F-ckthesystem125: Indeed it is, and I'm afraid it's going to get much worse before it starts to get better.

Tonlor: Hope this is soon enough for you. Believe me, Kuro'll get what's coming to him, no doubt.

Ranger Station Charlie: Well thank you, I do my best to keep them in character, but also to remember how these different events have affected them. As for shaking things up, you bet your ass things are gonna get shaken up! I already have several instances planned that will do just that...(Insert evil laughter here).

Forzarismo: You don't need to try and convince me, I've thought Luffy should have killed Arlong since I first saw the arc. However, things are never that simple. What will happen when the rubber captain and the monstrous fishman meet? Only time will tell.

Johnny Spectre: I suppose they could. Looking at them, I see a few I really want to do, besides Strong World, Film Z and Baron Omatsuri, as I've wanted to do those from the beginning. As for Luffy, he can tell she's not telling him everything, but she's desperate to keep him safe and is a good actor, so it's hard to see through the masquerade.

Mazzax: I don't believe you're right about that. I'm pretty sure her birthday is July Third, which even if she was born the year before Luffy, would make her ten months older than him, not eight. And if she was born the same year, she'd be roughly two months younger than him, seeing as his birthday's May Fifth. Nevertheless, this is an AU story, so I can distort whatever I wish to, as that's the purpose of an alternate universe story. Does that help clear things up?

One thing before we begin, the poll for the movies that's up, it'll be staying there for several chapters, so no need to rush when it comes to voting. However, it'd probably be best if you voted before chapter twenty two, as that's most likely when it'll be time to take it down.

Now then, onto the next chapter. Please read, enjoy and review.

Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Klahadore all sat inside the dining room of the ship, where the former of the two just finished filling themselves with food and booze, quite messily, in spite of the fact that they had already had a bunch of their vices no less than twenty four hours ago.

As Nami attempted to clean up after the two, she hurriedly apologized to the well dressed man. "I am so sorry, these two have a bad habit of making big messes like this."

Klahadore pushed his glasses up onto his face so they didn't fall off, as he waved off her apology. "There's no need for apologies, now my dear, allow me." He took the cloth from her, that she had been using to clean up the other two's mess, and began to do just that himself.

"Oh no, you don't have to-"

"Please Mrs., this is no trouble. It's my job to clean up after people, among other things. I am, after all, a butler."

The orange haired teen gave him a grateful smile, before turning towards her two childhood companions, her smile falling away, replaced with a scowl. "Would it kill you two to show some manners for once?"

Zoro rolled his eyes at her words, not paying her the slightest bit of attention. Luffy however tried to not look too guilty, as he said, "Maybe it would..."

Nami gritted her teeth, as she tried to keep from getting too angry with the two. "You know what, I oughta-"

Sweat began pouring down Luffy's face at a rapid pace, as a fearful look came into his eyes, the memory of Bellemere bashing his head in with that ladle of hers when he was being particularly unpleasant during one night at dinner making itself known in his mind. "Nami, you...you aren't gonna tell Bellemere about this, are you?"

The sixteen year old girl's eyes widened at that name, a brief flash of pain, sorrow, regret and resentment swirling together in them, before she quickly turned around, hiding her face from her dark haired friend. "No Luffy, I'm not gonna tell her." With that she left the dining room, going out onto the deck.

Luffy had caught the signs of emotion in her eyes, so stood and followed her, without giving a word to the other two.

No more than a moment passed after the dining room door closed, and the straw hat teen reached the young thief's side. "Nami, what was that?"

She didn't look at him as she answered, her eyes focused on the horizon. "What that?"

"You're eyes, they looked like...it looked like you wanted to cry again. But it also looked like you wanted to hit something. Something's causing you pain Nami. What is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She continued to not look at him, as if she did, she felt she might cry again.

Silence fell between the two then, it hanging there for several long moments, before Luffy decided to break it. "I can see you don't want to tell me. Then can you at least tell me why you've been stealing from everyone we've met so far?"

She turned to him, her surprise evident, as she asked, "W-what?"

"You stole from the people back at Shells Town, you stole from the people at Orange Town, you even stole that Klah-guy's wallet."

Her eyes widened as her surprise grew, "How'd you know that?"

The slightly older boy shrugged his shoulders as he answered. "The extra training I asked for from Gramps taught me to be wary of your opponent's every little move, as I needed to know what he was going to throw at me next or else he probably'd have killed me eventually, so I learned what his movements meant and learned to predict them. When I'd look over at you, I'd see you subtly moving about, swiping things from people." He stopped for a moment, as if he was thinking about something, before asking, "So why do you keep stealing from everyone?"

She huffed in response, turning away as she responded. "I don't believe that's any of your business."

"Please tell me?"

She could see him making those puppy dog eyes at her from out of the corner of her eye, which caused her to huff once more, however..."If you must know, I need to amass a sum of one hundred million berries." It did get her to tell him.

Luffy cocked his head to the side at that, seemingly confused. "What for?"

Once more it looked like she wasn't going to answer his question, before he could subject her to his big eyes again though, Zoro and Klahadore came out onto the deck with them.

The swordsman came to his captain's side, before sitting down on the deck, looking like he was almost ready for a nap.

The butler on the other hand, stopped a few feet from the three, and began to speak. "We shall be there soon, and since that is the case, allow me to ask something of you three."

Having caught their attention, he continued. "Please refrain from letting anyone know that you are pirates, as it would cause panic amongst the village. The villagers would, understandably, freak out and alert the Marines to your presence on our island. And if, somehow, word were to get to them that I brought you there, then it would cause horrible repercussions for my Mistress. Above all else, that is something I cannot allow to happen."

Zoro didn't say anything, only closing his eyes in response. While this man was helping them, it was ultimately his captain's decision what they would do. If he wished to do as this guy asked, then that was what they'd do. If he wished to cause trouble, then that was what they'd do. However, the green haired teen was sure that his younger friend would want to abide by this butler's request, as he was helping them out.

Just as the eighteen year old had thought, Luffy smiled at the well dressed man, and agreed to his request. Cutting off the orange haired cartographer, who was about to respond for them.

Klahadore bowed slightly to the three, his charming smile widening, as he thanked them. "Thank you three. Knowing my actions won't bring any misfortune to my Mistress is a heavy weight lifted from my shoulders."

As the boat docked and the four came ashore, they were greeted by a little over a dozen pirate flags with a precarious jolly roger, said flags sitting on the top of a cliff side. Before the four could even comment on said flags, a person came out from the bushes and trees upon the cliff, the sun, being behind this person, made it just about impossible to see them. "Greetings travelers! I am the great Captain Usopp, of the Usopp Pirates! Me and my eighty million men rule over this island! So don't dare think about causing any trouble, or you'll face our wrath!"

Nami quirked a brow at this outlandish and downright ridiculous lie, Zoro looked impartial to the matter and Klahadore looked quite annoyed.

Luffy though, his face lit up at the sound of that voice. "Usopp, is that you!?"

"Eh, Luffy!?" The voice responded, before the person proceeded to tumble down the cliff side, having slipped after leaning forward too far to get a better look at the four.

"Usopp?" Zoro and Nami questioned in unison, recognizing the name but not being sure what to make of it being used.

Three voices were heard then, crying in unison, "Oh no! They got the captain! Run!"

However, everyone's attention was on the person who had just been speaking. Said person hit the sand very ungracefully, doing so face first, before hurriedly scrambling to their feet, spitting out sand as they did. Now standing, the four got a good look at this person.

Usopp was a slim male with medium length black curly hair and a long nose. He wore a pair of brown overalls with a white sash and no shirt underneath, as well as brown shoes that matched his outfit. Upon his head was an olive green plaid bandanna, with a pair of clear rectangular goggles resting on it. Finally, he had a blue and white striped armband on his left forearm. Not to mention he was also carrying around a light brown/cruddy yellow satchel.

Usopp's face lit up just as bright as Luffy's did, as he realized the rubber teen was actually here. "Luffy, it is you!"

The two proceeded to run towards each other, before meeting halfway and hugging, as they yelled out how nice it was to see the other again, both teens looking like they were fighting back an ocean of tears as they did.

"This is Usopp?" Zoro questioned.

"As in, the son of Yasopp?" Nami questioned further.

That got the long nosed teen's attention. "You told these guys about me?" The tears he had been seemingly fighting back were gone all of the sudden.

"No, these guys are who I told you about. The ones who lived on Dawn Island with me and met your dad." His threatening to fall tears also seemed to have miraculously vanished.

Stepping away from his month younger friend, Usopp spoke to the other two. "Oh, so you guys are Nami and Zoro?"

He moved closer to them then, as he shook both their hands, saying this as he did. "Glad to meet my fellow crewmates."

"Crewmates? He's joining our crew?" The swordsman asked.

"Yeah, don't worry, Usopp's awesome! He can build all kinds of stuff and is a really good sharp shooter, so he'll be our marksman. Careful though, he does have a really bad lying problem."

"Hey!" Usopp shouted.

"Yeah, no need to worry about us Captain, doubt we'll be falling for any crappy lies like his."

"Hey!" Usopp shouted once more, this time in Zoro's direction.

Shaking that off, Usopp spoke once more. "Anyway, now that you guys are here, let me treat you."

Just as Nami was going to say they had already eaten, she was cut off by both of the other two boys.

"Meat!"

"I could go for a drink."

"Do you two ever stop with the food and the booze!?" She questioned incredulously.

It was apparent they weren't listening as they followed after Usopp.

Sighing in defeat, she prepared to follow them. Before she did though, she turned to Klahadore to apologize for the rude behavior. "Sorry about this, we'll be-" She stopped, realizing she was talking to the air. Even after taking a quick look around, she couldn't find a trace of the kind butler. "I wonder where he went?"

Deciding she'd deal with it later, she turned to follow after the three boys.

As the group ate and drank, Nami excluded seeing as it had only been two hours or so since their last meal, stories were told. More specifically, stories about Luffy's, Zoro's and Nami's time together on Dawn Island.

Usopp was left in stitches after the one about how Luffy tied himself to a bear on accident.

Soon enough, the obvious question came up.

"So, you and Luffy already know each other?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, we actually met a few years ago." Usopp said.

"Gramps decided to make one last ditch effort to try and make me change my mind and become a marine. With Ace having already set out, no one could back me up in a fight against him, so he won out. We ended up going on a small tour of the East Blue. One of the islands we stopped at was this one. We were docked here for about a week before moving on. We might have stayed longer, but when he found out I met someone who wanted to be a pirate too, and that I had recruited him for my crew, he decided it was time to leave."

Twenty Eight Months Ago...

Day One

Luffy pouted as his Grandfather carried him by the collar of his shirt, literally forcing him to get off the boat. As they hit sand, Luffy, not for the first time, began to whine about his situation. "Why are we here Gramps? You're supposed to be training me, not dragging me on a ride around the sea."

"Luffy, it's time you see just what we Marines make possible. Fusha is peaceful because Goa City attracts all the riff raff, here however, it's the Marines that keep it peaceful and danger free. You won't find any bandits nor pirates here, only happy and content people."

Those words didn't cause Luffy's pout to dissipate in the slightest.

"Besides, what about your sense of adventure? I figured you'd be running all over the place by now."

The rubber fourteen year old's pout got worse at that. "I do...but, I wanna wait until I've got Nami and Zoro with me before I go on adventures. They're my best friends, they should be here with me."

"You know, you three could always join the Marines. I could guarantee you'd be placed in the same unit, and you'd still get to go on adventures together."

"No way! I'm gonna be the Pirate King, not the Marine King! Most importantly, we wanna be free! And marines aren't free like pirates are!" He was dropped on his ass after that last remark, as Garp didn't take too kindly to it.

"Damn stubborn brat!"

Luffy shot up into a sitting position, as he shot back, "Stubborn old bastard!"

"You're going to be a marine, a damn fine one at that, whether you like it or not!"

"Never! I'm a pirate through and through! You can't make me!"

"I'm your grandfather, I can damn well make you!"

"Oh yeah!? Well-" The raven haired child then proceeded to blow a raspberry at his guardian.

"Insolent little-"

Seeing his chance, Luffy tumbled forward, going through the space between his legs, and jumped to his feet, speeding away from his elder caretaker as fast as he could. "See ya Gramps!"

Rather than moving to chase after him, Garp just stood there, a smirk crossing his face at his grandson's actions. "He's as stubborn as his father, and twice as unruly. There isn't the slightest chance he'll become a marine, not anymore." The marine hero sighed then, his grin falling away at the thought he just had. "Oh well, guess I'd better make the best of the time we have left then."

His mind wandered then, and as it did, one thing came to mind, "I need some donuts." And with that, he was off to the first bakery he could find.

After several seconds of booking it, the rubber kid dared to look back, only to find his grandfather was nowhere in sight. "Huh, must have given him the slip." Thinking better of the situation, he came to a different conclusion. "Actually, he probably just decided he wanted some donuts. He's not chasing me anymore, so whatever."

As Luffy got off the shore and up onto the grass, he began to look around, not sure where to go. Before he could decide on a direction, someone caught his attention.

"I am the brave Captain Usopp, of the Usopp Pirates! State your business traveler!" This was called out by a boy around the same age as Luffy, who was standing on one of the higher branches in a tree.

The straw hat wearing teen's eyes were on this person after he called this out. And upon hearing that name, a gleam of recognition shown in his eyes. "So that's Usopp." He thought to himself.

He grinned then, before responding, "You're a pirate huh? Cause I'm training to become a strong one."

"You doubt me!? I'll have you know eighty million men serve under my command! Quake in fear of our might!"

"Whoa, really!? Eighty million!? That's so cool!" Luffy's face was lit up like a Christmas tree at this point.

"Heh heh! Now you recognize my greatness."

"Well, well, where are they!?" He asked excitedly.

"Eh?" The long nosed teen began to sweat at that, no real clue how to answer that question and not get caught in a lie.

"Where are they? You know, your eighty million men? I wanna meet'em!"

"You do huh? Heh, well, uh, you...you can't."

"Huh? Why not?" He asked confused.

"Well...uh, cause...be-because, they-they're, uh, they're...away on...supply runs!" After stuttering through to an excuse, Usopp pulled his act together, excited he came up with another lie to cover up the hole in his previous lie. "Yeah, that's it! You can't meet them because they're all out on supply runs!"

"What? All of them?" The rubber teen tilted his head to the side, something those close to him had seen many times, as he dealt with this perplexing situation. "But that doesn't make any sense."

Beginning to sweat in nervousness once more, Usopp tried to think up another lie to placate the young teen, he took too long to do so though.

His head returning to it's normal position, Luffy's face once more had the smile he was known for almost always having, as he figured out. "Oh, now I know. You're lying."

"Duh, I, uh..."

Before he could even come up with the words to explain himself, the straw hat teen shot his arm up to the branch he was currently standing on, grasping ahold of it. As the long nosed kid realized this, his eyes widened and he cried out, as he fell back in surprise, falling right out of the tree and straight to the ground ten feet below, hitting it with a slight thud.

Seeing as he no longer needed to go up to the guy, Luffy let go of the branch and let his arm snap back to it's original length, and then made his way to the now moaning in pain teen.

Usopp scrambled up and back until his back hit a tree as Luffy came closer to him, too shocked and scared to even register the pain he was still in. "W-what a-are y-you!?"

Luffy stopped then, "Me?" and proceeded to fish hook himself, stretching out his right cheek farther than was humanly possible. "I'm Luffy, a Rubber Man."

Still physically shaking from what he had seen, the long nosed teen stuttered once more. "A-a-a r-rub-rubber m-man?"

"Yeah. I ate a devil fruit, the Gum Gum Fruit, and now I'm made of rubber."

"A d-devil fruit? You mean they actually exist?" He asked, unbelieving of the person before him.

"Of course they do! I mean if they didn't, then how else would I be able to do this?" The raven haired fourteen year old questioned, making it sound like the one who asked him this was being stupid, as he stretched his cheek even farther, doubling the length from before, and proceeding to let go, causing his skin to snap back into place.

Squeaking a bit in surprise, Usopp began preparing to make a run for it, his eyes frantically searching about for an escape route, too scared to think straight as he did.

Now registering the fear on the other teen's face, a frown marred Luffy's face. "You aren't going to run away now are you?"

"W-what?" Even as he asked this, his eyes continued to dart to and fro, thinking of a way to get away.

His frown grew deeper as he explained. "Back when I first got this power, I tried to show it to the kids in my village. They already didn't like me, but I was hoping this'd change their minds and make them wanna be my friends. But when they saw what I could do, they got all scared and mad. Most of them ran away, and the ones who didn't got really mean when I tried to calm them down, calling me names like monster, demon and devil."

That certainly got the other kid's attention, his eyes no long searching about, but now locked onto this stranger.

"You're scared of me too, just like they were." That wasn't a question anymore. "You're gonna run away too, aren't you?" Besides the frown he wore, there were no signs of emotion on his face. His eyes though, they showed it hurt to find someone else who thought of him as a freak.

Though he was no longer shaking, Usopp still wasn't sure what to do, as it was true he was scared of the boy before him. Since that was the case, seeing the hurt in the other boy's eyes caused shame to fill him. He hung his head as he said, "I am scared of you. Sorry."

"That's okay."

Usopp's head shot up at those words, to see Luffy was smiling at him. "I promise to stay away from you, that way you won't be scared alright?" The straw hat boy's hand was on his shoulder for comfort at that point. "It was nice meeting you Usopp."

With that he removed his hand from the long nosed boy's shoulder, turned around and began walking away. As he took step after step, Usopp could only stare at his back in shock, his mouth partially open because of just how taken back he was. "That guy...he's so tough. How can he smile like that after what he just told me? After what I just did to him? Unlike me, he's a real man." Tears began to prickle at the corners of his eyes as he thought this to himself.

Before the straw hat wearing boy could get too far, Usopp managed to strengthen his resolve, and called out. "Wait Luffy!"

He stopped moving then, but neither did he turn around. "Don't go. I'm sorry, so sorry that I'm scared of you. But even though I'm afraid, I...I still want to be your friend!"

Luffy turned around to face the other boy once more, revealing tears were close to falling from his eyes too. "You really mean that?" He sounded hopeful.

"I do." Usopp affirmed, nodding his head as he did.

The rubber fourteen year old began walking back over to him then, his tears beginning to fall as he did. Once he reached the long nosed teen, he hugged him and said, "Thank you."

Usopp was caught off guard at this, unsure of why he'd thank him after what had just occurred, but returned the hug nevertheless, after a few seconds of the situation sinking in that is.

Little could he know that young Luffy had been yearning for the presence of his two best friends, Nami and Zoro, and that with Ace having set out on his own adventure a few days ago, and Garp only being around so often, the loneliness he had been feeling threatened to return to soul crushing levels and consume him.

Day 2

"WHAT!?"

Luffy was now looking at his long nosed friend with a bit of worry, as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"You mean to tell me you know my father!?" Usopp was standing as he asked this, loudly.

The straw hat boy seemed a little confused at this point. "Well, yeah."

"And you didn't bother to tell me, because!?"

The rubber teen's eyes widened a bit, understanding coming to him. "Oh yeah, I forgot."

He said it so simply, as if it was no big deal, which only caused the slightly older boy to become even more exasperated. "YOU FORGOT!? HOW COULD YOU FORGET ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?"

His response was to merely shrug his shoulders. "I just did." Seeing that his words weren't helping, and understanding his new friend was upset about this, he then proceeded to apologize. "I'm sorry Usopp."

Usopp couldn't help but deflate at Luffy's sincerity, becoming almost noodle like as he wiggled about for a moment before hitting the ground knees first, sighing as he did so, hanging his head while replying. "It's alright Luffy."

Still feeling bad about not telling his friend about meeting his father, he spoke once more. "Would you like me to tell you about him?"

Usopp's head shot up then, turning to look at his raven haired friend, his face lighting up just as Luffy's had done the day before. "YES! Yes, of course! Tell me everything!"

Day 4

"Why can't we just go through the front?"

"Shhh!" Usopp hushed his friend, before placing the piece of shrub back where it once was, covering up the secret way into the yard. After doing that, he turned back to Luffy, and explained exactly why they couldn't go in through the front. "I already told you, because of the new butler! He's a real jerk, and won't let me visit Kaya, no matter how nicely I ask him or how much I beg him. He only started a few days ago, but it's like he already owns the place! It's just not fair!"

Luffy didn't respond, instead opting to let his friend rant instead. "Just wait until Kaya's parents get back from their trip, then I'll be able to waltz right in, and he won't be able to say a damn thing about it! Man, I can't wait to see the look on his face when that happens!"

Usopp's rant ended there, as they came to a tree, and proceeded to climb it. Once they reached a certain branch, they climbed onto it, both taking a seat on it. The month older of the two then lightly rapped on the second story window the branch allowed them to face, getting the person in there's attention, but not making enough noise to alert anyone else inside the small mansion.

The two boys didn't have to wait long before the window was opened, revealing a simple, but spacious room, which in resided a young girl around their age. She had mid neck length blonde hair and light brown eyes, she was slim and a bit too pale for her own good. Nevertheless, she looked quite happy to see them, or rather the one of them that had a long nose. "Hey there Usopp, it's so good to see you! It's been a few days."

Taking notice of the other boy on the branch, she asked, "Who is this Usopp?"

"Oh, him? He's the newest member of my crew, his nam-" He was cut off by Luffy's fist slamming onto the top of his noggin, causing him to squeak in pain. "How many times do I have to tell you!? You're a part of my crew, I'm the captain Usopp, not you!" By the way he vehemently exclaimed this, it was obvious this kind of thing happened a lot.

Rather than retaliate, Usopp covered his friend's mouth, that way he couldn't say anything further, and then went on to whisper something, so as to hopefully get the month younger boy to stop struggling. "Come on Luffy, not in front of Kaya..." He fought back tears caused by physical pain as he spoke to his friend, not wanting to shed any in front of the girl.

Luffy's eyes narrowed slightly, before he sighed into Usopp's hand and ceased struggling, even though he had only been a moment from breaking away from the long nosed boy's grasp.

Certain his friend wouldn't do something like that again, Usopp pulled his hand away, turned back to Kaya and spoke once more. "As I was saying, his name's Luffy."

The blonde girl was giggling at their antics up until that point, stopping to politely greet the straw hat boy. "It's very nice to meet you Luffy. My name is Kaya."

Luffy smiled in return, just as she did, before returning her greeting. "It's nice to meet you too!"

"Did you come to tell me stories too?"

"Stories?" The rubber boy repeated, a little confused.

"I-I think you mean tales of our past adventures."

"Sure Usopp." She said, humoring the boy out of admiration for him.

Luffy understood then. "Oh, so you tell her lies."

"Hey! They're tales of past adventures, not lies! Besides, regardless of what they are, I tell them to Kaya to cheer her up and make her happy, so there."

The blonde's smile grew at those words.

"Is that so? Do you guys wanna hear some of my adventures then?" Luffy asked them.

Both looked at him, before agreeing in unison.

They were surprised by his tales, to say the least.

Day 7

"LUFFY!"

Luffy's eyes widened a considerable amount at the sound of that voice, shooting to his feet as it reached his ears. "Oh Crap! It's Gramps!" He began looking all about searching for the aged marine then, not spotting him, he prepared to book it. "We gotta get the hell out of here!"

"Come on Luffy, he can't be that bad." Usopp said, brushing off the dire seriousness of the situation.

The straw hat teen stopped and just stared at his long nosed friend after he said such a thing. "You have no idea." His eyes were wide, and almost dead as he said this, the tone of his voice being one of who's experienced extreme trauma. It honestly freaked the slightly older boy out.

That's when Garp entered the small clearing the two boys were in. "There you are!" Luffy and Usopp both yelled out in fear upon his arrival, the former because he knew what was to come, the latter because the former had freaked him out.

As he began to approach, the straw hat boy took a few shaky steps back. "W-wait Gramps, I-"

"So this is where you've been hiding huh? With this kid? Either he's better than most marines I know when it comes to sneaking about, or more likely, you've been using what I taught you to hide from me. Regardless, there'll be no more ducking me Luffy."

Usopp was shaking at this point, as he could see the anger clearly, as well as the intent. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Finally reaching his grandson, the elderly marine spoke once more. "Do you've anything to say for yourself?"

Luffy looked like he wanted to cower away from the old man, however, there was a gleam in his eye, as he remembered what he had been through and the promises he had made, and his whole demeanor changed. He stood up straight, looked up into his grandfather's eyes, and proceeded to say, "Yeah, I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!"

With that said, he turned and tried to hoof it on out of there. Unfortunately for him, Garp was faster, grabbing ahold of him by the back of his collar, and pulling him back. "What was that you brat!?"

From there, Usopp bore witness to one of the worst beatdowns Luffy would ever receive in his lifetime. And from then on, he would forever understand why his slightly younger friend was so afraid of his grandfather.

About an hour later...

Luffy, who was covered in bruises and a bit of dried blood, took a quick look back at his grandfather, who was in the boat waiting for him. Looking away, he turned back to Usopp, before giving him a hug. "I've gotta go now, otherwise Gramps'll kick my ass again."

"Right, I understand Luffy."

"It was great meeting you. I'm glad to have you as a friend."

"I'm happy we became friends too Luffy."

As the hug ended, Luffy took another look back, before returning his eyes to Usopp. "I'll be back to pick you up in about two years, alright?"

"Got it, Captain." The long nosed teen smiled at his friend then.

The straw hat teen returned the smile, glad he had finally gotten Usopp to call him captain.

Unfortunately, he had to go now, as his gramps had only given him a minute to say his farewells, so the two said goodbye, and Luffy returned to the boat. From there, they set out for their next destination.

"I see, and you two haven't seen each other since?" Nami asked.

"Nope." Luffy and Usopp replied in unison.

"I'm guessing our home islands weren't on your grandpa's list of places to go?" Zoro inquired, even though he knew the answer.

"Yeah, like Gramps was gonna let me see the two people who promised to become pirates with me." Luffy said with a chuckle.

Silence settled then, as three of them knew one of them didn't plan to stay long. In an effort to get rid of those depressing thoughts, Luffy spoke up once more. "So Usopp, we need a ship before we set out. The one we arrived on isn't ours, it belongs to someone else. Do you think Kaya could help us out?"

"Oh, uh, well...I mean, she might be able to help. I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask. No guarantee's though, so don't push her too hard if she can't, okay Luffy?"

The straw hat teen's smile returned then. "You got it Usopp."

To Be Continued...