Shanks wouldn't stop shaking. He hadn't stopped shaking ever since the Whitebeard War. Last he'd seen Luffy, the Gomu boy was being trucked off in some random yellow submarine. Shanks tried to reassure himself that Luffy was alright, but it wasn't easy. He'd heard no word of the trouble-maker in the last year and a half. And considering the Devil Fruit user had been in the news consistently the entire year before the war, this was a worrying development. It was as if he'd just disappeared off the surface of the planet. The Red-Hair crew was just as worried for their captain as they were for Luffy. Shanks had managed to keep it together, but if he went insane worrying about Luffy, his Nakama would fall into disarray. Shanks knew this, and tried to joke it off. "If that rubber hammer is dead, how am I gonna get my hat back?" He would say, chuckling. His crew would stare at him, and instantly he would know that they knew him too well.

More than anything, Beckman wanted his captain to de-stress. It wasn't healthy for him to go on like this. He'd always try think of a way to calm him down, but nothing would ever work. Shanks would just keep pacing, back and forth, until he'd worn down the floorboards in his room.

They were sitting in the galley below deck when they heard the shaking and pacing begin. Thump thump thump pause. Turn. Thump thump thump pause. Turn. Roo sighed. Shanks was at it again. One of these days, he was going to fall straight through the deck. The crew began to pick at their food. The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a sword. No one liked seeing their usually confident captain in this worried and crippled state. Everyone had a different feeling about it. Some, like Roo, felt like their captain just needed a break. Others, like Yassop, felt like Shanks should man up and take this in his shivering stride. All felt terrible that they couldn't just magically summon up Luffy to restore their captain's sanity.

Beckman looked at the untouched silver platter they'd all been waiting on Shanks for. The beautiful red velvet cake that Rockstar had prepared was going to waste, and the first mate just couldn't stand it anymore. He brought his dagger to the icing and cut a piece of cake. He whipped out a gold plate, tossed the slice of cake in the air and maneuvered the plate to catch it. He did all this silently as his Nakama looked on. He could almost hear Roo questioning him with his mind, but he silenced him with a single look. He set down the plate to clean his dagger, and then sheathed his blade. He picked up the plate once more, and took meaningful steps towards the staircase His Nakama followed him.

They made their way up to the deck, and what a sight they saw there.

The infamous Dark King Rayleigh was on board, dripping wet and nonchalantly drinking from a small, gold canteen. Their captain had sat down, and was holding his head in his hands. However, his knees were trembling. Rayleigh was looking at Shanks sympathetically. The Dark King tore his mouth away from his drink, and bent down to whisper something in the Red Hair's ear. Immediately, Shanks bolted up straight, and a single tear ran down his face. Rayleigh smiled, and helped Shanks up. They embraced like brothers, and Rayleigh dove back into the ocean. Shanks turned towards his crew, smiling.

"He's alright," their captain muttered. Anyone else would have misinterpreted this as crazy talk, but the Red Hairs whooped and cheered. They gathered around Shanks, and Beckman presented their captain with the cake.

"You forgot, didn't you?" The first mate said, remaining calm, but inwardly ecstatic.

Shanks scratched the back if his head and opened his mouth graciously, allowing Benn to spoon the cake into his mouth. And for the first time since the Whitebeard War, Red Haired Shanks remained still.

Mihawk had tried many a time to convince Shanks, but the red-haired cabin boy just wouldn't budge.

"Come on, red-hair," the hawk-eyes would say, "we could rule the seas by ourselves! Just ditch Roger already!"

"Mihawk..." Shanks would begin, "You know how I feel about those sorts of things. I've already sworn loyalty to Roger, and even if I were to join, wouldn't just a crew of two be kinda weird?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know... You and your stupid need for nakamaship.."

Shanks laughed and leaned on his mop.

"It's not a need, hawk-eyes, it's a necessity. For me anyways. Now, you gotta scram before Rayleigh gets back, or he'd kill me for allowing an intruder on board."

Mihawk sighed, giving Shanks one last long glance before jumping off the side of the Oro Jackson.

He'd approached Crocodile next.

"What do you need, Mihawk?" smirked Crocodile, looking, the swordsman in the eye. Though the sandman was sat down, he bore an imposing presence that made Mihawk shiver in anticipation.

"I want to join forces with you," replied Mihawk, returning Crocodile's steady gaze.

"You want to be part of my crew?" questioned Crocodile, raising an eyebrow. Mihawk had a small sinking feeling.

"No, I want you to join mine."

Crocodile laughed.

"What crew, hawk-eyes?" he sneered, "Are you telling me you want me to just abandon my men to be part of a 2 man duo? Ridiculous. I'm sorry, Mihawk, but I am an established man. I refuse to go gallivanting back into uncertainty."

"You aren't thinking of the possibilites," said Mihawk, furious at the sandman for patronizing him.

"What possibilities?" laughed Crocodile, "Face it hawk-eyes, you're better off a rogue. If you can't stand having a crew, you might as well not be a pirate!"

That last remark stung. Fascinated with the sea, Mihawk had set out early as a child to become a pirate. But he just couldn't stand crowds and crews, and apparently that's what the occupation of a pirate entailed.

"I won't pretend I fully understand were you're coming from, but if that is what you wish, so be it," said Mihawk, turning towards the exit. His back turnt, he tipped his hat to Crocodile.

"Good day then," he said, walking out of the room, leaving Crocodile chuckling behind him.

Over time, Mihawk had come to accept that he would never be completely comfortable with other humans, and spent most of his time in solitary. Having found a place to call home, he settled in Kuraigana, leaving only to seek out new enemies. And he'd been perfectly all right until two certain pink and green-haired disasters showed up on his doorstep. His world flipped, and suddenly he was running out on errands, scribbling out shopping lists, and doing laundery every other day. Seriously, how many lengths of haramaki could one swordsman possibly need? He longed for his days of solitude, and now spent many a day alone in his room, reading his novels.

And that's exactly what he'd been doing until he heard a crash from the kitchen, and the screams of the tantrumming Perona. Though he did not want to, he dragged himself out of bed and padded downstairs.

"You idiot!" screeched Perona, who was covered in flour, "You were supposed to measure it first! Not just dump it all in!"

"Well maybe I would have known what to do if a certain someone would explain things properly!" shouted Zoro, equally as coated in sugar.

"It's called common sense!" yelled Perona, "Oh wait!" she said, putting a finger to her chin, as if thinking, "YOU HAVE NONE!"

Mihawk rubbed his eyes, and walked up to the arguing pair. Grabbing them by the collars of their shirts, he dragged them to the dining table, and forced them into chairs.

"Explain," he snarled, crossing his arms.

"She's terrible at explaining stuff!"

"He can't follow simple directions!"

Mihawk sighed.

"Zoro," he said, gesturing at his sugar covered hair. "What's all this about?"

Zoro gave Perona a dying glance, to which she solemnly nodded.

"See, we were planning this surprise…" he said sheepishly, "And we kind of… Ruined it…"

Mihawk raised an eyebrow, "What surprise?"

"Well…" muttered Perona, "We were baking a cake… For your birthday…"

Mihawk's eyes widened.

"We're really sorry…" said Zoro, looking at his feet, "Please don't kick us out…"

Mihawk chuckled. The chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh. And the laugh just exploded into absolute hysteria. Zoro and Perona looked on, nervously, and he patted them both on the back. They took this as an 'ok' sign, and began laughing as well. If anyone had seen the trio, they would have thought that they were crazed. In the midst of the hysterics, Mihawk found himself thinking. About people in general, and nakamaship in particular. And, to his own surprise, he found himself thinking that maybe they weren't as bad as he thought.

Flam was bored. Like, really bored. Drifting at sea was boring. Luckily he'd found a few pieces of driftwood to drift on; otherwise he'd be dead. Those bastards he used to call 'parents' hadn't even given him a raft! If they didn't want him, they should've just been more careful not to knock his mom up! They didn't have to chuck him over the edge like some sort of beer bottle!

It'd only been a day, but Flam was already feeling thirsty. He'd caught some fish, but didn't have anything to cook them with, so he'd just let them go. He knew that if he didn't find clean water soon, he'd probably die. Or worse, he'd be eaten by Sea Kings. He was somewhat surprised they hadn't attacked him already.

'Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink' he thought. 'How macabre'. He broke off a piece of wood to act as a paddle. He began paddling, but the wood was too old, and too much riddled with holes to get him anywhere. He'd managed about 20 metres when he finally gave up.

"I'm gonna die, aren't I?" he wondered aloud. Any other 9 year old would've panicked and tantrummed, but Flam just lay on his back and watched the clouds go by, wishing he could have done more with his life. Right before he closed his eyes, he saw a mail pelican swoop over him.

"Here!" he screamed, "Over here!"

The mail pelican glided towards him, and dropped a newspaper in his lap.

'What the hell am I gonna do with this?' he wondered, looking at the headline.

"Ha!" he laughed aloud. His parents had been caught, and were being sent to Impel Down. "Serves them right!"

He checked to see the date next.

"March 9th? Hey! It's my birthday! Wow. What a sucky birthday."

Some wind blew towards Flam, and blew away a few pages. He didn't bother scrambling for them, but he got an idea. First, he broke his driftwood paddle into several pieces, and attached them together to make two large poles. Then, using some of his string, he connected the pieces of paper together to make a sail. He attached the sail to the raft, and inched backwards to view his handiwork.

'Perfect' he thought, tightening the last knot. 'Well, almost. It would be nice if I had some canons…' Licking his finger and waving it in the air, he noticed that the wind was coming, and it would be coming hard. He had to make this count.

Angling his boat, he held on to base and soon enough, the gust hit him. The boat bursted forwards, and Flam nearly slipped off. But he held tight, and soon enough, he was going at a steady pace. After 45 minutes of sailing, he began to see the edges of an island.

"Land ho!" he whooped, taking off his shirt and waving it in the air. But as he neared the island, he realised it wasn't any ordinary island. It was Water 7! The dream island his parents had sought before abandonning him! 'What a twist of luck!' he thought.

As he got closer to the harbor, he gazed over the central fountain, and the canals that spewed over it. He gaped at the towering ships, their sails majestic and colorful. He looked at the people walking around, their hair neat, their clothes tidy, and he felt a bit ashamed about himself. He knew he couldn't dock at the harbor, it would be too suspicious, so he made his way around the island until he saw it. The scrapyard. Disgusting and vile to the residents of Water 7, it was a dream come true for Flam. Endless materials to build with, a built in shelter (as soon as he'd built it), it was perfect! 'Well…it could use some canons' mused Flam, before running off to look for scrap metal.

A.N.: Huge chapter today! Three of the biggest influences on the series on one day! To be honest, I mixed up Shanks's birth month and accidentally put him with Kuma -_-'' But it turned out ok, and I just shifted stuff around. Mihawk, in my opinion, turned out really well. I always wondered why he was a pirate without a crew, so I kinda gave him a backstory. Plus, some awkward Papa Mihawk towards the end for giggles. Franky was awesome. I had no idea I had that idea in me, but it just felt right when it came out. Overall, I'm pretty proud of myself for this chapter! Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! Especially reviews! I would really like to hear from you guys! So if you have a minute, just give me a quick word. It helps a lot with writing fuel ;-) See you tomorrow for Sentomaru!