Nami's POV

"OH MY KAMI!!"

Sanji appears in the doorway, huge pink hearts in his eyes, perverted expression on his face. "What is it, Nami-swaaaannn?" he swoons, doing his weird wiggling dance.

I ignore him, gripping the wanted poster in my hands tightly, tears in my eyes. Though unlike with Arlong, these are tears of relief. "Raya..."

The rest of the crew, having heard my shout, crowds into the kitchen, where I was going through the mail while looking over my completed map of Drum Island. I never expected to see this though...

"Nami!" Chopper cries, putting his little hooves on my knees. "You're crying! What's wrong? Did something happen?"

I smile at the newest addition to our crew, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Nothing's wrong," I assure him. "It's actually good news. Great news."

"What is it?" Luffy has his head stuck in the fridge and it sounds like he's already got a piece of meat in his mouth. Sanji, grumbling under his breath about our baka captain, drops his foot onto Luffy's head. "Stop raiding the fridge, moron! You just ate lunch!"

Once Sanji successfully drags Luffy from the fridge, and I know the rest of the crew has their attention on me, I look up. Only two people here will have no idea what I'm talking about.

I turn the poster around. "She's alive," I say. A shocked silence settles over everyone, while Chopper and Vivi glance around uneasily.

Luffy is the first person to speak. "RAYA'S ALIVE! AND SHE'S GOT A BOUNTY!! LET'S CELEBRATE!!"

Usopp and Sanji shout their agreement, with Sanji promising to prepare a feast in honor of our lost crew mate.

Feeling his eyes on me, I hand the poster to Zoro. I smile at him, as a small one of his own flickers across his face. "She looks happy," I comment, and instantly feel bad about it. If she's happy, is that why she hasn't come back? I can see my unease reflected in Zoro's eyes. "Yeah," he agrees. "She does look happy."

In the photo, Raya wears her white bandana around her head, like Zoro sometimes does with his black one. A huge grin fills her pretty face, her pink eyes flashing with amusement. I can't imagine why she's so happy, but it makes me feel a little better knowing she isn't sad and scared. The area directly around her is alive with dancing flames but she looks completely unconcerned. Another perk from her Devil Fruit power. One thing does strike me as odd though.

"What happened to her hair?" I wonder aloud, peering over Zoro's shoulder. He shrugs. "She might've had to dye it," he suggests. I nod, just as I notice something in the background.

A ship.

A pirate ship.

"Do you recognize that flag?" I ask, and Zoro squints, trying to make out the tiny image in the corner of the photo. Eventually, he shakes his head. "Never seen it before."

Just then, Luffy runs past, with Sanji hot on his heels. Luffy's arms are laden with possibly every bit of meat we have on board, and Sanji is (obviously) furious with our idiot captain. But Luffy skids to a stop, making Sanji collide with his back and almost tumble to the floor.

"Shanks!"

"What?" I ask, baffled.

Luffy grins and grabs the poster, holding it in front of his face so that it's turned towards us. He jabs a finger at the pirate flag in the corner. "That's Shanks' flag," he says, and my eyes widen. "Hehe, I'd recognize it anywhere! Raya must be with him!"

"Luffy," I say, in an attempt to calm him down. "They could just be passing by; we don't know that she's with them," I reason. He just pouts childishly and throws his hands on his hips, dropping all his meat to the floor in the process. Sanji swoops in and gathers up all the food, grumbling some more as he returns it to the fridge.

"Raya is with Shanks," my captain says firmly.

"But why?" I ask.

"Excuse me?"

Zoro, Luffy and I turn to look at Vivi, who has Chopper in her arms. She's frowning. "Who's this Raya you're all so excited about?" she asks. Chopper looks at us all, his eyes alight with curiosity. He wants to know just as badly.

"Sorry," I say, beaming at them. "We met her before we entered the Grand Line. She... she's been missing for a long time."

"Missing?" Chopper asks, his eyes now sparkling with fear for a girl he's never met. Aw, I just love him!

"Yes, why haven't you gone after her, if she's missing?" Vivi asks.

"Couldn't," Zoro says shortly, pushing off the table he's been leaning on and stalking out the door. I sigh, watching him go. That look of self-loathing is back in his eyes again.

"It's a little more complicated than Zoro's letting on," I say, seeing the pair's blank expressions. "A lot was going on at the time."

"What happened to her?"

I look to Luffy to answer, because I wasn't there when it happened. He's turned away though, a dark, sad expression on his face. I remember Zoro telling me that Luffy tried to get Raya back, but Mihawk was just too good.

"A while back," I say, looking at Vivi and Chopper again. "Zoro fought a man named Dracule Mihawk, who's the Greatest Swordsman in the World. When Zoro lost, Raya thought he was dead and she challenged Mihawk. But she lost too and... he took her."

Sanji and Usopp have stopped their party preparations, and are looking at me with big, sad eyes. Sanji has anime tears streaming down his cheeks. I roll my eyes. He's only like this because he's upset he couldn't help a woman in danger. I think it really hurt his pride.

"Why would he do that? Is she special?" Chopper asks, tilting his head to one side. I shake my head. "She's got a Devil Fruit power," I say. "But other than that, she's only special to us."

Raya's POV

"RAYA! RAYA! RAYA!"

A bunch of rookies have me up on their shoulders, and they keep tossing me into the air, catching me while I scream. Half in terror, half in joy.

I have a bounty, and I'm damn proud of it.

"50,000,000 berries," I hear Yasopp mutter, possibly in disbelief. "All she did was set fire to a ship!"

The next toss goes a little haywire, and I'm thrown away from all the rookies, only to land in Benn Beckman's arms. I smile gratefully at him, and he smiles back before setting me on the ground.

The rookies chorus an apology, but I was them off. They didn't mean it, so it's no big deal.

"I don't think that bounty if for the ship," I tell Yasopp.

"Eh? Then what's it for?"

"Commodore Bayer's ruined pants."

He looks at me for a moment, before spluttering with laughter. I grin as he nearly falls to the floor in his hysterical fit. I'm not even that funny. I think it's cause he's thoroughly drunk.

"Did you really scare the Commodore that badly?" Benn asks, skillfully ignoring the sniper, now hiccuping and laughing at the same time. It's a really obnoxious noise if you've never heard it.

I shrug. "Well, yeah, I guess. I barely even touched him, but he looked ready to pass out anyway. I guess I can be frightening when I wanna be, huh?" I grin evilly at the first mate. He just ruffles my hair, chuckling.

Another one of my wanted posters drifts through the air above me, and I snatch it quickly before another rookie can get their hands on it. I'm really afraid that they're gonna start a shrine to me or something else even more disturbing.

I grimace when I set my eyes on my name. "Really, they couldn't come up with a better nickname?" I grumble. "I mean, 'Red-Haired Demon' Flynn D. Raya? I am NOT a demon."

"Maybe they assumed that's what the D stands for," Benn suggests mildly, holding back another amused grin. I shoot him an annoyed glare. "Ha ha, very funny," I mutter, looking back down at the photo. I wonder when they had time to snap a picture anyway...

Ah well, at least they got my good side.

"Do you think they know which crew I'm a part of?" I ask curiously. Benn shrugs, placing a foot on his sniper's chest as he rolls past, stopping him in his tracks. The hiccups and giggles pause as he glares up at the first mate. "It's possible they believe you're affiliated with us," Benn goes on, once again oblivious to Yasopp's presence.

"That's kind of what I'm afraid of," I admit. "I don't want my crew to think I abandoned them or something. It'll break their hearts."

I don't add: If they even care anymore. As much as I don't want to admit it, it's extremely likely they've moved on and forgotten me. In all the time I've been away, I haven't heard of them searching for me at all. Does that mean they never cared in the first place? If I'd lost one of them, I wouldn't stop until I found them. What if, when I finally track them down, they don't want me?

That thought is almost too much to bear.

Benn, as well as Yasopp, must see how pale I've gone, because Benn frowns while Yasopp sobers up, scrambling to his feet. However, before they can ask any questions, I force an acceptable smile onto my face. I can't let them see how distraught I am, when I'm leaving in a few weeks.

"Where's Dad-- I mean Shanks," I amend quickly. I know everyone already heard me call him Dad plenty of times, but I still feel self conscious about it, even if I don't understand why.

"Right here, kiddo."

Shanks pulls me into a quick hug from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. I smile and spin around to give him a proper hug. He's as warm as ever and I instantly feel a thousand times better. Shanks is the best cure for my troublesome thoughts.

"Did you see my bounty?" I ask, holding up my wanted poster proudly. He chuckles. "Yeah, I did," he says, smiling warmly. "I'm so proud of you!"

Huh. I don't think most parents would be proud of their kid earning such a high bounty for themselves. Another reason him being my dad just feels so right.

"Your mom would be impressed too," he adds, and a blissfully warm feeling spreads from my toes to the tips of my ears. Mom. Talking about her with anyone else only serves to remind me of my grief. But with Shanks, I can be happy as I remember her, and think of how she'd feel about what I'm doing, and what's going on in the world. He makes he pain of losing her go away, if only for a while.

"You think so?" I ask, feeling a little sheepish. He nods, and a strange sense of relief washes over me. He must have known her better than I did, so hearing him tell me what Mom might've thought about my bounty... It makes me smile.

"Alright!" Shanks shouts, addressing all the crew now. "To celebrate Raya's bounty, we're throwing a party!"

"WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!!"

And the sake starts flowing...

"Hey kid," Yasopp says, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "You and me. Drinking contest. Last one conscious-"

"-gets to draw on the loser's face!" I finish excitedly. He blinks, probably thinking he's heard me wrong. I know it's kinda childish, but I just wanna have some fun, and I'm a little nervous as to what Yasopp had in mind. Probably something humiliating and involving guns. Anyway, I've been building up my tolerance to alcohol since being on this ship. So I'm pretty confident I can at least surpass my previous six bottle limit. For some reason, I feel the need to be on par with Nami and Zoro, and while I'm almost positive that won't happen in the near future, I'm still striving for that goal. Dunno why, but at least I shouldn't be passing out any time soon because of it.

Yasopp finally smiles, agreeing to my terms. "Interesting wager," Benn comments, following us as we head inside and take a seat at a small table. Shanks follows also, apparently wanting to join in the contest. The wager's only between me and Yasopp though, because I've seen my father and Benn drink. It's scary how much sake they can take in before they even show the slightest signs of being drunk.

"Dad, are you sure you're ok with me drinking?" I ask, mostly out of curiosity. I'm interested in his reaction more thn my thing else.

And I can't say I'm really surprised when he smiles his carefree smile. "You're seventeen and a pirate, Raya," he reasons. "I'd say its entirely your decision."

"Just checking," I say, as everyone raises the first bottle to their lips, throwing back their heads. As I finish and set mine down on the table, an image of Zoro and Nami flashes through my head and I smile softly.

Alright, even if they don't want me, I need to see them one last time. To make sure they rescued Nami, and that Zoro really is alright. As much as it pains me to admit, that cocky Swordsman has been on my mind for a while now. I know he was alive when I.... left, but that's about it. I have no idea how bad his injuries were, and I just really need to see him healthy before I can release my claim on the crew.

And before they can release their claim on my heart.

*********

Sorry it was kinda short! This was mostly a filler chapter to show everyone's reactions to Raya's new bounty, so nothing much was supposed to happen. Next chapter though, we see the return of the Straw Hats! And one of the best looking characters in the series....

Excuse me while I go be an epically hopeless fangirl...