DISCLAIMER: EIICHIRO ODA OWNS ONE PIECE, I OWN THIS STORY

Luffy grazed a hand against the wooden railing of the Merry and felt a shudder pass through him. This ship… he had sailed on it far and wide, and in some worlds, he sailed with her all the way till the end of the Grand Line, although… He eyed the ship appraisingly.

We never made it to Laugh Tale with her, did we? He grimaced.

In every single world he's been in, even if he somehow found out a way for Merry to survive, she never, never lasted long enough to make it to Laugh Tale with him.

Sometimes she was gunned down. Other times, she just carried too much. Honestly, Luffy mused, The kindest fate I've seen for her was when we burned her down ourself, and that's saying something.

Oh well, he shook his head and smiled, We're going to Laugh Tale with her now.

All of a sudden, his 'moment' was broken when he heard Zoro—Zoro—skipping around—skipping—and humming Bink's Brew.

For the first time in a very long while, Luffy felt genuine fear grip his heart, "Zoro?" he ventured cautiously, laying a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Zoro stilled, before flipping around on his heel and getting up in Luffy's face, "All we need to get is the chef and then you," he pointed to Luffy, "Are going to teach me Haki!" he crowed.

Luffy's brain stalled for a moment, "Huh." He said dumbly, "I wasn't expecting you to actually remember that."

Zoro ignored what he said and resumed his, admittedly terrifying, humming.

Luffy stared after Zoro for a little before turning around and muttering to himself, "This is Zoro… My Zoro… No matter what, he's not actually going to kill us, right?" he looked to where Zoro was, sharpening his swords and humming Bink's Brew happily, "RIGHT?!"

"Luffy?"

"AH! WHO'S THERE?!" Luffy whipped around, and was met with Usopp's confused face.

"You, okay?" he questioned, understandably concerned.

Luffy let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, "Oh… Thank god it's you, Usopp…"

"Wha-?"

"Come on. We need to draw the flag symbol." Luffy grabbed Usopp's arm and dragged him towards the frontal portion of the deck.

"Wait, what?" Usopp sputtered as Luffy threw a black tarp over his head.

"It's gotta be an awesome skull and crossbones, don't forget to make it smile, and it's gotta have a straw hat." Luffy instructed, handing over the necessary colors and painting material.

Usopp looked at Luffy quizzically, setting the tarp up on the ground, "Why don't you paint the flag yourself?"

Luffy hummed and tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Imagine a blind baby trying to draw a skull and crossbones. How do you think that looks?"

Usopp shuddered, "Is that how bad your drawing is?"

Luffy shook his head, "Nope, just multiply the disgust by three, and you would get a fraction of how terrible I am.". I think my drawing ability just got worse over the years… he thought morosely.

Usopp convulsed, and Luffy swore he saw a line of drool seep out the corner of his mouth, "Well, thankfully, you have the great CAPTAIN USOPP! Here to help you!" Usopp said proudly.

Luffy smiled brightly, "Thanks Usopp!".

Usopp smirked, before pausing, "Oh, and also, do you mind if I add something to the flag? Just to make it look more awesome, I promise. It's nothing bad. Just…" he looked at the tarp contemplatively, "A little spicing up, if you get what I'm saying."

Luffy nodded slowly, "Sure. Surprise me. But! If it's anything that I find not quite…" he searched for the word, "Cool enough for our crew, 'cuz we are going to be awesome, I will not hesitate to tear it to shreds." Luffy nodded decisively.

Usopp sighed exasperatedly, and shook his head from side to side, "Luffy, Luffy, Luffy." He said, only a tad condescendingly, "What makes you think it'll be anything less than cool?"

Luffy's eyes brightened, and his face shifted to perform the forbidden act of smiling-brighter-than-the-sun. "Thanks, Usopp!" he cheered.

"Hey, Nami!" he walked to where she was in her room, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Nami looked at him, understandably surprised, and put her pen down, "Yeah? What is it that you need?"

Luffy took in a deep breath, "If you're uncomfy or anything, you know you can tell me, right?" he said calmly, "I'm your captain, it's kind of my job to make sure that on this ship, you feel like you're at home."

Nami's eyes widened, and Luffy was sure he saw the sheen of tears in them, but he couldn't confirm it because she closed her eyes at that moment. When she opened them again, there was a distinct hardness to them that wasn't there before.

"It is fine, Luffy. I am fine." I am not going to be here much longer anyways, was left unsaid.

Luffy understood the insinuation, but didn't comment on it, "Okay. I'll be up on deck if you need me." He said succinctly.

Once he was up on the deck, he couldn't help but wonder, Did I make things worse?

Not for the first time, he wished he could see his crewmates' thoughts. But that would actually make things worse. Luffy repressed a groan, I do not need a repeat of that timeline.

He looked at Merry's figurehead in longing, before stretching his arms out and rocketing towards her, "Oh, how I've missed you, Merry…" he murmured, savoring the feeling of sitting on the figurehead, "This time, I'll make sure that we sail to Laugh Tale together."

And with that lingering conviction in his mindset, he closed his eyes and meditated, stretching his Observation Haki thin over the entire boat, and slowly creeping it farther and farther away. In one of his lifetimes, he met someone who was rather proficient in Haki. Even more so than Rayleigh-san.

Out of curiosity, he invited her to join his crew, and she accepted. During her time on the crew, everyone turned into Haki monsters. One of the things she could do, was spread her Observation in a general direction, or launch it like a catapult.

For example, if you were on top of a building 3 miles away from a battlefield, but you wanted to know what was on the battlefield, she could spread her observation Haki to cover the battlefield, almost like the Glare-Glare Fruit, but she would be forsaking her Observation near her, and even then, she'd only get hazy pictures of the battlefield down below.

He realized in later regressions that in that particular timeline she was part of his crew, she had survived the volcano on her island erupting and destroying everything in its path. Although, that timeline was special. There was no chance of finding her now, even on the off chance that she is alive.

I send you my condolences Kaira, Luffy thought, subdued, as he pulled his hat over his eyes.

Then, his range of Observation hit something, and he frowned. The rock he could understand but the two presences behind it? And why are they so familiar…

Oh. Luffy realized belatedly, It's them.

Then, he abruptly got up and proceeded to find their exact location, before stretching out his arms and rocketing towards the rock as fast as he could. All the while, Usopp was incredulously watching him.

"I didn't even get to show him the flag…" he said glumly, looking at the now painted black tarp with a forlorn look.

Zoro hummed and gave the painted tarp, soon-to-be flag an appraising eye, "Even if he didn't see it, I'm sure that he'll like it when you do show it to him."

"You think so?" Usopp asked hopefully, laying the soon-to-be flag out to dry. His smile was positively beaming when Zoro gave a curt nod in response.

"Where do you think he went?" Usopp queried, tinkering with his slingshot and messing with the tautness of the rubber.

Zoro just shrugged and made a noncommittal noise from the back of his throat, "It doesn't matter where he went, it only matters when he'll come back, because I'm about 100% sure that everyone in this sea is way too weak for him." He started grinning, "That's why we're going to the Grand Line, and that's also why he's going to teach us Haki." Zoro began chuckling darkly, "Just one more crewmate to go."

And the humming started up again. Understandably distressed from the less-than-expected turn the conversation took, Usopp scooted away from Zoro and tinkered with his slingshot way on the other side of the ship.

Nami chose that moment to show her face on the deck, "Hey, Luffy, I need to…" she paused, taking in the rather empty environment of the ship around her, "…talk to you about something…" she finished lamely.

"Where's Luffy?" she asked.

Zoro shrugged, and went back to polishing his sword and humming Bink's Brew only slightly deranged-like.

Then Luffy rocketed his way back to the ship at that exact moment, crashed into Nami, and somehow carried two sopping wet individuals kicking and screaming with him. Well. Only one was kicking and screaming, but the sentiment was shared. Sort of.

"Nami!" he yelled excitedly, jamming his hat on his head, "I know where to find our cook!" he searched the deck, and when he couldn't find Nami, his smile dimmed a little, "Nami?"

"Down here stupid!" he heard a wheezing voice under him.

"Ohmigod! Nami!" Luffy gasped, and immediately got up, "Nami! Stay with me!" he grabbed her, "Don't die!"

"Nami's going to die?!" Usopp butted in, and then the dude that was kicking and screaming at Luffy the entire time went silent before crying out, "Nami-aneki's going to die?!"

"OH, WOULD YOU ALL SHUT UP, I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!" Nami roared, grabbing their heads and smashing them together, but the effect was a little belied by the fact that Luffy was made of rubber.

"And you, Luffy!" she pointed accusingly at her captain, "What are these guys doing here?! Don't tell me you want to recruit them!"

Luffy gasped and shook his head vehemently, "No way!"

"Yeah! What he said! Me and Yosaku are bounty hunters through and through!" the man introduced, "My name's Johnny, by the way."

"Well then, Johnny," Nami ground her teeth together, "Mind telling me what you did to have our captain gain an interest in you?"

Johnny shrugged, "Beats me. Yosaku was dying from some mystery sea sickness, and I was trying to get him back to health, but then that guy comes and destroys the rock we were hiding behind, and then drags us onto his ship."

Nami turned her attention to Luffy, and was immediately attacked by puppy-dog eyes, "It was an accident?" he offered, tears brimming in his eyes. Nami's resolute will wavered for a moment, before it set strong again. Sensing that he was losing the argument, Luffy groaned and pointed at who Nami presumed to be Yosaku.

"That guy has scurvy. Also, they know where our cook is, so I couldn't just let them go."

"Johnny? Yosaku? What are you guys doing here?" Zoro chose this time to appear and question them.

"Zoro-aniki!" Johnny cried, "What are you doing on a pirate ship? Are they taking you hostage?!"

"Zoro! You know these doofuses?!" Nami screeched, veins throbbing on her forehead.

Zoro tapped his chin contemplatively and thought back to not-so-long of a time ago when he was still a bounty hunter and he met Johnny and Yosaku…

"It's a long story." He said shortly.

"Zoro-aniki stole our kill, and then we became friends." Johnny interrupted, pounding his chest pridefully.

"Well, yeah, I guess you could put it that way…" Zoro muttered, averting his eyes and sharpening his sword again.

"I got lemons!" Luffy interrupted, showing six lemons in his fingers, and giving a bright, beaming smile, "Yosaku is not going to die!" Luffy promised.

Johnny looked at him skeptically and nodded, "Because Zoro-aniki trusts you, so do I, but I'm not so sure that a bunch of lemons will do… anything…" he trailed off and watched as Yosaku immediately got up and started dancing around.

"What the f—"

"FUNKY MONKEYS!" Usopp cried, before rubbing the back of his head bashfully and explaining, "We've got to keep it for the kids, you know?"

Luffy nodded sagely, "Exactly. The kids are very important."

"Yes. They are." Usopp nodded with him.

"What the hell are you two idiots talking about?" Zoro questioned exasperatedly before turning to Yosaku, "AND SIT DOWN! You can't heal from scurvy that fast."

Almost immediately, the two calmed down and sat, "So…" Johnny stated, after a few tense moments of silence, "I heard you were looking for a cook? One that can fight? For your pirate crew?"

Luffy nodded, "Yeah, you know where the Baratie is?"

Johnny stared wide-eyed at Luffy for a moment before breathing out a short laugh, "Yeah. If it's in the last place we saw it, it's a bit more Southeast from here, maybe a bit South-ish."

Luffy stared at them for a moment before turning to Usopp, "You understand any of that?"

Usopp looked at Luffy weirdly, "Well, yeah, a bit. But that's because I'm the great CAPTAIN USOPP!" he stated pridefully, jabbing a thumb into his chest.

Luffy chuckled, "Nope. I'm the captain."

Nami groaned, "How can you idiots sail around without basic knowledge of the sea? I swear to Oda, if I weren't here, then you'd probably die, not because an enemy killed you, but because of some stupid inane reason or something." She shook her head and addressed the Bounty hunter brothers, "Tell me where we have to go. I'll navigate the ship there."

Johnny's eyes widened, "Ah! Just go that way, you should see it in a while." He pointed in the direction of where Zoro presumed their future cook would be.

"I can't wait." Zoro giggled disturbingly.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Usopp yelled, zooming up the mast, "I'm kind of scared now…"

Luffy grimaced, "That… may or may not have been my fault." Although I can't wait to see his reaction when he meets Sanji…

They sailed for a bit, before they came across a Marine ship.

Ah. Luffy remembered, I know this guy. Big head? No… Full gaudy? No, not that either…

"I am Marine Lieutenant Iron Fist Fullbody." He introduced snootily, Ah. That was what it was, Luffy nodded sagely, I came pretty close though.

"Yeah, and? What do you want?" Luffy interrupted, feeling his stomach growl in hunger, "If I have to go without food any longer, I swear, I'm going to actually end up eating someone."

He looked around, and caught the slightly pale face and horrified gazes of the newbies on his ship and on the ship in front of him.

"Ah, did I say that out loud?" he frowned, "Seems that I did. My bad!"

I actually might if things go on like this… Luffy thought before grimacing, I should really get out of that mindset.

Fullbody pointed a finger at him, and Luffy snapped to attention, "What do you want, Fullsnooty?"

Fullbody sputtered for a second before regaining his bearings, "Sink his ship. Might as well nip a pirate in the bud."

"Got it, Fullbody sir!" Grunt #1 grunted, pulling back the trigger for the cannon.

Then the cannon shot. It approached Luffy in slow motion, and he braced for a flashback. When he didn't get one, he blinked, "Huh." He commented mildly, "Well that's new."

Then the cannonball smacked him in the face and ricocheted off of him, and into an unknown direction. Luffy's head pulled backwards and backwards and backwards, taking its sweet time to stretch to its full length, blissfully unaware of the mounting horror and surprise on its opponents' faces.

"That… hurt, you klabischteimer!" Luffy growled, snapping his head back and headbutting Fullbody's ship, easily punching a hole through it with his skull.

The two ships rocked on the sea for a moment, before Luffy's head snapped back to his shoulders, "Come on. Let's go."

After they resumed their sail towards Baratie, Usopp whistled, "So… klabischteimer?"

"First gibberish that spouted into my mind." Luffy recited monotonously, no doubt having recited his reply a thousand times before, "It means nothing, insinuates nothing, and is nothing."

Usopp took a step back, "What pirate ship did I walk on?" he questioned Oda.

Luffy shot him a confused look, "You walked on mine, why?"

Usopp groaned, "Never mind, Luffy. Just… forget it."

If anything, Luffy got even more confused, but still relented.

Then the time came.

Yes Sanji! Luffy internally cheered, Time to coerce you into sailing with me to All Blue!

Then he realized the Baratie had a smoking hole in it, and he just barely stopped himself from letting out a screech of frustration, "Seriously? Again?" he whispered, not noticing the stare of eyes on him.

"Again?" Zoro muttered, furrowing his eyebrows together, "What does he mean?"

Immediately, Luffy groaned and slapped a palm to his forehead, "Well, might as well get this over with fast."

Then, he rocketed off the ship and into the Fish-themed restaurant.

"Aren't you going to go after him?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No need." Zoro muttered, "He'll come back. There's nothing that can hurt him anyways."

"What do you mean?" Yosaku asked, leaning closer, "How are you so sure that he won't be beaten up. I heard that the Baratie was full of cooks that are strong and powerful, and know how to fight."

Zoro snorted, "I'm willing to bet you, that there is no one in East Blue that can so much as touch him." Zoro clutched his swords, "At least. Not anymore."

"No one?" Johnny pestered, "You're sure about that?"

Zoro growled, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Not even Don Krieg? Or Saw Shark Arlong?" Yosaku questioned, trying to pull off a cocky stance, and failing miserably.

Zoro shook his head, "Don't know about them, but when I say no one in East Blue can so much as touch him, that means no one."

"Not even if Arlong's a fishman?" Nami challenged, "Even when Fishmen have about 20 times as much strength as any human, by part of their nature. Even when said fishmen hail from the Grand Line, no one, no one can touch him? Not even them?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow, "Again with the fishman, Nami?"

Nami shook her head, and her eyes narrowed, "Answer my question."

Zoro unsheathed his sword, "Sometimes…" Zoro took in a deep breath and stared at his reflection in the blade of his sword, "I'm not sure if Luffy's human, to begin with." Zoro sheathed his sword again, "And when I say no one in East Blue can touch him. I mean no one."

He looked her in the eye, "Not even fishmen."

For a moment, the deck was silent, but then Usopp spoke up, "To be honest, I'm like, 90% sure that he'd probably eat the fishman before they land a hit on him, if he's hungry enough."

Nami shuddered, "That makes… an uncomfortable amount of sense."

Zoro bellowed a laugh out, "Yeah, well there you have it, Nami!" he looked at her with much too knowing eyes for her to be comfortable, "Is that the answer you wanted?"

Nami swallowed, "Yeah."

Then, they stepped into the Baratie. The moment they stepped in, Mr. Lying Fist Fullsnooty, the marine, was thrown out right next to them.

"If you can't respect food, and you can't respect women, GET OUT!" A fair blonde man yelled, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He clicked his tongue and brought out a lighter, lit his cigarette and stalked away.

"Well." Usopp said lamely, "That happened."

Nami didn't bother concealing her giggles, "Yeah. That. Was awesome."

"Oh! My fair lady, my beautiful rose! What brings you, stunning flower, to our humble restaurant?" the blonde man twirled in front of Nami, got down on one knee, and took her hand tenderly between his.

For a moment, Nami was struck dumb, before the gears in her brain turned, and she got a full view of the situation, and then, Nami being Nami, fluttered her eyelashes and seduced the man in front of her to give her a free meal.

"Ah, I was just coming with my crew, to find a cook for our ship, and to eat something, we're all starving." She accentuated that with a pout, and a pat of her belly.

"Ah! I will bring you food, my sweet rose!" and he twirled off, no doubt to go cook something.

Nami sauntered towards the nearest empty table she could find and smirked, "Well, what are you waiting for? Sit down."

Usopp pointed at her and nodded his head, "You… are one sly cat."

Nami snickered, and picked up the menu to look at the food choices.

Soon after, the blonde came striding back towards their table, "Is there anything in particular that you would like, Ms…?"

Nami smiled sweetly, "Nami!"

"Ah, Nami, what a beautiful name." the blonde man swooned, "Anything in particular you would like?"

Nami tapped her chin thoughtfully and pointed to the menu, "I would like a bit of the Janamafish (AN: I literally just made that up) special for all of us, thanks," she paused, frowning.

"Is there anything wrong Miss Nami?" the blonde cook queried, writing her order down.

"Yeah." She leaned on her hand, "We're looking for our captain, he's about yea tall, wears a straw hat and a really pretty pendant around his neck, has a scar under his eye, and has kind of worrisome mood swings. You seen him?"

The blonde man blinked before scowling, "He's your captain?" he spat contemptuously, "He's the one who shot a cannon into the Baratie, and he's the captain of a wonderful woman like you?"

"Shot a cannon?" Nami's face adopted a confused look, "But we didn't even touch our ship's cannon since we got it, like, 2 days ago."

The blonde man was about to answer before Luffy's voice cut in.

"SANJIIIII!" he yelled, rocketing towards their table, "JOIN MY CREW!"

The blonde man, presumably Sanji, now, scoffed and stepped to the side, "No." he said, just verging on the edge of becoming violent, "I refuse."

Luffy got up shakily from the shattered remains of the table and pointed at Sanji, doing Hancock's signature pose, "Well I refuse your refusal!"

"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!" Sanji roared, his entire cigarette burned up in his mouth and fell from his lips.

Luffy looked down on Sanji as much as he could, despite being 8 inches shorter, "Well I said it works that way. Therefore, it does."

Sanji groaned and put his head into his hands, "You're insufferable. How many times do I have to tell you? No is no!"

Luffy opened his mouth to retort, but the door to the Baratie slammed open and a sputtering Marine came through, "Fullbody! Where's Full—" his throat made a gurgling sound and he fell forwards, bleeding from a bullet hole in his skull.

Behind him, was Gin.

"I'm hungry." He rasped, voice rusty from disuse, "Give me food."

Luffy frowned at Gin, Why does he seem… worse than before?

AN: Sorry I took so long. Minor writer's block. I didn't quite know how to shift gears from Syrup Island to Baratie, and I kind of shifted back into a passive writing style. Oof. and in general, I think I needed a break. I had a new idea for a new fanfiction, this one's Attack on Titan, by the way, and I started writing that as well as my other fanfictions, as well as my original story, and my wrist just started having trouble, so I had to stop. Once it got better, I was hit by a sudden burst of inspiration, and I finished this chapter in like, 2 days, haha. Sorry it's short for such a long wait. Hope you enjoy, though.

~~Oracle