We sailed. And for a while it was warm, sunny, with calm winds. Perfect sailing weather.

Then why the hell did I get all bundled up? I asked myself internally. I had on my thick long brown coat, and was roasting, but something in me wouldn't allow me to take it off.

Nami looked at me like I was crazy, "Aren't you hot in that?"

I shrugged, "Eh, You can never be warm enough."

Another hour passed and I found myself digging the shovels out from the hold.

"Now shovels? Are you OK, Leanah?"

I nodded, "Yep. Perfectly fine. I just... I have a feeling we'll need them..."

Nami crossed her arms, "Need them? Look at how nice it is." She whirled around, admiring the weather. "It's perfect out today, how could we possibly need the-"

A snow flake fell from the sky. And suddenly, the once warm weather felt like a walk-in freezer.

"My old captain told me the weather on the Grand Line is unpredictable, we need to be ready for anything.." I said softly as Nami stomped off to get her coat.

I tightened my bandana around my head, I didn't like the feeling I was getting. Something was going to go wrong... and soon. I walked over to my sleeping rival and kicked his leg, "Wake up."

He remained unresponsive.

I knelt down, "Wake up, Zoro. It's starting to snow."

Still unresponsive.

"WAKE UP, IDIOT! YER GONNA FREEZE."

He simply shifted.

If I had been more spiteful I would have taken his swords. But I didn't want to touch Kitetsu the Third, and his attachment to the Wado Ichimonji was so strong I felt like I would spontaneously combust if I stole it.

Sanji walked by, holding a warm drink out to me, "It's useless, once he's sleeping I bet he won't wake up ."

I sighed, taking the drink from Sanji. "Well... It was worth a shot..." We walked back to the kitchen, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday huddled closer together, I downed the drink, ignoring the burning in my throat. "Sanji, what happened after I left the Baratie?"

The chef puffed on his cigarette. "Well, I didn't realize you'd left until Zeff told me to serve this dick marine. But after that, Luffy showed up, he raised hell around the restaurant. Then Ghin showed up... After he left Don Krieg arrived at had the nerve to try and take over." Sanji fell quiet, a dark look on his face.

I think I knew what came next. "What about you? Why did you leave?"

He smiled, "It was the old man." Sanji began washing out a pot and I joined in, washing out my cup and other things, "He told me I should go."

"By telling you to get the hell out?"

He nodded, "Sounds about right."

I chuckled, "Zeff always had his own way of getting things across."

The door slammed open, "IT'S A BIZZARD!" Usopp shouted.

I glanced out the window. "That's not a blizzard." Sure it was snowing harder at this time, but it wasn't a blizzard. "It's just a light snow." The two mystery people kept laughing quietly at their own thing.

Sanji looked out the window as well, "Yeah, I've seen storms much worse than that."

Usopp quickly left again, and returned in no time flat in a blanket. I sighed, "We're all getting into warmer clothing, but Luffy's probably too much of an idiot to notice the cold, and Zoro's asleep." I put the clean dishes away. "I feel a little bad about Zoro out there without a coat or something."

"Why do you care?" Sanji asked.

"Why?" I froze for a second, He could die in the snow without something to warm him up... If he died then... His Promise... Kuina... I turned, smiling, "We've both got promises to keep, it would be unfair if the weather killed him before I'm able to."

I didn't realize how creepy I must've looked. It makes sense now why Usopp and Mr. 9 were staring at me in horror. I turned again, and walked out onto the deck. It was very cold, but it didn't bother me. I'm used to the cold, and love it actually. But this cold was unnatural.

I grabbed some blankets from the hold, dusted Zoro off, and draped one over him. At least now the snow won't choke him. I thought. The snow started falling harder now. I retreated back into the kitchen. "OK.. Now, it's a blizzard." I rubbed my arms for warmth then tossed the other two blankets at Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday. "Here. Use these." I went back to cleaning dishes.

Nami burst in. "Why is it so cold!?" She moved over to the window, "You could build a freaking snowman with all the snow on our deck!"

"Luffy is."

"Really?" Usopp was outside in a flash, joining our captain in making snow people.

"Sanji, get out there a shovel some snow."

"Yes, Nami dear!" Sanji grabbed the shovel I had gotten from the hold earlier and merrily went to shove the snow off of the deck.

Nami brooded, glaring out the window. "Can somebody please tell me why it's snowing? It was hot and sunny just a few minutes ago."

"Crocus did say that the weather was unpredictable." I supplied, rubbing my arms, "Even my old Captain told me about the unpredictability of the Grand Line."

I put the clean dishes away, sounds of shouting coming from outside told me that Luffy and Usopp had gotten into a snow fight. "How they can be so freakin energetic in the freezing cold is beyond me."

"How Zoro can sleep in it is beyond me." I said turning to her. "I mean, Luffy I can understand. He's inhuman. Usopp... Eh, he spent most of his life running from people who were chasing him away, so of course he's build up some resistance to the elements. But Zoro..."

"He's crazy." Nami shrugged, I nodded in agreement.

"Nami!" Sanji shouted from outside, "Shall I shovel some more for you?"

"Yeah. Just keep going until it;s gone. You're doin' good."

"You really shouldn't lead him on like that..."

"Thank you! My pleasure!" He shouted back.

Mr. 9 spoke up, "Excuse me, doesn't this ship have a heater? This environment is inhumane."

"I'm cold." Ms. Wednesday complained.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!" Nami shouted, "YOU'RE NOT GUESTS HERE! YOU WANNA WARM UP? GO SHOVEL SNOW OR SOMETHING!"

I glanced up at the sky. "Um... Nami..."

"WHAT!?"

I pointed up at a storm cloud as it let out a clap of thunder and spark of lightning.

"Lightening? First snow now lightning? What's going on here?" She seemed in awe, "I've never seen anything like it... one minute it's a cloudless sky...the next it's a blizzard... It's like the normal rules of nature don't apply..." She turned away from the window, deep in thought. "Just like Crocus warned us.."

Ms. Wednesday sat up straighter, "So what do you think?" She asked, "Ready to turn back yet?" I almost wanted to snap at her.

"You and your friends have no idea how to survive the Grand Line." Mr. 9 cut in.

"I noticed you haven't steered for awhile..." Ms. Wednesday smiled almost evilly. "Is that wise?"

My heart jumped, Crap! She's right!

Nami didn't seem as distressed, "Wh- I know our heading, I just checked it a while ago..." She walked outside to check the log pose, and screamed. I didn't hear what the other crew members said, but I knew what was coming, I dashed outside. "I only took my eyes off of the log pose for a second..." Nami said, "I thought the waves were calm..."

I didn't wait to hear what retort Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday had. There were bigger problems. I walked down the stairs, "OK, if we wanna get through this it's gonna take a lot of work."

"Right!" Sanji said from the upper deck.

I nodded, and stood, ready to do what ever Nami shouted at us to do.

She had all of us at stations, doing our best to get the ship back on course, even the two agents were working.

"Hey wait!" Usopp said suddenly as the clouds cleared away. "It looks like the wind's changed!"

Nami looked over at him, "Huh?"

The clouds and snow gave way to warm breezes and sunshine, if we weren't in a panic it would have been nice to admire it.

"The first spring gale!" Mr. 9 said, getting warm.

Nami shouted at them to continue working. I over to the railing, "Usopp help me get the sails!"

"Okay!" He ran over and we both worked to get the sails in position. The blanket I had place over swordsman Sleeping Beauty flew off. I grabbed it before it could fly off of the ship. Usopp shouted at Zoro, "Hey wake up snow man! We're in a crisis!"

"Yeeeah." Came his still sleeping reply.

I groaned angrily and tossed the blanket below deck. We were running all over the ship, following the navigator's every order.

Luffy naturally got distracted. "Hey! I think I just saw a dolphin jump, let's go follow it!"

Nami, who was already having a bad day and didn't want to deal with Luffy shouted, "YOU KEEP QUIET!"

"N- Nami! High waves and an Ice burg at 10 o'clock!" Usopp shouted, "This isn't good!"

"A fog 's rolling in!" Sanji stated the obvious.

I felt bad for Nami, she must have been losing her wits. "This is insane!" She screamed.

"This is the Grand Line!" I shouted back, then turned to Sanji pointing to the steer, "Sanji! Get in there and see if you can't change our course!"

"On it!" he ran at full speed and pulled his hardest. Nami joined him when we were at make-or-break distance. I ran over, stopping briefly in front of Zoro, "WAKE UP, YOU ASS!" I shouted, kicking him, then booking it over to help them.

I pushed with all my might, This is it! We either make it with a scratch or die!

The ship shook from the impact. Nami rushed out onto the deck, Luffy met her, "Nami! Water's pouring in from the bottom of the Merry!"

"Well fix it!"

Usopp ran below deck, "Got it!"

More fretting and suddenly the wind picked up. I climbed up to the Crow's Nest, working through my fear of heights. "Nami! Storm clouds ahead! It's gonna be big!" I screamed down to the deck.

"We gotta hurry!" Nami shouted.

"Big time!" Luffy confirmed.

"PULL IN THE SAILS! WE'RE GONNA OVER TURN!" I did the best I could with my fear nagging at me. Climbing down at more of a falling speed than climbing.

Sanji brought out the pre-prepared food, "Everybody needs to eat to keep their strength up." I hobbled over. "Leanah, what's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"High... I'm not good with heights." I reached out and grabbed one of the rice balls.

He looked miffed as he pushed Luffy away from the food "Damn! If Zoro had bothered to wake up you wouldn't have needed to valiantly battle your fear for the sake of our safety."

I smiled taking a bite, "It's fine. I'll do anything if it's for the good of the crew." I didn't stick around, there was a lot more to do. Nami pulled on a rope, trying to get the sail up, everyone on the boat could hear the begin to tear.

"Aw crap!" Usopp said, flicking his goggles on, "The sail 's gonna tear!"

Nami snapped at him, "Don't worry about that! Go fix the leak!"

Ms. Wednesday checked the hatch, "There's another part of the ship damaged below!"

Usopp ran, "Dammit!"

Luffy ran across the deck, rice ball in his mouth, in a panic. "If thish keheeps up we're gonna sink!"

"What?!" Mr. 9 shouted, flailing his arms.

I grabbed a rope, fighting to keep the sail up, I shouted, "Mr. 9, stop freaking out and come help me keep the sail in place!"

"Right away!" The 'king' grabbed the area of the rope just above where I was holding and we pulled.

I glanced over at the other rope it was threatening to come loose. "Sanji! The other rope!"

"I see it!" He grabbed it just at the knot came undone. "Shit!"

Usopp popped above deck again, "Nami! We're almost out of wood! What do I do?"

"Use the rest of it! We'll restock in Whiskey Peak!" She shouted to him, and he disappeared again.

I squinted against the wind, "Nami, what's our heading?!"

She glanced down at the Log pose, "We're on course, but this storm doesn't seem to be letting up!"

Mr. 9 and I pulled the rope as tight as we could, "Now, Mr. 9!" He quickly tied it in a tight knot. I rand over to help Sanji and Ms. Wednesday. "Ms. Wednesday, go help Usopp below deck!"

"Right!" She let go of the rope and disappeared below deck, leaving Sanji and I to get this rope in place.

This is the most exhausting thing I've ever done in my life! I said to myself as Sanji knotted the rope in place.

"Are the ropes tied?" Nami asked.

I nodded, "Tighter than ever."

"That should be everything unless something else goes wrong."

I ran into the kitchen and got myself a glass of water, then went below deck. "Oh god!" Water was everywhere. I popped above deck, "Sanji! Get buckets! Every single one we have!"

He was there and back in the speed of light. "Here!"

I handed a bucket to Ms. Wednesday, "Fill it with water and hand it to Sanji!" I turned to the chef, "Once we give you a bucket toss the water overboard! If we don't get rid of some of this water soon we'll sink!" He nodded as I grabbed a bucket for myself.

Usopp broke the surface of the water, "Gah!"

"Is the leak fixed?" I asked handing a bucket full of water to Sanji.

"Almost! There's just a little more I need to fix!"

"Hurry! Merry can't take much more water in her and there's only so fast Vivi and I can go!" Usopp submerged again, and Ms. Wednesday froze. I turned to her, "Don't stop! We need to get this water out NOW!"

The blue haired woman worked double time. After the hull was patched Usopp joined us in getting the water out, and when we were done with that, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

It was warm, sunny, with calm winds. Perfect sailing weather.

And we were all laying on the deck, completely exhausted.

Except for Luffy, who was on his usual perch, and Zoro, who had finally decided to wake the hell up.

I heard him stand up, "Well, I'm rested." He walked over to us, "Come on, the weather 's nice n'all, but that's no reason to be lazy." He turned, "We better be on the right track, that's all I can say."

Shut up, you bastard! I thought angrily.

"What are you two doing here?" I assumed the question was towards Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday.

"YOU FOOL!" Mr. 9 shouted in substitute of an actual answer.

"We're on a side mission to take them home, their town 's called Whiskey Peak."

"Since when did we become a transport service for thugs?" He asked rhetorically, "We don't owe them anything."

"I donno." Luffy answered.

"Ah... Why did I even ask." I pushed myself to my knees. I wanted to do way more than beat him in a fight at that moment. I saw him kneel down in front of Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday. "So, tell me, what were your strange names again? Because I don't think that you can be trusted."

The distress on Mr. 9's face showed greatly. "Um, well... My name is Mr. 9."

"I'm called Ms. Wednesday."

Zoro smiled, "Riight... You know those names sound familiar, and that's what's bothering me. In fact the more I think about it, the more I'm certain I've heard them somewhere before." The pair squeaked.

How would Zoro know them? Unless, did who ever they work for try to hire him? I didn't even notice Nami walk up behind him.

"Or... maybe I hav-AUUG!" Nami punched Zoro with impressive force, "Gaaahh!"

She glared so hard at him I could swear I saw a red haze surround her. "You jerk! You think you can just sleep while we do all the work!? You're lucky we didn't toss your lazy ass overboard!"

He glared back at her, a green haze surrounding him.

The next few moments were truly amazing.

Zoro stood up, ready to punch Nami back, but she ducked kicking him firmly between the legs then on the head several more times.

Mental note: Never fight with Nami when she's angry.

Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday cowered before Nami as Zoro nursed his head. She stood tall, "Listen up everyone! There's no way to know what's going to happen next!" Sanji grabbed and lit a cigarette. "During the terror most of us just experienced I came to the understanding of why this sea was named the Grand Line. My navigation skills are useless here, anything can happen, but mark my words I WILL guide us through!"

"Uhhh... Okay." Usopp said. "You sure about that, Nami?"

"Without a doubt!" Everyone was standing now, "We're gonna be fine, just wait and see!" She walked forward, staring out over the sea, "Speaking of which," She pointed through a fog covering the horizon. "We're here!" The fog seemed to magically clear, revealing and island that seemed to be filled with giant Cacti. "Our first journey on the Grand Line comes to an end."

I couldn't help but laugh with joy. "We made it!" I shouted.

"It's an island!" Luffy said.

"So this is Whiskey Peak." Sanji stood in awe, "The landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen."

"Whoa, those cactus are humongous!"

Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday jumped on to the railing, everyone looked over at them, "Thank you, but we must be leaving." Mr. 9 said.

"It's been an interesting ride to say the least," Ms. Wednesday glanced at me.

"Perhaps we'll meet again someday."

Then together they said, "Bye-bye, baby." Before back flipping into the water.

"Uhhh... Well that was a quick exit..." Nami said.

"I guess we'll never find out what they were really up too."

"Aw, who cares? We're landing!" Luffy had his eyes firmly locked on shore.

There's a water way all the way up to the shore-line." Nami observed, "We can go inland by ship."

Usopp started shaking, "Er... Um... I'm weighing the possibilities of monsters out there."

Sanji breathed out a puff of smoke, "That's definitely a possibility. This is the Grand Line."

Luffy looked back at Usopp, "No problem, if we find monsters, we can just leave."

Nami stepped forward, "That's not true, according to what Crocus said, it's imperative we stay on this island, at least for a little while."

Luffy tilted his head just slightly, "But why?"

The navigator raised the arm that had the log pose on it, "The log pose needs enough time to record the island's magnetic field, and until that's done we have to stay put."

I looked at the sky, fighting my way through a haze to memories of what Shanks had explained to me about Log poses. "It can take different amounts of time depending on the island right?"

Nami nodded, "Some may take a few hours, others may take several days."

Usopp got even more defensive, "Suppose this island is crawling with monsters, what if we get stuck here waiting? That's stupid! We'd be done for! What's the point of navigation coordinates if you're dead?"

"It's either we wait, or sail blind, Usopp." I said turning to him, "Would you rather die horribly at sea, or valiantly fighting monsters?"

That seemed to quiet him down. Luffy smiled, "Let's not even think about the monsters until we have to. Their not even there!"

Zoro leaned forward, "As strange as this seems, I agree." That is strange.. Zoro agreeing with someone? Almost as strange as Shanks without beer! "Let's not worry yet."

"Now that that's settled," Sanji said, "Let's get going, and I'll keep you safe Nami and Leanah."

Usopp suddenly grabbed his throat, "I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it with this cold, it's a condition really," I rolled my eyes, Usopp had a long way to go before he was even close to being a brave warrior of the sea. "You guys just go on without me."

Nami glanced at Whiskey Peak, then back at us, "Alright everybody, get ready, and make sure you're prepared to run as well as fight."

Usopp continued on his fake disease, "I think I've really got it bad, in fact it's commonly refereed to as 'Don't Go to the Island!' disease!"

We sailed into a thick fog, "What's waiting for us out there?" Sanji said to himself.

I grabbed Ami's hilt, "I don't know... but I have a bad feeling..."

Things seemed to get dangerously quiet, even with Usopp's whimpering. I gulped, the feeling I was getting never lead to anything good. I had gotten the same feeling back when I met Hawk-eyes.

Luffy squinted through the fog, "Huh... something's moving over there."

Sanji noticed it too, "Who are they?"

I looked and saw the growing shapes as well. "The people who live here?" I ventured, tightening my grip on Ami.

"Be on your guard everyone." Nami warned.

Usopp drew his slingshot, "Well, I may have to fight monsters, but at least I came prepared." Zoro stayed silent, a hand hovering over the hilts of his swords, ready to strike at any moment. Usopp continued, "Who ever's out there be ready. Show yourself and face my wrath!" His knees were shaking so much it was amazing he was even standing.

We sailed a little further, and... Wait... is that... cheering?

The fog around us cleared, reveling a huge crowd of people. Cheering people.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!" "Greetings and good tidings great travelers!" "We're happy to have you here in Whiskey Peak!"

Usopp flicked his goggles down, magnifying the people, "Those aren't monsters, they're people... and they seem happy we're here."

Luffy laughed, Sanji seemed a little more skeptical, "What the hell 's wrong with 'um?"

"Pirates are always welcome in our town!" "Hooray for the heroes of the Sea!"

What the hell?!

Author's Note:

Up next most of the fun times in Whiskey Peak. The fine (drugged) wine, the kind (bounty hunters) People, Zoro taking all 100 Whiskey Peak agents, and Leanah the background ninja!
Also... kudos if you spot the memory slip Leanah has. It shouldn't be too hard, I punctuated it very well.

Your ever willing author,
Kari910