DarkPirateKing69: You're quite right, as it's very rare that important characters die in my stories, mind you that I'm not saying it never happens, I'm just saying it barely ever does. Thank you, I too thought it would be a cool way to introduce those three, and I do indeed have interesting interactions planned with them for later on. And as for looking forward to the next chapter, well, here it is. :)
F-ckthesystem125: Indeed it was. As for Dragon and his men, well they left, and the exact details of what happened, well I'm going to wait a little while before I show just what happened before they left. Don't get it twisted though, it isn't some kind of big surprise or anything, I just feel like waiting awhile before the exact details are revealed. And you are indeed right about everything taking shape, as this chapter finishes the molding for their big adventure.
midnightscar17: Thanks. Well, I'll tell you this at least, someone met Dragon before he left, but it wasn't Garp. As for Sabo...well who said he's alive...? Nah, I'm just fucking with ya, everyone knows he's still alive. Again, Garp didn't even see Dragon or his men before they left, so he wouldn't have found out about them rescuing Sabo. As for any further developments on Dragon, Kuma and Ivankov...well you'll just have to wait and see. And finally, for Luffy and Nami becoming a couple, well...they're eight, so...yeah.
Finally, here it is, the last chapter of their childhoods. That means next chapter is when Cannon starts rolling out. Now then, please read, enjoy and review.
Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Ace, Bellemere, Nojiko and Kuina were all inside of the red head's house, all of them sat around the dining table, eating the meal the thirty year old had made. And even though it had been almost an entire year since the Gray Terminal fire, the anniversary of said horrific event being only two days away, all of these individuals either had large smiles on their faces, Kuina, or were in stitches, laughing their heads off at something funny that Luffy had just done, everyone else. Said hilarious action involved sticking chopsticks up his nose and acting like, who knows why, a walrus. Then, when Bellemere thwacked the young boy on the head with her ladle, which she always had with her during meal time specifically for things as this, as despite her finding them funny as well, she felt he really needed to learn some table manners, all the ones laughing began to do so even harder and louder, and it finally got Kuina to join the rowdy bunch in said fit of laughter.
The reason they were all gathered in Bellemere's house and having such a good time, was because they were currently in the middle of celebrating Nami's eighth birthday, the cake on the counter to the side of the table.
As they continued to celebrate, the food was soon cleared from their plates, and cake was served, after the candles had been blown out and the wish had been made of course. But no sooner than Bellemere sat back down, there was a knock at the door. So before she took her first bite, she got back up to answer it. When she opened the door and saw who it was, she quirked an eyebrow and asked this of them, her tone a little playful, mostly sarcastic, and even a little questioning thrown into it for good measure. "You just love crashing children's birthday parties, don't you?"
All the children's eyes went to the person at the door then, where they saw Garp standing, a face slitting grin across his mug. And like last time his grandsons were the first of the kids to react, though this time his presence elicited a very different reaction from Ace and Luffy.
The eleven year old sighed heavily, dropping his fork down back down onto his plate as he did, even though he had just been a centimeter away from stuffing it into his mouth, a large bite of cake on it, though it didn't matter to him at this point, as everything he had just eaten would be barfed up, as with Garp here he knew that he and his brother were in for another training session. "And I didn't even get to finish my cake, damn it." Not for the first time, the raven haired preteen couldn't help but ask himself, "Exactly why did I agree to take even extra tough, more like brutal, training sessions than I had to before, willingly, without even arguing about it, or running for it?"
That's of course when his eyes found Luffy, the young boy pouting as he knew he wouldn't get to finish his dessert, and upon seeing him, Ace had his answer. "Oh yeah, that's right. I did it to make sure he didn't kill Luffy, since the little idiot insisted on having Gramps be even harder, more like crueler, to him than ever before, so as to make sure he got stronger."
Ace's attention was once more pulled to Garp, as he entered the house, without permission, and began speaking, "I've got great news Bell!"
As he said this, far too loudly than was needed, she closed the door and put her self in front of him again. "And just what is it? Must be something big if you forced your way in here, since you know how much I hate that." There was an underlying threat in her tone, which usually would have made the man go pale, however in this instance he didn't, so she knew she was right about it being big.
His grin managed to get even wider as he spoke once again, "You're home free."
"Excuse me?"
"I handled it, you three can go home now! Everything's been sorted, you're good to go!"
While Nojiko's immediate reaction was a shout of excitement, Nami and Bellemere both had uncertainty written all over their faces. While it was true they missed Cocayashi, they were worried for Luffy and didn't want to leave, in addition, Bellemere also didn't want to force Nami to leave her best friend behind. But they forced smiles and acted excited, though they were to a certain degree, as they did miss everyone back home.
Luffy too also had to force a smile, as he was saddened greatly that Nami was going to be leaving.
Zoro forced nothing, he wore the scowl of his disapproval openly, and not only because of what was happening.
Nevertheless, by the end of the day, it was decided when they would leave for Cocoyashi. Despite Garp's protests, Bellemere had decided she and her girls would stay for another six months, as that was how long Zoro, Kuina, Koshiro and the rest of his students would be staying for as well, that way they could catch a ship together.
With that decided, the three children knew their time together was coming to an end, and everyday was one day closer to their separation. The countdown had begun.
Five months to go...
Luffy and Nami sat across from each other, though there was no more than two inches of distance between them, in the latter's backyard, where a small tangerine patch had been planted awhile ago. Several tangerines were on the ground by their sides, as they had picked them, and the one who was younger by two months was pealing one at that very moment. And while this wasn't exactly a strange sight, or even a special one really, as this wasn't the first time the two had been alone together, it was really something to see, or at least it would be for anyone who cared for them that is. The significance of this would be lost on those who didn't know these children...
Luffy wore a black undershirt with a red shirt over that, though both were sleeveless, and a pair of black jean shorts that cut off at the bottom of his knees. He was also barefoot, and, strangely, he was missing his treasured straw hat. Not to mention the scar under his left eye, how much baby fat he had lost, and how much taller he had grown. All in all, while he still resembled himself from back then, he looked a good deal different than he had the day he first met this girl sitting so close to him.
The same went for Nami as well. She wore a pale yellow dress, that was also a pseudo hoodie, as it had a hood, that stopped just an inch and a half above her knees, with a green sash tied around her abdomen, it being tied from the back. She also had no shoes to speak of, and most importantly she was wearing the one article of clothing that was missing from the boy sitting so close to her, his precious straw hat. On top of all that, her hair was now longer, it now going down to just a bit past the bottom of her neck, she was taller than she had been, and she had also lost a great deal of baby fat.
Yep, that made the both of them still resemble themselves from back then, but still look so much different now
Nami had finally finished peeling the tangerine, so took a piece from it, and offered it to Luffy, a smile on her face as she did. Luffy, in return, opened his mouth and said ah, which prompted the young girl to break into a fit of giggles, while still gently placing the piece of the tangerine into his mouth as she did. After swallowing it, he offered a large smile of his own, in return to her giggles, as he loved it when she laughed, especially when he made her laugh.
By the time she came down from her giggling trip, Luffy spoke, voicing his thoughts on something he had been thinking to himself for a long time. "You know Nami, you look really cute with long hair." He said this as if it was a matter of fact, his ignorance of the kind of effect saying such things had on his orange haired friend blatantly obvious. And upon seeing the young girl blush at his words, His smile grew, as he liked it when she blushed too, though he could never figure out what brought it about.
Before the blushing girl could manage to form a reply to his words, he spoke again, "Nami..."
That made it where she didn't have to respond to what he had just said, so, her blush fading a bit, she asked, "Yeah, Luffy?"
"I love you." The orange haired girl's eyes widened to the max at those words, her bewilderment at those three words obvious. "W-wh-what?"
The young boy leaned forward and wrapped her into a tight embrace, as he repeated himself. "I said that I love you."
Having his words reconfirmed for her, left the eight year old speechless for several long moments, before finally, a smile crossed her face once more, she returned his embrace, and said in return, "I love you too Luffy."
The boy's heart swelled at those words, as she was the first person to ever say those words to him. Before now, no one had said that they loved him, even if he knew that they did, Ace, Garp and Sabo, they had never said that they did.
The next day...
"Zoro!"
Hearing his name called, and since he knew it was Luffy doing the calling, the green haired swordsman trainee turned around immediately. He waited for the young straw hat boy to get over to him, his ever present big goofy smile on his face, before he asked. "What's up?"
Luffy's smile only widened at his best friend's question, as he reached up and grabbed ahold of his straw hat, before removing it from his scalp, and placing it on Zoro's head. This rendered him completely and utterly speechless, his eyes widened to the max as he became mute, as no one, not even Bellemere, Garp, Ace or Sabo had ever been allowed to so much as touch Luffy's hat, let alone wear it, Nami being the one and only exception to this. Silence remained for several long moments, before the young swordsman trainee managed to find his voice, "L-Luffy, I-"
Before the older boy could finish, the now hatless straw hat boy leaned forward and embraced him, saying this as he did so. "I love you Zoro."
This also seemed to take the green haired boy's words away, though he recovered faster this time, a large, almost face splitting grin crossing his mug as he returned the hug. "I love you too buddy."
Four months to go...
Ace sat in one of the bar stools of Partys bar, Nojiko in the spot next to him, and Makino as well as Bellemere behind the counter. The eleven year old was busy with the three, taking lessons in manners, so as to be able pay his respects and thanks to Shanks for everything he had done for his little brother once he met him, as well as allow him to be nice and polite with Luffy's crew once he met them, after he gathered them of course, as at this point it was just him, Nami and Zoro, and three pirates do not make a crew.
To be more specific, it was mainly Makino teaching him proper etiquette, though the dining portion of it everyone knew he wouldn't even attempt to put to use, with minor assistance from Bellemere, and Nojiko, well it was clear she was just here to mock the one year older than her boy every time he got something wrong. Though she was merely being playful, as there wasn't any malice behind her words, and it was more having fun at his expense than anything like cruelty. In fact, Bellemere was starting to think her elder daughter was acting like a child who didn't know what to do when they liked someone, as she never said anything that would actually hurt the boy, in fact it appeared she picked whatever topic would get the raven haired boy to argue with her the most. Though the red head couldn't be one hundred percent sure, she was willing to bet on the fact that she was right.
As Nojiko made another smart remark regarding Ace's manners, or lack thereof, Luffy walked into the bar, gaining Makino's and Bellemere's attention, as the other two children in the room began to bicker once more. He took the stool one space from his older brother, putting one spot between them, as he didn't want to get caught up in what was going on with him and Nami's older sister. As he did, Makino asked, "What is it Luffy?"
The young straw hat boy hesitated for a few moments, before beginning, "Makino, Bellemere, w-would...would you guys...teach me how to...read and write...please?" The young boy sounded a little ashamed of himself as he spoke those words.
Both women's eyes softened, as they said in unison, "Luffy..."
Makino, "It's okay Luffy, there's no reason for you to be ashamed."
Bellemere, "There are plenty of pirates who can't read or write Luffy, and they've too much pride to ask for help at the point in their lives they're at, with this you're already putting yourself ahead of them."
As some of his negative feelings fled him, Luffy nodded his head. While the other two kids continued to argue back and forth, doing so too loudly for them to notice what was going on, Makino asked something of the boy again, "What exactly brought this on?"
Luffy looked away from the two women working the bar, but only for a moment, before answering the question. "I know it'll be a long time before I see Nami and Zoro again once you guys leave, and I wanted to be able to talk to them, so I thought of writing to them. But then I realized that I can't write...or read...so I came to you guys."
Both women let warm smiles spread across their faces at the young boy's words. They then looked at each other, before looking back at the eight year old and saying...
Makino, "I'm afraid I already have my hands full with teaching Ace about proper etiquette, I'm sorry."
Bellemere, "So, I'll have to be the one to teach you how to read and write."
"That okay with you?" They asked in unison.
Luffy nodded his head vigorously, as he exclaimed, "Of course!"
Three months to go...
Luffy was sitting at the dining table, dutifully learning, or as dutifully as someone like him could, how to read and write from Bellemere, said red head sitting across from him, pointing out any mistakes he made, or helping him sound things out, depending on which of the things they were working with. They had made some progress, but they still had a ways to go if they wanted him to have these capabilities down by the time she and her girls left Dawn Island.
Nojiko sat at the table as well, looking a little bored, but earnestly trying to help out the younger boy in his endeavor.
All of their eyes went to Nami though, despite what they were doing, as she came running into the room, her joy and excitement almost palpable as she cried, "I did it! I did it! I did it!", over and over again, a piece of peculiar paper in her right hand as she bounced up and down in her happiness. She came to a stop before the three, and with their attention on her, she showed the paper, baring her work to all, as she said, "I finally did it! I finally drew a fully complete, full fledged map!"
Large smiles crossed the other three's faces, while the oldest of them gently took the map from her youngest daughter's hands, and examined it herself, Luffy and Nojiko getting out of their seats and coming over to look at it more closely as well. As they all got a closer look at it, their smiles only grew.
Luffy, "Whoa, it's all of Dawn Island! There's Goa, there's Dadan's hut, and there's Fusha!"
Nojiko, "Nami, this is amazing!"
Bellemere, "This is fantastic! You've really got a gift sweetie!"
Nami's smile merely grew at the praise.
That's when Luffy looked away from the map and into Nami's eyes, his smile widening just a bit farther as he did, "You've got this Nami! You'll make a map of the world in no time, I just know it!"
A slight blush stained the orange haired girl's cheeks at her best friend's kind words and strong belief in her, they made her feel really good, there was no denying that.
Seeing this, Bellemere's smile became the widest in the room, as everyday she saw that, in the future, when the time came for her little girl to set out, despite the fact that she would be becoming a pirate, an outlaw, that she would always have someone who would be there for her, no matter what, and would always do whatever it took to put a smile on her face.
Two months to go...
Luffy watched intently as Zoro had his nineteenth hundred duel with Kuina, the two combatants going back and forth, back and forth, their fight being much more evenly matched than it had been the first time they had battled before the young straw hat boy. However, even though that was the case, the fact that Kuina was the better swordsman was still evident, and so, Zoro's nineteenth hundred defeat was inevitable. And as that defeat came about, the only consolation was the fact that the older girl was breathing heavily, actually panting, as it had taken a lot of her strength and skill to defeat her male counterpart.
Nevertheless her usual bravado came about after she won, as despite how much kinder and mellower she had become, whenever it came to battling she still acted stuck up. "See? No matter how far you progress, you'll never be able to take me. Face it Zoro, you're weak." She was standing over the young green haired boy, his breathing quite ragged, as he had been knocked down in his defeat.
"Kuina." Her name was called by none other than Luffy, so she turned her head to look at him, and what she saw...
The young straw hat boy's head was bowed slightly, so his hat was overshadowing his eyes, so that they couldn't be seen, as he got to his feet, having been sitting cross legged during the duel. Once on his feet, and the older girl's attention was on him, he lifted his head so his eyes could be seen, his expression as fierce as it could get with him being so young, the incident with Bluejam excluded of course, as he said, "Now you fight me."
Her cocky grin only grew at those words, stepping away from Zoro as she spoke, "Alright, have it your way. Come at me th-" Not allowing her time to finish, Luffy lunged at her, ramming his right fist as hard as he could into her face, knocking her flat out onto her back, sliding across the ground several inches from the force of the blow.
Zoro's eyes widened to the max as this happened before him.
After she came to a stop, the older girl held the left side of her face in pain, as a bruise was already beginning to form, a bit of blood was also beginning to dribble out from the left corner of her mouth, and she raised her head to look at her opponent. He looked none too pleased, and with her attention on him again, he spoke up, "Don't call Zoro weak! He tries harder than anyone, he strives to become strong with everything he has! All so that you'll to see him as an equal! Don't you dare make fun of him for that!"
The green haired swordsman was rendered speechless at his best friend's actions, as here he was, defending him and his honor, it was enough to bring him to tears. Though he couldn't help but think, "You're wrong Luffy, Kuina seeing me as an equal isn't the only reason I work so hard to become strong, I also do it...so that I can protect you, and help you achieve your dream." Though he never voiced theses thoughts aloud.
Kuina was stunned greatly by the younger boy's words, but after several moments, she managed to pull herself together and get to her feet. Once she had done so, she reposition herself into her fighting stance, a smirk crossing her face once more, as she said, "I see, perhaps you're right. Fine then, I'll stop...only if you can defeat me though."
His fierce expression fading somewhat, a grin of his own spread across his face, as the raven haired boy replied with, "You're on."
While the fight was hard on both children, Luffy was the one to come out the victor, though all three knew this was because the older girl wasn't at her best. Nevertheless, at her defeat, she gave no protests, and made it clear she would keep her end of the deal.
The next day...
Zoro was currently waiting patiently for Luffy to show up, as his younger friend had asked him to meet him at the docks of Fusha. He only had to wait another few moments, before the sound of said friend's voice got him to turn around, "Hey there Zoro!"
When he did turn around, he saw his dark haired best friend walking up to him with a bottle of sake, and two small sake cups in his hands, as well as a face splitting grin across his mug. As the straw hat boy came to a stop in front of the green haired boy, he proceeded to ask, "Did you seriously go all the way out to Dadan's hut just to steal that?"
Almost as if he was ignoring the question, the eight year old said, "I asked Makino for it."
The swordsman trainee was understandably skeptical, an eyebrow quirked as he asked, "And she gave it to you?"
His grin still going strong, the black haired boy happily chirped, "Nope!"
"So you did steal it from Dadan then?"
"Yep, sure did! I mean, how else was I supposed to get my hands on this?" The question was genuine.
"Good point." Zoro said. "Now, exactly why did you need to get ahold of this?"
Somehow, Luffy's smile got even wider at that. "I needed it."
"I know that, but what did you need it for?"
"I needed it, so that I could share it with you." As he said this, he opened the bottle and poured some into each cup.
The just about to turn ten years old boy was still confused, "Huh?"
"Remember how I told you that me, Ace and Sabo became brothers?"
"Yeah."
"Well, this is how we did it. Ace said that when men drink together, that they become brothers." He handed Zoro his saucer/cup, and put the bottle down as he said this.
Zoro wasn't sure what to say at this point, so just went with a simple question, "Y-you really want me to be your brother?"
"Of course I do! I love you! Why wouldn't I want you to be my brother!?" He asked this as if Zoro had said something incredulous, like that the sky was green.
The swordsman in training was deeply touched by Luffy's words, and had to fight back the tears that wanted to be shed.
At Zoro's silence, a pout came upon the lively eight year old's face, as he asked, just a hint of hurt in his voice as he did, "Do you not want to be my brother?"
Those words got Zoro to speak up, a face splitting grin of his own coming on, as he said, "Don't ask such a stupid question, if you want us to be brothers, then we're brothers, it's as simple as that. In fact, we don't even need to do this little ceremony, as we're brothers with, or without it."
Luffy's gigantic, severely infectious smile returned at the older boy's words, "Really? That's great!" After saying this though, the younger boy glanced down at the cups of sake, before glancing back up, and asking, "Can we still do it though?"
Seeing that this really meant something to him, Zoro nodded in agreement, before they slammed their cups together and pulled them back and downed the liquid within them. And once they were done, the green haired swordsman trainee couldn't help but think to himself, "Huh, this stuff is actually pretty good."
One Month to go...
Luffy was sent flying after receiving a particularly strong three punch combo from his Grandfather, with the way he was sent flying, he didn't go farther than ten feet, as he slammed into, and through, a tree, hitting the ground afterwards, the tree barely missing him as it fell over. Usually he would cry out in pain when this happened, but Zoro and Nami were watching, so he bit his tongue and kept his pain to himself. It didn't matter of course, as the two had grown sick of seeing their best friend receive such a brutal beating, and when this happened, they were rushing to his side, calling out his name as they did, so as to make sure he was okay.
As they reached him and got to their knees to check him over, Zoro asking him if he was alright, while Nami checked him over, Garp was slowly making his way towards them. "I'm fine, I can handle it." Luffy managed to grumble out.
Nami's worry was written all over her face, as she examined all the bruises on his body, as well as his busted lip and bloody nose, and fretted. "That's a lie! In fact, I think he might of broke something with that last punch! Rubber bones shouldn't break! He's hitting you far too hard!" Luffy shook his head, as he sat up, and repeated his words, "I can handle it."
Zoro too didn't like this, just as Nami didn't. as while he knew exactly why Luffy put himself through this, as this was even worse than what Garp used to do to him, he hated it nevertheless. And while he usually never said anything, or tried to interfere, he was done. Even if it was just this one time...he wanted to help. So, he held his hand out to Luffy, who took it and allowed his new brother to pull him to his feet. Once he was standing, his eyes met Zoro's, and not for the first time, the two were able to understand what the other was thinking, without so much as saying a word. "What do you say Luffy? You up for it?"
Nami looked bewildered at Zoro's question, as he hadn't said anything before asking that of the black haired boy, but then an annoyed look of understanding came over her face, "Oh yeah, they have that weird thing of theirs where they can talk without actually doing so." The reason it was an annoyed understanding, was because every time they did that, they went and did something stupid.
The straw hat boy nodded his head hard, as he said, "You know it."
The eight year old and ten year old then turned to face Garp, who was less than seven feet away at this point, and said in unison, "Now let's take this old bastard down!" They charged forward at that, intent on hitting him with everything they had, in spite of the fact of how ludicrously strong he was.
"Old bastard am I!?" Garp cried as he prepared to fight both of the brats rushing him.
Nami just watched from where she stood as the two recklessly ran in, and began to get the snot beaten out of them for their stupidity. No matter how many times he hit them, or how hard he hit them though, the two always got back up, and never yielded to the marine hero. And despite herself, Nami couldn't help but let a small, fond smile cross her face as she watched this, as while yes, it was very idiotic what they were doing, it was also part of who they were, and the orange haired navigator to be wouldn't have it any other way.
The day of departure...
Luffy, Zoro and Nami all stood before a large boat, which held many people, Bellemere, Nojiko, Koshiro, all of his students, and Kuina being just a portion of them. They were in the middle of saying their goodbyes, Garp and Ace several feet behind them, waiting for Luffy, as they had another training session today. They knew this day had been coming for a long time now, but nevertheless, if they weren't so hopeful for the future, this would be quite a sorrowful event.
Zoro turned to Luffy before boarding, as it was his turn to do so, and spoke, "I know it'll be tough on your own, but remember that this isn't a permanent goodbye, we'll meet again. Know that, when you set out to sea, I'll be waiting for you, that's a promise."
Luffy nodded his head, "I know you will."
The two then shared a hug, and a fist bump after that, before the older of them turned and walked onto the boat.
It was now Nami's turn, the young girl stopping at the spot where Zoro had just stood, and turning to face the two month older boy. As she did, she gently offered the special piece of paper she had been holding to him, saying this as she did so, "I wanted you to have this, to remember me by."
Luffy carefully took it from her, and glanced at it, it was the map she had made of Dawn Island. His eyes widened at this, "Nami, this is your map of Dawn, I can't-"
Not allowing him to finish, Nami spoke once more, "It's my first ever completed map, I know. And you can take it, because I want you to have it, that way you'll never be able to forget about me."
Luffy protested that idea vehemently, "What!? Nami, I could never forget about you!"
The orange haired girl giggled at that. "I should hope so. Oh and Luffy?"
Calming immediately at that, he asked, "Yeah?"
"I always meant to tell you, you look really cute in that straw hat." Before the straw hat boy could voice his loud protests about not being cute, as they were always loud, always, Nami leaned forward and kissed him on his left cheek, whispering this as she pulled her lips away afterward, "I'll miss you."
With that said, the navigator to be did a quick turn, and boarded the ship, in doing so she failed to notice the fact that for the first time ever, Monkey D. Luffy was blushing, and she had caused him to do so.
Garp spoke up as the ship began to slowly leave the dock, "Come on Luffy, let's go start you two's next training session."
He shook his head vigorously at that, "No way! I'm not leaving this spot!"
Garp grit his teeth, and was about to yell at his grandchild, when he realized what he was doing, sighed and decided to let it be. "Fine then, come and find us when you're done." With that, despite of Ace's protests, the grey marine dragged him away.
Luffy continued to watch as his friends sailed away, every moment taking them farther away from him, and even though he knew they'd one day be reunited, he couldn't help but begin to cry. As he did, he heard them cry out to him, in unison, their voices revealing that they too were crying. "WE"LL BE WAITING FOR YOU LUFFY!"
The rate of his tears increased greatly, and despite them, a face splitting smile crossed his mug, as he shouted at the top of the lungs, for the whole world to hear, "NAMI! ZORO! NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES, I'LL FIND YOU, AND WE'LL ALL ACHIEVE OUR DREAMS, TOGETHER!"
To Be Continued...