"Dragon-san. Dragon-san." Snapping her fingers in front of Dragon's face, all Koala could do was sigh. She should have known that he'd be like this, after all, this was one of the first times they were sailing. And honestly, it had taken her more than an hour to get up the courage to try to snap him out of his blank… whateverness. "Are you alright, Dragon-san?" She asked in concern.

Beside her, Iva-chan sighed. "Iz no use." Iva-chan informed her. "Dragon-chan is thinking of his cute, rosy, fat cheeked little baby boy… who he neglected!" The last words were a yelled exclamation of obviously repeated irritation, declared with a slight pout. "And I wanted to dress the little boy in cute little dresses…"

Koala smiled nervously, "Ah…" Was all she could say in response, instantly feeling tongue tied, and suddenly feeling understanding as to why Dragon-san had 'neglected' his son.

Being abandoned by your father was much better than being left at the hands of Iva-chan as an infant… Koala shivered at the thought. Many men still were traumatized by Iva-chan's attempts at turning them over to being okama… a nightmare that had caused many to consider quitting the revolutionary army.

Although, of course, Iva-chan meant well… Koala suspected that Dragon-san preferred a normal son to an okama son, though okamas were wonderful people as well.

"Koala-chan?" She quickly whipped around, and bowed apologetically when she ended up knocking heads with Toru, the man on the crew who was closest in age to her at 22 (which wasn't saying much, since she was still 12). Toru laughed, before a quick apology escaped his lips as well. "No worries, it was my fault for sneaking up on you." He snickered slightly at the bright red invading her face before smiling lightly and pointing at the water.

No… wait… Koala's heart pounded in excitement, and she barely had time to wonder, is that… maybe? …it's…! and she practically flew over to the crow's nest, her feet barely touching the wood before she scrambled awkwardly up the nets to reach the very top.

"Amano-san!" She exclaimed a good couple of seconds before her head popped up as well, before her body followed, her arms clumsily helping her inch forwards. "Is that them?"

Amano chuckled slightly, her lips falling into an easygoing smirk before she teasingly asked, "What do you think, dear Koala?"

Thrumming with excitement, Koala raced onto the wooden railing holding up their sails before leaping onto the sails and smoothly sliding down, landing perfectly before unceremoniously landing on her butt. "Ow…" She muttered, rubbing her backside with slight whimpers.

"Goes to show you should wait until you're as awesome as me to do that next time." Toru snickered slightly before helping her up, his lips turned up in amusement. "I remember how long it took to coach you to get the guts to do that… you were all 'but what if I inconvenience everyone?'. It was hilarious."

Koala processed her words, and grumbled in reply after a moment of thought (because she was being trained in being snarky… apparently she acted more like a 90 year old than a 12 year old, something she thought strange because why would they want her to talk back?), "Oh, shut up." She paused, and thought it over, then smiled sweetly. "Oh, do you want to be inconvenienced? We have a masochist here in our midst!"

"Oh hush, you little brat." Toru swatted at her head lightly, which she easily dodged, and they laughed.

"Well, we're here." Eyes bright, Koala eyed the massive ship before them hungrily, wondering what brilliant curiosities it would have in store for her to discover. "May we board ship, now?"

Toru ruffled her hair. "Eager, eh?" He asked, a warm smile softening his features. "Well, I don't blame you. The Moby Dick's quite a thing to be on… or so I've heard from the few men who've been on there. All old guys, veterans." Toru winked at Koala. "I think we'd be the first on the Moby Dick from the Revolutionary Army who don't have a head full of white hair."

Koala smiled back in anticipation. "We're here for someone's birthday, right? Is it someone important?"

"Hm…" Toru looked curious as well. "I'm not sure. But old man Whitebeard sent Dragon-sama a personal invitation… said something about Dragon's son. Our boss was quite eager, I'm sure, even if he doesn't seem to be." Toru smirked as a new thought approached him. "I bet he's freaking out over how to seem cool."

Koala giggled at the thought, before a bright voice cried out, "ALL ABOARD! Hey, jiji, did I say that right?"

There was a deep chuckle, before an equally deep voice replied, "Sure did, brat."

Koala didn't bother to wait for the others. As soon as Dragon walked onto the other ship on a rope ladder, she leaped up as high as she could go, and, as she caught sight of a gaping little boy with a straw hat perched atop his head, she decided to show off a little as she flipped and landed perfectly on her feet.

On their own ship, the Freedom Chaser, Toru scowled and stuck out his tongue when he noticed her looking. "Show off." He grumbled, before he ran forwards, and following Koala's lead, leaped up high. Just to spite her, he twisted slightly, did a backflip midair, and then landed on his hands before springing onto his feet.

Dragon-san and an old giant who Koala assumed was Whitebeard both shared a knowing, exasperated look before chuckling, and Whitebeard murmured, "Children." As though that explained everything. Dragon looked like he understood, though, and said, "It's not my son's birthday."

"No." Whitebeard agreed. "It's my sons." Dragon's eyes darkened slightly at those words, but he dipped his head into a regretful nod.

"That… was… SO COOL!" The small boy with the straw hat dashed up to them, eyes bright in excitement as he cried out, "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Toru smiled slightly, before replying, "It's a little dangerous, little boy. Maybe when you're older."

"Awn." He pouted slightly. "No fair." He paused, before puppy dog eyes replaced his wide expanses of brown, and he pleaded, "Just a little trick?"

Koala turned bright red. "Well, oh, well… sure, why not…?"

"She's not teaching anybody anything." A sharp, cold voice cut smoothly into their conversation as a dark haired boy with freckles picked the straw hatted boy up by the back of his shirt. "Did you forget about not being able to swim, Luffy?"

"Aw, but Ace!" Luffy whined. "It's just a little trick!"

Ace's withering glare seemed to put a sudden halt to their plans of having any lessons that… totally… didn't… appear in her head at all… Koala gulped as he shot her a no nonsense look. Yep… he's SCARY! Then, just as sudden as his appearance, his anger seemed to melt away, and he sighed, running a hand through short black locks. "Sorry." He mumbled, bowing slightly and forcing Luffy to do so as well. "He's a handful… Lu, apologize for bothering this nice girl!"

Luffy pouted. "Do I haveta?" He asked with a slight groan.

Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Fine!" Still pouting, Luffy turned to them. "Sorry." He mumbled, before bowing and giving them a truly apologetic look for about two milliseconds, something so quick that Koala had almost missed it before a bright and impossibly wide grin covered half his face. "Ne, ne, that was really cool! How did you do that?"

"Lots of practice." Koala replied with a sheepish smile. "I still have to work on it… just got lucky this time. If I was unlucky I would've landed on my butt."

Luffy giggled as well, before pulling on her arm. "Do you want to meet my other big brother?" He chirped cheerily. "Uh…" He paused and stared at her in surprise. "What's your name?"

Toru face palmed. "Now he remembers…" He muttered, but he sounded slightly amused.

Ace sighed. "Typical." The freckled boy muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Just typical."

Koala giggled. "My name's Koala, and this is Toru." She paused. "I don't have a last name, and I don't know Toru-chan's."

"You'll pay for that." Toru muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sure you will." Koala replied sarcastically. "You sound quite pleased that I'm confident enough to snipe at you now." Toru scowled at her, realizing that it was true, however regretful.

"Oh!" The boy almost tripped over himself, before declaring, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And this is my brother…"

"Gol D. Ace." Ace interrupted, his dark eyes seeming to accuse them of something that they had yet to think, as though threatening them to not even let the thought cross their minds. "And yes, as in Gol D. Roger's blood related son." It was almost like a grudged challenge.

Koala felt a little uneasy, but smiled brightly. "Cool." She replied. "Though I don't think it matters." Peering slightly at Luffy, she couldn't help the sheepish smile that found it's way to her features. So that's Dragon-sama's son… I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know he had a dad.

Ace's features relaxed, and he seemed to instantly brighten. "Want to meet Sabo?" He asked, pointing at a blob of blue off in the distance. "It's his birthday that we're celebrating today."

Koala brightened as well. "For sure!" She exclaimed. "Let's go!" She turned, and smirked, "Well, come on!"

Luffy smiled even more widely, if possibly. "Race you there!" He cried childishly before sprinting towards his brother. For a moment Koala gaped at him and the dust that he had kicked up, before scowling.

"Oh no you didn't!" She exclaimed before speeding off after him.

Left behind in the dust, Ace and Toru sweatdropped. "So, Ace." Toru coughed uncomfortably. "Should we go after them?"

Ace squinted slightly at them, before sighing. "All we'd do is get tired." He replied. "May as well take our time."

Toru smiled slightly. "I like the way you think." He commented.

Ace grinned in reply, and gave an exaggerated bow. "I try." He replied, looking relieved that Toru wasn't commenting on his introduction or blood relation. "So, you're part of the revolutionary army? What do you do?"

Toru could feel a full blown smile bursting on his face, threatening to break his face. "Well, our main goal is freedom, so basically…"

0o0o0o0o0

As Sabo perched on the ship's railing, he smiled at Koala, relieved to find a kindred soul in the madnesss that had become his everyday life. "So, Iva-chan's trying to convert you to dresses, eh?"

Koala sighed. "It would be okay if it was just dresses." She stressed. "But they're these HUGE, bright pink dresses that hurt my eyes! I mean, I love Iva-chan and all but…" She shuddered. "I'm still recovering from the trauma of just seeing those huge hunks of mutated cloth."

Sabo snickered. "Must be hard to fight in those."

Koala glared at him. "Nice to know someone finds this amusing." She said darkly, before sighing, "And you don't even know half of it!" As she spoke, an odd expression suddenly crossed her face, something that made Sabo feel like Koala was sad for some reason.

"Oh?" Sabo raised an eyebrow, and laughed slightly in an attempt to make her feel better. "Well, I don't plan on being told the other half! I'm already convinced! Where's Iva-chan? I need to get you into that dress!" He snickered before racing off as she spluttered before giving chase, laughing slightly as well, the odd look gone.

Luffy, too, was racing with them, though he didn't seem to have a reason. Ace had comfortably settled with Dragon-sama, Whitebeard-san and a blond who had called himself Marco, chatting about something with a slight frown on his features.

As she ran, she watched as his features darkened slightly, holding tightly reined fury, before it dissolved at Whitebeard's slightly frown, and he nodded as Whitebeard said something in a gently reprimand. Ace's reply seemed cold and bitter, but after Dragon-sama said something, he seemed to relax before muttering something that caused them all to laugh.

"PRESENT TIME!" A loud voice declared, and Koala paused to stare at the orange haired man who called himself Thatch, but acted completely like a child. Honestly, he and Luffy were peas in a pod.

"Present time!" A red blur, shortly followed by a blue flash nearly knocked her over. Giggling slightly at the madness that seemed almost impossibly to contain on this ship, Koala followed the two at a much slower pace, and when she got there, Sabo was already tearing open his first present.

The blond paused when he noted the 'fragile' sign, and cautiously lifted the thing inside, staring in amazement at the snow globe… no… the log pose inside.

It was a small, precious thing that was on a dark blue band, the color something that couldn't quite be described as navy because of the freedom it held, as though constantly shifting it's shade. The log pose was barely visible due to the falling slips of white swirling inside. The log pose was positioned on a miniature replica of an almost perfectly carved Moby Dick, and she could catch sight of the three brothers as well as Whitebeard and some others.

It was breath taking with it's intricate little patterns, and the figures inside that were so well done Koala imagined they might start moving any second.

"It's beautiful…" Sabo gasped, just as enchanted as she was as he ran a cautious finger over the glass, and exclaiming, "Are you sure I can have this?"

"No." A man with multiple braids and golden hoop earrings replied sarcastically, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Of course, you little dolt! Who else's birthday is it?"

Sabo smiled sheepishly, before sighing. "I think that I'm in heaven." He sighed happily as he stared at it.

"Aw, don't tell me that you're going to leave our presents in those stuffy boxes forever!" Thatch whined.

Sabo's features melted into a bright smile. "No, of course not!" He replied, grinning, and turned back to open the presents. His present from the revolutionaries was a book on navigation. From Izo and Haruta, some clothing. Unknown to Sabo, Haruta had spent hours convincing Izo to get the blond male clothing.

As Thatch and the rest of his division brought out the cake and banquet, and as laughter filled the air, Sabo couldn't help the smile that split his face as well.

"A smile looks nice on you." Sabo turned to blink curiously at Koala. Koala turned to him and smiled sheepishly, "You may not remember me, but after you were injured and Dragon-sama saved you from being killed by that noble, I helped to wrap up your bandages and tend your wounds."

"Oh…" Sabo blinked in surprise, turning slightly pink. "Thanks." He bowed in thanks.

Koala giggled. "No need to thank me!" She responded brightly. "I'm just glad you're okay. Those nobles…" Koala scowled, her face darkening as all signs of light heartedness disappeared, "They think they can do whatever they want because of how they were born. I can't forgive that. Being a little selfish, I can understand. But thinking that you can own humans… that lives are yours to control…" The wood she was gripping snapped in two, and her eyes widened as she realized what she had done. "A-ah, sorry." She mumbled, quickly stooping down to pick up the pieces.

Sabo knelt down next to her. "So you hate nobles?" He asked, feeling something lodge itself into his throat.

"Yeah." Koala nodded, her eyes still dark, but her lips beginning to curve into a smile as her features began to lighten again. "I can't forgive them for what they've done to people… to society. That's why I'm doing my best to do what I can to help Dragon-sama..."

Sabo swallowed. "Every single noble? All nobles?" He asked as he brushed some splinters into the sea.

Koala stared at him in confusion. "Why are you pressing the subject so much?" She asked. "Don't you feel the same way? Don't you hate nobles too?"

"Just for being born that way?" Sabo persisted. "What if—what if someone was born a noble and then was raised somewhere else? Let's say they were taken and raised with normal people, never thinking or knowing they were a noble. Or they didn't like how the other nobles were. Would you still hate them?"

Koala frowned. "Why are you asking so much about this?" She demanded, her voice icy cold.

Sabo's eyes flickered down. "…Because I'm a noble." He replied.

A/N: SO! Forever Alive actually wasn't complete. Like I said earlier, I wanted to tie together some loose ends. This is one of them. I gave you almost 1000 more words than usual as an apology. Um… so… yeah? I hope you liked this.