Krieg shoots multiple cannonballs trying to deter Luffy. When those do nothing, he shots his stakes, piercing the boy in the upper arm and his side from the way I can see him.

"Are you sure?" Sanji is shocked. "He's been hit multiple times."

"His mind is now set, and he is not going to retreat," I nod a few times. A small smile forming on my face.

Once Luffy is close enough, he flips back to grab the mast, flinging it forward to slam into Krieg. However, Krieg steps to the side to miss the shot, but Luffy is too pissed to really care. He throws his fist back, letting it stretch as far as it can go, causing Krieg to turn his entire cape into a spike hell.

"What a bitch," Sanji growls. "Covered in spikes. The whole thing."

"That is going to hurt like hell," I nibble on my bottom lip.

"Don't hit him chore boy!" The cooks shout out.

"Gum-Gum...Bullet!" Luffy's fist slams into the cape, which then slams right into Krieg's face to send him to the ground. His fist coming away a bloody mess.

"Hell yes!" I scream, my fist shooting into the air as I happily jump around.

"How in the world?" Sanji blurts out.

Krieg's pirates are losing their mind at the fact that their captain was taken down by a kid they didn't think was capable of anything. It is music to my ears.

"So, this grave is which one of ours again?" Luffy taunts. "Mine," he reaches up to pull the stake out of his arm with his bloody hand, "or yours." He holds the stake out as a smirk is present on his face. "See!? Don't count me out just because you know that you have sneaky weapons or a spiked cape up your sleeve! This is not my time to die!"

"He's crazy," Zeff steps up to Sanji and me. "I'm sure the girl already knew that, but watch him closely, Sanji."

"I've been around him my entire life, and he's always been like this," I happily sigh. "Rushing into a fight, and never backing down."

"It is not often that a fool comes along who has his eyes on something, and the only way to stop him is if he is killed. It can be a real pain in the ass to have that someone as an enemy. No matter if he wins or loses, I will always admire a man like that."

"If this isn't your time to die," Krieg slowly moves to stand up. "Then whose is it!?" He shoves his shield fist up into Luffy's stomach, sending him flying into the air. "I knew it. It is you after all!"

"No!" Luffy exclaims as he flips to smash his foot down on the top of Krieg's head. "It is still you!"

Krieg crash to the ground once more as Luffy stumbles a bit in his landing. The pirates still in the water are in an uproar that this is happening to their captain.

"He is the man who is going to be king," I breath out.

"Stop your foolish stammering!" Krieg bursts into a standing position, placing the shields on his hand together onto a stick as a spear tip protrudes from the shields. He smashes it into the section their standing on, causing Luffy to wrap onto what is left of the mast.

"The Might Battle Spear!" The pirates say in horror. "His deadliest weapon!"

"He's like a lame clown with too many party tricks," I grumble.

Krieg slams the spear at Luffy, causing the boy to fly out over the open sea. With quick thinking, Luffy reaches back to grab some railing and pulls him back onto a piece of wreckage. It is clear that he is slowly getting weaker from how long this battle has been going on.

"He's lost too much blood, and who knows how long this battle could go on for," Sanji speaks up. "This is getting worse by the moment."

I fall to my knees as my legs start to shake. "No worry, no fear."

Krieg shoves the spear towards Luffy who bends back to dodge it, and then he just keeps swinging it while Luffy keeps dodging. Then, when it looks like Krieg is finally going to land a hit, Luffy quickly wraps around the staff of the spear. It is only a second of respite before Krieg flings him off and makes the move to shove the spear right through him. However, Luffy is able to slam his fists into the spear tip, but is still blasted back onto another wreckage piece.

"Chore boy!" Sanji cries out.

Luffy takes a moment to get back up, in which time Krieg pulls his spear back to swipe at him again. Still, Luffy is able to slam his fists into the tip, but that doesn't mean he isn't thrown down onto a deck piece.

"I know you have a plan Luffy, so show us what the hell you are doing," I take a deep breath, trying to wash the fear away.

Luffy pushes himself to stand before going into a squat position, so he can place one hand on his knee while the other is a fist touching the ground.

In the next moment, Krieg's spear shatters into multiple pieces.

"My Mighty Battle Spear!" Krieg shouts in disbelief. "What did you do!"

"I landed five punches!" Luffy replies. "Now brace yourself, because now there is enough room for me to send you flying!"

My eyes widen as I realize that Luffy let Krieg swing his spear around and got hit by it so that anything he deemed in the way could be blasted out of existence. Then my whole body relaxes as I know he has this all under control.

"With the point broken, your spear is just a bomb on a stick," Luffy manically smiles. "Your might just got cut in half."

"I'm getting sick of Krieg talking," I flop onto my butt, stretching my legs out in front of me. "Hearing him go on about how he's powerful without the spear is annoying."

"Krieg's right about the injuries, though," Sanji says. "Chore boy has so many wounds, and who knows how much blood he's lost. One more hit from that weapon might be his last."

"Krieg does have a lot of firepower."

"It doesn't matter if a man has powerful weapons," Zeff says. "Anyone can be taken out by blind grit. In the life-and-death battles of a pirate, the one who hesitates will be buzzard food."

"What are you getting at?" Sanji asks.

"I can only say this for the kid, but he has no give. In the end, weapons mean nothing. Grit means more than steel."

Krieg rushes at Luffy once again. This time the boy sticks his tongue out before reaching his arms up to grab onto the yard of a mast that is still sort of standing. He then taunts Krieg with monkey noises before Krieg destroys the mast. Luffy is able to snap the yard off, and then proceeds to use it like a spear. If only Krieg didn't use a flamethrower on his wrist to burn the piece of wood.

"How much shit does he have in his arsenal?" I throw my hands up in exasperation.

Luffy jumps away from the fire. "Gum-gum...Gatling Gun!" His fists fly at Krieg at an insane speed, though it is hard to see if any hit the target.

Krieg laughs, "You really think that you can dent this armor? This is the toughest steel to be found."

Luffy's head tilts back as he takes a deep breath, then his arm is flinging back to gather speed. "Gum-Gum Bullet!" His fist connects with Krieg's stomach, and for a moment no one moves.

Until Krieg sends Luffy flying back by pushing out his stomach.

"You really thought that you could shatter my armor!" Krieg bellows, jumping to the top of the destroyed mast. "I am the strongest man with the best armor. This is might, boy! Now, you will die for opposing me." He tosses cannonballs down onto Luffy. "The strong will come out on top!"

Without hesitating, Luffy rushes up the mast. Both his hands going the opposite direction to prepare for a move. "And I will be the one on top!"

"It's a trap!" Sanji screams. "Don't go up to him!"

"Gum-Gum!" His voice is cut off when a cannonball explodes in his face, but he doesn't fall back down. Instead, he appears through the smoke unfazed. "Bazooka!" His hands slam into Krieg's stomach, and the man soars.

"A tiny crack is all you could do!" Krieg evilly laughs. "All that for failure, and now I will be the victor."

I take in a deep breath, holding it as I await the next move.

Luffy jumps to be above Krieg. His hands shooting into the sky. "Gum-Gum Bazooka!" All his power goes into smashing his fists into Krieg's stomach, finally destroying his armor as blood explodes from the man's mouth.

I grin and let out my breath, tapping my feet together as everyone around is freaking out.

"Shut up, idiots!" Krieg shouts, and then shoots a net (from yet another hidden barrel) at Luffy.

"Wait, you're still alive!" Luffy replies.

"Of course!" He begins to manically laugh. "There is no way that you can escape from my iron net! The sea waits below, and now I can easily toss you in! I get the last laugh, just like I knew I always would."

My fingers tangle into my hair at my temples. There's nothing I can say or do in a moment like this but believe that Luffy can wiggle free.

Luffy's arms and legs pop out of the net. His legs then start to twist together as he aims them right at Krieg, eventually being able to grab the man's face with his feet.

"How does he do it?" Zeff asks. "Even now, how does he push on to keep fighting?"

I look up at Zeff with curious eyes.

"What?" Sanji mumbles.

"You were thinking the same thing, yes?"

I look back to the fight as the pirates in the water aim their weapons at Luffy.

"This is over!" Luffy shouts.

Sanji jumps up from beside me, rushing over to take out a few pirates that are aiming at Luffy. "I wouldn't do that. All of you are going down."

I pop up into a standing position, glaring over at the pirates. "Eat shit, boys."

"Gum-Gum!" Luffy legs are beginning to untwirl at an impressive rate, and he seems to be aiming to slam Krieg down onto the deck of the Baratie. "Giant Gavel!" He slams Krieg down head first.

"Way to go Luffy!" I call out, hoping that he has thought his plan through to save himself.

He hasn't, as he crashes into the sea still in the net.

I frantically look around for someone that I can trust to dive into the ocean and save that boy.

"That kids grit is up there with some of the mightiest," Zeff says heading back to the restaurant. "But, that fool is chewing a spear of his own. You better haul him up. The kid can't float."

"Please Sanji," I rush over to the cook. "Please save him. Devil Fruits are hated by the sea, and he'll sink to the bottom if given enough time."

"You should have said something sooner, shitty old man!" Sanji toes his shoes off then flings off his jacket before diving into the sea.

"I trust that he can get to Luffy," I take a deep breath, looking over my body at the blood that is all over. I'll need some bandages without a doubt to stop this bleeding. "Oh, his hat," I turn on my heel, walking over to where Luffy placed his hat. It feels like an eternity since then.

I pick up the straw hat, placing it on my head without a second thought. Then I walk back to where Sanji dove into the water, hoping to see him burst through the surface with Luffy in his hold any moment now.

The seconds tick by agonizingly slow, until the two boys pop out of the water. Sanji gasping for air as Luffy is passed out with his arm around Sanji's shoulder.

"Ah, Sanji, thank you so much," I gush, placing my hands over my heart. "A true hero."

"Anything for you, my darling!" Sanji tenderly smiles, and then his face goes slack as he must be thinking about all the hell we've been through today.

"Let me help," I crouch down, reaching out to grab Luffy and help pull him onto the deck. When I reach down to give Sanji a hand, he flashes a smile but refuses the help. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sanji takes a seat, bending a leg up to place his arm on it. "Like I could have a nurse fixing me up," he tiredly smirks at me.

"Maybe," I giggle. "You might get lucky with having a band-aid placed on you by me, but anything more is out of my expertise."

"No one stands before me!" Krieg's slurring voice almost shatters my ear drums.

"I want him to stop talking," I groan, doing my best to zone him out as I focus on Luffy. My fingers combing through his wet hair.

Krieg continues to scream about his strength and winning. It is a bit sad to hear him rambling on in the state he's in.

"Don Krieg," Gin's voice gets me to look over and punches his captain in the stomach. Then he is able to throw his silent captain over his shoulder. "We lost. We will take this defeat like men, and we will start over from the bottom. Sanji, thank you for all your kindness."

"Whatever, just don't come back," Sanji says.

I giggle, watching as Luffy's face relaxes and a smile forms.

Patty and Carne are shouting at Gin to stop pushing his body after being poisoned, but it is clear the man will not listen.

"Sanji," Gin says. "When he wakes up, can you tell him something for me? Tell him I hope our paths cross, on the grand line."

"You aren't going to walk away from this crew?" I ask.

"I thought about it for a while, but no, I am not walking away. This is all I want to do. My dreams have burst from Don Krieg's dreams." Blood spurts out of his mouth as an after effect of the poison.

"Gin!" Sanji and I exclaim with everyone else.

He stumbles, but remains standing. "Who knows how much time I have left after the poison. I probably should just sit down and rest, but I feel like committing my life to something is good medicine. I'll be hunted no matter what I do. I have been hiding in Krieg's shadow for so long, and I have finally been able to get away from that. Now I don't worry about the enemy, or even my own life. The kid taught me about that!"

"Patty, Carne!" Sanji snaps. "Get the supply boat ready for these guys!"

I chuckle as the cooks argue with Sanji, and then the man snaps at them once again. At least this day is ending with joy.

+~*~*~*~*~*~+

I take a deep breath of the fresh air, looking out at the sea from my spot on the floor with my back against the Baratie. My legs stretched out so I can see all my bandages. Luffy's straw hat sitting atop my head.

After the fight and getting Don Krieg's men out of the area, the cooks went to work on cleaning up the surrounding area. Sanji and I became makeshift doctors, going around to make sure that no one had any serious injuries. Then we patched up Luffy, and then ourselves. As time went on, Sanji stopped getting all lovey-eyed and actually treated me like another one of the guys. Well, he did his best to, but I could tell that he still saw me as a girl. His nickname for me has now stuck, and I don't mind it much anymore.

"Ah, Akari darling, is he still sleeping?" Sanji walks over, leaning back on the railing to look at me.

"I'm hoping that he wakes up soon," I mess with the hem of my shirt. "Did you sleep well?"

"I've had better sleeps," he shrugs. "My body doesn't ache as much anymore, so that is a good sign. Are you doing well?"

"The cuts on my legs sometimes sting, but it is nothing I can't handle. Luffy's snores helped relax me to fall to sleep." I stand up, walking over to be right in front of Sanji. "Thank you so much for all that you have done so far, Sanji. All I can think to repay you is this," I push onto my toes, pressing a kiss to the band-aid right below his eye. I fall back on my heels, taking a step back.

Sanji's face goes red in an instant, and his eyes glaze over like he's in love. "Ah, my darling!"

I chuckle, "You are crazy."

"My hat!" Luffy's voice causes me to spin on my heel and look into the room where he's sitting up in bed.

"I have it," I skip over to him, taking the straw hat off and holding it out to him.

"Akari," he grins, taking his straw hat. "Were you keeping it safe?"

"Of course," I take a seat on the edge of the bed to be level with him. "Since you were passed out, I felt like for the time being, the task of wearing it fell to me."

"That sounds like a good plan." He leans towards me. "Did you get hurt during the fight?"

"Only some cuts on my legs," I kick my legs up to show off my bandages. "Luckily they had these super cute ones."

"Did you get to fight?"

I nod, "I kicked ass. It felt good. Watching you defeat that prick Krieg was also amazing to watch. I have to learn not to worry about you so much, though. You always have a plan."

"I mean, sometimes I think of something right in the moment, but I never back out once I settle on something." He narrows his eyes at me. "Your freckles have really come in after spending all the time in the sun. You are even cuter."

"Luffy," I squeal, shoving him away as giggles flutter through my mouth. My cheeks heating up in a few moments.

He chuckles, "What? Do you not believe me?"

"I believe anything that comes out of your mouth," I look over at Sanji.

"Are you two done?" Sanji asks.

"Sorry, sorry," I run a hand through my hair.

"We ran out of bandages for you, so sorry about that."

"I don't need them," Luffy says.

I look back to see him starting to peel all the bandages off. "Well, at least you had them on for a little while."

"Did the pirates leave?"

"Thanks to you," Sanji answers.

"He said that he hopes to see us out there on the Grand Line," I look back out at Sanji.

"Gin wanted us to tell you that."

"He lived?" Luffy moves to sit right next to me.

"I'm pretty sure he is the captain now." I quickly press a kiss to Luffy's cheek. "He'll never be as good a captain as you though."

"Ah, dumpling," he whispers, tapping my nose with his index finger. "I'll always be the best captain on the seas."

"Hey, aren't you free from being chore boy?"

"Oh yeah!" Luffy looks over at Sanji. "My time as chore boy is over since I made that deal with the old man."

"Right, congratulations," Sanji says.

"Are you going to-" I start to ask Sanji about joining our crew.

"No," he cuts me off. "I won't be joining the crew. I'm going to stay here as a cook until the shit-geezer acknowledges that I have skill."

Luffy's arm