Derelict buildings surround an abandoned alleyway. Rain is falling in buckets, a dull drum on the surrounding concrete and steel accompanied by the roar of pounding waves in the distance. Even with the sky being dark with heavy clouds, there is the foreboding feeling that the weather will only get worse. A shudder passes through the area from the force of another hitting less than a mile away.

Yet, one man is walking through this storm, a case carrying tools in his right hand. His hair is dark purple and his five o'clock shadow the same color. Bandages are wrapped around his head and torso, but they do not appear to hinder him in the slightest. He approaches a smaller pink brick building with a blue roof and "No 2" written above large steel doors, which are covered in moss. He forces one of the doors open and walks in, internally grateful for the reprieve from the rain. The door shuts behind him as he begins the descent underground.

A short time later, he arrives in front of a pair of wooden doors with a lock. Setting the case down, he reaches forward while retrieving a key from one of his pockets. Upon touching the lock though, he freezes. It is uncomfortably cold, as though it were attached to a large walk in freezer. Eh, why is the lock so cold? Does she know about this place? The man thinks. Shrugging, he unlocks the doors, picks up his case, and strolls inside. He's in a large room with a high curved ceiling. The surrounding walls are of the same pink bricks as the building. Situated in the middle is a silver train, with faded teal walls and yellow paneling, sitting on tracks placed in a water canal, with two carriages attached at the back. At the front is a gaudy, yet fierce looking shark face with a pointed nose, slanted eyes, and ferocious teeth. This is the first water train to be developed, "Rocket Man".

A small grin graces the man's face, as memories regarding the development of this engineering marvel play in his mind. As he gives a glance over the machine, something in the corner of his eye catches his attention. Turning his head, his eyebrows shoot up at the sight. There, on the far side of the wall, is a woman sleeping. She's in a reclined chair with a book in her lap, and her head tilted to the side, supported by one of her arms. Her white blonde hair is in a long braid laying over one of her shoulders. Her pale face is resting with the mouth open slightly, and the man can almost make out the sound of snoring. A blanket is wrapped around her legs and lap. If it weren't for the current situation at hand, this would look rather adorable. However, "Elsa! What are you doing here?"

With a snort, Elsa shoots up, a bewildered look on her face. Her eyes make contact with the man's, but she takes a few seconds to register who's before her. The moment she does, her eyes widen, "Mr. Iceberg? I'm seeking shelter from Aqua Laguna. What are YOU doing here?" She notices the set of tools in his hand, and takes a glance at Rocket Man, "Wait, is this a hobby of yours, maintaining abandoned sea trains? Shouldn't the mayor have more important things to worry about?" She gives a once over of the bandages adorning Iceburg, "Especially considering your recent assassination attempt."

Iceburg sighs, then sets down his case and turns towards Elsa, who is starting to walk towards him. "It's rather...no, it's VERY complicated at the moment. And fixing up Rocket Man here is of high priority."

"Rocket Man, so this train does have a name." Says Elsa as she stands. Despite the weather, her outfit is rather simple: a light blue hoodie, white pants, and gray rain boots. She walks towards Iceburg, and crosses her arms over her chest once she reaches him, "What's the complication?"

For the next few minutes, Iceburg explains the events of the last few days, the actions of the Straw Hat pirates and CP9, the kidnapping of Nico Robin and Franky, the reasons why the World Government desires the two wanted criminals, and how fixing up Rocket Man is the one chance the Straw Hats have at rescuing their crew mate.

Elsa cannot help but have a slack jawed stare at the incredible and incredulous story being told. At the end, she just shakes her head, "Please count me out of this. It's too crazy and I have no desire to catch the interest of the World Government. I've had my share of fighting kingdoms." It is not a bounty that worries her, and the both of them know it. The government discovering someone with near logia level powers and none of the drawbacks could never be good for the individual in question.

Iceburg nods his head in agreement, "So why this place in particular? This building, and area, has been abandoned for years."

Elsa shrugs and waves her hand in the air, "Discovered it while exploring the area a couple days ago. (I was bored) Despite living here for over a year now there's still so much to see. Seemed like a good place for shelter and solitude during Aqua Laguna. Was going to ask you about this second water train, but then, you know, assassination attempt and all."

Iceburg grimaces in remembrance, "I see. Anyway, I have no objections to you staying here, as long as you don't interfere."

"As if I'd want to get involved with pirates."

"Yes...well, they should be here shortly. Stay out of the way and I doubt they'll have any interest out of the fact that you're even here."

Elsa turns to walk back to her chair, where her book lies scattered to the side. Iceberg picks up his tool case and heads towards the boiler room of the train. Before he enters, he turns to Elsa, "Oh, Elsa? One more thing." Elsa stops to hear what he wants to say, "Just a warning, but the captain, Strawhat Luffy, he is rather...out there. In a way."

Elsa stares unblinking at the mayor, before responding, "Riiiight. I kinda expect that from a man crazy enough to assault Enies Lobby."

With that, both get on with their respective activities. Iceburg getting the train back into working form and Elsa resuming the novel she was reading. For the next few minutes there is relative silence, the only sounds being the work Iceburg is performing and the soft flip of a page by Elsa's fingers.

As Iceburg starts on the finishing touches to bring Rocket Man to working form his thoughts begin to wander towards the possible plan of attacks the Strawhats might use. No matter the ideas he thought of, the one critical flaw kept coming back to him. Everything hinges on getting Nico Robin before she passes through the gates. But there's just no guarantee that they can keep the gates shut the entire time. He runs another test on the boiler system, It's not as though they can get someone like Aokiji to freeze...

Despite the boiler working as expected, he fails to notice, his attention cut short at the latest thought. With slow movement, he turns around, and exits the cabin. He makes his way towards the side of the room where Elsa sits. As he approaches she looks up and slightly tilts her head.

"Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"What would you say are the limits of your powers?"

"My limits? You know I've never tried to find that out. What-"

"How about keeping the Gates of Justice shut?"

"The Gates of Justice? It would be a bit of a challenge but not imposs...oh no. No no no. I see where you're going and I told you, there's no way I'm going to involve myself with those pirates." She is standing in an instant, eyebrows pinching together. Iceburg is unfazed.

"Elsa, please! Do you have any idea what the government will be able to do with this ship?"

"It's just a bigger and stronger version of their normal battleship." Iceburg narrows his eyes at her response. "Isn't it? I mean, you did say that they ultimately want some ancient weapon. Surely technology has advanced beyond centuries old ship designs."

"Pluton can wipe out entire ISLANDS. There's no single ship in the world capable of such a thing."

Elsa's reaction is immediate, what color that is left in her pale yet beautiful skin is drained and her body shivers involuntarily. "I...ISLANDS?"

Iceburg merely nods, his lips set in a tight, grim frown. Elsa looks down, wringing her hands, an old habit she could never get rid of. After a few moments of considering her own thoughts, she brings her eyes back to Iceburg's, "The answer is still no. For the first time in years, my life is peaceful." Her eyes soften after that last statement. "Even if I am far from home..." A small sigh escapes her lips, along with a slight drop in her shoulders. "I would like it to remain that way."

Iceburg sighs too, his expression also softening. He brings a hand to pinch his forehead, eyes shut in thought. Before he can attempt again to convince her, there's a shout from the tunnel.

Elsa and Iceburg turn their heads towards the voices, and Elsa is flabbergasted by the sight. A teenager with a straw hat and red vest and a reindeer with a pink hat and backpack, of all things, are running towards the train. That in of itself isn't strange, even when including the adorned animal, considering Elsa being used to Sven. What is strange is the looks in their eyes: shining stars. Elsa is struggling to believe that two people could become so amazed at a sight that their eyes literally turn into sparkling four pointed spots of lights. Unnerving would be an easy way to put it.

It's just a train, even if the shark head is gaudy. Thinks Elsa. Although she was amazed at seeing Puffing Tom the first time, the novelty of a train on the water waned fast for her. Behind Monkey D. Luffy, as she now recognizes him from the papers, she notices a few more individuals. She spots Kokoro and Chimney, plus Chimney's funny pet Gombe. The green-haired swordsman, though, takes a moment to look over before remembering that he is Luffy's first mate Roronoa Zoro. Kokoro is laughing as she takes another swig of her wine.

"Nga-ga-ga, this is the runaway train, Rocket Man!"

Luffy pauses a few yards from the train, his sparkling eyes now abated. After a few seconds he spots something in the corner of his eye. A large grin breaks out when he sees Iceburg, "It's Ice-Ossan!"

"Strawhat, so you were safe, just as the pirate girl said."

"Eh? Ah, so you're alive Iceburg. What're you doing here?" Asks Kokoro, who then notices Elsa standing next to him, "Don't tell me you're using Rocket Man to elope with Elsa." She gives a boisterous laugh to the immediate blush that both Elsa and Iceburg develop and the waving of their hands as they attempt to counter her statement. The laughing turns into a small chuckle when she takes a long pull out of her bottle.

Luffy, having missed the entirety of Kokoro's jib, turns his attention Elsa, "Hey blondie, who are you?" Elsa sputters in indignation at the obtuse question, and the matter that Luffy asked while digging in his nose for treasure with his pinky finger. Eyebrow twitching, Elsa takes a few breaths to regain some semblance of composure and to put an amiable smile on her face.

"I am Elsa Arendelle, pleasure to meet you, Mr. Monkey."

"Call me Luffy."

"Right. Please, then, do not address me as 'blondie'..." Elsa's smile morphs into a scowl before anyone can even blink, "ever." Her voice sends chills through the air, in some part due to using her powers. Chimney and Gombe's teeth start chattering a bit. Luffy, however, is completely unaffected.

"So what are you doing here?" Asks Zoro, speaking for the first time since he entered the building. Impressed as he was, or wasn't, by Rocket Man, the swordsman was curious about the sudden chill in the air that felt unnatural in comparison to the storm. Considering the abilities of the people in the room that he knew about, this beautiful stranger was likely the source of the strange sensation he feels.

Wait, beautiful stranger? A swordsman shouldn't have thoughts like that idiot cook.

"Thought an abandoned train storage area would be a wonderful place for some peace and quiet during Aqua Laguna." Elsa answers, shrugging her shoulders, "As you can see, it's going just as I imagined."

"Hey want to help us save Robin?" Luffy asks, right up in Elsa's face before anyone else can notice or react, his energy reminiscent of the times he invites people to join his crew. A large grin is matching the warmth and joy in his eyes. Elsa yelps in surprise, and on instinct whips her hand towards Luffy. A blast of icy wind strikes the rubber man and knocks him away a few feet. He lands on the ground with a loud thud, a thin sheet of ice covering his chest.

To say jaws were dropped would render even the 'Captain Obvious' remark redundant. However, the only jaws that reached the floor were of the three pirates who had just become acquainted with Elsa. The present Water 7 residents had seen demonstrations from Elsa before, and instead they collectively had a sweat drop on the back of their heads accompanied by the same thought.

Oh boy.

However, their assumptions that the shock came from seeing her powers for the first time is a bit off. None of them are aware of the Strawhats encounter with Admiral Aokiji, and his dangerous Chill-Chill fruit. Thus they had no way of knowing that the true shock was the pirates witnessing what is, to them, a paradox. Even Luffy, who probably doesn't even know what the word paradox is.

Still, moments did pass by where nothing happened and the only sound was the distant rain from the aqua laguna, as all eyes were trained at Elsa and Luffy. In the final moment, before a cacophony of voices broke out, a small voice uttered "shit" in disappointed frustration. Gombe and Chimney would forever swear it was their icy blonde friend, despite Elsa's incessant reiterations that she never said such a thing.

"Oh, I am so, so sorry!"

"Why did you attack our captain?"

"Nya nya!"

"It's Aokiji in disguise to get us! RUNNNNN!"

"WILL YOU JOIN MY CREW?"

A scene that was on the verge of chaos, Zoro with a sword drawn, Chopper running in circles crying in terror, and Elsa her hand in motion to dissipate the ice, was brought just as quickly back to a standstill by the simultaneous bewilderment of the group all gawking at Luffy, who is now standing, with the ice gone from his chest, grinning wildly. Also the star-like glint is back in his eyes, except this time even brighter than before. Elsa, having managed to undo her ice blast, can only manage to stare at the rather infectious smile of the teenager before her. A few more moments pass before she manages to speak a response, "Ex...cuse me?"

"Please join my crew." Luffy repeats his request again. The utter confidence in his statement is both baffling yet admirable to Elsa. However, before she can respond to that again, someone from his own crew speaks out. Namely, the freshly arrived Nami, who had come down the same path as the previous group, rushing with two men who are running with a large rickshaw carrying a large sack. Despite having just arrived, Nami heard the entire exchange...of only what Luffy said. Considering the circumstances, her reaction is absolutely pleasant.

"Are you kidding?" Nami appears next to Luffy in a flash, her eyes white and every tooth pointy, to knock him over the head and to the ground. "We're out of time here and you want to ask this stranger to join us right before a rescue mission?" She only gets a groan in response that somehow manages to sound like a 'yeah-huh'. "No offense, of course." She turns to Elsa while waving her hand, her tone raised at least two octaves to counter her brusque actions.

Elsa can only mutter a meek, "Of course." as she watches on in befuddlement at this orange haired teen who appeared out of nowhere to strike and belittle the pirate. Luffy rises, slower this time, and with a raised welt on his head, yet that warm smile of his remained, "So, will you?" Luffy asks again, eliciting a large groan from his crew mates, with Nami muttering about why she even bothers under breath. This gives Elsa a moment to regain her composure and draw herself to her full height.

"It is a kind offer for you to make, but I must de..." Elsa stops mid answer in part to Luffy completely changing his attention to Nami and the giant bag of stuff she brought.

"Nami! What took you so long? Aren't you the one who said that there wasn't any time left? What's all that stuff?"

Another thwack resounds in the air as Nami slaps Luffy across the face, her face contorted back into the devilish rage. "How can you ask that when I see you standing idle wanting some woman to join our crew?!" In a flash her face is back to normal, "Also I brought meat and sake."

Before Elsa can even blink, Luffy and Zoro are squatting at the now opened bag, voraciously consuming the contents inside. She stares without blinking at the ravenous duo, before eventually turning her attention to the tangerine haired teen. In her stupor all she can manage is an exasperated, "What?"

"Oh! I'm Nami. Pleasure to meet you." Nami thrusts her hand forward towards Elsa. After a moment's pause, Elsa shakes her stupor away, again, and clasps Nami's hand, who's eyes widen momentarily at how cold it feels.

"Elsa, also glad to make your acquaintance."

"Now why does my idiotic captain want you to join us at this last minute?"

"SHE HAS ICE POWERS LIKE AOKIJI!" Chopper, who had been quietly cowering next to a pole by putting his hoofs on it and sticking his body away from the pole, speaks for the first time since Nami arrived. Or perhaps squeaks considering the terror in his voice and its pitch.

"WHAT?" Gasps Nami, practically jumping back in alarm. "How?"

"Oh yeah, what's up with you and your ice anyway?" Zoro asks, taking a break from the nourishing goodness that is Water 7's sake.

"It's...complicated. However, it is also not important right now and you have somewhere to be, no?" Elsa asks the Strawhat crew. A group she initially pegged for cold murderers; but after these last few minutes the only classification she could think of is that they were a crazy bunch led by a male Anna with absolutely no sense of tact or restraint. Before anyone of the crew can respond, a voice from the entrance calls out.

"STRAWHAT!"

All turn to the source, to find a group of bloodied men covered in bandages and wearing black steel overalls with a pink star emblazoned on the front: the Franky Family.

Now what? How does an abandoned train get this many people? I found more isolation when I first built my castle on the North Mountain. Thinks Elsa, inwardly groaning at the rising number of people. And that includes when the place was assaulted by Hans and those soldiers! She also notices the Strawhats narrowing their eyes at the family, and remembers hearing about a fiasco between the two groups in the past couple days.

"Please! Take us with you!" Shouts Zambai, the man at the head of the group, "We heard from Galley-la that bro is being taken to Enies Lobby by the government." The Strawhats are still giving the family dirty looks, but Elsa notices their postures softening slightly. "We want to go after them but...we can't get past Aqua Laguna!"

"You'd be going against the World Government, you know." Says Kokoro from the train. Despite all the commotion, her and Iceburg had moved to the cabin and discussed the procedures to get it onto the track.

As though in chorus and rehearsed, the Franky Family shouts their reaffirming statements to get Franky back and pleading for Luffy to let them join. Despite this, Nami shouts her own rebuttal, "You've gotta be joking! After what you've done to us?!"

Instantly, Zambai is on his knees, tears streaking down his face. "We're begging you! We just want to save our bro..."

"GET ON! HURRY!" Shouts Luffy, to the surprise of everyone. Some Franky Family members, in the midst of their own tears, rub their eyes in disbelief. Nami turns to her captain to question him, but is rebuffed by his smile and a small reassurance to not worry. Even Elsa is surprised by his immediate acceptance, considering what she has heard of the feud between these two.

Zambia proclaims his thanks while still on his knees, with the addition of his head joining the ground. Then the group retreats, stating that they'll follow the train with their king bulls. Elsa wonders what kind of bulls they had that could follow a sea train, even if it was an apparent failed experiment.

With the Franky Family gone, the Strawhats start boarding the train. Luffy looks toward Elsa, but before he can say or ask anything, she shakes her head, "Trust me, I'd just be aburden on this. I wish you the best of luck though, it's not everyday you meet somebody willing to paint a target on their back for the whole world to aim at." She pauses, considering what to add as part of her goodbye, "Also, if you really want to know about my powers, I will tell you once you come back with your crew mate." Luffy nods, and walks into the cabin.

With a shrill shout from it's steam pipe, Puffing Tom starts to move out of the abandoned station. Elsa turns to see Iceburg walking towards her, a long breath escaping his lungs. "I know the feeling." Says Elsa as he gets next to her. "By the way, your description of Luffy being 'out there' deserves some sort of understatement award."

Iceburg chuckles, understanding how bewildered she must have been. "I do apologize for that, but it is hard to describe such a-"

Before he can finish, an abnormally loud sound of something stretching echoes throughout the air, and Elsa feels a soft pressure around her abdomen. Looking down, she sees an arm going around her, forming a loop. At the same time, her brain registers voices in the distance shouting "Luffy!" However, in an action too fast for her to react, the soft pressure turns into a violent yanking force, and she is flying through the air and crashing into the the cabin of Rocket Man. Again, while many claim to hearing a high pitch yelp, Elsa would deny any such cries of surprise.

Groaning, Elsa clutches her head to regain her bearings. The loud sounds of admonishment and violence did not help things. The one thing she could tell though was that she was moving. Fast. However, the moment she tries to stand a feeling of weightlessness takes over. Glancing out a window, she sees dark blue with flashes of rain. Plus the city of Water 7 rushing past upwards at an alarming rate.

Once more, before Elsa can react, she is slammed to the floor as Rocket Man falls on top of the water. Moments later, a tug is felt at the back of the train. The Franky Family and their two king bulls have attached themselves and their floating house to the back of the train. Their rather laid back attitude that relied on Rocket Man to pull them earns an angry shout from Zoro.

All Elsa does know is that she is definitely on the train, and that she needs to get off as quick as she can. Never mind admonishing whoever dragged her here, Elsa knows the moment Rocket Man latches onto the tracks, assuming it will be similar to when Puffing Tom does, any hope of escaping this madness is lost. Unfortunately for her, she is too slow for that.

"ATTENTION! We will be latching onto the rail soon, and that means our speed will increase considerably! Please brace yourselves so you'll only receive minor injuries!" Announces Kokoro from the train's loudspeaker.

Minor injuries? Is the train really that ba-

As though a strong force was pulling at her gut, Elsa feels the entire train lurch forward at a tremendous speed. Not even sledding down the steep parts of the fjords with Anna was this fast. In moments, Water 7 is gone, the only sight out the window being large waves, rain, and violent winds. Meanwhile, inside the cabin, the amount of people taking up space has easily doubled, if not tripled. Elsa, having now regained her bearings, turns to find the Zoro yelling at the three prominent Galley-La men sitting next to him. Something about suspicious stow aways. There is also further shouting about why the various people gathered are here to help the Strawhats. The common reasons are 'avenging Iceburg-san!' and 'getting bro back!'. Strangely though, nobody seems to notice her presence at the moment, despite a couple Strawhats having beat on Luffy for that exact reason mere moments earlier.

That discussion, however, is not the center of her focus. Her attention turns to that stupid grinning teen who seems to enjoy all this company, and is the only who could have possibly dragged her into this mess with his stretchy arm. One Monkey D. Luffy, who was currently having his mouth contorted to silly proportions by Chopper.

"Does the word 'no' not exist in your vocabulary, Mr. Monkey?" Elsa practically hisses. All discussions cease the moment she speaks, every eye turned towards her. Chopper lets go of Luffy's face, and attempts to cower behind his captain. Various spines shiver at the sudden drop in temperature, as though Elsa's anger was enough to chill the air. Granted, it is, but they don't know that. Luffy is not the one to offer a response to Elsa though, an even angrier Nami does that.

"Oh yeah...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING BRING THIS PRETTY LADY ABOARD WITHOUT HER PERMISSION?" And with another thwack, Luffy is smacked to the floor with a loud grunt of audible pain, even though he is made of rubber. Meanwhile, Nami's anger is quickly dissipated by the realization of what she just said, along with a remark to herself how she's not Sanji. Thankfully, for her, Elsa does not seem to have noticed.

Luffy quickly jumps up and looks Elsa straight in the eye, "It's simple," he says, "You have ice powers right?"

Elsa gives Luffy a long, cold stare, before answering his question, "Yes."

"And Ice-Ossan thinks you're very strong, right?"

Elsa further narrows her eyes, "I disagree with that assessment...but, yes."

"Then anything you do to help us can be blamed on Aokiji!" Proclaims the amazingly short sighted yet simultaneously far sighted captain. There is a brief, but incredibly heavy lull in the air as everyone absorbs his statement. Everyone but Elsa, she still doesn't who this Aokiji is. To give credit to Luffy though, this does cause his crew mates to rethink his actions. However, randomly stating important sounding names isn't enough for the local ice user.

"Look, even if you drag me here like this, I can still choose not to help. I'm perfectly fine with being dead weight. As I told Mr. Iceburg, I do not want the World Government after me." States Elsa, arms crossed over her chest. Her and Luffy meet eyes, neither blinking or refusing to look away. Nami pierces their concentration with an extraordinary offer.

"100 million berries." Both Elsa and Luffy whip their heads to Nami, one looking perplexed and the other absolutely shocked.

"Pardon?" Asks Elsa.

"100 million berries to help us bring Robin back."

"EEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Cry out the other Strawhats, all jumping in the air. To this day, Chopper will still deny that he nearly fainted in shock from Nami's offer. That being said, the absolute surprise of Nami's offer caused the hearts of him, Luffy, and Zoro to skip a beat. Or two. If Usopp were here to witness this he would likely have a heart attack from this bombshell.

Elsa gives Nami a curious look, considering that this is very generous, "You are willing to give me that much to convince me to help your friend?" She asks, looking down on the teenager. It wasn't that Elsa doesn't like the offer, 100 million berries would set her for life, this strange new one. She just had a hard time believing that pirates were willing to give up that much money to recruit her.

"I am willing to give you everything we have for her." Responds Nami, a fierce look in her eyes. Nearby Luffy is already nodding vigorously in agreement. The moment Elsa connects with Nami's eyes, a vision of Anna flashes before her. It is not the cheery optimism that Luffy somehow emanates; this time, Elsa sees the steel determination that rallied the people around Anna to support any cause she wanted. It was also a look of desperation. These people were determined to do anything for their friend, and if it meant sacrificing everything for that one person, then it was worth it. If this were Anna, Elsa would accept in a heartbeat; and if Anna were to find out about Elsa rejecting such an offer, she'd never hear the end of it. A small chuckle escapes her lips at the realization that even when far removed from home, old aspects keep springing up at her. With a small, oh so very small smile on her face, Elsa turns back to Luffy.

"Alright, what's the plan?"