Bit of a different idea this time around; each drabble is inspired by a song/quote from a certain musical. Yes, they're all from the same musical, and extra point to whoever can name it!!! Ah…let's say a free request fic/drabble to whomever guesses first (if anyone does!) because I need to inspire my muse. These were hard to crank out even with the added inspiration! Ah…I'll give you a couple of hints, I suppose, since it's a rather obscure musical. 1. They aired a version of it on PBS this June that was recorded last May in London. 2. The three lead roles are played by a multi-platinum album selling recording artist, a Tony-award winner, and a Tony-award nominee. Enough? Hope so xP

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

100 Moods

Set Six: Impressed to Lonely

Mood: Impressed

Rating: PG

Pairing: Mentioned Usopp/Kaya; Luffy/Usopp friendship

Word Count: 488

He's a brilliant lunatic, and you can't tell which way he'll jump […]

You can't predict him; dissect him…

Which, of course, means he's not a lunatic at all.

Usopp had heard it several times from several people: Luffy was crazy.

The ones who had brought it up in hostile environments normally did it to try and weaken his resolve, and he knew well enough that even if his teeth were chattering so hard he couldn't reply, that Luffy most certainly wasn't.

The ones who had brought it up in honest conversation, however, were harder to placate. Because how was he to explain that Luffy was, in fact, not insane? By watching him, you certainly couldn't reach any conclusions.

Yes, he was childish; and yes, he was impulsive; and yes, he had a knack for not taking things as serious as they needed to be taken. But as soon as push came to shove, he turned icily rational, and though many of his battles were won by sheer fluke, he was enough of a strategist to figure out what needed to be done.

So no, Luffy wasn't crazy. Young, maybe. Inexperienced, maybe. But not crazy.

Of course, as soon as Luffy inevitably saved the day, all enemies who thought he was crazy just ended up hating him more, and all those who honestly asked just ended up looking at him with respect.

It was impossible not to respect Luffy, and sometimes it amazed Usopp that this incredible boy was, in fact, a month and a bit younger than Usopp himself, when it seemed that he had the confidence and the drive of somebody at least ten years older.

"Mah, Usopp, I'm booored," Luffy was currently accosting him as he tried to finish a new version of his Tabasco star, and at the moment he was currently leaning more towards 'mentality-of-a-three-year-old' as opposed to 'crazy.' "And everyone's busyyy and Sanji won't give me fooood…"

"Luffy, I'm busy, too," Usopp muttered, setting down his vials before Luffy did something to make him mix two liquids that really shouldn't be mixed.

Luffy pouted, making him really look like a three-year-old now, and Usopp stifled a chuckle and stood up, hoping Luffy would follow him to the rail and away from his impromptu lab.

Luffy did, predictably, and slid a rubbery arm around Usopp's waist in order to lean his head on the older boy's shoulder. "Mah, you're no fun."

"I know," Usopp stared at the waves and sighed.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Hmm?"

"Kaya."

"Oh," Usopp had actually been thinking of her; he did it often, but Luffy was proving his strange perceptiveness once again. "Yeah."

"Well, don't! You can play with me!"

And he was off again, leaving Usopp shaking his head in wonderment. Insightful to immature in five seconds?

Yeah. Luffy was crazy, all right, and Usopp knew instinctively that he wouldn't take his captain any other way.

Mood: Indescribable

Rating: PG

Pairing: ZoSan

Word Count: 500

We can turn this into friendship for life

And beyond…

"One day we're all going to go our separate ways. You know that, right?"

Sanji blinked, tapping his cigarette on the rail and watching as the burning embers fell into the dark water. Zoro was laying on the deck, his back propped against the railing, with a half-full bottle of sake in his hand. "Hmm," he grunted.

"Well, it's true. Right now we're all heading for the same place, but eventually…we're not the type to stay together forever; we all have our own commitments."

Sanji grunted again, not wanting to have this conversation, but for once Zoro was being talkative.

"I mean, Usopp's got that girl, right? And Franky's got his ragtag family back in Water 7, and Nami and Chopper've got what amounts to family elsewhere, and once you find All Blue you're gonna stay, and even if Robin finds the polygraph she's never gonna stop looking for artefacts, and if Mihawk doesn't show up by the time Luffy gets to the One Piece, I'm gonna have to go off," he shrugged. "And Brook? Well, who knows with him…he'll probably want to stay with Laboon as long as possible, and…"

"Zoro, shut up. Please," Sanji clenched his fingers around the rail and cursed as his cigarette burnt down almost far enough to burn, spitting it out into the water. "I'm on watch; you should be sleeping."

"Can't," Zoro shrugged. "I slept all day," he stood and slid his arms around Sanji's waist, pressing a light kiss to the back of the blonde's neck. "What's wrong, love-cook?"

"I know. All that you were saying? I know that," Sanji said quietly. "But this…this is my family! You and I, going back would only mean admitting failure…we can't go back to where we came from. We need to keep moving, and as long as I'm on this ship, I am. Just because something's inevitable doesn't mean I have to obsess over it. It'll happen, yes, but until it does, I don't want to worry about it."

"Hey; hey, sorry," Zoro sighed. "I didn't mean to…you know…make you feel bad or anything…"

"You, Marimo, have no tact," Sanji let one of his slender hands rest on top of Zoro's larger ones around his waist.

"Make me a promise?"

"What?" Sanji asked irritably, not sure if he liked this sentimental Zoro any more than annoying, grumpy Zoro.

"Even if we…even if we have to split up sometime down the road…"

"You can come to my restaurant for free food anytime you want," Sanji cut him off before he got too sappy. "Sound good?"

"And a warm bed?"

"Hmm, beds are pretty scarce on floating restaurants. We might have to share," Sanji grinned.

"I can live with that."

He could tell Zoro was smiling, too, and after that the subject was thankfully dropped.

Yes, one day they might break apart, but right now they were together.

And that was the best feeling in the world.

Mood: Indifferent

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: DrakexHawkins. Because so many people have commented on it with my little Supernova drabbles.

Notes: This quote is quite possibly my favorite line from the entire musical. Other than that, I tried to make my Hawkins less ditzy than usual and more mysterious. Tried being the operative word xP

I don't like women and I don't take dope

Of all the people he could have run into at the Sabaody Archipelago, it had to be the one man he had been chasing back when he had been with the Marines…before he started wondering what it would be like to be a pirate.

He had been stationed in the North Blue for a while, back when Basil Hawkins didn't have much of a bounty and was merely a nuisance. They had crossed paths…once…and he shook his head at the memory. That shouldn't have happened. Alright, so he was prone to experimentation, and what greater experiment was there than to have sex with a man?

He hadn't counted on the sex being quite so good, but good sex or not, once he realized that the man he was laying with was not only a pirate but a wanted pirate, things went from bad to worse.

Add in the fact that Hawkins already had his Devil Fruit and he didn't yet…and their parting had been on less than harmonious terms. But now…

"Drake."

"Basil," Drake glanced up at the other man, noting that, as he had come to expect, nothing of what the blonde was feeling was shown on his face; he remained emotionless as far as the world knew. "Fancy seeing you here."

"And you? Privateer-turned-buccaneer, I see. Well. I could have predicted it, I suppose, if I had been given the chance. You were…rather forthright with me the next morning," Hawkins spoke calmly, his unblinking eyes staring into Drake's masked ones.

"I didn't know you were…"

"A pirate? Oh, yes. But then…you are, too. Now," he had to add.

"Basil, I hope you're not looking for a repeat of that night, because…"

"I don't have to," Hawkins' voice dropped. "You'll be spending the night with me no matter how hard you try to deny it. I know."

And Drake knew better than to argue with him, so he waved it off. "How many years has it been, Basil?"

"A fair few. We were both so young, then," Hawkins was staring off into space. "There's a storm coming."

Drake automatically glanced at the sky, but Hawkins shook his head.

"No. Not that kind of storm. A war. A war that will change the world."

"And who's going to win?" Drake asked cautiously.

"Even I cannot see all," was the cryptic response. "But there is a shadow over our future…our immediate future…a shadow even I cannot see through."

Drake nodded, but he had had about enough of this talk of death and destruction. "So…tonight, you say?"

"Yes. Perhaps I should go; it wouldn't do for us to be seen mingling," the tall man gracefully stood, his long coat rustling around him as he moved by, letting his hand rest on Drake's back momentarily. "No need to tell me where you're staying. I know."

And he was gone, just like that. Drake sighed, wondering why these sorts of things always happened to him.

Mood: Intimidated

Rating: PG (These are all so tame!)

Pairing: Vague Shanks/Mihawk. I like writing them.

Word Count: 497

But why is he really here?

A whole year of silence, and suddenly, here he is.

A lot can happen in a year.

You can meet a kid whom you tease mercilessly and eventually end up viewing him as simply a younger version of yourself.

You can give up everything for said kid and end up losing a part of yourself…literally…in the process.

You can be so absorbed with your new life that you conveniently just don't go to the assigned meeting place with your oldest rival that you've been seeing faithfully for years; that you forget how stubborn said rival is and neglect to consider the fact that he'll show up wherever you are anyway.

At least, until it happens.

"Captain! Captain!"

"What?" he shouted back, not really alarmed by the panicked voice of his crew member. The men he had generally tended to overreact, for whatever reason.

"It's…it's…"

"Spit it out, man!"

"H-h-Hawkeye!"

"What?" he leapt to his feet and ran for the bluff, amazed to see the small, ominously lit craft bobbing in the waves. He dismissed the snivelling man beside him and walked to the beach alone, his long cloak whipping around him.

"So I see the rumors are true," Mihawk, always blunt, called as his coffin-shaped-boat eased onto the shore. "The great pirate emperor Red-Haired Shanks, giving up his left arm for a mere boy."

"A special boy," Shanks retorted, a little peevishly. What would Mihawk know about self-sacrifice, anyway?

"Evidently. So is this the reason you decided not to come?" Mihawk sniffed, stepping out of the boat.

"It only takes one hand to wield a sword," Shanks answered. "I suppose it just slipped my mind."

"You're going to get rusty. I'm the only one in the world who can have an even fight with you."

"Dracule, please. Let it go," he sighed and walked back along the beach, but was surprised when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"You should have let me know."

"How? I had no idea…"

"I found you, didn't I? You would have found a way," Mihawk's voice was cold, and it took Shanks a minute to process the words.

"You were worried!"

"I was most certainly not."

"You were worried about me when I didn't show up!" Shanks crowed. "Admit it! Admit that you were worried!"

"Never," Mihawk let go of Shanks hurriedly and moved to walk past him before the red-haired man caught his arm and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you."

"Let go of me. Now."

Of course, Shanks didn't, but that was only to be expected; the man never behaved according to normal protocol, so Mihawk channelled the human impulsiveness he only seemed to possess in the other's presence and returned the impromptu embrace, rolling his eyes as this only caused Shanks to pull them closer. "I'm glad you care."

"Believe me, I don't."

And Shanks knew that, yes, a lot of things could change in a year.

But some things never would.

Mood: Jealous

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: None, really.

Word Count: 498

Notes: My sad attempt at Sanji's past. Inspired heavily by the lyrics, of course, but also because now I see a rather strange similarity between him and the character singing the song…hmm…

I didn't miss him; he made it perfectly clear

I was a fool, and probably queer

Zoro was, to put it mildly, somewhat taken aback by Sanji's reaction. Sure, he'd teased him about his hair and his clothes and his all-too-feminine waistline before, but looking back, it was also true that he'd never explicitly insinuated that the blonde man swung the other way.

That still didn't explain why Sanji had visibly stiffened at the world 'queer,' been quiet all throughout supper, and then went to hide.

Zoro assumed he was in the hold; he wasn't anywhere else.

And he figured that since it was…well, kind of his fault that Sanji went off in a huff, he'd better do something to fix it.

And okay, so he didn't really need to burst through the door, but he wasn't going to ask before coming in.

"Oi, cook? You in here?"

"Go away," was the choked off response, and hang on, was he actually crying?

"Sanji?" The name felt odd on Zoro's tongue, but he moved through the darkness until he sensed a figure huddled behind the crates and knelt in front of him. "Cook?"

"What?" Sanji sniffed and looked up, although Zoro couldn't see much.

"I'm…look, whatever I said to set you off, I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know."

"Do you…" and Zoro cursed himself for being so shoddy with this sympathy stuff, "do you want to…talk…about it?"

There was complete silence, which Zoro took as shock, from the other man, until he whispered, "Do you want to listen?"

And oh, Zoro really couldn't say 'no' now, so he nodded, remembered Sanji couldn't see him, and then murmured a 'yes.'

"My father used to call me that…he wasn't a very nice man. Told me I would never amount to anything; I'd be shamed wherever I went; those sorts of things. Had a drinking problem, too. One day my mother told me to get out before things got worse, and she found a ship willing to take me on as a kitchen hand. I never saw them again, but I never forgot, and some part of me always wondered if…" he cut off.

"Is that why you're so obsessed about women?"

"Does it make more sense now?" Sanji sounded tired.

"Yeah…" Zoro had to admit, it did, but obviously telling his story to somebody wasn't making Sanji feel any better, so he had to make an effort. "You know, I've always been a little…jealous of you."

A snort. "Of me? Why?"

"Well, you're not afraid to look like a fool…"

"Oi."

"And you don't care what women think of you, but at least you're trying. I don't even have the nerve to."

There was a ten-second silence before Sanji burst out laughing. "That's…that's…only the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You're a horrible liar!"

And Zoro had to admit that, yeah, he was, but at least it got Sanji out of his funk.

That had to count for something.

Mood: Kinky

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Obligatory ZoSan

Word Count: 500

Notes: I was originally going to write something smutty for this mood. But I lack inspiration, so you get this xP

I'm learning things I didn't want to know

When it came to Sanji, there was a lot that Zoro didn't want or need to know. Frankly, what the love-cook did when they made port was his own business, but when Nami made them room together every single time it began to be a problem.

Not because Sanji would bring prostitutes to their room; no, even he had higher morals than that, but because he'd come in early in the morning, stinking of sex and heavy, flowery perfume with his clothes rumpled and the most irritating smile on his face.

Not that Zoro looked at his face a lot, mind you, but when the moonlight hit just right…it was visible. That was all. Visible.

One night he decided to break his normal silence and asked softly, "Who was she?"

"Dunno," Sanji replied, apparently rather congenial in whatever afterglow he was still drifting in. "She was pretty. And she wanted me."

"Meaning you paid her," Zoro rolled his eyes. He wasn't oblivious. He knew Sanji was too much of a flailing fool around women to pick one up by his charm alone, but he was attractive in a strange way, Zoro absently supposed. Not that he'd been paying attention. Of course not.

"What I could afford. I need the money Nami-san gives me for food and cigarettes," he added, also breaking routine by coming to sit on Zoro's bed, tucking one foot underneath him.

"What do you get from it?"

"Hmm?" Sanji glanced over, absently reaching to run his fingers through Zoro's mossy hair. The swordsman first thought that the blonde must be drunk, but, since that didn't seem to be the case, he didn't question the uncharacteristic touch.

"The sex. What do you get from it?"

"Well, a lot of the girls have these kinky ideas, and…"

"Too much information, love-cook," Zoro grunted.

"And you?"

"Me what?"

"How come you never get laid?" Sanji stretched himself out beside the younger man, an unlit cigarette casually between his lips.

"Who says?" Zoro asked slyly.

"You never go to the brothels."

And Zoro really, really shouldn't be admitting this, but for some reason didn't care right then. "There's more than one kind of brothel."

Truthfully, he expected Sanji to kick him and call him degrading names. He did not expect the slender blonde to smile and whisper, "Well, that explains a lot," before leaning in and kissing him.

It wasn't the greatest kiss; Zoro's mouth was kind of open and he was trying to talk, which was hard when you were being kissed, but he finally pulled back enough to mutter a not-so-eloquent "Wha…?"

"You probably wouldn't have guessed, but sometimes it's fun to sit on both sides of the fence," Sanji said in a sultry tone, and Zoro decided to take advantage before this turned out to be just a strange dream.

There were plenty of things about Sanji he never wanted to know.

But this? This wasn't one of them.

Mood: Lazy

Rating: PG

Pairings: Implied Luffy/Nami, future Usopp/Kaya, mild kinda-sorta ZoSan

Word Count: 498

Notes: Part of what I'm tentatively calling my 'starving artist' universe. Same world as 'Good' in the last set of these.

Who needs a dream?

Who needs ambition?

"Ouch! Usopp, get your junk out of the living room!" Sanji irritably kicked a pile of canvas as he tried to navigate his way to the couch, stripping off his t-shirt and collapsing on the worn cushions gratefully.

"But my room's full!" Usopp protested, peering out of the doorway. He was covered in paint from head-to-toe, but that was hardly unusual. "I'm making a gift for Kaya."

"Just ask her out," Sanji fanned himself. "Why is it that this place is so cold in the winter and yet so hot in the summer?"

"Because the heat doesn't work and we don't have air conditioning?" Usopp questioned.

"Afternoon, boys. Won't be long; just grabbing my purse," Nami swept in, bustling over to the room she and Luffy shared before coming back into the living room and stopping. "You know, if you're overheating, just go to the café. They'll let you sit there all day as long as you order something," she pointed out, ruffling Sanji's sweat-soaked hair.

"Too lazy," Sanji replied, staring at the battered acoustic guitar propped on the opposite armchair.

"No, I'm not getting your guitar for you," she kissed the top of his head lightly. "And Usopp, get your junk out of the living room."

"Hah!" Sanji sounded triumphant before slumping back onto the couch. "It's too hot to celebrate."

"It gets worse," Usopp informed him sadly, scratching his nose and getting even more paint on it. "For once the water heater's decided to work, so the shower is boiling."

The door slid open again and Zoro poked his head in. "It's hot."

"No, really?" Sanji glanced at him. "Why do you wear that thing in the summer? It's a scarf."

"I like it," Zoro grunted.

"Aw, it's like your little security blanket," Sanji grinned, swiping some sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes. "Give it."

"And let you wrap it around your sweaty neck? Not likely," Zoro snorted, although he removed it and set it gently on the table.

"Where were you?"

"Job hunting."

"Any luck?" Sanji closed his eyes.

"Well, more than the two of you will ever have sitting in here," he grunted, unbuttoning his shirt halfway and dropping onto the couch, shoving Sanji away when the other man tried to lean against him. "Off. It's too hot."

Sanji groaned and dropped against Zoro again, ignoring him. "So? Get a job?"

"Got a bartending offer."

"Gonna take it?"

"Maybe. Should I?"

"Meh. We don't make enough money; may as well," Sanji nodded. "Get me a gig at the bar, will you?"

"Whatever. Oi, Usopp, just ask the rich girl out already, will you?" Zoro called as Usopp glared at his painting.

"It's not that simple!"

"Whatever. I'm too tired to argue," Zoro let his head slump against Sanji's. "I hate the heat."

"Until it's -30 and you'll be begging for it," Sanji countered, closing his eyes. "I'm going to sleep."

"Agreed," Zoro nodded, dropping off almost instantly.

Mood: Lethargic

Rating: PG

Pairing: Lucci/Kaku

Word Count: 498

I can't think of anything I would rather do

Than be wasting my time on mountains

With you.

The townspeople were far too nice to them.

Of course, perhaps it was to be expected, considering that they did save the town from pirates, but it was obvious that they were going soft in their forced retirement.

Kalifa had actually taken the flower from the little girl and placed it in a vase, and Kaku was sure he'd never seen her so happy.

And then, when the people had offered to put them up in a mountain resort just outside the town as a reward…well, he knew for a fact that mere months ago they would never have accepted, and yet…here they were.

And Lucci was sleeping. He'd done that a lot since finally waking up, and Kaku didn't blame him…truthfully he'd expected the man to be much more stubborn about the whole issue, but it seemed that taking his anger out on those invading pirates had mellowed him.

And, while it shouldn't have been surprising at this point, Kaku was always continually amused at how much a person could become like the animal they turned into.

Not that Lucci reminded him of a cat…most of the time, but his sleeping habits were, at times, enviable. Like now.

Technically, he should have been taking it easy as well, but he was restless. He could feel that every moment spent here was a moment more they were putting these kind villagers in danger. He knew well enough that the Marines would be showing up; most likely to arrest them for being traitors, but that was a moot point.

"I can hear the wheels in your head turning from over here," came a mumbled voice, and Kaku turned to look at the other occupant of the room.

"You're up?"

"Even I don't sleep all the time."

"Eighteen hours a day practically constitutes 'all the time.' Rob," he added, feeling marginally secure in the knowledge that he was more-than-likely the only person who could call Lucci that and get away with it.

"I thought you would enjoy a place like this," Lucci got out of the bed and came to the window, settling himself beside the younger man with only a slight hitch to indicate he was still in pain. "It's beautiful."

"Rob Lucci, speaking of natural beauty?"

"I'm not a machine, you realize. I'm human. It just took almost dying to realize it," he said quietly.

Kaku flinched at the hidden emotion in the words and reached almost hesitantly to lay his hand over the other man's. "I'm glad you're alive."

"I know. When I first woke up, I wasn't so sure. But now I think I'm glad I'm alive, too," he said, staring out at the mountain peaks.

And Kaku knew that this was as close to 'I love you' as they would ever get, but that was alright. "It is beautiful," he conceded, tightening his grip.

Lucci just smiled.

Mood: Listless

Rating: PG

Pairing: Mild Ace/Sanji

Word Count: 499

Notes: Spoilers for recent chapters. This also seems to be the product of me reading so many drug withdrawal fics from another fandom of mine…

Fame and possession:

They will destroy you;

Not rivals; not age; not success

Sanji was frightened.

This was rare, because he rarely got scared…truthfully, he thought it had been bred out of him on that rock. And besides, he had his constants, now: his crew; his family; his nakama.

There was nothing to be afraid of. What they had was unbreakable, no matter how far apart they were, and now that they were together again, it should have been metaphorical 'smooth sailing.'

Only it wasn't.

And that was the scary part.

"Hey. I made some dinner."

He got a barely-perceptible head shake as an answer, but it was more than he'd gotten for a while.

"You have to eat. It's no good starving yourself," he said softly, adding, "Luffy's worried," for good measure.

"Luffy worries too much," was the grating response, spoken in a voice made raspy from misuse.

"Hey, I got you to talk," Sanji lit up a cigarette, not trusting old routines enough. Not yet. "Tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm done," the other replied, giving out a short, clipped, horrible laugh to accompany the words. "Done."

"No. You aren't," Sanji crossed his long legs and sank to the ground beside his friend, letting one hand rest on the other's back. "You're here; you're alive. You can live."

"But they know. The world knows. I'm…" he heaved a shuddering breath. "Can you even imagine the price that's going to be put on me? I'm a dead man."

"You're not helpless," Sanji felt obliged to point out. "You're…"

"I lied to you! About who I was!"

"I doubt there's anyone on this crew who hasn't lied at some point…who still isn't lying," he amended, thinking of his own past and the stories he'd never tell. "That's a poor excuse."

"Then what are my options? I was offered the title of Warlord, but I refused. I'm not…"

Woah; woah; woah, back up. You…a Shichibukai?" Sanji exclaimed.

"Yes, now pipe down. I don't want everyone…" the other man shook his head. "It's not something I'm proud of. That kind of power…it does things to you. Unless you're insanely strong-willed," he shifted, glancing down at the plate of food before pushing it slightly away.

"Ace, please eat something. You're killing yourself."

Ace gave him a withering look before taking a bite of the food. "There. Happy?"

"No, but it'll do," Sanji conceded, laying his head on Ace's shoulder. "We just want to get you back, Ace."

"I'm here."

"No; back to who you were before. This isn't you," Sanji tapped some ash off of his cigarette. "Remember how much you flirted with me in Alabasta?"

"You're attractive," Ace shrugged. "It was natural."

"Oh, good, at least you can still admit that!"

Ace snorted, and Sanji grinned. It wasn't a laugh, but it was close, at least.

And when he pulled out a fresh cigarette and found it lit before he reached his mouth, he knew things were only going to get better.

Mood: Lonely

Rating: PG

Pairing: None

Word Count: 499

I see my present partner in the imperfect tense,

And I don't see how we can last.

I feel I need a change of cast.

She had never liked Crocodile.

And that was saying something, because she had been with a great deal of unsavoury characters in the twenty or so years she'd been running and hiding, but there was never anybody who made her skin crawl quite the way Crocodile had.

She stayed with him, though, because he was the safest man she could possibly be with. He was employed by the government, who wanted her head, but he wouldn't betray her simply because she was useful to him. So as long as she stayed useful, she would be safe.

She tried hard to stay useful, but as time went on and she continued to pose as Crocodile's right-hand woman, the woman nobody else could touch, a sense of complacency began to set in.

No, she didn't like Crocodile; not one bit; but this was comfortable. And, to be honest, she didn't like Alabasta all that much, either: too much sand; not enough water, but the people were relatively congenial, and nobody suspected her of being worth nearly 80 million berries.

Sometimes she felt bad about lying to these people because, no, she wasn't evil. Not in the least, really, but sometimes you had to pick your battles.

And then there were the polygraphs, and she was willing to stick around at least until she found those, and then…then, maybe it was time to get out. There was only so much she would do to prove her usefulness, and she had crossed several of her own moral lines already. If she could get away without Crocodile knowing, things would be perfect. She would just have to find a new crew.

They came in the most unexpected way, of course. A young boy in a red vest and a straw hat, completely fearless and full of youthful vigor and confidence, and she felt her heart clench, because even sitting on that railing with guns pointed at her (never mind the one man was shaking and the other completely enamored with her), she could tell these people were close.

Were family, and it hurt, knowing she could never have that. Even the princess, standing there staring at her in horror, was part of this rag-tag group. Pirates, coming to save Alabasta? The idea was laughable.

Only…

Only it wasn't. Only it was so crazy it might just work.

She only realized this afterward, standing on the foredeck with a highly suspicious swordsman, that for once she was free of Crocodile and acting and pretending and running.

Luffy had saved her life. The second man to have done so, only this time she was still around to see what became of him…became of all of them, her new family.

Because Luffy had saved her life, and maybe for once it was time she stuck around long enough to repay the favour.

That's all for this time around!!! Hope everyone enjoyed :D