breaths through the fabric; enjoying the warm aroma of the new scent. "This isn't his...", she continued with heavy blue hues slowly opening. "He doesn't wear this cologne and it doesn't smell like okaki", the young woman added before fully sitting up. Her body leaned forward a bit as she tried desperately to take in the who, what, where, and whys.

To the brunette's surprise there was a man... A-very-large-man sleeping at her feet. He had placed himself on his back and appeared unmoved. Gentle breaths raised and lowered his chest in a rhythmic fashion. His tanned skin and curly black hair did wonders for his peaceful features. The officer in white clad with a blue button up, didn't even stir as she slipped to her bare feet. When Tashigi started to say something, Katie revealed a tender smile with a delicate finger over her lips. She indicated for the marine to remain quiet as she silently stepped over the high ranking official who had loaned her his coat to stay warm.

The petty officer watched in awe as Katie acted with the grace of a cat. The brunette fanned out fabric to only let it settle like a floating feather and cover him before reaching for her shoes. The unaware Kuzan, slept. Her subtle perfume wafted from the collar that had slipped over his upper chest. It had soothed the already relaxed admiral. Deepening the unconscious state he was left in.

Like a swift mouse, the young woman gathered her belongings without a sound. She even went as far as opening her over stuffed duffel bag and retrieved a green box of tea bags. Quietly she asked for a pen and Tashigi obliged quickly with a caring smile. Noiseless, Katie wrote on the front of the box before setting it down next to Kuzan.

Before the petty officer could stop her, Katie waved good bye just as she was taking off with lightening speed that rivaled Zephyr prior. This left a distraught female marine who was by herself. Smoker had plans of helping the brunette for the same reason she, herself, had but after seeing a display of physical prowess the glasses wearing subordinate was confused.

"Tashigi", Smoker barked. The female whipped around to see the man lighting up his cigars as he slowly made strides towards her. "Don't worry about it", the man stated. "She'll be fine."

The officer pushed her glasses up on her nose and threw a curious gaze in his direction. The shirtless official had clearly observed something she didn't and wanted to know what that was.

"Garp taught her well... Almost too well, I'd admit. I'm just not sure why she's not in the navy. The marines could use someone like her", he continued with a half snarl. It annoyed him to see so much potential wasted. Tashigi was about to continue the conversation but a groan and the sound of Aokiji sitting up caught her attention. The anxious woman stepped away to let Smoker and he have their conversation.

Kuzan pulled up his mask off his eyes and blinked. Now sitting cross legged, he was taken back to see his coat had returned to him. "Oh my... Seems I missed her", he shrugged it off before spotting the tea box. It was small in size, made of thin card board and in a plain soft green hue. The same color as his mask, actually. It didn't take any effort to pick the item up and read her note on the top of it.

Thanks for loaning me your warm jacket. I know a lot of pride goes into it so it's a huge honor. As a thank you, have some of my finest tea. It's served best in a coffee cup with a teaspoon of honey and a side of okaki.

Katie

"Well, well, well... I got her name atleast", Kuzan spoke in a jovial tone. It was as if he didn't expect anything and yet succeeded in getting something desirable. An odd fact about admirals. They are the second highest in rank in the navy, third if one considers commander-in-chief, and yet for men to be so strong that they could turn the world on it's ear, women simply weren't flocking to them like one might expect. In fact they weren't approached much at all and found no time to mingle. It was like leaving their personal lives to a game of chance. A price to pay for power, he guessed.

"She just left", Smoker interjected while crossing his arms over his bared chest and ripping Aokiji from his thoughts. "She's definitely Garp's grand kid. Even spotted Tashigi's rank as petty officer without proper introduction. Her skills are even on par with that of a captain", the man continued as he lifted a finger to point to the first platform of the stairway. A collapsed footprint where Katie had launched herself upward, was seen like a black dot on a white piece of paper. Truly hard to miss.

"Now that makes things more interesting", the admiral admitted as he came to his feet with a slight grunt and a scratch to his scalp. Before he moved, the admiral draped his long jacket over his forearm before tucking his hands in his pockets. The officer's eyes slowly pursuing the direction the young woman went. From the tracks she left, it wasn't hard to follow.

Smoker didn't say a word but scoffed at the situation. Katie was an enigma. Such raw ability mixed with her observation skill, to top things off organized and level headed. She was perfect but for Garp, of all people, to not push the idea of marines... That was almost unheard of. There was a missing piece to the puzzle. He wasn't about to let this go since he could smell the trouble just brewing on the sidelines.