After breakfast the crew seemed to settle into a usual routine. Zoro lounging on the railing, swords propped next to him while he slept, Usopp working on a new super secret weapon, Luffy on his perch, Nami and Vivi were chatting about the Grand Line, and the plan for Alabasta, I had been helping Sanji with the dishes before he insisted he could do it himself.

I sighed and went to the girl's room, Sanji had apparently noticed how much I like wine and taken the time to set up a mini winery in the room. I smiled, but ignored the wine for now. I let my sights on my suitcase, popping it open. It was time to find out what exactly it was Shanks left me.

I took the box in my hands, carefully opening the top and peering inside. I frowned at the thing inside slowly pulling it out. Another note rested below it.

I blinked at the Eternal Pose in my hands, then set it down and pulled out the note.

Leanah,

This is where you'll find us 9 times out of 10.

We'd all be glad to have you back anytime.

Shanks.

I folded the note up and stared at the Eternal Pose. The name along the top read Saffron. Heh. I laughed, sticking the Pose back in my suitcase. Thanks... but no thanks, I've got my own crew to look after now. I shut the suitcase and went back up on deck.

"We've lost the wind again." Nami said, staring at our flat sail, "At this rate it'll take us forever just to reach Little Garden. We won't be moving for while."

"We're running out of time..." Vivi said. "We need to go."

I smiled, "Stop worrying, Vivi," I gave her a thumb's up, "We'll get you to Alabasta in no time."

Nami pat her back, "Yeah, the wind'll pick up soon."

Luffy hopped from his perch, "Right! Now it's time to fish!"

Vivi's duck- who's name is Carue as I have been informed- warked in agreement.

Sanji walked out with the bail bucket. "Hey guys, do any of you know where the bait went."

I frowned, "Last I saw it full, Luffy was by it."

The captain walked over and looked in the bucket, "The bait? Oh, you mean the stuff in there? Yeah... I ate that."

"Ewww!" I shivered, "Those were bugs!"

Luffy reached in and picked up what I assumed was the last of the bait and stuck it in his mouth. "I know. They were good."

I clonked him on the back of his head, making him spit out the bait, "Don't eat worms Luffy!"

"Euck! That's gross!"

Sanji had a tick mark on his head, "Well done, how are we supposed to fish now that you've scarfed down all of our bait?"

"Try using this." The captain held up a burr.

"We can't fish with that!"

He dropped the burr and looked up slightly, "Those are some picky fish..."

I wrapped and arm around Luffy's head and twisted, "You've eaten all of our bait! Now what do you do!?" I let go and his head spun until it was back to its normal position.

The slightly dizzy captain pointed to Carue. "How about him?"

Sanji inspected the duck. "That could work..."

Carue reacted in horror and began running around the deck to get away from Luffy and Sanji.

"HEY!"

"Get back here!"

I chased as well, "No! Guys you cannot use Carue for bait!"

We circled the deck twice before Carue swerved only to step on an unsuspecting Zoro. The Swordsman did not take kindly to such a rude awakening, "OW! Dammit! Knock it off, you guys!"

Our navigator sighed, "I suppose it's to much to ask..." She slammed her hands on the railing of the upper deck, "FOR YOU GUYS TO BE WORRIED!"

"What should we be worried about?"

"Ah! You're simply beautiful when you're angry, Nami!"

"Come on!"

Vivi crossed her arms, "It just seems odd, for someone with a 30 million berry bounty on his head your straw hat captain sure doesn't seem to be a particularly terrifying pirate."

I started trying to pull Luffy off Carue, "Ain't that the truth!"

Nami laughed, "I know it's really hard to imagine, but he's actually beaten some really big names out there, like Arlong, the fishman who was determined to rule the East Blue, and Don Krieg, the pirate commodore. Also Kuro, a mysterious pirate who was notorious for his cunning."

I tapped my foot, letting go of Luffy, "And that Buggy the clown guy..." Luffy, Nami, and Zoro stared at me, I looked around then rubbed the back of my head, "Well, I'm assuming that was Luffy, I just heard someone uprooted Buggy from where ever he was."

Zoro sat back in a relaxed way, "You left one out."

"Huh?"

"That freak marine captain who had an ax for a hand..."

"Oh yeah! Ax-hand Morgan!" Nami smiled.

"The Ax-hand Morgan?" She looked at Luffy in awe, "From what I know, he's feared by sailors throughout the East Blue for his strength and cruelty." I glanced back at the captain only to see him, Usopp and Sanji restraining Carue. "You're saying that Luffy even beat him?"

Luffy paused in getting the rope around the duck and smiled at Vivi, "Right, the old ax hand man!" He dropped the rope completely, looking up at the sky, "Speaking of the old ax hand man, I wonder what that kid who was with him is up too these days..."

"Huh?" Usopp said glancing at Luffy and allowing Carue a chance to escape.

"Hm... I wonder if he's still at the marine base?"

The wind returned, "Who do you mean?" Nami asked.

"Oh. His name's Coby, he's a friend of mine from way back." Luffy smiled.

And really nothing else of note happened that day, other than Nami telling us we would arrive in Little Garden in two days.

And the day after that was at least a little more interesting depending on if you like me being between a rock and a hard place. The day started as most would, Zoro and I were the first ones awake, We would possibly spar, or just critique each other's styles, then Nami, Vivi, or Usopp would filter on afterward, and Sanji would come out and make breakfast and Luffy would bound out of the cabin.

I sighed, then turned to Zoro, "Hey, Do you have any polish? I used the last of mine in Lougetown."

"Hm? Oh, yeah." He reached into a pocket I had not been previously aware of and tossed it at me.

I caught it and sat down next to him, "Thanks."

"No problem." I slowly went about polishing Ami and Ana. After a long moment Zoro said, "Who was the first Warlord you saw?"

I looked at him, "Huh?"

"You said back in Whiskey peak that Crocodile will be the second Warlord you've seen. Who was the first?"

I blinked at him. "Uhhh..." I leaned back, "Hey Sanji! Need an help in the kitchen?"

"No, but that you for offering, Leanah dear!"

I twitched, Dammit Sanji, I'm in distress right now! Be the heroic prince and save me! "Are you sure?!"

"Very!"

I cursed then focused on polishing my swords.

"You didn't answer the question." The swordsman sat up, staring at me, "Who was the first?"

"I don't remember!" I said hastily.

Silence.

Zoro's stare briefly turned into a glare before he stood up, leaving me to polish my swords alone. God! How could I just let something like that slip! Jesus, am I trying to give myself away? I thought angrily.

"Hey! Who are you calling delusional?!" Usopp shouted from another part of the ship, he was also banging on something which Nami was not pleased by.

"GUYS! KNOCK IT OFF! SERIOUSLY, CAN'T YOU BE QUIET FOR ONE SECOND!"

"Leanah!" Sanji called, "Your dessert is ready!"

Oh. Now you call me in! I stood up, sheathing my swords and leaving the polish on the deck. I entered the kitchen to find Usopp attempting to eat my dessert. I hit him, "My dessert!"

Sanji pointed, "Usopp, your dessert is over there." Usopp ran over and quickly ate his dessert. There was a distinct lack of usual cries of the captain about food. "Where's Luffy?" The chef asked.

"Hm?" Nami looked up at Sanji, "Oh, I sent him to go use that water drawing machine to draw some water for my shower."

I blinked, "You... You sent Luffy?" I almost couldn't believe it. "Nami, you sent Luffy, Luffy, To go use our very breakable water drawing machine?"

She shrugged, "He may be an idiot, but he can't be-"

CHASH!

"You were saying?" We all ran out on deck to see Luffy.

"That thing is kind of scary..." He said, glancing back at the smoking water drawing machine.

"Luffy!" Usopp shouted. "Look what you did! You broke it!"

"What? It's not my fault, I was just trying to draw water faster!"

Usopp tinkered with the broken machine, "This is bad. The belt's broken." He tinkered with it some more, "And it's burned up!"

"Yeah, strange, huh."

Nami hopped down next to the captain and his him, "No it's not, considering your freakish strength."

"Can it be fixed?" Vivi asked.

"Yeah.." Usopp said, shutting the door behind him. "We need to stop somewhere and get the materials..."

Nami glared at Luffy, "For now anyway it's probably better if I don't ask Luffy to try it again."

"I do it." I volunteered, I wanted to do something to get my mind off of every thing.

Nami shook her head, "Nah, Thanks for offering Leanah. Usopp," She walked over to the Sharp shooter, "Could you draw me some water with the other water drawing machine? I still need water for my shower."

He sighed, "Yeah." Then he blinked, "Hey wait! Leanah volunteered to do it so why do I have to? Or better yet, do it yourself!"

Nami paused, staring down at Usopp, "I'm not making Leanah do it because she actually helped at Whiskey Peak. Now stop whining and hop to it!"

Luffy looked up at the kitchen, "Hey... I can smell food!"

Usopp got in his face, "And you, can't you at least say you're sorry?!"

"Alright I'm sorry, but we've got another one so what's the big deal?"

"When you break something it's only polite to say you're sorry!"

"Will you two shut up, I'm trying to get some sleep!"

I sighed, Three days... It feels like four months!

Vivi looked up, "Oh, Hey Nami, look."

I looked up as well. There was a bird perched on the mast of our ship. It seemed to be carrying something.

"Oh, it's the newspaper!" The navigator waved the bird, down and gladly traded a coin for a paper, the three of us entered the kitchen followed by Carue, Sanji, Luffy, and eventually Zoro.

I sat down to finish my dessert as Nami and Vivi settled on either side of me, Luffy and Zoro across from us.

"Honestly, I can't believe the morning paper doesn't get here until noon!" Nami complained as she flipped through the paper.

Vivi fed part of her dessert to Carue, "Well it certainly can't be easy delivering a paper on time in the Grand Line, We should really just be thankful we get the newspaper at all, you know."

Nami smiled oddly, "I guess that is true, huh?"

I looked over at her, "Read a few headlines would you?" I asked between bites.

"Sure." She scanned down the page, "One of the four pirate emperor's heard boasting about former crew mate." I choked on what I was eating as Nami looked at Vivi. "Pirate emperor?"

Vivi frowned, "The pirate emperors are four of the worlds most dangerous pirates, it's assumed that they all turned down offers to become Warlords and are now locked in a never ending power struggle in the second half of the Grand Line." Carue at the rest of her dessert and she pat his head. "It's safe to assume that who ever that emperor was boasting about is someone very strong, and probably very dangerous."

I slowly covered my face. That idiot! I cursed internally.

"Shanks... what exactly is it that you do?" I asked one night.

He smiled, "Well, I'm a pirate, of course, so I pillage and plunder."

"Be serious." I said to him as he handed me a glass of beer.

"I'm one of the Four Pirate Emperors of the New World."

"And that means...?"

Shanks grinned evilly, "Well, all you need to know is that you're sailing with a very dangerous man." He laughed maniacally, downing his own glass of beer.

"Ha. Ha." I said sarcastically, drinking the glass slowly.

"Leanah? Are you alright?" Zoro asked.

I nodded, "Yeah... I just... I've heard horror stories about the pirate emperors." I frowned, "They can be terrifying people... or so I've heard." I pushed my unfinished dessert mid-way between Luffy and Zoro, "You can have the rest of that," I looked over at Nami, "Read some more."

Nami scanned through the paper some more, then she stopped, reading one article fully, carefully, and worriedly. Vivi glanced at her, "Did you find something else interesting in there?"

"Ah! Oh, no it's nothing, really." She quickly flipped to the next page.

I blinked, What did you see, Nami? I asked in my head, What would've shaken you so much that you act that defensive? I sighed, propping my elbow up on the table.

Luffy stuffed the entire dessert in his mouth, then saw something in the paper that caught his attention, he slammed his hands on the table, leaning towards Nami. "MMRRMM!"

Nami looked back at him, shocked, then realized he was reacting to paper, "Oh, What is it?" She asked, holding the paper slightly over a bit.

"Hold on a sec!" Luffy said after he had swallowed his mouth full of food, "Zoro come check this out!"

"Hm?" The swordsman set the cup he was drinking down.

"At what? It's just a picture of some marine guy." I twisted, trying to get a look at the picture.

"Yeah, but it isn't just any marine guy they took a picture of!" Zoro leaned over to try and get a look at the picture as well.

"Heh.. That's Coby, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Coby?" Nami asked, turning to the captain, "He's that friend you were talking about the other day?"

"Yep! So what's the paper say about him?"

"Let me see..." Nami carefully inspected the article, "Vice-Admiral Garp arrives with his crew at marine head quarters, the picture show here was taken just after they crossed Reverse Mountain. Garp, of course was relaxed and in control, some young marines didn't fair as well as their commander, however, they sat huddled together on the deck, their faces frozen in fear."

"Whoa... So Coby's here in the Grand Line too!"

"And it said marine head quarters, not bad for the kid." Zoro sat back, smiling.

"Right! Coby's gonna be a marine mayor, one of these days!"

I frowned, "Don't you mean officer?"

"He does mean officer." Zoro confirmed, then glared at Luffy, "Marine's don't have mayors, idiot!"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Luffy grabbed his hat, "This is great! I bet Coby is working really hard right now!"

I smiled, "I bet. Could you imagine the beating he's getting? Between the heavy work load he could get at being under the scrutiny of Vice-Admiral Garp..." I sighed, "It takes a lot of dedication to put up with that kind of treatment..." I felt someone stare at me, I didn't need to look to know who it was. I stood up, "Well... I have to go finish polishing my swords." I turned leaving the kitchen and returned to my spot on the upper deck.

I settled into a smooth motion, carefully making sure I got every spot, I glanced up.

Zoro was glaring at me, it was a look that said I'm on to you.

"If you've got something to say.." I said, looking back down at my swords, "Then don't just stand there like a creep and say it." I was only keeping a calm façade, I was about ready to spontaneously combust underneath.

He just humphed and moved to another part of the ship, presumably to train. I sighed, my shoulders slumping.

"Christ..." I don't even know what I should've felt more guilty about, that I had lied about Kuina or that I was keeping my past with Shanks and Mihawk a secret.

The rest of the day passed with me avoiding Zoro like the plague and hiding out in the girl's room. Thank god Sanji put in that mini winery.

I was six and a half drinks in, sitting in front of Nami's desk when Vivi came down to check on me.

"Leanah?"

I looked up at the princess. "Yeah?"

"I have some questions.." Vivi sat down on the bed.

I set down my half empty glass of wine, "Shoot."

"You... called me Vivi before we arrived in Whiskey Peak.."

I rubbed my eyes, "I know... and that's been bothering me too..." I looked up at here, "You see, I can't give you an explanation for that. I wish to god I could, but I've had amnesia for a while now... The same thing happened when I first met Sanji."

"Oh..." Vivi stared down at the floor, "I'm-"

"If you're about to apologize, don't bother." I smiled at her, finishing my half a glass, "It's not your fault I have amnesia."

She nodded, "Right. So-" She smiled apologetically, "Whoops."

I laughed, "Don't worry, now you should get above deck, It's a lovely day out there, I'm just down here trying to sort things out."

Vivi walked back out onto the deck, leaving me alone again.

I blinked tiredly, putting the glass away and passing out in the chair.

I faintly heard a noise, then felt something touch my shoulder, "Hm?" I looked up at Nami who was holding a finger over her lips. She placed a paper the paper in front of me, pointing to an article. There had been a power shift in Alabasta. The rebel forces were now bigger than the royal army. This was a problem. I glanced down at the soundly sleeping princess. This was a problem she didn't need, not after Igaram.

I nodded and Nami opened the draw of the desk silently and slipped the paper inside, I closed the drawer. We shared a glance.

"Vivi doesn't need to know what's happened." Nami mouthed.

"Agreed." I replied, "Now go back to sleep, we've got a big day tomorrow."

She nodded and tiptoed back to her bed and sliding under the covers. I laid my head back down on the desk. Something big was going to happen on Little Garden, and I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it.

Author's Note:

Teehee. I'm such a mean person! I have so many good ideas planned that only make Leanah's life worse! There's a moment when you love a character and you only want the best for them, and then you put them through unimaginable horrors just to make them better people/stronger. Ah, but those are the best days to be an Author... Anyway, I love your reviews, keep them coming!

Your ever willing Author,
Kari910