Wishfull-star: (* ^ ω ^)

kurogane19: Thank you! Luffy wuvs his nakama.

Kae Membrana: Thanks! Luffy would look so cute with a tiny ponytail, hair just barely long enough. Not the magic topknot he developed for Wano lol.

Alright my dudes. I finished five fics in five days, so I have a lot to edit. Now it's 8 to edit. I have three crossovers I want you all to pick from. I have: Jujutsu Kaisen (30,000 words), Bleach (100,000 words) and Demon Slayer (40,000 words). They're all extremely different. So choose and I'll edit that one first. Enjoy~

When he woke up, he was on a mattress next to Robin. Both were looking ill. Chopper came over to Luffy, and gave him a bottle of what smelled like Zoro's blood. "Drink it, you'll feel better. Robin, you'll just have to wait to get better. I'm sorry." Luffy guzzled the familiar liquid, feeling it make all of him warm. The ice burns across his body faded, and he looked just fine.

"It's fine, doctor. Not all of us can heal like the captain can." He was still tired, and asked where they were.

"Still on the same island. Since you're recovered now, we were thinking about leaving tomorrow morning," Chopper explained. Luffy sat up and frowned. He asked what happened after he was frozen. "He was gone when Zoro and Sanji came back for you. You were completely frozen. What happened?"

Luffy looked down. "I didn't stand a chance. I couldn't even land one hit before he froze me. It was actually… scary. I was awake, but all of my senses were gone. I was waiting to get shattered to pieces, or wake up on a marine ship or something. He said he wanted to kill me, but then he let me live?"

Robin calmly said it was hard to tell what he was thinking sometimes. "He had a reason for letting you live. We're just lucky that he had one, and you're not dead," she said in relief. Luffy turned to her and made direct eye contact.

"I trust you. We trust you. Remember that, 'kay?" Luffy asked. She smiled and thanked him.

He walked out, and everyone cheered at him being back in action. "I'm not frozen anymore!" Luffy said proudly. "Ah, that sucked! Ahahaha!" Zoro walked up to him and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around him, too. "I'm sorry to scare everybody. I'm surprised I'm still here. But happy! And I want to set sail now."

Nami didn't protest, perfectly fine leaving the island after the two day log pose set. For such a boring, empty island, a lot of stuff happened there.

-x-

Luffy ran through a long hallway, hearing the cries of his crew at the end of it. All of the hallways were black, like it didn't matter how it looked, it just had to be dark. He heard the shouts of all of his crew, crying for his help.

When he blew open the door, hurrying in, he was suddenly sucked up into a net of seastone, only it didn't bring out the reaction from Alabasta's cage. Instead, it made him weak and limp. He looked around, and saw the screams were only tone dials. Recording his friends. He was alone in the room until Aokiji and two other faceless figures came out.

"Your friends aren't coming for you, monster. They're better off living normal lives. Being affiliated with something like you will never be good."

"Luffy?" He opened his eyes, seeing a concerned Zoro below him on the couch. "Are you okay?" Luffy realized he was crying. He was surprised but nodded. The captain wiped his eyes, just saying he had a bad dream. He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't fall asleep again, though. Zoro did.

In the morning, Luffy was quiet. The room was quiet. Awkward. Luffy finally broke the silence. "Does my stuff ever bother you guys? Do you ever wish I was normal?" he asked. He rarely showed insecurity openly. They were all quiet for a moment before many nodded. It hurt.

"I'd be happy to have you not need blood. Because of how sick going without it makes you," Nami said. "Did you think I didn't want you needing blood because it was freaky?" she asked with a smile. "If that's what you think you'll get, you'll be sorely disappointed."

"I feel the same. Merely out of worry, I wish you didn't require drinking blood," Chopper said. "It doesn't scare me or bother me like that."

The others nodded. He asked Zoro. "As much as it feels good, and I like being your lifeline, I would be just as happy if you didn't need it. You didn't need to worry about going without it." Robin said they were all monsters in their own ways. She looked very understanding to him, as did everyone else. He was surprised by the reactions, but really, he shouldn't be. He was in a much better mood the rest of the day, and took a much needed nap.

Luffy looked at himself in the mirror, lifting his shirt and looking at all the marks. He took his hat off, showing all of the differences. He ran his fingers through the white patches in his hair, saw the large portion of the roots that were white. He worried the hat in his fingers and then put it back on.

He wondered if the Pirate King ever felt these feelings about himself. Had they been in the same boat about this too? He looked at his wide, dark red eyes. The people on the Grand Line that he'd come across didn't seem surprised with his eyes. That was nice. He took the arm sash off, and pressed down on the puncture point, but nothing happened.

Leaving the bathroom, he went to the infirmary, and the vial in the cupboard that carried the blood stone. He didn't take it out of the glass, and heard Robin coming over before she walked in. "Oh, Luffy," she said in surprise. "I came to look at that, too, actually."

"Why?" Luffy wondered.

"Looking at it reminds me that there are all sorts of wonders out there that I wouldn't expect to see," she said simply, sitting on the mattress. He handed it to her. When asked, she told him she'd never opened it before. Never taken it out of the flask. "I'm not going to risk anything happening."

Luffy nodded, and brought both knees onto the bed. "Are you okay?" Robin sounded a bit awkward, maybe not good about emotional stuff with people like Nami was. Luffy nodded, but admitted he just worried what he was would bite them all in the butt someday. "I see. Well, you can't do anything about being what you are, right?"

"Like you can't do anything about your past, right?" he asked suddenly. "I'm not gonna press, but you do belong here." He gave a bright smile and left before she had to respond. Nami was at the door, and looked at him with a smile.

"Who knew you could do emotional comfort like that?"

"Shishishi, Ace needed it a lot, too," Luffy admitted. He walked out and requested something sweet from Sanji, who said he still had some Zoro blood pudding. It was getting old, but it was still good. "Yay!" he said and ran inside to eat the food only he could have. Nobody would ever steal it, even on accident.

When he exited the galley, he was in a great mood, his friends eating a potato dish from Sanji. He walked to Zoro and kissed him out of nowhere. Zoro was surprised but not bothered and kissed him back, threading his fingers into Luffy's soft hair. "What was that for?" Zoro asked curiously afterwards.

"I love you, why else?" Zoro blushed but smiled and returned the sentiment. Luffy heard Nami cooing, Robin watching with a soft smile, and the boys completely ignoring it very well. Luffy heard the noise before smelling or seeing, and turned to see a giant frog swimming freestyle in one direction. "A frog swimming freestyle!" he shouted, pointing. They thought he was being stupid before they saw it too. "Follow it! Get out the paddles now!"

So they did, Luffy planning on catching and barbecuing it. It would serve a lot of food, which they needed. It would be best to get somewhere soon. Both for food and supplies, as well as some blood bags. If something happened to Zoro, one of the others would have to step in and nobody wanted that.

Robin openly offered to help if Zoro is ever out of action again, which Luffy was grateful for. Sanji hated it, but didn't argue when Nami told him it would be to keep Luffy alive! Nami was using the binoculars while Luffy was distracted by the rowing when she saw a light house. "There's a light house over there! But it's in the middle of nowhere!" she called. "There's nothing around it to point to," she added in confusion.

The frog was going in that direction anyways, so they followed as fast as they could while Sanji planned on how to cook it. Luffy never knew Sanji cooked and ate a giant frog. Zoro called him disgusting. "Shut it!"

Luffy heard a loud noise when they got closer to the frog, coming closer fast. The others easily heard it as well, but nobody recognized the sound at all. They caught up to the frog that jumped, but the thing that made the noise was barreling toward them, spewing smoke from the top. They screamed, and barely slammed the paddles down so they moved the few meters away to not get hit by whatever the noisy, big and fast thing was.

"Waaaah!" they screamed as it zoomed past them, the wind whipping their hair around it was going so fast. It would have destroyed the Merry if that thing hit it. Like a bullet or canon but huge. Then the frog jumped in front of the thing, and Luffy and Chopper called for it to be careful. But it was hit, and the thing didn't stop at all, until it passed, the noise fading quickly as it left at a ridiculously fast speed.

While they were still in shock, Luffy couldn't smell people due to the lingering scent of that thick smoke coming out of the thing, and they heard and saw a child calling for somebody about pirates being there. Who came out was an old drunk woman with green hair and a clueless expression.

The crew and the two people, a child named Chimney, the old drunk lady named Kokoro and a bunny thing, ended up eating together. They seemed friendly enough, though Kokoro reeked of alcohol.

She gave a bottle to Zoro, who'd been craving booze for days. He happily drank it all, in a good mood after it. "I'm Luffy, I'm going to be the Pirate King," Luffy said bluntly, Chimney believing him fully. Nami asked curiously about the ship they just barely survived passing.

"It was steam powered, right? Then how is it on the sea? That should be impossible," Nami said, drinking some tea. Robin was on the ship drinking some black coffee. Kokoro then explained the sea train. How it runs on a railroad floating on the water. It stopped in multiple places in the area.

The log pose was pointing in the direction of what they needed badly: Water 7, a shipbuilding island with top notch shipwrights. They could totally save the Merry! And they had to have more than enough money for it! They wound find out later. And finally a place with a city! "They have hospitals there, right?" Luffy asked.

"Of course! What, you hurt?"

"Just for precautions on our journey," Sanji lied easily.

"Well, they definitely have hospitals," Kokoro. For someone completely smashed, she could hold conversations well. Maybe she was like Zoro and didn't get drunk or tipsy easily. Luffy went to him, and he wrapped his arms around Luffy's waist, chest to back, without a word.

They finally were going to find a shipwright to fix the Going Merry and come with them! A new member would be joining soon, for sure.

They were given a map and letter of recommendation from Kokoro to give to the shipwrights. It was near, so it wouldn't take long to get there. "It's pretty big, so don't get lost. It takes a week for the log pose to set, so you have more than enough time to play around. If we meet again there, I'll take you to the best bar!" Luffy hoped to see her again; she was funny! Luffy cheered as they were setting off, and thanked the grandma and granddaughter, setting off towards Water 7. A new adventure awaited. Hopefully ending in a perfectly fixed Going Merry.

While they were on their way, they planned on what to do. Sanji wanted to find a shipwright. But would end up finding a hot lady. Luffy argued about finding a shipwright five meters tall. And an awesome one, even though he wouldn't fit on the ship. Nami and Robin were on the lawn chairs, Nami sunbathing and Robin reading, unsurprisingly.

They just needed a skilled shipwright, appearance and gender aside. One that would join a bunch of pirates. The map Kokoro gave them was useless. She was drunk when she made it, though.

When they came into hearing range of the island, Luffy went inside with Zoro and got a good amount of blood. Just about where Zoro would need him to stop. So, he was set for at most three days with that if he didn't do any strenuous work, much less if there was a lot of fighting or something. He didn't see why he would here, but better to be prepared. Better safe than sorry.

"Hmmm, there's a lot of people!" Luffy said from the crowsnest, smelling deeply. "Lots of smelly stuff, too, though." But when it came into view, it was hard to imagine the pristine and gorgeous island smelled bad. There was a massive fountain in the middle, the biggest thing on the island. There were so many sounds coming from it. He could deal with the bad smell; he'd lived near Gray Terminal after all.

They got closer, all amazed and excited. "That's so awesome!" they all said when it was right in front of them. Luffy was in Zoro's hold. He was nuzzling his smaller boyfriend's shoulder. Robin was smiling at them. She smiled at them a lot, in a different way than Nami. Nami thought they were adorable, while Robin thought they were endearing, maybe.

"We have to search for books about me, right?" Luffy asked the archeologist. She nodded. Chopper wanted to come along, too, to buy books for himself.

"First, we have to trade in all our treasure for paper money. You can't buy a ship using jewels and gold bracelets," she said simply. They sailed to a station that was clearly not for ships. So where were the docks? They didn't see any other ships over there, so it had to be somewhere else. They heard someone calling to them from the side.

"Hey! You there! Pirates can't go in that way! Go from the back!"

"Thank you!" They steered the ship to travel around the circumference of the island until they were at the back. It wasn't an actual dock, though. An outcrop of land after more people explained where they should go after they stated their purpose there: to have their ship repaired. When they got to the place, they dropped the anchor. Zoro leaned against the mast, and it snapped in half.

"Ah! Zoro!" Usopp shouted.

"I barely touched it!" Zoro said defensively, trying to keep it on by pushing it back into place. Nami asked why they were helped to get there while Zoro did his best to keep it up. Luffy wrapped a rope around it and tied it to the railing to prop it up. It was a rare undamaged part of the railing, so it didn't break.

"Probably because we're just here to repair the Merry. Or they have strong guys here to fight pirates off, so they're not concerned about it," Robin hypothesized. Sanji agreed, there were no doubt strong people here. Luffy was excited to have a strong new nakama. Nami said she wanted another girl.

"No offense, Robin."

"None taken," she replied with an easy smile. Usopp and Luffy were going with Nami to get the gold exchanged, and then to see Iceberg in the shipyard to give him Kokoro's letter. Luffy excitedly agreed to do this. But he and Zoro got to go out together later. "Once the money is exchanged, no problem," she said.

They were going straight to exchange it all. Luffy was rolling a large cart behind him with all the bags of gold and jewels and other goods. "Why can't we go to the shipyard first?" Luffy asked, grinning as they headed into the mystery city with all sorts of sounds and smells.

"We can't carry around so much gold for too long," Usopp said. "We could get robbed. Oh, I'm getting nervous already!" he said.

"Well, Luffy will protect us. He's all filled up with blood." Luffy nodded. He was in perfect shape. Felt wonderful. Well rested, fed with normal food and blood. He was in tip top shape for this island. And he was also really happy and excited, so that helped, too. "But, I agree. And once we exchange the money, Usopp and I will carry them while Luffy protects us and doesn't lose the money."

Luffy said, "Shishishi! I'll protect you good!" proudly. "I wonder how much we'll get, and how much repairing the Merry would be?"

Nami commented, "Well, it'll be a major remodel. Replacing a lot of the ship will possibly change her appearance. A new mast, new railings, fixing the sides and bottom of the ship. It'll be like a complex and huge surgery. But she'll still be our Going Merry. We just have to prepare for her to need a lot of work," she explained.

Luffy and Usopp were fine as long as she was fixed and in good shape again. They'd been through so much with her so far.

They came across a problem early on. The way to travel through the city was by a water bull. A yagara that would carry them around the waterways. This was a problem, as the moment they got to the pen with them, they swam to the far corner, away from Luffy in fear. "Is there any other way to get around?" Nami asked, Luffy frowning.

"No, this is the only way. Do you have something that smells bad? They react badly to certain smells." Usopp said Luffy just wasn't good with animals. "Well, if you go in, you could probably find one that would be fine, go ahead inside and look."

"'Kay," Luffy said. He went into the pen area, and crouched by the water. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Be brave and come with us! It'll be fun, and you won't get hurt at all. I'm a devil fruit user, I can't swim. If I hurt you, you can dump me in the water!" Luffy said honestly, a bright grin on and a sincere voice.

One was brave and came forward. "Good boy!" He went out laughing, saying it was a success. Nami and Usopp let out a relieved sigh. It would have been a problem if they all refused them service because of Luffy. Not that he could help it. Not when he wasn't purposely being scary. One other came out, but it wasn't the one Luffy would be on.

The yagaras were creatures that lived in the water and were happy to help people get around. They couldn't go long distances, from island to island, but they were perfect to be there. Water 7 was mostly water ways. It had always been that way as long as the people could remember. He was very proud of his city.

"It's super neat here," Luffy agreed.

"Do you use them to pull the boats?"

"No, the boat is latched onto their backs. Like horses on land with carriages. Now, come in, they're ready for you in here." He put the boats on the two backs, and Luffy got in one with the gold behind him and Nami and Usopp in the other. When Luffy made to pat its head, it reared away.

So, it was putting up with him at the bare minimum, it seemed. He frowned, but didn't try to touch him again. The one that was carrying Nami and usopp was really happy and seemed to be smiling. Luffy crossed his arms and pouted immaturely. "It's the price to pay for being awesome," Nami said simply.

"Still. It's annoying that they're all scared of me. I'm not even scary!"

"At least Chopper isn't afraid." Luffy nodded, knowing it would be terrible if he was scared. He probably wouldn't have come with them if he was, though. He genuinely trusted and cared about Luffy, which was a relief. And Carue had gotten used to him. Maybe this yagara would get used to him, too. Well, they would see. "He can carry the bag, too, right?" Nami wondered, looking and remembering how heavy it had been for them. The man said they were strong, and wondered what was in the bag.

"Gold!" He didn't believe him, and Nami scolded him for saying that. "Shishishi, okay, sorry!" Luffy laughed. They got some helpful information from him about where it was best to trade their large amount of gold. Not anywhere near, but there was one in the city center that had enough cash to exchange.

"Thank you!" Nami said, and she and Usopp got into their yagara's carriage. "Thanks for the map!" Nmi called, and they went on their ways through the many canals that ran through the whole city. It was so awesome, and Luffy wondered if devil fruit users worked here. They were more likely to drown, right?

It was fun riding the yagara, and it was very helpful to go around the city. "These are awesome! I wish we could keep one!" Luffy exclaimed. Nami said they had nowhere to keep them. "Still, it would be awesome!"

"They would also be eaten by sea kings," Usopp added. Luffy told them to not ruin his fun, making both others laugh. They eventually entered the residential areas, with more water roads. Did they walk anywhere? Well, they did, but were the yagaras used more? It was so interesting! But the yagaras they passed swam a good distance around Luffy's yagara, but did not flee in the other direction.

They just quieted when Luffy was taken by. Brave creatures, to be honest. Nami and Usopp's yagara didn't act afraid of Luffy as much as he did in the beginning. And the one he was riding on wasn't so nervous as well. It wasn't like Luffy acted how he felt to animals. They rode uphill, Nami insisted they were going the wrong way, but they went to where they aimed. The yagaras lead them up a shortcut.

"They're so smart!" Nami said in awe. Yagaras were plentiful in the market area, tons of shops and vendors. They all smelled delicious.

"Nami… food? They all smell so good!" Luffy said, breathing deeply. Usopp said even he could smell it. They should definitely get some food later with their money. The navigator was fine with this, planning on eating as well. Luffy then realized something. He could smell everyone, and there were a lot of people here.

Like how it was in Alabasta, the smells made it hard to pick out a certain scent. "What's wrong?" Nami asked, seeing Luffy's face turn blank.

"It's kind of hard to separate smells here," Luffy said. Nami asked if it was because of how many people there were. "Yeah. Tens of thousands of people maybe? I've never been somewhere with this many people in one place. Alabasta was easier because the space was bigger. Well, hopefully I won't need it."

"Can you track our scents?"

Luffy replied, "It's easier to smell those at the ship. They don't have the smell of others on them. All of us have the smells of the yagaras and all the people we've passed." Usopp and Nami didn't like this, but they just weren't going to part. They came across a really big yagara. It didn't really look like the ones they were using, but it was still used for transportation.

"Wow! It looks like it can eat us!" Luffy exclaimed. It wasn't afraid of him, maybe didn't even notice him in the crowd. It had a big carriage on it with people wearing masks. Maybe a parade or something.

"Looking closer, a lot of people are wearing masks," Nami said while Luffy zoomed to a stand that the yagara took him to. Water meat was a favorite by yagaras, but was made for humans. So the yagara wanted some to eat. He bought ten of them to feed to his yagara, who seemed to not dislike him at all anymore. Yay! Progress!

Luffy tried one of them, and it melted in his mouth. "So good!" Luffy called, Usopp told Nami to take them to the shop, he wanted to try some meat, too. Luffy just gave him some of his for once, feeling bad for him for Nami being in control of the yagara, so she didn't take him to get his own meat.

"Luffy! So kind!" Usopp cried, making the captain laugh. "So good, though!" Luffy agreed. Nami didn't have any, following the map to where they needed to be. They had to go up an elevator with water, which was super cool. Going inside, it was poured with water that lifted them up to the next level. All of the yagaras in there with them were pressed to the side while Luffy was in the middle.

"This is so fun!"

"Water 7 is amazing, only powered by water!" Usopp said he would hate to be a devil fruit user here. "Good point. We'll have to warn Chopper and Robin if they haven't already entered town."

"She better not go book shopping without me!"

"Never thought I'd hear Luffy say those words," Usopp muttered. Of course Luffy heard it and called him a jerk. He was plenty smart. "In fighting, I very much agree." Luffy grinned, not catching on that it was still a light insult.

When they got to the top and let out, the other yagaras fled the area. Luffy's yagara raised its head almost in pride. For dealing with Luffy while the rest fled. "You're a really brave yagara!" he praised happily. "Ni!" it said happily. Then he looked up and saw the shipyard level. It was huge! So many buildings, and a lot of them were in dry areas. They could walk around, then!

It was huge, and Luffy could hear the sounds of metal hitting metal, wood being sawed. It sounded like him building his treehouse with his brothers, using wood and metal sheeting to secure it to the tree. He grinned at the memory. When they reached the ground, where waterways weren't, they got off of the yagaras. They were going to stay and wait for the pirates to come back.

Luffy rubbed the head of his in praise, and then picked up the bag of treasure and went to the sounds, Nami and Usopp following. There was a large crowd near the sounds he heard, the sounds of hard work and building stuff. He asked someone what happened.

"Just a group of pirates causing some trouble. But they were taken out by the shipwrights, like usual. They never learn." Luffy wondered if they were strong. "Very! They're the pride of Water 7. The Galley-La Company is the backbone of Water 7, and protects us from pirates. Are you a sailor?" the guy asked in a friendly voice. Luffy nodded. "Better not mess around, they won't hold back."

"Shishishi! We wouldn't ever hurt people who will help fix our broken ship!" he said in a cheerful voice. "But it all sounds so interesting." Nami took him to the nearby exchange shop, and they had the gold and treasure surveyed.

"This is a very good haul! I'd say it's worth about 100 million berriess!" Usopp was amazed, while Nami asked Luffy if he was lying. Usopp accused her of taking him just for this, but she ignored it.

Luffy said, "Yeah, he's lying," in a simple voice. The guy blanched, and looked like he was going to pull their gold towards him. Luffy couldn't see them getting more money than 100 million. That was a lot! Could totally be enough to fix and upgrade the Merry! Get cool additions. Oh, he was so excited.

"I thought so." She slammed her foot on the table, and gave him a terrifying smile. "I have three things to tell you, Mr. Appraiser. First, this guy has a 100 million bounty on his head. Second, your offer is nowhere good enough, and third, if you lie again, we'll cut off your head," she said confidently, in a sweet voice, but dark and serious at the same time. A totally good threatening demeanor. It even had Luffy and Usopp sweating.

Soon, they had 300 million berries in paper money! Amazing! They were totally rich! "Finally, we can use our money from Sky Island! Luffy, your senses will save us every time!" she cheered, tossing wads of money in the air like she wanted to shower in it.

They left the disappointed and still frightened appraiser with their money in three cases. One was being carried by each person. Usopp was afraid of having his stolen, so he was walking right up against Luffy's arm that wasn't swinging the case back and forth happily. "Nami's look was super scary! Shishishi!"

"I was sure he was lying even without you confirming it. Plus, I just wanted a lot more," Nami said with a grin. "Should we head to the shipyard now?" Luffy nodded, excited to meet the strong shipwrights. He could hear them working a lot, building things. "So, you can hear better than smell here?" she wondered. Usopp was still looking around, worried.

He nodded. "Things echo here a lot. I can hear things close enough. I think Zoro got in a fight some time ago. He's noisy when he says his attacks, shishishi." Nami put her hand to her face and asked if he was still on the ship. "Don't know. I don't think he'd leave, though. I can hear Chopper talking to Robin. Hey! Traitor! She was supposed to wait for me!" he said angrily.

"No use in getting mad now, we have a task to do, don't we? One more important thing than book shopping at the moment," Nami said casually. Luffy was swinging the case too much, and it flew out of his grasp and to the canal. Nami and Usopp both jumped into the water to save it before Luffy stretched out his arm and caught it back.

"Phew, that was close!" he said with a laugh. He was then beaten up in the face. "I'm sorry," he said. Then they headed to the shipyard. His yagara even seemed happy to see him, which was nice.