Can I just say that it has been so long since I uploaded a chapter that I actually forgot how to do it. It was funny and sad at the same time.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back with another chapter. I can make many excuses but it all boils down to the fact that I have been in and out of the hospital for health issues these past 5 years. I'm still working through things but I'm going to try and get back to writing. I can't promise regular updates at this time but know that I read all your reviews and I will continue to write, even if it's just 100 words a day.

Also, I totally haven't beta'd this chapter so let me know if you spot any mistakes and I'll fix them. There's also a little add on for a future chapter that I thought you might appreciate. I had to translate it from my chicken scratch onto the computer and it's probably going to change a lot when the actual chapter hits but I thought it was cute enough to share.

Thank you for all your reviews and for sticking with me this long. Enjoy the chapter!

One Piece (c) Eiichiro Oda

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The silence was almost deafening as both the pirates and chefs watched the famed Don Krieg drop heavily to the deck of the destroyed galleon, his unconscious face frozen in a mask of surprise. A small grunt of pain had them looking away from the pirate commander to stare at the small raven-haired girl in shock. She stumbled forward slightly before standing up straight, her angry gaze focused completely on Krieg.

As one, the pirates seemed to break out of their shocked silence and let out gasps and disbelieving cries.

"Don Krieg got hit!"

"What is that girl?"

The chefs were also muttering amongst themselves, eyes flickering between the girl they recognized as their temporary waitress and the man known as the ruler of the East Blue.

"She punched right through the frickin' spikes!" They made sympathetic sounds of pain and winced as they rubbed their own hands, imagining just what the girl was probably going through at that moment.

"This can't be-..." One pirate muttered.

"I've never seen this before. Don Krieg getting beaten like this."

"I mean, she actually hit Don, through his 'Kenzan cape'?"

"Can you believe it?"

Luffy stood silently, feeling the blood dripping down her hand and hearing it plop against the wooden deck as she took a dew deep breaths. With a small sigh, she lifted her bloody hand and tightly grasped the spike sticking out of her left shoulder. The she-pirate bit back a wince as her shoulder and hand throbbed but she just gritted her teeth and glared at the downed man in front of her.

"So this is my grave?" She snapped, yanking out the spike, a grunt of pain passing her lips as she angrily threw the sharp metal object against the deck.

"Your grave?" Her hand moved to the one in her stomach and the raven-haired girl let out a gasp as she yanked out the second spike. It slipped from her grasp as she pulled, the momentum causing the spike to smack harshly against one of the broken masts before dropping to the ground, a trail of blood left in its wake.

"My grave?!" This time she reached down with her left hand to pull on the last spike that was embedded in the side of her left leg, just above her knee. She threw it away from her angrily before stumbling forward slightly. She braced her hands against her legs and took a few deep breaths as everyone watched the small she-pirate silently.

"Like hell. Don't decide my grave..." A confident smirk spread across Luffy's face and she pushed herself up until she was standing tall again, her hands clenched at her side. "I'm not meant to die here." Don Krieg didn't move from his prone position, still unconscious and Luffy let her smirk widen. She knew that the fight wasn't completely over yet so she continued to stare down at the purple-haired pirate, calmly waiting.

"She's far too reckless..." Sanji sighed from his seat on the Baratie dock, his eyes sweeping the she-pirate's form with a worried look.

Zeff slid his eyes over to glance at his protege before turning his gaze back to the raven-haired girl. "Sometimes you see idiots like her. People that will fight to the death once they've chosen their target."

Sanji glanced up at Zeff in shock, his eyes wide. "...that fight till the death?" He turned back to Luffy, even more worried now as the older chef continued talking.

"To have that sort of person as your enemy is bad. This fight will end. Whether she wins or loses, the lass has my complete respect." Zeff smirked as he watched their temporary waitress calmly waiting to continue the fight even as blood soaked through her white dress shirt and dripped down her arms and legs from her various injuries. It had been a long time since he had seem someone with her conviction and he knew now that there was hope for this generation of pirates. This girl would go far, especially with crewmates like that green-haired swordsman watching her back. His eyes moved once again to look back down at the blond teenager at his feet. The lass may even be able to convince his stubborn eggplant to follow after what he really wanted.

Everyone's eyes were on Don Krieg and the smirking Luffy, waiting for what felt like hours for the battle commander to regain consciousness. Zeff could faintly hear Patty and Carne urging Krieg's former battle commander to breathe and he fought the urge to sigh as he heard the two chefs dissolve into a small argument before panicking when Gin seemed to stop breathing for a few seconds. The head chef shook his head and turned his attention back to the deck of the destroyed galleon in time to watch Luffy cross her arms over her chest and sigh.

"I didn't hit you that hard, asshole. Get up already."

"What- What's going to happen with this fight?" The pirates still in the water glanced back and forth between each other as they waited for their captain to regain consciousness.

"Idiot!" One shouted. "It was just luck! There's no way Don will lose to a little bitch like her!"

Luffy heard the pirate's shouts and turned to look back at them before sticking her tongue out childishly. In front of her, Don Krieg finally began to stir and when the she-pirate turned back to look at the purple-haired commander he was glaring darkly.

"You say you're not meant to die here?" Luffy remained silent, watching with a calm expression as Krieg began to push himself up to his hands and knees, even as the pirate continued to talk. "If this isn't your grave, then whose can it be?"

Faster than most of the spectators could blink, Don Krieg was back on his feet and in his left hand was one of his circular shields. In the next instant, he was in front of Luffy, slamming the girl back using the shield, a smug grin on his face as the front of the shield exploded.

"Yours, right?"

Suddenly, the she-pirate was above Krieg, her fists clenched tightly and a small glare on her face even as she stretched one leg down towards the pirate commander. "NO, IT'S YOURS!" The edge of her foot caught against Krieg's shoulder and she used the momentum of her own fall and the retraction of her foot to yank the other pirate back, slamming him harshly into the deck even as she landed lightly on her feet.

"The Don's down again!"

"What the hell is happening here?"

One of the pirate's gulped, his eyes wide as he watched the battle unfolding in front of him. "Normally the enemy dies without touching Don Krieg, The Don's supposed to be invincible! That girl... WHAT IS SHE?"

Luffy grinned as she stood facing away from Krieg, her hands in fists at her sides and the wind ruffling her hair.

Patty and Carne had dragged the now awake Gin to the railing of the ship so that they could watch the fight and the two chefs could hardly believe what they were seeing. "She's pretty good."

"Yeah... no kidding."

The other chefs watching the fight began to cheer and egg Luffy on, finally seeing someone who could defeat Don Krieg and protect their restaurant. The pirates saw this as well but instead of cheering the girl on, they watched the battlefield with a mix of worried and frustrated expressions.

"That girl, she's actually a match for Don."

"It's not possible. At this rate.. The legend of Don Krieg will-"

"Shut your worthless traps!" Krieg shouted, his words causing everyone to turn and look at the rising commander. The purple-haired pirate took both of the circular shields and slammed them together before hammering the new weapon straight down onto the deck. The attack cracked the already damaged galleon and forced Luffy to jump back to avoid the explosion that followed. As she jumped back, the she-pirate saw Krieg pull a handle from one end of the connected shields as a large triangular blade shot from the other side.

"It's... The great war spear!"

"He... He took it out! Our Don's most powerful weapon!"

Don smirked at Luffy as he watched the raven-haired girl shimmy along one of the broken masts she had landed near.

"I'll look forward to seeing how long you can keep away from this, little hammer bitch." Blood dripped from the pirate commander's nose and he wiped at it distractedly before continuing. "Unlike my earlier measly spears that you could afford to take 2 or 3 hits from, this spear's in a whole 'nother league."

Luffy ran the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead and squinted at Don Krieg. "What was that? Did it explode just now...?"

"Touch this and you'll be blown to smithereens!" Krieg arched back, overextending his arms as he prepared his next attack before he slammed it straight down onto the already broken deck. The resulting explosion threw the she-pirate back off of the now destroyed platform and out over the water.

:What's with that spear?!" One of the chefs yelled, eyes widening.

Luffy flipped through the air, her surroundings spinning but from the corner of her eye she managed to catch the sight of a floating piece of deck and railing and quickly shot her arm out. She latched onto the railing and let her arm retract before landing heavily. "What the heck's with that spear? It explodes every time it hits something...?" As she moved to stand her knees buckled and Luffy dropped to the deck again, her eyes wide.

"Huh? What that? My legs..."

"The fight's lasted too long." Sanji growled, gritting his teeth as he watched Luffy look around curiously, the girl still not quite sure why she collapsed. "She's lost too much blood. She won't make it like this. Dammit!" The blond chef slammed his fist angrily against the platform he sat on. "I shouldn't be letting her fight for me. I'm supposed to protect her!"

Krieg smirked darkly. "Nothing you do will work. It's about time for your so-called strength to reach its limits."

"Shit" Luffy cursed under her breath, pouting slightly as she continued to look around. "Since the floor is in so many pieces I can't fight the way I want. This is such a pain."

Some of the pirates watching the fight gulped and glanced between each other. "It looks like the Don will settle this fight quickly enough..."

"No matter how many times I see it, that great battle spear is amazing. I mean, the harder you hit with it, the greater the explosion."

Luffy was forced to throw herself backwards as Don Krieg jumped towards her, the pirate commander thrusting the tip of the spear forward towards her head. He immediately pulled it back and slashed it from left to right making the girl back even further. Krieg continued to swing the large spear, Luffy having to execute a large amount of acrobatics to avoid the different swipes of the battle spear. Faintly, she heard one of the pirates continue his commentary.

"What crazy strength! Two shields and one spear should weigh about a ton, but Krieg's using that heavy weapon so easily! This is the reason our Don is called the greatest!"

Another swipe by Krieg caused the she-pirate to stumble back, her feet teetering on the edge of the broken platform. The pirate commander just smirked, seeing an opening in Luffy's stumble and he lifted the spear high before sweeping it down in an arc. "DIE!"

Luffy frowned, jumping in the air to avoid the first swing, leaving herself open for his second attack and she quickly stretched her arm out as the second attack hit.

"Waitress!" The chefs yelled worriedly.

Sanji's eyes widened in shock as he caught sight of Luffy. The girl had yanked herself towards Krieg during the second attack, catching herself on the shaft of the spear and essentially negating the man's attack.

"Phew!" She breathed, grinning slightly. "That was close."

Krieg glared at Luffy, his expression one of pure rage. "You... Little... BITCH!" He screamed, lifting the spear up and slamming it down into the ground with Luffy still attached. The she-pirate let go as the spear arched down, the throw tossing her into the air upside down. This position left her open once again and Krieg took advantage of that, thrusting the spear forward in an attempt to skewer the she-pirate.

Luffy just smirked down at the purple-haired man before slamming her fists together and catching the tip of the spear between them.

Krieg grinned in triumph as Luffy's attack caused the front of the spear to explode and the chefs let out various cries of surprise and worry.

"Luffyko-chan!" Sanji yelled, throwing himself forward slightly, ignoring the pain that arched through his ribs. He watched, horrified, as the girl dropped lifelessly to the deck, her body smoking slightly from the explosion. Don just watched the scene in front of him with a sadistic grin. "I ain't done with you yet, little girl."

The raven-haired girl sat up slowly and brushed cinders from her arms before sighing. "Zoro's gonna be mad at me when I catch up. Maybe I can order Sanji not to tell him."

"What are you mumbling, little girl. Begging for mercy? Well, after angering me to this extent, there won't even be any of your remains after I'm through with you!" He began to laugh darkly, the sound echoing across the water and causing Sanji to clench his teeth together.

"That damn Krieg... He just brings weapons out one after the other. This way there's no chance to..."

"Even if he was equipped with a thousand weapons, he'd never defeat that girl when she has a 'spear' like that inside of her. Don't worry too much about the lass, Sanji. I feel she's got a plan. I can see no hesitation in her moves, in her conviction."

"One more," Luffy breathed, giving a shaky grin before forcing herself to her feet right as Krieg attacked again. The resulting explosion engulfed Luffy in smoke, obscuring her from everyone's view until she dropped to the ground, once again smoking and darkened with ash.

Krieg glanced back at her and chuckled. "Have you finally realized that the strongest man in the world, is none other than me!?

The pirates around the Baratie began to cheer, thinking that their Don had had defeated the smart mouthed waitress while the chefs looked on in horror. Luffy began to shake slightly, her leg sticking straight up in the air as her foot twitched spastically. The movement relaxed Sanji slightly and he watched worriedly as the raven-haired girl forced herself up onto one knee. Suddenly, she forced herself all the way up and slammed one foot into the deck, grinning brightly as the sharp metal tip of the spear cracked and fell to the deck.

"W-what..." Krieg stuttered. "My great battle spear! What did you do!?"

Luffy grinned and wiped some of the soot and cinders from her face. "I just punched it 5 times. Now get ready!" She settled back into her fighting stance and glanced around at the large wooden piece of deck that she had found herself on. "Cause your spear's useless and now that I'm on this wide open space, I'll send you flying!"

The chefs cheered even louder at Luffy's declaration, many of them talking between themselves. "Maybe we can pull this one off!"

Meanwhile, the pirates watched the ongoing battle with worried looks, having never seen anyone push Don Krieg this far before. And to break the Great war spear, it was unthinkable!

"It's just a bomb on a stick now," the she-pirate continued. "I've reduced its power by half."

"Is that what you think?" Krieg snapped, trying to appear unconcerned by this latest development. "Considering that even a mere bomb on a stick can easily blow you away, I'd say that I still have more than enough power to win." He shifted his stance and hefted the large broken spear up till it was in a more ready position. "Not only that little girl, but you're bleeding all over and even took two blasts from my great battle spear. It seems to me that you're bluffing."

"Nuh uh!" Luffy protested, placing her hands on her hips.

Sanji gritted his teeth as he watched the two combatants from his place on the main deck of the Baratie. "That asshole's right," He muttered darkly. "Luffyko-chan looks like she should be on the verge of collapsing." He slammed one fist into the deck, ignoring the twinge of pain the hit caused in his ribs. "I shouldn't just be sitting here! I should be helping her! With her injuries, if she takes even one more hit from that spear, she'll be-... Damn it! With all those weapons and armor, how is she supposed to beat him?!"

Zeff chuckled slightly, causing Sanji to glare up at the head chef before the older man began to speak. "You know Sanji... No matter how many hundreds of weapons of armor one is equipped with, it is no match for that one spear of determination that comes from your guts." When Sanji tilted his head and favored his mentor with a look of confusion he continued. "This is a pirate's battlefield. This is where life an death are decided. The one who fears death and hesitates for even an instant shall fall to their doom. But within that girl, if nothing else, lies no hesitation."

"Perhaps it comes from her preparedness and drive to survive no matter what. Or maybe its her conviction that fears no death..."

Luffy bent her knees slightly, a cocky grin coming to her face as she watched Krieg's temper begin to flare once again. She watched carefully as he lifted the heavy bomb-on-a-stick, as she was now calling it, before the man charged toward her with the weapon ready to swing forward and slam into her.

"Say your prayers!" Krieg shouted. "From the moment you went against me, your defeat was set in stone!"

"As if!" Luffy scoffed, sticking out her tongue just as Krieg reached her. The purple-haired man swung the broken battle spear but Luffy had already jumped up to avoid the attack, her knees coming to her chest before she touched down on the ground lightly. In another second she was back in the air, her hands stretching up to latch onto one of the wooden planks that formally held the destroyed galleon's sail. "Hit me if you can, jerk!"

"Blasted bitch," Krieg snarled, readying another swing before slamming the bomb end of the spear into the mast, causing it to fall. As it began to topple, Luffy broke off the plank she had been holding on to and readied the sharp, pointed end towards Don Krieg. The man stood in the path of the falling mast but with an almost disinterested sweep of the spear, he knocked the mast away with another explosion.

Luffy grinned at her opening and threw the sharp piece of plank with a yell, but Krieg didn't even flinch.

"Useless..." He muttered, raising his right arm. Suddenly, flames burst from a device on his arm, engulfing the thrown plank and turning it quickly to cinders.

"A flame thrower!?" Sanji snapped, glaring at the battlefield. "How many weapons does this guy have on him?!"

Luffy however, seemed unfazed by Krieg's new weapon and instead she brought her hands up into her fighting stance, still mid air, before beginning to punch.

"Gum-Gum... Gattling Gun!" The attacks built up frequency as she shouted, her fists stretching down and slamming into the golden body armor that Krieg wore. The attacks knocked Krieg back somewhat but as Luffy landed lightly on the deck, the other pirate captain stood tall and began to laugh.

"Futile! All attacks are futile before my Wootz Steel armor!"

"And..." Luffy didn't reply to the taunt. Instead she threw her left arm back and let it stretch out behind her as she charged forward.

"BULLET!" The she-pirate's arm retracted quickly and slammed into the center of the Don's armor, causing the man to bend over slightly, as if the air had been knocked from his lungs. The pirate's surrounding the battlefield cried out with worry while the chefs flinched as they watched blood splatter from the wound on Luffy's arm due to the force of her attack.

"YOU... INSOLENT BRAT!" Krieg roared, standing up straight and kicking Luffy back with a backhand to the face. His hit sent her into a broken piece of wood that was propped up like a wall and she slammed into it hard before dropping to her hands and knees on the deck.

"ITS ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY, UTTERLY FUTILE!" As if the greatest armor would break from hundreds of punches from a mere little monkey!" Krieg was torn between being furious that this fight was still going on and laughing at the teenaged girl kneeling in front of him.

Luffy just grinned, looking a little breathless even as her arms shook slightly. "I'd say I'm just about there..." She breathed before pushing herself back to her feet. Even as she was rising she was looking around, having lost sight of Don Krieg.

"Can't you see that the greatest armor and weaponry, equates to the greatest might!?" Luffy followed the sound of the voice up and found the purple-haired pirate standing at the top of one of the broken masts that had been propped up at a steep angle. He was grinning down at the she-pirate, his expression one of dark glee. "And those who defy the strong are doomed to die, little girl."

Suddenly, he threw his hand out and 10 of the small exploding balls began to fall towards the deck where the she-pirate stood.

"He's gonna throw those bombs down to destroy that whole platform! Run waitress!" One of the chefs yelled, causing Luffy to tense slightly.

"Only the strong survive!" Krieg laughed, seeing no way out for the raven-haired girl.

"Meaning me, of course!" Luffy snapped, charging towards the mast and beginning to run up the side of it.

"You idiot!" Sanji shouted, his worry getting the better of him and causing him to cry out. "Don't run towards him! Get away! It's a trap!"

Even as Luffy ran, she began to stretch both her arms back, preparing for her final attack.

"How useless... Because that's exactly what... I thought you'd do!" Krieg laughed, bringing the broken great spear forward and slamming it down right in the she-pirate's face, causing a massive explosion. '

"There are some things you can't overcome with willpower alone..." Krieg shook his head, thinking the fight was now over but his eyes widened in surprise when Luffy darted out from the smoke, her face set in a determined, if not furious, expression. The she-pirate almost grinned at Krieg's disbelieving expression before she launched her arms forward.

"BAZOOKA!"

Her attack forced Krieg off the top of the mast and caused him to begin falling but the former explosion was finally catching up with Luffy and left the girl panting, arms outstretched on the top of the mast.

Krieg began to laugh once again as a piece of his armor cracked slightly. "Your attack was useless again! This is the extent of your strength, little girl. But I'll compliment you for managing to put a small crack in my armor! Now you can die happily!"

The bombs that Krieg had thrown earlier began to explode, destroying the mast that Luffy had been standing on and causing the whole area to be engulfed in smoke.

"LUFFYKO-CHAN!" Sanji screamed, remembering Zeff's words but unable to stop the pounding of his heart at the sight before him. He nearly choked on air when suddenly Luffy shot up and out of the smoke, her arms stretching high above her head.

"And one more time you over pompous asshole!" Luffy laughed, grinning brightly even as blood trailed down her face. "BAZOOKA!"

Her arms shot down and slammed into Krieg's chest, shattering the golden armor into a million pieces and causing the man to let out a cry of pain even as blood shot from his mouth.

Luffy continued to grin as Don Krieg dropped towards the water, either unconscious or dead and honestly, Luffy didn't care either way. The pirates watching the fight let out cries of dismay even as the chefs began to cheer around them.

Sanji just stared, wide-eyed, at the girl, no woman, who had just taken down the most feared man in the East Blue. He was in shock.

"IT'S TOO EARLY FOR CELEBRATIONS YET!" Krieg snarled viciously, pulling a net from under his broken armor even as he continued to fall.

"Ahh! He's still alive!"

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Krieg tossed the net up and around Luffy, trapping her in the metal mesh even as Krieg pulled her down with him. "THIS FIGHT IS MINE!"

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The Baratie fight will finally be done next chapter and Sanji and Lu will finally be leaving the restaurant that has taken up so many chapters. Oh my god am I glad to leave the Baratie behind.

As promised, a little pick me up is at the bottom. Just a small piece of an interaction between Luffy and Sanji on their way to Cocoyashi. Luffy's finally showing that she's not as dense as most people think and now that she's had the golden brick of revelation to the head, she's ready to talk about her feelings. Will probably change a bit once I finally get to this conversation but here's my first draft, or at least a part of it.

The fight vs. the Arlong Pirates will prevent a true interaction between Luffy and Zoro but I will try to squeeze as many cute moments between them as I can. I'm not quite sure whether to use the version of the Arlong fight from the manga and anime or take the slightly easier route of using the Nami episode version.

Let me know which you'd prefer! Thanks again for reading! I've missed this.

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"Sanji, you know about love right?" Luffy tilted her head to the side as she asked, watching her chef with a curious look. Before the other man could reply though, she continued. "Usopp said there's a different love than the love I have for my brothers and that it's only for one person. He said that when I love someone, my face gets red and hot and my heart beats really fast. Is that really love?"

"Ah, my sweet innocent angel is feeling the first stirrings of love. Have you fallen for me Luffyko-chan?" Sanji asked, dancing around the raven-haired girl giddily and causing Yosaku to roll his eyes slightly at the display. "I love your confusion dear Luffyko-chan. My sweet perfect ray of sunshine." He knelt down in front of Luffy with a rose in his hands that the bounty hunter watching wondered where he'd hidden it. Luffy, however, just watched Sanji with a confused expression and slightly tilted head.

"But Sanji. You don't love me."

"Of course I do, my darling angel." Sanji gasped, holding a hand to his heart. "Your beauty knows no bounds and-..."

"But you don't. Not ME at least. You love everyone Sanji. You're silly and nice to all the girls but that doesn't mean you love us. Not like I love Zoro."

Luffy smiled softly at the mention of her swordsman's name, her expression one of realization and real happiness. She missed Sanji's souring look and the annoyed grumble that the man let out when he heard the green-haired man's name. Finally, the cook just sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why do you love that brute anyway, Luffyko-chan? There are so many wonderful men out there that would easily be better for you than that thugged out ball of moss."

Luffy just smiled wider and crossed her legs before resting her hands on her ankles and leaning forward.

"I love Zoro cause he's Zoro. He's gruff and he acts mean but he's really nice to me. He gets me every time I fall in the water and he helps me dry my hair afterwards. He plays games with me and lets me steal his food even though he pretends not to know. He even lets me sleep on the couch in the cool hammock room with him even though he got mad that one time cause I was supposed to sleep in the "girl's" room and I didn't want to but still-..." Luffy cut off mid ramble and just smiled happily. "I just love Zoro."