Ace was growing tired, and hungry. He kept his eye out for somewhere to stop, to resupply and rest. That's when he smelled something delicious. He didn't even pause, just changed course to follow the scent. There was a large pirate ship in front of him, and it looked as though they were having a party. Well, he'd crashed worse places, and he tied off his skiff and jumped aboard.

It was an extremely large crew, one he didn't recognize, but due to the numbers, he was able to move in and sit down without any trouble. He began eating quickly, but not because he feared being caught. He was used to eating fast, or not eating at all.

He was on his third helping when he heard a woman say something about Luffy, and as he focused,he heard the captain say something about wanting to find Luffy, which made all his big brother instincts stand on end.

"If you're looking for Luffy, I can tell you where he is," he said, without turning around.

"See? This guy over here is going to tell us where he is. Problem solved… Hey hold on!" the captain shouted, and Ace looked up with a smirk as the others all gaped at him, the music stopped, and the party basically froze.

"Who the hell are you?" the captain demanded.

Ace stood, making sure his hat was on straight, and turned. "Sorry for crashing your party," he said. "but I simply couldn't ignore the delicious aromas of your feast. My name is Portgas D. Ace, but you may call me Ace," and he gave a bow.

"Oh, no need to be so formal,"the captain said with a smile, so Ace shrugged and grabbed a piece of meat, taking a large bite. The captain seemed to realize that he hadn't gotten the answers he wanted, and lashed out.

"I mean, what are you doing here, you idiot? I couldn't care less what your name is, Mr. Portgas D. Ace!"

"Uh, Captain?" A crew member said in hushed tones. "He's the fire fist! Fire fist Ace! Commander of the Whitebeard pirates' second unit!" The rest of the crew look on in awe, and Ace just continued to eat.

"Whitebeard?" several of them asked in shock, and Ace took that as a good sign.

"Ah, so you know the old man, huh?" and his head fell to the side as he started snoring.

"He fell asleep?" the crew cried out.

"Captain, this is our chance! If we take out Fire fist Ace, we'll be famous!"

"What? No!" the captain shouted back, glaring at the man sprawled sleeping on his deck. "This is one lesson you must all learn. Listen, and listen well. Never mess with the Whitebeard pirates! Whitebeard is without a doubt, the strongest pirate alive, and a merciless killer. In other words, DON"T CROSS HIM!"

The captain prowled the deck, gazing at his crew, then down at the sleeping man. "Even if we were able to kill Fire fist Ace while he sleeps, Whitebeard would avenge the murder of one of his own with the fury of a thunderstorm!"

A snort altered the crew, and they watched in surprise as Ace sat back up and continued eating as if nothing had happened. "Sorry about that, must have dozed off," he said. He looked around, confused. "Hey, why the long faces, this is a party isn't it?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, it is," the captain replied. "Men! Commence having fun again!" he called out, and the music started back up.

"So, Ace… what brings you way out here? I thought the Whitebeard pirates were in the New World?" the captain asked him.

"Whoa! You guys have a lion?" Ace shouted, and proceeded to make a flaming hoop for the lion to jump through.

After the lion showed off his stuff, and the crew had settled back down to eat more, Ace decided it couldn't hurt to talk, after all he had been on his own for while, and missed the company.

"I'm out here searching for one of my crew members," Ace said solemnly. "He did the unforgivable."

"Oh no!" the lion tamer yelled. "He stole your pet?"

"No you idiot," the captain shouted. "He killed a fellow crew member!"

"That's right, he did," Ace continued. "He formed his own crew, and is now causing havoc and ruin everywhere he goes. I stopped at one island that his crew had completely destroyed, killing people for no reason."

"Oh, that's bad," someone said. "Even Captain Buggy doesn't do that."

"Captain Buggy?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Buggy demanded.

"Nothing, just wanted to make sure I got it right, so I can tell others I meet of the generous, yet dangerous Captain Buggy and his crew," he said with a smirk as the others all cheered and laughed.

"That's right!" Buggy agreed.

"Anyway, then I met this girl," Ace paused as there were several hoots and cheers at that, "and this pirate had killed her friend. She looked so sad, but more, she was angry- like she wanted revenge- and then, I realized that I wanted my revenge to not just be about me, but about her too. So, I promised her, I would stop him. And here I am, still on the hunt," Ace said, as he filled his plate again.

"So Ace…" one of the crew asked. "Is she pretty?"

"Huh? Who?"

"The girl you mentioned," the pirate said.

"Oh, Kiana? Yeah… she's pretty."

"Well, how pretty?"

"Yeah man, give us the juicy details!" several others called out, and Ace blanched.

"Uh, well, so after I left that island, I ran into her again, on a different island. Only this time, she had joined a pirate crew!"

The crew's response was varied and yet similar, egging him on, so Ace continued. It was somewhat nice to talk about all this to complete strangers, somehow freeing. "Yeah, not only that, they were trying to fit in with the local citizens, but the crew has gotten their women dancer girl outfits instead.

He laughed along with them, telling a few more details about his time with Luffy's crew, without divulging any pertinent information. And all too soon, he decided he was full, and went on his way.

There was quite a time before he started thinking about other things besides Kiana though. He wondered if she still had his vivre card. It had been an impulse to give it to her, but all he had thought at the time, was that he wouldn't mind being reunited some day.

"ACHOO!"

"Wow, Kia, are you sick?" Chopper asked as he felt her forehead. "That was a lot of sneezing!"

"Huh, I guess someone was talking about me," she answered. "Maybe it was one of my sisters, so I should talk about them, and get revenge," she said with a smile.

"Here, I saved you some lunch," he said, handing her a small tray of fritters.

"Thanks Chopper," she said, and dug in. Usopp and Luffy were still eating also, making her think that she hadn't been asleep for long, but she did feel better.

"I keep thinking about Jaya," he said, as he stretched out in front of her. "I wonder what kind of island it is."

"I heard, it's called the land of meat!" Luffy said, and Usopp scoffed.

"You don't know that Luffy. You just wish it was, because we've been eating the same old junk for days."

Kia winced, and scooted away from them, just as Sanji came up and took the dishes out of their hands. "Don't like it? Don't eat it. I'll just give these to Robin and Nami," he said as he took off, with Luffy and Usopp right on his heels. However, no apology could sway him, and eventually the boys gave up in getting their food back.

Luffy climbed up the figurehead, laying back and enjoying the nice weather.

"Shouldn't we be there by now?" Zoro asked.

"Yes," Nami answered. "With it being so clear, we should have seen the coastline over an hour ago."

"If we're that close, then I guess I'll go shower, and wake myself up," Kia said as she stood.

"Hmm, good idea,"Nami said. "I'll join you."

"Ahem," Kia cleared her throat, giving Nami a pointed look and nodding over towards Sanji, who looked like his nose was bleeding.

"Ah, right. Not in the shower, Kia, just you know, getting cleaned up."

"Great," Kia replied, seeing Sanji deflate.

Usopp was nice enough to draw water for them and they each had a quick shower. Kia made hers frightfully cold, hoping to get her second wind… or third. True, she could just stay on the boat, but this was a momentous occasion, and she really wanted to see all of the big events first hand.

"Hmm, now what are you going to wear?" Nami murmured, looking through the closet.

"Me? I'll wear my jeans and a t-shirt, what else?"

"Uh-uh Kia, remember? You said I could pick your outfit for you, for the next island," she reminded her friend.

"Well yes, but that was for like, an uninhabited island, not this one."

"Oh I see," Nami glared at her. "You think I'll embarrass you?"

"No," she answered truthfully. "But you are much more willing to show off your assets than I am."

"Well sure, but I'm not going to give your something that I would wear," Nami replied, still looking through the clothes. "Aha!" she cried. "This one!" She held out one of the outfits Kia had bought back on Luluka.

"I know I was happy when I bought it, but now…" Kia grimaced as she spoke. The capri pants were fine, but the top was a halter style, that left her shoulders bare and was pretty low cut.

"What is it?" Nami asked.

"Let's just say I have a bad feeling about this," Kia answered, as she got dressed. She did make Nami happy however when she asked for help with her hair, as she decided to wear it down. It had grown longer in the time she had been in Drum Kingdom, and the waves were still there, though her bangs had grown out.

"I like this length," Nami said, as she brushed through it. "There are so many options! Not like mine," she said.

"You'd look good with long hair," Kia said, and she smiled.

"I know, I remember that picture you drew."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Kia replied. "So, you're wanting to go ashore?" she asked as she put on her sandals.

"Yes, I want to talk to people about how to get to the island in the clouds. There's a definite chance that it's up there," Nami answered.

"Well, we don't have time for shopping trips on this island, but we'll definitely have to on the island up there. It would be a once in a lifetime chance!" Kia said with a grin, and Nami finished and they headed back out to the deck.

"They've been shot!" they heard Chopper yell, and headed in his direction.

"I don't think they could have been shot, Chopper, I didn't hear any gun fire," Usopp said from the crow's nest.

"I found a bullet!" Chopper held it up for him to see. "And judging by the trajectory, it came from that direction!"

The girls both looked towards the island that still hadn't shown itself, and Nami spoke to Usopp as Kia walked up to Chopper.

"Who's been shot?" Kia asked, and Chopper pointed to Luffy, who was holding a few seagulls and yelling to Sanji about dinner.

"Are you saying shots came from an island we can't even see yet?" Nami asked. "That's impossible."

"Ahem," Kia cleared her throat again, and Nami looked over. "I mean, highly improbable," she corrected.

"I saw it happen with my own eyes!" Chopper said, and looked back at Kia, and she wondered if he remembered the sharpshooter, Van Ogre, on the Blackbeard pirates' crew.

The crew were all quiet as they eventually came upon the island, and everyone was excited at how nice and resort-like it looked. And then, they started to notice the other details.

"Uh, I think I'm losing it, but those look like pirate ships docked over there," Usopp said.

"No way," Nami countered, as a man was thrown to the dock as they approached. Kia saw who had thrown him, recognizing Jesus Burgess, also a part of Blackbeard's crew, and she moved behind Usopp, turning so that she wouldn't be noticed.

"What's the matter with this place?" Nami yelled. "That's it, I'm not going ashore. Luffy? You know what information we need, right?"

"Yep! This looks like my kind of town!"

"We'll fit in just fine," Zoro added, as he jumped onto the dock after Luffy.

"Hey Luffy, I get to come, right?" Kia asked, and both Luffy and Zoro brightened as she jumped onto the dock.

"All right Kia!" Luffy cheered. "Though, you look different," he said, studying her.

"I look okay though, right? I wore my hair down, so no one will recognize me," she said.

"Yeah, you look nice, just different," he replied.

"Who's going to recognize you?" Zoro asked skeptically.

"You never know," she answered with a shrug, and they began to walk away.

"There's no way that those two can last even an hour without getting into trouble, and Kia can be even worse, she's like a magnet!" they heard Nami say, and Kia grinned.

"Looking at this place, I'd say fifteen minutes is a generous assumption," Usopp added.

"You think so? Crap, I'd better go with them!" and Nami jumped off and ran up the dock. "Wait for me!"

They stopped, and waited for her to join them. Zoro looked from Kia to Nami and back again. "Since when did you start wearing Nami's clothes?" Zoro asked Kia bluntly. "You know what kind of attention that will bring us?"

"The pirate kind?" she asked innocently, and he scowled at her.

"Don't be a jerk Zoro, Kia looks great!" Nami said cheerfully. "Although, make sure you protect her from any bad attention," she added in what Kia assumed she wasn't supposed to hear.

"Hey, Kia can take care of herself," Kia said hotly. "And besides, I don't think Luffy would stand for any bad attention, do you? Brothers protect their sisters from attention, right?"

"Yeah!" Luffy yelled, getting fired up at the idea of a fight.

"That's true, though we really don't want to get into any fights," Nami said. "If either of you cause problems, we'll have to get out of town, and if that happens, we'll never figure out how to get to sky island."

"Yeah, yeah," Luffy said, dejected.

"Promise me Luffy, no fighting." Nami glared, and Luffy looked disappointed.

"All right, I promise."

Kia gave Luffy's back a pat in consolation, as a man fell off his horse right in front of them. Kia was quick to step behind Luffy and turn away, listening as Luffy helped him up, and got an apple in return. An explosion happened then behind them, and the crowd yelled about an apple that exploded once it was bitten into.

"Luffy! Spit it out! Spit it out right now!" Nami shouted, grabbing his throat.

"Don't worry, it would have exploded on the first bite if it was a bad one," the man wheezed. "You're lucky."

Luffy continued walking on, with Nami complaining about the insanity of the town, and yelling at Luffy's nonchalant attitude. "You should care more! You were almost killed for no reason at all!"

"Oh, well that was bound to happen sooner or later," Luffy said, shrugging off the worry.

Jesus Burgess was now up on the roof, laughing hysterically, flexing and showing off his muscles. The four of them kept walking, and Kia tilted her head a little, having her hair hang in a curtain, covering her face from his view. She noticed Zoro glancing at her in question, but she ignored it, and kept walking.

The people around them spoke to each other about Burgess, wondering who he was, and one man said he wanted to be the ultimate fighting champion, which stopped both Luffy and Zoro in their tracks, and Nami and Kia had to pull them along.

They finally made it to the resort at the west end of town, and were stopped by a small man who was obviously the proprietor. "Excuse me, I have to ask you all to leave! The entire hotel has been rented out by Mr. Bellamy and his guests, and he asked that I tell others, like yourselves, to find different accommodations."

"So one man rented out this whole place?" Zoro asked.

"So you must go! If Mr. Bellamy sees you here, I would lose my head!"

"Sounds like we'd better go guys," Kia said, turning away.

"What's going on here?" they could see a man speak, as he and a woman were walking in towards them. "Who are these scumbags, and what are they doing in our hotel?"

"Mr. Sarquiss, welcome back! I was just informing them that there was no room available, and they were just leaving," the owner said nervously.

"Who cares, just get rid of them!" the woman spoke now. "We're paying a lot of money to have this place to ourselves!"

Sarquiss came up to Luffy, looking down on him. "She's right, so get out of here, before I throw you out."

Luffy looked back for a moment, before turning to his friends. "Hey guys, would anyone mind if I beat him up?" he asked.

Sarquiss laughed. "You're going to beat me up? Hilarious. If you want me to take you seriously, you should stop wearing rags. Here," he said, as he reached in his pocket and threw money down at Luffy's feet. "Go buy some new rags, so you don't look like an orphan."

"Sarquiss, you're wasting your money on these losers," the woman said.

"Yeah, but they are in such desperate need," he said with another laugh.

"I'll take free money," Luffy said with a shrug, but Nami grabbed his face and pulled him away, Zoro and Kia following.

"See you around… sweetheart," Sarquiss said, adding the last bit as Nami passed by. Kia turned back to give him a disgusted look, and continued following the others back into the heart of town.

"I think… I could use a drink," she suggested, and Zoro and Nami quickly agreed, so they headed to the nearest tavern.

As they went in the doors, Kia could already see Blackbeard's huge body on a stool, with four stools open to his left. She immediately went to the furthest one away, and Nami sat next to her, fuming. They ordered drinks, and Nami practically downed hers in one go.

"Man! That really pisses me off!" she growled, slamming the empty cup back on the counter. She looked over, noticing Kia was angled away, and pulled her shoulder to turn her around. "Kia, why aren't you more angry? That guy was a total sleaze."

"Which makes him not worth the time thinking about him," Kia replied, sipping her own drink. "Guys like that are a dime a dozen, so I forgot him as soon as I could."

Zoro glanced over and gave her a smirk, then went back to his drinking. The bartender struck up a conversation with Nami, hoping to calm her down, and she began asking questions just as Luffy and Blackbeard each slammed a fist down on the counter and yelled about the cherry pies they were both eating, though Blackbeard found it delicious, and Luffy was less then impressed.

Having heard what the other said, they glared at each other, then thinking better of it, grabbed their mugs to take a drink, only to slam them down with the same result, though this time Luffy was happy, and Blackbeard was not, so they glared at each other again.

"I'm not the cook here, so I don't care," the barkeeper said.

Luffy turned back, pushing the pie out of the way. "Hey pops, I'll take fifty steaks to go," he said with a smile.

"And I'll take fifty-one of those delicious cherry pies to go," Blackbeard said. Nami looked over at Kia, rolling her eyes at the scene in front of her, only to see that Kia was hiding her face and acting bored.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing," Kia replied just as softly. Nami looked at her like she was crazy, and turned back to watch Luffy.

"Eighty!" Luffy yelled.

"One Hundred!" came the response, and then they were in each others face, yelling, "I'm going to beat the living crap out of you!"

"Do you even know what you're fighting about?!" Zoro yelled, Blackbeard smiled, and Kia started stewing. She knew she could tell Luffy who he was, and wanting to help his brother, he'd probably try to stop him. But… his whole crew was here with him, and he had his dark-dark fruit powers already. Ace couldn't beat him, even one on one.

At the same time, Kia had still been having nightmares about Judith's death, and it was still painful enough, that she hadn't been able to even draw her. She died because of the man beside them, because he felt like it, and it not only scared Kia- it pissed her off.

The barkeep stopped their argument, and Blackbeard left before Kia had the chance to make a decision, her hands were in fists, and she was practically shaking. The others didn't notice as they had turned back to the bar, and as Blackbeard left, another man walked in. Bellamy.

"I'm looking for a pirate who wears a straw hat," he called out, and had them all turning to look at him. "You must be Straw Hat Luffy," he said as he walked towards Luffy.

"Who's this guy?" Luffy asked.

"Don't know, but sounds like he has a bone to pick with you," Zoro replied.

"He must be that Bellamy guy we heard about," Nami said.

"Yeah, the one who rented out the hotel we were at," Kia concluded.

Nami and Kia glanced around as the crowd in the bar began talking about both Luffy and Bellamy and their bounties.

"Seems the people here put a lot of stock in what a pirate's bounty is," Kia said quietly to Nami, as she picked up her drink again.

"Yeah, as if that has anything to do with how strong they actually are," she replied.

"Well this guy will learn pretty quickly that Luffy and Zoro are no pushovers," Kia said with a small smile.

They turned again as a group of people walked into the bar, and both Nami and Kia rolled our eyes this time. "Just great, the guys from earlier," Nami said. That guy Sarquiss cut someone with his huge weapon, because they were too late in offering their seats up. Then he turned to them and licked the blood. Both of the girls grimaced at the sight.

They turned back to watch as Luffy began drinking, and both tried to say something, but were too late. Bellamy reared back and pushed Luffy's face straight through the bar, starting a fight- and his group started laughing hysterically.

The laughter stopped, as Zoro was turned in his seat, a sword at Bellamy's throat.

"What are you doing, punk?" Bellamy asked.

"That's the question you should be asking yourself," Zoro answered, his voice low and menacing.

"Zoro, wait!" Nami said as she stood. "Don't start anything, because-"

"Quiet!" Zoro said harshly, interrupting her. "If this guy wants a fight, I'll give him one."

"Captain?" Kia asked, as Luffy stood up. "You okay?"

"So this is your backup?" Bellamy laughed. "A guy with a sword and two women?" He laughed again, and the three of them grit their teeth, ready to pounce if Luffy said the word.

"So," Luffy finally replied. "Are you ready to take me on?"

With that, the entire room started laughing, everyone convinced that he had just done the dumbest thing possible in challenging their current big shot. Bellamy laughed as well, as Luffy stood with his fists out, ready.

"You've got it all wrong kid, this isn't a fight, it's a test. Now come on, let's see how strong you are."

At his words, Luffy put his fists down, and Nami, worried about being run out of town, turned to the barkeeper. "Mister, we need any information you can give us on sky island!"

There was a quiet pause all through the room, then everyone burst into laughter again, this time at Nami. She didn't take it well, her face red, and her hands clenched into fists. Kia stood in front of her, blocking her sight from the meanest of the jabs, but it didn't do much except keep her from running out.

"You got me there kid," Bellamy said as he sat down, laughing. "I can't believe you guys are trying to find such a ridiculous legend! Of all the crazy currents in the Grand Line, one of the strangest is the knock up stream." He looked over at them, "looks like you don't have any information at all, do you?"

Kia stepped to Nami's side, putting her hand on her shoulder in support, and they both faced Bellamy together, behind Luffy and Zoro.

"Any ship that gets caught in the knock up stream, gets catapulted into the sky and later crashes back into the ocean. Years ago, sailors saw ships falling from the sky, and assumed there was an island up there. HA! Anything that seems supernatural always has a rational explanation. Anything a man can dream will eventually be explained, and let me tell you, the truth will hurt."

Kia watched as Luffy's hands loosened from their fists, the more that Bellamy spoke. As he spoke of pirates not needing dreams, about how the One Piece wasn't real, it became obvious that Luffy no longer wanted to fight.

Kia on the other hand, was a different story. The more Bellamy spoke, the more angry she got, and when he had finally stopped, and punched Luffy in the face, Kia stormed over and stood in front of her captain.

"You're a weak pirate," Bellamy said as Luffy fell.

"No," Kia replied, you're the weak one."

"What," he asked in a low voice.

"Luffy is strong because of his convictions. He knows who he is, and what he wants, and he adjusts based on his experiences. You, however, try to adjust your environment based on your desires. Deciding that things aren't real, because you haven't seen them? Imagining yourself strong because the people around you cower? Seeking approval from warlords-"

"Kia, that's enough," Luffy said, as he stood up. Kia stopped her tirade, glad that he said something, as she had been about to go off on Bellamy about Doflamingo, which would have been a mistake. She turned and stepped back towards Nami, who was looking at her in shock, but she just stood there, watching, realizing the mood in the room was really angry, and most of it was now directed at her.

"Get lost!" patrons started yelling, throwing their glasses and bottles over at the four of them. Others were egging Bellamy on, asking him to take care of them.

"You make the real pirates, us, look like trash!" Bellamy said with a smirk.

"Give the people what they want, Bellamy!" Sarquiss called. "Tear into them!"

"Luffy, Zoro, forget the promise, just get these guys already!" Nami yelled.

"Zoro," Luffy said quietly, and the other three all listened closely. "Whatever happens, don't fight back."

Nami was shocked, and Kia was beating herself up. I had just made everything worse, and I hoped that they didn't get beaten worse because of my tirade. Nami and Kia stood there, as Luffy and Zoro were beaten with fists, chairs, bottles… anything that was on hand. She reached down and grabbed Luffy's hat from off the floor, holding it.

"Why are you guys just standing there? You can take these guys, I know it!" Nami yelled. Kia reached over and grabbed her hand, and she looked back at her. "Why, Kia?" she asked quietly and Kia just shook her head. They stood quietly then, waiting for the beating to stop.

"It's no use, sweetheart," Sarquiss said to Nami. "they've obviously realized they're out of their league. Refusing to fight a stronger opponent is disgraceful, but also smart."

"The navy is sure generous these days," someone else said. "Thirty million, for this guy?"

"So, you're weak and you have no pride," Bellamy said. "You refuse to get into a fight, and your head is filled with silly daydreams. They sound like children!" More laughter, from the room. "When I heard there was a thirty million bounty in town, I wondered what kind of bad ass he was. Needless to say, I'm more than a little disappointed." He filled his cheeks from his bottle, and spit it all over Luffy. "Get them out of my face!"

His men rushed over, one kicking Zoro across the room, the other pulling Luffy into the window. They both lay there, and though Kia knew they were okay, it was still difficult to see.

The girls moved over to check on them, when Sarquiss began speaking.

"Hey, sweet things, you keep hanging out with these losers, you'll never get anywhere. How about I buy you? You seem like simple girls, you can't fetch too high a price."

Nami turned back to glare at him, and Kia noticed Luffy's hand in a fist, so she knew he was okay, and, he was letting them handle this one.

"Did you just say you wanted to buy me?" Nami demanded. "I'm way too good for you, you're just a small time thug."

"Don't be too harsh Nami," Kia said, as she picked Zoro up, and threw his arm over her shoulder. "Paying for one is obviously the only way he can get a woman to be near him." She heard a few snickers at that, though they didn't last long. She knew that was going to make him mad, but she didn't care, and headed out the door with Zoro , Nami following- dragging Luffy.

They walked quickly up the dock, Nami furiously gaining distance on Kia, when Blackbeard spoke from beside them on the pier. "The sky island does exist."

Nami stopped, dropping Luffy to the ground. Kia helped Zoro stand up, and brushed some things off his back, using him as a shield to block herself from view.

"Got something to say?" Nami asked him angrily.

"What are you so upset about? Your friends won that fight without even throwing a punch!" Luffy stood up then, fixing his hat from where they had stuffed it on his head.

"This new era they keep talking about is a load of crap. The day when pirates stop dreaming of treasure? Yeah, right!"

He laughed loudly, continuing to speak to Luffy, and Kia grabbed Zoro's shirt as he tried to step away. He turned to look at her for a moment, and must have seen her fear, because he stayed where he was and let her hide.

"The dreams of pirates will never die, am I right?" Blackbeard asked, and Luffy stayed quiet, even as the townspeople mocked Blackbeard's comments as he lumbered to his feet.

"Let's go," Zoro said, wanting to get Kia away.

"Luffy?" Nami asked. But Luffy stood still, just looking at Blackbeard.

"Hey kid, I hope you make it to sky island," Blackbeard said, and turned to walk away. Luffy turned also, catching up with Zoro, Nami trailing behind him.

"Maybe we should have asked him more questions about sky island, he seemed to know something…" Nami mused. "Who was he?"

"I don't know," Luffy answered. "But it wasn'the."

"Huh? If it wasn't he, what is it?"

"They," Kia said, before Zoro could answer. "His crew was watching us too."

"That's why you were acting so strangely?" Zoro asked as they walked.

"Where? I didn't see anyone with him!" Nami said. "Kia? You okay? You're shaking."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's get back to the Merry," she answered.