[Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! My coworker hurt her back so I got called in and the story update slipped my mind for the day. In some of the story lines Karmen became a sort of cabbage vendor in my mind (Avatar the Last Airbender, for those of you who don't get the reference. If you haven't watched it, you should). Though she is just an observer for this scene, I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy the comedy and hints to her past as well.]

Valentine's Personal Log 7: Idiots and Fishmen

Those idiots! They go and knock Zoro out and tie him to the outer wall of the boat's one room and completely forget that I'm in here writing! Then they see fishmen swimming up to us and jump ship! I can understand leaving Zoro to his own devices, even injured, but I can't do anything against fishmen! What do they expect me to do, brew them some tea and ask nicely not to be eaten, (as they so lovingly kept imagining)? I'm going to give each of them a goose egg if I survive this.

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! They're taking the boat directly into Arlong Park. I'm dinner for sure. I don't know why I'm writing in such a stressful situation. Zoro's still tied to the door, so I can't get out without getting caught. Even if I tried to open the door and slip him a knife they're sure to notice. Writing makes me feel better. It's just a habit now. I guess I'll write until I get caught.

I can't believe it. Fishmen may be strong, but they sure can be stupid sometimes. Either that or I'm just lucky. I guess their stupidity saved my life for now. They took Zoro to Arlong and forgot to check the boat. Zoro gave a soft tap on the door. I think he wants me to stay here for now. To make a bad situation even worse, Nami is definitely with Arlong. Zoro jumped into the water after talking with them for a while. Before I could even wiggle the door handle Nami jumped in and saved him. Somethings up, but I didn't hear or see what Zoro did before they took him into the building. From what I saw though, Nami hasn't betrayed us completely.

[Not Long After]

A fishman loudly reported a long nosed man causing trouble in a nearby village so Arlong took half his crew to investigate. Zoro comes out of the building and slashes up everyone who's left inside. He knocked on the door and said that it was ok to come out, but I told him I was just fine in here. Arlong could be headed back any minute. If they think the boat's empty then this is the safest place for me right now.

Zoro said he was going to go save Usopp. Maybe I'll have some tea waiting for when they get back. I hope he's not too injured. I still don't think he should be walking around after a battle like that.

Zoro told me something else before he left. He said that Nami cut him loose and returned his sword. I keep thinking back to that look that she would get in her eye. I knew I recognized it. Nami's in trouble. If we can, I want to help her. Maybe I can be rescued too.

[Later still]

Well crap. Not long after Zoro goes off to the village, Arlong comes back with Usopp in tow. I wanted to show him that I was still there, but there were twenty fishmen around him, including Arlong. Why did they dock our boat near the gate? I can't hear anything they're saying! Usopp must have fought bravely. He's shaking, but he's still being as brave as he can. Usopp was able to lay down a smoke screen, so I didn't see what happened next, but he ended up falling in the water. I think Nami might have pushed him. Maybe she was letting him swim away. I wonder why no fishmen went after him.

There was an earthquake and then I saw a small boat flying through the air. It would seem that our illustrious captain is here, loud and tactless as ever. He'll be here sooner or later. I might as well just wait it out. I think I saw Nami look my way. She looked pensive, like she was thinking, with her hand on her chin, but then I saw her finger slide up to her lips. Stay hidden and stay quiet. My role in this ordeal is turning out to be pretty boring, but boring is safe, so I shouldn't complain. I'm glad I brewed tea while no one was here. By the time Arlong got back the smoke was already dispersed.

There's a funny octopus fishman that keeps running around. From what I can tell he acts like a ferryman and does odd chores around the park. He doesn't seem like the rest of them. He's too airheaded and smiley. The other pirates were yelling at him for something, but he seems to have gotten off pretty quickly.

A navy ship showed up and started firing cannons. (Why is that always their first approach?) Octo-man and two others swam off to meet them. Fishmen to my front and navy at my back. If either find out who I am, I'm dead. I'm definitely staying in this boat.

I used to know someone who had a fishman slave once. There was a big scuffle and I'm told he died, but I wonder if that's the case. After seeing how his people have been treated, I can almost understand why Arlong created this little niche for himself in this part of the world. I cannot, however, condone his treatment of the humans who live here and the crew. Especially Nami.

Johnny and Yosaku came and challenged them, but they got beat up and dumped outside the gate. That's even more reason not to like these guys.

If Luffy is here then he beat Krieg. It seems Luffy fights a lot and I've yet to see him in battle. He's strong from what I'm told. If he's not too hurt, I hope he kicks Arlong's butt.

Valentine's Personal Log 8: I Got to See This One

I was so surprised to see Luffy punch his way through a wall I forgot to start writing it all down until the fight was over. He had found Zoro and Usopp and that sous chef from the restaurant is with the crew? I think he said his name was Sanji. That guy has legs that don't quit. Luffy grounded himself, a little too well, and sent a small sea-cow Neptunian flying. I haven't seen one of those in years. The combination of both Luffy and the cow almost capsized my boat. Maybe it was a good thing I wasn't writing at the time. My tea spilled though.

Usopp pulled a kisser fishman out of the park for a private duel and Zoro challenged the octopus fishman. Arlong threw Luffy into the ocean and some of the villagers went to help him. Curly brow ended up fighting a fishman with big fins on his elbows. It seems like all of these guys were already injured, I know Zoro was, so the fights took a little longer than expected. The brothers lent him their swords, which helped a lot. I really will have to thank Dracule for not immobilizing him completely. He was able to take the octopus fishman out in a few minutes, but he was in obvious pain.

Sanji's fight ended up being mostly underwater, so I didn't get to see it. I did, however, see a blue haired woman holding Luffy's head above sea level just outside the gate and a huge spout of water. I don't know what happened down there, but things got taken care of. When I asked Sanji about it later he just said that he took care of business and asked if I thought he was cool. I do think it's cool that he can beat a fishman underwater, but if I told him that then he would have a more inflated ego than has already. I told him that I got to see him finish the fight once they were back on land and that seemed to satisfy him.

Nami ended up coming back to the park all bandaged up with Luffy's straw hat on her head. If that's not a sign that she's one of us I don't know what is. Nobody touches the hat. Usopp came back all bloodied too. He's gotten stronger. I'm proud of him.

Sanji went to free Luffy's feet while Zoro held off Arlong. Our captain came flying through the air and flung poor Zoro off to who knows where. There's only ocean in that direction so he had a soft landing, at least. Luffy got bit up pretty bad, but he was winning the land fight until Arlong jumped into the water. I had to stay really still so he wouldn't sense me. Even if he heard my heartbeat, he was too focused on Luffy to do anything. Still, I wonder if he could smell Zoro's blood on my clothes.

He propelled himself out of the water and used his nose as a spear. It worked pretty well for him until Luffy made nets from his fingers. That poor building didn't stand a chance when they took the fight inside. Sometimes I think Luffy can't help but to destroy things everywhere he goes, but Nami seemed happy when desks and things started flying out of the upper floor. I think I'll have Usopp make me a spy glass so I can see these things from a safe distance. There's no way I can record a battle accurately when Luffy brings buildings down on himself and his enemies like this. The little boat I was in got blown through the gate, but I found Zoro sleeping just outside.

There was a lot of cheering and I was about to finally make my way to dry land when more navy appeared. Zoro and Nami beat them up. We went back to Nami's village and celebrated. Nami had a hard eight years, I'm told, but she's free now. Zoro's been handed off to a real doctor. He's going to need a whole barrel of booze after getting stitched back up.

Johnny and Yosaku pulled me into the dancing at the festival that night. I let them do all the leading and stumbled around like I had never danced a day in my life. I caught Zoro making a weird face at me, but he shrugged it off and drank more. After a few hours, I managed to sneak away to a quiet part of town to write a few letters.

Ship's Log 7: What a Pain

I finally got the ship's logs back now that we're on Merry again. It's a pain to have to write everything twice. Sanji's one of us, Nami's back, her sister Najiko is a total tangerine, Luffy kicked Arlong's butt, and despite the injuries I'm having to help tend, nobody died. I'll glue in some pages with the full story later.

Luffy has a bounty on his head now. The navy claims there are only four crewmembers at the moment. I'm just a secretary, it's not like I fought, so I can understand. Those fishmen and navy guys didn't see me and therefore don't know I'm part of the crew. I think I prefer it this way.

The villagers were so thankful to the crew that they restocked the ship for us. Nami even brought tangerine trees. Johnny and Yosaku stayed behind so they could go back to work. Nami told us to set sail and jumped onto Merry, pickpocketing the crowd on the way. I'm glad we have someone like her on board.