Yo, Aj here back from the dead it seems. I was thinking really long and good. Well, I guess that I'm in for the long journey it seems.

Disclaimer : Yeah well, I'm bankrupt.

One more time

A few weeks later

Fuusha village

Luffy was training harder each and every passing day. While he knew that he might not be ready until two more years at least to reach a satisfying level, he never gave up trying to build himself back to his glory days. If only he can re-achieve his awakening. Well, one step at a time he supposed. Keeping secrets sucks for him, and while he would say it in a heartbeat, he knew better. He missed Ace, Sabo, his crew, his friends and allies, and Vivi. The Princess should have been with them. Maybe it was for the best that she stayed? He didn't know anymore.

His thoughts were always a rare thing. Be it from the many concussion he received or from the hard life he spent, he didn't know. While he was a lot wiser, he was still the goofball his crew knew and loved.. Add Ace and Sabo.. Well, at least he earned their respect and loyalty he supposed.

One thing he was sure about is that Zoro must have rushed his training or something. Maybe his first mate would meet him? Who knows. Currently, he was trying to re-learn all of his techniques before he invented his gears...

"Gomu Gomu no Snake Shot!" Luffy smiled at the sight if his arm becoming wavy like a snake that he used to grab ahold of a tree branch. "Play time is over. Now onto Haki training. I just hope to reach that level again. I'm not as good as Sanji with observation, nor with Zoro with armament. This is a problem that I have to find a solution to..."

And so, for the next few days, Luffy tried his best to use his Haki again. It was harder than he thought would be, but eventually, he succeeded in doing so. Just in time for Garp to witness his Grandchild using his Haki to knock down a tree with a regular punch.

"Alright I did it!" Luffy yelled with joy as a certain bear of a man was right behind him. "Ahem!" That clearing of the elderly's throat made his blood freeze. Right now, he had no chance against his Grandpa.

"Did what exactly?" Garp asked his Grandson who sighed. He didn't have time for this. His crew were probably busting their asses in training, well, Zoro was probably pushing himself harder than any time, and the last thing he needed was some curbstomp fight in guise of training.

"Oh I can use Haki now. Well, I always struggled with it since a few weeks ago. Yes I know about it." Luffy replied nonchalantly to Garp's yet to come questions.

"Since when... Wait a second, you can see into the future?" Garp asked again as Luffy sighed and once again, he was answering the torrent of questions.

"I can do it for a week. I learned that from someone I fought, a good man if I say so. Well, he was much better than me, but it became something that I could do it. No, he didn't teach me. Thanks for the help." Luffy watched his Grandfather get irritated before he realised exactly what he would say...

"Well, the trick to a good armament is..." Garp begun explaining something that Luffy already knew about. The conversation took a few minutes. Then, Luffy asked his Grandfather about one thing.

"So, Grandpa, why did you want me and Ace and Sabo to become Marines?" Luffy's question made Garp realize something... Luffy was getting smarter than he gave him credit.

"Well, because most Marines are the good guys? Pirates, except a few, loot, rape, pillage, burn everything and kill innocent people." Garp's answer made Luffy shake his head before his Grandson gave him a long stare before he replied with three words.

"Ohara and Flevence." These two places made Garp realize something about Luffy. His Grandson is no longer a goofball. Well, a very smart, savvy and knowledgeable goofball if anything. Before he asked, Luffy shocked him with more information. "I know two survivors, one of each incident. Believe it or not, it's worse than anything the pirates can do... If the Marines commit such atrocities or never interfere, how can I accept becoming one of them? Also you were right about turning down any promotion beyond your rank. I respect you for that, you at least are one decent marine, not a lot exist anymore.." At these words of wisdom, Garp asked him in his most serious tone the most serious question..

"You do know who your father is?" Garp's question was met by a nod. "So, what's your take? Is this why you refused?"

"Not quite. I refused because I know that even if I were to be even better than anyone else, they would probably target my precious persons, which I can't afford to do so." Luffy replied honestly as his Grandpa laughed his ass out.

"When you put it like this, how can I insist more? Enough of this idle chat, time for some real training, but I want you to stay a decent man, no matter what path you take, can you promise me that?" Garp's question was replied by a resounding and honest, "I swear it!"

Four months later

Luffy was done with his training when he saw a small boat arriving. Sensing the voice of the persons, he felt nostalgia, relief, happiness and most of all, he was no longer alone...

"ZOOOOROOOOO!" The ear piercing yell was the warning that was before a human rocket landed on the port. Said human rocket raised up despite the huge cloud of dust.

There were three men on said boat. A green haired man who carried three katanas, and wore a haramakari, the second wore shades and had short black hair, the third had a buzz cut and was smoking a cigarette. The green haired man grinned from ear to ear before he greeted his old friend...

"Hey Luffy. What's going on with you, captain?" At this, the two other men were shocked to their cores. The pirate hunter Zoro said that he wanted to go to a village known for their windmills, but him having a captain? That was scary..

"So, how did you spend your time?" The straw hat wearer asked the Shimotsuki Village swordsman.

"Well, I trained for a while, before I got bored, and Koshiro-sensei was shocked when I managed to hear the breath of steel. So I wandered, and guess who I met first? And guess who I had to save? And guess how I arrived?" At this Luffy laughed his ass out. Zoro FINALLY admitted his bad sense of direction... Although come to think about it, it cost them...

"Enough talking about the past. I'm stuck here for three more years, so... Maybe we can train, or wander, maybe we'll meet our friends earlier?" Luffy asked Zoro who shook his head no.

"Training is okay, but wandering around might put them in danger... Robin is still on the wrong side, Nami might not be able to fulfill her end of the bargain, and Ussop would never reach himself..." Zoro replied calmly, yet with a tinge of regret and sorrow.

"What about the others? We can still save Chopper and Brook... And Yamato." Luffy asked his friend who shook his head.

"They're not the same." These simple words, that single sentence made Luffy realise, as much as it's better to be selfish, this time it won't work out. Better be ready for any danger than going head on like fools...

"Oh I see. So we'll just spend time here until I get out?" Luffy asked Zoro who sighed.

"I forgot about Rika. What should we do for the kid?" At this, Luffy's expression changed to something akin to... Constipated. Then he tapped his palm with his fist.

"Found it! You go there in two years and some weeks, I'll stay." Luffy's reply made Zoro face fault.

"Or you can tell a certain someone about a corrupt Marine?" Zoro's question made Luffy nod dumbly. Wise as he became, he was still a dumbass, and now he's reunited with his meathead of best friend... Who's no longer a total meathead.. But they still missed the cook, even if Luffy was kinda distasteful of his bigotery and Zoro hardly stomach the man, they kinda missed having someone who knew his way around a kitchen...

"Aniki, can we join your adventure?" Johnny asked Luffy who raised an eyebrow.

"Yes please. I mean, we don't have much to do anyways." Yusaku added as Zoro sighed.

"Fine but... Well, let me count.." Luffy replied as started to think, 'Zoro, Nami, Ussop, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Jinbe, Yamato and Carrot!' "You two are number thirteen and fourteen!" Luffy replied as Zoro palmed his face. Even HE can count better!

"You mean Unlucky thirteen and twelve?" Zoro snarked as his captain huffed.

"You forgot Vivi? And Karoo? What are they? Chopped liver or horse sashimi?" Luffy asked in a very snarky tone as Zoro sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose..

"Why am I NOT surprised that you know how to count after all these years?" Zoro replied as he remembered something. "Why not tell your Grandpa about that other corrupt marine?" Zoro's question made Luffy laugh.

"Nah, Nami would need that to realise that we're the good guys!" Luffy replied as Zoro's jaw slacked and his eyes became.. Whitish for lack of better terms. "What?"

"What's wrong with you Luffy? Even I am not this callous and cold!" Zoro scolded his captain as he returned to his sense and for once he glared at him.

"I never said that I'm a nice guy. I mean, we're bloody pirates Zoro! We might do some good deeds, help our friends, and never leave tyranny in a country since all the countries we visit there's too many nice people, but we're pirates! How many ship did we loot?" Luffy's rant made Zoro sigh in defeat! "You're going to spar with your sensei at the Baratie this time?"

"Nah! Well, probably? I dunno.. But Luffy, since when did you became this.. Smart, calculating and mature?" Zoro asked his captain who grinned at him, even if his eyes lost all of their shine and became duller than any spoon...

"Since we lost!" Luffy said as he sighed in a very tired manner. "Dadan-san, I have some friends, can they stay here?" Luffy yelled a bit louder, with an emotionless tone.

"Oh hell no! First the other two, even if we miss Sabo, and then Ace leaves, then your friend here becomes a total monster, and now you three... Please don't tell me that you eat as much as this bottomless pit!" A tough looking woman with orange hair worn in a cornrow and wavy at the back yelled as Luffy shook his head.

"I am not hungry.. Just, tired!" Luffy replied and Dadan panicked as she immediately went and lifted the fourteen years old.

"Oh hell no! You really need a doctor and now!" Dadan said in a very panicked tone as Luffy is ALWAYS hungry!

"Don't worry about him, he's probably depressed or something.." Zoro said nonchalantly, even if he did grip his sword tighter than before before he sighed.

"Aniki, what are you going to do?" Yusaku asked as Zoro sighed. He was over this for way too many times.

"Trining! Just training!" Zoro replied as if it was the most natural thing to do, which it was given the circumstances. As if he added high octane fuel to a dying fire of one Monkey D. Luffy, Zoro smirked as he saw how Luffy's eyes were practically on fire.

"Alright then Zoro, now we go into the real training. Not only our lives, but our friends lives does depend on our success!" Luffy said as Zoro smirked. Oh how he missed this part of his captain, and never seen this part before... Well, before things went south, was beyond him. But it seems that the death of most of their crew was the one thing that turned the usually childish Luffy into a very driven man.. It was as if he found a very dark part in his soul and decided to embrace it with a vengeance. Speaking of vengeance..

'We'll do everything we can this time, and then even more than that!' Both captain and first mate thought seriously...

That night

Both Luffy and Zoro drunk some sake cups, from the bottle that Luffy managed to steal from Dadan this time. Zoro asked his captain why he decided to drink, and Luffy replied cryptically that it was because he knew that he could always depend on him more than anyone else, and that after everything they went through, Zoro was more of a brother than a friend. His first mate just smiled in acknowledgement. While it wasn't rare for captain and first mate to be the closest of friends, Luffy considers his crew as his family, just like one old man who's definitely one of the nicest pirates on the world. Speaking of the world, he wondered if Yamato was able to escape from her father and if she met Ace. He really wished that the Oni would meet them early, and so would a certain fishman... Well, then again, who's better to deal with Arlong than Jinbe?

"You're wondering when Jinbe and Yamato would join us, and where?" Zoro stated more than asked his best friend, and captain. Luffy's eyes widened to a very comical size. "I know, I was thinking the same." The Gomu Gomu user grined mischiviously as Zoro did smirk, almost as mischiviously...

"So, what would Nami be doing? And Ussop? And Sanji?" Luffy asked Zoro who shrugged as he thought.

"Stealing to liberate her hometown, lying, and probably stuck at that restaurant flirting with anything that doesn't have a hot dog between their legs.." Zoro replied as calmly as ever while Luffy released a depressed sigh. "It's for the best if we don't leave now. Who knows what would happen?" Zoro replied in an attempt to comfort his captain who looked at the sky..

"I think I understand now why does Sanji smoke... He's seen things..." Luffy said idly as Zoro cocked an eyebrow upward.

"Do you plan to start smoking now?" Zoro's question was answered by a headshake.

"Nah, not for me. I'd rather taste meat and smell food.." Luffy replied as Zoro was looking at him as if he had grown a second head, "What?"

"Since when do you know anything about anatomy?" Zoro asked Luffy who shrugged..

"I do remember many things.. Chopper was always warning Sanji about.." Luffy stopped to sigh sadly, "I guess that I won't let go this early, would I?"

"Me neither. Hell, I guess that none of us would, would we, captain?" Zoro asked Luffy who grinned.

"But hey, we got a second chance. Let's go take over the world or something as crazy! Nah, not for us." Luffy said with a carefree grin, "If we'll be strong enough to take down Yonkos and Admirals, we'll be able to protect them, no?"

"Hahaha, damn right Luffy. For a hopelessly idiotic person, you have your own genius moments!" Zoro said with an evil smile.

"And for a meathead, you're very mature!" Luffy replied as Zoro snorted. Okay, this snarky Luffy is not for him! "But yeah, I have to awaken my powers, even a bit, and sharpen my Haki to be stronger than ever, and most of all, we have to get them up to snuff.. Like, in Paradise, we should be stronger than New World level!"

"Oi! That would be very, very, very far fetched!" Zoro replied as Luffy grinned.

"Two years! I'd say we'll see Yamato and Jinbe in two years or less!" Luffy replied as Zoro snorted, then begun to laugh his ass off. "What did I say?"

"You said a prophecy just like Madame Sharley. Are you going to become a fortune teller or something?" Zoro teased his captain who laughed.

"Me? Never! I was, I am, and I'll always be the most powerful pirate to ever set sail, and the nicest... Okay, almost nicest as Shiro-jiji is the nicest! Shishishi!" Luffy raplied as Zoro smirked.

"You didn't change a lot.. Well, apart from being much more bareable." Zoro replied as he took another shot.

"Why don't we just empty this sucker?" Luffy said as he poure half of what remained of the bottle into a large mug, which Zoro took. "To our second chance, kanpai!"

"To our training, hardwork, and hopefully, our second adventure!" Zoro said as they both chugged the remain of the bottle in one go before they sighed. "Tomorrow would be a very hard day!"

"I totally agree!" Luffy said seriously. "Nighty brother!"

"Good night, my brother!" Zoro said as both he and Luffy went back to their futton and slept until dawn...

Two years later

The only thing that Luffy and Zoro concluded and shared as an opinion about their training was that it was utterly a lackluster failure. They didn't care about whatever anyone else had said about it, not even Garp's. They wouldn't be able to protect their crew from an admiral. Which made them question why did they think that it would be enough time for them? They had absolutely no idea whatsoever. The only thing they knew or rather realized, that they still have time, and effort hopefully, to do it sooner or later. It was a chance. A very miniscule and improbable chance to change everything, but it wasn't zero. They both sighed in frustration. While they did endure a training harder than anyone else would have ever think about devising to any race, or inhuman, to the point where Garp was asking them to slow down, and Johnny and Yusaku had long since gave up of trying to follow a thousandth of their insane pace, they felt that all was for naught. Zoro for the lack of better gear, and Luffy for the lack of awakening. While they were close, not too close, but close enough to their aimed level, they figured that it would be better if they decided to just.. Go on an adventure, not realising that there were some changes... Not very major ones, but there would be some change to their overall plan.

For one, Garp arrived earlier than expected, and after a quick visit to a certain town, one captain Morgan was on his route to be imprisoned.

Also the Alvida pirates attacked Fuusha, and both Luffy and Zoro won the battle with very minimal effort, and had a small talk with one Koby, who was taken by Garp, alongside one Helmeppo, much earlier than they thought it would.

Would they visit Shell Town? Sure. Would they be heroes this time? No. Not that either of them do mind it. After all, they were pirates. First and Last. And it was the life they chose almost five years ago. No changing that, no discussing it, nothing would change that until they were both buried under the very ground!

AN : And that's chapter two. Well, One if we consider the last one as a prologue, A.K.A. chapter zero! See you soonish!