Hey, all my faithful readers! Here it is! Stay tuned for the latest chapters~! This Chapter goes out to all those faithful readers and my awesome reviewers (You know who you are :D) Having you guys back me up, makes writing this book so much more worth it!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters however, Rosalie is my OC.

Here you go! Please enjoy it

Chapter 21

Poison let out a loud yawn, tears forming in the corner of his eyes as he walked towards the dining room, on his way towards the kitchen. He stretched his stiff muscles and let out another yawn as he briefly stared at the early morning sun.

"Oi, Poison, you on your way to make breakfast?" A gruff voice spoke up from his side and he glanced at a redhead male. Kid walked towards him, Poison's eyes widening that his Captain was up early and nodded.

"Morning, Captain. You're up early," Poison pointed out and Kid shrugged lazily. "Yeah, I'm on my way to make breakfast now. Rosalie will be there in a little bit to help if she didn't already start," he added with a chuckle.

Kid scoffed. "She enjoys cooking more than a pirate should," he said while shaking his head in disapproval. He didn't complain about the luxurious food they were eating the last couple of weeks and it kept her busy. He hadn't expected her to love cooking as much as she did.

"Well, I enjoy her company and she's very creative when it comes to preparing meals. Also, she occasionally sings. She's a woman of many talents…" Poison informed Kid who gave him a sceptical look, maroon lips twitching downwards.

He was about to ask more when Poison suddenly stopped as he entered the dining room. He followed the male's gaze, his own eyes widening at the scene in front of him. His questions vanished and new ones started to arise in his thoughts.

Rosalie sat at one of the wooden tables, her head resting on her crossed arms. Her breathing was deep and her eyes were closed as she slept soundly. The dark circles underneath her eyes were visible, showing her unhealthy sleeping pattern.

"It looks like she fell asleep while waiting," Poison spoke up as his frozen body started to move again. His face softened as he looked at her tired figure. "Poor girl. She hasn't been sleeping at all. I'll make breakfast on my own today." Poison went to walk towards the kitchen but glanced back at Kid.

"Idiot, tiring herself out like this. I can't mess with her when she's this exhausted," Kid growled out, keeping his tone in a whisper not to wake her up. Poison chuckled as he entered the kitchen, leaving Kid with the sleeping female.

Kid let out an agitated sigh and sat down next to her, keeping his thoughts to himself. He watched Rosalie in the corner of his eyes, seeing her red strands fall on her face and covered her closed lids somewhat.

"Law…" She murmured barely audible but Kid heard it. He instantly felt irritated, a pang in his chest at the spoken name. He saw her shiver and curl up slightly. It wasn't possible though since she lay in a very uncomfortable position.

He slung his jacket around her shoulders, the fluffy material warming her up. He watched as a small smile came onto her face and wondered what she was dreaming about. He knew that Trafalgar was one of the things and it pissed him off.

She left his ship and crew behind but she didn't want to let him go. He was no longer in the picture and yet she kept him close to her. Kid hated it. He hated the feeling that washed over him when she spoke of Trafalgar and he hated that she kept chasing a shadow.

"Idiot… Goggles…" This time an unconsciously smile came onto his coloured lips and he managed to resist a chuckle that wanted to escape his throat. Even if she was chasing a shadow, he was there in flesh. He wasn't planning on going anywhere…

He shook his head. Since when did he start to care for this woman? Despite her irritating behaviour and pressing the wrong buttons all the time, he enjoyed her presence. The way she lit up a room as she stepped inside and the warm feeling that filled his chest made her an infatuated woman.

Truth was, he planned on not letting her go because he didn't want to. He didn't want her to be on her own and the worst was that he didn't want to see her get hurt. He growled at his raging thoughts. He was becoming soft.

Kid stood up, deciding that he watched the sleeping female long enough and exited the dining room. He still had a few tinkering he needed to do on his newest invention and there wasn't time to waste since they were nearing an island.

They had a lot of business to handle when they came to the island and deals to establish with the black market before they returned to their headquarters. They had to be prepared for anything on that island. Especially, since it had one of the highest crime rates.

It was going to be interesting.

Rosalie felt an unfamiliar yet comforting warmth surround her. Blue eyes slowly fluttered open and a yawn escaped a pair of plush lips. Blurry vision took a few moments to settle before her eyes widened in shock.

I fell asleep! She thought in horror and was about to stand up, fluffy material stopping her movement. Rosalie touched the jacket that was slung over her shoulders, a blush forming onto her cheeks and she swallowed thickly.

It was Kid's jacket.

She glanced around, not finding any sign of the red-haired male. She buried her face in her hands, heat rushing towards her face. He saw her sleep! She was sure to get a scolding later about how she was slacking off and being lazy on his ship. Not that he had any room to talk.

"Ah! I see you're awake!" Rosalie glanced back at Poison who came out of the kitchen, a white apron tied around his neck. He gave her a wide smile, noticing the jacket lazily hanging around her shoulders but decided not to say anything.

"Morning, Poison. I'm so sorry that I fell asleep! I was waiting for you to start and wanted to close my eyes for a few seconds… I guess I fell asleep not long after. How long was I out?" Rosalie asked, her eyes showing the guilt she felt.

"I have no idea, but don't worry about it. I finished up with breakfast and everything is prepared. I was about to call the men," Poison said and Rosalie nodded as she stood up, holding the jacket in her arms. She silently appreciated the soft material.

"If you don't mind, I'll go and call Kid. I have to give him back his jacket anyway," she requested and Poison nodded. They walked out of the dining room, Poison's voice booming as he called everyone and she advanced inside the ship, straight towards Kid's office.

She managed to dodge most of the men to avoid questions as to why she had Kid's jacket in her possession. She didn't want any mocking coming her way and she definitely didn't want Wire to know or he'll forever taunt her about it.

She stopped in front of Kid's office's door and took a deep breath before knocking. She heard a soft response from the male before she entered. She expected to see him idly sitting with his legs on the desk, eyes to the sky but found him intensely working on something.

"Um… Kid?"

He looked up at her and Rosalie blinked in surprise. He was wearing his goggles for the first time. A small smile came onto her lips and for a moment she thought that he looked cute wearing them. She didn't dare to say it aloud.

"Oh, it's you." His tone was half hearted and his eyes soon went back to the gadget he was tinkering with. Rosalie sweat dropped at his behaviour. It was strange since she saw him act this way. He seemed completely at ease working about.

"Y-Yeah… Anyway… I came to return your jacket. Thank you for the gesture, it was nice of you." He didn't react causing her wonder if he was listening. "I also came to call you for breakfast. Poison said that he's plating up," she finished and still didn't get a reply.

She let out a sigh, not enjoying the way he was completely ignoring her. She put the jacket over the railing of one of the open chairs that stood against the wall. She made sure it wouldn't fall off before excusing herself as she went to exit the room.

"Oi, Sweetheart." Rosalie glanced back at him, his goggles still protecting his eyes and her small smile quick to return to her lips. "We're arriving at another island after lunch. Get some sleep. I don't want to drag your tired ass around all day," he stated and a vein throbbed out of her head.

"For one moment I actually thought you were a decent guy until you opened that big mouth of yours! I'll sleep when I want to and that has nothing to do with you!" She snapped at him; his face still impassive despite her outburst.

"I'm serious. I don't want you getting injured because you were too tired to defend yourself. I may not care that much but I know a few people on this crew who do," Kid stated, Rosalie's eyes widening at his words.

"You think sacrificing yourself makes other people happy?"

"You can tell Poison that I'll be eating in my office. I'm too busy now to let my work stand," Kid said, changing the subject and returning to his business. Rosalie watched him carefully, her clenched fists relaxing and her blue eyes swimming with various emotions.

"Thank you, Goggles." Kid watched her in the corner of his eyes and saw her smile warmly at him. He waved her off and she snickered as she left. She closed the door behind her and let out a breath as she closed her eyes.

He wasn't that bad after all.

Later on…

"There you go, Rose! As good as new!" Virus exclaimed with a satisfied smile plastered on his pierced features. Rosalie looked over her arm, touching the unscarred, healed skin and felt relieved. She was injury free. Even the bruise marks that Kid left faded away mostly and couldn't be seen.

"Thank you so much, Virus! I can kick ass as much as I want again!" Rosalie confidently stated and Virus chuckled. He threw away the bandage as well as his medical gloves that he wore before sitting back in his chair.

"I'm glad you're up and running again, Rose. One thing. No looking for fights on this island. We're just getting in and out as fast as possible. Boss already gave the orders to stay together," Virus informed her and she raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Imma guess no one had time to tell you. We're gonna check out a few underground black-market deals, see if anythin's worthwhile before headin' out to sea again. You can imagine that there are a lot of unwanted people on this island since it's also a place for human auction," Virus told her.

Rosalie could only stare at him in her speechless state. She didn't know why she was this shocked. She knew that pirates were always part of illegal business but she was never involved. This time, however, she was going with Kid and it made her swallow thickly.

"O-Okay. I appreciate that you told me. There's something that I want to clarify with Kid, though. I'll see you later!" Rosalie waved him off and was quick to exit the infirmary. Virus chuckled and went back to reading a medical book that he pulled closer.

Rosalie arrived at Kid's office and wanted to knock, yet found that the door was already open. Not completely but enough to know there were people inside his office. She leaned to the side and let her curiosity get the better of her as she listened in.

"You all know what we have to do. If we don't get what we want, then we leave. I don't want to mess around and I'm itching to get back to our headquarters," Kid's voice spoke up, his tone having a tinge of impatience in it.

"I agree. There's only one problem." Killer's voice followed. "They move the underground black marketing every time. We don't have someone inside to tell us where it is or where to start asking," he pointed out.

"Maybe I can help," Rosalie interrupted as she stepped inside the office, everyone shocked to see her suddenly popping up. Killer's shocked expression was hidden while Kid practically gaped at the female's sudden appearance.

"Did you just eavesdrop on our conversation?!"

Rosalie gave him a bored look. "Obviously. The door wasn't closed and I didn't want to cut in rudely so I listened and made my entrance." Her answer made the Captain's eye twitch and a vein throbbed out from his head.

"Rosalie, what do you mean by you can help? Don't tell me you actually know someone on the inside who can get us to the underground black market," Killer said, receiving a shook of her head and disappointing the males.

"Heavens, no! I don't to get myself into trouble like you guys." Rosalie smirked. "However, back in the day, I was pretty good with getting information. I won't have any trouble finding out where the deals are going off," Rosalie explained and Kid huffed.

"Back in the old days? This isn't some marine operation, Sweetheart. You're dealing with some of the most wanted criminals there are. It won't be as easy as you think it is," Kid stated, doubting her abilities. Rosalie gave him a smirk as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I dealt with pirates when I was a marine Captain. They're also some of the most criminals there are, Goggles." He glared at her. "You shouldn't underestimate my abilities. All you have to do is show me the most popular bar there is and enjoy a couple of beers," she said and received confused gazes.

"Why the most popular bar? What's a bar got to do with this? How are you going to gather information?" Wire asked while looking around for answers. He was barely keeping up with Rosalie's plan. She chuckled and put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a mocking look.

"Didn't you know? Bars are the best places to gather information and I happen to be a woman." Rosalie cracked her knuckles, her blue eyes shining with confidence. "I always get what I want," she said, the plan coming together in her mind.

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