AN: This is an AU, Luffy had set out and assembled a crew. Only Nami wasn't there to join the crew. So, the Mugiwara kaizoku consists of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp. I warped their ages a little so don't complain. They all have bounties and they might be a little OOC. Sorry about that, I should get them back in character soon. So…yeah…read and you'll find out who people are and why these things are happening.
Disclaimer: One Piece characters and OP in general belong to Eiichiro Oda. No one sue me.
Chapter 1:Land!Five days.
Nami and Jaden had been sailing for five days. Nami had thought that the little amount of food she had brought would last them longer, but apparently she was wrong. The food was gone, there was no drinkable water, and the sun…oh the sun, it was beating down on the two of them so hard that the air around them could be seen in waves. Nami looked around, spying miles and miles of ocean on all sides of her small and tattered boat. Her eyes then fell on a young boy with unruly black hair and fiery orange eyes; he was draped over the side of their boat dragging his hands in the cool water. She knew that it would be good for the boy to take a dip in the water, but he couldn't swim very well and she couldn't find the strength to go in with him. Maybe I made a mistake leaving. She thought miserably. Then again, this was the only way…we would have died otherwise…we'll probably still die. Nami tore her gaze away from the little boy and looked about her again. Ocean…Ocean…More ocean, why am I not surprised… blob… Ocean- wait.
"Land." Nami said quietly, and then repeated it louder as if to reassure herself that the 'blob' in the distance was in fact land. "J-Jaden! Land!"
Jaden spun around from staring at the water to stare at the blob on the horizon, which he thought was much more interesting then water. Finding the strength, he picked up an oar and shouted to Nami. "Come on Nami! Lets go! Land!"
Nami also picked up an oar, seeing as there was no wind, and started to row with Jaden. Hopefully the wind picks up, or we really are going to die.
A few hours later, Nami and Jaden found themselves lying on a dock. Nami would have preferred to have weighed berth on a nice beach, this bumping and bobbing dock that she now lay on was not as comforting as she would have liked, but at least the uninhabited dock was attached to land. Luckily after they had been rowing for a good half hour, some god or other had taken pity on them and given them a nice strong wind to carry them the rest of the way to shore. Nami didn't care what island she and the boy came to, as long as she could find some food, water, and some kind of shelter from the sun's heat. First thing's first, shade and food. Nami pulled herself up off the dock and bent down to pick up Jaden, who had sprawled himself out on the dock and had fallen asleep. Nami felt sympathy for the seven year old. He didn't deserve this. No one did. Nami stumbled off the dock to rest in the shade of a house that sat closest to the dock away from the many other houses visible from the ocean. She knew that she needed to find food or water but she was just too tired. She sat down against the wall and, bringing Jaden into her lap, closed her eyes. With the combination of sunstroke, dehydration, and near starvation, Nami was unconscious within seconds.
"Set, set…HUT!" Zoro heard the quarter back yell, before sprinting off to catch his prey. He made sure to keep one eye out for the ball and his other eye on his opponent who was running a short ways in front of him. And there it was! The ball came sailing through the air, aiming for Zoro's prey. He caught it and Zoro pounced, tackling him to the ground. Over the past few months Zoro had come to love football. Not as much as he loved swordsmanship, but he loved it all the same. In order to play football one needed strength, speed, control and much more, and of course Zoro possessed all of these skills, so it was only fit for him to be captain of the team.
"Dammit Zoro! Get OFF me!" Usopp yelled from underneath the swordsman. Zoro had done it again. He had forgot that they were just practicing, and he had tackled Usopp as if he were a sack of potatoes. Honestly, if he kept this up, the sharp shooter may not be able to play in tomorrow night's game, let alone work on the Merry Go.
Zoro growled as he picked himself up. "Run faster if you don't want to get caught then."
Usopp sighed and also got up. "Practice, Zoro. This is a practice! We're not supposed to go full force now. Save it for tomorrow." And he walked away. Normally Usopp wouldn't talk to Zoro like this, after all Zoro could lop off the long-nose's head within seconds, but Usopp was not in the mood for… well…anything. He had been trying to repair the Merry Go for four months, and he didn't see her being able to sail for at least…he didn't know actually. He wasn't a shipwright! All he knew was that Merry wouldn't stop taking on water, and Usopp didn't know how to fix her. So he was not in the best of moods.
Normally Zoro would have lopped off the long-nose's head within seconds, but he knew why Usopp was upset. Merry Go was Kaya's, and Usopp didn't want to let her go. Zoro didn't either. He admitted that he loved their little ship and he hoped that Usopp would find a way to heal her. It had been a little over four months since they had come to this island.
Luffy had been unconscious and Merry had been taking on water. It was actually amazing that they had made it so far. Three days after they had arrived, Luffy had awoken to be told the news that Merry was going to be down for a while. So, being the captain that he is, Luffy decided that they were to 'hide out' for a while.
Zoro would have loved to just sleep, keeping 'watch' on the Merry Go's deck, however, this island was a weird one. There was a law that every person under the age of 20 had to be in school. Something about growing our brains or keeping kids out of trouble, Zoro didn't really know since he hadn't been listening when it was explained to the crew. And so, here they were attending Akuma High School.
School had been a shock for Zoro at first since he had never gone to school before, but he had soon found out that he didn't actually need to pay attention in class. Grades didn't matter to him, so he just slept. P.E. had been one of the only classes he ended up liking. He learned a sport called Football, and he liked it. His teacher said he should try out for the team, so he did. Not only did he make the team, but he also became captain seeing as there was a lack of players. The other class that he enjoyed was his kendo class. Again Zoro's teacher saw his talent and promoted him to TA of the class, so he acted as an assistant. Zoro new he could teach the class, but there was a rule that only adults could teach, and seeing as Zoro was only 18, he had to be the TA.
"Zoro come on!" Luffy shouted from the center of the field while waving his arms in the air enthusiastically.
"Alright guys," Zoro yelled to the rest of his team. "Let's have one more go, then you guys can go home." The team reassembled in formation and the play was repeated.
A half an hour later, Zoro, Usopp, and Luffy were walking down the street heading for the house they had rented with the gold they had acquired through…well, piracy. "Ne, Zoro?" Luffy wined as he dragged his feet through the dirt. "I'm hungry! Where's Sanji?"
Zoro sighed and rolled his eyes at his captain. Luffy asked this question everyday after practice, and Zoro had answered him every day. "He's at soccer practice, remember? He has had soccer practice everyday for the past two weeks. He'll be back in an hour." Not that Zoro really cared (he wouldn't care if the cook never came back at all), but he was the only one that could cook edible food and so Zoro guessed he was needed on the crew.
"But I'm hungry now!" Luffy continued to complain. His stomach growled and he began to slow down.
"You can eat when we get back to the house. I'm sure there are leftovers or something." There probably weren't leftovers since Luffy ate so much, but Zoro knew the cook stashed extra food for emergencies.
"Yay!" Luffy screamed and ran down the street in the direction of their house.
Usopp sighed to himself while kicking a rock. "He'll never learn. I don't think he will ever change. Hey Zoro? I'm going to need you to buy some more wood for Merry, I ran out again."
"Yeah…" Zoro replied and continued his journey home.
When Nami woke up she discovered that she uncommonly comfortable. Opening her tired eyes a dark room came into focus as she became accustomed to the lack of light. She was lying on a fluffy bed in a room with a blind drawn window. The door to her left was left slightly ajar, and there was light shinning in through from the room beyond. The next thing that Nami noticed was the lack of Jaden next to her. She sat bolt upright, but regretted it the moment she did for she felt head rush and nearly blacked out again. She rested for a moment, clearing her head, then got out of bed to pad her way over to the door where she peeked out. At first she couldn't see anything because it was too bright. When her eyes adjusted she saw Jaden sitting at a table with his back to her. Next came the smell of bacon. Nami didn't even wait to examine the rest of the room for danger. She came into the open, walking up behind Jaden, and stole a piece of bacon off his plate and jammed it into her mouth.
Jaden yelped in surprise as the hand came around from his back. He had been so absorbed in his food that he hadn't noticed Nami's presence. He spun around in his chair ready for a fight, when he noticed Nami. "Nēsan!" He cheered (knowing not to call Nami by her name in front of outsiders), nearly falling out of his chair to wrap his small arms around the girl's waist. He buried his face in her torso, bursting into tears. "I was so worried! I thought you were going to die!"
"Uh-huh." Nami shook her head after wrapping her arms around the small boy. She then smiled. "You didn't look very worried a few minutes ago when you were stuffing your face."
"It's true. He was very worried." Came a woman's smooth voice from the corner of the room. Nami spun to see an older woman in her late forties leaning against the wall. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun and her eyes were shaded.
"Who are you?" Nami demanded, bringing Jaden behind her to shield him.
Jaden tugged on Nami's shirt. "It's ok Nēsan. This is Tosatsú-san, she saved our lives." Nami remained tense, she didn't know this woman. And after all that they had been through, she didn't think she would trust her either.
Tosatsú smiled warmly and gestured to the table of food. "Help yourself young lady, you need to get your strength back. I found the two of you by the docks. I couldn't just leave you poor things there. This is my house near the outskirts of town. And this is our village, Riko-na village. Welcome."
Yeah. Nami was really starting to feel uncomfortable around this woman. She wasn't used to people being so friendly to her. But there was food, and that food looked and smelled really good. Nami was starving. She looked down at Jaden, who had begun to eat again. The food wasn't killing him, so it should be ok for her. She sat down and began eating the delicious food.
After an hour or so of eating and chatting with Tosatsú, Nami had discovered that Tosatsú was widowed with no children, and had been living in Riko-na village for seven years. The island that Nami and Jaden had landed on was called Mu Fung Island. Being half the size of Alabasta, Mu Fung was highly populated. Buildings (houses, shops, and schools) covered nearly the entire island. A few miles of dry land was the only thing that showed any separation between each of the many villages. Shop owners made a living by selling inventions to travelers, while other adults worked in offices. Since fruits and vegetables were scarce the street markets were full of merchants from other islands trying to sell their goods to needy villagers. There was little natural vegetation left on the large island, and the only shrubbery that remained had been planted randomly throughout the island to bring color to the brown and grey villages. Riko-na Village looked the same as any other village on the island, with grey houses and dirt roads. However, this village received the most travelers because it was on the coast. She also discovered, to her relief, that this island on the Grand Line received no mail. No mail meant no wanted posters. No wanted posters meant no local island authorities chasing Nami down for a hefty reward. Nami also learned something rather odd. While she and Jaden were on this island, they would have to attend school. The next day Nami would be attending Akuma High, while Jaden -to Nami's dismay- would be starting at Tenshi Elementary across town.
During that first hour, Nami warmed up to Tosatsú, and so she allowed the older woman to show Jaden and herself around the village. Riko-na was surprisingly a large village, larger than Nami's hometown. There was many, many people going about their business in the early afternoon. Nami made sure to keep her head down just in case a visiting marine should walk by and recognize her. Bustling too and fro trying to buy goods from the street merchants before they closed up shop for the evening, no one took a second glance at either Nami or Jaden.
Later that evening, after the sun had already set, Tosatsú gave Nami an old nightgown for her to sleep in. "You two go have a good nights rest. I'll wake you up early tomorrow so you can go get uniforms, I'll contact the school and let them know that you are coming and that you need supplies. Goodnight." Tosatsú smiled at the two children fondly, pushing them through the door into the room Nami had woken up in, and then went to her own room.
Nami let out a small 'thank you' before Tosatsú closed the door behind her. Nami then went to Jaden's bed to kiss him on the forehead and tuck him in. "Goodnight munchkin. Get some sleep." She then went to her own bed and laid down staring at the ceiling. School huh? This will be interesting. Well, I guess it can't be helped. I should probably not be myself while I'm here…too many people. Nami drifted to sleep thinking of the disguises she could make with Tosatsú's resources.
BANG! BANG! BANG! "Luffy! Wake up! It's time to leave!" Sanji's aggravated voice came through the door.
"Nggghh," Luffy moaned as he rolled out of bed. "No more school…" He rubbed his tired eyes and looked over to see Zoro half falling out of his own bed. This happened every morning. Sanji would wake up early, make everyone's lunch, then come and bang on Luffy and Zoro's door to wake them up. Luffy was tired of going to school. He wanted to leave this island and continue his search for One Piece, but Merry was broken so he had no choice. "Zoro…Zoro wake up…" He yawned and slumped over to the unconscious first mate, as he pulled on his school uniform. Zoro and Luffy shared a room. When the crew had first moved into the empty house, everyone decided to be in different rooms. However, Luffy didn't like this idea and insisted that he share a room with someone. After all, on the Merry Go, they all slept in the same room. So Zoro, being the great first mate that he is, agreed to share a room with his captain. Zoro's such a great first mate. Luffy thought as he shook the swordsman awake.
Zoro did not want to get up. He just wanted to stay where he was and sleep all day. But his captain wouldn't have it. Zoro groaned, "No…sleep…" and then fell back asleep.
BAM! The door shot open. Usopp appeared in the doorway looking panicked. "Luffy! Zoro! We're being attacked!" He screamed and ran down the hall. This got Zoro up. He jumped out if his bed, reveling that he once again had slept in his school uniform leaving it wrinkled and untidy, and ran into the living room with Luffy ready for a fight.
Usopp and Sanji were standing in the doorway heading outside. "Works every time." Usopp smiled to himself as he headed out the door, slinging his pack over his shoulder.
"That's because Marimo is a moron…" Sanji commented as he followed Usopp out. "Come one, we're going to be late." He shouted over his shoulder to his bewildered companions.
"Tosatsú-san? Do you have any bandages? I…uh…think I sprained my ankle." Nami lied lamely. She was wearing a pair of Tosatsú's pants and an old t-shirt. She had also stuffed an old baseball cap, which she found in one of the drawers in her room, into her back pocket of her loose pants.
"Aye. They're in the bathroom cupboard. Help yourself." Tosatsú replied from the sink where she was washing dishes.
Nami had come up with a perfect disguise the night before. She was going to dress up as a guy. The World Government was looking for a girl her age; no one would suspect a new boy in school. She went into the bathroom and found the bandages where the older woman said they would be. She grabbed a few large roles and stuffed them into her pockets. Nami then returned to the kitchen and took Jaden's hand.
"Come on, let's go." She started to pull the young boy to the door.
"Bye Tosatsú-san. Thanks for the packed lunch. We'll see you later!" Jaden cried as he waved goodbye to older woman.
Tosatsú waved back and said, "Bye kids, don't get lost. Remember, go straight down the road, you'll pass Akuma High, then take a left, follow that road and you will get to Tenshi Elementary."
"Thanks, we'll remember." Nami said as she closed the front door. They walked a few blocks away when Nami stopped. "Wait here a second, ok Squirt?" She then released Jaden's hand and went into some near by bushes. A few minutes later she emerged.
"Wow!" Jaden gasped. "Nami, you look like a boy…a pretty boy…" Nami had wrapped the bandages around her chest, to give herself a boy's body. Then tied up her hair and stuffed it in her hat.
Nami tested out a deeper voice, "Do I?"
Jaden started to laugh. Nami could be so funny sometimes. "Yeah. But you need to work on your voice. You should be the strong and silent type."
Nami grabbed him and tickled his stomach, listening to the boy's cries of protest in between giggles. "I might just do that. Thanks. Let's get going."
A half an hour later they arrived at Tenshi Elem. Nami lead Jaden into the office, where they waited at the counter.
A plump woman was sitting at the counter filling out paperwork. Nami cleared her throat to get her attention. The woman looked up annoyed.
"May I help you?"
"Yeah. My brother, Jaden, is starting school here today. Tosatsú-san called and talked to someone…" Nami trailed off, hoping to sound like a real boy.
The woman thought for a moment, tapping a pen on her chin. "Oh yes! You must be the new arrivals." She stepped around the counter and smiled down at Jaden. "Welcome to Tenshi little one. Come with me and I'll get you a uniform and school supplies. We already have a schedule for you, I think you'll like it here." She grabbed his hand and led him away.
Nami bit her lip and watched Jaden leave her side. "By Jade, I'll be here after school to pick you up." He waved at her and she left.
When Nami finally arrived at Akuma High, school was about to start in ten minutes. Nami needed to find the office, but she had become completely lost in the large campus. She looked around to find someone to ask for direction. A long-nosed boy was walking speedily to his class, when Nami grabbed his arm. "Um, excuse me. Can you tell me where the office is?"
Usopp stared at her for a moment trying to decide if she was a girl or boy, he shrugged his shoulders and decided on boy. "Yeah, it's right down that hall and to the right." He pointed with his finger down a deserted hallway.
Nami had, too, stared back at the boy for a few moments. He looked very familiar. Oh well. I don't have time for this. She thought as she started to head down the hall. "Thanks!" She called over her shoulder.
Usopp was left standing by himself in the hall and he remembered he had to go to class.
I hope you live it so far! Let me know what you think.
