UPDATE!

Just so you know, from now on, each chapter will have an omake! And this chapter is the first (or second) adventure of Luffy in EAST BLUE: Meet Coby and Alvida! Hope you like the few changes and tweaks I added into the story. And still, what do you think of Merry? There will be one or two more OCs in the future so ready yourself. And this story might not follow the plot of the actual story.

I decided to change the name of the story to Oncoming Storm since i planned for the prequel to be named Before the Storm. Sorry for the sudden change. Should warn you earlier. Tee hee.

Enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: If One Piece was to become mine, I would die from happiness.

SAILING WINDS OF CHANGE

'Damn! I missed again!'

The cry echoed through the warm summer air. It was a very calm day indeed, as the medium sized cruise ship floated across the water's surface, breaking it into two thin streams of white waves. It was the kind of day that was perfect or sailing and listening to the seagull's cries mixed with the salty breezes.

'Batter out!' The sailor teased his comrade, for he had missed the barrel again. They had seen the barrel floated out of the whirlpool and decided to fish it up for a good drink; after all, it was quite decent in size.

'What the hell was that? You suck!' Another sailor who was supposed to man the crow's nest shouted, watching the other two amusedly. But then a strange sound echoed lightly through the air, only slightly audible, but it was still caught by his ears. He turned around, staring intently at the source of the echo, and there it was, the pink ship adorned with hearts and… a black flag. It was the jolly roger of the Alvida Pirates, who currently making a ruckus in the area.

He looked down below, seeing his two co-workers danced off with a barrel that they supposed was full of wine. He shouted, 'Ship sighted off the starboard bow! It has a pirate flag on the mast!'

The two other immediately dropped the barrel, pure fear imbedded on their faces. The other man continued, 'It's a pirate ship! We're under attack!'

The cannons exploded, releasing screens of black smoke into the air. With no way to defend or offend, the cruise ship veered to its side, only to be stopped by a cannon ball. The ship churned under the force of the artificial waves, making the passengers wobble with lack of balance. The two sailors banged into the ball room, shouting, 'Captain! It's a pirate raid!'

'What!?' The man with the captain hat and sunglasses exclaimed. He knew that in order to avoid the whirlpool, they did enter pirate's domain, but to be attacked so early, he didn't expect it at all. 'Everyone, please remain calm! Please remain calm!'

His words reached none of them as they scattered away from the ball room and on to deck. All of them to worried about their lives to be aware of the young orange haired lady standing at her spot, smirking deviously like she had just won a jackpot.

On the opposing ship, the people scrambled from above deck to under, filling and refilling the canons continuously as the captain screamed her commands, 'FIRE!'

The woman had a stout stature that obviously didn't compliment her 'over-weighted' body. She wore a big rimmed white hat over her long black curly locks, had a rain of freckles over her face that made her beady eyes even smaller. She wore make up but it probably made her look even uglier, a blue captain coat and pink colours clothing hung over her body. In conclusion, Alvida was not the prettiest woman on the seas, inside or out. She shouted with her crude voice, 'COBY!'

'Y-yes, madam…' The pink haired boy was prompted ahead by the other pirates. He answered hesitantly, his voice stuttering uncontrollably, a hand reached up unconsciously to scratch the back of his head.

The captain continued, 'Who is the prettiest woman on the seas?' Not her of course. But if one was in the same situation as the other boy, flattery would work better than an insult, correct? Gulping down his fear, the boy managed to get the words out of his throat, 'W-why, of c-course, it is out be-beloved Alvida-sama...'

The woman let out a loud, despicable laugh. It was a bad sound to the ear, expectedly. She slammed down her spike mace and grinned disgustingly, 'Well said.'

'Uhm, thank you very much.' Coby let out a nervous chuckle, his voice as light as feather.

A pirate underling spoke, 'Alvida-sama, it's been while since our last plunder.'

'Yeah. Now, bring us up alongside it!' She commanded. The ship with the swan masthead caught the wind, speeding up considerably. It shot another cannon ball into the air, the iron ball collapsed with the mast of the cruise ship, breaking it in two, causing even more panic to the passengers on deck. Of course, none of the pirates or the passengers was aware if the mysterious barrel rolling into the kitchen or the orange haired woman running across the panicked ship.

The pink coloured ship parked alongside the other, though it was only one fourth the size of its opponent, the pirate ship was much more armed. The underlings swung over, onto the cruiser, all working under the commands of the female captain. She shouted vigorously. 'Alright, boys! Show them the wrath of the female pirate captain, Iron Club Alvida!'

The pirates roared as they landed on deck, raiding every single penny from every corner. Later on, Coby was thrown onto the ship, face first onto the ground, then Alvida followed, jumping on deck and pretty much broke the floor with her weight.

While the pirates were threatening the riders, a young orange haired girl with long wavy orange hair and beautiful, bright hazel eyes was walking along the hallways sneakily. She waited until no one was in sight and took of the gown she was wearing, revealing a pair of denim jeans and a bikini top. She wore a dark grey belt that had a beli sign on it and at its side hung three metal sticks painted in blue. She climbed out of the lower floor and onto deck. Using one of the ropes their pirates left behind, she swung aboard the other ship with ease like she had done it so many times before. To her surprise, all the men left on the ship were all beaten and tied to the mast.

'Greetings, young miss.' A voice echoed from above. The girl looked up, noticing a young man about her age sitting on the railing of the crow's nest. He had a pretty face (oddly) with big ever-changing violet eyes that had a mysterious and devious glint in them, a high and slim nose and thin, pale lips. He smiled at her. One thing she found odd about them man, she couldn't read him, at all.

He landed next to her swiftly, took off his lavender bowler hat and bowed. His silvery white hair fluttering in the warm breeze. He stood up straight, wiped away the dust on his purple coat and smiled at her. 'Have you seen my sister anywhere? She has black hair, is rather short and has a very dynamic personality. She also has a straw hat with her at all times.'

Now then, that was weird. This 'gentleman' was searching for his sister on a pirate ship? Why would he think his sister is on a pirate ship? Was she kidnapped? Nami shook her head anyways. She pointed over to the opposing cruise ship and said, 'Maybe you can find her there.' Nami was going to suggest her guiding him over when…

A gigantic figure flew through the air between the two. Their eyes followed as the fat woman landed into the fishing boat resting on the water's surface and broke it into pieces, then turned to the human shaped hole on the hull of the cruise ship. That was my ride to the next island… Nami thought as she stared at the ruins of the wooden raft. After a while of shocked silence, Nami diverted her attention from her broken fishing boat and turned to the other man, about to tell him to not go onto the cruise ship and warn him about the pirates. But before she could say anything, he waved her goodbye and disappeared, literally. The next moment, he was on the other ship, walking across its deck and into the floor underneath. Did he teleported? No way. She waved the thought away and told herself she still had some work to do.

'Now then, where is the treasury on this ship?' She rubbed her hand together as her eyes turn into beli signs.

A moment earlier

'Keep your shirts on! I'll smash this open right now!' The biggest pirate of the three said as he cracked his knuckles. Coby had just found them the perfect barrel of wine to drink from and he was going to keep it a secret from the captain; at least that kid was not useless. He raised his fist, then let it descend from above, aiming straight at the lid of the barrel. But before it could reach contact, the lid cracked apart and a young girl appeared from inside, her fists raised in the air, hitting the buff man square in the chin. She looked like one of those clowns who would pop up in surprise boxes. 'What a good nap!'

The conscious three were left with their buts on the ground, utter shock on their faces. The other one, the unfortunate one, who reached contact with the girl's fist, was on the ground, knocked out cold.

The girl looked around for a second before asking, 'What's this? Who're you guys?'

'WHO ARE YOU!?' The pirates shouted in her face, but she remained unfazed. She pulled her body out of the barrel and indicated to the man on the ground, 'He'll catch a cold if he stays there.'

'It was your fault!' the other pirates shouted comically but she girl continued walking across the room nonchalantly like it was her house she was at. She only stopped when a blade was raised in her path. 'You brat! You should know better than to mess with pirates!' The tattooed man threatened, his comrade who was behind him nodding in agreement. The girl didn't care. She took her hand and swiped the sword aside, then she walked straight to Coby and asked him where the food was.

'Listen to what people say!' The two pirates said with irritation, only to be ignored by the mysterious – can you call her that? – girl, again. They raised their blades and slammed it down onto the girl, shouting for her to die along the way. Coby paled, ducking cowardly, hands over his eyes in fright. He didn't want to see someone die in front of him. What he didn't expect was for the two pirates to scream in fear as the sound of metal breaking echoed through the air. Out of curiosity, Coby opened his eyes. The figure of the girl stood tall over him, she was still alive and breathing. In contrary to her healthy form, the two pirates were pale blue, looking at their broken blades with their wide eyes. Coby wouldn't be surprised if they were to take out the eyes from their sockets and rub them clean before putting it on again because the look on their face was full of doubt. Maybe they think this was only a dream.

'What'd you do that for?' The black haired girl asked, not even aware of the situation she was in. No, she was aware, she just didn't care. They were all weaklings anyways.

'W-Who are you!?' The tattooed pirate managed to ask, shock still imbued in his voice. The girl turned around, a confident grin on her face like she knew the fact was going to be true one day. 'I, I am Monkey D. Luffy, the woman who will be the Pirate Queen! Nice to meet you!'

But before she could continue, the two pirates ran off with their unconscious comrade dragged in their arms. Luffy stared at them questioningly, arms crossed over her chest. She pouted, leaned her head to a side and said disappointingly, 'What's their problem?' Coby stood behind her, eyes wide, 'What… What just happened?' He rubbed his eyes again before jumping to his feet. 'You have to run! They're going to come back with more people soon!'

The girl only shrugged before rummaging through the room again. Coby followed behind her like a tail, looking over her shoulder occasionally to see what she was doing. Not really understanding her actions, he asked, 'Luffy-san, what are you doing?'

'I'm hungry.' She answered like she was not on a ship being attacked by pirates at all. Her nose picked up the familiar scent of food and she made her way to the storage room, ignoring the boy with bubble-gum coloured hair that was clinging onto her arm. Luffy shook him off and began to run around the room, cheering as she ate anything she could find.

'We should be safe here… maybe…' Coby said worriedly as he closed the door. He turned to Luffy, the nervous look still in his eyes. 'I'm Coby. You said your name is Luffy, right?'

The young girl turned around, an apple still hanging in the middle on her teeth. She swallowed it down and nodded with a grin. Only then did Coby notice how pretty she was with her big doe eyes and her button nose. Her uneven jet-black her secured by a yellow headband, though it didn't help much with the unkemptness , and she had a childish scar under her left eye that complimented her naughty look. She was gorgeously curved. Luffy had an unbuttoned red vest wrapped around her body and underneath, you could see a yellow tank top. She wore a belt around her hips that carried a straw-hat and was dressed with a pair of denim shorts that reached half her thigh. Only when Luffy threw an apple at his head did Coby realised he was staring. He stuttered as his cheeks grow red, 'L-Luffy-san… are you really aiming to be the Pirate Queen?'

'Of course!' Luffy answered without hesitation. Coby's face paled and he shouted his chorus, 'Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!' Another apple hit him square in the face. Coby clutched his broken nose and asked, 'Why did you do that?'

'Just because.' Luffy said, chomping down on another apple.

'Then, do you have a crew?' Coby asked, it was highly possible though. Why would a captain float on the seas in a barrel if he already has a crew? Luffy thought for a moment then said proudly, 'I have a first mate!'

Coby's jaw nearly hit the ground, 'One?'

'Uh huh.' The girl nodded like it was a normal thing to claim to be the ruler of the seas with only one crewmate. But before Coby could breakout in his signature chorus again, Luffy announced, 'It's not about being impossible or not, it's about your will in succeeding your dream! I do it because I have the will to do it! If I die while I do it, I'll die! Don't tell me it's impossible because I'll never know if I don't try! Who said I can't own everything in the world? Who said I can't own One Piece?'

Coby looked at her with awe, he had never thought about it that way before. Luffy turned to him with a grin, 'Are you a pirate? Do you have a dream?' Even though she already knew the answer, she still wanted to ask it. She wanted to hear the story of how the Fleet Admiral Coby started his dream, again. Coby regained his senses and answered, 'I am not a pirate.' He said glumly. 'I accidentally climbed on the rowboat of the pirates and was forced to work as their slave for two years. Do you think I can be like that too? Be ready to die for my dream? Can I… become a Marine?'

'A Marine?' Luffy faked.

The pink haired boy nodded, raising his fist into the air, 'Yes! I've always dreamed of capturing murderous villains! Can I do it?' He asked one last time for assurance. Luffy sat down next to the door, put her hat on her head and nodded with a smile. This time around, she was certain Coby would become one of the greatest Marines of all time.

Coby nearly jumped out of the room with joy, he pumped his fist and announced, 'I'll do it! I'll leave this life as a slave and become a marine! And first of all, I'll catch Alvida-sama- No, I'll catch Alvida!'

But before he could continue any longer, the ceiling of the room cracked and crashed down, releasing a cloud of black dust and splinters into the air. A raspy voice spoke, giving shivers down Coby's spine as he scooted away. 'So, you're going to join him and catch who? Coby!?' The boy stood at the corner, shaking like a mouse hunted by a cat. Seeing Coby's helpless situation, Luffy planned to jump forward and aid him but she was stopped by the blades piercing through the wall behind her.

Alvida rested her mace onto her shoulder, looked up at Luffy and said with a grin, 'You're not the Pirate Hunter Zoro.' Zoro… That name… Luffy had heard it before. Somewhere, somewhen in her last life. He was someone close to her because when that name was mentioned, her head ached of sorrow and regret. He must've been one of her nakama but she couldn't make him out fully. She could only remember the glint of his blades. What was his personality? What he looked like? She couldn't get it out of her head.

Alvida continued, 'Coby!' The boy jolt at the call of his name, his life force nearly oozing out from his squeak. 'Who is the most beautiful woman on the seas?' The pirate captain asked. But before Coby could even stutter, Luffy interrupted, 'Not you of course. The last time I check…' Which was about 20 years ago if counting her last life, '…It was Hancock wasn't it?'

The sound of jaws banging against the ground was even louder than the cannons that were being shot. The entire area was drowned in silence of utter shock. Alvida's eye twitched, she roared as she raised her mace into the air and slammed it down. The moment the club reached contact with Luffy's head, it broke into pieces. Such a weak weapon, which was only used for looks, when in contact with Haki would definitely break. Luffy raised her fist and slammed it against the shocked woman's ribs, sending her flying through the hull and into the rows of emergency boats hanging at the side of the ship, then watched as she flew across the air and into the water on the other side of the pirate ship next to them. Luffy peeked through the Alvida-shaped hole and saw Merry on the deck of the other ship. She was about to wave at him when he disappeared from his spot.

'Luffy!' The voice called at the door of the storage room. Luffy turned around and cheered. 'Merry!' She just didn't notice the slight angry in her brother's voice. Merry came forward and pulled her cheeks with his Haki imbued gloved hands. 'How many times do I have to tell you to not wander off?! And here you are causing trouble, again! You just to climb into that barrel when I told you: I could handle a little whirlpool!'

'Shorry.' Luffy muffled through squished cheeks, she looked like a guilty child being scolded at by her parents. Coby stared at the two, looked at Merry then at Luffy. He scooted closer and asked, his hand pointing at them, 'Is that your first mate?'

'Mhn.' Luffy nodded in agreement, caressing her swollen cheeks. Coby thought for a moment, like evaluating the pros and cons of the next question, then asked, 'Are you guys a couple?'

'No…' The other two said in unison. Luffy looked as naïve as ever while Merry looked as if he was about to kill someone, the smile on his face made him look even more deadly. Merry explained, 'We're brothers and sisters, by bond.'

'Oh, okay…' Coby didn't dare ask on, seeing the look on Merry's face.

The silver haired teenager looked around for a moment before hopping onto deck through the hole Alvida had made. Then, following closely behind him was Luffy with Coby in her arms. Merry looked north and announced, 'The Marines are coming soon, we better hurry.'

'But I destroyed all the rowboats.' Luffy stated, slightly puffing out her chest.

'Don't be so proud about it.' Merry glared at her coldly, though he didn't expect anything less from Luffy anyways. He looked at the broken cruise ship then back at the pirate ship, after that, he turned to the frozen pirates in the background and asked, 'I'll be taking your ship, do you mind?' Of course, this question was only for politeness. The fact was obvious the moment you look at his face since it completely said: 'I'll take your ship and if you retort, I'll leave you here as a present for the Marines.' Who could say no?

Seeing that the pirates had come to an agreement, Merry climbed onto one of the ropes and walked over to the other ship with ease. He flicked his hand and Alvida was shot onto deck from the ocean, a puddle of splintered seawater surrounding her. Merry turned around to Luffy who had just enter the pirate ship and asked her, 'Where do you want to go next?'

'Huh?' Luffy looked up, she was already struggling to climb onto the swan mast head. She grinned as she stood on its neck and swung around on it like a hyperactive monkey. Then, she clambered her way to the head and sat on top of the wooden swan's forehead. She spun around to face Merry before announcing, 'I want to go to Zoro!'

'Why so?' Merry asked. He wouldn't ask Luffy to not approach the pirate hunter, of course, because, after all, nothing could stop Luffy once she had decided on something. Luffy turned around and stared at the ocean. Merry would remember that in their past life, whenever Luffy looked at the ocean, he would be thinking about his nakama. Merry chuckled, he didn't need an answer anymore, he already knew it. 'You think he's one of your nakama.'

Luffy didn't answer. The silver haired boy shook his head before turning to the crew who was trying to get all the sea water out of Alvida's lungs. They were picking out the one who should do the CPR for the woman through a game of jen-kan-pon (rock-paper-scissors) when she suddenly sat up and coughed the liquid out. The entire crew nearly had their heart jumped out of their chest. They screamed, 'C-Captain!'

'Captain! Do something! They took over our ship!' One of the men said, pointing towards Merry and Luffy but retreated the moment he saw the teenager's threatening face. That was when the door opened and Nami came out with a giant sack of treasure. The orange haired woman smiled awkwardly before turning around and going back into the room she came from. 'That nearly scared me to death!' She exclaimed to herself, trying to calm her own heartbeat. A few shouts and screams echoed from behind the door she was leaning on then stopped abruptly. Wondering what happened, Nami peeked outside. To her utmost surprised, the silver haired boy from earlier was standing next to a bunch of tied bandits, wiping his hands together as if he had just finished a labouring job.

'Oh, young miss, to think we would meet again in this situation. Can you help us navigate towards the closest marine base?' He asked, turning to her with a smile. Nami was taken aback. How did he know she was a navigator? Reading her like she was a book, he pointed towards the compass and maps strapped to her belt. He was unexpectedly observant.

'Both of us don't want to be caught be Marines and your boat was destroyed, indirectly, by my little sister so how about we work together temporarily?' He persuaded her, pointing towards the girl on the masthead as if to introduce her. He raised a hand towards Nami, indicating her to shake it. Though hesitant, Nami still shook it, after all, it was the best option. No matter how mysterious and dangerous the duo looked, it felt like the best choice to be their ally. Nami looked into his eyes and said, 'I am Nami, nice to work with you.'

'I am Merry, thank you for agreeing to my suggestion, Nami-san.' The silver haired teen tugged his sister's vest and called her away from her thoughts. She smiled at Nami and introduced, 'Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet you!'

Well, Nami guessed that working with these people wouldn't be that bad, right?

A few hours later…

'Go straight ahead for a few more hours and you'll reach the base.' Nami said one last time to Merry, who nodded, and waved her goodbye. They had managed to 'ask' the shipwrights to fix her fishing boat and now, Nami was ready to leave. Though, she couldn't say that she hadn't gotten slightly attached to them. Luffy was always happy-go-lucky but she was very easy to talk to and Merry is nice and kind, just a little bit of a worry wart though. She took off the line and set her boat adrift.

'I hope to see you again, Nami-san.' Merry said a kind smile on his face. It was weird how many variations of smiles Merry owned but Nami found it interesting to watch. The orange haired girl didn't reply, she only smiled awkwardly. She didn't want to meet them again; she didn't want them to know she was a tool of Arlong, the man who destroyed her childhood. Nami paddled off and into the horizon.

Merry stared at the navigator who seemed like she was dissipating into the setting sun. He waited until she was completely out of sight then turned to Luffy, 'Are you sure she's one of them too?'

'Yeah.' Luffy nodded, climbing of the masthead.

'I guess we'll know the truth when we meet her again. If she really is one of your nakama then we're bound to cross path again.' Merry said, crossing his arms over his chest. The he and Luffy walked over to the door where the bounded pirates were kept. Merry turned to his sister and asked one last time, 'Are you sure about this?'

'Definitely! If in my last life, I let them die because we were out-numbered, then in this life we'll need more people!' Luffy nodded, it was not like her to think like this but she wanted to keep them safe, her nakama. Merry shook his head but continued into the conference room where the pirates were kept hostage. He crouched down in front of the captain and ripped off Alvida's mouth tape, announcing, 'I am the Peace Maker of the Straw Hat pirates, Merry. I wish to have a negotiation with the captain of the Alvida Pirates.'

'What do you want?' She spat out angrily. Merry smiled irritatingly and said in an unusually calm voice, 'No need to be so rude, madam. One can be pretty either outside or inside but ones who are categorised as neither are the ugliest.'

'Are you saying I'm ugly!?' Alvida asked in fury.

'I am, and I am going to give you another choice. You can stay the ugly person you are now or I can tell you the way to be truly pretty, both inside and outside.' Merry suggested, his words unbelievably convincing.

'How?' She leaned forward, suddenly interested in the matter.

'Do you want to stay a pirate?'

She looked at him with doubt, then asked, 'Are you telling me that stop being a pirate would make me prettier?

'No, there are different types of pirates, not all of them raid and steal. You can find treasure, going on adventures on the seas and you'll still be called a pirate. I want you to be that kind of pirate… with us.' Merry indicated to him and Luffy.

'You want me to work under you reckless bunch?' This deal had suddenly seemed impossible to accept, she doesn't want to be known as the 'Nice Alvida who works under Straw Hat Luffy.' It didn't sound tempting enough.

'I'll also tell you the way to make yourself look pretty outwardly.'

Alvida thought for a moment, she could be 'Pretty Alvida-sama, the goddess of the sea, who works under Straw Hat Luffy, the woman who will become the Pirate Queen' right? Though looking rather glum, she nodded, '…Fine.'

'We'll keep this alliance a secret, of course. We don't want the Marines to chase after us, right? I and my captain will give you guys training routines everyday so you can survive in the Grand Line and when we reach the Twin Capes, we will divert our paths. You will swear your loyalty to us and whenever we call you, you must reach us in a span of two days. Do we have a deal?' Merry reached over and cut Alvida's ropes. He stood up and showed out his palm. She clasped her hand against it and shook it as a sign to say they had come to a deal. He went to untie all of the other pirates then led them to the map on the conference table.

'Now then, we're heading to Shells Town…' The sentence was interrupted by a bunch of rowdy pirates shrieking in fear. Merry hissed while shooting them a glare; he proceeded to pointing at a small island next to Shells Town, 'I haven't finished yet! I want you guys to hide behind this stray, inhabited island and wait until we return with Zoro.'

'ZORO?!' The unison scream nearly destroyed Merry's eardrums. They began to panic again, 'Alvida-sama! Why did you follow this crew?! They're crazy!'

'We're going to get killed!' One of them grovelled on the ground, screaming in agony.

'Stop making such a fuss about it, we're just going to recruit him.' Merry said, sighing at their overreaction, looking as if it was totally normal for pirates to try and recruit a pirate hunter.

'He's a monster!' They all said in unison, and Coby was with them now. They continued, 'He'll turn you over! We're going to be killed!' The pirates (plus Coby) clammed up in the corner of the conference room where Merry had locked them, a dark cloud of 'depression' hovering over their heads.

'Stop brooding. Once Luffy's decided on something, no one can change his mind.' Merry heaved another sigh before picking all the navigation tools off the table and left the room nonchalantly. He didn't want to deal with a bunch of cowardly pirates (plus Marine-to-be)

'WE'RE DEAD!' The pirates sung their last hopeless cry as they hugged each other in their arms, sobbing in fear of losing their lives. It was going to be a rough day tomorrow.

OMAKE

NAMI'S GOOD SIDE

Merry: We've finished fixing your boat. You can leave now, Nami-san.

Nami: Oh, thank you. *Picked up the bag of treasure and went to the door* Uhm… are you guys Pirate Thieves too? Or bounty hunters, perhaps?

Merry: *shook his head* no, we're travellers.

Nami: *hesitantly* Then… you'll need some money, right?

Merry: Oh, of course we do.

Nami: Then, I'll leave half of the treasures with you.

Merry: ...you don't have to, Nami-san.

Nami: It was part of your work capturing and securing the pirates so I'll give you half the money.

Merry: No, it's okay.

Nami: take it.

Merry: *backs away* you better keep it to yourself. I'm afraid that if I take it, you'll come and hunt me down later on.

Nami: why is that so? *eyes in beli shape, mouth drooling, a menacing air around her*

Merry: A mirror would explain more than I would… *Realises something then reach into his shirt pocket* And I'll give this to you as a thank you for guiding us *pulls out a gem*

Nami: I can't accept that.

Merry: ...Just take it.

Nami: I want to thank you! Don't give this to me! *mouth drooling even more, hands reaching out to the gem*

Merry: Your body says otherwise, Nami-san. *Smile awkwardly*

Nami: I can't take it…

Merry: Then I guess I'll give it to someone else… *Putting the gem back into his pocket*

Nami: *pounce forward then grab the gem* I appreciate your kindness… *grinning greedily while hugging the gem and bag of treasure, eyes in beli signs* *left the room with all the treasure*

Merry: *sigh* she's so easy to read.

Coby: *walked into the room* you are very persuasive, Merry-san.

Merry: I am the Peace Maker after all.

Coby: You lied to her and bribed her with money…

Merry: I told her fractions of the truth and thanked her with a present, was any of that wrong?

Coby: … I give.

Merry: I only wanted to be on her good side. *shrugged then left the room*

What do you think? The alliance? The appearance of Nami? Tell me! The omake too! Sorry for my little mistakes in grammar and my unreasonable amounts of demands for reviews. -_-

If you like the story so far, give a fav and follow.

Just so you know, the release time for a new chapter is 1 month from now on. So, look forward to the next chapter, there will be a surprise, Chapter 8: Puzzle Pieces

Love, Knox