A/N: It's been awhile, huh?

Chapter 27

Bounty Huntress

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The rowdy cheers and encouragement from the excited pirates filled the air.

Harry circled his opponent cautiously, lightly flexing his right hand around his katana and slowly twirling a heavy throwing knife around the index finger of his left hand to build up momentum.

"Beat him up, Dino!" came a cry. Luffy was watching with delight, enjoying his time on the pirate ship now that Shanks let him on board, even going so far as to have him rowed over in his own row boat in the mornings. "Show him pirates rule!"

Dino, a blond man with thin glasses and a dragon tattoo, responded to the young boy's cheer with a roar and charged at Harry with his katana held tightly in his right hand.

A diagonal slash approached Harry's chest, quickly blocked as Harry lifted his sword upwards, twirling his body a half circle backwards with the momentum and tossing his knife out at his opponent's shoulder. Dino dodged downward and lunged forward with his left foot, thrusting his sword towards Harry's neck. Harry sidesteps it and pushes the attacking sword downward, grabbing a dagger from around his waist and making as if to stab it into the pirate's arm.

The pirate turned his body by stepping his right foot backwards and to the left, moving closer into Harry, pulling his outstretched hand away and using his other arm to elbow the wizard in the back. Harry fell to floor with a grunt, but managed to roll away, covering his retreat with a few small, blindly thrown knives.

Dino dodged the knives easily and rushed forward as Harry rose into a crouch, bringing his sword up to block the rush-attack, falling backwards at the force of the attack. The pirate, moving too quickly with the inertia of his run, lost control, his sword scraping off Harry's as the wizard's sword was lowered.

Harry rolled into a somersault with his fall backwards, leaping up to attack Dino from behind, sword extended. The pirate skidded to a halt mere moments later, sliding around a half circle and bringing his sword up as he did so.

For half a minute, all was silent on deck but for the heavy breathing of the two men, Harry with the tip of a sword pointed beneath his chin and Dino with a blade laid against his neck.

"That was awesome!" Luffy screamed, pumping both fists into the air and jumping off the barrel he was seated on to dash towards the fighters.

The silence broken, all the pirates let out a cheer of approval at the fight, Shanks' laughter roaring in the background as Luffy chattered excitedly with his replay of the fight at the two men humoring the young boy with fond exasperation.

Finally Yassop took pity on Dino – who was having trouble keeping up with Luffy's rapid subject changes and praise – and Harry – who was being snubbed every two minutes or so whenever Luffy realized he was talking to the "non-pirate" – and led the boy away to watch a sniping demonstration, picking up an excited Spaz along the way.

"He's a cute kid, isn't he?" Beckman asked Harry, lighting a cigarette while leaning against his rifle while watching Luffy run off with Yassop.

"Very adorable," Harry agreed, "though he seems quite stubbornly determined to hate me." Yesterday, Harry had made the mistake of explaining to Luffy that although he was hitching a ride on Shanks' ship, he had chosen to refuse Shanks' invitation into his crew as a pirate. Luckily, Spaz was able to avoid the kid's fiery temper by wisely forgetting to inform the child of his own similar situation.

"Ha. He's got a strange obsession with pirates for such a young age. He probably just doesn't understand why anyone who has the chance to be a pirate would refuse," Beckman explained.

"A lot like Shanks, that way."

Beckman chuckled. "Yes, he's quite similar to the Captain. If you replace that black mop with a head of red it'd be quite a sight to see."

"Aww, come on Beckman, don't tempt me," Harry pouted, fantasizing slightly about the heart-attack it would give a certain blue-eyed Warrant Officer to see a Shanks mini-clone. However, he didn't want to startle the villagers too much. On a quiet island like this one, who knows what would happen if he openly wielded magic? Even the pirates refrained from visibly using Haki.

"Come on then," Beckman offered, "let's catch up with the others. I'm sure the show's over and now the Captain is partying again."

The two arrived at Partys amidst the anticipated loud noises of drinking pirates. Yassop was at the bar this time around, talking to Luffy.

"I've got a son, you know," he slurred, "about your age."

"Really?" Luffy asked. "Wow! Why didn't you bring him along to be a pirate with you?"

"Stuuupid," Yassop replied, "he was too young! I left him behind, and followed the call of the pirate flag! My wife's a real gem, letting me go like that."

The pirates playfully jeered at their prized sniper. "Shut up! Get a room! Lover-boy!" they called out.

A mock brawl broke out between Yassop and a bald man who had been making smooching faces, the other pirates cheering them on, spilling beer and sake everywhere in their enthusiasm, to Luffy's annoyance as his shirt was splashed.

Spaz started commentating for the fight for a few minutes, but eventually there was nothing to really announce but a jerky struggle on the floor with no clear winner. He made a noble effort, reporting so-and-so's dramatic leg twitch and his opponent's hand waving, but had to stop when laughter overtook him.

"Let's have some music!" Shanks ordered when the wrestling died down to a hopeless mess of limbs rolling around on the floor. "George, you got your harmonica?"

The bald man detangled himself from Yassop, lifting a hand and confirming with a grunt as he patted down his trousers in search of the instrument.

"And uh, well darn, Freddy's got a broken arm so there goes our fiddler. There's no piano either. Hmmm… what songs can we play with only a harmonica?" Shanks wondered aloud.

"Do you think Freddy would mind if I borrow his fiddle?" Harry asked, when it seemed like no one had any suggestions.

"Oh? Can you play?" Shanks asked.

"A little, if the melody is simple."

"Wonderful!" Shanks exclaimed. "Alvin, go ask Freddy for his fiddle. George, let's have a go at Binks' Sake!"

The pirates cheered and banged their tankards on the table in approval. Even Spaz seemed excited, having recognized the tune.

George played a simple but upbeat tune on his harmonica for Harry while Alvin fetched the fiddle. When the fiddle arrived, Harry picked out the tune with the bow for a bit until he played it smoothly enough for George to join in.

Shanks enthusiastically led the pirates to start the singing between gulps of beer. As Harry grew more confident, he filled in the pauses with some jazzy accompaniment, playing along with George's considerable skills on his mouth organ.

Luffy quickly picked up the lyrics and joined in on the chorus, and the pirates sang the evening away.

"Hup," Shanks grunted, lifting Luffy from his hiding place behind a barrel in the rowboat.

"Aww, Shanks, let me come this time!" Luffy whined, arms crossed and lips pouting as Shanks tossed him back on land by the scruff of his shirt.

"Sorry, Luffy," Shanks grinned unrepentantly. "We'll be back in a week or so; you can wait that long, yeah?"

The rest of the trip back to the ship was uneventful and when lunch time rolled around, the ship was sailing smoothly in search of a merchant ship or two to raid. The crew was running a little low on metal items like bullets, and some fresh fruits and vegetables wouldn't be remiss either since they didn't want to burden their little town headquarters too much with the sudden increase in food consumption.

It was mid-afternoon, with most of the crew storming two ships headed by a wealthy trader, when the ship was witness to an interesting visitor. Harry and Spaz were chatting together, sitting on the railing along the edge of the ship, ignoring the charging sounds behind them.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about the stealing. He had broken many rules and laws during the war against Voldemort, including stealing, but it somehow seemed different. Back then, they did it for something, well, nobler, sort of, right? Except, when Harry nicked a loaf of bread from a baker while on the run, he sure as hell wasn't thinking of anything "noble" beyond filling his and his friends' empty stomachs. Perhaps survival was a good enough reason, and in the end, no one was going to die as a direct result of this raid.

The wizard snuck a peak behind him at the thin man trembling against the wall of his ship. With his display of garish gold jewelry piled before him in offering to the pirates, it was easy to believe he'd survive this small raid still financially sound.

Out of the blue, an adolescent girl – thin, with pixie-cut black hair and cloudy blue eyes – leaped up over the edge to balance on the railing next to them.

Reflexively, the two reacted to the unknown threat, Spaz leaping to stand up into a slight crouch. Harry rolled backwards onto the deck, one hand palming his wand while the other gripped onto a throwing knife. As an afterthought, he phased into ghost state, pleased that the girl would likely be unable to tell since his appearance didn't change between the two states.

"Hmm," the girl hummed in thought. "Black hair and green eyes – very pretty, blonde hair and brown eyes – rather unusual…" From the long cloth belt tied around her waist, the girl withdrew a stack of large cards of varying colors bound with a rubber band. Slipping the band onto her wrist, she quickly flipped through the cards. "Oh, there's one person with black hair and green eyes," she announced, raising the card up at eye level as if to compare directly with Harry's face.

With a few glances back and forth, the girl giggled. "No, definitely no, am I right?" She flipped the card over to let Spaz and Harry see. On the card was a picture of a muscular man with crew cut black hair, black stubble on a cleft chin, and tiny green eyes glaring out from the image.

"I'm Mona, by the way," she introduced herself, by now gathering a small crowd as a few pirates returning with boxes of apples and nails stopped to stare confusedly at the newcomer. "Mona Blue."

"Blue?" the pirates chorused, some a little nervously.

"Yep," Mona confirmed with a cheery grin. She cocks her head to the side, a little confused by the reaction until she clapped her hands in revelation. "Ah! You must've heard of my Uncles Johnny and Roxy! Is it true they're both in this ocean right now?"

"Uncles?" the pirates exclaimed.

Shanks strode from around the corner of the cabin. "Dahaha! The whole family's come to greet us, eh?"

"Aaa!" Mona exclaimed, pointing at Shanks and them shuffling quickly through her cards. "You've got a bounty on you!" she proclaimed, waving a card wildly in the air. "A red one, Kami-sama above, what have you done?"

"Red?" Spaz asked. "What's that mean?"

"My cards are color-coded," Mona beamed, "red means over two hundred million beli has been offered as bounty. What kind of ridiculous things does an East Blue pirate do to earn that?"

"My name's Red-Haired Shanks," the pirate captain introduced himself with a tilt of his straw hat, "and I'm a Grand Line pirate who spars regularly with Hawk-Eyes Dracule Mihawk. I think that scares a couple of the old men up there. And you, young lady?"

"Mona Blue, Bounty Huntress, pleased to meet cha!" she winked. "I'm only fifteen, but I've caught ten million beli bounty heads already, so watch your back! You're kind of cute, but don't think that'll stop me from trading in some of your crewmembers for bills."

"Dahaha! Well aren't you a cheeky one?" Shanks teased. "Alright, come on men; hurry it up with the boxes. Harry, perhaps you could cook up something special for dinner since we have a guest?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You just want there to be dessert today. I've told you, haven't I? I stopped making desserts everyday because number one, we were running out of sugar and butter, and number two, it's not healthy."

"Aw, come on, Harry! This merchant's carrying loads of sugar; I'll have the men bring some aboard."

"Actually," Spaz piped up, "do you have a butter churn on board? The cows have been pretty productive after feeding them with fresh grass this past week."

"Eh," Shanks scratched his head beneath his straw hat, "you'll have to ask Beckman, or maybe Greg."

"Mmkay," Spaz replied, and shot off eagerly with a nervous glance backwards towards the girl who was happily reorganizing her cards by hair and then eye color.

Harry sighed. "Fine, I'll make something special. Honestly Shanks, what kind of Wanted pirate treats a bounty hunter to dinner?"

Shanks just grinned.

"Well, Miss Blue?" Harry asked. "What kind of foods and sweets do you like?"

"Hmm," she hummed, rewrapping the cards with her rubber bands, "I'm rather partial to chocolate."

"Oh!" Shanks exclaimed. "I forgot to mention that the merchant has a few bags of cocoa powder. It shouldn't ruin him if we take one."

All moral inhibitions fled from Harry's mind at this announcement and he practically squealed.

"Perfect," Harry exclaimed, desperately trying to keep his excitement down at a reasonable level. If he had to name one thing he missed most from his old world it would have to be chocolate. He was starting to believe that this new world didn't have chocolate and he was ecstatic that wasn't true. The pastry chef in him was twirling circles as recipe after recipe flew through his mind. There was just so much that could be done with chocolate that Harry couldn't do up until now.

"What about dinner?" Harry forced himself to ask as he watched Shanks leave, presumably to fetch the cocoa powder.

"Um, how's curry sound? I haven't had decent beef curry in months!"

Harry perked up at the request. "Wonderful! Curry then chocolate, both specialties of mine! Considering you've decided to eat out on a pirate's ship, you're in for a treat!"

"Can I watch you make it?" she called after him, as Harry made for the kitchen.

The wizard froze, then tilted his head back and asked coldly, "And have you poison the lot of us?"

There was a tense moment of silence as Harry stared steadily into the uneasy eyes of the bounty huntress before he chuckled and turned away. "Sure, come along. You have to make sure we won't poison you either, right?"

"Great!" Mona chirped, as if the pause never occurred, and skipped after Harry into the kitchen.

Harry discretely threw a cooking ward over the stove and a muggle repelling charm on the cabinet doors. Wards couldn't be used over potions cauldrons since the magic often had unknown effects on the brewing potion, but since cooking was a mostly magic-insensative process, it was useful against poisoning attempts, especially on the war front.

Mona seated herself on the kitchen island as Harry began preparing to cook. Spaz returned quickly, and though he still looked nervous around the bounty huntress, he seemed cheerful enough.

"Found the butter churn!"

"Great," Harry grinned before taking pity on the fidgeting boy and sending him off again. "Fetch me some cream? Yesterday's batch of milk should have a thick layer of it left."

"Yes sirree, Harry, will do!" and he shot off.

"Let's see, chocolate mousse cake will be perfect, I think, and I'll use whatever cocoa powder is left to make chocolate bars! Oh, I wonder if I could make truffles, maybe some filled with fruit liquor. I know we have apple cider somewhere. Ack, but there aren't any chocolate molds, obviously," Harry muttered to himself as he paced around the kitchen before striding to the refrigerator and rustling through the freezer. "I suppose an ice cube tray would work. Ha, cubed chocolate truffles, should still work fine I think."

Mona giggled. "Chehee, you're pretty excited."

"Of course," Harry agreed. "I haven't been aboard this ship for that long, all things considered, but chocolate is hard to come by even when not sailing with a group pirates."

The wizard buzzed around the kitchen in a flurry of motion as the cocoa was delivered by Shanks, sugar was brought in by Greg, and the cream fetched by Spaz. Between the curry, rice, and chocolate confections, Harry barely had time to breathe, but he never asked Mona to lend a hand and the girl never offered. There were limits to the friendliness either could risk in their strange situation.

A/N: Just some fun in this chapter, you know, a spar, cute Luffy, music, a new minor character, and chocolate. Thanks again to my beta, PyromanianBlackWings

elli: Thanks for the review! I'm really liking Harry's power, though to be honest, I'm not yet sure how much I want it to tie into the whole Master of Death thing. Right now, it's just sort of a cute reference. Depends on how lazy I feel, haha.

Annabelle: Luffy will still eat the fruit, but the time is still many months away in the canon timeline :) Thanks for the review!

489 reviews, August 15, 2011