Ranger Station Charlie: That's okay, if you don't want to read the whole chapter, then that's your prerogative. Thank you. And I'm grateful you decided to review regardless.

unfortunateGambler: That was exactly my thinking on the matter. Glad we agree.

Lightningblade49: Eh, who knows. That clown, for as stupid as he is, can be hard to figure out at times. Kind of. Okay, not really. To answer your question though, I'm not sure yet. We shall see as the story comes along.

Lobisomen616: I'm unsure as of now, still trying to figure that out. Speaking of which, I'm open to ideas regarding it.

Guest: You're absolutely right, Loguetown has a multitude of factors to take into account. That being the case, the outcome of the arc is up in the air, unless you're me, then you would know the outcome. XP

Avo385: Well I'm sorry you feel that way. And as for the chapter not being worth the wait, uh, well you guys weren't waiting on it per se. It's not like I've spent all this time working on that chapter alone, rather I was working on chapters for another of my stories, not to mention dealing with some stuff in my personal life and going to work, so...yeah. That chapter, the Buggy Chapter, was written in the span of a week or so. So while you guys waited in the sense that time passed before the next chapter, you guys didn't wait in the sense that I've been working on it all this time. As for your concerns regarding the Grand Line Crewmembers, well I haven't addressed them directly, but they've been glossed over. And no, it won't be much of a problem, I already know how I'm going to shore things up on that end, so don't worry about it.

Tonlor: Thank you. Yeah, figured it'd make things more interesting. Indeed, that is without a doubt.

avatoa: No, they really don't. But what can you do? Stupidity runs rampant through their skulls, so they're basically hopeless.

Revan3363: Thank you. Ah, that's the hundred berry question isn't it? I will do my best.

BusterCall123: I'm glad. Thank you very much. And don't worry, I never had any intention of changing the LuNa aspect of this story, I just wanted everyone's opinion on it. You all could have said you hated the pairing and I still would have kept it, because I feel it makes the most sense and should be canon. That's just my opinion though. Oh, is that so? I'm overjoyed to hear that, I'm happy that my story helped you like that. And of course I'll keep writing, I wouldn't dream of abandoning this, or any of my other stories. I'd have to die first. So rest easy. :)

Mikalzilla: Arlong? That would be quite the feat, considering he's dead and everything.

HP-DG-SB: Glad you think so. Oh for sure, there's no doubt there. No matter how they approach this, they're beyond doomed to fail, anyone could see that. Thank you and I intend to, or at least to try and do so.

Guest: If you've barely read five thousand words, then it's rather difficult for you to have an accurate, nuanced read on the story, isn't it? You do kind of admit this yourself, so whatever.

Impressed and disappointed huh? Don't think I've ever impressed and disappointed somebody at the same time...well, this is a first for me. Yeah, that's correct, that's how long the story is so far and it has been two years since I started it. So what? I have to deal with real life, which has had me without so much as even a basic connection to the internet for six to nine months at a time, hell I write with the internet of the library right now, which I can't use on a regular basis because of my job and other things I'd rather not disclose. Then there's the fact that I have other stories I write as well, some of which haven't been updated in a long while because of the way I write, based on mood. All these variables make it difficult to get out consistent updates, and I think, considering the word count and substance of what I've wrote, that I haven't done too bad with how far I've gotten. At least considering I'm not rushing and all.

Yes, I am still in the East Blue. But, I've done one movie, one side story, and nine chapters of them as kids, and again, not rushing. I intend to take my time. Some of the best moments I have planned aren't as cool without any build up. Not to mention that I don't want to skim over the East Blue and just write out the differences, as there are just so many. They may be small, but they are quite numerous. Some also play into the larger story at hand. As for what Nami did, she was scared to death that Arlong would take Luffy away from her forever. Living under his thumb for so long, she was convinced no one could beat him. Of course she wanted to work things out with money rather than violence, as that way no one else would die for her.

As for the romance and the M rating, just because they accompany one and other doesn't mean there have to be lemons. The M rating is for the language, violence and dark subject matter, that the original One piece has in it at times as well. There is plenty more to come that will justify the rating aplenty. That said, I don't do lemons, I feel they detract from the story when not done right. Not to mention the fact that I don't feel quite comfortable writing them and that lemons can get one's story taken down more than anything else, except for maybe blatantly plagiarize someone else. And yes, Bellemere and Kuina still died, what of it? Them being alive aren't a part of the changes I had planned.

Well I thank you for that, as that's more than some other people can say. And I'm sorry you don't like my story, I wish you did, but beyond that, all I can say is that I hope you find a story more suited to your tastes. And believe me when I say I'm sincere in that regard.

Oh, it's slower than canon huh? I won't be done in twenty years? Say whatever you want, but that's just not true, assuming I don't suddenly drop dead that is. I estimate the pre-timeskip portion of this story to go about a hundred and twenty chapters, give or take ten or so chapters. Yes it's a rough estimate, but I believe it's pretty accurate. With that said, if I put out thirty chapters every two years, we would be post-timeskip in less than ten years from when I started. However, who's to say I'll only get thirty chapters out every two years? I could easily get more done, it all depends on certain factors. And you don't see a reason to prefer my story over the original without lemons? How about the fact that it's going to be different? Not a copy like you seem to assume it's going to be. With that said, I never assumed anyone would prefer mine over the original, especially since while I might do things people wished Oda had done, Oda is the true genius who came up with all these characters, abilities and the world in general himself.

Alright, enough of that, I'll stop myself there. Thank you for your input, while I may not like what you had to say, I do very much appreciate you taking the time to give me feedback regardless. I also thank you for wishing me luck. You may not like my story, but you gave it the time of the day in the first place, so for that, allow me to thank you one last time. Thank you.

DarthElendil: Why thank you! :) Thank you for your suggestion as well, I'll give it some consideration. However, I doubt I'll be changing the way I do things when it comes to the reviews. Mainly because I can't respond to every single one, as some come from guests, and that I like replying this way. That said, I'm sorry for causing any inconvenience. Hope you can forgive me on that end.

Thunderbird2: Yeah, I am a fan of One Piece. An absolutely ragingly massive fan. Oh, I can see where this is going already. You're one of those blithering fucking idiots who think that just because someone watches the English Dub of something, that they aren't true fans? Well you're so demonstrably wrong that it's ridiculous. No, it isn't Gomu Gomu, it's Gum Gum. At least for me it is, since I prefer the English Dub. It's Gomu Gomu in Japan and for those who prefer sub. That's the way it is. Don't like it? Get the fuck over it. It's to each his own dude. Learn to respect that.

Onto your other two reviews...Luffy was seventeen when he left in canon, not my story. And if you think what he said was so stupid, and you dislike this story so much, which it rather seems you do with your negative comments, then stop reading it. Go find another story that you actually like. Don't waste my time or your own by continuing with this one, because you're doing both of us a disservice. And I'm genuinely sorry that you don't like this story, and I wish you the best of luck in finding another story which is more to your taste. With that said, kindly never come back. Thank you and have a nice day. :)

Blue VanLocke: Well, thank you. I don't think it was forced, but I can see how you'd perceive it as such. I'm sure you're not the only one either. I will keep working. Thank you again for your input. Also, League of East Blue Jerks huh? Not a name I'll be going with, but it certainly sums them up pretty well, that's for sure. XD

Her Pretty Smile: New reader huh? Welcome then! Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I could never see Nami with Zoro, and especially not a love triangle between them and Luffy, no...just no. XD Yes, it is my story. However, my decision on the Zoro/Tashigi pairing isn't finalized yet. I could change my mind, who knows. We'll just have to see. Well, that's good, I'm glad to hear that. Thank you. :) Yeah, it's taken me quite a while just to get to this level of writing ability, meaning the overall ability of grammar, spelling, punctuation and etcetera, so I'm happy you appreciate that. That said, I can understand where you're coming from, I too used to have horrible...well, everything really. :P It sucks from that end of things too, trust me. Why thank you! You are quite kind!

As for your problem with LuNa, I do admit that maybe things went a teensy bit too fast, but it really made sense to me. I mean, they were together for three years, and the seeds of love had been well planted by the day their time together came to an end. Plus that whole time makes the heart grown fonder thing and all...I do admit though, I probably could've gone about it a little better. For that, you and everyone else has my apologies. Dismiss your opinion? Now why would I do that? You've been very pleasant and kind, so I see no reason to even think about doing that.

I plan to, believe me. Not gonna give your final judgement until you finish it? Yeah, good luck with that. This story is gonna be going on for a very, very long time. You're welcome! Also, no, I have not seen the LuNa moment. So...yeah, guess I got something to look forward to, eventually, when it's in my hands on a disc of the english dub of the anime that is.

That ends my responses, so I just have two more things to go over and the next chapter can begin. First, eye color, I brought it up last chapter. No one so much as even made a passing remark regarding it, so as far as I can tell, no one really seems to care all that much. Since that seems to be the case, I will, as I said, fall back on my defaults. Second, why I've been gone so long. Well, first of all, you guys know of my really, really shitty internet situation. But besides that, I had just put up the last chapter, when I got my hands on Trails of Cold Steel 2. Holy shit, was that an amazing game. Needless to say, after playing it, having already played the first one nearly a year before, I was hooked. So I kind went on a personal mission, writing up drafts of a story for it. I ended up coming up with several good ideas, and I recently put one into motion, already got four chapters up on it, in fact. And there's also the fact that I got some chapters up for my R+V story...so, yeah, I've been busy with all that, work, and other daily life bullshit.

Mad that I took so long to update? You have my apologies, truly you do. But I've already explained a million times how this works, so...yeah. Not much I can really do about it to appease you, unfortunately. :(

Anyway, onto the next chapter. Please read, review and enjoy.

It was approaching noon as Sanji started on lunch, getting an early start on it because of Luffy's insistence. He most likely wouldn't have agreed, if it weren't for the interruption during breakfast earlier. Fullbody, who had apparently been demoted or something, somehow got it into his head that he would be able to capture Luffy and turn him in and return to his original rank, or even higher. How he got such a notion into his head was anyone's guess, especially since the men he brought with him could have been picked apart by Usopp all at once. And he himself wouldn't last a single second against any of the monster trio, nor could he win against Nami if it came down to it. Even Usopp could have beaten him if it came to that.

The battle, if you could call it that, only lasted a handful of moments. And it ended when Sanji stepped out of the kitchen to see what the ruckus was and Fullbody caught sight of him. Apparently, the thought of dealing with both Luffy and Sanji struck terror in his heart, so he and his men fled. They even abandoned their ship in their attempt to flee, jumping overboard and swimming away as fast as they possibly could. It wasn't that big of a deal everything considered, but the blonde figured why not. What really happened though was that Nami echoed Luffy's request for an early start on lunch, which was why he had truly agreed to it.

And as the swirly browed teen cooked, Nami, now sporting a short sleeved red shirt and a plain black skirt, not to mention her favorite sandals, stood just outside the kitchen slash meeting room, only a foot away from the door, leaning against the railing as she watched her boyfriend. Said boyfriend was currently crouched in front of a sleeping Zoro, and had been so for a few moments now, having yet to say a single thing or bother him in anyway. That didn't last for too long though.

Yawning heavily, Zoro's eyes cracked open, and despite his best friend's uncomfortably close proximity, he didn't react in the slightest. He was clearly accustomed to such a thing, as he simply met the younger teen's black orbs with his own dark green, silently waiting for whatever he had to say.

"Come on Zoro, let's go play tag." The raven haired sixteen year old finally said.

Despite his captain's childish request, the swordsman did not balk at him. He merely closed his eyes once more and replied, "Not now Luffy, I'm still napping."

"Haha, yes, I'll play!" Usopp called jovially as he came out of the anchor room, running over to the other two males as he did. "Oh please, oh please, oh please!" He implored excitedly, as if he actually wouldn't be allowed to join in.

"Well, you two have fun with that." The green haired man remarked as he yawned once more, his eyes still closed.

"Aww." Usopp groaned in disappointment. "You won't play? Why not?" He queried the older teen. "Scared you'll lose?" He ribbed with a teasing smirk.

"That's not why jerkface, take it back." Zoro said, cracking an eye open, a frown crossing his face.

"Come on Zoro, play with us." Luffy interjected, beginning to poke his brother's right cheek over and over again as he did, to the older man's annoyance.

"If you're not afraid to lose, then why you mad, huh? Huh, huh, huh!?" The long nosed sniper questioned incessantly, also joining in on the poking, though doing so with his nose.

It took about half a second for the swordsman to realize he was being poked with a nose, but once he did, "That's it, you're dead!" He exclaimed, his frown evolving into a full blown scowl.

Luffy and Usopp wasted no time, running for it as Zoro all but jumped to his feet and made after them.

"Get back here!" He demanded, following after Usopp in particular.

"You can't catch me! Nah, nah!" Usopp taunted, juking behind the mast and sticking his head out and making faces at the green haired teen.

"Wanna bet!?" The swordsman growled, lunging for him as he did.

"Hahahaha! Zoro's playing tag!" The long nosed liar declared to the world, as he was chased around the mast. "And he can't catch me!" He razzed the older teen.

"Is it still tag if I kill you!?" Came Zoro's aggravated response to the razzing.

"Hey Zoro, you're supposed to play with me too." Luffy complained, crossing his best friend's path to try and get him to chase him as well.

Nami couldn't help but smile at the three's antics, more amused than she had been in a long time. To be fair, she was happier than she had been in a long time as well. Everything was perfect.

"Nami dear, lunch is served." Sanji informed her, as he walked out of the kitchen. She politely thanked him and went inside, as he called the others, "Hey idiots, food's ready."

That announcement stopped both Luffy and Usopp in their tracks, the two looking toward the blonde as they did. "Lunch!"

Before they could do anything else though, Zoro pounced and proceeded to catch them both. "Ha, got ya!"

"Hey, no fair!" The rubber captain whined.

"Dang it!"

"Get up here already." Sanji told them, before walking back inside.

Their gripes over the game were quickly forgotten, as they convened in the meeting room for lunch only a moment later. Though, Usopp did kick up a fuss about the fact that Zoro dragged him there by his nose.

...

An hour or so later, and everyone was on deck, near the bow of the ship, as they drew ever closer to the next island, said island within sight.

"So that's it huh? The town where the King of the Pirates was born and executed..." Luffy vocalized his thoughts aloud.

"Yeah, it's known as Loguetown. It's where every pirate in the East Blue stops by before heading to the Grand Line, usually to stock up." Nami informed. "It was known by Polestar Island for a long time, since that's the name of the island itself, but after Gold Roger was executed there, Loguetown was what was on the tip of everyone's tongues. It became so infamous for being his birthplace and the place of his death, that the actual name of the island was all but forgotten."

"Makes sense. The town takes up most of the island regardless, and considering the effect he had on the world, it's only natural the name of his hometown would become that renowned." Sanji gave his two cents.

"Who cares? All that matters now, is that the next Pirate King is about to step foot there." Zoro remarked with a grin.

Luffy returned the grin, before nodding his head in agreement with that.

"You know, speaking of stocking up, we should probably do the same." Usopp suggested. "I mean, I'm running low on ammo as it is. Besides, I bet they have some pretty cool stuff here."

"You're right. It would definitely do us some good to supplement our food supply, what with our rubber brained captain's bottomless stomach." The blonde seventeen year old acknowledged.

"I need to pick up some new swords. Trying to use three sword style with only one sword blows." The green haired eighteen year old stated.

"Well, we'll all do some shopping then. It's not like we're in a rush after all. You three can do that, while Luffy and I go clothes shopping."

"What? Noooooo..." The raven haired sixteen year old whined.

"Oh suck it up, you could use some more clothes. You can't just keep wearing that red vest and those blue-jean shorts all the time." The orange haired girl told him.

"But I wanna go see the spot where Pirate King was executed." The straw hat wearing teen protested.

"Don't worry, you'll get to. First though, some new clothes." Nami decided for him.

"Fine." Luffy gave in with a sigh.

On Polestar island, inside the local marine base, sat a man at a desk.

This man was about six feet three inches tall, had light skin, a muscular build, short white hair and raven colored eyes. His attire consisted of a large, thick white and blue specialist marine jacket, which was lined along the neck, wrists and hem with dark green fur, had justice written in kanji on the back, and it also had a number of cigars strapped to it. He wore it open with nothing underneath, revealing his impressive physique. Beside that, he also wore brown leather gloves, blue trousers with a brown belt and military issue brown leather boots. What really stuck out though were the two cigars he was smoking simultaneously.

"Tashigi! Tashigi! TASHIGI!" The man called with increasing intensity of his tone, clearly not too happy. Why? Because he had just finished reading a report on how a nearby Marine base had been raided, a total of twenty cannons as well as a seastone-lined stockade having been stolen from it.

He received no response from the person known as Tashigi, no matter how loud he got. "Where is that damn girl?" He wondered to himself aloud.

"C-Captain Smoker, what seems to be the problem?" A marine grunt queried as he opened the door to his superior's office, having just finished scrambling over here from wherever his post was.

"Where's Tashigi?" The man known as Smoker inquired immediately.

"Oh, Sir, she mentioned to me that she had some things to do this morning, but that she'd try to make it back in time for training." The marine explained. "I had thought you had been informed of this. My apologies."

"Irresponsible girl. Where the hell'd she go?" Smoker grumbled to himself.

The crew had just finished docking, the five teens allowing their eyes to wander the town after stepping foot off the Merry, taking in the truly impressive size of the town. They marveled only for a few moments though, before they separated to go about their business, Usopp going to restock on the things he needed to make some of his pellets, as well as trinket and contraption hunting, Sanji going to shop for all the ingredients they could store, as well as look around for beauties to woo, while the other three stuck together, at least for the time being.

"I don't see why I have to go with you." Zoro voiced his opinion on the matter, as he walked alongside his captain and their navigator.

"Because if you don't, you'll get lost, like you always do." Nami replied.

"I do not-"

"Yes, yes you do." She cut him off.

The swordsman grumbled a bit at this, deciding it wasn't worth getting into an argument about, he dropped the subject. "Whatever. Just keep an eye out for a sword shop."

"A sword shop? I thought you were broke." Nami reminded him needlessly. "Are you gonna steal a sword?" She questioned him in a sickeningly sweet cutesy voice, clearly mocking him.

"No, I just...I thought..." He tried to think of how he was going to get a blacksmith to forge him a sword, in case they didn't have any for sale, which was doubtful but not implausible, as she was right, he didn't have a single berri to his name. Needless to say, he felt a tad embarrassed as he realized there wasn't much of way to really go about that.

"Tell ya what, I'll give you a loan." Nami put forth, in an attempt to solve her crewmember's problem.

"A loan? What's the catch?" Zoro asked, clearly suspicious, not trusting for a moment that she would so willingly give him some of her money.

"I want three hundred percent interest." She told him with a smile.

"Three hundred percent? Who in their right mind would agree to that!?" Zoro barked with incredulity.

"Someone as broke as a joke." She retorted without hesitation.

Teeth girt, the green haired teen resisted the urge to growl at her.

"Think about it, there's no other way you'll be able to get swords without at least some money. So, considering you need three swords and only have one, I'd say you don't really have much of a choice." She reasoned.

Several moments of silence passed then, as he tried to think of a way out of having to do this...

"Argh, fine!" Zoro finally agreed, vexed that he now owed an even larger sum to this evil woman.

"Alright then. I'll just add it to your debt." She said with self-satisfied smirk.

In response, the eighteen year old just mumbled, looking away from the younger girl as he did, so as to avoid calling her a few select names.

That's when Nami noticed Luffy had come to a stop, the sixteen year old proceeding to do the same, the eighteen year old following suit.

"Why'd you stop Luffy?" She questioned her boyfriend.

"Look there guys, isn't that...?" Luffy trailed off, as he pointed out what he was talking about, his two childhood friends allowing their eyes to follow his finger to whatever he was staring at.

And what they saw, was a young woman. Not just any young woman however. This young woman was familiar to them, scarily so.

She stood at about five nine or so, had light skin, very dark blue hair that was between chin and shoulder length, and dark brown eyes. As for clothing, she wore a short sleeved, collared yellow shirt, with pink, sunflower-like designs spread across the material, along with blue jeans, black military style shoes, and a blue leather waist length coat with white trimming. Finally, she sported a pair of rectangular glasses with red frames. Not to mention she carried a sword.

She was being harassed by some large thugs, threatening her about something or other, before attempting to attack her. Unfortunately for them, they picked the wrong girl to mess with, as she unsheathed her blade and proceeded to cut them down, though doing so with the back of the blade, so as to prevent them from suffering lethal injuries.

As they dropped to the ground, groaning in pain before losing consciousness, she sheathed her sword, before stumbling forward, tripping and falling onto the ground, her glasses being dislodged and sliding across the ground in the process.

"K-Kuina!?" All three of the Straw Hats exclaimed, flabbergasted at the fact that she was the spitting image of an older Kuina.

...

"That was weird."

"I couldn't agree more."

"I mean, she looked just like Kuina! It was freaky."

"To think that two people could look so alike..."

"I hope Zoro's handling it alright." Luffy said then, a little worried about how his brother was taking it.

"Well, I'm sure it can't be easy. But she seemed nice enough, she even offered to help him find some swords." Nami commented. "He could barely speak, so it's not like he could've really refused anyway."

"What was her name again?" The raven haired teen asked.

"Tashigi, I think."

"Captain Smoker, a message from headquarters!" A marine shouted, as he burst into his superior's office. "I've just received word Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew are headed to Logue Town!"

"The man who attained a fifty million berri bounty on his head in matter of days of starting his pirating career...I can't wait to congratulate him." Smoker remarked nonchalantly, not even looking at his subordinate as he did.

"Sir, this is the pirate who defeated Don Krieg and demolished Arlong Park!" The marine tried to stress how dangerous these pirates had to be, clearly anxious over their pending arrival.

"Be quiet. Your stress is useless. You alone dictate the pace of your battle, am I wrong?" The white haired man questioned.

"N-No, Sir."

"Then why so tense?" The dark eyed man inquired, as he finally turned to look at his subordinate.

"Well, uh...it's that...honestly, I've never faced a pirate with such considerable strength before. Let alone his crew." The marine confessed.

"You really have nothing to worry about. Under my command, has there ever been a single pirate to set foot on this island without being captured?"

"Uh, no, Sir."

"Then just calm the hell down. You're screwing up my pacing, Marine." The smoking man told him gruffly, as he stood up from his chair.

"Reporting Sir! I have word that a pirate group has recently arrived, you've been requested there at once!" Another marine barged in and cried.

"It must be Luffy's group. How'd they do that, I just got this!" The first marine exclaimed.

"Fifty million...this might actually be interesting." Smoker muttered to himself, as he retrieved his steel jitte from it's resting place on two hooks in the wall and strapped it to his back.

"I'm sorry, Sir?" The second marine queried, unsure of what his boss had said.

"Just talking to myself, forget it." The white haired man dismissed, as he moved to exit the room.

"Wait, don't you want to see this Captain!?" The first marine tried to show the bounty of Straw Hat Luffy he held in his hands, but the older man had already gone, the second marine having followed after him.

After having seen Zoro off with Tashigi to find some swords, the couple of captain and navigator had hit up an expensive clothing shop, tried on a number of items, then proceeded to bail and go to a much cheaper thrift shop. There, they went on to try on even more clothes, at Nami's behest, of course.

"Come on, show me."

"I don't wanna."

"Just let me see Luffy."

"No."

"Stop being a baby and come out here already." She insisted, though without any real vehemence.

"Uhn, fine." Luffy moaned, as he finally capitulated and stepped out of the changing room.

He wore a rather formal suit, which was of decent quality considering the cheap price, that was...well, for a lack of a better word, messily thrown together. The white undershirt was on alright, though it was crumpled and wrinkled in almost unnatural ways, while the black vest that went over it was on completely backwards, then the suit jacket was only halfway on, the tie wasn't tied properly, one of his pant legs was rolled up to the knee, and on top of it all, he had failed to put the black socks on that came with the dress shoes, having just put them on his barefeet.

Seeing the state he was in, Nami couldn't help but break into a fit of laughter.

A light blush dusting his cheeks, Luffy gritted his teeth in frustration, closing his eyes as he tried to endure his embarrassment. How the hell was he supposed to know how to put a suit on properly!? It's not like he had ever been to any kind of formal event."AHH! Why do I even have to wear this stupid monkey suit anyway!?" He demanded to know.

"Oh calm down, you big baby." Nami told him, as she reigned her laughter in. "If you didn't know how to put the suit on, you should've just said so." With that she walked over to him and began to fix his state of dress. "Here, let me help you." She placated him.

Eyes still squeezed shut, he refused to open them until he heard Nami say, "There, done."

Looking down at himself, he saw that she had adjusted everything, excluding the lack of socks, and including the vest, having had him take it off and put it back on.

"Now don't you look handsome." She remarked.

"Pfft, whatever." The sixteen year old blew her words off, the red having yet to fade from his face.

From there, they tried on several more outfits, before piling everything up at the counter and getting it all sorted into bags for them to take with them. And no, the suit wasn't one the items they were purchasing, Luffy made sure of it. As they were checking out, the store owner mentioned something about a marine captain, by the name of Smoker.

"Captain Smoker?" Nami repeated the name, her curiosity evident.

"He is definitely one of the toughest marines we've ever seen in this town." The clerk, a kind and somewhat large woman, stated. "See, Loguetown used to be a hangout for pirates heading to the Grand Line, but not anymore. As soon as Smoker took over, any pirate that's come near this island has been caught, incarcerated and executed. Smoker is bad. He's a complete and utter monster. There are even those who say he has devil fruit powers."

"Devil fruit powers? Is that so?" Nami said to herself, as Luffy picked up all the bags, opening his mouth as he did, about to say something about how he too had devil fruit powers, but was stopped by his girlfriend, as she slapped a hand over his mouth. "I see. Well, thank you."

"Let's get going Luffy." With that she turned and exited the establishment, Luffy in tow.

"Are we done now?" He asked her as he followed, clearly annoyed that he hadn't been allowed to explore or even go to the platform yet.

"Yes Luffy, we're done now. Let's get these bags back to the Merry, and then we can find the execution platform."

Smiling at that, a pep returned to his step. "Finally."

The orange haired girl shook her head at that.

"Oh my, I'm so very sorry Mr. Captain Smoker Sir! My daughter should have been watching where she was going!" Came the sound of a man's voice, getting the two teens attention.

Halting, their eyes sought out the source of the voice, to see a man and his daughter before a marine and a white haired marine, judging by the word justice inscribed into his coat, who the father and daughter had run into. Said little girl had clearly been eating ice cream when it happened, as evident by the ice cream that ran down the white haired man's right pant leg.

"My ice cream..." She was clearly upset by the loss of her frozen treat, but as her eyes wandered up to the imposing form of the man in front of her, it was clear that wasn't all she was feeling, clearly unsettled and scared.

"Please don't hurt my daughter, she's very sorry, I assure you!" The father frantically told the larger man. "Please don't hurt me, I'm very sorry!"

Smoker stared down at the little girl and his dessert splattered pant leg, looking none too gentle or kind. And yet...

"I'm sorry, it seems my silly pants have eaten all your ice cream." He apologized, as he crouched down and patted the little girl on the head. "Here, go buy yourself five scoops." He told her, as he handed her a berri coin.

"Thank you!" Her gratitude showed through as she smiled at him.

Standing upright once more, he barked at the marine behind him, "Go and find Tashigi, let her know I'll be dealing with some pirates and I expect her to be there by the time I'm done with them."

"Yes Sir!" The marine responded, before heading off in search of his other superior.

"Thank you." The father bowed his head to the marine captain, as he walked past.

Luffy and Nami, who had watched the whole thing occur, were pleasantly surprised.

"I like him." Luffy commented with a smirk.

"Yeah, I do too. It's not often you see good, kind hearted marines anymore." Nami agreed with a smile. "Nevertheless, I don't want you to go anywhere near him. It wouldn't do us any good to get mixed up with marines. The last thing we need is to be chased out of town before we're actually ready to leave."

As Tashigi came to a stop at the docks, having rushed over after picking up her Shigure, helping the green haired man pick out a sword, which ended up with him being offered a second sword by the shop owner, and being told what was going on by another marine, she took notice of the group of pirates her captain had subdued, bound together with rope, all looking worse for the ware.

"Captain Smoker." Tashigi established her presence.

"There you are Tashigi, it's about time." He regarded her. "Where have you been girl?"

"My apologies Sir. I lost my glasses and had to find them, then I had to deal with some thugs who were causing trouble in the middle of town, and then I had to pick up my Shigure from the Arms Shop, which led to me-"

"I get it Tashigi." Smoker cut her seemingly long-winded explanation off prematurely, having no desire to listen to all the details. "Just make sure you inform me next time."

"Captain Smoker, you defeated Straw Hat Luffy all by yourself!" The marine that had come with exclaimed in astonishment, as he caught up and noticed the defeated pirates.

"Fool, this isn't Straw Hat Luffy." He responded. "If this garbage was worth fifty million, I'd become a pirate." He was half serious about that too.

"Th-then who are these guys?" The now confused man questioned.

"Hell if I know. Though I'd reckon they're not worth more than my Grandma's false teeth."

With that, he began making his way away from the docks. "Lock this trash up Tashigi." He ordered her.

"Sir!"

"And while you're at it, be on the lookout. The Straw Hat Pirates are supposed to be arriving anytime now." He informed her.

After taking all the bags of clothes to the Merry and putting them down in Nami's room, for her to sort out later, the duo of captain and navigator went on their way to find the execution platform. They were getting close to the center of town, where it surely was the oranged haired cartographer assured, when they came across a particular establishment. It was a bar, the entrance to it located below, a small staircase leading down to it, but what really caught their attention, was the name of it.

"The Gold Roger Bar..." Luffy read aloud.

"This is Loguetown, so I guess it would only make sense for things to be named after the person they're most famous for. Still though..." Nami read the sign over again, paying particular attention to the rusted letters and how loosely they hung from the sign, before lowering her gaze to the entrance, to see it was rather worn and beat up, the stairs and the door leading into the building, not to mention the obvious state of disrepair the building itself was in. "If I had to guess, this place hasn't seen much traffic in recent times...years, I'd guess."

"Huh? I wonder why?"

"Could be the owner gave up on the venture, or more likely, people stopped coming to the bar, simply because of it's namesake." Naim expounded.

"What? Really? But why?" Luffy inquired, clearly confused.

"He was the Pirate King Luffy, that's not a good thing to the average person, it's a condemnation of his character to them. No normal person would want to be associated with his name, and as it seems, even a business named after him. Sure, pirates might still look up to him, but you heard what that woman said, none are really around anymore, not with that Smoker guy in charge. So it's just a simple matter of there not being any customers..."

Luffy frowned at that, but said nothing in response, seeming to think it over for a moment. "Nami, let's go in."

"Huh? Luffy, I thought you wanted-" She started, only to have Luffy give his reasoning on the matter. "You said it probably doesn't get any customers anymore, right? So let's be some customers. We can go and see the place where the Pirate King was executed after."

"Alright, if that's what you want." She responded with a shrug. "I'll buy us some drinks."

"Hey you two." A third voice greeted, getting the other two to look toward the source, to see Zoro, two new swords strapped to his hip in their sheathes, to go along with his Wado.

"Zoro." Luffy greeted in return with a wave. "You got some new swords, cool."

"I'm assuming things went well?" Nami queried.

"You could say that. I got two new blades, and, in fact, I didn't even have to spend a single berri." He stated. "So, here, you can have this back." He told her, as he held out the berri notes she had lended him.

"What? You didn't spend any of it?" She questioned, clearly caught off guard. "Did you really go and steal some swords?"

"What!? Of course not!" He rebuked that assertion.

"Then how...?"

"Let's just say that Tashigi woman had a good eye for swords, and that I got lucky as a result."

"Okay, whatever." She brushed it off, not even caring anymore. "I guess you don't owe me that interest since you're giving this back the same day, but that doesn't clear you of your other debts." She reminded him, as she took the berris back

Zoro just rolled his eyes at that.

"So, what are your new swords called?" Luffy asked his brother.

With a grin, he answered, "Kitetsu The Third and Yubashiri."

The raven haired teen nodded his head at that.

"So, what was it you were saying about drinks?" The swordsman proceeded to ask then.

...

Fifteen minutes later, and the three had ducked into the bar, met the owner, a short, old man by the name of Raoul, convinced him to sell them some drinks, and Luffy had, inadvertently, charmed him into regaling them with tales about Gold Roger and the three men hailed as his greatest rivals. So they sat at the counter, listening intently, Luffy did anyways, to the old man go on and on about Roger himself, as well as Whitebeard, and two pirates they had never heard of, men known as Shiki the Golden Lion, and Red the Aloof.

By the time story hour, which really only lasted about half an hour, came to an end, Luffy was near bouncing off the walls in excitement.

"That's so cool!" He exclaimed with an almost blindingly bright smile.

"You sure are an energetic fellow, ain't ya?" The old man said.

"You have no idea." Zoro and Nami remarked in unison at that.

"So, you three said you were pirates, right? So why'd you set sail in the first place?" Raoul questioned them.

"Me? Well, I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy answered enthusiastically.

The reaction the old man gave at that was to gasp deeply and nearly stumble backwards, clearly taken back by the answer to the highest degree. Though if the three teens had seen what he had seen, they might have understood the dramatics. As when the teen had said this, he had seen a ghostly image of Roger himself lay over the boy, speaking the very same words he did. It was a whole new level of deja vu.

Before they could ask what was wrong with him, or the other two could give their answer, or even before the old man could say something himself, two individuals entered the establishment, gaining everyone's attention in the process.

It was Smoker and Tashigi, and as they came in, the former walked up the the bar and began speaking with Raoul, the old man snapping out of his state upon noticing the other man's presence, and the latter came up to the three teens.

"Oh, it's you three. I hope you're doing all right."

"Why wouldn't we be?" Nami queried with a quirked brow, curious.

"Oh, well, we've been receiving reports about some suspicious people around this area. And since you three are new to town, I was a little worried you'd get mixed up in some trouble." She began. "You see, we get pirates here from time to time and they have a bad habit of picking out the tourists and giving them a lot of trouble. And considering you three almost got involved with those thugs from earlier, I was concerned you'd try and stand up to them all by yourselves." She explicated.

"Yeah, no need to worry, we can handle ourselves." Zoro assured her, as he and the other two got up from their stools, Nami whispering it was time they left as they did.

"Thanks for the drinks old man!" Luffy vocalized his gratitude as Nami liad some berri notes down on the counter, and the three proceeded to exit the bar, the orangette giving a flimsy excuse as to why they had to leave as they did.

Raoul waved them out, before returning to his semi-civil argument with the marine captain, while Tashigi wondered to herself why those three had seemed to be in such a rush.

Both were interrupted though, as one of their fellow marines entered the establishment, a stack of posters in his hands. "Hey Raoul, got some new wanted posters for ya to hand up."

"Just set'em on the counter." The old man told the young marine grunt, as he continued his discourse with Smoker.

Both men, continuing to speak back and forth, paid the papers no mind as they were sat down, or the marine as he saluted to Smoker and Tashigi and left the premises. The top most bount caught Tashigi's eye, on the other hand.

Taking a few steps over to the counter, she picked the first bounty up, and took a good look at it, her eyes widening a great deal as she did. "Captain Smoker!"

"What is it Tashigi?" He queried gruffly, a little annoyed that he had been interrupted again. But as he saw the bounty she was holding up to show him, his verbal altercation with the bar owner was completely forgotten, as he was filled with aggravation and fought the urge to facepalm.

What was it that he saw? A bounty for one Monkey D. Luffy, wanted for fifty million berris. And the picture? Was of the same young teen they had just seen walk out the bar, which was also the same teen he saw out the corner of his eye earlier in town in Smoker's case, which in turn, the other two who went with him were almost assuredly some of his crewmembers.

"Damn it!"

A group of rather suspicious individuals wearing brown cloaks that hid their visages, the very same ones the reports had been made about, in fact, had just arrived in the center of Loguetown, where the execution platform stood. Quickly scoping out the area, they proceeded to file into a back alley, where they began preparations for their plan.

"Today will be the day of my oh so sweet, flashy revenge! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cackled one of the cloaked beings.

'"Shut up, you'll blow our cover!" Hissed another, more feminine voice, as they smacked the first one up the side of their head.

"OW!"

...

Somewhere in Loguetown, on top of a rooftop, stood a man draped in a green cloak, hiding himself away from the eyes of the world. "What will you do young one? What will you do when you find yourself surrounded on all sides by your enemies?"

...

Unbeknownst to the entirety of the population of Polestar Island, a boat that bore striking resemblance to a coffin, with large candles on the edges that burned with green fire, and a mast similar to a large crucifix, as well as a black seat in the center, drew near their place of living. In the seat sat a man, with ornate clothing and a large, black sword. "It's almost time." The man said to himself, as he raised his head, revealing his striking, golden eyes.

To Be Continued...