"Oh...so you like cake, eh?"

Sid stopped mid-bite and looked over the mound of food she held by the fistful towards the old diver with the chestnut shaped hat. She blinked and took a more careful look at what she was stuffing her face with.

"Cake? This is called cake?"

Montblanc Cricket chuckled and pointed down at the bowl her sky sheep was drinking out of. "And that is called milk."

"Boo?" the sky sheep asked, dripping milk down the front of his face.

"Well, we know what milk is," Sid laughed, "We have sky cows, after all."

"Is that so?" Cricket asked while he drank a cup of tea.

It had been four days now since this winged woman showed up on his turf, handing him gold and talking about islands in the sky and some sort of ancestral duty. To be honest, he still wasn't quite clear about all the details, no matter how many times she tried to explain, but whatever this bell had done, it clearly brought him some sort of good luck. After all, two interesting visitors within the two weeks? He wasn't going to thumb his nose at the importance of this bell or at her story. They were tied together in a way. That part was made very clear to him.

Sid wiped the crumbs and icing off her mouth with the back of her hand and she set her chunk of cake down on the tree stump, missing the plate completely. They were enjoying the morning outside of Cricket's house, where the sun had just lifted off of the vast blue sea. The Shandian had spent many hours just looking, touching, and swimming in the waters and she doubted she'd ever get enough of it. It was just so...so different. So new.

And the forest right by old man Cricket's house? Sid could just run and climb through it for hours and hours...and she had with great pleasure.

"We don't have anything like this in Shandia," Sid said and jabbed a finger into the moist cake, "Did you grow this?"

It was questions like that which really amused Cricket. Ever since she got here, she would ask question after question about the simplest things that the old man never really took the time to think about until she brought it up. Maybe after going into the sea and being underwater for so long, it was a breath of fresh air to just stay grounded and take in his surroundings.

"No," Cricket said as he lit a cigarette, "This is something that you need to make. It doesn't happen naturally. I got this from the bakery in town. I'm not much of a baker but I know it's mostly made of flour, egg, butter, and sugar."

"Flour? Sugar? Butter? Baking? What's baking?" Sid asked.

Cricket frowned as he tried to find the right words. "It's a form of cooking. Is there no baking up in Sky Island? What do you eat up there?"

Sid shrugged. "Grilled fish, seaweed, and whatever vegetables and meat we take from Blue Sea ships."

"Ah. Right. You can't grow anything on Island Clouds," Cricket said, "And you said dirt was limited up there so you must not have any crops of wheat or rice, huh? That might be why you're not familiar with cake or bread."

"Yes, dirt," Sid repeated and then scooped up some right next to her feet and felt it drain out between her fingers along with a clump of grass, "I still can't believe you have so much of it."

"Too much of it," Cricket laughed. He looked over at the two large scavenging ships docked in front of his house and he raised an eyebrow, "Those two sure are sleeping in late today. Did they forget they're supposed to take you into town today?"

"Why don't you want to go?" Sid asked.

Cricket puffed on his cigarette. "I'll only cause a commotion. People have a tendency to get riled up when they're around me."

"Because of Noland?"

Cricket ashed his cigarette. "Ah."

"But...I'm living proof that Noland was telling the truth," Sid said, "Once they meet me and see Boo, they'll-"

"Think you're some crazy person wearing some sort of angel costume and making up some sort of fairy tale," Cricket replied, "Believe me, nowadays the hardest thing for a person to believe is the truth. Especially, if it's the truth they didn't want to hear. Also, speaking of Boo, it's best if you leave him here with me. Don't want anybody grabbing him while you're distracted."

"Boo!"

The sky sheep liked the idea very much. He floated over to Cricket and flopped on his shoulder, giving the old man a strong nuzzle with his wooly cloud.

Cricket let out a snort and gave two strong pats to the sheep. "Friendly little guy."

Sid crossed her arms, not caring about smearing her skin with icing and dirt, and leaned back on the tree stump she was sitting on. "If it's so hard for people here to believe the truth, why did you believe me?" Sid asked.

Cricket grinned. "It's hard to ignore someone who shows up with a bag full of gold."

Sid picked up the trident she left on the grass and she twirled it against the sunlight. "I still don't understand why you all value this so much. Why would you need this if you have dirt? Life comes out of the dirt. Life can't come out of gold."

"It's the same as you valuing dirt," Cricket said, "Dirt is rare up in Sky Island. Gold is rare down here."

"But what's its use?"

Cricket smiled. "To make shiny weapons for one."

"Oh! You're up! Good morning, Old Timer! Good morning, Sid-chan!" Shoujo shouted from over the railing of his ship as his brother jumped off his own ship and onto the grass.

"Ookekeke. Ready to go into town?" Mashira grinned.

"She's been ready for hours now," Cricket said before Sid could say anything, "I had to give her cake for breakfast because I thought you two would be up by then for her to eat in town."

"Do you not usually eat cake for breakfast?" Sid asked and frowned, "But it's so delicious. Why wouldn't you eat it all the time?"

"It's not healthy for you," Cricket said, "Too much sugar."

"Sugar?"

"Ookekekeke. We'll show you when we get to Mock Town," Mashira laughed.

Sid had thought that a town in the Blue Sea would look like Shandora. Tall and sturdy buildings resting on the solid ground with all sorts of trees and plants growing around them. To say that she was disappointed at what a town really looked like would be too harsh but she did feel a bit down that Mock Town wasn't what she had imagined it to be. Most of the buildings were two stories high at most and were not even as dignified as the stone steps of Shandora. A few palm trees dotted here and there behind a few buildings but that was it. A lot of the buildings also had parts of the wall missing, which turned out to be not the norm for this place.

"What...what happened here?" Shoujo asked as he eyed the damage done to the street and businesses. Windows were shattered, there were blood stains on the cobblestone, and though this town was usually quiet, the silence was too much even for them.

"Don't stray too far from us, kid, got it?" Mashira said as his eyes moved to a piece of paper tacked against the wall of the broken pub with a maliciously smiling jolly roger on it, "Look, brother!"

"What is that?" Sid asked as Shoujo visibly stiffened.

"Bellamy Pirates..." Shoujo whispered as he frantically looked around for them, "I thought...I thought the Luffy kid handled him already?"

"Hey! You, there!" Sid shouted suddenly and ran towards a man practically trying to melt into an alleyway corner.

"EEP! Please don't hurt me. Please don't-" the man gasped as Sid ran up to him and grabbed him by the arm.

"We just want to know what happened here. We're not going to hurt you," Sid said and released her hold on him as a sign of good faith.

"Did the Bellamy Pirates do this?" Shoujo asked as they caught up to the Shandian.

The man's eyes widened at the sight of the brothers but he found the courage within him to answer their questions. "L-Last night...Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords, came to town," he stammered.

"Who?" Sid asked, "Warlord?"

"We'll explain later, kid," Mashira said.

"Why would Doflamingo come here of all places?" Shoujo asked.

"Apparently the Bellamy Pirates were sailing under his flag and...well, he was not pleased that Bellamy lost to 'Straw Hat' Luffy so...so...so he had Bellamy's own crew member, S-S-Sarquiss..."

The man couldn't go on anymore and he covered his face as if to stifle a scream.

"I'm not sure about a lot of what you just said," Sid admitted, "But I think I get the picture...Wow. To take out one's own underling just because they failed at something...That's...Is that how you do things here? The Blue Sea is a lot crueler than I thought."

"No," Mashira said and puffed up his chest, "The Blue Sea is a wonderful place. There are just some bad eggs out there, that's all."

He turned Sid away from the man and he pushed her down the street in the direction that they came from.

"We'll come back into town tomorrow. When everything's cleaned up," Shoujo suggested.

"This will all be fixed by tomorrow?" Sid asked.

"Maybe not all but you'll be surprised by how quickly this town bounces back," Shoujo said, "They get attacked by pirates all the time."

Sid folded her arms across her chest and she frowned. "I don't understand. I thought pirates were like Luffy and them. Or like old man Cricket, before he gave that up."

Over her head, Shoujo and Mashira exchanged looks and then the older sibling patted Sid on the shoulder. "The more time you spend down here, the more you'll understand."

When they returned back to Cricket's house, the old man was not pleased to hear about this turn of events.

"Ugh. Those Bellamy pirates cause nothing but trouble. They can't just go quietly to another island," Cricket grumbled. He looked at Sid from the corner of his eyes and he folded his arms over his chest, "Well...Maybe we should go to another island then."

"What?!" Mashira and Shoujo couldn't believe their ears, "Are you serious, old-timer?!"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Cricket demanded. He rubbed his chin and began to pace around his living room, "I mean, since we now know where the City of Gold really is, there's no need for me to dive every day...and if Sid wants to learn more about this world, she's not going to learn from this sleepy ol' island. Especially if she wants to learn about trees...Ah!"

He snapped his fingers and then stormed over to his desk, on the other side of the room. He yanked open the desk drawer and pulled out a stack of envelopes and packets. He shuffled through them until finally, he found what he was looking for.

"Ah ha!" he said as he opened up a large packet and started to read out loud the contents of the letter in one breath, "Dear-Captain-I-hope-this-letter-finds-you-well-blah-blah-blah-blah-I-apologize-for-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-I-am-now- YES!"

He looked up at the scavenging apes and the Shandian, who was looking at him as if he had just grown an extra head. He grinned and continued to read but much slower this time. "'I am now a proud farmer on the island of Lisart. If you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving the crew, I will be happy to welcome you to my new home. Sincerely, Iwan Fanifer.'"

"I don't understand," Sid said bluntly and then looked to the two flanking her sides, "Do you understand?"

"Not at all," they both said.

"Iwan used to be part of my crew," Cricket said and he reached into the still opened packet, "And he wrote to me a few years ago, apologizing for leaving in that fashion. As you can see in his letter, he's now a farmer, which is exactly who Sid needs to talk to."

"A farmer?" Sid asked.

"He grows things," Cricket replied.

Sid's eyes widened. "So he can help me?! Teach me about the things that grow here?"

Cricket shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"But how would we get to Lisart?" Mashira protested.

Cricket pulled out an Eternal Pose from his packet and he grinned. "Iwan was always a very thorough man."

-----Somewhere in the Grand Line, On the Polar Tang-----

"Captain! Captain!"

"Bepo," Law sighed as he rested an elbow on his desk, pinning down the folded newspaper that he was in the middle of reading, and rubbed his eyes with the same hand, "Didn't I ask you not to disturb me unless it was absolutely necessary?"

"Yes, but-"

"Is it absolutely necessary?"

Bepo's lips snapped shut and he thought very hard about it. He opened his mouth only to shut it again to rethink his answer.

Curiosity got the better of the Heart Pirate. He turned off his desk lamp and slowly looked up at the conflicted polar bear under his door frame. "Okay. What is it?"

"Shachi and Penguin got into a fight over Ikkaku-chan."

"Again?!"

Bepo's shoulders slumped even further. "Sorry..."

"Not your fault, Bepo," Law said as he rubbed his eyes again, "If I knew having a woman join our crew would be this much of a problem, I wouldn't-"

Bepo gasped. "It's not a problem! She's not a problem at all."

"Then why did you get me then?" Law demanded.

"Sorry..."

"Okay, Bepo..." Law said slowly as he fought hard to control at least the tone of his voice. The annoyance he felt was something he'll let run freely inside, "Where are Shachi and Penguin?"

"In the Sonar Equipment Room."

"Of course," Law mumbled, "That's where Ikkaku is stationed. Why wouldn't they cause trouble in front of a woman they want to impress?"

The air in the submarine was hot and humid. The uncomfortable thickness that blanketed over Law's exposed skin was enough to tell him that they should surface immediately. He couldn't imagine how hard of a time Bepo was having with it. At least Law had the option to take off his hoodie. Bepo couldn't shed his own skin.

But he could if I used my power, right?, Law mused to himself as he walked down the corridor and down a flight of stairs. His pace was steady and sure. When he passed by one of his crew members, they'd greet him with a cheerful smile but all he gave them was a curt nod back.

By the time he reached the Sonar Equipment Room, he had thought of a feasible option to temporarily relieve Bepo of his thick fur...If the polar bear agreed to it, of course. It would be a sight to see. Alarming, yes, but Law had to admit it would be just amusing enough for him to try it without informing the rest of the crew.

He opened the door, already getting an inkling of what to expect from the racket inside the room, and stared blank faced at his brawling engineers.

"She asked for my help!" Penguin said as he locked Shachi's head between his legs and pulled at his arm.

"NO!" Shachi used the power of his legs to turn to his side, knocking Penguin on his back. Shachi jabbed his elbow into Penguin's stomach. "She asked me!"

"Captain!" Ikkaku gasped when she spotted Law at the door. Her curly brown hair bounced in the air as she straightened up her stance and she gave him a full salute.

Law stifled a smirk. Ikkaku may be the source of this fight but she was the most disciplined of the room. Maybe even of the entire crew. Minus himself, of course.

"Eh? Captain?" Penguin and Shachi asked as they slowly looked up at the door. "AH! Captain!"

They scrambled to their feet and pointed a finger at each other. "He started it!"

"Are you five years old?" Law demanded, "Rolling around the floor and blaming things on each other. Is this how you should be acting in front of Ikkaku? You are both her superiors. She joined our crew because she had an interest in the mechanics of our ship. As the Co-Head Engineers of this ship, I expect you to lead by example and to be her teacher."

"S-Sorry, Captain," they said as they lowered their heads.

"Don't just apologize to me, apologize to Ikkaku."

"Sorry, Ikakku."

"I-It's fine," Ikkaku replied stiffly.

"And apologize to Bepo!"

"What? Why Bepo?" Shachi asked. His head went up to ask the question but one look at Law's face made him return to his original posture.

"The time you wasted on fighting is the time it could've taken us to surface this ship. It is boiling down here and if it's unbearable for me, imagine how bad it is for Bepo."

"...Well, he's a bear..." Penguin mumbled to Shachi but his captain had better hearing than they gave him credit for.

"And?"

"...Nothing..." Penguin said while Shachi began to snicker.

"No...finish what you were going to say. Clearly, it's something amusing."

Penguin gulped. "Well...if it's a bear...How can anything be unbearable...?"

Shachi and Ikkaku both let out a snort of laughter but only the latter had the decency to put her hand over her mouth and hurriedly give Law an apologetic nod.

"Are you done?" Law said. His voice clipped and his eyes darkened.

Both mechanics began to sweat even more. "Yes, Captain."

"Bepo!"

"AH! Yes, Captain!"

"Find a clear spot for us to surface."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Shachi, Penguin. Alert the rest of the crew and get the ship ready."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Ikkaku!"

"Yes, Captain."

"If these two idiots act up again, you have my permission to knock some sense into them."

"Yes, Captain."

With that, Law turned on his heels and went back to his study. Every step he took punctuated the same thought in his head.

Women cause nothing but trouble.