"Pathetic." Zoro muttered as he sheathed his sword and threw a glance at the unconscious form of the fishman captain. The word 'pathetic' was the closest thing Zoro could describe the fight against Arlong. Th fish stick was too busy rambling about his oh so great race that he probably didn't see the tip of the sword until it scarred his skin. And now that there was no Luffy to be stuck underwater, Sanji had it a lot easier than the first time with the blue shark, Ussop did a good job, too.

As the three straw hats got a hold of themselves, the villagers were staring at them completely frozen in shock. The dubbed most powerful pirate on East Blue was taken out by a bunch of rookie teenagers. If they hadn't seen it with their eyes, they wouldn't have believed that. Nami was also quite shaken, despite being given every detail of the other timeline's fight by Zoro.

Nami smiled, an image of her grinning captain on her mind. So he was right. Thanks to her crew mates, or rather, her friends, her home was free. Her people were free, her sister was free...She was free.

Tears flowed down her cheeks as cheers of joy erupted behind her, where people danced and others went to inform the whole island about the downfall of Arlong Park. Nami walked towards her friends who were cracking and talking, the later which consisted of Sanji and Zoro arguing with each other.

"Thank you, guys." Nami thanked, them alongside a rubber idiot who gave her courage, while the crew for the first time (except Zoro) saw Nami's happy smile. Sanji cooed with hearts as his eyes, Ussop beamed, saying it was nothing despite all the blood on his body and Zoro just grunted.

Now came the part Zoro didn't like. Having to deal with the constant thanks of the villagers. They were pirates, for god's sake! And, as Luffy had in another future pointed out, they were. Not. Heroes!

And the villagers did not disappoint. They had already began asking what they could do to repay the straw hats and also invited them to the famous three-day-party.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Denied Zoro instantly, surprising all, expect Nami, who knew they didn't have the time to fool around. But the look on her face told Zoro that she wasn't letting them go without an expression of gratitude, so Zoro added.

"But you could do something for us."

The villagers looked interested. The question 'what?' hung on the air. Zoro went towards Ussop, who looked puzzled and started searching for something inside said teen's bag. After some moments, he pulled out what others identified as a black cloth. Soon, they saw that it wasn't just any black cloth. On his hands, Zoro held an almost identical flag with a skull wearing a straw hat.

"Fly the flag of the Straw Hats pirates." Zoro requested, earning wide eyes here and there. "From now on, this island will be on the protection of our captain."

After getting over his surprise, Genzo questioned the green haired teen.

"Just who is your captain?" He blurted out, unable to hold back. "If you're not the captain, how strong is the one you deem fit to follow?"

Zoro felt like he was asked that question before, but he didn't think it was in that form. With a smirk on his face, he replied.

"Monkey D. Luffy. That man is several times stronger than us, and will continue to become stronger for the ones he wants to protect. One day, the marines will cower in fear at his name." The smirk grew. "He's the man who'll become Pirate King."

Nami nodded at Genzo, who with a bit of hesitation, took the flag from Zoro's hands. It felt weird inside his chest, to be accepting willingly the flag of a pirate, when just some moments ago, he'd have done anything to get rid of the one they had for eight long years. But Genzo knew, he knew these kids were different. They had proven him that by doing two things:

Not killing a single fishman, and making Nami smile. Making her trust pirates, when her mother was taken by them. Make her trust them with her heart and soul, giving back her confidence that she would be free again and accomplished the task. Genzo wasn't sure if it was the swordsman who convinced her or that captain of theirs, but from the kid's words, he'd bet it was the captain. And if they could repay them for taking away the pain haunting them for almost a decade by waving their flag, the so be it.

Unknown to them, a certain marine captain had witnessed the whole events from the battle of Arlong to the frightening description of their captain.

'How can this Monkey D. Luffy be stronger than that monster?!' He wondered, feeling extremely scared. If what he said was true then that rookie was going to be a big problem in the future. Also, he held quite the grudge against these pirates, because they had gotten on the way of him and his money. So now, he'd get payback. Carefully backing away, he put out a mini den den mushi and called the HQ. As soon as the marine heard the sound *clank*, he reported about the incident with a slightly changed scenario. After all, the pirate followed his captain's order, right?.

The report given by captain Nezumi: "The Arlong Pirates were utterly defeated by the Straw Hats Pirates, leaded by Monkey D. Luffy, a very dangerous rookie able to easily beat pirates Arlong's league. I demand you to take measures."

Well, if the crew could do that, then the captain was higher, right?

Somewhere on Lougtown, a certain rubber pirate was trying to find his way to the platform. Again. Even with that old man's at the bar words, Luffy just seemed unable to find his destination. Scratching the back of his head in frustration, Luffy looked around for any signs he could remember, of corse not that he could remember much. After all, his brain was rubber.

"Where the hell is that platform?" He wondered aloud in a tone of annoyness in his voice. Not paying much attention to where he was going, Luffy accidentally bumped into someone and both fell on the ground.

"I-Itee." Luffy muttered as he rubbed his behind, busy doing so, he didn't immediately notice the hand reaching for him by the one he had bumped to. Luffy grabbed the gloved hand, which helped him up and dusted his clothes and hat.

"Sorry about that." Came the silky voice of the unknown person. "I wasn't watching my step."

Luffy stopped dusting his clothes, his eyes widened at the familiar voice that he had carved inside his memory after hearing it again. Daring to look at the person in front of him, his eyes watered. He hadn't forgotten, of course, and he'd never forget, that certain calm voice and those certain blue clothes. The blond, curly hair, half hidden by the top hat. The pipe tied at the back of the 'stranger' along with those black eyes and cheeky smile.

When Luffy met him again, it was for only this much. Only some moments that he thought were part of his imagination rather than reality. But the grinning person that stood in front of him had convinced the part of his heart that crashed the idea.

Without warning, Luffy shot himself at the man, wrapping his arms around his torso and getting a surprised Yelp form the blue gentleman. Luffy smiled joyfully as he embraced one of the two people his arms were yearning for since the Celestial Dragon incident and the War of The Best.

"I'm happy to see you again." Luffy said, his voice barely audible, but loud enough for the one in his arms to catch it. Said boy furrowed his eyebrows in total confusement. That, until the ravenette said a single word.

"Sabo."

His name.

Sabo stood frozen when the boy had said his name. A million thoughts crossed his mind as his heart started beating faster. For a person with amnesia to meet someone who knows their name is like a one in a lifetime opportunity. Why, you may ask? Because that meant a clue for their past, a clue to who they really are, a clue to the truth.

Sabo grabbed the arms wrapped around him and pulled away from the ravenette, who looked disappointed, but paid no attention to that.

"My name..." He started slowly, eyes locked with Luffy's, as if the answer could be found inside those black orbs. "How come you know my name?"

Luffy frowned. Why he knew his name? Why would Sabo ask that?! They were brothers for the love of-! Wait...

Then it clicked. 'Ahh, i forgot! He had memory loss.' Luffy thought. Now the problem was on how to let Sabo know that in front of him stood a brother who for 12, or 10 in this timeline, years thought he was dead and that he had another big brother who was part of the Whitebeard's. Also that said little brother being from a future where he lost all he held dear and had reached the Raftel Island. Nope! Not the least bit difficult!

"Sabo, I take it you have memory loss, right?" Luffy said, playing the confused character, like he didn't know about Sabo's situation. Sabo slowly nodded, wondering who the hell the boy in front of him was.

"Well, would you like me to tell you?" He asked with a smirk as the other watched in anticipation and impatience. To hell the consequences! He'd just tell him bluntly and get it over with. "Tell you about who you are?"

Sabo nodded furiously, dying to know about his past and it seemed that the kid had all the answers he needed. Luffy started walking past him, confusing Sabo.

"Gonna stay there all day? I've got somewhere to go, so we'll talk while walking." Luffy informed and Sabo decided to follow.

"So, how exactly do you know me? Who are you?" Asked Sabo when he was next to Luffy as the duo walked with slow steps, one wishing to enjoy every moment with his brother, the other to have much time with the the key of his past.

Luffy chuckled. "Don't faint." He warned. Sabo cocked a delicate eyebrow. 'What does he mean?' He wondered. It was soon he found out.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm your little brother." Sabo stopped dead on his tracks, his entire color leaving his face as a shocked look ran up to his features. His lower lip trembled as he stared at the black haired kid that claimed to be his freaking brother. And his name...Monkey D...

'Oh, My God!' He thought horrified. 'That's the same surname as Dragon-san's! And he did tell me about a son named Luffy! That...Oh dear God, you must be frigging kidding me! That is sooooo not freaking possible!'

In front of him stood DRAGON'S SON, who claimed to be HIS BROTHER which technically made HIM Dragon's SON! If his logic hadn't temporally abandoned him by the wave a shock, he'd have long since noticed that they looked nothing like each other and by genetics, could not possibly be blood related, as well as the fact that Dragon wouldn't have kept that a secret.

Unfortunately for him, the common sense had taken a vacation and had left his mind really unprotected. For example, one more push and he was out.

"Oh, and we have an older brother, who is the second commander of the Whitebeard Pirates." Luffy added as an afterthought.

Dang! And that's when Sabo passed out, falling on the ever lasting friend of every fighter, the ground.

Luffy stood above him with an amused yet tired expression. "...I told you not to faint."

A/N: One more chapter done! Hope you liked it and as always thank you. And now that I remembered, I don't own One Piece of any of the charachters. Don't know why every writer says that, it's obvious we don't own them cuz if we did, we wouldn't be here writing changes of the series. Either way, ciao ciao!