"H-hey, Luffy?" The young girl's soft voice broke the silence of the forest, catching the attention of the boy beside her. "Can I...can I ask you a question?"

Luffy looked at the girl curiously as he sat upright. As he supported himself with one hand, the other flew to his head to catch the straw hat before it fell. Despite the fact that he was used to having it now, he still wasn't accustomed to it on some days, even losing it a handful of times while venturing through the forest of Mount Corvo. As time went on, though, he became much more comfortable with having it on at all times, and he became much better at keeping it on his head as well.

In spite of this, his hat seemed to be the least of his worries. His eyes were fixed on the girl next to him as he stared at her. A tight grip was kept on her knees as she held them tightly against her chest. With somber violet eyes, she stared ahead with a deep sense of melancholy. She seemed to be deeply absorbed in her thoughts at the time. However, Luffy was unable to tell for sure whether or not what she was saying was meaningful to her. In his case, he only had rubber powers, not the ability to read people's minds.

"Hmm?" Luffy asked as he leaned forward to see his friend's face. "Sure, you can. What is it?"

The girl remained quiet and blinked. She tightened her grip on her knees for a moment before turning her head to look at him. Her eyes still appeared distant, and the few strands of her hair would have blended with the night sky if the sun was not setting around them. She stared at him for a few moments before turning away.

"U-um..." She tried to find the right words to say, but she remained silent. After a brief pause, she continued. "D-do you...do you still wanna be a pirate someday...?"

The question baffled Luffy, furrowing his brows and tilting his head. What kind of question was that?

"Huh? Of course, I do!" He proclaimed, falling back onto the ground and pulling his hat over his eyes. "It's still my dream to become one! I promised Shanks I'd return this hat when I became a great pirate!" He lifted his hat a bit and looked at her, grinning widely. She looked at him but did not smile. "You remember, don't you? You were there when we made that promise!"

Her gaze remained fixed on him for quite a while before she turned her head to face forward and stared straight ahead. It was as if she were looking up at the trees standing tall before her. As the breeze blew by, her low braid swayed in the wind alongside the branches, yet she was not bothered at all by what was happening. In an instant, Luffy became aware of the unusual demeanor, and his smile faded away. Her mind was troubled by something. From her expression, it was obvious that she felt a feeling of shame and concern. At least that was the assumption he made. Despite sometimes having difficulty identifying how his friends felt, Luffy always noticed when this friend was dealing with a problem. The girl in question, however, fell back and lay on the grass beside him before he could even ask her anything. With her hands folded on her stomach, she gazed up at the sky. She watched it change from an intense blue color to a collage of orange, yellow, and pink as the sun began to set.

"I do..." She answered him softly. "But..."

Luffy noticed her head turning away from him. He frowned at that, growing more concerned about her.

"But what?" He pressed, placing his hat on his chest while gazing at her. "What's wrong?"

She fiddled with her thumbs briefly before mumbling, "Will you leave me behind...if I'm not good enough to become a pirate?"

The moment she spoke those words, Luffy immediately sat up in rage.

"Who said you weren't good enough to be a pirate?" He snapped, causing her to flinch in surprise at his sudden outburst. He looked around, puffing out his cheeks in anger. "Was it Ace? I'll kick his ass if he said that! Nobody hurts my best friend's feelings and gets away with it!"

"N-no! Of course, he didn't say anything like that!" The girl quickly sat up and took hold of his arm before he ran off. Her gaze faltered as a blank expression crossed her features. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Sophia would beat you to the punch if he did something like that. Probably something worse even." After a moment, and once Luffy calmed down a bit, the girl shook her head and looked back at him. "I mean, what if I was never cut out to be a pirate in the first place?"

Luffy turned to look at her, confusion returning to his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at me!" the girl exclaimed. Luffy did not flinch or react; he just looked at her. "I'm supposed to have the blood of a mighty pirate and a Shinobi in me, and yet everyone views me as this sweet little girl who could do no harm. A girl who was given a normal name that didn't fit too nicely with her last name because it was her dad's turn to name their next child. The same little girl that everyone was surprised to see hanging around pirates like Shanks."

A look crossed Luffy's face at that.

"Oh yeah," he muttered out loud. "Your name really doesn't sound normal when you say it out loud."

The girl seemed to miss the comment as she continued to ramble.

"But when they look at you," She stared at him a little longer than she expected before looking away, "they see a boy with big dreams of becoming King of the Pirates." She looked down at her hands in shame, opening and closing them as if to relieve the anxiety that had begun to grow within her. "Ever since Grandpa sent us up here, I've barely been able to defend myself against animals without turning the other way. I can't even stand up to you, Ace, or Sophie in a fight without shaking like a leaf because I'm so scared of hurting one of you."

Luffy laughed at that.

"I doubt you'll hurt any of us," he assured her. "Ace and Sophie are pretty tough already, and I'm made of rubber!"

"Yeah, but…" She trailed off. She remained quiet for a moment before she buried her face in her hands. "I feel like, after all this time we've been here, I haven't improved the way you guys have. Even with Ace and I being the only two without Devil Fruit powers, he's way stronger and faster than I am." She paused and heaved a sigh, unaware of Luffy turning his gaze away. "I know it feels like I'm whining, but…I'm trying so hard to be like you all. But every time I do and I don't succeed I…I start to wonder if this is a sign that I won't be able to-"

"Shut up."

The girl jumped and looked at Luffy. She looked surprised. She noticed Luffy's grip on his hat had tightened, and his gaze faltered. He was fuming, and she could feel it radiating off him.

"W-what?" She stuttered.

In her moment of weakness, she did not realize that the words she had spoken had upset him so much. It was not until he spoke to her in such a manner that she began to understand. The way he responded to this situation was very unusual for him. He was so jovial and happy-go-lucky with her, taking her along on their next adventure and never giving a care in the world as they went on their adventure. If Ace said something snarky to her about her, he would always stand up for her even if it was mostly all bark and no bite. Luffy would never have the opportunity to reprimand Ace since Sophia was usually the first to beat him to the punch, literally speaking.

It was then that Luffy turned his attention back to her. There was anger in his eyes, but it was not directed at her at all. How could she think of those things about herself? As a matter of fact, how long had she thought this way? There was no doubt in his mind that those things were untrue, and he knew this better than anyone else. Her own strengths were just as important as any other strength that Luffy or others had possessed. Did she really not see it that way?

Instead of reprimanding her for it, his grip on his straw hat loosened, and he looked down at it blankly. He stared at it for a long time before turning his attention back to his friend. He got to his knees and stared at her as if he was gauging her reaction. She remained perplexed by him, still astonished but curious about what he was up to. Before she knew it, Luffy placed his hat atop her head, covering her eyes due to its size. She jumped at that, though she did nothing to remove it at first. She processed what had happened. She knew she had the hat on her head, but was not sure why he did that. He adored this hat and wanted to keep it safe. What was going on in his head to make him do this?

Before she could find her voice, Luffy lifted the hat slightly, allowing the girl to see him again. A faint shade of pink graced her cheeks, feeling embarrassed suddenly, but surprised to see Luffy remained serious.

"Don't ever say anything like that again," he warned her. "You got that?"

The girl stared at him, her eyes widening in surprise. Normally, if someone spoke to her in that manner, she would have shrunk away or flinched nervously. She thought she was about to be punished or, at the very least, reprimanded for a mistake she had made. The brutal knocks to the head from Garp made it harder to not to be wary of someone's intentions. However, when Luffy spoke to her the way he did, the girl did not react. Instead, she felt at ease, knowing this was different from other times. He was not angry at her but at the words she spoke.

"Luffy…"

After a moment, he said, "Just because you're not strong like Ace doesn't mean something's wrong with you. It just means you're strong in other ways! Why would you wanna be strong like him or Sophie or even me when you can be strong like…like you?!" The girl blinked; she did not think of it that way. "You'll get to where you want to be in your own time. Just gotta keep going and not beat yourself up if you're not like us." Soon, he grinned. "You're gonna be a great pirate someday, just like your old man! And the other part…" He paused as he pondered the thought. "Well, I don't know a lot about all that shiitake stuff, but I know you'll be great at that, too! Like your mom."

The girl was moved by his words, moved as tears stung her eyes. Although she was aware of his mispronunciation of "Shinobi," she was only interested in everything else he said. She did not anticipate hearing him say all of that and being so serious. She replayed it in her head over and over again, hoping to engrain it in memory. Although she still felt down about her current progress, his words stayed with her.

"L-Luffy..." She muttered. "I-I..."

"Besides," he added with a chuckle, "you'll have to become a pirate one way or another because there's no way I'm gonna leave you behind when I set sail!"

The girl looked at him astonished.

"Y-you would still let me go with you?" She questioned. "Even if I wasn't strong enough to fight on my own?"

Luffy laughed before throwing his arms around her, embracing her in a tight hug.

"Of course!" He replied, oblivious to the girl's blush. His actions nearly knocked the straw hat off her head, though she quickly placed her hand on it. "You're my best friend! And there's no way the future King of the Pirates could leave someone like you behind!"

The girl sat there for a moment, speechless by his words. She then lifted her arms to return the embrace and bury her face into his shoulder. A gentle smile graced her lips, and her blush never faded.

It became increasingly difficult after each passing day for the girl to deny that she had felt a special connection to this boy. The meaning of it may not have been clear to her then, but she knew it was there. The fire in her heart and soul was ever-growing and burning deep within her. It was comforting to know that, despite what she had gone through, her best friend, one of the few people she had left in the world at that point, had so much faith in her. Her mind was still filled with the same thoughts and questions that had been lingering in the back of her mind for some time, making her wonder if she had what it took to be a pirate after all. However, at that moment it seemed as though they were just a distant memory. She wanted to believe in what Luffy said, and reminding herself of his words helped a lot.

After a moment, the girl soon realized she was sobbing on his shoulder. Luffy noticed this and blinked, concerned about what was happening.

"Huh, don't cry now! What's wrong?" He exclaimed, taking her by the shoulders. "Was it something I said?"

The girl laugh and began wiping the tears from her face.

"N-no, it's not that!" She reassured him. "I mean, it is what you said, but I'm not upset about it. I'm…I'm happy!" When she finished wiping her face, she looked at him again with a determined look. "If that's what you believe, Luffy, then I'll believe in it, too!" She, then, took his face in her hands, surprising him, before gently placing her forehead against his. "I make this promise to you, Luffy. No matter how long it takes, I will become strong enough to be a pirate worthy of sailing the seas. I swear, for as long as I live, I will be there at your side, fight every battle alongside you, and be there to see you become King of the Pirates, even if we get separated or lost along the way." Her smile grew. "That's my promise to you."

Luffy began to laugh. He was happy to see her in much better spirits than earlier, and he was thrilled to hear her speak such bold words. He would have accepted nothing less from the girl he called his beloved friend. With his grin still plain as day, he took her hands from his face and held them in front of them. The action caused the girl to blush even more, but she said nothing as she glanced at his hands holding hers.

"It's a promise, then!"