A/N: Haven't really practiced writing in a while. Haven't updated anything in a while either, so uploading some in progress/scraps/etc. One of which was the original idea for a branching Monkey Twins/SI-OC AU. It mostly follows some of the original series, but I have different branches where it can either follow closer to canon or diverge completely. We'll see, though. I have two more for the 'prequel' of this on backburner, but if I manage to get another chapter or two done (I'm not counting omakes, which there are several of, not to be posted yet in case this does become an actual series), I might make it an actual fic.

Anyways, here you go. A mostly self-indulgent SI-OC Monkey Twin AU...

No End Notes this time. If I manage to get another one out, then I might explain more~

Scrap 003. Dawn of a New Romance (Rated T for One Piece)

It was finally time. With the wind at his back, and a hand on one of his most important treasures to keep it from flying off, Luffy was finally setting off on his journey to become the Pirate King.

A wide grin took up nearly half of the boy -no, teen's face.

"Shishishi~ Just wait, everyone… I'll be seeing you again soon enough!" The raven haired teen exclaimed, excited at the prospect of not only sailing out, but to see his siblings again.

Soon, very soon, he'd be able to see the brother he hadn't seen in nearly three years, along with the sibling he'd seen much more recently. But that was okay, reunions were supposed to be a good thing, so even if it hadn't been very long, and even if they'd all still kept in touch, Luffy would still be excited to find his 'precious people' again…

"Just wait, soon I'll be even stronger. And then… Then…

"ORE WA KAIZOKU NI NARU ZE-!* " he yelled, announcing his dream, no, intention to the world.

Even if no one could hear his declaration at the moment, that didn't make the moment any less poignant to the calf-eyed brunette.

The world would find out about it soon enough, anyway.

… … …

Back on Dawn Island, a young woman rummaged around an otherwise empty house, huffing just a bit as she ran around gathering this and that item which may or may not be important. Rushing about as she was, trying to pack, it seemed as if she were causing even more disarray, as she resisted the urge to hiss.

She'd gotten the den-den mushi call earlier, getting confirmation of the plans that had been so meticulously made. (Even if the others had laughed, there was no way she was going to let anything mess up this all-important meeting of theirs!) Muttering to herself as she became more frenzied in her motions, the girl almost didn't notice the familiar green-haired figure making its way towards the soon to be completely emptied home.

"I can't believe that idiot forgot to pack extra clothes! And underwear! Oh geez, that rubber-brained idiot. I bet all he took was one extra set of clothes, and whatever meat he could carry on him. That dumbass!" Running this way and that as she continued to pick up one thing only to remember another, the frantic girl almost whined, worry written all across her features, as she took a moment to pause, staring blankly around the room as she tried to remember what she'd been in the middle of doing before her impromptu little rant.

A familiar chuckle snapped her out of it, however, as a familiar and soothing voice chimed out. "I don't think insulting your brother will be of any help, Lallie-chan," an amused expression on her face half hidden by the hand she'd brought to attempt to stymie her giggled.

"Makino-san!" The girl gasped, previously dark eyes melting into puddles of semi-dark chocolate in the lighting as she turned to face the entryway, sunlight streaming through partially curtained windows and the open doorway behind the smiling green-haired woman.

"Hello, dear. I tried knocking you know, but I don't think you heard me," she mused, casting a look around the mess that littered the usually pristine (or, well, as pristine as the brunette before her could get it, considering who she lived with) home of the Monkey Family.

"Oh," casting her own look around the place, she flushed, embarrassment clear on her face as she gave the a sheepish grin. "Oops… I, er, I guess I got kind of carried away, heh…" Bringing up a hand to rub the back of her head in an equally sheepish motion (something she'd likely picked up from her brothers, Makino mused with a smile), the girl started picking up the things she'd left everywhere. The house looked like a cyclone of all things had whirled through the place, with all the things that had been tossed here and there in her quest to find every last thing she could think of to pack.

An already filled backpack with clothes and a few other things spilling out of it already sat on the edge of the coffee table in the sitting area, threatening to topple over and send all the clothes and hygienic items to the floor.

Aha...ha…

Whoops. She thought, sweating to herself. Movement at the edge of her vision made her look up to see Makino leaning over to help pick up as well.

"Ah, Makino-san, you don't have to-" she started, only to be interrupted by the ever present kind and seemingly placid (but determined) look on her face.

"But I want to. Just think of it as my going away present for you, if you must, my little Moon," the woman mused, folding some of the clothes that had been shrewn across the room due to the frantic movements of a certain Hurricane Lal.

An embarrassed look (reminiscent of Ace's, if Makino had looked up at that moment) crossed the teen's face. "Heh, I guess… There's no winning with you is there, Makino-san," a soft look similar to her mother/sister figure's crossed her features (ones that her brothers seemed to have adopted as well).

"Mmhm, and don't you forget it~" Makino replied playfully, winking at the girl as they both fell into giggling, the air much calmer now that the younger girl wasn't in a frantic mood.

For a while, the two worked in a companionable silence, before Makino spoke up again.

"Lal-chan," she started once they were almost done, all the items piled neatly on the coffee table or the sofa's that sat around the aforementioned furniture in the sitting room.

"Hm? Yes, Makino-san?" Having calmed enough to start humming as they worked, the girl responded almost absentmindedly, part of her attention on the clothes she was sorting out now that she'd figured that a single bag wouldn't work.

...Maybe one of Grandpa's old duffel bags could work? Garp was a marine, and as a...er...Admiral? Vice-Admiral? (Lal never had been very good at remembering those sort of titles, let alone attaching names to faces on people she didn't see as often. Well, for the most part, anyway.) Well, either way, Jii-chan was a high-ranking marine, which means any equipment allocated to the man would be of higher quality as compared to the lower level marines…

Or so she assumed (she really hoped those things were still sturdy. Jii-chan never used them anyways, so she was pretty sure he wouldn't mind...much. He'd probably be more upset that they were using them for the sake of not being Marines… But Lal never had been good with that sort of thing, and considering that all of her brothers had wanted to be Pirates...well, there was no way she was involving herself in that tug-of-war, nope! Thank god Garp hadn't really tried pushing her to be a Marine...even if it rankled a little at times, but that was something for another time), anyway.

"Are you sure it's okay that you didn't see your brother off?"

Either way, turning her attention to the green-haired woman that had been like both a mother and a sister (and sometimes best friend) to her, Lallie gave the woman a wry smile. "We'll be seeing each other soon enough, so why bother?" She mused, "Besides, we'll all be seeing each other soon enough, anyway…"

Watching the fond smile on the face of the little girl she'd watched grow up into the teen she was today, Makino smiled. "I see," The smile faltered, though, when she remembered that soon, Lallie would be heading out as well. "When exactly are you planning to head out, though?" She asked, a worried expression not unsimilar to the one she hid when each of the girl's brothers had headed out crossing her face.

Sure, logically, the woman knew they could all take care of themselves, but having watched them all -or, well, seen most of them, and heard of another- grow up, she couldn't help but to worry over these precious children.

A pause met her question, before a hum of thought followed. "Well… Definitely not til Kin gets here, and I wager he'll take a while, even if everyone's in East Blue, right now," the girl mused, a fond smile crossing her features at the feline-cum-avian that was her partner and best friend.

Her existence had been an anomaly, after all, and she'd never expected to find a familiar face (or, well, maybe not face, but being considering said feline, despite retaining a feline form, no longer really looked all that much like what he had before) after coming here. Although, 'familiar' could be debated due to various different aspects. But it didn't change the joy she'd felt when she'd found him again, even if it was in a new place with a new face.

(The Bird-thing, though, oh boy, that had been a rather… epic… accident that none of them had anticipated. She couldn't say that it hadn't been useful, though, so there was that.)

"Ah, I see," Makino answered. She knew there was more to that story, considering the girl had one day, suddenly, brought back a mountain lion cub with such an ecstatic face, that none of them could really argue about it. Especially when it turned out said cub acted more like a domesticated house cat for the most part. (She still wondered, sometimes. That was surely quite a tale, but considering what she knew of the family… Well, at least the girl was eccentric in a different way from her brothers... ) "And the mess, earlier?" She asked, unable to help the mischievous twinkle that sparkled in her eye at the embarrassed look the girl gave her.

"I, well.. That is… Y-you know how Luffy is!" she stammered, beat red as she remembered her earlier...uh, frantic...ness.

A peal of bell-like laughter made the girl flush even brighter (ah, so easy to tease at times, this girl. It was in the little things like this that showed that she really was related to those boys. Even if the slight nuances in appearance didn't).

"M-Mouuu, Makino-san!" Pouting at the laughter that spilled but unable to help the slight smile at seeing one of her favorite people in a much happier state (even if she could be rather oblivious, it hadn't been hard to see that Makino had been a bit sad about their departure -or pending departure, in her case. Someone had to make sure Luffy got all the essentials he probably forgot to pack, anyway).

"Sorry, sorry~" The woman giggled, "I just couldn't help it. No wonder Shanks liked to tease you two," she mused, eyes dancing with mirth as the teen before her pouted.

"Ma-ki-no~~" Almost falling into the usual pattern, the girl sighed, giving up this time, but still unable to help the grin that, while not as large as her brother's nor as bright, seemed to light up her face as she fell into a light case of the giggles as well. Looking around again, the grin morphed into a smile, one tinged with sadness at the thought of leaving the house that had been her home for so long now…

"..." A sigh made her look back at the woman with seaweed green locks. "I'm going to miss you," she admitted. Unlike with the boys, she knew that the only girl of the sibling set would understand. "This place will be so empty when you're all gone," she murmured, taking a look around as well.

"...I know," Lal agreed, "I-" her throat caught, and she had to blink away tears. Her brothers might call it being a crybaby, but Lallie, for one, knew there was nothing wrong with a bit of sentimentality. "I'm going to miss you too." Somehow, somehow, she'd managed to get the words out without choking again, but stopping the tears were a lot more difficult.

Luffy had only been gone for a few hours, and already she'd been getting lonely, even if she'd managed to distract herself with packing, re-packing, and in the end making a huge mess of things in her anxiety, but that didn't change the fact that she would miss her home. Almost as much as she would miss Makino, silly old Woop Slap-ji-chan, Dadan-san, and all the others. Just like Ace leaving three years ago had worried her to no end, and Sabo even before that.

And maybe, maybe she was being a bit of a crybaby, but she really couldn't help it. Lal had always been emotional, and that hadn't changed even now. So when she found herself in Makino's arms, with tears spilling past her cheeks, and more that were definitely not her own wetting her shoulder, she clung on. Tight.

Thankfully none of her brothers were there, they would probably have panicked, seeing two of the important women in their life shedding tears so freely and clinging to each other. (And probably come to all the wrong conclusions, to boot, aside from being extremely discomfited.) But it felt good to get those feelings off her chest. Off their chests.

And by the time the two of them had calmed down enough to stop crying, they'd both feel much, much lighter as they shared smiles and laughed, wiping away the stray saline that remained on their faces.

After all, even if they were far apart, they would still be family.

No matter what.

And nothing would ever change that fact. Something that both women understood, even if it was in a different way than the boys…

… … …

The sound of his stomach gurgling was the first thing he heard as he woke up, only to find himself in a small, pitch dark place.

What the- Where was he? And what the heck was going on? A pause in the mumblings he could barely hear, and another gurgle of his stomach signalled the fact that his stomach had long since digested the food that he'd brought along with him.

Geez, what time was it? Wondered the boyish teen, hands feeling around to find an exit. What was he doing-

Oh. Oh. Oh yeah, he'd sealed himself into the barrel he'd been using to keep his food in (everything else he had were stuck into his pockets. Everything. It'd be a pain if he lost it all just cuz he dropped his bag or whatever, right? Right. So being the genius he was, he'd decided to just carry everything he could possibly need in his pockets… Which, unfortunately, couldn't hold his food. But that was okay, that's what the barrel had been for, and what luck! He was alive, after all). That whirlpool had been getting real close, after all, and it wasn't like the small boat he'd taken could possibly last against that.

Sure, he was kind of stupid, but he wasn't that stupid. Lucky he had that barrel of food, though. Except…

Now he didn't have anymore food, did he? The male thought, pouting, before he shifted a bit. Yeesh, this was really starting to feel crowded. Trying to twist around to find a better position, he huffed and gave it up for a lost cause, instead, getting ready to stretch and get out of the barrel he'd been in.

The mumbling that had stopped a while ago had started up again, but Luffy wasn't paying attention to any of that. Nope. Instead, the teen was thinking about how even though it was kind of stuffy in the barrel, he'd still managed to have a nice nap. That, and sadness that he no longer had any meat with him. He'd eaten all the dried meat (Makino had called it jerky, but that couldn't be right. Dried meat wasn't a jerk, it was delicious! Even if he'd finished it up too fast… Aha! Maybe that was why she called it jerky. It was a jerk for getting eaten up so quickly! Yeah, that made sense!)

Nodding to his own logic, the teen felt around. Arms? Check. Legs? Check. Toes- Oh no! His toes were go- No, wait! Thinking hard as he wiggled his toes and...kinda felt them? Sticking his tongue out of habit as he thought and squirmed a bit to reach his hands further down…. Yep! Still there! Er….ten? Yeah, Ten toes! They'd just been all squished between his feet, sandals, and the wood of the barrel.

Er...what came next… Hat?

"..." Squirming his arms around again, he felt a string at his neck, but that didn't necessarily mean it was his hat. Feeling up, he felt straw at his fingers, and grinned. A slight giggle ("Nihihihi!") escaping, as he felt around the hat on his head. The precious treasure that that man had given him!

Deciding that the best way to check his hat was with his eyes (he couldn't move too well inside the barrel after all), he decided to break out.

But seriously.

"Man~ That was a great nap!" he exclaimed, ignoring (or ignorant of) the surprised exclamations that sounded behind him as he stretched. "Shihihihi~" Feeling his hat, and putting it back on his head from where it'd fallen (felt fine, and he hadn't caught any sight of any holes as he'd been putting it on), he looked around.

"Huh? Where am I?" He blinked, turning towards the spot of pink he'd caught out of the corner of his eye. "Who are you?" He asked, blinking at the shocked looking pink haired dweeb (or, well, at least he thought it was one. Ace said glasses made people look like dweebs, so it had to be true! ...or, well, probably. One of the few and only -if important- things his sister had taught him was that everyone made mistakes. They were all only human after all. So even if he doubted it, that didn't mean it couldn't be true...which was confusing, sometimes, to be honest. But that wasn't very important right now).

When the pink-haired kid didn't answer, he looked around more, spotting another person. This time, he followed the other guy's gaze (also shocked looking, though Luffy really didn't know why) to two people laying on the floor. "Huh? Are they sleeping on the ground? That's not good. You shouldn't sleep on there or you'll catch a cold, y'know," he told them, some indiscernible screech behind him (something that sounded very, very vaguely like "That's your fault, you bastard!" or something, thought that couldn't possibly be it, of course!) making him look back over to the other two.

Pinky still looked shocked (wow, was he doing a mimicry of a statue or something?), but the other guy was yelling and screeching so much the teen really couldn't understand what he was saying… Or maybe his ears had gotten water-locked? (He meant waterlogged, but apparently even after so many years with people trying to stuff his brain full of normal speech and word-meanings, he still made these mistakes. Ah, well, that was just one of the things that made Luffy...well, Luffy.)

Poking a finger in his ear, and picking around (until he heard a little 'pop'), the teen made an 'aha!' face, expression brightening as he found that it was much easier to understand what the weird guy was saying now.

Even if the screeches almost made him cringe, yeesh, what crawled up his...his...thing...and died? (Even if that expression was wrong, Luffy was still Luffy, so that was pretty much par for the course… Of course.) Oh, well, ignoring the yelling weirdo, he turned to the pink haired one that looked like he'd stopped trying to pretend to be a statue (though he didn't know why the guy would want to, to begin with. It really wasn't very fun, he'd tried it before, after all. ...It got really boring after a while)...

"Hey, I'm hungry~ Is there any food around here?" he asked, even as Pinky's face slowly grew more horrified, eyes trained on something behind him (he was still ignoring the yelling, after all. No point listening to people who made no sense, after all). Still, he felt like he was forgetting something…

"Oh, right! Could you give me some food… please?" He grinned, painstaking (and frustrating for the ones teaching him, to say the least) lessons on certain mannerisms having been...somewhat...ground into him by this point. "Shishishi!" Surely now he'd give him food, right?

As a yell sounded behind him, and Pinky started hyperventilating as he stared at the same point behind him, Luffy finally decided to find out just what was so interesting that the guy would ignore him (which was really rude! Nee-chan and Makino-san said so, which meant it had to be true!) to continue staring at it...

… … …

Coby couldn't believe it. Staring at the scene in front of him with disbelieving eyes as he pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

"Ouch!" That-that hurt. Which meant… It...This wasn't a dream?! He thought hysterically. U-Unless he'd just managed to hurt himself while rolling over in his sleep or something…

But no, he could feel and hear everything, even taste the salty sea air, as he watched desperately at what was going on. Could it be? Was… Was he...really...free? He...he wasn't still dreaming, right? This wasn't a dream...right?

Surely his consciousness couldn't call up something as...as crazy as what he was seeing...right?!

… … …

The day had started out like pretty much any other since he'd found himself trapped aboard the Pirate Ship that sailed under large woman known as Alvida. Day after day of hell, fear poignant and ever increasing as he tried to keep himself out of trouble…

The pink-haired teen (undersized as he currently was, from lack of proper nutrition) had been pretty much resigned as things went about pretty much as per usual when one was on Iron Mace Alvida's ship. They'd spotted a cruise ship in the distance, and of course, Alvida had wanted to ransack it.

Coby, being weak, had waited and watched, until Alvida had scared him into doing something. So he'd hopped over (mostly to avoid getting hurt by the spiked club that the delusional woman used...not that he'd have said that to her face even a couple of hours ago), found a barrel of what he'd assumed was either Beer, Sake, Wine, or Grog of some kind.

And then everything had gotten shot to hell. A strange person had broken out of the very barrel he'd been rolling when some of the other Pirates had decided to break it open for themselves...only to find that one (well, two, actually) of theirs had been knocked out.

The person (who was either really oblivious, unobservant, or both) had pretty much ignore the other Pirate that had been left, and started questioning him. (Something about food? Coby had been too shocked to move.) And then the blade had come crashing down...and he'd shut his eyes, sure that the person was done for.

Only, instead of the sound of metal slicing through flesh, it had been the sound of metal clashing against metal… and breaking. And when a voice that was definitely not the pirate's sounded, Coby had looked up...only to be amazed, as the guy had just held onto his hat and tipped it back a bit, the end of a blade stuck into the ceiling and the remaining conscious pirate staring in shock at his broken sword.

"What the heck'd ya do that for? That was really rude, y'know!" The straw hat wearing teen exclaimed, almost looking like he was sulking as he huffed. "You almost cut my hat!"

"Wh-wh-who the hell are you?!" exclaimed the blonde pirate, falling back as his broken blade fell from his hand, even as Coby had watched in confusion. What… just what had happened in the time that he'd shut his eyes?!

(He would later find out, of course, but that was a story for another time. For now, there was more of the craziness that was, apparently, inherently Luffy that he would have to get used to before he died of shock in the short time he got to now the teen -no, man in…)

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy!" The dark-haired man had responded, a wide grin on his face despite the situation (possibly just unheeding of what had apparently happened, Coby still wasn't sure). "Nice t'meet ya!"

Staring at the man with awe as the blonde pirate ran out dragging his two companions (one of which seemed to be waking up, while the other remained unconscious), Coby couldn't help but to question what had happened. Just...what?

Still, despite everything, as the man -Luffy, he reminded himself- questioned the trio's behavior, Coby had gasped, remembering the situation. Despite his warnings, though, Luffy hadn't seemed to care very much, as he continued on to find the food he'd requested earlier.

Despite all the warnings he'd given (looking back, they probably hadn't been necessary at all), the hat-wearing male hadn't paid much attention. Laughing it off as he dug into barrels of food, even offering Coby some before consuming them all quickly enough that the pinkette had nearly done a double-take.

At some point, the teen wasn't sure how, he'd found himself sucked into the brunette's pace and had admitted his back story, only to get laughed at. And then freaking out when the other had admitted that his dream was to be King of the Pirates.

Gods, he'd been such a frazzled bundle of nerves it had been amazing he'd managed not to get a heart attack even with all the stupid and crazy situations he'd found himself in. (Thankfully, it looked like he'd be able to build up immunity to it all, something that could really only help him, once Garp got his hands on him.)

Needless to say, as Coby's confidence had found itself being raised to the point that he was shouting about capturing Alvida and becoming a marine, said person had crashed in, killing any thought of doing as he'd -maybe not quite planned, but...maybe daydreamed? Either way, the way he was, he probably wouldn't have stood a chance, anyway.

So when Luffy had asked (in what he would later learn was typical, blunt Luffy-style) who 'the fat ugly hag' was, well… at first, Coby had freaked, but then...Then, realizing he'd never get anywhere without taking a chance, the teen had found himself yelling something far, far worse at the woman. (Something he'd never even dared to dream of saying.)

And then, before he knew it, it had come to this. Watching as Alvida became nothing more than a distant speck in the sky as Luffy (who was apparently a rubber man thanks to eating one of the supposedly mythical devil fruits) blocked the fat pirate's club and punched her.

Which brought him to the present, watching as Luffy demanded a boat so they could get away before the Marines got there. Coby following along to avoid being labeled as a pirate himself, seeing as he'd been forced to be a chore boy on a pirate ship for two years now…

As Luffy laughed and requested that he set course towards the nearest town (because Luffy apparently couldn't navigate very well...if at all), Coby took a moment to watch this seemingly unassuming teen wearing a straw hat.

"..." 'As long as I'm willing to die for it… then I can do anything, huh…'

… … …

Luffy stared at the exceedingly rude, fat, ugly old hag that had appeared so suddenly before them. Having been all but inhaling the barrel of apples that Dweeby had led him to. The kid was a coward, and he didn't really like him, but he was probably nice enough, considering he'd given him food. And Lal had always said to be grateful for his food and be polite when someone did something nice for him, so he'd offered Pinky some of the apples before he'd started really digging in.

(He'd refused, but Luffy hadn't been too bothered by it, it just meant more for him, anyway! Which was great, of course. Though...it still didn't fill him all that well, but then, Lal had said something about balanced diet, and blah-blah-blah… He'd probably have to try to catch a sea king or something later, since there weren't exactly any other kind of beast out in the ocean right now. Well, as far as he was aware, anyway.)

As the reedy-sounding kid (seriously, even though he was only a little shorter than him, the guy still looked like a kid with all the baby fat and everything) started talking on and on, Luffy tried his best to pay attention, he still couldn't help zoning out a bit as he devoured the barrel of apples, though he did manage to get something about marines and accidentally getting on a pirate ship of all things.

Laughing at the other (he really couldn't help it, getting stuck on a pirate ship by accident and being too scared to even try to escape? Man, what a scaredy-cat!), he almost choked on a bite of apple that he quickly forced himself to swallow before snickering. "Man, you're really a wimpy little idiot, huh?" He grinned, not really meaning to hurt the other's feelings so much as just stating what he was thinking at the time. "I really don't like people like you, y'know!"

Despite the cheerful delivery, this seemed to only depress the pink-haired boy into tears, though he was laughing, so Luffy didn't think that had really hurt his feelings (people tended to be pretty weird, if he was going to be honest, but since he wasn't really thinking about it)...

"Ugh…H-How blunt…" The other teen practically whimpered (man, this kid was seriously lame, thought the straw-hat wearing brunette), "But, you're right… If only I was brave enough," the boy muttered, even as Luffy tilted his head in curious confusion.

"?" Blinking at the other as he polished off the last of the apples, and the glasses-wearing pinkette turned to him, Luffy watched as the other seemed to work up the courage to say, well, something.

"H-Hey… Luffy-san… W- Exactly… why is it that you're sailing…?" asked the depressed and dweeby teen.

Grinning far more brightly at the reminder of his dream -no, his quest (which made it sound so much more awesome and adventure-y, and so much more definite, too!)- Luffy told him. "I...want to be the Pirate King!" Expression bright, he couldn't help the slight "Shishishi~" that escaped, just the thought of it made him feel so excited, the determination and joy of chasing after his dreams…

"W-... W-... What?!"

The screechy sound the other made in response was something he could have done without, though.

Disbelief was clear on the wimpy kid's face. "B- But 'Pirate King' was the title of the one who has everything in this world! Are you seriously telling me you want to look for the World's Greatest Treasure, the 'One Piece'?!"

Strangely enough, the other seemed to be having trouble breathing, though Luffy couldn't really bother to care as much by this point, as the other continued on, not letting him interject in the slightest. "DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! ALL THE PIRATES IN THE WORLD ARE LOOKING FOR THAT TREASURE!" the kid yelled (man, that guy had a loud voice).

"Yeah, well, so am I!" Luffy huffed, posture getting defiant as pinkette ignored him and continued to panic all on his own (seriously, what the heck?!).

"Th-That's impossible! Absolutely impossible! Completely and utterly, impossible! T-To be the Pirate King in this Era of Pirates… There's no chance! Absolutely No Way!" He all but screamed, only to actually do so when he found a fist jammed into his head as he fell back in pain.

"W-Why did you hit me?!" He all but whined.

Huffing slightly as he slowly retracted his fist, he frowned. "Cuz I couldn't stand you!" Complaining about this and that, impossible this and that… This was why he hated people like him. Always thinking so negatively, yeesh! Didn't he know that anything was possible if you really put your mind to it?

...Er, well… Maybe not his mind so much as his body…

"O-Oh… Well, I'm used to it anyway…" Clearly calmer now, the pinkette gave a soft, quiet laugh. (Which really annoyed him, cuz it reminded him of something that he couldn't really seem to remember well at the moment, ugh.)

Still, regardless of the pinkette's beliefs, Luffy would stand by his own. "I'm not afraid of dying," he said at last, startling the other into paying attention to him again ("Huh?"). "Since it's my dream," he explained, figuring that a coward like Pinky wouldn't really understand unless he explained it.

(Makino and the others had explained the concept so many times, it had become all but ingrained into the male by now, to be honest. Though he didn't always get why 'rephrasing' things made them apparently make sense to other people, but, whatever. Like he said, people were just plain weird, sometimes.)

"Because it's my dream, I don't mind dying for it." Even if it might hurt the ones he cared for, he knew they would understand it. His feelings. This resolution of his, just like he knew that if Ace died (as much as it would hurt him), it would be because he was trying to fulfill his own dream, as well. Even if he'd cried the day that Ace had had to leave, that didn't mean he didn't understand why.

(Although it'd be nice if Ace stopped calling him a freaking crybaby, because he wasn't a crybaby, damnit. He wasn't! He was all grown up now, and he hadn't cried in a long time, so there!)

Brushing off his precious hat once more, the determined teen thought that it was probably time to head off soon. He needed to get himself a boat and some crew members, after all! Ignoring the pinkette as he muttered to himself. (Seriously, what was it with people like him and muttering? Don't they know that talking to yourself is supposed to be crazy? ...Not that he would know, but it'd been said so… it should be true, right? ….Right?)

"Besides, it's not like I can't do it," he huffed, stretching his arms a bit. "Even if it gets tough," after all, what real adventure doesn't have its rough parts? "I still think I can do it," stance confident as he got up, the other nearly missed the pinkette's words.

"...ill I…" the words were quiet, strangely wavering as their owner reached some kind of revelation. "Will I...also be able to accomplish my dream…?" Coby wondered, hands clenching as water filled his vision, dripping down his face in what was probably an unsightly way. Though the glasses-wearing teen didn't actually seem to care for once, for the moment, at least.

Looking back at the quietly crying male, Luffy stopped. Unaware of the poignant nature of the moment, but still paying full attention to the smaller teen, if only for the sincerity that colored his voice.

"If… If I'm willing to die… Would I be able to become a Marine…?!"

… … …

For a long moment, no one said anything. Mind blank, Luffy could only stare, before finally blinking and breaking the spell. A...Marine? His mind flashed back to some rather traumatic moments spent with his crazy kook of a grandpa (amazingly, Makino's words during a rare point when she'd lost her temper. It had been scary. It had been awesome. And he would forever remember the moment for the rest of his life. If only because she'd somehow managed to cow that scary-ass Grandad of theirs).

(Garp had muttered something that had sounded somewhat suspiciously like 'that time of month' though Luffy had been too young to really understand it. Makino-san's reaction to that was pretty...intense, actually, though he couldn't be sure since she'd started smiling that really scary smile that girls could do for some reason, and told him to go out and play before tearing into Garp for...a whole bunch of things he couldn't really remember, to be honest. But it had been great, and he'd been allowed to take a break from his grandpa's crazy training for a while, so that was good….the broken arm, on the other hand, hadn't been so good, and definitely not fun…

(The question of how he'd managed to break his arm when it was rubber was a whole 'nother question entirely…)

… … …

"A...Marine…?" Somehow managing to get the words out, Luffy wasn't quite prepared for the yelling that occurred in response to that.

"Luffy-san!" Tears still running down his face (it was kind of gross, to be honest, but it wasn't his face that was running, so whatever. Cuz snot and tears on his face felt really icky and disgusting after it starting drying -or 'congealing' as his smarter siblings would say- but that was another matter), Pinky turned to him, a surprisingly determined expression on his face that brought a slightly smile to his face the more he listened.

"I know it means we'll be enemies, but-! But joining the Marines and catching the bad guys has always been my dream!" He exclaimed, apparently unaware of the slightly laugh that had escaped the taller teen's mouth. "Do you think I can do it?!"

Starting to like the scrawny, wimpy guy despite himself, Luffy really couldn't help the grin as he honestly answered. "I dunno!"

Thankfully, it seemed that Pinky- no, Coby had already found the answer to that question himself, though.

"I have to at least try! I- I'd rather die trying to get out of here and join the Marines… that to stay here and be a caretaker for the rest of my life!" He shouted, voice raising in volume as his determination truly began to solidify. "And then, Alvida-sama…" Taking a breath as he quieted for a moment, he announced the words that would either damn him or save him in the next few moments, though it might depend on the person's perspective.

"I'll definitely catch and arrest Alvida!" He exclaimed, unaware of said person getting closer and closer, to the two as he spoke.

CRASH.

Well, at least until the roof shattered and began to rain down on them, anyway...