The crew began their journey upriver, Chopper settling himself in front of Zoro as he worked out, the breeze from Zoro swinging his weights helping with the oppressive heat. Ace, Luffy, and Usopp joined Sanji in the kitchen, as he was making tea and a snack.

Kia tried to disappear downstairs, but Luffy pulled her along into the kitchen, and she found herself sitting next to Ace, waiting for tea, as Luffy told Ace more about his crew.

"So, Miss Kiana," Ace drawled, once Luffy was done, and she tensed. "Luffy oddly didn't know anything about my message for him. I realize you probably didn't have a chance to give it to him…"

Kia face palmed, and turned to him sheepishly. "Sorry about that, but by the time I saw Luffy, everything happened so quickly. Luffy fighting Wapol, zip-lining down the mountain, meeting Chopper and then Luffy basically demanding I join his crew… it's not a good excuse I know, but I forgot."

Ace held up a hand, "Don't worry Kiana, it all turned out all right-"

"How come Ace calls you Kiana, Kia?" Luffy asked, interrupting.

"Kiana is my full name, Luffy. Ace was never told my nickname, so he only knows me as Kiana. I'm sure he'll call me Kia now," she answered.

"Not likely," Ace chimed in, and she turned to him with a questioning look. He didn't respond, just smiled, so she continued.

"Anyway... uh, nicknames are fun, like how you're Straw hat, or Usopp is long nose. We could call Ace…" Now it was her turn to smirk at him. "Flame-brain."

"Shi-shi-shi! That's funny!"

"Don't call me that."

Kia had watched Ace's expression go from a smile to deadpan in a blink. His deadpan was so good, she couldn't tell if he was angry or not, so she shrugged and dropped it. Feeling awkward, and seeing that Ace looked uncomfortable, she decided she'd better leave.

"I'd better go get ready, we'll arrive soon," Kia said as she quickly stood up and left the kitchen.

Ace looked up in surprise as Kiana left the room. He felt a little guilty, because she probably thought he had been angry about her teasing, but he had only been trying to make sure Luffy knew that using her suggested nickname would end up badly for him.

He mulled over what had happened, she had walked out of the ship's interior earlier she was smiling, and had no problem speaking her mind. Once he realized who she was, or more to the point, onceshe realized he was there… she became silent, just as she had when he first met her. With less blushing this time.

Maybe I'm the one making her uncomfortable? he thought. I just think she needs to smile more, but maybe I'm pushing? Pops always tells me I push people when I think they should do something…

He didn't mind steering others to his way of thinking, but he'd feel bad if he was actually making her upset or nervous. Unless… he smirked into his tea.

"Ace?" Luffy asked. "You have the same look you used to when we would go hunting for that huge tiger…"

"It's nothing Luffy," he replied, his smile still remaining. I'll have to test that theory, he mused.

Kia found Vivi and Nami, and together they found the cover ups they would need in the desert. Kia also found something for Luffy to wear, since they hadn't gotten anything for him earlier, and she used the free moment to change back into her normal t-shirt and pants. With the cover up on, no one would be able to tell until it was too late, and she felt much more comfortable.

The crew made it outside Erumalu without incident, gathered the supplies, and disembarked. Sanji tried to carry all of the girls' supplies, but Vivi and Kia refused, wanting to do their part.

"How do I do this?" Luffy asked. Kia turned to look at him, seeing his head covering wrapped around his torso, with one arm pinned to his side.

"How did you manage this, Captain?" she asked with a laugh. "Here, let me help you."

"Thanks Kia."

It took a few minutes to get him untangled. "This is for your head, Captain. Did you want to leave your hat on underneath?"

"Can I? Yeah, that's awesome!" She helped wrap the cover over his hat, and around his neck, making sure any skin was covered.

"Just don't pull it loose, you really don't want a sunburn on your neck. It would hurt really badly."

"Thanks! Let's go everyone!"

Kia stumbled back as Luffy shot forward, but was caught before she fell. "Thanks Sanji," she said.

"What Kia, my heart?" Sanji asked, from her left. She kept turning, and saw Ace behind her, his arm holding her steady.

"Um, thanks," she said, embarrassed.

"No problem," he replied, and she glanced back to look at him before moving ahead.

"Good job Chopper," Kia said to the doctor, and everyone else chimed in to agree that without him they would have had a big problem with the dugongs.

"No thanks to Luffy," Zoro added.

"Oh come on Zoro, it's not Luffy's fault," Kia argued, just for the fun of it. "Usopp's the one who jumped out first. Luffy was just… uh, helping."

"Right," Zoro said sarcastically. Though he did aim a glare at Usopp, who cringed. Luffy laughed, and put an arm over her shoulders.

"Thanks for trying Kia, but it kinda was my fault."

She grinned back at him. "I've got your back, Captain," she said. He kept her close as they trudged up another hill, and reaching the top, overlooked the city which was half buried in sand.

"Are we at Yuba already?" Luffy asked her in surprise.

"No," Kia replied. "This is Erumalu."

"Look around everyone," Vivi stated angrily. "This is what Baroque Works had been doing to my country!" Her face, and her voice fell in despair. "This is what my people have had to go through."

"I thought Erumalu was the city of green?" Nami asked. "How did it get to this?"

"The rain hasn't fallen in over three years now," Vivi started, as they continued to walk through town. "The people normally would use the water from the river when the rain was scarce. With all the sandstorms added to the lack of rain, the river was soon dry. Then, in the capital they discovered a wagon full of dance powder headed for the palace."

Kia looked on through the city as they walked past, Nami explaining to everyone how dance powder worked, and Vivi telling of how the king was blamed for the lack of rain, and later discovered dance powder inside the palace, which led to cities being abandoned, and the people rebelling against the king.

Everyone was quiet, finally realizing the depth of Vivi's plight. She continued to cry out in frustration, and Luffy became more and more angry, finally punching a building into rubble.

"Hope that made him feel better," Zoro commented.

"Vivi! Let's keep going!" Luffy shouted, striding off in front of the group, eager to get to Yuba.

"Ugh, so hot…" Chopper moaned from his prone position on a makeshift sled.

"Just take off the reindeer costume, and you'll be fine," Usopp said, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"WHAT?! Are you making fun of me?" Chopper demanded, shifting to his humanoid form.

"Ah! Monster!"

Kia listened halfheartedly, as Chopper and Usopp threatened each other. Luffy led the pack, leaning heavily on a walking stick, complaining with each step. Nami, Vivi and Sanji walked along, obviously uncomfortable, but not willing to complain about it.

"Chopper, I'll only pull you if you turn small," Zoro said as he pushed on Chopper's head. Chopper quickly reverted back to his brain point form, and laid back down. Just that little effort had already overheated him.

"Are you doing okay Kia?" Sanji called back to her.

"Yeah," she said, though she knew she was almost at her limit. "I'll probably need a break soon though."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for some rocks so we can take a break in the shade."

"Thanks," she replied, her head down, as she was focusing on just taking each step. She pushed herself further, refusing to be the weak link, and Chopper didn't count, he couldn't take the heat. If the others could keep going, so could she.

She didn't hear much after that, just kept telling herself, Left foot, right foot, over and over again in order to keep moving.

Ace slowed down yet again, and wondered if Kiana even realized that she was falling behind. It seemed Zoro had the same idea he did, because the two of them remained at the back of the group, no matter the pace the others set.

He looked ahead as the group up front began fighting over water, with Vivi trying to break it up. He looked over at Kiana again, but she continued to plod along, her feet dragging in the sand, her head down. He could see she was waning, and he stepped forward to offer to help again. She had denied any help last time she was offered, but he'd try again, and insist he take her pack.

He said her name, and she stopped, but didn't reply, so he came around to face her. He didn't speak, however, since her eyes were closed, but he could see her face was very red. He was used to that, and even enjoyed flustering her a bit, but this was different. She was definitely overheated.

"She okay?" Zoro asked, coming up behind him.

"I don't think-" he stopped as Kiana fell over, barely catching her from flopping onto the desert floor.

"Hmm, coming from a winter island like Chopper, she must not be used to the climate," Zoro said. "Looks like we'll need to put another sled together."

"We'll be stopping pretty soon for the night," Ace said, looking at the position of the sun. "I can carry her until then."

"There's no need," Zoro said. "I can take her, if you'll pull Chopper."

Ace wasn't sure why, but he insisted again to Zoro that he would carry Kiana. He berated himself, looking at her, unsure of how to hold her… where to put his hands… Oh great…

"Oh no, is she okay?" Vivi came running up, the others not far behind.

"She's fine, just overdid herself today," Ace replied. "A little rest, and she'll be good as new."

"I can carry her," Sanji said, and Ace didn't like the look on his face, or the way he said it, so he refused again.

"I've got her, just wondering the best way to carry her."

"Like a princess of course!" Sanji said, demonstrating with empty arms.

"That won't work," Zoro chimed in, coming back up with Chopper in tow. "Her face will get sunburned. Better over your shoulder."

While the two of them argued, Ace decided that while Sanji's idea was the more delicate, Zoro's plan made more sense. It would be bad if he got Kiana sunburned because of how he carried her. He hefted her up, and over his shoulder, realizing too late, where his hand ended up. He quickly moved his hand lower, across her legs, and set off again, face as red as hers.

Kia slowly opened her eyes, feeling extremely tired, and hot, though not as badly as before. It was dark, so obviously she had passed out, and her heart sank as she realized she hadn't been strong enough to last the day. She looked around, seeing tents erected, and a camp fire nearby. Feeling like a failure, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Kia! You're okay!" She startled as she suddenly had a lap full of Chopper, who was hugging her around the waist, and crying.

"Oh, of course I am, silly. I guess I just needed a rest," she said, and looked up, and met everyone's faces, some smiling, some still looking concerned. She wondered morosely how much time they had lost since they had stopped for her. "Well, doctor? What's the diagnosis?" she asked Chopper, faking her cheer.

"Heat exhaustion," Chopper said sniffing, as he sat up. "You should have been drinking more water, and told us when you needed a break." Chopper switched to doctor mode, and his voice became scolding instead of sad.

"I'm sorry, we're just so limited on supplies and time… I didn't want to make our situation worse, and I did the exact opposite. I'm so sorry Vivi, to make you all stop for me, all the wasted time."

"It's okay, we didn't have to stop," Vivi comforted Kia. "But from now on, you need to take care of yourself. We were worried."

"Yeah, or Ace will have to carry you again," Nami added, a sly grin on her face.

Kia looked over to Ace in surprise, as he gave her a tilt of his hat. It was hard to not be embarrassed when someone had carried your unconscious body for hours, but she knew she had to thank him. He had literally kept her from making Vivi too late to save her people.

She slowly walked over to Ace, and looked down at the sand in front of him. "Um, I'm not sure how to express it, besides thank you. It just doesn't seem like enough."

"It's no problem, really," Ace said, waving it away.

"If we had had to stop because of me, and Vivi was too late, I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself," Kia said quietly. "Just… thank you."

"Well it wasn't so bad, except when your stomach starting growling," he said, pulling her hand to get her to sit. "Here, you're probably starving," he smiled, offering her his plate of food.

She looked from him to the plate, and back to him, her mouth hanging open. I'm about to die… she moaned to herself. And is Ace offering me his own food? Isn't he a bottomless pit like Luffy?

She hesitated, expecting him to pull it back at any moment, but eventually she took the plate from him. "Thanks," she said quietly, staring down at the food for a few moments.

"It helps to, you know, eat it," he teased her, and she quickly stuffed a huge bite into her mouth, nodding at him even as her face flushed, and she scooted slightly away from him.

They all ate dinner, and eventually Kia started yawning. "You should get some sleep," Chopper told her from her lap. He turned to cuddle with her. "Here, I'll help keep you warm."

"But Chopper!" they looked over to Usopp, where he and Zoro were waiting for Chopper to come back to their huddle. Usopp looked so upset at the idea of Chopper not helping to keep them warm.

"We'll just cuddle all together, right Kia?" Luffy said as he came toward her.

"Uh, Luffy…" Ace started, looking shocked, but stopped as Kiana laughed.

"While I'm sure you'd be a great cuddler, Captain, I'll sleep with the girls." She looked down at Chopper with a smile. "It's okay Chopper, you go ahead and keep the guys warm." Chopper looked reluctant, but finally went over to the group of guys. Luffy pounced on him, and they all quickly fell asleep in a tangle of limbs.

"If we get to choose-" Sanji started, but the three girls just pointed over to the other side of the fire, and he slunk off, dejected.

"He'll never learn," Nami said quietly, and they giggled as they watched Sanji try to find a place to join the huddle without being near any part of Zoro.

"What about you Ace?" Nami asked, and Kia scoffed.

"He's made of fire Nami, I'm pretty sure he's fine," she answered for him. "He didn't even break a sweat at the hottest part of the day, and I doubt he even feels the heat or cold."

"What, really?" Nami asked him, and he gave a small smile.

"In fact, if those guys were smart, they would have cuddled up to Ace instead of Chopper," Kia continued.

Ace let out a grunt at that, and said "I'm not much of a cuddler."

"Oh, too bad…" Kia said, and he looked at her in surprise. Her eyes went wide as she realized how that could be taken, and Nami and Vivi started giggling. "Uh, that's not… uh… oh crap." She put her face in her hands, trying to stave off the embarrassment. "I just meant, you don't know what you're missing," she tried again, only to have the other two girls laugh even louder, and Ace give her a smirk as she hid her face in horror.