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[i]"If ever I should meet you by land or by sea
I will always remember your kindness to me."[/i]

Ray's song made Kai's departure even sadder than it already was. Nolan nodded his head and mustered up a smile, "we'll take care of the captain and each other, promise." And before he could stop himself, the cook shuffled towards the veteran pirate and pulled him into an awkward but sincere hug. "Don't kill me," Nolan joked as he raised his hands and backed away. Kai even gave them a chuckle and it was such a rare occurrence that it lit up his face. "Kai, you take care of yourself too, alright. We'll see you when we see you."

He watched as the man walked off then turned to face Danny. "Welcome to the family." He grinned at the shorter girl then gave her a pat on the head. The longer they spent travelling together, the more they felt like a family of sorts. He was growing attached to all of them, Nolan couldn't wait to introduce them to Annie, now that would definitely be an interesting event.

The next three days were calm and he spent it chatting with the others. He had even asked Ray to teach him how to use a sword, unfortunately the cook was a clumsy man and in the end he decided to simply stick his trusty rifle. As the days marched past they grew closer and closer to Utsukushi and he found himself excited. He had heard about the tournament from Luro and while he didn't want to participate, he wanted to cheer his friend on.

[b]"Utsukushī, dead ahead! So, I say we enjoy the town and see the tournaments. And if Luro joins, we have to cheer him on."[/b]

Nolan gave the captain a salute. "Of course, we'll be cheering him on until the very end." The cook leaned against the railing and took in the sight of the town. From afar one could tell it was a pretty place. He could only guess it would look much better up close. "Ah, it almost feels like we're on a vacation." As soon as the ship docked, Nolan scrambled to get the piece of wood they used as a makeshift bridge of sorts. He looked very excited and grinned at his friends from ear to ear. "Where are we going to go?"