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Zoro stared at the dense mass of jungle standing before him. After several months of drifting around east blue with only the tugging in his chest to guide him he had finally arrived at the right island. It wasn't the first time he had landed somewhere in his drifting, but this time the tugging was coming from somewhere in the middle of that jungle rather than somewhere passed it, he had gotten very good at telling the difference, being so familiar with the other.

Part of him had been sad to leave Kuina, a smaller part had whispered that he should stay at the dojo a little longer and train so that he was stronger and better able to protect whatever was running around in that forest. But both parts had been told not so politely to shut up, the thing in the forest was trouble, and needed all the supervision it could get.

Zoro wouldn't say he remembered exactly, but after the bump on the head he had a better idea of what he had forgotten. He knew that he was going to find something, or someone, that would give him a home and a place to belong as well as help him fulfill his dreams. He knew that, when he was nineteen, there were places he would have to go in order to meet people he had to look after, even if names and faces were more than a little hazy.

He knew he was in for a bunch of trouble and a crazy adventure and that, as much of a hassle other people were probably going to say it would be, he had every intention of doing the whole thing over almost exactly the same. Because even if he didn't remember specifics he remembered being happy and content and he was selfish enough to want that back and the rest of the world could go hang.

And it was with that feeling that he was able to tell Kuina that he was leaving, she was his sister and he would treasure her as precious family, but this was something he had to do. He'd go and get stronger and she would get over stupid gender issues and become stronger and they would meet again on the grand line and challenge each other for the right to claim the title of strongest swordsman.

Her father had been a little … harder to convince that Zoro should be able to set out already. The man had been more than slightly worried when Zoro had come crashing down those stairs, and horrified when calmly informed that if it hadn't been Zoro broken then it would have been Kuina dead, the idea of losing either of his children was not something any parent would want to deal with. It was no surprise then that he had been unwilling to let either "child" out of his sight.

But Zoro was stubborn, even more so now than he had been before, and it had quickly become apparent that he was less asking for permission and more informing them of his decision. It was obvious that he would leave anyway, and if the man helped Zoro prepare than there was a higher chance of him surviving. At least he knew that Zoro should be strong enough to keep himself out of too much trouble against most people in the east blue, especially after seeing that three-sword style that the boy had perfected in secret.

Maybe he wouldn't have been so reluctant to let the boy leave if it weren't for the fact that he knew the boy would never find his way back.

And so, after several months of lying on his back waiting for it to heal and several more of everyone fussing over him as he trained to get back his strength, Zoro was finally able to leave with three of the dojo's best swords at his hip.

And now here he was, wondering through a jungle of large trees and hanging vines and filled with the suspicion that he was being watched and that the animals here might be slightly larger than what he was used to. But at least he knew where he was going, even if that point seemed to be rather focused on moving through the jungle at rather absurd speeds. He was now almost certain that whatever he was following was alive, and possibly human because that felt right, because the other option was that he was about to be in for one hell of a fight.

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Zoro stared at the kid before him and felt his eyebrow twitch at the ridiculous grin he was getting in return. He knew this was what he had been searching for, that this kid who didn't look more than about eight at the most, was the treasure that he needed to protect, and was alright with that, really. He might have met the kid just seconds ago when he sliced the angry bear that was attacking him, but he knew this kid, in the same way he knew every blade he touched and how to fight with swords, it was that same feeling based on a memory he couldn't quite recall. And even if he hadn't had all of that, the tugging in his chest was pointing straight at the kid.

No, what bothered him was that he had only just met the kid and the boy already seemed to trust him with his life. While Zoro wouldn't take advantage of it, there were quite a few people who would, and Zoro knew that meant that he would have to keep a very close eye on him to make sure those kinds of people would never get the chance.

'Hey, that was so cool! How did you that? what's your name? where did you come from? How come your hair is green?' and on and on it went with barely a pause for breath. Zoro found himself smiling in amusement, though he knew it should be annoying rather than funny. Eventually the kid had to stop to breath, and Zoro did his best to answer all the questions that had been thrown his way.

'I'm Zoro, Roronoa Zoro. I'm a swordsman from … somewhere in east blue, I don't remember where. And my hair's just green, I don't think there's any reason for it.'

'Cool! Join my pirate crew!'

It may have been a sentence spoken by a kid, and he might not be part of the crew yet, but to Zoro it rang like a captain's order and there was only one response that was appropriate to that.

'Sure, Captain.'

The next thing he knew he was trapped in some sort of rubbery cage that seemed to be made out of over-stretched limbs. All he could think was that the ability suited the kid.

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Sabo was worried, Ace was just plain freaking out; Luffy had run off somewhere, and they had no idea how to find their eight-year-old, trouble magnet of a brother.

Since the fire several months ago they had been trying to train their Haki, encouraged by the fact that Ace was already an awoken Conqueror. The slight problem was that, while they were getting better, Observation was the one they were both the absolute worst at, and they were still rather poor at the other types to begin with.

What that meant was that they had no idea how to find Luffy in any other way than following the path of the most chaos and hoping Luffy wasn't too beat up on the other end of it. It didn't help that, even all these months later, they panicked a bit and woke with nightmares about just how close it had come to losing him during the fire.

Eventually they came to the end of the path of broken branches that looked as if something very large had come crashing through. The sight at the other end made them freeze while they tried to figure out what the hell had just happened.

The bear, which had to be one of the biggest ones they had ever seen, was not what had them pausing, nor was it the fact that said animal seemed to be cut up, it wasn't even the fact that Luffy was looking at them with a grin on his face as if nothing had happened.

No, what made them pause was the person their little brother had his arms wrapped around, a person with very familiar looking green hair…

'Zoro!?' they both shouted out at the exact same time, because while this boy was quite a few too many years younger than when they had first seen him to be truly recognisable, the green hair and three swords kind of gave him away.

'Yeah?' that was it, Sabo wondered if the man, teenager, boy, whatever, was really so laid back as to just accept two random strangers shouting his name, while he sat calmly within in the rather far from normal grasp of a third person he was not supposed to know, or if he was just too stupid to realise what was wrong with the situation.

Of course, there was a third option … which he really didn't want to think about, but then again it would make so much sense …

'So Cool! Zoro, you already met by brothers?'

'Nope,' Well, there goes that theory, 'but they seem really familiar so it's possible I just forgot.'

Ace looked at him questioningly. 'You forgot?'

'Yeah, I seem to be doing that a lot recently; I find a lot of things are familiar, but the details are hazy. Oh, well, doesn't really matter, if it's important I'll remember eventually, always do.'

Ace and Sabo looked at each other, looked at the pair in front of them (who were way too comfortable for their liking) and looked at each other again. They really had no idea what to make of that, it almost sounded like he was like them in that he remembered his past (or future) life, but unlike them he didn't remember it clearly. It was almost like Sabo before his two-day nap, but with a little bit more information.

Luffy's sudden laughter brought the two out of their thoughts on what the hell was going on and brought them back to the present. 'Doesn't matter if you've met before, we know each other now. Zoro, these are my brothers, Ace and Sabo. Ace, Sabo, he said he'd join my pirate crew, isn't that great!'

No, they wanted to say, that's not great. What kind of person suddenly agrees to join the pirate crew of a child that he just met. Also, what the hell is he doing here, last time you didn't meet until after you were seventeen. This is a major fuck up in the time line and who the hell knows how it'll change things.

'As good as it is that you have more people on the crew, you don't know anything about this person.' Sabo tried to point out as the voice of reason.

'What's that matter? Zoro is Zoro, just like Ace is Ace and Sabo is Sabo.'

God damn cute, idiotic, little brothers. Why did Luffy have to go and say something as adorable as that?

'Yes,' Ace said, 'but I want to know who "Zoro" is because I'm the big brother and it is important for me to be sure that no one hurts my little brothers, Future Pirate King or no. Also, if I don't know him then how can I help protect him when we fight?'

Sabo silently thanked any Gods willing to listen that he had Ace to help get through to Luffy. Though he wasn't sure how Ace would take the information that he and Luffy seemed to think alike, especially since Luffy didn't seem to think at all most of the time.

'So, Zoro, what brings you to Dawn island?' Ace asked, trying to be polite and not reveal how much he wanted to rip the other boy away from his younger brother.

Zoro, of course, just shrugged. 'A feeling.'

Sabo blinked, 'want to elaborate?'

'Not really.' Seeing their look, he did anyway. 'Some things just need protecting, that's all. I want to be the world's strongest swordsman so that no one can take away what's precious to me. I … remembered … that this would be a good place to get strong … and that I there was something precious to me here. That's all.'

Sabo blinked again. Zoro, as he was now, was confusing. He was a strange mix of uncertain child and confidant adult, and there didn't seem to be any pattern to which he would be at any given moment any more than there was to the flipping of a coin. Ace was thinking along the same lines, and wondering if the two of them ever came across this way.

'And you joined Luffy's crew because?'

'"Luffy"?' Zoro looked legitimately confused.

'The brat that's wrapped around you like some sort of vine,' Sabo said. 'Please tell me the idiot didn't forget to introduce himself and you joined his crew without even knowing is name.'

Another careless shrug. 'He asked,' Zoro wasn't going to elaborate this time. 'And I know him, somehow, even if he forgot to tell me his name.'

'I did?' Luffy looked confused, 'Oh, I did, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm going to be the King of Pirates!'

'Gathered that,' Zoro gave them a considering look, 'I thought you were Ace's brother, not his father.' Ace and Sabo Froze while both Luffy and Zoro suddenly looked confused. 'Ignore that, no idea what it was, but do me a favour and wake me up if I start having nightmares about swirly eyebrows or ero-cooks flirting with a money grabbing witch. Happens occasionally and I don't even want to remember where it's from.'

'What's an ero-cook?' Luffy asked innocently while his brothers started to freak out.

Zoro just patted him on the head, 'something your brothers will explain when your older. Forget about it until you're at least seventeen.'

'Oh, okay.' Crisis averted.

Sabo sighed. 'You may as well come back with us, I get the feeling you don't have anywhere to stay and Luffy seems pretty determined to have you on our crew. Keep him out of trouble for week and we'll admit he made the right call.'

Ace didn't say anything as Zoro got up and started walking in the wrong direction until Luffy, who was still stuck to his back like a baby monkey, tugged on his hair and pointed him to the correct path. He remembered Zoro, and while he didn't have a clue what had happened to make the other man remember enough to come to the island, it said something about him that he would come all this way just to follow his captain. Ace knew, really, that the man could be trusted, it just didn't mean he wasn't going to be cautious.

'Well,' Sabo said as the other two walked ahead of them, 'it seems we have another bit of useless information to add to our puzzle about remembering the future.'

Ace just groaned.

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Dadan felt her eyebrow twitch. The three demon boys had long ago moved into their tree house but, like all children, enjoyed spending some of their nights in the bandit hut when something went wrong. The last time she had seen the three of them was after Garp had "accidently" sent Luffy flying up through the floor from below as a very inappropriate wake up call for the other two. Truthfully, they hadn't quite finished repairing the resulting hole yet, so she wasn't that surprised to see the three of them casually sleeping in their own room.

No, her problem was the extra brat that seemed to have made himself at home in her hide out.

Maybe she had just miss counted, one, two, three, four, nope, definitely hadn't miscounted. She didn't think she had, but part of her had hoped that the green haired brat had just been the result of too much drinking the night before.

Multiple hits to the head had the boys awake, and they better have one hell of an explanation as to why they had felt the need to add more to their number. Especially the two dark haired ones, she really needed to have talk to them about their habit of bringing home strays.