(X)(X)

Chapter Two

"Whooaaaa! That tiger is so huge!" Luffy screamed as she went around their dinner, pocking it with her pipe.

"Hehehehehe!" Sabo sniggered, sitting victoriously on top of his catch. "It's a true king of the mountain! But really, I read that they grow even bigger on the grand line! And there are even bigger animals! Even people are bigger!"

"WHAAATTT? REALLY?"

Sabo laughed again at the silly picture that Luffy and Ace presented, both with their jaws hanging loose like idiots.

"Really, there are giants on the Grand Line you know? They're bigger than a ship!"

"Impossible!"

"No, it isn't. And there are other species of people to."

"Species of people? Isn't a person a person?" Luffy was clearly confused, her fingers digging into her hair and scratching at the back of her ear.

"Well, we are humans, and humans are people." Sabo explained patiently, grabbing a stick and drawing a stick figure on the ground. "Some of the nobles think that we are the only people that are people, but I think that even if you don't look or think like we do, you're still people too."

"Oooohh that makes sense Sabo!" Luffy agreed with a fist bump.

"Sounds right to me!" Ace nodded. "So, what other people are there?"

"Well, there are giants. They look like humans but are suuuuper big. Taller than mountains sometimes"

Luffy and Ace let out an accompanying "Wowaaa!" as Sabo drew a gigantic stick figure next to his human one.

"Then there are the fishmen, who look sort of like half-human, half-fish, and can walk on land or breath under water. They usually have the same size as humans but are stronger than us." Slightly bigger than human stick figure appeared, with a fin like thing instead of arms.

"Then there are the Mermen, they're sort of like fishmen, but they don't have legs, only fish tails." A fish tailed stick figure joined the others.

"There are the Longlegs and the Longarms! And the Three-Eye tribe. Witch, look just like their names actually." Two more drawings with exaggerated long limbs, and another with three eyes joined the pack.

"What more? There are dwarves, which just look really, really tiny, and have a tail. Ah! Then you have the Minks. They look like any mammals, but they speak and think just like us!" A bear like figure appeared after the tiny one.

"So awesome!" Ace cried.

"And there are more actually."

"Amazing!" a wide eyed Luffy said, peering at the drawings. "But hey, Sabo… What are mammals?"

"Yeah… I didn't get that one either" Ace nodded, joining Luffy in looking at their sibling with a questioning look.

Their blond-haired brother sighed, before launching into a new explanation.

(X)(X)

"Hey, you two, it isn't time to rest yet" Zoro ordered his two students.

Tired, but too scared to disobey, Johnny and Yosaku rushed to follow the instructions.

Seeing the other sword wielders comply, Zoro went back to lifting his ginormous weights.

Strategically placed in order to catch the breeze made from Zoro's movements Luffy sighed in contentment.

Life was good.

Well, if you discounted the whole Baronk Corcks, but since there were none of those guys around, that was a worry for another day.

Usopp was tinkering with his bullets, Sanji was preparing delicious food, Nami was looking over at maps with Vivi, and Zoro, Johnny and Yosaku were training on the deck.

And Luffy herself was napping while enjoying her personal breeze making, and the view.

So maybe she was spending more time appreciating Zoro's form trough her half-closed eyes, than she was spending napping.

No one would blame her. Zoro looked really nice.

A few minutes later, Johnny and Yosaku were once more spread out on the deck, sweating buckets and breathing harshly.

"Zoro aniki, we can't go anymore" Yosaku pleaded.

Looking over the two Zoro frowned, but relented "Tsk. Fine. Go get a drink or something."

They didn't need to be told twice. With a sudden burst of energy, the exhausted sword wielders disappeared inside the kitchen.

"Oi, what about you Luffy? You should train too" The words came with a poke from her first mate's foot, forcing Luffy to open her eyes.

She was greeted with a view of Zoro drying his face and neck with a towel.

"Hummm. You know I'm made of rubber, right? My muscles don't work like they would for a normal human"

Taking a sip of water, Zoro looked over her form, considering. "I guess that makes sense. We should spar then. Would be good for you to train against the weapon that gives you the most damage."

Luffy agreed, but she could see that Zoro seemed to also be approaching his limits.

"Sounds good. But later. Now rest."

Stretching her hand, she caught his bicep and pulled him over to lay beside her under the shade of the orange trees.

"Alright, alright. Geez. You're very bossy today. "Complying with her movements, he laid beside her, putting his hands behind his back.

"You're too restless, makes you train too much. Not good for you. But don't worry, there will be enough bad guys to beat up in Arabasta." Zoro looked down at her fondly, as she tried to get comfortable by laying her head on his tight. "And you're a good pillow. I like it like this."

Zoro laughed at her words, resting against the tree.

"Me too." He replied softly after her breading had evened out.

(X)(X)

"Whoooohooooo"

The dinosaurs with the long necks were so much fun! And they liked to play with her too.

But meeting a Giant was even more fun!

"Shishishishi! Old man your so much fun! Your duel with Brogy was so amazing!"

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA!"

They partied together, and ate their meat over the fire, and Luffy could almost imagine Ace and Sabo were seating beside her.

But they weren't. It was just Vivi and Carue, and that was fine too.

"But I still don't get it you know, old man. Why do you still continue your duels? Aren't your 73… thousand something ties prof that Elbaf considers you equals? You're friends, does one of you need to be better than the other at this?"

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA! It's our old traditional rules of Elbaf! We must reach a conclusion to our disagreement through our duels!"

Luffy turned her head, looking over at Vivi. "Hey, Vivi, do you think this is one of those men things that girls just don't understand?"

Vivi grinned. "Maybe. I also don't really get their thought process."

"Hey, old man. I get that in a crew a captain has more power than the other nakama, and should be more powerful in a way. But weren't you captains together?"

"Uh?" Dory blinked at them, while picking up the barrels of sake that Brogy had passed over. "Well, yes, we were co-captains."

"Well then I do think this is a message from Elbaf. He his telling you that you are both equals and should just forget your argument. It doesn't matter anymore, you should just sail together again!"

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA! You're such a funny girl! That's not how Elbaf is supposed to work!"

Dory opened up the barrel and poured the contents into his mouth.

Luffy pouted. Why were men such idiots.

She was opening up her mouth to try to give him more arguments, when a sudden explosion came from his mouth

"Dory!"

"Old Man!"

(X)(X)

Luffy was furious. The old man had gone to fight, leaving her trapped under this weird rock like thing to get blown up by the disgusting nose boogie guy.

But her arms were free, so with Carue's help she would dig herself out, and then she would get Usopp and Johnny out, and they would go and get the others.

And she would destroy those bastards that had hurt Dory and his friend.

(X)(X)

Finding the others wasn't hard.

Getting Zoro, Nami, Vivi and Yosaku out of the white weird stuff was though.

"Luffy, get rid of this tower!"

Luffy was definitely going to get rid of that thing. But maybe hitting the tower was not the best option. If the problem was the very top thingy with the candles, she would take care of that thing first.

Coiling herself around Brogy's helmet horn, she let go and aimed the wax mallet the candle guy had generously provided for her legs towards the weird spinning thingy, making it blow up and shatter.

"Ohoh, my legs are free too! Lucky!"

Nami and Vivi cried in happiness. "Thank god, Luffy!"

Happy that her nakama were happy, Luffy turned to them with a smile and waved, before noticing blood coming down of the weird white structure.

"Hey, are you hurt?" She asked in worry.

"Oh, that is Zoro." Nami explained, sending a worried glace at the swordsman. "He tried to cut his legs off so he could continue to fight."

"WHAATTT!" Luffy cried out in despair as the man winced at her expression. For her first mate to try to do that… He must have thought he would die either way.

She was going to turn to him when she saw movement from the corner of her eye.

Quickly dodging the candle man, she quickly sent him flying away when he tried to use his wax to imprison her again.

And then she was suddenly assaulted by a weird feeling.

She was so tired. She didn't want to move. She wanted to curl up and cry, so she started to do that.

"Depression black." A young voice said from behind her.

"Hey Luffy!" She could hear her nakama, but it was so distant.

Why was she on the ground? Oh, yeah. She felt sad. She wanted to curl up and cry, and pretend that tomorrow everything would be better.

"What did you do!" Zoro and Usopp said at the same time.

"Depression black. Makes the victim feel depressive thoughts, making them stop their movements. If I keep her like this for a long time, she won't even want to eat or drink, eventually dying. She might even feel sad enough to end her own existence. It depends on the person, and how long she stays like this."

"Luffy! Get up!" Nami cried.

She wanted to. But she was so tired.

When had been the last time she had felt this tired?

Oh. It had been when Sabo died. She had curled up with Ace and they had cried together for more than a day.

Eventually they had to move because the monkeys tried to steal their stuff, and they had gotten up to beat them all into a bloody pulp.

That had kind of made them feel better.

Makino had said that that wasn't a healthy way to cope, but that day it had felt good to beat up the monkeys, since they couldn't beat up the world noble that had killed Sabo.

Maybe it would work here too.

She could beat up these mean people and the sad feelings would go away?

No Makino had said it wasn't good for her…

So, what to do?

"Luffy! Take of your vest, ok? You'll feel better, alright?"

Who had said that? Maybe Vivi. Vivi was smart, almost as smart as Makino. Maybe it was a good idea to do that.

Yeah, she would do that, and if it didn't work, she would beat up the Kilo lady and the boogies man.

As soon as her hands left the vest, it was like her mind was suddenly clearing from thick fog.

Taking a deep breath, Luffy cleared the tears from her eyes and looked over at the child holding a painter's easel and brush.

"You tried to control my mind?" She muttered, furious.

It was unforgivable, they tried to kill her nakama, then tried to force her mind into a repeat of the worst time in her life.

"I'll never forgive you."

Her eyes turned dark, her face setting into a furious scowl.

"You'll never do this again. To anyone!"

The dark words hit Miss Goldenweek like a hammer, freezing her in place and stopping her from reacting to Luffy's attack.

A powerful punch knocked her weapons from her hands, and the following attacks left her lying unconscious on the ground.

"Now, who will be next?"

Mr. 3, who had just arrived back in the clearing in a wax suit, swallowed nervously.

(X)(X)

"Thank you for all your help!" Brogy said, kneeling down so he was closer in height to the Straw Hat Bounty Hunters.

"Shishishishi! It's nothing! It was Usopp that managed to free you with his idea of setting the wax on fire!" Luffy laughed, back to her usual good mood after defeating the bad guys that had hurt her friends.

A couple of feet away, Mr. 3, Miss Golden Week, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine lied all passed out and bound in chains.

"Hey Luffy, are you sure we tied them up right? And do we really need to take them with us?" Usopp asked, shaking at the thought of having to take such dangerous criminals with them.

Luffy scratched her nose. "Well, they're just normal chains so they won't keep them down for long when they wake up. I wanted to take them with us because they all have bounties. Together they're like, 60 million."

"WHAAATT?"

"REALLY?"

Luffy shrugged, showing them the bounty posters of the four criminals from her 'Straw Hats Bounty Poster Collection: Grand Line Edition'. "Yeah, but we would have to take them with us until a place where we could meet some marines to hand them over, and we don't have enough seastone to keep them all contained. They could seriously harm the ship. And we can't call the Marines here cause then they would see Brogy and Dory, and they have bounties too. And well, we're kind of in a hurry, right?"

"GABABABABABABA! Leave them with us! We'll scare them up real good for you!" Dory proposed.

It was good to see the old Giant back in good spirits.

"Umm" Luffy cocked her head, looking at the two gigantic friends in consideration.

"Alright, I'll leave them with you if you promise to think about my words very seriously."

"Oh?" Brogy leaned over, to get closer to her face.

"I told Dory that maybe the reason you were always tying is a sign from Elbaf telling you that you are equals, and that that is the answer to your dispute. That you were both right. That you were the same. You don't remember what your disagreement was about right? So this might be the answer Elbaf is sending you, and you can go home now."

"Uhmmmm" Brogy rubbed his shin "That is not how the great Elbaf usually works"

"Hem hem." Nami cleared her throat, clearly a bit to hesitant in talking in front of the Giants. "Well, my mother used to say that Gods work in mysterious ways."

"Ohhhh, really?" Luffy muttered, scratching her head and making Sanji giggle beside her.

On the other side of the blond, Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Well, I guess it's not that hard to make such a promise little lady. We will think seriously about your words."

"I'm glad! And besides, I bet your nakama miss you, you know?"

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA! Those rascals have probably gotten into so much trouble during these years!"

"GABABABABABABA! That's right Dory!"

They laughed together for a while, relishing in the fact that they were all alive, but soon the urgency of Vivi's situation came back to them, and the need to leave became pressing.

"Since you have an eternal pose, we'll show you the best route to take."

"Thanks, old man! You're the best!"

(X)(X)

"Let Elbaf bless you on your travels Straw Hat!"

"See you at sea Dory! Brogy!" Luffy and Usopp cried from the ship, waving as the Merry cut the waves made by the body of the Island Eater fish that the two Giants had just defeated in order to help them pass.

Back on the island, Brogy and Dory looked down at their broken weapons.

"Well, they did last for 100 years."

Dory took of his helmet, passing his hand through his head.

"And 73.467 duels. They did their job well."

Brogy sighed. "You know, maybe the girl is right. Maybe the answer was here all along."

Dory laughed. "Maybe it was. Maybe the Straw Hats were the messengers sent by Elbaf to make us see his work."

"GABABABABABABA! Maybe they were. Though I don't know why he would send bounty hunters as his messenger."

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA! They weren't that bad though. For bounty hunters."

"No, they weren't, right?"

"GEGYAGYAGYAGYA!""

(X)(X)

"Hey, Luffy?" Vivi called up, as Luffy looked over as Nami made sure that Zoro's bandages were correctly placed over his injured legs.

"Yeah?"

"You never even entertained the idea of capturing the Giants to exchange for their bounty, did you?"

"Shishishishishi" Luffy laughed, relaxing now that all her nakama seemed safe and treated. "Nah!"

"Why not though? You're a bounty hunter." Vivi said, clearly confused

"The old man and his friend were nice ones. The adventurous ones. Not the bad ones."

Vivi cocked his head. And smiled. "I don't get it."

Luffy smiled softly. "I've met a lot of pirates. Some of them are only called that because they sail without a license you know? They don't really go around pillaging and stealing and hurting innocent people. Those are alright and I don't wanna stop their adventures when they did nothing wrong. Instead, I'll catch the other types of pirates, the ones that do all those bad things. Like Arlong, and Krieg, and Buggy."

Vivi smiled, finally understanding her words. "I think I understand now."

Luffy nodded, smiling back before stretching her limbs.

"Alright! Sanji! We ned fooood!"

"Right away Luffy Swan~"

"Hey, did Laboon find our ship? She was waiting on the other side of the island."

"WheeeeeeeoOOOonnn!"

"Laboon! You found us!"

"WEEEEEEEE!"

"No, we weren't gonna leave you behind, if you didn't see us, we were gonna go around the island to get you, promise!"

"Wheeeeeeee"

"We had a great time! Thanks for asking!"

(X)(X)

"So, if you're a Vice Admiral, does that mean that there is an Admiral that gives you orders? And who do you give orders to? The Vice Vice Admirals?"

"Bwahahahahaha! What ideas you get Lu!" Gramps ruffled her hair, making her huff in annoyance. "But maybe I should teach you about marine ranks so you can be ready when you enlist."

Sitting himself more comfortably beside Luffy on the sofa, and clearly ignoring her mumbled complain about not being a marine, the old man pulled over a piece of paper to help him with his explanation.

"Listen well Luffy, when you join the Marines you will be considered a Seaman Recruit. Of course, some people join in as Chore Boys, but those are very special cases that you don't have to concern yourself with.

"Then you go to a training base and when you come out you are a Seamen Apprentice. If you are really good at your training camp, you might actually jump right to Seamen First Class, if not, you'll just have to work for it.

"After a few years and some experience then you get to be a Petty Officer, then a Chief Petty Officer and then a Master Chief Petty Officer. Above this is a Warrant Officer, and that is the last rank in the Infantry and Sailor Division."

"Hummmm…" Luffy cokcked her head in confusion "What's an infantry gramps?

"Bwahahahaha! It's a group of people that are kind of weak and just starting out, and so don't have a lot of power."

"Hum… ok" The girl was not totally convinced, but her grandfather was too excited about the topic of discussion to care.

"Next come the commissioned officers. These are important ranks because they can issue orders to the lower ranks, and they have permission to wear the symbol of justice on their uniforms!

"There is a first level with the Ensign, then the Lieutenant Junior Grade and then the Lieutenant. After that comes the Lieutenant Commander, then the Commander and then the Captain.

The captain is really the first rank that matters, honestly. So, you better get there fast Luffy!"

The girl grumbled and fruitlessly struggled against the giant hand that insisted on ruining her hair.

"After Captain comes the Commodore, then the Rear Admiral, and then the Vice Admiral. Vice Admirals are super cool. We are very powerful and full of a sense of justice!"

"So you don't give orders to Vice Vice Admirals?"

"Bwahahahaha! That's right. Below the Vice Admiral there is the Rear Admirals. Above the Vice Admiral there are the Admirals, but there are always only 3 of those. And then above them there is Fleet Admiral."

"Humm… So many ranks, sounds suuuper complicated. Why don't they make it simple?"

"Bwahahahaha! It has to have enough ranks to let people grow into them!"

"Meh! Sounds boring!"

"Don't say that, Lu! The Marines are an important institution!"

"Then who gives orders to the Fleet Admiral? Or can he do whatever he wants at least?"

"Well… Hem. The Fleet Admiral reports to the World Government, mostly through a designated person who is a former marine himself, the Commander in Chief. He reports and coordinates with the Five Elder Stars, who are the representatives of the World Government."

"Hum. So, they all end up having to follow all those shitty rules anyway, even if they have a big title. So boring"

"Stop saying that, Luffy!" Her gramps shouted in exasperation. "You will become a great Marine!"

"No way shitty Gramps!"

"WHAT! Get back here! You… FIST OF LOVE!"