"It's been a long time since I issued your orders, Mr. 3. What's happening on that island?"

Ah... So this place must be Mr. 3's hideout while he's here... He's... here! Shit! The others! I wanted to run and find them, but if I made too much noise Sanji would probably be found out. I stayed in place, but we shared a glance.

Sanji cursed under his breath.

"Well? I asked a question, so I expect an answer. Have you eliminated princess Vivi and the Straw Hats as you were ordered?"

Sanji forced himself to relax, "Oh yeah, I eliminated all those pesky brats like you said too, your secret is completely protected. So there's no need to keep going after them anymore."

"I see." Crocodile responded, "So, as we speak the Unluckies are headed your way to confirm the success of your mission, and deliver a certain... package."

Sanji looked at me, I mouthed to him, "Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday." He nodded.

"The Unluckies, of course. And.. a package?"

"It's an Eternal Pose that will point you towards Alabasta kingdom. Once that arrives you and Ms. Goldenweek will head for Alabasta, it's time for the next phase of the plan. We are about to begin, embarking upon our most important operation to date. Details will follow after you reach Alabasta, wait for my orders."

There was a noise coming from the windows, Sanji and I looked, there were Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday, staring at we who were obviously not Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek. "Uh... What the? What are those?" Sanji asked, staring at the sea otter and vulture.

Ms. Friday moved her wings, revealing guns beneath them, she trained them on Sanji and me as Mr. 13 took apart his large sea shell, revealing blades.

"Mr. 3, What was that?" Crocodile asked over the transponder snail.

I quickly took the receiver from Sanji pointing to the Unluckies, hoping he under stood I wanted him to take them out, making my voice sound higher, I said "Oh just some pesky creatures that inhabit this island. They've been annoying to deal with while we were stationed here."

Ms. Friday shot at us, I dodged, grabbing the snail and keeping it tucked by my chest, I gulped as the sea otter ran at the chef, Sanji just barely lifted his leg up fast enough to dodge the creature's blades.

"Oh, so I guess you're trying to kill me, huh? Well monkey, bring it on!" He brought his leg back wards kicking the sea otter firmly into the wall. I silently cheered for him as he set his sights on Ms. Friday, "Alright you, what now?" Ms. Friday fired again, Sanji dodge all the bullets and I curled in more, out of everything the Transponder Snail couldn't get hurt during this fight. The chef grabbed the vulture's head between his legs, "So what are you gonna do now, you oversized chicken?" He hopped, thrusting all his weight to one side, snapping Ms. Friday's neck.

"What's going on?" Crocodile asked again.

I fumbled with the receiver, "Nothing really, just those stupid island animals. But Mr. 3 has taken care of them."

There was a dangerous pause. "You mean mere island animals gave Mr. 3 a hard time?"

"Aaahhhhh..." Sanji took the receiver.

"Don't worry, it's just..." Don't say it, don't say it! "That Straw Hat captain was still alive. But I finished him off real good this time, really, no need to worry."

Dammit Sanji! I screamed in my head.

Another dangerous pause. "What do you mean he was still alive? I believe that just a moment ago you said your mission was completed successfully, isn't that correct?"

"Yes, that is what I said! .. I mean I absolutely thought it was completed then, but that Straw Hat guy is really a lot tougher than you'd expect..." Sanji stood up, taking the Transponder Snail with him as he moved back to the table.

"So let me see if I understand..." Crocodile said dangerously, "The reports you and Ms. Goldenweek gave me were a complete lies?"

"Well... Yeah, when you put it that way I guess the reports weren't the truth.." He looked over at me and I fixed him with a glare. "But.. Now I've gotten rid of that Straw Hat for sure. So there's no need for you to send anyone else after him or the others."

I bit my lip, waiting to hear what the Warlord would say. "Very well, take the Pose and head straight to Alabasta from there immediately. Do you understand me?"

"Yes..." Sanji said. "I understand."

"Good." There was a moment of silence before he started speaking again, "We'll have no more radio contact from now on, understand? If the marines were to catch on to what we're doing, that would be most unfortunate. From this point on all of my orders will be sent via letter, following the usual protocol. That will be all, Mr. 3. Good luck on your mission."

There was a click as the line went dead and the Transponder Snail went to sleep.

"Well... Looks like he hung up..." I said, taking the receiver from Sanji and placing it on the Snail.

The chef stood up, walking over to the bodies of Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday "Now.. I wonder who these guys were..."

"They're the Unluckies, look for the Eternal Pose Crocodile was talking about." I said, walking over beside him.

He bent down and picked up a Pose. He lifted it over his shoulder for me to see, "This it?" He asked.

"Yeah, that would be an Eternal Pose to Alabasta."

Sanji nodded, "Now what do we do?"

"Go look for the others?" I half suggested and half reminded.

"Right." We exited the wax house and once again trekked through the woods. This time we didn't need to call out to them, because thanks to something in Sanji he just knew the right way to go.

"Nami, dear! Vivi, my love!" He called happily, the smoke from his cigarette turned into hearts. "And all the rest of you."

I waved, "Good to know you're not dead."

"Hey! Sanji! Leanah!" Luffy turned, smiling at us. Though.. a very different vibe was coming from Usopp and Carue.

Sanji walked forward, arms out wide, "You're all still OK! I'm so happy!"

I sighed, then stared wide eyed at the two giants. "Whoa..." I said softly, "They're giants..."

"What the hell is going on?!" Sanji ran closer to the Giants, "Is one of you guys Mr. 3?"

"No way." Nami said looking at him, "And just how do you know about Mr. 3 anyway?"

I walked over to Zoro.

"Hey." He said.

I sighed, inspecting him, "Christ, Zoro! What the hell did you do to yourself?!" I stared at his half cut off ankles.

He looked away, "I tried to escape."

"By cutting your feet off?! Zoro, that's what feral animals do! Not promising swordsmen!"

Zoro stood, up, teetering slightly, "Look, I can walk just damn fine, OK?"

"No!" I said, "No it is not OK!"

"Shut up, looks like Sanji is about to say something."

Sanji sat down not to far away, "So we've been busy, We jut got done talking with that Mr. 0 guy over Transponder Snail."

"M- Mr. 0?!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Yeah, that guy, I was talking to him in this weird hideout place Leanah and I found in the jungle. He thought we were some people named Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek, I thought it would be a good idea to let him think that. And... since I had him on the line... I went a head and told him that... we were all dead."

Vivi pressed a hand to her chest, "So... he thinks he doesn't have to send people after us anymore!"

Usopp looked to the sky, "So you're saying that we're finally free of people chasing us now that we can go anywhere anyway!?" he started crying, "Oh that's just great!"

"I wouldn't say that just yet, Usopp." I said smiling, walking over to Sanji.

"We can't go?" Sanji asked, "Why is there something we still need to take care of here?" He reached into his pocket. "That's a really shame after we managed to get a hold of this thing." He held up the Eternal Pose. Everyone stared at us with wide eyes and wider mouths. Sanji blinked, "Uh.. what?"

Luffy laughed, "An Eternal Pose to Alabasta! ALRIGHT!" He, Usopp and Carue dance for joy. "Now we can set sail!"

Nami rejoiced as well, "Yes! I knew something good was going to happen!"

Vivi ran over and hugged Sanji, "Oh thank you, Sanji! I was getting really worried! Thank you!"

I sighed as Sanji almost melted at the hug.

"You did good." Zoro said.

I glared at him, pointing to his ankles, "You're getting those wounds stitched up on the ship."

"Chs." He began walking away.

Vivi let go of Sanji and walked over to Nami and the others. Sanji stared at Zoro as he passed, "Zoro, hold on a sec." He stood up. "So, uh... you forget about our hunting contest?"

I groaned.

"Nope. I hate to tell you this, but you lost." He brought his arms up, "I caught a Rhino that was this big."

"That doesn't sound very tasty, but I guess you can eat it." Sanji walked closer to him.

"Sounds just fine to me." He replied.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Goooooddddd..."

"Alright, giant old guys, It's really been a lot of fun." The captain said to the giants, "But we gotta go!"

I looked up at the giants, there was one with a long brown beard and one with a short tan beard. The one with the short tan beard nodded, "Right, of course you need to get going."

The one with the long brown beard smiled, "It's too bad you have to leave so soon, I hope you get to your homeland in time."

Vivi smiled up at them, "Me too! Thank you."

Luffy began jogging backwards towards Merry, "See ya! Try not to die any more, OK?"

I followed behind the two bickering idiots who were totally engrossed in talking about their hunting competition. I scratched my head, I felt odd without my bandana, I didn't even have the other one on my person. I puffed my cheeks getting tired of hearing them go on and on about how much bigger their catch was than the others.

It didn't even end when we got back to the ship! They kept bickering!

"See! I told you mine was bigger than yours! I win!"

Shut up! I shouted at them in my head.

"You should look closer, my lizard is much bigger!"

"What? Are you blind or something? My Rhino is obviously so much larger than your stupid lizard is!"

Luffy smiled, "It doesn't really matter, they both look yummy!"

"JUST SHUT UP, LUFFY!" They both shouted.

Zoro glared harder at Sanji, "Yours doesn't even have horns!"

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

I rubbed my temples as Nami sighed, "Children, how long are you going to fight? We don't need all of it anyway! Just cut up what we do need so we can get out of here already!"

Sanji turned, "Right! Of course, Nami!"

The swordsman wasn't letting it go, "Leanah, Tell him that I'm clearly the winner here!"

"Don't care." I replied bluntly.

"Usopp!"

"I don't really care either."

Vivi leaned on the railing, "Can't you two just call it a tie?"

Zoro scoffed, "I don't believe in ties I fight to win." I glared at him.

"JUST HURRY IT UP YOU TWO!" Nami shouted.

That scared them enough to get them to stop bickering.

Sanji quickly got as much meat from the two beasts as he could that would be able to keep.

Usopp and I dropped the sails and Zoro pulled the anchor in.

I crossed my arms, staring at the blood seeping through Zoro's pant legs. "Nami, can you sew?" I asked.

"Hm?" The navigator turned to me, "Yeah.. a little... but.. My hands aren't steady right now.." Nami said holding her hands up, they were shaking.

I sighed, "Vivi, get the med kit, and a towel," I turned to Sanji, "Get what ever alcohol we have left, I think you guys might want to stay out of the kitchen for a while."

"What? What are you planning?" The swordsman looked genuinely terrified.

I turned to him, pulling him over and into the kitchen, "I'm going to sew your feet back on." I pushed him on to a bench as Vivi and Sanji brought the requested items. "Shut the door behind you!" I called to them as I grabbed the towel, "I'm sorry." I said as I gagged him with it.

His hands gripped the edge of the bench and he began to scream at me through the towel.

"Relax!" I shouted at him, "I haven't even started yet!" I knelt down, putting on gloves then carefully disinfected the needle and string with the alcohol. I rolled his pant legs up, disinfecting the wounds little by little.

Threading the needle wasn't to hard since it was wet, but then every time I got close to him with it he freaked out. "Stop squirming or I'm gonna mess up!" I said slapping his knee. He only squirmed more, "Don't make me get Sanji in here to hold you down!" I threatened. He glared at me, "I could just as easily tie you to a chair." He started into another muffled rant, I quickly grabbed his ankle and pushed the needle through the skin, pulling the thread through and continuing to do so in a zigzag pattern.

Eventually Zoro passed out from the pain. "You're stupid." I chastised the passed out swordsman, "I mean really, how would you have kept your promises to Luffy and Kuina with no feet?" I cut the thread, knotting it as best I could then stared on his other leg, "Not to mention how Hawk-eyes would react." I continued the fluid motion of pulling the needle through, "I assume he would be as disappointed in you as he was with Shanks back when he lost his arm saving Luffy." I was glad he was passed out, even if it was from pain. I grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped his wounds tight enough they wouldn't open but not so tight it would cut off circulation.

A few moments later and I emerged from the room, "I've finished. They're not the prettiest stitches in the world, but they're the best I could do." I sighed, "I'll move him into the boy's room later. Right now I'd just like to get out of here."

Nami was giving me the weirdest stare, and Usopp just barely looked up at me. I sighed, stitching felt far too familiar for my tastes.

"Couldn't you have gotten any more meat on the ship?" Luffy ask the chef.

"Are you kidding? There's no way we could preserve more than this, if I had it would have just rotted before we could eat it."

"Honestly..." I sighed.

"Are you actively trying to sink us?" Nami asked, poking the captain.

Luffy pointed towards the end of the tributary, "Hey look! It's the giants, they must have come to say good bye!"

I gulped, I had a feeling they weren't there to say good bye...

"A great danger still lies ahead of you." The short tan bearded one said.

"It is an obstacle that has always been here, trying to prevent people from reaching the next island." The long brown bearded one said.

"Uhhhhhh..."

"Every one of you fought like true warriors to protect the pride our duel."

"And because of that, no matter what enemy you may face..."

"We will never let them destroy your pride, friends!"

"You must have faith in what we say. Go straight! No matter what happens, go straight!"

"Yeah!" Luffy said, "Got it!"

I crossed my arms, "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

"I don't get it." Usopp said, "What did he say?"

Luffy repeated the giant's words, "No matter what happens, just go straight!"

We sailed out past the two giants, "This is good bye.." One of them said.

"Look! Over there!" Nami shouted, pointing at something that was surfacing from under the water. I stared at it, from the parts I could see it looked pinkish, almost like... a giant fish!

"AHHHH! IT'S A MONSTER!" Usopp shouted.

"Whoa! What the heck is that guy? A gold fish?"

"I-... I- It's- It's a giant gold fish!"

Nami turned to Usopp, "Hey! Usopp, stop standing there and go work the rudder!"

"Yeah, but... we need to keep going straight, isn't that right Luffy?"

"Yep."

We sailed closer and closer to the fish's mouth, my grip tightened on my swords. Trust what they said! I told myself.

"Luffy! Don't be a moron! This isn't going to be like it was with Laboon!"

"Yeah, I know. But calm down... Here, I'll let you have the last rice cracker." Luffy tossed her something.

"I DON'T WANT A CRACKER!" But she caught it anyway, "If we don't turn the ship around right now that thing is gonna eat us!"

Carue began freaking out, I ran over and opened the kitchen door so the duck had some place to hide, also to check on Zoro. Still passed out... "Everything will be fine, Nami, trust the captain, just this once!"

"Luffy, are you sure we can trust those pals of yours?" Sanji asked.

"Yep."

"Are we really going to willingly head straight into that beast?!" Vivi shouted.

"Uhhuh!" Nami cried, "It's too late to turn now!"

I shut my eyes and almost ran into the kitchen myself. I heard the fish shut its mouth much to the screaming dismay of my crew mates, except Luffy, who was laughing.

"JUST GO STRAIGHT! GO STRAIGHT!" Usopp yelled as if it were a magic phrase.

"WHAT DOES THAT MATTER!? WE'VE ALREADY BEEN EATEN!" Nami shouted

"WHO CARES?! JUST GO STRAIGHT!" Luffy yelled.

After a second there was a flash of light as something penetrated the giant fish, and in an instant there was natural light again. The giants had been true to their word. We were not (technically) eaten, I let out a relieved sigh, shaking, that was definitely one too many times being almost eaten by large sea creatures.

"Ha ha ha! We're flying!" Luffy shouted as we came out the other side.

"Wha-?" Zoro was awake now.

I let out a peal of laughter, "This is amazing!" I shouted. "I can't believe it!" I laughed more, "So this is that feeling they all talked about!" I was exhilarated, and happy, and I couldn't believe I'd never felt a feeling like this before. It was just... pure... pure... peace, I suppose. All I know is, it was the most amazing feeling in the world, and that wasn't the last time I felt it.

Author'sNote:

And another piece to the mystery that is Leanah's past silently slips into place (only not so quietly because she messed up a lot causing quite a bit of pain). Let me get these two out of the way right now: No, she was not training to become a surgeon or a doctor.

Also Y'all can start calling me the master of sneaky foreshadowing. I've carefully worked a few things in previous and later chapters that hint at things that will happen in Alabasta.

Your Ever Willing Author,
Kari910