AN:

Usually, I probably wouldn't address specific people in author's notes, but I liked this comment a lot so to Nami4Life if you're still reading, thanks for the comment. It made me excited to write more. I have some plans to help keep the fights interesting and I'll leave it at that ;) I've got some tricks up my sleeve. At the end of the day, you guys might find them boring and repetitive for a little while at the beginning here, which is understandable, but once we get further into the story, I get a lot more freedom and hopefully things will get a little spicier. Anyway, enough about that.

Here's Chapter 10. Chapter 11 should be coming relatively soon. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Downpour

The group of teenagers stepped into the building and out of the rain, three of them with sighs of relief and one with a slightly disappointed pout.

"Tom! I need a table for four.", Usopp said as the bell above the door chimed, signaling their arrival.

The man called Tom looked at the group walking into the restaurant and sighed, "And why should I? You woke my wife and me up an hour earlier than you usually do.".

Usopp flashed the man a big smile, "I gotta make sure you guys are always on your toes. You never know when there might actually be real pirates!".

Tom sighed once more, there was no convincing Usopp to stop his morning rounds. "Alright fine, you can take that table over there.", he said pointing to an empty booth in the corner of the building.

"Thanks a bunch, Tom!", said Usopp, leading the group to the corner the man had pointed to, the group of teenagers sitting down around the table.

"Meat! I want meat!", Luffy said, banging his fork and knife on the table... Where had those even come from?...

Nami shook her head at the straw-hatted boy and addressed Zoro, "I'm not paying for Luffy. That's on you Zoro. And while you're at it,", She shot the swordsman a pair of puppy dog eyes, "can you pay for me too?".

"Buy your own damn food, Witch. I just want booze.", said Zoro, smirking at watching the pleading on her face turn to indignation, "And Luffy, If I run out of money because of yo-"

"Meat! Meat! Meat!", yelled Luffy, oblivious that the verdet was even talking to him.

"I'll get you some food, Luffy, don't you worry.", Usopp placated to the hungry boy. He turned to a waiter and ordered for everyone, the waiter saying he would be back in a little while with all of the food and drinks. He turned back and addressed Luffy, "While we wait, can you tell me more about my dad?".

Nami and Zoro leaned in closely. Maybe they would get to hear about what Luffy was like as a child.

"Sure!", exclaimed Luffy, "Shanks said he's the best sniper in the entire world. I even watched him shoot the wings off a fly one time! He didn't even kill it!"

"Shanks?", they all questioned in unison.

"Yeah! Shanks is the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates! And Yasopp is his sniper!", Luffy said, laughing. Everyone was making really funny faces.

The rest of the occupants gaped at the straw-hatted boy, "THAT SHANKS?!".

"My… my dad… is on the crew… of an Emperor of the Sea?!", Usopp questioned to himself, unbelievingly.

Nami scowled, she hated talking about pirates. And there was no way a pirate like Red-Haired Shanks was nice like Luffy had said, she hadn't forgotten about that. He was an Emperor of the Sea, there was no way he hadn't done at least SOME terrible things to get that title!

"So you're telling us… that Red-Haired Shanks, an Emperor of the Sea, stayed on your island when you were a kid?". Zoro asked. The swordsman thought it was a miracle Luffy was even alive, he was the kind of person that would do something stupid like make fun of the man's hair and get himself killed.

"Yep!", exclaimed Luffy, "They stayed on the island for a while. I think like a year, maybe a little more.". What was an Emperor of the Sea?...

Usopp sat back in his chair to process the new information with a shocked look on his face but recovered quickly and a confident smile took over his face.

"Order up.", a waiter said from over the long-nosed boy's shoulder.

"Meat!", Luffy yelled in happiness, as the waiter began to drop plates onto the table. He wasted no time, not even waiting for his first plate to be fully set down before digging into it.

"So my dad is the sniper of the Red-Haired Pirates. I'm not surprised even one bit! He is MY dad after all.", smiled Usopp through his fib. Of course, he was surprised! Who wouldn't be after finding out that their dad is not only on an emperor's crew but also the best sniper in the world?! Usopp paled just thinking about it. That was a lot to live up to.

Zoro and Nami looked at each other with skeptical glances.

"That's not a very good lie...", Nami said, spearing a piece of lettuce with her fork. She'd ordered a salad. What? She worked hard to look as good as she did. She glanced over at Luffy devouring his food as it was placed in front of him. If she ate like that she would probably be the size of a whale by now and she was far too proud of her looks for that to happen!

"I'm with the witch on this one.", said Zoro, sipping from his second cup of sake, one empty mug already in front of him.

"I'm not lying! He really is my dad!", Usopp reasoned, animatedly, as he too dug into his meal.

Zoro and Nami shot each other another glance. "Not what we were talking about.", they said in unison, both sweat dropping.

Usopp smiled awkwardly and chose not to respond, looking down at his plate and stuffing his mouth with food. He had been found out, again! Those two were smart...

The table devolved into silence as all of the occupants focus on their food, everyone eating at their own pace.

Usopp was the first to finish, quickly shoving all of his food in his mouth, he had more questions to ask after all. "So, what I'm hearing is my father is a pretty amazing man.", Usopp said to the straw-hatted boy across from him, "I'd like to hear more about him if you don't mind.", he said.

His answer was the sound of a mouth gobbling as quickly as it could. Luffy was focused on eating because he loved eating. There wasn't much that could bring him out of his food-induced focus, except… his mouth hitting the bottom of his plate. "More! Bring me more meat!", Luffy yelled into the air slamming the plate onto the table with a surprising amount of gentleness. He still needed something to eat off of. Then again, did he really?

"Umm…", Usopp turned to Zoro and Nami, "Is he always like that?", he questioned. The two didn't seem very surprised by Luffy's manner of eating. In fact, it seemed that they were both finding it amusing from the small smiles on their faces. Although Nami's was barely visible, it was still there.

"Pretty much.", Zoro replied simply. He really hoped Luffy slowed down. If he kept going at the pace he was… The verdet groaned, downing the rest of his sake. His stupid future captain was definitely going to run him dry.

Nami eyed the boy that she just couldn't figure out. He seemed so simple. Straight forward and dumb. But, the other day on the boat… Why had he asked that? What did it matter to him? He said he just wanted to be friends, but there had to be more to it than that, right? There was also the fact that he'd saved her life. So had Zoro, but he kept calling her a witch.

She scowled to herself eyeing the green-haired idiot beside her, mind moving back to Luffy. He said he wanted to be a pirate and even after that, the black-haired boy still managed to make her smile ALL THE TIME. Nami didn't even think he was really trying to, she just couldn't help it sometimes! When he smiled at her there was something inside of her that just wanted to smile back. It wasn't just her either, she'd seen it with Zoro too. She had a feeling that it was like that for everyone. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "What he said.", she answered.

"Meat! Meat! Meat!", exclaimed Luffy, once again pounding his knife and fork on the table.

Zoro narrowed his eyes at his future captain, "Luffy if you run me dr-"

"Meat! Meat! Meat!", Luffy interrupted, with no regard for the verdet whatsoever. He was still hungry! Where was the waiter guy with the rest of his food?!

"So Usopp, is there anywhere we can stock up on supplies?", Nami asked, ignoring the two boy's beside her. They needed to completely restock to make it to the next island, Luffy had eaten EVERYTHING. Speaking of the next island, she was a little worried. Not because they couldn't afford supplies or anything like that, but because she didn't know if her little sailboat could hold all of the stuff they needed. The next island she wanted to go to was around a five-week journey sailing directly there. She didn't like the idea of trying to fit that much on their little craft, they were pushing it when they left East Lodestone... Maybe…

"Yeah, there are some places you could get supplies from, I can show you later. Tom might even sell you the food you need, depending on how much.", Usopp replied to her question. He looked toward a clock on the wall and his eyes widened, he was gonna be late! He stood from his place at the table, "Sorry guys! I didn't realize how late it was getting! I gotta go, a friend is waiting on me.".

The timing was impeccable as Luffy finished the last of his meal. Had he just heard the word friend? "Friend? Who's friend? I wanna meet 'em", the straw-hatted boy yelled as he rolled out of his chair, his stomach making it almost impossible to walk.

Usopp froze at the door. Now that he thought about it, maybe seeing some new people would be good for Kaya. He turned to the wobbling boy, "Are you sure?". He pointed out of the window by the door, "It's pretty nasty out there", he said, "I'm sure she would like meeting some new people, though.".

"Let's go!", Luffy yelled, jumping up and down and making his stomach shake. He rushed to the front door as fast as his fat body would let him and turned to see if his friends were following. They were. He smiled at that.

"Do they live in the mansion I saw before we got here?", Nami asked in Usopp's direction as she walked toward a stumbling Luffy, Zoro following her footsteps. Maybe they would have one...

"Yeah actually! Good guess! Her name's Kaya!", Usopp said happily.

Nami's face gained a smug look to it, "Is she your girlfriend?".

Usopp stumbled as he was about to open the door, "Gir- girlfriend?". He furiously shook his hands in front of him. "Of course not!", he recovered. "It's not anything like that, we're just friends and we hang out sometimes!", the long-nosed boy said. Now that he thought about it though… he actually went there every day…

Nami and Zoro looked at each other. Truth.

"Fine, fine, let's go ahead and get this over with.", Nami said pointing at the door.

Usopp breathed a sigh of relief and once again turned toward the exit, pulling it open and letting the sound of the deafening rain invade the space. Time to go see Kaya! "Alright! It's not that big of a walk but it's not that small either, so prepare to get wet.".

"You say that kinda stuff to Kaya?", asked Zoro, a smirk on his face.

The words hit the younger man's back as he ran out of the restaurant, a blazing red blush consuming his cheeks.

"Captain!".

Usopp squinted his eyes through the pouring rain. The voice sounded like Onion's.

"Captain, where are you?!".

"Onion, is that you?", yelled Usopp in the direction of the voice.

Luffy giggled. Onion was a funny name. He looked toward the voice and noticed a small boy approaching group.

He had short straight brown hair with a tuft sticking up at the top, making his head look kind of like an onion. Over his tiny black eyes, he wore square glasses, and on his body was a yellow shirt with a blue vest jacket over it. His eyebrows were funny too, sloping inwards and creating a V above his glasses. He also wore a dark yellow sash, dark brown pants, and black shoes with buckles that had grey on the very top and bottom. Everything was sopping wet from the rain, but Luffy thought it was funny that his hair still managed to stay up. He really did look like an onion.

"Captain!", yelled Onion, running up to the long-nosed teen.

"Onion! I thought I told you guys to stay home today.", Usopp said to his subordinate.

The boy slowed and the whole group stopped as he replied. "But you were supposed to give me sniping lessons today, Captain!", he pouted, it looked just slightly ridiculous in the pouring rain.

Usopp could have sworn he told Onion they would do it on a day when it wasn't raining... Had he made that up too? "Onion we can't today, just look at the weather.", he said pointing to the sky as water pounded to the earth around them.

Onion pouted at his captain's words, "But you said-".

"Listen, kid. Scram. I'm wet and I don't wanna be, anymore.", interrupted Nami from beside Usopp, looking up to the sky. The storm was really something. She looked down at her shirt... She'd chosen the wrong day to wear white. The water had, long ago, made her bra visible through the fabric. White and water just didn't mix at the end of the day.

A geyser of blood shot out of Onion's nose and he blushed so hard that the rain began to steam around him. He'd never seen something like that before. Had he just become a man? The boy promptly turned around and ran back toward his home. He didn't think he could stand in that girl's presence any longer, he could get lessons from his captain later. He looked at the blood soaking his collar and paled. Maybe he wasn't ready to see things like that yet.

Luffy and Zoro broke down in laughter at the boy's reaction.

Usopp watched his subordinate's form retreat into the rain curiously. What had made the boy run away? He turned to Nami and immediately turned back, steam beginning to rise off of his body. Now it made sense. "Alright, let's just get to Kaya's.", he said, cheeks cherry red.

The four arrived at the gate to the mansion completely soaked to the bone.

"Alright guys, this is it. We've gotta climb over these walls to get to Kaya.", he said, pointing to the wall in question.

"Why don't we just walk through the front gate and knock on the door like normal people?", asked Nami with a blank stare. She was wet and she just wanted to get dry. It wasn't even that cold, it actually felt kinda nice. It was a summer storm after all.

"I'm with the witch.", Zoro said from behind her.

She turned and gave the smirking swordsman a glare through the pouring rain.

Usopp smiled awkwardly, "Well, you see-".

"Guys! Come on! I see a girl through this window! That's your friend, right Usopp?", came Luffy's voice from above them.

The three looked to where the words had come from and gaped. When had he climbed a tree?! And when did he lose all that fat?

The straw-hatted boy laughed from his position on the branch and turned toward the window. He wanted to meet Usopp's friend. How could he get her attention though? She looked to be studying something at a table and Luffy didn't have anything to throw to make her turn toward the window.

"Luffy! Wait for us!", yelled Usopp, beginning to climb the tree.

Nami sighed to herself, Zoro doing much the same, before following the long-nosed boy, the swordsman hot on her tail. Why couldn't things just be simple for once?

Quickly enough that the straw-hatted boy hadn't done anything rash, the three made it up the tree. It wasn't easy. The bark was slick with the pouring rain and all of them had almost fallen at least once. Usopp slid beside Luffy to the branch hanging over the wall and pulled out his slingshot, quickly firing a small stone at the window. Zoro and Nami weren't the only ones who wanted to get dry. He really hoped she would let them in.

A stone made a dull ping sound against the glass of the window, just audible over the sound of the rain hitting it, and the girl who sat at the table inside turned in curiosity.

Surely Usopp wouldn't have come today, it was pouring rain outside! She stood from her studies and went to get a better look at the rain coming down outside, she needed a break anyway. She approached the window and her eyes widened. Usopp was out there! With three other people no less! She quickly opened the window, its sill already becoming wet with the pouring rain. "Usopp?! What are you doing here? It pouring outside!", she exclaimed.

She glanced behind her friend and examined the people around him. One had black hair and a straw hat, wearing a smile that made her want to smile in return. The next had green hair and three golden earrings hanging from his left ear, two swords tucked into a belly warmer. The last was a beautiful girl with short shoulder-length orange hair and quite the prodigious bust if she did say so herself. She looked down at her own chest and frowned, before looking back at her friend and smiling. No use dwelling on things she couldn't control. She blushed slightly... She didn't think he would mind...

"We came to hang out!", Usopp said from his position on the tree branch. He looked up to the rain soaking him and awkwardly laughed.

Luffy waved at the girl in the window excitedly, sitting crisscross while balancing on the tree branch, "Hi, I'm Luffy!"

She looked at the other two.

"I'm Nami!", yelled the orangette, through the rain.

"Zoro.", the green-haired swordsman said from the rear of the group.

Kaya smiled at them, "Well it's nice to meet you all. If you're friends of Usopp, then you're friends of mine too.". She glanced inside, to the door of her room. Khlahadore wouldn't likely be fond of the idea but she couldn't just let them soak out in the rain. She turned back toward Usopp and his friends, "Would you all like to come inside? It can't be comfortable out in the rain like that.".

Luffy immediately stood from his place on the branch and deftly jumped to the window sill, smiling and bringing his face very close to Kaya's as she yelped and jumped backward. "Thanks a bunch!", the wet boy said stepping through the window, "Sorry if I scared you!".

"Not scared.", said Kaya with a light laugh, "Just startled.". She smiled at him as the rest of the teenagers stepped through the window. They needed towels. "Stay here while I go grab some towels. And Nami, I might have something that fits you around here somewhere. But then again...", she looked from Nami's chest to her own. "Maybe not.", she laughed. What was being jealous going to do for her? Might as well laugh about it.

"Yeah. Nami's boobs are kinda big and yours are kinda small.", said Luffy, objectively looking between their chests.

Nami blushed, pounding her fist into the top of Luffy's head, "YOU IDIOT! YOU CAN'T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT!". She turned to Kaya, a slight blush still adorning her cheeks, "Sorry about him. He doesn't really think before he talks sometimes.", she said pointing to the straw-hatted boy now sporting a large bruise bump on his head.

Kaya laughed an angelic laugh. These friends of Usopp's really were something. "It's ok.", she paused letting her laughter peter out before turning toward the door. "Let me get you all some towels from the bathroom. And Nami, feel free to look through the closet for something that might fit.", said the blonde-haired girl as she exited the door.

The four of them shouted their thanks, Luffy's slightly pained.

"This place is pretty nice.", Nami said, walking over to the closet. She really wanted to get out of her wet clothes.

Zoro glanced around the room. The witch wasn't wrong. The room they were in was huge and very nicely decorated. A four-poster bed stood in the middle of the space and various chests and drawers, as well as closets, were spread throughout the room.

Nami's mouth salivated at the thought of how much she could sell some of the items around the room for but quickly brushed the feeling off. She wasn't going to steal from a girl just trying to live her life. Nami was actually a little jealous. Kaya got to be here while she had to slave away for Arlong. She scowled to herself looking through the blonde-haired girl's clothes.

"That bed looks so comfy!", Luffy yelled, running to jump on the piece of furniture. He was suddenly tackled to the ground from behind by two figures.

Zoro and Usopp had seen what the straw-hatted boy was going to do, and by no means were they going to let it happen. "You idiot!", Zoro yelled standing up from the ground. "You're gonna soak the bed if you do that. You don't want Kaya to kick us back out in the rain, do you?".

"What he said!", Usopp stated, rising to stand beside Zoro.

Just then, the door opened and Kaya walked back in with an armful of towels. She glanced at the boy on the floor and the two standing over him and smiled. "Here you are.", she said, approaching and handing each of the boys a towel. They all thanked her and began to dry off as she let them resume their conversation, turning to walk toward her closet where Nami was looking through her clothes. "Find anything?", she questioned to the orange-haired girl.

Nami grabbed a white t-shirt with the word doctor on it and a pair of striped sleeping shorts. The shorts would be fine, but the shirt might end up looking more like a crop top. She shrugged to herself, before turning to the girl who had spoken to her. "I think these will be alright.", she said, holding up the two items of clothing, "Is there somewhere I can change?".

The blonde-haired girl smiled and pointed to a corner of the room where there was an opaque folding screen. "You can change over there. I'll make sure none of the boys try to take a peek.", she said giggling.

Nami looked over to the boys in question, conversing amongst themselves as they got dry. "I honestly don't even think you'll have to worry about it.", she said walking over to the folding screen. "Luffy didn't even look at me while we were naked together.", she said walking behind the screen. She was pretty sure Zoro didn't have much interest in looking either. Usopp... He probably wouldn't mind a peek but she thought he might have his eye on someone else.

Kaya gasped as steam came out of her ears. Those two had already been naked together?!

Nami laughed from behind the divider, hearing Kaya's reaction, "It's really not like that. I asked him not to look and he didn't. Simple as that.".

Kaya's face flushed a deep red as she asked her next question, quietly so the boys couldn't hear. "Di- Did you... see... him?", she covered her eyes with her hands. The girl was embarrassed just asking the question but she was curious. She couldn't help it! It was the first time she had been able to talk with another girl around her age!

Nami's face flushed bright red. Thank god she was behind the divider. "N- No, of course not!", she lied. She was too embarrassed to admit that she had. It would just make all the peeper comments from Luffy seem more real. She wasn't a damn peeper!

Kaya thought she could hear a lie in that voice. She blushed even harder as she looked over at Luffy, then to Usopp, turning her head away as fast as possible. She suddenly found her hands very interesting. "Oh ok.", she said, "Sorry I asked. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything like that.".

The orangette stepped out from behind the screen in her new outfit, the old one hanging over the edge of the divider. "It's fine, it doesn't matter anyway.", she said, blush completely gone from her cheeks. She wouldn't be letting Luffy see her like that, he would never let it go. Her shirt almost met the waistband of her shorts, but still showed a peak of midriff, and her striped shorts were cut short, showing off a good amount of leg. "Thanks, Kaya. You don't know how good this feels!", exclaimed Nami, sighing into the air and walking toward the blonde-haired girl.

Kaya quickly washed the thoughts of naked men from her mind and smiled at the girl. "I'm glad you like them.", she said in return, pouting slightly. That shirt was big on her...

Nami sat down at a table that held a multitude of open books. She looked them over and saw that they were all about medicine. "Are you studying to be a doctor?", asked the orange-haired girl.

Kaya walked over to the table and sat across from Nami, grabbing one of the thick texts before replying. "Yes, I want to be a doctor.", she said, smiling down at the book.

"Do you mind if I ask why?", questioned Nami, her eyes emphasizing the room around her, "I mean, by the looks of it you're pretty well off.".

Kaya sighed, gently setting her book down. "You're right, I don't need the money. I just want to help people.", she smiled to herself, "Like my parents.".

"Are your parents doctors too?", the orange-haired girl asked.

"No, they were actually merchants.", she smiled sadly, "They passed away two years ago when their ship sank out at sea.". She missed them greatly and always would. At least she still had Khlahadore and Merry.

Nami gasped, "Kaya, I'm so sorry, I didn't know.".

"It's ok, Nami. I've had time to process. It still hurts and I think it always will, but it's gotten easier over the years.", her smile brightened, "I know they are always with me.". She pointed to her head and then to her heart, "I'll always hold them here because no one is truly dead until they're forgotten.".

Nami turned her head away from the girl as she felt tears rising to her eyes. Those words hit a little too close to home, but they made her smile at the same time. 'Mom…', she thought to herself holding her hands over her heart. She looked back toward Kaya, wiping tears away from her cheeks, "Thank you, Kaya, those were some really pretty words.".

The blonde's eyes widened. She hadn't been trying to make the other girl cry! "I didn't mean to upset you Nami and I apol-".

"You didn't upset me.", Nami interrupted, softly smiling, "You just made me think of my mom.".

Kaya quickly put two and two together. "I'm sorry for your loss, Nami.", she said reaching out to place a hand over the orange-haired girl's.

The orangette sent her an appreciative look, "Thanks, but it's been seven years. There's no need for you to be sorry.".

Kaya softly smiled at her, "Well I am. I'm sorry that you ever had to lose someone close to you. I wouldn't wish that pain on my worst enemy.".

Nami's eyes widened. She didn't know if she had ever talked to someone so genuinely kind in her life. Kaya barely knew her, but Nami could tell that she'd meant her words. "Thank you, Kaya. You really know how to treat a guest, huh?", the girl said, laughing, in an attempt to move to lighter topics. Enough revelations for one day.

"Speaking of guests, it is getting dark outside and I'm reluctant to have the four of you walk back to town in this weather.", Kaya said, taking the girl's subtle hint, "I think I would like it if you all would stay the night here tonight.".

Nami grinned at the girl. It was perfect, now they wouldn't have to pay for an inn. "I think we would all really appreciate it, Kaya. But don't feel like you have to.", compromised the orangette.

"Nonsense.", she paused, frowning slightly. The only problem would be Khlahadore. She shook her head. She was the master of the mansion and he was a butler. No way was she letting him stop her from having her first-ever sleepover! "I'll make sure the boys have a room to stay in and you and I can stay in here.".

"Sounds like you already have it figured out.", Nami laughed. She wasn't going to say no if the girl wanted them to stay that badly.

Kaya stood from her chair, "I do.". She turned toward the boys to give them the news of their staying but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Kaya spun in the direction of the door, eyes widening when she saw who had opened it.

"And what might we have here, I wonder?".