Summary: I don't know what's worse…being thrown into this dog eat dog One Piece universe or growing up with the three terrors known as Luffy, Ace, and Sabo. Someone please kill me. Self-Insert/OC, Rated T for Language

Disclaimer: NOTHING BELONGS TO ME EXCEPT FOR MY OC


CHAPTER 1: The Start of a Stupid Journey

With the grace of a pregnant dog, I learn how to walk. It was absolute torture. My legs were sore and I had lost count of how many times I fell on my face. Stupid chubby legs… Seriously, I have a new found respect for toddlers. Obaa-chan (the old lady) (1) helped me as much as she could and it was pretty sweet. She would hold my hands as I made a pathetic attempt to walk. Honestly, I think I looked like I was imitating a mix between a three legged cow and a retarded fish. How's that for a mental image huh?

I haven't seen the outside world in my entire one year of existence. However, I've been able to conjure a mental map of the basic layout of the small cottage that I was staying in. It helped that I knew how to crawl so I could explore a little; it didn't help that Obaa-chan wouldn't keep her eyes off me. She was strangely very protective over me. In my opinion, there was no need for that behavior. All I did was normal baby things. Sleep, eat, poop, vomit a little, and repeat.

Life was…slow. There wasn't really anything to do.

Obaa-chan was slowly but surely teaching me Japanese. Just small things like pointing to an apple and saying "ringo," or pointing at a chair and saying "isu." It was surprisingly helpful and I found myself understanding what Obaa-chan was saying. However, I was nowhere close to actually speaking proper Japanese. It hurt my head so I gave up. I'll eventually get a hold of it…hopefully.

On my second birthday, Obaa-chan finally took me outside. It was kind of chilly, considering it was the end of March, so I was wrapped up in a couple layers. The surroundings were pretty anticlimactic. All I could see were trees and trees and trees. A stone passage was situated right in front of the cottage and I couldn't see where it ended. Maybe it led to a town. The only human contact that I've had with anyone in the Once Piece world so far was Obaa-chan.

Anyways she led me to what I believe is her garden. It was horribly taken care of. Weeds could be seen everywhere and dried withered flowers were scattered across the ground helplessly. There was a swing attached to a tree near the garden that was big enough to fit one person. Obaa-chan headed towards it at a slow pace and sat down placing me in her lap.

"You know this garden used to belong to your Okaa-san (2)," Obaa-chan said with a small smile. I craned my neck back so that I could get a better look at her face. It had grown wary over the past couple years. The wrinkles on her face suggested old age and the bags under her eyes indicated stress.

"O-Okaa-san?" I asked with a little stutter. Hey don't blame me…speaking a new language is fucking hard.

Obaa-chan rarely talked about my mother. The topic was painful for her so I didn't want to bring it up. I had assumed that after two years of my mother's absence that she either left me with Obaa-chan, or had died; same for my father.

"Yes, this belonged to your Okaa-san. She used to take care of this garden like her life depended on it," Obaa-chan said as she held me tighter against her. I frowned. If it meant so much to my mother why did Obaa-chan not take care of it? I spoke my qualms out loud and Obaa-chan gave me a small smile.

"Honestly, it hurt to look at it. This garden, once like your Okaa-san, was full of life and thrived in the sunlight. Now it is dry and lifeless. It reminded me too much of how your Okaa-san is now and how she's not here anymore," Obaa-chan explained. My frown grew even more.

"You s-shouldn't d-do that Obaa-chan. Okaa-san w-want you to take care of garden," I said as I slowly crawl off of her lap. Damn, my grammar sucks. Whatever, I'm probably way above a normal 2 years old level…I think. Obaa-chan let out a small laugh and followed me to the garden.

"You're right Rexi-chan. Though, you are wrong with one thing. I think your Okaa-san would want both of us to take care of her garden. So what do you say?" I can feel a huge grin spread over my face and I started pulling out the weeds with Obaa-chan.


Months pass and summer has brought with it mosquitoes and humid gross weather. Obaa-chan and I work extremely hard on the garden and we finally brought it back to its full glory. We promised each other that we would always keep the garden clean for the sake of Okaa-san's memory.

Speaking of Okaa-san and Otou-san (3), I've heard many stories about them from Obaa-chan. My mother was a small petite woman with long black hair and tan skin. All the pictures that Obaa-chan showed me always portrayed her with a huge grin on her face. One of those smiles that would make you want to automatically smile back. She was a seamstress and would sell her products on the street. Other than that, her hobbies included gardening and reading. Obaa-chan told me that she had a fascination with medical herbs and would grow them in her garden. Overall, she sounded like a woman that I am proud to call my mother.

Eccentric would be a good word to describe my father. He was a tall man and used to be the Captain of his own fleet in the Marines. He was given the chance to become Vice Admiral but was killed by a powerful pirate in battle when my mother was 6 months pregnant with me. Obaa-chan said he had an unhealthy addiction to apples and that he fell in love with my mother because she was the first female to offer him one... She also said that he used to be extremely nervous and clumsy around her. For example, when my father proposed to her, he took her on a boat and treated her to dinner. You know how before someone proposes they always make a speech of some sort declaring their love for the other person? Well my dad's "declaration of love" lasted for about 45 minutes where he then proceeded to fall off the boat and almost drown when she said yes. It's pretty cute I guess. His antics kind of reminded me of my past clumsy self. Hopefully those traits didn't transfer to me again.

Obaa-san told me all these stories while we would work of Okaa-san's garden. I suggested we plant an apple tree and she thought it was a great idea. It takes about 6 years for it to grow to its full potential so we'll have to wait awhile before it actually starts growing apples.

Everything was so normal that I forgot that I was even in the One Piece world. We were so excluded from everyone that it was like we lived in our own little world. I knew it wouldn't last forever but it was nice to pretend like it would. When reality finally crashed into my tiny mind it sucked.

After much thinking, I gave myself two options. On one hand I could become involved with canon (assuming that I was in the right time period) and help change things for the better. On the other hand, I could just lay back and enjoy the show. Would the One Piece God's even allow me to change any canon events? If I become too involved I could ultimately change the future and I wouldn't be able to help anyone if I didn't know what was going to happen next. Another problem was that I didn't even have the chance to finish One Piece in my previous life. I got to the beginning of the Dressrosa Arc where Luffy entered a competition to win Ace's Mera Mera no Mi.

Now that I think about it, there was one specific event that I was always salty about. Ace's death. So if I was able to change that, I might. I want to help him so bad but I know that I would fuck up a lot of important events later on. Ace's death made Luffy stronger both mentally and physically and there is no way I have the right to change that.

Memories from my previous life were still present but I've slowing been forgetting a lot of things. I'm afraid that I won't remember a lot from what actually happened in canon if my memory keeps disappearing at this pace. I might need to write it down in some kind of journal. I'll write it in English so no one has any idea what I'm talking about. On that note, maybe I should learn how to start reading and writing Japanese. Although, I should probably learn how to speak it properly first…

I know a little from my college Japanese class. Pretty sure I failed that class, don't really remember. I do remember that the language is a pain in the ass. It is so different from English that it was hard for me to wrap my mind around some of its concepts. While English has one main script, Japanese has three; kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Another thing is that there is no equivalent word in Japanese for "a," "an," and "the." So if someone was saying hon (book) it could mean both "a book" and "the book." It was all just so confusing. However, listening to the language for the past two years of my life has made translating and speaking much easier.


It was a week before my 3rd birthday that Obaa-chan fell ill. We were walking around the forest surrounding our house while she explained to me the uses of different plants when she was hit by a bout of dizziness and had to be bed-ridden. I have no idea how she contacted a doctor when she could barely move from her bed but a week after the incident, one showed up at our door. The doctor performed some basic tests on Obaa-chan when he suddenly tensed up when he was using his stethoscope. He mumbled to himself inaudibly and proceeded to pull out a blood pressure monitor and cuff from his bag. When he was done checking the stats he frowned at whatever he saw. My hands were shaking. Nothing was going to happen right? Obaa-chan can't leave me alone. I'm not even three yet…well technically I'm 20 but you know what I mean.

"I'm very sorry, but it seems you have a serious case of Kōketsuatsu," the doctor explained as he starts packing up his things. Kōketsuatsu? What the hell is that? "Actually I would probably call it Kōketsuatsu crisis. In some cases it can cause inflation of certain parts of your brain. Have you been having any headaches recently?"

"Yes, actually for a while now," Obaa-chan says as she lets out a long wary sigh. The doctor glanced at me quickly before looking back at Obaa-chan. She nodded in understanding and turned her attention to me.

"Rexi-chan, would you go take a look at the garden for me? I think the tomatoes are ripe enough so you may pick those and we'll make something later," Obaa-chan explained with a kind smile. I knew exactly what she was doing and it was not going to work. She wanted to get me out of the room. Just before I was about to open my mouth to retort Obaa-chan gave me a look that spoke volumes. It was apologetic yet full of love and it brought tears to my eyes. Never in my whole life, even my previous one, had anyone looked at me like that. At that moment, I realized how close I was to this woman. I realized I didn't want to lose her. I needed her. So I swallowed all my fears and stood up a little straighter. With a small nod at the doctor and Obaa-chan, I left the room.

I go outside, not even bothering to eavesdrop on their conversation, and sat on the swing that overlooked the garden. I wanted to help Obaa-chan so much. It must be a pretty serious condition if she didn't want me to be in the room with her when she heard the news. I just hope that she can recover from whatever this Kōketsuatsu is.

I was staring at my dangling feel when it finally hits me, this is real life. This isn't an anime. These are real people. I think about all the gore and all the unfortunate events that the anime skipped over. The hole in Ace's chest, Crocodile's sand that speared Luffy right through his stomach…it was all going to happen and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even save my grandmother how am I going to change anything in this world. Tears of frustration come to my eyes and I find myself angry. I'm angry at myself because here I am, a 20 year old trapped in a 2 year old body with absolutely no talent in fighting and no knowledge about how to survive by herself.

Weak. Weak. Weak.

No! I'll become stronger. Stronger than Luffy, stronger than Ace, and I will change this world for the better. Lay back and observe? Fuck no.


Before the doctor left he had told Obaa-chan that he would be coming every week to observe her condition and try to fix whatever it is. I confronted Obaa-chan about it but considering I was only a toddler she couldn't find the proper words to explain it to me. I tried to convey to her that she should just tell me any ways but she wouldn't listen.

"Rexi-chan, I should be fine in a couple weeks!" Obaa-chan exclaimed weakly. She was still bed ridden, and had been so for a couple weeks now. I would make her food, to the best of my 3 year old (yes, my birthday passed) ability. It was mostly just soup anyways. Bad soup if I may add; Obaa-chan's cooking is something I miss dearly.

"Then w-why are you s-still in bed?" I ask with a frown. Her tough act wasn't going to fool me. Obaa-chan chuckled and fondly patted me on the head. Honestly, it kind of made me feel like a dog.

"Sometimes I feel like you are smarter than you come out to be," Obaa-chan said with a small chuckle. She motioned for me to sit on the bed with her. "You shouldn't worry yourself darling."

I sit down and she takes my short hair and started to braid it into two pigtails. Something that surprised me about my appearance was that I had both grey and brown hair. This was completely unnatural in my previous world, so when I saw my reflection in the mirror for the first time, it would be an understatement to say that I was not surprised. I hated it. It was so odd. Like one side of my hair was brown while the other side was grey… If you've ever watched Naruto it's kind of like Itama Senju's hair, except longer.

Genes are weird my friend.

A couple months pass before the doctor finally announces that he won't be visiting anymore. This news may not sound like much but it felt like someone punched me in the throat.

"What?! Y-You're s-supposed to help O-Obaa-chan, so why are you going a-away?" I asked more than frustrated at the doctor (even after all this time, I still didn't know his name). He looked away from me not wanting to make eye contact with me.

"I am sorry, but I have done everything I can for your Obaa-chan and none of it seems to working," he explains as he starts packing away his material. I stare at him incredulously. The nerve of this guy…

"So y-you're just going to g-give up? What kind of d-doctor does t-that!? Please just save her," I pleaded. Obaa-chan still hadn't said a word and that worried me.

"I am truly sorry," he said as he started to walk towards the door. I shoot up from my chair beside Obaa-chan's bed and move to go stop him but a frail voice stops me in my track.

"Wait."

Both the doctor and I freeze as we give Obaa-chan our full attention. Her voice was low and hard to hear if your full attention was not on her.

"Rexi-chan, will you open that drawer and give the kind man that letter," Obaa-chan explained. I nod by head quickly and do as she says. I hand it to the doctor grudgingly and watch as he stares curiously at it. He moves to open it but stops when he sees that the letter is addressed to someone else.

"I need you to do me a favor Doc," Obaa-chan says.

"Of course Nori-san. What can I do for you?"

"Please take that to Moriya in Fuschia Village and tell her to deliver it to Garp-san."

I choke.

Fuschia Village? Garp-san?

Fuck.

So Obaa-chan has connections with Monkey D. Garp, father of Monkey D. Dragon, and grandfather of Monkey D. Luffy. Yes, lots of Monkeys. Haha, I crack myself up. Okay, I'm going to stop now. Anyways, so this revelation cleared up some foggy details about what time period I'm in. Who was Moriya though?


A couple months pass and Obaa-chan's health was almost nonexistent. I tried everything that I could to help her. I had finally gained some extremely basic knowledge about reading Japanese so I was able to do a little research on different types of diseases and tried to find one named Kōketsuatsu. You're probably wondering how I could even perform this kind of research in the middle of nowhere, but our small cottage conveniently had a small library filled with books about diseases and medicinal herbs that could heal them. Like I couldn't even read most words in the books, although it helped that I knew what the kanji for Obaa-chan's disease was. Honestly, I had no faith that I would come upon anything even related to Kōketsuatsu, but after going through almost every book I finally found something.

After studying the symptoms of Kōketsuatsu I came to the conclusion that in English it would translate to Hypertension. And it seems that Obaa-chan has a severe case of it. Now that I think about it, Obaa-chan portrayed all these symptoms way before she finally collapsed. Headaches, shortness of breath, fatigue/confusion. It was all there. I know from previous knowledge that untreated hypertension can lead to serious diseases, including stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, and eye problems. I'm not sure which ones applied to Obaa-chan but I know that whatever she had was slowly killing her and I knew that she didn't have much time left before…you know. I tried finding a cure, anything that I could do to help. But found nothing. Untreatable. I've been trying to spend as much time as I can with her but it's painful. I don't know if you know how it feels like to watch someone you care deeply for…just fade away. Her life was slipping right through my fingers and I was just watching.

My days were starting to blur together; the same routine every single day. Wake up, force Obaa-chan to eat, take care of the garden, force Obaa-chan to eat, read some books, force Obaa-chan to eat, and then sleep. It was driving me mad and all I wanted to do was pull all my hair out. However, it all changed when a…special visitor showed up.

It was normal day when it happened. I was washing the dishes in the kitchen while Obaa-chan took a nap. I stopped when I heard a lot of heavy footsteps outside in front of the cottage. I tense up instantly, worried because absolutely no one comes up here except for the doctor and the occasional cat (they're pretty cute). Anyways, with tentative steps, I stepped towards the window that was right beside the door so that I could peek outside to see who it was. Well, I can say now that I fucking regret that because the next thing I know the door is fucking punched through. Excuse my french but when I get nervous I can't help myself. Damn it.

There among the debris and rubble stood none other than Vice Admiral Garp in his full glory. Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised. I mean this is Garp that we're talking about. He is literally the only person ever that would so rudely knock holes in innocent door that belonged to innocent people. Tch…men these days.

The first thing I noticed about Garp was his height. He was really tall. The next thing that I notice was his age. He looks like he did in canon which means that I am around the right time period. Don't know if Luffy was born yet or not though… Another thing that popped out to me was his choice of clothing. He was wearing a tropical shirt with a matching pair of shorts. It surprised me because I thought that he would be wearing his Marines attire. His sandal clad feet stepped into the house as he looked around. His eyes finally glance down at my frozen self and he frowns in confusion.

I was mad. This baka just punched a hole through our door and he looks at me like I'm the actual intruder. I look up at him and scowl.

"W-Who the hell are you?!" Garp opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off. "W-Why would you k-knock down our door? This house b-belongs to Obaa-chan and I and y-you had no right to do that! Now fix it f-fatty!"

Curse that damn stutter.

The marines that followed the Vice Admiral into the cottage gape at me wondering why I'm calling such a powerful man a fatty. But I don't give a shit. A man his age shouldn't be acting like an inconsiderate brat. Oh my god, I'm acting like a mom. Fuck, I suck (I RHYMED). I break out of thought when I hear a hearty laugh come from the giant man in front of me. He walks over to me and pats me on the head just the way I hate it.

"Bwahaha you are one funny little girl! What's your name squirt?" he asked. I smack his hand away and huff irritably.

"None of your b-business…"

"Well then I'll just call you squirt for the rest of your life."

"NO."

"What was that squirt?"

"Fine! My n-name's Rexi! You h-happy now?"

"Sorry squirt, could you repeat that? It seems this old man is a little hard of hearing these days."

I growl in frustration. He's messing with me. The nerve! Agh I want to punch him but, fortunately, I'm not suicidal.

"Well, I i-introduced myself, so w-what's your name Oji-san?" I ask crossing my arms across my chest. He grinned widely and straightened his posture.

"Oh you can just call me Garp-san!" he said while pointing at himself with a happy glow around him as is he was really glad that I asked him what his name was. The soldiers stared at their superior with looks of shock. "Garp-san really likes this kid…" they thought.

"Sorry Oji-san it seems that my y-young ears are not that d-developed enough, could you r-repeat that?" he started laughing again at this. Not the reaction I was expecting but whatever. At least he's not ignoring me now.

"I like you squirt, but I don't have time for this. Does someone by the name Nori live here?" Garp asks, finally getting to the point. His face turns serious and it automatically sobers me up. He must have finally gotten the letter from whoever that Moriyo chick was. I nod my head silently not really in the mood to talk.

"Could you take me to her?"

"Obaa-chan is sleeping…"

"Obaa-chan? Nori's your grandma?" I nod my head again at this. His eyes widen as he finally comes to some kind of conclusion.

"EHHH!? You're Shinko's kid?!" he exclaimed as he bent down to pick me up. He dangled me in front of him at arm's length and he took a better look at my features. Normally, I would be really offended at being manhandled like this but I wasn't that mad. His hands were warm against my naturally cold body and I didn't hesitate to take full advantage of the situation. "Hmm you definitely have Zankuro's nose and hair… I knew that he was married to Shinko but I didn't know they had a kid."

"Wait, this is Demange Taichou's (4) daughter?" asked one of the marines. He was wearing a grey suit which matched his hat that created a shadow over his eyes. He had a katana connected to his left hip. Although his tone was filled with surprise, his face was still in a slight scowl. Garp's face turns grim as he nods at the marine.

"Hai Bogard, it seems like it," Garp explains and he gently puts me back on my feet. "Squirt, do you know who your parents were?" I shook my head no.

"I've only seen p-pictures," I explain. Garp had said that I had the same nose and hair as 'Zankuro' and Obaa-chan had said the same thing when she showed me a picture of my father. So Zankuro was Otou-san's name and Shinko was Okaa-san's name.

Garp drops the subject for now and asks me again if I could take him to Obaa-chan and I again told him that she was asleep.

"It's urgent squirt so if you won't show me, I'll just go look myself!" I scowl at this.

"Well maybe if you didn't k-knock down our door I w-would be more c-co-p-er…uh what's the w-word again?"

"Cooperative."

"Yeah that."

"These guys have the door handled, don't you?" Garp asked as he gives them a sinister look that made them scramble to start picking up the debris. I sighed and decided to walk towards Obaa-chan's room figuring that Garp would just follow; which he did.

"How old are you squirt?"

"I t-turned 3 on March 30. And how o-old are you Oji-san?" He looked away from me grumbling under his breath about something to do with 'no respect these days.'

"I'm 34."

"Liar."

"It's none of your god damn business squirt!"

"OBAA-CHAN, H-HELP ME! THIS OLD M-MAN IS H-H-HARRA-uh what's the w-word again?"

"It's harassing…WAIT, NORI, DON'T LISTEN TO THIS DEVIL CHILD!"

We stop bickering when we hear an exuberant laugh come from inside Obaa-chan's room. I smile really big at the sound and automatically open the door and jump into Obaa-chan's open arms. She looks down at me and gives me a wet kiss on my forehead. It was one of those grandma kisses minus the red lipstick, so it wasn't that embarrassing. Obaa-chan finally moves her attention to the Vice Admiral and I watch as her mouth transforms into a small smile.

"You look like shit Nori."

"I'll kill you Garp-san."

I had to bite back a laugh at their banter. It seems like they were really familiar with each other. Garp moves closer to the bed and sits on the chair that I had practically lived in these past couple months that Obaa-chan had been sick. He reaches for her hand and holds it reassuringly as his eyes soften a little as he further examines her condition. The carefree environment of the previous conversation perished and instead a solemn void filled it.

"You're not doing too well Nori," Garp stated, not even bothering to beat around the bush. I bit my lip at his tone as I wait anxiously for Obaa-chan's reply. With a quick glance in my direction, she sighed loudly. Her shoulders slumped as a wave of dizziness hit her frail body. I could see that Garp's visit complicated things. And me being in the room didn't really help that much either. So I got up, despite my curiosity, and excused myself from the room. Obaa-chan eyes' portrayed her gratitude while Garp just gave me a small nod acknowledging my leaving.

I walked through the hallway that connected the bedrooms with the rest of the house. The walls were scattered with old photographs of my grandparents, parents, and me. My favorite one would probably be the one where my mom is pregnant with me and my dad is standing beside her with his hand on her stomach. My dad was smiling widely and my mom seemed to be laughing at something

It was the only picture of all three of us.

With a small smile I head straight to the other marines. Once I reach what's left of our door I silently observe the marines interact with each other. They seemed really friendly with each other and messed around with one another like they were brothers. It was pretty amusing to watch especially when they were all griping to each other.

"Oi, it's that kid from earlier!" one of them shouted as he spotted me. An awkward silence spreads across the room like a virus and I wanted to crawl into a hole. I don't like it when I am the center of the attention; it was gross. All of sudden, all the marines minus that Bogard dude erupted into mirthful laughter.

"She has some nerve talking to Garp-san like that!"

"Did you see his face when she called him a fatty?!"

One of the nicer looking marines came up to me and knelt down so that he was level with my face. He gave me a kind smile and ruffled my hair.

"What was your name again kid?" I frown at his actions and hit his hand away.

"My n-name's Demange Rexi," I state bluntly. The marines fall into a solemn silence. I don't know what relation my father had with these marines but whatever it was, it must have been important. "And y-yours?"

"My name's Rosendo, and how old are you Rexi-chan?" Rosendo asked kindly. I smiled up at him glad that someone finally called me by my name.

"I'm three! Y-You're nice m-mister," I say trying to put as much cheer into my tone as I could. I had to keep reminding myself that I'm not 20 years old anymore. It would obviously be suspicious if I didn't act like I was 3. And besides, Rosendo seemed like a good guy so why not be nice to him? "Can I help with the d-door?"

Rosendo gave me a wide smile and lifted me up so that I sitting on his shoulders. I yelped, not expecting his actions.

"Of course you can Rexi-chan!" He hands me a nail and a small hammer while I was still situated on his shoulders. He walked so that he was right in front of the door and instructed me to put the nail in the hole that someone else made. I was kind of surprised that he was letting a 3 year old do all this but I wasn't going to complain. I do as he says and the rest of the marines went back to their previous banter and shenanigans.

These marines weren't so bad. I know that some marines could be horrible and manipulative after watching One Piece for so long, but these guys were chill. They seemed to genuinely respect Garp and care for each other. Their relationship was something that I had always been jealous of. All of them had something to fight for; something to protect. All I have is Obaa-chan, but will I even have her for long?

After everyone was finished fixing the door, Rosendo helped me bring some drinks and snacks to everyone. They were telling me some stories about some of their favorite adventures when Garp finally finishes his conversation with Obaa-chan. His face, unfortunately, was set in a grim expression.

"We'll be staying in Fuschia Village for a month for some official business that Marine Headquarters thinks needs special attention. I will elaborate more when we reach where we are to stay," Garp explains. He then opens the now fixed door and starts walking away with his marines trailing behind him. I was frozen to my spot not knowing how to act at Garp's hasty departure. After shaking myself out of shocked state I run out of cottage towards Garp's retreating figure.

"WAIT!"

Garp stops but he doesn't turn around. The rest of the marines look at me in confusion and mild surprise. I swallow thickly trying to get my wits together so I could form actual words.

"W-What did she s-say? What did Obaa-san say?" He ignores me and continues walking. "Please, just listen to me! S-She doesn't want to tell me a-anything b-but I know there's something wrong."

"It's not my business." I blanch, not expecting him to actually reply to me. An overwhelming feeling of frustration hits me like a fucking tsunami and I could feel tears streaming down my cheeks.

At the sound of my sniffling, Garp turns around at an alarming speed. He tenses up not knowing what to do with a crying a little girl. Should he console her? He's not really good at that kind of stuff…

"Oi, there's no reason to cry squirt…" I ignore him.

"If it's not your b-business then why did you f-find out what's h-happening to O-Obaa-chan before I did? You d-don't care about her like I do. If she's g-gone then I'll be by m-myself baka!" I hiccup out. I bury my face into my hands in embarrassment.

Garp comes up to me and puts a hand on my head just the way I hate. I let him keep it there.

"Kid, you'll never be alone. I promise. And I never break my promises," Garp explained. I stare at him with what I'm sure are tearful eyes. I didn't ask him what he meant but the tone of his voice assured me that he meant what he said. With those words he walked away.


Obaa-chan had a week. A week.

That's it.

I had a week with Obaa-chan.

Then she's gone.

It still hasn't seemed real to me. Would it have been better if her death had been sudden? Now it just feels like Obaa-chan's a walking time bomb. I'll be watching her sleep (sounds creepy I know) and I'll wonder to myself, "She won't be here next week." It's a very depressing thought but I physically can't not think about it, you know. I still remember what she told me after she finally confessed that there was something wrong.

"Rexi-chan, my only regret is that I won't see you become a wonderful, beautiful, and strong woman."

"I only have one regret…that I couldn't see you fulfill your dream."

With Obaa-chan and Ace's words ringing in my head, I finally let the tears that I was holding back out. I cry and cry and cry until I can't anymore. Because this is real.


May 1st.

That's when it happened. She was in peace, I think. It happened in her sleep so I'm sure it was peaceful. I don't like thinking about it to be honest. I guess at the time, I just thought that maybe if I didn't think about it, then it wouldn't happen. I have an uncanny ability of doing that.

Obaa-chan told me a lot of things in her last days. I guess she wanted to leave me with as many memories as possible.

Garp was the one who told me. He had a habit of coming to our small cottage every morning to make sure that everything was fine since we were so far away from any civilization. He was the one that found her. It's selfish to think but I'm glad it wasn't me. I've never been in that kind of situation and I don't ever want to be.

The days that followed Obaa-chan's death were silent. I didn't cry and neither did Garp. I was tired of crying. So he took me to Fuschia and he gave me a place to stay that wasn't full of memories of Obaa-chan. It was refreshing, considering that I have been living in the same cottage for my whole life (well technically not but you know what I mean).

I finally got to meet Obaa-chan's friend Moriya. You know…the one that Obaa-chan wrote the letter to. When Garp told her what happened she wasn't hysterical, just sad. I suppose after living for so long, that she has experienced death of close ones many times; same thing for Garp.

May 5th

It was an odd day I suppose. Garp was anxious for some reason and Moriya had left the house in a hurry not even bothering to eat breakfast. I wasn't really concerned. I just sat around flipping through some books not really being able to read any of it. The wonders of being a 3 year old right?

"Oji-san? Can you t-teach me how to r-read? I know a little bit…but it's hard."

Garp stops pacing and looks at me with a calm expression. He walks over to the table and sits down across from me. I took notice of the huge size difference between us when I compared that his legs could barely fit under the table while my feet couldn't even touch the ground. Normally, I would be very frustrated about this considering that I've always been a little on the short side but this time, his height was comforting. I don't know. Sorry, I'm being weird.

Anyways, he starts pointing to words and reading them out loud. If he came upon a kanji that I was unfamiliar with I would tell him and he would stop and explain it to me. He was a good teacher surprisingly. Garp stops suddenly and looks at me with a determined look.

"Squirt, you know you can always talk to me about anything right?"

"I'm fine Oji-san."

"You're not."

And with those two words, I froze…because he was right. I'm not fine. I bring my hands up to my face to cover the stupid expression that I'm sure was marring it. I tried to stop the tears but they started flowing without permission.

"O-Oji-san, promise y-you'll make me s-stronger!" I choke out. "I c-couldn't help Obaa-chan. I don't w-want what h-happened to Obaa-chan to h-happen to a-anyone else."

Garp was silent. I moved my fingers apart so that I could catch a glimpse of him. Surprisingly he had a small smile on his face. That small smile transformed into a huge grin as he reached across the table to give my hair a little ruffle.

"That's what I like to hear squirt. But kid, you don't need me to get stronger," Garp explains. He points to my heart. "All you need is determination in here and you can achieve anything. Nori told me the same thing when we were younger and I'm sure she has already told you that as well."

I smile a little when he mentions Obaa-chan's name. He's absolutely right though. Obaa-chan was a firm believer that anything is possible if you put the right amount of determination into it.

"I never want to lose someone close to me again Oji-san," I say, resolve lacing my stutter free words. I look him right in the eyes and add, "That means you too."

He gives a hearty laugh and was about to say something else before his eyes shift to the window. I follow his sight and see Moriya walking through the downpour of rain cradling a bundle of clothes in her arms. Garp curses and pushes himself away from the table. He moves to the door as fast as possible and lets Moriya-san into the house. Now that I have a better view, the bundles in her arms were not clothes but actually a baby. He (or was it a she?) was sleeping, not making a single noise. Moriya-san was breathing heavily, probably because she had to run over here because of the rain. I wonder how this small child could sleep in their wet state.

Garp gently takes the child from Moriya's hands and holds them close to himself. He looks at the baby with loving eyes. He moves his eyes from the child to Moriya.

"Did she make it?" Moriya shakes her head mournfully. My eyes widened, finally understanding what was happening. I should probably act innocent though, you know…because I'm a three year old and all.

"Moriya-san, why do you have a baby?" I ask as I walk up to Garp. He kneels down so that I could get a better look at the baby's face. The baby had a tuft of black hair and they were bundled up so tightly that I'm pretty sure they couldn't move their arms even if they wanted to.

"He's just like you Rexi-chan, his mother died when she gave birth to him," Moriya said sadly. I obviously knew this already, but the confirmation didn't make it any better. However, let's just say that Garp's next words completely threw my world in a 360. And by 360 I mean, he totally fucked up all my plans.

"Squirt, meet Monkey D. Luffy."

Shit.


A/N: Wow…so sorry for the long wait! It's just that I'm not really used to writing so much for one chapter :P but I wanted to get rid of all the introductions so that I can actually start the story next chapter. So next chap is where Rexi will be introduced to the citizens of Fuschia and definitely Shanks and his crew. Thanks to Pizzafan123 for the review (: It really means so much that people actually read the shit I write!

1). Obaa-chan = Grandmother

2). Okaa-san= Mother

3). Otou-san= Father

4). Taichou= Captain