More 2 a.m. updates. Its like this is becoming a running theme. Ah well, back to it once more. Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Chapter 15: Another Surprise

"The world is made up of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. This is a fact well known even to Corporal Nobbs. It's also wrong. There's a fifth element, and generally it's called Surprise." -The Truth, Discworld

After a few nights of being bored, it was finally the day that the Log Pose set. The Heart crew was happy to get off the backwater island of Crissor and the townspeople were just as happy to see them go. While the citizens calmed down a bit after a day or so, they didn't trust the pirates but they were at least calm enough to do business with them. So with the supplies restocked and the crew ready to go, they were shipping off at eight o'clock in the morning on the dot. Surprisingly enough, Arthur hadn't been there to see them off. Mina found it odd that her old friend wasn't going to make a scene out of her leaving, but she shrugged it off. If he didn't want to say goodbye... Well, that was his own decision. She went below deck soon after they left the island behind.

Shachi and Penguin leaned against the railing as they watched Crissor fade into the distance. While the King pirates only proved to be a small thorn in their sides, these two were happy to leave nonetheless. The reason being as simple as one person: Arthur. After all, there was only so much flirting Penguin was able to take from a guy.

"I'm glad we're leaving," Penguin told Shachi.

"Yeah, the town wasn't all that interesting," Shachi agreed.

"Also I'm glad to get away from that guy..." The penguin hatted man continued.

Shachi nodded in understanding. The flirting was a bit much to handle in their opinion. Another silence settled over the two, the only noise on deck coming from a crew mate humming to themselves as they mopped the submarine's deck.

Of course swabbing the deck was a little bit out of place, but the two just figured that the man wearing a laplander was making sure the wood was treated for their underwater excursions. Although if they had looked a little closer, they would have realized that the man didn't even have a bucket nearby to soak the mop nor was the mop even wet. They hadn't even spared the man a glance since he looked like the rest of their crew mates since he wore a white boiler suit and a hat that kept most of his face in shadow.

It was then that the man stopped pretending to swab the deck and sent an evil grin towards the two unsuspecting pirates. With a glint in his eye, the man slunk over to the two.

"Hi boys," An all too familiar voice sung in their ears as they felt and arm being slung over each of their shoulders.

Penguin and Shachi began sweating bullets as they each looked to the middle. At the angle they were, both pirates could clearly see under the shadow of the man's cap. And what they saw was a familiar evil grin. His blue eyes glinted with mischief and blond hair hung past the man's shoulders. The almost feminine features to the man's face was really the most telling.

"Did you miss me terribly Ducky and friend?" Arthur cooed as he batted his eyelashes at the petrified Penguin.

Two terrified screams then filled the calm ocean air. Needless to say, their screaming sent the rest of the crew hauling themselves topside.

Penguin and Shachi were hugging each other out of terror as Arthur stood by with a wide grin on his face. The rest of the Heart Pirates were confused at first. After all, they weren't aware that the man with the black and white striped laplander was actually Arthur since his disguise was so convincing. The bartender had made sure that he had pulled the hat over his eyes with a bit of fringe from his bangs offering even more cover. It was all going well until Arthur opened his mouth. Again.

"Why hello, dearie!" Arthur sounded positively ecstatic at the sight of Law. "Fancy meeting you here."

The Captain of the submarine was taken aback at the sight of him to say the least.

"Mister... Arthur?" Law's voice sounded a bit strained. He didn't take having a stowaway on board rather well. Especially an ex-treasure hunting bartender with a penchant for traumatizing people.

"Yes, dearie?"

And he was still using that idiotic nickname no less... Law felt a headache coming on. He really had not wanted to see Arthur again for a very, very long time. Sadly that wish was denied. Law was about to say something more when Mina brushed by the rest of the pirates and crossed the deck in a beeline straight towards the stowaway. She didn't say a word, instead she just scowled at him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Good to see you too, Mina," Arthur said happily.

"I should've known something was up." Mina was rather annoyed by the situation. "It was too quiet."

"You wound me," Arthur wept comically. "After all the time I spent making this boiler suit too..."

"You made that?!" Shachi sounded shocked.

Arthur's crocodile tears dried rather quickly at that comment.

"Why yes, friend of Ducky, I did," He sure perked up fast. "While all of you slept in a drunken stupor, I was sewing this little number up. Of course it's not a perfect replica since no one offered to model for me, but I knew it would be close enough to get me on the submarine unnoticed. And once that was taken care of, I could get my belongings on board without too much trouble either."

The pirates were floored. He planned it from the very start?! Mina could only shake her head. This whole situation was too much; he'd break the entire crew at this rate. She could practically hear them all mentally screaming... Well, Bepo didn't look as troubled by everything though. He just looked confused.

"So dearie," Arthur's attention went to the stunned captain. "Mind if I tag along? I've already cleared out a small nook in one of the storage rooms. I even organized it."

Law could feel the pleading looks from his crew.

"What about the bar?" Law asked, trying to keep his voice even.

Arthur frowned a little bit. He took off his hat and looked them all in the eye with a grave look on his face.

"I went bankrupt."

Dead silence hung over the submarine. It was like they were back at the bar. Except this time the soothing sound of the waves could be heard. Not much good that did them though.

"I told you the King Pirates cuts into my profits," Arthur shrugged. "It also didn't help that you pirates drank all my alcohol..."

"You offered it for free!" The Heart crew yelled back at him.

"How was I supposed to know you'd take advantage of my hospitality like that?" The ex-bartender sounded a tad defensive. It was then that a lightbulb went off in his head. "I'll make you a deal then! You pay for the supplies the Charming Angel would need in order to stay open, which is essentially footing the bill for all the booze and food, and I run it happily ever after. Keep in mind, you all went through six months worth of food and alcohol. That's not exactly cheap, and I'm not about to cut you a deal... The economy on Crissor took a huge nose dive thanks to the King Pirates after all. Oh, and there's the six months worth of taxes... Yeah."

"Bastard!" Oh, they were ready to throw the man overboard at this point. That sounded like way too much money. Mina was even surprised that Arthur was attempting to run such a blatant scam on the Heart crew.

"Or you could simply let me come along and help you out free of charge. What will it be, Captain?" Arthur practically sung.

Law was between a rock and an even larger rock. While the option of killing the now ex-bartender did cross his mind, Law wasn't really interested in seeing that plan through. Mina would no doubt get involved, and he also had a feeling that Arthur was hiding something. What that "something" was... Law could really only guess at this point. There was also the fact that he took down most of the lesser members King pirates by himself and managed to scare Mina to the point she jumped out of the window back at the bar. The only two options here were to either pay the man to leave, or let him stay. And in the end Law knew that he was only given one choice in the matter, despite all the pleading looks his crew was giving him. Even his crew probably knew that this was a hopeless situation. Law sighed heavily.

"Fine."

Mina found herself in the storeroom that Arthur had converted into his room shortly after the commotion on deck. It was decided that the rest of the Heart crew needed their space to adjust the idea of Arthur being on the crew, so the ex-bartender retired to his quarters for the time being. Mina had to admit, she liked what he had done with the place. Her friend had organized the crates and stacked them on top of one another to create a dressing room of sorts in the far left corner of the small rectangular room. There was even a sheet for privacy and a sheet of paper with the words "dressing room" scrawled on it. Arthur had shoved his sewing machine in a vacant space between the wall with the door and some shelves, which he also organized and put his own collection of various fabrics on. Although she noticed one thing off about the room...

"Where are you going to sleep?" She asked the man from her position on a crate.

Arthur was changing his clothes, so he was making use of the dressing room. Apparently he couldn't stand the boiler suit until he got it to perfectly match the rest of the crew.

"On the hammock directly to your right," He said as he pushed back the curtain and stepped out.

Mina looked to her right and saw what he meant. It wasn't set up yet, but it was there. Looks like he'd be hanging it between two shelves that were bolted to the wall. She looked back to him and saw that he was wearing his usual outfit of an unbuttoned dress shirt with a white undershirt, black pants, and heavy boots.

"You really did strong arm your way onto the crew..." Mina mused lightly as she watched him toss the boiler suit on the chair in front of his sewing machine. "You planned all that, didn't you?"

He sighed heavily as he gave her a sheepish look. Seems like he didn't want to fully admit it.

"Well, I didn't plan on actually going bankrupt, but yeah. More or less I did plan quite a bit of that."

"Why?" She asked bluntly.

Arthur smiled. It seemed wistful in a way.

"I missed the sea," He said. "I missed seeing the different islands and different people. Although it may hard to be back out to sea without Garrett, I can at least watch your back again."

Mina didn't know what to say to that. She knew where he was coming from of course; Garrett had been a very important person to them both. The Zoan user looked off to the side, scowling lightly. Sentimentality was something she was uncomfortable with.

"I..." She began before sighing. "It's good to see you again, Arthur. I guess... I might've missed you too... Maybe. Welcome aboard moron."

And with that, Mina hopped off the crate and went to leave immediately.

"Such a warm welcome. Between you and the rest of the crew, I feel right at home," Arthur teased her as she left.

She glared at him from over her shoulder before leaving. He was such a pain sometimes... But she did have to admit that some part of her was happy that he was coming along.

The rest of the day passed without event.

-:-

Mina found that she had woken up 45 minutes earlier than she originally planned for the next morning. It was a mild annoyance on her part really since there wasn't anything she could particularly do other than sit on her hands. The submarine had submerged the afternoon prior, so she didn't even have the option of watching the sunrise while enjoying the fresh air. The only option she had was to get showered and ready for the day. Although she found herself in the same situation after having gotten ready for the day. So she decided to go for a bit of a walk around the submarine. It was a bit of an eerie feeling, being one of the few crew members awake at this hour.

She was coming up to the galley when she heard clattering from the kitchen and the distinct sound of swears being dropped in a familiar drawl. Seems like Chase was awake and rather frustrated with something. Her interested piqued, she opened the swinging door to the kitchen and found the cook struggling. Having his dominant arm in a cast was doing nothing to help him make breakfast for the crew. The pirates had been able to fall back somewhat on Arthur's food after it was discovered he could make breakfast just fine, but now the job fell back onto the injured chef.

Mina watched silently for a moment as he grappled with the frying pan. It wasn't exactly easy holding a frying pan and a spatula with one arm being so restricted. He was so focused on trying to cook that he hadn't even noticed her.

"How much longer do you have to wear that thing?" Mina made her presence known.

Chase yelped in surprise. His concentration broken, he turned around to face her.

"How long have you been there?" The cook asked, rather surprised to see her.

"...Long enough," Mina said.

"I thought so..." Chase sighed as he looked at his cast. "And I only need to wear it until the end of the week. Cap'n told me to take it easy with it, but I can't let everyone starve."

"If you end up injuring yourself even more, you'll be in that cast longer," She pointed out.

"Point taken," He said as he rubbed the back of his neck with his good arm. "I'll be careful though. Food'll be ready in an hour."

Mina frowned when Chase turned around and went back to cooking. Well... It wasn't like he asked for help. She left the kitchen only to pause mid-step when she heard more clattering. She turned on her heel and walked back into the kitchen only to turn around once again to leave. She then went back into the kitchen. She was very much debating over what to do in this situation. Chase paused in his cooking attempts when he realized just what was happening. He was rather weirded out by her behavior at the moment... Each time she came back into the kitchen, Mina looked even more aggravated than when she left.

"Fine! I'll help!" She suddenly yelled, startling the chef. She stormed over to the sink to wash her hands.

"Everythin' okay, Missy?" Chase asked nervously.

"I'll help," She repeated, this time much more calmly.

"Beg your pardon?" He thought he heard wrong for a moment there.

Mina gave an irritated sigh as she pulled an apron out from the drawer next to the sink.

"I'll help you cook," She repeated for a third time as she put the apron on. "I know how, just tell me what to make."

Chase blinked. He hadn't expected that. Well, it would make things a lot easier on him... And it didn't run the risk of injuring himself further.

"You didn't learn to cook form Arthur, did you?" Chase felt like he needed to ask.

"Why would I ever learn to cook from Arthur?" Mina answered him with her own question and an odd look.

"Good point," Chase chuckled a bit. "All right, have at it Missy."

He stepped back and let Mina have the reins. It was the standard breakfast fare really, but he did need to help Mina out with the few recipes she had been unfamiliar with. Although she did catch on rather quickly after she was given enough insight into the dishes in question. Once he was comfortable enough with letting her cook, Chase stepped back fully and let her do her thing. Good thing too since Mina wasn't all that comfortable with someone breathing down her neck as she cooked. That was a good way for someone to get stabbed actually... Still, once he stopped being a backseat chef, she hit her stride fairly easily. Chase went on to make the coffee and tea since that really only required one hand. Time went by rather quickly and before they knew it, the rest of the crew was up and about. And they were hungry.

Of course once she heard the pirates in the galley, Mina realized she had made a miscalculation. There was really no way out of the situation without owning up to the fact that she had helped Chase. Sarge would no doubt make a fuss about something; really it seemed like the man lived to make her aggravated. That wasn't a conversation she was looking forward to really... She really did not appreciate Sarge scrutinizing her every move.

"Everythin' okay, Mina?" Chase took notice of her scowl. She hadn't even realized it, but she had started glaring at the pancakes she was making.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's fine," She just sighed.

"How's it lookin'? Almost ready to serve everything?" Chase asked. He knew the rest of the crew was probably getting rather hungry by this point.

"Just another minute," Mine relayed. "You can start bringing things out now. I'll clean up a little before I sit down."

"All right, Missy. Thank you kindly for your help," Chase gave her a smile and a thumbs up with his good hand. He went to bring out some plates.

Mina just sighed as she turned the stove off and took the pan off the burner. She heard Chase running back and forth between the kitchen and the galley, as she wiped down the countertops and put some dishes in the sink to get washed after she was done eating. Speaking of which, she'd have to face the music sooner or later. Chase was done serving everyone for the most part and she was probably the only one not sitting down at the table at this point. Untying her apron and placing it on the kitchen island, she took a deep breath and walked out.

Luckily no one was really paying attention, so she managed to sit down at the table without too much attention being called to her. She had begun to eat with no one the wiser to her having helped the chef. And it was then that she overheard a bit of a conversation.

"Mister Chase, I hope you didn't strain your arm preparing breakfast," She heard Law say.

"Well, I struggled at first, but I don't think I woulda made everything in time if it hadn't been for Mina over there," The cook said happily.

'... Shit,' Mina swore mentally as she grimaced.

And the reaction was as she expected. The pirates turned to the less than enthused Zoan user in general shock.

"What?" She said flatly. "Don't look so surprised that I know how to cook."

The pirates got the impression that if they said anything about her cooking, they'd get a fork through the hand. It was just the general aura she was giving off at that point really. She did not want to hear anything about her helping Chase.

"Can Mina be assigned to the kitchen permanently Captain? I'd love the help," Chase asked Law, completely oblivious to Mina's opinion on the matter.

"Hm... Good idea, Mister Chase," Law said as he continued to eat. He then looked at the rather shocked Zoan user. "You'll be helping in the kitchen from now on."

"Yes, Captain," Mina sighed, her eyes closed with another scowl on her face.

Arthur snickered lightly, earning a glare from his old friend in the process. By then the rest of the pirates had started to eat again, having gotten over their initial shock.

"Look at it this way, Mina," Arthur sounded chipper. "At least you won't be too out of your element. I'm sure Niko would be pleased to know that his lessons stuck."

"Ugh, don't remind me of that cranky old man," Mina frowned even more at the memory of old Niko, the chef of the Hammerhead treasure hunters. He had a penchant for smacking her with a spatula whenever she did something wrong in the kitchen. Needless to say, Mina did not appreciate that whatsoever.

"He was rather cranky, wasn't he?" Arthur agreed. "I always thought you two got along though."

"Define 'getting along'," She said. "If that means 'not stabbing each other with kitchen knives when arguments broke out' then yeah, we got along I guess."

Arthur just laughed at that. The other Heart Pirates were a tad weirded out by that comment. The ex-bartender took notice of the weird looks and decided that they deserved a bit of an explanation.

"Niko was the chef on our old crew," Arthur explained to the rest of the crew, or at least those who were listening. "When we were sailing, we had Mina help him in the kitchen in order to keep her out of trouble."

"That was always the excuse you told me too," Mina said bluntly. "What sort of trouble could I have gotten into on the ship of all places?"

"We didn't want to find out," Arthur stated just as bluntly.

The Zoan user was about to retort, but a comment managed to catch her attention.

"Thanks for the food, Chase, Mina," Shachi said as he got up from the table.

Mina was taken off guard a bit, completely forgetting about her retort to Arthur's comment.

"What?" He said when he noticed her surprised look. "It was good."

"I agree," Penguin said with a grin.

"They're Chase's recipes," Mina said, looking away a bit. "I didn't really do much."

With the rest of the crew finishing up and leaving, Mina finished her plate and went back in the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Once she was done with that, Chase presented her with a rather large cookbook. It was everything that he knew how to cook.

"Here you go, Missy," Chase said. "Make sure you read this before coming back to help with lunch. It'll help ya' out if you don't know how to make some of my specialties."

"Thanks," Mina said as she took the rather large, white leather bound book from the cook's hand. Looks like she had an assignment to do.

With that, she sat down at the galley table and started flipping through the recipe book.

-:-

Shortly after leaving the galley, Law noticed something on the floor of the submarine. The white really stood out against the wood floors of the hallway. Picking it up, he could immediately tell that it was a photograph that had fallen face-down. The writing on the back of it merely said "Group Shot #1" without any other context. Flipping it over, Law was greeted by several unknown faces. The group of nine people were standing on a beach of some island, the ocean was clearly visible in the background and it seemed to have been a nice day on that island. Law studied the faces closer and one in particular popped out at him. It was Arthur's. And it seemed like the man hadn't aged a day from however long ago the photograph was taken. If Arthur was there, then this had to be a photo of the Hammerhead Treasure Hunters. Looking at it again, another face was familiar. While she was much younger in the picture, maybe 15 at the most, there was no mistaking that familiar scowl. Mina didn't exactly look happy in the shot since she was scowling off to the side with her arms crossed over her chest. She stood out from the other smiling faces of the Hammerhead crew. Well, there was at least one other member who wasn't smiling. Or if he was, it wasn't readily apparent since he wore a bandanna over his face. That aside, a rather tall, and rather bulky, man stood next to Mina. The man was beaming proudly at the camera.

"Oh that's where that went," A voice said.

Surprised, Law looked up from the photo to find Arthur next to him. How the hell he managed to sneak up on him, the surgeon would never know. Rather unnerved by his sudden appearance, Law didn't raise a protest when the photo was plucked out of his hands.

"I wonder if you're curious now..." Arthur mused as he smiled at the photo.

"Excuse me?"

"Hm?" The swordsman's attention went back to Law. "Oh, nothing Captain Dearie. Huh. Doesn't have quite the same ring as just 'dearie'... I'll have to work on that."

Law really could have done without the dumb nickname. But he figured he'd need to get used to it now that Arthur wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. That was truly a frightening prospect.

"Mister Arthur, that photo..."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it really. Just a memento of a time long passed," The man smiled and waved it off.

"How did your Captain die?"

Arthur paused for a moment, the smile fading. A much more calm look made its home on Arthur's face. It was as if he was assessing the Heart Captain for something.

"Captain Garrett passed away due to a heart condition," The man said. "It was a chronic thing and there was nothing our doctor could do in the end. I don't think Kain ever forgave himself for that either."

Law was silent.

"You're the one who asked, dear Captain," Arthur stated calmly. "Hm... Still not the right ring to it."

The captain sighed. What exactly was this man who joined his crew?

"What is your motive, Mister Arthur? You tagged along for some reason."

"Motive? Who knows. I'm here to lend a hand should there be any need for one. Although... If you need clothes made, mended, or hemmed just let me know," Arthur looked the pirate captain up and down before smiling. "I'll design something that'll make even the men swoon over you."

Law wanted nothing to do with that offer. Turning around, the Heart Captain walked away from the situation.

And it seems like I'll have to go back to edit previous chapters at some point. You know, to make it a bit more friendly to canon events. Not too many changes, just probably shuffling the crew members around a bit to make things more cohesive. It's a good thing I didn't have anything planned for poor old Benjamin because Bepo will be taking his rightful place as Navigator. Chase is kinda in the same predicament too. He might get shuffled or I might just kick him out so to speak when we finally get the actual positions of Law's crew. I've already had to change my plans once, I kinda don't want to do it again... And as always: Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave a review then! And one more thing... Have a very happy New Year.