Marco had been affected by the deaths of his entire crew, but the combination of Whitebeard and Ace being killed on the same day within minutes of each other by the same - indirectly or not - man made him come to loathe the man. When he had first betrayed them, Marco was obviously upset and was out for blood. When word got to him the Ace had been turned into the Marine's by that man, his hate turned to despise. When Ace and Whitebeard died, he grew to loathe the man, a feat he didn't think he was capable of. Marco doesn't hate people, let alone loathe them. The feeling towards this particular man, though, was not unwelcome.

"Brought you some food." Thatch said, opening the door to Marco's room, "You've been cooped up in here for almost the entire day! You planning on coming out any time soon?

Marco sighed and pushed aside the paperwork he had been staring at for the past thirty minutes. He couldn't help but think he was missing something or was forgetting to do something. He let Thatch put the plate down on the corner of his desk, which was the only clear place. "Eventually. I just need to remember what I've forgotten."

Thatch raised an eyebrow and laughed at his friend, "You've forgotten something? I knew you were old-" he ignored Marco's glare, "-but I didn't think you were old enough for memory problems! Should I start calling you grandpa?"

Marco stabbed his fork into the roll on the plate. "Call me that and I'll cut and dye your hair."

The cook laughed joyfully at the navigator's threat. He didn't know if it was an empty threat or not - as the blond had done something like that in the past to someone else who had pissed him off, uncaring if they were on the same crew - and he wasn't about to risk it. Instead, he backed up a step. "Sorry, mate. Maybe you need a vacation? You've been on edge for a while now."

Marco finished his salad - turns out 'eventually' was 'now' - as he turned the idea over in his head. It wasn't a bad idea. He'd been on edge since before he'd come back. While he was more than happy to have his family back, he was always watching over his shoulder for the man that started everything. "Yeah," he nodded, "That's a good idea. I think I will take some time off."

Thatch didn't say anything as he left. He knew the look Marco had in his eye. He was overthinking something. That man's thought process was something not even Whitebeard was able to pick apart and translate, and they'd known each other longer than anyone on the ship.

"That's it!" Marco shouted in glee a few minutes after Thatch had left with the empty plate. He'd finally figured out what was bugging him! Quickly, signing himself off for a short absence, he quickly went to his captain to explain and get it officially approved. He'd also check the newspaper. He didn't want to go in blind, after all.

Kidd had been keeping an eye on the newspaper. He'd never really been one to read the news - or read in general - but he needed to track the other's movements. So far, Law and Bonney had made it into Paradise and were steadily making their way to Sabody at the same pace he was. Though, none of them would actually intentionally set their course there until Luffy declared war on the World Government, despite how much he wanted to be there for that. Luffy hadn't gotten a wanted poster yet, but he had heard rumors of movement in the East Blue that could only be explained by Luffy and his crew.

He had told Killer his entire story when they met and gave the man the choice on whether or not he'd follow him again. He wouldn't ever admit the relief he felt when his first mate joined him even after knowing his story.

"Kidd?" Killer walked into his captain's room. He'd been locked up in there for a few days now and had yet to make an appearance. He and the rest of the crew were growing worried.

"Yeah?" the red head managed to pull himself from his thoughts. He'd been staring at the Captain's Log for nearly an hour and hadn't written a single thing. It was a blank page, not because he didn't have anything to write, though, his mind was just other places.

"What's on your mind?"

Kidd waved his hand dismissively, "Nothing to worry about yet."

Killer tilted his head slightly at his captain's wording. "'Yet'?"

"Exactly."

The two let themselves fall into a peaceful quiet. They had known each other for so long that they could sit in silence together for hours without needing to talk. They could communicate through unspoken codes and minute gestures as well as have full conversations with a few hitched breaths and a word or two. None of the crew questioned it or tried to figure it out.

Eventually, the taller of the two spoke. "I have news from the East Blue."

Kidd frowned. Luffy couldn't be causing trouble already, could he? Who is he trying to fool, of course Luffy's causing trouble. "Go on."

"Apparently Vice Admiral Garp rushed to the East Blue a few days ago after a report came in about an already dead pirate. Apparently, the Marines were tricked into executing an innocent man in the place of a pirate captain. The captain was found and Garp was the one to respond."

Kidd closed his eyes. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Softly, Killer left his captain and friend to stir in his room. It wouldn't be good to be with Kidd while he was in whatever mood he was in. After all, with the captain now effectively out of commission, it was up to the first mate to make sure things run smoothly.

Bonney was having an amazing time. She had all the food she could eat, her crew, and her ship back! The best part about this was that she didn't have to worry about those three knuckleheads getting killed! Though, that didn't stop her from worrying a tiny bit. She had docked her ship - the Jewelry Margherita - at an island for a few days to stock up and gather information.

While her crew were busying themselves around the island and ship loading and buying food, water and other supplies, she was listening in on conversations the townspeople were having. She was quite good at it, having grown up the way she did, and gathered most information that way. It came in quite handy.

"Did you hear?" she heard a woman at a nearby table ask, "There's a new pirate in the East Blue!"

The man with her scoffed, "Nothing to worry about if they're from the East; That's the weakest sea! Anyone who comes from there is just gonna be wiped out before they even make it into the Grand Line."

Bonney rolled her eyes. These people obviously need to do more research. After all, some of the greatest pirates had come from the East Blue! Captain Roger is the most prominent example.

"Vice Admiral Garp was sent to the East Blue!" Bonney heard another person say, "Something about an anonymous tip."

The pink haired captain smirked into her wine as she sipped it. Luffy was up to no good in the East. Then she paled. 'Luffy's up to no good in the East.' As a pirate she was proud of the younger. As a friend, she was upset that he hadn't invited her along! But the survivor part of her brain was scolding him for drawing attention to himself.

Snapping herself from her thoughts, she paid for half of her meal and left. It wasn't the time to worry about anything yet. She would worry when Luffy got his first bounty. Then, she would slowly direct her crew to the Sabaody Archipelago where she would meet up with her time traveling companions and discuss their moves going forward.

"I heard that Hawkeye Mihawk was in the East Blue not that long ago!" a man said to his companion. She moved as naturally as she could to listen in without being suspicious.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't know why, though. I asked around and no one else knew why, either!"

"Do you think Vice Admiral Garp's recent visit had anything to do with it?"

"I don't know, man." The two people walked away but Bonney didn't follow them any further. She'd pretty much pieced the story together from what she had. All she had to do was look up a few more things. Making her way back to her ship, she picked up a newspaper and began her research. Of course, she knew everything she just heard had Luffy's name all over it in bold writing.

Law found that the company he decided to keep was utterly hopeless at times. He enjoyed spending time with everyone he knew, but sometimes they were a bit much for him. This was one of those times. They weren't docked at an island, nor were they near one, so he was stuck in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to go to escape the craziness his crew was unleashing. If he hadn't known any better, he would've diagnosed them all with Cabin Fever. Whether fortunate or not, this was just how his crew was. Despite his complaints, he wouldn't want them any other way. Even if they did test his patients occasionally.

He had locked himself in his room and busied himself with reading his books. After a few hours, he switched over to reading old newspapers. Because they were in a submarine under the water, they never got the newspaper on time and therefore were slightly behind in major news. It was lucky if they were docked when a major event was announced. Nevertheless, the old newspapers would give him the information he wanted. Normally, his entire crew reads the paper before it gets to him because he has a habit of marking them up. So, he pulled out a red pen and read the mostly garbage paper without having to worry that his crew wouldn't be able to read it.

His first stop was the 'WANTED' page. If there were any new bounties, they'd be announced there. (His crew always took the Wanted Posters out and posted them in the galley so that they knew who to look out for.) Bonney and Kidd had both upped their bounties. He frowned and made a note to get his bounty up soon. It wouldn't do good to fall behind those idiots. There was still no news that mentioned Luffy or his crew directly, though, so he left the 'Pirate' part of the newspaper and moved on to the 'Marine' part. He nearly slammed his head on his table when he saw that Garp had moved quickly into the East Blue only to turn around almost immediately and go back to Paradise. He didn't need more than one brain cell to know that Luffy had had more than something to do with that. Figuring out what he had done was a headache Law didn't want to deal with. Deciding he'd had enough, Law put down the paper and left his room. "I need a drink."

The ship was oddly quiet which meant one of two things. Either his crew had broken out the booze and had all passed out drunk, or they all tired of being around each other and simply left to their own devices. Passing by a digital clock in one of the hallways told him that it was neither of those options. "A night cap at twenty-three hundred hours?" he scoffed quietly to himself, "That's never gone wrong for anyone before." Nevertheless, he went to get his drink.

Shanks didn't even bother to read the entire newspaper. He'd checked on Kidd, Bonney and Law's bounties but didn't note them down yet. It was an unspoken agreement on his ship that the only wanted poster from an opposing crew that would end up on their ship before they reached New World was going to be Luffy's. He also looked at news surrounding the four kids. Bonney, Kidd and Law had yet to interact with each other in Paradise and weren't making an obvious course to Sabaody yet. There was no news with Luffy's name in it. At least until he found out about Garp's little trip East.

Benn had always questioned what Shanks was on, but he'd never gotten an answer. When he asked his friend why he was laughing hysterically this time, he didn't expect an answer.

"He-he!" The man couldn't even say two words without doubling over in a fit of laughter. "And then-" Again, he continued laughing.

Benn sighed and picked up the paper. It was still open to whatever Shanks had been reading so he started to skim through the page.

VICE ADMIRAL GARP IN THE EAST

Vice Admiral Garp was rushed out to the East Blue earlier this week. There has been much speculation about why, but no one has come clean with an actual answer. Many people say that he was out for a family emergency while most others say he was there on Marine business. Key sources tell us that he was sent out to reopen an investigation on the Black Cat Pirates.

For those who don't know, several years ago the Black Cat Pirates were pushed into a corner by the Marines. The crew managed to escape at the sacrifice of their captain who was taken in and executed. With this knowledge, several interviews speculate that the Marines caught the wrong person and executed an innocent! Could this be true?

He stopped reading there. He still couldn't figure out why Shanks was laughing, but he assumed he knew more than he was telling. After all, the man is from the future.

When he finally stopped laughing, Shanks took a few deep breaths and wiped tears from his eyes. He looked over the side of the Red Force and to the East. He had no doubts that he would be seeing Luffy again soon. And when everyone finally met up again, they were going to stop the wars. They weren't ever going to lose anyone ever again.

Mihawk smirked at the paper. "It seems that Luffy is going to be an even bigger nuisance to the government this time around." he sipped at his never empty wine glass, "That just makes things all the more interesting."

He stood and walked back to the room in Marine HQ he'd claimed as his own. He would never admit this to anyone other than himself and Luffy, but he was proud of the brat. Not only had he declared war on the World Government twice, but he'd also successfully broken into and out of all three of their main bases. If the kid played his cards right, he'd probably be able to overthrow Mariejois! Now that was a scary thought.

He made no acknowledgement to the other Warlords that had taken up residence - temporary or permanent - in the base. It was a general rule between them that they wouldn't bother each other as long as no one started anything. Despite what people believed, they were civil with and around one another as long as there was no direct conflict between them. In fact, they rarely interacted with each other outside of official business.

"What's got you so happy?" Doflamingo, who was here strictly on business for a week, asked the swordsman. It wasn't unusual. The blonde always talked to the other Warlords, even if they ignored him. They usually ignored him.

"Nothing that concerns you," he said. 'Yet.' He ignored any and all other attempts to speak with him. He was the most patient out of them and therefore knew that the others would get bored and eventually leave him alone. He didn't know when 'eventually' was, though.

After getting his short vacation approved by Whitebeard - as well as explaining the reasoning behind it - he timed himself. He had one week to get to the East Blue, meet up with Luffy, and get back to the ship in the New World before Thatch would leave on his mission. He calculated several different routes while he was finishing up some last minute paperwork, all of which excluded any breaks between here and there. Sighing, he signed off the last paper and left his room, locking it behind himself. He quickly made his way to whichever side of the ship was facing East. Currently, it was the starboard side.

"I heard you're going to the East Blue." he heard Ace speak up from behind him. They'd picked the kid up about two years ago, but he'd only recently started to open up to anyone who wasn't Whitebeard or - oddly enough - Thatch. That hadn't happened last time, but Marco wasn't too worried.

"You heard correctly."

Ace shuffled his feet for a second. "My little brother," he said after a full minute, catching the attention of several crewmates, "he should've left home last month. Would you mind checking up on him for me?"

Marco simply nodded with a small smile before he transformed and took off. He wasn't going to tell the kid that's what his exact purpose for going was. He didn't need to know that quite yet. Besides, that would've just led to a ton of questions he wasn't going to answer in the near future, if at all. It wouldn't be until much later that anyone realized that Marco hadn't asked who Ace's little brother was.

'One week.' he told himself, 'One week and three days before it all goes to shit.'