Disclaimer: "I am not the liable owner or creator of One Piece. I am but a mere humble fan fiction writer."

L.I.N.E.

It takes a while before anything really goes back to normal; even then, it's not the same as it had once been beforenot with such a large, missing chunk in the very heart of the village just gone for good.

But they all manage to get by, because life is like that.

It moves on even without you in it.

It's a cruel, cold, and hard fact that everybody tries to cover up with excuses such as: "They'll always be in your heart." Or, horribly enough, "The dead always watch over those they love."

Her very existence is very proof of otherwisebecause once you go, you actually go and leave the life you've built up for yourself, the people you've come to love, and any material things you ever owned.

You'll only have yourself on this journey, which makes it unbearably lonely.

She just wishes that she'd been the only one who'd been cursed and blessed enough to have another shot at life, because nobody deserves to have their entire knowledge of peace shattered by waking up in an entirely new body in a world so foreign from their own.

(Melissa doesn't deserve to have her hopes of seeing Avant on the other side crushed so cruelly into tiny, jagged pieces of glass.)

It's been getting easier and easier for her to drown in her thoughts what with how quiet the village has been. Everybody treats her and Makino with caution, as if there are eggshells surrounding the both of them and if even one shell gets stepped on then either one of them might just react badly and burst into tears, and she finds it a little irritating because they're not exactly subtle with their worried looks and hushed whispers.

Regardless of her annoyance with them, she appreciates the sentiment because being allowed to stew in a corner all by herself allows her to distract herself from her pain by writing down her plans for the future and graphing out a rough estimation of the timeline.

Considering that she's only two years old, there are several events that have yet to happen and she writes down as much as she can in chicken feet and using initials in replacement for important events, places, and characters in case anybody gets a hold of her personal journal.

Occasionally, she finds herself sick of what she has to write, because there's an irritatingly nagging voice in the back of her mind that tells her it's hopeless to even try changing things.

What's annoying enough is that sometimes, she believes the voice, especially when she scribbles down as much of what she knows of what has already happened and what has yet to happen, and sees that

That there's just…so much to fix.

What's even more depressing is that there is also so much that could have been fixed if she'd been born just a decade or so earlier.

But, on most occasions, she is diligent in her work because she has to be. There's no use crying over spilt milk anymoreno use thinking of Roger's execution more than half a decade ago, of Rouge whose last action was to be a loving mother five years ago, and of Ohara that burned to the ground a year just before she'd been bornbecause what's the use?

Crying solves absolutely nothing, and it isn't a part of her plan to do nothing at all.

She doesn't plan to play God or anything as spectacularly complicated like that; no, rather than that, her plan is a complicated kind of simplicity.

All she wants is to change the world

And maybe, along the way, make it into a better place for the children to live in as well.

"Huh." She pauses, realization coming to her as her hand hovers over her journal. "How funny," she comments, giggling, before returning back to her plotting.

She really is her father's daughter.

L.I.N.E.

It's been five months since Melissa's burial; five months since she'd last seen Ace and the rest of the Dadan Family.

She mulls over how time can breeze so easily quick on her best of days, yet crawl so agonizingly slow on the days where she just wants to burrito herself with her blankets.

Life may move on without you, but it's time that's the scarier of the two. It ticks on, continuously eating what's left to eat, and never gives but instead takes all in due time.

Casting her eerie thoughts aside, she moves on to much more pleasant ones. Ones involving a temperamental, freckled boy.

She wonders how Ace is doing. Is he alright? Does he eat as much as his ten-year old self will? Has he gone on any adventures in Mt. Colubo lately? Has he ever eaten crocodile meat?

Has he, by any chance, met Sabo yet? Have they become friends? Have they already started collecting for their pirate funds?

Has her words managed to reach him?

She wants so desperately to go back to Mt. Colubo and see not only him but the rest as well. She wants to see Dogra and that ridiculous jumper of his, Magra and if whether or not he'd pushed through the disease, and Mamoru and his lethal tail.

She doesn't think of Dadan. She has no pleasant memory of the old woman to moon over.

She misses the short time she'd spent in Mt. Colubo, and admits to no one but herself and Melissa's tombstone that it'd been the most fun she's ever experienced in her two lifetimes.

But she knows it's futile because she'd be nothing but a burden to Makino and the rest of the villagers if she'd ran off again, or even asked them to accompany her through the dangerous territory of Mt. Colubo.

The cold season has returned once more, which means that they've all been terribly busy as of late and she wouldn't want to hinder them from their livelihoods.

After all, food had to be placed on the table somehow, which had only been getting harder now that the weather was getting colder as each day passed by. Their fishermen were already having a difficult time hauling up a meager amount of their usual quota now that most of the fishes had migrated to warmer waters; livestock were forced to their stables until the frigid weather would pass and were no longer allowed to freely graze outside, which meant spending even more Beli on feeds as well as less quantity and quality in the production of milk and eggs; whatever crops they had needed to be covered with a sheet pegged down to the ground to prevent damage, but even that hadn't been enough to stop a small percentage of what they'd grown to wilt because of their cells being frozen solid.

Even Makino is struggling with feeding whatever occasional non-Foosha patrons they have with what the paltry rations they have.

She doesn't want to interpose herself between any of them from their work, so she stays quiet and out of trouble for everybody's sake.

L.I.N.E.

Despite the hardships the entire village was currently facing, she and Makino would still make it a point to go visit Melissa's grave as often as they could—after all, somebody needed to sweep off the leaves and change the flowers. It was the least they could do for their loved one.

Early on, during the period when everyone still carried fresh scars over their hearts from Melissa's burial, she and Makino would regularly visit before the sun had even risen since that had been the only time Makino had any to spare considering that she hadn't yet assimilated into her position as the second owner of Party's Bar and would frequently flounder over stocking and financing.

However, with the cold season in place right now, she and Makino had taken to walking to Melissa's grave in the late afternoon after temporarily closing the bar for a short break, and had been forced to reduce the number of their visits a week if they didn't want to be catching any unwanted colds too soon.

Today, apparently, is one of those days; surprisingly enough, they have some extra company joining them this time.

She nestles her face into Makino's neck, seeking as much warmth as she can despite having a thick scarf and mittens on, and smiles contentedly when she hears Makino's giggle.

"That tickles, Lu," Makino informs her, adjusting her grip on her ward so that she can no longer hide.

"But it's cooold," she whines pitifully, pouting up at Makino who sighs.

"It really is cold," Sheryn agrees, holding Varric close to her chest. "I'm glad I added another layer to my tykes' clothes, else they'd be screaming their heads off by now."

"Scream their heads off?" Teri pipes, voice practically laced with mocked surprise. "No way! They're too sweet to be little monsters in hiding," she coos down at Marie who looks up at her with big, dark green eyes. "Aren't you little angels, ne, Mari?"

"It's Ma-rie, not Mari," Sheryn huffs. "Don't go giving them nicknames when their names are already short enough."

"Stingy!" Teri whines. "There's hardly any difference!"

Makino laughs. "It's her kids, Teri. Let her do what she wants with them," she admonishes with no real fire behind her words.

However, before they could possibly wrangle over such a simple topic, Melissa's grave appears within their sight and all three young women pick up their pace.

When they finally arrive, they each go off to do their thing.

As Teri and Sheryn spread the picnic blanket wide with the twins watching curiously from their spot safely on the ground, she and Makino start their ritual of plucking out any dead leaves sullying Melissa's grave and replacing the wilted posy they'd left before with a fresher one.

"Can you teach me, Makino-nee?" She asks as she fluffs up the yellow zinnias that Teri had been so kind to let them pick out from her indoor garden.

"How to garden?" Makino presumes from where she's securely tying the straw bag of dead leaves—most likely to serve as fuel for the furnace at the back.

She nods. "I'd like to grow my own flowers," she confesses. "And maybe some herbs too…"

Makino smiles. "You should go ask Sheila. She has a small greenhouse behind her home, and it's helped her run her pharmacy," she advises. "…You're really interested in herbs, aren't you?" Makino blinks, looking as if she's just realized this. "You keep studying about them, and you even brought home a couple of them from your…run away," it's apparent that Makino had hesitated to bring up the topic, because she bites her bottom lip afterwards and looks away with a crease appearing in between her eyebrows.

She winces at the reminder of what she'd done—guilt and shame becoming familiar friends with her heart once more—and she averts her gaze as well. "I only did it because I wanted to help Melissa-obaa," she answers.

Not once have they talked about the incident five months ago. Makino's never once asked, or ever brought up the topic until now, so she's never really answered or explained what exactly had happened during her time in Mt. Colubo.

Everyone in Foosha knows that she'd ran off to find something to help Melissa and gathered whatever herbs she'd brought back home—she's still stewing in embarrassment at how they'd called her Book Thief just to see Cocoi sulk at the mention of his notes that had yet to be sewed back.

What they don't know, however, is that it'd been her who'd prepared the herbs—they'd all assumed that there'd been somebody else in Mt. Colubo who'd done that for her. She keeps her knowledge close to her heart, as well as what, exactly, had happened during her time in the jungle.

They know about Mamoru, though. Everybody in Foosha knows about Mamoru. Two months after Melissa's death, she'd confessed to Teri that she'd missed the monkey she'd befriended in Mt. Colubo and the news had spread like wildfire within the day

They just don't know about the snake. Or the mountain bandits. Or Ace. Or god forbid the tiger.

"Do you want to become a doctor, Luffy?" Sheryn pipes up before she could possibly spend a little longer getting lost in her thoughts.

She blinks at the sudden, close-to-heart question and finds herself at a loss for words.

"She could be one," Teri muses. "She's got the brains for it, and I know your husband likes her enough to teach her once she's older."

Makino looks down at her, features expressing nothing but curiosity. "Is that you what you want, Lu?" She asks. "Do you want to become a doctor?"

She hesitates—because once, it had never been do you want to; instead, it had always been you have to or is that even good enough—but finds herself being stupid again.

Because Makino is nothing like her previous parents; she is affectionate, caring, doting, loving, solicitous and has never once shown an inkling of wanting to mold her into the ideal child that others would be envious of.

Just when she's ready to answer Makino's question, Sheryn gracefully butts in.

"But wait," Sheryn says, her entire features lighting up as if she's perceived something of great importance. "Wait, wait, wait!" She continuously repeats, her voice getting louder with each word.

"What?" Teri inquires with a raised eyebrow.

"Just…think about it," Sheryn says slowly, looking for all the world like somebody had stolen her best pillowcases. "Luffy. Becoming a doctor. With Makino as her guardian," Sheryn says, shooting Makino the foulest of glares.

She tilts her head in confusion, whereas Makino sighs, as if this is a thing, and Teri gasps in horror as she pales dramatically.

"No," Teri bemoans.

"Yes!" Sheryn cries.

"Girls," Makino sighs.

"She'll never find love at this rate!" Teri wails out as if this is the most horrible thing in the world, which frankly isn't. "Lu-chan. Lu-chan. She'll be like the second coming of Maki! Married to her job and cursed to spend the rest of her days as a spinster!"

"I am not married to my job!" Makino protests.

The looks that Sheryn and Teri shoot at her are ones of doubt and pity.

Sensing a dispute amongst the harpies, she moves away from them and closes in on the twins, who seem to be concentrated on slobbering their own teething rings.

When she kneels down before them, two pairs of large, viridescent green eyes immediately latch onto her. She smiles at the exuberant babbles she gets from Varric and rewards his adorable behavior by tickling him to entice some sweet laughs from him.

"Aren't you just a cutie," she coos, going in to blow a raspberry on his belly. Varric squeals in delight and kicks both of her shoulders, which actually hurts. "Okay, ow. I call break time. Tickle monster's got to rest too," she laughs, pulling herself away from the red-cheeked baby boy.

As she lets Varric recover his breath, she looks over at Marie and blinks in surprise at seeing the younger girl crawling sluggishly towards where her younger twin is.

She decides to sit back and watch. She's come to realize that Marie—unlike the innocent and oblivious Varric who babbled constantly—was quieter and mellower, preferring to play on her own yet always paid attention to her brother when he demanded for it.

Marie unceremoniously drapes herself across Varric, who emits a sound between a squeal and a squawk. She stays there, unmoving and unrelenting, even as her younger brother kicks up a fuss.

Eventually, Varric resigns himself to his fate and concludes that since she wouldn't be getting off of him any time soon, he might as well take a nap.

Varric yawns a couple of times before dozing off to sleep.

When she checks, she blinks at seeing that Marie has already dozed off before her brother had and laughs at the strategy of this little tyke.

She pulls out a blanket of the little picnic basket brought along to the trip and covers the twins as to protect them from the cold.

She reaches out to caress Marie's cherubic cheeks, sighing softly at the warmth it radiates.

She is grateful for the twins' existence; she's sure that without them, it wouldn't have been easy for her to fill up the void Melissa's death had left in her heart. She loves them—as much as she loves everybody that she holds dear to her heart—and revels in their laughter and squeals and incoherent babbles.

They're not like her. She knows because she sees the innocence and curiosity in their eyes—that eager wonder that pushes their desire to learn and experiment—unlike hers, which always look tired and old whenever she looks in the mirror, and she's relieved.

They're fresh life, and will have the chance to grown on their own without any past life inhibiting them.

And for them, and many others, she will fight for.

L.I.N.E.

Woop Slap is old.

He's known this ever since he'd hit his forties and one of the adults he used to babysit had clapped him on the back and laughed at how he was still terrorizing the young'uns.

But he's never really felt old—well, not until day after he'd learned of Melissa's sudden passing. He'd woken up blearily and sluggishly that morning, probably because he'd had one too many drinks all by his lonesome self.

When he'd dragged himself out of bed that day, he'd felt the joints in his bones pop as they'd always done, moved to take the glass of water by his bedside table, and stopped just to stare at his morning medicine.

Because Melissa is dead, and that cold hard fact is like a wake-up slap to him that time waits for absolutely no one—not even the fearless and scary bar lady who had seemed immortal to the eyes of every Foosha villager who'd come to know her.

It makes Woop Slap feel old—that a cherished friend of his has finally passed on—and the knowledge that comes with it makes him breathe out heavily as a sudden weight appears atop his shoulders.

It makes him feel like one step closer to death.

Woop Slap isn't afraid of death. He's faced it several times in the form of the ocean when he'd gone out fishing during the most terrible of storms just to bring back food for his sick mother and ignorant younger sister. He just doesn't want to face it just yet—just when he knows that something's about to happen.

His instincts have never failed him before, and he doubts that they'd break their perfect streak now.

A storm is coming. One big enough to make the entire world look and take note of its destructive beauty; foolish as it may be, Woop Slap wants to live long enough to see it.

And he has his bet on Dragon's girl being that storm.

He's known this ever since he'd laid eyes on the little, black-haired babe sitting comfortably in Garp's arm.

She'd looked at him back then; though her grin was just as bright as her grandfather's, there was no mistaking the way her dark eyes had glinted in the same way as her father's had.

Woop Slap knows a Monkey when he sees one, but Luffy—

—Luffy was a weird Monkey, and that was something.

She was everything and nothing a Monkey was in one package.

Sometimes, she would be as boisterous as her grandfather—babbling incessantly about the things that interested her, demanding food without so much as a second thought, and shimmying up to places that no girl her age should—other times, she'd be as calm as her father had been—quietly entertaining herself behind the bar counter whenever everybody was too busy, docilely listening to what the adults had to say to her, and just generally not being a nuisance, which was incredibly ironic now.

But most of the time—most of the time, she was just Luffy, and Woop Slap came to understand that she was just an entirely different variation of her own.

But there were times when Woop Slap just couldn't understand.

Times like now.

Spotting the aforementioned girl sitting by the edge of the pier, he sighs and makes his way over to her.

"Oi, Luffy!" He calls and knows he has the girl's attention when he sees her twitch. "You shouldn't be sitting there alone. It's dangerous! You could fall off if you're not careful," he chides.

Luffy looks back at him, her eyes glinting in the same way as her father's, and she smiles widely at him. "Woop Slap-oji!" She greets, waving enthusiastically at him. "Join me, join me!" She practically commands, and who is he to refuse such a simple offer from the sweet girl?

"Did you even hear what I just said?" He huffs as he takes a seat beside her.

Luffy laughs—soft, carefree, and happy. "I always do," she beams. There's that mischief in her eyes again, and Woop Slap knows enough that there's a deeper meaning to her words.

Luffy always hears, he knows this. He also knows that Luffy understands what comes into her ears. The brat has always been too smart for her own age, and Woop Slap fears the day she becomes a second Garp with brains.

Maybe that's the storm that's coming. Two Garps alive in the same timeline. Poseidon save them all, 'cause they're all doomed.

Woop Slap notices that she's looking at the rippling water down below. "Don't even think about it," he warns, because he isn't in the mood to dive into the ocean to save some brat too curious for her own good.

"Hmm?" Luffy hums, blinking out the haze in her eyes. "Ne, Woop Slap-oji," she says, her voice soft and sounding distracted, as she kicks her short legs in the air. The bruises and scratches she'd received from her little adventure have already healed. "When do you think Poppy will come home?" She asks, never once looking up at him.

She looks like the child who'd thrown flowers into her grandmother's grave.

She looks lonely.

Involuntarily, his throat tightens at the difficult question. "You know that's something none of us can answer," he answers, even though there's a Den Den Mushi hidden in his house that could be used any time to get the proper answers. "Your grandfather randomly comes and goes because of his job."

Luffy hums in understanding.

Woop Slap knows better. The girl is most likely frowning on the inside, judging by how her lips twitch downwards.

"But it's already a new year and I thought…" Luffy stops herself from saying any more and clamps her mouth shut. "Never mind," she mutters.

"Hey, it's okay," Woop Slap reassures, wrapping an arm around her little shoulders. Luffy looks up at him with large eyes. "Your grandpa will come home. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow or next week, but one day he'll come home. You just have to wait it out," he advises, all the while thinking that he's really not one for pep talks.

Luffy's expression sours, looking as if she'd chewed a lemon for a whole minute. "Fine," she grumbles.

After patting himself on the back for a job well done, Woop Slap stands up and offers Luffy a hand, one she takes when he suggests, "Come. Let's go see if Makino has anything sweet to spare for you."

Luffy smiles enigmatically after he pulls her up, her eyes twinkling in a way that she knows something he doesn't.

And Woop Slap doesn't doubt that.

L.I.N.E.

Today is the fifth of May, which means that today is her birthday—a time that's supposed to be celebrated because she's racked in another year to her age.

She celebrates it with the rest of the villagers, as she'd done the year before, and they hold it outside where the sky is a shade lighter than the deep blue sea stretched far and wide past the coast of their island.

Every dining table in Foosha Village has been brought out for the festivity, and laid atop each one are several dishes of the Fooshian cuisine—some of which look good enough to eat, whilst the rest she eyes suspiciously because of their unpalatable appearances—but the real eye-catcher is the frosted cake set in the middle that Makino had spent the better part of the past week learning how to make.

Her cheeks ablaze a brilliantly crimson hue as everybody jauntily sings a very happy birthday to her.

There aren't any candles for her to blow on her birthday cake, but it matters not.

She closes her eyes—sees the flame from within her crackling louder and flaring brighter than it ever has before—and makes her wish.

"Happy birthday, you brat," Woop Slap wishes, the corners of his lips curved up into a rare grin. "Here's your gift." He hands over a brown paper bag, which she can tell is filled with the hard candy he gives her daily.

"Thanks, Woop Slap-oji," she says, beaming brightly up at him.

"Varric!" Sheryn shrieks in horror, and all eyes are immediately on her to see what's going on. "You naughty child! You've ruined your big sister's cake!" Sheryn scolds, the blazing depths of hell practically burning in her eyes, as she stares down at her son who hardly looks fazed at his angry mother and instead just grins sweetly at her.

"Now he's done it," Cocoi sighs, suddenly appearing next to her, which makes her jump. "Sorry 'bout that, Lu," he apologizes, shooting her a strained smile.

From his arms, Marie tilts her head, blinking owlishly.

She laughs back in reply. "It's alright, but you should probably tell Makino-nee that too. She's the one who made that cake," she advises, looking around her for guardian, and frowning when she can't see her.

She stiffens when her eyesight suddenly goes dark, but gradually relaxes when a familiar voice whispers into her ear, "Who am I?"

Her smile widens and she places her hands over the ones covering her eyes. "Is i~t," she hums, pretending to be clueless. "Teri-nee?"

"Guess again~"

"Is i~t," she hums once more. "Sheryn-nee?"

A snort. "She's too busy wiping the cake off her face."

"Oh! Then you must be Makino-nee!" She exclaims confidently, only to shriek when she feels Makino lift her up so that she has no way to escape the raspberry aimed for the back of her neck. "MAKINO-NEE, NO!" She screams, thrashing wildly.

Everybody laughs wildly at her reaction.

Later on, when the sky's blue has bled into shades of red and orange to highlight the setting sun, she sits by the pier and swings her legs, listening to the busy chatter of the adults packing up food to bring home for leftovers.

She stares down at ripples in the large body of water underneath her, feels the blood coursing through her veins sing, and wonders what makes it yearn.

Maybe it's a Monkey thing, or a D thing, because she knows that she wasn't this obsessed with the ocean in her past life.

She feels before she sees Makino sitting beside her. She looks up, sees the young woman smiling sadly at her, and looks away, knowing the conversation that's about to happen.

"I'm sorry," Makino murmurs, wrapping an arm around her petite shoulders, like Woop Slap had done so many weeks ago. "I'm sorry that your grandfather couldn't come."

"It's fine," she answers, even though it's not. Melissa isn't here, so what's one more? "I had fun anyways," she says instead, smiling happily up at Makino.

Makino's eyes soften. "It's okay not to be okay. You know that, right?"

She continues smiling. "I know," she answers; after all, it's fine not to say you're okay either.

Makino sighs, as if she knows what she's thinking, which she doesn't doubt.

"Can we visit Melissa-obaa later?" She asks, her gaze flicking upwards to look up at the sky that has yet to reveal its invisible stars. "I'd like to see the fireflies again." It's summer, after all.

Makino inclines her head, eyes gleaming from the sun's dying rays. "Later," she promises.

L.I.N.E.

She's not really angry with Garp. Pissed off, maybe, but not really angry.

He's a Marine, after all. He can't help the profession he chose. Duty comes first before everything else, and even family isn't a special exception.

(She remembers Portgas D. Ace, cuffed and bound by the sea's power to the execution platform, and looking as pathetic as he feels his life must be.

She remembers Garp, who sat and talked to the pirate with fire in fists, yet never once raised a hand to help family.

There are more, the voice in the back of her head whispers. More of those who've betrayed and have been betrayed. More of those who've been hurt and have hurt.)

Still, she dutifully ignores her grandfather's continuous endeavor to capture her attention, pretending that she's too engrossed in her book to even remember that the outside world exists.

"She's really mad at you, Garp-san." She hears Makino say, an attempt to dissuade her grandfather from pushing her buttons too much.

Makino clearly fails; in fact, her attempt seems to only encourage him to try harder.

"Grandpa is really sorry, Lu," he says, switching tactics and referring to himself in third person. "Look, look. Grandpa even got you a cute teddy bear. Don't you like it?"

She doesn't even have to look up from her book to know that the stupid bear is dressed in a stupid sailor uniform with the stupid honorary colors of the stupid Marines.

"Don't want it," she bluntly says, which is a fucking lie. The stupid bear is stupidly cute, and she likes stupidly cute things.

"Luffy," Makino says in that voice. "Don't say that. You should be happy that your poppy bought you a gift," the barmaid admonishes.

She looks up, eyes wide and lower lip jutted out, and she knows that she's won the battle when Makino's eyes soften.

"Maybe you should've gotten her a book, Garp-san," Makino takes her side, smiling apologetically at Garp.

She hears Garp mutter something underneath his breath, but her ears honed by Melissa to pick up gossip manages to hear the word 'brat' in whatever he's muttering.

"What do you want, Luffy?" Garp sighs, sounding defeated.

She ignores him, baiting him for a little while longer.

"We can go over to Goa Kingdom and get you something else you'd like."

She twitches at the offer but remains stubbornly quiet and ignorant of her grandfather. Just a little more.

"C'mon, Lu. Just look at me. Grandpa is really sorry, and he'll do anything to get you to forgive him."

Hook, line, and fucking sinker.

She visibly perks up. With eyes gleaming sinisterly, she turns to face her grandfather. "Anything?" She nearly purrs. "Anything, Poppy?" She repeats, giving him one last chance to back out because she's nice like that, smiling a mercilessly sweet smile at him.

Garp grins. "Of course!" He boasts, oblivious to the dark plots she'd concocted beforehand.

From the corner of her eye, she catches Makino and Woop Slap sharing a look of utter resignation. She places the book she's been reading atop the bar counter and clasps her hands. "Then I want to see Ace!" She chirps.

Whilst Makino drops whatever glass she's holding and Woop Slap chokes on air, Garp just blinks at her. "So I was right. You two've met already," he says it, plain and simple.

The how is left unheard of and unspoken, not when Makino and Woop Slap are here, but it's obvious that he'll try to pull the story out of her later this evening.

"Yup!" She beams. "Can we?"

Garp's eyes narrow—and she knows that he's trying to determine why she wants to see Ace, which she can't really blame him for. Ace is such a little ball of rage that it's a wonder why anybody wants to be near him—but he grins at her.

"Of course! We can go later tonight after I'm done visiting Melissa," Garp offers.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. If Garp comes along with her now, then whatever friendly interaction she could have with Ace might as well go up in fucking flames.

Pouting, and trying to save the remnants of her plan, she whines, "But I wanna go noooow! Can't I go on my own?"

"No," Garp rejects firmly, steel in his eyes. "Remember what happened last time?"

She visibly deflates at her grandfather's ruthlessness. "But you said anything," she sighs out wistfully, looking downtrodden.

Garp winces, as if a Haki-infused arrow had pierced right through his heart. "I did, but it's like you're just asking to get yourself killed, and I can't let that happen," he explains, and his words goes in through one ear and goes out through the other.

"That's not fair," she complains. She can't give up. Not like this. Her eyes need to see Ace and his stupid freckles before she goes absolutely insane with how obsessively worried she is over him. Suddenly, a light bulb lights up the inner sanctums of her mind, and she has an idea. "Wait. Can't you just drop me off at Dadan-san's place?" She asks, hope swelling in her chest.

When she sees the contemplative expression on Garp's features, she considerably brightens up. "Then it's settled!" She decides on her own. "Ne, ne, Makino-nee! Can you help me prepare my lunchboxes? Oh! Do we still have any leftover cake from the twins' birthday? Can we put it in too?!" She nearly drools at the thought of chocolate cake. Chocolate itself was rare to come by now, especially with their rural area, but everybody in Foosha had managed to pitch in to buy enough chocolate for the twins' first birthday cake, which was why they even had any right now.

A strained smile appears on Makino's face. "I don't think your grandfather's decided yet," she says, and its evident in her voice that she doesn't want her to go.

"He'll say yes," she grins, wide and confident in her words.

"You're not possibly considering this, Garp," Woop Slap deadpans, suspiciously glaring at the Marine.

"I am," is Garp's blunt answer. "It's a good idea. I'll just drop her off at Dadan's place and the two of us can go share drinks with Melissa one more time," he says, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Garp-san!" Makino exclaims in objection. "No! You can't! Luffy can wait for you here in the bar, where it's safer," the barmaid suggests.

Feeling betrayed, she looks up at her older sister with big eyes. "But Makino-nee," she protests, a frown starting to form on her lips. "There's nothing I can do here! Let me go, please? I'll promise to behave. And I won't go off on my own too! So please?" She begs, just short of dropping to her knees and throwing a fake tantrum because she's that desperate.

Makino holds her gaze, features firm and willpower strong.

"Please?" She asks one more time, trying to look as pathetic as she can. "I won't disappear this time," she tacks on, because maybe that's what's worrying Makino.

After a several seconds of intense staring, Makino's strong image crumbles and the barmaid sighs as she runs her fingers through her hair underneath her kerchief.

"Just," Makino pauses, as if trying to look for the right words to say. "Just stay safe, okay?" Makino settles on.

She nods eagerly. "I will! I'll come back later tonight with no bruises!" She promises.

Makino smiles that soft, sad smile of hers. "I hope so."

Having received permission from her guardian, she turns to face her grandfather and beams brightly. "You hear that? Makino-nee said yes! So can we go, Poppy? Can we, can we?" She pokes on and on and on.

"As long as you keep your promises," Garp says, and she eagerly nods in reply. He grins broadly and picks her up to hold her up high in the air. "BWAHAHAHA! Then sure! Why not?" He bellows out with laughter in accompaniment.

His laughter is infectious, and she finds herself laughing. Even Makino is giggling politely from behind her hand.

But Woop Slap just throws his hands up in the air. "Monkeys!" He complains, and Makino's giggles evolve into laughter as well at that.

L.I.N.E.

One year. That's how long since she'd gone on her arduous adventure and came back to home to Foosha with a bag full of herbs and a goal in her mind.

She's never realized how much she'd missed the jungle. After all, what's there to miss in a jungle that's full of dangerous animals that she has vivid memories of them trying to eat her?

But Mt. Colubo welcomes her as a mother would. The warm breeze that drifts by feels like a loving caress to her face, the way the leaves and grass move to and fro resemble hands waving at her, and the faint animal sounds she's able to pick up echo as greetings to her ears.

She closes her eyes, breathes in the familiar earthy scent of the jungle, and sighs out peacefully.

Dangerous animals aside, she has wonderful memories of this place. This was where she met Mamoru; where she stumbled across Dogra and Dadan and Magra; where she found Ace and the resolution that she was so lacking in this world.

Mt. Colubo is beautiful, despite how insane it is.

"Come along now, Lu!" Garp calls out.

A brown blur whizzes across the treetops above, and she manages to catch sight of it before it completely disappears. She smiles knowingly, and turns to face her grandfather. "Coming!" She calls back, running after him.

They trek through Mt. Colubo with nary an accident; eventually, they reach Dadan's hideout.

With butterflies fluttering about in her stomach, she stands behind her grandfather's legs with her hands tightly gripping his pants and watches as he pounds on the door.

She anxiously bites her bottom lip at the unmistakable sound of Dadan screeching at Magra to open the door, and she feels as if a burden has been completely lifted off of her when the door swings open and Magra—healthy and alive—emerges into her vision.

"Hello," Garp greets, mouth curling up into an utterly feral grin, and leers down at the bandit. "Nice to see you're up on your own two feet this time, bandit."

Terror instantaneously appears on Magra's face, and his mouth drops open into what seems like a silent scream.

"G-Garp-san," Magra croaks out after finding his voice. "W-W-What can I do for y-you?" He stammers out, visibly sweating.

"Where's your boss?" Garp asks, straight to the point, and Magra is quick to retreat back to the safety of the shack to retrieve his boss.

Eight seconds later, Dadan appears with the back of Magra's and Dogra's collars held tightly in her fists.

"G-Garp-san!" The mountain bandit boss cries out, looking close to tears at the sight of one of her worst nightmares in her doorstep. "W-What are you doin' here? We haven't done anythin' wrong since your last visit!"

Both of her eyebrows rise at Dadan's claim. She sincerely doubts that. Dadan has more shiny rings on her fingers than the last time she saw her.

"Hmmm. Really?" Garp asks, grin still in place, and she knows enough of her grandfather to know that he takes delight in watching all three bandits practically sweat buckets underneath his scrutiny. "It ain't good for any of you thieves to be lying straight to my face, you know?" He says, offhandedly waving a fist near Dadan's face.

The color drains from the mountain bandit's skin tone, and Dadan looks about ready to keel over and kowtow deeply to Garp and confess whatever atrocities she and her group had been up to over the past year.

But Garp, mercifully enough, switches the subject before any of the mountain bandits becomes uselessly speechless to him. "Where's Ace?"

"A-Ace?" Dadan utters intelligently enough, blinking. "How should we know?! That kid disappears every time first thing in the morning 'fore we can even catch him to do his chores!" She complains with a scowl.

Garp merely laughs at the lack of discipline showcased by his charge. "BWAHAHAHA! That's my Ace! He'll make a fine Marine, that one!" He boasts proudly.

The three bandits share skeptical looks, but none of them have the heart, or the courage, to dispute Garp otherwise.

"Well, since that brat ain't here yet, seems like I'll be leaving you guys in charge of my littlest," Garp announces before he drags her out from where she's hiding behind him. "Now come on, Lu. Say hello," he coaxes, voice fatherly.

She looks up at the three mountain bandits, gauges the surprise on Dadan's and Dogra's expressions and the curiosity on Magra's, and beams quite brightly up at them. "Hi!" She nearly screams from her nerves, and winces at the high pitch of her voice. "I don't know if you still remember me, but I'm the one who tried to help Magra-san! My name's Monkey D. Luffy, and it's nice to meet you all!" She fully introduces herself in a slightly gentler voice, and bows accordingly to what Melissa and Makino had drilled into her. "Sorry 'bout not telling you that he's my grandpa. Slipped out of my mind, this one. Shishishishi," she laughs sheepishly as she pats her grandfather's knee.

"HOW COULD YOU FORGET ABOUT GARP?!" Dadan and Dogra exclaim in unison, disbelief written all over their faces.

Magra, on the other hand, tilts his head as he recalls whatever memories he has of the time he'd been bedridden for more than a week. "You…You're bucket girl," he realizes as he stares at her with wide, wide eyes.

She smiles wryly at his nickname for her. "Yep. That's me," she confirms, pushing away any memories she has of the putrid smell of the mess he'd left in the bucket.

"Wait, wait, wait," Dadan suddenly interrupts, apprehension dawning upon her features. "You mentioned somethin' 'bout leavin' your kid. Don't tell me…?" Dadan reluctantly trails off, looking down at her with horror clear in her dark eyes.

"I'll be leaving Luffy in your care," Garp confirms, nodding firmly.

All three bandits look as if they'd been struck by lightning at Garp's easygoing words.

"But only for today!" She pipes up, correcting the assumption the bandits had concluded that they would be raising another one of Garp's brats. "And I won't cause any trouble, promise!" She beams, deceptively innocent and carefree.

All three bandits look to Garp for confirmation—they've had enough practice with Ace that little brats hardly spout the truth—and they breathe out a sigh of relief when the Marine wordlessly nods in affirmation.

"Well, if it's only for a day…" Dadan trails off. "Then I guess it'll be okay."

"Then my business here is done," Garp concludes before he kneels down to the ground so that he can easily grab both of her shoulders. "You remember what you promised to me, right? No disappearing act like last time, you hear me?" He demands with absolute severity that disallows any excuses.

"Aye, sir!" She salutes him, her palm covered and the tips of her finger barely brushing against the hairs of her right brow.

Garp cracks a smile. "That's my soldier," he says, the warm pride in his chest seeping into his voice. "Grampa'll come back for you tonight, so you just wait for me, okay?"

"Okay," she eagerly nods.

Satisfied with her answer, Garp gets up, gives her one last pat on the head, before he looks back at the bandits with a dangerous look in his eyes. "If there's so much as a scratch on her when I get back," he warns, voice low, before his killing intent slams down onto the bandits—potent enough to leave the mountain bandits shuddering and perspiring cold sweat.

Although it isn't directed at her, her palms feel clammy at the sudden drop of temperature and her throat tightens when the air around them seems denser than before.

Her instincts blare at her to run. Run now. Run and hide beneath a fucking rock now.

And it's taking everything inside of her to stay.

Just as instantly as it had appeared, Garp withdraws his killing intent just as fast before he turns on his heel and walks away, eventually vanishing from her line of sight once he has to trek down the dirt path leading back to Foosha.

Holy shit, she thinks. Holy fish on shit cakes. Her once notoriously genius plot to run off into the jungle to go find Ace now seems like the stupidest thing she's ever come up with.

"Poppy sure is scary," she voices aloud the obvious.

"Well of course he's scary!" Dogra exclaims. "He's Garp! He makes going 'to jail easier than doing his bidding!" He bemoans as he stuffs his face into his hands. "And you! You never told us that Garp was your gramps!" He accuses her, jabbing his finger in her direction.

She points at herself, putting on the most innocent expression she can muster. "Who, me? Why, I never really told you guys in the first place 'cause nobody bothered to ask," her lips curl up into a Cheshire grin. "Besides, it slipped out of mind. Really, it did."

Dogra glares down at her, not buying her story one bit. "Lies," he hisses.

She smiles unassumingly at him before she turns her attention to Magra. "Magra-san! It's so good to see you look better now! I was worried that the Marine doctor couldn't help you even though Poppy told me you were going to be okay. I can hardly trust the word of a man who doesn't know the difference between a deadly disease and a simple fever," she hurries over to him to get a better look at him. "I'd check you over but I don't have enough time today. I still have some things to do, you know?"

Magra blinks down at her. "You're name's Luffy, yeah?" He asks, and his voice is surprisingly gentle despite his intimidating looks and profession.

"Yep, but you can call me Lu," she proposes.

He looks taken aback by her offer, eyes widening just a little bit, but he recovers soon enough and gifts her with a smile. "Call me Magra then. You helped me a lot when I was sick, and I didn't get the chance to say thanks 'fore Garp-san dragged you 'way."

Her chest feels significantly lighter than it had been before, and she's sure that her smile has grown at least a centimeter larger. "It's no big deal," she tries for humble and modest, and she's sure she looks the part with how red her cheeks are. "I'm just glad you're better now," she assures him, before turning to look up at Dadan who is scowling down at her as if she's some pest, which she probably is to the woman's eyes.

"Oi, brat. Since you'll be staying with us for today, you'll have to pull your own weight around here, which means you'll have to do what we tell you to, clear?" Dadan snaps, voice firm and leaving no room for argument.

She promptly tears down a wall in said room and defiantly tilts her chin up just a little bit. "No," she refuses.

"HAH? What did you say?" Dadan demands, reaching forward to grasp her shirt.

She gracefully steers clear off of Dadan's reach and manages to catch herself before she's sprawled face first into the ground from stumbling over a wayward pebble.

"I said no," she repeats calmly. "I have better things to do than finish whatever chores you shove onto me," she says, raising an eyebrow at their telltale grimace. Most of Dadan's scenes consisted of her yelling at both Ace and the original Luffy to do their chores for once, so it really isn't surprising that they'd substituted 'ward' with 'slave.'

"If you'll excuse me, I have an impolite boy to beat some manners into," she bids them farewell, before turning on her heel and making her way towards a narrow path in between two bushes.

"Wait!" Dogra cries out. "We can't let you go! Garp'll have our heads once we finds out you're not here!"

She stops, but not because of Dogra. The branches above flutter ever so slightly, causing leaves to tumble down. Her eyes may not be as sharp as Hawk's, but she's sure that the pair of beady black eyes staring down at her belong to the brown blur that has been following her ever since she'd stepped into the forest.

The very second their gazes met, her stalker emerges from his shadowy sanctuary in the foliage and hops down from his perch.

He lands in front of her with a solid thud.

He's larger than she'd last seen him—thicker with corded muscles and a good head taller than her this time—and her eyes immediately stray towards the large, jagged scar that lies horizontally over the only area on his belly not covered by fur.

His canines, at least an inch longer than they'd been before, glints maliciously in the sun's light when he bares them at her.

Her eyes seek his once more, and she reads. Mamoru is overjoyed to see her—friend, friend is back, friend is here, friend isn't hurt—and eager for what's to come—so much to tell, kill those that hurt, food in bag, will friend give?

Without so much as an ounce of hesitation, she wraps her arms around him and squeezes him into a tight hug. Mamoru jolts at her touch, arms hanging limply by his sides, as if he doesn't know what to do, and she looks up at him to return his scary smile with one of her much softer ones. "I missed you too, buddy," she says.

Content, she pulls away from him and turns to face the bandits who are gawking at her. Amusement blooms right next to her heart. "My ride's here, so that means I'll be going now," she says, pushing down slightly on Mamoru's shoulders. The monkey seems to understand what she wants, for he crouches down lowly upon the forest floor. She easily mounts his back, wrapping her arms around his thick neck just as he wraps his tail around waist.

"I'll be back before sundown!" She just has enough time to promise before Mamoru leaps into the trees and practically flies from branch to branch.

L.I.N.E.

"H-Holy shit," she croaks out, throat throbbing painfully from screaming her fucking head off.

They've been traversing through the forest nonstop for what feels like an hour or more, with no real destination in mind aside from straight forward.

Even when there was a cliff blocking their way, Mamoru was clearly undeterred for he took to climbing it up by using whatever ledges there were.

Whatever animals they encountered merely took one look at them—ehem, Mamoru, ehem—and fucking scattered.

It seems that Mamoru has instilled fear into the hearts of every animal perfectly, which was amazing enough, considering that he is only a monkey in a jungle where beasts thrice the size of ordinary human beings roamed.

Mamoru halts by a branch, giving her the chance to catch her breath, and she gladly does so in wheezy gasps.

Immediately after her lungs have stopped feeling like they're turning inside out, she looks up from the back of Mamoru's furry head to see what has captured the monkey's attention this time.

She catches sight of a large rift that leads to what appears to be an endless abyss, and realizes that this must be where Ace had kicked the original Luffy into once she spots the narrow, wooden bridge connecting one end to the other.

She snorts, because there is absolutely no fucking wayshe'll let herself be kicked into that hellhole. She doesn't have a death wish, thank you very much; canon be damned and all. She'll make sure that if ever Ace—or anybody, for that matter—throws her into that rift, she'll drag them down along with her.

When Mamoru crouches down lowly onto the branch, causing the wooden part to creak ominously, her heart plummets down into her stomach and she has enough time to shriek—

"Mamoru, NO!"

—before Mamoru promptly leaps and they're fucking airborne.

She doesn't have any strength inside of her to scream, much less utter an eep, and can only watch with bated breath as they soar over the rift, which is in no way narrow in the least.

She only remembers to breathe once Mamoru safely lands atop a thick branch of a large tree on the other side of the rift.

"Holy mother of Totoro," she gasps.

"Aiiiie!" Mamoru cries out loudly in cheer, raising both of his arms in triumph.

"You crazy son of a gun," she spits out, because shit. Shit, shit, shit. Mamoru is insane. "We could've taken the bridge!" She cries out in despair.

Mamoru looks back at her and narrows his eyes. It wouldn't be fun, are the words he conveys.

"It would've been safe!" She retorts, fists clenching even tighter to his fur.

Mamoru's fluffy tail pats her on the back in an eerily comforting manner. It only happens for a brief moment, and the only warning she gets is his tail wrapping itself around her waist before Mamoru vaults off of the branch and their ninja-ing through the trees once again.

She sighs out loudly, hides her face in Mamoru's back, and resigns herself. She had asked for this. Mamoru-taxi was a better alternative than taking hours walking through the jungle in search for Ace.

L.I.N.E.

Mamoru, despite his great vigor, does not possess a limitless stamina, and the minute she notices his sluggishness she yanks on his fur to get his attention and demands from him to stop.

Mamoru doesn't listen to her, which she had expected, so she brings out her trump card and mentions the food she'd brought for him in her bag.

She nearly goes flying off of his back when he abruptly halts on a thick branch.

So here they are, taking a well-deserved break on a branch.

As Mamoru digs into his share of food, she looks up at what little parts of the sky she could see past the dense foliage of the trees. It's still a bright blue, with the sun shinning overhead, which means that it was hours before the sun would set.

She breathes out through her nose, relieved, before looking around to inspect her surroundings. It is apparent that they are currently in a deeper, and much older, part of the forest—the trees here are easily twice the size of the ones she'd seen, with their large roots even going so far as to emerge from the ground itself and moss climbing alongside wrinkly vines wrapped lazily around thick trunks, and the atmosphere here feels…heavier. Archaic. Venerable.

She manages to give in to the jungle's deceptive tranquility and closes her eyes to absorb whatever sunlight she can. However, just as she sags back onto her arms, her eyes suddenly snap open and her finger twitches against the deep groove it had brushed by chance.

"What the…?" She whispers with furrowed brows. She traces the furrow that had been carved into the thick branch, and she belatedly realizes that she's sitting on a compartment of some kind when the pads of her fingers run over corners in the man-made trench.

Quickly shifting off of the lid, she searches for a way to open it and when her fingers manage to hook themselves underneath the lid, she successfully pries the niche open.

Her eyes widen at what she sees.

Treasure. Lots of it, but not enough to buy the Kingdom of Goa itself or her quaint village of windmills. Wads of dark green beli bills sit comfortably near the bottom, where stacks of golden coins are piled up high, and jewelries looking to be of high quality are draped temptingly over the top.

They gleam at her—take me. Take me now—and she can't quite resist picking up a string of fat, heavy pearls.

She marvels at its beauty, her own eyes glinting back at it.

It'd be so easy to take it, to take all of it, but she quashes the greedy part of her and reluctantly returns the necklace to its original place with a sullen pout.

After all, none of it is hers, and she knows very well that whoever owns this little hiding spot of stolen treasures wouldn't be very happy to find it empty.

It wouldn't do to steal from a pirate's fund when she's still, well, weak, after all.

Maybe when she's older. Of course when she's older—but right now, it wouldn't leave a good impression on those she'd want to impress if she stole from them, ne?

"Mamoru," she practically croons, and the monkey jerks up at her call. "I believe we've hit the jackpot," she cackles.

L.I.N.E.

AN: So, ugh, yay! New chapter! After one month of total silence! Hooray! To be honest, this should have been posted, like, a week ago—maybe ten days ago—but my dog—beautiful, beautiful Hunter—decided that it would be an excellent idea to eat my USB. I won't regale you with the experience I had over getting the USB back, 'cause believe me you won't like it one bit, but hey! At least there's a new chapter, yes?

Where's that goddamn Devil Fruit.

BRDJKBVCNEDS. I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN. I SWEAR! The last half of the chapter had been spontaneously typed by my accursed fingers! Originally, Garp should have made it in time to attend her birthday party, but then I was starting to miss Ace, and the wonderful You Light The Sky—check her out 'cause she's diamondz, people. Fucking diamondz, which is my ridiculous term for fabulous!—and I started talking about ASL and holy fuck, why don't I just add Sabo to the mix as well?

It's kinda obvious already so I'm just gonna go out with it. Ace and Sabo will be appearing in the next chapter, so get your fans out, loves, and hold them up high to show your support.

And it's official. Different Devil Fruit, ladies and gentlemen. No matter how much I love the Gomu Gomu no Mi (I mean, unlimited stretching. S!Luffy will forever be tight and malleable *gets shot*), it's just not S!Luffy. I'll be putting it up on the description soon to warn off people in case that's not what they're looking for. Sorry to disappoint all those rooting for the Gomu Gomu no Mi *cries a river of tears*

Pairings?

She's three. (lol is that a hint for a threesome, anybody? Psh. Don't be ridiculous.)

Aaaand, with out questions closed, let me once more thank each and every one of you for your support! All of your favorites, follows, and reviews are the best. I'm thankful to have all of you lovelies with me on this journey. If I could, I'd be smooching your cheeks wet (there ain't anybody backing out of this one. Nobody).