Thank you to everyone who supports this series, it really warms my heart~

Title: Butterfly effect
Rating: T
Genre: Gen
Word count: 2,401
Characters: Straw Hats pirates
Summary: What if that one thing never happened?

Life is a curious thing, they sometimes think. It is a series of trivial things that has brought them together. Indeed, none of them thought "Those are the men and women I will fight for with my entire being" the first time their eyes noticed a bizarre, worn-out straw hat. They just thought it was fairly stupid for the rest of them to follow without a protest (or only a few half hearted ones) the carefree kid with a D. in his name. And yet, without noticing, they became a part of those so-called idiots.

But they can't help it sometimes. During those late nights during which they drink, eat and laugh together as one, they all think about what could have been if that one thing didn't happen.

So maybe the story goes this way.

A violin in his hands, lyrics on his lips, the musician never stops bringing music to his surroundings, even to the sea itself. The ocean is a difficult listener to please, either pushing his boat with calm, appreciating waves or showing its displeasure with storms. But he loves challenges and they never stopped him. If a child of the sea like Laboon can love his music so much, it means he is more than capable of charming its mother. Which is why one day, when his captain presents him a special fruit known to be tasteless, but powerful, he smiles, shakes his head and says "I'd rather drown in my lovely sea than run away from her", and he doesn't insist.

And when the musician gets closer to his very last breath, he smiles again, knowing he will not be alone, the only one alive among the dead ones. Somewhere, a growing whale withers away and not even a straw hat boy can bring life to it again.

Brook's skeleton is left among the others and it won't even move again, not even when a certain crew comes across their mangled ship.

But this is not how the story goes.

Instead, maybe a teenager full of rage - but also full of dreams - gets to build as many battleships as he wants. The shipwright is reckless and his mentor can not bring himself to stop him as he does what pleases him. His closest friend's (and low key brother, not that the boy will ever admit it) protests fall into deaf ears. But maybe it would have been wise to listen to him, because the day said mentor has to pay for his crimes, no matter how unfair the two teenagers find the sentence to be, it is too late to go back. And Mister Tom begs the judge to let his two boys go as they still have long lives before them, but he doesn't know that Spandam's manipulating influence goes even deeper than he can imagine. The Navy has crept inside the World's Government and Tom realizes justice doesn't exist anymore when his two sons are executed before him.

And when one day, years later, a certain crew shows up with no fear of the Navy and grateful tears from one of them, no one is here to protect and bring her back home, no one is here to burn the precious blue sheets and no one is here to build a ship worthy of the King and it gives their journey less colors and taste.

Franky's dream ship is left behind and it only lives in simple memories of an old mermaid between two empty bottles.

But this is not how the story goes.

So here is how it can go: the archaeologist has a curious mind, eager to know more and more as she visits countless islands and she flees from the Navy because she knows too much. She learns to defend herself and gives up everything she has in order to stay alive a bit more, because maybe, if she keeps going, maybe she will finally know what happened during the forgotten century. That is all she asks. So she doesn't mind abandoning both her mind and body to Crocodile because if he uses her, she uses him and they are both aware of it. She thinks she lost something on her way towards the Poneglyphs, as she just watches the straw hat boy drown in his blood and in the sand near a casino and Crocodile is on his way to take over Alabasta's throne.

There isn't anyone to pull her out of the crumbling ruins. She smiles and cries and doesn't move as she waits for rocks to crush her.

Robin is left behind as an enemy without knowing she was so close to what she longed for.

But this is not how the story goes.

So why not try this: in a snow covered island, there is a small baby reindeer who is born with a blue nose and it becomes a 'he' when it comes across a certain fruit. He is stuck between being human and being an animal, but he doesn't know what he really is. He does know one thing though: he is angry, angry at his herd, angry at the village that attacked him when he approached it with only hope to offer, angry at the entire world. He runs then, he keeps running until he falls to the ground. He hears a voice, but all he can process is that it is a human voice and humans did this to him and he lets his rage speaks for him.

He leaves a body of an old man behind him and doesn't pay attention to his open suitcase. He has nowhere to go, he has no one and more importantly, the old man who would have given him a dream doesn't exist anymore.

Chopper is left wandering in the thick and lonely forest, full of wrath for both humans and reindeers, without knowing he was so close to get a family.

But this is not how the story goes.

Instead, it can go differently: there is a small cook who hates what he is supposed to become because he doesn't want to kill, he wants to give life just like his mother's warm smile brings him life. Still, his heart is too big for his weak body covered in bruises and for the ruthless kingdom he is born in. At least, his mother is a welcomed comfort and no matter how terrible of a cook he is, she encourages him and suddenly his siblings and his father's cruel words and beatings are forgotten. Yet, one day, the only source of warmth in his life vanishes and he is all alone, imprisoned in a cold cell that smothers his cries for help. Perhaps in this version of the story, his sister doesn't have enough bravery, she loves him too much to let him go and she blinds herself to his agony. So she doesn't set him free and the boy just lets himself die of hunger when he forgets why he was down there, even when the guards force his mouth open to put food down his throat.

One day, a crew arrives with the idea of taking down the kingdom's newest ally, an Emperor. (Surprisingly, they made it so far without a competent cook.) Once it is done, they all turn toward the empty cells of the destroyed moving castle and it feels like they are forgetting something, something important and even Luffy is frowning and staring. They exchange a stare and shiver, as if something is missing.

Sanji's skinny corpse is left forgotten as they go on.

But this is not how the story goes.

Does it go this way then? In a peaceful East Blue village lives a happy family, with a father who longs for adventures, a mother who doesn't mind letting him go and a boy whose love for stories give him a creative mind. In this version of the story, Yasopp decides to stay a bit more with his wife and son, and Shanks doesn't mind staying on this island to wait for the skilled sharpshooter to be ready to leave. He wants this particular man to join his crew and he does not give up easily. So when another pirate sets foot on this island with the idea to rob the treasures of its richest family, Shanks does not even give him enough time to settle down as the butler, because he is a pirate himself and instantly knows what this one is up to.

It means that there isn't anything to protect when another pirate with a straw hat arrives years later, and Yasopp's son has already left for his own adventures, confident that he can make it on his own. He does, he travels all around the world, but he does not make it as far as he would have if he had stayed a bit more in his homeland.

Usopp's story is left in books, but not in minds as he doesn't find what he was looking for.

But this is not how the story goes.

How about this then: there is a small girl who dreams of a world map, something that has never been done before and she intends to do it. The entire village encourages her despite her schemes and strong character. Nonetheless, it doesn't last as the perfect life despite their poor meals is destroyed in the blink of an eye. She becomes a slave and a pirate, her shoulder hurts from the sting of the tattooed blue ink. Her pen is stained with blood and her maps with salty tears. She knows everyone in the village now hates her, but she still decides to risk everything to save them. It doesn't matter how long it will take, she says to herself. She steals from her fellow pirates as she grows to hate them even more each day. Yet, she is wise enough not to cross path with Buggy the Clown one day. His map that leads to the Grand Line is not worth it. That way, she doesn't get to meet the self-proclaimed pirate captain with a dumb grin and his new first mate who has an even dumber mindset.

Instead, she keeps serving Arlong for years, who one day decides to leave the East Blue to go back to Fishman Island. He takes her with him and forms an alliance with another crazy fishmen plotting to destroy the human race, but she still follows along because she doesn't have anywhere else to go. (Her village has long been destroyed, she doesn't know where her sister is and her mother's tombstone has disappeared.) A rookie pirate with a straw hat manages to stop everything and her captain has fallen; she is like lost at sea without a compass. She is covered in fishmen blood and shark tattoos so much that she doesn't remember she is human anymore.

Nami's shaking form is left behind in Fishman Island as her heart that she lost long ago is too far for them to notice her.

But this is not how the story goes.

Can it go like this? There is a boy full of ambitions somewhere. He doesn't think much, this one. However, he has enough resolve to make it up for it, no matter how dumb it can sound sometimes. If his swords can not cut stone, then he has to try again until it works. Quite a stubborn one, then. So when he meets a girl much stronger than him, he decides he will not keep going until he beats her. And because he is a boy- a man of his word, he stays at this dojo for several years. He learns how to respect people weaker than him, but also people stronger than him. He learns a lot, like how even stronger ones can have doubts and fears, like Kuina has. He yells at her, of course, because he admires her and doesn't want to even imagine her crying like she does because she is a woman.

He admires her so much he follows her almost anywhere, hoping to beat her one day. She is clumsy though, as she almost falls down the stairs. It is a good thing he manages to catch her; she laughs and calls him an idiot upon seeing his distressed face. They grow up together, and it is still together that they challenge the world. Soon, they are known as the strongest swordsman and swordswoman duo that has ever existed.

Zoro is left aside because he does not suffer from the loss of his role model.

But this is not how the story goes.

Let's try one more time then. There is a boy with dark hair and a toothy smile who dreams of joining his hero. He even stabs his own face to prove it because he is straightforward like that. His hero loses his arm for him, but something changes as they say goodbye. Shanks ruffles the disheveled hair in affection, but he does not put down the straw hat on it. Perhaps he fears the boy is too young and he doesn't want guilt on his shoulders.

No one really knows, but it changes everything. The boy departs on his old fishing boat threatening to fall apart. He meets a swordsman, a cartographer, a liar, a cook, a doctor, an archaeologist, a shipwright, a musician, but none of them joins him on his journey because they all feel like something is missing. Other people join him, but it never feels right.

Luffy's dream is left in shambles because he is never known as the Straw Hat boy.

Yet, this is not how the story goes.

Instead, different lines are written for this story that you all know. Luffy obtains his treasured hat, Zoro never forgets the sight of his best friend's corpse, Nami is brave enough to confront the clown, Usopp's father leaves and his son gets to fight like the warrior he aspires to be, Sanji is set free before he can let himself die, Chopper hears an old man's voice who gives him a pink hat, Robin pulls up the boy from the sand, Franky gets to live while his mentor doesn't and Brook eats the fruit because adventures are always born with crazy actions.

This is how the story goes and the Straw Hats wouldn't change anything.

I honestly just wrote this tonight in one go. I had a sudden inspiration for a 'what if?' kind of story for absolutely no reason, so here we go!

It is my first time writing in present tense in English, so things may sound a little awkward... Hope you enjoyed nonetheless!

Come visit me at my tumblr if you want (a-ngyie)!