Kia woke up suddenly, to a tap on her back. Sitting up, she could see an arm coming out of her bed, and as she sat up, it disappeared. She looked over at Nami, as she too sat up, having fallen asleep at her desk again.
"Think everything is okay?" Kia asked, as they walked up the stairs to the deck.
"I hope so," she answered.
They could hear the movement of the guys from their room, all of them climbing up the ladder on the mast that stood in the middle of their room. They all met on deck, looking around for trouble, and spotted Robin standing up in the crow's nest looking at the sky.
It was amazing! There were shooting stars everywhere, it must have been some sort of meteor shower! The crew made their way to the top deck near the figurehead, Luffy raising his arms over his head, shouting, "Awesome!"
Being in front of the sails meant there was nothing to block the view, and they all looked up in amazement at the wide expanse of sky. It didn't last long, but what they saw was beautiful!
Since no one was ready to go back to bed, Kia decided that it was the perfect time for the birthday party. She called Robin down, and asked for help from Sanji to bring out the cakes. They weren't too big, more like jumbo cupcakes, except for Luffy's.
She ran to the girl's room, and grabbed the hastily wrapped presents. All she could do was roll them up like a scroll, and tie ribbon around them, but it was the thought that counted, right?
"Kia?" Luffy asked, as she came back on deck. "What's going on?"
"I'm glad you asked, Luffy!" Kia said with a grin. "Surprise!" she yelled loudly to everyone. "Happy birthday!"
They all looked at her in confusion, except for Luffy, who looked ecstatic. "Whose birthday is it?" he asked happily.
"Everyone's!" she replied, as she took a cake from Sanji's trays and handed it to Chopper. "We missed some birthdays, and there are some coming up soon, but since I don't know how long we'll be together, we're celebrating everyone's birthday right now!"
"Whoa!" Luffy exclaimed happily.
"That's dumb," Zoro muttered, as she went to hand him a cake, so she held it back out of reach.
"Oh really?" she asked with a smirk. "I'm sure Luffy would like to have your cake then."
He grumbled as he denied the idea, and she handed him the cake. "Happy birthday Zoro," she said and he glared at her, but with his own smirk he went to take a bite of the cake.
"Thank you Kiana," Robin said quietly as she took the cake Kia offered. "This was very kind of you."
"Kia darling!" Sanji called. "Thank you so much! It's too beautiful to eat!"
"You shouldn't have," Nami said with a smile.
"This looks great!" Usopp added.
"Yummy!" Chopper said, and Kia turned to find him with an icing mustache, causing her to grin. She then carried over the large cake to Luffy, saying "This by no means indicates that I like Luffy better than the rest of you, but I didn't want to have him trying to eat your cakes."
Luffy's tongue was out as he looked at the triple layered cake, and he picked it up with a "Thanks!" and shoved the entire thing in his mouth. Kia laughed, and said, "besides, I worried that that is what would have happened if I only made one."
"That was great!" Luffy cheered, punching up at the sky.
"I guess that means it is time for presents!" Kia said, and grabbed the rolled papers, walking around and handing them out. "I hope you like them!"
The crew didn't say anything, but they all waited for Luffy to open his first. He tore off the ribbon, and unrolled the paper. Letting out a "Whoa…" he turned it so that the others could see.
Kia had drawn a picture of Luffy, as the king of the pirates, with his straw hat on, and a large flowing coat around him. He was standing on the deck of the ship, and all his friends, family and crew were around him, including some that were only halfway done.
"Why are there people with no faces?" Usopp asked, confused.
"Well, I didn't know everyone in Luffy's family, or friends that I don't know that he may want in there, so I left some blank, so that he can describe them to me, and I'll draw them in," she explained.
"Kia! That's so amazing!" he shouted, stretching his arms out to wrap around her in a hug. Intentionally or not, that pulled her in, so she was now a part of the crowd of crew members huddled together to see the picture, which practically put her sprawled over several of their laps.
"Who's next?" Luffy called excitedly, leaving Kia where she landed across him.
"Uh, I guess I will," Usopp said, and pulled the ribbon off of his. He held it out in front of all of them, and everyone oohed and awed at the picture of an older, warrior version of Usopp sailing on a ship. Kia had given him what was basically a giant version of his regular slingshot, not wanting to give anything away, but who knew? Maybe it would get him thinking. Underneath the picture was the words, "Great Warrior of the Sea".
"This is so cool!" Usopp said. "It's like a picture of my dream!"
"My turn!" Chopper called out, opening his own. He looked at it, then turned to Kia, his lip quivering. "Thank you Kia!" he cried, leaping for her, and giving her a hug.
"What is it?" Sanji asked, and Chopper calmed down enough to sit on Kia's lap and show it to everyone. It was a picture of him in the middle, Dr. Kureha on one side, and Dr. Hiriluk on the other. Although she had known what he looked like, Kia had gotten Chopper to tell her about him a few times, and she was glad, because he was a little different than she had remembered.
"I'll hang it up where I treat patients!" Chopper declared.
"That's so neat, Kia!" Nami said, as she opened her own. Kia had gone with a more comedic theme for Nami's, showing her swimming through a giant pile of money, with a huge map on the wall behind her.
Nami turned to grin at her friend. "Two dreams in one, huh Kia?" she said and Kia chuckled. "Well, everyone will want to pay for a copy of your map, Nami," Kia replied. "So of course you'll charge outlandish prices and become filthy rich!"
"Ah, what a great thought!" she said, and they moved on as they could tell she was lost in the thought of money.
"Your turn, Zoro!" Luffy called, and Zoro opened his own, though, he looked at it himself before showing it to everyone else.
"It looks like an epic battle," he said with a grin at Kia, and she smiled back.
"Do you like it?" she asked, and he nodded.
"It's good to have reminders of what you're fighting for. And you got the struggle really well."
"I can't tell who's winning…" Usopp commented, looking at the scene of Zoro facing off against Mihawk.
"That depends on how you look at it," Kia said, and he turned his head to look at it differently. She chuckled, and said, "no, I mean, it depends on how you want to see it. I see Zoro winning, eventually, but it will be a fight for everything. There will be wounds, sacrifices, that sort of thing."
"Yeah, I can see the blood!" Luffy said, looking closer.
"Don't mess it up," Zoro said blandly, pulling it towards himself, and nodding at her. "Thanks Kia," he said, and she smiled again.
"You're welcome," she answered.
"Robin!" Luffy called, and Robin gave a shrug and opened her own. There was so many things Kia had thought of for Robin, but most would have given her away, so she settled for a picture of the crew.
"Wow!" several of the them said, as she showed it off. It was a scene of the crew in a circle, having a picnic. Luffy and Chopper were dancing with chopsticks in their noses, Usopp was sleeping, his belly rotund. Nami was laying down on her stomach, reading, and Zoro was laying down on his back, lifting hand weights but looking like he was sleeping. Robin and Kia were sitting together with Sanji pouring them each a drink, and they were laughing at Luffy and Chopper's antics. The main point of the picture, was to convey the togetherness, and the fun of the crew.
"I don't remember this picnic," Nami said as she looked at the picture.
"It wasn't from a memory," Kia replied. "More of… an idea that we're friends, and that's what we'd do if we had time."
"I like it!" Luffy exclaimed, smiling. "We need one of all of us to hang up for everyone to see!" he said. "Oh, and then you can draw in all the friends we meet along the way… like… like a never ending picnic of all our friends!"
"Wow! That's a great idea!" Chopper grinned. "Do you think you could do it?" he asked Kia.
"Um… probably?" she guessed. "But I'd need you guys to help me with the friends you've made that I haven't met. And I would either need a really big paper, or we'll have to make a collage of sorts. I'll think about it, and let you know, okay captain?"
"Okay!"
"Mr. Cook, I believe it is your turn," Robin said, and they waited for Sanji to open his picture. Kia had taken quite a few liberties with this one, but the idea was represented, and that was the point. Sanji was in his apron, and a kitchen could be seen in the background.
Sanji stood in front of a giant wall, where there were four fish tanks, labeled for each of the seas, full of different fish in each, and Sanji had his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking of what he would choose to cook.
"Kia-" For once, Sanji didn't coo when he spoke directly to her, and she turned to make eye contact.
"I didn't know exactly what the All Blue looks like," she said and smiled. "but once you find it, I imagined you'd find a way to take your own portable version."
"Thank you Kia my darling!" he did a happy dance, and she couldn't help but laugh as he tried to pull her into the dance as well, but she avoided the grab.
"It's my pleasure!" she answered. "I had fun drawing them, and I wanted to make sure you all know how glad I am that you're my friends… my family away from home! Happy Birthday!"
"I am so tired of being chased by marines!" Usopp complained loudly as he and Zoro rowed the oars with all their might.
"Keep rowing, or they're going to catch us!" Nami yelled down to him, and he gritted his teeth and kept rowing.
"I think we're getting ahead of them!" Kia yelled from the crow's nest, and right then one of the ships behind them blew apart, and the others stayed behind to help their comrades.
"Ha ha!" Usopp spoke as they sailed away from their pursuers. "Eventually those rats would turn on their own, just as I predicted from the start!"
"Just when did you predict that?" Zoro asked flatly.
"Hey! We lost them!" Nami cheered.
"We would have gone faster if Luffy had helped!" Sanji growled at our captain.
"I'm so hungry I can't even move!" Luffy replied.
"How about a taste of the back of my hand?!" Sanji threatened.
"Land ho!" Kia called out, breaking the tension, and everyone ran to check it out.
"It looks like a harbor!" Chopper called out, once they got close enough to make things out.
"A harbor means a town, a town means restaurants, and restaurants mean food!" Luffy cheered, as they anchored the Merry near the harbor by some cliffs.
Nami and Robin were the first to disembark while the boys secured the ship, and looking around at the new stop Nami talked about going shopping.
"I could eat," Robin added.
"Halt!" A voice interrupted, and a couple of guard looking fellows came around the bend. "All harbour taxes must be paid before you can enter Luluka!"
"But," Nami responded calmly, "if we're going to trade in town, why do we need to pay a tax?"
"Because it's your duty!" the man replied angrily, and Nami was taken aback by his attitude. "Now pay up, or you'll regret it!"
Before Nami could answer, Sanji had placed himself in between her and the guards. "Don't you speak to the lady like that," he said quietly, his voice hard.
"Or what?" the guard asked snidely.
"FOOD!" Luffy and Kia were the last off the ship, and she watched in amusement as he barreled over everyone in his way, including Sanji and the guards, chanting "food…food…food!" the entire time.
"I'm watching the ship today Kia," Zoro said, giving her a push forward. "Why don't you go with Luffy?"
Kia turned back to see there was nothing left of Luffy but a trail of dust, Robin and Usopp already heading out after him.
"Or shopping with Nami," he changed his mind as he too saw that Luffy was gone.
"Okay Zoro, if you're sure you don't want to go…"
"You're not going to get stronger staying back on the ship," he said with a look. "Oy! Curly brow! Kia's coming with you!" he called, and though Sanji yelled an insult back at him, he, Nami and Chopper waited happily for her.
"You need anything?" Kia asked Zoro as she left. "Wait, don't tell me…. some booze."
"Maybe Luffy is right, you are like a little sister," he smirked at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him, and joined her group for the day.
"I'm so glad you decided to buy that last outfit, Kia!" Nami said as they walked out of the seventh store. Chopper and Sanji were laden down with bags and packages, most of which were Nami's.
"I'm glad you talked me into it," Kia replied with a smile, "though I have no idea when I'll ever wear it. I don't wear skirts much, and it's shorter than I would normally go for."
"What are friends for?" she said with a grin, which turned into a smirk. "If only there was a handsome pirate around for you to show it off for?"
"Oh, stop!" Kia laughed, at her teasing.
Chopper looked back saying, "Huh?"
Sanji looked at him, "She must mean me!" he said with a strange look on his face. Then straightening, he cleared his throat and explained. "Girls enjoy looking their best for guys that they love," he said, which had Chopper nodding in understanding. Must be some kind of mating ritual, he thought.
"Oh…" Chopper answered. He turned back to the girls and said, "so you're going to show the outfit to Luffy then, Kia?" he asked, and Kia almost toppled over in shock.
"Huh?" Kia asked as she steadied herself. "Why would you say that Chopper?" she asked.
"Well you said yesterday that you loved Luffy," he said, now confused again. Humans were so strange! "And girls show off for guys they love…" he explained.
"Oh Chopper," she said, relieved that this was all it was. "I love Luffy, sure! Just like I love you, and Sanji, and Nami, Usopp, Zoro, and Robin! Like my family."
"Oh, I see!" Chopper giggled. "Wait, but then, who will you show off for?"
"Yes, Kia… who indeed?" Nami asked with another smirk.
"No one Chopper," Kia muttered, turning pink. "Absolutely no one."
Kia could see Sanji walking, seeming a little down, so she decided to help him feel better. "I do need a new swimsuit," she said to Nami with a smile, watching Sanji jump and start doing his little happy dance again.
"Well let's find you one then," she said with a roll of her eyes, leading the way to the next shop.
After finding a few swimsuits, the group left the store and started walking back towards the ship at a leisurely pace. As they headed for some stairs, a man stepped into their path. And the strange thing was, he was wearing a robotic suit.
"I am the mayor's grandson, and it is my duty to collect all outstanding taxes!" he stated grandly. Sanji stepped forward, blocking the others from his view.
"I'd leave if I were you, or you are going to get hurt," he smirked, excited to protect the girls.
"Ha! Just try it!"
Sanji wasted no time, running forward and leaping to kick the machine, but before his kick struck, he was stopped by a giant current of electricity, shocked, and fell to the ground. He shook his head saying, "Whoa, that packed a punch."
Nami ran back around the corner, and Chopper pulled Kia back by her shirt.
"Sanji! Be careful!" Nami called, and Sanji turned with love in his eyes.
"Oh Nami! You're worried about me?" he cooed.
"No! You're still holding my bags!" Chopper and Kia both turn to glare at Nami.
"Nami that was harsh!" Kia hissed at her.
"Well, I can't tell him if I am actually worried, because he'll think I'm in love with him!" she hissed back.
"That's... okay, that's true," Kia replied.
"Besides, I'm not worried," she said. "Sanji's a monster, he can take this guy." They looked back as Sanji dodged an electrical attack that was flung at him.
"He must have a devil fruit power," Chopper said, and Kia focused in on the machine.
"No…" she replied. "Look behind him!"
"A portable generator?!" Chopper shouted in surprise. There were a couple of wires coming out the back of the mechanical suit, hooked to a stationary bicycle that when pedaled, would conduct electricity for the suit. Another man was pedaling as fast as he could to provide electricity for the first man to wield against the criminals.
Sanji wasn't listening, and ran forward to attack again, only for the same thing to happen- getting electrocuted.
"Sanji, if you get my things damaged, I'll pound you!" Nami yelled at him.
"If they are so important, why doesn't she carry them herself?" Chopper asked Kia quietly.
"Sanji won't let us carry anything," she answered, and he replied, "oh yeah."
Kia finally had enough, and jumped up, running towards Sanji, "Come on! With those wires attached, they can't keep up with us if we run!" she yelled back to Nami and Chopper. She grabbed Sanji's arm and pulled him with her, as they ran away from the machines. The man inside tried to run after them, and the wires pulled taut and then pulled him back, and he fell over.
The group kept running, all the way back to where they had docked the Merry, only to find that it was gone, and no one was around.
"What happened?!" Nami yelled. "It's gone!"
"But… Zoro was on board, he wouldn't just let anyone take it," Kia said, confused.
"Those people collecting taxes, must have taken the Merry and Zoro!" Chopper wailed.
"Stupid moss head!" Sanji groused.
"Not this guy again," Chopper complained.
They had made their way around the shore to the harbor, and ran right into the man in the electric suit.
"Quit your whining and let's go!" the man said with a smirk. Sanji knew he couldn't attack, so he just stood in front of them with his arms out, determined to not let them get hurt, as something came flying from behind the man in the suit, striking him hard and causing him to topple over.
Kia looked over, seeing the small coin rolling around on the ground.
"Was that you?!" he demanded, as his men helped him stand back up.
"Uh, it hit you in the back..." she said. "How could we have done that?"
"And if we say it was?" Sanji challenged.
The man bent down, picking up the coin and pocketing it. "Thank you for paying your taxes. Let me be the first to welcome you to Luluka," he said as he climbed out of the suit.
"Huh?" they responded.
However, he wasn't done with them, and they listened as he told them what happened to the Merry and their friends that were aboard. Nami was practically drooling at the thought of all that treasure, but Kia was a little more worried, as she remembered what the Rainbow mist was.
Before they knew what had happened, the mayor and his guards were there too. Nami mentioned helping finding the treasure inside the mist, and the mayor told her that they would have to pay the "finding out a secret" tax which equaled 400 million beri, 100 million for each of them. He threatened that they would be taken prisoner and put to work since they couldn't pay it.
He called the tax collection squad, which ended up being his son, Phillip, who ignored the pirates and looking out at the mist, practically jumped for joy. "Now we can go collect the treasure!" he said to the mayor.
"It must be a burden having such an idiotic family," Nami commented dryly, and the rest of them snickered.
"You have no idea," the mayor replied, then realizing what he said, he snapped at Phillip. "Contact Henzo!"
They watched on as Phillip set up some sort of desk, pulling out a transponder snail and placing it upon it. He then sat at the desk and dialed a number.
"Yep? Hi! Uh, hello?" Kia smiled as she recognized Luffy's voice on the other end.
"Well well, Professor Henzo," Phillip began and Luffy cut him off.
"Huh? Who is this anyway?"
"What?" Phillip asked, looking at the receiver. "Wait a second… who are you?!" he demanded, and Sanji reached over and grabbed the receiver out of his hand, holding it out so they could all speak.
"Hey Luffy," he said, and Kia chimed in with, "Hi Captain!"
"Where the heck did you guys go?" Chopper asked.
Nami grabbed the receiver out of Sanji's hand, highly annoyed. "You guys! You ran off with the ship, and left us in a pretty sticky situation you know!"
"Hey, it's Nami," Luffy said, and they all shook their heads.
"Is this the outside world?" A new voice spoke, taking over for Luffy. "Phillip? Are you there?"
Phillip reached out and grabbed the receiver back. "Yes! Professor, what is your location?"
"I am currently inside the Rainbow Mist!" the answer came, and they all looked over to the mist above the water. "At the moment, we are unable to escape it," the professor continued. "Someone will need to equip the safety search gear I invented and come to rescue us. Oh, and tell Whetton to remember-"
"Cah-lick!" They stared at the snail, as the call disconnected in the middle of the professor's sentence.
"So they are all in that weird mist, huh?" Sanji said as he finished his cigarette and made sure it was out, before putting the end in his pocket.
"So, what should we do?" Kia asked, looking at Nami.
"Isn't it obvious?" she replied. "We go inside the mist and get them."
"Just a minute," Mayor Whetton said. "I already told you, you must have my permission to go in there."
Nami ignored him, and turned to his grandson Blake. "Hey there," she said sweetly, "where is the safety gear the professor was talking about?" she asked.
"Oh, here you go," he answered with a smile, handing her a box.
The four of them smiled, and Sanji and Chopper and Kia picked up the bags, and Nami carried the box as they all took off running. "Thank you!" they yelled.
The pirates got a pretty big head start before the others started yelling and running after them. "And here I thought they'd let us peacefully run off into the sunset," Sanji said with a smirk.
"There!" Nami said, and they stopped at a small rowboat. Kia moved the packages from the shopping out of the way, and Chopper changed to his heavy point, as he and Sanji stood waiting for the others to catch up, ready to fight to give Nami time to row out to the mist.
Before anything happened, however, a giant sea king rose out of the water, and saw Nami's small boat. It started following her, and she screamed as she rowed frantically.
"Nami! Try the safety gear!" Kia yelled to her, as the mayor and his men sat smirking, thinking the sea king would stop her, so they didn't have to.
Nami opened the box, finding nothing but a really long rope. Seeing the sea king in front of her roaring, the three of her friends yelled her name, and she covered her head with her hands.
The sea king roared again, thrashing its head, and then took off suddenly, and they all looked at each other in surprise. This story arc was not one Kia was really familiar with, not like the rest, and she couldn't remember what had happened to make the sea king leave, but was just glad it had.
"Chopper! Catch!" Nami flung the end of her clima-tact which had the end of the rope tied to it.
"What? I can't catch that!" Chopper exclaimed as he tried to catch it, and it hit the guard standing behind him, dropping the rope into his hands. "Hey! I did it!" he cheered, grinning at Kia, and she giggled.
"Will you help me tie it to my wrist?" he asked her and she scooted over to help. She wrapped it a few times around his wrist and tied it off.
"That's it!" the mayor said and they turned to look at him.
"The Mayor…" Phillip said highly, as guards pulled a curtain in front of him, "is changing!"
The curtains opened, and the mayor was now in a different mechanical suit. Blake ran for his electrical suit, and Chopper and Kia look apprehensively at each other. They both jumped up, as the mayor started shooting fire from the arms of his suit, and Sanji grabbed Kia from Chopper, helping her get behind a wall, then running back out to fight.
He ran towards the mayor, who had just caught Chopper in his flames, and Phillip shot a net out of a bazooka, trapping Sanji and making him fall to the ground, where the mayor shot flames at him too.
"No!" Kia yelled running out, and stopped as everyone else did, as Chopper's arm moved several times as the rope was tugged on from the other end.
"Pull it in!" the mayor said, and Phillip reached to take the rope from Chopper, who dodged every attempt.
"I promised I wouldn't let go of the rope until Nami was back!" he yelled to them, running away from them as Sanji stood up, and lit a cigarette.
"Ridiculous!" Whetton yelled at Chopper.
"We'll do whatever we have to, to ensure Nami comes back safely!" Sanji yelled, jumping out at Whetton, only to be blocked by Blake's suit, getting electrocuted once again. Kia ran over to him, as the guards pulled the boat in, and they saw a pirate in the boat full of treasure, not Nami.
"That's not good," Kia said quietly, and turned back to Sanji. "You okay?" she asked, helping him up.
"Yeah," he answered roughly.
"Chopper?" she asked.
"I'm okay," he replied.
They watched in defeat as the men all left for the rainbow tower. Sanji and Chopper looked pretty rough, and Kia ordered them to take it easy, and get their strength back before they did anything else, saying that Nami wouldn't have left the boat unless she found the crew, so she was probably with them now, and that made them feel better.
They watched in disbelief as the tower fell over into the water, and then extended all the way out to the mist. "So that's how they are going to get the treasure," she commented, and they could see a pile growing outside of the tower in the distance.
They sat there for awhile longer, and Sanji finally spoke. "It sure is quiet," he said.
"Yeah," Chopper replied. "I wonder if everyone is all right," he worried.
"Don't know," Sanji answered, and Chopper jumped up, angry.
"Don't know? How can you be so casual? Do you even care if they are all right?" he demanded.
"They don't need me to worry about them," Sanji dismissed, and Kia smiled.
"Yeah, they're strong, they can handle anything those goons try," she added.
"I'm more concerned about the mayor."
"Huh?" Chopper and Kia turned to look at Sanji in question.
"Well," he said, "if Luffy takes care of him, I won't be able to pay him back."
"I guess I understand that," Chopper admitted.
Sanji stood up then, looking over at the rainbow tower. "Coming?" he asked Chopper.
"Yeah," Chopper said as he stood up as well, and Kia followed suit.
"Kia dear, you should stay here," he said and she glared at him. "We don't want you to get hurt."
"If I always shy away from danger, than I can't call myself a straw hat pirate," she replied and started walking towards the tower, Sanji and Chopper quickly catching up to walk beside her.
They were almost there when a huge explosion roared out at the end of the tower that was connected to the mist, the tower cracked all over, and like a chain reaction, it slowly caved in and fell beneath the water.
"What happened?!" Chopper exclaimed. "The rainbow tower is gone!"
"Look over there!" Kia shouted over the dust, "the mayor!"
They looked where she pointed and they saw the mayor running to a huge stack of bags and chests full of treasure! He started pawing through it all, ranting about how it was all his, and he didn't have to share with anyone.
His back was to them, and Chopper growled, and changed into his full reindeer form, and ran for him. He head butted him, sending him rolling over the treasure before he stopped up against a chest. Sanji and Chopper were there to glare down at him.
"Hey," Sanji glowered. "Our friends were inside that mist. Would you like to explain what happened to them?" he asked threateningly. "You had better not tell us you were the only one who came back out!"
The mayor looked nervous, and it was obvious that that was exactly what happened.
"Answer me!" Sanji demanded, and Whetton tried to buy time stammering as he reached behind him, grabbing a piece of treasure, and lifted it with a tilt to use the sun to blind them, then he ran off.
He had a head start, but Kia just watched as Sanji and Chopper ran after him, and knew they would have no problem catching him. She looked down at the treasure, knowing that Nami would want some of it, plus they would need some money for supplies. Kia looked around herself, then bent down, opening her new bag, and filling it quickly. Then she stood, taking a moment to adjust to the new weight, and walked leisurely after the boys.
She came up to them as Sanji kicked part of a wall in demonstration of what he would do to the mayor, who replied in a shaky voice, "Hitting the mayor has a tax of 90 million beri! Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Sure," Sanji replied with a smirk. "Doesn't matter to me, because I'll just skip out on it anyway."
"What?" Whetton looked shocked. "But paying taxes is your duty!" he said aghast, and Sanji smiled.
"I'm a pirate," Sanji said. "Pirates aren't exactly tax paying citizens you know."
"Oh, yeah, I guess that's true," Whetton mumbled.
"I thought you were going to pay him back Sanji," Kia said. "Not chat with him."
"Yeah yeah, I'm getting there," Sanji replied, still smiling.
"Hey guys!" Chopper called. "Look! The mist is disappearing!"
They both looked out at the water, seeing the mist dispelling into the air.
Whetton started laughing, and doing the normal bad guy monologue, but the pirates weren't listening, wondering what was going to happen to their friends.
"Aah! Look!" Chopper yelled, pointing up, where right above the town there was a large rainbow hole in the sky.
"Wha-?" Sanji and Kia both said, looking dumbfounded. The looks turned to shock as the Going Merry came flying out of the hole in a huge gust of wind, sending it flying towards the water, as the wind ripped apart the large mansion on the hill at the top of the town.
"The Merry!" Chopper yelled excitedly. "I hope everyone is okay!"
"My mansion!" Whetton cried in anguish. "My money!"
There was a large crack, and they were horrified to see the mast of their ship break and fall over, crashing through the railing, as well as the figurehead snapping off, and bobbing in the water.
"Oh no!" Kia said, running forward.
"My beautiful ship!" Usopp wailed as he pulled himself up to the dock. And right behind him was everyone else!
"Luffy!" Kia shouted happily, and he grinned back at her.
"Hi Kia! Long time no see! Shi shi shi!"
She moved to give him a hug, and said, "You almost had me worried!" then moved to check on the others.
"You guys!" Chopper yelled, as Sanji yelled, "Nami my love!" and they both ran over.
"Nami!" Sanji called out as he came up to her, and she snarled, punching him in the head. He fell to the ground, very sad, and cried, "but why Nami dear?"
"I'm so annoyed, I could scream!" she yelled, and stalked away from them.
"Scary!" Chopper yelled, and tried to hide behind Kia, even though he was in his heavy point. Usopp came over and whispered to them.
"All the treasure she had on deck got blown away and she isn't taking it very well. I wouldn't get close to her right now if I were you."
They nodded, checking Sanji over to make sure he was okay, just as some marines showed up. Kia just watched, realizing as they were speaking that some sort of time travel had happened, and these were actually the kids that the crew met inside the mist. They gathered up the mayor, who basically called himself a pirate, and confiscated all the treasure.
They acted as if they were going to arrest us as well, but in the end, gave themselves an out so that we could leave. Luffy laughed and laughed, enjoying their company, and Kia made sure to study each of them so that she could draw them later.
She finally met the professor, as he helped them patch up the Merry, so that they could sail, and the crew finally set off. Luffy climbed up onto his special seat, and gave a huge sigh.
"That place was pretty cool, wasn't it?" he asked the rest of them, as they stood on deck together behind him.
"I've had more than enough of that pirate graveyard," Nami replied testily.
"Well it's not like I want to live there, but it would be nice to visit," he responded, and everyone looked at him like he was crazy.
"I can't believe you enjoyed it!" Chopper exclaimed. "Besides, isn't all the treasure gone now?" he asked.
"Oh yeah! I forgot!" Kia said, and they looked at her. She smiled at Nami, and taking off her bag, she opened the flap to show them the inside.
"Kia!" Nami yelled, practically drooling. "Where did you get that?"
Kia giggled at the look on her face. "When Sanji and Chopper were chasing the mayor, I filled my bag up. I knew we needed some supplies, and there was a mountain of stuff, I didn't think anyone would miss it." She smiled as she looked at her friends. "Besides, don't pirates steal treasure?" she asked.
They all started laughing, giving her thumbs ups and congratulations.
She looked up at Luffy, "I have a suggestion Captain," she said, and everyone quieted down. "I think we should use this to get the Merry fixed."
Luffy looked at her in consideration, before a grin filled his face, and he stretched his arms to her, wrapping around her and rocketing over, shouting "Great idea!" He crashed into her, and they fell to the deck, though he made sure to turn so that she fell on top of him, and they laughed again.
"Maybe I'll keep a little to buy some celebratory steaks?" she said and Luffy grinned wider.
"Yeah!" he agreed, and they both laughed some more.
They had just stood again, when Zoro held his hands out. "Is that…rain?" he asked.
Everyone held their hands out as well, catching small pieces of … wood. "No way," Sanji said. "This ain't rain." Usopp started screaming, and Kia looked up. "That's interesting…" Sanji said.
"AAH!" several more screamed, Kia included as a gigantic ship came falling upside down towards them, right out of the sky!