This was a story that I had in my head for a LONG while! Basically, it's one of those timeloop stories where Luffy is given a second chance to relive his life and change things in the past to help his future. You've probably read a lot of these.

Please keep in mind that when I originally wrote this, the Wano arc hadn't finished yet, so there will be some inconsistencies or inaccuracies, but I'm caught up all the way to the most recent chapter, so I'll try to fix them to stay mostly true to the canon as I go along.

Please enjoy!

Plot Synopsis: Luffy had done it. He had become King of the Pirates and had overthrown the World Government with his friends and family. Everything should've been great...but a sudden arrival of a new enemy put a quick end to all of that!

With he and everyone he ever knew and loved dead, Luffy thinks there's no chance of fixing things, until a powerful figure from the distant past offers a deal...

Given a new chance to redo his life, Luffy plans to change as much as he can to ensure a good future, not just for him, but for all his allies, and his first destination is going to be the North Blue to help Law and Corazon.

But Luffy soon learns that changing events in time is going to be a lot more chaotic than he expects...or should I say, SHE expects!

Luffy thought he knew despair when the Going Merry burned. He thought he knew failure when his crew was warped away on Saboady two years ago. He thought he knew loss when Ace died.

Turns out...he really didn't.

They had defeated Blackbeard, they had found the One Piece, they had learned what the Void Century was, and they had gathered allies, fought the World Government and won!

That should've been the end of things. Everyone would've accomplished their goals and been happy. They all should've gone on living content lives, knowing they had done right in the world, and everything was going to be okay from now on.

They never had the chance to leave Mariejois and celebrate their victory, cause right after Imu was defeated...THEY showed up. The Holy Clan of the Sea Goddess, Umi.

Before Luffy knew it, everyone he ever knew and cared about was being taken out before his eyes. Koby, Law, Vivi, Sabo, Hancock, his crew. They all died protecting him! And Luffy could do nothing to stop it.

Luffy had NO idea who the Holy Clan was, except that they seemed to really HATE Devil Fruit eaters, seeming to consider them actual devils and had some need to wipe them all out, along with any non-human race there was.

Everyone died...except for Luffy. He was lying in one of the Thousand Sunny's lifeboats, drifting through the sea aimlessly, in the dead of night. Actually, Luffy had no idea if it was even night. The sky was so black and cloudy.

The wounds that had been inflicted on him stung terribly, his head swam with exhaustion, and his heart ached with every beat.

He couldn't remember who had thrown him in the boat. Was it Jimbei? No, he was already dead. He had gone to try to save his friends. He was probably one of the first to die.

Sabo? No, he was dead by that point too. When the Revolutionaries were getting swarmed by the Clan, he jumped in to help them. He became one of the first Devil Fruit users to get taken out, if not the VERY first.

Grandpa? Maybe. He was being carried by him at some point, but Luffy didn't think he made it. He remembered being thrown by him and caught by someone else...

Zoro. He was the one who put him in the lifeboat. His first crew member. His first mate. He told Luffy that he had to live to fight another day before releasing the lifeboat into the ocean.

Luffy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He recalled how when the boat had drifted far enough away, the Thousand Sunny was bombed from above, and to his horror, it was reduced to a burning pile floating on the water! It was made of Adam's wood! How could it be destroyed?!

How could Luffy live to fight another day when all his friends were dead! He didn't see any other lifeboats on the water, only the burning ships of all his allies. It was horrifying to see them destroyed so easily, and by some kind of flying vehicle that dropped bombs! What were those things even?!

At that moment, Luffy felt his boat nudge something and stop rocking with the waves. He strained to lift his head up and looked around. The boat had beached on a jungle island. Luffy didn't think he drifted for that long, or this far.

He stood up and stepped out of the boat, and as soon as both feet touched the sand, a wave crashed onto the shore and pulled the lifeboat away. Luffy didn't even attempt to grab it to stop from losing it. There was no point. Nothing to go back to now.

He looked towards the jungle and walked towards it. It seemed dense, but Luffy didn't hear anything from it. No screeches of nocturnal creatures, no calls of birds, and no shrieks of insects.

Luffy found a path among the trees and began to walk along it. He had no idea why he was following it; he just felt...compelled to.

His eyes were fixed ahead of him, wanting to see where he was being led. Soon, he saw a glowing blue light up ahead, and walked as fast as he could to find the source. He had no strength to run, so walking was the fastest he could move.

When he pushed through the jungle brush, he found himself standing before an ancient pool of blue water. Tall pillars surrounded it, and on the opposite side of the pool stood a large statue of a woman.

She had long wavy hair, round aquamarines embedded into where her eyes would be, and wore a crown of seashells and a long toga. She had her hands outstretched, as if welcoming someone into an embrace. Poneglyphs were engraved in the base of the statue, possibly containing her name.

Luffy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists again. He didn't have to read the ancient writing to know who she was: She was the Sea Goddess, Umi, the one the Holy Clan revered so much. The one who was responsible for EVERYTHING.

He wanted to throw a punch at the statue, shatter it into a million-no, a BILLION-pieces! For what she did during the Void Century, for what the World Government had done to the world, and for what the Holy Clan had done to everyone he loved!

However, the more Luffy thought about committing the punch...the more he didn't want to do it.

Breaking a statue would not change what had happened. The Clan would still be victorious, his friends would still be dead, and he would still be defeated physically and mentally.

All would be as it is...and it made all the anger in his mind morph into pure hopelessness.

So Luffy stood at the edge of the pool, staring at the goddess statue, until his legs finally gave out. He fell forward, towards the water...but did nothing to stop his descent.

His body crashed into the water, and he felt his muscles lose their strength almost instantly. Blood seeped from his wounds and drifted to the surface of the pool, and he sunk further and further down. He shut his eyes, ready to welcome his death.

There was nothing left to do but die. Luffy no longer had a reason to live, since all his friends and family were gone, and he had no means to stop the Holy Clan's genocide, so there was no point in trying to stop them.

Deep down though, he wished there was a way. There probably was a way, but by now, it was too late to try. If only things had been different. If only he had known what the future held. If only he had a second chance...

For moments, Luffy welcomed the darkness that was going to consume him, the coolness of the water enveloping his body and crushing his lungs, and the slowness of his beating heart...but then, all that feeling suddenly stopped.

He opened his eyes. He was in a black void.

Had he died? Was this the afterlife? A world of nothing? He thought for sure he'd see all his friends again...unless this was Hell. Churches always said pirates were the greatest sinners on the Earth...but Luffy had done GOOD! Why was he in Hell?!

Then, he noticed a glowing light from the corner of his eyes and turned his head to look behind him.

He was falling towards a glowing gold circle. Actually, he wasn't really falling, more so floating. He was floating down to the circle. He positioned his body upright, so that when he touched down, his feet touched the circle.

Once this occurred, the glowing dimmed down, and Luffy found himself standing on a platform that had symbols of various clans engraved on it. The Kozuki clan, the Minks, the Fishman, the Kuja, all the symbols were imprinted on the floor around him, and in the very center where he was standing? It depicted the silhouette of a person wearing a straw hat and sporting a huge grin. Joyboy, the original ruler of the ancient kingdom, and Umi's husband, who she betrayed.

What was this place?

Suddenly, a woman's voice said softly, "Monkey D Luffy."

Luffy whipped around and saw standing before him was Umi herself. Her long hair was colored blue, her eyes aquamarine, and her skin pale. Her toga was a clean and crisp white and her seashell crown was colored with pink, blue and green pastels.

Umi smiled, "I believe you know who I am."

Luffy did not return the smile, "Yeah, I know you; you're Umi, the Sea Goddess...who was really the Sea Devil. Joyboy's wife who betrayed him and killed him. The one the Celestial Dragons saw themselves equal to and so treated everyone else as inferior. The one that Holy Clan loves to the point that they'd commit genocide for. You're THAT Umi."

Umi's smile weakened, "Yes, I do have a pretty bad reputation, don't I?"

"I wouldn't say it's JUST bad," Luffy said. "Why are you here? To gloat over your victory?"

Umi shook her head, "No, that is not why I am here. Truth be told, seeing you defeated pained me."

Luffy raised a brow, "Really? Why? Cause you couldn't do it yourself?"

"No, because I honestly didn't want you to lose. As soon as you killed Imu, I realized that all that I had done 900 years ago was wrong. Wanting to rule the whole world with an iron fist, betraying my love, it was all evil. I never meant to be evil."

"Right, and I never meant to be a pirate," Luffy said.

Umi kept a stoic face, "It's the truth, Luffy. I was out of control. I needed to be stopped. Imu needed to be stopped. The World Government needed to be stopped. And you stopped them, and I was relieved."

Luffy crossed his arms, "And the Holy Clan? What about them? Did you not want me to stop them?"

Umi sighed, "I didn't foresee them showing up to create that kind of chaos. I was aware of their existence, but honestly never paid them much mind. Maybe I should have..."

Luffy replied with silence.

Umi stared him in the eye and stated, "You. You are the reincarnation of Joyboy, like Roger was meant to be before you. Only you could've defeated the World Government, and only you can defeat the Holy Clan."

Luffy threw his hands up and shouted, "How the hell am I supposed to do that if me and everyone I know are dead?!"

Umi sighed, "Yes, that is a problem...but do not worry. I am here to offer a solution."

Luffy crossed his arms and glared at her, "And that is?"

Umi smiled, "A second chance."

Luffy's eyebrows rose up for a moment, but then settled, "No way. I'm not taking second chances from you. You were the original reason the world screwed up. Why should I trust you?"

Umi's smile faded, "My original intention when I overthrew my husband was to unite all the races and clans under my rule, so nobody would fight each other. Instead, all the non-human races allied with Joyboy, and my allies, the humans, took that to mean that they were superior to them, leading to centuries of discrimination, slavery and murder. I honestly tried to convince them otherwise, but they wouldn't listen. The holy texts that tell this story often get lost in translation, so it's very misinterpreted, which is why the Holy Clan took them to mean I want all races, except for humans, to die."

"And Devil Fruit users?" Luffy asked.

Umi sighed, "Some interpret the stories to mean that my husband was the Sea Devil and ate the forbidden Devil fruit, so therefore, all users are in league with him and should be exterminated. The reality was that I was the one who ate the first fruit and gave them to my followers, bestowing them with powers. However, some of Joyboy's allies also ate fruits, so our armies were on even ground. The very fact that Joyboy's army had powers lead the Holy Clan to believe all Devil Fruit users are the enemy, despite my own army and myself having abilities. That must've been lost in translation too."

Luffy stared at her in silence for a moment, but soon nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty much what Robin told me when she read the Poneglyph. I guess you really are honest. So, what exactly is this second chance? You mean to stop the Clan and save my friends?"

Umi smiled again, "More than that. I mean a second chance at EVERYTHING that ever happened in your lifetime. You can change a great deal of the past to maybe benefit your future. You could save people who died before the war or before your journey even began, people you know who could help you change the outcome."

Luffy's eyes widened, "You mean...I could save Ace?"

Umi nodded, "Yes. Him and several other loved ones that were lost prior to him. I believe your friends had some people they could've counted on."

Luffy nodded and reflected on all the stories his friends had told them of their pasts. Nami's adoptive mother, Belle-mere; Law's surrogate father, Corazon aka Don Quixote Rocinante; and...and...that was all he could think of. Usopp's mother died of an illness, so she couldn't be saved. Neither could Chopper's mentor, Dr. Hiluluk, who pretty much killed himself. Or Franky's mentor, Tom, who was taken away by the government to be executed. Or Brook's old crew, the Rumbar pirates, who died LONG before Luffy was even born.

"That's not a lot of people, Umi," he stated.

Umi smiled, "What about Arlong's takeover to Cocoyashi Village? You could prevent that and make Hatchan into an ally early. And Doflamingo's takeover of Dressrosa? You could prevent that, and in turn save Princess Scarlet, Rebecca's mother and Kyros' wife."

Luffy furrowed his brow, "But what do I have to do? I mean, how can I go back and change everything?"

Umi waved her hand and soon a set of pristine white double-doors appeared next to her. "Just walk through and you'll find yourself at the right point to get started on your mission."

Luffy's eyebrows rose, "That's all? That's easy...too easy. Is there a catch to this?"

Umi sighed, "A few actually. For example, if you do alter something, it could lead to something else happening in the future that I couldn't foresee. There could also be people or events that were nonexistent or irrelevant in your old timeline that could come to being or prominence in the new one. There'll be new faces, both good and bad."

Luffy nodded, "I'll be ready for whatever's thrown at me!"

Umi smirked, "Of course."

Luffy then asked, "What about me? Will I be different? Will I know I have to change things?"

Umi nodded, "Yes. All your memories will be with you when you're sent to your new starting point, and I'll be with you to help guide you."

"Really? Where?"

"I'll be a simple voice in your head, and I'll appear in your dreams sometimes."

Luffy nodded and looked towards the door, "Okay. I think I'm ready to take the chance."

He walked up to the double-doors and gripped the doorknobs. However, before turning them, he looked over at Umi and said, "Could I really change things?"

Umi shrugged and smiled, "We'll have to wait and see."

Luffy nodded again, and this time, grinned. He looked at the doors and said, "Let's go!"

He turned the doorknobs and opened the doors. Immediately, a bright light came out from the other side, engulfing his vision.

What awaits Luffy in the new timeline he's about to create?

What'll be the first thing he'll change?

Who'll he meet and befriend or fight along the way?

Find out in the next chapter!

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