"If you want to save the old man, you and all the cooks have to leave this ship." As he delivered his ultimatum, Gin cocked the pistol he had pressed against Zeff's head.

Sanji almost bit his cigarette in two, "Leave this ship? As if!"

The cooks panicked, "You idiot! Don't antagonize him or Zeff will be-"

The blond ignored them, "And you, you shitty geezer! We're out here giving it our best, and this is the example you set?"

Zeff grunted, "I don't want to hear that from a little eggplant like you!"

"Who are you calling a little eggplant, you shitty geezer? You can't keep treating me like a kid forever!" He took a deep breath, focusing his visible eye on the man threatening his mentor. "Gin, point your gun at me."

"If you wanna die," Pearl grinned from behind the cook, having seemed to have calmed himself down. "I'll kill you nice and flashy!"

"Forget someone?" The tall man stiffened, turning to face the woman that had planted his face in the deck. "I seem to remember I was kicking your ass?"

Pearl sneered, the expression made more imposing by the blood dripping down his face. "We have a hostage," he reminded her.

Nami tapped her lips thoughtfully with a finger. "Yes, that is a problem." She grinned, "Take the shot!"

There was a beat of confused stillness before, "Tokusei Tabasco Boshi!" Gin turned his head to face the voice, but he regretted that instantly as a pellet hit him square in his right eye before exploding and covering half his face with tabasco sauce.

Over on the Going Merry, Usopp exchanged high fives with Johnny and Yosaku. Kaya smiled briefly at her friend's marksmanship, before refocusing on Zoro's wound. The green haired man, though he he was clearly still out of it, had a small grin on his lips as well.

"FUUUUUUUUCK!" Gin screamed, stumbling away from his hostage as he tried to wipe the hot sauce of his face.

As soon as Zeff was in the clear, Nami and Sanji went to work on the other Krieg pirates. In the minute that it took Gin to recover, his good eye treated him to the sight of his crew laid to waste; their bodies either laying on the planks of the 'fin' or floating in the ocean. He turned towards his captain, his good eye almost popping out at the sight, "Don!"

Don Krieg, the strongest man in East Blue, was on his knees. One hand clutched his stomach, underneath which his wootz steel armor was cracked. The man wheezed, glaring up at his foe, "H-how?"

"I just punched you," Luffy cracked his knuckles, "And I'm gonna do it again."

Krieg jumped away from the teenager, landing on his feet. "How about this then?" He pulled what appeared to be a thick leather cape from under his normal one. "Try to hit me now!" He flipped it over his shoulders, revealing it was covered in spikes.

Luffy just looked bored as he ran forward and socked Krieg in the face, not even flinching as the spikes bloodied his knuckles. "That all the tricks you have?" The teen stared down at the larger man.

"Talk about reckless," Sanji commented, as he and the chefs finished tossing Krieg's crew into ocean, not really caring if they were in any shape to swim.

Zeff chuckled, "Watch him, Sanji. There are idiots like him every now and then, ones who don't fear pain or death. That swordsman was the same way. Once people like that set a goal for themselves, they will fight to the death for it. I like guys like him."

"Fighting to the death, huh?"

A few feet away Nami stood next to Gin; who was on his knees with a hand covering his right eye, his left staring at the fight between captains in disbelief.

Back with the two captains Krieg had forced himself back to his feet, his back to his enemy, and one of his oversized pauldrons held in hand much like Pearl had held his shields. "This place will be your grave boy!" With a spin and lunge the man slammed Luffy with the piece of armor with enough force to send him airborne. A slot opened in the shield's skull design, revealing the barrel of a small canon, as Krieg took careful aim of where Luffy was about to land.

For his part, Luffy looked thoroughly unimpressed as he landed, Krieg's canon firing the as his sandled feet touched down. Puffing up his chest to absorb the attack, the teen smiled as he rebounded the fist-sized ball of cast iron back where came from. So quick and perfect, not to mention unexpected, was the ricochet that cannonball actually re-entered the barrel it had just exited, blowing the shield up in Krieg's hand.

"This place is my grave? This ain't the place for me to die!"

Nami snickered, "That's what he meant by his self-defense, Sanji."

It took the blonde a moment; he was overtaken at first by the sound of his name being spoken by the lovely navigator, to realize what she was talking about. "A~h, I could see how that might be hard to control."

Gin had a single horrified thought as his captain's pauldron/shield was destroyed. 'Shit, without that he can't use his war spear!'

Krieg realized the same thing, the mounting horror that his bag of tricks was running out pumping more than enough adrenalin to ignore damage the explosion had done to his left hand. "You," He roared as he bull rushed the teen.

When Krieg's fingers were less than an inch from his neck, Luffy's right leg buried itself in the man's stomach and sent him soaring into the sky. With a dispassionate look in his eyes he stretched an arm out behind him as he waited for the man to begin to come back to earth. When the Don's face, which was spear heading the fall, was at eye level with Luffy, the teen's fist collided with the man's jaw with a sickening crack; he force of the punch sending the defeated captain out over the ocean, where he skipped like a flat rock several times.

"Me," Luffy grinned, his bloody right fist raised in victory.

It started as a slow murmur, "H-he did it..." But as more of the chefs realized that they were safe the cheers increased in volume, "He did it!"

Bending his knees, the pirate launched himself into the air towards the Baratie.

Nami, still standing next Gin, smiled and reached a hand out. A moment later her friend stretched out an arm to grasp the offered hand; and, after using her as an anchor to pull himself onto the deck, the two shared a pleased smile at the victory.

"Krieg lost...?" Captain and navigator looked down at the kneeling Gin. The man was staring unseeingly at where his captain's body floated. "Ridiculous. We're the strongest crew in East Blue, and he is our captain!"

Luffy snickered, "You're not that strong, there were just so damn many of you."

Nami nodded. "And while I'll give him some points for being a good leader, since he managed to recruit so many, his strength was cheap; anyone could use that armor."

Gin teeth audibly grated at the navigator's frank opinion. "His strength-!"

"You mean stopping that boat charge? Eh, Luffy and Ace could manage that much since they were kids, the animals on Mount Korvo would've eaten us alive otherwise."

The chefs and Gin all started at that. "What? You guys lived on Mount Korvo?"

Everyone who lives in the East Blue knew to stay away from that mountain. That mountain range was roamed by predators far larger and more aggressive than anything else in the quiet islands of the peaceful sea.

"No, just Luffy," the orangette shrugged. "I visited often enough, though."

Sanji walked over, shaking a fresh cigarette out of his pack. "Look, Gin. You caused some trouble, bringing your shitty captain and crew here, but you're not too bad a guy. So I'm going to give you five minutes to clear out."

Luffy chortled, "Lucky again, Gin. You're a pretty nice guy, Sanji!"

The other chefs weren't as pleased, "Sanji! We can't just let them leave!"

Carne and Patty pleaded directly to their boss, "Zeff!"

The former pirate just shrugged, "As long as they get the hell out of my restaurant."

"Excuse me," Kaya made quite the sight, her pale arms and emerald shirtdress covered in blood, as she walked up to them. "I've done my best to patch Zoro-san, but he really should see a more accomplished doctor."

Nami raised an eyebrow at Zeff, but the old man huffed. "We've never really had need of an actual doctor, the fights are normally pretty one sided."

The navigator nodded, turning to look at her captain next. "Cocoyashi is closest; we can have old man Nako take a look."

Luffy nodded, grinning over at Sanji. "What do you say? Come sail with us, Sanji!"

For the first time, Sanji hesitated before denying the younger man. He wanted to go, damn it. He wanted sail with these fools who didn't accept words like 'impossible', and didn't fear risking their lives. He wanted to go experience the world, to find All-Blue…!

"Just go," Zeff broke Sanji out of his thoughts. "Go experience the world, and don't come back till your cooking can rival my own!"

The blonde chef gritted his teeth, "I've already told you I'm staying here till the day you die, shitty geezer! The way you're going, I'll still be in the prime of my life when that happens!"

That earned the teenager a whack from his boss's peg leg, "You little eggplant! We both know I'm going to outlive a punk like you by a decade at least!" The Chef sighed, "That said, only one of us can still journey the Grand Line. Did I ever say I wanted an indentured servant in return for saving you? The time is right; go find it for the both of us."

Sanji palmed his forehead for a quiet moment, before heaving a defeated sigh. "I'll go." He met eyes with his new captain. "Don't think there's a crew more suited for a crazy dream like finding the All-Blue then the crew of the future Prate King."

Nami laughed, "It'll make an excellent addition to my map of the world."

Off to the side Kaya wore a despondent smile. 'Another one with a crazy dream…'

"You there, Kaya?"

The blonde blinked, seeing the hand in front of her face for the first time. "Sorry about that, Nami. What were you saying?

The orangette raised an eyebrow at her friend, "I was saying you should go wash up. Are you alright?"

Kaya shuffled her feet, "Do I really belong here?" Seeing her friend's confused look, the blonde elaborated. "You all have big dreams… Mapping the world, Pirate King, Greatest Swordsman, finding the All-Blue, finding your father… I was so happy when Luffy invited me, I thought it was my chance to see the world, but is-"

Nami cut her off, "It doesn't matter what the dream is, Kaya. What matters is your dedication to the dream. Luffy invited you because he saw your resolve."

Other self-doubts she'd had begun spill from her lips. "I'm not strong like you and the others, my medical knowledge is all book learning-" She was cut off again as Nami wrapped her in a hug.

"Strength can be gained, Kaya, skill can be learned-"

Sanji interrupted the moment, "Hug me too, Nami-swan! Kaya-chan" The chef cried, leaping at the girls with arms spread wide.

With a tick mark popping on her forehead, Nami spun around and nailed the incoming blonde with a haymaker that sent him flying the other way.

"Ah, to feel Nami-swan's fist of love so soon!"

Luffy and Nami felt a small chill run down their spines, memories of Garp's training flashing across their minds.

Gin shook his head, "We got beat by a bunch of idiots." Raising his voice, he called for the straw hat wearing teen.

The whole crew looked at him and the 'Demon-Man' gulped as he was reminded that this rag tag group of teenagers had completely decimated his crew, fully grown men with years of experience, with barely a scratch. And the one injured member of the crew had picked a fight with Dracule Mihawk and lived. "We'll see each other on the Grand Line one day, Strawhat."

"Shishishi, sounds good."

-A few hours later-

Sanji took another look around the dining area of the restaurant, his expression somber as memories flashed across his mind.

So this is the Restaurant of the Sea?

No matter how villainous the scum, the escaped convict, whatever…

Stop smoking, the tobacco will dull your taste buds.

Smirking, the sous-chef took a long drag of his cigarette as he grabbed his ruff sack and stepped out the doors heading out to the deck. He was greeted by the staff of the Baratie milling around, but leaving him a clear path to the ship, the Going Merry if memory served.

Before he even got two steps away from the door, Patty and Carne tried to wallop him over the head with the oversized spoons they were so fond of.

This the place Red-Leg Zeff is supposedly running? You serious about this ad, 'tough cooks wanted'?

With the ease of doing so a thousand times before, the chef laid the two out without even look and continued on his way to the Merry. Looking up at his new crew, all of whom were leaning against the railing, Sanji took a moment to observe them.

He was only mildly surprised to see that Zoro was conscious to join the group. Yesterday, he wouldn't have believed anyone could walk away from a fight with Dracule Mihawk, but now seeing the man acting like nothing had happened (even if his torso was tightly wrapped in bandages) seemed right.

The lovely Kaya, he noted with a flutter in his heart, didn't seem to agree. The blonde hovered around the swordsman, constantly trying to swipe the bottle the man was drinking from away from his hands, all the while eying him like he was about to collapse.

Finally giving up, she turned to the crew navigator, "Nami?" She pouted, and Sanji would rip out his own heart to fulfill her request. "I let him come out here to welcome a new crewmember, but can you at least get him to stop drinking? I'm surprised his stomach can keep anything in it right now, let alone alcohol!"

A snickering Nami reached in front of Luffy, whom, Sanji noted with jealously burning in his chest, was so close to the orangette that their elbows were touching, and plucked the bottle from Zoro's hand. "Sorry," she sounded anything but as the swordsman shot her a betrayed look. "Nurses's orders, after all," so saying, she downed what was left of the bottle.

That drew laughs from the final members of the crew, Usopp clutching his stomach in his fit of laughter. He shut up real quick when the irate man shot him a glare.

Luffy just kept giggling, his body shaking with amusement, but his eyes never left him, somehow serious and amused all at once. For just a moment, Sanji felt as if the rest of the world fell away, and those amused eyes were making one last judgment before welcoming him on board. Then the moment passed as Luffy closed his eyes to smile even broader at him.

"Let's get going," Sanji spread his arms. "I'm sure Kaya-chan is underestimating herself, but if she says the marimo should get that double checked; we should get going. I'd hate for her to worry over someone like him needlessly."

"Shut up, curly brow," the aforementioned 'moss head' growled.

Nami raised an eyebrow, "Not going to say goodbye?"

The infatuated cook grinned, "It's fine, Nami-swan!"

"Hey Sanji," Zeff spoke up, causing his surrogate son to bite his lip. "Don't catch a cold."

Tears Sanji had done a valiant attempt at keeping at bay pooled in his eyes. "Owner Zeff! Spinning to face his mentor, the chef prostrated himself. "I'm eternally grateful for you taking care of me for so damn long! I shall never forget for the rest of my life the debt I owe you!"

Up on his balcony Zeff's tears also began to well up.

"You bastard!" Patty and Carne had finally picked themselves up from the last beating their friend had given them, tear even in their eyes. "We're going to be lonely without you, real lonely!

At this point there wasn't a dry eye on board the Baratie, "We'll miss you! You're making us cry, damnit."

"Fools," Zeff muttered as he tried to dry his face with the back of his hand. "Men should say their goodbyes silently." He ignored that he'd been the first to say anything.

Sanji didn't even try to stem his flowing tears. "Let's meet again, you good for nothing bastards."

Luffy grinned, "Let's set sail!"

-On a ship sailing East Blue-

A man sat at his desk, glaring down at the maps covering every inch of it as he lazily twirled a knife in his left hand. There was a knock on the door, and he grunted his permission for entry.

Another man entered the room, swallowing nervously when he noticed the weapon. "Sir, our contact within the marines is waiting on the transponder snail."

The blade stopped, the flat of the tip held between two spindly fingers. "Good news, I hope."

"Y-yes sir!" The subordinate did his best not to stare at the knife. "Our rat says he knows where the cat lives."

The man rolled his eyes, "Is he still insisting on those silly 'code names'? His is so obvious it hurts… And you, don't get caught up in it, you're not even on the transponder snail right now." With a flick of his wrist, he sent the knife sinking into the wall to his left, where it sank a good five inches into the cabin's hard wood.

Standing, he walked around his desk, "Well, let's go hear let Nezumi has to say."

He left the knife behind, in the left eye of the smirking picture of 'Cat Burglar' Nami's wanted poster.

-The orange farm on Conomi island-

Nojiko smiled as she stacked another orange crate. Much like her sister, Nojiko had grown into a great beauty over the years; outside of their hair and eye colors many would think the two to be twins (which would always please Nojiko and annoy Nami, considering she was three years older than the orangette) rather than adoptive siblings. Both had slender waists, while their tits and ass were decidedly not. But while Nami's orange tresses flowed just past her shoulders, which she constantly played with various styles, Nojiko's pixie cut light blue hair was consistently held back by a red ribbon.

"That should do for today."

She looked up at the setting sun, shading her dark blue eye with a hand from the setting sun's light, and frowned. "Nami and Luffy should've been here by today…" Bellemere's oldest plucked one of her harvest from the crates, "Wonder what trouble they've gotten into."

-A/N-

After months of being completely unattended, this chapter wrote itself in about five hours. Here's hoping I stay on a roll to get some more done. To those of you who wish I'd get a beta, take it as one of two things; I'm either too proud, or too damn shy. Either way, I will continue to do my best on my own.

A lot of you liked Nami getting another fight, which rocked. I hope the fights have been decently written. Many of you have been anxious for me to do something original, so I hope I've shown that that is coming.

CzarAndrew: Shanks/Makino is mostly background from this point, so thanks for sticking around. As for Nami dating before she and Luffy get together… that's life. I'm glad someone enjoys me trying to stay true to the original while trying to my own thing. One Piece is an awesome story; I'm just trying to put my own twist on it.

Reine de la Mort: As far as I can tell, my use of 'sheathed' was correct, and the cannon/canon thing was just a bad mistake on my part. Romance can certainly ruin a story when it's introduced to a story it was never really meant to be in. This is a reason why I'm starting at the beginning, and have romantic relations being present from the get go. As for my au, I'm aiming for changes to the canon I think would actually ripple out from Nami's different childhood. Getting their ship earlier was supposed to illustrate Nami's influence on Luffy, as we all know for a fact that Luffy would've happy to take a rowboat the Grand Line, while its getting destroyed was simply something I considered Buggy would do. It also served as a plot device twice; once as a reason to go to that island, thus encountering Buggy, and also sending them to meet Kaya and Usopp, as neither would've happened for their original reason. I hope I answered better than the last guy.

RedHairedOctavia: First off, always nice to meet a RedHaired! You're welcome, and thank you for the support. I do plan to add a couple more crewmembers, but gonna try to keep more of a small group.

The Magical Kaitou KID: I'll be honest, that took me a full minute. Then I couldn't stop laughing. I'm sure plenty of fans out there would find them reason enough.

Chunnin33: Thank you. Some of that butterfly effect comes in next chapter.

Guest: Did I lose you in a later chapter; I never got that second review? Hm, I'm using Buggy's complete lack of mentioning anything about Roger in relation to the hat to mean Shanks got it pretty early on.

The last thing before I finish this chapter is that I keep getting requests for a pairings list. I'm reluctant to post for two reasons: I don't want to give up some plot hints some pairing may give away; or conversely I'm not sure of how I'll work them in yet and I remember the flack SeerKing got when he removed two girls from Ranma's harem in Chi Master because he later decided they didn't fit how the story had progressed.

I will post what I'm pretty much set on though. Also, just because they are paired with a Strawhat does not necessarily mean they will join the crew.

Luffy/Nami/Vivi

Zoro/Tashigi

Usopp/Kaya

Sanji… I will see how this whole wedding business goes down and revisit, but I was certainly leaning towards Viola. Speaking of which, an assassin family? Really fits some of the dirty work he does for the crew.

At this point, everyone else is waiting to see how the story progresses. Alright, before this gets any longer, hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day (by that, I mean you got to see Deadpool).