Over the next ten minutes or so, we all make it so that we will know if we are talking to a real crewmate or not. With a bandage tightly on our left forearms to show that we are who we say we are.

"Tie them on tight," Zoro says as he uses his teeth to tighten his bandage. "This enemy has too many secrets for us to falter at any moment."

"With these on, we'll be able to tell who's who," Nami says, as Vivi tightens hers.

"Are they really that good?" Sanji snips. "Clone-Clone, Transformations?"

"They're not just good, they're perfect," Usopp says.

"It's freaky."

"He was great!" Chopper adds. "We had to cheer him on!"

"Now that we know what we're up against, we have to plan everything with care," I say, letting Zoro check the tightens of my bandage.

"What can I do?" Chopper asks, pointing at himself.

"Whatever you can," Usopp encourages. "If you can't win, run. Just remember, do your best!"

"That's your motto, huh?" Sanji asks.

"Quack!" Karoo says.

"Whatever I can do?" Chopper says. "I can do that!"

"We're nearing the harbor," Vivi says.

"We can anchor in the cove to the west, so we can hide the ship," Nami says.

"Right!" Luffy holds his left arm out. "No matter what happens, our left arms will bear..."

We all stick out left arms out.

"The sign of our fellowship!"

"Right!" We all chant.

"Now, let's head ashore! To eat! And then onto Alabasta."

"Alabasta is an afterthought?!" Nami screams.

I chuckle as everyone starts to bicker about what we need to do. About what needs to be top priority. About what we need to focus on. Even in the face of so much danger and uncertainty, we can joke around like this. It feels freeing in a way. I can trust all these people with my life, and I appreciate that.

"Lowering the anchor!" Usopp calls out.

"Restaurant!" Luffy grabs my hand. "Come on Akari! Food!"

"Luffy," I choke out, but he is lifting me up and rushing off the ship.

"Wait!" the rest of the crew shouts after us, but it is already too late.

"Luffy," I chuckle, wrapping my arms around him. "You can't just grab me and run off into a town that we know nothing about."

"I had to bring you along for that very reason that we don't know this place." He sniffs, trying to figure out where the food is. "If we're together, then everything will be fine."

"Well, I can't argue with you there."

"Do you smell that?" He aggressively sniffs.

I gently sniff, not really getting anything but dust and sweat. "No, what are you talking about?"

"Got it! A restaurant!" He turns, sending us flying down a street where at the end I can barely see a restaurant.

It doesn't take much longer now that Luffy has hyper focused in on where he can find something to fill our empty stomachs, and we make it to the restaurant in seconds, but we can't just peacefully enter. No, that would be too simple for Luffy. Instead, right as we step foot inside, he tosses me up in the air, slamming into the guys right in front of us. Two guys that look extremely familiar. Regardless, I land, dusting myself off, and grimacing at the hole in the back of the restaurant.

"Finally!" Luffy exclaims. "A restaurant! I am starving!"

I take a seat at the bar, apologetically smiling at the chef. "I am so sorry for him, but we are really hungry, so if we could please have some food, that would be amazing."

"Actually, I think you should run," the chef mumbles.

"Hello mister!" Luffy takes the seat next to me. "Food, food, food!"

The chef doesn't waste anymore time getting for in front of us, and then Luffy is digging in as I am taking more of my time to prevent a stomachache.

"This is all delicious!" I widely smile. "You must be the talk of the town!"

"This food is great!" Luffy nod, shoving as much food in his mouth as he can handle. Its quite easy with him being mad of rubber.

"Ah, um, thanks," the chef says. "But I think you two should-"

"Hey!" A voice that I can't quite place fills my ears, but when I look over in the direction of the voice, I see someone that I very much recognize.

"Straw Hat and his girlfriend!" Smoker screams at us as he holds someone down in the rubble.

Luffy doesn't even think to stop eating, and the two awkwardly stare at each other.

"Isn't two cigars a bit excessive?" I ask, taking a nice big swig of water.

"I have a stressful job chasing after pirates like you," Smoker glares at me.

"Oh come now, I am a stress reliever," I bat my eyelashes. "Would you like to take a moment, get to know me?"

"Stop talking." He looks back at Luffy. "So, you actually decided to show up. STOP EATING!"

"Hey, I know you!" Luffy says with his mouth completely full that I'm surprised I can even understand what he wants to say. "You're smoke guy! What are you doing here?"

"Why you little!"

"Thanks for the food sir!" Luffy shoves even more food into his mouth, and I know that we aren't going to last much longer.

"See you!" I cry, rushing out of the restaurant with Luffy close behind.

"STOP!" Smoker shouts at us.

"We can't fight him, Luffy!" I shout. "I can't hit him with my shurikens, and I don't have them because you nabbed me off the ship!"

"And I can't hit him either, so we'll just run!" Luffy says, his mouth still full.

We rush right pass the girl, Tashigi if I remember correctly, shopping at some stand. She tries to stop us with her sword, but Luffy just wraps his arm around my waste, and bounds up the side of a building, and then we are running across the rooftops. Smoker easily gets to our level, trying to get us with his snake of smoke, but then Luffy gets us back down onto the street. Now the Navy is chasing after us with swords, and there is nothing we can do to fight back.

"Luffy!" I scream, staying ahead of him. "This isn't fun!"

"Hey look, it's Zoro!" Luffy waves over at the crew hiding behind a stone wall. "Come on," he grabs my hand, pulling me in their direction.

"Straw Hat's crew!" the Navy officers shout.

"Don't lead them to us you dumbass!" the crew screams at us.

"I won't let you get away this time!" Smoker shouts at us. "White fist!"

I glance behind to see Smoker's fist coming at us in a flurry of smoke.

"Sun Flare!" The voice that I couldn't recognize from before fills the air.

Luffy and I come to a stop next to our friends, turning back to see a man that looks to be made of fire, completely stopping Smoker's attack.

"You, give it up already," Smoker growls.

"You may be smoke, but I am fire," the man extinguishes his flames. "We're too even to settle this now."

My face lights up with the biggest smile as I understand who has saved us.

"Who is it?" A garble of voices ask.

"Ace!?" Luffy and I blurt out.

"You never change, do you Luffy?" Ace grins, looking back at us. "Akari, I thought you would keep him in line?"

"I'm trying!" I feel the tears welling in my eyes.

"We don't have time to talk right now. Make your getaway and I'll catch up later once I take care of these guys!"

Luffy gives my hand a squeeze, "Go!" He grabs some supplies.

"Let's go!" I order, picking some supplies up before leading the charge back to the ship.

"What? Are we really living already!?" Usopp shouts.

"No!" Vivi answers. "We are going to sail up the river to the interior. The desert lies beyond that! We just stopped here in Nanohana for supplies!"

"Hurry!" Zoro shouts. "The Navy is right behind us!"

"Get on board and hoist the sails!" Nami commands.

"I can't believe he's here, Luff!" I excitedly shake my hands as best I can.

"I never thought we'd meet here, Ace," Luffy runs backwards, trying to catch sight of the man.

We make it to the ship, loading up as quickly as possible. It is then that I realize that everyone is wearing clothes made for the desert. Nami and Vivi look like dancers, while the boys look more like thieves. Either way, it will be very helpful for when we have to walk through the desert.

"Hey, do I get an outfit like the other girls?" I ask.

"Of course, Akari darling," Sanji gushes, holding out an outfit for me. It seems a bit revealing, but I like the royal blue of the top, off white of the long skirt, and the light red of the shawl. There's also arm bracelets in his hands.

"Thanks," I chuckle, taking the outfit and rushing off to quickly go change in Nami's room.

The outfit is quite revealing, as the top is like a bikini, leaving my stomach exposed. The skirt is lower than I might like on my hips, but at least it covers all of my legs. The thin shawl helps to cover me a bit, but it isn't as much help that I might like. At least the arm bracelets are nice and make me feel pretty.

I step back out on deck, letting the sun soak into my skin.

"Akari!" Luffy calls out, waving at me as he sits on the railing. "We have to tell them about Ace!"

I skip down the steps, "Well, that will be easy."

"Ah, Akari!" Sanji's eyes are hearts as his nose starts to bleed.

"Idiot," Zoro shakes his head.

"Whoa, Akari," Luffy smiles. "Now you look like Vivi and Nami. Prettier, even."

I feel my cheeks heat up instantly, "Thank you."

"Now, who was that guy?" Zoro asks as the Going Merry starts to sail away.

"Oh, that was Ace, my big brother," Luffy answers.

"Big brother!" everyone else exclaims. "He was your big brother!?"

"He always protected me like a big brother, so Ace fills that void in my life," I say.

"I'm not really surprised that you have a brother," Zoro says, "but what's he doing out here on the Grand Line?"

"He's a pirate," Luffy says. "He wants to find the One Piece too."

"Ace is three years older than us, so he left home three years earlier, and it looks like he's made a name for himself," I smile.

"Imagine that, two brothers both ate a devil fruit," Sanji says from his spot on the nearby steps.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it myself," Luffy chuckles. "Even when Ace hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit, I couldn't beat him up. He's tough!"

"You couldn't beat him?" Nami blurts out. "How is that even possible!?"

"Well, the big brother of a beast has to be an even tougher beast," Usopp says.

"Luffy's come a long way since those days," I smile.

"Yeah, I was a loser back then," Luffy laughs. "But now, I could beat him."

"Yeah, sure you can," Zoro and I mumble.

"Who..." Ace's voice fills the air, and then he's jumping on the railing right behind Luffy to send him to the deck face first, "can you beat?"

"Ace!" Luffy and I exclaim.

Portgas D. Ace has always been a cocky little shit since I can remember, and it doesn't seem he's changed much. His black hair is wavy and shaggy, his freckles on his cheeks prominent (coming out the more he's in the sun like me), he's strong with pronounced muscles that he shows off by not wearing a shirt, golden eyes that change colors depending on his mood, and a beautiful smile. He's wearing an orange hat with a red-beaded necklace with a frowning face and a smiling face in the middle, two long cords run down to come together at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels; a normal red-beaded necklace is around his neck; a Log Pose, red and white striped bracelet, and orange elbow guard on his left arm, as well as the tattoo ASCE with the S crossed out on his left bicep; black shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt with a rectangular belt buckle with an A on it, a blue pouch around his left thigh, and a dagger in a green sheath on his left hip; topped off with nice black boots. He ate the Flame-Flame Fruit, and clearly has the power figured out.

"Greetings," Ace bows his head. "Thank you for looking after my kid brother, and for keeping my favorite little sister safe," he looks up, a grin on his face.

"Don't mention it," the others bow back.

"What are you doing in Alabasta, Ace?" Luffy stands up, smiling wide.

"You didn't get my message?" Ace asks. "Back on Drum Island?"

"A message?" I tilt my head slightly to the side.

"Never mind," Ace shakes his head. "It doesn't matter now. I'm glad that I got to see both of you. I'm here on a minor business matter, and I have been wanting to see you, Luffy, and I had a feeling that Akari would be right by your side."

I smile, wrapping my arms around my stomach.

"So, how about you join Whitebeard's Pirates? Your friends can come too, of course."

"No thanks," Luffy says.

Ace chuckles, "Well, I had a feeling that you would say that, but it didn't hurt to ask."

"W-w-whitebeard?" Usopp chokes out. "Is that what your tattoo on your back is?"

"Yes, and I am proud of it. Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I have ever known. I am going to help him become King of the Pirates. It won't be you, Luffy!" He chuckles once again.

"Well, that's okay with me," Luffy says. "It just means we have to fight."

"Why don't you sit down and talk?" Sanji says. "I can even make some tea."

"There's no need for that," Ace steps onto the deck. "I only need to talk with Akari for a moment, and then I will finish my business up here."

"Me?" I point at the middle of my chest, feeling so small looking up at Ace.

"Yes, you, little troublemaker," he places his arm around my shoulder, pulling me up the steps and away from every one else. "I was a little shocked to see you, but I knew that the sea flows through your veins, as it does for me."

"Shouldn't you be spending time with Luffy before you go?" I tease. "The two of you did drink sake to become brothers all those years ago."

"No one has told you, have they?" He pulls his arm away, stepping to stand in front of me.

"Told me what?" I furrow my eyebrows together.

He slightly smiles, "I could tell when you saw me for the first time today that you're still in the dark about who you truly are. Luffy may be my adoptive brother, but you are my true sister, and another Will of D holder. There's a reason that I wanted you to take the Portgas name. To claim it as your own."

"Hold on," I close my eyes for a second, shaking my head as a way to clear my mind. "You're saying that I am actually related to you? That I am a Portgas like you?"

"That's right," he grins. "Our mother, Portgas D. Rouge, loved both of us very much, that I know. I was with her when you were born, and I fell in love with you in that moment. I knew that I would protect you no matter what. But, we are both targets in the eyes of the World Government because of who my dad for sure is, and who your father might be. So that damn old man separated us," he sighs. "The family you were put with had just lost a baby daughter, so it would be okay to just have you take that place. I went to live where Luffy would eventually end up."

"That's why you were always there, trying to keep me close," I softly say, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. "Why you pushed me to learn something to defend myself. Why you were okay with Luffy and I hanging out all the time, because you knew he'd keep me safe when you weren't there."

He chuckles, "For the most part, yes. I don't think anyone knows who you are besides a select few people. Luffy doesn't know, and you can be the one to tell him if you want."

"I probably will," I nod. "What was she like?"

"Who?"

"Our mother."

"Oh, well, she was caring, and beautiful like you, and she gave us our signature freckles," he pinches my cheeks.

I giggle, slapping his hands away, "Ace, stop it. You're such a meanie!" I squeal, trying to squirm away.

"It's because I love you," he chuckles, wrapping his arms around me.

"Gah, you're so warm," I groan. "This sucks!"

"I don't know when I'll get to see you again, so I want to get this sibling moment in before we have to part."

"I wish we could have been like this back then," I sigh, relaxing into his hold. "I'd like to have been able to have a brother instead of a terrible sister."

"You've always had me as a brother, we just had to act a bit differently," he holds me out by the shoulders. "You've always been my sweet little sister. Now," he grins, "what is up with you and Luffy, hm?"

"Ah," I squeak. "What have you seen?"

"Enough to know that my baby sister is head over heels for her captain," he teases. "Does he understand anything about relationships?"

"Yes, he does," I stick my tongue out at him for a few seconds. "We're dating, for your information, so you can keep teasing or whatever the hell you want to do, but I am so damn happy. Ace, this is right where I know that I am meant to be, and that feels so good. For the first time in my life, everything feels so right."

He rubs his hand on top of my head, grinning like he always does. "Good, good. That's what I've always wanted for you. I might have to take you as a prize when we meet again and I take you down," he pinches my sides, making me burst into giggles. "How would you like that?"

"You're assuming that you'll win, and that's not right," I grab his hands, holding them away from me. "Thank you," I look up at Ace, "for telling me. It feels good knowing. I'll have to make sure that my bounty posters have the correct name."

He leans down, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. "I'll keep my eye out for that." He stands back up, placing his arm around my shoulder and leading us back down to where everyone else is. "Whelp, now that my job here is done, I'll be heading out."

"What did you talk about?" Luffy bounds up to us.

"I'll tell you when we have a few moment, okay?" I pat Luffy's cheek.

"Won't the Navy be