Hello there, this is my first attempt at a One Piece fic. Or any fic in general. I've been reading some OP fanfictions as of late but the one that piqued my interest the most was Second Wind by The Lost Samurai. As such, this fanfic is inspired by his and by the Chapter 1000 special cover art; a time travel story involving Luffy, Zoro, and Nami.
Also, as of this moment the latest chapter for the One Piece manga is at 1011 so there may be story elements and plot points that is referenced here that may become obsolete as the One Piece manga goes on so this is technically an AU.
I'd like to thank you all in advance for even clicking on this fic. Your comments, suggestions, and reactions are really appreciated.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, although I wish I have Oda's world building and general writing skills.
Chapter I: The Captain and the Navigator
Luffy's eyes jolt open from the sensation of being dropped. He looks around with half opened eyes only to see darkness. For some reason, he feels very light headed and a bit tired. Combined with the fact that he's inside a very tight space just added to his discomfort. After wiping his face with his free hand to try and remove the feeling of grogginess, he strains his ears to hear whatever he can.
"This barrel's pretty big and heavy. Maybe this is some pretty good booze they got inside"
"B-But, if Alvida-sama finds out-"
"Then you better keep your trap shut and no one needs to be hurt. Right, Koby?"
Dark area, cramped space, Alvida, Koby? That could only mean one thing.
He's back.
Though he wishes that he was sent back to a more comfortable situation, Luffy is just happy that he was returned to the start of their journey. But if he's here, then could they...
Reaching out with his color of observation, Luffy reached out to anything that might feel familiar. If he remembers it correctly, then he's sure that he wasn't alone right now. Seconds later, he detects a familiar aura running around the ship. Content with what he knows right now, he twists the stiffness out of his neck before jumping out of the barrel.
Like an egg hatching, the top of the barrel bursts open, accidentally hitting one of Alvida's men that knocks him down. The other two men were surprised enough to make them jump away. Koby's eyes just widens at the sight in front of him. A strange straw-hatted man bursts out of the barrel as if stretching his limbs after waking up from his sleep.
"Ahhh, I'm finally out!" Luffy rubs his eyes open to adjust to the brightness.
He then looks around while dusting his shoulder. His eyes focus on Koby for a while before looking at the two men standing behind him.
"Oh. Who are you?"
"That's what we should be asking you!" The two men shouted at him.
"Oh, did I knock him out? Sorry about that"
The two men quickly pull out their swords and points it at Luffy after they regain their composure. Koby expected the strange man to be tense from being threatened but when he looked closer, the man seems carefree and relaxed more than anything.
"We have to tell the captain that there was a stowaway. Maybe Koby is working with this brat. He doesn't look like a pirate. Maybe he's a bounty hunter." One of the men said
Shaking his head while putting his hands in front of him, Koby tries to convince them that he doesn't know who the man with the straw hat is. Luffy just positions himself in between the two and Koby.
"You shouldn't just point your swords at strangers. I guess you want to fight now huh?"
Faster than the three can perceive, Luffy's fists smashes the two pirates' faces. The punch knocks the two men to the ground out cold. Koby was stunned at the casual display of strength by the straw hatted man. The stranger waving in front of his face knocks him out of his stupor.
"Hey, do you know where I can get some food?" The stranger asked with a goofy smile.
Koby was sweating at this point. This man was strong enough to beat up three of Alvida's men. Who knows what would happen if he did not agree to the man's request. He swallows the lump in his throat to try and gather his wits before walking on shaky legs, leading him to where he remembers the food storage area is.
Moments later, the two arrive at their destination. Luffy immediately ran inside to gobble up the food. Meanwhile, Koby looked behind them before carefully closing the door and locking it. Once inside, he looks at Luffy for a while, taking in the strange man's appearance. From what he can see, this man seemed unassuming. Aside from the scar below his eye and his straw hat, nothing particularly stood out. He doesn't seem strong nor intimidating but what he did earlier was unquestionable; this man can be dangerous if he wanted to.
"I heard your name is Koby. One of the guys mentioned it"
Koby's posture becomes rigid. He clears his throat before continuing to speak.
"Y-Yeah. That's my name"
"My name is Luffy. Thanks for feeding me."
Luffy's boisterous laugh calmed Koby down a bit. Despite his previous reservations, seeing him stuff food in his mouth quickly eased his fears a little. He occasionally peeks through the window to see if there's anyone approaching them.
"What are you doing here. You don't look like a pirate like those three. You kinda look weak to be honest"
Koby shyly puts one hand behind his head. "W-Well, that's a funny story. I sorta accidentally boarded a boat that was headed to a pirate ship. I-I've been here ever since..."
Luffy paused his eating to look at the boy behind him. Luffy forgot how vastly different young Koby was to what he was used to seeing. The boy even at this point has a large potential. His aura is pretty impressive for east blue standards, despite being hidden underneath that shy and unconfident frame. Still, Luffy decided, that he should be careful in inspiring this boy. Changing what he says here might change the boy's desire which might affect the future.
"Why don't you just escape then? What's stopping you if you don't want to be here?"
"I can't! If Alvida-sama finds out, she'll kill me! She'll definitely kill me." Koby continues shaking his head.
With a sigh, Luffy leans back on one of the barrels. "But don't you have something you want to do? No one who sails doesn't have a dream."
Koby remained silent, looking down on the floor for a while. Not expecting an immediate answer, Luffy continues eating.
"I've always wanted to be a marine." Koby slowly sat down to lean on the door.
"I've always dreamed of catching bad guys and helping people. To see people's smiling faces and preserving them, that's what I wanted"
Koby shouted with an unexpected bout of courage, surprising even Luffy. But just as it quickly appeared, his bravery was gone in an instant. "But after seeing what Alvida-sama and the other pirates can do, I've realized that I don't have what it takes to catch criminals..."
"You really are a wimp, you know" Luffy said with a resigned sigh, which only made Koby chuckle.
"I guess I am. But what about you Luffy-san, what do you want to do?"
"I want to become the Pirate King"
The simple words shocked Koby. No, more than anything, what shocked him was the manner in which Luffy said it; casual but with conviction. As if what he wants was a simple boat ride away. East blue was a very tough sea to traverse, filled with other pirates and marines standing in your way. But the grand line is even more so. It is said that even entering the grand line is deadly in of itself. And becoming the pirate king is to conquer the grand line.
"T-The Pirate King? You mean the person with the most wealth, fame, and power?" this question only earned a simple nod from Luffy.
That made Koby stand up and shout at him. "That's impossible! No pirate since Gold Roger was able to do it! That's an impossible dream Luffy-san, you can't just-"
Before Koby can even continue, Luffy threw an apple at him, hitting him in the gut. This made Koby cough up and lose some air. He spends a few seconds trying to gather himself before looking back at Luffy.
"W-Why did you do that!?"
"Never tell a man that his dream is impossible" Koby was surprised with Luffy's tone. The casual and friendly atmosphere was replaced with a more serious one. While Luffy's glare was not malicious, it was still enough to render Koby silent. He waited for Luffy to calm down before sitting back to his position earlier.
"I made a promise that I will become a great pirate" Luffy removes his hat to stare at it for a while. Memories of better times flooding his head. Memories of his successes and his failures. And memories of a time that has yet to pass. "I want to become the pirate king, so I'll strive to become the pirate king. It's never a question of whether I can or can't." Though that is still true for Luffy, his goals are more than that now.
'I can never be the pirate king without you!'
He remembered telling Sanji that during the fiasco with Germa, and it's still true to this day. More than his dream to become the pirate king, he wants to share his dream to his friends, and help accomplish his friends' dream as well. The freedom of becoming the pirate king means nothing when you have no one to share this freedom with.
His thoughts were interrupted when Koby asks him another question.
"Do you think I can do it Luffy-san? Do you think I can be a marine?"
"You don't need to ask me if it's your dream to become one." Luffy puts his hat back on top of his head.
"No, I'll do it! I'll become a marine. No, even better. A marine officer! And I'll join the marines by capturing Alvida!"
"Oh really? Then why don't you prove it then" Koby raises his eyebrow at Luffy, but Luffy just smiled at him. Suddenly, the roof crashes down and in front of them stands Alvida. Koby immediately looks back at Luffy, wondering whether he's actually working with her to eliminate all possible mutineers.
"I was wondering why the upper deck wasn't clean. Turns out my cabin boy was planning on turning me to the marines"
Alvida glared at Koby before turning her attention to the straw hat brat in front of her. "Who the hell are you? Are you a bounty hunter?"
Luffy ignores Alvida. "Oh Koby, is this the captain that you're afraid of? She looks like a whale"
That sentence stunned everybody. While he's happy to know that Luffy is not working with Alvida, Koby is wondering whether Luffy is just a reckless idiot. Meanwhile, Alvida is livid at the brat in front of him. Through clenched teeth, she glares back at Koby.
"Koby. I'll forgive you this one time since you're my favorite cabin boy. Who's the most beautiful woman in the seas?"
"A-Alvida-sama is..." Koby's talk with Luffy from earlier keeps on flashing in his head.
"It's never a question of whether you can or can't"...
"Never tell a man that his dream is impossible"...
"Then why don't you prove it then?"...
'This is it, isn't it Luffy-san? A marine should never be afraid in the face of evil'
Alvida is growing impatient at this point. She brandishes her club right on top of the two. "Again, I'm going to ask you again. Who's the most beautiful woman in the seas?"
"Alvida is..."
"Good ans-"
"Nothing more than a huge fat whale!" Koby shouts from the top of his lungs. This made Luffy chuckle and made Alvida lose her cool.
"That's it you damn brats, I'll kill you both!"
Expecting a huge club to crush them, he was surprised to see that an elongated arm wrapping around his waist. He looks at the source of this limb only to find Luffy grinning at him.
"You better hold on Koby, this is going to be fast"
Fast is an understatement. From Koby's perspective, the world became a huge blur. The next thing he knew is he's already at the uppermost deck. Not used to such speedy travels, Koby falls down to his knees on the floor and dry heaves. A few seconds later with the sudden bout of nausea gone, he looks at Luffy looking at him with that goofy smile.
"L-Luffy-san...how..."
"I'm a rubber man. I ate a devil fruit." to prove his point, Luffy pulls his cheeks far more than humanly possible. Koby's eyes widen upon hearing that. He thought that devil fruits were nothing but myths and tall tales from sailors. To see that it's actually true and to have someone who at it in front him is just the final hit to break his view of the world.
Luffy tries to reach out with his color of observation again to see whether Alvida is following them, though his attention was grabbed by the familiar aura suddenly flaring brightly as if responding to a beacon at sea.
'This aura...that means...'
Luffy's gentle laugh shocks Koby with how out of place it was.
"Umm, Luffy-san? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. I just remembered something"
Koby was about to ask more when Alvida lands in front of them again. He instinctually hides behind Luffy who is now looking at Alvida.
"So, you've eaten a devil fruit huh? I guess I can send you down to the sea to sink" Alvida swings her club down at Luffy. Koby shouts at him to watch out and covers his eyes in fear. He's seen this enough times to know what happens to people hit by Iron Mace Alvida's club. He hears that the club hit, but Koby noticed the certain lack of pained screaming. Slowly removing his hands from his eyes, he sees that Luffy is unscathed.
"L-Luffy-san..."
"I'm rubber. Blunt objects don't affect me"
Alvida steps back, shocked that her powerful attack didn't do anything to the boy. This is the first time in a long while that she's feeling fear again. "Just...who the hell are you?!"
"I'm Luffy, and I'm a pirate. And I'm going to send you flying"
The next thing Alvida felt was a fist connecting to her gut, sending her flying off of the ship. The men who were eager to attack Luffy lost all the drive to do so after seeing their captain being defeated so easily. Koby is just stunned at this point at how quickly the menace of his life for the past two years have been dealt with. 'Maybe someday, I might be able to do it...'
Suddenly, the ship was rocked by massive waves. Looking far out into the sea, Koby can see a few naval ships. It seems as though the marines have started opening fire on the Alvida's ship. He quickly turns to his side once he felt Luffy tapping his shoulder.
"I know you wanted to be a marine, but this is a bad place to ask them to let you join."
Koby simply nods. "Yeah, but how do we get out? It seems that some of the pirates are taking the lifeboats away"
"Don't worry, I got that covered"
Koby had no time to question Luffy before an arm starts wrapping around his waist. He braces for another nauseating experience by closing his eyes. Luffy then launches himself off of the upper deck, jumping high in the air with Koby. With a quick flash of his color of observation, he scans the area looking for a familiar presence. If he remembers it correctly, then she should be...
'There!'
With a destination in mind, Luffy adjusts himself to slow down to the point where Koby can actually perceive where they're going. Looking down, he sees a boat close by with what seem to be a girl with orange hair standing on it with a completely filled sack just sitting there beside her. Once they start accelerating down to the ground, Koby starts panicking.
"Luffy-san, we're pretty high!"
"Don't worry, we're not landing on the boat"
Fully aware on what Luffy is about to do, he prepares himself for the impact with the sea below. Falling from this height would still be a bit painful. The pair lands on the waters close enough to the boat. Upon landing, Koby did not waste any time trying to swim up to the surface. He looks around just in case to see where Luffy is at, only to see the state of the rubber man in question. His mouth is open, eyes dead as a corpse; Luffy cannot swim.
Koby quickly dives down to grab Luffy's hand before swimming back up to the surface. He sees that the lady in the boat is waving at him, telling him to swim to her. As they got close enough, the woman immediately grabs Luffy's arm to pull him to safety. After spending quite some time to get on board, Luffy plops down onto the boat, breathing heavily.
"Luffy you idiot. You know you can't swim with your devil fruit!" The woman shouted
"shorry, I dun wabba damhage yer boat"
"We need to get out of here before the marines see us. Help me unfurl these sails!"
The unknown woman immediately ordered him around. Luffy seems to know who she is so he can at least trust her. He snuck a few glances her way and he notices the worried look she's giving the rubber man. The three (well, two) of them spent almost half an hour trying to avoid being spotted by the marine ships and the other fleeing pirate boats. Once they made sure that they're out of sight, the woman relaxes.
"Phew. That was a close one" the woman wipes the sweat off of her forehead before turning her attention back to Luffy.
"Are you alright now, Luffy?"
"Yeah I'm good now Nami" Luffy sits up once his energy returns to him.
Koby curiously gazes at the pair. "Luffy-san, you said you're a pirate earlier. Is she one of your crewmates?"
"Shishishi. Yeah, she's my Navigator"
"Navigator, Caretaker. Add in babysitter too. The name's Nami by the way." Nami said exasperatedly, though you can also see the bright smile on her face.
"Wait, so where's your crew Luffy-san? You're really strong for someone that a lot of people haven't heard of" Koby added.
"We just started today."
As Luffy said that, he and Nami glanced at each other, sending the two into fits of giggles and then soon laughter. Koby continued looking at them with his eyebrows raised, wondering if there's a joke there that he was meant to laugh at. Unknown to him however, only one similar though is racing in their minds right now that made them giddy with excitement.
'We're back!'
That's it for the first chapter. I hope that it's an interesting enough read for you guys. Thanks again for reading until the end and hopefully this is a start for a decent adventure story. Hope to see you all soon.