One Piece:The Fourth Brother

There was a small celebration onboard Going Merry.

After leaving Baratie, Sanji went right to organizing the supplies, and floating around Nami like a love-struck moron.

Buggy and Usopp finally managed to create a Buggy Bomb small enough, that it could be fired from Usopp's slingshot, or from a mechanism inside Buggy's boots.

And while the bomb was only about half as powerful as it's predecessor, the fact it was just a bit bigger than a bullet, easily made up for that. The mechanism on Buggy's boots was designed to fire from the heel, with a magazine of five Buggy Minibombs following his Achyles tendon. By clicking his heels together, the mechanism on both his feet was primed to fire, and with every straight kick, one Minibomb would be fired from that foot, by a small spring mechanism. While this made his boots a bit bigger, it was no big deal for the clown.

Luffy was sitting on top of Merry's head, fishing. He had yet to catch anything.

Zoro, against the protests of everyone, was training in the middle of the main deck. The others simply gave up on trying to convince him to take it easy.

Aden was using his powers to propel the ship forward, while also reading a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, that Shanks gave to him years ago.

"Why are you even reading that? Don't you already have a Devil Fruit?" came a question from Nami, who sat nearby not drawing a map for once, but reading the newspaper.

"It pays to be prepared. While we will certainly meet people with unknown Fruits, we will also meet those who are known. Any advantage is better than none, right?"

"I guess." Nami said with a contemplative tone of voice, as she looked up at the sails.

Seeing them filled with wind, while the the natural current was going the opposite direction, made her think.

"Hey.. If you can do this," she said pointing to the sails "why do you need me?" she asked with a serious tone.

"You're our navigator. And a friend. Just because i can push the ship forward, doesn't mean i have any idea where we're going. That's up to you." Aden explained with a smile.

Nami gave a small smile of her own, and returned to her own reading.

.

It has been a few hours later, that a loud splash came from the front of the ship.

"OHHH!! I caught a big one!" screamed Luffy excitedly.

Seeing the huge sea-cow, he decided to punch it, after it nearly flipped the ship.

"Luffy! Do not hit it. It seems harmless." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette.

Looking up at the sea monster, Sanji noticed it staring at them hungrily.

"*phhhh* So that's how it is." he said, blowing out some smoke.

"You monster. Take this!" he jumped towards the beast, kicking it right in the head.

The sea-cow looked dazed for a moment, before falling backwards with a huge bump on it's head.

"That's it then. We can use it to pull us now. Gives Aden a chance to take a break." Sanji said taking a drag from his cigarette.

"Not really needed, but appriciated nonetheless, Chef." Aden said, not even lifting his eyes from the book this whole time.

"Hey! Ya hippo crate! You told me not to hit it, yet you hit it anyway!" shouted an upset Luffy.

"It's 'hypocrite', little brother." Aden corrected.

"That's what i said!" replied Luffy, puffing his cheeks, upset.

"*sigh* Nevermind." Aden gave up.

"Hey Luffy, didn't you hear him? You're saying it wrong." added Usopp, trying to be helpful.

"Don't bother. When he gets like this, he's like a brick wall." said Aden,before anyone could reply.

.

Some time later, after attaching a rope to the sea-cow and making it pull the ship, the crew was each doing their own thing. Sanji was preparing lunch, Buggy was attempting to split into smaller and smaller pieces, with some success, Usopp was tinkering with some thing or other, Zoro fell asleep on the deck, and Nami went to talk to Aden, who was currently sitting cross-legged and floating about a meter off the ground.

Nami simply stopped nearby and watched with interest.

"Hello, Little Thief. Need something?" Aden asked without opening his eyes.

"Yeah, i wanted to talk to you about something." Nami began, not even surprised he knew she was there"But first, i wanna ask what you're doing?" she asked with curiosity.

"Just some control excercises. My power is inherently wild and hard to keep in check." Aden began explaining "That means i have to always be in control of it, as not to hurt my allies." he continued as he stood up from his floating-sitting position "What i was doing just now, was simply feeling the natural wind currents around us, and sensing where they want to go. At the same time, i was sensing everything through air pressure. The waves, the deck, the sails and all of you on board."

Aden explained with a slight grin.

"Anyway what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"We are heading to where Arlong is, i checked. I'm...I'm not sure what to do next..." Nami said with slightly confused tone.

"Let's start from the beginning, then. Why did you start working for Arlong?" Aden asked.

Nami was unsure if she should tell him. Afterall, the years of living in fear for not only her own life, but the lives of everyone in Cocoyashi village left her very untrusting of others. But once again she reminded herself of Aden's promise, and how serious he was about keeping it. The fact he didn't even tell his brother about her planning to betray them, told her she could trust him.

"Okay." she said, taking a deep breath to ease her nerves.

"It started years ago, when Arlong came to our village. He demanded our surrender, but the woman who raised me, Bellmere, stood up to him. She sacrificed herself, to save me and my sister, Nojiko. After that, Arlong learned of my navigation and cartography skills, and gave me an offer. If i collect enough money, he would leave Cocoyashi and it's people alone. I was really close to the goal, when i met you. But..." Nami told the story before cutting herself off.

"But i made you a promise, and you chose to trust me. I am so sorry you had to go through all that. I promise you he will pay." Aden finished for her.

Nami only gave him a nod, knowing no more words were necessary.

"I am sorry i threw a wrench in your plan. But tell me honestly. Do you really believe Arlong will keep to his end of the deal?" Aden asked seriously.

"He...we had a deal. He wouldn't..." after thinking about it a bit, she realized she was so blinded by the hope of freeing her home, she failed to see that Arlong was lying to her all these years.

"Oh no." she began to tear up "I've been so stupid.. I...But maybe he was telling the truth. What if..." she started to get emotional, clutching at the shark tattoo on her shoulder.

"Hey. Hey. Hey!" Aden got her attention.

"It's okay. We will figure it out okay? I can go ahead if you want. See what the situation is?" Aden offered.

"How would you even know you're heading the right way?" she teased a bit, wiping her tears.

Seeing her in a bit better mood, Aden decided to capitalize on that.

"I'll just follow the smell of rotten shark. Should lead me right to Arlong." he said with a smirk.

"Hahahahaha! You're insufferable, you know that, Airhead?" she laughed at his dumb joke, her bad mood forgotten.

"Oh i am well aware, thank you." Aden said with a grin "Ooor...I could just head towards that island on the horizon." he finished walking towards the ropes holding the sea-cow.

"Okay, friend. Time to scram." Aden said as he used his ne dagger to slice the ropes.

"HEY! What are you doing, bro!? We could have kept it!" Luffy shouted after seeing Aden free the beast.

"For what? It's too big to use for food, because we simply cannot store it all, and i refuse to waste it. And we can't just keep a giant sea monster as a pet, as it would draw too much attention." Aden explained straightforwardly.

"I guess.. Fine! Whatever!" Luffy grumbled, but accepted the reasoning and returned to fishing. Sanji, overhearing Aden's comment about not wasting food, had a smile on his face.

"I think i'm gonna like that guy." Sanji thought to himself as he washed the dishes.

"Alright. Guys!? I'm flying ahead. I promised Nami i would check on the situation on the island, so that's what i'm doing." Aden told the rest of them.

"Wait what?" Asked a confused Luffy.

"What for? We are heading there anyway." added Buggy, while putting his head back on.

"Exactly. It may not be safe." said Usopp, shaking a bit.

"*snore* zzzzzzzz."

"Not my place to say." Aden said simply, with a tone that promised pain, if pushed for answers.

"Hey! He made a promise to a lady. Whatever the reason, we have no right to object!" said Sanji as he came outside for a smoke.

"Thank you, chef." said Aden.

Recieving a simple nod from the cook, he turned to leave.

"I'm off." Aden said as he simply flew away instead if turning into air.

"Darn. I wish i could fly." said Sanji to himself.

Nami was stood near the bow of the ship, watching Aden fly away with a complicated expression.

"Nami!" came a sudden shout from Luffy "What is the promise!?" he damanded childishly.

"*sigh* Okay. I'll tell you."

(And here goes another one. Bit slower i admit, but i really want to add some character interaction, instead of just fights and displays of power. I have obviously began to steer away from the general plot, because i refuse to make a simple retelling, with an extra character. Hope you enjoyed reading and i will see you next time.

Omega rolling out)