Chapter 13: Two Older Brothers, One Younger Sister and Brother (pt.3)

Quick note before we start! I need some suggestions over how you guys would like the following chapter to be structured! Would you like to start the chapter off in the future and then end in a flash back of their child hood? (I could have more cute childhood ark stories written this way). Or would you like me to get the childhood out of the way and flush it out in the next three chapters. PLEASE let me know in the comments!

"I'm back!" She called out.

"Nee-chan!" Luffy's bubbly voice shouted above the noise of the other boys as he sped into her arms and wrapped her up in a delighted hug. "I missed you!"

"Jejejeje, I was only gone one day Lu-chan!" She teased lightly as Sabo and Ace made their way over to the pair, smiles –well smirk, in Ace's case- on the both of their faces.

"Yo!" Ace greeted in amusement as Dori failed to unwrap Luffy's arms from around her abdomen, it seemed that the freckled kid had already forgotten, or refused to acknowledge, what Dori had done the day before to say 'goodbye.' It was no matter, after all, Dori would just find another thing to fluster him with.

"What took you so long? We were beginning to think that you would miss lunch." Sabo asked as the four of them made their way to Naguri's side by the campfire. It was then that Dori noticed that Naguri had been cooking fish in the open flame. It smelled good, it was almost a shame that Dori had just eaten breakfast. Maybe they would save her piece for later? Then again with the bottomless pit that was her brother's stomach's she sincerely doubted that there would even be a crumb big enough for an ant left.

"Ah, sorry. I was running some errands for the bandits and I was running kind of late."

"Errands?" Ace asked skeptically.

"Yup, errands!" She chirped as the boys began to eat.

"What kind of errands?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Hmm, you know errands. The regular kind." Dori teased.

Ace's face started to redden slightly in anger as he snapped, "Yeah we get it! You ran errands but what kind of specific errands did you run for the bandits?"

The girl just laughed in response before replying, "I just went down to Fooshia Village for them and got some things they wanted. Ah, that reminds me! Lu-chan?"

The rubber kid looke up her in excitement, "Unn!?"

"Makino said she's coming to visit us in tomorrow! Isn't that great! She wants all of us to go to the mountain hut tomorrow after lunch to spend the day with us!"

"Yatta!" Luffy cheered as he began to imagine dinner.

"All of us are invited?" Sabo asked almost hesitatingly.

"Yup! Even you Naguri-san! So you have to come ok

Ace snorted in disdain, "I don't know, that kind of seems like a waste of time. We could be training or building at that time while there's still day light."

A dark aura seemed to surround itself around Dori as she looked down, her red bandana (which usually pulled her hair back from her face) was wrapped around her neck serving as a scarf, brown hair shaded her features from her brothers as she growled out, "We're all going tomorrow." She lifted her head up as a tight, almost sadistic smile tugged at the corner of her lips, "Right, Ace?"

The boys, even Naguri, paled.

"H-Hai!" He managed to stammer out nervously.

Dori smiled serenely, "Yay!" She cheered before skipping off to start chopping down fire wood.

"Sc-Scary.." Luffy mumbled as he stared at his retreating sister's back.

Sabo whipped the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead away, "Yeah, I think we have just learned a very valuable lesson. Never make Dori angry."

A shiver of fear ran down Ace's spine before he croaked out, "You're telling me..."

Naguri laughed uproariously, "Hell hath no fury like woman scorned!" the boys looked up at him in confusion as the old man wondered off towards the sound of whacking wood and a falling tree.

That night Dori regaled tales of Christmas to the boys as they ate their dinner around the campfire. Luffy was quickly entranced with the idea of the holiday and the two older boys weren't far behind either. She taught them a couple of carols and in the end they all quickly began singing them joyfully, even the one's in Spanish! Dori was immensely proud of that fact, especially since the boys barely had any accent when they spoke! Dori was positive that by the time Luffy's birthday arrived they would all be fluent, even if they couldn't read or write it very well! The only thing she hadn't told the boys was when the holiday occurred, after all it was a surprise.

AND what a surprise it had been!

After Christmas and Ace's birthday had passed (an event that, while having been protested against by said birthday boy at first, was rather successful and memorable much like Christmas had been where Dadan had gifted her the cuatro she'd been eyeing in the shop at Fooshia Village) the quartet had continued to work with Naguri on the construction of the ship. Months of chopping down wood and lugging it across the jungle and fighting with Naguri (not to mention their regular training and hunting escapades) had helped all four of them grow magnificently. At least it had helped Dori improve by leaps and bounds, her stamina was incredible! She could carry Luffy- hell she could carry Ace and run all the way from Fooshia village to the mountain bandit's hut and then back down, then up, then down, then up again!

All in all, she was a million times stronger then she had been the first time she was growing up. And yes, she was extremely proud of that fact!

Spring had finally arrived on Dawn Island and Dori could not be more grateful of that fact! The trees were in full bloom and the few cherry blossoms on the island were bright and pink. Naguri's ship was close to being finished, but instead of speeding up the process and completing it totally. Naguri still helped them train regularly. In fact, they were doing that now.

The clanging of metal pipes rang throughout their camp grounds as Ace and Sabo duked it out in front of them. Dori and Naguri were sitting on top of rock that served as their perch during the figh-training. The old man let out a tired yawn as they stared at the familiar scene.

"I'm gonna win today!" Ace boasted.

Sabo gritted his teeth as they exchanged another blow, "I'm not gonna lose!"

Luffy, who should have been sitting by her side waiting for his own turn to fight, had gone around the older boys to the other side of the training field and charged at them. "I'm gonna win!" He declared before throwing his fist back, "Gum-Gum... Pistol!"

Ace and Sabo looked up from where they had been pushing their pipes against one another in a standstill as they heard their little brothers preferred attack. Luffy let his fist fly, of course he missed as the seven-year-old's fist headed straight at Naguri's face and sent the old man flying off their rock.

"Oh, no..." Sabo mumbled as he stared on in shock as Luffy's arm recoiled back to him and sent him sprawling to the ground.

Dori gasped, "Naguri-san! Are you ok?" She asked in concern as she peered over to the ground where he laid.

The man ignored her as he jumped to his feet in agitation, "Kore, Luffy! You did it again!" He yelled as he waved his arm in the air.

Dori sighed in silent relief as she jumped off the rock to stand by her brothers, Luffy demonstrated his complete remorse by laughing at the situation without concern.

"Sorry!" He exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Matta'gu... Boy, you guys are only thinking about getting stronger but... you think that's enough?" He scolded as he rubbed the back of his head where he'd fallen.

The boys made a sound of distress next to her, "What do you mean?" Sabo asked somewhat agitatedly, "The strongest one among us will become captain. SO, what do you think about that?"

Luffy glared in determination as he agreed, "That's right! The one that kills the tiger will be captain!"

"The tiger, huh?" Naguri pondered, "Well, a captain needs to be strong- that's for sure. But there is a more important thing." He stated wisely.

The boys' faces slackened with shock. Of course there was a more important thing besides strength in a captain! They needed to have the full support and back up of their crew! They needed to be able to lead! Not just give orders but to know when they needed help and when to step up or step down... honestly boys! All they were concerned about was getting stronger... At least Sabo was a little bit better knowledge wise then the others, but all the same he was just as hopeless as the other two! Dori discreetly rolled her eyes as the boys gasped and their jaws dropped.

"A more important thing?" Sabo asked in shock.

"Yes," Naguri stated seriously as he peered down at them, "And that is..." He trailed off as Luffy latched onto her hand and Sabo gulped audibly beside her in anticipation, "I forgot!~"

The man smiled teasingly before breaking out into laughter.

Luffy's grip tightened on her hand as the three boys began glaring angrily at the older pirate, before the boys blew out raspberries at him. Dori quickly hid a smile behind her free hand as she resisted full-out laughing at their expressions. After all, if they couldn't figure it out themselves they weren't ready to be captains!

"What was that!? How disappointing!" Sabo exclaimed indignantly.

Ace was surprisingly quiet throughout the entire exchange, and the eleven-year-old had a rather serious expression. Dori briefly wondered what was going through his mind, before dismissing the notion altogether as Naguri continued to tease the two other boys.

"Easy, easy!" He teased half-heartedly before laughing once more.

Luffy was snoring peacefully between her and Sabo as the sound of Naguri's hammer banging on nails echoed towards them and hit her ears from where she was laying in her cot. They were sleeping inside the entrance of the cove again, another spring shower that eventually turned into a storm was raging outside and the cove was their safe-haven against the harsh winds and freezing rain-water. Beside her Ace was still awake and staring up at the ceiling in silent contemplation. But then again, so was she. Her birthday had passed over two months ago. Her first birthday without Dylan by her side to celebrate it. Dori barely noticed it when Ace got up and went further into the cave and down to the cove towards the working old man. No, Dori was lost in thought once more.

She hadn't told anyone. That was okay too. Besides turning ten and hitting the double digits again didn't feel quite as special as it did the first time around. The only real difference she could find was that when someone called her short or chibi, instead of yelling that she nine, she would yell that she was ten. And even then, no one had called her that in a while.

They finished building the ship faster than Dori had expected them to, and the day soon arrived when Naguri's ship was ready to set sail. The splashing of the waves as the ship crashed into the water of the cove was almost deafening... but even than she could still hear Luffy's cries of joy.

"Yatta! It's done!" He cheered throwing his arms in the air.

An excited laugh broke free from her throat as she tugged at the straps of her overalls in joy, "I can't believe we helped build that!"

Sabo rubbed his nose in excitement as he laughed, "We did it, Naguri!"

Luffy ran as close to the water's edge as he could, "Sugei! It's awesome!"

Naguri was already standing at the helm of the ship, one hand confidently holding the wheel as he turned to face them. "I couldn't have done it without your help. Thank you! I'm really grateful!" He shouted as he bowed in thanks.

"Shishishishishishi..." Luffy's grin stretched across his whole face, even Sabo and Ace had wide proud smiles tugging at the corner of their lips. Dori didn't need a mirror to know that her own facial expression mirrored her brothers.

"Oi, Naguri, are you setting sail soon?" Sabo asked tentatively. Their training with Naguri technically wasn't over just yet, considering that none of the boys had defeated the Great Tiger.

"Yes." the man answered honestly, "But before that, I have to wrap up your training. Let's go and hunt the big tiger today!" He exclaimed.

Gleeful grins spread across the faces of the D. brothers. Dori was not going to fight over the title of captain with the other boys, but she was going to watch them fight the tiger this time. And if anyone needed help, she was definitely going to step in.

"Really!?" Sabo shouted in excitement.

"I'm going to kill him and end this stupid training!" Ace stated determinedly.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Sabo snapped at the older boy.

Luffy quickly interjected, "Don't forget about me!"

"Jejejeje..." Dori giggled, "This is going to be great! AH! Remember guys! If nobody wins that means I get to find my own captain out at sea!" She teased.

All three of them turned to look at her angrily before snapping together, "NOT HAPPENING!"

Naguri continued to watch in amusement as Dori continued to dance in a silly fashion while she sang.

"Ba-bum, Bada-dara-da, Bu-bum, Bada-dara-da...

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight

Risin' up to the challenge of our rival

And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night

And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger..."

As soon as she finished off the last note of the song Naguri laughed, "Chibi! How do you come up with these lyrics!" He barked. Dori smiled up at him secretively but before she could respond that it was a 'secret,' the old man's attention had been turned back down to the foliage of the jungle in concentration.

"There he is." Naguri stated calmly as the Giant Tiger emerged from the forest. She and Naguri were standing on the ridge where the tiger had stolen Luffy's first kill. The boys were at the bottom of the ridge facing the growling tiger. Dori couldn't see their faces from the angle they were standing from, but she couldn't help but let a sliver of fear cloud her mind at the animal's huge form before pushing it down and letting her excitement rise up.

The tiger roared ferociously in challenge, Ace charged jumping onto the tigers swinging arm and using the momentum to jump up and hit the beast on it's nose... only to be struck down by the tiger's tail and crash roughly onto the ground.

Dori winced. That looked painful. She watched the fight continue on in interest as Sabo decided to take his shot against the beast before being tossed to the side as well... leaving Luffy staring down at the massive –titanic sized- behemoth. Dori bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood and tightened her grip on her pipe as Luffy threw his arm back preparing to launch a Gum-Gum Pistol at the Great Tiger only for it to fail (the animal was too far for the attack to hit him) and the recoil to stagger Luffy to the ground as the big cat started to run towards him and pounce.

Luffy was screaming.

Dori wasn't standing still any longer.

She quickly slid down the ridge, much like she had done during the winter and used the momentum to speed up her sprint to Luffy's side. The tiger landed roughly on the ground and a cloud of dust rose around it obscuring Luffy from her sight.

"Tch." She clicked with her tongue in frustration before pulling her bandana around her mouth to prevent her from breathing so much dust and ran straight into the fray. Sabo and Ace were using all of their combined strength to keep the big tiger's paw from smashing their little brother. They were strong, Dori couldn't help but admire that. Of course, she too would one day be as strong and even stronger than that. She'd have to be in order to survive.

"So heavy." Sabo strained, "Dori what are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching from the cliff!"

"You're crazy if you think I'd stand still while this is going on!" She snapped as she kneeled down by Luffy's side to check for injuries. He was safe, thank god, her little brother was safe.

"How powerful is he..." Sabo gasped as the beast continued to press down his paw.

"Kuso! We're not good enough!" Ace exclaimed, "But we can't lose! Oi! Guys give me a hand!"

Dori quickly grabbed a prone Luffy, who was still sitting on the ground from where he had fallen, before agreeing as the four of them quickly made their escape from under his paw. Sabo began running in the opposite direction the three of them were heading in as they tried to put enough ground between them and the tiger.

"We're not fast enough but we can do it with Luffy's power!" Ace explained as they ran, "Sabo! Do it!"

Sabo began to scream up at the tiger, trying to gain its attention, "Okay! Hey, tiger! Look over here! Kiss my ass!" he exclaimed behind them as they continued to run. The tiger roared and began to set chase behind the blond. Dori couldn't help but look back in fear and concern as her blond nii-chan ran away screaming, as they finally stopped running once they reached the foliage of the jungle.

"Luffy!" Ace commanded.

They both knew what they had to do. "Osu!"

Luffy grabbed two different trees and began to stretch as far back as he could, they were about to create a human slingshot. God, Dori hoped this would work.

"Sabo!" Ace shouted towards the blonde, "This way!" He instructed.

"I can't!" Sabo shouted back in fear, "He's gonna eat me!"

The Great Tiger was too close to the blonde for her liking, she pulled her bandana down from where it was clinging to her face and let it hang around her neck. The cool breeze kissed her face lightly as the sun continued to shine brightly over their heads.

"You can do it Sabo!" Ace encouraged, "Lure him as far as you can!"

Dori gripped the metal pipe tightly as she ran to her place in front of Luffy, it was now or ever, Ace raced over to them and stood by her side clutching his own pipe tightly in his hands.

"Luffy are you ready!?" He asked.

"Osu!" He seemed a lot more excited now than he was earlier, Dori was just glad that the bandana was still high enough to cover her amused smile.

"Dori!" He snapped, quickly drawing her attention, "Ready?"

She refused to show any of the fear their current situation was causing her and smiled up at him, "Unn!"

Sabo was frantically heading right towards them, the stripped beast practically nipping at his heals, before the blonde jumped. The tiger pounced, flying through the air.

This was it.

"Gum-Gum..." Luffy shouted as he finally lifted his feet from the ground and sent his two older siblings flying through the air.

"Rocket!" Ace screamed, as the two of them raised up their own pipes while soaring in the air and prepared to make contact with the beast. Ace's pipe hit beneath the tiger's jaw with an unbelievable force as she simultaneously hit the animals throat as hard as she could. The tiger crashed falling belly side up onto the grass as Dori accidentally dropped her pipe and began free falling towards the ground. The familiar, and much hated, sensation of butterflies filling her stomach bubbled forwards as gravity pulled her small body to the ground.

Dori had barely let out a whimper of fear before strong tan arms pulled her body into a familiar chest, as Ace tightly held onto her before he landed in a perfect crouch on the ground. Her stomach was in her throat, and her heart seemed to make it its mission to beat itself right out of her chest. A sigh of relief escaped from her mouth as Ace gently set her on the ground, her legs were too shaky to stand up just yet, but Dori let a triumphant smile grace her face as she stared at the animal that they had defeated.

The tiger's eyes were shut and his body prone in its unconscious state. They did it! And incredulous laugh bubbled out as the boys jumped up in joy and shouted in excitement.

"YEAH!"

The four of them danced around in happiness as they celebrated their win before Sabo froze and turned to look at them inquiringly.

"So... Ace is going to be our captain after all!?" He asked in defeat before sighing in disappointment.

"Jejejejejeje, finally! An end to the debate!" Dori exclaimed in relief, no more fighting over 'captain' and whose crew she'd be on!

Luffy's face crumbled as he began tugging at his hair in despair before shouting, "Ore!? I worked so hard for this!"

Dori gently tugged his hands out of the boy's black hair and held them as Sabo wrapped his arms around their little brother, "Give it up Luffy..." Sabo comforted.

"Damn." Ace mumbled softly before repeating the phrase again much louder as he rubbed his hair in agitation, "Damn! Don't worry. I'm not going to become captain."

"Ehhhh!" Her blonde and black-haired brothers exclaimed in unison as all three of them stared at the oldest boy in shock. What was the point in beating the Giant Tiger if no one would become captain in the end?

"Why?" Luffy asked confused, his voice was raw from screaming... Dori would make some honey-tea when they got back to camp.

"Because I didn't beat the tiger all by myself." The freckled boy answered calmly.

A wide smile broke out on Sabo's face, "Ace!"

Ace turned around to look at them, "Well, I mean, soon enough I'm gonna make you guys beg me to become captain!" He stated cockily.

Mean grins tugged at the corners of her brothers lips.

"Are you gonna beg him?" Sabo asked turning to look at Luffy.

"Hell no!" Luffy proclaimed smugly.

Dori rubbed her sweaty forehead in agitation, she could literally feel a headache coming on.

Ace's face contorted in rage before he screamed, "You fools!"

Luffy laughed as the three boys began to play-fight and tease each other, until Luffy declared that his nee-chan was going to be his crew.

"Ya!" She yelled as Ace got too rowdy and shoved Sabo at her, who was in fact trying to tackle Luffy to the ground. The boys stopped to stare at her, "That's it!" She declared before starting to walk away towards the cliff where Naguri was watching over them.

Sabo looked reluctant to even ask, but he did. "What do you mean Dori?"

The short girl turned around and glared at them in frustration, "No more! We are never again arguing over whose gonna be captain and whose crew I'm gonna be on!"

"Dor-" Ace began before she completely cut him off with a raised hand.

"The end!" She snapped. "I'm going to find my own captain and go on my own adventures..." Her hazel eyes narrowed as she stared them down, "That was the deal anyways... whoever won was going to be captain, but if you guys lost I would head out on my own. Right?" She asked rhetorically before cutting off Luffy, who was about to protest at her decision, "You guys aren't going to go back on your word are you?"

All three of them clamed up, before they reluctantly responded, "No..."

"That's what I thought." Dori turned back around and began to climb up the ridge, the boys didn't follow her up.

"Looks like everything worked out for the best..." Naguri stated proudly as soon as she made it to the top.

"Unn, I guess..." Dori mumbled petulantly before she looked up at him curiously, "Are you setting sail now Naguri-san?"

Naguri smiled in amusement as he nodded in confirmation before he turned around and began to walk towards the direction of the cove, "Alrighty then..."

"Jiji!" Ace shouted up. Making both of them look down at the three brothers, "Next time I see you, I'm gonna defeat you!" He challenged, "Keep winning until then!"

She could hear Luffy's laughter from where she sat, "Ja na!"

"Take care!" Sabo shouted up.

Naguri smirked, "I'll be waiting for you out there..." He declared softly before unwrapping the black cloak that had sat around his shoulders the whole time Dori had known him. It was a pirate flag. The Naguri Pirate flag. A wide smile stretched across Dori's face as the flag waved proudly in the wind.

"You should start heading back down now chibi, it's a long walk back to your base." The old man commented offhandedly.

Dori giggled, "I'm gonna let them sweat a little longer first Naguri-san!"

The man just laughed in amusement as he continued down the familiar path to the cove... to the sea... to freedom.

Author's Note:

I'M BACK! How is everybody doing? I'm super glad to finally put an end to this episode (It was soooo long!)…

Guys feel welcome to check out my other fics including "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively…) and no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit...

Anyway, I wanted to know if you guys want me to do a side story portraying Dylan's POV. It would go from his death up until he meets up with his sister again… remember he would be falling into the Naruto Universe. In this fic I'm making the Naruto Universe an island in the New World, I'll also probably make the hidden One Piece hidden somewhere in the Elemental Countries….. Yup! So tell me what you think, I'd be willing to hear suggestions as to what part of the Time line Dylan lands in and what kind of ninja he'd end up being… (though him being a part of Konoha is something I won't change, he could come from another village but he needs to end up at Konoha)….

This Chapter is Dedicated to: CrystalSeker (Thank you so much for being the first person to actually answer if they wanted to see Dylan's side of the story! I am interested in writing what he's going through, though it would be written and can be read independently from this one, but the chapters would be spread far apart from one another... I'll look into starting that soon! I'll either PM you or eave a note at the bottom of the chapter when the first chapter is out!), ManawaSasa (Hahaha, please don't kill me! If you do, I'll never be able to update again! Though I do have to say that's one hell of a coincidence!), and Guest (who just said cool, but still it was awesome!)… This chapter is also dedicated to all of you who have favorited or followed this fic as well as all of my returning viewers! Thank you for putting up with me!

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter… and I'll see you next month! (Maybe!)

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Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)