You can't get back what you've lost, What's important now is -What is it that you still have."

— Jimbei

Sawada Tsunayoshi –that is what the people here called him. But wasn't he Luffy though-?

He didn't say it again since that one time the pretty brunette -who said she was his Mama (but how can that be? He never had a Mama before, the closest mother-like figure in his life before had actually been Makino –and Dadan to some extent, he guessed.)- burst into tears when he had insisted to be called Luffy. Since then, he had let it be and didn't mind being called Tsuna if it can make the older woman happy.

The woman –his supposed mother- was really pretty and kind and the food she made could rival Sanji's cooking. He would've asked her to join his crew, if only he knew where he actually was.

Was he lost? Or were they lost? Meh, did they catch Zoro's funny habit of getting lost in strangest places? For the first few days it was quite funny, but when days passed with no news from them, he got worried.

To makes matters worse, the stupid doctors here would not allow him to go search for his crew! They didn't even believe him when he said that all they need to do is get him some meat to eat and he'll be all fine! They're such idiots! Tch, Chopper is so better than these guys! At least he listened to him, even though he usually ended up banging his head against the wall of his office on the Sunny-Go. Silly Chopper.

To be honest, he was getting worried for them. Were they okay? Why haven't they contacted him yet? Zoro- he can understand. That guy can get lost even while trying to walk straight. But at least the others' should've found him by now. Usually, Nami would be the first one to find him and then drag him back to the ship, berating him for his stupidity- with Sanji singing "mellorine~ " in the background, Usopp and Chopper sighing at their antics, Robin sun-bathing on Sunny's deck, Franky doing latest adjustments to their ship, Zoro training in his room, and Brook tuning his violin.

*sigh* he missed them. He really missed them a lot.

"Where are you, everyone?" he whined as he pouted, depressed at the thought that he was here all alone -for some reason. He hated being alone. He wanted his crew, his friendscompanionsfamilynakama back. He didn't like this strange place. He wanted to be back on his ship, with his crew, sailing the Grand Line, looking for One Piece and becoming the King of Pirates. He didn't want to be here. At all.

Where was 'here' anyways? Is this 'Namimori' some island in New World? How did he end up here anyways? He didn't remember….

Frowning in frustration, he clenched his fist, and pulled his cheeks to snap himself out of his trance –only to yelp in pain when it actually hurt when he pulled them. He didn't remember feeling pain from the mere act of pulling is cheeks –which usually could stretch for even miles- ever since he ate the Rubber-Rubber fruit. It didn't make any sense…

He winced as his head throbbed dully. All this thinking is making his head hurt…. where were the others when you need them?

If they didn't find him soon enough, then he'll eat Nana –"Call me Mama"-'s cooking all alone and leave nothing for them.

They'd deserve it anyways, for not finding him soon enough.

Sawada Nana buttoned up his shirt and tucked it in his shorts, and beamed at the boy standing before her. Oh, her Tsu-kun looked so handsome in the School Uniform! Patting his fluffy brown hair, she smiled cheerily at him and exclaimed, "Tsu-kun, have fun at school, okay?"

"Do I have to go?" Tsuna whined as picked his nose.

Nana laughed and said, "Of course, Tsu-kun. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun there!" When the boy didn't look convinced enough, she added in a conspiratory whisper, "I even made a pirate bento for you."

Tsuna's eyes sparkled as he questioned eagerly, "With lots of meat?"

"Lots, and lots of meat." Nana agreed with a smile, and watched fondly as her adorable child cheered happily.

Mama lied. School wasn't fun. At all.

He didn't understand anything that the teachers taught in the class –the words seemed to go over his head, and he wondered what was even the meaning of learning this bullshit which wasn't even going to be even a little helpful in his adventures in finding One Piece? It's not like Algebra or History would even help him in fighting bad pirates! The teachers- for some reason would always pick him to answer their questions –why did they even expect he would know anything? Don't they know how exhausting it is for him to use his brains? He gets tired, okay. And he didn't even have Sanji here to supply him more meat to make this thinking stuff easier! Besides, thinking everything through is others' job –especially Nami or Robin- and not his!

And as if that wasn't enough to make his life hell, the children here were such brats! Always trying to make fun of him ("Oi, Oi, look! It's Dame-Tsuna!"), bully him for some reason or another ("Oi watch where you're going, Dame-Tsuna!" "But you bumped into me first!" "Huh? Are you looking for a fight?!"), looking for him for fights, Tch! He knew he shouldn't get angry at them, he was better now from his past self- Honest! He had promised to himself he would be a better person and would not get angry at every stupid little thing some stupid people did (especially after Shanks lost his arm because of him, and it wouldn't have ended like that if he hadn't been so gullible-)

Contrary to popular belief, Luffy isn't stupid, per se. Luffy might not understand much –about anything, really- but he did understand people much, much better than anyone could. Maybe –like Robin might say-it was a D. thing, or maybe it was a 'Luffy' thing –as most of his crew members (especially Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Sanji) would say while sighing in equal amounts of exasperation and despair- but Luffy understood people the best. Especially their negative emotions. And that is why he could clearly see the way these people gravitated towards him –as if they were seeking something from him- only to lash out at him when they couldn't find what they were looking for, and it grated his nerves. If it had been anyone else who had to suffer this, Luffy was sure the poor bloke would've run for the hills as soon as possible. Fortunately, it is Luffy who is in this position. Luffy, who had experience in this sort of thing, considering he had to deal with Ace –who had been such a shitty little brat- in his childhood days.

And that's why Luffy is glad that it's him, and not someone else in this. Because he can deal with this, well, he has prior experience, after all. That's why, Luffy can be Tsuna, well, until his crew finds him and drags him back to the sea, that is.

(But still, it doesn't change the fact that Tsuna (Luffy) hated school. )

For the umpteenth time that day, Tsuna stumbled and tripped down his own feet, and ignored the rambunctious laughter of the children around him as they joked about his clumsiness. He just dusted off his shorts, and got up- his lips stretched in a wide grin and just patted the back of the kid who had just tripped him down on purpose.

"Shishishishishishi! That was fun, Panda!" Tsuna grinned at the dark haired boy, whose laughter soon died down at his words and glared at him-

"It's not Panda, Dame-Tsuna! My name is Honda! H-O-N-D-A!" the boy spelled out with gritted teeth, and Tsuna just grinned and shrugged him off.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Panda!"

"Why, you-!" His eye twitched in annoyance and fury as he grabbed Tsuna's shirt by his collar and glared. "You really want me to teach you a lesson, huh, dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna just grinned without a care in the world, and picked his nose lazily and muttered, "Ne, Panda, are you an idiot? Who gets angry over something so stupid?"

Honda's temper flared and he swung his fist towards Tsuna, intending to hit his face, but surprisingly, Tsuna dodged his fist by barely tilting his head to the side. The brunette child was still grinning, though his eyes momentarily flickered with orange as he stared at Honda, making the dark haired boy startled enough to drop his hand from Tsuna's collar.

"Shishishishi, that was fun!" Tsuna exclaimed and patted Honda's back in a friendly way. "Let's do this again sometime, huh, Panda?"

The other boy just snapped out of habit, "It's not Panda, It's Honda!"

"Hai, hai…" Tsuna said cheerily as he walked past the other kids who had been staring at their interaction with curious eyes, and a second later tripped on his own feet and grumbled under his own breath about "must be because of sea-prism stones…" and "not enough meat…."

Tsurugi Honda stared at the small back of the brunette that disappeared around the corner and frowned. Was it just his imagination or dame-Tsuna actually appeared a bit terrifying earlier?

Tsuna didn't return to the Class after the confrontation with panda in third period ("Stop calling me that! My name is H-O-N-D-A, Dame-Tsuna!"). Instead, he grabbed his pirate bentou that Mama had made and took off to the forest just behind Namimori Elementary School. The tall trees, the chirruping of the birds, the gentle breeze…. all these were familiar enough to make him relax. It reminded him of the time he spent with Sabo and Ace with the Mountain Bandits in the forest during his childhood, and the thought of Ace's grumpy self as well as Sabo's teasing made him chuckle a bit. Though the smile on his face immediately wiped off from his face when he remembered what had happened to his big brother a few years ago-

.

.

.

bloodbloodbloodblood- thereissomuchBlood- OhGod-

A C E-!

a fist of lava piercing through Ace's back- hothothothothot- ItBurns-

StayWithMePleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-

Don'tGo-

Brother-!

.

.

.

(Deep inside him, a minor crack appeared over the ice that suppressed the pure Sky Flames inside it)

.

.

.

Tsuna's steps faltered as he leaned against the trunk of a tree and exhaled hastily. Shaking his head, he tried to shake off the images of his dead brother. It has been years since he had had a panic attack like this. Ace's death still weighed heavily on his soul, but he had learned to move past his death. He still had his crew with him, and the mere thought of his nakama helped him move forward. Besides, Sabo came back (Sabo-whom he thought was deaddeaddeadDEAD-!) and promised he wouldn't go like Ace did. So it's fine. Everything's fine. He is fine too.

(He is not.)

Once again, Tsuna shook his head and peered around his surroundings. The sunlight that filtered through the canopy of the forest, reaching the –mostly- moss-covered ground that covered the forest floor like a green carpet. The leaves swayed in the wind, birds chirruped cheerfully in the trees and small animals like rodents etc scurried away. Tsuna grinned cheerfully, wondering what kind of animals he can find in this forest. Maybe this forest also has a 'Lord of the Forest' like there had been on the Dawn Island. Well, even if there's no Lord here, he can still find some wild animals to get some exercise –because by Roger his tiny limbs were so uncoordinated that it reminded him of his training sessions in childhood to control his devil-fruit that usually ended up with him being laughed at by Ace and Sabo. Also, he can also hunt them for free meat –that's always a plus point.

And maybe he should even build a tree-house somewhere in the forest. He would even bring his crew here when they come looking for him! He'll mark the tree-house with their Pirate Flag to warn those stupid marines –they always come poking their noses in his business, Tch!- and then it'd be one of their SUPER!-secret-and-mysterious base! Shishishishishishi, he can't wait to build a treehouse and show it to his friends. They'd love it. Sabo would definitely love it too.

(And so would Ace)

Grinning, he decided to look for a suitable tree to build his treehouse in, and took a step forward-

SMACK!

-only to trip and fall flat headfirst onto the moss-covered ground.

Dammit, he really needed to get this stupid tiny, weak, uncoordinated body to shape. He can't keep tripping everywhere like a sea-prism stone-cuffed Devil Fruit user.

Grumbling under his breath, Tsuna got up and frowned at the new bruise that now marred his knees thanks to his untimely tripping, and sighed. This is going to be a loooooooooooong day.

A few days Later…

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" A loud voice cheered as soon as the front door of the Sawada Residence was slammed open, and walked in a young brunette child with a wide grin that seemed too big for his face.

The older woman cooking in the kitchen paused and beamed happily as the child rushed into the kitchen with saliva literally dripping down his lips.

"Tsu-kun, how was your day?" Sawada Nana asked with a smile as she watched her son quickly sit on his chair, bouncing eagerly on his seat as he waited for the food to be served, ignoring the dull ache inside her when she noticed another set of bruises on her son's knees –that didn't exactly look like a result of his clumsiness.

"Shishishishi, it was great Kaa-san!" Tsuna grinned as he poked his finger inside his nose. The first few buttons of his school uniform were open, and his shirt was untucked from the shorts. "I went to the forest behind the school and looked around for the Lord of the Jungle!"

Nana knew that Tsuna wasn't lying, but he wasn't exactly telling the truth too, per se. His uniform looked a bit dirty, and the tie was missing. His hair was messy, there was mud smeared on his cheeks and nose, and bruises littered his arms. Frankly, he was a mess. But he was still smiling and laughing as if nothing was wrong, at all. And Nana hated that she couldn't do much for her son.

The doctors had assured her that her Tsu-kun will get better. Sure, he was getting better, but his behavior has changed a lot. His memory also hasn't recovered even a bit. She felt as if her son was turning into someone else- someone she didn't recognize. It was as if he was turning into a different person- someone who is not Sawada Tsunayoshi.

(Someone by the name of Monkey D. Luffy)

But it didn't matter, because he was her son. And she had accepted the fact that Luffy and Tsuna is one and the same person. He was her son and she won't have him any other way.

"Ah, that sounds wonderful." Nana patted his head fondly and placed his lunch before him. "Here's your food, Tsu-kun!"

Tsuna's eyes brightened at the sight of the plate filled with food as he cheered loudly, "Yay!" and quickly dug into his meal. Plates after plates of food became victims of his appetite and the child was satisfied only when he ate about thirty pates of food. He burped ungracefully and grinned at his mother. "It was delicious, Kaa-san!"

Nana giggled as she sat on the chair in front of Tsuna's and asked, "So, what did my Tsu-kun do today?"

It had become something of a ritual between them –Nana would prepare Tsuna's food when he comes from school –usually filled with a LOT of meat- and he would regale his tales of bravery and adventure –usually exaggerated- to her. She really enjoyed listening to Tsuna's stories. They were so fun to hear.

(The fact that he would sometimes mention names of some strange people fondly in midst of his story telling was something she didn't miss. She also noticed the way his eyes would dull when he remembered that the people he talked about just weren't here.

And she would just nod and smile and act as if she didn't see the lonely look in his eyes, didn't see the way his shoulders would hunch, didn't see the homesickness he felt. Just like how she never questioned her husband when he would make exaggerating excuses about working as a Construction worker in most ridiculous places. Because Sawada Nana was rather content to look at the world with rose-tinted glasses then to acknowledge her reality that is barely holding itself together.

Nana was so, so selfish, and sometimes, she hated herself for it. )

Tsuna's eyes brightened as he exclaimed, "I found the perfect tree for my treehouse, Kaa-san! It's so big, and strong, and amazing and I'll make the best treehouse on it!" A wide grin stretched on his lips. "Just wait, Kaa-san, it's gonna be really awesome! Especially when Franky and Usopp help me with it! My treehouse will be the SUPER coolest treehouse ever!" Tsuna said as his eyes sparkled with stars.

Nana didn't comment on the strange names her son spouted off in his rant, and just smiled and nodded at his enthusiasm. Though she couldn't help but pray, and pray, and pray deep inside her heart, wishing those people her son spoke so fondly of be real- just so she could see her son with a true, loving smile on his face.

Tsuna once again skipped the school –what? School is so boring, okay?- and walked lazily around the streets f Namimori with his tie hanging loosely around his neck, the first few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, and it's hem tucked loosely around his shorts. He dragged the stupid bag behind him –Kaa-san would scold him if he left his bag in the school during one of his adventures in the town again and he didn't like it when his Kaa-san got upset at him. Besides, Kaa-san his packed an extra pirate bentou today, so he guessed dragging the school bag around wasn't exactly a loss. But still, it didn't mean he actually liked carrying the stupidly heavy bag filled with books that made no sense to him at all.

Pouting, Tsuna dawdled around lazily on the streets of Namimori, and wondered where he could get an axe so he could cut some wood in the forest for his treehouse. It's not like he could just use his "Gomu-Gomu no Gattling" to chop wood in no time, since for some reason his Devil fruit powers weren't working, at all. Maybe he should be more worried about that, but since thinking about things gave him a huge headache, he just shoved this problem in a corner of his mind and decided to speak about it when his crew finds him. Speaking of which, his friends were really so stupid. How come they're taking so long to find him back? They should've found him by now…. Why weren't they here yet?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a strong bloodthirsty intent was directed his way, as well as a murderous voice –with a promise of pain and violence- sounded from behind him, "Herbivore, for loitering around the streets of Namimori during school hours, I will bite you to death."

Tsuna turned –wondering who wanted to fight him this time- and stiffened as soon as his eyes fell on the raven haired boy standing before him –threateningly holding a pair of tonfas in his hands and glaring at him with grey eyes. Something inside him clicked, and even if the other person had somehow been chibified- and even gotten rid of the (in)famous green hair, the aura around him was still the same.

"Zoro!" Tsuna –no, Luffy- beamed at the other boy.

Hibari Kyoya halted in his warpath and honest-to-god gaped at the brunette in disbelief.

"Luffy?!"

"Shishishishishishi! It is you, huh, Zoro?"Luffy grinned brightly. "You were lost too, weren't you?"