The next day started rough, with a sandstorm that woke everyone by blowing over the tents and burying the people in sand. Ace seemed to try to stay apart from the rest of the crew, but between Vivi's kindness and Sanji's questions, he kept getting brought back in. Though he could admit the group was intriguing, and entertaining.

Kia felt and did much better, and since Luffy announced he would carry her share, she felt stronger too. Still wanting to do her part, she focused on keeping everyone happy. Her first thought, was to distract them. If they didn't focus on the heat, or being thirsty, then the journey would be easier.

"Ugh, it's so hot!" she heard Chopper say.

"I'm so thirsty!" Luffy said.

"Hey Luffy!" Kia called, moving closer to him. "What if, you woke up this morning, and you were half man, half robot like a cyborg?"

"Huh?" Luffy said, looking back at her in confusion. "I'm not half robot Kia."

"I know, silly. But what if you were?"

"Huh... If I was? That would be so cool! I'd walk like this…" Luffy showed off his robot walk, "and talk… like… this," and demonstrated his robot voice. "It would be awesome!"

"I don't know Luffy," Usopp said, scratching his chin. "You probably wouldn't be rubber if you were half robot. There's no such thing as a rubber cyborg."

"I'd be the first!" Luffy yelled, punching a fist up in the air.

Kia chuckled at his enthusiasm. "What if someone else had your powers? Or if you traded powers. How different would you and Ace be if you had each others' devil fruit powers?"

"Luffy would probably set the ship on fire," Zoro commented dryly.

"Or burn the food, trying to get it to cook faster," Sanji added.

This time it was Vivi and Nami that were laughing. "I don't think I could picture Ace using Luffy's powers," Nami said. "That would be so strange."

"Oh I don't know," Kia argued. "I think he'd probably have different names for the moves for sure though," she looked over at Ace in contemplation, and he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What had you thinking about this?" Nami asked Kia with a smile.

"Well, if you want to beat a devil fruit user, you need to think about what their powers are capable of."

"That's a smart way to think Kia," Zoro said, and Kia grinned. Getting praise from Zoro didn't happen often, and was always an amazing build of confidence when it did. "Are you thinking of how to beat our captain?" he asked.

Kia laughed out loud at that. "No, he's too wonderful for that," she said and Luffy beamed at her, even as the others shook their heads. "I just like to play What If. Thinking about how things would be if one thing was different. Even knowing Luffy's weaknesses, I wouldn't be able to beat him, he's a natural fighter," she replied.

"You sure think highly of your captain," Ace mused, and Luffy grinned again. "But I'm curious how you would determine what our powers are capable of, and how to beat Luffy and me?" He asked her with a smile on his face, so she decided to humor him.

"Well, it would take some time to think about fully, but off the top of my head… with Luffy, I'd think about freezing him somehow."

That got strange looks from just about everyone, and she shrugged. "I would think that rubber wouldn't work well if it was frozen, so Luffy wouldn't be able to stretch like he normally could, and his attacks wouldn't be the same, which would throw him off. But…" she continued speaking through her thought process, tapping her chin, "his body heat could work to counteract that… hmm. I'd have to give it some thought."

"I guess you'd try to get me in water then, hmm?" Ace smirked at her this time.

"That would technically work for any devil fruit user, wouldn't it?" Kia quipped back. "No, with you I'd lean more towards the unexpected. Using oxygen maybe, getting the fire out of your control, which would be a big distraction for you."

Ace looked surprised. "That would definitely be unexpected," he said seriously, his attention fully on her now.

Kia's mind started moving a mile a minute, because she was suddenly faced with an opportunity that she hadn't been planning on. Part of her mind wanted desperately to warn Ace about his upcoming fight with Blackbeard, most especially because it led to his death. But… it also kept Blackbeard from coming after Luffy, and who knew who would be targeted by Teach if he didn't get Ace… AARGH! There are too many unknowns… and it was too dangerous. But I don't want him to die… and what about Luffy?

In that moment, Kia went with her heart, ignoring every good reason not to.

"Or, I'd just void your devil fruit powers."

Ace stopped in his tracks and looked at Kia, causing Luffy and then everyone else to stop as well. They were looking at either Ace or Kia with curiosity, except for Zoro who looked bored, though that's how he always looked when he was paying attention.

"How would you do that?" he asked. "Are you talking sea prism stone, or are you still playing What If?" Ace asked, interested.

"That's one way certainly, though anyone with devil fruit powers could avoid it. But there are devil fruits whose power can negate others. One I've heard of is the Dark-Dark fruit. From what I heard, the user draws everything into their darkness, basically making it so that the other devil fruit user can't access their powers, and the darkness nullifies the attacks anyway" she said, then turned forward and started walking again, the others following suit. "Someone with that power could seem invincible. That's another reason why it's essential to know how to fight without always relying on your devil fruit powers, like you and Luffy can."

Luffy and Ace both grinned at her suddenly, and she smiled back. They truly look like brothers in this moment.

She looked at Ace, thinking hard. She couldn't tell if Ace was just interested in the idea, if he had heard of the Dark- Dark fruit before, or if he even knew that it was the fruit Blackbeard had been waiting for. She couldn't just tell him about it straight out, there would be far too many questions, but... perhaps she would end up regretting it later if she somehow made things worse, but she knew for certain she would regret doing nothing. It may not be much, but it could have dire consequences.

Kia also realized in that moment, that while she wasn't ready to make huge changes, there were small things that she could do to make life a little easier for the crew. She decided to start there, and see how things went.

"Hey Sanji, let's eat some of your box lunches," Luffy said, breaking the silence.

"No. Not until Vivi says it's okay," Sanji replied.

Luffy turned his grin to Vivi. "Come on Vivi, let's have lunch!"

"But Luffy," Vivi said, her conviction wavering under his enthusiasm. "We're not even a tenth of the way to Yuba yet…"

"Vivi, haven't you ever heard the proverb? Whenever you are hungry, you must eat!"

"Is that true?" Chopper asked Zoro, who shook his head and sighed.

"No," Usopp grumbled. "The big liar just makes stuff like that up!" Chopper nodded, as though he wasn't surprised.

"How about we stop for lunch at the next rocks we find?" Vivi suggested. "That way we can rest in the shade?"

"Yeah! Let's find rocks, "Luffy cheered. "Okay! Whoever wins at rock, paper, scissors gets to carry everybody's stuff!"

"Don't you mean whoever loses carries the stuff?" Sanji asked.

"Ready?"

"Oh hey, Usopp!" Kia interrupted suddenly. "I bet I can find rocks before you can!"

"What?" Usopp stared at her in disbelief. "I have sniper goggles Kia, there's no way you'll win."

"I guess we'll find out!" she said and started moving quickly ahead, hoping the distraction worked.

"Hey, wait for me Kia! I'll find the rocks!" Luffy called.

"Great! You'll be on my team then!" she yelled back, waving him forward with a grin.

"What? No fair teaming up!" Usopp called, running to catch them. The others glanced around at each other, not sure what had gotten into Kia, but finally shrugged and continued on.

The distraction didn't last long, and pretty soon Luffy and Usopp were panting loudly and complaining about everything. The heat, being thirsty, the inability to sweat, being hungry… Kia was rapidly getting as annoyed as everyone else. She just kept reminding herself that she was happy Luffy didn't have everyone's packs.

After a couple of hours they saw what looked like rocks, but were certain it was a mirage- for they had seen countless "rocks" before. But after looking through his goggles, Usopp declared that these were real, and Luffy whooped and took off running. Vivi and Kia smiled at each other, and everyone continued to trudge through the sand after him.

It wasn't long before Luffy came running back yelling for Chopper's help with a flock of injured birds. Chopper immediately forgot his own discomfort and grabbing his backpack, went with Luffy to help. Vivi looked stricken, and started chasing after them, and the rest followed in a rush.

"There were birds here, I swear!" Luffy shouted as he ran around looking for them.

"I'm so sorry Luffy, but those birds, were desert bandits," Vivi managed to get out as she leaned over, panting.

"Wait, they were faking?! Just to steal from us?" Hearing the indignation in Usopp's voice made Kia smile at the irony, though she was sure he wouldn't appreciate the thought.

"Well, the good news is they didn't get all of our supplies," Sanji said, looking through his pack. "The bad news is that our captain was carrying most of our water."

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Luffy complained. "They outsmarted me."

"So… you're dumber than a bird?" Sanji asked dryly.

"What'd you say?" Luffy growled, ready to fight.

"All right you two, knock it off," Zoro jumped in. "Everyone's a little heated, but it could have been worse." He walked over to sit in the shade. "We'll figure something out, don't worry." The others followed his example to take a break except for Luffy, who had spotted a bird and ran off after it.

Usopp and Nami yelled after him, but the others just shook their heads. "Don't worry so much," Zoro said to Usopp. "Luffy can take care of himself."

Sanji started passing out lunch rations, and although there wasn't much water, he still gave everyone a little. They sat in relative quiet as they ate and rested. The shade was much better than out in the sun, but it was still very hot. They continued to wait for Luffy after they had finished eating, and Nami started to wonder out loud if he had gotten lost, with Sanji and Zoro making disparaging comments as well.

"I'm sorry."

The crew all looked over at Ace. He had remained quiet through all of this, and it was easy to wonder what he was thinking about them- his brother's crew.

"I know my brother can be a flake, and I'm sorry."

Nami and Vivi waved his apology away, but Kia wanted to assure him a little more. "Sorry? Luffy's great! Sure, sometimes he does dumb stuff, but he makes up for it. And who here doesn't do dumb stuff?" she asked with a smile. Sanji and Zoro gave small smiles as they stood and headed out to look for him.

"I'm glad he has all of you," Ace said.

"Seriously," Nami said quietly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. "How are these two brothers?"

No one got to reply as the ground began shaking, and a huge cloud of dust shot into the air, and then came right towards them.

"What is that?"

"It's Luffy!"

"Why is he on a camel!?"

"AAAHH! What's that chasing him?"

"I gotta admit, that boy does have a knack for attracting trouble," Ace said with a smile. Kia looked over at him, realizing that the two of them were the only ones still sitting. They both turned as they heard Sanji and Zoro call out to Luffy, and the three of them attacked the huge Sandoran dragon that had been trying to eat Luffy, at the same time. Kia was grinning as it fell, and Vivi, Nami, Chopper and Usopp were standing there, stunned.

"Every time those guys fight… I end up feeling sorry for the monster," Nami said.

"Didn't feel like joining in?" Kia asked jokingly, turning to Ace, only to squeak in surprise. He had moved right next to her, and she had been startled seeing him so close, and in trying to retreat, her hand slipped in the sand and she fell onto him.

"Didn't want to spoil their fun," he replied, his eyebrow up as Kiana's hands were on his chest, and she was trying to sit back up and scoot away from him, her cheeks turning even redder. I guess that tells me what I needed to know, he thought with a smile.

The ground rumbled behind them, and Chopper yelled their names.

"Sorry! I forgot to mention that Sandoran dragons always hunt in pairs!" Vivi shouted.

Usopp shouted back in exasperation, "You've got to start remembering these things sooner!"

Kia looked at the monster behind them, then back at Ace. "Your turn?" she asked him.

He gave her a grin, then looked up at the dragon, seeming almost bored with it. "Wanna play?" he asked, and it roared at him. He answered, "okay, if you want to," then jumped straight up in the air, the dragon's jaws closing around him easily.

Kia could understand why the other four were screaming. These dragons were as big as houses, and could easily eat them all in one gulp. But one thing about logia devil fruit users that they forgot, they were literally made of their respective element. That dragon had just swallowed a fire ball, and didn't even know it.

They watched as flames literally shot out of the dragon's face. It's nose, mouth, even its eyes… eww, Kia thought as she gave a disgusted face. Its body became a tower of flame, with flames soaring out from the top, solidifying again into Ace, and landing back almost where he had been standing previously. The cooked dragon fell over, dead.

They stayed in the shade for awhile longer, waiting as Luffy ate as much as he could, and Sanji took some of the already cooked dragon- jerky to add to their food supply.

"Uh, Luffy?" Zoro asked suddenly, and Luffy looked up. "What's the deal with the camel?"

"I dunno. I saved it from a mystery plant that was trying to eat it, and then the monster showed up, and we came here."

"He doesn't look wild," Nami added. "He's wearing a saddle and bridle."

"Hey, it is you!" Chopper said excitedly. He turned back to his friends. "He helped me get back to Sanji when I escaped from Katorea." Kia grinned as Chopper's voice changed as he interpreted the camel's grumbles for them.

"I thank you for your help, and I'd be happy to give some of you a ride, but I'm afraid I don't take male passengers, I'm just too macho." Kia could have sworn she saw the camel wink in Nami's direction, and in trying not to laugh, she let out a loud snort.

She could hear Ace laugh, even as the other guys were yelling at and even punching or kicking the camel, though not hard enough to really hurt it. Nami looked thrilled, and Vivi was doing a much better job of keeping her laughter in, but Kia was laughing so hard it was making her stomach hurt.

"Kee-ah!" Luffy said in a whine. "It's not funny! I want to ride the camel too."

The boys stormed away from the source of their newest frustration, and Nami swooped in, petting the camel's face and determining that she would call him Eyelash. Vivi and Kia argued over who should ride with her, in that both of them wanted to stay on the ground. Vivi finally relented, once Kia promised that she would tell Vivi when she needed a break, and Ace moved in behind her and said he would tell Vivi even if Kiana didn't.

Kia stiffened, hearing his voice right near her ear, and whirled around, accidentally touching him again. She pulled her palms back as he if burned her, and started babbling about feeling fine, and not needing him to worry about her. He just listened, then gave her a grin, and stepped forward again.

"Vivi, maybe I should ride after all," Kia said, moving back toward the camel, unable to look at Ace. Nami laughed, then yelled, "Giddy-up Eyelash!" and they took off at a run. "Better hurry guys! If you get separated you'll die in the desert!"

Kia watched in shock as they ran off, and the guys all ran around grabbing their packs, Zoro giving orders, Sanji swooning over Nami's "cruel side" and Ace yelling "After them!" giving her a push. They all started running after the camel and its riders, and somehow they all yelled in unison without trying.

"WAIT FOR US!"