As they got near the area of the beach where the party is being held, Zoro watched as the girls ran to meet with their friends. Well, Aria ran while dragging a bashful Riko along. He glanced at Zero and saw that he wanted to run too, but continued to walk alongside him while staying collected. Zoro chuckled and tightly squeezed Robin's hand.

"I'm surprised we made it on time. I was worried we might take longer since you were behind the wheel," Robin said with a giggle.

Zoro sighed. "Hasn't that joke gotten old already? Its not like I get lost anymore."

"So you admit you've gotten lost in the past?" Zero asked jokingly. He laughed and flinched away when his father tried to smack him.

"Like you haven't gotten lost yourself," Zoro retorted.

Zero placed a hand on his hip triumphantly. "I can't recall a time where I've ever gotten lost."

"Sadly, Zero, you have." Robin raised her hand to her cheek and shook her head. "I never thought that 'poor sense of direction' was hereditary. I'm sorry for you and your sister."

Zoro laughed and ruffled Zero's hair. "So you have gotten lost! Proves you are my son."

"That's not something to be proud of," Zero said while rolling his eyes.

-x-x-x-

Taichi opened the door, surprised to see Kara and Chihiro standing just on the other side, just about ready to knock. "Hm? I wasn't expecting to see you guys here. No guards today?" Taichi asked while looking around, checking for any hidden men in black suits.

"They're here, but at the same time, they're not here," Chihiro said with a wink.

Taichi smiled. "I see."

"Momo kept begging to see Anna again, so I decided to come with and see if you wanted to spar again. I know it's only been a day since our last match, but I thought I could kill some time," Kara said while averting her eyes.

Taichi tilted his head to the side. He has been getting weird signs from her lately. She would never meet his eyes while in conversation, but she was always the one starting them. Her face would suddenly turn red sometimes whenever she got too close while sparring. There were times where it seemed like she wanted him to go away, but during their sparring match, she never held back and always came at him with full strength. Now, how do you deal with a girl who can seriously fight, but has some serious mood swings?

Girls. Seriously.

"Actually, I was about to go to a friend's birthday party," Taichi said. "Everyone's already there. I just came back to get the snacks Mom left behind. Do you want to come? Anyone is invited. Anna's there too."

"I'll go! For Anna and cake!" Chihiro beamed.

Taichi noticed Kara's expression shift from calm to nervous. "Um, I don't want to intrude…."

Taichi smiled while closing the door behind him. "You won't be. In fact, you can meet my friend Aria. I heard she and her family just came back and we can spar a little if you want. You two are similar…in some aspect."

"If you say so…."

-x-x-x-

Syo examined the new sword Zero was showing off to them. It seriously looked like an ordinary sword. The design on the sheath looked old, but from the way Zero described it, it looks legit. "So, now you have a real katana. What are you going to do with the ordinary one? Replace it with a real one too?"

Zero shook his head. "I'll have to wait until I can find myself a real one. In order to do that, I have to leave the island. I've already checked all the stores on the island."

"There aren't any real ones here?" Haru asked.

"There are, but they're not as good as this." Zero sheathed his katana. "I hope to find something rare like Dad's Shuusui, or maybe something similar to his Wado Ichimonji. That moving island they mentioned in their journey seems like an unlikely place to find one though."

"Maybe a cursed sword like Dad's Sandai Kitetsu would be cool to own," Aria said. "Though, I'd hate to see you defeated by a cursed blade."

Zero smirked. "Speak for yourself. You can't even handle a real one."

"I am surprised that you came home without your katana. Its weird seeing you without it," Yasopp said.

Aria shrugged. "Just realized that it wasn't for me. Maybe I'll go for something smaller. I feel bad for making Taichi help me a lot before we left. I used up a lot of his time and here I am, back to square one."

"Speaking of Taichi, here he comes now." Haru nodded toward the direction of three people walking over to them.

Syo was quick to notice Aria's sudden change in expression. At the sound of his name, Aria quickly turned around with a smile on her face, but when she saw who was accompanying him, her smile immediately fell. Syo squinted his eyes. What was that all about?

"Who are the people next to Taichi?" Zero asked.

"The royal princesses," Haru grimaced. "You remember Chihiro. Well, that's her sister next to her, Kara."

"You don't seem too thrilled," Riko noted.

"Of course I'm not. Anna's been having tea parties with Chihiro and Taichi has done nothing but spar with Kara all the time. It's gotten annoying."

"Oh? Is someone jealous?" Yasopp teased.

Haru folded his arms. "Who is? I'm not!"

"So he found himself another sparring partner, huh?" Zero nudged Aria. "He's quick to replace you."

Aria folded her arms and looked away as her brother laughed at her reaction. "Are you talking about me or you?" Before her, Taichi and Zero did spar a lot. So, technically he's making a remark on himself too. Idiot.

"Hey guys!" Taichi approached them with a grin and bumped fists with Zero. "It's been a while. How was the trip?"

"It was fun. The training was a real drag though," Zero said lazily.

"As if. You were having the time of your life with your new katana. He was running around Koshiro-san's dojo with the biggest grin on his face the whole time," Aria said, earning a giggle from Riko.

"Its true," Riko added.

"You got a new katana? Sweet! I guess that's one less situation to worry about," Taichi said. Suddenly, he heard Kara clear her throat from behind him. "Oh, my bad." Taichi stepped aside to make room for Kara in their little circle. "Guys, this is Kara, Chihiro's older sister. A lot of things happened, and well, now we're friends."

Kara bowed politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Yasopp! Come over here!"

Yasopp turned to the sound of his father calling for him. "Coming! Sorry guys, I'll be right back," Yasopp said before dashing for his parents.

Chihiro tugged on Haru's shirt. "Haru, where's Anna-chan?"

"She's playing by the water with Kaito. I'll take you there." Haru waved while leading Chihiro to the ocean.

Taichi shook his head. He could tell Kara's presence was already getting on his nerves. Well, it wasn't like they were expecting the princesses to show up anyway. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Aria. He immediately noticed the sudden change in her appearance. "Aria, what happened to your katana?"

"Oh." Aria looked away, afraid he might yell at her for wasting his time. "I just thought, maybe the katana wasn't meant for me after all."

"Hmm, oh well. Whatever suits you best." Taichi shrugged.

"Kara-chan?" The kids turned around at the sound of the voice and saw Nami walking over to them. "I didn't expect you to be here. Are your parents and Chihiro-chan here?"

"I brought Momo here. She wanted to play with Anna, so I tagged along. I didn't know you were all attending a party. I apologize for my intrusion," Kara said politely.

"Looks like we got a lady with manners on our hands," Zero murmured to Syo. "How much you wanna bet she's the strict type?"

"That's rude. Not every girl with manners is strict," Syo whispered. "100 belis."

Zero nudged him. "Deal."

"Well, would you like some food? Sanji-kun's cooked up plenty and you can have as much as you want. I'm sure the others are eager to meet you," Nami said.

"I'd be honored to."

Taichi watched as Kara followed his mother to meet the other parents. He squinted his eyes and scanned the area for any possible guards hiding in the bushes or trees. The royal palace may not be happy with their princesses associating themselves with a bunch of pirates. When Taichi turned around to face his friends, he was caught off guard by an arm being placed over his shoulders. Of course, he was expecting this.

"First Chihiro, now the older sister? Since when did you start your own harem with the princesses?" Zero teased.

Taichi rolled his eyes, not bothering to remove his arm. "I didn't start my own harem. Our parents turned out to be really good friends. They just wanted the kids to get to know each other. It's nothing special. Kara and I aren't even close."

"You sure about that?" Syo joined in on the teasing. "With the way she looks at you, seems like she has a thing for you."

"As if. I'm just her little pawn for training purposes." Taichi glanced at Aria. She was looking away while her hand clutched the elbow of her other arm. He never realized this before, but with a weapon, she looked strong and daunting. Take that weapon away and she looked like a regular girl. From the corner of his eye, he saw Syo glancing back and forth from him and Aria. He must've noticed him staring. He needed to change the subject. Luckily, he didn't need to.

"Tch, I hate royalty," Zero hissed. "They think they're so perfect."

"You do realize you're in the presence of the Pirate Prince and the Prince of Alabasta," Syo noted.

"Royalty or not, you're not that strong, Chibi."

"Like you're-"

"Anyway," Aria interrupted before Syo can respond. "Did anything happen while we were away?"

"Not like anything really happened over the four days you guys were gone. The restaurant's gotten busier and Yasopp got glasses," Syo answered.

-x-x-x-

"You've really outdone yourself, Kaya," Robin said. It was a really nice party, and she had to make sure Kaya knew that since she was the person to organize it. It wasn't a big extravagant party, nor was it a small one. With the addition of Shanks' crew, the number of people did rise tremendously, but Kaya still managed to maintain a fun and lively atmosphere with enough food to fit two pirate crews.

"I couldn't have done it without Sanji-san," Kaya said, pointing to the cook preparing another round of food.

"I only take a small amount of that credit," Sanji said with a smile.

"When do you want to bring out the cake?" Vivi asked.

"After dinner."

"Got it!" Sanji said.

Kaya wiped away a sweat bead trickling her temple. Even though Yasopp didn't want to have a big party, Kaya insisted that they throw a party anyway, and she was really happy with how it turned out. There's only one problem…

"By the way, Kaya, where's Usopp?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, where is that long-nosed idiot?" Sanji asked. "Everyone's either done or halfway through their dinner."

"The cake and the presents should be starting soon. Have you heard from him?" Vivi asked.

"Franky's not here either," Robin added.

Kaya shook her head. "After meeting his father, Usopp-san dashed to Franky-san's workshop. I haven't heard from them since."

"Really? I'm sure Usopp wouldn't want to miss his own son's birthday party," Vivi said.

"I've sent Brook-san to fetch them, but it seems like they're in the middle of something, but they said they're sure to come to the party."

"Well, let's all hope that idiot actually makes it," Sanji grimaced.

-x-x-x-

Luffy grimaced at the glass of beer in his hand. He never particularly liked the taste of beer. Whenever they had parties, he always went for the nonalcoholic drinks. Shanks, who brought a giant jug of sake from his journey, poured Luffy's share to the top of the glass and handed it to him, expecting him to chug the whole thing down.

"Um, sake isn't really my…" Luffy started.

"Come on, Luffy!" Shanks said. "A grown man like you needs to live a little! Raising three kids seems like a tougher job than being Pirate King!"

"Not really," Luffy murmured. Is raising three kids supposed to be hard? Luffy thought. He's not stressed or anything. Then again, he has Nami with him.

Chopper slammed his empty glass of sake down on the ground. "More!"

Zoro chuckled. "I think you've had enough for one night."

"That was just my first glass!" Chopper exclaimed. "I'm not the same kid I was twelve years ago! I can hold down my sake! More!"

"More sake he says!" Lucky Roo was about to pour him another glass when Zoro raised his hand to stop him.

"He's already drunk." Zoro nodded to Chopper who was trying hard to focus solely on his nose. "He's had enough."

"What about you? Fifth glass not enough for you yet?" Benn asked.

"Well, it's a lot more than your third," Zoro teased.

Benn raised his glass to his mouth. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

"Don't know. You sure your ears are still working for ya, old man?"

Shanks roared laughing at Zoro's gibe. Zoro never missed a chance to recall their old age, which he can agree. It was one of the many reasons why Luffy picked the right man as his first mate: strong, conniving, and sometimes an idiot. "How about a challenge then? Whoever lasts the longest wins a small reward we found on our journey."

Chopper raised his empty glass in the air. "I'm in!"

"Chopper-san, I think you've had enough," Brook said as he placed his own glass of milk down.

"I'm going to win this easily," Zoro said.

"That was a very tempting deal, but that challenge has to be postponed. Don't forget, this is a child's birthday party." Luffy turned around to see Nami right behind him. To his surprised, Kara was standing next to her.

Luffy blinked. "Kara-chan, I didn't expect to see you here. How did you know we were here?"

Kara was about to explain herself, when she heard her name being called. When she turned around, she saw the other kids gathered around in a huddle. It was Taichi that called for her while waving for her to come over. Kara quickly turned to Luffy and Nami and bowed. "I'm very sorry for the bother."

Nami smiled. "Go have fun, but be careful."

"Yes, Ma'am." Kara nodded before running to meet the others.

Nami sat down next to Luffy and reached for Luffy's still-full glass of sake. "So, about that deal."

"What happened to "postponing" it?" Zoro asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I said that because the princess greeted us with her presence. Now that she's gone…" Nami started chugging her drink.

Luffy rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile. As long as he doesn't have to drink any sake tonight, then he's all right for his wife to enjoy.

-x-x-x-

Taichi waited for Kara to join them before he began explaining. "All right, everyone's still in the middle of dinner, so we should be fine playing a quick game."

"Marines and Pirates?" Haru asked.

Taichi nodded. "Marines and Pirates."

Kara furrowed her brows. "A child's game?"

"Oh, not a mere 'child's game.'" Taichi pointed to the forest that was pitch black aside from the full moon being its light. "A grown up's game."

"We're playing in the forest?" Kara asked. "That's not safe in the middle of the night."

Zero smirked and folded his arms. "What's wrong, Princess? Taichi's told us all about your after-ruling lessons. Can't handle a small game of Marines and Pirates?"

"Its only dangerous if we pass the river, which we're not allowed to pass," Syo said.

"We'll be using the forest as our coverage. If you step out of it, you're automatically out. If everyone in your team is caught, then you're out," Taichi said. "Other than that, the game's pretty self-explanatory."

"Do I have to participate?" Riko asked while fidgeting with the ends of her blouse. "I'm not athletic like the rest of you, and I'll just drag everyone down."

Syo patted her back. "With you here, we get an even number of people. Plus, we can't involve the younger ones."

"And you won't drag everyone down," Aria reassured her. "We'll watch out for one another."

"What's the prize?" Yasopp asked.

Taichi shrugged. "I just wanted to play; I didn't think of a prize."

"How about winners get one wish granted by the losers?" Aria asked.

"Sounds good enough," Zero said.

"Yosh," Haru raised a handful of straws. "Who ever gets the shorter end are Pirates."

Everyone huddled together and chose a straw. It wasn't until everyone chose their desired straw that they all pull simultaneously. Haru held onto the remaining straw. He opened his hand, revealing a short straw. "Looks like I'm a Pirate," he said.

"Marines!" Syo said when he saw Taichi's long straw similar to his.

"Yeah!" Taichi gave him a high-five, and then his expression faltered. "Wait, should I be happy about that? I wanted to be a Pirate!"

Yasopp sighed. "As long as I'm not the one running away, I'm fine with being a Marine."

"My worst nightmare has come true," Riko said while staring down at her straw, confirming her role as a Pirate.

"If you stick close to me, you'll have nothing to worry about," Haru said.

"Quite the opposite," Aria said, revealing her long straw. "In fact, you should stick close to Zero if you really want to stay hidden."

Riko glanced at her brother's straw. Just like her, he ended up with a short straw as well. Riko glanced at Haru, then back at Zero. Without hesitation, she took a step closer to her brother.

"Oh, Riko." Zero was startled when she grabbed the end of his shirt. "Looks like we're pirates." Zero heard a "tch" coming from the person to his left. He turned his head to see Kara holding a short straw. And she did not look pleased.

"What's your problem?" Zero asked, irritated.

"I despise pirates," Kara said.

"Says the girl who goes to a pirate party."

"As if I had a choice."

Zero rolled his eyes. "Technically, you did."

"What's your problem?" Kara raised her voice, showing her irritation.

"I'm pretty sure I asked you that first."

"Enough," Riko said. "Arguing about it won't get you anywhere."

Zero sighed, and then murmured, "She started it."

"So, I guess we have our teams?" Taichi asked.

"Zero, Riko, the Princess and I are Pirates! Based on those people, I'm pretty sure we already know the outcome of this game," Haru said, earning him a chuckle from Zero.

"I think you missed one person we have on our side," Aria said while gesturing to Syo who was already in the middle of stretching.

Taichi approached Kara. "Will you be okay out there?"

"I should say the same to you," Kara said, smiling smugly. "We've sparred before. You must know what I'm capable of."

"Okay." Taichi raised his hands in surrender. "But if you get hurt and your guards come raising their fingers at me, I'm not to blame."

Kara smiled. "I'll let them know if it does occur."

May 6, 2016

Fun Facts:

- Riko was born with a fragile body. Although she wants to run and play with her friends, she herself knows her limits and prefers to stay indoors with her books.

- When Zero said, "How much you wanna bet she's the strict type?" I meant to put yandere xD I'll let you guys figure it out for yourselves whether she's the yandere type or not LOLOL

- You guys can tell "Marines vs Pirates" is just another name for "Cops and Robbers". Having the kids play this game has been on my mind ever since I came up with this story, only to show the interaction between two characters which will be seen next chapter (;

*SPOILERS FOR ANIME WATCHERS ONLY*

You guys…you guys…YOU GUYS…I seriously don't know how to handle what's been going on in the manga lately (especially what's been going on with Sanji and his backstory and the whole finding Marco thing). Ever since we left Dressrosa, the story is all over the place. I love it!