Author's Note: Hey all, it's been a fun ride! But I've only got one more chapter left!!! ...unless you want me to write an extra one with complete ZoroxHoshi XD AND YES I SMELL SEQUEL

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece

Chapter Eleven: Information

For the first time in a long time, Hoshi slept peacefully, without any dreams. When she woke up, everyone was strewn around the room, covering every single inch of possible sleeping space. She smiled and carefully stepped around them. Quietly, she stepped around them and slipped out the door for a breath of fresh air.

Tori had made amazing progress the previous night. She had learned how to take off and stay for as long as she wanted in the air. The girl had almost smashed her kneecaps though, trying to learn how to land. But she had even learned how to hover…

Lost in her thoughts in ways of trying to teach Tori how to land properly, Hoshi sat in a chair under the patio, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She visualized different ways of teaching Tori to land…

Which explained why she nearly screamed in surprise when someone touched her shoulder unexpectedly.

"Ah, Zoro! Don't scare me like that!" she chuckled.

Zoro looked slightly sheepish. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just heard you go out and wanted to make sure you were okay."

Hoshi grinned. "I'm completely fine… better than I've been in years, actually," she sighed. "Sorry, did I wake you up? I tried to be quiet." Unconsciously, she rubbed her shoulder.

"I was waking up anyways. Are you going to do anything about that?" Zoro asked, meaning her tattoo.

Hoshi sighed again. "You saw it, didn't you? The number…"

Zoro nodded.

Hoshi looked out onto the street, not really seeing it. "Maybe Nami can help me," she mused. "She has a tattoo, doesn't she? A pinwheel with a tangerine on the top. Maybe she would know how to get one off."

Zoro winced. "She'd probably charge you. She's a devil when it comes to money."

That startled a laugh out of Hoshi. "You're right…"

"We'll find a tattoo artist in town. Do you want to go now?"

Hoshi looked surprised. "Now? But they would all still probably be asleep, wouldn't they? It's still pretty early."

"But we're leaving soon," Zoro pointed out. "How soon do you want it off?"

Hoshi stared out into the street again. "I guess I can wait 'till the next island. That's Sakura's home, which means there must be a town."

Zoro frowned. "Speaking of Sakura's home, are we taking all ten of those kids with us?"

Hoshi sighed. "Well, if they want to go, they have no other way but us," she said. "I bet Sensei would take them if they wanted to stay here though. She's a sucker for kids."

"Reminds me of someone I know," Zoro said innocently, looking pointedly at Hoshi.

Hoshi flushed and looked away. "That time with Sakura was instinctive," she muttered unconvincingly.

"Right."

"Well, it's all up to what they decide," Hoshi smiled, changing the subject. "They have the right to make their own choices now."

"What do you think they should do?" Zoro asked.

"Me? I don't really know… The safest thing for them to do would be to stay here, but if it was me, I wouldn't be able to do that. If they went with Sakura, they would get to be around kids their own age and have a good home to grow up in, but that might emphasize to them the fact that they are… not normal. So I don't know," she said factually. "It's their decision."

Zoro grinned. "I suppose you're right."

There was a comfortable silence as the pair watched the sun rise up further over the building tops.

Zoro cleared his throat. "Hoshi… there's been something I wanted to ask you."

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Why did you decide to go through that all by yourself? We're your nakama, and you should know that we would have helped you in any way we could."

Hoshi was silent for a while. Zoro was beginning to wonder if she had heard his question at all when she spoke up. "I guess I still wasn't used to having nakama like you all… I'm so used to fighting on my own. Also, I didn't want you all to get involved, because I thought that would mean the end of all your dreams, that you all would die. I didn't want to see that, because you guys treasure your dreams and each other more than anything else in the world." She smiled. "There're not that many people like you guys."

Zoro chuckled. "Isn't that the truth? How many guys like Luffy do you meet every day?" He had no idea how to say what he wanted next, but it came out like this: "I promise, you'll never suffer like that by yourself again. I'll always be nearby to help."

Hoshi stared at him for a moment in amazement. "Thanks," she whispered.

Another comfortable silence settled. Hoshi suddenly stood and stretched. "Guess I should go find a tattoo artist!" she said. "I don't want to stay with this mark longer than I have to." She wisely decided not to tell Zoro that last time she had wanted the tattoo off when she was about eight, she had used a scalpel she had stolen from the lab while escaping and tried to dig it out of her shoulder.

Zoro grinned. "Want any help?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," Hoshi smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "You worry too much."

"Baka, I just felt like taking a walk around town," he retorted, wrapping an arm warmly around her shoulders.

"With your directional senses?"

"Shut up."

Hoshi chuckled and closed her eyes, relaxing in his hold.

Of course, Sanji choose this moment to walk out. "G'morning," he said sleepily, rubbing his eye. Then he caught sight of Zoro and Hoshi.

There was a moment of frozen silence as Zoro and Hoshi sweatdropped. Oh shit…

"DAMN MARIMO!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HOSHI-CHAN!?! GET AWAY FROM HER RIGHT NOW!!" Sanji roared, kicking Zoro in the head. Zoro yelled and fell into the street.

"O-oi, calm down San-"

"Did he do anything to you Hoshi-chan?! A moron like him making a move on a radiant flower of beauty like you… such a thought breaks my heart to no end!" Sanji gushed, kneeling and taking Hoshi's hand.

"N-no Sanji…" Hoshi sweatdropped. "He wasn't doing anyth-"

Sanji stood and put an arm around Hoshi's shoulders. "Don't worry my lovely moonbeam! I won't let him touch you again!"

"Sanji…"

"OI!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, YOU ERO-COOK?!" Zoro bellowed, standing and clutching a ginormous bump that had risen on his head.

"FOR MOVING IN ON HOSHI-CHAN, YOU DAMN MOSS-HEAD! COME NEAR HOSHI-CHAN AGAIN AND I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

"WHY DON'T YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER, DARTBOARD?!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!?!"

"Zoro… Sanji… you're going to wake up the whole town…"

"YA WANNA FIGHT?!"

"BRING IT ON!!"

Hoshi sweatdropped as the two of them went at it. "Um…"

Nami barged out the door, hitting Hoshi on the head. "You both are so damn LOUD in the morning!!!" she roared. Then she actually opened her eyes and saw who she had hit. "Ah!! Sorry Hoshi!!"

"I… it's fine…" Hoshi groaned, clutching her head. Both girls watched Sanji and Zoro disappear into a dustcloud, sweatdropping slightly.

"So… you want to know about tattoos?" Nami asked.

"Yeah," Hoshi nodded. "I wa- hang on a second… were you eavesdropping on the convers-"

"Ahahaha…" Nami chuckled nervously. She grabbed Hoshi's arm and started dragging her off. "I saw a shop yesterday while we were walking around town. It's pretty good, and not too expensive."

"B-but I don't have any money!"

Nami grinned evilly. "Don't worry, I'll lend you some. I'll be expecting 500 percent interest when you pay it back however."

Hoshi went limp like a rag doll as Nami pulled her down the street.

"So what are we going to do?" Kakyou asked the gang. They all sat on the porch, wondering what they were going to do, a few hours after Nami and Hoshi had left the shop.

"We have to stay together," Panda said immediately.

Uma brought her foot down onto the chubby (fat) boy's head. "Baka. That's definite."

As Panda rubbed his head, Tori rocked back and forth, holding Koara. "So are we going to stay here, or go with Sakura and those crazy people?"

There was a long silence as they pondered the question. They were very well aware that they would only be able to make this choice only one time, and once they did, there would be no turning back.

"Let's go with Sakura," Raku and Kitsune suddenly said simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned.

"I want to go too," Tori spoke up. "Sakura said her mother would welcome all of us, did she? Who knows mothers better than their kids?"

Neko stretched, but didn't say anything. An approving nod was all he gave.

Oso grinned. "I was thinking that too. If she ran away from home, something is wrong. We could help!"

There were nods and murmurs of agreement.

Tokage frowned. "But why did she run away from home to begin with?" he asked. "We shouldn't go until we know. Otherwise, we could regret going."

"I agree," Kakyou said, narrowing his eyes. "We could be caught up in the same problem if we go with them. And what do people like us actually know about mothers anyways?"

"Is that what you all think?"

Ten heads turned to see Sakura standing in the doorway, a hurt look on her face. "I didn't run away from home because my mom was bad or anything," she mumbled, looking at the floor. "It was my dad. He likes getting drunk a lot, and when he does, he gets really mean and hurts mom and me. I ran away, but I left her behind. I want to go back because I don't want her to suffer by herself." Sakura turned away from them. "I'm sorry, I should have told you all that before."

There was a silence as the kids digested this. Kakyou stood. "Well that settles it I guess," he grinned. "Everyone! Let's go with Sakura!!"

Everyone cheered. Even Koara laughed, her grey hair shining and her small hands waving.

An unbelieving smile almost split Sakura's face in two. "Mom'll be so happy!!" she laughed.

"What's all the noise about?" Hoshi asked, coming up the steps with Nami.

Kakyou didn't waste any time. "Take us with you to Sakura's island!" he demanded. "You're going there anyways, right?"

Nami looked a little startled. "All of you?"

Ten pairs of eyes looked at her disdainfully. Nami mentally punched herself for asking such a stupid question. She smiled. "Well… we'll see what we can do."

"Whaddya mean?" Luffy asked, popping out of nowhere. He hung from the patio rafters by his legs. "Let's take them!!"

"AAAAAAAAA!!!" all the kids screamed.

"How long were you up there?!" Sakura demanded.

Luffy grinned. "I heard the whole thing! Of course we'll take you all!"

"H-hang on a second Luffy!" Nami interrupted. "Is there going to be enough room on Merry?"

"Whaddya mean? There's lots of room!"

Nami sighed. She could see that this was going to go nowhere.

"I agree with Sencho-san," Robin spoke up, coming out of the shop. "We should be able to take them all with us, at least until the next island. We'd have to stock up on more supplies though."

"Kids! Welcome to the Usopp Pirate Crew!!" Usopp yelled, popping up from behind a chair.

As the kids screamed from all the random and unexpected appearances, Hoshi's eyebrow started twitching. "What… what the hell is going on? Did I miss something?"

Nami sighed. Walking over to a barrel, she tipped it over… and out tumbled Sanji. "Hello Nami-san!!" he sang.

Paying him no attention, Nami walked around the corner of the shop. Everyone watched her go with some apprehension, and then there was a yell. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU HIT ME FOR?" Zoro shouted.

Oso sniffed. "Oi, Kakyou, do you smell that?"

Kakyou sniffed, then grinned. "I smell it."

The pair dove under the table. "FOOD!!"

Chopper ran out from under the table, screaming. "I'M NOT YOUR FOOD!! DON'T EAT ME!!!"

Uma screamed and curled into a ball, startled by all the sudden noise as Kakyou and Oso started chasing Chopper around the patio, knocking over a bucket and chairs and the table…

Kitsune sweatdropped. "So… all of you were listening?"

"That's how these guys are," Nami sighed. "If you're going to sail with us, you'll need to get used to this sort of thing."

Hoshi patted the head of an openmouthed Tori. "Don't worry," she assured the group. "It took me a while to get used to it myself."

Raku looked up. "Are you sure we won't be a bother?" she asked.

Nami smiled. "Don't worry, you won't be. We'll just need to get more supplies than we had originally planned on, won't we Sanji-kun?"

Sanji floated on his little pink cloud. "Haaaaai Nami-san!" he swooned. "I'll be off to get the extra supplies right now!"

"The only thing is that we'll probably be setting off this afternoon instead of before lunch like we planned," Nami stated. "But no biggie."

Kitsune batted at a stream of flying hearts that were flying around the pink cloud. "Whoa, how does it do that?" she asked.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Beats me…"

"HOSHI YOU BRAT!"

Hoshi froze. "Oh shit…" She barely dodged the knarled cane that swung at her head. Everyone scrambled to get out of the line of fire. Even Oso and Kakyou stopped chasing Chopper to dive into the bushes for cover.

"Where the hell did you go? I was looking for you!" the old woman roared.

"Ah, sensei, I was getting a new t-"

"NO EXCUSES!!" The old woman dragged Hoshi into the shop. "You must face your punishment in silence!!"

The door slammed. The group started cautiously climbing out of their hiding places, listening to the muffled yells and bangs coming from inside the shop.

Chopper shivered. "She reminds me of Doctorine…"

The old woman glared at Hoshi. "I've got some things to say to you before you leave this afternoon," she growled. "You'd better pay attention and heed my words this time.

First, under no circumstances, DO NOT SET FOOT ON THE NEXT ISLAND."

Hoshi looked up. "What?!"

"You heard me. I don't care if you want to say goodbye to those kids or anything, it'll be for your sanity if you do not set foot on the next island."

Hoshi narrowed her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

The old woman sighed. "This next thing I want to tell you… Don't think I was trying to keep it a secret from you, I was just waiting until the right time.

I used to be a whitecoat in that laboratory."

Hoshi froze.

"How else do you think you escaped so easily?" the old woman snapped. "I was the one who made sure no one was in the lab that day, so you could escape."

Hoshi didn't know what to say.

"I saw that you were a real child, and I hated what they were doing to you. But because I was a whitecoat, I know this one fact which you may find very interesting. You have real parents. You weren't a test tube baby, you had real parents. You were taken from them at birth, and they thought you were dead."

"I… I have parents?" Hoshi whispered.

The old woman remained silent, letting Hoshi come to her own conclusions about this information.

Finally, Hoshi spoke. "Well that might have been interesting a while ago," she smiled. "But I don't really care. You took care of me and taught me how to fight, sensei. It doesn't matter to me what you were in the past."

"What about your parents Hoshi?" the old woman asked with a kind (and slightly relieved) smile. "Are you going to look for them?"

"I don't know," Hoshi mumbled, suddenly finding a floorboard very interesting to look at. "I don't know."

"Think on it, and come to a decision. Do it soon, else you'll go mad," the old woman advised. "Worrying about something for a long time never did anyone any good."

"Yeah… thank you Sensei."