So here's what happened: I wanted to write this story to go with the fairy tale stories I've written before, like Vivi and the Beast and Once Upon a Dream. This one was supposed to be based on Little Red Riding Hood and feature SanLu. But after months of not writing and debating, I decided to abandon the story altogether. The plot was sloppy and didn't make much sense and I wasn't totally sure how things would go to reach the ending anyway. And I didn't even have anything but a working title! But it did seem wasteful to just delete the story, so I'm posting it here instead. If anyone really wants to know what I had planned, I'm happy to share, but in all likelihood I won't pick this up again.

"You've got a plan?"

"Yeah. I might take a while coming back, depending on when he leaves the house."

"Okay."

"I know you'll miss me very much, Na—!"

"No, I won't. Get the job done no matter how much time it takes."

"Aye-aye!"

"And don't waste time doing anything stupid."

Luffy stuck out his arms as he walked down the cobblestone street, acting as if he balanced on a tightrope as his legs wobbled back and forth. He paused on tiptoes for a moment to adjust the straw hat covering a mop of hair before moving on.

"Afternoon, Luffy."

Luffy looked up and grinned, jumping off his invisible tightrope and landing neatly two inches away. "Hi, Robin!"

Robin smiled. "Training for the circus?" she asked. A breeze blew dark hair about her face, nearly covering warm owlish eyes resting in fallow skin (a shade darker than Luffy's).

"Is the circus nearby?" Luffy asked hopefully, eyes rounder than ever and stretching the old scar under the left one.

Robin shook her head.

"Oh. Then, no." Luffy looked around at the shops and houses. "A circus . . . that'd be cool!"

"It would be something. Are you on your way home?"

"Yep! I just went running around for a bit. Are you?"

"I am." Robin took a glance around as clouds formed in the sky. "You know . . . I've lived here for almost a year, but I still feel like a foreigner."

Luffy shrugged. "You'll get used to it sooner or later."

"I hope you're right." She stretched her arms (always covered by a shawl) and tugged her knit cap down. "Nice talking to you."

"Yeah! Bye!"

Luffy hurried on, holding out his arms again, though this time he didn't seem to care so much about his foot placement. Robin watched him for a moment before leaving with a smile.

"I'M BACK!"

The man resting on the chair started at the door slamming open coupled with the shout. He looked up in mingled annoyance and relief as Luffy came to him.

"Hey," he said, smiling despite himself. "Walk went well?"

"Hi, Ace," Luffy exclaimed. "Yeah, I saw Robin, she was heading home too."

"Good for her." Ace blew some dark hair out of his face, a mess longer and almost as unruly as Luffy's framing a rosy freckled face. "Chopper came to visit while you were out . . ."

"How's Usopp?" Luffy asked, smile dropping.

Ace grinned. "He'll be better by tomorrow evening."

Luffy let out a whoop of joy. "Can we go see him?"

"About that—" Ace grimaced. "The old man asked me to take care of some paperwork for him while he was out, and I only just remembered the due date's today for it to go in the mailbox."

"So . . ."

"I set up a basket in the kitchen," Ace said. "Hate to ask, but could you take it to their place? I'll catch up with you as soon as I finish the papers."

"Sure!" Luffy exclaimed. He frowned. "What's wrong?"

Ace rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "You know I don't like you going places by yourself," he said at last. "After what happened to . . ."

"Oh." Luffy gave him a reassuring grin as he stood. "I'll be fine, though!"

"I'm sure you will," Ace said tiredly. "And put on your jacket."

"I'm not cold."

Ace folded his arms. "Jacket."

Luffy rolled his eyes dramatically and went to the closet, dragging his feet the whole way. He put on his red hoodie as exaggeratedly as he could and gave Ace a look.

"Thank you," Ace said, ignoring his shenanigans. "Basket's on the table."

When Luffy came back with the basket, he was grinning again (he never could keep a frown for long) and he flung his arms around Ace.

"You know the way," Ace said, hugging him back. "No detours, don't talk to strangers, and be safe."

"I know," Luffy said into Ace's shirt. He leaned back and pulled the hood over his head. "See you soon!"

"Yeah," Ace said. Luffy bounced to the door and left; Ace watched him go until he was out of sight, and shut the door with a sigh.

Luffy strolled down the road, humming to himself. He would swing the basket he held more and more vigorously until he remembered he had to be gentle with it, at which point he would hastily slow his arm, and then gradually speed up the swinging again and start all over.

He took the usual turn, but had to come to a hasty stop to avoid bumping into someone.

"'Scuse me," he said, stepping aside and moving on.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and stopped again, looking back with a frown. "What?"

"You shouldn't go that way," the stranger said. They looked up, and Luffy got a good look at their face. Blonde hair was combed over one eye, while the eyebrow over the other curled into a small spiral at one end. The person (likely a man) wore a knit cap similar to Robin's over his head, and a blue jacket. His pants rustled occasionally, but perhaps it was the wind.

"Why not?" Luffy said at last, having gotten distracted by the stranger's only visible eye.

"Road's closed a bit farther down," the man said abruptly, jerking his head in the direction. He seemed to avoid looking directly at Luffy's face.

"Aw, really?" Luffy held up the basket. "But I've gotta take this to Usopp!"

"Hey, I know another way," the man said. He went to the corner and pointed down the road. "That way, take a right, then a left, then two rights and then the third right, and it'll be all the way down the road. Need me to right—I mean, write that down?"

"Um . . . yes."

The stranger pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket and used a stub pencil to scribble on the directions, handing it off to Luffy.

"Thanks!" Luffy exclaimed with a big grin. "You're so nice! What's your name? I don't think I've seen you around."

"Sanji. Um—just moved here the other day," Sanji lied, inwardly cursing himself for giving out his name so easily (how weak he was to a pretty face . . . but we'll get to that later).

"Okay! See you around!" Luffy walked backwards for a few seconds, waving, before turning around and studying the paper quite seriously, adjusting his red hood as the wind blew.

Sanji made sure he was out of sight before turning and sprinting down the road Luffy had been told was closed.

"Do you want more honey?"

"Chopper, this has so much honey in it—" Usopp interrupted himself with a small cough— "it's practically a beehive."

He frowned and brushed curly hair away from his face, made unique by copper tone and pencil-like nose.

"Okay," Chopper said, shrugging. He was a little younger than Usopp but far shorter; tan skin, a nose tinged oddly with cobalt, and doe eyes underneath short hair and a pink top hat from which small antlers (he insisted they were fake) sprouted made him stick out in a crowd.

"I hope we can visit Luffy tomorrow," Usopp said as Chopper put away the honey. "I'm better, right?" he added defensively, sipping his tea.

"Yeah, just about," Chopper exclaimed.

"You're such a good doctor," Usopp said, grinning. "I know Vivi helped out, but . . ."

Chopper grinned, but it soon faded and he looked at the table.

"What's wrong?"

"I wish I knew why I know medical practice," Chopper whispered. "It's been a little less than a year since I came here, but I still . . ."

"Aw, I bet you'll get your memories back sooner or later," Usopp exclaimed. "And you're a great doctor, even if you don't know why—maybe you can make a magic serum to fix amnesia!"

"That doesn't exist!" Chopper exclaimed, grinning at the praise again. "Geez!"

"Or maybe we could talk to Robin," Usopp said, suddenly thoughtful. "I didn't think of that before—" He coughed again. "Her house smells weird, but it has all kind of interesting divining things, maybe—" He coughed. "She could—"

"I'll get the medicine," Chopper exclaimed, hurrying out of the room.

Usopp soon recovered from his coughing fit, but didn't risk yelling after Chopper, instead quietly drinking his tea.

He perked up when he heard the door open.

"Geez, Luffy, I've told you so many times to knock," he said, grinning as he heard footsteps. "Did you really come to visit me? You're so—!"

His eyes widened when the blonde man came into sight and froze.

"You're Usopp?" the man whispered, eyes darting around.

"Yes?" Usopp whispered. "Can I help you, mister?"

The man moved forward swiftly, shoved a rag in Usopp's mouth, and yanked him off the chair. Usopp's scream was muffled by the rag, now being secured by another cloth tied around his head, and his arms were tied behind his back (just how many pieces of cloth did this guy have?). The man dragged Usopp away, looking around until he found a door—a closet—which he shoved Usopp into, shutting it tight and pushing a table against it.

"Sorry," he whispered against the door before hurrying back to the kitchen, turning away to hide his face and pulling his cap down to cover his hair.

"Wow, those directions were confusing," Luffy said aloud, finally walking into Usopp's house. "Usopp?"

"Right here," came a disguised voice from the kitchen.

Luffy grinned and hurried in to see a figure at the table, covered by a hastily-found blanket with a cup of tea resting in front of him.

"Wow, you sound terrible," Luffy said cheerfully, patting him on the back quite hard. "Look, look, Ace made a basket!"

He set the gift on the table. "It's got wine and food—hey, did your nose get shorter?" he asked, trying to peer under the blanket.

"Got a cosmetic surgery," the man said in the disguised voice.

"What? That's dumb, your nose was cool. Oh, well." Luffy looked around, puzzled, as thuds came from somewhere else. "What's that?"

"Nothing."

Luffy took another look at the figure under the blanket. "Hey, I thought you were supposed to be better by tomorrow, but you sound horrible."

"All the better to disguise myself with," the figure said, standing slowly and staying covered by the blanket.

"Oh, for your mysterious enemies," Luffy said, grinning, completely oblivious. The figure reached for his pocket. "Do you have a story, or are you not up to it?"

"Once upon a time, there was a boy named Luffy," the figure began, drawing his hand out of his pocket again. "He was drugged by a stranger pretending to be his friend and taken away to a secret place."

Luffy grinned. "Aw, come on, can't I be the hero for once?"

The blanket was tossed away, revealing Sanji, who looked at Luffy incredulously. "How thick are you?"

Luffy stared at him. Sanji stared back.

"Usopp?"

"I'm not Usopp! Just—hold still!"

Sanji seized Luffy in a headlock and stabbed a needle into his arm, injecting something with a hissed apology. Luffy's struggles ceased and he went limp; Sanji grabbed him and hoisted him up, carrying him gently as he looked around and hurried outside.

"Found it!" Chopper exclaimed, holding up the medicine bottle at last. "Well, he stopped coughing, but I can keep this out for later!"

He opened the door and trotted out of his room and down the hall, but he stopped when he heard the thuds from inside the closet door.

He pushed aside the table blocking it and opened the door. His eyes widened.

"Usopp?!" he cried, running up and untying him.

"Why didn't you come sooner?!" Usopp exclaimed once his gag was gone.

"I thought you were playing a game!"

Usopp stood, wincing. "Never mind that—some guy came in here and did this to me, let's go get him!"

They hurried back to the kitchen to be met with empty air.

"He's gone," Usopp said. "You didn't see him?"

Chopper shook his head and sniffed the air—he'd always had an uncanny sense of smell. "Someone was definitely here," he announced. "Luffy . . . and someone else."

"Luffy was here?!" Usopp spotted the basket on the table. "Did he—he must've brought that, but then where's—?!"

"Why does it smell familiar?" Chopper whispered. He shook his head and continued, "If that guy tied you up—did he do something to Luffy?!"

A knock came from the door and they looked at each other. They went together, Chopper opening it, and they found a familiar face on the other side.

"Hey," Ace said, scratching his head. "Sorry I took so long."

Usopp and Chopper glanced at each other again.

"Coming in." Ace entered, shutting the door behind him, and went into the kitchen. "Where's Luffy?"

He glanced at Usopp and Chopper, who suddenly appeared very guilty.

"Guys?"

"He was kidnapped?!"

"It's the only thing I can think of," Usopp whispered as he and Chopper cowered under Ace's anger.

"Which way did the guy go?!"

"We don't know," Chopper exclaimed. "He—"

Another knock came from the door; Ace flew out of his seat in his hurry to answer it, and his frantic face was met with a startled one.

"Oh," he said. "Vivi—"

"I heard shouting," Vivi explained. Blue hair in a ponytail framed a chestnut face with royal blue eyes. She lived next to Usopp and Chopper. She smiled nervously. "Is everything okay?"

"No, Luffy's been kidnapped," Ace snapped.

"What?!"

"Come into the kitchen," Usopp called wearily. Ace hurried back, Vivi following.

"Hi," Chopper whispered.

"Hi," Vivi whispered. "Luffy's been kidnapped?"

"Did you see anything?" Usopp asked desperately. "He was taken by a blonde guy with a weird eyebrow and a hat—"

Vivi shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"I can't sit around," Ace exclaimed, jumping up. "I'm going to look for them. I'll be back later."

"But we don't even know which way—!"

Usopp's call was lost as Ace slammed the door behind him.

"What exactly happened?" Vivi asked in worry.

Ace didn't come back for a full two hours. When he finally did, his face was lost and full of despair.

"No luck," he said dully. Usopp, Chopper, and Vivi had been waiting for him in the living room in worry, and now looked at him with relief. "He's gone."

"He's not," Usopp insisted as Ace sat on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. "We'll find him eventually—"

"Just like we found Sabo?" Ace said harshly.

Usopp fell silent.

"I can't lose him, too." Ace buried his face in his hands. "I just—"

Vivi leaned over to hug him comfortingly, staring at the wall.

"Usopp," Chopper said, turning to him, "what were you saying earlier? About that woman?"

"Oh, yeah," Usopp exclaimed. "Ace, hey, it's a long shot—but maybe Robin could help!"

Ace looked at him. "How?" he asked, hope returning to his voice.

"Have you ever seen her house? It's full of weird stuff—like, magic-type stuff—maybe she could help find him!"

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Ace exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"You got that energy back so quickly," Vivi remarked, standing.

"Okay, we're coming with you," Usopp exclaimed, coughing. "I'm fine, shush—Vivi, are you coming?"

"Someone needs to watch our houses," Vivi pointed out.

"Fair enough! Hey, Ace—" Ace was already bolting out the door. "Wait!"

Usopp and Chopper ran after him.