A/N: I know. You guys are probably trying not to shoot yourself in the face. I'm starting another story *Cringes*. If you guys are following anything else I'm writing I promise I'll update soon. I just need to get a few ideas out of my head. Won't be long… you know every time I say that about a story I write it turns into this huge project. Well finger's crossed.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters. However, Jamie is mine and belongs solely to me. You may not use her without my permission. K? Kk thanks.
Prologue
10 years ago
The city smelled burned and I was deeply disappointed. This was nothing like the adventures I had been promised by my father. In fact it was boring here. I hated it. I wanted nothing more than to jump out of my stuffy dress and wrestle in the mud with my younger kid brother. Well for one Jared wasn't here and for another I would be grounded beyond being grounded if I so much as even thought of trying to leave my guards today. The people were all snobs and only talked to each other, they only seemed interested in the money people had, or the fabric they chose to wear that day.
It was a lot like how it was back at home. These people were complete duds. Without even meaning to I began to wander away from my guards. Slipping into a busy crowd filled with people. I pushed my way through until I reached the edge of the city. I peered out, only to see a few people digging through a few piles of junk and what appeared to be a massive burned site. I found a grin plastered on my face despite myself. There was bound to be tons of adventures here. I dashed through the last few people that could have possibly provided cover for me and skipped over the last few steps trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. It was all too easy.
It smelled worse here than it did the city but I found I didn't care at the moment. The wind was blowing and swaying the trees in the distance and I wanted nothing more than to explore. Harmless exploring, maybe find a few new animals I had never seen before. I heard my name being called in the distance and hurriedly dashed forward into the pile of rubble. I couldn't be caught now. To be caught now would mean getting punished without even doing anything fun.
Alright so I might have slipped my guards on purpose even if it did mean trouble for me later. I couldn't help it. The frills on this dress were cutting off the circulation in my arms and neck and my shiny black shoes were pinching my feet. I could feel blisters screaming as the formed on my poor toes. I sighed as I found a quiet place and tugged off the offending shoes with ease. It felt good to be free for a little while.
I took a charred stick and tucked at the neck line of my dress effectively ripping the fabric and probably smearing the black ash along my neck. I looked down grinning when I saw the black mess that splayed on my hands and rubbed it on my dress, face, and even ran some threw my hair. Sure that I was now an unrecognizable mess I looked at my surroundings.
There was a tree line in the distance and the forest seemed to beckon to me. I felt a grin spread across my face as I dashed forward into the shelter of the trees. Despite the fact that people were scavenging amongst the burnt heaps of junk, it felt rather deserted. It felt like it was a graveyard of sorts and I wanted nothing more than to get out of there.
I crashed into the under bush and paused. I was a bit paranoid of being followed and my palms were sweating at the thought of being caught. Being punished meant I needed to deserve what was coming to me. I had to really disappear for a few hours and make the best of my freedom. It would be worth it. It was always worth it.
"No Luffy. You are doing it wrong. You have to skin it like this so it comes off with minimal cuts."
I jumped at the sudden voices but they seemed harmless. In fact the voice sounded about my age. My ears strained to decipher in what direction it had come from. I heard light laughter and a simple 'My bad' before there was silence again.
It was coming to my right and a little bit further back in the woods. Seeing as there was a potential to meet kids my age I made my way through the underbrush. I made no attempt to keep quiet. I had learned long ago that sometimes sneaking up on people didn't make them friends. I whistled a tune and strained my ears for any further conversation.
"Who are you?"
The voice was cold and to my left. I turned easily and smiled. It was a boy about a year or two older than I was, with freckles and dark black hair. He looked like he was taller than I was and possibly stronger.
"I could ask the same," I replied coolly.
"These are my woods so you have to answer me," he crossed his arms and scoffed.
"Ah come on Ace. She looks cool," a smaller boy appeared soundlessly to the right. He had a smile on his face as he looked at me with curious eyes. "How'd you get all that black stuff everywhere? You look like a ninja or something!" he exclaimed.
"I uhh… used a stick I found over there," I pointed behind me in to the direction I thought was where I had come from. I felt all turned around for some reason.
"Luffy…" the older boy who I guess was named Ace, growled in warning.
"What?"
Ace sighed and ran his hand along his face like he was suddenly very tired.
"I'm Jamie," I offered realizing that I now knew both of their names and Ace had been trying to get mine in a stealthy way.
"Hey, Jamie! Come train with us. We were just about to kill an alligator and eat its meat. It's really yummy you should try some!" Luffy said dashing forward and grabbing my hand before I had time to protest.
And just like that I was included in their activities for the day. Luffy was easy to talk to and super excited about everything. He laughed when the alligator slapped its tail on the water and soaked me. He said I looked like one of those ladies in town when they cried and their eyes dripped black stuff. I assumed he meant their makeup. I just laughed and rinsed the rest of the ash from my body in the river. Which wasn't very smart considering that it was filled with large alligators.
I felt panic overwhelm me as one caught the fabric of my water logged dress and began to drag me under. It spun hard and knocked the wind out of me, causing me to release my breath and try to breathe in some air. Water filled my mouth and flooded into my lungs. I was waiting for it. I was waiting for death and sharp teeth to sink into my flesh and deliver a final blow. My vision blurred and began to white out.
"That was so stupid. Such a stupid girl unable to take care of herself with a bunch of weak alligators."
Harsh words were the first thing that I noticed. That and something was dripping on my face. I felt myself sputter as something warm pressed itself against my lips and filled my lungs with warm air. I coughed, feeling the water that had filled my body leave. I opened my eyes to see freckles above me and dripping wet black hair splatter on my face. Ace's eyes were piercing and full of disgust. There might have been a small look of relief but it was gone as he pushed himself off of me.
I was lying on my back on the soft mud of the bank. I felt myself sputter out the rest of the water as I pushed myself up to look around. Ace was next to me dripping wet and glaring and Luffy was laughing in relief.
"You scared us!" he half scolded me and laughed again. He reached over and patted my back roughly so that I sputtered out some more water. I cringed, wondering how much I could have possibly inhaled and tried to catch my breath. I had thought I had cleared it all already.
"Thanks," I managed to choke out once I had caught some of my breath. Luffy just shook his head.
"Thank Ace. He jumped in and is the one that gave you that healing kiss."
Before I could react Ace had leapt across the space between him and Luffy and delivered a sharp punch to his younger brother.
"It was CPR you idiot," he growled a faint blush on his face.
"It sure looked like a kiss," Luffy teased and instantly covered his head with his hands like that could protect him from his brother's wrath.
"And you," Ace growled turning away from his brother to glare at me. I felt myself cross my arms as I waited to be scolded. This was such a familiar scene with such different people. I was always being scolded.
Suddenly I was pulled into a rough one armed hug.
"Friends don't let other friends worry," he said into my ear softly and I felt myself blush. I nodded and he pulled away and then extended a hand to help me up.
I busied myself with brushing off fake dirt from my dress. A habit I was into to hide my embarrassment with something. Only mud caked my hands and I realized I was truly dirty. I grimaced at the thought of going down to the water's edge and cleaning off the mud.
"Will you guys teach me how to get stronger?" I asked after a moment. Luffy and Ace were busy arguing. Or at least Luffy was singing some type of song and Ace was chasing after him trying to hit him. They both looked up and then laughed.
"We thought you were strong," Luffy chuckled.
"Yeah, you're just stupid," Ace said sticking out his tongue teasingly.
"I'm not stupid," I growled.
"Oh yeah? Then how come an alligator almost killed you?" Ace challenged. He clenched his fists and leaned forward his forehead grazed mine as I leaned forward mimicking his pose.
"I let my guard down. Doesn't mean I'm stupid," I hissed.
"Chalk board!" Luffy called grinning and his arms stretched out and grabbed both of us.
Wait a second his arms stretched out? I felt my eyes widened and I wondered briefly if I had some type of concussion and if I had dreamt all this up. Luffy noticed me startle and laughed.
"I ate the Gum-Gum devil fruit."
I could really only nod. There were strange things in this world and Luffy was definitely one of them.
We trudged through the forest until we came to a clearing with a chalk board with three names written on it. Ace, Luffy, and Sabo. I wondered briefly who Sabo was but I caught sight of Ace's hardened eyes and thought better of it.
"There's no room for your name Jamie so you'll just have to keep track of it on your own," Luffy said cheerfully and dashed forward to take a crouching position.
Ace grinned and shoved me forward.
"You're up first," he teased.
I had no idea what was going on until Luffy threw the first punch. It landed squarely on my jaw and stung. I hissed and took a step back feeling slightly disorientated. My dress was still heavy with water and Luffy was quickly running up to follow up on a punch. Without thinking I reached down and tore off a layer of my dress, I tossed it at Luffy effectively stopping him and blinding him for a moment. I pushed him hard and he landed on the ground.
"Win for Jamie," Ace said coolly.
"That was cheating!" Luffy said pouting and glaring at me. I crossed my arms and stuck my tongue out.
"A wins a win," I replied hotly. I bent down and made short work of my dress. Ripping it so that it was basically just a long shirt. My bloomers came down to my knees acting like pants. This gave me much more freedom to move.
"This time I won't throw anything but my fist at your face," I said helping him up. We both grinned, a wicked gleam in our eyes as we shook hands and took a stance.
"Fight," Ace called in a bored tone, signally the start of our fight.
I was much quicker without all that dress material weighing me down. I wasn't a bad fighter, in fact I often wrestled with my own kid brother. I dodged Luffy's predictable left hook and jumped up to kick my heel down on his side, effectively bringing him to his knees and ending the fight.
"That was quick," Ace said grinning and stepping in. Luffy pouted and moved to wait on the sideline.
"Fight!" Luffy shouted excitedly. He started screaming encouragements to both of us which we both ignored.
Ace came quickly, much more quickly than Luffy had, it actually took some effort to avoid his punches. After about three (lucky) dodges on my part Ace landed a hard right hook to my side. Wincing I went down in a sweeping kick trying to knock out his legs. Ace jumped up with ease avoiding it and sent his own kick to knock me down.
This went on for several hours. I lost a few times to Luffy and I proudly beat Ace one time near the end of the sparing matches. Finally we all stopped sitting with our backs to each other and panting slightly.
"You are strong," Luffy said patting me on the back and standing up. He stretched and laughed as his stomach growled.
"I'm hungry!" he shouted loudly and laughed again when Ace glared at him.
"You're passable," Ace said to me standing and offered his hand down to help me up. I grinned as my own stomach growled and took his hand. A faint blush stealing over my face as Ace pulled me up.
"K-I-S-S-I-N—", Luffy started to sing but Ace dashed forward and delivered a sharp punch to the top of his head.
I laughed it off and noticed that Ace pointedly ignored me while Luffy and I talked about what we could hunt.
"How about alligator?" Luffy asked excitedly.
I made a face at that. It had only been a few hours ago when one had almost dragged me down to my death. But I knew I couldn't stay scared of them forever and eating one would probably be the ultimate way to get over it. I nodded after pausing in my consideration.
"You know I almost got eaten by an alligator once too. It swallowed me whole and Ace and Sabo had to cut me out of it," he laughed and poked me with the walking stick he had. I was tempted to take the stick from him and break it in half but I realized he was just trying to make me feel better.
"Well you're stupid Luffy," Ace grumbled from behind us. I found myself laughing with them as we made our way to the bank of the river.
I hung back while Ace taunted an alligator out of the water. Luffy and I took it on with ease and knocked it out. Then the three of us carried it up shore a bit and started a fire.
It was all so natural. This whole day was natural. It was like I was meant to live in the woods and spar with two boys that had befriended me so easily. It was like it was meant to be. I could have forgotten all about my pervious life and just joined these two. I could spend forever here with them in these woods.
As the sun started to sink though, I became nervous. It was probably obvious by now that I was missing and I wasn't even sure of where my father was in town. I had no clue what hotel to go to and I knew a search team by my guards was probably already established and searching for me.
"You probably have to get going back home now don't you?" Ace said.
"Yeah I probably should," I admitted thankful that I didn't have to be the one to start saying goodbyes.
"You'll come see us tomorrow though. Won't you Jamie?" Luffy asked, his eyes dancing in the firelight. I hesitated. I wasn't sure if I would be alive tomorrow. Well that was an exaggeration but I couldn't exactly meet up with them again. My security would be a lot tighter.
"I'm not sure," I found myself looking down and feeling extremely guilty.
"Why not?" Ace asked. His face was hard and he looked suspicious of me. I swallowed.
"My father probably won't let me."
Both boys' eyes darkened as if they remembered something awful.
"I can try and give them the slip though…" I trailed off feeling lamer when silence met me.
"Are you a noble's daughter?" Ace asked after a moment. The question threw me off.
"I… no. I'm just a visitor. I don't live on this island. My father is here for business for two weeks," I offered.
Both boys looked relieved at that.
"Just stay with us then!" Luffy said laughing and patting the ground next to him. "We're probably way more fun than whatever your dad has to do in town."
I grinned and without thinking twice agreed to join them.
()()()()()()()()()
I woke up not knowing where I was. The ground was hard beneath me and the room was dark. I tried to move but was squashed in between two sleeping figures. One to my left and one to my right. I saw tuffs of black hair and Luffy's straw hat scratched my face awkwardly before I realized where I was.
That's right I was in a mountain bandits home with Luffy and Ace sleeping on either side of me. Ace's arm was draped over my stomach and Luffy's hand was curled into my hair. For some reason both made me feel safe. Even if I was in a house of murderous thieves. I felt my eyes tug back close as I forgot the reason of why I had woken up to begin with.
Ace's breath in my ear was the next thing to wake me up several hours later. The sky was grey hinting at the hour as Ace shook me slightly.
"Okay I'm up," I grumbled yawning and sitting up to stretch my hands over my head.
"Garp is here. You need to hide," he hissed again knowing that I hadn't caught a word he said before that.
I had no clue who Garp was, but the way Luffy busted out into a cold sweat in his sleep and the nervous look in Ace's eye told me trouble. I dashed behind a curtain just in time to hear the door being flung open and see a lantern lighting up the room.
"Wake up boys. Grandpa is here for a visit."
I heard Luffy shriek in panic and Ace scuffle across the room. I heard a sharp punch being delivered and then both boys were snoring harmlessly and the door slid shut. That was probably the shortest and weirdest family reunion I had ever heard in my life. I peeked around the corner unsure of what to do but Ace's hand motioned me back behind the curtain.
Garp's booming voice could be heard in the other room talking to the mountain lady.
"The whole Navy will be in an uproar if we don't find her. I mean it is Aokiji's daughter…" the old man trailed off and I felt myself hiss.
Ace was close enough to give me a sharp kick and I winced but bit my tongue. The room shook as the door slammed open and light came bursting in.
"Alright boys spill."
I swallowed. Luffy shivered but began whistling. I wanted to roll my eyes at his obvious behavior but Ace beat me to the punch, quite literally, and hit Luffy upside the head.
"Spill what?"
He sounded so brave. I felt my heart thundering in my chest when I realized just who Garp was. A war hero. A man my father had often told me about. I tried to not make any noise but I wanted to yelp. I was so very tempted to peak. I wanted to see what was going on, but the curtain blocked my sight. I could only go by what I heard.
I heard a few more thuds and then Luffy starting to cry. I winced at that and jumped out unable to contain myself. Ace was fired up too. He was yelling and kicking Garp calling him awful names and telling him to leave Luffy alone. At my appearance however, the room became quiet.
"Stop hitting them," I said feeling tears sting my eyes. I normally am not one for crying. It was just the lack of sleep. Trust me.
Garp looked down on me. I felt my legs quake but I kept my eyes locked with his. After a moment he started to laugh.
"What is it with you two and trying to hide people?" he asked addressing the two boys. Both pouted and crossed their arms, in sync.
A/N: First time writing an OC story and first time writing in the first person. Please let me know how I did. I want to grow as a writer and I think this will help me a bit :)