Author's Notes:

1. This is my FIRST EVER fan fic! I love to write, though, so hopefully it'll be somewhat decent. Feedback is always appreciated! :)

2. This story switches perspectives. I will try to remember to put whose perspective it is for each Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc label

3. I have only watched Season 1 of One Piece, so my characters will only consist of the original five member crew. (Season 1 ends after the crew escapes Logue Town and this mysterious wind dude helps Luffy get away. No one spoil anything for me :P ) I could have tried to added the others, but A) don't want to spoil anything for me by looking anything up! and B) I want to remain accurate with my story and I want the readers to feel like they are actually watching an episode of One Piece.

4. I will be using a LOT of events shown in the anime. I have not read the manga yet. I am trying to be as accurate as possible with my writing (so for example, using actual bits of dialogue from the anime in my writing) BUT because it is a fan fic and I want to have some ZoLu fun with it (plus, you know, plagiarism) most dialogue will not be word-for-word but just very close instead!

Enjoy! :)

LUFFY

I knew I wanted him the moment I saw him!

Don't ask me why, because I really don't know. I just found something very alluring about him. Maybe it was because that despite being tied up to a pole and publicly humiliated, he still had this aura of fierce determination. Maybe it was because when he looked up at me, I saw the same burning passion to not just live, but to follow a dream, that I had in my own eyes. And yeah, maybe it was because I was very intrigued by how he could remain so muscular when he was left there to starve to death. I could barely go three hours without food.

I can definitely say that my reasons for wanting him did not include skill. Apparently he was a famous swordsman, but had I ever heard of him? Of course not. Did that mean anything? No. But that's just to prove that I didn't know why I wanted him on my crew. I just did. He seemed trustworthy, noble, loyal, determined, strong. He had survived in this courtyard for thirty days with no food or water or other living essentials. He seemed like everything I could ask for and more. He would be the perfect addition to my crew. Maybe we would even be friends! How I loved making new friends!

So there I, Luffy, future King of the Pirates, stood, staring triumphantly at the man I would declare my first mate. I was confident with my choice. Besides, how could he possibly refuse a position on my crew?! It was gonna be an awesome adventure, after all!

As my new friend, Koby (who was rambling on about the dangers of this supposed bandit), and I watched him from the outside of the marine base wall, he suddenly looked up.

"You two are an eyesore. Get out of here," his rugged voice said.

I was about to say something more, when suddenly a ladder appeared next to Koby. The words escaped my mouth as I watched a young girl, no older than ten, suddenly appear at the top of the ladder. She hoisted herself over the wall and dropped to the ground, a small package in her chubby, little hands.

"Hi, Mister! I made you some rice balls! You must be hungry," she said sweetly, unwrapping the package and showing her present proudly to the man.

"What, you got a death wish, kid? Scram," he said, eyeing the rice balls.

"Oh, but mister, you've been out here with nothing to eat for so long! It's my first time making them, so I hope they're good!" she insisted, moving her hands closer to his face.

"I'm not hungry! Stop annoying me, kid!" he exclaimed, turning his head from the rice balls.

Meanwhile, next to me Koby was blabbering on about how we had to get her out of there because who knows if that bandit will react violently and hurt her and blah blah blah.

"Bu-" she began to protest, again.

"Get out of here before I kick your ass, little girl!" he threatened.

"That's so mean!" Koby whispered, appalled by his behavior. However, I could tell the man was simply trying to get her out of there to avoid further trouble. I could see in his shadowy eyes that he was hungry, his eyes trying to avoid looking at the food for too long. Seemed sacrificial to me.

I was about to inform Koby of this when suddenly a high-pitched, flamboyant voice echoed across the courtyard.

"Now, now! No one likes a bully!" the voice called, and suddenly, what I assumed to be the marine captain, came into view.

His blonde hair was styled a little too well, and his dark purple suit made his pale skin seem to glow in the bright sunlight. I groaned. He looked like an asshole.

"Roronoa Zoro! You seem to be handling this well," he continued haughtily, striding over to the girl and man with the utmost cockiness. I hated him already.

"Look! Another weird guy," I pointed out to Koby, in case he hadn't seen him yet.

"Great! He's probably with the marines. He'll save the little girl," Koby replied hopefully, fear on his face as the scene played out. I rolled my eyes. He meant well, but sheesh, he was a coward.

"Oh, look! Rice balls!" the haughty man declared, snatching one from the package before the little girl could react.

"Those aren't for you!" she angrily said, jumping to try and get it back.

The man took a huge bite, and savored it for a few seconds, before he suddenly spat it back out.

"YUCK! What is this?!" he demanded, continuing to throw a fit while he started to scrape rice off his tongue.

"I made them with sugar to try som-"

"SUGAR?! You idiot! You're supposed to use salt, not sugar! How stupid could you be?!" he cried in distress, whipping the package out of her hands and stomping on the other rice ball.

"Stop! I worked really hard on those!" the little girl whimpered, tears flooding her eyes. My heart hurt for her. This guy was a douche.

"That's just awful," Koby said quietly. He seemed shocked. It must have been a hard sight for him to see, what with his admiration for the marines and all.

The man finished his stomping and the little girl knelt to the crushed rice ball. "I worked… s-so hard to make t-those!" she stuttered through her tears.

The man, Zoro, looked at her sympathetically. Anger crossed his face when he moved his gaze back to the flamboyant man.

"Oh, that's too bad!" the marine captain said patronizingly. I felt my blood boil. What a dick!

"Putting your horrible cooking skills aside, I must ask, have you read the notice that was posted?"

The girl looked up from her rice ball and stared wide-eyed at him.

"No? You must not have!" and with that the man pulled out a piece of paper from the inside of his jacket, and held it up to his eyes. He cleared his throat and began to read casually, "'Those who assist criminals in any way will be executed. Signed Marine Captain Morgan.' Funny! Even little brats seem to fear my daddy!"

"Daddy?!" I asked, my mouth dropping. If this guy was this horrible and annoying, how much worse could his father be?

Koby perked up, his face thoughtful. "So… His… His father is Captain Morgan?" Just when I thought the kid couldn't get any more shattered, his face dropped once more. I thought he would be relieved to know this dick wasn't the captain, but as I mentioned, his father must be ten times worse if this was his son.

My attention was redirected to the action below as the haughty, shriek-y voice said, "Toss this kid out, right now!" I looked down to see the captain's son pointing at the marine behind him, not even bothering to turn around.

The marine raised his eyebrows, his jaw agape. After a few seconds, he finally regained his composure and began to argue. "But, sir! Yo-"

The captain's son turned around and gripped the soldier by his shirt. "I said, RIGHT. NOW. So get to it or I'll tell my father. Do you understand?"

The soldier gulped and hurriedly said, "Y-Yes sir! I'll do it!"

The soldier looked at the little girl and pain overtook his face. He clearly felt horrible about this decision.

With heavy steps, he walked over to the little girl and began to pick her up. He seemed to whisper something in her ear, and before I knew it, the little girl was flying over the wall.

I saw her go flailing past me and before I could think, quickly stretched my arms out, caught her, and shot myself over to her so I could cushion her as she landed. I moved my hand to the back of her head to keep it steady in case the fall was a little too rough. I hit the ground with a thud, but at least she was safe. Maybe being made of rubber wasn't so bad after all, eh?

We stayed there for a moment. I think she was happy to have a pair of protective arms around her after that trauma. I didn't mind. I always had a soft spot for little kids.

Finally, she began to move and stood up, holding out a hand to help me. I grabbed it and jumped up, smiling at her.

"Thanks, mister!" she said, gratitude seeming to radiate from her huge smile.

I felt my smile widen. She was cute.

Koby suddenly rushed over to us, acting as frantic and cautious as ever as he asked us if we were okay, if we had hurt anything. When he saw I was completely fine, he moved straight to the little girl, acting very big brother-like.

I figured my job was done so I headed back over to the wall.

Time to recruit my first-mate.