Summary: The crew's opinions, shenanigans, and being sus about his relationship with their cook
A/N: If you're wondering why Dragon knew Luffy was already on his journey to be a pirate and be free, well, you can't underestimate the gossip of the Revolutionary Army
"That was a good nap." The straw hat wearing young teen rolled his head, stopping as he feels his rubbery neck crack. He had only discovered he had a devil fruit when he had accidently fallen into the sea whilst on a mission in the East Blue (and also encountering a future crew mate).
Two weak pirates were staring at him, either disbelieving or irritated; Luffy could care less. "Uhh, who're you?"
"NO, WHO'RE YOU?!" 'Woah, dorks.' Luffy commented in his head. His line of sight turns to the man he probably knocked out while jumping out of the wooden barrel.
"Why the hell is he sleeping on the floor? He looks injured, you two are so heartless to leave him like that." The straw hat wearing teen teases with his blunt tone, stepping out of the already broken barrel. A sword is positioned in front of his face along with a sharp 'shing' noise.
His round eyes narrowed at the pointed blade, "Are you toying with us?! We're pirates, you brat!" The one with the blue tattoo remarked, his eye brow twitching with agitation.
"Hey, pinkie. Nice color scheme, is there any food around?" The boy whose height was just above Luffy's shoulders was staring at him wide-eyed, his brows wrinkling with jaw slacked.
"Listen when people are-" He stopped mid-way when a silver blur passed his cheek, suddenly feeling a stinging sensation. His companion shrieked at the line of blood dripping down his face.
"I'm hungry. Talk later." The blond guy felt around his waist for his sword only for his eyes to drift to the kid who had it in his hands, broken into three pieces; the piece he used to threaten the guy with the tattoo was the tip.
"HEY! Give that-" The blond pirate froze when the teen had given him an icy stare. Shutting him up for now and he knows he just pissed his pants.
"Who- Who're you?!"
"Ah, my name is Luffy. I have a bit of a memory problem so don't bother introducing yourself to me, I'll just forget your name."
"Don't bother with the introduction, I'm bad at memorizing names."
Coby recognizes those lines, but- But who was this?
Zoro's first impression of the young teen he calls captain was that; what was a kid with two scars on his face standing in front of him and immediately decides to blackmail him into joining his crew while another kid with pink hair is trying to untie the tight ropes around his wrists and waist.
Zoro knows, and he can tell. Something happened to this guy, those eyes; they were so empty lightless. Something at the back of his mind nagging at him; telling him that the small smile on this teen's face was meant to be more.
(Like a wide grin, perhaps)
Helmeppo was downright terrified of this guy. Sure, he had grown fearful when he had just landed in front of him out of nowhere and grabbed him hostage but when he had entered his room. (Which was awfully bright and pink but hey, it felt cozy)
There was one corner filled to the brim with documents and paperwork meant for 'Axe-Hand' Morgan yet it was sitting in the corner of Helmeppo's room. There were pens on the ground a few inches away from the stacks of paper.
Luffy connected the dots. And he was downright furious.
Can this count as child labor? Or child abuse? Maybe both, the young pirate would seriously prefer if it was both and he could beat the shit out of Axe-Hand even more.
Turning his gaze back to the three swords he had first saw, "I'll finish this one first." His eyes turning back to the passed-out blond in his arms, "Yeah, I'm definitely going to have Coby file child abuse against that bitch." (And he'll make sure he gets the money from it too.)
Zoro braced himself for the pain of bullets digging into his skin, but a grunt from a newly-acquainted companion stands in the way with his arms out-stretched; shielding both the pink-haired boy and the green-haired bounty hunter.
"What do you-?!"
"Luffy-san!"
A mean smirk lifts one corner of his mouth, "That doesn't work!" The steel rounds rebound and shoot back towards them. Although missing completely; one bullet zoomed past Axe-Hand.
The mean little smirk is the only thing they'll remember after that.
Nami's reaction was... Indifferent.
For one, she suspects this guy to have been some sort of victim of some sort of crime or had been caught between crossfire. Emphasis on the 'fire' if you took a good look at the remaining scar on his face. (To be honest; it seemed unfair that the world had already wronged him too.)
But then again, he was just going to be another guy she was going to use her charms on. (He wasn't interested in her).
He was just going to be a guy foolishly thinking she'll be there for the rest of his life. (He saw right pass her façade and decided to dig).
He was just-
"I'LL ONLY SAY THIS ONCE, IDIOT! YOU'RE MY FRIEND, AND IF ANYONE TRIES TO LAY THEIR HANDS ON YOU AGAIN... THEY'RE GOING TO ANSWER TO ME! THAT GOES THE SAME TO ALL OF YOU!"
(Luffy has no clue as to why Usopp was so familiar. Why his appearance and bizarre marksmanship was already enough to make his head contort in pain, but he endures. He had too. Since an enemy pirate was holding a dear friend hostage.)
Sanji doesn't know if he should kick Egao (he prefers the undercover name, it meant something that Luffy usually never had on his face.) in the face for hurting his father figure or hug the living daylights out of him because he did come back for him. After so many years (he knows it wasn't even that much, but if you loved the guy the same way he did then you would suffer so much just by being away from him) a part.
How they met was going to be a completely different story, quite literally.
(A/N: Of course, the main couple gets their own separate story, shuddup)
Most of the Baratie's staff had bet Sanji's 'mysterious' lover was the same guy with the fancy red suit coming in three times a month two years ago but had suddenly stopped visiting when Sanji had some 'mysterious' scratch marks on his back. (Zeff asks about the mystery lover from time to time and to their surprise; Sanji answers. Not changing the subject or yelling at the Owner.)
"You've caught a good one. Eggplant." Zeff comments with his usually gruffness as Luffy continued to charge at Don Krieg head on, Sanji was taken off guard by the comment and blush crept to his cheeks.
"You should take note of what he does. Fighting with his spear forward head on, unlike a certain moron who's holding back for stupid reasons."
Ace and Sabo were just about to leave Drum Island after investigating some rumors (Teach the bastard) about a traitor that had murdered their brother. The cloaked and freckled young man stared up at the endlessly falling snow, glaring at the sky. Sabo sighs at his actions; He's doing the same thing he did after their little brother's Lu's death.
Then, suddenly- cannon fire was heard through the air.
Sabo immediately tensed, had another fight instigate? Was it the revolutionaries this time? (Sabo had joined them eight years ago, because screw the world government. That, and he wants to get back at the Celestial Dragon who shot his brother Lu down) What happened-
"Uhh, Sabo... Are these...sakura petals?" Ace let the pink 'leaf' land on his hand, the blond brother hurried to his side to also watch the transforming snow.
He was right...
It was pink.
And it was breath-taking.
Sabo snaps a picture with the baby den den mushi.
How Lu would've loved this view...
Unbeknown to him, a familiar straw hat-wearing teen holding a cook's hand happily stared at the falling sakura petals.
Chopper's old man was right; this was a cure-
"Ngh-!" His ebony brown eyes dilated in pain, his foot losing balance and out of sheer reflex; Sanji steps up to hold him.
"L-Luffy?!" Their navigator was swiftly at their captain's side, her steady arms holding him up by his torso.
"Oi oi, this is the wrong time for you to be having those migraines!" Sanji panicked; they didn't have any pain killers!
"HE HAD A MIGRAINE?" The new reindeer friend had shrieked out in horror.
"A lot... Okay- aghk..." Luffy confirms before smacking his lips with his hands. Feeling himself about to throw up.
"SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR!" The youngest member fumbled and flailed about.
"WE THOUGHT YOU WERE THE DOCTOR!" The entirety of the crew yelled at the exact same time, Sanji rubbing circles against Luffy's back; apparently already having lurched the sickness away for now.
"W-wah! Luffy!" Their cook expertly massaging their captain's forehead while their newly appointed doctor started his checkup. The comical vibe replaced with worry as they gathered around Straw Hat Luffy.
Luffy ran.
Ran away from the flames as fast as he could. As fast as his legs could go. As far away as possi-
"Hey! Calm down! It's me!" Fire Fist turned his gaze to him, that scowl seemed so familiar but- Luffy could only focus on the hot, raging flames he was emitting.
"Oi, matte! He doesn't do well with fire!" Luffy, although with difficulty, got his breathing under control after hearing Chopper's voice. Even if the time with him was still short, he already knew what he could and couldn't handle.
"Doesn't do well with fire, huh...? Understandable!" The second division commander repeated, turning back to his fight against the smoke logia marine trying to capture all of the pirates in the designated area.
"Hiken-san-"
"We'll talk this through, I'm sorry if I gave you a scare Lu. You go on ahead! I'll hold them off!" Ace needed to cut him off, hearing 'Hiken-san' instead of 'Ace' felt too unbearable.
"Move! Move! Move!" The straw hat captain picked up his foot from the ground again, dashing forward to the direction of their beloved ship Merry.
"Are you going to spill the beans or do I have to tell the others about my working theory?" Sanji caught up with his captain, indirectly asking for permission to reveal crucial information about him.
"I will. Chopper, you told the others about my condition, right?" The reindeer nodded as he galloped, the crew were making their share of nervous noises. "I think- No. I know that he's my big brother... Gosh, what was all that for?! Freezing up at the sight of fire of all things?!" Luffy grabbed his hair, as if to pull it out of his scalp out of sheer embarrassment. His older brother had a fire-based fruit and his little brother is utterly terrified of that element of nature?!
"Eheh... you can complain about that later..."
It wasn't embarrassing that he got lost. His crew might've found out about his absence now. No, what he was still embarrassed about was that he had frozen all over in front of fire. Would Hiken be mad? Or maybe Hiken was just mistaking him for someone else? Maybe he was! He seemed polite and all but rubber would melt in fire and he doesn't think his haki is ready to face such an adversary just yet.
Sitting on the barrel he had been tasked to carry, his nails digging into his skin as he panicked when; "Geez, I guess my effort of holding those marines back were a waste." A shadow loomed over him and a figure jumped down from the roof of the small building.
"I-… Uhm..." Luffy was sitting cross-legged on the barrel now. Unsure of how to face this man standing in front of him, who had so many memories of them together; Luffy hopes that in those memories burned into Hiken's head was that he was happy and knew exactly what he dreamed of being.
"Luffy, what's wrong? It's not like you to be quiet...?" Ace feared the worst, when they first saw the bounty poster of the rookie pirate; 'Straw Hat' Luffy. Sabo and him freaked the fuck out. Sabo asked around the revolutionaries whilst Ace questioned the Whitebeards. In conclusion; their baby brother had survived and lived off somewhere they didn't know.
"I- I know that...! Don't tell me." Luffy, uncharacteristically (in Ace's eyes), stutters through his words. How was he meant to break this whole situation down to this man? How was he going to say that he has no idea on who he is to him besides the fact that he might be his brother from his feint memory.
"...You know, there were rumors going around that Straw Hat Luffy is an amnesiac." The young captain shrunk back; Fire Fist's eyes slightly widened.
"Lu...?" 'So that's where my nickname came from...' Ace could feel his world crashing down, those once bright brown eyes turning away from him; reflecting unnecessary shame-
He can't let those eyes shut him out, he can't let Luffy slip away again-
"It doesn't matter!" Ace leaned forward and grabbed his younger brother's hand. Holding it firmly, it was still so small in his.
"It doesn't matter!" The straw hat captain yells at the top of his lungs, something he usually never does (but has a feeling he always did).
The two brothers stared at each other dumbfounded. A watery smile makes its way to Ace's face.
Luffy gives him a small smile.
"I don't think I'll ever remember, but who's to say I can't make new memories?"