Hello readers! I apologize for the short prologue as well as the short second chapter. I haven't been feeling all that well lately, but hopefully this chapter will make up for it. There will also be a lot more character interaction as well. Thanks for reading!

Simple Curiosity

When you have insomnia, morning either comes too soon, or not fast enough. Luckily the liquor in her body helped with her normal problem of being able to fall asleep. Dreamless, comfy sleep. At the very least, it was a nice thing that the condition of the bed she was sleeping on, was not as old as the building itself.

Aiko herself was in no way, a morning person. She preferred watching the sun set, not see it rise. It was damn near late noon when she finally arose from her bed, and started getting ready for the day- if it wasn't for the tightening of her empty stomach, she probably would have laid down, for awhile longer.

The streets bustled with people, unlike the night before. There were actually more women, and even children moseying along the dirty streets. Surprisingly happy, considering the neighborhoods', less than fortunate, state. But where there were people, and obviously now, by the shit load, it could be the perfect opportunity to get back on track with her mission.

In the streets of the nicer part of town, an odd couple of men strolled down the cobblestone paths, at a leisurely pace. One of the men wore a suit, and polished dress shoes. Well groomed hair, and not so much as a single scar or a hint of stubble on his face. Polarized glasses hid his eyes from the world. The second, was not so much of a 'looker'- and by that I mean his appearance was a look more, gruff. Although just as equally attractive as his counterpart. His hair, was long and shaggy, almost reaching his shoulders. Shirtless; his skin tanned, and covered in scars as well as tattoos. Black pants, were tucked into heavy, black boots- an iron glove on his right hand, and a flintlock at his side.

Odd looks for an odd pair of men, were coming from every direction, as they continued through the city. The gruff man went by the name, Kasmir; and at this point as the looks kept coming, it was starting to tick him off more and more.

"What the fuck are all these people staring at?!" He yelled, finally verbally announcing his opinion of, increasing irritation. The bystanders and townspeople quickly averted their eyes, as they went about their personal business.

Behind those polarized lenses, his partner rolled his eyes. Haruto, was this mans name, and by the way he carried himself you could tell he had a lot more manners, even if he didn't like people staring at him.

"For one, we are not from around these parts, not even close. Secondly, you are walking around shirtless, and carry yourself like some sort of bandit..." He paused slowly looking over to the man next to him, before finishing his sentence. "Or better yet, a fucking beast."

"Ouch. Kinda hurts my pride a little, ya know?" He countered, rubbing his shoulder as if it had just been hit really hard.

"I really couldn't care less. Now let's get back to our business. I swear, if the baron had not ordered me to do this, I wouldn't be here or with you." Haruto sighed, as the two continued on, turning down another street.

"Come off that crap, you know as well as I, private missions have damn good pay. It also says something about how good you are at doing your fucking job as well." He grinned, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his pants.

"I suppose." Was the only thing that was said in response.

The two men had been in town for nearly, a week, but they never expected to be failing royally at their mission. The Marina was indeed a very large city, almost superseding the size of Water 7. The more they walked around, they still couldn't find the person they had been sent to look for. It was annoying to both of them, to say the least.

Aiko had found a small job working aboard a merchant ship, moving their cargo and counting inventory. It was definitely a nice thing since she had previously worked for the owner before, that he was more willing to take her on a journey with him.

She bowed towards the man before exiting the ship, and thanked the man for his kindness, explaining he would return first thing tomorrow to help him move the items on his vessel.

With the look of excitement on her face, and her hood pulled over her eyes, she did not notice as she walked right into someone. Cursing to herself, she held her nose, as she looked up to apologize.

"Damn...sorry about that, I don't usually walk into people." Aiko spit out slowly.

Her blue eyes met steely grey orbs, a quirked eyebrow, and a sword almost as tall as she was. She cocked her head to the side slightly at the rather familiar looking man. Yeah...it was totally the same guy from the bar- minus the sword.

"Oh..it's you again." He spoke flatly, not even bothering to accept the apology.

Aiko rolled her eyes at his dry words. "I'm not a 'you'. It's Aiko, like I said I'm sorry. But if you're not gonna accept the apology fine. I gotta go."

Pushing past him she started back on her adventure to see Cyril like she had promised him the night before.

"What trick did you pull on him last night?" He called out behind her, just a few feet away.

Sure, she was in somewhat of a hurry, but his question made her halt in her tracks.

"Trick? I have no idea what you're referring to, 'Captain'." She smirked back at him, before heading towards the door of the tavern.

At this point the man was now slightly more curious about her, and he wanted to see her do what she did, again. By the end of the night he was going to make sure he saw it, and if not, well... A glint of mischief danced around his grey eyes, as he too headed in the same direction.

"This is just fucking impossible. How goddamn hard is it to find a single woman?!" Kasmir yelled, as the two sat down for dinner.

Dinner was at a rather nice place, and considering the location in which they were in, there weren't going to be any seedy bars and crap for food.

Haruto sighed as he placed the napkin in his lap, and grabbed the menu that had been set down for him. With his shades now resting on the table, it was much easier for Kasmir to tell what he was thinking.

"Don't you feel the same way, Haruto?" He asked as he peered of her menu.

Haruto shrugged, as he took a sip of his wine. "I guess, but for all we know she could be long gone, or hiding. I do not think interrogating everyone, with you, would prove anything. We don't have a time frame for this one, however I'd like to get it done as soon as possible- without hurting her."

"I wasn't going to hurt her...but I was considering a headlock or something to you know, put her to sleep." Kasmir replied after placing his order. The look on the waitresses face altered a bit as he said that, feeling quite uncomfortable.

"You really are such a brute, Kasmir." He retorted quickly before also placing his order, and finishing his statement. "We will stay on this side of town for another day or two, then move to the next side. Although I don't think she'd be staying there, it's quite dirty and run down. It doesn't suit her at all."

Once again he walked up to the tavern, pushed through the heavy door, and found the same shenanigans of that so-called, 'captains', crew. Ignoring their state of intoxication, she slowly made her way towards the same barstool as the previous night.

"Good evening, Cyril!" She greeted in a surprisingly happy tone, one that actually startled the man who, had his back turned to her.

"Ah I see you made it through the night alright miss." He smiled warmly, turning around to give her a proper greeting.

"Told ya! I'm sure I can take care of myself." She grinned.

"I didn't doubt you for a second, it's just I have granddaughters that look around your age, I'd tell them exactly what I told you, if they were in your situation." He replied with a shrug, setting down a glass in front of her.

"Well thanks for doting. Anyway, I think I'll have a glass of your Sauvignon tonight." Aiko stated, and he nodded in response, quickly switching out the glasses for her.

He grabbed a bottle that was dusty, and probably as old as himself. "Here. I don't find many people I like sharing this with, mostly because people here, don't really have much class or taste for good alcohol. They just want something that'll fuck 'em up real nice and quick, for cheap. But I am willing to share this with you, it's on the house as well."

"I couldn't possibly..." She started to say, but was stopped by the presence of someone taking a seat next to her.

Turning to look at who it was exactly, her smile turned into more of a smirk. It was the man from before, once again.

"So are you possibly stalking me, or something?"

The glint of mischief still shining in his eyes, as he shrugged. "I doubt that, but however, you started a game."

"Oh? And please tell me, what game are you referring too, Mister...?"

"You can call me, Law."

"Law huh? Okay, well if you must know, I do love games- and fun games require intelligence and strategy. However...what's it to you?"

Oh yes indeed, this was going to be fun for him.

"That trick. I simply want to know what you did, and how you did it."

Aiko paused for a bit, to sip her wine and bum a smoke from the tavern owner. As she blew out a plume of smoke, her mind was deep in thought.

"It wasn't a trick- but how will knowing this be beneficial to you at all? I see no merit in receiving such information, at least not for you."

"You misunderstand, I find it very intriguing. What I have to gain from you telling me, doesn't have much to do with you- call it simple curiosity."

"Well alright. I ate a Devil Fruit, a few years back. Maybe seven or even eight years ago, I lost track."

Bingo. Now all he would have to do is to get her to show him again, and since she seems very compliant, it shouldn't be too hard...right? Right.

"Which fruit? And how can you use it?"

Aiko laughed to herself, at him not even bothering beating around the bush.

"Chishiki Chishiki no Mi. I am able to read thoughts, and rack through a persons memory if I so choose to. Nothing super flashy or anything, but it's proven very useful to me. However I do not use it unless I really need to." She shrugged taking another sip of the excellent wine she had received.

'How interesting; a power like that can be extremely useful,' Law thought to himself, but he was broken from his thoughts as once again, one of his crew members was drunkenly approaching him.

"Captain! You're finally here, I thought you were gonna be stuck in a bookstore all night. Let's have a drink to celebrate, the log pose being set!" A man in an identical boiler suit as the other man from the night before- except he had his eyes shadowed by a hat that read, 'Penguin'.

"We're leaving bright and early, and I don't give a damn if you or anyone for that matter is hungover, you will be working and not sleeping in." Harsh, like cutting glass, was the tone his voice had just taken on.

Aiko once again watched a funny scene unfold before her eyes, and snickered to herself.

"Your crew is funny, they seem to be a lively bunch. How nice." She told Law, with a slightly fond look on her face.

"As long as we get to where were going, and everything is in perfect condition, I don't care what they do in their free time."

Aiko shrugged, before taking the last sip of wine. It was sad to see it go, but it was most definitely delicious. Like most people who drink alcohol, she started finding herself a bit more talkative than normal.

"Sine you asked me a question, it's only fair I get to ask a few in return."

Law chuckled under his breath, and found himself agreeing with her. She sat and thought for a bit before finally opening her mouth again.

"What're you doing here, in the Grand Line? Are you after Rogers' treasure as well?"

"You could say that. I am in no rush to get there either." It wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for, but since she had been so out of touch with the world for the past few years, it was nice to see people who still wanted it.

21 years ago:

"Father...what are we doing so far away from home?" A young girl asked with the spark of adventure and curiosity in her eye.

Her father smiled down at her with a similar look on his face as well. He loved adventure, and he loved sailing with her as well. They both stood next to the beautiful carved railing on the starboard side of the ship- watching the waves crash against it.

"We are going to see The execution of one of the most famous pirates in the world." He replied with a smile.

"Execution? That doesn't sound too pleasant father." Her once cheerful face was turned into a morbid frown, upon berating her fathers answer.

"No it does not... However, I had the pleasure of meeting this man once upon a time." Her father recalled in an almost fond manner.

"Really? Is he a good man?" She asked, looking up at him.

Her father chuckled lightly, ruffling her coffee black hair. "Yes. A great deal of the world may not think so, but I would have to disagree."

The girl gave him a quizzical look as she pondered I this new information. Curiosity was getting the better of her, and like every child she found herself asking a bunch of questions. "I thought pirates were bad? Isn't that what everyone says?"

"Listen Aiko, there are good people, and bad people. What you do in your life doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, it's the reasoning behind it. Because we do not need the assistance of the World Government, or the Marines, we tend to stand on neutral ground. In this day and age, that is something very hard to come by."

Her face once cheerful again, smiled. "I understand. But doesn't it make you said that your friend is going to die?"

Another chuckle came her way. "I wouldn't necessarily say we were, 'friends', my dear- but we did in fact get along to a great extent. The least I can do now, is see him in his final moments of glory. I brought you on this trip because I wanted you to see the man, whom , I admire a great deal. I'm sure if you were old enough at the time, you might remember him as well."

"I see...well... Onward! To The execution!" She grinned happily at the sight of this new adventure, as well as finally understanding the reasoning behind such a long voyage. Her father, and some of the ship mates around them laughed at her sudden cheerful outburst.