You were hoping Luffy's crew wouldn't bombard you when you arrived but it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

Since Zoro had given them the heads up that he was coming back with you, they met you with full force. And while you weren't sure if you wanted this kind of attention before, it quickly became obvious that it was more than you thought you could handle. It was like they were waiting at the door to their all too familiar hide out for you.

First you were greeted with the sight of the lion's head plastered above the door, practically smiling down at you like the ray of sunshine it was. It hadn't changed a bit. The paint looked as fresh as the last time you saw it what felt like ages ago and you had a feeling Usopp and Franky had something to do with that. If you remembered correctly, they were sticklers for keeping their hideout in prestine shape.

Zoro approached the front door first and opened it, motioning for you to go in with a slight tilt of the head. He was cautious as always. But he didn't have to coax you in, Luffy took care of that well enough.

You let out an involuntary squeak of surprise as his limbs stretched out, coiled around your waist, and pulled you straight through the doorway. You dug in your heels to no avail as you smacked into Luffy and he let out a glee filled laugh.

Everyone else crowded around you two, all talking at once. You caught snippets of what they were trying to say here and there but their loud voices mixed in too much to understand more than they were glad to see you again. That was until Luffy practically shouted in your ear.

"We missed you Blue!"

At some point in the time you'd known him, he went from calling you "dragon lady" to Blue. But that nickname carried too many bad memories for you to allow yourself to get swept up in the reunion like everyone else. You gingerly peeled his arms off of you, itching for personal space once again. And once you had him off of you and took a step back, you fought to find your voice.

"Uh, it's not Blue anymore. I don't go by that."

The lack of confidence in your tone was sobering. The mood of the entire room shifted as you hugged your arms close to yourself and shuffled around in place, now very uncomfortable. You were sure they remembered you as being bright, friendly, and anything but unconfident in yourself. A year had passed and you had yet to feel like your old self. It was a long time to be stuck in your shell and everyone, even Luffy, seemed to understand that.

"Should we call you by name then? Or perhaps something else?" Robin asked sweetly to cut through to sudden silence.

"People have been calling me Doll lately but (Y/n) is fine too."

"Doll." She smiled. "I can see where they got that."

"Sanji!" Luffy suddenly barked. "Cook us something so we can have a feast!"

"Quit your demanding." Sanji snapped back at him before looking back at you. "But I'll cook anything for our newly returned Doll!"

"Please." You forced a small, tense smile and shook your head. "You guys don't have to go out of your way for anything special for me. I'm only staying the night."

"Whaaaaaatttt?" Luffy frowned. "I want you to join my crew!"

"I told you Luffy," Zoro grumbled as he stepped around you, heading towards the kitchen. You bet he was looking for alcohol, like always. "She doesn't want to join a crew. If you want her, you gotta talk her into it."

As soon as he disappeared around the closest corner, Sanji was hot on his heels, ready with an argument. In his defense, he was probably heading that way to start preparing something to eat as well. Despite you telling them anything extra wasn't necessary, you knew they weren't going to listen.

"Well how about we take this somewhere comfortable?" Nami suggested. "I don't know about you (Y/n) but we've had a long day and I'd just about kill to get off my feet."

The rest seemed to agree and you were ushered further into the hideout by Robin and Franky. They took you through the entryway and as you passed the doorway to your left, you could see Zoro and Sanji bickering in the kitchen. It seemed heated but they were actually trying to keep it down for once.

Straight past the entryway was the room with the aquarium. There'd been more than a few alliance meetings held here in the past so you remembered it well but there had been some subtle changes. The room was cast in a blue hue from the water in the giant aquarium that spanned the entire back wall. A few docile sharks swam around lazily with tiny schools of colorful fish following them curiously. There seemed to be more decorative pieces in the tank than before, mostly things like coral and rocks with interesting colors and shapes.

There were some dim lights placed in recesses in the ceiling to keep things from being too dark but still dim enough to create a relaxing atmosphere. There were the familiar booth seats lining the front of the tank and following along the walls, creating an open space for conversation. As for new additions, there was a nice, thick, deep blue rug right in the center of the floor, spanning almost the entire space and a short, heavy, circular wooden table right in the middle of the room, laden with personal items from the gang. You could see keys for vehicles, wallets and billfolds, a couple of Usopps weapons. It had to be the space everyone left their stuff when they got back from spending time out and about.

Once everyone was seated, Brook went about with offerings of tea and coffee as he always had one or the other on hand. Usually it was tea but he knew you had more of a preference for coffee. You wouldn't be surprised if he started making some the second he knew you were coming over.

You accepted a cup with a quiet thank you and started out at all the familar faces that stared right back. You'd sat between two doorways, leaving little enough room on either side of you that the crew got the picture; you wanted space.

Directly across the room from you was everyone else, except Sanji who you could hear in the kitchen still. Zoro sat at one far end, drinking a beer like it was water and he was a man dying of thirst. He was also the closest to the entryway, still keen on keeping you here, at least for now. On the other end, and closest to you, was Chopper, kicking his little hooved feet happily.

"Soooooo, is it me or is the city more.....calm than it used to be?" You began.

It was a good way to break the ice and you were genuinely curious. There was a better feel to the city now. Less destroyed properties and gang members freely walking the streets, more relaxed citizens and bustle.

"Nah, it's calmed down thankfully." Usopp answered, slinging his arms over the back of the booth and puffing his chest out. "Once we took over, small time and more violent gangs were pushed out. It's just us and the Hearts."

"Law is still around?"

"We still have our alliance." Brook mused over tea. "Though maybe a partnership is a better word for it. The city is kept under control of both gangs simultaneously."

"It never got split?"

"There wasn't a need for it."

"Oh."

You'd avoided anything about the city so much that you were completely unaware of anything about it nowadays. Coming here would at least get you up to date on things.

"How about you B-Doll?" Franky caught his small slip up and carried on in stride. He was good at playing things off well enough to avoid unnecessary awkwardness.

You shrugged and stared down into your coffee mug. From the looks of it, Brook had made it exactly as you liked it.

"I've just been out on my own, keeping to myself for the most part."

And there was the awkwardness even Franky couldn't prevent. You were staying vague and everyone was dancing around topics delicately. You wished it wasn't so tense but it felt like they wanted to interrogate you on the more obvious topics. So many eyes on you at once was nerve wracking.

"What've you been doing for work? I doubt your old jobs would've been an option with as famous as you are." Nami swooped in, hoping to continue a friendly conversation but she'd just hit a topic you never wanted to talk to them about. It was bad enough that Zoro knew that answer to that one.

You froze up, unsure of what to say. There were half a million easy lies you could have told them but it was like you forgot every single one all at once.

"I found her after she finished up her shift at some no name diner." Zoro filled the silence. "Over in Eastport."

"Eastport?" Usopp shuddered. "Isn't that place full of rough people?"

"And what do you mean 'found her'? You weren't even supposed to be looking there!" Nami huffed. "We told you to check in Queenstown!"

"I got turned around, what's the problem if I found her anyway?"

Of course the crew fell into bickering back and forth about Zoro's lack of directional skills and that gave you time to take in what he just did. He'd lied to his crew to cover up for you while you froze up. Zoro had always been, for the most part, rather aloof, though friendly enough with you in the past unless he was trying to talk you into a fight. You didn't think he'd ever do something so considerate for you. Ever.

"(Y/n)!" Chopper's gasp pulled you from your thoughts as your head snapped to him. "You're hurt!"

"Hmm? Oh, it's just a scratch, it's no big deal." You felt along the cut that trailed along your shoulder and dipped down under the hem of your sweater.

The hideout was warm and you were more relaxed about letting your clothes settle more loosely. The sweater had slipped down your hurt shoulder enough to show the irritated cut and the leftover dried blood you couldn't quite clean up.

"I'll take care of it right away!" Chopper ignored you as he hopped out of his seat and raced through the doorway set between the two of you, returning quickly with a first aid kit.

You really had no time to try and deter him further as he went full doctor mode. He'd transformed into his more humaniod form and kneeled in front of you, face set into a serious expression as he set the kit beside you and began rummaging through it for what he wanted.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well....it's a bit of a story."

"We have time." Robin motioned for you to go on. "It'll be a bit longer until Sanji has dinner ready for us."

You let out a sigh. You were going to have to alter a couple small details.

Chopper murmured something about needing to move your sweater down your shoulder a bit more and you nodded, deciding it was better to just let him do his job before beginning to speak.

"So for the past few days, I noticed there were some members from Kid's crew around town. Not many but Wire and Hayate were among them."

You weren't sure if any of them knew who they were but that didn't matter. Luffy was zoned out, watching the sharks behind him while he bounced one of his legs impatiently, waiting for his chance to try talking you into staying. Zoro was halfway through another beer and seemed to be only half paying attention. Everyone else was keen on hearing you through though.

"I figured they'd come and go so I stayed out of sight for a bit but when they continued to to stick around and when I noticed they were talking to the locals, I figured they were probably looking for me. But I figured I'd go in for a shift or two anyway for rent money. Zoro eventually came around and we ran into each other when I was on my way home from work."

You weren't sure how they'd react to the truth of him actually digging through your home and climbing onto the roof to find you. But you had a feeling one of the girls would probably smack him for it.

"I wasn't sure about coming here to be honest but he talked me into well, talking it out. Since the Kid gang was around, we found a spot out of the way to chat but it apparently wasn't secluded enough. Wire and Hayate found us and said Kid wanted me back. It turned into a bit of a fight."

"According to the Kid gang," Zoro cut in when he figured you were finished. "She's still one of them. Kid didn't say she could leave so they think they have rights to her."

Chopper finished cleaning up your cut and had covered it in a couple strips of bandages, whispering to you so as to not interrupt the conversation. "We'll just keep it covered for the night. It shouldn't get infected now."

You nodded to him as he cleaned up the kit and changed to his normal form, bouncing back to his seat.

"That's stupid." Luffy grumbled. "She left. And when she joins us, it won't count anymore."

You could argue Luffy's line of reasoning was stupid but that'd be like talking to a brick wall. You'd have better luck convincing Eustass Kid to swear off the life of crime.

But before you could at least correct Luffy that it was if (or rather not) and not when you joined the crew, Sanji popped his head out from the kitchen and removed a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket. "Food's ready guys, let's eat!"

Without a doubt in your mind, you knew it was going to be a hectic meal the second all the men scurried to their feet and raced past Sanji to reach the dining room.

"Come on." Nami grinned at you. "You can sit by Robin and I."

That'd be your one saving grace of the evening. You brushed your fingers along your fresh bandages, and got up to join the crew for a much needed good meal.