Hell! Problems, and Home!

The morning after the incident with the netting, Jack woke up before the sun, his eyes falling on Nojiko's sleeping figure. As he admired her, he couldn't help but think how lucky he truly was.

When he first met her, it had been but the spur of the moment to mess with her, and then following their meeting he had messed with her dozens of times, but stopped when he realized he couldn't fathom the thought of any other guy being with her.

After realizing that, Jack had surprised her when he genuinely asked her out on a date, surprising not just her but everyone else that knew him. Looking at her, he couldn't imagine any harm ever coming to her, which brought the memory of last night's incident to mind.

They all knew he would rather take the pain then let Nojiko be punished, which was why they were so confident it would work. Remembering it, Jack smiled to himself, then got out of bed as quietly as he could, got dressed as left the room.

After closing the door as quietly as possible, Jack turned into his shadow form and made his way into the other rooms, taking everyone else into his dark space, Selene included, then made himself a hearty breakfast, and put a few more meals in the fridge for Kureha, Chopper and Nojiko, before leaving the ship and back down to the island.

Jack walked made his way from house to house, then to the tent city that was built, distributing food and other necessities to the broken an injured people that were once slaves. After completing that task, Jack called Dragon and informed him to keep everyone away from the far side of the island, and to ignore any screaming that was heard there.

Once he finally arrived at a good area devoid of anyone else around, Jack brought the delinquents out from his dark space. "WHA-!!" Selene called out, only to be cut-off as a terrifying aura wrapped around her. Her very being was screaming at her that this was the end, but when she finally got the courage to look around, she noticed her Captain standing over her and the others she had met last night.

"Alright, ladies!! Time for 'Training!'" Jack said, his tone making everyone of them gulp. Although that could also be the literal shield of darkness swirling around him, but that could be anything. "What about breakfast?" Nami asked, her fear rising even more as Jack smiled at his question. "You'll get breakfast, when I say you get breakfast!" Jack said, teeth bared in a feral grin.

"Still think it was worth it?" Robin asked Nami in a whisper. "As long as he doesn't kill us, it should still be worth it, just not as much as I figured." Nami whispered back. At that moment, the terrifying aura disappeared, allowing all of them to get to their feet, but still none of them dared move from their spots, their eyes trained on the demon standing before them.

Looking into the scared eyes of his guild-mates, Jack could see they were all nervous, and right they should be, he thought as he pulled out metal bracelets, chains with large weighted square blocks attached to them, wooden swords, strange clothes, and a dozen large buckets filled with small rocks.

Walking to each person, Jack threw them a set of the clothes and 5 wooden swords, then he clamped a metal bracelet on Luke, Smoker and Robin, smiling like a mad man the entire time he did so. "Put on the clothes, then wait for further instruction." Jack said calmly, then pulled out a chair and a steaming plate of bacon, taking small bites and savoring it, quite loudly one might add, as he watched everyone line up in front of him after they had donned the extremely heavy clothes.

"This is soooo good!!" Jack said as he finished another piece of bacon, smiling as everyone's mouths started to salivate from the smell of the strips of meat. After eating a few more pieces and no one uttering a single word, Jack stood from his seat and walked towards his torture dolls. Smoker and Luke were the only ones who didn't flinch at Jack's approach, which just made Jack chuckle all the more.

"So you idiots like to cause pranks, do you? Well... I like pranks too." Jack said, walking around each person, observing their stance and how they each held the five swords protectively, all but Selene anyway. "This being your first training session, I'll let you watch the others go first while you do some exercises, but your turn is coming." Jack said, causing the little cat girl to start sweating.

"The loser will go without food for the remainder of the day, and will be given an extra hour of tortu- *cough* training!" Jack said, getting panicked expressions from everyone else.

(Selene POV)

Selene listened as Jack instructed them on what they were suppose to do, and she gulped nervously. 'Maybe joining them wasn't the best idea.' She thought, knowing it would be impossible for her to do any of the "Training" Jack mentioned.

When she learned what the wooden swords were for, she hugged her five swords tighter like they were her life line, and they may very well be. "Throughout the day, I will be throwing rocks at you. Each person is assigned two buckets worth of rocks that I can throw at you. You can try to dodge the rocks or block them with the wooden swords, and the first person to have all five of their swords broken is the loser. You can try and hide your swords, but I will do everything in my power to break them, so leaving them un-attended is very unwise, but it's up to you." Jack said, which was when Selene hugged her swords tighter.

"I know most of you have already played this little game, but it will be different this time. You must keep the weighted clothes on at all times, but you can get rid of them by sacrificing two swords, thus giving you a wider range of movement and less weight, but you can only do so right now." Jack paused to let that sink in, and see if any of them would sacrifice their swords.

Seeing no one break their swords, Selene decided not to do it as well. She knew she would be faster without this weight on her, but she had also watched how Jack moved, and with or without the weights, she knew she couldn't even come close to that speed. "Do you see those blocks with chains?" Jack asked as he pointed to the six blocks, each differing in size.

"Each of you will be assigned a block, and your goal is to drag it around the area, while trying to not lose your swords. We'll start the game off by letting Luke go first." Jack said, walking with Luke over to the largest block, then grab the end of the chain and latch it onto his wrist. "You may start running." Jack said, getting a sigh from Luke, before the man started to run, then stopped a moment later when the chain ran out of slack.

Luke pulled with everything he had, but only managed to move the block 3 inches, getting a small chuckle from Jack. *Boom!* Selene watched dumbly as Jack pulled his arm back and then a sonic boom rang out before Luke dropped to the ground, a sword on his back breaking in half, while also leaving a wicked looking wound on him.

"I-I-Is h-he gonna d-d-do that to me?" Selene asked, tears almost pouring out of her eyes. "Of course not!! He only does that to Luke because Luke is a special case. They are both two of the strongest people in the world, and Luke is the only one of us that can handle Jack when he wants to let lose. We might get a few small bruises and bumps, but he won't do anything that could kill us. At least not yet." Tashigi answered, getting a sigh of relief from Selene.

After a few more minutes of watching Luke jumping around and avoiding rocks, Selene asked, "Is he just punishing us, or is their an actual point to this?" Smoker took his eyes away from the punishment and down to Selene. "He is punishing us, but it is also great training. Out in the world, there will be many cases where you get trapped, as I'm sure you know all too well." Smoker paused as his gaze softened, knowing it wasn't something anyone would want to remember, let alone a child.

Getting a nod from Selene, Smoker continued, "This will strengthen your body, help your endurance, reflexes, eyes, weapon skills, and your Haki. The weights will build up muscle, moving around constantly will help with endurance, you will need to react quickly to avoid the rocks, and you will have to have sharp eyes to see them coming or to find him. We can't move to far, but he can move anywhere. You can use the swords to block or your body, but either way it will help to hone your skills with a sword, even if you don't like to use them. You probably don't know what Haki is yet, but you will given enough time." Smoker said, getting an "Oooooh" From Selene.

Turning back to the hell, Selene watched as Luke jumped through the air, changing directions mid-jump to avoid the rock, then used his wooden sword to send a wind blade at Jack, who countered it with wind blade of his own that he created from his leg. As more rocks flew at him, Luke coated his swords with something, turning them all black, getting a shocked look from Selene.

Turning a questioning gaze to Smoker, she asked, "Is that the Haki, you mentioned?" Without turning his eyes away, Smoker answered "Yeah, that's Haki. There are three different kinds of Haki, and both of them can use all three. Most people in the world are capable of using two of the Haki's, but only a few people in the entire world can use the third one."

Smoker's explanation just created more questions, but she knew now wasn't the time to ask them. Another ten minutes went by before Jack finally stopped throwing rocks at Luke, breaking two of the man's swords in the time he was doing his missile throwing. Luke got out of sight from Jack, then took a moment to rest and recover his aching body, which now sported dozens of bruises.

When Jack approached the others, he walked them all over to their respective blocks, the exception being Selene who was just standing there, then he started throwing rocks, thankfully much slower this time. After over an hour, every person had at least one broken sword, everyone except Selene.

"Time for a water break!" Jack said after he had just finished breaking Luke's third sword. Everyone was huffing, trying to catch their breath and collapsed to the ground. "Go and give them all some water." Jack said as he pulled out a few bottles of water and handed them to Selene.

Going to each person, Selene handed them a bottle of water before moving to the next person. After giving the last bottle of water to Nami, she turned to look at Jack who was eying each person like they were prey, and he was going to strike at any moment.

After the break, Jack led Selene over to a tiny block, then hooked her wrist into it. "I know this might bring up bad thoughts, but please bare with it. I want all of you to get so strong that you will never have to be in a situation like this." Jack said, his tone sounding apologetic.

Steeling herself, Selene gave a firm nod, then moved her swords all around her, doing just as she had watched the others do. She knew she couldn't mimic their movements perfectly, but she could give it her best shot. She also grabbed rocks around her, piling them next to the metal block to create a make-shift shield wall.

Jack smirked at her creativity, then began his assault once again. Everyone had been on guard from the moment Jack moved from his seat, so they were all prepared for the rain of pebbles. Time passed unimaginably slow for what felt like an eternity, but was only a few hours before someone had finally lost their last sword, shockingly it was Luke.

Although, Selene wasn't as surprised as the others, after all it was plain to see Jack was trying to break his a lot harder, and attacked him more frequently than the others. If Selene wasn't mistaken, she could swear the pebbles in Luke's bucket never seemed to end, but knowing that there probably wasn't anything she could do about it, she left it alone.

Even though Luke had been dubbed the 'Loser', the hell didn't end. It wasn't until the sun was setting, and the last sword had been broken that they were finally allowed to be done. Looking over to Smoker, Selene didn't see triumph on the man's face for having lasted the longest, but she did see he was smiling. 'What strange beings these lesser-minks are. (A.N. Lesser-minks are what minks refer to humans as.)

When they got back to the ship, everyone collapsed at the table, groans of pain heard all around. "It sure looks like you didn't hold back." Dr. Kureha said, giving everyone looks of sympathy. "What the hell happened to you?!!" Nojiko shouted, concerned at the state of everyone.

"A little bit of training and punishment for last night." Jack said, getting a look of confusion from Nojiko. "What did they do?" Nojiko asked curiously, getting gobsmacked looks from everyone. "We got punished for something she doesn't even remember?!!" Tashigi shouted, showing looks of betrayal, which was weird considering it was us that did the betrayal.

"You don't remember how they pinned you to the floor with a net, then shot at you with rubber bullets?" Jack asked, putting a plate of piping hot food in front of her. Not meeting Jack's eyes, Nojiko replied "To tell you the truth, the last thing I remember is flying with you. Everything else is a bit of a blur." Not missing a beat, Jack kissed her, which was also weird to Selene. 'Lesser-minks express themselves a lot more differently then I thought.' She internally thought, looking at the interactions closely.

"Don't worry about it. They have been punished for now, but it could change later. Anyway, let's eat." Jack said, then he passed food around to everyone, save for Luke, who just grumbled in annoyance. 'This is all my fault...' Selene thought, feeling guilty at having asked for Luke's help, although in her defense he had pretty much volunteered before she even asked.

Getting up from her chair, Selene took her plate and sat beside Luke, dividing her food in two, she gestured for Luke to eat some of hers. Before he could even say a word, she stood on her chair and hugged him, tears coming down her eyes. "Thank you. *Sniffle*" She whispered, trying to control herself.

Luke seemed somewhat taken aback, but controlled himself as he wrapped his arms around her. "You're more than welcome." He whispered back, getting a few "Aaaaaawwweee" From Nojiko, Nami and Tashigi. Hell even Kureha looked taken aback at the scene in front of her.

Jack continued to eat, not phased in the slightest. *Cough* Jack was pulled from his food when Nojiko so obviously coughed to get his attention. Looking at her, he knew what she wanted. "Damn kid, ruining everything!" Jack grumbled under his breath, not loud enough for anyone to hear.

Reluctantly, Jack slid another big tray of food in front of Luke, then shot a glare at him. "You get 6 months to travel around, then it's back to East Blue for some more training." Jack said, wiping Luke's smile off his face and replacing it with a single finger hand gesture.

(Warship Island- East Blue)

(General POV)

Soran had been on Warship island for awhile now, and it took her no time at all to find Apis, the only other little girl on the island who lived with her grandfather. They had quickly become friends, and Apis had even introduced her to Ryu, the thousand year old millennium dragon.

Every day they would go and see the old dragon, and Apis even translated the words for her, given that she could communicate with animals given her Whisper-Whisper Fruit. Apis had take a great liking to both Makino and Tsuru, who invited her to stay with them, but Apis refused, saying she couldn't leave Ryu.

Seeing how dedicated the young girl was to getting the old dragon back to the lost island, Tsuru was impressed, and even started teaching her how to defend herself from scum of the earth, which was most men in Tsuru's opinion. Things passed by slowly at first, which was just fine in Soran's opinion, given the fact that she had hardly seen anything of the world before.

They played and trained, Soran extorted a few people that called for Tsuru, who had laughed like a mad woman when Garp had contacted her about Soran getting 1.2 billion berries out of Whitebeard, then sent her the video. Tsuru didn't mind what Soran was doing, but made sure she picked her targets carefully, and to make sure they deserved it, very Nami-like she thought, but she wouldn't complain.

They had agreed to keep it from Makino unless she specifically asked, so as to avoid a scolding, which would come to a lot of people if Makino ever found out.

Things had been going well, and when Ryu informed them that the island would rise in a few days out in the sea, they were all excited, even Tsuru was, given the fact that she had never seen anything like this in her long life, and the only Dragon she had ever met before was Kaido, which was a dragon she didn't want to meet again.

One day, a man wearing a fancy suit and dark sunglasses, with blue hair that went up into the air, landed on the island. No one really paid the man much mind as he walked into town, although his constant scowl didn't earn him any points with the townsfolk. The man was quiet at first, listening in to the conversation's around him, and his interest got piqued when two ladies at sitting in the same restaurant that he was were talking about two children and dragon.

Thinking himself hot shit, Eric, also known as Eric the Whirlwind, approached the two ladies. "Where can I find this dragon?!!" He demanded, getting angry glares from the two women. "You better watch how you talk to a lady!" One of them said, her tone sharp. Eric thought them nothing, but when he saw one of them rest her hand on a weapon at her hip, he smirked evilly.

"I'm going to ask you once more, Where is the dragon?!!" Eric demanded, this time holding his arms out to the side. When the women both noticed how his fingers were basically claws, they knew this man was different, and Devil Fruit was the first thing that popped into their minds. Jumping to their feet, they both put some distance between them and the Stanger, weapons drawn and at the ready.

"Who are you?!!" Girl 1 shouted. When Eric didn't answer, Girl 2 charged at him, then slashed with her sword, only for her strike to be halted by dozens of small wind blades coming from the man's hand. Girl 1 was quick to throw a table in the way, blocking the blades from hitting Girl 2. Girl 1 then used Shave to disappear from her spot and reappear behind the Eric, kicking him through the wall of the restaurant.

When they ran outside to confront the man once again, they panicked when the man was gone. "We better warn Tsuru!! If he's after the dragon, Soran and Apis are in danger!" Girl 1 shouted. Girl 2 nodded, then they split up. Girl 2 was running back towards the ship, while girl 1 ran towards the mountain where Soran and Apis always played.

Girl 2 ran towards the docks, getting there in record time she jumped aboard, then ran inside. Entering the dining hall, she saw Tsuru and Makino sitting a table drinking tea.

Hearing the door burst open and seeing the frantic look on her subordinates face, Tsuru knew something was wrong. "What's wrong, Tika?" Tsuru asked as she stood from the table. "We have a problem!!" Tika shouted, getting the attention of the many people inside the dining hall. "Soran and Apis are in danger!" Tika shouted, causing everyone to rocket to their feet, none more so than Makino.

"What happened?!!" Tsuru asked, her face clouding over in anger. Tika then went on to explain about the mystery man, how he had a Devil Fruit, and how he was searching for the Dragon. She mentioned that he had gotten away and that Stella went to go find them, but she didn't know the capabilities of the Stanger.

Before Tsuru could even make a plan, Makino stormed out of the building after grabbing a gun. "Let's go!" Tsuru shouted, getting the dozens of female warriors to grab their weapons before running off the ship. They kept to three woman squads, searching the town for the strange man, while many of them went to the mountain.

Stella ran as fast as she could to the cave where Soran and Apis usually played, and when she finally got there, she was horrified to see they weren't there, and neither was the dragon. Thinking maybe they were helping it go for a walk or something, she ran through the forest at breakneck speed, knowing they wouldn't go far from the cave.

When she heard screaming coming from the right of her, she quickly changed directions. It took only a moment to find the two children, but the creepy guy was also there, and it looked as though he had attacked Soran. 'Fuck!!' She cursed when she saw Soran holding a bloody arm.

Without hesitation she jumped in front of the stranger, then punched him in the face, sending him flying into a tree. Without looking at the man, she ran to Soran and checked her wound. "It's alright!! Auntie's got you!!" Stella said, trying to calm Soran's cries. "It hurts!!" Soran cried out, holding the lower portion of her dress over the cut to stop the bleeding.

Apis was also crying next to Soran, but there was no bleeding as far as Stella could find. The cut on Soran was deep, but it wasn't life threatening to anyone other than the one who caused it, knowing that if he didn't die now, he sure as fuck would when Tsuru found out. Ripping a strip of her her dress, Stella wrapped it around Soran's arm, then tried to calm her down.

In her haste, she had failed to notice Eric rise from his prone position, so when the wind blades hit her back, she was not ready for it, and was cut along her back. As she felt the pain, she grabbed Soran and Apis and pulled them in front of her, shielding them from any attack. "What's the matter now, Bitch?!! You're not looking so good!!" Eric screamed in pleasure as he watched the blood spray from the woman's back.

*BOOM!!* Eric's attack was ended the moment a solid Haki coated fist slammed into the side of his head and sent him flying into the side of the mountain. As the dust settled around Eric, he didn't even have the chance to move a muscle before four gun shots rang out, 1 in his head, while the others either hit his heart or close to it.

Tsuru looked behind her and saw Makino throw a smoking gun to the ground, then rush to where Stella and the two children were. "Stella!! Soran!! Apis!!" Makino screamed in a panic, landing beside them. Stella was conscious, but her back was bleeding heavily, Soran had a cut on her arm, but it was already wrapped. Apis had a gash on her hip, and it was bleeding, but it didn't look life threatening. Stella had taken the brunt of the attack, making it only an inch or two deep, but it was long.

Tsuru rushed over and used her Devil Fruit power on Stella's back, stopping the bleeding almost instantly, then used it on Apis, and finally Soran. Her Wash-Wash Fruit was by no means a healing fruit, but it had many uses, and cleaning wounds was one of them. Using it to stop the blood flow worked, but it was only a temporary fix, and they would still need to be looked at by a doctor.

The gun shots were a signal to all of the searchers, and when they got to the scene everyone was livid. Stella was rushed down to the doctor as quick as possible, while Tsuru and Makino took Soran and Apis. The rest of the woman looked over to the cause of all the panic, and needless to say, if Eric wasn't already dead, he would have experienced more torture than any person could handle.

A few of the women took the dragon back to the cave after making sure it wasn't injured, and the remaining members grabbed Eric's corpse, taking it to be disposed of. A few people stayed to watch the dragon for the night, while everyone else went back to the ship, waiting for news on how the injured girls were doing.

When the doctor announced that they would be fine, and that all three of them would just need a day or two of rest. "Oh thank God!!" Everyone shouted in relief, glad that the worst did not come to pass. "I would never forgive myself if they were-" Tsuru was cut-off as Makino hugged her tightly. "She's safe! That's all that matters to me." Makino said as she held Tsuru.

"There, there. We have not even got to the worst part yet." Tsuru said, causing Makino to lose her hold and look up to Tsuru's towering form. Seeing the questioning gaze, Tsuru sighed before she said, "Someone is going to have to inform Jack." Makino sucked in a breath, and it wasn't just her either. Every person in the room feared how the monstrous being would react.

"As long as she is safe and the one who did it was disposed of, he shouldn't cause too much chaos." Makino said, sounding like she was brushing it off, but really she too was scared to tell Jack. Not because she thought he would take his anger out on them, but because she didn't like to see Jack so angry.

Later that evening, Makino sat in her room with Gion and Tsuru, not looking forward to what she had to do. Dialing Jack's number, she waited until she heard a click. "Hello!" Jack's voice rang out calmly. "Hey, Jack." Makino said, which caused the face over the Transponder Snail to smile brightly.

"Hey Makino!! How are ya?!!" Jack asked cheerfully. "I've... I've been better. Look, I need to tell you something, but you need to stay calm." Makino said, causing Jack's smile to drop. "What happened?" Jack asked, his tone completely devoid of emotion.

"Soran was... attacked, but she's alright now!" Makino said, doing her best to try and keep Jack calm. There was a pause before, but from the expression on the Transponder Snail, Makino could tell Jack was seething with rage. "Who did it?!!" Jack asked, his voice practically spewing venom.

"We don't know his name or why he attacked, but we took care if him." Tsuru chimed in. The next few minutes were the three of them explaining everything that happened, and how Soran was now sleeping in her room with Apis, and how Stella would need a few days before she was capable to walk again.

"We're close to East Blue, bringing a few thousand people with us. As it turns out, we can't return anyone to their homes yet until we get the government problem sorted out, so everyone is coming back with us. We should be about a week at most." Jack said, getting Makino to smile a little. "That might be just what Soran needs when she wakes up. Get here safely." Makino said, trying her best to smile for him. "I will." Jack said, then ended the call.

(Jack POV)

Jack had been having a great time, enjoying himself with his friends, showing Dragon and Sabo around on the ship as well as his two new crew members Tedi and Lucian. The original plan had been to take everyone back to their homes, but after getting reports that the marines were ordered to keep an eye out for them, it ended that plan.

Tedi and Lucian could have went back to Zou and relied on their tribesman to come to their aid, but they decided it was best to not get the rest of the minks involved in this, and with Dragon's help, they made so the marines knew every freed slave went to East Blue, thus leaving the rest of the minks out of it.

They were all sitting in the dining hall, relaxing and playing cards when Makino called, and thus put an end to the night for Jack. Him and Luke wanted to just go on ahead by themselves, but in doing so would put everyone here at risk. Even though they were flying through the air at a really high altitude, only a fool would underestimate the marines at this point.

"Adjust the course. We're going to Warship island before we head to Foosha!" Jack said, pulling out an Eternal Pose to Warship Island, and getting Nojiko to adjust the course correctly. Jack excused himself, opting to go to his room for the rest of the night, knowing that he might snap over something tiny right now given his mental state.

He had been laying on his bed in the dark when the door opened and Selene came in. "Jack?" She asked, in a shouted whisper. "Yes?" He shout whispered back. Knowing he was awake, Selene came in and jumped up on the bed and sat next to him.

"I know what you're feeling... I lost my family when the Dragons took me. I had a sister, but I couldn't protect her. I need to become strong, so I don't lose anyone. I need you to make me strong!" Selene was crying as she spoke, memories of her past were not something she liked to remember.

Jack didn't know why she was telling him this, but it did stop his own internal struggle, prompting him to sit up and wrap his arms around the little cat girl. "I never had anyone to lose before. I always watched everyone with their families and I wanted that too. I found people who were that for me, but they were taken from me. I was given a chance to start over, and now I have a family." Jack said as he held her tighter.

"We are family, and no one will ever take us away from each other, and those that try will suffer with their lives." Jack added, his words causing the little cat girl to hold him tighter. "I wanna meet your sister." Selene spoke softly, still clinging tightly to him. "We'll get there soon, and I'm sure she is gonna be thrilled to meet you. I don't think she has ever met a mink before." Jack said, his anger from before vanishing.

Selene and him stayed like this, talking about Soran, about the mink's Selene knew back in Zou, and how that that the only family member she knew of was a jaguar mink named Pedro. She didn't know the relation, but her mother had called him family.

Jack talked for awhile, and it wasn't until his door slowly started to open that he realized Selene was fast asleep. Looking over to the door, he saw Nojiko peek inside. Seeing Jack gaze at her and the sleeping child in his arms, Nojiko smiled warmly before entering the room and climbing into bed next to him. "How are you doing?" Nojiko whispered to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, carefully avoiding the top of Selene's head.

"Better. She distracted me with her own stories." Jack whispered back, getting a kiss on his forehead in return. "Good. It wouldn't do for you to keep scaring the kids." Nojiko said in good humor. "Yes, dear." Jack said back, a hint of a smile on his face.

They stayed like that until they fell asleep, all thoughts of anger completely gone, leaving only thoughts of getting stronger.

When morning came, Jack woke up to something tickling his nose. Opening his eyes, he saw a small dark furry hand in front of his face rubbing his nose. Looking at the culprit, he saw a pair of eyes glaring at him. "Now that you're awake, could you let me go?!" Selene shout whispered, trying not to wake up Nojiko.

It was only then that Jack noticed he was still holding Selene, and was keeping her from barely even moving. "Oops." He said smartly as he let her go. The little cat girl, finally being able to freely move, stretched herself, then pat Jack's head before leaving the room. 'This kid!' Jack thought with a smile.

After the door closed, Jack wrapped Nojiko in his arms, causing the woman to snuggle herself closer to him. "I knew you were awake." Jack smiled softly as he poked her cheek. "I'm still sleeping, and if you try and wake me up right now, you'll be sleeping on the couch for a week." Nojiko said, not sounding at all lovable.

'Note to self. Never wake up a demoness who controls your bed.' Jack thought, laughing to himself, only to get a pinch on his arm. "Don't think mean things." Nojiko said, then went back to sleep. 'Mind reader…?' Jack thought, then shrugged his shoulders, not bothering about it.

The week passed quickly, nothing of note happening other than crossing the calm belt, a stretch of ocean that divides the Blue Sea's from the Grand Line. Even as high up as they were, there were no winds, the water was calm as ever, except when a massive Sea King dove out of the water. It was plain for all to see why the Calm Belt's were so effective in being barriers for people to cross.

It was the seventh day since he had gotten the call from Makino, and the Sun was just rising into the sky. Standing on the outstretched hand of the guiding angel, Jack was looking down at the world below him and could see Warship Island coming into view. The Island really did live up to it's namesake, looking just like a massive battle ship made out of a mountain.

The Pearl and the many other ships that were flying along all started to descend to the island, and as soon as they hit the water, Jack jumped aboard to the island, and the first thing he saw was a small child running towards him with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"You're back!!" Soran screamed as she ran to meet him. He picked her up and hugged her tight. "I'm Home!"