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

Nunya Bizniz

Chapter Six: Rayleigh

The Nunya sat anchored at a small island. The village there had been raided by pirates so many times that it was almost expected that Rachel and Missy were pirates. The reason it was raided so often was that this island was highly rich in minerals and resources. Going off of that information the two decided to barter with the villagers. Instead of them paying for solar power and weapons with Beri they would pay them with the types of resources the two found useful. Metal was a big one in Rachel's book. There was also a Sea Prism Stone deposit that the villagers would mine to sell at a high price. Missy and Rachel immediately saw a use for those and tried to work them into the deal.

Meanwhile, back in Water 7, Zoro was dealing with Aunty and the children. He went through the house, trying to drop off the babies to someone else so he could leave. He came across the kids doing laundry upstairs. As he was about to turn around he stopped when he saw a group of pictures on the dresser. Taking a closer a look he noticed that one showed Aunty and the kids with someone else in front of a strange ship. Zoro's eyes widened and he made a choking noise in his throat when he realized who the person was. Rachel was standing in the middle of the group. The next picture had Rachel with just the kids. A blush grew on his face as he noted the ease with which Rachel was holding the three infants. The last picture showed Rachel in what appeared to be a jump from the dock to the ship as it floated in the water.

"That's our big sister," Yoko's voice broke Zoro from his thoughts. "She's gone on an adventure to see the world. We saw her off last week. That's her new ship, The Nunya Bizniz. It's so amazing. It can move through the water without any sails."

"How is that possible?" Zoro asked. Yoko just shrugged her shoulders as she continued to fold clothes. Zoro went back to staring at the photos. He noted that Rachel was wearing just a regular T-shirt and jeans in the pictures. Normally, when he saw her, she would be wearing some type of strange garment that clung to her like a second skin. 'Why do I keep thinking about her?' Zoro asked himself.

~Now equiped with more metal and a few sea prism stones, the Nunya started heading for Sabaody Archipelago. Rachel and Missy were anxious to find out if Rayleigh knew how they could get home or at least point them in the right direction to find out. It took two days of travel from the small island. During that time, Rachel had been busy in her workroom. Now that she had a place to store the guns she made, she wasted no time in building up a stock.

On Sabaody Archipelago, both girls avoided the main towns and buildings. "We know that he hasn't been to the bar Shakky owns in a while," Rachel was saying. "Or at least we think. It could be way before the timeline though and he's there. If you think about it that way, we should check that out as well." The two of them were docking the Nunya a little ways off shore. They were discussing how they were going to find Rayleigh. "From what I remember, Shakky had informed the Straw Hats that Rayleigh frequents other bars and casinos. We could start at some of the hotspots and work our way out. Of course, we'll need to avoid the main stream population and possible slave traders."

"Are you thinking slave traders would bother with us?" Missy asked.

"If we stick to the outskirts, yes." Rachel lowered the anchor and started following Missy below deck. She lowered the ramp as Missy got into the speed boat. Once the speed boat was off the ship, Rachel raised the ramp once again. She then headed back to the deck and started climbing down the side ladder. Waiting at the bottom was Missy and the speed boat. Rachel jumped the last few feet. Missy waited for her to sit before they headed to shore.

"We're a couple of seemingly weak women," Rachel continued the conversation. "Any slaver would jump at the chance for such easy pickings."

"Then it's in our best interest to find Rayleigh right away," Missy added. "I just hope that he hasn't been turned over to the slavers yet."

"Me too."

"Shall we do the usual divide and conquer?" Missy asked.

"Absolutely not," Rachel said quickly. "It'll make us bigger targets for slave traders if either of us is completely alone. They might hesitate a bit longer if there's more than one person traveling together. We might still be targeted though." Rachel's eyes shifted from Missy to the front and back again. This action continued several times.

After covering half the distance between the Nunya and shore Missy finally got fed up with the action. "I don't see why you have to keep doing that," she sighed. "I know I'm going to regret this either way but, what one is it this time?"

"It's the patron fairy crab of the Celestial Dragons." Rachel started laughing as Missy shook her head.

Not even a half hour into their search were Missy and Rachel surrounded by shady looking men. "I told you," Rachel whispered.

"Don't start with me," Missy replied.

Rachel pulled her gun out of the holster on her hip quickly. She didn't want to give these men a chance to give her an ultimatum. She positioned herself between Missy and the guy that looked like the apparent leader. "You really need to learn to carry some type of weapon with you," she hissed so only Missy could hear.

"I'll get right on that," Missy rolled her eyes.

The men started to close in on the two. With a group so spread out as they were, Rachel was sure that even if she took a few out they could still overpower her and Missy. "I'll clear a path and we bolt," she instructed. Rachel took aim at the leader. It stood to reason that if she cut the head off of the snake it would make the lackeys less likely to pursue the two of them.

Just as Rachel was about to pull the trigger, the slavers started falling over. The only one left standing was the leader. A man in a cloak landed in between him and the 'sisters'. In a move too fast for them to follow, the slave leader was knocked back into a tree branch several hundred feet away. The man that came to their rescue slowly turned to face Rachel and Missy.

"I don't believe it," Missy muttered. Rachel lowered her gun in stunned silence. Rayleigh was the one that had come to their rescue.

Rachel finally gained her senses as she put her gun away. "Holy crab," she whispered. "Ow!"

"How you don't have brain damage from me hitting you for the crab thing I will never know," Missy joked.

"What are the two of you doing on the outskirts by yourselves?" Rayleigh asked. He was looking between the two of them.

Since Rachel was still rubbing the back of her head, muttering about getting even, Missy stepped forward. "We were actually looking for you," Missy said. "We need your help, desperately." Rayleigh raised an eyebrow at this. "We shouldn't talk out in the open though. We can either go and talk on our ship or someplace private of your choosing."

"I know a bar not far from here," Rayleigh said. "We can talk there." He then started to walk away, expecting the two to follow. Missy started forward and Rachel followed behind, digging through her pockets for some pain reliever.

When the three arrived at the bar, Shakky took one look at Rayleigh and started rushing the other customers out the door. Once the last one was gone, she closed and locked up so there wouldn't be any interruptions. Rayleigh took a seat at a table and gestured for the two women to do the same. Rachel and Missy sat across from Rayleigh while Shakky leaned against the table next to them, lighting a cigarette.

"You two wanted to talk privately," Rayleigh began. "What is this all about?"

Missy was the one that took the reins. "We were hoping that you could help us find a way back home," she started. "You see, it might be hard to believe, but we're not actually from this world." Missy then continued on, telling Rayleigh and Shakky about the freak storm that brought them here, how their ages were reduced, and their journey across the Grand Line to find him.

"That about sums it up," Rachel said. "In our world, we have the story of a certain pirate's journey to find One Piece. Your name is mentioned, extensively. It suggested that you know what the Poneglyphs said, somewhat. You might not know exactly what they said, but you have an idea. We were hoping one of them may have mentioned our world and the possibility of returning. If so, we were hoping you could point us in the right direction."

Rayleigh was quiet for a few minutes, staring at the two women. Shakky was simply holding her lit cigarette as she stared as well. A burst of laughter from Rayleigh finally broke the silence. Shakky smiled slightly as she then continued smoking. Rachel and Missy slumped in thier seats. If Rayleigh was laughing at them then he didn't believe a word they had said.

"Don't look so defeated," Rayleigh finally said. He was smiling at the two. "You were right in thinking that I have an idea of the meaning to the Poneglyphs. There was one that I remember that only now makes sense. At the time, it just seemed like it was some make believe story. We had dismissed it due to not having any useful information. Now, after meeting you two, I can finally see it's importance."

"So it may help us find a way home?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"Not at all," Rayleigh shook his head. "It merely described another world with technology beyond our belief. Some of the things that you've described fits the description. Who would have thought that ships could cross the sea without sails? Anyway, it described your world and a few other details. In the end, however, I'm afraid that you're stuck here."

"You mean you can't help us?" Missy asked for clarification.

"I mean," Rayleigh looked pointedly at them. "Whatever it was that brought you to this world was a one time event. It's not going to happen again and the two of you are not going to be going home."

"You mean to tell me that I'm going to be stuck going through my twenties all over again?" Missy demanded.

Rachel gave Missy a dumbfounded expression. "Are you really going to complain about being younger?" she asked. "Besides, that's not exactly the thing I would focus on. We'll never see our families again. Don't you care about that?"

"Of course I care about that," Missy snapped. "What good does it do to complain about it if there's nothing we can do? We've already mourned the loss of our home two years ago, what more can we do? What are we supposed to do now?"

"I think that you're off to a good start," Shakky put in. "You've got yourselves a boat that no one else in this world has. You have a business where you're helping the people against raiders. Not to mention all those little run-ins you are having with Monkey-chan and his crew."

"Why would that be improtant?" Missy asked. The two women just watched as Rayleigh and Shakky shared grins. "This is going to rattle my nerves, isn't it?"

Rayleigh cleared his throat unexpectedly. "So, where do the two of you plan to head from here?"

"Let's see," Missy looked up in thought. "We shouldn't stay for too long. The Straw Hat crew will be here soon. We haven't had the best luck in getting out of places before they show up." Missy then turned to glare sharply at Rachel. "If you so much as mention any type of crab I will make you eat this table." Rachel only grinned sheepishly at her in return.

"You said that there's a story of One Piece in your world," Shakky reminded. "What happens when Monkey-chan gets here?"

"Nothing good," Rachel let out a sigh. "We know what's going to happen, why it needs to happen, but I don't like it." She put her elbow on the table. She then rested her chin on her closed fist, eyes closed in thought. The room was silent for a moment as the gravity of the situation took control.

In a sudden move, Rachel sat up. Her eyes were wide with realization. "I've got it," she declared. She then looked over at Missy. "The need for the crew to become stronger is non-negotiable. But what if we could alter events so that Luffy still realizes that he and everyone else needs to get stronger?" Missy stared at her for a second, then rolled her hand in a gesture for her to go on. "You'll actually listen to my proposal?"

"No, I'm just urging you to get to the point so I can tell you 'no'."

"That's not very nice," Rachel glared. She shook her head to clear it and then continued with explaining her plan. At the end of it, Missy was staring at her, wide eyed. Shakky and Rayleigh were smiling.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that," Missy mused. She then turned her attention towards Rayleigh. "Can we ask you a favor? After Luffy nearly gets killed by the marines, would you be willing to train him to use Hakki?"

"How do you know about Hakki?" Rayleigh asked. He then held up his hand as Rachel went to open her mouth. "Nevermind, it was a stupid question. Some how your world has a person that can see into the future of this one." He then stared each of the girls down. "You really think it's that important?" Both girls nodded their heads. "In that case, I'll think about it. If it turns out that I don't like this person then I'll have to decline your request."

"Fair enough," Rachel stood up. "As it is, I need to get to work on my plan. I don't know how long it will take me to accomplish my goal. The sooner I can start, the more prepared I will be. Missy, I'll need your help making the scope lenses. If I'm going to have a gun with that kind of range I'll need a sight that's up to the task."

As Rachel and Missy were headed back for the Nunya, something kept bugging Missy the more she thought. "So I have a theory," she began. Rachel glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "All this time we've been barely one step ahead of the Strawhat crew. They have their little adventures of course, but for the main events we've always set them up so to speak."

"What do you mean by that?" Rachel asked.

"Well let's think about this," Missy continued. "First we bump into Zoro on the island we first arrive at. Nothing too exciting happened there. Well, maybe except that it kind of peaked his curiosity. Second, we bump into them at Lougetown. Again, we didn't have too much of a hand in the events that followed, but we were there at a significant turning point. Third, we were in Alabasta during the civil war. This time, I can't say that we didn't have a hand in something."

"Now you're going to have to spell it out," Rachel informed.

"You made weapons in support of the Rebel Forces," Missy pointed out. "I didn't agree with it, but I still allowed it. It just so happens that your last shipment to them was also the day we left. Consequently that's also when the Straw Hats arrived. You remember that Chopper had taken a rest in the carriage that ended up carrying him away. He discovered that it was full of guns. How much do you want to bet that was your shipment?" Missy smiled at Rachel as she blinked in astonishment.

"I'm not done yet," Missy pressed on. "Next were the events in Water 7. I doubt that the Franky Family would have pursued the Straw Hat crew so relentlessly if we hadn't bought the Jewel Tree wood. Seeing what we had accomplished probably just made Franky chomping at the bit to see his own dream fulfilled. Essentially, we might just be the ones responsible for all the suffering Usopp had to go through when the Family ganged up on him." Rachel had a sour look on her face. Usopp wasn't her favorite member of the crew, but he was still a valuable member.

"Now here's the last bit," Missy said with a flourish. "I just asked Rayleigh if he would train Luffy. I had no intention of doing that initially. But, if your plan works then Rayleigh will have to push Luffy into getting more training. I put the thought in his head, so chances are he'll be looking for things in Luffy that he does and doesn't like. We both know that he will end up liking Luffy's attitude.

"The point that I'm trying to make, what if we were supposed to end up here all along? It just so happened that Oda Eiichiro never saw us or imagined that we were here. Once we hit the Grand Line we have been having more and more of an impact in the story. It's almost like we were supposed to make sure that it all happened."

"That's an interesting theory," Rachel said quietly. "It makes a certain kind of sense if you think about it. I'm just astounded that we could have been here all along without ever realizing it. With the fact that Rayleigh says we can't return home, there's no reason for us to not get more involved."

"You want to take on the Government?" Missy asked skeptically.

"Not quite what I had in mind," Rachel shook her head. "We don't take on the Government ourselves, that would be suicide. With neither of us planning on ever eating a Devil Fruit it's just asking for trouble. No, I was thinking more along the lines of helping those that don't agree with the current Government. We can't sell power and weapons to the Revolutionary Army. However, we could sell to pirates that we agree with, like Shanks. I doubt Luffy and the Straw Hats would bother. The Heart Pirates might agree as well. Particularly in regards to the power for their submarine. How many places can they get fuel easily, especially being pirates? If they had a solar energy panel to power their systems they wouldn't have to worry about it again. We already know that Law hates everything to do with the Government."

"It makes sense," Missy agreed. "Let's just see what happens for now. We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We'll deal with the issue at Marineford first. If we're successful, then we'll start planning."

~Shakky was watching Rayleigh as he slowly took a drink. "When are you going to tell them exactly what Roger heard from that Poneglyph?" she asked.

Rayleigh gently set down the glass and looked at her. "I don't plan on it," he answered. "I can just see those two getting angry over it. How would you like to know that someone had decided to drag you to a different world just to exact revenge? That they were using you as a tool?"

"I wouldn't like it," Shakky admitted. "I'm sure those two would stop helping Monkey-chan if they knew."

"Exactly," Rayleigh nodded. "As far as I'm concerned, they don't ever need to know. The chances of them finding that particular Poneglyph are remote. If they should ever find out, we'll deal with that when we get there."