Hello everyone! First things first. Let me apologize for my very long absence. I had run into a plot road block (not writers block) as well as a cross roads. I had to pick which way I wanted my story to go and after all this time, I finally picked the route I want to take this story. More info on why I took so long after this chapter. Enjoy this long chapter! I don't own One Piece or any of it's characters. I only own my OCs.

Tani stood along the top of the slope, Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp standing beside her. If she said she wasn't anxious, that'd be a lie. This was her very first actual battle in this world not counting the one with Captain Morgan (where she did nothing…). Even though she was nervous, she wasn't as nervous as she probably should be. She thought back on what happened only a few hours ago, when Luffy had smiled at her and made her extreme nervousness dull into something bearable. It was strange, to say the least. She felt so relaxed with this group, that even though she was going to live through the battle to protect Usopp's village, she didn't feel worried.

As they watched the sun start to rise on the horizon, Tani knew they'd be showing up shortly.

"Their coming" Zoro said in a warning fashion and as if on cue, the Black Cat Pirate Ship appeared along the horizon and quickly made its way to shore. Tani could see Luffy's excited and huge grin from the corner of her eye. Of all things to be feeling, Luffy felt EXCITED? 'Well, that would be like him, I suppose…' Tani thought. Nami looked calm and collected (Tani's respect for the girl rose again) but Tani could see the slight tremble of her hands. Zoro looked his calm self. Nothing new there. Usopp just looked scared. Again, nothing new there.

Tani watched as the ship with a huge (and stupid looking, in Tani's opinion) cat for a figurehead. The anchor fell and they waited a moment, before the pirates started climbing off the ship and onto the land. The pirates let out a battle cry, and started charging, not even noticing the 5 battle ready people standing at the top. Tani watched with amusement when the pirates reached the oil. They started sliding backward and swearing could be heard. Tani giggled to herself at the comical picture before her. The big bad pirates, slipping and sliding on the oil, looking like kids trying to skate.

"What's going on?" Jango showed up then, not looking very happy.

"There's oil on the slope!" One of the pirates replied, pointing. Finally some pirates got over the oil, by climbing over others (like Nami did to Zoro in the anime) and Tani, Luffy and Zoro stepped forward, all 3 knocking back the pirates. The pirates landed on the oil, causing them to slide back down. 'That wasn't so hard' Tani smirked to herself.

"An ambush!" One of the pirates yelled. Jango looked up at the small group of fighters and commented "We meet again."

Tani tilted her head in confusion. 'Is he talking to all 5 of us, or just Usopp?'

"I am the legendary Usopp! I have been waiting for you!" Usopp yelled, causing Tani to face palm. Things were going so well, too. Now the liar will probably get them angry and things will go downhill from there. Tani sighed. "All my men and I are ready to fight! Turn back now if you value your lives!"

"I know you! You're one of the troublesome brats who overheard our plan. And you!"- Jango pointed at Luffy-"You're supposed to be dead!"

"I'm warning you; leave here while you still can! If you don't, my one hundred million crewmen will massacre all of you!" Usopp continued, ignoring Jango, it seemed. Luffy just laughed in response to Jango's comment about him.

The pirates didn't believe Usopp's lie. However, Jango was another story.

"No way! One hundred million? Incredible!"

The pirates set their captain straight.

"What's that? You've been laying to us this whole time?" Jango yelled. Tani resisted the urge to face palm.

"Captain Jango, take a look at this!" A pirate said. 'uh-oh' Tani had a bad feeling about this.

"Oh, is it bad?" Jango asked.

"No sir, it's good! We searched the other two ships and found a load of treasure! It's hard to say how much, but it's probably around 5 million beli."

Nami noticed this and yelled down "MY TREASURE! DON'T YOU TOUCH MY TREASURE!" She made to run down there, but Tani stopped her with a reassuring hand.

Usopp was surprised, to say the least.

"Gah? 5 million beli? How in the world did you guys get a hold of so much treasure?" he asked them. They just shrugged, no time to tell him now. Tani remember the part about Usopp trying to give the treasure to the black cat pirates. It's not like he could that now, though, seeing as they were all here.

"These guys don't look that tough! Come on, let's get them!" Tani saw Zoro twitch at this comment. It must have hurt his pride.

"YEAH!"

This time, the smarter pirates used their swords to climb back up and the stupider ones followed that example. Now the whole group of pirates ran at the smaller group. Usopp squeaked in fear, but this time he pulled out his slingshot and prepared to fire. Tani, Luffy and Zoro stepped forward again, Zoro with his two of his swords out.

Tani kicked, and punched any pirate that was around her, making sure to send them back down to the shore. One of the pirates caught her arm, with a victory smirk, and then grabbed her chin with his other hand. He took a good look at her face and then smiled evilly.

"You look cute. Why not have some fun with me after all this is over?" He said, smiling lustfully. Tani's first reaction was to shiver in disgust. He didn't look good at all, with his thick eye brows, his square shaped face and fat lips. 'EWW!' Tani thought as she struggled to escape. Tani felt from the first time in a long time real fear and along with it (as was normal with her) came rage. His hold tightened on her arm and Tani glared at him as she felt her very thin temper snap.

"Get… GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Tani yelled and kicked the guy as hard as she could, making her leg feel numb afterwards. The guy fell backwards, his hand leaving red bleeding scratches on her arm as he flew. Tani didn't notice though, since she was too angry to really care. He landed in the water by the ship at the bottom of the big slope. Tani stared, mouth agape, snapped out of anger. Which was the same expression most had on. Why? Because this seemingly weak girl just kicked a guy that weight about 10 times herself into the water at the bottom of the slope (which was a long way down) as if it was nothing.

Zoro didn't let his surprise show as he slashed and knocked back the distracted pirates. Luffy, Usopp and Nami, on the other hand, where starting. Luffy had a shocked and excited grin on his face (which was his normal expression…) and Usopp and Nami just looked surprised.

"How did that happen?" Tani asked herself out loud. Nami was the first (besides Zoro) to recover and walked over to Tani, asking "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Tani said as she turned toward Nami, her hand rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"AH! You're bleeding!" Usopp freaked out, pointing at her arm. Tani blinked and finally noticed the pain that her arm was in. She looked and winched. The 4 red angry looking lines bleed slightly, which was lucky in her book, considering that she's had worse injuries before. The only thing she really needed to worry about was the injury getting infected, since the man's nails probably had who knows what under them. She looked back up and met Usopp's worried gaze as she said "I'm fine! Don't worry."

Tani looked back over to the water and watched as the guy she had kicked crawled out of the ocean. How had she done that? She was strong, she knew that, but THAT strong? There was no way she was that strong. But with the proof in front of her, it was hard to think otherwise. She blinked, and then an excited smile spread across her face. With this, she could be of more help. Save the questions for later, they had a battle to win.

It seemed everyone else came to that conclusion as well, for they snapped out of it and looked forward, readying themselves for the next onslaught.

Tani looked out at all the pirates at the bottom of the slope. The only one standing was Jango, the other pirates where lying around groaning in pain from getting hit one too many times.

"The sun raises high in the sky now and that means Captain Kuro is very impatient" Jango said, before a shiver racked his body. Then he started yelling "Man! Don't just lay there! You can't tell me you're going to let them win? There just a couple of idiots!"

After Jango's 'encouraging' words, the pirates started to get back up again. Tani noticed that the oil was wearing away. By the time this battle was over, Tani predicted the oil to be gone completely. The pirates would be able to run up with no difficulty, as long as they watch for the smaller patches of oil. Just great…

"The fact is we don't have time to lollygag around here any longer. If our enemy is strong then we must become stronger than them. Here, stare deeply into this ring" Jango said. 'Uh oh…' Tani thought when she remembered what was going to happen. Should she keep Luffy from being hypnotized? Or would that be changing too much? She was pretty sure that changing the location was bad enough; she couldn't really do anything else. As such, she decided to let Luffy be hypnotized. Besides, it was funny to watch.

"Now, I will count 'One, Two, Jango' and after that, you will all beguine to grow stronger. Your wounds will heal and you will grow stronger still!" Jango said as he swung the ring back and forth.

"So, what is he doing? Looks weird" Luffy asked as he adjusted his hat.

"Looks like hypnosis" Nami commented. Tani resist the urge to roll her eyes and say well duh. "He's trying to convince them their stronger than they are. Like that'll work." Sarcasm!

They all watched as Jango kept chanting stronger, and swinging the ring. Tani made sure to look at Jango and not the ring. She knew the others weren't stupid enough to let themselves be hypnotized (besides Luffy.)

"One! Two! JANGO!" Jango yelled and a moment later, all the Black Cat Pirates started yelling like maniacs (BATTLE CRY!)

"No way!" Nami said in surprise. They watched the one of the enemy pirates made a fist, his muscles bulging, and he punched the side of the cliff, causing it to crack and a part of it collapse. The pirates started yelling again after that.

"That one guy completely destroyed the cliff! Now that's what I call power" Zoro said, sounding shocked. Tani was glad they weren't blaming her for not warning them about this.

"I always thought hypnotizing people was a bunch of crap!" Nami said.

"That was just one of them, imagine what the whole crew can do." Usopp said, before he made a face of remembrance, like he had remembered something. Then he got straight in Tani's face, to the point where she had to lean back and yelled "Why didn't you warn us about that?!" This brought attention to her.

"That's right! I'm sure you knew this would happen and if you had said something, we could have stopped him!" Nami was next to yelled at Tani.

"Well, uh. Some things have to happen" Tani said her lame excuse. She was scratching the back of her head in embarrassment again.

"Talk about this later!" Zoro said, braking up the soon to be argument.

Luffy remanded quiet, with his hat shadowing his face.

"Now GO! Strike down all who stand in your way!" Jango yelled causing the pirates to yell a battle cry again. The pirates started running toward the small group of pirates at the top of the slope. Tani was starting to feel a little bit uneasy. Come on, Luffy!

"Hey, you guys! You might wanna move!" Zoro said to Nami and Usopp, who at the moment were a little ahead of Zoro, Tani and Luffy. "Luffy, You and I will take it from here."

Tani blinked, and then said "Hey! What about me?"

"Stick with Usopp and Nami and protect them!" Zoro answered. Tani started at him, and then nodded. She followed Usopp and Nami to their hiding place, and took to watching what happened, to make sure nothing attacks Usopp and Nami (and herself). Besides, she herself was more of a protector anyway. She found she had always fought better when there was someone who needed her protection.

"Alright, then. What now?" Zoro asked Luffy, who stayed quiet. "Uh, Luffy?" Luffy had on an angry I'm-gonna-kill-you face and he was growling. Tani couldn't help but smile. Luffy started screaming his own battle cry.

"DON'T TELL ME YOU LET THAT FREAK HYPONTIZE YOU TOO!?" Zoro yelled.

"He really is a simple minded idiot!" Nami said as Luffy started running down the slope toward the advancing pirates. Luffy attacked with his Gum Gum Gattling! To Tani, it looked like there where many arms attacking all at once. The pirates stopped running and started cowering. When Luffy hit them all, he sent them flying to the bottom of the slope. Jango started mumbling to himself. Tani could see his mouth moving, but she couldn't hear the words over the sounds of the Black Cat Pirates groaning in pain. The pirates got back up and when the saw Luffy, started to shake again.

Luffy yelled and started running at them, causing the pirates to run away from Luffy. Luffy just ran through them all. Then he ran past Jango (much to Jango's surprise).

"Where's he going?" Zoro asked as he watched.

Luffy ran straight up to the boat and grabbed onto the figurehead. There was much confusion among the pirates. Tani watched as Luffy started pulling on the figurehead, trying to break it from the whole ship.

"THAT'S RIGHT! TEAR IT DOWN!" Nami yelled to Luffy. She was punching the air with a fist. The Black Cat Pirates where freaking out over the fact that Luffy was trying to destroy their ship. Luffy was able to pull the figurehead from the ship and he started walking toward the enemy pirates, who, when they realised what Luffy was planning to do, started running for their lives.

Tani suddenly remembered what happened right after this and swore to herself. 'Damn it! I can't stop Jango! I'm too far away!' On top of that she had said she'd stay with Nami and Usopp. She can't go back on that now.

Jango pulled out his ring and started swinging, saying "One, Two, Jango you will fall asleep! One! Two! Jango!" He yelled. Luffy paused in walking as he watched Jango and a moment later, he fell asleep. He fell to the ground, with the figurehead on top of him. Thanks to the length of the figurehead, the Black Cat Pirates where hit as well. Jango somehow made it out fine. He's got the devil's luck.

"Looks like those guys are probably down for the count, don't you think?" Nami asked Zoro from her place on the top of the left cliff.

"I guess" Zoro answered.

"Maybe, but Luffy's still trapped underneath that cat! Just look!" Usopp said.

"Relax, he's fine" Zoro answered Usopp, he stood with one of his swords over his shoulder.

"Zoro!" Tani called, getting his attention. "Things are about to get worse! The Black Cat Pirates have a trump card they are about to play now. One will act weak, but don't let it fool you!" Tani said, giving as much as a hint as she could. Zoro looked at her, his eyes narrowed. Tani just started back steadily, her gaze never favoring.

"Okay. I understand" Zoro said, and he turned back to the enemy and waited for their next move. Jango was moving again, Tani noticed. He was also mumbling to himself again. He was probably worried about the fact that the plan was failing.

"Buchi! Come check this out. There's some bad stuff going down!" Sham said from the boat.

"What the hell?" Buchi said.

Jango turned toward the ship and after a moment pause, yelled "Come forth! Meow Bon Brothers!" 'Trump Card played!' Tani thought.

Two people jumped from the boat and landed near Jango. One was really fat, the other was skinny. Tani shivered. She really disliked the two of them.

Thanks to Tani's warning, Zoro was on alert. They watched as Buchi and Sham introduced themselves. The two brothers jumped down and landed in front of Jango. Jango ordered the two to attack Zoro.

They two took one look at Zoro (who was glaring down at them. Tani figured it was unconsciously) and started to cower, just like Tani said.

"No way! We couldn't do that! He looks to strong! Right, Buchi?" Sham said, sounding scared.

"Oh yeah. He's strong, way stronger than us!" Buchi answered. Zoro looked a little shocked at this. Zoro made a show of slowly pulling out his second sword, which caused them to cower more. Tani smirked to herself. At least he was taking her advice, though he was probably going to lose the still sheathed sword, which was the white one (the name of it escaped Tani mind).

"We just guard the ship! Not fight people!" Sham said, taking a step back.

"He's got a point. We're really not the guys you wanna send into battle" Buchi said, backing up what Sham said. Tani could tell they were faking it, thought it was a very well played act. Tani could see through fakers, since she herself has had to fake emotions to get out of certain situations. One actor can spot another.

"So, there a couple of pansies. Guess they're not the trump card after all" Usopp said. He was completely taken in by the brother's play.

"Sham, just do it already" Jango said.

"AHH! What? Please not me!" Sham said back.

"AND HURRY!" Jango yelled at them, causing the two to cower again.

"Okay, I'll go. Just stop yelling" Sham said, with tears in his eyes. Tani's eyes narrowed and she noticed that his eyes didn't show the fear and weakness he was acting like he had. Pretty good actors, they are.

"The guys crying like a baby! What are they doing down there?" Nami asked.

"Don't underestimate them. What you see is not how they truly are" Tani said, watching the scene before her unfold.

Nami, Zoro and Usopp looked at Tani, and saw the look on her face. It was one of caution and suspicion. Right then Zoro decided to trust Tani and turned to face the brothers.

They watched as Sham started running towards Zoro, yelling how he was going to tear him to pieces.

Zoro branched both swords at Sham and yelled "You come any closer and I'll cut you in half!"

Sham just continued running and yelling.

"I'm not joking! I'll do it!" Zoro continued. Tani bit her lip, because she knew what happened next. Should she intervene? Run over and grab Zoro's sword before Sham could get to it? But that could change something in the future. Then again, she's already changed quite a bit. Tani grabbed her head as it started to pound, the incline of a headache coming on. There were too many 'what if's to know for certain. She convinced herself to do nothing. Besides, she was told by the first mate to guard Nami and Usopp, so if she left her post, she could make Zoro angry, and that was not something she wanted to do. Even she admitted Zoro was scary when he was angry.

Just then, Tani heard Sham's voice saying "not likely" and his demeanour changed completely. Sham shot forward on fast feet, aiming at Zoro with his cat claws. Zoro blocked with his two swords, leaning back a bit from the pressure of Sham basically jumping on him.

"Too bad. It seems you fell for my little ruse" Sham said, before he jumped away saying "I'm impressed you blocked me." Tani noticed he had the white sword on his back. Well, Zoro had two swords, so he should fare better than when he only had one. "Considering what a brilliant performance I gave. Don't let the teeny bit of skill you have cause you to underestimate Sham of the Meow Bon Brothers." As he was talking, Sham brought his hand up to his mouth and licked the back of it, much like a cat would. That was when Zoro noticed something was missing. Just to make sure he looked down and his one sheathed sword missing.

Sham smirked then said "Are you missing something? Not that I would know anything about it." Tani grit her teeth and tried to stay calm. She hated this part so much. If she just rushed out in a rage, then she'd do more bad then good.

"Give me my sword back" Zoro said in a dangerous tone, his voice low.

"Your sword? But you already have swords! How greedy can you be?" Sham responded. Tani sat with Nami and Usopp, fighting the urge to just jump up and run at Sham. Her hands griped the grass so hard that her knuckles turned white, in an effort to keep herself seated. Her body was tense, like it sensed danger. Tani took a deep breath to try and calm herself down, and convince her body that there was nothing to worry about. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Nami giving her a look that said 'stop worrying'. Tani seemed to relax and released the grass before she pulled it out. Zoro was strong, he would be fine.

Sham grabbed the sword on his back, and held it in front of him, then he said "Say goodbye sword. 'Goodbye'." Then he threw the sword behind him. The sword flew for a second, then hit the ground, and slid for a little bit, before stopping. Tani watched as veins popped and tick marks appeared on Zoro's head. He was obviously angry about what Sham just did.

Sham licked his index finger and said "Now I feel lighter."

Zoro ran forward, his two swords raised and ready to tear. "You should be careful with other people's things!" Zoro swung at Sham, one of his swords cutting through Sham's side, but there was no blood. Tani had seen it. Sham had dodged at the last second. Zoro continued running, going for his last sword. Sham jumped up and aimed at Zoro's back.

Tani couldn't keep quiet at that. "ZORO! BEHIND YOU!" She screamed. If it wasn't for Nami's hand on her should, she'd have bolted forward. After all, these people, as strange as they are, where her first friends. She didn't want to see them get hurt. Zoro turned his head, and watched as Sham grabbed both his arms and sat on his back.

"You really have to be faster because I'm agile as a cat" Sham said as they landed on the ground, Sham pulled Zoro's arms toward him. Tani's mind screamed for her to help him and she almost did too, but the only thing that stopped her was her order. Zoro had told her to protect Nami and Usopp and that meant she had to stay here. 'He'll be fine. Remember what happened in the anime?' Tani told herself but it didn't make her feel better at all.

They slid down a bit, then Sham said "Buchi, you're up! Get in here" Buchi said "Sure thing, Sham" as he ran forward and jumped up into the air, his foot out, getting ready to smash Zoro's head into the ground. Nami and Usopp both reacted to that with worry, while Tani bit her lip hard, causing her lip to bleed. At the moment, though, she didn't care.

Zoro was able to roll out from under Sham and roll away before his head was crushed. Buchi felt a small creator in the ground. Zoro rolled and landed in a crouching stands, his one sword still in his hands.

"Damn Buchi! He got away from you" Sham said as he rubbed his chin, where a bruise was forming. Tani let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"No, he's right there! Now hold him tight this time" Buchi responded with.

Sham turned to his brother and said "Careful, he's strong. Stronger then I told he's be, even without his all his blades" Sham said, holding Zoro's other sword. "Ah!" Tani yelled in surprise. When did he take that? She replayed everything that happened in her mind and released he had taken it when Zoro got lose. Sham had pulled the sword from Zoro's hands while Zoro was focusing on trying to get away in time. Tani looked to Zoro, who had an alarmed look on his face. He was obviously thinking about how close he came to dying a few seconds ago and the loss of his second sword. Sham threw the sword to join the other one on the ground and Zoro was left with one sword. "Bastards…" Zoro said, as he grit his teeth.

"I'll get him this time" Sham said, as he got into a fighting stand, with his claws forward.

"You got that right" Buchi said, as he too, took a fighting stance, his clawed hands held forward. Tani was in shock, even though she had tried to give Zoro a fighting chance and help him keep a least another sword, it got stolen again anyway. Well, at least the fight will continue just like in the anime.

Zoro seemed to have accepted the fact that he only had one sword now as he stood up and held said sword in front of him. "One sword technique is not my forte, fellas, but what the hell." He raised his sword and gripped it with two hands, raising it until it was about at his mouth. Tani sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. She felt useless, like she hadn't done anything at all. She wanted to help, but didn't know what to do. She could go after Zoro's swords, but that was Nami's job. Well, Tani's job was protecting Nami, so maybe if she took the hit Nami was going to receive there for protecting Nami, she'd feel less useless.

"Let's go, Buchi!" Sham yelled.

"Right Sham! Let's do it" Buchi responded with. They both yelled a name of an attack and ran at Zoro, hands raised. They started swiping at Zoro, trying to hit him, while Zoro blocked as best he could.

'This isn't good! They got him on the defensive!" Nami said, bring Tani's attention back to her. It was then she decided that she wouldn't protect Nami because she was order too, but because Tani liked Nami (as a friend). It was then that Tani looked over to Usopp, and saw him with his slingshot out, getting ready to shoot at Sham or Buchi. Panic went through Tani as she remembered what happened next.

"What are you doing Usopp?" Nami asked him.

"There's no way Zoro can gain any ground when he's too busy blocking there attacks. I'm gonna help him" Usopp said, "Take this. LEAD STAR!"

"USOPP DON'T-" Tani was cut off by Usopp shooting the round bullet. The bullet flew through the air and Tani watched as Zoro moved in front of the bullet. Usopp made a surprised sound. Before she could even think about it, Tani shoot forward, Nami and Usopp calling her name behind her.

"This is our chance!" Sham yelled and he swiped at Zoro. However, it was only his claws that touched Zoro. Tani had moved in and blocked Buchi's attack with her own body. Blood sprayed as his claws ranked threw her back, pushing her up the slope a little bit. She landed next to Zoro, her back searing with pain and blood soaking her shirt.

Zoro, Nami and Usopp started at her in shock, while the enemy had the same face on.

First things first "You dumbass! Don't help me. You wanna die?" Zoro said to Usopp, before looking to Tani. "You okay?" Zoro asked her. Tani looked up at him and laughed, then said "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He rolled his eyes, then asked "Why'd you do that?"

Tani looked at him, then looked away, an embarrassed blush spreading across her cheeks. "I don't know. I didn't think, I just moved." Tani didn't want to tell him the really reason why, so she lied. The real reason was because she had done this before. Throwing herself in front of someone to protect them. Tani's mind went back to Elegia and she sighed quietly. Will she ever see her twin again?

Zoro's eyes narrowed but he nodded and looked back to the enemy, but not before he caught sight of her back. The fabric was ripped to hell, blood was staining it, much like his own shirt, and it caused the cloth to sage a bit, which exposed the skin of her back. The tattoo was there, like normal, but something else caught his attention. There where scars, all over the skin he could see. They were white and shiny when the sun hit them. If not for that, he wouldn't have seen them at all. Her skin was so white and fair that it hid all scars on her body very well.

Zoro looked back to the brothers, the inspection only taking a moment and stored the new information in his mind for later thinking on. Now was not the time anyway.

"Go back to Nami and Usopp" Zoro ordered before he stood up, grabbed Tani's arm and pulled her up too. He then pushed her toward the two worrying people on the side of the cliff and Tani made her way over. Zoro looked back to Buchi and Sham as they ran forward and they continued their fight, with the brothers attack with all they had and Zoro on the defensive.

Tani sat down next to Nami, feeling light headed, who was looking over her back, while Usopp was freaking out about the blood again. Tani herself just wanted to lie down and rest her body. After that short run, she was tired as all hell. Also getting her back sliced open took its toll on her. After that, the conversation continued like that in the anime, but Tani was too hurt to really listen. The pain was something she could handle; it's just the thought of losing her life liquid, her blood that tired her out. Tani's eyes shut and she slumped forward.

"AH! SHE FAINTED!" Usopp cried in surprise.

"She should be fine, so calm down Usopp" Nami snapped back, getting tired of Usopp's constant worrying over the green eyed pirate. Then again, Tani was in bad condition. Though a short rest would do her good. Both returned to watching Zoro struggle against the two cat brothers. Nami made a decision right then.

"I'm gonna get that swords" She said as she stood up. "If I get them back to Zoro, there'd be no way he can lose."

"Let me get the swords" Usopp said back, pointing at himself with his thumb. He was, after all, uninjured. But Nami wouldn't have it and jumped onto the slope, her Bo Staff in hand. Usopp called for her when she jumped, but he stayed where he was. After all, if he went after her, who was going to watch over Tani?

Meanwhile, Nami made her way down the slope, aiming for the two swords. Normally, she wouldn't bother helping anyone. After all, why should she help pirates? But the moment, when Tani ran off and protected Zoro, replayed in her mind and she wondered at the brown haired girl's expression. It was determined, for the most part, but it also looked fearful, like she was afraid of not making it in time. Another part had caught Nami's attention as well. Her eyes, once one got past the determination, had the look of someone who was remembering the past. Nami wondered to herself why the girl would have such an expression at that time. Had she protected someone before? Had she thrown herself in front of an attack, like she had done for Zoro, before? What surprised Nami the most was the fearful part in Tani expression. The moment Nami had met the girl; Tani struck her as someone who didn't show fear often. She seemed like someone who would move forward, whether it was into battle or just to a house, without fear.

Nami shook her head. Now was not the time to think about it. Nami ran past Zoro and the Meow Bon Brothers, running as fast as she could. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been slightly inspired by how Tani jumped into the fight without a second thought. It was like the girl was a… protector. Though she did have a temper, when the girl wasn't raging, she seemed almost like a guard, how she carefully watched over the other 3, how she seemed to take joy in just being there, watching out for the others. Nami's mind flashed back to that one night, out on the ocean, when the 4 of them where on their way here.

~FLASHBACK(:P)~

It was nighttime on the open sea and two boats where gliding gently on the open waves. Nami opened her eyes with a gasp and sat upright, her heart pounding, unsure of where she was for a second. Then she remembered, and calmed down.

She had a nightmare about that man again. She sighed and stood up, walking out of the small sheltered room on her boat. She needed the fresh air anyway. She stood on her boat and breathed deeply, calming her racing heart. She looked over to the boat next to hers, and saw Luffy and Zoro sleeping away, both snoring. Nami sighed to herself and muttered "Men…"

Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes on her; she looked over to the other boat again, wondering if someone had woken up, but Luffy and Zoro both where fast asleep. Nami realised then that one person was missing. Looking around, she noticed that, in fact, the other girl that Nami was traveling with was nowhere to be seen. Slightly panicked, she wondered if the girl had fallen into the Ocean somehow. On impulse, she looked up at the roof of her small room and she gasped at what she saw.

Tani was sitting on the roof, wide awake and completely alert, watching Nami with a small smile on her face.

Nami huffed in embarrassment and said "What do you think you're doing, sitting on top of my room, on my boat?" Tani blinked at the girl, then looked back out over the ocean before answering.

"I was keeping watch. You never know what could happen at night, so it's better to have someone wake. I get the perfect view from all sides up here, so that's why I am sitting here. Also, I'm more nocturnal then not, so I couldn't really sleep, anyway." Nami was surprised by the long speech. Ever since she met the girl, Tani hadn't said all that much to her.

"You should still get some sleep" Nami countered, trying to get the girl off of her roof.

"I'll catch up on sleep in the morning" Tani said back. She wasn't even looking at Nami. She was looking back out over the ocean. Nami huffed again, but didn't say anything else. Silence fell over the two. It was awkward, to say the least. Nami raked her brain, trying to find something to say to get rid of the tension, when Tani beat her too it.

"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" Tani asked. She was still looking out over the ocean, which Nami was grateful for at that moment. Nami watched the girl, wondering why she had bothered asking that. Tani's voice had surprised Nami, and struck a chord with her. It was soft, and gentle, something Nami thought the green eyed girl wasn't capable of being. Nami was about to open her mouth and tell the girl to mind her own business, when Tani opened her own mouth and said "You don't have to tell me, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm here and I won't let anyone near you, that you don't want near you."

Nami was about to snap how that didn't help her at all, until she realized, it did. It did help. It made her still racing heart calm down, her very active mind quiet and she felt sleep calling to her again. She blinked at the girl sitting on her roof, wondering just what happened. Tani looked to Nami again and smiled then said "You should get some sleep" before turning back to the ocean again. Nami was about to tell the girl she was fine, when a yawned took her and she realized just how tired she really was. Nami nodded, too tired to argue and walked back into her room, feeling strangely reassured that Tani was sitting on her roof, watching over them all.

Before she fell asleep, she heard quiet signing. She vaguely wondered where it was coming from, before falling into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Tani was back to normal, sleeping all day, eating whenever she woke up, being grumpy to the other 3 and Nami had to wonder if last night was all a dream, made up in her head.

~FLASHBACK END~

Shaking the memory from her head, she continued her ran, focusing on getting to the swords so she could get them to Zoro and not on the strange sleeping green eyed girl. Nami ran until she made it to the swords, and once she put a hand on one of them, Jango stepped on it with his foot. Nami had only a second to realize what this meant, and then she felt the pain. Blood sprayed as Jango used his hypnotist ring to cut Nami's shoulder. She fell forward and dropped her staff, landing on her side as she tried to ignore the pain. She still had to get Zoro his swords.

"NAMI!" Usopp yelled in worry.

"What do you need swords for?" Jango asked the fallen girl, before he looked up the slope to spot a figure. This figure caused him to yell in fear and horror. The reaction the other pirates had was very similar.

"No! I'm sorry! I-I can explain all of this!" Jango said, his voice as well as his body shaking.

The man at the top of the slope raised his hand and adjusted his glasses using the palm of his hand.

"The night has long since passed. So why does it seem you have made no progress on the plan?" The man asked angrily.

The Black Cat Pirates cowered and saying "C-Captain K-Kuro! No! He'll kill us all!"

Zoro turned away from his opponents so he could get a good look at Captain Kuro.

Usopp said "It's all over" as he looked down in defeat.

Nami was still in pain over the wound she had gotten, and she was trying to move, but the pain was too much.

Luffy was still asleep, under the Black Cat's boat figure head.

Tani herself was still asleep as well, but she showed signs of waking, though no one was really paying attention.

Captain Kuro looked over the people, before he lowered his hand and yelled "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" He looked beyond angry. Like he was two seconds away from killing everyone in sight. He growled at them all, waiting for the explanation.

With Kuro glaring at us all, this chapter comes to an end. Now, for my excuses. I'm in college, for one and it's a busy place, but I still had those small times frames to write stuff. I just didn't. I was being lazy. As well as thinking. I guess I need someone to kick my ass into gear or something. Anyway, my motivation (or lack there off...) aside, I am really sorry about that really long pause. I plan to continue writing, that you can be sure of. It also didn't help that I'm recently really into Fairy Tail and plot bunnies for that amazing anime/manga (every sad part has me tearing up) have been bouncing around my head. I calm them by reading FT fanfiction, but sometimes their very hard to calm. If I where to write an OC insert story with Tani about Fairy Tail, what kind of magic do you think she should have? I want to know what you guys think. (This might affect something later in this story...)

In regards to romance in this story or not, it seems some people think it's good as is, while others think it should have romance in it. I haven't decided yet, but the fact that my lack of writing good romance stuff well may be involved in my decision (I've never done it before, so yeah). Anyway, tell me your thoughts viva review and have a good day/night!