Hellooo~! :D

Welcome to Chapter 4 of Can You Remember?! I'm so excited for this chapter, so I'm not going to make this too long.

Now, I know that I should be writing my book right now... but I can't help myself! I just love this story so much! I think I'll finish this one and then go write it. (I have a few more years left, right?)

School is almost over~! :D Can't wait...! Not that I don't like school or anything, it's just so tiring... Last year, truthfully, was better. My school has agreed that we're going to make it much better next year. Much better! ;) The students are gonna make sure of that!

*sobs* There was a hiatus this week! :,( What are we, Sabo fangirls, going to do! SABOOOOO! WE MISS YOU! I can't wait to see more of him! I think that he may be my second favorite character, Luffy being the first. Sabo would be my favorite character, but Luffy has done too much for me! I can't leave him behind. :) Sabo might have blown my mind, but Luffy has made me a better person! :) I won't ever forget what our rubbery friend has done for me. :)

Look! Yonder! It's beginning!

Luffy ran through the dark forest, his eyes full of determination and rage. There was no way that he would ever let a person be so cruel to a person, no matter who they are. Especially since Luffy felt as if he and Nami were friends, and had been friends for a long time.

Strength flowed through his veins. It was an immense power that he had possessed for as long as he was able to remember. His god-like power was what had kept he and his brother alive for all of their lives. Without it, he would have been long gone by now. Luffy sprang over trees and bushes, up cliffs, over rivers, until he finally arrived at a large, dark building where all of the fishmen stood.

The fishmen turned to him and narrowed their eyes at him in anger. Arlong stepped forward and bellowed, "Who are you, puny human?"

"Where is the man they call 'Arlong'?" Luffy asked in a low, serious tone.

"That would be me," Arlong replied with a raise of his eyebrow. He was confused with the young teenager's motives.

Suddenly, a great force pounded against his gut, sending him flying against the wood of the building, collapsing onto the grass. "I've come," Luffy growled as he straightened up again, "to kick your ass!" He threw his head up and glared daggers straight into every single one of the fishmen's pupils.

Arlong coughed and sat up, wiping his chin with a smirk. "So you have, eh?" Arlong challenged, "And what makes you think that you can act so superior to me, human? You're nothing but a lowly land animal!"

"I'm not lowly, Arlong," Luffy growled, "And neither are those people back in that village! You have no right to treat them that way!"

"I have ever right to!" Arlong roared as he rose to his large feet, "For we are the fishmen, the humans that were given gills by the Gods themselves! Now, what do you humans have? A pair of legs and what else?"

Luffy's fist came pounding back into Arlong's stomach again from far away, making him cough but not fall. "Two fists," Luffy roared, "And they're enough to beat you into the ground!"

Arlong whipped his head up and screamed, "I'll never lose to someone like you, human!" Arlong sprang towards Luffy, throwing punches at him, but Luffy managed to dodge every single one of them. The fishman gritted his teeth, throwing down his head and, finally, gripping Luffy's shoulder with his long, sharp jaws. Luffy screamed in pain, grabbing Arlong's long, saw-like nose and trying his best to push him away from his shoulder.

Finally, all of the villagers made it to the building. They watched from within the shadows of trees, cheering on their hero. Nami clenched her fist together, hoping that Luffy would win the fight against the fishman that had been imprisoning her ever since he killed her mother, Bellemere. After he killed her, Arlong realized that Nami had a knack for finding her way around, on boat or land. Her sense of direction was better than anyone else's in the entire world; besides that, she was wonderful at drawing maps of islands and continents that she saw. Arlong had hoped to take over the world with her on his side. Nami gulped as she watched Luffy. There was only one way to be free.

Luffy finally snapped Arlong's nose sideways, making him cringe in pain. He flew away from Luffy before he could do anymore damage. Arlong grabbed his nose and straightened it back to the way it had been before. "You'd better give up, human! It's impossible for a human to win against a fishman, like myself!"

"Nothing's impossible," Luffy replied, "Nothing."

Arlong burst out laughing, "Proud, are we? Arrogance will win you nothing, human! That's how humans are: arrogant, proud, and cruel. They care about nothing else but wanting power. They're all the same. It's inevitable!"

Luffy's head flew up, rage boiling from his face. "I've had enough of your talk!" Luffy roared. He crouched down, and put his hand backwards. The entire crowd screamed at the sight they saw: his arm was stretching. Suddenly finding enough power, it whipped forward again, striking Arlong directly in the face. He sped back into the tall building.

Luffy ran up to the house and sprang to the story that Arlong had fallen into. He looked around the room. It was dark, silent, and-seemingly-empty. Luffy turned to a mirror that leaned against the wall. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Suddenly, he saw a shadow looming in from behind him in the image. Luffy turned around to see Arlong holding and enormous, spiked axe. He threw it toward him, only to have Luffy grab it within his palms. "Die!" Arlong yelled toward the black-haired teenager.

Releasing the weapon, he did a back-flip and flew out onto the short roof. Arlong's battleaxe ripped through the wall, sending debris and pieces of wood everywhere. Luffy tumbled off of the roof from the impact, only to catch himself again on the roof above the former one. He zoomed up to the next story, only to have Arlong sending his axe onto the next roof as well. They jumped up the many stories until they finally reached the top floor.

Nami stopped. It was her room.

Luffy fell to his feet when he entered the quiet, dark room. It was full of papers, books, and writing utensils. "What is this place?" Luffy asked.

"This is a human girl's room. If you're from that village, you may have heard of her: Nami's her name. She's been living here ever since her mother died," Arlong replied, "I keep her in here. In this room, she creates all of the maps of the lands that I have conquered. She really is something special. You see, I can't give her away so easily, nor can I let go of my throne. I'm in charge here, no one else."

Luffy scowled and turned back to his opponent. "So this is where you've been trapping my friend, huh?" he hissed as he gritted his teeth.

Arlong smirked. "Oh! So you know Nami, hmm? She's quite something, isn't she? She's unlike any of the other humans I've ever met before! I really do like her," Arlong held up his weapon, "which is exactly why I'm going to keep her and the rest of this land!"

The young, black-haired man glowered in rage at the fishman. "And what gives you the right to do all of this?"

"I've got to be on top! Everyone else doing this sort of thing shall bow down to my supreme power! I'll be like a god to the people of the Blue! You'll see, puny human! I'll be better than any other thief, pirate, or murderer out there!" Arlong announced.

Luffy stopped. "Wait... So, there are other people in the world doing this sort of thing?"

Arlong looked down at him in confusion. "Where have you been living for the past decade? A hole? Ever since the God of Life disappeared, there is no Natural Law supporting 'moral thought' so, now, all of the humans and other creatures have found the courage in their tainted hearts to disturb the ugly peace! There are people fighting for the throne of the world, you see. Someone's going to get it, and I'm going to be that person, and there's nothing that a pathetic little human like you can do about that!"

Luffy still had no idea what in the world he was talking about, but he suddenly realized that the world had lost something much more important that a brother, even though the feeling that he was feeling hurt more than anything. The world had lost their Joy. There was something missing in the world that mattered much more to Luffy than any brother. Ace was alive after all. For some strange reason, Luffy felt like he had something to do with it. It was his fault. If anyone was going to do something about it, it would need to be him.

Luffy threw his head into the air and scored Arlong's face. "I don't think," Luffy snarled as debris flew all around him, "that you know who the hell I am!" Luffy's roar shook the entire room, making books fall from their shelves and the chairs and desks vibrate out of place.

"Oh, yeah?" Arlong challenged as he arose to his feet again, "If you think you're so great, show me your power, then!" The black-haired teenager turned around and shot at the shelves of books and papers. Arlong stopped. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Luffy ignored him. He kicked apart the desk and chair. Arlong watched in mortified shock as Luffy destroyed all of the things that Nami had made for him, the things that brought him closer to being on top of the world. "Hey, you shitty brat! Stop it!" Luffy continued to destroy the room. "I said stop! Do you want me to make you stop?"

"Lastly," Luffy said to himself, throwing his foot high into the air and through the ceiling.

"I've had enough with you!" Arlong roared, "I'm going to kill you!" Arlong flew towards Luffy, his huge jaws open, attempting to bite Luffy in two. Luffy threw down his leg as quickly as he could, hoping to stop Arlong's attack, as well. Suddenly, Luffy slammed down his foot straight onto Arlong's head.

The people outside watched in awe as the foot coming from the top of the building disappeared. Nami gasped when the floors suddenly began to collapse and crumble on top of each other. "L-Luffy!" she cried. Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, the mysterious blonde-haired man, and the rest of the villagers screamed out their hero's name as the entire building fell in on itself.

Debris tumbled and rolled all across the clearing, every single fishman running for their lives. Finally, silence fell of the area. Hearts thumped and sweat rolled down the faces of the people in the crowd, waiting for their hero to rise from the rubble. Nami gasped when she saw Luffy's figure stand up. The entire clearing screamed in joy, but Luffy breathed heavily in his own silence. "Nami!" Luffy called out, "You're safe now!"

Tears fell from her eyes as she cried out. She remembered the night that she had met the boy named Luffy at the God of Life's ceremony. It was the night that she met a friend, the night everything changed, and the night that the entire world changed forever.

The mysterious blonde-haired man that had been standing tall and silent in the back stood with a proud smile on his face. He turned away from the crowd and began to walk away through the jungle. Lifting up the seashell that he had been holding in his hand, he pressed the apex of the shell and said into it, "It has begun."

"Ah...! Excellent," a low voice replied from the seashell. "Shall we send my father now?"

"I believe so. He is slowly beginning to discover his feelings for the humans," the blonde-haired man replied. "It really is nice to see him again. I haven't seen him for a while. The last time I saw him was when I got lost in the forest."

"Indeed. Was that not the day that we first met as well?"

He smiled. "It was!" He shook his head, "Ah, I'm so sorry, sir! I got myself distracted again. Yes, Luffy is discovering his feelings slowly. It would be best if he had a 'tutor'."

"I agree," the voice said.

"And yet..."

"You have doubts?"

"Yes, sir," the blonde-haired man nodded reluctantly, "It's just that... your father, sir, he is... not the nicest man in the world. If I had someone to teach me, I wouldn't want a man such as your father to help me."

"Does he frighten you?"

"To tell you the truth, sir? Yes. Yes, he does frighten me."

The voice on the other end of the shell-phone burst out laughing. "I cannot say that I disagree with you. My father is, at times, a bit strict. But, he is strong and knows our ways well. He will lead him in the right direction."

"I understand, your majesty," he nodded.

"Oh! And," the voice added, "I've been meaning to ask of a favor from you."

"Anything, sire!"

"You have heard of the new World Leaders, no? Well, I would like a bit more insight on their plans and why they would want to get rid of the Gods. If it is not too much trouble, I would like it if you went undercover to find out as much about these men as possible," the voice ordered, "Will you do that for me, Sabo?"

Sabo smiled. "I won't let you down, King Dragon!"

"Excellent! I'll send Koala and Hack to you. You will get started on your mission straight away. That is all, Sabo. Good-bye!"

Sabo grinned as he clicked the apex of the shell again, putting the seashell into his jacket pocket. "I hope you enjoy your grandfather, Luffy! Let's hope that he won't hurt you too much."

"No, seriously," Nami told Luffy, "I don't know what I can do to say thank you!"

Luffy smiled. "You don't have to thank me, you know!"

"But I want to!" Nami said, "I wouldn't be able to live another day if I didn't pay you back. I... thank you very much for all that you've done for me, Luffy! If there's anything that you need, or want-anything at all-just tell me!"

Luffy laughed, "Something I want?" Luffy looked away and replied quietly, "I don't want things, Nami." He turned back to her to see her face down as she bit her lip. He sighed in defeat. Luffy could see that she desperately wanted to repay him. But how? Suddenly, he got an idea. "Oh, but there is one thing that I do need, actually!"

Nami's face lit up at his words. "Really! Let me help you with it!"

"Are you sure that you're up for it, Nami? It's a pretty hefty offer, you know," Luffy warned.

"All I care about is repaying my savior," Nami replied, "Besides, it's not like it'll be anything life-threatening, right? No one except for psychos ask people to do dangerous things nowadays!"

Luffy smirked. "Really? Well, after seeing what Arlong has been doing, I wanted to help other people with problems just like yours! It first started as an expedition to try and find my brother again, but now it's turned into a quest to reclaim the... Joy, I suppose you could call it!"

"So, what do you need?"

Luffy walked up to her, looked around, and then whispered to her, "I'm not really one to do things alone. I like company. Will you join me on my journey?"

Nami stopped. "Y-your journey?"

"Yep!"

"To kill all of the bad people hurting the world?"

"Yep!" Luffy smiled at Nami for a while, her face pale. He blinked and then asked, "Um... You all right, Nami?"

She looked down and stuttered, "I-is there some... other job that you could make me do? I'm... I'm not a fighter, you see."

Luffy stood in silence. "Oh... Well, no. The only thing I need is to have someone come along with me to hunt down those guys. That's sort of the reason why I came looking for Zoro. But, it would be very helpful if you did come along with me, Nami! Like I said, though, you don't have to repay me. I'm really not used to that kind of stuff, anyways." He smiled as he started to walk away, Zoro walking up to his side.

"W-wait!" Nami called out. Luffy stopped and turned back to her. "I'll come! I'll come with you!"

Luffy grinned in happiness, but also shock. "Really! That's great! C'mon, then!"

"Hold on!" Sanji and Usopp ran up to them. Sanji announced, "If my sweet Nami-swan is going, I'm comin', too! I'm not going to let you idiots take my love away from me! Nami-swan is mine! You got that? Mine!"

Luffy burst out laughing. "I'm not trying to take her from you, man! Calm down!"

Sanji frowned at Luffy and danced up to Nami, singing, "Nami-swan~! I'm here for you, my love~!"

"That's great, Sanji-kun..." Nami muttered as Sanji danced around her with his arms flying all over the place.

Luffy grinned an excited, determined grin and announced, "Well, then! Shall we get going, then? We've got a lot of ground to cover, you know!"

"Oh yeah?" Zoro said, "You got any idea where we're going, then?"

"Nope! Not a clue!" Luffy replied, "But that makes this journey all the more exciting, doesn't it?" He turned to the newcomers and introduced, "My name is Luffy! Just because I'm a nice guy, don't you go thinking that I'll slow down for all of you! When you're with me, every man for himself, all right? Right!" He whipped around in determination. "Let's go!"

Happy Easter!

If you guys have made it here after I changed the name, how'd you like it? C'est bon? I didn't really prefer the part with Arlong, though... I tried to make it all right! I tried my best... I feel like that was a bit too rushed, don't you? Oh well... I found that it was difficult to do the Arlong fight because the original one was a battle for Nami, the winner being the one to keep her. It was a fight for Friendship! Luffy in here didn't know her, so I wasn't as pleased as I was with the one Oda gave us. It was so much sweeter in the manga. (But that's because the manga was written by a genius!)

Sabo's pretty cool, huh? Ba ba baaaa! How does he know Dragon, hmm? Don't worry, I'll tell you... soon! I can't tell you, yet! It'd just spoil it! ;)

Well! This was fun! See you next time! :) Happy Easter! Have a good holiday! :D