Birthday: Strawhat Pirates- August 9th: Nakama (1)

In the harbor of Rusukaina(2), anchored between the air-exposed coral forests, the Thousand Sunny rested quietly. It bobbed with the gentle waves that batted it, easily overshadowing the silent, darker caravel that was moored beside it. The colorful brig sloop was quiet, the only sounds drowning out the summer night coming from its dining room where the lights shone from the windows. Inside its powerful walls an anticipated reunion was once again taking place.

The central figure in this reunion was a young man with black hair wearing a strawhat. He had a scar under his left eye and larger X-shaped scar on his chest which was almost covered by the red, long-sleeved cardigan he wore. He was currently hanging off a slightly older man with short curly blonde hair and a top hat. The blonde man wore a dark blue frock coat and a ruffled white ascot around his neck which he was loosening with one hand while he attempted to fend off the other boy with the other. The other pirates situated around the room watched in growing humor as the blonde tumbled to the floor thanks to the other man's enthusiasm. Rather than becoming upset however, the blonde sat up and chuckled as he ruffled the other's hair. The younger man continued to grin unabashedly even as the blonde pulled him up to sit at the table.

"What was that for Luffy? We've only been apart for a few months. No reason to tackle me as soon as ya see me!" Sabo chuckled good-naturedly, shaking his head lightly. Luffy huffed at Sabo, laughing at his disheveled appearance.

"Shi shi shi! Usopp dared me to! How long are you stayin'? Do you wanna go fishin'? Are you gonna stay for breakfast? Breakfast! Sanji! Meshi!" A dress shoe covered foot knocked into Luffy's head, sending it into the table. "Ow! Sanji!"

"Shut up stupid captain. We just ate. I already locked up the fridge and pantry. Don't you dare try to break in; Franky made me a new alarm system after the last time you tried to chew your way through the cables." Sanji snorted, still baffled on how Luffy had even managed to get that far into the previous alarm system. "Besides, this is serious business. I had to contaminate food." He sounded distinctly horrified at his actions. "The Old Geezer would kill me if he knew!"

"Bio-attacks are always serious, Sanji-san. They are very volatile and cause untold amounts of damage. Unfortunately, they were necessary to prepare for the Revolution Swell." Sabo quietly commented, sorrow at the use of such tactics written on his face. "Without your contributions, however, it would have been far more destructive and delayed even further than it already had been from when Akainu took the Fleet Admiralty and restructured the Marines." He glanced at Chopper, regret clear in his expression. "It was quite the weapon of mass destruction…. I wish that it could have been possible to spare you such horrors, Chopper-san, I truly do. However, because you are the World's Greatest Doctor, you are the only one qualified and because of Luffy's judgement, you are also the only one I could trust not to let such power go to your head. There are those, even within the Revolution, that wouldn't be able to handle the responsibility and burden of creating such a thing. I am truly sorry for the distress I caused you." Chopper looked at Sabo with a wobbly, understanding smile.

"It's alright. It helped people free their countries from rulers like Wapol. At least someone is better off from this." Chopper shuddered slightly, stilling when Robin wrapped an arm around him. She smiled gently at him, and he breathed a sigh of relief at the now familiar comforting presence that had helped calm his nightmares in the days that he tested the drugs.(3)

"In truth," Sabo continued, glancing around the room at the rest of the Strawhat crew, "…without all of you helping us and using your connections…" He slanted a look at both Usopp and Franky,(4) "…we wouldn't have been able to pull off so many rebellions and free so many countries all at once. The destruction of Mariejois is simply a bonus; a very fortuitous bonus considering that with Robin-san's information(5) we were able to extract almost every slave before the attacks, but simply a bonus nonetheless." Sabo moved his gaze to the two swordsmen across from him. "The basic information about the Marine's vacation spots and smaller prisons helped us locate lower risk prisoners and showed us the best spots to avoid bystander influence."(6) Sabo met Luffy's for-once serious gaze. "Base 72 was a paperwork factory; it was the crossroad for paper trails all throughout the Blue. Its sacking was invaluable."(7) He met each of the Strawhats' eyes once more, and smirked. "Congratulations. You're now officially a crew allied to the Revolution. Feel free to ask us for whatever you might need."

The Strawhats looked at each other, still a bit stunned that everything had worked out so close to the plan; usually they had to make it up as they went along…this was surreal.

Sabo stood, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up and Luffy looked crestfallen. "You're leaving? Already? No breakfast? No meshi?" Luffy was forlorn, already moping as though Sabo had left. Sabo looked at him confused.

"I'm just taking off my jacket Luffy. Wouldn't want it to get wet when we're fishing." Luffy's maniac grin reappeared in a flash, and he grabbed Sabo's arm, barely allowing him to put his jacket down on the table before he dragged him onto the deck. Usopp and Chopper ran after them, shaking off the heaviness of the previous conversation as easily as their captain did. The other Strawhats simply laughed and shook their heads at their capatin's craziness.

AN: Konbanwa, Minna! This is the end of Beneath the Brim: Shadows of a Strawhat! I hope you have enjoyed the story! Please Review if you haven't already or PM if you have any questions! Arigato Minna-san!

(1) August 9th is the date that the One Piece Manga Chapter 100 was published. This chapter is the send off into the Grand Line and as such is considered by many to be the birthdate of the Strawhat Pirate Crew.

(2) this is the island where Luffy trained for the two year time skip.

(3) Chapter 6: no matter how I might write Chopper, I still see him having nightmares over live testing

(4) Chapters 1 and 9

(5) Chapter 7

(6) Chapters 2 and 5

(7) Chapter 3

AN2: Chapters 4 and 8 are generalized; they connect the other chapters together. Can you see any other connections?