Tonlor: Yeah, you got me. I wanted him to know those four before he set out, so had planned for him to meet Sanji and Usopp from the very beginning. As for Krieg, yeah, I personally can't stand him either. Finally, on the case of Arlong, let me just say this, you have no idea.

Ranger Station Charlie: Nah, he didn't have enough time. Given a few more days though he probably could've convinced Sanji. I can guarantee you that he'll be busting out techniques sooner than in Cannon, but I won't go into any further detail than that. As for Luffy's training with Garp, it's made him stronger than he was before and has exposed him to the six powers, which you saw evidence of in chapter seventeen. As for Stamp Gatling, in case you don't remember, he already used that move on Buggy, back in chapter thirteen. And in closing, I'll just say this, Garp's training will come into play several times throughout the story, revealing what Luffy did and didn't learn from him.

pipi96: I understand how you feel, believe me when I say I don't want her to keep hurting Luffy any more than you do. However, she'll do whatever it takes to keep him away from Arlong. Even if it means making him hate her. Her act, her lies, the things she's gone through in the past eight years, Arlong's monstrous acts, Luffy's feelings of hurt and anger, it's all leading to one point, where everything will...for the lack of a better word, explode. Just hold on until it happens, and I think you'll find it quite...satisfying.

You guys remember how I said themes, dialogue and etcetera would be darker and/or more mature? Well this chapter is a good example of that.

Now then, here's the next chapter. Please read, enjoy and review.

"And here we are, the sea restaurant Baratie!" Johnny said loudly, as he presented the floating restaurant to the others.

"How lovely." Nami commented.

"This is the coolest place ever!" Usopp remarked in awe.

Zoro simply shrugged his shoulders.

Luffy had nothing to say to the sight either, only a smirk on his face and a thought in his head as he saw the Baratie once more. "Looks like I'm back."

They dropped anchor much closer to the floating establishment than you were supposed to, but they were pirates, so they didn't think much of it.

Yosaku exited the cabin, coming out on deck, just as the rest began getting off the ship, the bounty hunter coming along with them, wanting some of the food they were going to be getting.

Luffy led them inside, throwing open the doors and announcing his presence, a very large smile on his face as he did, "SANJI! I'm back!"

The entire restaurant's attention was on the six that had just entered, seeing as how Luffy had been so loud. And while most of the people in there seemed less than happy, to put it lightly, to see them, there was one person who was. This person poked his head out from the back, and smiled upon seeing them. He disappeared, having pulled his head back, before he came out to greet them.

"Luffy, long time no see rubber brain." He said, smiling, obviously happy to see his friend, despite the minor insult he had just thrown at him.

As he approached them, Luffy took in the changes that had happened to him. He had grown taller of course, slightly more muscular, and his hair was just a tad longer. He no longer wore the Baratie uniform though, now sporting a dark black suit with a dark blue, long sleeve, button up pinstripe shirt, and a pair of black dress shoes.

In the time that Luffy took in what was different about Sanji since he saw him last, the blonde had done the same to his friend, and more. As he had noticed the presence of Nami, his eyes widening a good deal as he had. He proceeded to move much faster than he had been, coming to a stop in front of Nami, kneeling before her, a rose in his hand that hadn't been there before, as he offered it to her. "Oh dear ocean, thank you for this treasure you have shared from your depths." He thought to himself.

Nami took a step back, her confusion obvious, the look on her face making it clear she knew what he was doing, she just didn't know why, nor did she seem to like it.

"Oh, my love, I just can't bare this hardship of loving you from afar, it is too difficult. I am now prepared to sail the ends of the Earth as a pirate, if it means someone of your rare beauty will be by my side!" He proclaimed, his eyes turning into hearts as he did.

"Uhh..." Nami just didn't know what to say.

"Dude, what's with your eyes!?" Usopp asked, distressed by what he was seeing. "That's not normal!" He stated, sounding pretty freaked out as he did. Johnny and Yosaku were nodding their heads vigorously in agreement at that.

Zoro scowled at this scene, "I have a feeling that...I'm really not going to like this guy."

Luffy frowned at it too, not liking it...though unsure why. Sanji did this kind of thing to every pretty girl he met, so he had expected this, but still...

Sanji got to his feet then, his heart eyes only growing bigger as he did, moving a tad closer to the orange haired girl while they did. "To be together sailing the seas, oh how great it would be!"

Luffy's frown evolved into a scowl at that, as he felt a strong urge to deck his friend in the face, hard, like break your face hard.

"Hey, look, I don't-"

Before Nami could finish her sentence, both Luffy and Sanji were taken off their feet, as Zeff came out of nowhere, ramming his peg leg into the blonde's right cheek and slamming his actual foot into the side of the straw hat pirate's head, drop kicking the two hard in the face, causing said teens to go flying to the right, not stopping until they slammed into the wall, cracking it as they did. Groaning, they fell face first to the floor, before jumping back to their feet, shouting as they did.

"What was that for Old Man!?"

"What the hell is wrong with you Geezer!?" Despite having been kicked into a wall, Sanji's cigarette was still in his mouth, surprising almost everyone there.

Standing firmly on his feet, where they had been standing just a moment ago, he began to speak, moving towards them as he did. "You haven't been back more than two minutes and you're already causing a ruckus, disturbing my customers meals! Where are your manners young man!?" Zeff asked Luffy in particular, stopping in front of him as he did.

"I-" As the raven haired sixteen year old opened his mouth to say something, Zeff proceeded to bring his head down, so that he could whack the teen with his extra, extra long chef's hat. He didn't stop with one whack however, moving his head back to it's original position and bringing it down again, hitting him again and again and again, over and over, beating him at a rapid pace with the hat. "No excuses!" He yelled at him, stopping the hat beating after about a dozen or so whacks.

It hadn't hurt Luffy, but it had got him to go quiet, which was all that was needed. So the old chef turned toward his protege then, "And you, would you stop being so stubborn!? This boy gave you an invitation to join his crew more than two years ago, take it and go become a pirate already!"

"But Geezer-"

He was cut off just as Luffy had been, "I have no need to keep you here at my restaurant." Zeff stated in a way that left no room for argument.

"I'm the sous chef in this place, what do you mean you have no need of me?" The blonde teen questioned, in spite of the no argument statement.

"You fight with customers all the time, you flirt with every woman under eighty who walks in here, and you couldn't get along with any of the other chefs to save your life. As for your cooking...well, I am the one who trained you, so we both know I can take care of that. You aren't needed here, so just go and become a pirate already."

"That's how it is huh? Well guess what, you can't get rid of me that easily. I'm staying here as the sous chef, whether you like it or not old man." Sanji rebutted firmly.

"Why you ingrate!" Zeff cried, grabbing ahold of Sanji by the collar as he did, before proceeding to toss him back into the same wall he had rammed into a minute ago, the blonde collapsing back onto the floor a moment later.

Sitting up, Sanji met Zeff's eyes with his own, saying as he did, "Enough with the games ya damn Geezer. You can try to get rid of me as many times as you want, but I'm here to stay. I'm not going anywhere old man. Not until you're dead and gone."

"Dead? Heh. I've got another hundred years of kicking your ass left in me." He said, before turning and walking away.

"Always has to have the last word, doesn't he?" Sanji asked to no one in particular, as he got to his feet.

"See, old man Zeff says it's cool, so come on, join my crew already!" Luffy insisted.

"I've already told you a hundred times, I can't Luffy." He replied, much more calmly than any of them had expected him to. "What I can do though, is treat you to that special meal I promised." He smirked at his friend as he said this.

The rubber man began to drool at that. "Oh yeah, that sounds good too."

Sanji chuckled at that, "I thought it would. Find yourselves a table, I'll bring out the food once it's done." He turned and walked toward the back then, heading for the kitchen.

They did as he said, finding a table and sitting down at it, as they waited for the food he would bring them. And as they waited, Usopp spoke up, "Luffy, he really doesn't seem to wanna join. Don't you think that maybe we should try and get a different cook while we're here?"

"No way. Sanji is the only cook I'll accept on our crew, and that's that." Luffy stated firmly.

"But what do we do if he won't join? Are we supposed to sail without a cook?" Usopp asked, unsure of the situation.

Luffy shook his head at that. "No, we won't. We aren't leaving this place without Sanji. No matter how long it takes, I will make Sanji a part of our crew."

Three days later...

Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp were all out on deck of the Merry, having woken up a couple of minutes ago. It had been a few days since they had arrived, and they had yet to convince Sanji to join. Zoro, Nami and Usopp did get to witness what had been the final nail in the coffin that was the reason for the blonde joining the crew for themselves though. As a pirate named Ghin had stumbled in on their first day here, looking malnourished, obviously on the verge of starving to death. He threatened the cooks with a flintlock pistol, telling them that if they didn't feed him, he would feed them a bullet.

A cook by the name of Patty wasn't having any of it however, ramming the man's head through a table and proceeding to beat him down for trying to eat there without any cash, and daring to threaten him as well. After the beating was over, they threw him outside, Sanji disappearing into the back as they did. A few minutes later, he came out with a bowl of food and a glass of water for the man, Luffy and his friends following after him as he did.

Sanji and Ghin argued about the former's charity and the latter's pride, but in the end, the blonde chef was able to convince the pirate to eat, saving his life in the process. Ghin understood this and groveled before Sanji, thanking him profusely, tears streaming down his face all the while. In response, Sanji merely explained to him he knew how it felt to be without food and water for so long, and that he would never let someone go hungry, whether they be pirate or marine, money or no money.

Which was why none of them had any complaints about staying here so long to recruit the man. Well none of them but Nami, she didn't voice her complaints however, as they involved her business back home. That didn't stop her temper from flaring they, the object of her ire being the straw hat teen, lashing out at him quite often, building tension so thick it could almost choke someone.

As Johnny came out on deck as well, he and his partner having been staying on the ship as well, the sound of some kind of bell and horn or something of that nature making a bunch of racket caught their attention. Looking over to where it was coming from, they saw a marine ship just a tad bigger than their own vessel pulling up beside them.

Yosaku chose that moment to come out onto the deck also, quickly scrambling back and hiding behind the door as he realized that a marine ship had just stopped next to them. "A marine ship, all the way out here!?" He thought worriedly and somewhat disbelievingly.

"Hey Luffy, they're not going to start firing at us are they?" Usopp asked of his captain, a bit of sweat running down his forehead as he did, his concern evident.

"Ugh, it's just our luck. Of course the Marines would show up." Zoro said, obviously annoyed by their presence.

Johnny quietly began to sneak over to where Yosaku was hiding at that point.

"Damn that Krieg, slipping away from my grasp like that." They all heard a man mutter to himself, as he walked out onto the deck of the marine ship. Now outside, his eyes caught sight of their ship. "I've never seen that pirate flag before." They all heard the man say to himself, as he walked to the edge of the marine ship, allowing them to see what he looked like.

This man was of average size and build, had well groomed short pink hair, tanned skin and a scar going from the right side of his jaw almost up to his right eye in a diagonal pattern. As for the clothes he wore, a white pinstripe suit with a light blue dress shirt underneath, and a pair of black dress shoes. What was most notable about the man though, was the fact that he wore a single iron knuckleduster on his right hand, which had bolts attached to the knuckles.

This man quickly made himself known, "I am Ironfist Fullbody, but you all can just call me Sir. Now, whichever one of you's the captain, identify yourself!" He demanded.

"My name is Luffy." The straw hat pirate complied, stepping forward as he did. "And I'm the captain of this crew. We only made our flag a couple days ago, which is why you've never seen it before." He explained.

"You did, is that so?" He asked, obviously amused judging by the grin on his face.

This smirk of his faded, as his eyes caught sight of Johnny and Yosaku. "Hey you two, right there, I've seen you before." He stated, making it clear who he was talking to, causing the two to begin to sweat. "You're that bounty hunter duo that goes after the small fish, right?"

Seeing as they had already been seen, they left their hiding place from behind the door, as they tried to explain. "Well, we, uh-" Johnny started, his nervousness clear.

"So, you've finally been caught by pirates." He stated as if it was fact, clearly not knowing the real situation.

"Well actually, we-" Johnny tried once more, only to be cut off by the marine again. "Now that's a laugh." Chuckling a bit after saying so, as if to prove a point.

A pretty blonde woman in a red dress came up behind the man then, moving to his side to hug his arm, saying as she did, "Hey, come on baby, let's get going."

"Sure." He replied, acknowledging her.

"Hey wait a minute!" Johnny yelled in an attempt to keep the man's attention on him and his partner. "You think small time bounty hunters would go after these guys!?" He shouted, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a bunch of bounty posters, proceeding to toss them all out to show everyone.

The marine had already turned away however, and was preparing to deboard his ship with his lady friend. "Now, let's head inside." He said to her. Just before they got off the boat though, he gestured to one of his subordinates, speaking as he did, "Their ship is an eyesore, sink it."

With a salute, the marine grunt rushed to do what he was told.

"H-he ignored us." Johnny stated, obviously aggravated by it.

"Next time we see him, he better have a little more respect for us." Yosaku said in a warning like tone.

Nami happened to glance down at the bounties then, and what caught her eyes sent a shock through her system. Crouching down, she picked up the piece of paper that had caught her attention so, taking a look at it, her eyes widening as she did. Almost no one noticed this, as their eyes were on Fullbody as he stepped onto the Baratie and proceeded to enter the establishment.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" As the sound of his laughter plagued Nami's mind, she closed her eyes tight, feeling sick to her stomach as she did.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Her eyes shot open at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, looking back at the person who was touching her, her eyes wide with fright, disgust and hate swirling around in her orbs as well. Upon seeing it was Luffy, the emotions faded and her eyes returned to normal, though there seemed to be a remnant of something in them, almost a shadow behind her eyes, as if she was haunted by something she kept seeing over and over again. "Nothing, I'm fine." She said icily, standing as she did.

"You sure?" Luffy questioned, knowing there was, but wanting to hear it from her mouth.

"Yeah." Was all she responded with, letting go of the piece of paper, allowing it to slowly fall to the ground, floating down and down until it touched the deck of the ship, as she turned and walked away.

"Nami, wait wh-" Luffy tried to say, moving to follow her, but was quickly cut off, "Just leave me alone!" She said harshly, sounding like she was on the verge of crying as she did, passing by Johnny and Yosaku as she went inside the ship.

Stopping in his tracks, the raven haired teen shut his mouth, as he was sure she wanted him to. Zoro's, Usopp's, Johnny's and Yosaku's eyes were all on him at that point, but he didn't pay them any mind, as he turned and looked down at the bounty that had seemed to perturb her so much. Crouching just as she did, he grabbed ahold of it and brought it up so he could get a good look at it himself.

"Saw-Tooth Arlong, wanted for thirty million berris." Luffy muttered, reading the page to himself. The picture was of a blue skinned fishman with a long, sharp, saw like nose. The straw hat teen's eyes narrowed slightly then, as he continued to speak to himself, "Who are you and why did seeing you make Nami act like that?"

Zoro took a step forward then, letting the other three know to keep quiet as he did, so as to look down, over his captain's shoulder, so he could see what he was looking at. He managed to catch sight of the bounty poster and read it, just before Luffy crumpled it up, closing his hand into a fist, gripping the paper tightly in his hand, before letting it fall to the floor, standing up as he did. "Zoro..."

"I got it Captain." Zoro assured, knowing what the raven haired teen wanted him to do.

Luffy nodded his head at that, waiting for his friend to do as he ordered him to before he moved. Zoro did as his captain wanted him to quickly, ushering Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku off the ship and into the Baratie, as the rubber teen wanted to be alone with Nami, so they could talk. While Zoro didn't like it, knowing the witch was just going to hurt him again, it was an order, so he would follow it, out of respect for his captain.

Once inside though, their minds were on something else other than what was going on outside, and that was what had happened in here. This was because a table was broken in half, there was glass and food on the floor, and Sanji was currently holding that Fullbody guy up by the throat, his feet a few inches off the ground, his eyes rolled back in his head, barely conscious. Said pink haired marine was beaten and bloodied, the red life liquid dripping down off his knuckles onto the floor, looking like he had been kicked around by a group of guys, rather than just the one.

"Looks like we missed a fight." Zoro remarked.

"Don't ever waste food around me again." Sanji started firmly. "At sea, if you ever provoke your cook, you're signing your own death warrant, remember that." The blonde finished grimly.

Luffy stood on the deck of his ship, waiting until they were inside. Once they were, he turned to follow Nami down below deck, when the sound of a cannon being aimed caught his attention, the noise coming from the marine ship to the side. Once aimed, the thing was quickly fired, sending a cannonball hurdling toward the pirate ship. The straw hat teen wasn't going to bother with this, not now, so, as the metal ball came close to making contact with the ship, Luffy jumped into the air and kicked the thing back at the marine ship that had just fired it, his accuracy almost pinpoint accurate, as it grazed the cannon it had been fired from, knocking it over and causing the grunt manning it to cry out in shock and fear, collapsing backward to avoid being hit by the thing. The cannonball ended up ripping through the area below deck of the ship until it burst out the other side of the vessel, falling into the ocean shortly after it did, having lost most of it's momentum.

After this happened, the marine grunt stood up, looking quite alarmed at the hole in the ship as he did. He looked over at the man who had done it, and as his eyes met the dark haired pirate's, he spoke, "If you bother me by firing another, I'll sink you with it."

The marine broke into cold sweat, his posture and eyes showing just how scared he was of the teen at that moment. Quickly realizing that his fellow marines might try and fire on the man, he snapped himself out of it and rushed to tell them to not to, lest they be sunk.

Confident the man would keep that from happening again, Luffy headed down below deck, going for Nami's room as he did.

As Luffy entered the bedroom Nami had been using since they got the Merry, she was facing away from him, standing, her arms around herself, almost as if she was hugging herself. Closing the door behind him, he moved to approach her, as he took the first step though, she spoke, "Please Luffy...just go. I don't want to talk, not to anyone...especially not you." She tried to convey nastiness, but her voice was quivering, so it didn't get through.

The straw hat teen was silent at that, not bothering to move either, not for several long moments. When he did move though, he slowly came up behind the orange haired girl, took off his hat and prepared to place it on her head. Just before it could make contact with her scalp however, she whirled to face him, smacking the straw hat right out of his hand as she did. "I don't want that damn thing!"

It hit the wall, before floating down to the floor, unharmed despite being hit. Having roughly handled his hat, Nami was sure Luffy would at least scream at her, but to her surprise, he didn't even flinch. He simply let his raised hand, the one that had been holding his hat, fall back to his side. "Nami..." He near whispered, his voice as he said her name making her want to cry even more, her tears becoming near impossible to hold back.

"What Luffy? What is it? What the fuck is it!? Tell me! Just tell me! What the fuck do you want from me!?" She screamed at him, her tears finally beginning to fall, as she was almost completely out of ways to try and make him hate her. "I've said such horrible things to him, treated him so horridly, why won't he just give up on me already!?" She thought to herself frantically.

When he didn't respond to her words, she continued on, trying once more to get him to hate her, so he would let her go. "Do you need a navigator that badly!? So badly that you have to keep me with you against my will!? Or is just my body you want!? Do you want my body Luffy!? Is that what you want!? Do you wanna fuck me!? Cause if that's what it takes to get you to leave me alone, then just do it already, go ahead and fuck me, that way I won't ever have to see your stupid face again!"

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" He cried, driving his fist through the wall to his right as he did, breaking through it like it was nothing.

Nami jumped at that, never hearing Luffy sound like that before, it honestly shocking her and scaring her a little bit, her eyes quite wide from it occurring.

Tears were streaming down his face, as he roughly removed his fist from the wall, breaking a bit more of the wall as he did, having shoved half his arm through the thing, the hole big enough to see into the next room. "I'm so sick of your shit! You aren't fooling anyone, this isn't you! This is all just an act! You're hiding something, something that's scarred you! And I know that whatever it is terrifies you, but I'm not a little boy anymore Nami, I can handle it! I'm strong now, I can protect you! So just fucking let me already!" He shouted at her, trying to get her to see reason.

Her tears had sped up, flowing at a rapid pace at this point, as she just stood there, speechless from his outburst, able to do nothing but stare back into the eyes that could see into her very soul.

Luffy was panting slightly, having gotten more emotional in that moment than he had in a long time, not bothering to say anything more, as he stared into her eyes, hers staring right back into his.

This time where neither of them spoke lasted for who knows how long, before Luffy turned away, bending down to pick up his hat, placing it firmly on his head, turning to face her once more afterwards. As he came face to face with her for the second time since he entered the room, he finally broke the speechlessness that had been shared between the two. "Arlong..."

"W-what?" She asked fearfully, her eyes widening even further, stopping herself from reaching for her left arm as she did.

"This has something to do with that Arlong guy on that poster you were looking at, doesn't it?" He clarified.

"I-I...w-why would you think that?" She questioned, her voice trembling, unconsciously grasping the top of her left arm as she did, forgetting about trying to stop herself from doing so, losing focus as she was slowly pressed.

"The way you acted when you saw his picture...I could tell, he has something to do with what's wrong with you, what you're hiding. Did he do something to you?" He asked, his tone low and dangerous, despite the tears still rolling down his face.

She couldn't bring herself to answer that, closing her eyes tightly, as she tried to keep from breaking down, her grip on the top of her left arm changing to having a grip on her left sleeve, said grip tightening, as she pulled at the sleeve of her shirt.

Luffy's eyes narrowed slightly, noticing what she was doing, receiving an answer as he did. It may not be the answer he wanted, but it did tell him that he was right, it had something to do with this Arlong person. It also gave him a hunch, that he proceeded to follow.

He reached toward her, the young girl flinching as he did, and grabbed ahold of her right hand, removing it from the sleeve it had a death grip on, proceeding to lower her hand back down to her side before letting go of it. With that done, he moved his hand back up and took hold of her left sleeve. She tensed, as she pleaded, "Don't, please."

The straw hat man didn't listen, in spite of the fact that he wanted to, and pushed her sleeve up, revealing the tattoo she had on her left arm. It was a blue saw-nosed shark turned to the left with the tail curving inward, a semi oval with three curves emitting from it around it.

"What is this?" Luffy inquired, his eyes wide, his emotions unclear at that point.

Nami refused to open her eyes at that point, hanging her head upon him seeing the tattoo that served as her brand mark. "I hate you..." She whispered under her breath, trying one last time to get him to just leave her alone.

His eyes went back to her face when she said that, simply staring at her, waiting for her to open her eyes. After several long moments, it didn't look like she would, so, Luffy said, "Prove it."

"What?" She asked, opening her eyes and looking back up at him as she did.

"You really want me out of your life? You really want me gone that badly? Then prove it to me. Prove that you hate me, that you want me gone more than anything else." He said grimly.

"H-how...how am I supposed to do that?" She questioned, feeling ill beyond compare as she prepared to reach for something she had hidden away, making the slightest of movements as she did

Luffy's eyes followed her own, down to her right boot, then back up to her face again. "You wanna use that?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"That knife your hiding in your boot, do you want to use it on me? Is that why you were reaching for it?"

"I-I-I-" She stuttered.

His eyes narrowed a bit then. "If you really want to use it that badly, then go ahead. Kill me with it. I won't stop you." He said darkly.

Her eyes widened to the max at that, greatly taken back by his words. "Wh-what!?" She cried incredulously.

Luffy reached down and pulled out the small knife she had hidden in her right boot, before placing it in her hands, and forcing her to grip it. "If you really hate me, really want me gone, then kill me. That's why you had that hidden there right? You know as well as I do, that as long as I'm alive, I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth, because I love you too much to live without you."

Her body began to tremble then, as she shouted at him, "What is wrong with you!? You want me to kill you!? How messed up in the head are you!?"

"Do it."

"No!

"Do it."

"I won't!

"Do it." He repeated for the third time.

"I said no!"

He grabbed ahold of her hands then, roughly yanking them up, forcing her to hold the knife as he did this, and poised the tip of the blade at his heart. "We both know I won't leave you alone as long as I'm alive, I'll continue to follow you, making you miserable everywhere you go. I make you cry on a daily basis, I know that, and I can't stand it. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want you to be unhappy, and I don't want to make you cry. If you hate me so much, then I hate myself too, so just put me out of my misery. Unshackle yourself from me and be free!" He commanded her angrily, his tears beginning to dry as he did.

"I...I...I...I can't."

"You can."

"I can't!"

"Kill me!" He shouted, his anger rising.

"I already told you, I can't!"

"Do it!"

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "AHHHHHH!" She cried out, lunging forward with the knife as she did.

Zoro, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku had all come back outside, wondering what was taking Luffy so long. Once out there though, they didn't have to wait long before he came out of the Merry. Once on deck, he was off the boat and standing on the Baratie once more in a matter of moments, his hat pulled down to cover his face.

Now that they could see him clearly all of their eyes went wide, as his chest was covered in blood, that red vest of his even darker because of the life liquid, not to mention there was a small incision in said vest, the size of the blade of a small knife, the same incision in his skin as well, where the blade had entered his flesh, blood still coming out said wound.

He looked up from the ground, letting his eyes show, so they were able to meet with the others eyes.

Zoro's eyes narrowed then, a dangerous look coming into his eyes. "She's worse than the devil!"

"Nami!" He snarled aloud, rage filling him, as he gripped his Wado tightly, preparing to unsheath it while he dashed forward, moving towards the Merry. "I'll kill her!"

"Nami did that!?" Usopp asked incredulously.

"Big Sis did!?" Both Johnny and Yosaku questioned disbelievingly.

Luffy cut Zoro off, blocking his path to the ship, refusing to let him pass, even as he tried over and over again to get past him. "Zoro-"

"No, not this time Luffy!" He moved to pass him, only for the rubber pirate to intercept him again.

"It's not what you-"

"I won't let her get away with hurting you, not anymore!" He pushed him and tried to rush past, but was pushed back and was blocked by his body once more.

"Listen to me dammit! She-" Zoro moved to pass Luffy once more, the rubber man barely missing the chance to block him, letting the green haired man start drawing closer to the Merry.

"Zoro!" Luffy called after him, to no avail.

As he drew dangerously close to the ship, just about to jump up onto the deck, finally pulling the Wado out as he did, Luffy cried, "RORONOA ZORO!"

Hearing Luffy call him by his full name, which he had never ever done before, managed to stop Zoro in his tracks, the older teen slowly turning to face his younger friend, his surprise evident on his face.

His own anger showing, Luffy shouted, "You will not hurt her! That is a direct order from your captain, understand!?"

He was quick to protest. "Luffy, she stabbed you in the fucking chest!"

"I don't care! I gave you an order Zoro!"

The swordsman couldn't help but growl at that, not liking it in the slightest, downright hating it in fact. But, nevertheless, he begrudgingly sheathed his Wado, and began to walk back towards Luffy. "Fine."

Once Zoro was back with his captain, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku, the bounty hunting duo asked together, "Did Big Sis really stab you?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you guys, it's not what you think. What happened was-"

"Ahh! Luffy, the ship!" Usopp yelled frantically, pointing at where the ship once was as he did.

Luffy and Zoro both turned around at that, to see the Merry turned around and sailing away, the sail unfurled and the anchor raised, the vessel already almost a dozen feet away from the Baratie.

"That damn devil woman is stealing the ship!" Zoro remarked angrily.

All five of them quickly rushed to the edge of the Baratie, but the ship was too far out for any of them to jump to at that point. Luffy could stretch however, and quickly threw his left arm out, stretching it to reach the boat, grabbing onto the railing once he was able. Just before he could snap back towards his hand however, Nami came out onto the deck, rushing towards his outstretched hand, her knife in her hands once more. She brought it down and purposely nicked the side of his hand with it, trying to get him to let go. It didn't work, so she brought her left foot up and stomped down on his thumb, pulling the knife back as she did, before bringing it down once more and stabbing the back of his hand, burying the blade about one third of the way into his flesh.

As he grit his teeth in pain, she yanked the knife back out and proceeded to kick his hand off the railing, his arm snapping back towards him as he was forced to let go of the ship. Once his arm was back to normal length, he shot his other one out, his right one, stretching it until it reached the ship. Before he could grab ahold of the railing though, Nami had assembled that wooden staff of hers, and batted his hand away with it as hard as she could, so as to keep him from grabbing on. In doing so successfully, when Luffy's right arm returned to it's normal length, he didn't bother to throw it out again.

"Goddamn witch!" Zoro shouted.

"Nami, don't take the Merry, please!" Usopp yelled.

"Come back Big Sis!" Both Johnny and Yosaku cried.

Luffy's face went blank, as he watched after Nami and the Merry, sailing away. "Nami..."

Blood dripped onto the floor, drop after drop hitting the wood, and that was the only sound that could be heard in the girls room, the two individuals pressed together completely silent.

Nami held the knife in one hand, the blade of it buried in flesh, blood trickling down her hand and dripping onto the floor, her body pressed into Luffy's, said sticky red substance covering his chest from the wound that had just been inflicted.

Luffy's eyes were wide, as he looked down at where the knife had entered flesh, blood flowing from it. "Nami..." He whispered.

She had placed her left hand over his heart, before proceeding to bury the knife into her own flesh, the blade coming out and piercing Luffy's skin, only getting about an inch or two in, before the knife had been buried to the hilt.

"There, happy now?" She asked him bitterly, before stepping back, pulling the knife out of her hand as she did, allowing it to drop to the floor, she herself collapsing to her knees and beginning to cry uncontrollably, as her plan had failed. She hadn't got him to hate her. And now...he would die, because he wouldn't let her go.

"Nami, I-" He started, reaching down to try and comfort her, but as soon as he touched her, she shrugged him off, shaking her head vigorously as she did. "No! Leave me alone!"

"B-but-" He tried once more, only to be shut down again. "Just go Luffy!"

"I...alright. I'll be back in a bit. We can talk then." He said, before reluctantly leaving the room, so as to let her be alone, not bothering to clean off all her blood on his chest as he did.

Luffy's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched tightly, a spark in his orbs igniting into a fire, as he proclaimed, "I will come for you Nami."

To Be Continued...

I'm sure you guys noticed that I increased Arlong's bounty by ten million. This is because he's one of the people who is stronger in my story than in Cannon. Not by a lot, just enough to where he warranted a ten mil bounty increase.