The day of the Gray Terminal Incident was something none of them would forget...because it only cemented the desire to become pirates, as opposed to Marines. Garp knew deep down there was no going back, not after he had admitted as much that the culprits behind that hellish blaze or the ones who attacked Sabo for simply being in the same area as them on his way off the island would receive no punishment. Not even a slap on the wrist.
Luffy was hit the hardest, then again the ten year old had worked her ass off to help people get out during the blaze. If Dadan hadn't managed to get her out of that house she might not have made it.
It took the combined efforts of Ace, Sabo, and surprisingly enough Shanks (via the Den Den Mushi he left her) to snap her out of the funk she had been in.
(Ace and Luffy were very, very glad Sabo still had his Sun flames, otherwise the damage done to his body from the attack by the Celestial Dragons could have very well killed him.)
Luffy, or rather "Tsunami" as she was once called, looked to Ace/Xanxus. Sabo had his expression set in a grim line, and he would forever carry those scars on his body from the attack.
"We need a plan," said Luffy. "I don't want to serve under anyone else...not when it means following the orders of someone who could be secretly siding with the World Government."
"I'm going to join the Revolution, once I find out where they are. We need an inside man with them, especially considering what Garp told us about your father and why he handed you over to that crazy old bastard," said Sabo grimly.
Garp didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell when Luffy turned her big, watery eyes on him and asked why her father had abandoned her. Mostly because he had come clean already about Ace's parentage, so why should he keep silent on Luffy's?
Monkey D. Dragon was the name of Luffy's father this time around. Unlike before, he didn't try to 'pretend' he was a dutiful family man and had given his child up for a legitimate concern for her safety. Dragon mostly worked in the Grand Line, specifically the "New World", which was by far the most dangerous part of it.
Garp had taken Luffy to the East Blue, which was one of the safest seas and kept silent about her parentage. He also didn't take it too personally that Luffy now saw someone like Shanks as her actual father, rather than his son. He even trained her.
So while Luffy was a bit miffed that part of her personal history had been repeated, at least this time she could honestly claim that her father actually did give a damn about her and wasn't holding her back.
Whether they would get along when she finally met the man was up for debate.
Seeing no argument from the other two, Sabo relaxed a little.
"So Luffy goes to become captain, Sabo will head to the Revolutionaries and try to act as our inside man when it comes to them and Dragon. I suppose I could try to become a captain too," said Ace.
Luffy shook her head.
"We need allies, and having two of us on the Grand Line would increase our chances of finding loyal ones. Besides, you always had the better luck finding bloodthirsty nutjobs willing to follow you to hell and back and turning them on your side," said Luffy cheekily. A sudden grin crossed her face. "How much you want to bet you end up as part of Whitebeard's crew?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Why would someone like him want Roger's son on his ship as part of his crew?" scoffed Ace.
"Does that mean you're not willing to make a bet?" said Luffy.
Ace briefly had to wonder if Tsunami's bizarre luck in gambling carried over to this life as well. Then his pride got in the way and he agreed to a rather healthy bet of one million berries if he did join Whitebeard's crew as one of his "sons".
(If he had known that Tsunami had actually read "One Piece" right up until they killed off Ace and everyone disappeared for a few years to train, he would have started swearing. Mostly because the "fluffy bunny" had managed to rig a bet against him of all people.)
The trio's resolve solidified as a plan was made. Once Ace was old enough he would head straight to the Grand Line and pick up a crew along the way. Better to have both of them picking up allies for later than to scramble after the fact.
Though the idea of challenging Whitebeard was an intriguing one. He was openly curious how he would fare against the only man to match Gol D. Roger in his prime and who might have an idea what One Piece actually looked like.
A few years later...
When Sabo left (Garp was surprisingly "helpful"...once he finished beating the shit out of the three of them with his "Fist of Love"... with contacting Dragon and getting Sabo an 'in' with the Revolutionaries) Luffy had been upset but had managed to weather through it. She knew how important this was.
When it came Ace's turn to leave, however, it was another story.
It had taken every bit of willpower he had not to cave into those crying eyes and stay. He was the former Varia Boss! He would not give in to the Bunny Power!
He still slept badly until he found some Marines to beat the crap out of and managed to forget Luffy's expression. It took him months before he could even remotely handle the idea of being away from his baby sister...much to the amusement of his crew who found his overprotective instincts beyond adorable, especially when he brought out a picture of Luffy who was firmly in her tomboy stage.
It wasn't until Ace found out about a certain adventure series written by the infamous Red Haired Yonko that his "guilt" was replaced by amusement and an eagerness to share some particularly embarassing blackmail.
(Luffy was going to be so peeved at Shanks when she found out about it.)
Luffy had to grin. It was finally her turn, and not a minute too soon! Garp was already talking about her "settling down" with a nice Marine captain.
If and when she found someone to sleep with, it would be on her terms. And forget marriage...she refused to be stuck in the role of a trophy wife and pop out babies!
Even if Makino-nee despaired at her becoming such a tomboy. Dadan had found it highly amusing and had been the one to show Luffy all sorts of neat little tricks and tips to hide the fact she was a girl.
Which mostly boiled down to: wear loose shirts, bind your chest back as much as you could without losing the ability to breathe, speak in a deeper voice than normal (that had been the hardest part for Luffy, until she figured out how to adjust her vocal cords by using her Devil Fruit power...sometimes you just needed a bit of creative thinking!), and try to avoid public bathing.
Getting off the island was easy. What was a headache was realizing the hard way that the sea apparently screwed with her sense of direction something awful.
She didn't know if it was her Devil Fruit power or because she was naturally inclined to fire, but her normally good sense of direction was shot to hell within minutes. She knew this because she somehow managed to sail right into a freaking whirlpool she knew perfectly well was there from the others who came to the island!
Considering she was very well versed in what happened in the beginning before the Grand Line (it was only after the "Skypiea arc" that her memory became fuzzy about the time line and the events that followed) she could only assume fate wanted her to follow the "original" route Luffy took until the deviations added up to the point new things happened.
Boring, but at least she wouldn't be caught off guard like her crew.
She had to admit, seeing Koby was hilarious and she already had a really, really devious idea with what to do with him. He wouldn't thank her for it, not yet anyway, but if he wanted to become a "great Marine" she could think of no one better to toughen the kid up than her grandfather.
Garp had to stare at the Den Den Mushi. While getting a call from Luffy wasn't that surprising...the little girl had managed to con him out of his personal den den mushi number the same way she had Shanks, to the amusement of her brothers...the nature of the call was slightly surprising.
"Gramps, I have a potential Marine here that might be worth your interest. He's young, hard working and is still dedicated to the Marines even after seeing the mess Morgan caused on the island he was supposed to be in charge of. Never mind what that idiot son of his tried to pull. Koby's resolve to become a proper Marine like you hasn't wavered an inch, which makes me think he might survive your idea of 'training'."
Garp was more than a little amused at his granddaughter's tone of voice when she said that. But it was the last part that still shook him to his core.
"I just want you to know I forgive you for what you put us through. I know you did it because the rest of the World Government hates our fathers for who they are and hate us for being their children. You just wanted us to become strong before we stepped out into the big world, even if you were a poor example of a role model. Maybe someday you can stand with us when we change the world to something better."
Garp had no doubt Luffy would rock the foundations of the world. Say what you would about that little girl, but once her resolve to do something was set there was nothing that would stop her from doing what she felt was necessary. She never chose the 'easy' way out, even if the right way was filled with countless hardships and pain.
It was a pity the Gray Terminal incident turned her against the Marines.
Though once he got a good look at this "Koby" that she recommended, Garp had to grin. He might not have gotten his granddaughter to join, but at least she had a good eye for talent. The boy was scrawny and not much to look at now, but if he could turn a fluffy bunny like Luffy into a proper fighter then the boy would either shape up or die trying.
He did have to sigh in exasperation when Koby (and pretty much every other Marine within hearing) found out Luffy was actually a girl. Honestly, why did Ace and Sabo have to turn his adorable little granddaughter into such a tomboy?
Zoro POV...
There was something decidedly off about his new captain. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew there was something Luffy was hiding.
The teen reminded him of the sky. He was vast and inviting, able to accept anyone and anything from the fluffiest of clouds to the fiercest storms.
Luffy didn't laugh at his dream...instead he had merely chuckled and said that it only made sense that the future Pirate King have the greatest swordsman alive by his side as his first mate. The easy acceptance and the fact Luffy genuinely believed he could pull it off had made something warm blossom in Zoro's chest.
A warmth that had only grown the longer he spent around the crazy teenager who could navigate just fine on land but was hopelessly lost on the sea for some bizarre reason.
Zoro thought he imagined it, until he realized no, Luffy did have two "lumps" on his chest where they shouldn't be.
It took him several hours to get over the fact Luffy might actually be a woman. Then he remembered Kuina and promptly shoved it into the same mental box he left all unimportant information.
So what if his captain was a girl? She was still hellishly strong and not afraid to back down from her beliefs, and that was good enough for him. He remembered the crap Kuina had gone through before her death, because she was a girl, and it was fairly obvious Luffy was just avoiding the unnessary headaches by hiding her gender.
And then he noticed the odd steaming when Luffy was splashed again. This time he was quick enough to confirm his captain was a woman.
"Are you steaming?"
"I don't like wet clothes," said Luffy, before flinching. "I mean..."
"Not my problem, so long as you're strong enough to be worth following," said Zoro flatly.
Luffy had an odd look on her face, before she beamed so brightly at him it was like staring into the sun. It was that bright and warm.
The warmth in his chest turned into a conflagration, seeping into his very bones. It was strange, but in the best of ways.
"Well since we're going to be stuck on the boat for a few days... how about I teach you a really useful power that would go really well with your sword training?"
Zoro sat up.
"I'm listening."
"They're called Dying Will Flames, though it goes hand in hand with learning a power known as Haki which is pretty much standard on the Grand Line..." said Luffy.
Zoro sat and listened. These Flames sounded ridiculously useful, even if he was having a hell of time bringing his out.
It wouldn't be until they reached the next island that he got anything...Luffy seemed to be ridiculously amused that he had green flames with light streaks of yellow. Or as she had put it, he was a "Lightning with a Sun secondary".
Apparently green allowed him to harden his body and his sword past their limits, while Sun would allow him to heal faster...or if he really wanted to be creative, to allow his body to move in ways it shouldn't.
The grin on Zoro's face when he figured out how to heal over what he considered minor injuries in minutes with the yellow flame...well it was clear Luffy had made his day. Especially when Luffy commented that she had known someone so good that he literally trained himself day in and day out and when he finally stopped to rest he was a veritable powerhouse.
Zoro honestly hadn't known that muscles needed to rest in order to build up strength. And that training for days at a time without stopping was actually keeping him from getting stronger.
Luffy didn't tell him to stop using such a ridiculous amount of weights when he trained...just that he took a few days off every once in a while to simply relax.
Though Zoro had to admit he laughed his ass off when he found out the reason Luffy hid her gender.
"Girl pirates are never taken seriously until they topple a few major players or five. At most we're considered eye-candy and an easy lay, because what female pirate is going to care about their chastity while living on the seas with several men around her?" said Luffy grimacing. "And don't get me started on the fact that everyone I have contact with insists on calling me a bunny. It would be impossible to get any respect at this stage with that sort of thing hanging over my head."
Zoro snickered, before guffawing. Because now that Luffy mentioned it, she did have the strange aura of a "fluffy bunny" about her, even with the scar under her eye.
No wonder she hid the truth, if she had to live that sort of thing down.
He had the feeling Kuina would have loved meeting her.