A/N : So I'm going to try a thing, and I don't know if it'll work out when uni gets right back into full swing, but I'm going to try regardless. I'm hoping to update at least once a month until the end of the year. I don't know how well it will work with my course load and work, but I'm going to try.

Regardless, I really hope that you like this chapter. This is pretty much the first chapter that has only a small amount of actual canon content, and I'm hoping that I can come up with more as I'm trying to explore more of my AU rather than the set canon.

I couldn't help but be nervous.

Ace was known for his temper, and one of the things that pushed his button was pretty much anything to do with Luffy. So why wouldn't it be the same for either of his brothers? He had to be mad at me for not telling him about Sabo, and the fact that he was alive and I knew. I really hope that Luffy would allow me to stay aboard the ship, to stay a Straw Hat when the truth came to life and that Ace wouldn't hate me, that Sabo wouldn't hate me for keeping him from his brothers.

ASL for life, you know?

The whole crew had managed to escape to the ship, and had set sail. We were now just waiting for Ace and Sabo to catch up. I had to admit, but Smoker was a determined one. Even in the original universe, he had followed Luffy and got a promotion that was (in my opinion) well overdue just to continue to chase him, and hopefully apprehend the Straw Hatted boy.

Amidst my panicking state, I hadn't noticed Luffy bragging about his brother to the rest of the crew.

"I couldn't beat him before he ate his devil fruit, Ace is just really strong!"

Vivi was shocked, "Not even once? Even before his devil fruit?"

"Yeah! I always got my ass kicked!" Luffy threw back his head and laughed.

"The monsters brother must be one hell of a monster…" Usopp was mumbling.

"I bet I could beat him now, though!"

"That's a groundless statement." Zoro suggested, as Luffy kept laughing.

"Eh, he could put in a good show though." I spoke through my nerves, "Ace has got one hell of a brother complex, so that could be either a positive or a negative."

"HA! You'd be right about that!"

"Just who can you beat?"

Soft thuds were heard, as Luffy lost his sitting stance on the railing and tipped forward as Ace and Sabo landed, crouched where their brother had been previously seated. Probably payback for launching Ace (and maybe Sabo, I couldn't be sure but the wood chips on the bottom of his jacket made way to prove this assumption) through the restaurant.

"ACE!"

"Yo!"

"Hello!" Sabo tipped his hat in greeting, but Luffy's attention was entirely on Ace. That could be a good thing or a bad thing.

I made my way up to him and stuck my hand out, Ace and Luffy were to busy talking to really notice and the crew were interacting with Ace as well.

Sabo took my hand and shook it, grip strong and hand scarred. "Pleasure to meet you, Crow Queen."

I laughed, finding the epitaph kind of ridiculous despite having come up with it myself. "Call me Ebony, please."

"Well, Ebony, thank you."

I startled, why was he thanking me?

"Thank you for writing to me, thank you for bringing me back to my brothers."

Tears burst into my eyes at this, and I furiously wiped them away.

"I'm glad I did," I stopped, trying to will myself to continue speaking.

"But?" Sabo's eyes were really blue, I had just noticed that now.

"I really don't want to die." There. I said it, well blurted it out.

Sabo stood in silence for a moment, staring at me in mild concern and confusion before laughing as recognition came into his eyes.

Neither of us had noticed that we had garnered the attention of the rest of the crew, as they stopped in their conversations to listen to the two of us.

"Oh! You'll be fine!" Sabo clapped a hand onto my shoulder and squeezed it in reassurance. "He's not angry!"

I blushed, of course, that would be what he noticed; to be completely fair, he wasn't wrong in noticing that that was what I was worried about.

A muscled arm slung itself around my shoulders, bringing me closer towards a warm body. It was fairly obvious as to who this was, so I gave him a sharp jab to his ribs.

"Oi!"

Ace and I were eye to eye, my boots adding a little more to my height but not much.

"What was that for?"

I glared up at him, "For running off after that murderous bastard! Alone! What were you thinking?"

Sabo looked between the two of us, answering for Ace. "He probably wasn't. You know what he's like."

Groaning in frustration, I nodded. "Yeah, I know what he's like."

"Stop ganging up on me!"

Ace was honestly pouting, and Sabo still hadn't taken his top hat off.

Luffy bounded towards his brother, who still had his arm resting across my shoulders.

"Ebony, Ace! Sanji is getting snacks! Bring your friend and we can talk some more!"

"Will do, Lu."

"Of course, Captain."

"Shishishishishishishishi!"

Luffy followed the rest of the crew, bouncing like the rubber band he was. The crew had already starting leaving to go towards the kitchen.

"He doesn't recognise me, does he?" Sabo sounded sad, but understanding.

"He will don't worry." I placed a comforting hand on his arm, "He's excited to see Ace, and hasn't taken the time to really look."

"That's probably true." Sabo still looked sad, but a wry grin was breaking out across his face as he wandered off in the direction that the others had left in.

A moment of silence before Ace and I followed, my nerves becoming apparent again as my hands started to shake.

"I'm not angry." Came a whisper in my ear, the hot breath tickling me and causing me to shiver. "I'm just confused."

Ace must have noticed my hands shaking, a sure sign that I was anxious or nervous about something.

"I'm going to come clean about everything soon," I gestured towards the kitchen. "The only other people that know about me are Dragon and Sabo."

"Why those two?" I must have been hearing things, because Ace sounded jealous.

"How else was I supposed to get the Revolutionary to deliver my letter? And how else was I going to get Sabo to read it, let alone believe it enough to seek any of us out in person?"

Ace let out a deep breath, "Okay. That's fair."

He used his other arm to gesture towards the kitchen, "After you, queenie."

"Hah, alright flamehead."

As we entered the kitchen, Sanji offered me a cup of tea and I took it knowing that in the next few moments I'd probably need to walk straight back out again.

"Before we tell you how we met, the whole story at least I thought that I would tell you about me."

Zoro sat up in his chair from where he was slumped over; good. At least someone knew that this was going to be serious, and none of them would probably trust me again after this. Outliers were feared, hated, loathed for a circumstance outside of our control and I really couldn't expect it to be any different after I told them.

"What do you know about Outliers?"

There was a sharp intake of breath from around the table, even as I felt Sabo position himself behind me. Perhaps in comfort? I couldn't be too sure.

It was Nami who spoke up first, "Not a lot, only that they're supposed to be monsters of the cruellest kind."

I flinched, that hurt.

Vivi continued, "The World Government has a bounty out on any and all of them that are found, and they're to be executed on the spot. They're supposedly demons hiding in plain sight, hoping to kill unsuspecting victims, to take their souls."

I put my hands on my lap, to stop the others from noticing my hands shaking.

"There are rumours held about records being held by the World Government that prove that they once started a war on the, eh, residents of the Holy Land."

At the mention of the Holy Land, grimaces cross the faces of the ASL brothers and myself. Well, that would explain why all Outlier's were to be executed on sight, if it were true.

"They're not cruel or evil, at least the one I knew wasn't like that."

From someone who was scared of pretty much everything and everyone, Usopp's voice was quiet.

"After my mother died, I was left pretty much by myself." I couldn't help but wonder where this was leading to, "But there was an older woman who lived at the edge of town that would come and help anyone who needed it, and I really did need the help. She was kind to me and to Kaya. She was a medicine woman, I'm not sure if she was a doctor or not, but everyone knew that she was an Outlier, but no one said anything until a marine platoon came along. It didn't end well, as some of the men were drunk..."

Drunk men of power, regardless of whether they were pirates or not, wasn't always a good thing.

Usopp shuddered, as did Vivi and Nami. "She was defending a group of young girls, one moment there was blood and the next, gold dust. The marine captain took one look at her and the dust falling from her. Shot her where she stood."

"She was only trying to help." My voice came out as a whisper. That could be me; I could see it very clearly, the picture just beyond reach. I felt cold and alone, as the woman probably did so as well.

"Yeah, but they couldn't have cared less. She was other, an outlier and didn't deserve to live despite what she was doing for the people of my village. We couldn't even bury her body, it had already dissolved into golden dust."

A moment of silence, as the others took that story in.

"I've never met an outlier, at least that I know of. But for them to be hated like this? For doing what? Living? It's ridiculous!" Zoro spoke, eyeing me curiously. He may play at being stupid, but he was far from it. Directionally challenged he may be, he had survived and thrice on his own for years.

"I know that they claim to come from other worlds," now that wasn't something that was common knowledge, but Sanji had spoken it out loud. "They're not from around here, that's for sure."

"Other worlds? Is that even possible?" The little reindeer had been quiet for the whole conversation, but his curiosity had won out.

"Parallel worlds have always existed, finding them is the almost impossible thing." Ace absentmindedly put out there, his eyes hadn't left my head since I had opened my mouth and started the topic.

"Huh?"

Luffy and the others looked at him in confusion.

"The old man has seen a lot of things, as have most of his crew. Other worlds being out there is a simple thing in comparison to the craziness that is the New World."

He did have a point.

"Why are you asking us this?"

Luffy was uncharacteristically solemn.

"She's asking because she wants to know if you'll hate her." Sabo's voice was quiet, almost silent, but in the lull, it was as loud as a bomb going off.

"What?"

Every single person spoke in unison, as I closed in on myself, looking down at my hands which were now white from how hard I had been shaking. The only thing from keeping me from getting up and running away was Sabo's hand on my shoulder.

I felt a warm hand lift my chin, to get me to look at them.

"Ebony, I cannot hate you for that. For being an Outlier." Ace's eyes, a warm hazel stared into my own. "You aren't able to help the circumstances of your birth."

Before I could stop myself, I muttered to myself, "You're one to talk."

Ace must have heard me, as he gave me a sharp look but didn't say anything though he clearly wanted to.

"But you know so much!" Usopp seemed confused, "The Outlier from my village didn't know anything about the world around her. She kept talking about wanting to go home to San Fransokyo."

"Big Hero 6."

The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

"Huh?"

I explained further, "It's the world that she was probably from; back home we have no city called San Fransokyo, but it's mentioned in fiction. It's popular culture, Disney."

"Wait," Nami placed a hand up, silencing us, deep in thought. "Just knowing the place that she was from, you know what world she was from? Are you an Outlier god or something?"

I couldn't help but laugh, a little broken and hysterical. Me? A goddess? That's actually hilarious. "No way! I'm a normal human being who was dumped into this world without warning!"

"So you don't get to choose to come here?"

Vivi questioned, "I was under the impression that you choose to, for lack of a better word, invade?"

"Fuck no!" My hands had gone to my hair at this point, pulling and knotting the blonde between my fingers. "No offence, but I was quite happy at home in my world. I'd almost finished my damn degree, only had a few weeks left."

As if to break the tense atmosphere, Zoro asked what I was studying.

"Visual Arts; I haven't painted in so long. Paints are ridiculously expensive no matter what world you're in apparently."

"I can't see it."

"See what?"

"You as an artist, you're too strong of a fighter."

"You can be both."

Our small argument helped to release the tension in the room, something that Zoro clearly intended to happen. I gave him a small smile and he nodded.

"Still doesn't explain how you knew about…" Ace trailed off, realising that Sabo hadn't actually announced who he was and nobody else had thought to ask.

"Yeah, um…" I looked to Sabo for support, "Would you like to say hello first and then I'll explain?"

"That would probably be a good idea."

He reached up towards his hat and removed it slowly, bringing it down in front of his chest and looked directly at his younger brother.

"Hey, little brother." Tears were already forming in his eyes, as the rest of the crew looked on in shock. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The underlings were in terrified awe, as they watched Miss Midsummer Eve spar against Mister One. The two of them fought with blade and hammer, creating shockwaves as they went.

It was surprising that neither had brought blood to the other, but apparently Mister Zero was quite explicit in his order of not harming one another, it wouldn't do to potentially alienate someone so strong for it to come and bite them in the arse, now would it?

"You're very good," Mister One was huffing, out of breath.

"You are as well." Miss Midsummer Eve, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as exhausted. She was more used to fighting constantly and it showed in her actions, the way she spoke and the way she moved.

"Now I know why the boss wanted you, Outlier." That immediately soured the mood, with Miss Midsummer Eve immediately withdrawing into herself and from the spar.

"Ah, did I hit a nerve?" Mister One chuckled darkly, "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be long now."

He started to move towards the exit, whistling as he did so. The tune seemed to be a funeral dirge; ominous in meaning that didn't go past the Outlier, who was now glaring at their former sparring partner.

Luffy was silent, staring, his mouth wide open at the blonde in front of him.

He was blonder than he remembered him, far more scarred. His hat was the same, and so were those goggles. But he couldn't be standing in front of him, could he? Sabo couldn't truly be alive? He could feel his hands shaking, tears welling up in his eyes.

Luffy didn't notice Ace and Ebony attempting to usher the rest of his crew out of the kitchen, it didn't work. None of the others had seen Luffy completely break down like he had.

Ebony eventually managed to push them out the door after a few minutes of watching the three brothers cry and closed the door behind her.

"Sabo?" Luffy couldn't believe how quiet his voice was, he honestly didn't think it had ever been that quiet in his life not even as a baby. The only response to his questioning was a sad smile from the blonde in front of him and a short nod.

The wall the had been cracked, the dam finally breaking as he threw himself at Sabo. Snot and tears mixing, you couldn't tell only that he was sure he was making a very loud noise that seemed to draw the attention of his crew if the knocking was anything to go by.

"Still a cry baby, huh little Lu?"

Ace couldn't help but interject, but he too was crying, tears streaming down his tan face unabashedly.

"You shouldn't be talking about being a cry baby, Ace. You were just as bad."

Sabo's face was much like his brothers, even as he hugged Luffy close to his body as though to reassure himself that Luffy existed.

There was suddenly a warm pair of arms snaking their way around both Luffy and Sabo, as Ace joined in their hug.

They weren't sure how long they spent in each other's arms, it could have been minutes or hours but a sharp knock sounded at the door and a voice came through, "Don't mean to interrupt but there's a fairly sizeable platoon of marines headed our way and we really need to get moving if we don't want to, you know, get arrested."

Ebony sounded nervous, she clearly didn't want to infringe on their moment but it was necessary.

"We'll be out in a moment," Sabo tried to untangle himself from the two dark-haired men who had become limpets. "Or you might have to pry these two off of me. One of the other."

A cackle was his only reply as the door opened, and Zoro followed by Ebony walked in. Ebony looked amused, whilst her companion looked confused.

"I'll get Ace, you get the Captain?" Zoro nodded.

As they went to grab the two mentioned, Luffy whined into Sabo's chest and his hands tightened onto his jacket.

"Come on Lu, we've gotta get outta here." Sabo was gentle, as Ace pulled away with Luffy following reluctantly.

Everyone had been called back to the Headquarters it seemed, Miss Midsummer Eve mused as she sat alone in the back corner of Spiders Cafe. No one really wanted to interact with her, and she didn't really want to interact with anyone else. She was more like a captive prize, a trophy if you will. Her mouth curled up in a sneer, she loathed this organisation and the fact that she had no other choice but to stay. They would out her secret, the one that she had foolishly shared with her now boss. Even in her homeworld, she went out of her way to avoid people knowing of her being Dovahkin.

Being the Dragonborn in a world that had no dragons, where her husband didn't even exist, where her friends didn't exist and powers, even those who dabbled in magic in Skyrim, did. It frightened her how much of this world she did not know. If she could only find an escape from this blasted organisation and a way home!

The sound of signing was coming from outside and she knew exactly who the sounds were coming from. The okama, (whatever did that word mean?), reminded her of Cicero, if the assassin had decided ever take off the jester outfit that he clung to like a lifeline. Although, not as batshit insane like the assassin jester though.

"Say, Midsummer Eve, how have you enjoyed Alabasta so far?" The fake barmaid Paula, also known as Miss Double-finger, asked.

"It's hotter than what I'm used to."

Short, succinct and straight to the point answers were the only things that she wished to disclose after her initial mistake when entering this world.

"Oh?" Paula pushed her glasses up, she was clearly fishing for information, but Miss Midsummer Eve wasn't going to play that game, so she tuned her out, paying more attention towards the barrage that had just waltzed (or pirouetted) into the cafe.

"Well, I feel super! How about you?"

Paula stared ahead at Mister Two, "You look stupid to me."

Privately, the dovahkin couldn't help but agree.

Mister Two clearly didn't agree, bursting into tears, wailing about how he wasn't stupid and why did Paula discriminate against him, was it because he was an okama? Midsummer Eve rolled her eyes, the dramatics were highly reminiscent of Cicero.

"Okay, you can go now lovelies!" Mister Two's attitude abruptly changed, as they faced their followers.

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't forget to practice your dance!"

"Yes, sir!"

Miss Midsummer Eve tuned everyone out once more, finding the floor more interesting to look at than her surroundings.

That was until Mister Two took an interest in her.

"Mademoiselle, would you care for a dance?"

She wasn't sure what prompted her, it may have been the absolute lack of fear that the okama showed towards her but she nodded. The next moment she had been whisked off of her feet, to dance. He led for a moment, before switching and allowing her to lead.

The two of them must have made a sight. Everyone else in the building was silent watching the two outsiders; an okama, someone basically ostracised for the interests and way of life and an Outlier, someone who shouldn't exist and was feared for that existence.

A crash through the roof interrupted their dance, as the billions subordinate to Mister Two came soaring through.

"My lovelies! What's wrong? Why did you jump through the roof?"

The subordinate that he was questioning wasn't able to speak, mouth too full of blood and knocked out teeth.

Another voice spoke up, a voice that Miss Midsummer Eve was unfortunately all too familiar with.

"You know them, freak okama?"

"Tch." A look of outrage appeared on Mister Two's face, at being called a freak or because of the injuries suffered by his underlings, she couldn't be sure.

Mister One climbed through the opening the remaining underlings had created, pushing down one of the walls to continue on his path.

"They were being suspicious, moving about as they did out in the desert." He grinned, a vicious thing that showed all his teeth. "Don't worry, they aren't dead."

"They're still my subordinates!" Mister Two shouted, as Miss Merry Christmas tried to cover his mouth.

Mister One gave the pair of them a sharp look, continuing "You all seem to be getting along… well. Mister Two and Miss Midsummer Eve especially."

As he looked at her, she turned away, not acknowledging the fact. It would have been dangerous if she had, and everyone in this place knew it. They had all had a choice to be here or not, she didn't.

"However, these ridiculous relationships will only bring destruction…"

He would have continued, but the okama had had enough and attacked him without much success until one solid punch was landed on Mister One's face and he was sent flying.

"Did he just break another wall?" Miss Merry Christmas was shocked, as were the others.

Mister One slowly picked himself up off of the ground, flexing his fingers. "I think, Mister Two, that you have a death wish…"

"Alright, knock it off." "Mister One, that's enough!"

Both Double-finger and Midsummer Eve spoke up at once, looking at the other in surprise.

"No, don't stop me you two." Mister One was almost like Vilkas in the moment, growling his words out like a beast. "I'm going to kill him!"

With a shout the two men threw themselves at each other, scrambling like small children over a broken toy.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" "Get off of me!"

"Control your anger Mister Two!" Double-finger had taken control of the situation, bonking the two offenders on the head as they kneeled on the ground.

"It's eight o'clock, all of the agents that are supposed to be here are here." Miss Double-finger went to clean her glasses, "The man we call our boss has only showed his face to a few of us, so we're going to meet him at the City of Dreams."

"Sounds exciting."

The sarcasm in Midsummer Eve's voice was noticeable to everyone there and caused more than one of them to grin. But Double-finger continued as though she hadn't spoken, "We're headed to Rainbase."

The Captain had stayed firmly at the sides of his two older brothers, who were both leaving as a distraction to the marines that were now hot on our trail.

I knew that we would meet up again, sooner rather than later and that I would have to continue telling them about me the next time we saw each other.

"Take this," Ace placed a piece of paper in Luffy's hand. "Always keep it with you."

"It's a piece of paper." Luffy looked up his brother, almost pouting as if he had expected something different.

"It's not just a piece of paper, it's a vivre card." Sabo pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket and also give it to Luffy. "It'll point you to us, no matter where we are in the world."

"Oh." The Captain looked at the two small pieces of paper that his brothers had given him in awe.

"They're commonly called the paper of life, Captain." This brought the ASL brothers attention to me, something that I had almost wanted to avoid but clearly couldn't.

"You still have yours?" Ace tilted his head towards me.

"Of course I do." I might have answered a little to vehemently, but I don't think anyone noticed as I reached into my pocket and pulled the vivre card that Ace had given to me in what seemed to be so long ago.

Ace smiled, and I could see his eyes soften for a moment before he turned towards the rest of the crew.

That had to have been a trick of the light? It had to have been, there was no way that Ace would ever look at her like that. I knew from the manga that he and Bonney had a thing at one point, or at least it was implied when she went after Blackbeard. A fit of jealousy that I hadn't known existed at that point had gripped me by the throat and wouldn't let go, and I knew that if I spoke at that very moment that everything I said would come out choked and volatile so I stayed quiet.

"Straw Hats," Sabo piped up, his hand still on Luffy's arm. "Our little brother, one as trouble-prone as Luffy, will always make older brothers worry."

"Yeah, he'll probably give you guys lots of trouble, too." Ace laughed, "No he definitely will give you lots of trouble, no doubts."

"Take care of him for us." The two older brothers spoke in unison, before jumping off of the railing and onto the two small boats below.

"What? You're already leaving!" Luffy looked upset.

"Yeah." "Sorry, Lu."

"Ebony has our den-den number, so you can talk to us anytime!" Sabo spoke, as he could see that Luffy could break into tears at any moment.

Luffy looked towards me in confirmation.

"I've got them on speed-dial, Captain." I looked downwards at the pair of them, "Besides we'll probably be seeing you sooner than you think."

"Your otherworldly knowledge?" Ace asked.

"Yep!" I grinned, putting my fingers up in a peace sign. "But who knows if somethings changed already, just by me being here?"

The Captain slung an arm around my shoulders, "I wouldn't want to know anyway! Mysteries are the best! Shishishishishishi!"

"I'll catch up with you all when things a slightly less crazy." Sabo put in and I laughed.

"When aren't things crazy around here?"

"New World."

"Ah, good point."

The two brothers smiled, after getting confirmation from the crew about looking after Luffy. (Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ace giving Zoro a look, but I couldn't be sure what it was about as Zoro had only looked at me and back to Ace, before acquiescing to whatever request Ace had made.)

Sabo had tied his boat to Ace's so that the two of them would be anchored together when Ace used his devil fruit to propel them forward and into the oncoming barrage of marine ships.

"See you later!"

After Ace and Sabo had left, to grand applause from the crew for their performance in destroying the marine vessels in their way Vivi attempted to bribe Luffy into wearing clothing for suited to the desert and somehow succeeded.

No-one seemed game enough to bring up the earlier conversation, tiptoeing around it and me by extension.

I didn't like it, and neither did the Captain as he voiced his opinion quite loudly towards the crew.

"Who cares if she's an Outlier? She's still Ebony!"

And that seemed to be the end of the subject, at least for that moment.

"This is the bank of the River Sandora." Vivi spoke, showing us a rough map of the area and pointing out our destination. "It's called Yuba. We'll have to cross the Sandora and then head for it."

Zoro piped up, "It's also the base of the rebellion, the leader should be there."

"I'll just have to kick his ass, right?"

"No." "Would you stop that?"

Vivi heaved in a deep breath, "I want to persuade the rebellion away from more bloodshed!"

"There has to be almost a million people amongst the rebellion, are you sure they'll want to stop?"

"Ebony has a point." I don't actually think that Zoro had ever spoken my name, but I suppose that there was a first time for everything.

"I have to try!" Vivi stood her ground, staring at us all. "What Baroque Works have done to the people of this country, to my people, to my country! We have to stop the senseless violence! I cannot and I will not allow Baroque Works to do what they like with my country!"

She was incredibly passionate and her passion is what ignited a fire in our crew (or at least a larger fire than normal for adventure).

"This sounds so exciting!" "I'll make a special dessert lunch for you, Vivi-chan!"

"Sorry about that." I had to voice my concerns, that many people would be difficult to convince. Especially with the propaganda against the royal family amongst the rebels, it would be nigh impossible.

"Yeah, what she said."

I rolled my eyes, "Eloquent Zoro."

In a fit of childishness, he poked his tongue out at me.

"I understand Vivi! Let's go!"

We set sail for Yuba, with Luffy and Vivi arguing over the correct pronunciation of the place as the sun set.

A/N: Um? Surprise?

Also many thanks to all those who have commented, followed and favourited this story! It means a lot to me and thanks to those who have clicked on this story just to see what the heck the latin words mean ^_^