Disclaimer:I do not own One Piece or anything related. Just the idea

Special thanks to my beta's Kerennie and ScarletteSorceress for helping me get the story to how it is now.

Chapter 1: Memories part 1

"You wouldn't stand a chance against Mr. 0! He's one of the seven Warlords of the Sea! There's no way you can beat Crocodile!" cried a voice in the back of a memory that seemed so long ago now. Luffy's memories, the point at the middle of when everything seemed to point to this exact moment. The beginning having been much, much earlier.

"Ace!" Came Luffy's cry in response to his own, determination still very much present and unwavering even as the red, hot heat grew and drew closer. She didn't hear the old man order his men to follow her as another thought crossed her mind. Then with a flash of white as though to recall a certain point that led to this moment.

Flashback:

At Whiskey Peak, an island that has huge mountains that look like cactus's. The buildings all mainly had flat rooftops, and many of them had been destroyed from a recent fight – as can be discerned from the smoke still rising from the rubbles, slowly calming into nothingness. It's the middle of the night as the only sounds were the soft splashes of waves and all seemed to be calm and quiet. In between some of the intact buildings, you could see the silhouettes of four people in an alley of the only city/town found upon the small island. Upon closer inspection, their identities are easily distinguishable. One had short green hair with three swords sitting by some crates against one wall. Another was a woman with blue hair tied up in a ponytail sitting on some hay in the back and middle of the group, next was another young woman with short orange hair and an awesome fashion sense and a thing for money as you hear her offer to protect the other woman for a billion berries. Beside that girl is the final person. Another young lady, short - shoulder length black hair, a straw hat on her head, comfortable looking short blue jean shorts and red button up sleeveless shirt. Looking closely, her face matches the wanted poster for Monkey D. Luffy – Captain of the Straw Hat pirates. The others aren't still publicly known to the world but the names of the people in the group is easy to learn. Nami, the girl with orange hair and also the crew's navigator, Vivi – whom we learned is a princess in need of some major help. Then there is Zoro, the green haired swordsman with a thing for alcohol and sleep.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against Mr. 0! He's one of the seven Warlords of the Sea! There's no way you can beat Crocodile!" Vivi shouted in indignation, not believing for a second these pirates could beat said man. Though… her attempt to not say a word about had completely back fired and…

"You just had to say it…" Zoro grunted out as Luffy started laughing at Nami. While said navigator tried to strangle Vivi in anger as she yelled at the princess for telling them what she didn't want to hear.

"Oooo! A warlord! Sounds like fun!" Luffy grined widely as she looked to her first mate with excitement. Said green haired swordsman grinned as well in agreement. Already Luffy could feel the adventure boiling under her skin as she thought of the warlord and what it would take to meet him, and eventually kick his ass and make him regret messing with her friend. "Sounds like an interesting fellow huh?"

"Always wanted to know what the Seven Warlords were like. Lucky we get to fight one so soon." Zoro added as Nami cried in indignation at the easy going manner of her two friends. Luffy watched blankly as her navigator walked away with a huff, not at all concerned. She knew Nami wouldn't really leave them… but the fact that the otter and pigion bird-thing (Luffy's word not mine) had drawn the three of their faces brought her back with a growl making Luffy grin and laugh at her antics.

"We are so screwed now because of you! Why did you have to say something huh?!" Nami yelled shaking Vivi angrily, said princess just cried in apology against Nami's attacks again. Only a moment later, the navigator got depressed in the corner while Vivi tried to console her with money.

"Don't worry about it. Nami'll get over it soon enough and be back on her feet." Luffy assured their new friend easily enough. Just how could Nami not see the adventure they were going to be on? Luffy figured she was just upset because she got seen last and had wanted to be noticed first before Zoro and Luffy. Turning away from the dramatic woman, Luffy looked up at the sky eagerly as her hands held onto her ankles relaxed. "I just wanna know what this guy looks like if he's got a name like Crocodile." Luffy states with her trademark grin at the thought of adventure. Seriously… what would a guy like that look like? It was definitely a funny name… maybe this warlord was actually a crocodile that could stand on two legs better than the rest. Zoro was also taking it rather well but Nami could chalk those two up as insane any day of the week.

Nami totally believed that her crewmates had no real sense of danger and that just made her even more depressed, much to Luffy's oblivious and optimistic lack of noticing. After that, Igaram came and met with them – calming Nami in the process somehow – talking about taking Vivi home. Luffy had no problem taking her home and welcomed the princess onto their ship with ease, much to Nami's dismay. Then again, Nami wouldn't expect anything less from Luffy. Knowing her, Luffy was just looking for something to do and fighting on the way there just made it all the better.

Igaram came up with the decoy strategy and set out to sea. Just as everything seemed to be going good, the ship that Igaram was on got blown up, causing everyone to stare in shock and surprise. It took a minute, but when Vivi started screaming for her friend, Luffy and Nami held the weeping girl who was screaming about awful pirates and the cruelty of them.

While Nami spoke to the princess, Luffy glared at the burning ship, any joyous behavior gone and temporarily forgotten as a very real threat just appeared and was somewhere close enough to hurt her friends. Anger very evident in the young captains eyes as she felt and heard Vivi cry in indignation and pain. Finally, Luffy spoke up in all seriousness for Vivi to hear and understand. "Vivi, we may be pirates, but you can trust us. Trust me… I'll kick the ass of the person responsible for everything. I promise." With that said, Luffy let go of Vivi and picked up her hat, which had blown off her head with the explosion, with a growl of anger.

Luffy knew where Zoro had gone, she heard him say it as he ran ahead to prepare the ship. This wasn't time to play around, they needed to get out of there and fast. Luffy ran to the building where they had been treated so nicely. As soon as Vivi had calmed down, Nami took Vivi to the Merry. Zoro had already done most of the preparations to leave, now they just needed to get their friends and book it out of there.

Finding them still asleep, Luffy didn't bother to shake them awake, they were in too much of a hurry. So she did the next best thing and dragged their lazy butts from building. Running down the street to the ship, Luffy didn't seem to care as Usopp complained about his nose being ripped off or that Sanji was swooning behind her because she was taking him to the city of love by force… or something like that. Luffy on the other hand, she was too focused, too rushed to get her friends to safety. She would protect them no matter what.

By the time she stopped at the ship, Luffy checked to make sure everything was good before she looked back to see that Usopp was still asleep and Sanji now had hearts for eyes. "They're still asleep? Come on guys we don't have all night. Nami says we gotta go now."

Sanji immediately gets up, twirling around his beautiful captain a few dozen times. "Of course my lovely captain! Anything for you!" he states sweetly before turning to his companion on the ground. "Usopp get up! You're keeping our captain and navigator waiting long enough!" Sanji yelled kicking Usopp on his head as he fixed his clothes. Though he soon realized that they were leaving… therefore making the cook and sniper beg to stay just one more day. A punch from Nami fixed the entire misunderstanding without complaint.

All set and ready to sail, the ship made off just as dawn began to rise over the horizon. Luffy was just beginning to feel the tension roll off her shoulders as she looked around. Her friends were all there, they were together and the fog that had covered the place helped to nicely cover their departure.

Nami was relieved that the sun was rising from the smile and deep breath of relief she made. Luffy on the other hand didn't mind one little bit, she liked looking at the fog as it held mystery behind it's cloak. Plus, it brought back memories of her childhood. So many things happened during or after a fog back then, both good and bad. Now to Luffy, a fog in this sense could've been both the actual current fog or the fog that mentally clouded someone's senses… until they realized that it was like a dream, or a nightmare, and during waking hours trying to make the day go better.

"I'm just glad we got away from the people who were chasing us."

Keeping an eye on the water, Nami responded without hesitating. "That's for sure." No one seemed to realize just yet who was talking.

"With all this fog, we need to be careful to avoid the rocks and reefs."

Still confident in her ability, Nami responded with confidence in her voice. "I'll handle it. Don't worry." It took a moment before Nami looked to Luffy in confusion since she was right beside her. "Wait a sec… Did you…?" she asked unsure. Luffy looked back to Nami unsure as well, arms crossed and relaxed, she didn't feel like anything was wrong and yet… she didn't say anything at all so she shook her head. "Uh… no…" was her slow response before everyone on deck turned to look behind them at the source of the voice, getting the surprise of their life… for the day at least.

Seeing a lady in a cowboy hat, Luffy watched her as the lady complemented the ship. Was she an enemy or someone else just wanting a ride? Though, seeing as the mystery lady got there without anyone knowing about it, that fact alone set Luffy on edge along with everyone else. Frowning, Luffy pointed and demanded to know just what was going on, not liking be left in the dark. Especially if the cause was strangers that she didn't even know if they were dangerous or not. "What are you doing on my ship? How did you get here? Who are you?!" she demanded, fully prepared to fight if that's what it took to clear up her confusion.

Vivi seemed to take control of the situation as she named just who mystery lady was – Ms. All Sunday, the boss's partner. Luffy was trying to understand the situation and if she needed to fight the lady without saying much in response. Well at least that was what she had planned until her hat went flying and the lady grabbed it. Luffy glowered at the woman and didn't hesitate to stretch her arm and grab her hat back. "Keep your hands off my hat. Take or even touch my hat again and I'll kick your ass, lady." Luffy grumbled, glaring at the woman who dared to take her hat.

After the lady tried to make the crew go a different route that wasn't where this Little Garden place was, Luffy had enough of the woman. Frowning, Luffy ignored any words that were being discussed, focused on the one thing that was directing her crew to where they didn't need to go. Grabbing the babble in Vivi's hand, she threw the eternal pose into the ocean without a single moment of hesitation. Dodging Nami's kick, Luffy stared at the black haired woman. The fact that Luffy was upset wasn't lost on anyone present either. "You aren't the one who decides where this ship goes." She stated bluntly, daring the woman to tell her to do otherwise.

Luffy didn't work this hard to become a captain for nothing. She trained and prepared herself for this, finding her friends and going on an adventure to the end where they could reach and achieve their dreams. She wasn't going to let anyone else dictate what or where Luffy should do or go. She's the captain, not some lady who just happened to hitch an unwelcomed ride on her ship.

Ms. All Sunday finally apologized but Luffy didn't care, she didn't like her for two reasons. First, she took Luffy's treasured hat and second, she killed the funny old guy. So Ms. All Sunday was on Luffy's hate list officially now.

That was several weeks ago. Since then, they had gone to Little Garden, battled the Mr. 3 dude and the cookie girl – according to Luffy's memory – who loved to make Luffy mad with the stupid paint traps the girl put on her every time Luffy tried to help her friends. The only thing Luffy really cared to remember was that she and Usopp had managed to rescue their friends and even helped save the giants from dying. Well… Giant since at the time they thought the other one got killed during their duel due to tampering. Zoro's and Sanji's rivalry managed to get them plenty of food for their travels until they got to Alabasta… at least it would've if it wasn't discovered that Nami was sick and in major need of a doctor.

It was mid-day as Luffy sat on a, worried for her friend, in their room trying to do something to help Nami feel better. They were watching out for any nearby islands that could possibly have a doctor to help. In all honesty, Luffy was a little worried that maybe it was her fault for being tricked so many times by the cookie girl, that Nami got sick. She had asked Sanji to make some tea for Nami, even some of Luffy's favorite food to give to Nami. However, Sanji only agreed to the tea because he didn't want to give something to Nami that could make her condition worse. Instead, he made chicken broth to try and bring down Nami's fever – for once not being an overly dramatic love puppy and instead being an overly dramatic crybaby of a love puppy to being serious and helpful in any way he can. Then when he did what he could – he returned to being a crybaby.

End Flashback

Luffy watched in rising frustration as the large, magma fist drew near – while she was still running and reaching for Ace. Then, something, or rather someone, intercepted the magma fist – blue flames encircling the magma and flaming feathers gently gliding through the air. The owner of said flames looked back to Luffy with a natural, lazy droopy eyes that were more than aware, as though unfazed by the molten attack he just blocked.

You all probably hate me right now as yet again, I give you a cliffy to enjoy and stew over. If you are new to my stories, you are in for a treat, or not... depends how you look at it. If you have read my stories before, you'll know that I tend to leave you in suspense... A LOT. Also, I will admit that I have a hard time updating stories at a set schedule as my stories are motivationally written and if I'm not motivated to write, I just can't write all that well - or that fast. Which is disappointing to everyone, including me, but it's the sad unfortunate truth I live with daily *cries* HOWEVER, I will try and aim for once a week. I got finals to study for and essays to write -already seriously procrastinating in the essay part... due Monday... crap-

Anyway, I'm writing this as quickly as I can while I'm still motivated to write it. That way I can work on the stories that I have minimal motivation for, to please my loyal readers for those stories.

Ah, before I forget. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed to my prolog, you encouraged me to write this chapter as quickly as I did. Please leave a review. If you have ideas you would like to share, please share them. I'm all ears. A character you want to see/hear about/from? Let me know and perhaps you can tell me how to include them, that way even if I haven't thought to include them in the story, I don't have to do all the thinking for including the character you request.

Thanks for reading,

AceAyane