Hmm, where to start? I guess I'll start by thanking all of you for all your support. Throughout my life, I always felt like nothing I did was good enough or was wrong and imperfect. Any projects I started, I would just give up after a while, but you, my readers, have shown me my stories are something I can be proud of. Your support has driven me, and still drives me, to continue with this little "project" of mine. Your comments have filled me with joy, knowing people are enjoying what I'm writing. That inspires me to push forwards and to keep going. And for once in my life I have found something I have done that feel is appreciated. So I wish to thank you, all of you, for your support. Okay, I'm blabbing so let's get to the story. This is a back story chapter, going back to before Luffy has left. To where he meets a very strange and mysterious man. I will be uploading the fifth chapter along with this sub-chapter. Enjoy, oh also, please read and review, favorite and follow, and comment below. Also, to all you haters and flamers, if you don't like my story then DON'T READ IT! That is all, enjoy the show.

One Piece © Eiichiro Oda

John S. James, Monkey D. Jane © The Plazmaster (Myself)

Take a sidestep from our current story, rewind the clock one year ago and we find ourselves on the island of Foosha Village. The scene fades to the edge of the forest outside of Foosha Village, where we find our hero, Luffy, being tailed by a mysterious shadow.

Luffy was walking down the trail that lead to the village from the forest, he had just left Dadan's, the leader of the forest bandits, informing her that he planned to leave in a year and he wanted to say goodbye. He whistled a tuneless song as he walked on thinking about all the great adventures he would have with his crew and friends. His thoughts were interrupted though, by his observation haki. He had sensed, from their thoughts, that someone was nearby and was following him, and that they weren't friendly. What the hell do they want with me? I haven't even set sail yet. Luffy quickly kept the act up, whistling and walking, so as not alert his pursuer that his prey knew he was being followed. But it was too late, his pursuer already knew.

Luffy's pursuer was a young man, he was keeping about a ten foot gap between him and his target, hiding in the foliage of the forest. He knew immediately that Luffy, somehow, knew he was being followed. The man was clued in by the slight pause in Luffy's whistling and the change in Luffy's gate. Dammit. He hated face-to-face confrontations with beings of the other worlds, he tried avoiding them if he could, but this was not one of those times. He sighed. Well, I might as well continue following him. Who knows, I might have been seeing things. But even he doubted his own reasoning, he was never wrong. He followed Luffy all the way to the end of the trail, to the edge of the forest. There, Luffy stopped and, to the surprise of the man, turned around and looked directly at the man in his hiding place. Shit, how the hell did he know where I was. The man knew what came next, and so without Luffy having to say a word, the man stepped out from his cover and stood to face Luffy.

Luffy stood there, quiet, for a few moments just staring at the young man. He was a little taller than Luffy and Luffy could only assume that he looked about 19, maybe 20. His complexion was a golden tan; he had long, dark brown, shoulder length hair, which he had tied back in a ponytail. He had chocolate brown eyes, which reminded Luffy of Nami, a light five 'o clock shadow and a starting mustache. He also had a vertical scar running down the left side of his face. It ran down through his eyebrow, over his eyelids and stopped an inch under his eye, but the scar did not seem to interfere with the eye's functionality.

He wore a pair of classic camo pants with many pockets, black combat boots, and a solid black t-shirt. He had three rings; two on his right hand, a ring with a flame design and a large skull ring that looked like it was wearing a crown like helm, and one on his left hand ,a spinner ring with the same flame design as the other ring. Also, atop his head were a pair of tinted goggles, the kind worn by motorcyclist or old aviators. Luffy sized the man up and saw that he was physically fit and most likely kept his body in shape. He wasn't ridiculously buff, but he was lean and fit.

While Luffy was studying his pursuer, his pursuer was studying Luffy, but in a different manner. Being an interstellar, magic-using, time-traveling being, he called upon his innate magical powers to casts a seeing spell upon Luffy; a spell that would allow him to see into Luffy and see who he is. He had been on a quest, trying to find a man who betrayed the young man's people by breaking their laws and using dark forbidden time magic. He hoped this boy wasn't his target, he hoped his sensors were wrong, but he was disappointed when his spell came back with nothing, which shouldn't happen. The man could sense a large aura of time magic around Luffy, which meant either two things, he was a non-magical being using time travel, which was bad, or he was the man's target, which was worse.

The man decided to break the suffocating silence first, in a deep clear voice, he asked, "Before I erase you and your very existence from time and space, I wish to know your name?" Only hearing the last part, Luffy snapped out of his concentration and answered, "Oh, me," he said, pointing to himself, "I'm Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy." The man smiled and under his breath said, "Ah, hmm. A Japanese earth custom." He laughed as that meant the first option in his reasoning was true, a time traveler. He bowed, "Nice to meet you Luffy. I'm James, John S. James." Luffy smiled back, but then James took a fighting stance, "Sadly I must defeat you now for your ignorance in breaking time law." Luffy cocked his head at the last part, confused, but he heard the meaning behind James's words, Fight. Luffy cracked his knuckles and smiled gleefully, "I must warn you," he said as he got into his own fighting position, "I'm not so easily defeated." The two paced around each other in a circle, trying to size the other up. A twig snapped and like the ring of a bell sounding the beginning of a boxing match, the two sprung at the other. James and Luffy were a perfect match, matching the others move for move, with Luffy using his Observation Haki and James using his supernatural instincts and heightened reflexes.

They swapped blows with the other, throwing punches and kicks. This lasted for about 5 minutes before they both jumped back to survey their damage. Luffy had a bloody nose while James had a small cut on his left cheek. James looked down at the wound and laughed, "Hahaha, it looks like I need to get serious." He said as wiped the blood away. Luffy nodded, "I should do the same." James then began to chant words of power to a spell, words that Luffy did not recognize. Then he did something that blew Luffy's mind. As James was nearing the end the of the chant, he brought his hands fourth, his right hand in front of his left, so that the two flame rings touched. He brought his left thumb up and placed it on the spinner, "Ignis." He brought his thumb down, spinning the spinner, causing the two to create a spark. The spell of fire, having sensed its element in the spark, caused the spark to expand, to the size of a softball. James duplicated the fireball in his right hand into his left hand. Luffy was stunned, but only for a second, "What the hell! How are you able to use fire? Only one person should be able to do that and that's my brother." James looked intrigued, "Hmm, there is one of this world that can use fire. Interesting, I must investigate this, but that is for a later date." He then threw the two fireballs at Luffy.

Luffy brought his arms up in an X to block the attack, as he did he called upon his Armament Haki, turning his arms a shiny black. The fireballs struck Luffy and so James thought he had won, but when the smoke cleared he saw Luffy was still standing and unharmed. James laughed, "You cease to amaze me Luffy. How I wish we met on different terms." Luffy now was running towards James, stretching his arms behind him. Now it was James's turn to be surprised, but just as Luffy, James snapped back and began to chant another spell. Luffy heard him and began pick up his pace. But he was too late, when Luffy was a foot away, James had finished his spell. He pointed his finger, drew an imaginary circle around the image of Luffy in front of him, and shouted, "Time Bubble," as his finger completed the circle. His eyes were glowing a golden yellow at the end of the spell. The circle James drew became translucent and filmy, like that of a bubble. James stepped back and began to read Luffy his galactic rights, "Monkey D. Luffy, by the power granted to me by the Council of Elders, I hereby place you under galactic arrest for you ignorance and crimes against the laws of time." Luffy, unable to stop his momentum, crashed straight into the film.

As he did, the film surrounded Luffy as he went through it, creating a bubble around Luffy. Luffy found he could no longer move or could move very slowly, so his attack became lame as his arms snapped back and the bubble closed around him. James stepped back forward, "You shall now be placed under time stasis until trial by the Council. Estimated time is most likely 10 years…" James continued on but Luffy had stopped listening. Ten years! My journey and my friends can't wait ten years! A boiling rage and desperation began to fill Luffy. "…your sentence will most likely be…" But James never finished his sentence as he stared at Luffy, who had begun to be surrounded in a golden aura. Before he could do anything, Luffy aura expanded and burst the bubble. Upon destabilizing the already unstable quark field, a tremendous energy was released; sending James flying backwards, crashing into a tree. This caused James's head to snap back and slam into the tree. He slid down and slumped to the ground. The last thing he saw, before the darkness over took him, was of Luffy slowly floating to the ground, surrounded by a golden aura. Then nothing.

Luffy, panting, stood there awestruck. He looked down at his hands as the glowing began to fade, "Wow, that was AWESOME!" Luffy had not realized it yet, but what had just happened was a miracle. His desperation to see his friends and the anger he felt, had allowed him to temporarily tap into the powers of heritage, the Will of D. Luffy then remembered that he was still in a fight. He quickly turned to face his opponent, whom he found to be unconscious. He sighed, "Oh well. It was fun while it lasted." He shrugged his shoulders and began to turn around to head back to the village when an idea struck him. He turned back smiling to himself. He then walked over to where James laid. He picked him up and threw him over one of his shoulder. Luffy heard him groan and he turned his head as patted James's back, "Don't worry, I'll take you to someone who can help." Luffy heard him groan again and laughed to himself as he couldn't wait to strike a deal with James.

XXX

James didn't know how long he was out but he guessed it had been a few hours. His eyes flew open as soon as he had regained his senses, but as soon as he did that he just as quickly shut eyes. He had seen in that brief instance that he had been moved and was now in some bedroom that he did not recognize. He slowly and cautiously opened one of his eyes to look around the room. It was a small plain, unadorned little bedroom with a door, that was slightly opened, to his right and a window to his left, which the bed was parallel to and pushed against the wall with the window. There was a dresser across from him and a night stand to the right of the bed. While he had been scanning the room, he began to hear voices coming through the open door from down the hallway, well from what he could assume was a hallway. He could discern that there were two voices; one female and the other male, which sounded familiar to James but he couldn't remember why.

Slowly, James opened the other eye and blinked the sleep away. Then, propping his hands behind him, began raise himself up. He instantly regretted it, for as soon as he was sitting up a splitting pain, like a lightning bolt, pierced and ricocheted throughout his head. "Son of a –" he said as he fell back onto the bed. Damn, I must have received a concussion when my head whiplashed into the tree. He tried again for several minutes to sit up, but to no avail. Finally, on his twelfth try, he was able to sit up with the pain just being bearable. He noticed his boots and socks had been removed and were at the foot of the bed. He threw off the covers and began to get out of the bed, he brought one leg over the lip of bed and placed it onto the floorboards. But, as soon as he had put weight onto the foot, the floorboard underneath of it creaked. He froze, for the voices had stopped at that sound. Then James heard footsteps heading his way and, not knowing what to do in this situation, he stayed in that position.

Makino, pushing the door open the rest of the way, walked into the room and gave James a stern, disapproving look, "Oh no you don't." She said as she walked over to him. "You get right back into that bed right now." She stated as she sort of coerced/pushed James back into the bed and replacing the covers, "You're under my care and so you're my patient. That means I decide when you're healthy enough to leave." James blushed under the motherly care that Makino was showing him. He coughed, nervously, "Firstly, ma'am, I would like to thank you for the care you have shown me and apologize for any trouble I have caused you. Next, I would like to ask your name, if you don't mind? Finally, I require the location of the one they call Luffy, if that's not too much trouble to ask?" Makino just giggled at him as he rambled, "Well I see no reason why I can't answer you. First, my name is Makino and second it was no trouble at all. Also, to answer your last question," she turns around and shouts down the hallway, "LUFFY! Your friend's awake and he wants to see you." James hears a response from somewhere down the hall, "Okay, just give me minute. I'm still eating." Makino shakes her head and laughs at Luffy's response.

James looks at Makino in wonder, "Excuse me, it may seem rude of me, but how do you know Luffy?" Makino laughed again, "Me, hehe, I think I should know Luffy pretty well and for quite a long time considering I'm his aunt." This comment took James by surprise. If these two were related then maybe he had misjudged Luffy, but he couldn't be certain. But before he could question Makino any further, Luffy came barging in the room with a piece of meat in his mouth. Makino laughed at the sight and left, leaving the two lads to talk. James stared at Luffy, intently, and vice versa, neither knowing what to say or do in this situation. James took the lead and broke the silence, "So, Luffy, If I may, can I ask you a question?" Luffy raised an eyebrow at James, "Humor me, please."

Luffy nodded in agreement. James propped himself up and brought a serious look into his eyes. "From what I've seen in our fight, you are not the person I seek. But, your presence raised another question, if you traveled through time then how is it that you still have a past or how there is not two of you? I wish to know how you came here, if you're willing to tell me your story." James's eyes darted over to look at Luffy. To his surprise Luffy was smiling. Luffy finished off his piece of meat and replied, "Well, if that's all, then you should have said so. I'll gladly tell you my tale." Luffy laughed as he pulled a chair out of the closet, to James's right. Then, for the three hours, Luffy retold his tale to James, from beginning to present. All the while James listened intently, absorbing in every detail.

When Luffy finished, James shook his head and laughed, in which Luffy joined him. "Hahaha that is quite a tale Luffy. As your tale has answered some of my questions it has also raised many more concerns." James pulled off the covers and stood up. Unfortunately, he stood up too quickly, which caused a wave of dizziness to roll over him. Luffy rushed and helped steady him, James smiled at him for his help. "Thank you." He stood straight and turned to Luffy, "Luffy, if I may, I wish to look into you mind and your timeline." Luffy nodded. "Thank you again." James then began to chant again for a minute before pressed his left palm against Luffy's forehead as he finished. He pulled his hand back and as he did a blue orb came out from Luffy's head. James then walked into the middle of the room and placed the orb in the air. James stepped back as the orb began to expand until it was five feet around. James then motioned for Luffy to follow him as he stepped into the orb. Luffy, unsure as if to fight the orb or to run, he decided to trust James and followed him in.

Luffy was in for a great shock. As he stepped inside, he stopped as the inside of the orb was way bigger than the outside. He stepped back out to make sure this wasn't a trick but the orb was still the same size when he last saw it. He stepped back into the orb, the inside seemed to stretch on for miles compared to the five foot orb outside. "What the?" James chuckled, he turned towards Luffy and bowed, "I welcome you Luffy to my cozy little home, the TARDIS. Or a TARDIS, since there is more than one, Anyway, this sphere allows me to delve into the time stream and traverse space and time, though time-travel is very restricted." Luffy, still awestruck, could only stutter, "I-It's bigger on the inside." James chuckled again, "Yes, I get that a lot." Then Luffy's eyes sparkled, "That is AWESOME." He turned to see where he came from and saw a door there. He raised an eyebrow as turned to James, "A door?" James nodded, "It would be hard to find the way out otherwise." Luffy nodded in agreement.

"So what is a T- um, a TA-, whatever this is?" James laughed, "TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions in Space. It is a machine that has been passed down on my planet from generation to generation. It has evolved over time to what you see it as now. They used to be entirely based on science alone, but now, through many studies, it is a proud culmination of science and magic. A marvel of my people." Luffy looks at him blankly for a while before slamming his fist into his hand, "AH, so it's a mystery machine." James deadpanned, then he laughed at Luffy's simplistic realization, "Yes, hahaha. It's a mystery machine Luffy."

James composed himself and turned back around, staring into the void, "Good evening Dorothy." In response the inside lit up with blue lights to reveal a fifteen foot empty interior with only about five doors around the circumference. Then a blue, virtual female appeared in front of James, she bowed and replied, "Good evening James. How may I help you?" James nodded his head, "Pull up the newest file, name Luffy." Dorothy bowed and disappeared. Then a pixelated virtual tree-like structure appeared in the middle of the room, "Thank you, that is all for now Dorothy." "Yes sir." James turned back to Luffy, "This way, let us look into your time." Luffy nodded and fell behind James as they walked up a set of stairs that appeared out of nowhere, as they ascended up the tree. For the next hour they, well James, analyzed the tree. He tried explaining a few things to Luffy, but soon realized his words were lost on him. James stopped as they came to a "branch" that forked, leading to two paths. Except, one of the paths looked black, almost burnt, like a lightning bolt had struck it. "Hmm." Luffy looked at James, "What?" James stepped into the tree, where a pathway appeared leading towards the branch. "It looks like there's more to your story than at first glance."

"Why?" As they stopped in front of the branch, James turned to Luffy and pointed at it. "There is only one thing that cause this kind of damage to a timeline, Dark Time Magic. It is a forbidden magic of my people, only those who betray our laws study them. This is bad, this means someone deliberately tampered with your timeline. I must report this to the Council." James ushered Luffy back down the stairs, "Dorothy, close file." "Yes sir." At that, the tree disappeared. James and Luffy stepped out of the Tardis, then James chanted a few words and the orb rapidly shrank. It flew and sank into James's chest. He turned back to Luffy, "Luffy, you must tread carefully. For whoever altered your timeline is still out there. They probably don't know of your time leap. So be careful." Luffy smiled and threw his hands behind his head, "Alight."

"Hey James."

"Yes Luffy."

"Are you going to leave?" James nodded, "I must. This matter must be reported, especially the matter about this "Time-Time Fruit"."

"Will you return?" James looked at Luffy. "If I must, why?" Luffy sighed, "Well I really wanted you to join my crew." James laughed, he didn't know why but something urged him to agree. "Okay Luffy, as soon as I am able, I'll return. So yes, I'll gladly join your crew." James stuck out his hand and Luffy firmly took it and they both shook. The Luffy shouted, "Yahoo, I got a new crew member." He then turned towards the hallway and yelled, "Hey Makino, prepare a feast. I got another crew member." James could hear Makino laugh and agree with Luffy. James shook his head. What on earth have I gotten himself into?

XXX

Sometime later, James found himself and Luffy walking up a hill towards a large oak tree outside the village, Luffy's favorite resting spot. On the way up, James told Luffy his story; of his adventures, of his people and of his world. Luffy listened with wonderment, "Wow, your life sounds awesome!" James shrugged, "I guess." They soon reached the hill and walked towards the front of the tree, which overlooked the village. "But are you really 190 years old?" James nodded, "Yep… well, technically I'm 189. My birthday is in a week." Luffy laughed, "Hey so is mine. I guess we were born on the same day." James laughed with him. As they came around the tree, James stopped at the sight of two grave markers.

The one on the left was a proper gravestone, which read, 'Here Lies Monkey D. Jane; A mother, A wife, A daughter and A dear friend' James turned to Luffy, "Is this?" Luffy nodded. James chuckled, "I guess we have another thing in common." But his laughter was empty and sad. James looked at the other grave and saw that it was a simple cross made of wooden sticks. "Who is this?"

"That's Sabo, my brother, though he's not really dead." James raised an eyebrow towards Luffy. He motioned for James to sit down and join him, which he complied. Luffy then explained to James the story about Sabo. When he finished, James let out a long, low whistle, "That is quite a story." He looked towards the horizon and saw the sun setting, he sighed. James sat forward and then pushed up, off the ground, to stand.

He placed his hands on the side of his hips and breathed in deeply. "Well it looks like this is goodbye Luffy." Luffy stood up and moved next to him, "Don't say goodbye. I don't like that word. To me, it means that you're never going to see that person again. So instead of "goodbye", let's say "Until we meet again"." Luffy stuck out his hand for James to shake. James nodded, "Till next time, Captain." He then took Luffy's hand and shook. They broke off and James brought out his Tardis, but before James stepped forward, Luffy stopped him. "What is it Luffy?" Luffy looked like he was having a hard time trying put what he was thinking into words. "Umm, you said you can control time, right?" James was crestfallen, his people, whenever discovered, were always asked to change the past. James shook his head, "I'm sorry Luffy, I can't change time. Not even to bring back a loved one."

Now Luffy gave James a questioning look and shook his head, "No,no,no. What I want is completely different." Then Luffy explained his plan to James, who began to smile. "You know," he snickered, "that isn't "technically" changing the past. It's really just a simple spell that influences the mind. It would trick the mind into thinking that said event did happen. Ooooh, Luffy you are quite the devilish trickster." Luffy grinned wide with pride. "Okay, I promise you that I will try to make this happen, There is no certainty, understand." Luffy nodded. "It will take a while. I still have a planet to scan. Good luck Luffy." James said as he waved at back Luffy. He then stepped into the sphere and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. Luffy smiled, knowing he would meet his friend again one day. He turned around and began to walk back towards the village.

Hope you all enjoyed that story. Expect more to come. Also the next chapter will reveal Luffy's plan, whatever that may be, who knows. It's Luffy mind. Well, till next time, and in honor of Leonard Nimoy, "Live Long and Prosper."