Recap: The Whitebeard pirates are on their way to Ran's homeland, Yuht Kingdom. She's not too particularly happy about it.

Since learning that the Whitebeard Pirates were on course to her home kingdom, Ran was stressing out about how to not let them catch her secret. She could poison them all, however that would be unethical, but it wasn't option ruled out.

Thatch, Ace and Izou were sitting outside, enjoying the good sailing weather, chattering about daily things.

"Do you think there will be any brides for me in the Yuht kingdom?" Thatch wondered out loud.

"No girl would willingly marry you." Izou sassed, Marco and Ace laughing their asses off.

"Why not, every girl loves a man who can cook, shows I'm talented and pragmatic." He triumphed Izou.

"Doesn't mean that you're still not ugly." Izou snickered,

"You know you're really mean and I really don't" He grumbled, although laughed because he couldn't follow his act seriously.

"So Marco you going to look for any love interests in the Yuht kingdom?" Izou asked, always interested since he had talked about his arranged marriage.

"I don't know, we'll just see." He answered cryptically.

"Or perhaps you have a love interest already?" Izou joked.

"Who knows?" He answered. Izou had to bite back his curiosity.

"Ace I'm guessing you're going to attract the prettiest girls and maybe you won't set them on fire during coitus." Thatch teased, making the rest of them spit out their drink. With laughter.

"Can you guys please draw straws to see who will stay behind and look after ship on the first day." Their comrade handed them straws in his tightly fisted hands, all of them lucky, they could venture on the first day.

"Hey do you know if Ran is also going on the first day, I imagine she must be?" Ace asked, hoping that he could accompany her.

"No I haven't gotten round to her yet." The comrade moved onto the next group.

"I wonder what it's like, it might be like the woman only tribe warrior island."

"Yeah we would be fucked because they would want to kill us."

"Oh yeah that would be bad."

Izou headed in to get some more food, Ace noticed it, and something on his mind, knowing he couldn't talk to Thatch would mean him laughing and giggling and not actually helping him. And it would be plain awkward talking to Marco about it, especially as it seemed that he was his rival in it. He made sure that they were in the kitchen alone.

"Izou."

"Yeah Ace?" Not expecting much from him.

"I want some advice. Please." He asked a little embarrassed.

"Yeah you can always talk to me." Izou found his jar of Nutella, getting a spoon, undoing the top.

"I've been having inappropriate dreams about Ran." Izou turned around in surprise dropping the jar, shocking Ace.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry are you guys still a thing?" Even though Ace disliked the idea of Ran with anyone, he was still an honourable man and respected worthy men, which was the commander of the sixteenth division.

"No no. I was just surprised." Izou's mind was racing, finally some action.

"Yeah me too, I guess. I've been having weird dreams since that night she sang. It's really annoying, I had the strangest feeling that someone else was with me in my room, undressing me, and I really think it's Ran. It's been annoying me so much that I don't sleep that much nowadays, and barely talk." Izou awed in sympathy.
"And ever since then her voice has been haunting me, when she sings in her language. But she seems so disinterested in me, or disinterested in anyone." He ruffled his hair in slight annoyance.

Izou snickered, but a little too loudly at the coincidence.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Why did you snicker?"

"I didn't." Izou lied, trying not to let Ran's secret.

"You did, do you find this funny?" He was getting annoyed.

"No I swear to God it's not that you having dreams about Ran that is funny, it's the irony." Izou realised what he said, hoping that Ace didn't realise what he had just said.

"Irony?" Izou hoped to God that he didn't know what irony was.
"What irony?"

"I meant it's the ironically funny." Trying to make it sound different, however failed since Ace shot Izou a glare, which meant serious business.

"You know I gotta go." Darting towards the kitchen door, but failed ultimately, trapping Izou against a table and fire in his palms. Izou drew his guns, hoping to draw some attention by shooting and save himself, but before he could pull the trigger, Ace had bent the gun, rendering it useless, by his flames.
"Ran would be jealous of this." Izou admitted quietly, at his and Ace's situation. Then pursing his loose lips shut, trying to not get into more trouble than he was already in. He could easily salvage it, easily, if he learnt how to shut up.

"Ran what?"

"Ran nothing." Izou said innocently, but not acting it at all.

"Izou. Tell me why it's ironic."

"…"

"You know what I could go ask Ran myself, I mean I have nothing to hide." Turning around to walk off.

"WAIT WAIT." Ace smiled, his face turned serious as he turned around to face Izou again.
"You cannot mention this to Ran. You weren't supposed to know." Ace looked at Izou expectantly.

"If Ran ever finds out, I tell her it was my fault." Ace offered. Izou nodded, breathing.

"Ranlikesyoutoo." He let out quickly.

"What?"

"She likes you too. She admitted that she's always been attracted to you, but thinks you won't notice her, and didn't think you would want to date her. She said she's not the type of girls you date, and you stick to a particular type." He mumbled out, Ace's face was steaming hot, he felt like a little kid again, a girl he liked, liked him back.

"So that's why she rejected me at the last island."

"She rejected you? She's such an idiot, andshesaidshewantsherdreamstocometrue. OH SHIT." Izou slapped his hands over his mouth to physically prevent more secrets coming out.

"She wants her what?"

"mabsdipabd"

"Izou" He silkily threatened, the fire in his palms blazing brighter, near his clothes. Izou gulped, looking even guiltier.

"She said she had some dreams about you." Ace's eyebrows raised up high.

"She said that she had six, and that you were so good in her she couldn't even talk to me about it." Ace's cheeks blushed feeling the rush of blood, even though he was made of fire, he felt too hot.

"She said something about begging." Izou started to list, Ace was trying to hold onto his sanity. "Teacher and student and commander and subordinate." His nose was already dripping blood.

"Oh right." He squeakily let out. Izou saw him, so vulnerable, but funny. But he did want Ace and Ran to get together, so he decided since he had already done enough damage, how much more could he do?

"She also said that she likes everything about you, she couldn't pick her favourite thing about you, but she did say your body." He threw that little grenade in there, tided up the mess of broken jar of Nutella and ran off.

I'm so sorry Ran, I hope you'll forgive me one day. Ace you better not tell her that I told you.

Ace was left in the kitchen, with his own thoughts.

She likes me. She had dreams about me. She likes me over Marco, over Izou.

He grinned, hiding his blushing face in his hands.

I've finally got you now Ran, you can run but you can't hide.

He was going to get the girl of his dreams. (Cheesy I know but shit is gonna go down.)

Ran was lying in her hammock, still stressing how she was going to get into the kingdom without being noticed, and without the Whitebeard Pirates being suspicious about anything. She knew that they were going to ask her to be tour guide. She could hear the cries on the deck, and frantic footsteps on the deck, moving around trying to anchor the large ship. As the ship had stopped moving she sighed, she couldn't get rid of the heavy and almost paralysing anxiety. She thought it was ironic that she could kill without a doubt, but the thought of going home was crippling.

Thundering footsteps signified that the crew was going down, sighing that she was resorting to such a low trick and lie. She felt awful for lying to them, they were friends to her, almost family, having last minute doubt about her plan, however she decided against it.

It's not like they're never going to find out. Hopefully I'll be gone by then.

"Raaaaaaan~" Izou called, running excitedly to visit his newest recruit's homeland. Opening the door to find Ran with streams of tears and heavy coughing.

"Are you sick?" Izou covered his face, hoping he wouldn't contract the illness. Hearing her mumble, nodded, saying something like telling the rest of the crew that she was ill and would check on her later. After she made sure that was a lot less movement, and heard the distant cries of the pirates as they started their exploration. She wiped her face dry, and cleared her throat, gathering her things, putting on her 'Do Not Disturb' sign, and masked herself.

Ran was going home.

Ace, Marco and Thatch were amazed by the huge street stalls selling mass amounts of food they couldn't resist the smell and started feasting, The stall owners were very happy that they had such hungry customers, but then slowly realised that they were feeding bottomless pits and would run out of stock, and had to kick them off for normal customers, after paying of course.

"I wonder if Ou Ran can make this sort of stuff, since she's from here and all." Thatch wondered out loud marvelling at the delicious street food. However the chatter of the street market had died down, the three of them not noticing the quietness.

"Kind sir, please do not mention her name in public." A kind street stall owner warned Thatch, smiling sheepishly.

"What? Ou Ran?" Thatch mumbled as the stall owner stuffed another piece of food in Thatch's mouth in order to stop him from speaking further.

"Please kind sir, do not say her name in public, otherwise great consequences will follow, and we have been living peacefully since her departure and we want to keep it this way." He explained, the three of them extremely confused.

"What do you mean? She said she wanted to come back home, so why would mentioning her name get you guys into trouble?" Ace asked, incredibly interested.

"It is known in the Yuht kingdom, there is a divide in south and north, with their own ruling families respectively that are related. Then they decided a few decades ago that the two kingdoms would unite, however there was a family dispute as to who would be the Emperor and the ruling family of the entire kingdom. Due to the dispute between the two families that was a lot of bad blood, and it resulted in the death the royal baby who was one of the next to rule.
It was committed by who should not be named(s) father." All three of them stopped eating, although it was surprising, they didn't feel it was unsurprising that it was Ran's father, or somewhat linked to Ran. They felt it suited Ran for some reason.

"That family was publicly executed, however she should not be named had escaped by another traitor. To renew the union of the two Yuht kingdoms, we were forbidden to have last names like that traitorous family and we are punished if we ever mention anyone from that family." The stall owner explained, hoping to save these tourists from making any mistakes.

"Please kind sirs do not try to challenge these rules, the current ruling family is very strict and harsh, even for the smallest of crimes." They all nodded, a little numb and hollow on the inside. "It is an unspoken lesson and rule here to make sure you observe who is in the room with you before you start talking, otherwise you'll never know who is listening to you. Another rule here, is that you must show loyalty, submission and respect to the royal ruling family. You can tell if the royal family is coming because everyone around you will start getting on their knees and bow, in addition the ruling family have a diamond forehead marking to signify their royal blood, and that the Gods and Goddess have chosen them to be part of the royal family. Also they have mismatched eyes, of different colours, a royal blessing from the Gods themselves to indicate how special they are. It doesn't matter if you're a pirate or a marine, you must follow these rules." The all nodded to show their understanding.

It couldn't be true, could it? It didn't seem so outrageous, now they thought out it. It explained her cold nature, and how and why she was so secretive. Although she didn't kill anyone, and was punished for her family's mistakes and treachery, the trio couldn't help but feel a little frightened that such a person was so close to them.

The three of them tried to find the local watering hole to try and come up with a plan to ask Ran about her background. They felt a little chilled about that story, a lot of them were outcasts, and tried to be as objective as possible, however in their minds the story seemed to fit, and they couldn't help believe the stall's story.

"We can't turn her in can we?"

"She doesn't deserve to be, she's innocent."

"Well isn't she turning herself in, if she's going home."

"Maybe secretly."

"What so we just carry a daughter of a murderer?"

"Well she is family."

"Excuse me gentleman, here are your drinks and food." The server handed them their drinks and food. For some reason the food was even tastier here, it made them hungrier and hungrier so they ate more until they passed out.