DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE, THAT'S EIICHIRO ODA'S HONOR!

o-o

"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's Brew~

Riding on the sea waves, the wind's our only guide~"

Zoro groaned and stiffly turned over, clutching his katana tighter to his chest. For the past 2 hours, they've been sailing on the sea with nothing to do. Well, on a dinghy, there's not much to do but eat, and even then, all they're doing was drifting, even if his captain allegedly knew where they were going.

Worst part was, he wouldn't stop singing. It didn't matter how melodic the song was, or how well he sang it, the song was starting to grate on Zoro's nerves.

"Would you stop singing?!" he complained loudly.

And again, like the hundreds of times before that, Luffy ignored Zoro's complaints and continued to sing,

"After all is said and done~" he abruptly stopped, and his ear twitched imperceptibly.

"We're near land," he announced with a D-centric smile.

Zoro peeled open his eyes and sent a quizzical stare at his captain while raising a skeptical eyebrow, "And just how do you know?"

Luffy hid a grimace, He still doesn't trust me… It was true. Zoro didn't trust Luffy, in fact, every time he moved his arms Zoro's muscles would subtly tense, and his aura would go into overdrive. It didn't help that he always kept an eye on his pendant and a hand on Wado.

"I know because I can hear the people that will help us there," he said simply.

"And just how can you hear that?" Zoro questioned.

"…Practice,"

Seeing that his captain didn't care much to elaborate, Zoro relented, though somehow, however it was possible, that answer raised more questions. Before they could do anything, though, the tell-tale sound of panicking and screaming was heard in front of them, and just like that, all of Zoro's doubts vanished, and different doubts arose.

Who is this kid… he wondered while absently staring at the pendant and simultaneously terrifying the three new occupants of the dinghy.

"…an Orange Witch!" one of them cried, which snapped Luffy back to reality, because really, after the first 212 times of listening to this story, it became quite boring.

"An Orange Witch, you say?" Luffy said excitedly, "Tell me you're not pulling my leg," he said with a hint of caution. In all the lifetimes he's been in, he'd retained his power to read people like an open book, but good people under the control of bad people, do bad things, and then, there's just the poor, disillusioned ones. Sometimes, they tell a lie so much, they end up believing it's the truth.

The skinny pirate in front of him scowled and nodded vehemently, "There was a Orange Witch! She knew the Weather before it could happen!" He moved his arms in a voodoo-like gesture with wide eyes before nodding slowly, "She was definitely a witch,"

"Where did she go?" Luffy asked. If in the earlier regressions this happened, I would have probably killed them and went to Nami by now, but in those Worlds, Zoro was the first to doubt who I am. That will not do. Especially not this time. He repressed a scowl, and rubbed his pendant a little.

"Well, the witch won't be lasting very long," the pirate to the left said triumphantly, "Captain Buggy will kill her!"

Kill her… Kill her… Kill her… Those words were repeating themselves like a mantra in Luffy's mind. He was barely aware that he froze, and even less so that he was making a glare that would put Akainu to shame.

"Where is she?" he asked quietly, his tone of voice booking no room for argument.

Clearly, the three Buggy pirates seemed to notice that, considering the lead one pissed his pants and was shivering in fear.

"O-Orange Town, sir," he stammered out.

"Take us there," Luffy whispered.

"Understand, s-sir," the Buggy Pirate stumbled over the last word.

All the while, Zoro was watching carefully, with no small amount of surprise at Luffy's sudden change of attitude.

In around five minutes, they made it to Orange Town, and the three pirates were knocked out through sheer exhaustion. Luffy shaded his eyes with his straw hat and extended his Observation Haki by a smidge. The range of his Haki just barely expanded, but it was enough to encompass the majority of the island.

All of his Haki was significantly weaker, actually. He knew he could awaken all of it and his inherent strength he's built up over the Regressions at once, but that would mean an excess of everything, and his body would mutate in an extremely painful way to fit those standards. He was not about to let out a wave of uncontrolled Conquerors when he wasn't even in Paradise yet! It wouldn't do, to alert the Gorosei to his presence.

Just on the edge of his range, he could feel Nami's presence, but it was weak, Buggy's on the other hand…

Luffy just barely restrained himself from taking off and saving her on his own. If he did that, Zoro wouldn't be able to open his mind to the amount of Devil Fruits out there, and that could weaken his Haki training in the future.

It wasn't until after at least 500 Regressions, did he realize just how delicate his adventure was, and how it played well with the time. In the later Regressions, he had to make sure to balance craziness, with all the experiences his crew should have that he deemed important.

It was also how he learned patience.

"Zoro," he began, at Zoro's slight incline of the head, he continued, "Our navigator's on that hill," he paused, "Let's go,"

Zoro, on the other hand, watched, confused, as his captain said a completely meaningless sentence and took off in the direction of the hill. Zoro sighed and followed his captain, hoping that the island didn't suddenly shift and leave him in the middle of nowhere.

"DAMNIT!"

Wait, too late.

Luffy paused in his running and hit a hand to his face, "Forgot about that…" he muttered. He picked up speed while running again, but this time, whirled one-hundred-eighty degrees and flung out 2 rubbery appendages in Zoro's general direction.

Soon after, Zoro came hurtling to where Luffy was, at rocket-speed. Once he stopped being flung around, he apprehensively opened one eye, and realized that he was viewing the whole world sideways.

That's when he realized that he was being carried under his captain's arm. That's also when he began yelling and squirming.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE—WATCH THE HEAD!"

"Shishishi, Sorry, Zoro," he sent an apologetic look, that was somewhat downplayed by the fact that he was grinning like a loon, "But you were going in the complete opposite direction!" Luffy cackled at the rapidly changing colors of Zoro's face.

"SHUT UP! IT'S NOT MY FAULT EVERYTHING MOVES WITHOUT ME KNOWING!" Luffy just cackled even louder in response, much to the growing horror of his first mate.

At one point, they made it up the hill without either of them knowing, and yet, Luffy continued running, despite the warnings his Observation Haki was blaring at him, though, in his defense, it was quite weak…

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CLOWNS?!" Buggy boomed at the bickering duo, who just seemed to ignore him and continue to argue about various petty things.

"…how dare you! Dragons are real! My dad is one!" Luffy nodded proudly.

"LIKE HELL YOUR DAD'S A DRAGON!" Zoro growled.

Luffy narrowed his eyes, "My dad is a dragon,"

Zoro scoffed.

"I'll drop you," Luffy sang, much to the mounting horror on his first mate's face. When did I stop thinking of him as a friend?

Luffy froze, and lifted his free hand in a two-finger motion, catching a gleaming knife in between his index and middle finger. He tilted his head a little to clearly look at Buggy's fearful face, before snapping the knife in half with a scissor motion of his fingers.

Zoro saw that Luffy had stopped, and began squirming even more, trying to get out of his captain's iron grip, before, all of a sudden, he was dropped unceremoniously on the ground. Shakily, he got up, and unsheathed one training katana. He was about to go cut Buggy apart, before his captain's icy voice stopped him.

"Buggy's mine,"

Zoro was about to step aside, before he narrowed his eyes and stood his ground, "And why should I give him to you?" he growled.

Luffy turned a poker face towards his first mate, and stood there silently. The tension mounted until it was stifling, and hard to do normal things, such as move, or breathe, for that matter. After what seemed like an eternity, the tension broke, "Fine. Go ahead," Luffy waved a hand, and like magic, the tension dissipated, and Buggy found his voice.

"Ha… HAHAHA! YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?! I AM BUGGY THE IMMORTAL!" he crowed triumphantly.

Zoro whirled around and glared, "We'll see if you're so immortal after I'm done with you," he murmured, fitting Wado Ichimonji's hilt into his mouth.

"ONIGIRI!" he barely heard the orange-haired girl cry out 'no' when he launched into attack. All that he felt was the blood pounding in his ears, and the lust for a fight rolling in his gut.

In one slick move, he cut Buggy 'the Clown' into clean thirds. He clicked his tongue at the degrading fight he got from someone who claimed to be immortal. He barely noticed the mounting horror and blank expression on his captain and the orange-haired woman's face.

All of a sudden, he felt a knife in between two of his ribs, and he became distinctly aware that the thirds that he sliced Buggy into, weren't bleeding.

Oh… I'm very stupid, aren't I… he winced, clutching his side, trying to stem the bleeding. The knife flicked itself out of his flesh, and he collapsed on the ground, heavily bleeding, and panting.

"You should have let your captain fight me," a voice whispered in his ear. One that he noticed to be Buggy's, "I could sense his aura… It towers beyond everyone here…" the voice rotated perspectives to his other ear.

"If, perhaps, you had just trusted him, maybe… you would still be alive," Zoro became distantly aware of the blade grazing against his neck, "Alas…" he felt the voice shaking itself, either in solemn shakes of the head, or shuddering from peals of laughter. He had a stinking suspicion that it was a bit of both.

Then he realized something that shook him to his core, I'm going to die. I'm going to die without fulfilling my promise. He clenched his fist, making claw indents on the ground, I can't die. I won't die. I… can't…

All of a sudden, the blade clattered on the ground, and an indescribable blanket of something settled over him. He cautiously looked up, and saw that Buggy had dropped like he was bearing a twenty-ton weight on his back. Zoro scrambled to his feet, and looked cautiously towards his captain, who was silent.

"Stop whispering doubts into my first mate's ears," he said.

Buggy only grunted in response, one eye stubbornly meeting his stare, while the other was buried into the ground.

Nami was as white as a sheet during this whole ordeal.

"Zoro," his captain called out, When did he start thinking of him like that? "Can you still fight?"

Zoro wobbled and dragged himself to his feet, and coughed out some blood, "I will fight," he stared into his captain's eyes, and smiled when he nodded.

"I thought so,"

His captain looked him in the eye and then at the two only competent-looking people of the entire crew. Understanding the message, Zoro nodded, and launched himself towards the two individuals, taking out the one with White hair in one fluid motion, just slightly hampered by the wound in his side.

Luffy looked into Nami's eyes and questioned, "Want to be my navigator?"

Nami, finding her voice smiled triumphantly and crowed, "I'm the best navigator you'll find!"

"Good, join my pirate crew," Luffy stated, Before you would at least give them a choice, a small part of his mind whispered.

Nami's face cycled through many expressions before settling on one stony expression, "You can take that offer of yours, and shove it up your—"

"It wasn't an offer," Luffy interrupted.

Nami's heart dropped, and her face made an expression of resigned acceptance, "Fine… but only a partnership. I have my own goals,"

"Deal,"

Nami smiled, "Deal," she stood up and brushed dust off of her arms and skirt before smirking, "I'm going to go rob them blind, captain. Don't try and stop me,"

"I won't," Luffy became distinctly aware that all Nami saw of him was a powerful, most likely evil pirate captain, and then smiled a D-centric smile. Apparently, all that seemed to do was unnerve her even more. Did I get the expression wrong? He wondered as he saw Nami scamper away.

He shrugged and turned his attention to Buggy, who was still staring defiantly into his eyes. Well, what did I expect from someone who sailed with Roger? Luffy mused, before stopping the flow of Conqueror's on Buggy's psyche. All of a sudden, the Clown sucked in a deep breath and stared blankly at Luffy as he got up.

"Conqueror's…?" he muttered, "What is someone like you doing in East Blue?" Buggy questioned as he grabbed his blades.

"Trying to live," the teen in front of him answered cryptically.

Buggy stared at the kid in front of him and sighed, "What's your name, kid?"

"Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy answered, settling into his fighting stance.

"I'll be sure to remember it," Buggy let out a war cry as soon as he was done with the sentence, and coated the blades in Haki.

In one of the earlier regressions, Luffy found that despite Buggy being one of the earliest opponents for him to fight, and by extension, beat, the clown was actually powerful enough to rival anyone on Shanks's crew evenly before losing.

Why he chose to stay in East Blue and hide his strength was beyond Luffy's comprehension, but the second Buggy let out that war cry, he knew that he had to fight to stay alive.

Every single one of the blades he had struck with skill and precision, just barely missing Luffy as he dodged out of the way and blocked with his own skin. Masterful manipulation over his Devil Fruit contributed to the fact that even if Luffy got close enough to hit him, it would be nigh useless.

He knew, that despite Buggy being weak in physical and in general Haki strength, he made up for it all through sheer intelligence, skill, and following. It didn't take just anyone to gain the loyalty of all of Impel Down and a good amount of New World Pirates. No matter what anyone said, Luffy knew that if he weren't to become Pirate King, then it would either be Trafalgar Law, Eustass Kidd, or Buggy who took the spot in his place.

Although… That was and still is a major if.

Seeing an opening that Buggy forgot to guard, Luffy smirked, and coated his hand in Haki that was beginning to flicker. He frowned at the sight and gritted his teeth. I need to end this fast. He let out a cry and punched the opening as hard and fast as he could, knocking the air out of Buggy in the process.

Luffy watched as Buggy reformed in front of his eyes, all his parts coming back to him at once. Once the completed picture was done, he could see Buggy wheezing and holding his right rib, muttering something unintelligible.

Once all was quiet, he could feel the eyes of everyone on him. Zoro, who had just finished defeating Cabaji, and was watching him fight with reverent awe. Nami, who had just finished robbing them blind, and was watching their fight contemplatively. And just about everybody else, who just looked like they simultaneously had their worldview reinforced, and shattered. But it still stayed up. Damn, what a weird worldview… Luffy trailed off into thought, before snapping himself back to reality. Focus.

"So, brat…" Buggy began, and then coughed up some of the red life-giving liquid that was blood, before grimacing, "What are your terms?"

Luffy grinned, "Leave this island, and then Leave East Blue within 2 months, and don't come back till I'm crowned the next king,"

Buggy stared, and then chuckled, before bursting into all-out peals of laughter, "That's a good one, kid," he wiped away a tear with a stray finger, "Conditions accepted, brat," he grinned.

Buggy and Luffy set sail away from the island at the same time, in opposite directions, to see each other in Paradise once more.

Currently, Luffy was lounging around on one of the dinghies that the crew of three was using. He hummed a familiar tune and closed his eyes, impervious to Zoro's groans and protests.

"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's Brew~" he sang.

Nami saw Zoro plug his ears with his hands and groan. She had been thinking unnaturally philosophically during the whole fight between Luffy and Buggy.

She hated pirates. She always did. But… Those terms… No normal pirate would choose those terms. Not without something to squeeze out for themselves. So, she had been wondering… Just what did Luffy gain to benefit from the village being free?

Their loyalty, for one. But then again, he didn't even tell them that he was the one to free them. Really, the only thing she saw him gaining out of this entire shebang, was the ire of Buggy the Clown, but even then…

"Buggy looked almost proud when you beat him," Nami said loudly, gaining the attention of her… associates, "Why?"

Zoro looked contemplatively at Luffy, and decided to ask a question of his own, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Luffy stood silent for a while before sighing, "Buggy's captain was a great man, and I have his crown," he said cryptically, "As for my fighting… it is both a blessing and a curse,"

Zoro leaned closer, "What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you,"

Zoro scoffed and leaned backwards silently, "Can you at least teach me that pressure thing you did?"

Luffy stared at Zoro, "It's not something that can be taught. You're either born with it, or you're not,"

Zoro frowned, "Well, is it possible for me to control it, then?"

"No. You don't have it," Luffy stated, before smiling, "But I can teach you Observation and Armament,"

"What and what?" Nami questioned lamely.

Luffy grinned devilishly and laughed, "Observation Haki and Armament Haki," he saw the beginnings of a smile form on Zoro's face, and got immediate déjà vu, "But I won't teach you until we get our cook and sniper!" Zoro's face abruptly soured.

Nami frowned at being ignored, and proceeded to include herself into the conversation, "What do you mean, Haki?"

Luffy smiled a D-centric grin and spoke, "Haki is your force of will," he paused, "You know when Buggy fell to the ground?" Nami nodded, "That was Conqueror's Haki,"

Nami's eyes widened and her voice took on a desperate tinge, "So, this power can work on anyone?" He might actually be able to beat Arlong…

Luffy blankly looked at Nami before answering slowly, "No… this power can't work on just anyone,"

Nami frowned, trying to hide her disappointment, "So it can't work on fishmen?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow, "You're getting awfully specific there, Nami,"

"Yeah, this power can work on fishmen," Luffy interrupted, "But it might not work. It truly depends on the fishman,"

Nami smiled, "That's… good to know,"

After a while, all was silent, then all of a sudden, Zoro stumbled and tripped over his own feet before landing on the dinghy he and Luffy were in upside-down.

"Zoro?" Luffy peered over to his first mate—friend—and asked.

"Your… hands!" Zoro choked out.

Luffy frowned, "Yes… my… hands… What about them?"

"They stretched!" Zoro yelled.

Luffy frowned in thought for a moment, before bursting into laughter, "Yeah, I forgot to tell you this, but I ate a Devil Fruit,"

Zoro made a strangled sound with his throat, "Which one?"

"The Gomu-Gomu no Mi, now I'm a Rubberman!" Luffy stretched his cheek a good two feet for emphasis.

Nami's jaw dropped and she fell backwards in shock, and Zoro wasn't much better off, either.

"YOU DON'T JUST FORGET TO TELL US THAT!" Zoro yelled, while pretending to strangle his Captain.

Luffy just laughed in response, ignoring the offhand reflex to crush his first mate's skull, built over the years he'd lived.

"Hey… Captain?" Nami asked timidly.

Zoro and Luffy paused in their squabble, "What?"

"What's that beautiful necklace on your neck?" she gushed, Maybe it could be worth something…

Luffy stopped breathing for a moment. I know… I know this tone of voice! In all of the worlds that Nami was enslaved by Arlong, she always took an interest in his necklace, and tried to have a go at stealing it. In those worlds, the only way she wouldn't touch it was through fear, but he didn't want to do that.

"…It's… personal," he put a solemn look on his face, to try and mask his shame at not being able to tell her.

"Oh… Okay," Nami said lamely, before walking back into her dinghy.

When she was out of earshot, Zoro interrogated his captain, "Why didn't you tell her about your pendant? You told me,"

Luffy looked at his first mate sideways, and sighed, "I didn't tell you everything, and I won't tell you yet. But one thing is for sure," he turned to where Nami disappeared into her dinghy, "She cannot be trusted. Not yet,"

Zoro raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

After a while, his friend got off of him and curled up with his sword across the dinghy like a dragon guarding treasure. Within 5 seconds, he was snoring. Luffy chuckled at the sight, and looked at the shimmering sea.

He closed his eyes and slept.

0-o-0

He was in a dark place. Very dark. Was it the cave where he met Norzi? No… It couldn't be. There were no reflective lights. It was too dark. Luffy frowned, and crouched lower, keeping his center of gravity lower. It was too dark to be the Void, so what could it be?

All of a sudden, the darkness burst into flames, and he was running towards his brother's execution stand in Marineford. The Marines had found out who Ace's father was earlier on, and decided to execute him young. Luffy, however, couldn't allow that.

There was no one there to help him. Just him, against all of Marineford. This time, the Whitebeard Pirates weren't there to help him.

He dodged strings from Doflamingo, and blocked a cut from Mihawk's sword. Mihawk… The man looked like he didn't even want to be here. All of his swings were half-hearted and sloppy, yet still graceful, and wholesome.

He had an inkling that this execution was being broadcasted to the entire world, but he didn't care anymore. Ace was looking at Luffy like he didn't want his brother to be there, and was crying out, "Leave me be! Leave me be!" and other gibberish that shouldn't be said.

Luffy lost all sense of reality and barely registered that this was a dream before yelling back to him, "Shut up Ace! You're my brother! OF COURSE, I'M GONNA SAVE YOU!"

Luffy let out a war cry and let loose a wave of crushing Conqueror's Haki, that took out ¾ of the Marines' forces.

Luffy ran up to the execution stand and rocketed himself up there with the help of his Devil Fruit. One last Boss to beat. Sengoku.

The man shifted into his Golden Buddha form and blinded Luffy with its light. Luffy shrieked and fell back, unable to see Ace's growing horror, as Sengoku prepared to crush him with one big, golden fist.

The punch didn't come.

Ace got free.

Ace died.

"ACE!"

0-o-0

Luffy woke up in a sweat, panting and breathing heavily, as the vivid dream continued to replay in his mind. He clutched his pendant like a lifeline, and in some ways, it actually was. When you Regress into so many Worlds, the line between one and another blurs. The pendant keeps them clear. But there was one thing he wondered: How long would that last?

Luffy exhaled and turned to the stars shining in the sky, with no moon to accompany them, and sang.

"Gather up… all of the crew…" one tear.

"It's time to ship out… Bink's Brew…" two tears.

"Riding on… the sea waves…" an audible sob.

"The wind's… our only… guide…" a silent scream.

He couldn't fall back asleep after that.

AN: So, good news, I'm still alive, little bit of writer's block, I got psyched up to write when I realized the amount of love and reviews this story got in the span of two days. Really awesome, you guys, keep the love going. (Because of that I wrote 4,000 words in the span of 3-4 hours, and for someone like me, that's a lot.). I need motivation, thank you! Tell me if you're confused with the way I'm writing, I tend to rant a lot when I write, because my train of thought is generally really haywire. Tell me if everything's clear enough, tell me if it's too dark, just basically, tell me what I can do better and what I can change. Thank you, and good day!

~~OracleNorZi (Can you see the parallels?)