Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or RWBY.

Rebirth of the Straw Hat

Chapter 14

"So let me get this straight. You want me to help you with Aura manipulation?" Ren repeated the request asked of him by Luffy, who nodded in confirmation.

It was just those two in team JNPR's dorm. Jaune was dragged off to do some studying by Pyrrha. Nora was hanging out with team RWBY, trying to ask the sisters some questions about Luffy's old world as well as his life.

At least the ones that they can answer themselves.

Which leaves Ren to take advantage of the silence and meditate, until Luffy entered and disrupted the peace just to request help. Ren sighed at the short respite given to him before giving the boy his attention, seeing as he isn't leaving anytime soon.

"What made you think that I could help you at all?" Ren asked as he wondered what gave Luffy the idea to go to him.

"Nora would always go on about how good you are at controlling Aura, so I thought I could get help from someone who knows a lot about it." Luffy explained to him, causing Ren to sigh in defeat.

'Of course it would be Nora.' he thought to himself. The hyperactive girl tends to be a chatterbox, often saying things that are better left unsaid. He was looking forward to a day full of peaceful silence before Nora takes him on a rollercoaster of shenanigans once more.

"Well all I can tell you is that it improves through practice, but there's also meditation." Ren said. There really wasn't many ways to improve your control over Aura. Luffy looked confused at one of the methods.

"Meditation?" he asked for a better explanation.

"What I was doing before you came in."

"Oh, but it looked like you were just sitting there with your eyes closed. That looks really boring." Luffy said in disappointment.

"I know it's not the most exciting thing in the world, but sometimes you just need to clear your mind. Some say it helps find inner peace and balance, others say that it can change negative feelings into positive ones." Ren explained some of the benefits to meditation. Without that, he might have lost his mind when dealing with Nora's antics.

Luffy takes a minute to digest the info, trying to make sense of it.

"So it makes you less angry." the straw hat boy concluded. Ren could only sweatdrop at how much info he got from that.

"Cool! That would've helped Nami back then. She would always get mad at us for doing something stupid or using up all the money." Luffy said, recalling the trouble they get into with Nami.

"Moving on... why do you really need it in the first place? You're strong enough as it is." Ren inquired. Considering that Luffy can still have the energy to fight after going so many spars in a row without proper rest, it shouldn't be a big concern.

"I've told myself that so many times. But in the end, there were a lot of opponents that proved me wrong. I had to use Third Gear to take out that gorilla. Having a strong body is nice and all, but I need to get a handle on using Aura to get even more stronger with the help of my friends. There could be larger gorillas out there, or other Grimm we don't know about." Luffy reasoned through his past life experiences.

He had too many close calls as it is. There were times when he came so close to losing a fight or losing someone close to him because of it. One event comes to mind when the worst case scenario actually happened.

Ren's eyes widened a little at the small piece of wisdom that Luffy imparted. He makes a strong point after noting the possibility of more dangerous Grimm roaming the lands. But to hear that from someone as carefree as him is a bit more surprising.

The look of surprise morphed to one of worry when he noticed Luffy's expression turn grim. He sighs to himself as he felt guilty for the change, figuring that he made him remember something dreadful.

"I'm sorry if this reminded you of some bad memories." Ren apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I had a lot of time to get over it, but sometimes I can't help but remember it. That's why I need your help in the first place. My body may not be strong at the moment, but I should be fine if I'm better with Aura." Luffy said as he started to cheer up a bit.

"If you say so... would you mind showing your Aura? It might give me an idea of what you could do to refine your control." Ren instructed, to which Luffy complied. The boy closed his eyes in focus as he bears his Aura outward, so that it may be visible to others.

Ren was completely confused with Luffy's Aura. It radiates brightly throughout the room, but that's not the source of the confusion. It was the myriad colors his Aura came in.

Normally, each single individual has only a singular color of Aura, yet Luffy has multiple colors. Ren cups his chin in thought as he tries to figure out why that is. He adopts a look of realization when he has a theory on his Aura.

'They said that he has more than one spirit dwelling inside of him, yet they were alive at one point in time. Does this mean that they are separate sources of Aura all packed together in one body, effectively making them individual entities working together. That could explain his rainbow colored Aura and the amount that he possesses.' Ren thought to himself. The light receded as Luffy stopped what he was doing.

"Did you figure out anything Ren?" Luffy asked curiously.

"You're trying to improve Aura manipulation to make your semblance last longer, right?" Ren quickly asked, with Luffy nodding his head. "Then maybe you shouldn't try to pull so much Aura out. You're using more Aura than what is actually needed for your semblance." he advised the boy. Luffy looked very confused at the advice given to him.

"Huh!? But I was told to try and use a tiny bit of Aura, and that's still too much!? How much smaller do I have to use?" Luffy wondered in disbelief.

Ren was starting to get a clearer picture of the problem. With Luffy's reserves, a tiny amount of Aura could be a large portion of theirs'. It's a matter of perspective and knowing just how much Aura you have. Luffy must not have any idea on how much because he might be thinking of his own separate Aura, rather than the total amount due to the spirits' individuality.

Even with all that, Luffy's definition of 'a tiny bit' may be interpreted differently.

"How did you find out about your spirits?" Ren inquired, getting closer to an answer.

"Umm... I stop thinking and just search inside myself." Luffy explained in very vague detail. Ren could only give a dull look at what Luffy actually did.

It wasn't so different from normal meditation, yet he doesn't really know that.

"Have you ever tried to get a feel of how much Aura your spirits have?" Ren questioned further, receiving a 'no' from Luffy.

After getting a reply, Ren searches the dorm for a pitcher and a tall glass cup. He then makes a short trip to the restroom to fill the pitcher with tap water before placing them on the desk. Luffy quirks a brow in confusion, wondering what Ren was up to.

"Alright... I want you to fill the glass up to what you think is 'a tiny bit'." Ren instructed. Luffy shrugged his shoulders before doing as instructed. Ren lets out a hum after seeing the boy fill the glass about an tenth of the way. Luffy's perspective of the amount is normal, but he should still use a smaller amount. So that leaves the total Aura he has.

"So what's the point of all that anyway?" Luffy asked as he downed the small amount of liquid he recently poured. He figured Ren got the answer he needed so he just drank it.

"The problem you have is that you don't know how much Aura your crew has. They may be separate from yours, but they all act as one. I don't have any clue on how, but you need to learn how much Aura your crew members have. You should still lower the amount of Aura you're pulling out though." Ren surmised with slight uncertainty. It's hard to make a very solid answer when the person in front of you is the only one you've met that has the condition.

"So what you're saying... is that I have more Aura than I thought?" Luffy said as he tries to make sense of everything.

"That sounds about right. You must have been so focused on your semblance and Haki that you never bothered to know more about your Aura." Ren said.

"Shishishi... I guess so! Ooooh, I can't wait to actually use that technique! Do you wanna see?" Luffy exclaimed in glee. Ren quirked a brow at the technique he mentioned.

"If it involves destroying the room, don't let it loose here." Ren warned, deciding to humor him. But from the sounds of it, if Luffy needed fine point Aura manipulation to perform it, then the results must be something big.

Luffy nods at him before quickly opening the window and forming an oval gesture with his hands, pointing out the window so it would be safe. He activates the shipwright bond and starts gathering pure Aura in between his palms. Ren looks on with mild interest at his actions, until he noticed how strenuous it is to Luffy.

The small space in the middle of the oval begins to glow brighter and brighter. It then started to fade out of existence, leaving the boy panting in exhaustion.

"Are you alright Luffy?" Ren asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't have enough control. And it really hurts my head after thinking so much." Luffy assured him while complaining about a headache.

"And that was supposed to be..." Ren tried to urge Luffy into finishing the statement.

"Franky's Radical Beam. Although he shoots an awesome beam of light, I figured I could do the same with Aura." Luffy said. Aside from its destructive capacity, he wants to be able to use it just for the fact that it's a laser beam.

A loud rumbling was heard in the room, and Ren knew exactly where it came from.

"Oh man I'm hungry. All that talking and thinking took a lot out of me." Luffy said to himself as he groaned in hunger.

"I guess I can make some pancakes. Just don't use up all the syrup, Nora would kill you." Ren warned as he takes out a small griddle. With how much syrup Nora consumes, he wouldn't be surprised if her blood stream was filled with syrup.

At first, Ren thought he was going to have an unpleasant time when Luffy entered. Now he can say that he was at least bearable. Despite the happy-go-lucky exterior along with his idiocy, Luffy has shown a level of seriousness underneath that due to his past experiences. In all honesty, Ren believed that it was like trying to keep track of two Noras in the beginning.

He looks back to the conversation he had with Luffy earlier and can't help but wonder what made him hold a conversation for so long. He was never one to talk a lot, often limiting himself to short responses or comments. He could say that he liked the change in pace. Ren shelves away his inner musings in favor of the pancakes he is currently cooking. Though one quick thought made its way in.

'Wonder how the others are dealing with Nora.' Ren thought with a smirk, knowing how much of a handful she can be.

With Nora and the others...

Team RWBY and Nora decided to look for Pyrrha and Jaune before enduring Nora's inquiries. It would be better to go through them together in case they get the same question from two parties since they don't feel like repeating the answers.

They have a feeling that Luffy was with Ren, so if he had any it would be Luffy answering.

Everyone other than the sisters never felt so incredibly curious in their lives. They have no real reason to learn about a world gone by, but it was interesting enough to want to learn more about it.

The group reached the library, where they figured the two might be. Surely enough, they found Pyrrha and Jaune sitting at a table in the far corner of the facility. The area was surprisingly not packed with students having the drive to keep up with schoolwork.

"We should totally bring a board game in here." Yang whispered to Ruby who nodded and Weiss looking at her in disapproval. As they come closer to the duo, they noticed Jaune sleeping with his head in one of the books, the rest stacked next to him. Pyrrha perks up after seeing them approach them.

"Jaune is mentally exhausted after all the work. He's only napping." Pyrrha explained before they could ask. Yang had a cheeky grin at that.

"Oh really... how long was he out?" Yang asked. Blake looks to her with wide eyes as she caught on to her little game.

"Whatever you do Pyrrha, don't answer her questions. They lead to nothing but teasing." Blake warned in a panicking tone. She's gotten way too used to those certain moments where Yang tries to insinuate something... suggestive.

The red head nods in acknowledgement of the warning while Yang pouts at her partner.

'Killjoy.' Yang thought to herself. She didn't bother getting the answer and decides to wake the boy up. She walks up to his side and thought of one thing that can stir him from slumber.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol." the blonde whispered into his ear. It did the trick when Jaune bolted up wide awake.

"Oh God! Please not another one, Luffy!" he said really fast as he woke up with fear. The Armament training may as well be hell for him due to Luffy's lack of restraint. He can even hear that haunting phrase in his dreams. He looks around to see the others snickering at his reaction.

"Oh ha ha. Man, I slept for a while. Thanks Pyrrha, I needed that." Jaune said as he noticed what time it is. Yang silently thanked her fellow blonde for giving the answer to her question as she had a sly grin on her face.

'Was she staring at his sleeping form the entire time?' was what she wanted to ask, but she'll spare Pyrrha of the teasing for the moment.

"Since that's out of the way, we can continue sating everyone's curiosity. And Nora, please try to keep the questions from getting... inappropriate." Weiss told the orange haired girl in a chiding tone.

"Yeah, we didn't need the reminder that Luffy's tongue can stretch." Ruby noted. Nora laughed sheepishly at that.

"Hehehe... sorry about that. I was just thinking how cool it would be if he could wrap that around food like a lizard." Nora reasoned.

Everyone, including Yang, looked at the two in a bit of shock, clearly thinking they meant something else entirely. Now that they thought about it, Nora never finished her question earlier. Yet Ruby seemed to know what exactly she was going to ask.

"W-wait a second. The other night, you were going to ask if his tongue can stretch?" Pyrrha inquired, with Nora and Ruby nodding in unison. "Then why was it so embarrassing to you?" she asked Ruby. The girl was pressing her index fingers together, feeling flustered about why.

"B-because I overheard why some of the girls at Signal asked that in the first place. They keep talking about how he would be incredible at kissing." Ruby explained with a blush, later followed by the others when they imagined that. Yang's eye twitched at this new info, feeling anger towards the girls for trying to be intimate with Luffy so quickly.

"The tongue can lead to some naughty things other than that too. What did you guys think we were talking about?" Nora added. The group were sweating bullets at the misunderstanding.

"Come on girls, get your minds out of the gutter." Jaune commented offhandedly with a dull look. He'll admit that he thought that too, but it was more out of envy rather than dirty thoughts.

The girls paled at his comment as Ruby stared at them with half lidded eyes. She already knew that Yang explored such areas with her imagination, but to know that the others had the same thought process...

"Moving away from that... what did you want to ask?" Ruby told Nora as she tries to hold off the other topic for later.

'Don't make it seem like it's no big deal!' they thought in unison. They were half expecting a stern scolding for assuming such things so readily.

"Right, so we heard about a Second and Third Gear. Is there a Fourth?" Nora asked in childish wonder.

"Yes, he does have a Fourth Gear... but the only thing we heard about it are the drawbacks for using it. He said he wants to make it a surprise for us." Ruby replied with a sigh. It wasn't fair that they get kept in the dark about that after witnessing the sheer power behind the other two gears. The only reason he would tell them the drawbacks was so they could protect him when he is in such a vulnerable state.

"And those drawbacks would be?" Blake said.

"He becomes so exhausted that he can't move his body and he can't use Haki for some time." Yang answered in Ruby's place. This caused a bit of confusion for them after hearing that he loses the ability to use Haki.

"I'm guessing that means you can run out of Haki just like with Aura?" Weiss surmised, which was proven accurate by the sisters' nods. Taking in the new piece of info, they concluded that even with the variety of abilities that Haki has, it is not as omnipotent as they once thought.

"Oh oh, what happens when two Armaments hit each other?" Nora questioned. Seeing as she wants to learn Armament herself, she might as well have more details about it.

"Then it just comes down to who's more proficient in it. There were even times when two Conquerors clashed." Ruby responded with hidden excitement. She wants to have front row seats for such a clash, believing that it would be quite the spectacle.

The others attempted to imagine the scenario, only to follow along with the young girl's exuberance. Pyrrha, however, had a different thought.

'So even if I learned Armament, the champion would still beat me due to having superior Haki.' she thought with a downcast expression. She was hoping to gain an edge, but that edge would prove to be useless if her Haki is not on the same level.

Jaune notices the gloomy look on the red head and puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, even if he has no clue why she's sad. Pyrrha turns to him with a small smile for it.

"Come to think of it, what does it feel like to be hit by Conqueror's Haki?" Jaune asked curiously, seeing as Luffy rarely used that form of Haki. Ruby tilts her head in thought as she tries to express the experience into words. He did indeed launch a wave of that Haki at the two, but only because they wanted to see how they fared against it.

Fortunately, they can both remain conscious.

"Umm... lets say that your mind is a boat in the ocean. And then there is this huge tidal wave trying to sink you. If you have a more sturdy 'boat', then you can resist it. Though sometimes you would still get weakened by it." Ruby explained to the best of her ability. The rest stayed silent as they made note of the varying results.

It wasn't divided by two extremes, but it also included a bit of middle ground. Based on Ruby's analogy, their resistance would be measured by their own will.

"When did you start believing he was reincarnated? You must've dismissed it as unbelievable from the start, so what changed that." Pyrrha wondered, remembering how incredulous they were when they heard it. The thought made it safe to assume that his family reacted the same way at first.

"It all started back when Luffy first wanted to be a huntsman. Uncle Qrow supported his decision, but our dad wasn't so keen on the idea. So Luffy told him 'If I can land one hit on you, then I'm going to be a huntsman.', and dad took him up on his challenge. It was only until Luffy started using Second Gear and Haki when he finally got him. He was about ten at the time, so it didn't hurt that much." Yang said as recalls the memory.

"We couldn't think of any other way to explain how a little kid managed to land a blow on a full fledged huntsman other than his reincarnation." Ruby added. The answer satisfied Pyrrha as she and the others agreed with that logic.

Were it any other kid, they would lack the actual combat experience to even hit a huntsman, even if they were prodigies.

"Seeing you three look so close, I would've believed that Luffy was your brother." Jaune commented. The sisters gave a soft smile at the notion.

"It's funny that you say that. A lot of people would assume that we're related in that way, even though we're not related by blood. But who says that blood defines family." Ruby said, resulting in confusion from the others.

"You're both not related to him?" a baffled Blake said. She honestly took it to face value when they said they were cousins, considering that Luffy doesn't lie.

"No. He was adopted into the family after he lost his parents when he was a baby. We found him under the nurses' care at the time that Ruby was born. No one ever knew what happened to them, some are saying that they got killed by Grimm." Yang said solemnly. While it is sad that he lost his real parents, Luffy still managed to be under the care of a loving family.

"Do you think his parents from the life before were the same ones now?" Weiss theorized.

"I don't think so. While Luffy doesn't know anything about his mom, we do know that his dad was really powerful back then. I doubt he would die so easily." Ruby stated.

"And what was he back then?" Weiss questioned further.

"He's the leader of the Revolutionaries. They're this organization that oppose the World Government and everything that it stands for. Other than that, the Straw Hats never really got involved with them. Robin was pretty much the only member to spend some time with them along with one of Luffy's brothers, Sabo." Yang informed based on what she heard from Luffy.

Even with how long Robin was with the Revolutionaries, they still don't know much about their actual motives.

Nora had a sudden thought in her head that pertains to where Luffy is. He's with Ren, most likely hungry by now. Ren only knows how to make pancakes, and that uses syrup. With Luffy's gluttonous appetite, the syrup would be...

"Ahh! Luffy is going to take all the syrup!" Nora shouted before sprinting out of the library as she rushes to stop Luffy from devouring all of it.

"Can she not shout so loud. We're in a library." Weiss hissed. They decided to return the books to their rightful place on the shelves before vacating the area.

Ruby and Blake ended up in the same aisle as the younger girl noticed the deep thought that Blake was in.

"What's wrong Blake?" she asked in concern for her teammate.

"Nothing." the black haired girl replied.

"Come on Blake. We're a team, you can trust me." Ruby assured her, trying to get her to open up. The hidden faunus sighs in defeat as she places another book on the shelf.

"Your sister... thinks that I'm interested in Luffy." Blake said begrudgingly.

"Okay, everyone is curious about his life. It's like trying to solve a big mystery." Ruby told her, not getting what Blake meant by it.

"No, I mean she thinks I'm romantically interested." Blake corrected her leader. It dawned on Ruby at that point as she had a look of realization.

"O-oh... well as long as you two support each other and are happy together, then I'm fine with that." Ruby said as she gave the 'okay' on the matter. Blake facepalmed at her assumption.

"Listen Ruby, I don't have that kind of interest in him. Yang just doesn't believe it. I'm surprised you're not taking a role in this, though." Blake said.

"How can I get Luffy together with a girl when I never been in a relationship myself. Yang has a bit of experience and also relies on her instincts to tell if a girl seems just right for Luffy. You're lucky though, it's very rare to gain her approval." Ruby explained with a slight blush at her lack of a relationship.

She doesn't have a knack for it like Yang does, so she hardly bothers with that topic. Blake notices how very uncomfortable she just made Ruby feel and can't help but feel guilty over it.

"Sorry for bringing this up." she quickly apologized.

"D-don't worry about it. I wanted you to tell me in the first place. But I would like it if you can stop keeping him at arms reach, as well as us." Ruby suggested to Blake, which is met with silence.

Blake ponders on the suggestion, but she fears their reaction when they find out about her secret. She's sure that some of them would be open minded at her being a faunus, but she's scared of how revealing her status as a former White Fang member would go. It's times like this that she wished that she had Luffy's honesty and fearlessness.

He never tried to lie to them about his pirate life, and he never seemed scared of what they would think of him afterwards. But that was in a different world, where as the White Fang are still looked down upon as criminals right now.

She was broken out of her musings by Weiss and Yang.

"If you're done here, then lets head back to our dorm." Weiss said.

"Yeah, lets book it before Nora pummels Luffy for robbing the syrup." Yang punned, causing the three to groan at her.

End of Chapter

To put it simply, Luffy's Aura is like having multiple tanks linked together. But he thought he was seeing all the Aura he has, when in actuality it isn't. Sorry if it sounds very confusing to you.

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