A/N: Hiya~~:P This is the sequel to Arigato. I wrote this for my first and second reviewers YingYang21 and angelrider13 . Hope you enjoy.
Big thank you's to all whom favourite my story, especially the first 10 since they are the first ever! So thanks:
HellMourne
Jasmine Marie Vladimir
Magic Detective
RoXaS707
angelrider13
fantoshiro
one piece girl 99999
. .Xx
xXChild-Of-DemonXx
Summary: Luffy stayed with the Whitebeard pirates and Ace for two years and now he's going back to Shabondy to meet up with his faithful crew.
ITTAI NANI GA?!
A young man was standing in a small ship a good kilometre away from the bubble creating island known as Shabondy Archipelago, the small ship wasn't even in a small ship it was more if a boat than anything else, he was bidding farewell to the crew that had become his family in the short time that he had been with them. "Bye." They called out, "Don't let yourself be noticed, keep your hood up at all times." The dark haired man merely smirked at them and bid his farewells to them, "Goodbye, I hope to see you soon." He cried as the massive ship in front of him sunk into the seas, carrying his family with it.
The young man turned away from the bubbles that were the last traces that his family had been there at all and sat down in the bottom of the boat to start rowing, he sighed as he looked at the vast expanse of sea that separated his boat from the shore (his family couldn't exactly sail up to Shabondy, or any island not in their territory, without being attacked by the Marines or other pirates) , this was going to take a while he thought, wait for me my nakama, the captain's coming back.
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Meanwhile in a bar in grove 41, 8 pirates sit and wait for their captain. "It's hard to believe that he did all that two years ago." An orangette said with a slightly disbelieving tone. The long-nosed one nodded "Yeah, being unbelievable must be a family trait or something." The blond one and the green haired one laughed at the same time before scowling at each other. "Yeah that 'D' has to stand for 'Danger to those who fuck with my family'." The smallest one said. "Our captain is SUPER~!" The bluenette said. The black haired female nodded and replied "Yes, he went in like a man possessed." The tall one with the afro pulled out a violin and half sang half spoke "But now our captain is coming back~, we shall see him soon~. Can I see your panties~?" "IE! BAKA! I NEVER LET YOU SEE THEN TWO YEARS AGO?! WHY WOULD I NOW?! DIE!" The six remaining pirates winced as they heard a crunch as the orangette's foot collided with the skeleton's head. The green haired one sighed "Oi oi, when is Luffy going to get here?"
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LUFFY POV
I stretched as I stood up in the uncomfortable row boat and sighed for what felt like the billionth time as I clambered out of the boat, the island had been further away than I had thought, and I had underestimated its sheer size and had rowed further than I thought I had to because of it. Yeah a kilometre I could handle, hell 5 kilometres I could handle but no it had been 10 kilometres, I hadn't even known that you could spot an island from that far away, to make it all worse the sea started to act up when I was 7 kilometres away and from that moment onward steering had been a nightmare not to mention the waves that sucked out my strength every time I was splashed by them. Mini-rant over, I really need my crew and a good drink; it's one of those days where you just want one good drink.
I launched myself up onto the grassy hill in front of me and pointedly stared at the number on the nearest tree, 71. Shit, I was right on the other side of the island compared to where we had 'parked' the Sunny. Then I remembered just where the navy headquarters were, grove 65. (*)
Too close. Way too close. Oh the Whitebeard pirates would wish for death when I was done with them, I'm gonna spank their arses, this was the old-man's doing (Whitebeard) he's probably having a right old laugh back on the Moby Dick right now. Screw you old geezer. I huffed and turned away from the tree that said 69 and walked towards the one that had a nice 27 on it, seriously who designed the layout of this place? Why was the 20s section right next to the 70s? I thought. My other, more important thoughts were don't go towards the marine base, DO NOT go TOWARDS the MARINE BASE, so I was caught completely off guard when someone said "Oi its Mugiwara no Luffy-" Shit. Had they noticed me already, but I'm wearing a hooded coat with the hood covering my face. HOW did they notice?!
My panic attack was abruptly ended when I heard the next part of that phrase "-'s bounty poster." Oh you have to be shitting me. But no, there in broad daylight was a man gawping over my new bounty poster. Wait…new? They hadn't put it up again, had they? Cautiously I edged towards the man and poster so that I could see it and carefully read the contents 'Mugiwara no Luffy. Dead or Alive. 500 million reward.' Ooh it had gone up by another 2 hundred million. Yes that was 2 years ago but training with the old geezer and Rayleigh was hard and I hadn't seen a single wanted poster in 2 years. Anyway I was very pleased with my new bounty, I hadn't caught up with Ace but I was getting close, my bounty was almost as big as his, but I wasn't sure on how much lower mine was compared to his, Ace's bounty posters were hard to come by for some reason, but still. Ha! Take that! While I had been pondering my bounty I hadn't noticed where I was walking and had stupidly walked right into the heart of the Lawless section, where anything goes and where word spread faster that wildfire in bone dry grass; if I was spotted here, and my identity was realised, I would be fighting off the bounty hunters, pirates and marines before I could say meat. Well I just had to keep my head down and hood up and not pull an Ace, which, is to say, do something stupid. Yeah a couple of years back my nakama would have called it pulling a Luffy but I was never stupid, just someone trying to hide his intelligence through stupid looking moves. Well my nakama would be in for a surprise.
I heard a voice calling out to me "Hey, what you doing here weakling?" Ha weakling, this guy was a punk who thought he was better than everyone else because he looked strong, hell even Camie could kick his ass if she put her mind to it. The punk looked me up and down as if trying to size up how much of a weakling I was. Ha if I was a weakling then he had the strength of a dust mite. The punk quickly took in my appearance, ankle length black and white spotted coat hiding my body and face.
Though he couldn't see it I was also wearing black shorts that were cut off above the knee and a dark blue short sleeved cardigan thing that hung loose around my arms and was open at the chest, proudly displaying the small tattoo on my left bicep that pronounced me as a friend of the Whitebeard pirates, it was a small, purple bone cross. On my back there was a tattoo and on my chest there was a scar, the tattoo was simple, a large pirate style warship with three masts and a different flag on each one of them, one was the symbol of the Mugiwara Pirates, my flag, the second was the original mark of the Spade pirates, Ace's flag and the third was two crossbones with a blue 'S' drawn over the top of it, the third was Sabo's flag.
The scar was from my first battle against the old geezer and Rayleigh, I had managed to avoid Rayleigh's sword but the old geezer had got me from the side with a devil fruit and Haki infused fist, I had been unconscious for a week, after that it got bloody and Ace tried to assassinate the old geezer (again), while Rayleigh had just sat there laughing and took a den den film for me of the whole incident, needless to say it was hilarious. Though I had to admit that the scar looked pretty damn cool, it was shaped like a big cross and was right over my heart.
My last noticeable change was the third tattoo on my right arm that said '3D' with a cross through it and then '2Y' underneath it. This was the last order to my crew before I started my training 2 years ago. '3D' was our old meeting time for this island; we were to meet at the Sunny 3 days after we left it in Grove 42. This was crossed out to show that that meeting time was no longer valid. The '2Y' meant 2 years; that we were to meet at this island and at the same spot in exactly 2 years.
Getting this message to my crew was no easy feat, to do so I had to get myself on the front of every newspaper in the Grandline because I didn't know where my crew were. To do this I went back to Marineford with Whitebeard, Rayleigh and Ace (yeah it was stupid taking Ace along but he wouldn't stay on the Moby Dick and we only had a small timeframe to work with) and I, flanked by the geezer, Rayleigh and Ace, sailed a complete circle round the island (whilst being fired at) and then I rang the 'Ox' bell 16 times and engaged in a 'silent prayer' with my hat over my chest. People could assume whatever they wanted about the whole message in my actions but really it was all a diversion so that I could get myself photographed by as many reporters as possible and get that message to my crew. 2 years gave them all time to train before we went to New World and I heard from Shanks that Mihawk was training Zoro personally so he was going to be a great swordsman when I finally saw him again.
Getting off track again. The punk was still eying me, creep. They he seemed to see me in a new light, wait did he- "MUGI-!" I cut the punk off with a quick burst of Haki, that was too close. Shitty punk. Shitty geezer. Shitty 'D' luck. Sanji had so rubbed off on me. I had no time to ponder the implications of that statement because the punk's cry had brought some more punks which I decided to call Lackey and Sidekick. "Boss!" They cried out, yup I chose perfect names alright.
"Oi what did ya do ta boss?!" Lackey shouted. I sighed, this was going to be such a handful and I was in a hurry. "Yeah," Sidekick added in "undo whatever ya did or we'll hav' to hurt ya!" My face remained neutral but internally I was sighing, let's gets this over with. I let loose a small burst of controlled Haki aimed directly at Lackey and Sidekick, not enough to harm but enough to knock out for a day or two. Lackey and Sidekick were down in seconds and I casually strolled past them and carried on walking to the other side of the Lawless zone.
Half an hour later and I was out of the Lawless zone and half way through the Amusement park when I spotted a familiar face, grinning I sauntered over to him and lifted my hood slightly so that he could see my face. "Miss me?" I asked and the Dark King only smiled and motioned for me to follow him, which I did without a moment of hesitation. "So Luffy," the Dark King said "What've you been doing in the 9 months I haven't seen you." I merely smirked and he gave me a knowing smile "Ah you won't tell me, you want it to be a surprise. For both me and your crew." The last part caught my attention and I switched my gaze from the road to his smiling eyes, "You know where they are." It wasn't a question but a statement, Rayleigh knew. "Yes, yes I do." My eyes bored into his and I said four words that only Rayleigh would understand the depth and meaning of, "Take me to them."
It turned out that I didn't have to go far to find my crew, or at least one of them. My whole look changed into one of happiness as I ran up to glomp my first mate. Zoro didn't look surprised in the least and casually grabbed my knees to settle my weight more comfortably on his back. I looked him over, apart from the small scar under his eye, which looked like it came too damn close to impairing his eyesight, Zoro was unharmed. He was also a lot more muscular and was wearing an emerald robe that went down to his ankles and that was open at the front showing the scar on his chest and tied to one arm was his green bandana. A red sash went around his waist and his three swords were tied to it. His nostalgic green waist band was present as always and he was also wearing ankle length green pants that were tucked in to dark green boots. All in all, the look was impressive and seemed to suit him.
Zoro gave me this look and he seemed to realise that I really didn't want to let go anytime soon so merely settled with shifting my body so that I was more comfortable and telling Rayleigh to start moving, which I interpreted as Zoro's way of asking Rayleigh to take us to the rest of the crew. A sudden thought hit me "Zoro?" He grunted, which I took as a yes, "Why aren't you with the rest of the crew?" Zoro hesitated slightly and replied "The damn crew got lost." I chuckled slightly; Zoro had gotten lost, probably while trying to find the bathroom or something like that, and was too proud to admit it.
Zoro, following Rayleigh, soon carried me to the Tourist Zone; I'd kept my hood up the whole time so that no one could see my face. I don't know when but somewhere along the way to Grove 41 I started to sense my nakama and was surprised to find out that they were all in one place. I started to wonder how surprised (and in some cases angry {Nami and Sanji}) they would be when I told them that I was just pretending to be an idiot and in reality I was quite smart. I also wondered whether they could top Ace's reaction when I told him what I had got up to in the last 3 years. It was a pretty cool reaction; if you call being overly dramatic and a little scary being cool.
Flashback
I was sitting on the deck of the Moby Dick and it had been 2 days since I had woke up and I was already as good as new, well sorta. I was sitting happily on the figurehead and was watching the calm waves as I thought about what we were going to do in less than 2 days, we were going back to Marineford so that I could send a message to my crew. My thoughts were interrupted when a hand dragged me onto the deck, I was ready to start bitching at them with Haki infused profanities when I turned around and realised that it was, in fact, Ace that had dragged me from my special spot (yeah I had only been aboard for a few days and I was already calling it my special spot but no one else sat there so it was.)
I asked him what he wanted and he said "Lu tell me what you've been up to since I left the island." I gave him a long, hard look and glanced at the crew behind him who were already in story telling mode, I sighed "Are you sure you want to know everything?" He nodded and I sat down and patted the deck in front of me, motioning for him (and the rest of the crew) to sit down as well. I soon had a large crowd of pirates including the commanders and Whitebeard sitting around me.
"Well after you left the island…" I continued talking for around 2 hours, detailing my adventures in the East Blue before going on to those in the Grandline, I left nothing out, not even what I had felt at the time because, quite frankly, I wanted Ace to know. A few jaws dropped when I mentioned Crocodile, even more when I talked about Skypia and they how I fought Enel and how we got down from Skypia and landed in a Marine base in the process, then even more fell when I went on to detail my adventure at Enies Lobby and my fights with CP9, around half hit the deck when I detailed my fight with the zombies, Moria and Oars, a couple of eyes watered when I told them how I had lost my crew in the fight with Kuma. Lots of jealous looks from the men were aimed at me when I told them where I had ended up after the fight with Kuma, more jealous looks and a couple of nosebleeds were present when I told them how I had seen Hancock naked and then even more when I told them how I had seen her naked again after my fight with Sandersonia and Marigold. Then more awed looks were directed at me when I told them exactly what had happened at Impel Down.
Ace stopped me to question a few details every now and then. Like… "Were you really nearly executed at Log Town and then saved by a mysterious bolt of lightning?" and "You used your own blood to coat your fists so that you could defeat Crocodile, did you even worry about blood loss?" also "You defeated Enel by hitting him with a ball of GOLD that had been melted to your arm?!" and a little incredulously "You carried two of your crew up a mountain using only your bare fingers?!" And… "You forced 100 shadows into your body and didn't worry about the consequences?! You declared war on the government?!" Then… "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WOULD HAVE DONE IT ANYWAY?!" On and on until finally he exploded when I told him about Impel Down…
"YOU BROKE INTO IMPEL DOWN! THEN YOU GET POISONED AND THE CURED BY IVA, A REVOLUTIONARY! THEN YOU TELL HIM WHO YOUR DAD IS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET! THEN YOU RUN OFF TO GET ME, DESPITE THE FACT THAT LESS THAN A FEW HOURS AGO YOU WERE DYING FROM MAGDELLAN'S POISON! YOU FIND ME GONE AND THEN INSTEAD OF LEAVING LIKE A NORMAL PERSON YOU BREAK OUT OVER 200 HUNDRED PIRATES, MAKE A DEAL WITH CROCODILE AND THEN LEAVE! IN THE FLASHIEST WAY POSSIBLE! THEN YOU FORGO SLEEP AND RACE TO MARINEFORD WHERE YOU PUSH YOURSELF TO THE LIMITS USING THE MOST ENERGY CONSUMING MOVES POSSIBLE! YOU RESCUE ME THEN USE A TECHNIQUE WHICH YOU DAMN WELL KNOW COULD HAVE KILLED YOU?! I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO THANK EVERY DEITY OUT THERE THAT YOU'RE STILL ALIVE OR TO HIT YOU?!"
During his rant Ace had burst into flames causing everyone within 20 meters to run for cover, I meanwhile had stood barely a meter away from him and waited for my brother to finish. Ace hadn't even realise that he was infusing his voice with Haki and subsequently a few people were coming close to shitting themselves. When Ace had finished he had stared at me for a few seconds before crushing me in a huge hug before lifting me off my feet and dragging me back to the figure head. Where, upon reaching the figure head, he lay down on his back, cuddling me to his chest and muttering under his breath. I catch a few words like "reckless", "almost gave me a heart attack" and "stupid little brother." I didn't really mind and Ace's reaction was to be expected, I also knew for a fact that most high ranking pirates and Marines actually called me insanity incarnate (I had heard this fact from Whitebeard and Gramps.) My nakama were used to my insane antics but Ace wasn't, even though he had grown up with me.
Ace pulled my hat off my head, letting it hang round my neck before placing a kiss on my head and telling me to warn him before doing something crazy like that again. I tell him that he's one to talk and that if I constantly warned him every time I did something crazy he would get at least 10 messages a day. Ace laughed but pulled me closer and whispered "I'm serious, please don't scare me like that again Lu." I nod into his chest and settle down in his arms because if I know Ace, he wouldn't be letting go of me anytime soon.
End of Flashback
I had been right back then, Ace hadn't let go of me for the rest of the day and then he wouldn't let me go anywhere without him for a week, then a month later and he still hadn't stopped watching my every move in case, in the few seconds he took his eyes off me, I got attacked or something. It had been nice because we hadn't really had time for brotherly bonding in the three years we had been separated (hell I'd only met him twice, the first time he was chasing a murderer and the second was at his execution) and the few days Ace had stayed with us (my crew and I) hadn't been enough for me.
My flashback session was brought abruptly to a halt when Rayleigh said "We're here." I clung to Zoro as we walked inside the bar and came face to face with my nakama (1). "Hey," Zoro smirked "Look what I found." Chopper seemed interested and said "What? What?" Zoro smirked again and let go of my knees only to stretch his arms backwards and grab my arms lifting me over his head before depositing me on the ground in front of him. "Zoro, who is that?" Nami asked whilst the crew were wearing similar looks of confusion except for Chopper and Robin. Chopper because he could recognise my scent and Robin because she knew that Zoro would only ever treat me like this.
Zoro smirks and lifts off my hood and cloak as I say "Hey, how have you been?" I don't know whether it was from my articulated language that actually made sense or the fact that I was here in front of them but jaws dropped. A loud cry of "LUFFY!" echoed around the room and I grinned and let out a small laugh as they all started to shout at me simultaneously. Finally Zoro brought some semblance of calm to the room by loudly declaring that they could question me later and that we should get to the ship now, before the Marines showed up. I smiled at my first mate before adding in my 2 beli "Yeah getting out of here before the Marines arrive will be paramount in our journey to Fishman Island, that and making sure that the coating is sufficient."Oh I was laying it on thick but I had wanted to do this for 2 years now and my fun was only just starting.
Jaws hit the deck, literally. My whole crew including Robin and Zoro were staring at me whilst moving their mouths like fish in a hilarious attempt to formulate words. I started to snigger which soon turned into giggling and chuckling which morphed into outright guffawing, meanwhile Zoro who was the first to recover took one glance at Sanji's outright disbelieving and you-are-shitting-me face and joined me on the floor rolling around in my laughter. Robin, Franky and Brook soon joined in on the laugh fest and Usopp and Chopper were next but Sanji and Nami were having a hard time grasping the fact that my idiocy was an act, a good act, but an act in the end.
Meanwhile I could sense an Admiral heading our way and practically screamed orders at the crew to a) get to the Sunny, b) check the coating and supplies c) set sail and d) pick their jaws up off the floor and get damn well moving! We all but sprinted to the Sunny and were soon sinking into the depths and moving down towards Fishman Island. Now that we were on the Sunny Nami and Sanji had some questions. "Have you always been this smart?" Sanji asked me as he took out a smoke and lit it. I shrugged "Yeah pretty much." A vein pulsed in Nami's forehead "Then why did you act so STUPID?!"
"Because it was a good long term battle strategy." I replied. Nami cocked her head to the side along with Sanji, Usopp, Brook, Franky and Chopper. "Battle Strategy?" They echoed. "Yup. A battle strategy. It works like this; people won't anticipate well thought out plans and moves from someone who they think is dumb, there for if I act dumb, people will underestimate my planning and strategy capabilities and try to outsmart me. However since I anticipated this I can beat them down whilst carefully picking apart their plans. And the best part is that even the person that was defeated by me will think that I did it through brute force. Just put it this way, isn't it a bit unbelievable when we win almost every time despite the fact that there are always so many carefully laid out plans in our way?" I smiled at the end of the explanation and looked at my crew again, they were all staring at me slack jawed (although Robin and Zoro not so much) and Nami seemed to be mumbling to herself with a look of absolute horror on her face.
"So Luffy…" Zoro's input seemed to shock everyone out of their thoughts, even Nami was listening. "Yes Zoro?" I replied and casually waited for the next part of his question, Zoro cocked his head slightly and said "… What did you do in those 2 years while we were apart?" I smiled and said "Trained with Whitebeard and Rayleigh, had a good time with the animals on Amazon Lilly and messed around with my brothers." They all seemed to accept, except Sanji who had started to burn when I had mentioned Amazon Lilly and then he had started to cry (weird), that is, until Usopp, always one to point out the obvious, quipped "Brothers? I thought Ace was your only brother, how many do you have?"
"Just the two, Ace and Sabo. Ace and I thought that Sabo was dead but he wasn't and we reunited right after the second trip to Marineford." Everyone seemed to frown slightly at this, even Zoro, "Wait a second," Chopper, Usopp and Franky said in sync (which was pretty creepy) "You thought he was dead?"
"Well around 12 years ago a boat that Sabo was in was fired on by a ship sailed by the Tenryubito and we thought he had died, but he didn't." I grinned happily while Sanji and Zoro cursed the so called 'Celestial Dragons' under their breath, I didn't realise that Zoro and Sanji knew that many swear words. I certainly did, I grew up with bandits after all, but they really did have very colourful and creative language, I was so stealing some of these, they were great. Getting off topic again, I told myself.
"So…you reunited?" Brook prompted.
"Yeah, well I was kinda out of it so I got the full story later from Sabo and Ace."
"Out of it? Why Luffy-bro?"
"Well…"
Flashback
I was tired, no screw that I was exhausted, I was ready to drop right now and sleep for a month, but I had a job to do, I had to finish this 'silent prayer' and walk out of Marineford before sailing away on the commandeered marine warship and then dumping the warship and getting back on the Moby Dick. After that I had to go through the whole 'debriefing' shit that the Whitebeard pirates seemed to have going on and only then, after 2 hours of 'mission overview', could I have my bloody nap. I hid my grimace behind my hat as I lifted it up onto my head before turning on my heel and striding towards Ace who was waiting on the deck of our stolen warship.
None of us spoke whilst the warship sailed away and we didn't speak for the 45 minutes that it took us to reach the rendezvous point with the Moby Dick. We only spoke once we were sailing away from the abandoned marine vessel that we had left moored near a small desert island. Once we were a good distance away we allowed our euphoria to show and relieved and smug smiles crept onto our faces. I cracked my neck before slinking off to the figure head where I had found a nice, shady yet warm spot that was located just behind and to the side of the whale's left eye. My spot was big enough for me to lie there comfortably and had extra space for another couple of people.
I was already half asleep when a dinghy pulled alongside the Moby Dick and was dozing off when a pair of boots hit the deck and so was blissfully unaware of the commotion that was happening on the deck.
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"Well what happened?" Nami demanded.
"Finish the story. Finish the story." Chopper and Usopp chanted.
"Okay but from here on out I'm basically talking from third person 'cause I was really out of it when this happened. So don't be surprised when I say 'Luffy was' or anything, you've got to remember I was unaware for most of this." My nakama nodded and I continued…
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A blond haired man leapt on to the deck and peered round looking for the people that he had come here to see. He spotted Ace in a fighting position in front of him but where was Luffy?
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"It is so weird to hear you talking about yourself in third person."
"Shut up Zoro and let me finish, Captain's orders."
"…Hai sencho."
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"Oi where's Luffy?" The blond man asked.
"As if I'd tell you." Ace snapped back.
"Aww don't you recognise me Ace? Three words. Sakazuki, brothers forever."
Ace froze and paled before taking a tentative step forward "S-Sabo?"
Sabo nodded and smiled "It took me ten years but I finally made it back to you guys." He smiled a smile which wasn't knocked off his face when Ace punched him in the jaw. "You idiot!" Ace yelled "Do you have any idea how much your death hurt us. Luffy cried for a week and wouldn't eat properly! Do you have any idea how much we missed you?!" Ace practically strangled Sabo with a desperate hug but Sabo merely patted his shoulder, gently wrapping an arm round Ace's back while slowly rocking his, now trembling, brother.
Meanwhile the crew were perplexed, this man in a long blue coat wearing a top hat with blue goggles strapped to it had just leapt aboard via a dinghy that had pulled up alongside their ship and had made their second division commander break down with three words. Just what the hell was going on? Why did this man seem to know Strawhat and Ace and why was Ace so happy to see him?
Back to Ace and Sabo…Ace was finally coherent enough to bombard Sabo with questions "Where were you? How did you survive? Why has it taken so long for you to get back?" etcetera. Sabo replied with "Okay okay I'll tell you when I see Luffy. Where is Luffy anyway?"Ace looked confused "Luffy? He's right ther-!" Before his eyes widened when he found that Luffy was not with the rest of the crew. "Aaaaaah! I lost Luffy! Where is he?! Where?! Where?!" Sabo watched his brother running round like an idiot and searching in places where Luffy could not be, Luffy was rubber but there were some things that were impossible, hiding under a barrel was one of them.
Sabo took a moment to search the deck and quickly spotted a sliver of a straw hat in a small nook near the figure head. "Ace! I found Lu!" These words quickly brought Ace to heel, much to the amusement of the crew, "Where!" He all but demanded. Sabo pointed out the straw hat and had to suppress a yelp when Ace decided to latch onto his arm and run full pelt to the straw hat.
What they found when they got there was actually weird, very cute, but weird. Luffy was sleeping, now that wasn't weird by itself, but he was sleeping peacefully with a calm expression on his face and he wasn't even snoring. Sabo and Ace took a moment to ingrain this picture into their minds before they checked on Luffy's health, it was unnatural for him to be this quiet. Sabo checked his pulse while Ace checked his temperature.
"His pulse is good."
"So's his temp."
"So…"
"Why's he so quiet?"
At this point Luffy blearily cracked an eye open "Ashe? Wad' da ya wan'?" Luffy tried to sit up, sleepy eyes widening at the sight of just who was with Ace, but began swaying alarmingly but before Ace could steady him Sabo had already gathered his little brother into his arms, rocking him from side to side, and Luffy in turn snuggled into Sabo's chest, Sabo soothed Luffy's incoherent mumbling but one thing made him pause.
"Knew you were alive."
Ace gently linked his hands with Luffy's and asked "How? And why didn't you tell anyone?"
"No….body…no signs that anything had eaten it…just a theory…didn't wanna give you false hope…" Luffy's 'explanation' deteriorated back into incoherent mumbling and both older brothers sighed, they would get no further answers until Luffy was awake enough to form a sentence, which didn't look like it would be happening anytime soon. Ace turned to Sabo, letting go of Luffy's hands, "Let's get him to bed." Sabo only nodded and hugged Luffy to his chest as he rose in one fluid move and let Ace lead them to his room.
The rest of the crew were very puzzled when the stranger and Ace suddenly sprinted to the other end of the deck, they were even more puzzled when they came back with Strawhat in the stranger's arms. Now they had to know who the stranger was, Ace barely trusted his little brother with anyone, so far only his little brother's crew, Pops, Jimbe, Shanks and Hancock (and only if she didn't try to get Strawhat to marry her) were trusted with him. So what did this stranger mean to the brothers that Ace let him carry his little brother without a hint of fear or suspicion?
Ace and Sabo walked past the crew and headed straight for Ace's room a few wrong turns and some cursing and shushing later and they arrived at Ace's room. It was of a decent size and there was a picture of Luffy on the wall along with various wanted posters that depicted Ace, Luffy and various members of the Whitebeard pirates as well as a the eight other members of Luffy's crew. There was an awkward silence for a few moments that was quickly broken by Luffy launching into incoherent mumblings with a repeating pattern of big brothers. Ace and Sabo smiled before glancing at the bed "Will that hold 3?" Sabo asked. "Yeah, we haven't done this in years." Ace replied before dragging Luffy and Sabo over to the bed and pushing Sabo down so that he was lying on his side with Luffy snuggled to his chest. Ace lay down beside them and wrapped an arm around Luffy before linking hands with Sabo. They smiled at their little brother before Ace flicked off the lamp and plunged them into darkness…
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"Awwwww~" Nami squealed. "That was so cute~! Your brothers love you so much~!"
I went bright red and muttered "Yeah, I love 'em too." while Zoro and Usopp smirked at me.
"Luffy-bro's anikis are SUPER!" Franky cried out.
"Yeah Luffy you brothers are so nice! I wonder what it's like to have a big brother." Chopper giggled.
"Captain-san what did you do next?" Robin asked.
"Well me, Sabo and Ace caught up and they learned about my 'theory…'"
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I woke to the sound of laughter and the feeling of an arm around my waist and a hand carding through my hair. I tried to focus on where the laughing was coming from and what had caused it…
"An-ha-d then he ahaha- he said to the bar man 'What's wrong' as if nothing had happened!"
The laughing grew louder again and I realised that I must have been dragged from sleep mid-way through a joke or something, because none of that made any sense in my sleep addled mind. Of course I chose the best option for the situation; I groaned, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Tried being the most appropriate word, because as soon as I groaned the laughter stopped and when I rolled over to try and sleep I was deafened by a shriek, a very high pitched, shrill shriek, of "LUFFY!"
Shit, I'd know that voice anywhere, Hancock was visiting.
Why me? I cried to the heavens, trying and failing to hide underneath the bed covers, as the She-Devil herself approached with love hearts in her eyes and clawed hands ready to sink into her prey.
After being suffocated by Hancock and then rescued by Ace and Marco I was able to breathe and look around, we were in Ace's room, Hancock had just left, having been half carried half dragged out by Marco, Ace and Sabo were lounging on either side of me on the bed.
I raised an eyebrow at the sight of Sabo's, fairly recent by the look of it, black eye. No how had that happened, I wondered. Wonder that was soon satisfied when Ace glanced at the black eye with a guilty look of his face. Ah, I thought, Ace had happened and it had resulted in that.
I sighed, Ace was a hot head, in more ways than one, and even so, I wondered why Ace had decided to punch Sabo in the face. No matter, I thought as I snuggled into Sabo's warm coat, getting myself comfortable for the grilling that I know is just around the corner.
"So Luffy, what's this theory about my death?" Sabo asked bluntly.
I winced at Ace's piercing look and Sabo's indifference to his 'death.'
"The theory about your death wasn't really how you had died, we knew that, but rather how you hadn't died…" I said, still wary of Ace's piercing look, but Sabo was grinning from ear to ear now.
"Well, something about your 'death' just seemed off. For a start there was no body, and yes there was a chance that it was eaten but if that had been the case then the area would have become a haven for fishing boats because of the abundance of fish. But there was no increase of the amount of fish in the area and the only sea king around here has its territory on the other side of the island and there would have been some sort of warning of another sea king in the area but there wasn't, so if you had died then where did the body go?
If the body had washed ashore, either on Fuusha or another island then the people would have sent out a message for relatives to come and identify the body. But, as far as we knew, that wasn't the case, we would have heard if a body had been washed up on shore on Fuusha and there would have been a small letter going round if the body had been washed up elsewhere. Just to be sure, after you left, Ace, I sent a letter by sea gull to all the islands in East Blue and not one of them reported finding a body on the shore, matching your description and blood type Sabo, in their histories.
There for the only option left was that you, Sabo, had either been found or buried by a passing by stranger or, the more likely option, you were hurt and someone found you but by the time you were healed you were too far away, plus the fact that you are practically directionless," like Zoro, but his case is worse, he could get lost in a four walled room with no doors, "and you had to catch us up when you knew where we were."
I huffed as I finished my long winded explanation and glanced back at Sabo and Ace. Sabo had a proud look on his face that clearly said 'Smart.' And Ace looked slightly betrayed and I knew why… "Ace I couldn't tell you…I didn't want to give you false hope. That would have crushed you if I had been wrong." Ace looked a bit peeved at that but I knew that he understood.
"So," I said in a bright tone "what happened that day Sabo?"
Sabo smirked and replied "Your dad."
"Tou-san?"
"Yep he found me washed up on the shore and treated me. But he also brought me to the Grand Line and to the revolutionaries. I stayed with them but I was never one of them and I left when I first heard about Ace's execution and made my way through the New World and Grand Line to Marineford, but I was late and ended up meeting you here." "Huh so Lu's dad saved you?" Ace asked.
"Yup. But after leaving the revolutionary hideout, I can't exactly go back so~ what should I do? Can I join up with one of you guys? I've never been the Captain-type."
"Yay~ Join my crew."
"No! Sabo's gonna join Pops like me!"
"No he's mine."
"Mine!"
"MINE."
"MINE!"
"LUFFY, ACE, SHUT UP!" Sabo cried, fed up of our arguing. "I'll decide who I go with!"
"Sorry." Me and Ace said glumly.
"Right," Sabo continued, "I'm going to stay with Ace, don't start Ace, because he is the one who needs to be watched-"
"Yeah right," Ace snorted, "Have you even heard about what Lu's been up to. God, some of the stuff he's done is insane."
I pouted slightly, it wasn't my fault that I somehow got into unbelievable situations and then had to sort other people's shit out so that I could deal with my own shit, blame the 'D' luck (or curse.)
"What d'ya mean?" Sabo asked.
"Well, a few days ago I asked Luffy to tell me everything that had happened to him after I had left the island, at 17; anyway his exact words were…"
I watched as Ace told Sabo everything that I had told him a few days ago. Sabo's face turned from amused, to shock and then to absolute horror when Ace got to the 'absurd' parts, such as my run ins with the high rank pirates in East Blue, then my run in with Crocodile and Baroque Works, there was a fond smile on Ace's face as he described our meeting, but it turned to anger when he described the two battles that I had with Crocodile. Sabo's face was even more incredulous when Ace re-told my journeys on Sky island and then how we landed in a Marine Base afterwards, the whole Water 7 tale wasn't that shocking until Ace mentioned Enies Lobby, but Sabo seemed to be holding well. That is until the fight with Moria and Oz and then the whole Shabondy incident; Sabo gently ruffled my hair when Ace told him about my crew's separation. I got an envious look when the Isle of Women came up and then an angry look when he heard about Impel Down, but Sabo always had good restraint and managed to contain his rant until Ace had described the Marineford event, at which point he exploded
"LUFFY! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL AND TO LEAVE OTHER PEOPLE'S SHIT ALONE?! GOD, IT'S LIKE TALKING TO A BRICK WALL, EVERYTHING I SAY JUST BOUNCES OFF! NEXT TIME YOU GET DRAGGED INTO A DANGEROUS SITUATION, DO THE SMART THING AND GET OUT OF IT! DON'T JUST STAY JUST SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT HAPPENS! AND YOU ACE! KEEP REGULAR CORRESPONDANCE WITH HIS CREW, THAT WAY WHEN HE'S DOING THIS SHIT, YOU CAN GO OVER THERE AND TELL HIM TO STOP BEING AN IDIOT! AND THEN HIT HIM OVER THE HEAD FOR GOOD MEASURE! AND WHEN YOU'RE INJURED TO THE POINT OF NEAR DEATH, YOU GO GET PATCHED UP, YOU DON'T RUN HEADLONG INTO A WAR! YOU'VE DONE THAT TWICE NOW! AFTER BEING STABBED THROUGH THE STOMACH BY THAT CROCODILE BASTARD- WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, HE'S GONNA DIE! AND THEN AFTER IMPEL DOWN AFTER BEING POISONED- IF I EVER SEE MAGDELLAN HE'S GOING TO BEG FOR MERCY! THE POINT IS ACE, WATCH LUFFY, AND LUFFY, LEAVE OTHER PEOPLE'S SHIT ALONE!"
During Sabo's rant I sat in awe at the amount of Haki Sabo was releasing and how angry he was, I hadn't seen this much fury since the Bluejam incident. However Ace had a different reaction, when reminded about Crocodile he got a murderous look on his face and calmly waited for Sabo to stop before saying in an even tone that didn't mask his fury, "Sabo we need to make a list."
"Yes I agree." Sabo replied with anger coating his words.
'A list?' I thought, 'A list of what?'
As if they could read my mine Sabo and Ace, in sync, replied "A list of people we have to kill for hurting our little bro!"
Whoa that's overkill; please don't tell me that they're actually going to carry that out? Who am I kidding; they're hot heads, so of course they're going to carry that out.
"Hmm…who's the first? Buggy?"
"No, he was easily defeated, but then again, he tried to have Lu executed. But how about Don Krieg?"
"Well he does have to pay for stabbing Lu, so yeah. Who's next?"
"Arlong."
"Definitely. What about Baroque Works?"
"Nah most of them have been imprisoned or killed. Crocodile is on the list for sure."
"Yeah, we could add Enel to that as well."
"If we can find him."
"Next would be…"
In the end the list tuned out like this:
Buggy
Don Krieg
Arlong
Smoker (a little)
Crocodile
Enel
Ao Kiji (when they got stronger)
Lucci
Moria
Magdellan
These were the top ten apparently.
"Of course if we come across any other's that have hurt you whilst hunting down these guys then, they're dead." Ace commented, when I asked him about it.
"But these guys are top priority, 'cause they're the ones who have dealt you the most damage. But if we find Kuma then we won't hesitate to beat him down as well." Sabo cut in.
"Crazy." I mumbled, but they had heard me.
"Hello Pot," Ace chirped.
"We're Kettle." Sabo continued.
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"I take it back, Ace isn't sensible at all; in fact they're both as crazy as you." Nami deadpanned.
"Ha," I cried, "You were with me on most of these adventures, so you can't say anything about crazy."
"He's got ya there Nami."Zoro smirked.
"Shut up." She shot back, "You're worse. How about the time that you decided to cut off your own feet to continue fighting?"
Zoro opened his mouth to retort but Usopp interrupted.
"Oi Oi. Luffy were there any other cool times with your brothers?"
"Yeah. Were there any more suuuper times with Luffy-bro's aniki?" Franky repeated.
"Well I can only think of one more. It was when I got this 'X' shaped scar…"
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I was sent flying backwards by the force of the old geezer's punch, he'd been aiming for the area next to my arm but I had turned and it had caught me in the chest instead. I slammed through a long line of trees and undergrowth before halting when I hit a large boulder. I stood shakily and hacked up a mouthful of blood before wobbling and collapsing onto one of the tree stumps around me, remains of those trees that my flight had destroyed.
"Urg.." I groaned and I glanced down at the blood oozing out of my chest, there was a lot, I couldn't see how bad the wound was because the blood was obscuring it.
"LUFFY!"
I spotted two figures wearing a long coat and an orange cow-boy hat in the distance, running towards me. They were covered in scratches, bruises and cuts galore but they were okay. "Hey," I croaked before hacking up more blood. "Damn geezer had a good right hook."
"Ok Luffy, stop trying to lighten the mood and stay still, the nurses will be here in a sec."
"Listen to Ace, Lu, and stay still."
"Mmm…" I grunted and, when Sabo put an arm round my waist, slumped against my brother.
I don't know what happened next, I must have passed out or something, because the next thing I know I'm staring at a mop of black hair and a blond figure walking through dense trees in front of me, there was a thick layer of bandages covering my chest and the blood that I had hacked up earlier had been cleaned from my face (I could only tell because blood itches when it dries and the only itch I had was on my chest.)
I realised that I was hitching a ride on Ace's back, I hadn't done that in a while, and it was nostalgic. "W'at 'app'ned?" I groaned.
"Pops hit you." Ace growled out.
"The nurses patched you up." Sabo added with another growl.
"Then what's the matter?" I asked, before regretting it immediately. It was definitely the wrong thing to say.
"What's the matter?! Pops shouldn't have been using a Haki and Devil-Fruit infused punch in a spar! You're gonna have a scar and possibly permanent rib damage because of him!" Ace ranted. Sabo just nodded, agreeing with his every word. I sighed, letting my head rest against Ace's shoulder; once they had an idea in their heads there was no stopping them. Then again, I had told the old geezer not to baby me, though I never said go all out, oh well, what's done is done…I wonder if the scar will look cool?
Everything felt hot and the world spun as I passed in and out of consciousness, everything was moving too fast. We were in the woods….On the beach…..The ship was looming closer… We were on the deck…The corridor….The nurses office…..Then everything went out of focus as the world spun, this time for the last, as everything went black.
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Nami sighed, "Why is it always you?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, that it's always you who get's injured doing something you think is important." She remarked.
"But getting stronger is important." I replied.
"Not if it gets you killed it isn't." Zoro, surprisingly, added. The rest of the crew stared at him for a moment before agreeing.
"Well, to each their own-"
"Stop doing that!" Sanji cried. (2)
"-Let me finish the story."
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I woke to the sound of laughter; again, I swear that someone, somewhere out there, is getting a kick out of the fact that I am constantly being injured. Anyway…This time the laughter was not coming from Ace, Sabo or Marco but from Rayleigh, who was watching a screen and laughing hysterically at….someone being beaten by Ace and Sabo…wait…was that…
"Ha Whitebeards got his ass handed to him." Rayleigh remarked, still chuckling, "Although, he probably held back after what he did to you."
"How did you know I was awake?" Rayleigh smirked at me and raised an eyebrow, "Stupid question, Haki." I deadpanned.
"Yeah, anyway your brothers did an excellent job of 'punishing Pops' as they put it."
"Why were they 'punishing Pops?'"
"You know, for someone so smart you can be incredibly stupid. Just think about it."
"For me right? Because the old geezer injured me."
"Hit the nail right on the head with that one. Now shut up, I want to watch Whitebeard get his ass kicked again."
I shut up and we spent the next hour watching and re-watching the old geezer get pounded into the beach by two, very very angry and protective, older brothers.
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3rd POV
"Well now you know." Luffy smirked.
Zoro smirked back, "So who won?" he asked.
"Hmmm…It was a draw really. Ace and Sabo beat up the old geezer and then got beaten up by him half an hour later, so none of them won…Except Marco."
"Marco?"
"The old geezer's first Commander. He beat up Ace, Sabo and the old geezer for damaging the ship in their fights."
"He must be strong then." Usopp added.
"You have no idea, fucking crazy phoenix." Luffy muttered as he stood from his cross-legged position and stretched out his slightly stiff legs.
"Oi." Sanji barked. "Where are you going?"
"To have a shower." Luffy replied dismissively as he strode towards the bathroom, stopping just before the door and reaching for the handle. The he paused and, to the crew's disbelief, appeared to pass through the door and into the bathroom. The rest of the crew, even Robin, sat slightly stunned staring at the section of the door that their Captain had passed through.
They started slightly as the door creaked open and Luffy popped his head through the door and turned to address them, "Oh, and by the way, the shitty geezer, Ace, Sabo and Marco are meeting us in the New World after Fishman Island. Oh and it should be very entertaining, shishishishishi." With that said he removed his head and the door shut abruptly, the crew picked their slack jaws off the ground, regained their wits before turning and facing the door and each other before yelling…
"ITTAI NANI GA!"
END
Ittai nani ga means 'What the hell'
(1) A/N Cannot be bothered to write out pages on descriptions so they all look exactly the same as they do in the manga + anime after the 2 year skip, except Zoro (but I've already described him) and Luffy (but I have described him as well.)
(*) I don't know where they actually are, just that they're in the 60s. Tell me if you know please ;P
(2) Sanji is annoyed by Luffy's smart remarks because it reminds him of how he (and the rest of the crew) didn't see through their Captain's act for 2 years.