AN: I figured out the line breaks! Yay!

At the beginning of the unnamed second half of the grand line, sitting at the edge of the western calm belt, was an almost barren island. Small, isolated, and fairly monotonous looking- at least from afar. A closer look would show a single building of wood and dirt, glass windows lit from the inside and framing movement. Even closer and one would enter the range of sound.

At the edge:

"Oi! More grog ov'r ere!

"Hey! Gettin low on the kee-bobs this way!"

"Man this is good!"

At the center:

"Hey, that was my skewer! What you getting at takin my food!"

"Heh. Eat it or lose it boy. We might be nakama, but it's every man for himself around the food. 'Specially this foo- Oi!"

"Sorry old man! It's every man for 'imself!"

"You lil' brat! I'll give you a skewer you bloody- get back here you little pansy!

The aforementioned kid scrambled around the other tables as he was pursued by his annoyed comrade. In doing so, he attracted the attention of the other patrons; most of which was in good humor. Turning to peek behind him, the cabin boy failed to notice a large man in a Marine jacket enjoying his drink before he rammed into him. The drink splashed onto the wood of the table and the room began to quiet.

The man turned slowly, and took a deep breath. The boy's eyes widened in panic and he bowed in apology as fast as he could, babbling as he did so.

"I- I- I'm so sorry. I- I- I didn't mean to bump you sir. It- it was an accident, I swear sir. A complete accident. I'll pay for it I swear sir! I—" The boy was cut off by a loud, grating laugh.

"Bwahahaha! No worries boy! Needed a new bottle anyway." The man said casually, eying the skewer of sautéed clams clutched in the boy's fist. The older pirate, who had caught up to the boy a few moments before, noticed where the marine's attention landed, and pulled the skewer from the boy's hand. Both the boy's and the marine's eyes snapped to follow the meat. The pirate offered the spit to the marine and shot a look at the boy when he tried to protest. The marine accepted it, but before he could take a bite, it disappeared from his hands and a calm voice spoke from the side.

"Now, Monkey-san, you know that if you wanted the clams you could have ordered them with your meal instead of intimidating the other customers to give you theirs." With the appearance of a server, the tension of the room receded to the hum it had been before.

As Haru surveyed the main room, his eyes lit on his "dependents." All extremely different in personality and style, they seemed to mesh together even with their varied histories that should have made them clash. All six of them had been alone through their own share of troubles, yet they each functioned in a way that would seem that they had guided each other through the dangers. They had their peculiar habits, and he had his- a perfect match Haru supposed.

Doma Kon was a traveling martial arts and melee weapons tutor who came from one of the most boring Grandline islands to ever exist; yet he held himself like the highest nobility. Markee C. Mona was former noble and current genius from Long Arm Country that had run away from a marriage contract into the sea of the second half of the Grandline; yet she could mix a drink that would send the most veteran of pirate captains into a drunken stupor in forty seconds flat. Osore Xeno was a sociopath (somewhat at least) and yet he had personally rescued two mental patients from an abusive hospital while releasing the others.

Humming Luna was literally a "fallen angel" who's Akuma no mi allowed her to speak to animals; yet she could barely focus on anything else. Variel Q. Waneta considered herself to be three people in one body, each with different styles and origins; yet each of them agreed that they had nothing in common with the other two. Ahza T. Koova was a half-sea snake fishwoman who had her own experiences with a lesser noble's personal human auction house; yet she refused to hide any of her more questionable features.

None of them were unscathed from their lives, but with the entrance of a steady support, the scars had eased into a more manageable form. He had encountered each of them in ways that seemed to come out of a children's adventure book; bar fights or drifting at sea, hiding a fugitive or alleyway rescues and then being stalked by them after helping them out of a minor situation. Every attempt he made to escape them was met with failure and eventually he had given up. And since almost every one of them were escapees of various places, the official story created was that they were taste-testers and employees.

Thankfully, the Marines had no interest in them, as the people they had fled from weren't really supposed to be in business in the first place.

Movement in his left peripheral vision caused him to turn and from his position at the kitchen window he could see Xeno resolving yet another situation between Monkey D. Garp and a couple of pirates. Honestly, Haru was beginning to wonder what he had been thinking when he invited the marine to the restaurant. The man was great fun to be around and was quite the good marine, but his appetite often got him into the strangest circumstances. Ah well, what was done was done and there was no use trying to change it. Haru's musing was interrupted when his view was eclipsed by a messy brunette bun.

"Ah, Koova-chan. Somthin wron' darl? O's it jus' another o'der?" The twenty-six-year-old man gave her a small smile and she smirked back, giving him a glimpse of razor-sharp teeth.

"Tables six through eight need more barbecue ribs, and Newgate-taicho of table seven wishes for me to convey his complements to the chef." With her piece said, she ran off to continue her rounds and Haru turned to collect the next set of ribs ready to eat.

Doma Kon

As I leaned against the wall, my eyes scanned the main room, noting the positions of my nakama of seven years. Seven years… Had it really been that long since Haru interrupted my drifting? I can still remember the first moment I laid eyes on him.

He was just a kid, but there was something in his eyes that stopped me from dismissing him completely. Turned out I was right. Kid managed to get my bum out of a brawl I got pulled into. Still don't know how he did, but one moment the windows were shaking with the sound of it and the next all eyes were on him, cricket chirping as the only sound in the entire bar. He had caught my gaze and I had nodded in gratitude. Then I watched him leave like nothing had happened and decided that he was much more interesting than anything else I'd seen so far that day, so I followed him. He humored me for a few hours and then left me confused and stranded on a backstreet.

Heh. Bet he thought that was the last of it too. Nah, things were just getting good, so I found where the newly arrived ships were docked. A few beli to the dock master got me to his boat and I waited for him to turn up. When he finally did, and after a few drinks onboard, I somehow got swindled into being his bodyguard for the trip and just never stopped. Turned my life upside down, he did. From a drunk scallywag to an honest working man, but I'll be frank in that I haven't got a clue how.

Heh. Still can't listen to a thing he says without looking for the fine print of it.

Markee C. Mona

Sigh. What a day. Busy, busy, busy.

Thankfully, the restaurant was finally closed and now I could focus on the financial aspect of it. At least Haru had left that side of the business to me. No offense to him of course, not many have the education I do in management and organization, but I was still sorting through the jumbled mess of loans from the startup seven years ago. If I had been thinking straight back then I would have taken over immediately. At the time though, I was more fascinated by the world that was open to me, after all that time being caged on the island.

As it was, I'm surprised he wasn't swindled by the contracts he signed…ah, who am I kidding? Haru might not have a head for money or organization, but I've yet to see a time where his instincts have led him wrong. I very much doubt that there is anyone in all the Blues that could trick him out of a bottle cap if he didn't want them to. On the other hand, I could very easily see him being the swindler at many to the business deals we come across. However, nothing's quite given it the same impact as the day he found me.

Yes, that's right. Found me. Drifting in the middle of the sea. Like a complete idiot as I attempted to escape from the idiots of my home. I had begun to hallucinate and I was quite aware of what was happening, so when a little boat bumped my own, I paid little attention. At least, I did until I realized that it was a bit too early in the progression of sunstroke to feel illusions- including the arms that were currently lifting me into the shade. Unfortunately, my body then shut down entirely and left me unable to convey my situation to my rescuer. I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next week or so, and in that time, Haru had managed to deduce what had driven me to the sea, give me a temporary position with him and convinced Kon that I wasn't dead weight.

Honestly, I believe that the last one took at least five of the seven days.

Osore Xeno

I straightened my tie precisely one-sixteenth of an inch to the right. The tie was my second best, as my best was currently in need of a meticulous cleaning with beach to remove the finger stains of Money-san from yesterday's dinner service. I turned and surveyed the rooms bequeathed to be by Haru-sama and found them to be exactly as immaculate as always. I suppose I should be grateful for the space allotted in the rather cramped second floor residential rooms. As it is, I find that bringing it up is unnecessary as that statement tends to bring emotions I cannot attempt to understand or portray. Fortunately, Haru-sama has seemed to realize this and makes no attempt to encourage such depictions. His acceptance of my lack of sentiments is more than I could have expected from a person ruled by such vibrant passions, and I am at ease knowing that I found a sanctuary which doesn't require dealing with those lacking logical goals- unlike my pervious location of practice.

The mental institution, hereby known as MARTAC, where I had previously been employed had seemed to be a well-maintained and clinically professional place of occupation. Regrettably, it was filled with incompetent peons who merely wished to push their frustrations onto the unstable. It was there that I continued my profession as a therapeutic psychologist- even though my true interest was the adaptation of the mind. Over the three years I worked there, I saw the so-called "therapies" provided for the patients. And while I might be interested in the human mind, courtesy of my own Akuma no mi, I was so put off by the acts that I witnessed that I actually managed to feel the emotion one would call disgust.

The deeds done there will be etched in my memory until I find a way of purging them. The most mundane included situational fasting (starvation), sight therapy (blindness by way of gouging), electroshock, isolation, sensory and sleep deprivation, and reflex learning (repeated beatings). I was assigned two patients and had little say in their other treatments. It was a few months before I was given access to the truth of MARTAC, and I began planning almost immediately. While most of the patients were too damaged to help, I had decided they would be better off perishing while free than dying as an experiment within the facility. Thus, when my plan came to fruition, I released all of them and in their wake I escaped with both Humming-san and Variel-san in the opposite direction. That didn't stop the MARTAC directors from sending out search parties for me, however. And it was in those moments in time that I came across the one I now call Haru-sama, as he was without a surname at that time.

I had been in market at the time and had noticed the distinctive garb of the MARTAC orderlies heading in my direction. There had been very little cover and the only other shopper within an arm's reach of me had been Haru-sama, pale and foreign- not a good combination to hide with. As I had been debating the advantage of "doing a runner", Haru-sama had pulled me around a stall and dropped large, brown bucket-hat down on my head, covering my fire-red hair and shadowing my olive-toned skin. Bewildered, I stood shock still while he proceeded to drape a deep green cloak over my black collared shirt and rolled up the loose sleeves. He then thrust a cane into my hand and forced me to hunch my back. He led me out into the market and we passed by the orderlies without a second glance. That was when I knew he was much more than a simple foreigner.

Someway, he convinced me to join him on his ship and didn't even blink when I told him of the two with me. After that, nothing could convince me that I had done something wrong to have somehow gained his attention that day in the market.

Humming Luna

"Hummm uh ummm. La di la di daa." The melody, the tune, the—.

Sensation. Fluttering winds, fiery ember. Grim-gri coming soon! Thanks birdy-bi and fishy-fi! Luna-lu loves her Grim-gri, so bright and warm! And so pretty! All flamey-sea-blue and flamey-grass-green edges and hot-red-coal-core. Not like Mind-mi (all purples and blacks) or Change-cha (pink and orange and yellow all separate yet mixy) or all the Owchi-ows (gray and cream and yucky merge).

When Mind-mi and Grim-gri came for the first time, she danced and danced and then fell 'cause she couldn't dance anymore and Grim-gri caught her and he was so warm and bright. Then he took her to a new place with Mind-mi and Change-cha and she met Rock-ro (brown and deep green) and Sun-su (gold and lilac) and Scale-sca (silver and white) and Maru-Maru (she lived in Maru-Maru but he didn't mind!) who was almost black but not quite and only one color.

And she wanted to help, but didn't know how so Grim-gri put her right next to him in the back and she got to play in the bubbles from the soapy and splash in water all day long! And she was never going to leave! Nope! Not never!

Variel Q. Waneta

I showed the next group of customers to their tables and explained the specials to them just like Haru-san told me to. Bright cheerful and enthusiastic was the best for this type of work and I was all of those things…at least at this moment.

"Yeah. Now you've jinxed us; thanks genius. It's just perfect. Everything's good and then you've just got to go screw it up. How fun, stupid chit. I- I- don't think you should say stuff like that… it's mean. You're not supposed to be mean- Oh suck it up you little baby. Go hide back in your corner where you belong. Hey! Leave Waneta alone. You know she doesn't like arguments. Why don't you may attention to the customer huh? They're waiting on you idiot." I blinked a couple times, and was met with a line of annoyed faces. Oops. Wasn't listening. "Ya think ya stupid little…" I tuned out Q. and focused on my customers.

"I'm sorry sirs, I was a bit distracted. Could you repeat your drink orders please?" As the order proceeded and I took it to the kitchen, I couldn't help but smile in happiness at the new home I'd- Hey!- we'd been able to find. Haru-san, Calypso bless him, hadn't even hesitated to take us onboard with Osore-san after he found out about our problems. He didn't bat an eye when Luna-chan descended into her dazes or even when Q. or Waneta took over in different situations. That was better than I could do, and I'd lived with them for as long as I could remember. I shook my head sharply; this was no time to reminisce on the past, I had customers to serve.

I was taking a pitcher of water to table four when I was stopped by a fairly drunk pirate who grabbed my arm. Fortunately, it was not the arm holding the pitcher in the air, but it was only a matter of time before the water fell. I cautiously maneuvered myself to face the pirate and asked what he needed. When he replied he needed another bottle of grog, I told him I'd get it for him in a minute. He was somewhat upset that he couldn't get it now and showed that by tightening his grip on into something that could leave a bruise…and that was all I knew before Q. took over.

When I came back to my senses, I found myself standing over the pirate who had accosted me (he was unconscious). He now had a somewhat long cut along his forearm and a large knot on his temple, while I was holding one of my bladed fans in my hand. The room had quieted down and every eye was on my fan. I tucked it away, and chuckled nervously as the eyes moved from the fan to my face. I swallowed dryly and hurried away to the backroom.

I could call Kon-san from there to move the man away until he woke up. And maybe Haru-san would let me have some of those cookies he made last night.

Ahza T. Koova

Feh. What a mess. Stupid moronic lucky little jackass pirates. Come up in our home-my home- and try to take anything they want. Bah! Just shows how lucky idiots could be. They were blessed Monkey-san had left the day before. But that would have been fun to watch….

The stupid little prats had found the restaurant on complete accident. And didn't even realize where they were at first. And when they did? Heh. They tried it anyway. Bet they thought we were easy pickins too. You'd think that if we were good enough to keep our own patrons in line, then we'd know how to keep ruffians off our doorstep. Feh. But that just shows how stupid they truly were. As it was, they entered and tried to use Mona as a hostage. *Snort* Mona… as a hostage? They were screwed the moment they tried. 'Course our patrons didn't know that and they decided to be our "savior"- probably wanted some free food. Particularly that Newgate-taicho's crew. Looked all indignant on our behalf. Heh. What a load of crap. Anyhow, they were doin the whole showdown style thing and just as the tension reached a peak…bam! Mona made her debut.

Now, something ya need to know about Mona is that she's from the Long Arm Country. That means she'd be the perfect hostage right? Those long arms are a big target. But…Mona's special, even for her people. See, Mona was born with a weird little diff'rence in her two elbows. They can bend both ways. And thanks to that, whenever she wears wide sleeves (most of the time), no one can tell that they aren't normal length. So when an idiot pirate takes her hostage, he gets an elbow to the face before he gets kicked a little lower down. And that was exactly what happened this time.

So, Mona gave the lead idiot a bloody nose and a crotch shot as our patrons watched in shock, and escaped his grasp quite easily. And while the pirates attempted to pick their jaws up off the ground, Haru-kun stepped forward to send the prats away. The tension increased and the idiots started to fall like windless sails. Our patrons kept gaping, but I smiled. Every time Haru-kun knocked out some idiot, he reminded me of our initial meeting.

I'd been living on the streets of some port town, can't even remember the name, but I'd been cornered one night by some slave-trading scumbags with a homemade electric fence-turned-net. I'd almost been totally out of it, but I knew something was changing. And then I felt the pressure. Like I'd swum to the seafloor without realizing it; except for the fact that I was still on dry land, I could've sworn that was what happened. And before they could do more than gasp for air, they were on their hands and knees, coughing violently. And then I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was rockin gently and wet. Haru-kun had put me in the largest barrel he could find, filled it with water and set me in a shaded portion of the top deck. Mona-chan gave me a few clothes when she saw I was awake, and offered me a job (already approved by Haru-kun of course) as a bus girl/ server/ whatever they needed. And of course, I took it.

Even as half-fishwoman, there are some things ya don't question. The big predator is one of them, and boy, could I tell that Haru-kun was one of them. He was the one almost everybody thinks is a myth before he sneaks up and devours your crew as you watch helplessly. How Haru-kun collected his school though, that's the puzzle I'll never understand- and I'm a part of it.

Kon-kun's the bottom-feeding shark, predator but willing to wait. Mona-chan's the lionfish, flashy but deadly. Xeno-kun's the stingray, poisonous but unassuming. Luna-chan's the clownfish, harmless alone but living in a deathtrap. Variel-chan/Q.-chan/Waneta-chan is the octopus, powerful but adaptable. And then there's me, the sea snake, doing whatever it takes to survive- even if that means joining such a mismatched grouping of fish.

A mix of species that should be tearing itself apart at the soonest moment it could has lasted seven years, and it doesn't look like it's going to rend itself any time soon.

Can't say I'm too upset about that either.

AN2: Sooo….what do you guys think? A pretty long chapter for this story if I do say so. Roger is to be introduced next chapter and I'm a bit nervous about how to portray him. He's Gol D. Roger for Calypso's sake! That means that Ace should be coming into the picture soon as well! So go vote on the poll on my profile page please 'cause I'll be closing it soon.