Warnings: Fluff, minor violence, possible OOC characters
Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece! Not me!
Books and Shacks (Luffy 11, Ace and Sabo 8)
Luffy was bouncing up and down in excitement.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami and Usopp had been eating at a restaurant when they realized they didn't have enough money. So, once again, they did an eat-n'-run. They had run all through the town and through the woods on the opposite side from their houses and they had stumbled upon this.
A huge field with a shack in the middle of it, a tree next to it with a swing, and the river on the far side; the river was so wide they could barely see past it.
"This place is huge," Usopp said, eyes wide in awe. Zoro grunted, seemingly unimpressed, while Sanji just stared.
"This place isn't on any town map. I don't get why – it's amazing," Nami said, mostly to herself, as she looked around the perimeter of the land.
"Adventure!" Luffy shouted, taking off at top speeds toward the shed.
"Don't just run off, idiot!" They all turned to him and yelled with angry looks on their faces before running after him. Zoro ran the wrong way at first until Nami yelled at him and dragged him in the right direction.
Luffy reached the shack long before any of the others had and slammed the door open.
"Hello! Anybody here? Oh, hi!" Luffy blinked in surprise when he realized that there was, in fact, somebody in the shack. She had black hair with bangs framing her face and large, blue eyes. She was surrounded by many books and had one in her lap. She looked up with a startled expression before she gave a small smile. "My name is Luffy! What's your name?"
"My name is Robin. It's nice to meet you, Luffy," She said with a very calm voice. Luffy smiled and moved into the shack, sitting next to her.
"What are you reading?"
"A book about pirates."
"Pirates?!" Luffy's eyes sparkled when she said the word and she giggled a little.
"Yes. I have others. Do you want to read one?"
"Yeah!"
When the other four got there, they were all dumbfounded that Luffy was actually reading, but then they too stuck around to read.
Their small group of friends increased by one.
Fights (Luffy 11, Ace and Sabo 8)
"It is real!"
"No it's not! It's just a myth!"
"I saw it!"
"I bet that you saw a tree!"
"I bet your parents dropped you as a baby!"
"I'll kick your butt!"
"Not before I kick yours!"
"Enough!"
I watched, laughing, as Nami smacked Zoro and Sanji over the head. They were fighting about whether or not Bigfoot was real.
"Witch."
"What did you say, moss head?"
"Hah? You wanna fight curly brow?"
"Shut up!"
Nami smacked them again and they both glared at me when I pointed and laughed. Next to me, Usopp was snickering. Nami huffed at the two.
"You two are both stupid! Now stop fighting. Can't you just get along for once?"
"No way!"
"Not gonna happen!"
"G-guys, d-don't fight," Usopp said, now shaking next to me. Zoro and Sanji both turned to him and yelled.
"SHUT UP!"
"I'm sorry!"
Usopp hid behind Nami and she smacked Zoro and Sanji again before she began yelling again. It was really funny too! I'm happy she's not yelling at me, 'cause her hits hurt.
While Nami was yelling, I saw a bunch of other kids running over to the grove. It was this small place hidden by trees and grass that the teachers didn't know about. Kids fought there all the time. Curious, I took off after them.
When I got there, I had to shove my way through a bunch of kids my age. Why is everybody so big? I could hear them cheering and yelling but they wouldn't let me through. When I finally made it out, I was rrrrreeeeaaaalllllyyyyy angry. There was Bellamy the bully, fighting my little brothers.
I know that both of them are strong. They take karate too and are best in their class. But Bellamy took karate, judo and a lot of other stuff like that and they were younger than him.
I growled and ran forward, taking a punch in the face that almost landed on my already hurt brother.
"Luffy!" I heard Ace yell out in surprise.
"What are you doing here, weakling?" He smirked at me and I growled, pulling up my fists.
"You can pick on me all you want, but I won't let you hurt my brothers!" I pulled back and punched him right in the face. I knew I could take him – he may take more ma…murtle…morsha…martial arts than me but I can kick his butt! I fight a lot more than he does!
He stumbled back and then, glaring, ran at me. I brought my arms up to block the attack and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to groan. He jumped and kicked me in the face. I stumbled and opened my eyes only to see a fist. I let myself fall to the ground, avoiding it, and then head-butted him. It really hurt! We both held our heads before glaring at each other and lunging while yelling.
I couldn't really tell what happened. I could hear people cheering as we rolled around on the ground, punching and kicking each other.
"Enough!" I was dragged off of Bellamy and he was dragged away from me as well. I looked up and knew I was in trouble.
There stood two of our teachers, holding us apart.
"Luffy, how many times have we told you not to get into fights at school?"
"I know the past few years you haven't, but it's gotten worse all of a sudden. You need to stop fighting."
"But Mom, Dad-"
"No, Luffy. We don't care if you fight at karate or wrestle with your friends and brothers, but this is unacceptable. Go to your room."
"I don't wanna."
"Luffy, now."
"No!"
Dad stood up with a sigh, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me, kicking and screaming, to my room. He lightly pushed me in before closing the door behind him. I turned around to open it but froze when I heard him put on the lock.
"We'll come get you soon, Luffy. Stay in there for now."
I glared at the door as my dad walked away and crossed my arms. I walked over and sat at the only bedroom in the room since I now had my own room while Ace and Sabo shared one.
Yeah, I've fought a lot more this year. But! They were bullying my friends! Arlong hurt Nami and Usopp and I beat him up a few times until he finally stopped. Bellamy bullied me for years and I never did anything! And when I fight back for my brothers I get in trouble! I don't like it.
It reminded me of what Shanks said when we were younger, when he saved me from some big jerks in his grade.
"You can call me names and you can beat me up all you want. It won't hurt me. But if I find out you hurt my friends, no matter who you are, I'll kick your ass!"
I thought about another thing Shanks had taught me.
"Why do I do stuff even if I know I'll get in trouble? Well, that's the ultimate freedom, to do whatever you want! Ignore the consequences! Somehow, everything will turn out fine even if you get enemies. That's what I've learned. Yeah, I've beat up guys and got beat up and got yelled by adults for being in fights, but it's all worth it. I can protect my friends in the end, and that's all I need."
Freedom…
I grinned.
I was going to find my freedom.
Far away from Luffy, in a house on the other side of town – a mansion rather – Bellamy was laying on his bed. He was bruised and beaten, a punishment for something he did not know. He failed a mission – but what mission? He was never awake to be given any missions, he looked in the mirror today and it looked like he had grown a year or two since yesterday, so he was clueless as to what Doflamingo meant.
All he knew was that he hurt badly and he wanted it to stop.
Forgetfulness (Luffy 11, Ace and Sabo 8)
"Boys! Don't go too far ahead!"
"Okay Dad!"
Luffy, Ace and Sabo were running ahead of their Dad, Rayleigh, and their Mom. They were out in town today. They had just seen a movie and they were going to head out to dinner in a half hour. For now, they were allowed to run around the park to their hearts content.
"What do you guys wanna do?" Sabo looked at his brothers, both of whom were thinking. Ace suddenly grinned.
"Well, we have nothing to play with, so why not hide and seek?"
"I wanna play!" Sabo agreed. Luffy grinned at them as Ace spoke.
"I'll look! You two hide!"
"Alright!"
"Let's go!"
Sabo ran off one way while Luffy ran the other. Luffy loved this game because his brother's were never able to find him.
He ran off and found a small clearing in the park woods that was invisible from the outside. He giggled as he made his way in and then turned, staring from the inside as Ace ran by, looking for him and Sabo.
"Who're you?"
Luffy turned around, startled and surprised when he saw Bellamy sitting in there. Luffy tensed as he looked at the boy who looked rather…off.
"It's me, Luffy," He said. "But you already know me."
"I do?" Bellamy sighed, and Luffy thought he looked far too old in that short moment. "Sorry. I can't remember. Can't seem to remember anything lately." There was a call for the blond boy in the distance and he stood with a grimace. "Gotta go. Maybe I'll see ya later." He ran off, leaving Luffy confused and, for some reason, concerned for the boy who had harassed him for years.
AN: So, Robin enters their group of friends and a little more is revealed about Bellamy. Things are slowly starting to get moving in this story. Oh, and I didn't really check this chapter for spelling or grammar errors, just a quick glance, so please tell me if you saw any. Thanks!
Guest: I'm happy you enjoyed it and I'm happy Luffy is coming off as a good big bro. I felt that if I made the heir Law, it would be a little too predictable, especially concerning how the chapters are coming out. And I love Thatch! I can't leave him out - he's awesome.
spoons-are-evil: Bellamy was the ringleader of the bullies, so to say. He knows what's happening and what he does but at the same time he's clueless. You'll see why in future chapters. I feel like if Doffy was my dad, I would be terrified. And I figured those four would make good friends for Ace and Sabo; they'll come into play more later on. And wolves...they really do not like Luffy at all. And if Thatch and the others had said sorry, I think Luffy would've yelled out of frustration. It's good Roger has that insight.
shadowmarialove: Hahaha, thank you. I'm just happy that people are reading this story at all. And I like Sanji-speak; I get it a lot. Oh, and I'm a woman, but I don't care how you refer to me. Thank you:)
Thank you very much for reading this story! Please review and tell me what you think - I like to know what you guys think of this story! :)