Hello, so I decided to upload this one early.

I'm watching the Water 7 Arc at the moment for ideas so it will be a bit easier to write. As I get some inspiration from it. At the moment I think it will be around three to four chapters regarding everything that needs to be done around Water 7. And now a little spoiler for you. After Water 7, there will probably be around three "arcs" (filler chapters not included) at the moment before a certain dragonfly-boy meets a flying pineapple boy. But that is the plan at the moment which can change but I don't think I will. So be prepared ;)

~Chapter 27 – The Start of Facing the Past~

Luffy happily skipped between Ace and Law as they made their way to Galley-La Company.

They wanted to arrange a check-up on Shippy so that it would be in perfect shape when they would set sail for the New World. Something that filled Luffy with excitement. But he also hoped that Shippy would be fine enough. After all, it somehow belonged to his Nakama despite making more of a mess instead of repairing it.

But there was also a second reason why Luffy was quite excited. There was a chance that they would find a new Nakama in this city. Because Ain and also Law had told him that Water 7 was quite famous for their shipwrights. Someone that was still missing on board.

"Slow down, Luffy", Law grumbled and hold him back. "But there is a chance we might get a new Nakama", the young black-haired Shichibukai said with a pout forming on his lips. "That still isn't a reason for you to hurry that much. We have several days until we are ready to set sail again. The Log Pose needs a week. So there is really enough time for everything", Law explained slightly annoyed.

"But if we hurry then there is more time for adventure", Luffy said with a grin and adjusted his hat.

"You always want adventures, don't you, Luffy?", Ace asked amused.

"Of course. That is the main reason why we are traveling. It's because of the adventure and the freedom", Luffy said. His voice made it sound like it was a fact.

This also made Law smile slightly, despite the omega shaking his head. So Luffy thought it was fine. Otherwise, the surgeon would have said something about it.

"Looks like we have arrived. This is Galley-La Company Dock 1. This is said to be the best one."

Luffy looked towards the big gate with sparkles in his eyes. That looked quite interesting. He was also curious about the people who worked there.

The workers there had to be awesome. Otherwise, they wouldn't be as famous as Ain and Law had made them be.

"Uh, there is a pigeon on the shoulder of that guy", he pointed directly at the person. "Stop pointing fingers at others. That could get us into trouble", Law said annoyed and pushed his hand down.

"Do you have an appointment? Otherwise, you have to wait over there", a man with sunglasses and a strange haircut.

"No, no appointment. Thank you, we will wait", Law said and pulled Luffy and Ace with him. "But Torao, I wanna see more of the pigeon", the young captain complained pouting. "Not now."

Bepo tilted his head. He had seen a lot while traveling with Ace, Law, and Luffy. But to him, Zoro was still strange.

The man seemed to only do two things: training and sleeping. Well and fighting if they got into some confrontations but otherwise.

The mink looked at the green-haired swordsman who was now again sleeping. It was quite surprising how deep Zoro was sleeping. At least in comparison to what he knew about humans.

Ace had the deepest sleep when he got a narcoleptic attack. Then the other could sleep next to a canon going off without waking up.

The same could be said about Zoro. The green-haired swordsman seemed to be able to sleep through nearly everything even if it was snowing.

Bepo weighted his head from one side to another. Should he ask Law about this? Maybe Zoro had narcolepsy as well? It would be possible.

"Didn't they teach you not to stare at people?"

Bepo's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't noticed that Zoro woke up.

"Sorry", he only mumbled and looked to the ground in shame.

"Oi, what are you even apologizing for?"

Bepo lifted slightly his head only to tilted it then. Was it not okay to be sorry? Zoro had told him to stop staring.

Humans could be complicated.

An unfamiliar smell suddenly hit his nose. It was an Alpha smell that's for sure because it did have some similarities to Ace's, Robin's, and Bartolomeo's smell.

In the next moment, Zoro was standing next to him in a fighting position.

"Huh?" A confused sound escaped him and he turned to look behind him to see some strange men who had a star on their armor.

"Pity, we thought this could be an ambush. But well, we are here to take your head, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. The 90,000,000 Berrie will be ours. But also the rest of the bounties of your crew, too", the leader of the group said and attacked them.

But Zoro easily warded the attack off.

"Well, then this is unlucky for you", the swordsman said drily. "Oi, Bepo, help out to kick these idiots from the ship."

"Aye", the mink said and jumped into action.

"The bear can talk?!"

"Sorry."

Sanji was quite fascinated by Water 7. The way of traveling through the city was something he could get used to.

Especially since he could put his purchases directly behind him.

"Sanji-san, over there is a booth which is selling spices", Bartolomeo said and pointed towards the market stall.

A small smile graced his lips. Despite not being able to go with Robin and Ain. Bartolomeo and Bon Clay were surprisingly pleasant company despite being males.

Well, Bon Clay did say that they wouldn't really like to be defined by any kind of gender because with being able to impersonate anyone, who they touched, their scent got quite messed up and it even made them having ruts but also heats. It was complicated.

But the okama like everyone else on board helped him in his view on man. Even the stupid marimo was somewhat helpful.

"Well, then let's see what we will get there", Sanji said and made his Yagara follow the two others.

Robin was quite satisfied that Ain had decided to go with her. Because after all, the former marine was still somewhat skeptical when she was around her.

But it was welcoming to go through towns together as they had similar interests. For example, both of them liked to read. So it had been clear from the start that they would go book shopping.

Robin felt even excited to see what kind of books regarding history the shops would offer.

"Over there seems to be a book shop", Ain said and started to lead the way. Robin nodded and was beginning to follow when a strange masked person crossed her.

"CP 9, Buster Call" was whispered to her. Immediately it felt like her body froze. The last two words triggered her memories.

The destruction of Ohara. The explosion of the ship with the citizens. The death of Saul.

She didn't want that. She didn't want to live through a buster call again. Her body started to move on its own. She turned on her heels and wanted to follow the masked person.

But a hand took hers and hold her back.

"I know that CP9 plays dirty. But the rule of immunity for Shichibukais and their crews must also be respected by you. That means as long as Robin is part of Luffy's crew, she also has that immunity. Also, how stupid do you think we are to believe that someone gave this complete idiot permission to make this call", Ain said. Her voice was quiet but it also sounded dangerous.

But Robin could only look in shock at the younger one. Ain was a former marine. So she should have some knowledge about the buster call.

The masked person seemed to be slightly shocked, too. At least, if she had to guess from their body language.

"Since you don't seem to be familiar with that. I will tell you your options. You could either leave us alone or you attack us and then you will have an all-out fight. Because as long as you attack us first we have the right to defend ourselves without Luffy losing his position as Shichibukai", Ain explained and slightly squeezed her hand.

"Also we are part of the crew from the future pirate king, we can't get scared by the dogs of the celestial dragon", the bluenette whispered to her.

These words got to Robin. That was right. If she wanted to help Luffy archiving his dream of becoming the pirate king then she should face her past. She must face her past and get stronger.

But was she able to now? Was she able to face a buster call?

The shorter woman next to her started to pull her away after she had thrown an angry glance at the CP9 agent.

"Don't get intimated by them. There might be some strong CP9 agents but none of them has the power to initiate a buster call. And I don't think any of the ten people who have the authority would give a stupid office worker the power to initiate one. The boss is an idiot who is weaker than some normal marine soldier and feels big because of the power some agents have", Ain explained.

Robin blinked. "You seemed to know a lot about CP9's boss", she stated softly. "My instructor… was a former marine admiral. But because of different opinions regarding justice he left. Some of us followed him. He then became our leader and give us a lot of information because our enemies wouldn't only be pirates but the world government as well. That included every secret agency they have."

The black-haired one nodded slightly. It did make a lot of sense why Ain had quite the knowledge about the marine. That made this whole crew slightly more interesting.

So they had Ace, Law, and Luffy, who had a connection to a powerful individual within the marine ranks. And now Ain had also a connection to a former marine admiral who did give information to her.

Then suddenly Robin remembered something she had heard about CP9 and turned her head to look behind her.

"They were masked and tried to be hidden. Normally, they are allowed to kill if they need to. But I think that they aren't here for us but for something else that's why there was no confrontation", Ain mumbled. "Then we should tell the others, right. Because there is a chance that it will still come to a confrontation", Robin said.

The bluenette nodded. "Yeah, there is a chance. But don't worry as strong as the CP 9 agents are rumored to be, the guys are stronger", the strategist sounded confident.

So maybe she should put her trust in the boys a little more.

"We might have a problem. The bluff with the buster call won't work to capture Nico Robin as long as she is with that crew", said a person with a mask on his face.

"So after one failure, you give up?" A person in the shadows seemed slightly annoyed about it.

"No. It's just we lose something which we could use against her. At least for now."

"Well, then we are doing our normal way. We will prevent them from traveling onwards. So we will get our chance. And if there isn't one we will kill them. The officials can declare someone else as Shichibukai."

The figure in the shadow swayed a wine glass a little.

"So we are destroying the ship?"

"Yes, we will."

So something I want to note at the end. Bon Clay will most likely be the only person in this story who will be written with they/them as pronouns.
Because I thought a lot about the Mane Mane no Mi. Since people are able to be identified by their scents, an imitation with the devil fruit will be a lot harder to pull off. So I decided for this AU the user of the Mane Mane no Mi is able to mimic everyone with that even their scent. This messes up the biology of the user itself because when they mimic an omega they will also go into heat or when they mimic an alpha they will go into a rut. This leads to the user themselves having irregular heats and ruts. Therefore the user isn't really an omega nor an alpha nor a beta.
Since then the identification would mostly be over the birth gender which Bon Clay is able to change because we saw in the anime/manga that Bon Clay is able to mimic even just aspects like the nose, it would be a little different to just call Bon-chan he or she. Therefore I come to the conclusion to use they/them for Bon Clay.
If I do that for any other character, I will tell you. But at the moment no other character is planned because even if a person defines themselves more with their second gender than their birth gender then they will still use the pronouns for their birth gender.

So that is what I wanted to stay^^ I hope you all are staying healthy =)