The year was 1997. I had turned four about six months ago; my family had just moved out of town to live in the bush, in an area known alternately as the LaCloche Foothills or the Rainbow Mountains. Like any four year old, I spent my first Saturday there exploring the woods.

That's how my adventures began. Pretty cliché, eh?

Just downhill from our new house, I found the most magnificent pair of pine trees I'd ever seen. Tall, strong, bushy- they were prefect for climbing. The pair rose from either end of a little island in the swamp, their tips as high as the top of our house. They filled the air with a thick, sticky smell. Sort of Christmas-y, but also not. Golden globes of resin sparkled in the sunlight.

Between the trees was a rock. It was as tall as my dad, a pillar of stone with a hole through it just big enough for me to sit in. The rock was worn, and a lighter shade of grey than any others in the area. Strange pictures had been engraved around the hole. They looked sort of like letters, but not any letters I'd seen before. Although, since I was just learning to read, I could hardly be considered an expert.

With a little bit of a struggle, I was able to pull myself up into the holey rock. There was nothing interesting to be found inside. Still, it was nice and warm. I squirmed happily.

A few minutes later, I heard my dad calling me in for lunch. I crawled through the rock to slip out the other side, ready to run back up the hill. Only, I didn't land in the swamp. Instead I tumbled down a mossy slope that hadn't been there the moment before. A huge tree stopped my rolling; it hadn't been there before either. I looked up the way I'd come, but could no longer see the rock or the pine trees. Nor could I hear my dad calling me anymore. Hugging my knees to my chest, I began to cry.

My eyes were puffy and sore by the time I noticed someone watching me. It was a woman, younger than my parents, with dark green hair. A basket in her hand was full of mushrooms. I wondered why anyone would want to gather mushrooms- in my experience, they tasted nasty.

The woman smiled at me; I flinched. "Hello. I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name sweetie?"

I frowned, shaking my head. Name, name... I knew I had one, but what was it again? My head was sore and fuzzy.

Anyway, I wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. I didn't even know where I was (or how I'd gotten there), so everyone there must be a stranger.

"I'm Makino. Do you need help finding your parents?"

Shaking my head, I stared at the ground. Somehow I doubted I'd be finding my parents any time soon. More tears seeped from my eyes. A look of pity crossed Makino's face. She reached down and grabbed my hand.

"Here, let's go back to my bar and I'll look after that head of yours. You must've had quite the fall."

I nodded reluctantly. Makino was a stranger- I knew I shouldn't go with her- but what could I do? I couldn't find my house, my dad... Where were they?

xXx

Another child was already at Party's Bar when Makino led me in. He was older than me- though no taller- with black hair and a goofy smile that reminded me of my friend Dustin. Funny, I could remember Dustin's name, but not my own. I sat beside this new boy while Makino looked at my head.

He ignored me, engrossed in examining a battered straw hat. At least, until Makino frowned and cleared her throat.

The boy jumped. "Ah! Sorry! Hi, I'm Monkey D Luffy, future king of the pirates! Who're you?"

I shook my head, a lump forming in my throat. Just because this boy looked like Dustin didn't mean he was. If I said anything, this Luffy would call me a freak like all the other kids. He'd hate me. Only Dustin protected me. Everyone else thought I was a freaky brain monster.

"She hit her head pretty hard Luffy," Makino explained. "She might not remember who or where she is."

"That's so sad!" Luffy exclaimed. Arms like great rubber bands wrapped around me, squishing me. I squirmed in protest.

"I'm gonna call you Bluejay!"

Makino looked askance at Luffy. "What do you mean?"

He blinked. "Well, she doesn't have a name, ne? So we have to give her one. She reminds me of those birds Shanks told me about from the Grand Line, you know, the winter ones?"

"And how is that?" Makino pried Luffy off of me so she could check me for other injuries. He shrugged and picked his nose.

"I dunno. She just does."

When Makino looked at me, I just shrugged. I didn't mind. It would do well enough until I remembered my real name. Besides, I liked blue jays. Makino smiled.

"Well Bluejay, can you tell us how old you are?"

I held up four fingers. Luffy pouted.

"No fair! That's three less than me! How're you as big as me?"

"Girls grow first," Makino explained. "She might not be forever."

My face heated up. I squirmed, wanting to hide under a table. No one paid this much attention to me except my family and Dustin; I was starting to become uncomfortable. I hid my face in my knees.

Rubber arms wrapped around me again. I could feel Luffy's heart beating excitedly against my back. "Is Blue gonna stay with us?"

"She can if she would like."

I shrugged and nodded. Then I poked Luffy's rubber arm curiously.

"Shishishi! I'm a rubber man!" The silly grin dropped, as if Luffy suddenly realized something. "You're not scared of me, are you? A lot of other kids are."

Why would I be scared of him? I'd never met a rubber man before, but it was like being a superhero, right? So Luffy was good. A lump in my throat prevented me from speaking, so I smiled and hugged one of the rubber arms. Luffy beamed.

xXx

I shared a room with Makino that night. The next day, she took Luffy and I both to get new clothes. A few of the other kids in town saw us and started whispering about freaks, just like the kids at my old school. I tucked so close to Luffy that I was practically hiding behind him. He shot me a sad look.

"They're talking about me, Blue, not you."

Only because they didn't know me. I shuddered, wishing I had my dad with me, or maybe Dustin. Luffy and I ran to catch up with Makino. She was already in a little store, examining a blue and white dress. I stuck my tongue out and shook my head. Makino sighed.

"No dresses, really? But it would look so cute on you."

I shook my head again and joined Luffy in sifting through a pile of t-shirts. At his insistence, I picked out some abstract blue and white ones that made me look like my new name. When Makino tried to get me interested in matching skirts, I grabbed a few pairs of black shorts.

"At least let me do something with your hair," Makino pleaded. I frowned. I hated my hair- straight as a pin and static-y, an indistinct dirty blonde. It was always in my way. Before I could do anything, Makino wrapped a red bandanna over my head, covering my hair like hers.

"When it's a little longer I can braid it for you."

I flinched, remembering my little sister's attempts at "braiding." No way was anyone doing that to me again!

Makino suddenly looked concerned. "Bluejay, can you talk? I haven't heard you say a word since I found you."

The lump was still in my throat. I knew what it was- fear. What it was fear of, I wasn't sure. But until I stopped being afraid, I wouldn't be able to talk. I rocked my head side to side, uncertain. Luffy laughed.

"It's okay Blue! I'll talk for you if you need it."

I smiled.

xXx

For several weeks I spent all my time playing with Luffy. He didn't seem to notice that I avoided all the other kids. I was glad. Then again, he seemed to want to stay away from them too...

I still couldn't talk. Maybe it was because I missed my family- my dad especially. He was the one who always helped me when I was afraid. I was also worried that if I spoke Luffy would think I was a crazy freak, like all the kids at school used to.

Luffy was more than happy to do most of the talking though. At least until one day when I found him hiding in a barrel in Makino's cellar, shaking. He pulled me into the barrel and held his finger to his lips.

"Gramps is here. Don't let him find me."

Less than five minutes later, a giant hand plucked Luffy up by the back of his shirt. I jumped out of the barrel and kicked the shin of a very large man. Loud laughter echoed above me.

"Bwahahahaha! So this is your little girlfriend, eh Luffy?"

"Leave Blue alone dummy! Put me down!"

"Say goodbye Luffy. You're coming with Grandpa to a special training place. Little girls can't become strong marines."

The man's words hurt. Little girls can't become strong. I was strong, wasn't I? Daddy always said I was. Was he just being nice?

I snapped out of it as the man- Gramps- took Luffy away. Tears streaming down my face, I chased after them. Every once in a while Gramps would look back, see me following, and growl.

Hours passed. I scraped my knees and hands as I chased Gramps up the mountain, through tangles of jungle and marsh. A snake almost bit me at one point. I lost precious seconds stopping to beat its head in with a rock.

When Gramps stopped, it was so sudden that I nearly ran into the back of his knees. I stopped myself just in time. Instead I hid behind a tree. Gramps may not have liked me, but if he didn't know I was there, he couldn't make me leave.

I listened as Gramps introduced Luffy to people named Ace and Dadan before he stomped away. As soon as the huge man was gone, I launched myself out of my hiding place and landed on Luffy. Our tears mixed together and soaked into our shirts.

"Blue!"

"Who the Hell is this?"

Looking up, I came face to face with the largest, manliest woman I'd ever seen. She was even scarier than when my mom when she shouted at me. I squeaked quietly and hid behind Luffy. He grinned.

"This is Bluejay! She's my best friend!"

A boy- Ace- sitting on a dead boar sneered. Meanwhile, Dadan's face softened slightly.

"Garp gave me a girl too?"

I shook my head. Luffy looked sheepish.

"Not really. Gramps wanted to leave her behind. I'm glad he didn't though."

Poking Luffy, I shook my head and pointed to my scrapes. He frowned.

"You followed by yourself? Awesome! But Gramps'll be mad if he finds you."

I stuck my tongue out to show I didn't care. Ace looked like he was trying to hide that he was impressed. Dadan sighed and shook her head.

"Finally get a girl and it's a crazy tomboy. Fine, she can stay. What's one more at this point?"

Ace snorted and left. I buried my face in Luffy's shoulder and started shaking. The rubber boy frowned at Dadan.

"Don't call Blue crazy just cause she can't talk!"

Dadan sweat-dropped. "That ain't why. Anyways Bluejay, same rules for you as the other brats. One bowl of rice a day; you want more, you either hunt or work. And don't drag me into your brat problems."

I nodded. As long as I was with Luffy, it was fine. I needed him. Since getting lost here, he was the closest thing I had to family.

xXx

The days that followed confused me. I would've been content to do chores for the bandits, but Luffy always ran off into the jungle. And of course, I followed. This meant that Luffy and I spent most of our mornings chasing after Ace.

Our afternoons were spent getting out of whatever trouble Ace dropped on our heads. He did not like us.

Sometimes it was falling trees, forcing us to dodge and often get lost. Sometimes it was clouds of bees that stung and chased us. Once Ace even destroyed a bridge while we were crossing a canyon. If Luffy hadn't been made of rubber, he and I both would've died.

Every night, Luffy and I made our way back to the bandits' place and patched each other up. We brought dead snakes with us as often as not- Luffy was good at finding them, and I was good at bashing their heads with rocks. It turned out that Dadan knew quite a few ways to cook snake. She taught me some... Not that anyone but Luffy ever ate what I cooked. The one time Dogra tried, his face turned red as a tomato. I wondered why.

Every day, Luffy and I followed Ace further into the jungle. We became quite good at dodging without losing sight of him, and at navigating by the sun. Luffy worked out a technique called Gomu-Gomu no Rocket for slinging us across rivers and ravines.

I wasn't sure why Luffy wanted to know where Ace went so badly. Sadly, I couldn't ask. The lump of fear still clogged my throat.

Then one day we did it. We followed Ace to the end of his journey. True, we lost sight of him for an hour or so, but we found him again later. He'd acquired a sack of money somewhere in that time. Best yet, Ace hadn't noticed that we'd caught up. He was busy counting his money up in a tree, accompanied by a blond boy in a top hat. The blond had just conceded that Ace had more money than him when he noticed us.

"Hey Ace, are those the pests you told me about?"

"Crap!" Ace glowered at us, then looked at his companion. "Come on, help me get 'em!"

What happened next was pathetic. Luffy and I tried to fight back and escape, but to no avail. Luffy lost control of his powers and was nabbed by Ace, while the other boy grabbed me and held me up so I couldn't kick him. The older boys then turned Luffy's powers against us, tying us to a tree with rubber arms. Ace shot his friend a serious look.

"Sabo... We need to kill them."

"Agreed." Sabo pulled a knife from somewhere, then shoved it at Ace. "You do it. I've never killed someone before."

"What?! Me neither!"

"Wah! Don't kill Blue'n me!"

Footsteps came crunching through the forest. Ace and Sabo hid, leaving Luffy and I to face a group of scary men. The leader of the gang untied us and picked us up by our necks.

"You! Brats! Where's that little shit, Ace? He took our money!"

"Like I'd tell you!" Luffy shouted. "Ace is my friend! Although he tried to kill me just now..."

"Where did he hide our money brat?"

"No idea!" Luffy began to whistle and sweat unconvincingly. The man holding us shook him roughly, then looked at me.

"What about you? Where's the money?"

I shook my head. Luffy began to squirm angrily.

"Leave Blue alone! She can't talk!"

The man glowered at us. Luffy squeaked in fear. "Tell us now, brats, or we'll have to do this the hard way."

Neither of us spoke. The rough man cursed and shoved us in a filthy sack. We were carried a long way after that, bouncing painfully on the man's shoulders.

He opened the sack inside a dim, filthy shack that reeked of old socks. Heavy, fraying ropes bound Luffy and I so we couldn't fight back. Then the rough men- pirates- got to work.

They started on Luffy. It didn't take long for the pirates to notice that blunt force didn't really hurt him. So out came the spiked glove. The lead pirate- Porchemy- beat my rubber friend bloody. Luffy didn't say anything about Ace. Instead, the rubber boy kept whispering to me, telling me it was okay, that we'd get out somehow. I cried silently, wishing I could say something to make the pirates stop.

Eventually, Porchemy did stop. Blood dripped quietly from his spiked glove. "You won't talk, eh? Well, let's see how long you can keep up the tough guy act when I start on your little girlfriend."

Pain. The spiked glove slammed into my shoulder. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Tears poured down my face, blurring my vision. I curled in on myself. But though I expected more pain, none came.

Instead, I heard yelling and heavy thudding noises. A small blade slid through my bindings; a hand grabbed mine and dragged me along. I ran blindly. It took several minutes for me to realize that I was being pulled by Sabo.

After running for what seemed like ages, he stumbled to a stop in a clearing. Ace and Luffy were there ahead of us. The freckled boy was angrily berating my rubber friend.

"What were you thinking? Why didn't you just tell them what they wanted?"

"Ace wouldn't be my friend if I told!" Luffy was, if possible, crying even more than me. Ace looked furious.

"Why does it matter? You have Blue, don't you?"

"But no one else!" Luffy stared at the ground. "Blue'n me are all alone, and she can't even talk! Being lonely hurts way more than any punches or spikes!"

I froze. Luffy was lonely even with me around? Was it because I couldn't bring myself to speak? I was such a bad friend! I hadn't even noticed; I should've noticed. Fresh tears streamed down my face as I struggled with the lump in my throat.

Ace, meanwhile, looked cautiously hopeful. "Wait... It hurts when I'm not around?"

Luffy nodded. I grabbed my left wrist so tightly my fingernails cut into it. I hadn't meant to hurt him.

"And it's better when I'm here?"

Luffy nodded again.

"So... You want me to live?"

Bawling, Luffy nodded a third time. Ace looked like he was trying to hide a smile. Sabo wasn't bothering to hide his. Something very important was going on there; I didn't understand though.

What bothered me was Luffy crying. It was my fault he was lonely- if I hadn't been afraid to talk, he wouldn't have been hurt. Blood dripped from my wrist as I bowed low, the way Makino had showed me. My throat and face burned as the lump of fear shattered.

"I'm sorry!"

Silence filled the clearing. Luffy even stopped crying to stare at me in shock.

"Blue can talk?"

"I'm so sorry! If- if I was better, you wouldn't be hurt. I'll be better, I promise! Just... Don't leave me..."

Blood-slick rubber arms wrapped around me. "Shishishishi! Blue is a dummy! Just because I'm friends with Ace and Sabo doesn't mean I'm gonna leave Blue alone!"

Sabo looked at the rest of us. "Well, it seems you've all made excellent progress today. I, however, have a bit of a problem. Porchemy will be looking for us after this- he'll find my place in Grey Terminal."

"No problem!" Luffy declared. "Sabo can live with us, right Ace?"

Ace grunted. Apparently that meant yes, as Sabo joined us on our way home to the bandits. I clung to Luffy the whole way- the older boys still made me nervous. Sabo looked at me curiously.

"So... Blue, was it?"

"Bluejay. Luffy named me; I can't remember my old name."

"How old are you?"

"Four."

"And why couldn't you talk before?"

"I can't talk when I'm scared. I've been scared since I got lost and ended up with Luffy."

"You speak pretty well for a four year old."

"Mommy said I've always been this way. She was already teaching me to read."

"Do you miss her?"

I paused. "Kind of. Mommy could be scary sometimes too. I spent most of my time with Daddy." I frowned. "I had a little sister too, and a dog and a cat. Why can't I remember their names?"

"It's called retrograde amnesia." Sabo ruffled my hair. "You might remember someday. Is there anything you do know?"

"Songs." I nodded to myself. "Daddy always sings Beatles and Stompin Tom and stuff, so I know lots of songs. And Dustin."

"Cool!" Luffy had apparently been listening. "That's so awesome! Every crew needs a musician!"

"Who's Dustin?" I flinched at Ace's voice. He sounded so grumpy!

"Dustin was like a big brother to me. When the other kids were mean to me, he made them go away." I sniffled. "I miss Dustin most. Is it just cause I remember him best?"

"Probably."

Luffy grinned. "Well, if Dusty's not here, I'll be your big brother!"

Ace's fist immediately met Luffy's head. "Idiot! You couldn't be a big brother if your life depended on it. A big brother wouldn't've let their sister get caught!"

"I'm only seven! When I'm as old as you I'll be able to protect Blue from everything!"

"Who says I'll need protecting?" I kicked Luffy in the shin, which did exactly nothing. "Who kills all the snakes for Dadan, eh?"

A three-way argument rose through the trees. We stopped walking, wounds forgotten. Somewhere in the background, Sabo's hand slapped against his forehead with a sigh.

"Gods of the sea, not three of them!"

A/N: Hi people! So yeah, I know that in some circles a self-insert is considered the lowest of the low. I couldn't help it; my friends constantly joke that I belong in the One Piece world, so, yeah... In this fic, a portal to the One Piece world opened on the day the manga was first published, and I ended up going through to Dawn Island by accident.

I'm well aware that the way little Blue thinks and talks is a bit ahead of where most four-year-olds are. I've always had advanced language skills; my parents tell me I started talking at nine months old, and could pull off full, relatively complex sentences at one year. My reading level was grade twelve by the time I was eight.

This will be a bit of an AU fix-it deal, like the time travel fics I love so much. So be prepared for gradual divergence from canon. And I'll never do a scene exactly the same as in the manga or anime, because that would be boring, even if my presence in the world wouldn't really change anything about the scene.

And Dustin... I really did have a friend named Dustin when I was four. He wasn't like Luffy though- more like Ace. He was two years older than me and got annoyed when I followed him around all the time, but if anyone else bullied me he always chased them away. After a while he started to like me and let me hang out with him. Said he didn't mind, since I was smarter than the other kinder-gardeners. He moved away though, so I haven't seen him since.