Oriana had just embarrassed herself and was unsure of what the two boys would say. She bit her lower lip as she got ready to be teased. She saw Luffy and Sabo sitting by a tree talking but stopped when they saw the two coming.
Luffy got up and jumped onto her, "I'm sorry, Oria, please don't hate me!" The girl stood there confused, "There's no way I could ever hate you, sunshine" she rubbed his back. He looked into her eyes with hope, "Really? But me and Sabo scared you" Oriana smiled at him, "And since you apologized, I forgive you"
Luffy's face lit up with a huge smile, "You're the best!" Oriana smiled while hugging him. She saw Sabo from the corner of her eyes looking at the two. "Oriana" she turned to him, "I'm sorry too. We didn't mean to let it get that far-" but the boy was pulled into a hug by the girl.
"It's okay. I'm okay" she whispered to them both. She smiled at the moment. These were her friends that she gained by herself but there was one more friend missing from this group hug. "Ace! Come and join us!" Oriana turned to him.
"No," he answered stubbornly. The boys tried to as well but to no prevail. Oriana didn't bother herself with that and just moved the ground under him closer to them. Before Ace could do anything thing Oriana quickly pulled him into their hug.
"I've been wondering, Ori, did you eat a devil-… Why are you looking at me like that?!" The blond asked. "You called me Ori!" She smiled excitedly, "yeah so what?" Sabo looked on uncomfortable, "That's a new one. I like it!" She beamed.
Sabo turned his gaze to the side, "M-me too" Oriana hugged the boys really close ignoring the protest about how they couldn't breathe. She could understand that their new bond had that effect on them.
Her stomach started growling and she let the boys go, "Man, I'm hungry. How about we go to the lake and get something to...- What are you guys doing on the ground?" "You were suffocating us!" Ace yelled.
Oriana looked at them blankly, "Anyways, let's go hunt for something!" She started running "Don't ignore us!" Sabo and Ace yelled but Luffy laughed after her, "Isn't she great?" The girl felt her face turn to a smile.
The friends soon arrived at the lake and all four of them stood on a branch overlooking everything. The boys wanted to go for a crocodile, which Oriana had never tasted before. "Let me catch it for you!" Luffy suggested before jumping down. The others started panicking but Oriana's mind calmed down when the two other boys jumped down after him.
She just watched them with amusement. Then she got an idea.
It took a while for them to catch one. Oriana prepared the fire for them, and they all ate the meat, "I didn't know what to expect but this is really good" she praised.
"Right?!" they agreed, "Let's sell the other in the city!" Oriana said, which seem to confuse them, " What are you talking about?" Sabo asked. "I caught a crocodile on my own" she answered. "When did you do that?" Ace asked suspiciously.
"When you were catching yours I made a little bet: who's going to catch one first? And I won," she grinned.
The boys started arguing about everyone catching their own the next time. The friends went into the city in disguise. The three boys sat on each other's shoulders while Oriana casually walked next to them while they pulled the dead crocodile behind them.
The boys were talking inside their costume and seem distracted by that, but Oriana noticed how people were staring at them. It gave her a good picture of the kind of people who would dump trash outside their gates. She wasn't even surprised to see a bunch of ugly nobles.
"I hate that kind of people the most" she muttered thinking no one heard her, but someone did.
They sold the crocodile for a good price.
Ace suggested that they should eat some ramen in a restaurant but as soon as the owner saw them, he was about to kick them out for looking 'poor'. That was until Sabo showed them a golden sea which he told them he found outside.
Oriana didn't believe that story. Her pirate side would most definitely notice something like that out on the street but that was a topic for another time.
Sabo ordered them 4 bowls of ramen and it was delicious. It only compelled them to order more. They ate 32 bowls of ramen in total before getting caught.
They jumped out of the window to escape but as they were running away, "Sabo?" a strange man suddenly called. "Oi, Sabo. He's calling you" Ace told him.
The blond looked back at him for a second before facing ahead, "He got the wrong person" he said.
Oriana quietly observed the man while running away with her friends.
They started questioning Sabo when they arrived safely in the woods. They stood by a tree overlooking the ocean when the two boys asked him, "I don't know what you are talking about" he seemed very nervous.
Ace got really mad and started choking his friend, "Tell us, damn it!" Oriana stood by the side watching them. She didn't think she had a right to get it out of him especially since she didn't tell them some of her secrets.
It took a little while, but the blond finally answered them, "Son of a noble? Who is?" the boys asked, "I am!" Sabo burst out. Luffy and Ace just picked their nose, "So?" they asked. "You wanted to know!" Sabo yelled.
Oriana didn't care either, but the boys' reactions didn't surprise her. They were very laid back and didn't care about things such as titles. The real question was how were they going to react when they found out about her father.
Sabo told them that he ran away from home and that he was always a failure in their eyes. He was just a tool and would only get their love if he married a royal girl. Even though he had parents he was all alone.
"Ace, Oria, Luffy. We'll definitely set sail one day and leave this country. To be free I wanna know about the world and write a book about my adventures. I don't mind having to study navigation. I'll be stronger and become a pirate" Sabo declared proudly, making them all smile.
"You don't have to tell me, you know. I'll be a pirate, I'll fight, fight, fight until I'm the most famous. That's the way I'll prove my existence. I don't care if the bastards in the world don't recognize me. I don't care how much they hate me. I'll become a pirate; I won't run from anyone nor lose to anyone. Everybody will know my name," Ace vowed with his pipe in the air.
"Oh, I see" the youngest of the four stepped over to the edge. "I'll become the-" Luffy yelled. Shocking the three older, "Huh?" they asked, and he just laughed. "You're talking nonsense again," Ace said while ruffing his own hair.
Sabo on the other hand join the boy and laughed too, "You're so funny, Luffy. I can't wait to see what will happen with you in the future". Oriana walked over to him smiling, "I can see this one causing trouble for everyone" she poked his cheek, "What about you, Oria" Luffy giggled.
It was her turn to dramatically scream her dream over the sea, "I want to travel and draw the world in a way that illustrates the beauty of every unique island," she smirked at them. All of them flashed her a bright smile too.
"It's great that we all want to become pirates. But is it okay if we all want to become captains too?" Sabo started, "I didn't think of that. Sabo, I planned for you to become my navigator" Ace decided. "You'll be on my ship" Luffy declared, "I refuse" both boys yelled, "No thanks, I'm going back to my crew" the girl smiled.
"What do you mean?" a confused Luffy asked, "I'm already a pirate onboard my father's ship" she smiled at the youngest. "Really? No wonder you're so strong!" he shined. "By the way, when are you going to tell us which pirate crew you are a part of?" Both Ace and Sabo looked at her.
"I'll tell you another time" she quickly said, "Why not now?" Luffy wined, "Because we are friends, and I don't want you to look at me differently because of that" she answered honestly. "What are-?" Sabo started.
"People always distance themselves from me because they're afraid of my crew. I don't want that to happen with us" she continued. "That won't happen!" Luffy said without hesitation. Ace and Sabo nodded as well, which gave her the strength to finally tell them.
"Alright, I'm part of the Whitebeard Pirates" Oriana answered. There was silence and the boys started looking at each other, "Who?" Ace asked, "You don't know who we are?" she finally asked. "Are your crew strong?" Luffy innocently asked. "Yeah, we are the strongest pirate crew" she answered.
"Awesome. We get to fight when I become a pirate!" Luffy said, "Right, you can't even beat me how do you expect to defeat my father?" she asked, "If he's the strongest pirate then I can't be the pirate king without beating him" the boy explained.
"Well, good luck," she said, and that was the last thing being said about it.
Ace left to get something for them. While he was away Oriana walked around a tree smiling. She was so happy that her friends didn't care and she felt so much lighter.
"Ori! Luffy! Ace is back and wants us to come" Sabo called from a distance. They walked over to a stump with four cups, "Are we making a toast?" Oriana asked confused, "Yeah. We'll find out who'll become captain in the future. Maybe we'll all be on different ships" Ace said.
"Did you steal that liquor from Dadan?" the youngest asked.
"Did you guys know when men drink together, they become brothers?" Ace said smiling, ignoring the previous question. "Brothers? Really?!" a big smile appeared on all their faces as Ace poured them all some.
"Maybe we won't be pirates on the same ship, but we'll be united by our bonds of brotherhood. No matter where we are or what we are doing – No one can break this bond" the boys took their cups and were ready to drink it but there was one that didn't.
"What's wrong, Ori?" Sabo asked, "Are you guys sure you want a girl in your vows of brotherhood?" she asked. "Enough of this! You're one of us so stop acting like an outsider!" Ace snapped angrily.
Sabo and Luffy looked at him nervously before turning to Oriana to see her reaction. The girl chuckled as she took the small cup and raised it like the others. She was so happy she met these boys. The last twelve years weren't a complete waste after all.
"Good. Alright, from now on we are brothers!" the four of them clanked their cups together before drinking it. Oriana almost spat it out, "Is this what everyone likes to drink? It's awful!" they all agreed and started to laugh.
-x-
It's been going really well for the brothers and sister for the past few months. They fought some delinquents by the wall and managed to run away from the guards. No one could tell them what to do with their lives - everything was perfect.
When they got home, they had caught a deer for dinner for Dadan to cook for them. When the meat was done the dinner was chaotic as always. The bandit leader got mad at them and threw the boys into the bathroom and looked at the girl before taking her inside again.
"Oi, what about me?" Oriana asked confused, "You're a girl. So, you need to take a bath away from the boys!" Dadan said. "I don't see the big deal. They're my brothers!" the girl argued. "It doesn't matter. You're almost twelve, right? That means your body will soon go through some changes!"
The girl looked confused, "What kind of changes?"
Dadan sat her down and started explaining. With every passing second, the girl's face started turning red and later pale. She quickly got up before running away, "Wait, I'm not done yet!" the older woman yelled.
"You've traumatized me enough already!" Oriana ran into the woods and over to the river to bathe. The girl stepped into the water and swam over to a rock to lean against it. She thought back to her family and her time at sea.
Oriana had only intended to stay a short while, but it has almost been a year already. When was she supposed to leave, or the better question yet; how was she supposed to get home? Even though she loved being with her brothers, her heart belonged to the sea.
How was she going to tell them that their time with her was limited?
She got out of the water and went back to the bandits' hideout. The boys were waiting for her outside and their smiles widened when they saw her, "Oria, Dadan was being stingy. Why did she have to do that?" Luffy complained.
Oriana smiled and put a hand around his shoulder, "I don't know sunshine. Let's go to sleep" the group went inside and into the room. Someone suggested they had one last fight before going to bed and everything went well until Luffy crashed through the wooden floor and into Dadan.
The older woman chased him around the room while the older ones went to bed.
Oriana was woken up by a delicious smell. Her nose followed the scent downstairs to a familiar green-haired woman, "Makino? What are you doing here?" she asked confused, "Oriana-chan, Garp-san told us you followed them here. I'm happy you stayed with Luffy" she smiled warmly.
"I'm glad I did too. I gained three brothers from it" the girl said proudly. "I'm so happy for you," the woman said, "Thank you! By the way, what are you making?" she looked into the pot.
"I'm making dinner for everyone" Makino responded. "Uh, nice. I'm already looking forward to it!" Oriana smiled before going out to find her brothers, "Wait, I have something for you"
The girl stopped, "Really, what is it?" she asked excitedly. Makino pulled something out of a basket next to her. The woman gave her a dress with a lot of flowers printed on it.
Oriana pulled it over her head and it fit her perfectly, "Thank you. I love it" she hugged her and walked over to her brothers who just entered the house. "Wow, Oria you look like a girl" Luffy complimented, "She is a girl, stupid. But he's right, Ori, you do look great" Sabo said in a gentlemanly kind of way.
Oriana looked at Ace on his way over to them blushing, "What's wrong, Ace, are you sick," she asked concerned, and touched his forehead. "I-I'm fine," he said while looking at the green-haired woman, 'Does he like Makino' she smirked.
They had brought her something to eat while waiting for the barmaid to finish.
Makino had just prepared a great meal for them which everyone enjoyed. "When I become a pirate, I'll have a chef that can make great food like this" Sabo vowed, "I'm going to be a pirate first so, that's impossible" Ace challenged, "That's not fair. I'm going to become a pirate before either of you two" Luffy declared
The mountain bandits spit their drinks out as a dark figure appeared behind the boys.
The two black-haired boys look at them not understanding what was going on until they heard a throat being cleared and suddenly felt fear as they turned around. "You two still going on about that?" Garp asked. Ace and Luffy spit their drinks out too, "I'm telling you; you're going to be marines. Why is it so hard to understand?" he yelled.
He punched Ace and Luffy over the head, "Dadan" he called the leader. She obediently came, and the man punched her as well. "Why did I get hit too?" she questioned, "I'm not happy with the way you discipline the boys," he said intimidatingly.
Oriana kept her head down to avoid the man's rage. He clearly didn't show any mercy to women or children, so she didn't expect herself to be any different. "That's Garp. So, this old man is Ace and Luffy's grandfather" Sabo looked scared too.
"Boy, you were talking about going out to sea, too?" Garp's gaze turned to Sabo. Luffy came to defend the blond, "It's not 'boy'! It's Sabo! We shared a toast of brotherhood and promised to be pirates. Oria too!" he snitched.
The girl's head turned so quickly that everyone heard a crack, "Seriously why?!" she exclaimed.
"Oh? So, in other words, there are now four idiots who want me to give them a workout?" Garp cracked his hands which only made them all sweat out of fear. The three boys were ready to run while Oriana still sat there.
She took the last bite of her food just in time to dodge the old man's fist, "That was really close" she said, "Not bad" the man smirked. Oriana used this chance to run away with her brothers who were screaming throughout the forest.
They were getting all the attention, "I said wait!" the old man went after Luffy first. He went for a punch, but Luffy managed to jump just in time to avoid it. The man went after Ace next but missed him by inches and hit the tree behind him.
Sabo got caught and spun around, "This old man is a monster" he mumbled.
Oriana on the other hand was different. Garp turned to her with a menacing aura before charging at her, "Wait, old man. I'm not going to become a pirate in the future" she exclaimed and somehow it stopped him.
She looked at the brothers and there was panic in their eyes as if they knew what she was going to say. Oriana knew it was stupid and so was Luffy, but he was brave enough to tell his dream so proudly, "I'm a pirate already!".
"Bwahahaha, what a funny kid!" the old marine laughed, "Have you ever heard of Winter Blaze, gramps?" she started smiling when his face turned serious, "You're the daughter of Whitebeard?" he finally uttered.
"It's nice to hear that name again" she smiled to herself.
"I heard you disappeared long ago? What are you doing in East Blue?" Garp started, "Yeah… I'm not really sure myself" she answered honestly. "Did Whitebeard leave you here?" he asked, "Of course not! There is no way he would have left me here if he knew where I was!" she exclaimed.
Garp looked emotionlessly at her, "So, your old man doesn't know where you are" he summarized. "No, but he'll know if you turn me in," Oriana said. The two held each other's gazes but Garp sighed, "I'm not going to turn you in, kid. That would only anger Whitebeard and a war would break out."
Oriana smiled, happy that her father still had that much power in the world.
"Well then. Shall we continue?" Garp said while cracking his hands. The kids managed to crawl home. Oriana had to carry Luffy back because his grandpa seemed to have given him and Ace the hardest 'workout' as the old man would call it. They got their wounds treated while Ace spied on Garp.
Garp has been drinking with the bandits and had passed out on the floor.
"At this rate, gramps is going to kill us tomorrow" he whispered to the others.
"Even if we survive, he's going to beat us until we give up on becoming pirates,"
"I don't want to die!"
"What do we do?" Oriana asked.
"There's only one solution. It's time to make a choice, brothers, and sister" Ace said.
"So… we run away?" she summarized
"No, we are going to move out".
They started packing their things, not that it was that much anyways, but they did leave a note for the bandits and Garp to read. They spent that night sleeping under a tree. Later during noon, it started raining, and they found shelter in a hollow tree.
The boys fell asleep, while Oriana watched them from the side, and they looked really cute and innocent. She didn't want them to keep living outside. She tried to figure out some sort of solution to their problem.
Yet, the only idea she had was to build a new house for them to live in, but she wasn't very good at it. Hopefully, one of the others knew something about how to build a house for them, otherwise, they would be forced to live outside.
Oriana voiced her idea to her brothers. Sabo immediately started drawing a plan for what they could live in. It wasn't the best, but it gave them a plan for a hideout instead of a house. Apparently, it was safer since real pirates were after them now.
They gathered materials from the gray terminal and started building their new home.
After a couple of weeks, it was finally done, "Something is missing" Ace started, "Since it's a secret base we need traps" as they started gathering things. "What if we forget it's there and accidentally stumble upon them?" Oriana asked.
She usually was the rational of them all, but they looked at her like she was the stupid one, "What?" she questioned, "What kind of idiot would do that" all three said in unison. 'Huh, they really do share a brain cell' she thought.
But everything else was coming along greatly especially their flags with the initials – OASL
They spent their day training, hunting, and having daily fights. Each person could fight the others thirty-three times and the last fight to get to one hundred would be decided individually. Oriana won all her fights against her brothers.
Ace won eighteen times against Sabo and all his fights against Luffy. Sabo won fifteen times against Ace and all his fights against Luffy. In other words, Luffy lost against them all – Poor boy. "Damn it, just you wait till I turn eleven. I'll beat you all" he said.
"By then, we'll be fourteen or fifteen. You can't defeat us" Ace shot back.
-x-
The months were passing by and so with every day, it was getting colder and colder. The boys were wearing jackets, but Oriana wore her normal clothes much to the brothers' dislike. They had a hard time believing she wasn't freezing and that it was normal for her.
The four went hunting that day and Luffy finally caught his first prey. He was so happy that his smile affected the others. That was till a giant tiger came to claim it. Luffy didn't want to give in to the creature and was ready to fight it for the meat.
But Ace and Sabo carried him away for his own safety.
Oriana didn't run away with the others. She held her gaze on the tiger before jumping to its head and kicking it hard to the side. She grabbed the meat as she ran after her brothers, "Here Luffy" she threw it in front of him.
Luffy's face brightening was everything, "Thank you, Oria!" he came and hugged her.
Oriana lit a fire for them to eat before going to bed. Luffy started giggling with his head under the blanket, "Having brothers and a sister sure is nice" they all looked at him, "What are you happy about?" Sabo asked.
"Ne, you should join my crew Ace, Sabo, and Oria. Please!" the youngest begged. Oriana turned to the other side, "No" they said at the same time. The boys continued to argue about who should join who or something like that.
"How about the one who defeats the lord tiger becomes the captain" Luffy suggested, "Then you have less of a chance" Sabo discouraged, but that didn't work on him, "That's not true. None of us can defeat it yet" which got the brothers' attention, "Interesting!"
Luffy looked surprised like he didn't expect the two to agree, "Then, it's settled" Luffy smiled, "Alright, I got it." they agreed.
Like Oriana said they shared a brain.
-x-
Oriana watched them go on a suicide mission the next day. They caught fish to get the tiger out, but it didn't show up instead it was a bear. The brother decided to practice on it in the meantime since they were on the same level of strength.
She could see they were trying really hard but sadly that wasn't enough. When they were losing and faced with danger Oriana got up to help them but a giant hammer slammed into the beast. She turned and saw an old man as she felt this heavy force, "Woah" she whispered.
The old man defeated it and the brothers decided to offer him some fish as thanks. His Name was Nogari, and he was once a pirate but was beaten by Gold Roger. While telling his story Ace started to walk away without them noticing or Oriana was too invested in the story to follow him.
Suddenly, Luffy asked the old man to train him as his 'pirate teacher', and surprisingly the old man accepted. That was the moment they noticed Ace left and Sabo explained the reason why "What?! The pirate king is Ace's father?!" Oriana and Luffy yelled.
Sabo warned them that it was a secret and not to talk about it with Ace or he'll get mad. They assumed that Ace went back to their hideout and so did they. They saw him looking out the window deep into his thoughts.
"There he is. You've got to act dumb, casual, and normal" Sabo said.
"Right!" Luffy responded.
"Don't say anything about Roger-" the blond insisted
"I won't don't worry!" the youngest assured.
Sabo casually went inside with a big smile, but that smile turned to horror when, "Oh, Ace. So, Roger is your dad?" Luffy cheerfully asked. The blond scolded him for doing what he told him not to do.
"Luffy," Ace called, "Yeah," Luffy asked oblivious to everything, "Who told you that?" he asked, "Sabo did. Ne, Ace. What's Roger like?" the smaller boy asked without hesitation. Sabo was trying to keep him quiet, but it didn't work.
The two didn't notice the way Ace approached them and punched the two over the head, "Never mention that name in front of me again" Ace said.
"Ne, Ace did you know that my father and yours were rivals?" Oriana who has been quite suddenly decided to participate in the conversation. "What?" the brothers' jaw dropped, "Yeah, but I've only seen them fight in one battle and it was amazing!" She smiled brightly at the memory.
"Really? Who won?" Luffy came up to her with stars in his eyes. "Roger was the pirate King, but my father is the strongest man in the world. So, it's really hard to say. They never really finished the battle and after four days we stopped." She explained.
"Roger died over twelve years ago, how could you have met him?" Sabo smartly asked.
Oriana scratched her head, "Oh, right I never told you. It's kind of a long story"
