Izuku squinted, narrowing his focus on the center of the three glass bottles laid out on the Merry's railing. Scorch marks littered the wood around the area, slips and accidents that had Usopp and Nami shouting at him until Mei laid out a plastic tarp to protect the area. He threw, and lightning shot across the deck. Izuku pumped a fist when the middle went flying, then stopped and sighed when he saw the crack running down the one on the right.

"You're almost getting it," Mei told him. "There's hardly any lightning shooting everywhere."

"I don't know how I was doing it against Doflamingo. It wants to go everywhere when I throw it."

"Well, maybe you're thinking about it too much."

"But I'm not really thinking about it."

Mei gave him a flat look. "Izuku, you're mumbling about air conductivity and plasma molecules under your breath."

Izuku sheepishly shrugged and said, "I don't know how to turn it off."

"I have an idea."

With that ominous warning, Mei ran off. Izuku shook himself, deciding to figure it out before Mei built something potentially explosive, and set another bottle on the railing. When he took aim, pointedly keeping his teeth clenched shut to keep any treacherous thoughts from slipping out, he heard Mei shout, "Think fast!"

Izuku whirled. A glass bottle flew straight for his face. With a flick of his fingers, a bolt of lightning speared it through the center, scattering glass shards across the deck. Mei stood behind him, grinning triumphantly.

"See? I knew you were overthinking it."

"Mei, you were right behind it! What if I hit you?"

"Sacrifices must be made in the name of scientific progress."

"That doesn't mean screwdrivers are acceptable tools for propping up safety guards."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Are you ever going to let that go?"

"We almost died."

"We almost died last week. And the week before. And a month ago. You don't hear me constantly reminding you how stupid an idea it was to block bullets with your face, do you?"

"There wasn't anything else I could do."

"And I didn't have anything else to prop up that Lexan guard." She held up a bottle and said, "Try it again. Let's see if you can hit a moving target."

Mei threw a bottle over the ocean, and Izuku tagged it. After he hit a couple dozen bottles, Izuku peered at the falling glass and asked, "Hey Mei, aren't those full?"

Mei shook the bottles. "Oops. They were just lying around. I thought Zoro was done with them."

From the other side of the Merry, they heard Zoro shout, "Oi Cook! You better not have taken my booze."

"Piss off, Mosshead. That swill you drink isn't fit for deglazing a pan."

Izuku and Mei gave each other frightened looks. Mei handed Izuku the bottles and ran.

"Nami! That booze you drank better lower my debt."

"Ew, no. You'd have to pay me to drink that."

Izuku looked around for somewhere to hide the booze, but his indecision left him holding the bottles as Zoro stomped into view. He was muttering under his breath, "Luffy doesn't like the stuff, but who knows what else he might do. Chopper's just a kid, and-" His eyes snapped on Izuku and the bottles in his hands. Then he glanced at the scorched railing and the bottles standing as though they awaited a firing squad.

"I, uh, didn't realize they were still full."

Zoro had murder in his eyes as he swiped a bottle from Izuku's grasp and chugged it. "You're lucky Chopper would hound me for ripping my bandages, or I'd beat you across the deck."

Izuku flared lightning along his arms and grinned. "You'd beat me? I've beaten two Warlords. Remind me, how many have you won against?"

Zoro growled and said, "Oh screw you, Crocodile doesn't count, and Mihawk could take that fruity pirate whackjob any day of the week."

"Hey!" Both of them turned, and Zoro flinched as Chopper strode up to him. "All that shouting is going to pull at your bandages. And were you drinking again? I told you that alcohol is no good for your blood pressure.

Izuku, recognizing the opportunity, set the bottles down and hurried away from the doctor's wrath. He made his way towards the wheel, where Nami stared confusedly at the Log Pose hanging before her.

"I don't get it," she muttered. "The further we sail, the more it's pointing up. I can barely follow the heading now."

She tapped the needle and tried to shake it down. It wobbled towards the horizon a second, before slowly rising back to the sky.

"See! It keeps doing it."

Izuku followed the point of the needle. A large cloud loomed on the horizon, with beams of sunlight poking through it.

"Oh. I guess we're going to Skypiea next."

"Skypiea? Where is that?"

Luffy swung down from the mast and pointed. "In the clouds!"

Nami pointedly ignored Luffy and turned towards Izuku. With a shrug, Izuku said, "In the clouds."

Nami gave him a look of incredulity, then looked back at the Log Pose. "Seriously?"

"We got shot up in the sky by a giant blast of water," Luffy said. "Izuku got to swim in the cloud, lucky jerk."

"Oh right, we'll need to find a knock-up stream. Do you have any idea how Roger did it?"

Luffy scratched his head. "Mmm, nope."

Nami sighed. "Great. How are we supposed to get up there?"

"Jaya should be close. We can just ask there."

"And how are we supposed to find Jaya without a Log Pose reading to take us there!"

From the crow's nest, Usopp shouted, "Land Ho! Dead ahead!"

"Makes sense," Izuku said. "Roger did say that the dirt up in Skypiea actually came from Jaya. Got blasted up there by a giant knock-up stream centuries ago."

"Wait, if Jaya's the same island, won't the Log Pose reset there? Then we wouldn't have to go into the sky at all."

"Maybe," Izuku said.

Luffy shook his head. "Nope. I promised them I'd be back, so we're going back."

Nami groaned and slumped over the wheel. "Great. So we need to find a way to blast ourselves into the sky."

"I'm sure we'll hear something in Jaya."

"Sky Island?" The man guffawed and slapped the bar, making the beer in his mug leap over the side. "That old story? Ol' Bellamy's been trying for years to get up there, and he's got the Devil Fruit for it. Ain't no way."

"But it's up there!" Another man shouted, sloshing cheap booze all over himself. "Why, twenty years ago, I heard it plain as day…"

"Not again! I swear, you tell that story every week."

"Ah, shaddap. I'm not the only one, everyone who was here-"

"Which was, like, twenty people."

"We all heard it." Tears welled up in the drunkard's eyes. "It was beautiful. I can still hear it, right down to my bones."

"So, none of you know about knock-up streams?" Izuku asked.

"The knock-up stream? Oh yeah, we know all about those. Great way to get your ship blown to pieces."

Usopp gulped behind them. The man went on, "Heard that the Maiden's Tits hit one a few years back, and it's still raining timbers from her hull."

"Great! Is there any way to figure out where you'll find one?"

The men around them snickered and snorted into their beer, but the man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, that Montblanc fellow would likely know. Lives in that tiny hovel on the other side of the island. He's been trying to get up there longer than most, and he's never managed it."

When Izuku saw the facade of a castle at the island's coast, he wondered if the man had given them the wrong directions. At a closer look, the castle was flat painted wood, hiding a stone shack behind it.

They came up to a clearing, where Cricket peered into the sky as a coil of rope got pulled towards the clouds. The rope went slack, and Cricket counted the knots left on the ground.

A man came falling from the sky. Izuku tensed, ready to catch him, but the man's legs stretched out like springs, absorbing the force of the fall. Bellamy bounced a few times, settling on the ground, and asked, "How was that?"

"Five-hundred meters."

Bellamy shook his head. "Getting better, but not nearly fast enough."

"Have you tried Geppo?" Izuku asked.

Cricket and Bellamy both looked at him. "Geppo?"

Izuku hopped into the air to demonstrate. Bellamy's eyes went wide. "Is that a Devil Fruit?"

"Nope. I'm leaping off the air itself. And if you're using your springs to jump…"

"Then I'd be doing five-hundred meters each hop!" Bellamy finished. "Please teach me! I'll give you whatever you want."

Cricket slapped him on the side of the head. "They're pirates. Never tell pirates you'll give them anything, because that's exactly what they'll take."

Izuku sheepishly rubbed his hair. "I mean, it's not a lot of trouble. You really don't need to give me anything."

Cricket rolled his eyes. "Unless they're one of those kinds of pirates." He looked the Straw Hats over and asked, "What can I do for you? I can't imagine you came all this way just to give Bellamy here some tips."

"We need help predicting when and where to catch the next knock-up stream."

Cricket shouted, "Are you crazy? I had the same idea, at first, but the test craft I sent up got torn to shreds. You'd have to balance perfectly at the tip of the stream. If you're off by even a tiny bit, you'll fall right off and get smashed to splinters. It's a death sentence."

"Luffy and I have done it before."

Cricket's eyes snapped to both of them. "You're Roger Pirates. I suppose if anyone's crazy enough to make it happen, it'd be him."

"Wait!" Bellamy bounced over to him. "You were up there! Did you see the bell?"

"That giant gold one?" Luffy asked.

Both Cricket and Bellamy gaped at him. "You've seen it!" Cricket roared.

"Yeah. Rang it too."

"And if you were on Roger's crew, that would've been-"

"Twenty years ago," Bellamy finished breathlessly. "I was just a kid. Marines tore up the island, and I was hiding in the rubble, eating whatever scraps I could find. I heard it. We all did. And ever since then, my dream was to make it up there one day and ring it again."

"I found the kid trying to jump up there about ten years ago," Cricket added. "And when I heard about the bell, well." He took out an old storybook. "My ancestor was Noland the Liar. He thought the bell sank under the sea, but it must've gotten knocked up there instead. I've been trying to get up there, to prove my ancestor wasn't a liar."

"We could take you, if you like," Izuku said. Sheepishly, he added, "If Luffy is okay with it."

Luffy gave an emphatic nod, and Cricket smiled. He waved them over towards his shack. "You may as well make yourselves comfortable. Masira and Shoujou should be back in a bit. They'd know better than I if any pockets of gas were forming down there. They might even help you make it happen."

Half the crew squeezing into Cricket's shack made for a tight fit. Luffy hung from the roof like a bat, and Izuku took a seat on an open windowsill. They had to share teacups between them, but Cricket had a flavorful herbal blend that had Chopper trying to guess all the ingredients.

True to Cricket's word, the two pirate crews lowered anchors right at the shoreline. After some quick introductions, Shoujou said, "Aye, there's a giant pocket just south of here. We're expecting it to blow any day now."

"If rumors are to be believed," Masira added, "It should be right underneath the Sky Island. It'll be a straight shot."

It took a few days to gather up enough barrels of gunpowder and sink them to the bottom, but the two diving specialists made certain their barrels wouldn't leak. In that time, Izuku and Luffy packed barrels full of dirt, much to the confusion of the other Straw Hats. Izuku thought of telling them, but Mei grinned and asked him why he should spoil the surprise.

They picked a calm, windless day to set the Merry out on the ocean, with a cranky South Bird held by Cricket pointing the way to the imminent knock-up stream. Bubbles frothed up in a circle just ahead of them. Nami shaded her eyes. "That's weird," she said. "Did they blow them up early?"

Shoujou popped out of the water like a cork. Yanking his diving gear off, he shouted, "The knock-up stream burst on its own! You have to move now!"

As Shoujou dove off the ship, Nami snapped orders. Izuku leapt up with Luffy to unfurl the sails, while Usopp and Sanji hauled ropes into place. The Merry darted forward, plowing through the water as it bore down on the frothing patch of sea.

Just as they hit the circle, water churned up over the sides. The rising column pushed the ship into the air, and Usopp shrieked in fright.

"Quit gawking!" Nami shouted. "Get those sails furled or we'll fly right off!"

Izuku and Luffy were way ahead of her, already having the sails closed, while Robin held them in place with a dozen disembodied hands. Usopp passed up the rope, and Luffy tied them all into place.

"Hit the oars! We need to keep the ship balanced."

Izuku took the starboard oars, while Luffy handled the port side. Chopper called down instructions from Nami, and Izuku swung his oar with deep, powerful strokes, pushing his body with Tekkai to swing the ship where it needed to go. The entire vessel rattled, and as they rose higher, Izuku worried that the whole ship might fall apart around them. He didn't remember the Oro Jackson struggling against the knock-up stream, and that ship was far bigger.

Izuku was idly wondering if they had used Quirk-made wood when the rattling stopped. Vertigo kicked in, and for a terrified moment, Izuku thought they had slipped off. Izuku ran to the top deck, ready to leap off and carry the ship the rest of the way if he had to, when gravity reasserted itself. The Merry settled with a fluffy splash into the cloud sea, scattering white foam across the deck and the exhausted Straw Hats.

Chopper whooped in delight and caught wisps of cloud on his tongue. Luffy joined him, and soon, Usopp and Mei got into the game. Nami leaned against the helm, wiping sweat off her brow, and Robin murmured congratulations to the navigator. Zoro was sound asleep against the mast, and Sanji tried nudging him awake with his foot.

Izuku watched them as his own thoughts drifted back to the Oro Jackson, to a crew twenty years gone that had said farewell to him hardly a month ago. Where had they all gone? Did they still remember him? Questions and nostalgic memories tumbled through his brain like pebbles as his mind ground out the sharp edges. They were pirates, and even pirates of their caliber didn't often make it to retirement. He'd seen his share of seaborne funerals of pirates who had fallen against Marines or other crews, but it hadn't really sunk in until now that they were really gone.

"Hey." Mei gave him a nudge in the ribs, which passed through him a bit. She held a giant clump of cloud and said, "Chopper says this tastes like cotton candy, but I only taste water.

Izuku sampled a clump. The cloud instantly dissolved, and while he wouldn't mistake it for tap water, the liquid dancing across his tongue lacked a distinct flavor.

"Maybe if we put sugar on it," Izuku suggested.

Sanji's ears must have caught Izuku's idle thought, as he vanished with a clump of cloud and emerged moments later with a puffy take on a snow cone. The flavored syrup he had whipped up made the cloud dense and spongy, and the subtle taste of mint and lemon mingled wonderfully with the spring-water taste of the cloud.

As the crew favored the impromptu snack, they drifted in sight of Skypiea's tollway. A wrinkled Skypiean showed them the toll, only to blink at Luffy's straw hat.

"Ah, Monkey D. Luffy, Hatsume Mei, and Midoriya Izuku. Gan Fall said you would be coming. Your entry fee has been waived."

Nami, fuming mad and ready to haggle every Beri off their price of entry, stopped short and gawked at Luffy. Luffy chuckled and thanked them, prompting the crew to sail upstream to Skypiea.

As they approached the shore, a large crowd gathered, setting up tables and bringing out bowls of roasted cloud vegetables, skewers of steamed sky-squid, and platters of takoyaki the size of Luffy's head. Luffy drooled at the sight and paddled the ship towards shore with his own hands.

"Meat!" Luffy roared. "I smell it!"

"Are they really rolling out the welcome mat for us?" Robin asked.

"Luffy and I helped save the island, twenty years back, from Shiki the Golden Lion."

Robin gave him an appraising look. "You really defeated a pirate of that caliber?"

"Roger did," Izuku sheepishly said. "We just helped fend off his crew a bit. It wasn't really a big deal."

Robin turned towards the gathering party on the shoreline. "They seem to disagree."

As the Going Merry pulled into shore, Gan Fall strode up to greet them, clad in his plate armor and Pierre standing beside him.

"It is exactly as Roger said," Gan Fall said once they finished their greetings. "The three of you look exactly the same."

"And you got a haircut."

Gan Fall chuckled and looked over the other arrivals. "And I take it these are your crew members?"

"I am not," Mont Blanc Cricket said. "They agreed to take me so I could see the bell."

Gan Fall's eyes widened. "That hair… would you happen to know Mont Blanc Noland?"

"Noland the Liar? He's a distant ancestor of mine."

Gan Fall's face fell. "We heard. We tried to ring the bell for him, but the bell was lost when we got blasted up here. Now that you're here, we can keep our promise from so long ago."

"So everything he said was true?"

"Every word."

As Cricket held back his tears, Gan Fall turned his attention back to the Straw Hats and gestured at the tables laden with food. "I remember well the appetite you two had. I hope you and your friends are hungry."

Luffy set out to prove it with gusto, and the other Straw Hats weren't far behind. A tense atmosphere stood between the locals and the other pirates at first, but once everyone had knocked back a few pints of sparkling beer, Luffy started a round of Bink's Sake, and the locals taught the other Straw Hats the verses. A few drunken choruses later, the awkward atmosphere around the party had evaporated entirely, with Zoro sneaking swigs of beer while Chopper got distracted with mountains of deserts, Sanji swapping recipes with the cooks, Nami making bets and drinking men under the table, and Robin reading a book while she listened in on the festivities.

Someone tried to clap him on the shoulder, but their hand passed clean through. Pagaya yelped and jumped back, shaking static numbness out of his hands.

"Didn't expect that, lad. Were you always like that?"

"No, it was a gift. Still in the Waver business?"

"Of course. I'm sure Mei would love to see the new design I cooked up. It's even faster than the old one."

Izuku, remembering the mad sprint up the river with the last Waver he rode, felt his smile freeze on his face. "I'm sure Mei will be delighted."

"Papa?" Conis poked her head out from behind Paguya. "Who is this?"

"He and his friends saved the island. Izuku, this is my daughter Conis." With a wink, he added, "If you're thinking about settling down…"

Conis swatted at him. "Papa, quit teasing people. Aren't dads supposed to be keeping boys away from their daughters?"

"Ah, but then how would I ever get any grandchildren?"

Conis blushed and softly pounded his fists against his back. Paguya roared with laughter, and Izuku joined him.

As the party wound down, Mei slipped away to Paguya's workshop and came roaring out with the new Waver. Seeing Mei blitz across the waves, Nami rushed to try it for herself, and she proved far more adept with the craft, gliding across waves and darting between rocks like a falcon. The moment she stepped back onto the dock, she asked Paguya his price. Remembering how the Roger Pirates bartered and having come adequately prepared, Izuku offered a barrel of dirt from Jaya. Nami stared dumbfounded as Izuku presented her brand-new Waver.

"That's why you brought the dirt."

"The Roger Pirates traded dirt for gold when they came up here."

"I could kiss you." Nami paused. "In fact…"

Izuku yelped as Nami dragged him down by his collar and planted a kiss on his lips. While he was thoroughly stunned, Nami batted her eyelashes at him and said, "Thanks Izuku, you're the best!"

Mei smirked as she went up to Izuku. "Look at you, Mr. Midoriya, the lady killer."

With his brain still short-circuiting, Izuku could only mumble under his breath.

"You realize she took your wallet, right?"

Izuku checked his pocket. His wallet was gone. He shrugged and said, "That's fine. All my money's in my shoe anyways."

It went unsaid that he formed his habit after years of Bakugo and his cronies 'borrowing' his allowance.

"You know," Mei said. "When we get back, you could probably take Bakugo's lunch money."

Izuku gawked at her. "Are you crazy? Bakugo's Quirk is really strong, and he's had ten years to practice with it."

"Oh?" Mei asked. "And do you think he could've beaten Doflamingo?"

That made Izuku pause. "I mean, I only beat him by accident-"

"Bakugo wouldn't last five seconds against you."

Having no idea what to say to that, Izuku resolutely ignored the statement and chewed on the nearest available roasted vegetable matter at hand. Taking his silence as acceptance, Mei brightened and went to haggle for Dials with her barrel of dirt.

With the Merry freshly laden with Dials and gold until her holds burst at the seams, the Straw Hats enjoyed a farewell feast and set off into the cloud sea. Izuku shared the story of how Luffy had eaten their ride down last time, and Nami tied him to the mast with his own arms with Sanji's and Usopp's help.

Mei peered down, and her eyes focused in and out. "I think there's something below us. We better drift forward a bit."

With sails unfurled, the Merry floated forward until Mei declared the patch of ocean below them safe to land on. Izuku remained tense throughout the descent, half-expecting something to go wrong, but they landed uneventfully in a mist-shrouded patch of ocean.

Usopp kissed the deck and cried out, "Sweet ground, how I missed you!"

"We're still on the boat," Zoro pointed out dryly.

"It's the principle of the thing. People weren't meant to go that high!"

"The Skypieans didn't have a problem."

"They had wings! Of course they didn't have a problem."

Over at the G-8 marine base, Vice Admiral Johnathan peered out into the fog and scraped his vegetables into the garbage bin.

"Do you get the feeling that we just narrowly avoided a massive headache?"

The Marine standing at attention next to him asked, "Sir?"

"Ah, never mind. I must be imagining things."

And if Vice Admiral Johnathan saw the shadow of a ship drifting out of the sky, he decided to keep it to himself.

A/N: their trip to Skypiea is a lot more relaxing since Enel's Devil Fruit disappeared for twenty years. Had some fun with the ripple effects from Izuku & Co.'s trip through time.

Made scallops for the first time today. Didn't quite get the sear I was looking for, and cleaning the cream sauce out of my cast iron pan was a pain in the ass, but it turned out very nice. Will be using stainless next time.

Mernom: "How exactly did Izuku escape Garp? There was 1 scene where he held him, and the next mention has him not there at all, with Izuku just going."

Bardothren: and this is why I should really get a beta-reader. In my head, I was thinking 'yeah, it's totally clear that Izuku slipped away in the confusion' and then looking at it after getting this review, I went 'yeah, no, that needs an explanation'. Added a sentence to fix it.

ProjectIceman: "I don't think Hina was a Vice Admiral during this time iirc. I believe she started as a Captain, same as Smoker."

Bardothren: Wikipedia has betrayed me, and I am too lazy to change it. So, she got a surprise promotion so she could keep Garp on a leash and boss around Cobra better.

I don't want a unique username: "I was worried on how the fight would go, but having mingo mess with izuku not thinking he had haki just to get stabbed by a haki infused lightning arm was a great way to do it."

Bardothren: I put a lot of thought and effort into scripting that fight, so I'm glad to hear it worked out so well. Doflamingo felt like the best foil to Izuku's reluctance to use his own Quirk, and his arrogance would make him toy with his food until Izuku whipped out some desperation Haki.

TheGreatBubbaJ: "Maybe this is the wake up call the lad needs."

Bardothren: Nothing like threatening to kill the hero's childhood friend to get them motivated.