Ranger Station Charlie: Well, the pill is actually something that has a long lasting effect on the story. It's connected to a few plotlines, and will show up again. All I'll say for now is that it won't show up in every battle, and that it's connected to a very powerful person. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear. Thank you for your feedback regardless though.

Tonlor: Well thank you very much. :) As for the crewmate question, I have two more members in mind for becoming straw hats. One for pre-timeskip, one for post. I may or may not have more than those two join the crew. As for who they are, I'll give you one, very vague, hint. One of them has been dubbed in English, therefor has an English voice, and the other hasn't, so doesn't have an English voice yet. Those are long lists, so good luck figuring out who they are my friend. XD

Revan3363: Thanks. And neither can I, as I've been looking forward to writing the Arlong arc since the beginning.

Mazzax: Why thank you. I wanted them to actually be able to have a real fight, but Luffy was already too much for him in the original timeline, in this one...well you saw, it ended before it even began. So I've had that little fail safe of his planned since before the timeskip to where they became teenagers even happened. Also don't think that drug he had is just gonna go away, it's not gonna just be swept under the rug. It's here, someone had to have made it, someone had to have gotten it to Kuro, and it will be important later on. As for Luffy and crew turning Kuro and Arlong in...well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. And yes, Zoro will call Nami on her shit, that is inevitable at this point.

Finally, I agree, Nami's mentality that Luffy can't handle Arlong frustrates me as well, however, she grew up with Luffy, she knows just how fragile he once was. While she does know he's got the strength of monster, she did see him at his weakest so far, and she spent the rest of her years growing up with Arlong, a real monster. Which is why she fears for him so much, because what is someone as kind, caring and naive as Luffy, against a beast like Arlong? That is her state of mind. Her objective is the same as it was in the original timeline, only...her worst fear has been replaced. Her absolute worst fear...is to watch as Arlong tears Luffy apart. That is why she acts the way she acts.

Would have had this chapter up about a week ago, but I moved and now have incredibly shitty internet. Anyway, next chapter's here, hope you all like it. Please read, enjoy and review.

The trio of Zoro, Nami and Usopp watched intently as Luffy fought Kuro, none of them speaking, simply watching as the battle occurred. Said battle certainly didn't drag on, only lasting a few minutes, nevertheless, it was intense, as Kuro slowly continued to lose his cool, until he snapped, and began to slice up everything. He even hit the boat a few times, causing it to rock mildly every time he did. It was only a few moments after that though that the battle drew to a close, Luffy smashing Kuro's face into the ground with an axe kick, claiming victory over him as he did. And once he had, he went over to the bodies of the Black Cat Pirates, and sat seiza, lowering his head and closing his eyes as he did, clearly mourning their deaths.

That didn't bother the three however, as they all saw their deaths as pointless and wrong as well, or at least, the way they were killed, and by whom. Though the latter reasoning was just Zoro.

Usopp was rather concerned about something else, and it showed, as he asked, "Di-did Luffy kill him?"

Zoro shook his head at that, "No, Luffy's not really one to kill."

The look Usopp gave him at that had him elaborate on his answer. "It's not that he sees it as wrong necessarily, rather it's just no one's ever committed an act that he felt deserved death." Little did the swordsman know of how the rubber teen had, and still felt about the deceased Bluejam...

"Deserve Death? Luffy doesn't think Kuro deserves death!? He slaughtered his entire crew like it was nothing!" Usopp remarked heatedly.

"Luffy intends to become the Pirate King and live a life of freedom, he's got the mindset of a pirate, not a hero. Luffy didn't know those guys, nor did he care about them, the only reason he got so angry was because they were supposed to be that claw bastard's crew. And a captain, at least in Luffy's mind, is supposed to protect their crew, no matter what. If he was ever to truly feel like killing someone, they'd have to hit him close to home, where it hurts." The green haired teen explained, only bothering to do so since the long nosed teen was now a part of their crew.

"He planned to kill Kaya! Are you telling me that's not personal enough!?"

"He didn't succeed, now did he?" Zoro responded simply, it being obvious as he did that he had no wish to debate the matter. It was the way Luffy was, end of discussion, no further explanation was needed.

That obviously wasn't the answer the sniper wanted to hear though, the teen grunting in anger in response to it, before teeth grit, he climbed off the boat onto the shore, nearly face planting as he did so.

"Not going to bother stopping him?" Nami inquired, finally speaking as she did.

"Nope." He said bluntly, before turning to pick up the unconscious Kaya.

The orange haired teen rolled her eyes at that, "Of course."

Usopp caught himself before his face met the sandy rock surface of the shore, nearly hitting it as he climbed down off the boat. He stumbled forward, nearly tripping, as he hurriedly made his way to and up the slope. Once he had, he took a quick look around, his eyes searching for something in particular, catching sight of it only a moment or so after he had begun looking. He limped over to the object, picked it up, said object being the flintlock pistol Kaya had brought with her, before scrambling back down the slope, towards Kuro.

As he made his way down, everything that had happened over the past twenty four hours played itself over and over again in his head. "That scum...he ruined her life!" His grip on the pistol tightened then.

Once back down at the shore, he took position over Kuro's unconscious form, Zoro and Nami, now off the boat and on the shore as well, spoke to him about what he was about to do, as it was all too obvious.

"It's over Usopp, put the gun down." Nami said, trying to calm him.

"He's already half dead as it is, it's not worth it." Zoro remarked.

He didn't even regard them, his eyes harder than they had ever been before, his hatred for this man clear, as he took aim at the back of the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates head, his finger already on the trigger, ready to fire the weapon and end the despicable man's life. Just before he could however, Luffy, who wasn't even looking in his direction, spoke up, "Are you willing to use that pistol?"

Usopp's eyes went over to Luffy then, fire and anger in them, as he asked, "What?"

"Now that you've drawn that pistol, are you willing to use it? Are you willing to pull the trigger? Are you willing to put an end to someone's life?"

Usopp's grit teeth showed then, his aggravation quite clear. "How could you ask me that!? You heard what he's done to Kaya! He murdered her parents, has kept her bedridden with poison, manipulated her feelings and planned to kill her so he could take everything she had, the bastard not feeling the slightest bit of guilt as he tried to carry out her assassination! And you saw the despicable acts he's capable of, he slaughtered his entire fucking crew right in front of your eyes! Can you honestly say he doesn't deserve it!? Can you honestly say he deserves to live!?" The sniper demanded of his raven haired friend.

Luffy's eyes remained closed and he remained still, as he responded with, "I can't."

"Exactly! This goddamned sunuva bitch is the lowest of the low, there's no redemption for someone as cold blooded as he is, he should just die! That's why...that's why I'm going to kill him!" Usopp turned his attention back to the limp form of Kuro then, dead set on putting an end to his existence.

"But can you live with the consequences of this decision? Can you live with yourself with someone else's blood on your hands, even if it's his?" Luffy asked his friend, the somberness of his words striking a chord in the long nosed teen.

Usopp's hands began to shake, his aim becoming unsteady, as he tried to pull the trigger. He was there, ready to finish it, but he just couldn't get his body to do what he wanted, his finger wouldn't exert the amount of pressure required to fire the gun. Trying to fight back the tears of frustration that began to build up, he attempted to re-steady his aim, to no avail. The shaking only grew worse, before he could no longer keep ahold of the gun and it fell from his hands, clattering against the ground, as he collapsed to his knees and began to sob. "Why? Why can't I do it? After everything he's done to Kaya, to me, what he had planned to do, I still can't bring myself to...to kill him! Why can't I pull the trigger!?" Tears made their way down his face, as he slammed his fist into the ground, not caring about the pain it caused him, or the nasty bruise it left on his hand.

Luffy's eyes opened then, the teen standing up, having finished mourning the deceased pirates, before turning around and making his way over to Usopp as he did. He came to a stop before his friend, their eyes meeting as the slightly older one looked up, "You can't do it because it isn't in your nature. You aren't a killer Usopp, that's not who you are."

"B-b-but why!? A-after all he's d-done, I want him gone, forever! I want him to d-die, so that he can't ever hurt Kaya again! I want to do it, I want to shoot him, so why, why can't I pull the trigger!?" He pleaded for the answer to this question.

"I already told you, it's because you aren't a killer Usopp. You're not like Kuro, and you aren't like me and Zoro either, you're you. And you can't bring yourself to end someones life, at least not like this. That doesn't make you weak though, it just makes you different, understand?"

Usopp couldn't help it as more tears began to roll down his face, as his friend's words had resonated with him. They made things...clearer for the long nosed teen. He took the rubber teen's hand as he offered it, letting him pull him to his feet, before embracing his younger friend.

As they hugged, Zoro and Nami made their way over to them, not having interfered before because they didn't want to set Usopp off, and reminding them that Kaya needed medical attention, and so did Usopp. So, after Zoro had returned the straw hat to it's rightful place atop Luffy's head, the four made their way away from the shore and to Syrup village, or rather three, as Luffy stayed behind, saying he had something to do and would catch up with them.

With three on their way, Luffy turned to Kuro walking over to him and grabbing ahold of him by his shirt, pulling him up and off the ground as he did, before proceeding to chuck him onto his ship, hard, causing said vessel to shake violently, as the force of Kuro colliding with the mast cracked it and forced it forward a bit, the ship beginning to slowly drift out to sea. "If you didn't want your name to be known, then you shouldn't have become a pirate!" Luffy shouted as he did this, despite the fact that Kuro couldn't hear him at the moment.

Luffy turned away then, before quickly jogging after his friends, so as to catch up with them.

A figure shrouded by the black cloak they wore hid in the shadows, watching as the three carried off the unconscious fifth teen, and the final teen threw Kuro onto the ship before leaving himself. With all of them gone, the figure left their hiding spot and began making their way over to the pile of bodies created by Kuro. Walking through them, the figure looked at them all, shaking their head as they did, finding what the man had done down right despicable. Taking their attention off the bodies and bloody shore, they came to the edge of the shore and jumped up onto the boat as it slowly drifted away from the island.

Coming to Kuro's side, the figure knelt down to get a good look at him, having to roll him over to do so as he had landed on his front side after being tossed onto the boat. Doing this reveaed his severely bloodied face, barely any of it free of the sticky red substance, some of it even coating a few locks of the man's hair. Combine that with his eyes, which were rolled back into his head, the man, for all intents and purposes, looked dead. "Luffy did a real number on this guy, I wouldn't be surprised if he was actually dead, he certainly looks the part."

The figure reached down and checked the former captain of the Black Cat Pirates pulse then, to find that he was indeed alive. "Huh, he really is still alive. That just makes things easier for me then." After saying that, the figure pulled a needle and vial from his cloak, before opening the dark haired man's shirt up, revealing his bare chest in doing so.

Seeing as he was unconscious, he didn't even feel it as the mystery figure punctured his chest with the needle, beginning to draw his blood only a moment later. With how close the needle was to his heart, it was a very dangerous way to take blood, however it would guarantee the best results, not to mention the figure didn't much care if Kuro died or not. Having filled the vial, the figure removed the needle from the man's chest, disregarding the small hole in his chest, as having done it just right, it wasn't bleeding very heavily after having pulled the needle out.

The person took a quick look at the blood filled vial then, making a remark while doing so, "Now to run some tests and see if my hunch is right or not." Done with Kuro, the figure stood, the hood of the cloak shifting a bit, revealing a bit of blonde hair, as they smirked and hopped off the boat, landing firmly on the shore as they did. "I'm done here, time to report back to Dragon."

"What? You can't be serious, there's no way!"

"We're telling you, it's true!" Pepper insisted, the child covered in bandages, just as his two friends were.

"Yeah, Klahadore's actually Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates! He had planned on killing Kaya and taking her money, just like Usopp said!" Onion put forth.

"And Usopp and his friends are fighting him and his crew as we speak!" Carrot added.

"You kids must be delirious from all the physical trauma your small bodies have endured, that just can't be true!"

"IT IS! GO AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES!" The three cried together, desperately trying to get the villagers to believe them.

"They're not lying nor delirious, what they're saying is completely true." The bloody Merry managed to rasp out between shaky breaths, as he stumbled into the village, all the citizens being out there because the kids had tried to run off and help Usopp.

"MERRY!" The entire village cried together in shock and worry at seeing him all bloody.

"Who did this to you!?" A few of them demanded, as they caught him before he could hit the ground after collapsing.

"It-it was Kuro. Usopp was telling the t-truth. He really is a pirate, and he's been planning on killing Mrs. Kaya from the very beginning. He had us all fooled, only Usopp had been able to see past his ruse. And we...we turned on the poor boy, taking a blood thirsty killer's side over his. All he wanted to do was to protect us all, to protect Mrs. Kaya...and we punished him for it." The man began to cough up blood then, the doctor calming him down quickly afterward.

The whole village was shocked into silence at that, said silence lasting for several long moments, before one of them spoke up, "He...he was just trying to protect us, and w-we...we beat him and ran him out of the village for it. What kind of people are we?" He asked himself and the rest of the village bitterly.

"We have to go help him!"

The entire village rallied behind that within moments, all of them eager to apologize to the long nosed teen and help him defend the village. Just before they could go marching off however, they spotted four figures entering the village, quickly recognizing them as Usopp and his three friends, the green haired one of them carrying an unconscious Kaya. The sight of the five made them go silent once more.

Luffy, having caught up with the other three, took Kaya from Zoro, as they made their way into the village, towards all the villagers that were out. Noticing them all, they began to rush forward, both Usopp and Luffy calling out as they did, "Hurry, Kaya needs help! She's been hurt! She needs a doctor!"

That kicked all the villagers into high gear, as they hurriedly went to prepare the clinic for Kaya, the ones not doing so hurrying the four along with the unconscious girl, so as to get her the medical attention she needed as fast as possible.

Since everyone was moving quickly, Kaya was in a bed and being treated by the doctor in less than sixty seconds, while all the villagers began to profusely apologize to Usopp outside, while he waited to hear whether she would be okay or not.

Half an hour passed, before finally, the doctor came out of the clinic.

Usopp shot to his feet then, covered in bandages from the neck down to the waist, plus a large bandage on the side of his head placed over where he had been nicked by Jango's chakram, the nurse having treated him while he waited for Kaya to finish being treated. "How is she doctor?" He asked, his concern evident.

"Physically she's fine, but emotionally...she's a mess son. It's not good for her to get worked up like this with her illness, but I just can't calm her down."

"I-I think I might be able to." Usopp said, wanting to help her anyway possible.

"By all means, please try. I'll keep everyone out of your hair so that you two can talk."

Nodding his head, Usopp made his way into the clinic, the doctor closing the door behind him.

He found Kaya sitting up in bed, bandaged up herself, crying her eyes out. "Kaya?"

Upon realizing he was in the room, Kaya began to sob even harder. "I'm so sorry Usopp! I didn't believe you, while I believed every word out of his lying mouth! I let him fool me, like he's been fooling me my whole life! I'm so stupid! And look what happened because of it! The kids almost died, and so did you! This is all my fault! I'm the worst friend in the world! All you've ever done is try and help me, and I accuse you of being as bad as that...that monster said you were! I'm so very sorry!"

Usopp was taken back by her words, but was quick to respond nevertheless. "That isn't true! It's not your fault this happened! It was that damn jerk Kuro's! He manipulated you, toyed with your feelings! How could you ever be expected to see something like this coming from your best friend!? It's my fault you didn't believe me, I-I'm always lying, so no one ever believes a word I say, not even my friends. Don't you see!? If you're looking for someone to blame, blame me! If I hadn't been such a liar, people would have believed me, and kept Kuro from getting to you! If I had been stronger, I would have been able to protect you myself! It all comes back to me, it's my fault you got hurt!"

She shook her head furiously at that, "NO! That isn't true! You tried to protect me! You did protect me! If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead! Don't you see Usopp!? This isn't your fault! You did more than you should have had to, and you got hurt for it! Look at you, look at what you endured for me! You're the best friend a girl could ever have!"

"K-Kaya..." Was all the teen could say, completely taken off guard by this.

"You've been there for me since I was fourteen! You told me stories to make me laugh, you kept me company when I was so lonely, you always believed I would make my dream of becoming a doctor come true, you never gave up on me, even as my illness grew worse and my health declined! And now, you risked your life to protect me from the person I foolishly trusted over you, even though what he said and I said must have hurt you so bad! You...you're the best Usopp! An-and...I love you!"

Usopp was rendered completely speechless at that, his eyes wide in shock, his heart racing, as his mind struggled to process her words.

Her eyes were closed tight after blurting that last part out, unsure of whether he felt the same way she did or not. Silence filled the room, as the sniper failed to reply, each moment causing the blonde girl's hopes that he returned her feelings to grow smaller, her hope dimming. After an agonizing dozen moments, the sound of footsteps reached her ears, so she dared to open her eyes, wondering where he was going. Once they were open however, she was wrapped in his arms, as he embraced her, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he did. "I-I love you too Kaya."

Despite all the sadness she felt, a smile crossed her face as she returned the embrace, as she had Usopp, and he loved her, just like she loved him.

The villagers had been talking to Luffy, Zoro and Nami since Kaya had begun being treated, the two males having also received treatment from the nurse who helped Usopp, bandaging them up as well. The three did their best to explain everything that had happened to the village folk...or rather, Nami tried, as Luffy just said that he had kicked Kuro's ass and that Usopp had been brave, while Zoro simply grunted and told them that they didn't need to know.

By the time Usopp went in to console Kaya, the villagers had drifted away from the three, leaving them relatively alone. Once that was the case, Nami made it clear she didn't want to be anywhere near Luffy, giving him a look that could almost kill, before stomping off, having done so after he tried to see if she was okay.

Zoro's eyes narrowed after Nami's retreating form, his anger clear. He moved to follow her, ready to confront her about how she was acting, when Luffy held his arm out in front of the green haired swordsman, stopping him from doing so. "Don't Zoro." He said simply, sure his friend would understand.

"Luffy, she-" He tried to protest, but Luffy quickly shut him down. "Just don't. That's an order." He stated, turning his head so their eyes could meet, so he could see just how serious the straw hat pirate was. Begrudgingly, Zoro agreed to do as he was ordered. "Fine."

Sure he wouldn't bother Nami, Luffy put his arm down and walked off.

The next day...

Luffy sat with his legs crossed and his back against the wall of one of the buildings in the heart of Syrup village, while he watched Nami as she spoke with some of the village's shop owners, a false smile present on her face as she did so. They were discussing supplies, and of course, berris, not just how much what was needed cost, but how much of a discount they could procure, seeing as they had been the ones to stop Kuro and the Black Cat Pirates, and that they couldn't ask for a reward seeing as Usopp and Kaya were their friends.

This conversation lasted a few minutes, before they seemed to finish up, and the shop keeps wandered away. With them gone, Nami turned, and as she did Luffy caught her eye, and the two made eye contact. Once they did, her smile fell away, as did any pretense of her being the slightest bit happy, while her eyes showed just how much contempt she held for her so called 'captain', hell, the look she was giving him all but screamed, 'I hate you'. Luffy in turn stared back with an cold, almost unfeeling expression, the one that showed just how much emotional damage she had caused him, yet it retained the never give up factor, as in his eyes, it was clear to her that he wouldn't let her go, not until he had liberated her from whatever was plaguing her so.

She was the first to turn away, huffing as she did so and beginning to march away, hoping that he didn't see the tears that began to build in her eyes before she did.

He did, in fact, see them, though to him, they were there because of him, he was the one who kept causing her to cry. "I keep making her cry. I'm making her miserable." That thought continued to echo in his mind, as pulled his hat down to cover most of his face, lowering his head as he did so, while a memory he had been trying to forget for a long time played itself in his head.

A six year old Nami lie on the ground, clutching the area just above her right wrist, as she cried in pain. Luffy stood over her, his eyes about as wide as they could be, his shock more than evident. "Nami? Nami!?" He wasn't sure what had happened, one minute they were playing, the next she was on the ground screaming in pain, as she clutched at her forearm, just above the wrist.

He kneeled next to her to try and see what was wrong, "Nami, what's wrong?", but when he so much as grazed her wrist, she screamed even louder. Besides nearly making the boy jump, her even louder cry caused his fear and panic to spike, they rose to even greater heights as he realized that her wrist had a nasty purple, almost black bruise on it.

Her pain wasn't going to just subside on it's on, that was more than obvious, her tears coming down even faster than when she had first cried out, so, not sure what else to do, Luffy tried to pick her up, but the movement caused her wrist to jerk, which just made her scream even louder, hurting Luffy's ears as she did. He made sure not to drop her though, putting her back down gently. "Luffy, help me, it hurts!" She begged of him between her yelps and yells of agony, as she had never felt physical pain like this before, where just shocks of agony shot through her with the slightest movement of her wrist.

Not able to move her without hurting her, but not willing to leave her alone, Luffy began to cry out along with Nami, tears beginning to roll down his face as well. "Help us! Somebody help us! Nami's hurt, she needs help!"

That's when Nojiko, Zoro, Ace, Kuina and Sabo came into the decent sized clearing the two were in, looking like they had booked it over here. "What's going on!? We heard screaming!" Sabo said.

"Nami!" Nojiko gasped, before rushing over to her injured little sister. "What happened!?" She asked worriedly, as she knelt next to her sister, and tried to figure out where she was hurt, it becoming evident when she took a moment to see she was clutching at her arm, her hand lying just above her wrist, less than an inch from actually touching it.

"I-I don't know, we were playing, when she su-suddenly just started screaming."

Nojiko looked up at the younger boy then, her eyes threatening, as she spoke, "You mean you were the one who hurt my sister?"

"No! I would ne-never hurt Nami! We were just wrestling, like we always do!"

"You moron! She's not a monster like you, she doesn't have your freakish strength! You were too rough and hurt her!"

"No, no-I...I..." Thinking about it, Luffy realized just how wild their roughhousing had been. All he could remember was her laughter and all the fun they were having, so he wasn't sure when he had hurt her, or what he did that caused her injury, but it dawned on him that he had to have been the one to do it, after all, there was no one else around. "I-I-I didn't mean to..." Luffy whimpered, as his tears increased, while a tidal wave of guilt and shame washed over him.

Nami bit her lip to keep herself from making any more pained noises, as she forced herself to calm down a bit, doing so just enough so that she could speak. "I-It's okay Lu-Luffy, it's not your fa-fault."

When Nojiko looked like she was going to refute that, one of the other four finally interjected then, Sabo being the one to do so, "We should really get her to a doctor."

Nojiko was quick to agree.

Luffy stood outside the door of the doctor's home, waiting anxiously for news on Nami's condition. Only the doctor, Nami, Nojiko and Bellemere were allowed inside, which was why Luffy, as well as Zoro, Ace, Sabo and Kuina stood outside.

They stood out there for awhile before finally, someone exited the house. It was Nojiko, the blue haired girl walking out with her head down, tears running down her cheeks, closing the door behind her as she came out. She just stood there for a minute, her quiet sobs barely being picked up by the others.

"Is Nami gonna be okay?" Luffy asked, his hope that she was going to be evident in his voice, as well as his eyes.

"You..." Nojiko's head shot up then, the anger in her eyes as clear as day. "This is all your fault!" The young rubber boy was understandably taken back by those words, though he thought the same thing.

Nojiko marched over to him then, before hitting him as hard as she could in the face, as if the punch would hurt him, which it, of course, didn't. It did catch him by surprise however, causing him to stumble back a step from the blow. "You stupid fricking asshole! Do you know what you did!? You broke her wrist, near shattered it! Do you have any idea what that means!?" She shouted in his face, even though it was turned a bit from being hit as hard as she hit him.

Not waiting for him to respond to that, she explained to him what that meant, once he had turned his head back to face her, not caring in the slightest that tears were building in his eyes. "You damaged her wrist so bad that it'll never work right again! You've ruined her dream!"

Luffy's eyes widened as far as they could at that, tears beginning to fall once more from his eyes, as the gravity of the situation hit him. 'That strength, you're not even human are you!? Freak! Demon! Monster! Devil! Your were too rough and hurt her! Freak! Demon! Monster! This is all your fault! Freak! Monster! You've ruined her dream! Monster! Monster! Monster! Monster!' All these words swirled about in his head like a hurricane, as he felt like he was being swallowed up by a dark hole of sorrow and regret.

That's when Luffy couldn't take it anymore, and shoved past Nojiko, rushing to the door of the doctor's home, intent on getting in there. As she tried to follow after him, clearly still angry, Ace came up behind her and restrained her, as Sabo took up a spot in front of her, near the door, as Luffy went in, so in case she broke free he could cut her off.

Zoro stood directly in front of her, as she struggled against Ace, and spoke to her. "You need to stop, now." He stated hardly and bluntly. "Not all of the blame is Luffy's, Nami played a part in this as well. She's known how strong he is since the first week of meeting him, she knew something like this might happen."

Ace continued for Zoro, "Aside from that, the last thing he needs is you rubbing the fact that he hurt her in his face. You saw what he did for her back at Porchemy's place, he'd do anything to protect her."

Sabo was the one to speak then, "Can you imagine how much it hurts for him to know he was the one to hurt her so bad, and that by doing so he might have ruined her life's dream? Your lucky he didn't break down from hearing that. Speaking of which, she could still recover, you didn't have to say it like her dream was ruined no matter what. Did the doctor say that was the case? Do you know for sure that her wrist'll never work the same again?"

Begrudgingly, she admitted that she didn't know for sure.

Surprisingly, it was Kuina who was the one to talk next. "Think about your sister and how she feels, would she really want you making Luffy feel like crap? If she doesn't blame him, maybe neither should you."

All of that seemed to do the trick, as Nojiko stopped struggling, slumping down into Ace's arms as she did. "I...I guess you guys are right."

The Doctor's, Bellemere's and Nami's eyes were immediately on Luffy as he burst in, the door swinging closed behind him, as he came over to the bed the young orange haired girl lie in, though she sat up once he came in. He was crying uncontrollably as he hugged the young girl, being careful of the cast she wore as he did, and began to apologize profusely, as well as begging her not to hate him. "Nami, I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! So, so sorry! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to hurt you! Don't hate me! Please don't hate me! I'M BEGGING YOU, DON'T HATE ME!" He broke down into nothing more than unintelligible sobs then.

Nami was speechless for a moment, completely unsure of what to say to all that. Words seemed to come to her soon enough though, as she registered everything he had said. "Hate you? Luffy, I could never hate you." She said soothingly and sweetly.

Some words finally managed to break through those incomprehensible sobs of his after she said that, though not all at once. "B-bu-but your wrist, I bro-broke it so bad, that i-it wo-wont work any-anymore, I-I ruin-ruined your dr-dream!"

"What, how'd you come up with that? No Luffy, you didn't break it that bad. I don't even think it's possible to break it that bad. And even if you did, I still wouldn't hate you."

"Re-really?" He asked on both subjects, her wrist not being that bad, and her not hating him even if he destroyed her dream, sounding so very unsure as he did.

Nami gave him a very sweet smile, before hugging him, pulling his head to her chest as she did, being able to do so with one arm since he offered no resistance, trying to get him to stop crying as she did. "Of course. You're my best friend, I'll never, ever hate you, I promise."

Bellemere had to fight back the smile that so desperately wanted to cross her face, as the scene before her was just too cute. "Those two'll make such a good couple when they're older." She thought to herself.

"That wrist of hers was broken pretty bad, but you shouldn't fret Luffy, as it wasn't nearly as bad as you're thinking it was. Add that to the fact that you got her here quick, and that she's still a growing girl, and in a few months time, her wrist'll be as good as new. You won't even know it had been broken, mark my words." The Doctor said kindly.

"See? I'm fine Luffy." Luffy's only response was to hug her just a bit tighter.

Luffy was pulled from the reliving of this memory back to the present, by none other than Zoro. "Hey Luffy, Kaya wants to see us at the shore."

He nodded his head at that, "Right." He rose to his feet, pushing the straw hat back into it's regular position, and began to walk in the opposite direction that Zoro was going. Which said green haired swordsman quickly noticed and changed direction to follow after his captain.

They walked out of the village into the forest surrounding it, moving through the brush without a word spoken, not even a noise heard. Soon enough, they came upon the graves of the Black Cat Pirates, Luffy and Zoro being the very ones to bury them, coming to a momentary stop after seeing them. There were no tombstones, only disturbed earth, letting anyone who looked at the spots know the dirt had been dug up and then put back. The rubber teen's thoughts wandered then..."My sadness, my hurt, they're affecting Zoro. It's only a matter of time before they begin to affect Usopp as well. I can't do this, I can't just wallow in my sorrow, otherwise I'll bring my crew down with me. I have to be happy...or at least, I have to appear happy, otherwise..." He cut his own thought off, continuing along another track of thought. "It doesn't matter anyways, Zoro could probably see through an act like that. Though he can't seem to see that Nami's hiding something...I should still be careful though, I don't want him blowing up at her because of my hurt. I have to...I have to stop thinking about it, or I'll go crazy. I just have to focus on the here and now, otherwise..." His thoughts trailed off then.

He shook his head clear off all his thoughts, before beginning to walk once more, Zoro following behind him as he did, not saying anything despite the fact that he could tell his friend was thinking about something.

"Whoa! Look at it, it's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed happily, referring to the ship that was anchored in front of him, chuckling after doing so.

Zoro just smirked at the ship, also liking it.

It was modest ship, of caravel class with a sheep figurehead .

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Merry and Kaya all stood at the same shore the three former had arrived at two days ago. The latter three had been waiting at the shore, which was why only Luffy and Zoro were surprised to see the ship, the orange haired girl having already seen it at this point.

"It's a caravel, and her name is the Going Merry. I designed her myself you know." Merry stated quite proudly.

"And we'd like for you to have her, as a gift, for saving us." Kaya said, smiling sweetly as she did.

"What, really!? Your giving it to us, this is our ship!?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"Uh huh." Kaya confirmed, nodding her as she did.

"YES!" Luffy shouted. "We finally we have a ship!"

He rushed over to Kaya and proceeded to hug her, being careful so as to not aggravate her injures as he did. "Thanks so much Kaya!"

She giggled at that, returning the hug as she did. "You're more than welcome Luffy. I had planned on giving her to you from the beginning, but since all of you saved me, I thought it would make a nice gift to give you for doing so. Since I was already giving her to you though, I also have something else for yo-"

Luffy let go of her then, as he firmly said, "Nope. Nothing else, there's no need. We're friends, you don't have to give us things for helping you. Since you planned on giving us the ship from the get go though, we'll be taking it." He chuckled once more at that.

Kaya chuckled as well, her smile widening just a bit as she did. "If you say so Luffy."

Nami climbed onto the ship, as Zoro and Luffy prepared to do the same, before they could however, the sound of Usopp screaming caught their attention. "AHHHHHHH! SOMEBODY STOP ME!"

Turning to see what was going on, they would see Usopp, with a comically large backpack on his back, rolling down the slope at a decent speed, gaining more speed every moment as he tumbled down. Rolling down the slope and onto the shore, he came racing towards the ship, before he could slam into it though, Luffy and Zoro raised one foot each, right for Luffy, left for Zoro, and stopped Usopp in his tracks, his face ramming into the soles of their footwear and forcing him to a complete stop. "Thanks." He managed to say, despite the feet in his face, before falling back onto his green backpack, his body completely off the ground from doing so.

"You're welcome." They both said in unison.

With that, Zoro then came over to the long nosed teen and took the backpack off of him, causing him to unceremoniously fall onto his ass as he did, before the green haired man climbed onto the Going Merry, holding the huge backpack with a single hand as he did. Luffy followed after his first mate, climbing onto the ship and getting a good look at it while actually on it, saying to Usopp as he did, "We're ready to set sail whenever you are Usopp."

Usopp appreciated that Luffy was giving him the time he needed to say goodbye, as the captain was supposed to decide when the ship set sail, not the marksman. Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off, before turning to Kaya, smiling at her as he did. "It's finally time for me to set sail, to become a brave warrior of the sea."

The blonde girl nodded her head at that, "I know. And to be honest, I'm sad to see you go. However...I'm happy you finally get the chance to live your dream."

"Kaya..."

"Really Usopp, I'm okay. Now go and work to achieve your dream, and I'll do the same." Her sweet smile widened then.

"Kaya...you're the sweetest, you know that?"

She blushed at that.

"Don't you worry Kaya, I'll be back one day, and then I'll have thousands of stories to tell you, and these ones will have actually happened too." His smiled widened as well then.

Turning away, he prepared to climb onto the ship, just before he could though, Kaya caught his attention once more. "Usopp, wait!"

Turning to face her, he was caught by surprise as her lips met his, the blonde girl kissing him, showing him through action that she loved him and would wait for him until he got back.

As she pulled away, she left a completely stunned Usopp, who was almost light headed from the shock combined with the pleasant feeling and taste of her lips.

She giggled at the silly look on his face, before saying, "Now go Usopp, go and reach for your dream."

He nodded his head for a good few seconds, before he snapped out of the daze he was in from the surprise kiss, and verbally responded, "Y-yeah, I will. Thank you Kaya, for everything."

With that he turned back to the ship, and climbed aboard, setting foot on deck moments later.

"Zoro, raise the anchor!" Luffy ordered gleefully.

The swordsman did just that, the sail already unfurled and the ship ready to go.

Within moments, a gust of wind had the Going Merry moving away from the shore. As they slowly moved farther and farther away from Gecko Island, Luffy and Usopp both turned to look out at the island and Kaya, waving as they did and bidding her farewell. "Goodbye Kaya!"

She waved back at them, her smile widening, as she bid them farewell as well. "Bye you guys!"

To Be Continued...

If you guys are wondering when that childhood flashback took place, it was sometime after the Porchemy Incident, but before Ace's tenth birthday, which was why there was no mention of it in any of the childhood chapters. In other words, it took place in one of the many time gaps, the ones I never showed anything of, in their childhood. And yes, I know, that part after Luffy entered the doctor's house and we stayed with Zoro, Nojiko, Ace, Sabo and Kuina didn't make too much sense since it was his memory, but just roll with it, no he didn't remember that since he didn't see it, but I showed it so you knew what happened with them.