A/N:Hi guys! So I was inspired to write this story while I was watching Luffy's flashbacks of Ace, Sabo, and Luffy as kids. And since Robin is my favorite character in One Piece, how can I not put her in?! So here is a my reimagined version of them as kids! I'm going to be working on this story and my "The Legacy We Live With" story at the same time. Unfortunately that means the chapter updates will be slowed down since I'm doing two at the same time. This is my second story, and I hope I do it justice. Enjoy and tell me what you guys think! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

On the outskirts of Dawn Island, a small wooden boat floats towards to shore. In a dirtied and torn purple dress, an 8 year old girl lays still in the tiny vessel she escaped in. She had been floating for many weeks on the harsh ocean waters. Anybody would go insane from being all alone for so long at sea. But, for a little girl that had grown up despised and abhorred by her entire village, isolation was the least of her worries. Not being lost in the ocean, not the freezing cold nights, not even the threat of sea kings imparted any fear in the little girl.

If anything tormented her, it was the immense loss that she had faced in the past months. She had been sent to the sea by the vice-admiral marine who helped massacre her hometown, capture her mom, kill her best friend, and burn down the island she grew up in. Then, it wasn't long after that she was captured by a marine ship. Fortunately, she had been able to escape after the ship had crossed into East Blue. The marines on board weren't aware that their captive had a devil fruit power, so they didn't put any sea stone shackles on her. Plus they didn't consider an 8 year old much of a threat, which made her escape pretty easy. With her Hana Hana no mi, Robin was able to get the keys to her cell, find a small life boat on the side of the ship, and sneak away.

For the first few nights after escaping, all Robin did was hug her knees and cry. Then for weeks after, she would sit there in silence staring at the creaking floor boards of her tiny boat, remembering the images of fire and chaos. She kept thinking back to what Saul said right before he froze to ice, "The sea is vast. Someday, without any doubt, Nakama who will protect you will appear." She didn't really believe Saul's words. Even if she did find nakama, she was sure they would just end up rejecting her in the end after they found out what she could do. It'll be just like what happened with the other kids in Ohara. They'd all come to believe she was a monster or a demon.

She missed Saul. He was her only friend and had accepted her powers. But he was dead. Sometimes she would think about how Saul taught her to laugh when things got rough. "Dereshishishi," Robin would imitate the laugh over and over again to stop herself from shedding more tears. After a while, Robin resolved that crying was useless. There wasn't any point to mourn what has already gone to past. She knew she had to live on because if she didn't, then Saul, her mother, and all the archeologists would have died in vain. Live… Survive… Find the Rio Poneglyph. That's what I must do. Robin realized these things as she thought about her tragedy in those silent nights drifting over the rocky waves.

Fortunately, her devil fruit ability made it easy for her to navigate the ocean. Robin was able to grow arms on the sides of the vessel and legs in the back to help her steer and paddle the boat in the direction she wanted. This also helped her grab food in the water as she can sprout arm after arm, creating a chain of limbs to reach deep into the water. The only problem was, there wasn't any fire to help cook any fish, so Robin settled for underwater plants and seaweed for her meals. Being a smart girl who had recently become an official Archeologist/Scholar, Robin had read enough books to figure out how to navigate the sea. In that time, Robin built a fortitude for survival that she had never had before. Perhaps it was that will to live that allowed her to evade any ocean threats.

Her love for her mother and Saul helped her endure those hungry and lonely nights as she continued to drift eastward. She didn't know where she was going really. She just knew that she had to get far away as marines would be searching for her now.

The boat hit the sand with a thud, and the sudden stop jolted Robin awake. Looking around, she realized her boat had washed up onto a beach. Quickly, she crawled out of the boat and tried her best to drag the vessel further up land. When the boat was finally secured on the dried land, Robin collapsed onto sand, exhausted from her journey.

"Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!"

A long arm stretched forward toward the big bear as the 7 year old, Luffy, attempted to catch his breakfast. Unfortunately, the attack didn't land. The young boy lost control as the front part of his forearm began to wiggle violently. His fist hit the ground and bounced backward, hitting Luffy in the cheek.

"Sigh… Luffy just leave this to us okay?" Sabo looked dolefully at the boy who was now rubbing the side of his face. Ace just stood to the side shaking his head at his step brother's folly.

"But I wanted to catch today's food!" Luffy protested

"If we keep letting you try, we'll never get to eat!" Ace yelled, "Now quit being an idiot and let Sabo and me fight the bear"

Crossing his stubby arms, Luffy reluctantly walked off to the side and sat down. He watched as his two older brothers chase after the large bear with their metal rods. The ten year olds jumped up and bashed their rods against the bear's head. A huge red bump grew where the boy's blows landed, but the bear wasn't knocked out yet. Instead, the animal became enraged and started swinging his paws around at the two boys. Sabo and Ace jumped and dodged each swing and wacked the bear's arms, breaking the bone. The fight continued on as the boys ran around trying to weaken the bear with their blows.

Luffy just sat and watched the scene in front, unaware of something big creeping up in the greenery behind him. He didn't hear the footsteps behind him as he was too busy listening to his growling stomach and rubbing his small 7 year old belly in hunger. It wasn't until Luffy felt something slimy drop on his head that he looked up and saw the sharp white teeth that accompanied the large furry orange beast towering over him. At this point, Luffy was scared frozen. Trembling beneath the tiger, Luffy saw that it wasn't looking at him. Rather, it had its fierce eyes set on the bear that Sabo and Ace were still fighting. The older brothers hadn't noticed the beast yet, as it was still lurking by the tall trees. But as the large tiger readied itself to pounce at the bear, Luffy felt he had to warn his brothers of their new company.

"Aaaace! Sa – "

The rubber boy was cut off as the tiger sprung from his spot, jumping over the boy's head. Luffy raised his arms and grabbed onto the tiger's tail and started yelling. Sabo and Ace now looked in terror at the new company that was charging in their direction. In the back, they saw Luffy holding onto the tiger's tail for dear life.

"Luuuffy!" Ace called out.

"HOLD ON TIGHT!" Sabo yelled

"AAAAHHHhhh!" The young boy continued to scream

The two brother jumped off of the bear and dodge the tiger's stomping paws. They landed in the dirt and dust was flying everywhere. Getting up they watched as the tiger pounced once more, paws grabbing onto the bear. The beast's tail swung upwards then, and the momentum was too strong for Luffy. Losing his grip on the tail, Luffy was thrown through the air far away from the tiger and his two brothers.

"LUUUFFY!" Ace and Sabo yelled

"AAAAHHHH – *THUD *"

Luffy's screaming was cut short as he landed face first in the sand. Pushing himself up, the young boy began coughing and brushing the sand off his face and his tongue. Standing up he turned to look around him. He was at the very bottom of Mt. Corvo where the forest ends and the coastline begins. It's going to be a long walk back to the secret base… Luffy thought. Turning back, Luffy admired the scene of the ocean that stretched far out into the horizon. He watched the waves rock back and forth, running over the sandy beach. Then he noticed something off on the shore where the waves were coming in. Running toward it, he realized it was a small wooden boat and next to it, laid an unconscious girl.

Luffy had never really spoke to a girl before, unless you counted Makino and Dadan. But he wouldn't really consider Dadan a girl, more like an old hag. The girl on the beach looked like she was sleeping and the waves were moving closer and closer to her. Luffy thought he should wake her before the waves pulled her into the water, but he seemed unsure on how to do it. Taking a stick, he poked her arm several times. No response.

"Oi, wake up" The girl continued to lay there.

"OOooiii!" Luffy tried again. Still nothing.

Figuring that she wasn't going to wake, Luffy resolved to bring the girl with him. He wasn't going to leave her there to be eaten up by the ocean. But first, he pushed her tiny boat further up shore away from the incoming waves. Then, taking a HUGE leaf, he came back and rolled the girl onto the leaf. He began to tug and drag the leaf with the girl on it towards the forest. Luffy was having a pretty difficult time hauling the unconscious girl. He was only 7 after all, and his arms were stubby and weak. Luckily, the girl was small too, and Luffy was able to manage.

"Which way did that idiot get thrown?"

Ace was pretty aggravated at this point. They had lost their meal to a giant tiger, and Luffy went and got himself tossed away to Timbuktu.

"I think it's this way" Sabo pointed. "Let's just find Luffy and we can catch some fish later, okay?"

The blond boy tried his best to keep Ace calm. But nothing he did really worked, being that Ace was pretty short tempered. On top of that, he didn't have anything to eat since the night before. Who wouldn't be cranky walking around in the woods on an empty stomach. The boys continued their journey down the side of the mountain's forest looking for their little brother.

"Hey Ace, isn't that Luffy right there?"

Sabo pointed towards a small figure lying on his back and began to run. When the boys got there, they found Luffy sweating and panting as he laid down exhausted. Next to him was a sleeping girl on a gigantic leaf.

"Luffy! Are you okay? What happened?" Sabo addressed the tired boy.

"And who is that?" Ace pointed to the sleeping figure.

"Ace! Sabo! I found you guys!" Luffy seemed to have regained his energy at the sight of his big brothers.

"Ummm… Luffy… Why are you dragging around a girl in a big leaf?" Sabo now went and looked at who Ace was talking about. Both brothers looked at the 7 year old in confusion.

"Oh! Her! Umm… I don't know who she is. I just found her on the beach after I lost you guys earlier. I tried to wake her up, but it didn't work. So I just brought her with me" Luffy grinned at his big brothers.

"Exactly where did you plan on taking her?" Ace asked

"To the base"

"You were going to bring a stranger to our secret base!? Are you an idiot?!" Ace knocked Luffy in the head

"OW!" Luffy began rubbing the bump Ace made. "Where else was I suppose to take her?"

"I don't know! But the base is suppose to be a secret! Don't try to bring anybody there!" Ace yelled

"Okay guys! Stop fighting!" Sabo tried to intervene.

Then a tirade of comebacks and insults began as the three fought about the strange girl lying next to them. They were so focused on each other, they hadn't even noticed the girl stirring on the ground.

The exhaustion hadn't worn off yet, but the loud noise from the yelling brought Robin out of her slumber. Looking up and rubbing her eyes, Robin realized she was surrounded by three young boys who seemed to be in a heated debate. It had been months since she had heard the voice of another human being and with the volume up so high, Robin's head hurt at the new sounds. She thought back to the kids in Ohara, and instantly she was alert. The kids she had grown up with called her names and sometimes even ganged up on her and tried to beat her up. Everyone wanted to taunt the girl with the freaky powers. They called her a Demon. Remembering these things, Robin knew she had to defend herself from these 3 new threats. She had thought about running off since it didn't seem like the 3 boys had noticed her yet, but her legs felt weak from the months at sea and she didn't know if she could run fast enough. The best thing to do was to use her devil fruit powers on them.

As Robin stood up, she heard the boy with blond hair speak.

"Guys! She's awake!"

Three faces now stared at her. Robin felt panicked at what they would do. Without thinking, she summoned a phantom arm next to the blond boy and grabbed the metal rod he was holding. Sabo was shocked to see an arm come out of the tree he was standing next to and dropped his weapon in shock. Robin felt slightly relieved to have disarmed the boy. She didn't know why they had those but thought maybe they were going to use the metal rods to hit her with.

"SUGOI! Did you see that Sabo?" the kid wearing a straw hat had stars in his eyes as he watched the phantom arm hold up the blond kid's, who Robin now knew as Sabo, metal rod in between them and Robin.

"St-stay away from me!" Robin yelled.

"Ho-How did you…?" Sabo looked astonished. Ace's eyes widened slightly arching his eyebrows in surprise.

Robin saw that the freckled face boy with dark hair also had a metal rod. Summoning another phantom arm from a rock, she tried to take it. But the boy was too fast for her. He took the shaft and slammed it against her hand whacking the arm away. The arm disappeared into petals, and the girl cried out from the pain and coiled over hugging her arm.

"Ace! What did you do?" Sabo yelled at his brother as he looked at the girl's hunched form. "Are you okay?"

Tears fell from Robin's face as she looked at her arm. There was a big bruise and it was turning purple.

"There was a freaky arm! What else was I suppose to do? Let it take my weapon?!" Ace yelled at Sabo back.

He said 'freaky' Robin thought. The tears dripped down onto the dirt. Stop crying! Robin mentally yelled at herself. You've been called freaky before. It's no big deal… You should be use to it. Deciding she had to get out of there, Robin turned away from the 3 boys and started running. She held onto her throbbing arm as she hurried off.

"Wait! Come back!" Sabo and Luffy shouted. Robin ignored them and continued running deep into the woods.

"Ace! You scared her off!" Luffy grumbled. "I wanted to see more of her cool arms!"

"Her arms freaked me out!" Ace argued

"My stretchy arms don't freak you out!" Luffy said

"Are you sure it's the arms that freak you out Ace? Or are you freak out cause she's a girl?" Sabo commented

Ace didn't respond but he looked angry.

"Shishishi! Ace is nervous!" Luffy laugh. "He's even turning red!"

"Shut up!" Ace yelled. Then he struck Luffy's head again, creating another bump on top of the first bump from earlier. Luffy sat on the ground rubbing his skull, regretting laughing at his older brother.

"Sigh… I'm going to look for her" Sabo said. "You guys go look for food. I'll meet you back at the base"

"Wait. You're not going to bring her to our secret base, are you?" Ace asked

"I don't see any harm in it" Sabo replied

"Ugh! Its called 'secret' for a reason"

"She's just a girl Ace" Sabo reasoned. "Don't get so worked up just cause you've never seen one before"

"Shi shi shi" Luffy snickered

"Fine! Just let a stranger in. Let's not even consider she might tell everyone about our secret hideout!"

"Luffy said he found her washed up on the beach. She probably doesn't know anybody on the island. Look, I'm leaving now, see you guys later" Sabo waved to his brothers, and turned to find the girl with the strange power.

"Let's go Luffy. We're going fishing"

"Yosh! FOOOD!"

A/N: I changed the One Piece timeline a little bit to fit the story. Robin is 8, Luffy is 7, Ace/Sabo are 10.