A/N: Hope the title fits.

The Straw Hats were sailing along on a peaceful day. The weather was nice, the waves weren't too strong, and the crew was relaxing. Alvida was relaxing in a lawn chair wearing only a white skimpy two piece bikini and green tinted sunglasses, Gin was in the middle of the deck doing sit-ups, Johnny and Yosaku were training with Zoro, who was holding them both back with only one blade, Nojiko was tending to the tangerine trees, Nami was observing the weather, Sanji was going around to all the women passing out special drinks, Vivi was pounding Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy's heads in for using Carue as fish bait again, Carue was quacking in fear and anger at them, Valerie was inside the kitchen thinking up new chocolate recipes, Grace was mixing paints to make some new colors, and Robin was sitting in another lawn chair reading more books.

"Carue is not bait!" Vivi yelled as the trio sat back on the railing.

"Well the bait we're using isn't catching a lot of fish." said Luffy as he looked back out at the sea.

"I DON'T CARE!" roared Vivi.

"Hey! I got a bite!" Usopp cried out as he began tugging on his fishing pole. Some of them watched as he struggled to pull the fish out of the water, which was no bigger than his own nose.

"That's it?" Chopper asked in disappointment.

"I thought it was gonna be bigger." Luffy chimed in.

"Like you can catch anything better!" Usopp snapped. Luffy grinned before putting some bait on the hook and tossing it into the sea.

"Just watch." said Luffy. Nothing happened at first while Sanji passed out more drinks to the women, with the fishing trio complaining about not getting any drinks. Shortly after that, Luffy's line went under the water. "HEY! I GOT SOMETHING!"

"What? A minnow?" Gin asked just as Luffy pulled something huge from the water. Gin watched as it flew straight towards him before he rolled out of the way to avoid getting crushed. Everyone was now on deck looking at it with curiosity before it opened up, revealing a salesman named Rice-Rice. He thanked them while explaining his job and that he wished to give them catalogs for the various products his company delivered. Most of the crew was interested as some of them were playing the some of the items he had on him while others were flipping through the catalogs.

"You have any canvases and paint?" Grace asked.

"Indeed I do!" said the salesman as he brought up a canvas and some paints that were unique in color, making Grace's eyes shine.

"How about paper?" Nami asked. Rice-Rice then showed her some amazing paper that was great for making maps and such, which Nami soon said that she'd buy no matter what the cost, causing the others in the crew to freak out that she'd pay. Soon Nami and the salesman were haggling over the price before Alvida gave a sly smile to Rice-Rice.

"You wouldn't happen to have certain discounts for certain clientele would you?" she asked.

"Certain Clientele?" Rice-Rice asked before looking up at the flag. "GAH! THAT'S A PIRATE FLAG?! Wait? That symbol! YOU'RE THE STRAW HAT PIRATES?! HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT?!"

"Yeah? What's it to ya?" Gin asked as Rice-Rice began to sweat.

"So, about that discount?" Alvida asked. Rice-Rice didn't say anything for a moment before he forced a nervous smile on his face.

"You know, it completely slipped my mind." he said. "We're actually having a once-in-a-lifetime clearance sale today exclusive only to pirates." He then began to unload everything from his strange ship as he ranted on. "Everything must go! All at low, low prices! So low, they're practically free! In fact, they're so low, I'm actually paying you to take them off my hands! Here, have my wallet!" he said before handing Alvida his wallet and jumping into his ship and disappearing over the edge. "HAVE A NICE DAY!" he shouted before submerging under the water.

"That was weird." said Usopp.

"Who cares?" Nami said as she held up the paper in joy. "I got all this paper for nothing! Thanks Alvida."

"Of course." was all she said as the others began digging through the various items they got.

"Only you could've thought of something as ingenious as that, Alvida-Chwan~!" Sanji said in love mode as he danced around her.

"Besides, where would we have come up with the amount of money that guy was asking for anyway?" asked Johnny as he was trying on a few pairs of sunglasses while Yosaku was looking for some headgear.

"Not a problem." said Sanji as he pointed a thumb back at Luffy and Zoro. "All we would've had to do was turn these two boneheads in to the marines for their bounties."

"WHAT?!" most of them cried out while the others just glared at Sanji.

"Are you out of your mind?!" asked Yosaku.

"After all that's happened?" Johnyy asked while spitting a little.

"You really think I'd sit by and let you stab us in the back for some paper Love Cook?!" Zoro barked, looking ready to kill Sanji.

"If it's for Nami, it's worth it Moss Head!" Sanji barked back, making some of their jaws drop.

'He's serious?!' some of them thought while Nami grabbed her paper and headed for the door.

"Listen up everyone." she said. "I'm gonna be working, so no one bother me."

"On what?" Usopp asked, only for Nami to wink and say that it's a secret before walking inside. While she was inside getting her ink and old charts out, the women went back to what they were doing while Sanji began to order the men to scrub the deck.

"Good luck." said Zoro while he leaned against the mast.

"YOU TOO!" Sanji barked while some of the men started yelling that he get up and work too.

"How come they don't have to work?" Zoro asked as he pointed at the women.

"They don't have to work. They're ladies." Sanji said.

"That's dumb. It shouldn't matter if they're men or women!" he said, earning a kick in the face from Sanji.

"Just shut your mouth Moss Head and start scrubbing!" Sanji growled. Both of them were soon in each other's face, spouting insults and orders at each other.

"Hey!" yelled Nojiko from the tangerine grove, making them all look up at her. "You two will rock the ship if you start fighting, and that's gonna mess Nami up! And if that happens, I'm personally gonna kick both your asses! Got it?"

"Yes Nojiko-Swan~!" Sanji said, his anger at Zoro gone as he looked up at her with hearts in his eyes.

"Tch! Whatever." Zoro grunted before he climbed up into the crow's nest.

"Alright you guys. Keep it down and don't disturb Nami." Sanji said, his love mode over in an instant.

"Aye aye!" said all but Gin, who just shrugged and started scrubbing.

-Earlier in the kitchen-

Valerie had taken a recipe book she had found among the items that was based around chocolate desserts and decided to try them out inside the kitchen. She was double checking to make sure that she had all the ingredients before she started mixing them. While she was mixing, she started thinking back to when she was a bit younger. She could remember the tiny chocolate stand that her parents worked so hard to make. Her mother would greet the customers when they walked up to her in the stand while she would work in the back with her father to make the sweet treats. A warm smile graced her lips before she remembered the horrible day that everything changed. One day, a group of street thugs were demanding protection money from them. She was in the back, so they didn't see her watching them all. Her father stood up to them and told them to leave, only for them to beat him to death before having their way with her mother. She managed to get away undetected and fled with tears in her eyes. She had returned the next day to find the shop and her parents burned to nothing. She remembered hiding in another town, coming across the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, and how they found the dead bodies of the thugs in deep craters. The wooden spoon she was using to mix the ingredients snapped in her hands, a mixture of rage and pain in her eyes as tears fell.

"You okay?" came a voice, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned to see Vivi walking inside. "You're crying." she said as Valerie wiped her eyes.

"Just a few unpleasant memories." she said before she picked up the broken spoon and tossed it in the trash. "Hope Sanji doesn't get too mad about that spoon."

"Making chocolate?" Vivi asked as she got herself some water.

"Yeah. I found a recipe book. I decided to try it out." she said after she wiped her eyes. "What's everyone else doing outside?"

"Nami's working on something inside the cabin, Alvida's sunbathing, Nico Robin's reading, Grace is painting on deck, Nojiko's tending to your tangerine trees, Zoro's in the crow's nest keeping a lookout, and Sanji has the guys cleaning the deck." Vivi said before sipping her water.

"Is that right?" Valerie said before she started preparing the dish for the oven. As she put the mixture into the oven, she turn to Vivi with a grin. "You know, I overheard Chopper mumble something very interesting last night before we all went to sleep. Something about you smelling a lot like Luffy when you came back to the ship." Vivi started to sweat before she forced a smile.

"T-That's because he lent me his robe after some monkeys took mine." she said. Valerie's grin grew before she laughed.

"That's funny. I heard him say that you smelled like an animal during mating season." she said. Vivi freaked out and ran over to her to clap her hands over Valerie's mouth.

"Shh!" shushed Vivi with a finger over her lips and a few beads of sweat running down her face, making Valerie grin even more.

"Guess I was right." she mumbled through Vivi's hand. Vivi just stared at her in panic before she sighed.

"I don't know how it happened." she said. "I was asking him if Nico Robin could be trusted, but..." She couldn't continue, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment. Valerie only laughed while Vivi glared at her. "Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry." she laughed as she prepared an icicing for the confection. "Look, I won't tell anyone, okay?"

"You promise?" Vivi asked with a suspicious eye.

"Promise." Valerie said while mixing. Vivi glared for a few more moments before sighing.

"Alright." she said before she heard Zoro and Sanji being yelled at by Nojiko.

"Wonder what's going on?" Valerie asked as Vivi waved goodbye and left. She shrugged before she went back to her chocolate, but not before one last thought popped into her head.

'The things that rubber-boy can do with his tongue.'

'Luffy.' she thought with a smile. 'Maybe I should try it with him?' she thought with a laugh.

-With Nami-

Nami was steadily working on her map and was making great progress with Nojiko outside keeping the boys quiet. She was hanging her first map up before she heard a knock at her door.

"I said I didn't wanna be bothered." she said as she walked to the door and opened it to see Grace standing there with a fresh canvas and other supplies. "Grace? What do you want?"

"Is there room in there for me to paint?" she said before looking behind her at the boys. Nami looked to see that Yosaku's head was rammed through a canvas with paint on his face with the other guys laughing at him. "I can't exactly paint out here with those morons running amok."

"Good point." said Nami as she opened the door to let her in. "There's plenty of room."

"Thanks." Grace said with a smile as she walked in. She looked around to see a map hanging up to dry. "You're making maps?"

"That's right!" Nami said as she looked at her newly drawn map. "It's been my dream to draw a map of the entire world."

"The entire world?" Grace asked. "That sounds really hard."

"It won't be easy, but I will do it!" Nami said as she got out a new piece of paper. Grace looked at her map before she smiled and set up her canvas and slowly began to repaint what the boys wrecked. "Hey Grace? Where'd you come up with the idea to hypnotize people with paint?"

"I didn't." she said. "It was my parents who developed this technique."

"Really? That's amazing!" Nami said as she began drawing a straight line.

"I know." Grace said before she giggled. "I can't tell you how many times they used it on me to get me to behave." Nami laughed before she noticed Grace's frown.

"Grace?" Nami asked as Grace just stared at the canvas.

"They were sailing to another island to show off their artwork...a storm hit...they never came back." she said. Nami's eyes widened, but quickly softened as she looked at Grace. She said nothing as she walked over and gave her a hug, which she gratefully returned. "I miss them." she said as she buried her face into Nami's shirt.

'So she lost her parents.' Nami thought, her mind wandering to Bellemere. "I know the feeling." she said. Grace looked up to at her as Nami looked down with a sad smile. "Nojiko and I lost our mom when we were little too."

"You did?" she said as Nami knelt down to her eye level.

"Yes. She was...killed before our eyes, and we couldn't do a thing to stop it." she said. "So, we know what it's like to lose someone you love." Grace's eyes welled up before she cried in Nami's shoulder, who hugged her again and let her cry out for her parents while rubbing her back, neither of them seeing Nojiko peeking in through the window and smiling. After calming down, both of them resumed their work before they heard Chopper yelling out in panic with Nojiko running in.

"What's going on?" Nami asked.

"We need you two out here now! A twister appeared out of nowhere!" she yelled. They both ran outside to see that she was right and that a twister, though very far away, was dead ahead of them.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! WAKE UP!" Nami shouted. Everyone, who had nodded off earlier, woke up groggily before spotting the twister and listened as Nami gave them all orders on what to do before threatening them all that if her new maps get destroyed, she'd make them pay dearly. All of them were tying up the sails, tying anything down, or just calmly reading in Robin's case. It was tense for awhile, but they evaded the twister and sailed on as the weather cleared up to a nice day once again. "Looks like the weather's clear again." she said. "Great work everyone."

"Only because of your brilliant navigation skills Nami my dear!" Sanji swooned.

"So you were drawing maps?" Usopp asked, remembering what she yelled during the storm.

"That's right. And I'm off to a good start." she said. "One day, I'll draw a map of the world." The others all smiled at her before she left them to sail the ship while she went back to work, with Grace happily running inside as well to paint again.

A/N: Hope you like the little backstories I gave them. Please tell me what you thought.