Author: Dr. Blueneck

Disclaimer: It recently came to my awareness that my city was a city where only old people live. You know that when you try to find a job, but there is none because the city is fucking dead. Yep. Also, One Piece is not mine.

Beta Reader: This chapter is un-betaed, but Anjelle graciously accepted to correct my story! Since she's busy with her own works and school, she'll beta Firsts and Lasts gradually, when she has the time. So please, bear with my mistakes until she can come around! I'll replace the chapters with the clean ones once she's done :D

Also, go read my story "Captain Garp and his (damn) Marine Grandsons"!

Reply to Guest's review: I'm so glad I've been able to make you feel this story! Hope I can play your heartstrings some more with new chapters, although I've been told I'm quite bad in music... So bear with me! ;)

.

xoxoxox0O0xoxoxox

Firsts and Lasts of an Idiot's life

(or, A Trip down Memory Lane)

First Home

xoxoxox0O0xoxoxox

.

"We'll buy a new ship. My choice is final."

xox

He had lived in Fushia village for as long as he could remember. He never had the chance to see anything else (except for the weird forests and even sometimes mountains Grandpa always found around nearby lands), so he would eagerly listen to Grandpa's tales ("And there was this huge octopus trying to sink our ship!" – "Really?! What did you do?" – "I beat him up, of course!" – "Wow... Jii-chan is so strong!") or even to Woop Slap's who went to a few winter islands in his youth ("Ah, but you know Luffy, after travelling for years, I can tell that nothing is more beautiful than my homeland, here, in Fushia...").

Sometimes, he would go to the docks and look at the sea, a grin stretching his lips as he clung on his newly given straw hat, daydreaming about exotic islands.

He liked Fushia and its villagers. He liked it even more because Makino lived there. But he would often look at the big forest spreading behind the village's borders, wondering what was after it. He wouldn't set a foot there, because Grandpa already dumped him in enough jungles to make him uneasy at the simple idea of going there on his own free will. Besides, if he got lost, he wouldn't get to eat a snack at the Party Bar (snakes were good, but he rather eat cakes when not on a survival training!).

As much as he loved being in Fushia village, he kind of hated it a lot, too. Makino couldn't always take care of him, having her own bar to tend. If he asked her to play, she would gladly do so, but he knew better than to hog her time – it was something Grandpa had taught him since he knew how to walk. So he'd spend most of his days wandering around the village, seeking new bug-friends. He didn't like playing with the other kids; they always ended up crying because he hurt them. It's not his fault he's strong! Maybe they should train with Grandpa, and they'll stop wailing for some scratches and bruises.

But what he hated the most in Fushia was his house. Grandpa couldn't come back as often as he wished, and he would stay alone in his room, curled up under one of Grandpa's flowery shirt and letting his faded scent put him to sleep. Sometimes, Makino would insist for him to sleep at her flat above the Party Bar. She would make sure he took a warm bath, would lie beside him at night and sing him lullabies, cradling him in her arms. But he was a big boy now; he didn't need to be pampered! If he could stand fighting his way through a pack of wild monkeys, he could stand loneliness just fine. ("Jii-chan... When are you coming back?" – "Already missing the training, Luffy? Haha!" – "Nooo! I just don't wanna be alone." – "...I'll come back when I come back. Don't be an impatient brat.")

Luffy didn't think he would one day live elsewhere, but then Garp came back to send him to Mt. Corvo. He heard some villagers talking about the mountain bandits living there, robbing the unfortunate hiker. He didn't like bandits, and he tried to talk Grandpa into letting him stay in Fushia Village ("Ha! You'll be lucky if you ever set foot anywhere near Fushia again! Befriending that Red Hair..." – "But Jii-chan! Shanks is a nice pirate! Nicer than bandits!" – "Don't care. It's time to take your training seriously. I knew I should've sent you there earlier..." – "I don't wanna leave, I like Makino's foooood bwaaaahaaaa!") but it was to no avail.

When they arrived to Dadan's, Grandpa pointed to the large wooden shack, smoke swirling out the chimney, and told him, "This'll be your new home now, Luffy." He didn't know what to say, and just stared hard at the house with unblinking dark blue eyes, trying to see what made this house a home. He quickly lost interest in his examination and looked at the trees for the first time since Grandpa dragged him here. There was no strange beast lurking around, and he found that being in the forest while having company wasn't that bad, and he wouldn't mind coming again. He then remembered that he was to live there and pouted. When Grandpa set him to the ground, he began to run around to explore his new surroundings.

Grandpa was knocking hard on the door and stopped only when a large woman (he had trouble to associate the word with her, since he always thought all women were as pretty as Makino) with curly orange hair and a frown on her face brutally opened the door.

"Do you wanna get killed?!" she growled out without any care for her visitor and quickly paled when seeing Garp in front of her.

"You look good."

"G-Garp-san! Give me a break already!"

Luffy lost interest in the adults' talk, and as he ran past his grandfather's legs, he was hoisted in the air to face the woman as she yelled her annoyance at him.

"Take care of him, too," said Garp in a large grin.

Luffy pouted. He could take care of himself; he didn't need her to do that.

"Say hello, Luffy," reminded Grandpa (he and Makino were very strict about his manners, for some reason he didn't really understand).

"Yo!"

He didn't keep track of their discussion, and when Grandpa set him once again to the ground, he began to run around some more and chased after a dragonfly (but not before expressing his dislike for the ugly shack), not caring about the woman's indignant cries and his Grandpa's laughs.

He was stunned when someone spat on him, and quickly, his surprise dissolved into anger and disgust.

"Oi! Say sorry! That's gross!" he told the boy sitting on a bear.

Upon hearing his cries, his Grandpa turned around and exclaimed cheerfully:

"Luffy! This is Ace, he's three years older than you. You're going to live here with him from today."

He growled at Ace. It wasn't the first time he heard his name. Garp never really told him about Ace directly, but Luffy heard him talk a few times with someone on the phone, giving news about his "two grandsons". But even though Grandpa knew Ace, it was not a reason for him to not apologise.

He was cut out from his thoughts by a sharp fist to the head (not as harmful as the infamous Fist of Love, but painful nonetheless). As Ace passed by him without a word, he pulled his hat back on his head and calmed down, remembering Shanks' words. Alright! He'll be the bigger boy. It was not a problem!

His Grandpa said his farewells ("I'll stop by when I have time. Behave yourself, and don't slack on your training!" – "I don't like this house. I wanna go back to Makino's bar! It's more fun!" – "You had your time, brat! Now gimme a hug before I leave. – "No way! I'm too big for that!" – "What?! You ungrateful brat!") and Luffy was left alone in a new environment, not knowing what to do.

Before, he had Makino, Woop Slap and the villagers to play with. Even though he was alone, he could always find someone to entertain him.

He looked at the shack and its inhabitants. They didn't seem that friendly, especially that orange haired manly woman. Maybe he could try and befriend Ace. He too, must feel lonely in this house full of adults...

It took him months to befriend Ace, but he never let go.

It took him even more time to see Dadan's shack as his home, as Grandpa had dubbed it.

She clearly didn't want him there, and even though he smiled and ran after Ace, it hurt him a bit to know he wasn't wanted. The first time Ace threw him down a ravine (oddly enough, he had to thank Grandpa and his crazy trainings; thanks to them, he didn't die that day), he didn't know what to do.

At first, he just wanted to sat and wait for Grandpa to come and fetch him, but then he remembered that it was not training, no-one would come, and he was at a loss with what to do. He didn't know the way back to Dadan's, and she wouldn't send help for him since she didn't care about his whereabouts. The worst came when wolves tried to eat him, and he had to run away from them since he couldn't beat them (their teeth were so sharp he could've swear they had swords in their mouths!).

He spent a handful of days and nights in the wide forest, eating frogs and snakes and mushrooms, before he happened to find his way back to the shack. He never was so happy to be back in a house (because even though they were bandits, even though Ace didn't like him, it was the only place he knew in these woods and Grandpa's scent wasn't anywhere to be find and Makino's bar was too far away for him to sneak in and demand attention and he needed these bandits. He needed them like he needed air, because with them, he was sure to not be utterly alone.)

He learnt to know who Dadan really was. Sure, she was a coward and a mountain bandit (he hated bandits). But under her gruff voice and uncaring manners, Luffy felt the kind hands that would bandage him up when he was badly hurt. He saw the soft eyes when she called him an annoying brat but left her door open for when he wanted to come home.

She was not as gentle and pretty as Makino. She didn't share her food without a fight, and she didn't bother with the education of the two boys left in her care. But she was always, always there (and a mean voice he tried to not listen to would always, always whisper how his own grandfather left him and a woman he has known for only a few months was more present than him), and she didn't try to make him into a marine, nor did she look down on his dream.

Without even him noticing it, she offered him somewhere to belong and always return to.

Dadan was his very first home, but would never be the last.

xox

Later, as the fire consumed Merry, Luffy couldn't hold back tears.

He never knew losing a home could be this painful.

A/N: Gooood, this one tried to eat me alive, I swear... It seems writing about Dadan is more hard than I first thought! I hope this OS came out alright...

So! Yes, Ace has been introduced in this one! I don't know why, but I wanted in this headcanon for Luffy to know about Ace without really knowing him. Just hearing Garp speaking about an Ace he seems fond of. Nothing striking as interesting in the little boy's mind until he meets him.

Can you see how much I like Garp? I swear this love is born with this story... (Poor Luffy, unable to not be angry at his grandfather's abandonment...) And yes, I'm an awful human being for making Merry die again. Spoiler: she won't be the only dead to die again. Yes, you can hate me.

I hope you still like this series! Let me know your thoughts please, so I can see what can be bettered :D

Also, go check my new story "Captain Garp and his (damn) Marine Grandsons"! It's already complete! (Yes, shameless advertisement.) I'll love you forever if you read it :D (FOR. EVER. Do you know what it means? It's like... ETERNITY. Think wisely. You have a golden deal right here.)

Au revoir little darlings, I'll see you when I see you!