Hello everyone! Here's the redone chapter 3!

Anywho, I don't own One Piece or any of it's characters. Only my OC.

Chapter 3

That morning, I woke up early. I sat on the edge of my bed, swinging my legs, considering my options. Finally, I made my decision. I hopped off the bed and stuck my hand out, reaching for the wall.

I felt my way along the wall to the door, and pushed it open carefully. I stepped outside, and chewed my lip nervously.

What was weird was, it was quiet. There wasn't much activity on deck, although I could hear a lot of people groaning in what I guessed were the effects of a hangover.

I tripped over something and someone groaned, "Watch where you're going."

"Sorry..." I whispered as I stumbled along.

I was trying to retrace my steps from yesterday. It was pretty hard, what with being unable to see where I was going, and being half asleep. I nearly tripped over a few more people more than once, until I finally hit the rail. I guessed that I had been taken to the stern yesterday, so I tried to make my way in that direction. With my hand on the rail, I walked along.

Then, out of nowhere, a loud voice boomed, "Ah! Zia! Good morning! How do you feel, kid?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Ack!"

"I'm sorry," Whitebeard said, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"I-" I stammered, "sorry. I didn't know you were there."

"So, how do you feel, Zia?"

"Better than before, thank-you." I said. "Sorry I passed out."

"That is nothing you should apologize for." Whitebeard said. "Why don't you come over here and sit down?"

I nodded, and stepped towards the sound of his voice. Of course, I overshot, and smacked my nose into something hard, and fell over backward. "Ow." I muttered. "Is this far enough?"

"Yes, it should be fine." Whitebeard said, "Just turn to the right a bit."

I nodded and shifted a bit, before sitting down.

"So, where's home for you, kid?"

I felt a pang of guilt and grief. "Prodence Kingdom. I haven't been there in a while, though."

"Prodence, is it?" Whitebeard said, "Do you have any extended family or friends there? They must be worried about you."

I shook my head. "I don't have any relatives. I don't even have an aunt or grandparents. And I didn't spend too much time there over the past two years. I don't have that many friends, certainly not friends that would be willing to take me in." I paused, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Ummm... Whitebeard...?"I asked.

"I..." I paused. "I have a question."

"Ask away, Kid."

"Last night, Marco told me that your crew is your family. That's why they always call you Pops."

"That's true." Whitebeard said, "Why?"

I smiled. "He sounded happy."

Whitebeard chuckled. "All my sons are good people. If a bit rough round the edges at times! Gurarara!" He stopped laughing. "Zia, do you want to go home?"

I chewed my lip. "I..." I paused. "I guess... Not sure what I'll do, though."

"Then, I have an offer for you. Join my crew, and become my daughter."

I stopped. Join Whitebeard's crew? Become a pirate? "Are you serious?" I asked, "Won't I get in the way?"

"My crew has trained many greenhorns, Zia. You won't get in the way." he said. He sounded confident. That was certainly confidence I didn't have.

"Then..." I bit my lip. It was all down to this... I couldn't go home. There wasn't anything for me there. Finally, I smiled. "Then yes. I'd love to join your crew, Captain Whitebeard."

Whitebeard let out another booming laugh. "That's good! Gurararara! And, it's Pops now,ya brat."

I nodded. "Okay, Pops!"

Suddenly, there was a rapid clicking of footsteps across the deck behind me. "Pops! We've got a- Zia!"

I stood up and turned around. "Hey Marco." I said. "G'morning."

I felt Marco's hand spin me slightly to the right. (I must have overshot or something) "What on earth are you thinking, Zia? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I just wanted to talk to Pops, that's all."

"Can you at least tell me before you- What?" I could hear the shock in Marco's voice.

Pops laughed. "You're a bit behind the times, Marco." he said. "Show Zia how we do things, Marco. She's in your charge now. Marco, could you give Zia a tour? Show her the ropes."

"Yes Pops." Marco said. He gently turned me around. "Alright then, Zia. Let's go."

I nodded. "Right." I turned around, and said, "See ya, Pops!"

"Good luck, Zia. And welcome to the family."

I smiled, hoping my face wasn't as red as it felt.

Marco took my hand and led me across the deck. He put his hands on my shoulders, and I think he was trying to get me to look into his eyes. Not that that would work. "You..." he said, a confused tone in his voice. "You joined the crew?"

I nodded.

I heard Marco chuckle. " I'm proud of you." he said. "Welcome to the crew."

"This is the galley." Marco said, leading me through a door. "We have a huge kitchen staff, cooking around the clock to feed this huge crew."

I nodded. "Thatch is the head chef, right?" I asked.

"That's right." Marco said. "Hey, Thatch!" he called. When there was no answer, he shouted loud enough to make me jump. "Hey! Thatch!"

There was a loud crash, an even louder curse, and the rattling of pots and pans against a kitchen floor.

"What's up, Marco?" Thatch's voice sounded like he was buried under a huge pile of something.

"When you untangle yourself from your pots and pans, Thatch, whip something up for Zia. She's just decided to join the crew."

There was another loud crash from where I assumed the kitchen was. "She what?!" There was another series of loud noises and the sound of Thatch slipping and scrambling across the floor, and the creak of a swinging door.

"She joined the crew?!" Thatch said.

I could hear a hint of amusement in Marco's drawl. "Yes, Thatch. Now, once you clean out your ears, go and whip something up for her. She missed breakfast, remember?"

"Okay, okay..." Thatch said.

There was a clinking sound as Thatch hauled himself up off the ground. Then, he caught me in a headlock, and gave me a noogie. "Way to go, you little so-and-so! So the Great Thatch will cook you another culinary masterpiece! Just wait!" He let me go, and he stumbled away, probably back into the kitchen.

I grinned. "I'm so hungry, I could eat an island whale!"

Thatch laughed. "Well," he called from the kitchen. "I don't have any whale meat. How 'bout some bacon and eggs instead?"

I giggled. "That's great, thanks!"

I heard Thatch laugh. "Right then! I'll get to it! Prepare to be amazed!"

I felt around for a chair or something to sit on. Of course, I was meeting nothing but air.

"Do you want some help?" Marco asked.

"I'm fine..." I said, sticking my tongue out in concentration. "I just need to- oops!" I had tripped over someone's outstretched leg. I hit the floor with a loud crash! "Oww..." I groaned, rubbing my nose.

Marco chuckled before coming over to me and helping me up. "Right." he said. "What was I thinking? You're doing fine on your own."

"Oh, shut up." I said, my ears burning with embarrassment.

Marco helped me find a bench and I climbed up, swinging my legs back and forth.

Someone beside me spoke up. "Hello commander Marco! Is this the kid you saved?"

Marco spoke up. "Hello, Teech. This is Zia."

I turned my head in the direction the new voice . This one was gravelly and very deep. "Ze ha ha ha ha!" he laughed. "Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Marshall D. Teech!"

I held out my hand. "Cassiopeia D. Zia." I said.

Teech gave that booming laugh again. "Ah, so you're the will of D too! Excellent!"

Marco put his hand on my shoulder. "Zia, if you have a question about the history of the Whitebeard pirates, ask Teech here. He's been on the crew since long before I joined."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you a commander, then?"

Teech laughed. "No, I'm not that ambitious. No, if you want to talk to the second division commander, go to sickbay. He's there."

I frowned. "Why? What's wrong with him?"

Thatch's voice came from right behind me. "Ah, his health isn't stellar, the poor guy. He thinks he's funny. We all humour him." He burst out laughing.

There was a clink in front of me, and I took a deep breath. "This smells great!"

Thatch laughed. "Dig in!"

My eyes widened. "Wow! Thanks, Thatch!" I felt around for a second, before my hand made contact with a few crispy strips of bacon. I grabbed a handful and started wolfing it down.

Marco chuckled. "Zia, you do have cutlery, you know."

"Sho?" I asked between mouthfuls. "I can't shee where to put my fork anywhay."

Beside me, Teech laughed. "Well, the lass does have a point!"

"Hey, Zia."

"Hm?" I looked up, presumably where Marco was. "What's up, Marco?"

"Time to teach you a few important things about navigation."

I raised an eyebrow, curious. "Navigation?"

"That's right." Marco said. "I'm going to teach you how to navigate by ear." He took my hand, and led me back out on deck, judging by the noise.

"So," I asked. "What are we doing? What are you going to teach me?"

"Well," Marco said. "We'll start off by doing an extremely important part of this training."

"What is it?!" I asked, almost bouncing up and down with excitement.

"A game of Marco Polo."

I stopped. "What?" I said, incredulously, "The dumb kid's game?"

I imagine Marco nodded. "Yup. The dumb kid's game. The only difference is, you're always 'it'. You have to find me."

At that moment, I couldn't have felt more like a little kid. It was demeaning.

"Marco..." I complained.

"Polo." Marco said from right behind me, making me jump.

"Ha ha." I said, once my heart had finally settled, "Very funny."

This turned out to be, not so much a game of Marco Polo, but a very annoying and confusing exercise of bumping into walls and tripping over my own two feet.

Marco's voice seemed to be coming from anywhere except where I was going. Sometimes, it even seemed like he was directly above me, although I knew that was impossible.

"Damn it..." I growled.

"Language, Zia." Marco's voice scolded from behind me.

Ah! I had him this time! I spun on the balls of my feet and ran towards where I thought Marco's voice was coming from.

That was such a bad idea.

Something that felt like a steel bar hit me square in the stomach. I toppled forward and found myself falling. I yelped and tried desperately to grab anything I could reach.

Suddenly, there was a flash of warmth, like fire was licking at my skin, making me flinch.

Of course, I crashed against the hard deck, flat on my back. Instantly, I curled up in a fetal position, coughing like I finally found my breath and sat up, I heard Marco sigh with what I couldn't tell whether it was annoyance, relief, or amusement. "Well," he said. "We have a lot of work to do."

"Alright."Marco said. "Lesson two. Learn to remember people by their voices and the feel of their hands. This one is going to take a long time to master completely."

He led Zia towards the expanse of deck where all the other division commanders, save Sprint, the second division commander, were standing.

Vista laughed. "Oh ho. Is that why you called us here, Marco?" He grinned, and curled his thick black mustache.

Marco nodded. Then he turned to Zia. "So. First off, you remember what I sound like, I hope." he said, trying to keep the amusement in his tone to a minimum. He was supposed to be the serious mentor, but he couldn't help that little dig.

Zia inclined her head in the direction of his voice. "Of course." she said. "I remember yours, and Thatch's."

Marco smiled. "Good." he said, "Okay. Let the lesson begin!"

It took a while, but the commanders introduced themselves to Zia one by one.

Jozu said hello to Zia again and shook her hand.

Then, Vista, the odd swordsman of a commander with a barrel chest and a huge moustache introduced himself. "Ah, welcome Zia." he said in his deep voice. "Vista, fifth division commander."

Zia looked up, even though it looked like she was staring at his chest. "Nice to meet you." she said.

Blenheim, Blamenco, Speed Jiru, Haruta, Izo, Kingdew, Namir, Fossa, Atmos, Curiel, and Rakuyo introduced themselves.

Every time one of them introduced themselves, Zia's face would contort in concentration as she tried to make sense of the mess of names, voices, and hands.

After Rakuyo introduced himself, she actually flopped back on the deck and stretched out. "Ahhhh..." she said. "This is hard..."

Marco chuckled. "And it's not done yet, Zia." Marco said, "You'll have to learn how to learn how to identify the person by the feel of their hands."

Everyone laughed at Zia's expression.

"I can barely keep everyone's names straight, let alone learning what they sound like and what their palms feel like..." Zia groaned. She chewed her lip. Then, she turned to him, "Hey, Marco. What's the secret to doing this?"

Marco stopped. "Ummm..." How was he supposed to tell Zia that he didn't know how to do this himself? "Well, that's for you to figure out, isn't it?" he said, trying to keep his air of confidence.

Zia frowned. "You have no idea, do you?" she deadpanned.

Thatch snorted. "She's blind, but she's not stupid." he chuckled.

Marco walked up to him and shoved his dirty blond pompadour in his eyes. Then he turned back to the eleven-year-old splayed out on the deck. "C'mon, Zia. Time for part two." He grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet. "Now, no one's expecting you to get it right the first time. Just do your best."

Zia chewed her lip nervously. "What if I get it wrong?" she asked.

Thatch shrugged. "You mess up, we laugh at you. It's simple, really."

Zia blushed uncomfortably. "Marco, I don't want to do this..." she said.

Marco stomped hard on Thatch's foot. "Thatch was just joking, Zia. You'll figure out to take everything he says with a grain of salt, after a while."

Zia sighed. "Okay..." She didn't look any less reluctant, though. Marco fought back the urge to laugh. Zia looked cute when she was nervous. Just the way she chewed her lip and narrowed her eyes.

"Alright. Let's go." Marco motioned for Jozu, Thatch, Haruta, and Namur to come forward.

Namur went first. He shook Zia's hand. The rules were, he couldn't say anything. So she had to figure it out alone.

Zia frowned. She chewed her lip, pondering, and then finally, she said, "Namur."

Namur, a large fishman, grinned. "How on earth did you get that?" he asked.

Zia's ears turned pink with pride. "Well, your skin is kinda rough. Like shark skin, or so I've heard."

"First try's a success." Marco said, smiling. "Next!"

Jozu stepped forward.

Zia's mouth twitched. "Oh... ummm... Trying to remember your name... Jozi!"

Jozu sweatdropped. "Almost. It's Jozu."

Zia laughed nervously. "Oops... My bad."

Next was Haruta. Zia had a hard time with him. She waited about five minutes, frowning and shaking her head. "Ummm... Izo?" she asked.

Haruta had to work hard to suppress a snort. "No, sorry. It's Haruta."

Zia took a step back, her face red. "Ah! I'm sorry!" she yelped.

Haruta laughed and ruffled her hair. "No problem, kid. It's a difficult job you've got to do."

Thatch was last.

Marco motioned with his head for Thatch to step forward.

When she took Thatch's hand, Zia actually smiled. "Thatch! That's an easy one!"

Thatch smirked, looking slightly annoyed. "How did you figure that out so fast?"

Zia shrugged. "Well, your hand's about the same size as Marco's , but it's almost like he's got fire under his skin. So, it's you."

Marco grinned. "You did a good job today, Zia. You can have a rest now." He patted her on the head. "You earned it."

Zia smiled with relief. "Actually, that wasn't so bad..."

"So, why is that?" I asked Marco, as we made our way back to sickbay. We had just gotten back from the galley, where Thatch had prepared an awesome dinner. Roast beef, boiled broccoli, the works!

"Why is what?" Marco asked, a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Why is your hand so warm? It's not natural for a human to be that hot, especially not in their hand."

Marco didn't answer me for a moment. "Well," he said. "It's my devil fruit."

I couldn't believe it. Well, I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of that before. "I've never seen anyone with a devil fruit power before." I said.

"Well," Marco said. "You've met Pops, and Jozu. They've got devil fruit powers as well. And the second division commander has one, too."

I raised my eyebrows. "Jeez... What a crew of power houses." I grinned, and chuckled.

Marco laughed. "You're not wrong. You can learn more from the second division commander when you meet him tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I asked. "Why not now?"

Marco laughed. "Because it is after nine o'clock, and you need your sleep. Besides, the doctor's still not completely convinced you've healed. He wants you in sickbay for another two days. That'll give me enough time to organize a permanent bunk for you."

I pouted and sighed. "I should have stayed in the galley." I muttered. "Thatch didn't mind that I wanted to stay."

Marco chuckled. "If Thatch had his way, everyone would be up partying all night." he said. "I, being your division commander, can't allow that. You've got more training to do tomorrow."

I frowned and placed my hand on my back, thinking about that embarrassing exercise of Marco Polo. I hated the feeling of falling on the deck. "Did you use your devil fruit power to toss me back on the deck when I fell overboard?"

Marco was quiet for a second, then, he finally said, "I ate the Tweet-Tweet fruit, Phoenix model. I can turn into a phoenix."

"Oh..." I said. That's when it dawned on me. "You can fly? So that's why I could never catch you this morning! You just flew out of the way!" That also explained why I thought I heard Marco's voice above me.

Marco laughed. "Only sometimes."

"Only sometimes." I repeated, rolling my eyes.

Marco just chuckled.

I turned my head to him. "Marco, do you really know what you're doing?"

Marco lightly bopped me on the head. "Of course I do." he said. "I just need to experiment."

I rolled my eyes.

"If we're exchanging questions, how 'bout if I have a go." he said. "Why do you keep your eyes open?"

I shrugged. "Well, I guess it's because it feels natural. I don't want to walk around looking like I could walk into a wall at any second."

Then Marco really did laugh. "Well, that's a good reason."

I laughed. Then, I walked smack into a door!

I staggered backward, clutching my nose. "Ouch!" I said.

"Well, Zia, you've got a lot to work on, still." Marco laughed.

"That's not funny!" I said.

"And we're here. Back in sickbay."

I walked through the doorway, and felt my way towards the bed. Once I felt the mattress, I jumped on, making the old springs creak and groan under my weight. I leaned back and pulled the covers over me, then, I stretched.

"Good work today, Zia." Marco said. "Goodnight."

"G'night." I said. "Oh, Marco?" I said.

There was a sound of shuffling. "Yeah?"

"That was fun..."

I thought Marco smiled. "You get some sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

There was a quiet click as the door shut.

I sighed. "My first day as a pirate..." I muttered. "It's tiring work." I smiled, and put my hands behind my head, staring into the nothingness that was my ceiling, smiling.