Raya's POV

"Holy hell" is the first thing out of my mouth, as I jolt into a sitting position, a hand clamping onto my shoulder. It stings like hell, and I can't remember why.

"So you've decided to rejoin the world of the living, have you?" an accented voice asks coolly.

I let my eyes focus, clearing up the blurriness of sleep. My head is always a little fuzzy when I first wake up, so maybe that's why I'm seeing that terrifying man who almost killed Zoro sitting in front of me, arms folded across his chest.

....... Nope, he's still there.

Dammit!!

I scoot backwards quickly, slamming into the rear of his tiny coffin boat, nearly knocking several green flamed candles into the sea.

"What the HELL did you do to my nakama?!" I demand, glaring at him with fiery, albeit cloudy sleep filled eyes.

He shrugs easily. "I did nothing at all to them, besides what happened with the green haired Swordsman. And before you begin chastising me, I didn't kill him."

A weight is lifted from my chest, and I take in and let out my first full breath since Zoro first challenged this man. He's going to be alright. Thank God, if Zoro died... Ah! I can't even think about it.

But wait, that doesn't explain why I'm currently on his boat...

"Why are you glaring at me so menacingly?" he asks, sounding slightly annoyed. I grit my teeth, clenching my hands into fists. He really doesn't get why I might be upset?

"Why. Am. I. Here?" I growl, and he smirks. "I told you during our fight," he replies calmly watching the ocean on either side of us. "I made a promise to a rival of mine, and said promise involves you."

"Gonna tell what that is, and to whom you made it?"

"No."

"YOU ASSHOLE TELL ME WHY I'M HERE OR I SWEAR TO KAMI I'LL KILL YOU!"

"... Why are all children so loud?" he drawls, narrowing his yellow eyes at me. I scowl. "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll shut up," I say, as calmly as I can. Though I can't keep my eye from twitching in annoyance.

He shrugs again. "We'll be there in a matter of hours, so I find no valid reason to explain these things to you, little girl."

A snarl worms its onto my face, lifting my upper lip menacingly. And unattractively. But that's besides the point.

I want to ask where we're going, but I'm positive he won't tell me anything. So I'm going to shut my mouth and silently give him the Evil Eye, hoping it curses him so that he dies a horrible gruesome death.

I'm not counting on it though.

He actually returns my dark look, so it quickly becomes bothersome and I give it up. Instead, I lean my elbow on the edge of the boat and rest my head in my palm and just stare out the ocean.

It looks like its going to storm soon. Angry gray clouds swirl above us, and in the distance, I can hear booming thunder. You know, that's just perfect. First I watch my friend almost get killed, then I fight the guy that almost did the dirty deed, then the same guy knocks me out, kidnaps me, and is now sailing me to an undisclosed location. Now we have the promise of rain! Oh joy!

"What's your name?" I ask, bored, my eyes flicking over a disturbance in the water. It might just be a fish, so I'm going to ignore it.

"You don't know?" he asks incredulously, also leaning his head on his palm. "Well," I say, scratching the back of my neck. "Johnny said something to Zoro about a 'Hawk Eyes' man, and that apparently was about you. So... Is your name Hawk, or Hawk Eyes or something?"

"My is Dracule Mihawk."

I jerk my head up at his name, wishing I heard him wrong. Dracule Mihawk... Aw, what kinda of hell have I had inflicted on me?

"The Warlord?" I question. "THAT Dracule Mihawk?" He nods. "Dammit! How did I not recognize you at first?!"

There are times in my life where I think my luck can't possibly get any worse. Like this one time, when I was nine, I was watching the ocean on the dock back on my home island. This was only a few months after my parents died, and it was when the villagers started to treat me differently. Little kids would stare and point and whisper. Adults would send me withering looks. It was awful, and at first, I didn't know how to deal with it.

Except to cry.

And that's what I was doing that day, sitting on the dock. I was crying my little nine year old heart out, when a boy about my age came up to me and sat down. He smiled, and I thought he was cute. We talked, he managed to make me laugh. I was having fun. Until some other boys came out of the forest and told him that he'd "won" and that their bet was over. The boy made a face at me, then laughed at his friends and said hanging out with me was torture. He apparently won a hundred berries for being nice to me for an hour. And when he was done? He shoved me off the dock and into the water, then ran off with his friends to complain to their parents that I'd done something to them.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, when I got home, I saw the villagers' first attempt at stealing my father's sword. I managed to fend them off and they ran like hell.

After that I sat in my room and cried for hours upon hours.

That was the first time I thought I was having my worst luck.

But I learned that things can always get worse.

Like right now.

That disturbance in the water I mentioned a little bit ago? It suddenly explodes, water cascading down on both me and Mihawk. I blink the salt water from my eyes, trying to identify the source of the reverse waterfall that just ruined my blonde hair.

Oh holy crap.

"Sea King," I whimper, diving onto the floor of the boat like a frightened puppy. "Shit! I'm too young to die from a Sea King attack!"

"Oh will you stop your insufferable whining!" Mihawk mutters, sighing. I look up at him curiously to see him roll his eyes, then turn his head to glare at the Sea King, which resembles a giant, slimy, scaly cat. About fifty feet high with teeth as sharp as a new blade.

And Hawk Eyes just looks at it, like its some minor annoyance, like mud on the heel of his boot.

Even more incredible, the giant catfish blanches under his stare, trembling like a leaf caught in the wind. It gives a terrified shriek, then falls back under the waves as though scared out of its mind.

"Holy shit," I mutter, popping back up off the floor. My wide eyes lock onto Mihawk; he's giving me a satisfied smirk, pleased at my reactions.

"Three things," I say, holding up three fingers. "One, you smirk more than Zoro." I tick one finger down. "Two, how the hell did you do that?" My second finger goes down. "And three, aren't Sea Kings like that only in Grand Line?"

He smirks again, only serving to prove my first point. "As a reply," he says. "I'll say... It is really your fault that I'm smirking so much, I used Haki, and the reason you're seeing things only found in the Grand Line is because we're in the Grand Line."

"WHAT?!?!"

"You're being loud again," Mihawk sighs.

"How can we be in the Grand Line?"I ask frantically, leaning forward in my seat to glare at him more intensely. "It takes days to get to and over Reverse Mountain from where the Straw Hats were!"

I pause, and Mihawk says nothing to break the silence. Like he's silently prompting me to understand. It's irritating as HELL.

"....How long was I out?" I ask finally, terrified of the answer. He considers, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "Eight days," he says, just when the silence becomes unbearable.

I don't scream, like I want to. And oh man, do I want to.

I force myself to remain calm and collected and rational.

I am shaking with the effort.

"Eight days?" I repeat, and he resumes in his signature smirking. "What exactly did you do to me, Mihawk?" I growl.

He reaches over and gently presses two fingers to a point between my neck and shoulder, and I faintly wince. That explains my sore shoulder, though how it hurt for eight days straight I have no idea.

"A pressure point knocked me out for over a week?" I question dubiously.

"I believe it had more to do with the shock," he replies. You know, as much as I hate this guy for what he did to

Zoro and for, you know, kidnapping me, I gotta admit his voice is awesome.

"Shock?"

"I would say you went through quite the traumatic event, watching that young Swordsman fall in our duel."

"So it's your fault I was practically in a coma."

"It would seem so."

I sweat drop, accepting his cool, unruffled demeanor. God, I'm glad I was asleep for most of this stupid journey. He's nearly worse than Yosaku and Johnny in terms of how fast he can make my blood boil.

"So," I mumble, "a few hours, huh?"

(A/N I don't know how long it actual took to get through the Arlong Arc, but I'm just going to pretend they were finished with him after eight days)

Third Person POV

The crew was partially reunited, with Nami entering their ranks once more as the Straw Hat's navigator.

She is now happier than she's ever been, caring for her new orange trees on the upper deck. She smiles to herself, recalling the times spent with Bellamere and Nojiko, picking and selling oranges.

She still misses Bellamere, everyday in fact. But with friends like the Straw Hats, she can live her life pain free.

Hmmm, that reminds her.

She trots down from the upper deck and down into the sleeping area below, where Zoro is taking a nap. She looks around for a moment, then whaps Zoro on the back of his head. He grunts, cracking open one annoyed eye, looking angrily at his navigator.

Nami pauses, seeing the abnormal anger swirling around in Zoro's dark eyes. Yes, he gets annoyed easily, and most everyone can drive him to explode on occasion, but this is different. This is self loathing, something Nami has never experienced from Zoro before.

Then she gathers her courage and asks the question that has been eating at her since she saw all her friends back at Arlong Park. "Where's Raya? I haven't seen her since I came back."

The reaction is instantaneous and surprising.

Zoro stiffens, his entire body freezing in place. A muscle ticks in his jaw as he grinds his teeth. Raya... She hadn't left his thoughts for more than a few moments.

"Raya... was kidnapped," he replies softly. Nami gasps in shock, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. It can't be... How could Raya have been kidnapped?

"What happened?" Nami breathes. "And why aren't we looking for her?!"

Zoro curses beneath his breath; he hates talking about this. When Luffy and Sanji had met up with Zoro and Usopp the first thing they had discussed was what to do about Raya. Zoro wanted to leave on another boat and go after her that minute, but Johnny and Yosaku told him that he couldn't possibly take down Mihawk by himself, and the others wanted to help Nami first. Even Luffy, who had been beating himself up over her kidnapping to the point where he acted like a hollow shell of his former self. He only roused himself from his daze to take down Arlong and free Nami.

And by that point, no one had any idea where Raya was.

Zoro relates all of this to Nami, while down playing her role in the delay to search for Raya, and finishing with, "Luffy's pretty much clinging to what Mihawk told him, that she'll be safe as long as she's with him." He sighs and closes his eyes, throwing one arm over his face. "I can't believe that look she gave me," he says.

Still processing, Nami asks distractedly, "What look?"

"I said something stupid to her, and you could've sworn I stabbed her with my swords."

"And you're worried, that if we never see her again, that'll be what she remembers about you, right?"

Shit, he'd forgotten how perceptive Nami is. But nonetheless, she's hit it the nail right on the head. And she knows it, so Zoro doesn't bother confirming her guess.

"Don't worry!" Nami says brightly, patting his head like she would a sad child. "She has good memories of all of us, and she'll have even better ones later on. You know Luffy; he won't stop until he has all his nakama surrounding him!"

Zoro grunts noncommittally. He hopes to see Raya again, if only to smack her on the back of the head for scaring the crap out of her crew mates. He still can't believe she went up against Hawk Eyes Mihawk... for him.

Even though Nami is trying to reassure Zoro, her own doubts and worries are creeping up on her. The last thing she did to Raya, was pushing her off the boat, knowing full well she can't swim. Of course, she would never have done it if there hadn't been anyone to help her, but she still did it. How do you come back from something like that?

"You know," Nami says, shaking herself from her pessimistic thoughts. "This explains Sanji's attitude."

"What do you mean?"

Nami sighs and gestures to the hunched figure in the corner, crying anime tears and biting a handkerchief. "Ah, Raya-chan!" he wails. "If only I could have rescued you! Then we could enjoy love's tender embrace together!"

(A/N Is it me, or did that one sound a little cornier than Sanji's usual lines?)

"Baka!" Zoro growls, a vein popping out on his forehead. He throws his pillow at the cook, who doesn't react and continues to sob dramatically. "She doesn't even like you!"

"How would you know, Zoro?" Nami asks, crossing her arms and smirking. He sweat drops before scowling, turning his head away from her. But then his line of sight includes Dartboard Brow, so he turns back after a moment of watching the blonde's pitiful caterwauling.

"It was obvious when we were at that sea restaurant," he grunts, refusing to meet Nami's eyes. Her smirk only widens. "Fair enough," she says, nodding. "But why do you care, Swordsman?"

"Don't call me that," he growls.

Nami's smirk now fills her entire face, lighting up her pretty brown eyes deviously. "What? Swordsman?" she questions innocently. "Yes that," he snaps, annoyed at what she's getting at. "Isn't that what Raya calls you?"

At this, Sanji abruptly cuts off his blubbering and gives Zoro a most impressive Death Glare, actual fire burning in his usually calm eyes. He's already guessed at the thinly veiled accusation Nami is dangling in front of Zoro, and nothing could infuriate him more than the thought.

Zoro raises an eyebrow at Sanji, but then calmly turns back to Nami, unperturbed by the fury in the cook's eyes.

"Yeah, she calls me that," Zoro replies, blocking Sanji's incoming kick with the flat end of his white hilted katana. "And I'm annoyed enough by her saying it, so give it up."

"Are you sure that's why you're upset?" Nami asks, a knowing look on her face. "It can't be that you only like it when she's the one saying it? Hmm?"

"Nami," he growls, forcefully pushing back the infuriated cook with a shove of his sword. "I have no problem with chucking your ass overboard. So I suggest you shut up."

Nami rolls her eyes, but consents. Closing her mouth, she catches onto the back of Sanji's collar and drags him topside to prepare dinner, leaving Zoro to his nap, and unfortunately, his thoughts.

"Damn," he mutters, feeling the slightest bit of heat creep onto his cheeks. "That was not a conversation I needed to have."

Raya's POV

"What's so holy about hell?"

"What?" I snap, waking from my sleep. I'd been having such a weird dream too. Sanji was crying, Nami was smirking, and weirdest of all, Zoro was blushing! I'm kinda upset I didn't let the dream play out. It looked interesting.

"When you first woke up," Mihawk explains in a bored tone. Obviously, he's as ready to ditch me as I am him. "You shouted 'holy hell'. I was just wondering what the meaning of it was."

"It's nothing," I say, shrugging a shoulder. "Just some weird exclamation of surprise. My dad used to say it a lot, even though he wasn't supposed to curse in front of me."

"Ah yes, your parents. Where are they?"

It's such a blunt question, and the subtext is "cut the shit and tell me what I want to know". But it's smoothed over by that damn voice of his until it sounds as innocent as asking for someone to "pass the salt". It's such a contradiction, I think I'm going to have to kill him before he drives me up a wall.

If this stupid boat had high enough walls, that is.

"Dead," I reply shortly. "Both dead. Killed by a pirate eight years ago."

Mihawk blinks, and I THINK it's him trying to cover up his surprise. But I can't be sure, because the emotion itself was so fleeting in his yellow eyes, I'm not sure I even saw it. Maybe he really wasn't expecting my answer.

"My turn for a question," I say smugly, daring him to refuse. He hardens his gaze, but says nothing to deter me, so I forge ahead. "Do you have any kids?" I don't know why I'm asking this, but it's piqued my interest. The guy is old enough to have a kid my age, or even older. But with his personality, I'm not sure he could get a woman--

"A daughter."

Wow, that was unexpected. I smirk nonetheless. "That must suck," I say, linking my hands behind my head.

"And why is that?"

"Because of that stupid stereotype that girls can't become great Swordsman."

"It doesn't seem to bother you."

"Ah, but like I said before, I myself am not a Swordsman. I carry this blade around only because its all I have left of my dad."

Mihawk regards me curiously for a moment, then turns away, leaning against the bow of the boat. He closes his eyes.

I lean back, shading my eyes as I stare at the sky. The clouds are still there, and every once in a while, I catch the flash of lightning zipping between them. I'm not afraid of storms, but in this little boat, I am afraid of capsizing.

There are a few birds flying around, probably seeking some sort of land to escape the future elements. But one isn't as frantic as the others. And if I'm not mistaken, there's a messenger bag around its neck. Weird.

Said bird suddenly goes into a dive, aiming straight for us. It lands on the railing and looks at me with beady little bird eyes. Then it stuffs its beak into the bag and brings out a stack of papers, dropping them in my lap.

Oh, mail's here.

I dig around in my pocket, producing a few coins, which I drop into a pouch hanging over the messenger bag. The bird nods, before taking off again, disappearing with the next flash of light.

"Wanted posters, huh?" I mutter, rifling through them carelessly. I hit a new face, worth 30,000,000. Whoa, pretty good for a guy's first bounty. What's his name...?

"HOLY SHIT!!"

"What has you so upset?" Mihawk grumbles, barely cracking open one eye. I turn the poster around so that he can see the goofy, grinning face. "Upset?" I reply. "How the hell could I be upset?! My cap'n has a thirty million berry bounty on his head!!"

I grin victoriously, wishing I could see his face when he finds out. Then my situation hits me like a slap in the face. What were they doing to earn such a high bounty? Without me?

Mihawk swipes the poster from my hands, studying it intently. He makes an appreciative noise. "Impressive for one so young," he comments, while I have to force the tears in my eyes to NOT fall down my cheeks and reveal me to be the weakling I know I am. What pirate starts blubbering at a stupid wanted poster?

"You have quite the captain there."

"Yeah, thanks."

He narrows his luminous eyes, but doesn't pursue the cause of my suddenly sour tone. Instead, he turns his head to face the direction we're sailing in, like he's looking for something. "Ah," he says sounding just the tiniest bit relieved. "We've arrived."

I look past him to see we're approaching a small island fast. Thank God, I want to get away from this man as fast as possible.

We dock quietly, and I decide to be nice for God knows why, and drag the boat up onto the beach.

A lush jungle spreads out before us, full of green growing things and the calls of wild animals. The scent of delicate flowers hits my nose, and I grin a little. I've always liked the smell of flowers, they calm my nerves. And this time is no different.

"Come on," Mihawk says, waving a hand for me to follow him. "He'll be farther in."

I fall into step behind him, letting him lead me wherever he wants to go. I've resigned myself to the fact that I could never hope to beat him in a real fight, so escaping isn't really an option. And if he wanted to kill me, he could have done so back at Baratie.

And this promise he mentioned. I have to say, my interest has been piqued. What kind if person can actually ask Dracule Mihawk for favors? And what does he want with me?

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all nervous. But my curiosity is winning out at the moment, so I can push aside the fear and focus on the mystery.

"C-c-captain!!!!"

I pause in my walking. "Who's that?" I ask warily, peeking around Mihawk but only seeing trees. The large man shrugs. "An underling who happened to spot me," he says. "Pay it no attention. We'll be there in a minute."

I nod and continue walking. It's not long before another shout rises into the stifling air.

"Hawk Eyes! Just what're you doin' here?!"

The two of us step into a large clearing positively packed with men, ranging from early to twenties to "mid life crisis". They don't notice me, as I'm in Mihawk's shadow an kinda scrawny. Plus, he is much more interesting.

"No need to get antsy," Mihawk says calmly, continuing to walk forward with me in tow. "I've no business with the rest of you. Where're your officers?"

A boy runs off, shouting for his captain.

"To be hanging around an island such as this," Mihawk says thoughtfully. "Your captain must be quite the easygoing man..."

A little farther in, past another cropping of vibrant trees, we come across another clearing. This one isn't nearly a packed as the other, with only three men lounging near a large umbrella. And one boy in shorts that are way too short for him, shouting in excruciatingly pained breaths that Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk is here.

"That's fine," an easygoing man's voice says. "Tell the others we don't have any trouble." The panicked boy stares at the man, who he's blocking from my view, before abruptly spinning around and racing past us. He shoots a questioning look at me before he disappears from view. I sigh quietly to myself. Just what is going to happen, anyway?

"Ah, Hawk Eyes," the same calm voice as before continues. "Quite the rare guest I've got today. I'm not in such a good mood today but... Have you come here to fight?"

Mihawk scoffs. "Humph. As if I'd want to settle things with a man who only has one arm."

One arm? And he's the captain? But he speaks to calmly to Mihawk. Not a trace of fear in his voice. Who is this guy?

I try to step around Mihawk, but he holds me back with one arm, subtly. I receive a curious look from a man with unruly blonde-brown dreadlocks and darker skin. A band with the name "Yasopp" is wrapped around his forehead. But then he shrugs and puts his back back against the barrel he's leaning on, eyes trained on Mihawk.

"I came across some interesting pirates," Mihawk explains, dropping Luffy's wanted poster at the captain's feet. I still can't see his damn face cause Mihawk won't let me! "And I was reminded of a story you told long ago. About a interesting little boy in a certain village..."

I can hear the smile in the man's voice as he says, "So you've come out at last... Luffy."

At this, I can't help myself. I grab onto Mihawk's shoulders and jump up until I can see past him. "You know Luffy?" I ask curiously. The man looks up.

The gasp escapes my lips before I even fully take in the scruffy man before me.

Thick, wavy red hair... miraculously tanned skin... three scars across his left eye...

Red-Haired Shanks.

And he gasps as well.