AN: Well, well, well…look who finally updated?

I don't want to keep you waiting any longer…now, onto the chapter!

Every part of her was screaming. An electric heat haunted every muscle and bone. This overwhelming pain was already driving her to the brink of madness and it was only her first week aboard this hellhole. Killer's training session were leaving Nami half dead by the end of the first hour. The man showed no intent on going easy on her, despite her lack of experience wielding a sword (much less defending herself with one). Their last meeting left a half conscious Nami coughing out blood onto the training room floor. Before completely submitting to her blackout, she remembered Killer saying, "At least you're alive. Surviving your first week of training is essential. You manage this, we'll continue further."

No shit, asshole!

She wasn't going to die on this godforsaken ship. After all the shit she had been through, there was too much pride within her to allow such a thing to happen. It took all the fury buried within to get a good grip on her bedpost. She took one final breath before pulling herself up from beneath the covers. Her nearly naked body was covered with black and blue, fresh bruises were replacing the faded purple patches on her skin. Her arms, her legs, her ribcage; the only thing that wasn't really swelling was her face. She had a small mark on her left check, but other than that, her face looked untouched. Nami knew the next part wasn't to be fun or pretty at all. Looking over the bed's edge, she bites her bottom lip. She kicks to blankets off the bed to cushion her fall. Every muscle in her body refused to cooperate, so she knew she would have to roll off her bed if she wanted to go anywhere. Nami held in her cries as she landed with a thud.

Ok, hard parts over. Come on Nami, only a few more feet to go.

What Nami really wanted right now was a shower and she was willing to do anything to get one. Little by little, she crawled her way into the bathroom, collapsing victoriously in front of the shower. By some lucky miracle she was able to turn on the showerhead, allowing the cool water rain upon hot flesh. Nami stayed sitting on the floor, not bothering to remove her bra and panties. The cold shower felt good in the darkness. It was numbing the pain, allowing her to regain any sort of strength hidden within. She stayed until her body could no longer endure the cool temperature of water. Pulling herself up, she reached for a fresh towel hanging on the bar beside the shower. Flipping the light switch on, she got a better look at herself. Despite all her bruising, there didn't appear to be any deep scratches or scars. Thankfully none of her bones seemed to be broken as well. Her hand ran over her left shoulder, caressing it gently.

Eddie was able to remove Arlong's mark and was kind enough to tattoo something new for her. It was an orange entwined within a pinwheel, in honor of Bellemere and her village. It was a reminder that no matter what would happened, she had to keep going to fulfill her dreams. But this was not the only part of her skin decorated with fresh ink. She flipped her arms open, exposing both her wrists. Two identical tattoos were inked on each wrist, a round skull surrounded with spikes, bearing a Glasgow grin. This was the Kid Pirate's Jolly Roger. Eddie stressed that everyone on the crew eventually got one. When Nami offered him her wrists, he asked her which arm to mark. With no hesitation, she insisted that he do both. If she was doing this please her Captain and crew, she'd be damned if they missed seeing the right wrist all the time.

She pealed off her wet underwear and hopped into the tub to give herself a proper bath. This was the only part of the day she was allowed to relax and Nami planned to take advantage it. By the time she climbed out of the tub, she had regained most of her strength. As she dried herself off she heard a knocking at the door. Wrapping the towel around her body she called out,

"Who is it?"

"Spike."

She opened the heavy metal door to let him in. He wore that same somber look on his face, holding a bundle in his left arm. Even though his face showed no emotion, Nami could tell he was looking at all the bruises on her skin.

"Do you have something for me or do just plan to stare at me all day?"

Spike handed her the bundle, it was a new set of clothes. A pair of black leather pants and cropped leather vest with studs on the collar. As well a pair of leather boots and a gold-studded leather belt to match. It was pretty much identical to outfit he made her last time.

"Leather again?"

"It's the only material I have to work with."

Nami gave a silent sigh. I guess this is my new signature look.

"Killer wants to see you in an hour. Meet him in the training cell."

Nami cringed at the order. She didn't know how many more training sessions she could endure with that bloodthirsty lunatic. Spike went back into hallway and brought her a tray of breakfast food. He was always making sure she ate all her meals. As he watched her eat she could still see him still looking her injuries. As he took her empty tray he gave her one more solemn look before he left.

"You should let Eddie get a look at that. He may have something to help."

Nami gave him a small smile and nod as she closed the door behind him. As weird as it sounded, this was probably the closest thing to a sympathetic remark she would hear aboard this ship.

The good news was that she didn't have to train today. The bad news was she had to join Rocker in the navigational room. Being the only member of this crew from East Blue, it was her responsibility to choose the next promising destination. The problem was that Nami didn't have the slightest clue where they should land to find this unforgivable First Piece. But if this was the only reason keeping her from training with Killer, she wasn't about to admit to it.

"Why are you still here, Killer?" complained Rocker, throwing an arm around Nami's shoulder. "Can't you tell that the babe and I can take it from here?"

"I'm here to make sure we head in the right direction."

"The fuck is that suppose to mean? I'm the ship's navigator, idiot, of course we are heading in the right direction."

Killer crossed his bladed arms together, tapping his left foot with much annoyance.

"Then why have we've been landing on the most useless islands in the godforsaken sea?"

Nami shot Killer eye daggers. The fucking nerve of that asshole to talk about my home like that! I'm standing right here, jerk!

She could feel Rocker soothingly rub her left shoulder, but she couldn't tell if it out of comfort or perversion.

"Well things are about to change now that I have this hot little number by my side."

Nami and Killer both rolled their eyes in unison.

"This isn't a fucking date, moron," argued Killer, pointing a blade at Rocker. "This shit is serious and I won't have you fucking it up."

As Rocker's face was turning beet red, Nami saw this was an opportune moment to worm away from his grip. Rocker brought out his two-shinny revolvers and pointed them at the swordsman.

"How fucking dare you!"

"It's the truth. We can't—"

The cocking of Rocker's revolvers interrupted Killer.

"Only someone as lame as you would think this was a fucking date!"

"You're completely missing the point, dipshit!"

And just like the, the fight was on. Nami ducked into the hallway for cover. She did not want to get caught in the crossfire between these two morons. As Nami walked down the hall she heard a few men coming her way. Being on bad terms with their Captain, Nami wasn't prepared to deal with the harassment she would probably get from the rest of the crew. To avoid the awkward confrontation, she dodged into the nearest room and softly closed the door behind her. The men were laughing as they passed by, joking about some stupid pirate shit she assumed. Even though she joined this pirate crew, her hatred for pirates stayed the same. Nakama or not, she would make sure they would all pay in the end.

Searching for somewhere to sit, Nami knew she would probably have to hide out here for a while, until the coast was completely cleared. The room didn't have a lot of windows, but the fireplace appeared to be burning bright. Against the wall were two brown leather couches and a bearskin rug in the middle of the room. As she walked in a few steps, she noticed a large wooden desk on the far left corner of the room.

This must be an office of some sort.

The iron buckets scattered around the room were filled with a variety of distinctive alcohol bottles. All of them empty, of course. As Nami walked closer to the desk she noticed the back of a throne-like chair and it looked like someone was sitting in it. As soon as Nami made her way to the front of the desk she stopped in her tracks. She was holding her breath for dear life. There was an unmistakable crimson colored fur poking out from the back the chair.

Shit! Fuck! Shit fucking shit shit!

Nami grabbed her chest, she was sure she was having a heart attack right then and there. In the heat of the moment, the orange haired girl made a desperate attempt to flee the room, only to trip over her own feet and fall onto the bearskin rug. Face first. Never had Nami wanted to cry so much, but she knew better. She remembered what happened last time she acted on that instinct in front of her Captain. If Kid didn't know of her presence before, he did now. She waited in intense anticipation for the chair to turn around and face her sprawling scene. After a few moments, she noticed nothing had happened. Nami got up from the ground and dusted herself off.

Is he ignoring me? Or is he asleep?

Every bit of her was screaming, "run, you crazy bitch, run" but Nami could not fight her curiosity. Nevermind if curiosity killed the cat, she be damned if she had some asshole Captain ignoring her brilliant ass! Nami marched right up to the chair and prepared to give that man a piece of her mind.

"Hey! Who the hell do—"

Nami stopped midway when she noticed that a certain Captain was not sitting in the chair. In fact, no one was sitting there expect the Captain's signature coat. Nami did what any respectable person would do under the same circumstances. She gave herself a facepalm.

"Idiot," she whispered, calming her nerves a bit. "It's just a coat."

But where there's smoke, there's fire. If he wasn't there now, he was bound to come back for his coat eventually. And Nami did not want to be part of that reunion in any shape or form. She was about to leave when she noticed something gleaming from the side of her eye. On the wall behind the chair was a decent size vault. The orange haired thief licked her dried lips. This temptation was too great. Even if she was part of this crew, she was still a pirate thief, goddamnit! Her fingers feathered over the lock, turning it delicately, decoding the combination with the upmost of ease. When the vault unlocked, Nami was sure she heard a choir of angels sing around her. But as soon as she open the metal door, the shine in her eyes vanished. It was now replaced with another classic facepalm. There was no jewels, no gold, nor silver! Not even a single beli was locked within treacherous vault. The only thing in there was a bottle of rum. However, unlike the other bottles in the room, this one still had its delicious content and was yet to be opened.

Nami pulled to bottle out and tore the cork up with her teeth. After all the pain her body went through during training and all the nonstop embarrassment she had to dealt with these last few minutes, she needed a drink. She spat out the cork and began drinking down the sweet alcohol. She was halfway though the bottle when she finally gave herself a rest. Sitting in the chair, she decided she need to let the alcohol settle a bit before she returned to the navigation room. Rolling the seat around, she was now facing the desk and the fireplace. There were stacks of newspapers all over the desk. She took another swig before grabbing a page from the top. Reading the headline, Nami realized this was the infamous article about the Pirate King's top-secret journal and the "First Piece" he hid away from the world. No matter how many times she read though the article, none in the journal entries made any sense. It was either that, or the rum was really working on her. Throwing the paper back on the desk, she was close at meeting the bottom of the bottle. She looked up and noticed something she didn't quite catch before. There were pieces of paper nailed on the wall above the fireplace. Walking away from the desk, she got a better look at them.

She could see gun holes and daggers embed through the thick paper. Before her was an assortment of pirate bounties from around the world, all with a bounty well above 100 million. Nami swallowed the last of the rum hard. To her horror, a couple of those faces looked pretty familiar. She could feel herself growing faint, but she had to remind herself this was neither the time nor the place to be found unconscious. She noticed right away the last victim she stole treasure from.

"Basil Hawkins," she muttered to herself. "249 million."

She shook her head in disbelief. This had to be some sick mistake. This pirate didn't even have the skill to harm a single hair on her head, how was he capable of a 249 million bounty? She did get a creepy vibe from the guy, but that was about it. Reviewing the rest of the pictures, there were two that stood out the most. These two pictures were attacked so severely that Nami could not even make out the faces on the posters. Daggers, gun shots, swords, metal rods, and pieces of broken glass covered the picture in its entirely. The only thing she could really make out was the name of these pirates.

"Trafalgar Law," she carefully read out. "And Monkey D. Luffy."

She heard the door open and close behind her. There was no saving her heart now.

Shit, shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck!

As much as Nami wanted to freak out, she knew she would have to keep her cool in order to survive this. Because if there was one this she learned from her Captain, this was one man who didn't like to be in the presence of weakness. Nami planted herself in a confident stance, holding one hand on her hip. The other hand was gripping the handle of the empty bottom. She hid it just in case she had to use it. It wasn't made out of metal, so she knew Kid couldn't control it. If anything, it could be used as a temporary distraction and means for her escape. As the figure stepped closer and closer, she held her breath in longer and stronger.

"What are you doing here?"

Although she couldn't make out the face, she could recognize the shadow. It was Eddie. Nami let out a beautiful breath of relief. She dropped the empty bottle and shook her head thankfully. She noticed he had a large case filled with rum bottles with him.

Guess he's here to restock the place. What timing.

She could see him looking at her with a wild intensity, way more than she had ever seen before. Had she step over her boundaries entering this room? Even when he dropped the case onto the desk, she could feel his eyes burning into her skin. She waved her arms back and forth, trying to figure out a clever explanation for trespassing into their Captain's private office.

"I have something for those bruises."

Nami wiped the sweat off her forehead. He was just looking at my bruises. Thank god!

Eddie waved for her to follow suit as he exited the office. Nami gave the bounty posters one more final glance before she accompanied him down the hall.

Trafalgar Law. Monkey D. Luffy. Trafalgar Law. Monkey D. Luffy.

Nami made sure to burn those two names forever in her memory. For if her Captain held such a feverous hatred for these two particular pirates, these were two men she made sure to steer clear of for good.

To many citizens, the once peaceful East Blue was now considered the new hell on earth. Barbaric pirates were tearing many villages to shreds by the hour, demanding that the locals hand over all their valuables and anything that may resemble First Piece. The people of East Blue did not know how to react to such brutality. They had no means to defend themselves, never having a real reason to do so in the past. By no time, many of the islands were taken over by pirate crews and the battles they brought with them.

Because of the Gecko islands' ravishing popularity, it easily became a war playground for many rival crews. The villagers were shock to find that one of these notorious pirates, Captain Kuro, was already living in their very own Syrup Village. He posed as Kaya's attentive servant until word of First Piece broke out. It didn't take long for his claws to come out. Kaya handed him all her wealth in exchange for her and her village's safety. He promised not to harm anyone, but it didn't take long for another pirate crew to come in and have their way with them.

The villagers had no other choice but to go into hiding. Usopp, known for being the wildering outcast of his village, knew a safe cave for Kaya, Merry, and the boys to stay. Although they were far from the village, Usopp could still hear battling gunshots and the outcry of the dying. The sounds were haunting him in his sleep and were growing closer each day. It wouldn't take long for them to be in harms way once again. They could only remain unnoticed on an island full of treasure-hungry pirates for so long. Their supplies were quickly dwindling as well. They had little water left and no food. They were living off the insects and small animals they found lurking the cave. The only time Usopp left the cave was when he was in search of firewood.

As Usopp made the new fire for the day he noticed that things were only getting worst with Kaya's illness. It worried him to see her in such a terrible state. Looking at her only reminded him of all the pain his mother had to endure before she died. Merry placed a fresh towel on her head to ease her fever, but it was doing little to help. Usopp couldn't stand looking at his childhood friend in such disarray. Something had to be done.

"This doesn't look good," whispered Usopp. "Maybe I should go and look for medicine."

Merry shook his head sadly.

"It won't do her any good."

"What do you mean? Isn't that the purpose of medicine? To make someone feel better?"

"This isn't something medicine can cure," answered Merry, helping Usopp with the fire. "She's losing hope, her will to go on any longer."

Usopp choked in protest, he didn't want to accept the fact that Kaya could be dying.

"And she's not the only one," said Merry, gesturing towards the boys sleeping in the corner.

Everything happening on the island was a devastating blow to the three young boys. Not only had they lost their home, but they also lost the romantic notion of becoming a pirate. The people they long to be were now the ones they feared the most. Their dreams were shattered like glass and there was no use in picking it up.

Usopp started poking the logs with a stick, encouraging the fire to grow brighter and stronger. He couldn't sit and watch his friends suffer, something had to be done.

"Usopp, is it morning already?" asked Tamanegi, putting on his glasses. They other boys were waking up as well, walking up to warm fire.

Usopp nodded, patting the young boy's back.

"New day, fresh start," he encouragingly said, handing them the canteen of water.

"What are we going to do, Usopp?"

The boys were nervously awaiting Usopp's respond, taking small sips from the half-filled canteen. Usopp looked at their frighten faces and knew he need to choose his next words carefully.

"Nothing," he said casually, poking the fire some more.

The boys looked at him in utter shock. He could feel Merry eyeing him and boy, he wasn't happy.

"Relax, help is on its way," assured Usopp, taking the canteen from their shaking hands.

"But who, Usopp?" asked the boys.

"You mean I haven't told you?" said Usopp, slapping his own forehead. "Oh it must have slipped my mind!"

Everyone was looking at him with doubt. This was a boy known to be the liar of the Syrup Village.

"Who is it?" whispered a small voice.

Merry looked at Kaya in shock. He wasn't even aware that she was even still in a conscience state. Usopp gave her a confident smile, standing up in front of the fire.

"An old friend," answered Usopp. "He lives far away but he'll be here soon."

"Is he strong?" asked Ninjin.

"The strongest! These pirates don't stand a chance!"

"What's his name?" asked Piiman, balling up his fists in excitement.

"His name?" replied Usopp, pointing high up to the sky. "His name is Sogeking!"

Oh my god…how I've been waiting to write this chapter! Yes! Usopp is now in the game! By the way, there's some crazy foreshadowing in this chapter…just in case you didn't notice ;3 I know it's been a suuuuuper long wait, but hope I made someone's day with this chapter :3 I appreciate all your wonderful reviews and encouraging messages :,,,,D Thank you all! I'm so sorry about leaving you guys in the dark about my updates. This summer was just crazy busy and I hardly had any time to sit down a write :[ I promise my updates will be coming more frequently than they had been (or should I say, not had been?) this summer. Thank you for your patience everyone! You're all the best! If any of you are following my other fics, I'm still working on the finishing touches for "Blind Date" and "North and South", I hope to be uploading those chapter relatively soon. So don't go after me with pitchforks quite yet. Heh, heh. I kid of course!

Oh by the way, I just noticed the last time I updated this story I was debating whether or not to write a Kid and Law "background fic". Well just in case you didn't see it (or look at my profile), I did indeed start writing this story. It's called "North and South" and it will be covering their childhood up until the beginnings of "Piece in the East". It's a nice little prequel to this fic, so I would encourage reading it if you want to learn more about Law and Kid's character in "Piece in the East".

Someone: Thank you (hugs)!

Majin Hentai X: Thank you! I have battles in the near future that I hope you like. It's going to be craaazzy!

Avatoa: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter :3 you were one of the people that really encouraged me to get my ass in gear and write about the glorious Usopp! That brother deserves to be in this story already! Gez! And now, as for Luffy…That man always had the right timing, I'm sure he'll pop up when the time is right ;3

Fmdevil: Thank you! I can't wait to write the interaction between these two. It's going to be so entertaining :x

Mandarina: My dear! How I missed you! Yes, that Captain Kid is too stubborn. Maybe Nami will have to make the first move after all ;3 we'll have to see. I hope this chapter kept you on edge the whole time, heh heh! I'll try to update their blind date real soon! I know you've been waiting gracefully for that chapter! I need to write more action between these two!

Son of Whitebeard: Thank you :D You always think of some really cool concepts! If I didn't already have particular concept for Usopp, I would've loved to go on the Baroque Works route! Sounds super badass! Usopp would be a killer assassin ;3

TheDML: Oh thank you, thank you kindly :3 I really hope you enjoyed the flow of this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write! I always like a nice kicker at the end ;3 I hope you got a chance to read "North and South", I think you would really enjoy it.

M. D Nami: Yay! Me too! I love writing about interactions between crew members ;3 It's so much fun! Thank you!

Poseida Lunar: Oh my goodness, you're going to make me blush! I really appreciate your review, it made my day :3 I really try to make my stories funny, so I love it when readers get my humor! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! But please don't hold me responsible for the mess you made on the floor XD

Animemanganet: Thank you! Yes! I love it when I hook someone in :D tells me that I must be doing something right! You should check out my other story "North and South", I will be going over Kid and Law's pass in that story instead (I think it would've taken too much space in this fic…I don't want to go off path). We share the love for the same characters :3 yay!

Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone! Till next time, cheers!