Disclaimer: I do not own One-Piece nor any of it's characters. Those belong to Oda Eiichiro.

Nunya Bizniz

Chapter Two: Heading Out

It had been two years since Rachel and Missy found themselves stranded. It took them six months to earn enough money to buy the beginning materials to get their business started. It was another six months before they could work out the kinks and demonstrate their inventions to the town mayor. They spent another year making and selling their solar energy and security systems to the people of the village. At this moment Rachel was out in an open field with Edina, a target set up at the far end in front of a haystack.

"Missy and I are leaving tomorrow," the now eighteen-year-old said. "I want to make sure that you'll be able to protect yourself when we're not around. I want to be able to come back and visit you."

"With everything you two have set up for the village nothing can happen to us," Edina admonished lightly. "You need to have more faith in your inventions."

Rachel had a knowing smile on her face, thinking that she and Missy could not just admit that the solar energy panels and security systems were not their ideas. "I'd still prefer to show you something," Rachel said. She gestured for Edina to come closer and take a look. On a make-shift table there were two different types of guns and bullets. Rachel picked up the first gun. "This is the gun your husband used while in the Marines."

"You've restored it beautifully," Edina praised. "I can't thank you enough."

"I made it look nice," Rachel agreed. "But I've also removed anything that would allow it to fire off even a single shot. It's just a symbol of the work that your husband did."

"Why would you do that?" Edina asked in shock.

"I wanted to make sure that you wouldn't be tempted to use it," Rachel explained. "As far as musket loaders are concerned, this is pretty average. Which means that it could fail you at any time. I would hate for something to happen to you if you ever needed to defend your home." Rachel put the gun back down and picked up the second rifle sitting there. "This gun, on the other hand, is fully functional. I want you to rely on this one should the town be attacked."

"I don't see much of a difference," Edina said.

"You wouldn't be able to tell at a distance," Rachel agreed. "Let me explain the differences. First off, this is not a musket loader. You don't add gun-powder and then a little lead ball down the barrel."

"Then how does it even work?" Edina asked.

Rachel held the gun out so Edina could watch. "There's a small button in front of the trigger," she started explaining. "You press that down and..." The barrel of the gun moved down and away from the shoulder rest. "Then you insert one of these shells that I made for you." Rachel took a shell off the table and showed Edina how to insert it. "You close the gun back up and it's almost ready to fire."

"What do you mean by almost?" Edina asked.

"First off, you need to aim it. There's a small bead at the end of the barrel. You need to line that up between the sight towers at the back of the barrel. Make sure they match with what you want to hit. Pull the hammer back and take careful aim. Then next to the trigger is a button that locks it in place. It's the safety button, turn that off before you squeeze the trigger." Rachel raised the gun so that she looked like she was going to fire. "Make sure that your feet are shoulder width apart, left slightly in front of right and knees bent. This will help keep your balance once the gun is fired. The recoil could knock you back and hurt you otherwise."

Rachel lowered the gun and handed it to Edina. "How about you give it a practice shot? I've set up a target for you."

"That's too far for a gun," Edina pointed out. "I know that much at least."

"For the guns that the marines use, I would agree with you. But it's actually a little closer than the range of the gun I'm giving you."

Edina let out a sigh and then stood as Rachel had shown her. Rachel talked her through the process once again. Edina turned off the safety and started to pull on the trigger. "When you fire, squeeze the trigger gently, there's no hurry." Edina's finger curled in as she pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang along with the gun forcefully pushing back on Edina's shoulder. She had to take a step back to keep from falling.

"That wasn't too bad," Rachel praised. She took the rifle from Edina and turned the safety on again. "Even if it's not loaded, always keep the safety on when not in use," she explained. "Accidents can happen at any time and it's better to be cautious." Rachel placed the gun back on the table. "Let's go see how you did for your first shot."

The two women walked to where the target had been placed. A piece of paper that had a red circle painted in the center with two other circles surrounding it was waiting for them. "That's not too bad," Rachel smiled. She pointed out a tear in the target between the outer circle and the middle one. "It will get the point across that you mean business at least."

"I did that?" Edina asked.

"Absolutely," Rachel nodded as she removed the paper. "I told you the gun I made is more accurate than the ones you find everywhere else."

"Are you going to sell your guns to the marines?" Edina asked. There was an awkward silence between the two. "Young lady, don't tell me you plan to sell them to pirates."

"Of course not," Rachel denied. "I'm just not sure I can trust the marines with them either."

"Honey, we've been through this. The marines are a symbol of justice and are there to protect civilians like you and I from pirates." Edina started to walk back to the table. "I'll help you bring these things back to the house. It's time that we started supper."

Rachel sighed as she watched Edina walk away. She couldn't tell Edina that the system was corrupt and she wouldn't allow anything she made to give them even more power. Of course, most pirates were no better. It was a very chaotic time.

Back at the house, Edina began to cook the last meal the three would be sharing. Rachel and Missy would be heading out in the morning. Missy chose that time to walk in, covered in dust. "We're all finished," she cheered. She sat down at the table in a huff. A small cloud of dust coming from her spot. "I can't believe that took all day."

Rachel finished cleaning Edina's new gun and put it away. "I thought you said that it would be an easy install for the farmers," she teased.

"An irrigation system should be," Missy agreed. "But it gets a little tougher when you have knee knobbers running around and asking questions."

"What are knee knobbers again?" Edina asked.

"Little children," Rachel explained. "Basically any child twelve and under."

Edina nodded her head absently. Rachel and Missy smiled at eachother, knowing it went in one ear and out the other. "Go wash up," Edina ordered Missy. "I won't have dust as a side to dinner." Missy laughed lightly, but did as told.

Rachel began to set the table and help Edina with any finishing touches. "I'll miss having the two of you here," Edina admitted. "You've been such a big help. I'm tempted to lock you in your room."

"We'll miss you too," Rachel said. "But there's so much more out there for us to see and to do. We'll be helping so many villages protect themselves against pirate raids."

"That's why I'm letting you go," Edina smiled. "You two make me so proud. Having such an admirable goal. I'm sure your parents, wherever they are, are proud of you as well."

Before anything else could be said, Missy came out in a fresh pair of clothes and the dust washed off. She then helped put the food on the table and the three sat down. "Is everything loaded in the boat?" Missy asked.

"It's all taken care of," Rachel said. "The boat is loaded with food and supplies. I also have a dingy tied to it for the extra stuff. The wave runner will have to move on it's own until we can find a bigger boat somewhere."

"I still don't understand how that small thing can move," Edina spoke. "It shouldn't be possible for it to do anything. It's too small for even a small paddle wheel and too small to row."

"It's okay Edina," Missy said. "I've made a few tweeks with it. Rachel will be safe as she operates it. All she needs is to keep her life jacket on."

"I'm still amazed that such a thing can be made. If you two could make those and sell them to passenger and merchant ships you could save so many lives."

"Unfortunately we don't know how it was made," Rachel shook her head. "It would be nice to be able to help people like that, but we just don't know how."

"That's alright, I know the two of you would try if you could. It's enough that you set up this town to protect itself from bandits and pirates. No one can expect you to do everything." The rest of the night passed on in silence.

In their room, Rachel and Missy went over their checklist for the hundreth time. "I'm still a little leery," Rachel admitted. "I know you've been working on solar powered engines back home, but are you sure you converted the speed boat and wave runner properly?"

"Have a little more faith in me," Missy clicked her tongue at Rachel. "I've done all the research and schooling back home before getting zapped here. Besides, the wave runner is too small for a solar panel. You have to connect it to the speed boat when it runs low. We know that gasoline can't be found here yet, if at all. Our only choice was to convert them. You don't see me questioning your guns. Which reminds me, you made and sold better musket loaders to the town. Why did you give Edina a gun like that? People are going to ask questions when we get back."

"If we come back," Rachel pointed out. "Besides, you know how I feel about musket loaders. I couldn't leave one with Edina in good consciousness. I had to leave her with a gun that was more reliable."

"You're too soft-hearted sometimes," Missy shook her head.

"Only when I can be," Rachel corrected. "Besides, I don't see you going to take that gun from her."

"Let's just say I see merit in your decision." With that the light was turned off.

The next morning Missy and Rachel bid the town 'farewell'. It was before dawn, so none from the village knew that they were leaving already. Rachel zipped up her wetsuit over the bikini that she had first arrived in. Missy was wearing a T-shirt and shorts over her own bikini.

"You have the compass and map?" Rachel asked. "I can't navigate on this."

"I've got them," Missy held up the objects. She put the compass in front of the steering wheel. "At first, we should aim for the closest port from here. We don't know how much time we'll gain with engines. From what I've heard from the fishermen it takes about three days to get there using a sail boat. We'll judge our time and distance from that."

"Just don't drive like a grandma," Rachel teased. "There's no speed limits here."

"I will go as fast as I feel safe," Missy snapped.

Rachel stared at Missy blankly and started handing Missy her life jacket. "What are you doing?" Missy asked.

"We're switching," Rachel said. "Instead of me keeping up with you, you have to keep up with me."

"That's an even worse plan," Missy yelled. Rachel continued to hold out the jacket to Missy. "Okay, fine, I'll drive like we were on the highway unless we come across a storm or some really bad waves. Are you happy now?"

Rachel pulled back her arm and started putting the jacket on. "It will have to do for now," she said. "Just remember I'm prepared to mutiny against you should you go slower than a turtle."

"What's there to mutiny against?" Missy asked. "It's not like I've claimed to be captain. Besides I know if I started bossing you around you'd just flip me off."

"You know me too well."

"That and I don't want you to kick me again."

"That was one time," Rachel argued. "Besides, you would have been fine if you didn't step into it. I would have lightly tapped your ankle, instead you gave yourself a giant bruise on your calf."

"I did?"

Rachel slid onto the seat of the wave runner. She untied it from the dock and used her foot to push off. "We're wasting daylight," she ignored Missy's outburst. "We wanted to be out of sight before the town started to wake up."

Missy dropped the subject and untied her own lines from the dock. She pushed away from the dock and started the engine. She slowly eased the boat away. Once she was at a fair distance she increased her speed. A glance behind showed Rachel speeding up as well. The wave runner jumped over the wake left behind the speed boat. Rachel stood, knees slightly bent, as she landed back on the water. She was quickly back on her seat to keep her balance. They were long gone before the village became active for the day.

A little after noon Missy spotted an island on the horizon. She slowed so Rachel would pull up next to the speed boat. "I think that's the next island," she pointed out. "We can have a sandwhich or something for lunch before we head over there."

"Which village should be there again?" Rachel asked. She tied a line to the speed boat and the handles of the runner. She then climbed into the boat to eat a bit of lunch and have some water before they continued.

Missy gazed at the map intently. "I believe that it's Fuusha Village," she answered.

Rachel paused in her actions for a second. She was once again moving before she spoke up again. "Well, let's hope that a certain Straw Hat has already left for his journey."

"You never know," Missy said. "At any rate, judging the age of Zoro two years ago it's almost a safe bet that he's already left."

Rachel took a sip out of a canteen. "We're almost never that lucky," she reminded.

"Either way, we'll have to find an inn. Another island is too far for us to reach before dark. Now that I have an idea on distance and speed, I can say with confidence that we should be to the Grand Line in about three days." Missy also started to eat her own lunch before they headed out.

"We should leave the wave runner somewhere out of sight before approaching the town," Rachel spoke. She was staring at the island in thought. "It won't do us any good to have to answer too many questions. Besides, the speed boat will gain plenty in and of itself."

Two hours later the two were both in the speed boat as Missy slowly approached the dock. Rachel tossed a line over one of the posts and pulled them closer as Missy cut the engine. While Rachel was still pulling the front closer Missy moved to the rear and tossed a second line to firmly tie the boat to the dock. Not surprisingly a crowd was staring at them.

Rachel was wearing shorts and a T-shirt over her wetsuit now. The two stepped onto the dock with an over night bag each and made their way to town. An elderly man with a mustach and glasses approached. "Are you two pirates?" he asked.

"Not at all," Missy smiled. "We're a couple of travelers heading to Loguetown. We just wanted to stop here for the night to sleep in a decent bed."

"Oh, well in that case." The man turned and pointed out the tallest building. "That would be the inn and bar."

"Thank you very much," Rachel said. The two then walked off towards the building. They rented a room without further questions and spent the night in relative peace.

The next morning the two left just after having a decent breakfast at the inn. Missy followed the coastline back to the rocky out cropping they hid the runner in. Rachel slipped her T-shirt and shorts off so that they wouldn't get wet. "Explain to me why you don't ever want to operate the runner again," Rachel said as she put on her life jacket.

"I have no balance," Missy said. "The only wetsuit we have is in your size, you know how to drive it and it scares the hell out of me. You're lucky you have me in a boat at all."

"Yeah, this whole world must suck for you." Rachel had a knowing smirk on her face.

"Shut up."

Rachel put the safety key on her wrist and then jumped into the water. Once she surfaced she was making her way to the rear of the wave runner. Rachel pulled herself up and scooted closer to the handles. She pulled a make-shift anchor out of the water and put it by her feet. She started the engine and headed over to the boat. Rachel handed the anchor to Missy carefully so she didn't tip. "What's our next destination?" she asked.

Missy looked at the map once she put down the runners anchor. "Let's see," she said to herself. "If I go as fast as I can without breaking the line attaching the dingy then we should be able to make it to the village half-way between here and Loguetown. I want to avoid going to certain islands and villages for now. We still don't know the exact time-line. I would rather avoid bumping into the Straw Hats at this point."

"I still don't get the logic behind that," Rachel put in. "If this is an actual world and not just some story then it stands to reason that the events aren't going to be exactly the same anyway."

"I just don't think that you and I are as ready as we can be. We still have a lot of plans. Not to mention, it's better to not get attached if we do manage to find a way back to our world."

"There just has to be an easier way of finding out if we can go home," Rachel sighed. Her eyes widened in an epiphany. "Why didn't I think of that before?" she asked herself. "There is a far more simpler solution."

"I fail to see how anything could be simpler than having to either learn the lost language ourselves or recruiting Nico Robin."

"Robin is a member of the Straw Hats," Rachel said firmly. "Or she will be, whichever. Either way, that option is out. There is still a simpler way."

"Okay fine," Missy finally caved. "What is your supposed easier way?"

"Ask Rayleigh."

"Come again?"

"We know from the manga and anime that Silvers Rayleigh and Gol Rodger made it to the end of the Grand Line. We also know that they discovered the true history of the world. We could just ask him if they ever came across a way for us to travel back to our world."

Missy stared at Rachel for a long time, blinking every once and a while. She finally hit her forehead with her hand. "I'm such an idiot," she muttered. She then snapped her hand to point an accusing finger at Rachel. "Why didn't you think of this sooner?" she demanded.

"First off, it doesn't matter, we still need funds for traveling." Rachel held up a hand. As she made a point she raised one finger. "Second, it's still going to take us a long time to reach Rayleigh. Third, we still have to go to the Grand Line. Either way you look at it, we still need to find a way across the Grand Line. It's kind of funny though, these last two years you were stressing over a complicated plan and worrying about learning a dead language."

"Your concern for me is overwhelming," Missy deadpanned.

"Well why didn't you think of it sooner?" Rachel challenged. "You're always saying that you have a better IQ than I do. I suppose this is my way of getting even with you. You've got the book learning for building solar engines and repairing them, but you lack the simple things. Often times the simplest solution is the best. In this case, it all boils down to asking for directions."

"Okay, so we'll go ask Rayleigh. I still think we should stick to the original plan, just in case. We most definately need a bigger boat."

"Amen to that," Rachel cheered. "If I have to sit on this seat for too much longer I'm going to develop saddle sores."