First, I needed to upload this chapter a bit earlier than intended, because of reasons. The next one will be uploaded most likely in November. But I don't say it will be November for sure maybe I'll find the time to upload in Oktober again. Just November is more likely than Oktober.

To the chapter... it was biting me since I started to get to a certain point. I already spoilt a bit in chapter four, I guess, when I said I started to hate writing fighting scenes. Well, here you get the very reason for it. I hope it is readable and doesn't want to make you stop reading the chapter x.x (I do appreciate critic if you can voice it in a way to help me)

Otherwise, enjoy^^

BigRobot: Shall I be mean? When I had the last chapter first finished I mentioned the devil fruit I had in mind for him, but then I was like no. I don't give it out, yet.

The two devil fruits, you named, are interesting. I think the Mochi Mochi no Mi could work with Luffy. I bet, he would probably develop some interesting techniques with it as he did with the one he has in canon. But I don't think, the Soru Soru no Mi, as interesting as this one is, would work well with Luffy. Yes, he can manipulate Souls but the problem is you need fear for it and to be true I don't think people would fear Luffy when they see him like they would fear a Yonko or another more seasoned pirate or even an admiral. But just my opinion.^^ Even if I have trouble to imagine it with Luffy, I can see interesting aspects to work with the fruit~

buterflypus: Thank you^^

yukino76: Yes, Ace and Law *-* You're welcome =)

SinTheFox: I already mentioned, I would have done it in the last chapter. But then I changed my mind because there are some parts I'm still thinking about. I have a plan when I will reveal it. But I'm well... I think it's easier to describe it. I have notes for the chapters (just keywords) and I first write the chapter with a pen. When the chapter is finished on paper, I'll write in my word-document and in this part of writing the story I'll sometimes really like to change my mind (for different reasons). So I won't even give a hint when I will reveal it. Just in case my mind change and I like to push the revealing bit back.^^

Uh~ I like guesses. It always makes me happy to read guesses in the comments, because they can be so inspiring for the story itself or give me the ideas for nice little side/bonus stories.

A dragon~ uh nice guess. I like that you remembered the two things Law said/thought, which was in chapter 3 and in chapter 4. To the first you said, I can't say anything, because it will have spoilers but be sure there will be an explanation for why Law is worried about Luffy presenting. Maybe I already left a little hint what it could be~ Maybe not^^ Yeah, I know. I mean, but I'm having too much fun to think how to answer without spoiling anything xD

The third one, I noticed I may have written it a bit confusing? I don't know. Okay, I give out a hint. Just a little one. Luffy would feel cramped because of a reason. The reason I won't say because then I fear I would end up spilling more than I want to. So just a hint, it may not be exactly about the size Luffy has when transformed.

Hehe, yeah, a dragon is pretty strong... but I won't go into more details.

I like the idea of Thunderbirds, but that much I can answer as I had to look them up when I saw your comment because I didn't hear of them, yet. I had just guessed it is some mythical creature in bird form, but I didn't know they were part of the North American mythology. (the nice side effect of interacting with the readers you learn new stuff.) So I guess, I can say without spoilering, a Thunderbird is not Luffy's devil fruit.

Thank you =) The comment made me happy =)

Guest(11.09): Maybe, maybe not? I won't answer clear until I can say it without a spoiler^^

rion-rion: Thank you^^ Also, thank you for your opinion on Ace/Law. For some reason, I really want to try it out with these two. Yeah, they care much *-* Also a little fun fact your comment was censored a bit in the notification-mail:x

Luffy's devil fruit is definitely something I have fun to work with^^ But that goes for nearly every other devil fruit that will be on the crew~

~Chapter 6 – The strongest swordsman and the strongest man?~

Luffy pouted. They, that meant Ace, Law, Zoro and him, were at some floating restaurant called Baratie. The owner was a former pirate named Red-Leg Zeff, at least that was what Law had said.

So there wouldn't any dine and dash like Ace and Luffy used to do it when they were younger. Especially, since the restaurant had a reputation that all cooks were able to fight and were not above beating up visitors, who would dine and dash, were rowdy or just ungrateful.

Luffy had thought they would do a little dine and dash but no. Not even Ace was up for it. They also had left Bepo and Chouchou on Shippy. Something that made him pout, too. The food was good here and their trusty navigator wasn't able to taste anything from it. Even if Luffy normally wasn't sharing his food. Now he wished he could take some food with him for Bepo and Chouchou.

This made him think. "Ne, do you think we could convince one of the cooks to travel with us?", Luffy asked and licked his plate clean. That much should be allowed because the sauce was too good to be wasted. "Don't do that, Luffy. That's impolite to do in a restaurant", Law hissed at him. Luffy blinked at the older one. How was it impolite to eat everything you have on your plate?

"But Torao, it was delicious. It wouldn't be nice to let the rest of it go wasted. Also, Ji-chan said to eat as much as possible because you don't know when you will get your next meal" Luffy whined slightly. "Yeah and after he said that you and Ace ate the whole food storage", Law said and poked his forehead.

Luffy giggled about the memory. Yeah, that had been fun. They hadn't been hit by their grandpa back then. The old man had only laughed while the crew planned their next stop a little annoyed.

His eyes were now on his clean plate. "Is there a way we can grab some food for Bepo and Chouchou, too?"

Ace's hand was immediately on his forehead. "I think, he has a fever. But I can't feel anything", his big brother said. "You probably hit him too hard in the morning when he woke you up", Law scolded Ace.

"Hey, I just want to bring some good food to Bepo and Chouchou. It's not like I'm sharing my food", Luffy protested.

"You want some food to take with you?", someone suddenly asked behind him.

It was a blonde young man who was around Zoro's height. Only one eye was visible and the eyebrow looked kinda funny. It was the one chef who had taken the order.

"If that is possible, yes. Nothing special. Just one normal meal and some meat which isn't flavoured or salted if it is okay", Law answered quickly. A smile ghosted over Luffy's lips. So they could share this delicious meal with Bepo and Chouchou.

The chef looked a bit surprised about the second part but nodded. "I'll look what I can get you", he said and went over to a man, who boasted himself as Marine Lieutenant Fullbody, with his date.

"I say this date isn't going to end well", Ace mused as they watched the woman chuckling about something the cook said. "The cook seems to be a ladies man."

"Well, then I'll say if you are right then it would be interesting to see how he would react if this soulmate-stuff is real and his turns out to be male", Zoro said and drank a sip from his jar. Both, the swordsman and his big brother, were chuckling about this while Law only rolled his eyes.

But Luffy tuned them out. His eyes were fixed on the blonde cook.

The Marine had thrown the soup on the floor. Getting the attention of a lot of people. The cook had bent down. His face was shadowed. Was the blonde angry?

It seemed so. Because the cook first lectured the Marine about wasting food, before he easily defeated the Lieutenant only using his feet. So the blonde was strong and able to cook. Luffy had also a positive feeling about him.

He grinned. "I like him. Do you think that we are able to convince him to join us?", Luffy said and surprised Ace, Law and Zoro. "Well… he can fight and he can cook. So it would be helpful, but he's a ladies man…", his big brother started. "Meaning we would have a higher chance with a female crew member", Law said. "I'll ask him to join us", Luffy decided.

Unknown to Luffy, Ace and Law shared a glance knowing fully well that the straw-hatted boy could also have said "I'll make him join us" and would do it the same way.

The black-haired boy wanted to stand up to talk with the blonde cook but was held back by his big brother. "The fight isn't over, yet", Ace said.

And his big brother was right.

The marine had stood up again. Grumbling something, they weren't able to hear but Luffy was sure that it wasn't something nice.

The pink-haired man intended to attack again but was stopped by a man entering.

The man who just entered looked thin and starved. But there was something about him that scared the customers. Luffy only felt some kind of pity for him but he didn't know why.

"That's Gin the 'Man-Demon', a combat commander of the Krieg Pirates", Law whispered.

Ace's arms were still around Luffy, probably to keep him from interfering with something. So he could only watch how Gin demanded food while Fullbody fleed in fear of the man. But the pirate was kicked out shortly after because he had no money with him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Luffy noticed how the blonde cook had gone upstairs during the whole event. Upstairs should be the kitchen. After all, the food had been carried down the stair.

"I'll take a walk around the restaurant", Luffy said, freed himself out of Ace's holds and stood up. "Don't do anything stupid", his big brother warned him, but he only waved at his big brother and the other, before he went out.

The boy followed his instincts and took the left way. Luffy only took a few steps before he stopped.

Gin was leaning against the railing, breathing heavily and clutching his stomach. The sign of hunger made Luffy want to say something to maybe cheer the man up, but the blonde cook suddenly appeared.

The chef put down a plate with light food and a glass of water next to the man.

"Don't eat too quickly. It won't be healthy for your stomach", the blonde said. "I don't need your pity." "I didn't do it because I pity you. I did it because it's a cook's job to feed the people. If I let you starve, I wouldn't honour the words of my teacher. So eat."

Gin blinked confused at the cook. Then he started to eat. "That's so delicious…" The man seemed to have problems eating not too fast. "But I can't pay…", Gin said after he had finished his meal.

"What should you pay for? There is no evidence that you got food", the blonde chef told him and let the empty plate and the glass fall into the ocean.

Luffy grinned. The cook was a good guy. He only liked him more after seeing this nice nature. Anyone who would give other food without wanting something for themselves was nice.

"Ne, cook-guy, would you join my crew? Well, at the moment Torao is the captain but I will become the captain after we fulfilled our promise. We plan to reach the top and travelling to the New World while aiming to achieve our dreams", Luffy spoke up and stepped out of his hiding place. Surprising both older man slightly.

"Why should I join a bunch of idiots who don't even know my name?", the chef said. "The New World? Are you out of your mind. A young boy like you shouldn't even think about going to the Grandline", Gin sounded slightly scared when he mentioned the Grandline.

Luffy tilted his head. "A name is something to call you. A name is not what you are. You are a nice guy, you can fight and cook, so join us", the black-haired boy said to the chef before his brown eyes were on Gin. "Why not? I already have been there. Well on Ji-chan's ship, but it wasn't that scary. Also, travelling on the Grandline will bring me closer to achieving my dream." A slight pout on his lips. What did the other know about the Grandline or about him?

The chef massaged his temples. For some reason, he reminded Luffy of Law when the older one thought about how to answer him as simple as possible.

"Liste, kid, I'm not going to join." "Why? I'm not Kid. I'm Luffy and I'll be the one who explored the whole Grandline!"

This seemed to surprise the two others. It made Luffy wonder why? They should have expected something like this.

Then he got an idea. The other's guessed that the chef was a ladies-man. So maybe… "We are also planning to go to Fishman Island for a quick stop. I haven't seen it yet, but I met one when I was with Ji-chan. The Fishman said that the Fishmen and the merpeople are treating each other more peacefully than humans each other. Also, he said that most woman can't compete with the beauty of a mermaid. Even if I don't know why to compete in beauty. Competing for cooking sounds better. Because then there will be lots of food", Luffy tilted his head while he thought about the competition. He felt himself getting hungry again.

"You are going to see mermaids?!", the blonde chef nearly screamed in surprise. Heart like eyes. Luffy suppressed a grin and nodded. "Yeah, we will."

"So join them if you want to see mermaids or go back to work, stupid brat", someone suddenly said from above them. The heart in the chef's eye disappeared and he looked more stoic. "Don't think I'm leaving so easily, shitty old man", the blonde said.

Luffy watched how the chef made sure that Gin had left before he went inside without saying another word towards him. But the other, the 'shitty old man' said something towards him: "Oi, brat, come here for a second."

The man waved him up. A bit confused Luffy went to the stairs and quickly climbed them up. He followed the man to a room. Some might now say that he was too trusty, but this man didn't feel bad. So he was okay.

"So you are trying to recruit Sanji for your pirate crew in making, huh?", the mand said and sat himself down on a chair.

"How did you know it is for a pirate crew?", Luffy asked surprised. He thought he had worded it well enough to hide the fact. After all, they weren't allowed, yet.

The man started to laugh. "You said that you are going to explore the whole Grandline. I'll go a little further and say it is the One Piece you want to find."

"Wow, you are really smart", Luffy said impressed. But the man just laughed. "It takes an ex-pirate to notice a pirate in making."

Ex-pirate? Wait, didn't Law had said something about that?

"Oh, you are the owner. Leg-Red Jeff", Luffy said. For some reason, he got kicked by the man with the wooden leg. "Ow." "It was Red-Leg Zeff, brat. Learn the names right. Otherwise, you will get into trouble someday when you are speaking with pirates of a stronger and more famous crew."

"Don't care", Luffy mumbled only to get kicked again.

Sanji starred a bit thoughtfully on the food before him. The kid's words were still on his mind.

"You are a nice guy, you can fight and cook, so join us."

The blonde chef was a bit surprised by this child-like logic. The kid was at least fifteen or sixteen if he would guess. Normally by then, this child-like logic was lost to bitterness because of all the corrupt world. What did the three other with the kid to keep him that innocent?

Sanji groaned. Now he was worried for the kid who was allowed to run around alone, just because of the plan to go the Grandline. Weren't the three other's afraid of losing the kid? He really wouldn't be surprised if the kid got lost.

He stopped and shook his head. Why should he worry about a stupid kid who asked him to join, because he was nice and could fight and cook? There wasn't any kind of motivation to go with them.

First, they were all four male. He didn't really do well with males except for Zeff(sometimes). He blamed his 'family' for that. Second, there were no girls. Third, he may not know Bepo and Chouchou, the two the extra food was for, but even if one them had been a girl, he wouldn't join either. Because it was not right to leave a beautiful girl behind to eat. So three times a no. He wasn't going to join them. Even if…

"We plan to reach the top and travelling to the New World while aiming to achieve our dreams."

It did sound nice to travel around. To see new people. Learn new receipts or new ingredients… To achieve his dream… to find the All Blue. The kid seemed confident that the crew would be able to achieve their dreams… so maybe joining them wasn't so bad even if there were four males.

A loud crashing sound from the restaurant interrupted his thoughts. Also, a woman screamed. Sanji put the plate down and immediately ran down the stairs.

Gentlemen couldn't just go on with his work if a woman could be in danger.

There stood a man in a golden armour. The man threatened the customers and demanded food. But not only that. He wanted the Baratie, too.

It made Sanji clench his fists. Food would be fine. But the Baratie was the shitty old man's treasure. There was no way he would let it be hand over easily.

"Food will be fine. But this belongs to the shitty old man. There is no way we handing it over", Sanji said calmly with his hands in his pockets.

The other cooks behind him protested that they wouldn't give the man any kind of food. They just wanted to kick him out. Well, at least at the point that the armoured man wouldn't get the Baratie.

But neither of them had noticed that Zeff had gone up and come back down throwing a bag full of food in front of the man.

"There. Feed your man with that, Krieg. But like the others already said, you won't get the ship", the old man said and crossed his arms.

Krieg? Was that Don Krieg, the Pirate Fleet Admiral? But hadn't there been rumours that the man had set sail to the Grandline. So why was Krieg here?

"Red-leg Zeff. It's surprising to see a former pirate like you working in a restaurant. But when you are here, we will not only take the ship. We will take everything else, too", Krieg said with a grin.

Zeff mused. "You think about finding something that helps you on the Grandline, right? Well, I won't hand it over to you, even if I died", the old man spoke with a serious voice and lifted his leg like he was prepared for a fight.

"I'm the strongest man in the world so I will get it!"

"Ne, Torao, isn't this Ossan with the cool moustache the strongest man in the world?", the kid's voice was suddenly heard. So the boy was still here and was not afraid of correcting Don Krieg as it seemed.

"Ossan with the cool moustache?", the slightly taller black-haired man wondered. The man stood closer to the boy. Like he was ready to push the boy behind him in case something happened. "Luffy probably means Whitebeard, the Yonko, right?", the tallest of the group said. The boy nodded. "Then you are right. Whitebeard is known as the strongest man in the world. So this one is probably bluffing about his strength. Because the sentence wouldn't even work if he just viewed the East Blue as the world as there enough strong people who are working or living on the Grandline who may come from here", the tallest said like stating facts which he probably just did.

Krieg looked dumbstruck.

If the man was such a great pirate as his bounty and so on lead on, he should have heard about Whitebeard.

Hell, even Sanji had heard about Whitebeard from Zeff. Because the old man thought it would be safer for him if he at least knew some important pirate names and that he shouldn't mess with them.

Whitebeard was feared on the Grandline. Many people who tried taking the man's head died trying.

"Looks like these brats are more prepared of going to the Grandline than you are", Zeff said with a slight grin.

Krieg looked angry. "Just wait until I have my man here", the man threatened and left.

This didn't sound very good. They should hurry and evacuate the customers who were still there.

"Ne, you were on the Grandline, weren't you? That's why you said I shouldn't go there."

To who was the brat talking now. Gin?!

The man he had feed some time ago looked scared and guilty at the floor.

"We were only there for a few days when… suddenly he appeared. Our whole fleet was cut down with ease…" Gin started to shiver. "I don't think I will ever forget these hawk-like eyes staring at us…"

"Ah, so you met Mihawk. You should have been more careful. If he had cut your ships, you probably pissed him off with something", Zeff spoke up.

Gin shook his head furiously. A shocked look in his eyes. "We didn't do anything!"

"Maybe you just disturbed his nap."

This sounded like a really stupid reason. Especially for someone strong enough to cut whole ships.

But now wasn't the time.

"We don't have time to talk about possibilities what happened. We need to prepare for battle", Sanji said and lightened a cigarette.

"Ne, your name was Sanji, right. If we beat this armour-guy so he leaves the restaurant alone. Will you join us?", the kid, how did the tallest of the four call him again… ah, Luffy suddenly asked him.

"Oi, Luffy, stop that. No more picking fights until I say so!" "But Torao…"

The one with the orange cowboy hat put his hand on Luffy's mouth. "Excuse my little brother. He doesn't know when or how to give up so he will probably bother you until you join", he said.

So these two were brothers.

Torao hit both of them. "Maybe Luffy would have learned it if his older brother and his grandfather aren't the same", the tallest mumbled.

The last of the group didn't seem to really react to what happened. The eyes of the green-haired man were focused on the wall and his hand had a tight grip on the swords he carried around.

What was up with him?

"I won't answer now. There are more important things to do first."

How had Krieg been that fast? Luffy was sure that it hadn't been that long since the man left to get his ship. The only which was still complete, something Gin had told them.

The man seemed really confused about what he wanted to do and he should do. So Gin had hidden somewhere on the Baratie. He said he didn't want to fight… but he should fight…

Deep down Luffy could understand the man's conflict. The big ship would fear lesser people. It was kinda scary, even if he wasn't afraid, how fast the ship came closer.

"It won't reach you."

Luffy looked around confused. The voice had been female. But there was no woman closeby so he could hear it.

"Luffy, are you okay?", His brother's voice made him turn his head towards Ace. But before he could say something about the voice he just heard the ship in front of them fell apart.

Luffy was sure that he had heard a slashing sound. But what could cut a big ship that easily without being seen?

Then …

"That's him. The best swordsman in the world Hawk Eyes Mihawk", Zoro said in a hushed voice. Luffy could hear and feel the excitement of their swordsman. The green-haired one didn't even need to voice it, Luffy knew without the other telling again that there would be nothing to stop Zoro from fighting against one of the Shichibukai. One of the strongest if the rumours are true.

Ace and Law were already busy helping the cooks to prevent the Krieg pirates from coming on board the Baratie. Even if most of them were in a panic because of the sudden appearance of Mihawk.

Someone even lost it and tried to shoot the man.

Luffy never saw someone deflecting bullets that easily with a sword. Not even during the time with Ji-chan on the Grandline. It had even looked like the sword hadn't even touched the bullets.

The straw-hatted boy blinked when he suddenly saw Zoro between the men close by Mihawk. He hadn't really noticed that the other moved. Luffy clenched his fist and looked to Law and Ace.

"Ace, Law, this is already Zoro's chosen fight. So don't interfere", the boy said and shadowed his face slightly with his straw hat. "The same rules as always, huh?", Ace mused. Luffy nodded. "Anyone who dares to interfere gets beaten."

But that wasn't needed.

Most of Krieg's men were too scared to even go to close to Mihawk. So the well 'duell' was without any interference.

But it was sad to see how tall the gap between Mihawk and Zoro were. The Shichibukai easily defended himself with a small sword against all of Zoro's three swords. He didn't want to know how much damage Mihawk would do if he used his main weapon.

Luffy felt frustrated. He wanted to help his crewmate but then he would go against the rules they set for fights. No interference if it was said or somehow mentioned how important that fight was or that the fight was someones. He said it before to his brother and Law. This was Zoro's fight and all they could do was to stand close by.

He clenched his fists as Zoro got stabbed. No one hurt his Nakama.

But this was Zoro's fight.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. The straw-hatted boy turned his head to see Law. "Trust Zoro. Even if it seems reckless, he knows what he is doing", the older one said. Luffy only nodded and looked back at the fight.

His eyes widened. Mihawk had his main weapon in the hand. What had happened? What did convince Mihawk to stop mocking Zoro by fighting with a small sword?

But he got a bad feeling about the fight. A very bad one.

"ZORO!", Luffy could only scream the name of his green-haired friend when two of his three swords broke apart and blood drops fell to the ground.

He was only able to see Zoro's back. Then his friend turned around and offered Mihawk another slash.

This was marking his defeat.

Luffy started to run towards Zoro when he noticed that the other was falling in the water.

"Room. Shambles."

A little stone fell into the water where Zoro had been a second before.

Luffy turned his head to see Law with the green-haired swordsman. The surgeon would take care of Zoro.

He turned his head angrily towards Mihawk. The last slash wasn't needed. Zoro had already been defeated by then.

The world's best swordsman seemed to study him with a piercing glare. The big sword was on Mihawk's back again.

"He won't die. The cut only looks worse because it is fresh", the Shichibukai said. Luffy was surprised. Then the man spoke louder. "It's too early for you to die, brat. My name is Dracule Mihawk. Find your own style and your own way to become stronger. I don't care how long it will take, but I will wait for a rematch in my strongest form. Surpass this sword! Surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!"

Luffy's eyes widened. Mihawk respected Zoro! Zoro must have said about something about his dream and showed his devotion to his dream. That must be the reason why Mihawk changed his sword.

"Oi, kid. What are you planning to do?" "Stupid question. Reaching the top and the end of the Grandline of course." Was that a smile on Mihawk's lips? "A hard path you have chosen there." "Don't care. I do what I want." Luffy stuck out his tongue.

He was sure Ace or Law would have hit him for that if they were any closer but…

"Oi, Captain…" That was Zoro's voice. Luffy turned his head to look at the green-haired swordsman.

He could see how the older one was panting and it seemed to cost a lot of energy to just talk. But Zoro had lifted his only sword at the moment in the air.

"If I don't become the greatest swordsman in the world, you'd be in a dilemma, right?"

A cough was heard. It sounded painful. Law tried to make Zoro stop talking. But despite the pain Zoro was feeling, he kept on talking.

"I will… I will never lose again! … Until I defeat him and become the greatest swordsman, I'll never be defeated anymore!"

Luffy felt a grin appearing on his face. He was sure that he also saw a smirk on Mihawk's face.

"Do you have any problems with that, Captain Luffy?"

"None", Luffy chirped loudly.

"Stop talking now", Law scolded the swordsman loudly, before he started to order some cooks close by around for medical stuff and bandages to take care of Zoro. The surgeon was in his element.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Luffy noticed how Mihawk went back to his ship to leave.

"Oi, Hawkeye. Aren't you here to take my head?", the armoured man, who had just stood by, asked. "I had my fun. I just followed you to kill some time. Now, there is nothing interesting here to do. So don't waste my time", Mihawk said coldly.

Without further interruption, the world's best swordsman set sail again.

Now it was the time to deal with armoured man to stop him from taking the restaurant. Luffy might not have fully understood why their opponent wanted the ship. But he understood that the Baratie was the treasure of the owner. So he wouldn't let them take the ship!

Krieg snarled. He didn't seem happy about the way Mihawk treated them as a toy to just kill some time, but also he seemed happy to have the world's greatest swordsman finally away.

"Men, board the ship and overtake it!"

Looked like the fight was starting now.

"Oi, braggart! Leave the ship alone or I'll beat you!", Luffy shouted lifting his fists. If he needed to beat this man to convince Sanji to come with them, he would do it.

Krieg just laughed. "A shrimp is trying to stop me? Don't kill yourself, brat. I am Don Krieg the strongest man alive!"

"Hiken!"

His brother's attack destroyed even more of the floating ship parts and scared some of the men.

Luffy didn't wait long to use his chance to close the distance between Krieg and himself. He was going to kick the man's ass.

He jumped on a floating piece and then ran at Krieg with full speed. Instinctively he covered his right fist with Haki. He was going to crash the armour with one hit.

His fist connected with the armour cracking first before breaking it. At least he thought he was breaking the armour but a barrier was between his fist and the other, but it cracked an broke down.

The power of the hit sent Krieg flying backwards.

"Don't underestimate me!", Luffy shouted and got into his fighting stance. Because even if he got a hit on his opponent. He hoped the fight wasn't over, yet.

Ace was having fun. After his attack, most of Krieg's man seemed scared and didn't seem to know how to deal with him. He let their attacks go through his body. Letting flames dance on him.

When they got too close to the cooks he threw a kick or a hit at them. He couldn't fight as freely as he would like. The ship was made of wood. His fire wouldn't do it any good.

The cooks seemed all able to fight quite well against the lower rank members of the Krieg Pirates. But some of them seemed to have their trouble but these were solved by working together.

The only cook, who was able to fight off some member alone, was the one Luffy wanted to recruit. Sanji was the name if Ace remembered it right. The blonde was quite good.

Only using his feet to deliver strong kicks against his enemy. Also, the look in the visible eye showed pure determination. The determination to protect this place. Ace could see why Luffy wanted the cook to be part of the crew. Now if they only knew that he had a dream, too. Then Sanji would be a perfect addition to the crew. Despite the blonde being an annoying ladies man.

Suddenly two other cooks were sent flying.

A man with large shields on his body was laughing.

"Pearl-sama."

Pearl? This name didn't ring a bell. Ace was sure that he had listened carefully when he and Law went through potential big enemies last night with Zoro.

But the man must be some higher up of the Krieg Pirates. Otherwise, the members they were fighting at the moment wouldn't call him that way. Also, the attack had been quite fast.

Ace narrowed his eyes at the man.

"You are going to lose. My last sixty-one battles I won completely unharmed. Not even spilling a drop of blood. Not even the cannon balls of the marine could harm me. I'm the strongest among the strongest."

The other sounded like their captain. A braggart. Seriously why did they have a tendency to run into crews with egos too big for their own good? He hoped that would change on the Grandline.

Ace prepared himself for an attack when he noticed his little brother flying. Well, not really flying. He didn't use his devil fruit. He must have been dodging the attack of Don Krieg and had jumped backwards for that.

Luffy's feet hit against Pearl's head so the Krieg pirate tumbled slightly. His baby brother landed next to him.

"That was close. This guy is annoying. He pulls out weapon after weapon. Does he think using as many weapons as possible is a way to show strength and win?", Luffy sounded annoyed.

"Should I take over for you? I will melt his weapons for you~", Ace offered and let flames dance around his hand.

"Should you really talk at a time like that? Something is wrong with this one", Sanji interrupted their conservation.

Ace looked to Pearl again. The man was staring at his fingers. "That is… dangerous." Suddenly blue flames were on the man and highlighted by these flame was blood which dropped from his noses.

"He is seriously just freaking out because of the blood?" "What kind of a pirate is he that he isn't able to see his one blood?"

The Krieg pirates were in a panic because of Pearl being on fire now. They screamed and shouted for the other one to stop. But they couldn't calm him down.

Ace pushed Luffy behind him. Fire wouldn't do anything to him. But his baby brother had never been one who liked it too hot. So putting a bit distance between the two would be good. Also, there was a chance the fire got out of hand and he didn't know how well Luffy would deal with it despite being close to him.

So they had to stop the idiot quick before he set the restaurant and also their ship on fire.

But someone other was quicker than himself.

"He kicked Pearl-sama." "He injured Pearl-sama even more!" "Isn't he afraid of the fire?"

Sanji had kicked Pearl right in the face before dodging the counter-attack. The cook blew some smoke in the air. "Oi shitheads, what kind of chef would be afraid of fire?"

"So cool", Luffy cheered behind him. Ace grinned. The cook was in for something after the battle. Luffy wouldn't leave that easily without trying to get Sanji on board. But they should then work on the mouth the cook had. Luffy's known amount of curse words should be limited.

Suddenly his baby brother moved from behind him. A big morning star was thrown at them. Well more at Sanji. Looked like Krieg wanted to take him out.

Luffy pushed the morning star back. Just using his hands. Even if his baby brother used Haki, he was going to feel how hot it was. It looked kinda too hot to touch for Luffy.

"Hot. Hot", Luffy chanted and shook his hand to cool them down. But throwing through the morning star back had a nice side effect. A mast was broken and it fell down on Pearl knocking him out.

Well, that was something positive. The annoying one was down and Krieg was going to fall down soon. As soon as Luffy was back on the track because his baby brother seemed really up for beating this idiot.

Or maybe the other would just run away as he did with Mihawk. Now that would be nice. Because Ace didn't want to deal with this braggart any longer. He was itching to face the real strongest man in the world. A desire he hadn't expressed in front of his brother and Law, yet, and it should stay that way until well… until they met the strongest man in the world.

Ace studied the man carefully.

Krieg seemed angry that his armour had been lightly cracked. The man had a tight grip on a spear-like weapon. The top seemed a bit strange. The thing was that Krieg seemed to have an arsenal of hidden weapons on his body and more. So Ace wouldn't be surprised if the top of the spear had some secret weapons, too, or hidden dangers. Maybe he should warn his baby brother.

But one look at Luffy made Ace shake his head. His baby brother wouldn't be happy if he pointed that out. Luffy had always wanted to do things his way when it came to battles. So Ace as his big brother shouldn't help him until it became too dangerous for his baby brother.

So what should he do? The other pirates were weak… even weaker than those bandits Luffy and he had beaten up all the time with Sabo.

But they were all left to beat up. So Ace grinned and looked at them. "Well, who's next?"

Sanji could only stare.

He was shocked but also impressed. The blonde had never thought that this kid called Luffy was that strong despite looking and acting a bit(or maybe a lot) childish.

Despite every weapon, Krieg threw at Luffy. The boy didn't back down and wasn't hit very often. There were some scratches on Luffy's arms and legs from a needle rain attack. But that didn't bother the boy. The boy had even hit Krieg through a spiked shield.

It surprised him that there had been no blood. There should have been blood on the boy's fist or on the shield. And why did the arm look black for a moment?

How was the kid so strong? And what exactly did the boy do?

"Watch them carefully. These brats aren't afraid of dying. You see this in their eyes", Zeff said next to him suddenly. The blonde looked surprised at the man who saved his life many years ago and took care of him since then.

He had heard this 'Watch them carefully' often or it was just 'Watch carefully'. It meant that he could learn something from that or it would be important.

But Sanji couldn't see how just watching the two black-haired ones' battle teach him something. To be not afraid of dying didn't help in a fight, did it?

"The green-haired risked his life for his dream. The older black-haired one is fighting all these guys because he supports his little brother. He would die just to protect his brother and what his brother is standing for. And the little one. He won't back down from a fight to fulfil his dream. Even if people would laugh at him or just think he couldn't do it", Zeff said with crossed arms.

Dream? What was the kid's dream again? The kid had said something about going to the Grandline. What exactly had Luffy said again?

"We plan to reach the top and travelling to the New World while aiming to achieve our dreams."

"I'm Luffy and I'll be the one who explored the whole Grandline!"

Exploring the whole Grandline? Travelling to the New World? Wait… His eyes widened.

Zeff had told him one time that if the One Piece did really exist, it would be in the second part of the Grandline. The New World.

Exploring the whole Grandline meant that Luffy was trying to find the One Piece. The treasure of the pirate king Gold Roger. The treasure whose finder would become the next pirate king.

Sanji stared at the kid who had beaten Krieg. A boy around seventeen-year-old and around half a metre smaller than Don Krieg had beaten the Pirate Fleet Admiral, Foul Play Krieg.

But something seemed to have gone wrong about the last attack from Luffy. The boy seemed so quick on his feet and had been jumping around the whole fight. But now Luffy fell straight towards the water.

"Luffy, fly! Fly, Luffy", Ace shouted. But whatever the older wanted to tell the younger with that. Luffy didn't seem able to do it. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw how Ace's eyes widened and how the man wanted to jump into the ocean when the boy met the surface and sank quickly. But the old man held the older black-haired one back. "You are not helping your brother with your inability to swim. You will probably both die." "But Luffy can't swim neither!"

The voice of Ace sounded scared.

Sanji kicked his shoes off and jumped into the water.

Luffy had saved the Baratie risking his life during the fight against Don Krieg. So he wouldn't let the boy die because he couldn't swim. It would repay him in a strange way.

He had to save him. Quickly Sanji moved his arms and legs to dive deeper and faster. He caught the boy around his waist. Sanji was quite surprised how easy it was to bring Luffy back to the surface and on board the Baratie again. The blonde had suspected that the kid weighed more because he had seen how much the two black-haired brothers had eaten. But no, Luffy was rather light.

Ace was directly next to them when Sanji pulled them out of the water.

The older one shook his little brother until he was hit by Law. The doctor of the crew, that was Sanji's guess, had come over. So the man had finished threatened the marimo.

"Don't shake him like that, idiot. Move over and let me handle this. Do something useful and bring Zoro on our ship. But carefully. I had to get Bepo getting me some injections to knock him out. If you move Zoro and pull out some of the strings from the wounds, I'll…" Law started to threatened but Ace just leant down and pecked the doctor's lips. "I'll know what you would like to try so you don't have to say it, Torao", the fire user said and quickly went away.

The facial expression of Law was quite interesting. First, there was only pure shock. Like the black-haired didn't believe what the other just had done. Then there was a light red on Law's cheeks. It could be both embarrassment or anger.

But Sanji would never know as a cough got the doctor's attention. A cough from Luffy. This got Law into professional mode. The doctor mumbled something and Sanji was sure that he heard, that the other wanted to cut Krieg apart and sent him to the Marines.

"You really want to stay here, Gin?", Sanji looked at the other one. "Yeah… I don't think after meeting Mihawk… I'm ready for travelling again… I wasn't even able to…", Gin looked down on the water. He didn't seem to be able to talk about his feelings completely. But it was fine. The man had his heart in the right place but just had decided to follow the wrong people.

"I already talked with the old man… He said it is fine as long as you work here, too. I can guarantee you that you will get some hits from the old man. He said once he teaches via hitting. He did mean it", Sanji said. The blonde didn't say that Zeff had only agreed to that when he finally got his ass off and started to chase his dream.

Sanji feared that it would make Gin feel bad that the blonde left so that the other had a place to stay. But to be true…

Since he had seen the fight between Luffy and Krieg and also talked a bit more with the crew (they stayed around because Zoro needed to rest some more and Luffy hadn't completely recovered from the paralysing poison Krieg had on his needles) of the kid, a feeling had grown inside him. A desire to follow his dream. To find the All-Blue.

A smile ghosted over his lips when he remembered the talk last night with Luffy and Ace. The older brother gave his little brother a piggyback ride. Neither had laughed about the idea of an ocean where every fish from all over the world can be found. Both had commented on how much tasty food that would be. But what was the most remarkable of the conversation was Luffy's statement "It's a nice dream". A simple statement, but… Sanji felt like it could also mean "Let's make your dream come true", because of the way Luff had said it.

And he was going to find it. This morning he had made up his mind. That was also before Zeff told him about this agreement. So it was truly fine for him to leave so that Gin could stay here.

"Take care of the old man for me", Sanji said and lifted his backpack.

Many of his stuff was already on the ship of his new crew. Like all his cooking items. Because the kitchen might have looked fine, but the utensils weren't in a good shape. It did make Sanji a bit wonder how they survived that long with Ace and Luffy on board.

Gin looked at him and nodded. "Thank you, Sanji. Thank you for everything."

Sanji just waved at him and started to make his way towards Shippy, that was how Luffy had introduced the ship.

The other cook stood left and right leaving a path for him to walk through. He could hear Patty and Carne scream. The blonde cook swiftly dodged their attacks and knocked them out with one kick to each, before he was back on his way.

Luffy sat on the railing looking at him. "You don't say goodbye?", the boy asked confused. "Don't ask, Luffy. Some people don't like saying goodbye", Law said next to the straw-hatted one.

Sanji nodded and wanted to take the first step of the Baratie when he heard it.

"Sanji."

Just his name. Just his name said by the old man. The old man who saved him all these years ago. The old man who taught him how to cook and how to fight. This one word made him froze.

"Don't catch a cold."

Sanji felt his underlip quiver. He fought with his tears but couldn't keep them from running down his cheeks.

The blonde turned around and kneeled

"Owner Zeff, thank you. Thank you for everything! I will never forget what you have done for me!"

He pressed his head against the wooden planks and sobbed. The old man had done so much for him and despite the way, he acted towards Zeff… the old man had become like a father to him. Even if he would never say this out loud. So now he was leaving his father figure.

Sanji could hear Patty and Carne now sobbing, too. That was when he lifted his head. Both of them were crying.

"I'm going to miss you!" "Miss you, too damn it!"

Now the other cooks were sobbing, too.

Sanji didn't know if he should cry or smile. Because seeing the others like that just showed him how much they cared for him. That they didn't really want him to go but still somehow want him to go off on a journey to fulfil his dream.

"Let's meet again, you shitty bastards!"

Bepo carefully poked the blonde who was now the cook of their crew. Sanji looked with one shocked eye at him after he had introduced himself.

"What is wrong with the cook?", Zoro asked and took a sip of his booze. "I don't know", Bepo said and tilted his head.

"The bear can talk?!"

"I'm sorry", the mink directly apologized and bowed slightly. "You don't need to apologize every time, Bepo. Get used to it. I think every crew member we will recruit until a certain point will think there is something strange going on when they first met you", he heard Ace scolding him.

Bepo blinked innocently at the black-haired logia user. Wasn't it impolite to not apologize to others for that?

"Stop scolding Bepo, you meanie", Luffy piped up. Their future captain stood next to Zoro and had a small red ball in his left hand. Chouchou was jumping around next to Luffy's legs. So that meant Luffy intended to play ball with the dog.

"Luffy, how about you take Bepo with you when you go below to play with Chouchou? I deal with the meanie and our shocked cook", Law spoke up and with a bright grin, Luffy pulled Bepo after him. "Great idea, Torao. Come on, Bepo. Let's play", the boy cheered and Bepo couldn't help but smile, too.

Ending AN: So there are now Luffy, Ace, Law, Bepo, Zoro, Chouchou and Sanji in the crew. Two more are coming before they leave the East Blue. I'm wondering if someone will guess them right. But not now~
Sanji was chosen as part of the crew because he can swim, fight, cook and also his behaviour is sometimes hilarious. I think he will fit perfectly in the typical daily life on 'Shippy'.

Until next time ;)