From Caged Marines to Whitebeard Pirates

by Kanra Nakura

When Blackbeard was caught in the action of stabbing Thatch, a fight ensues, causing Marco to be thrown to the sea in his Phoenix Form, hearing the laughter of the traitor and the cries of his siblings as he submerged. Locked in a cage and kept as a pet bird for the Tenryuubito for months, Marco was saved by Marines under Monkey D. Luffy. Full Summary in the First Chapter. FemLuffy

11. Chapter 11

~Four years ago, Dawn Island, Party Bar~

"La-la-la… La-la-la, la-la…" A 13-year-old Luffy hummed, swaying to the song she was singing from her chair at the Bar counter, her beloved Strawhat, with a string hanging from it, was seated on her head. Makino, who was wiping her hands with a clean towel, smiled at the sight of her daughter figure singing and smiling happily.

"Are you excited, Luffy?" Makino asked, as she went closer to the young teenager, who nodded excitedly at her.

"Yep!" The young raven-haired beamed at her mother figure. "Ace and Sabo are sailing tomorrow, so today is our last day of picnic at the cliffside and they promised that there will be plenty of meat!"

"I see, then I'll have it ready when you're back." Makino giggled as she patted Luffy's head. She's actually a bit worried about the young preteen girl because when her brother leaves, the young D would be left all alone, despite staying with the bandits and being alone is something Luffy hates. There's also the fact that no one can protect or even back Luffy up, especially when it comes to fighting against terrible people. Makino knew that Luffy's strong, a lot stronger than anyone on the whole island, only next to Ace and Sabo, but Luffy was a girl… with enough people, it would be easy for them to overpower her.

"Don't worry, Makino," Luffy stated, looking gently and softly at the older woman. "I'll be fine even without my brothers."

"...Okay…" Makino sighed in defeat, as Luffy grinned widely at her before warm brown eyes snapped towards the door. The bar maiden could see how Luffy lit up like stars as two 17-year-old males entered the bar, pipes and picnic basket in hand.

"ACE! SABO!" Luffy shouted as she jumped from her chair and launched herself to her brothers. Ace smirked a Luffy, slightly bracing himself for impact when their middle sibling stepped forward, intercepting the hug that Luffy was about to give to Ace, who frowned.

"The fuck, 'Bo?" Ace nearly snarled, ignoring Makino's disapproving, yet defeated, look while Sabo swayed with their sister in his arms.

"I'm going to miss you, Lu~" Sabo nearly whined, rubbing his cheeks on his sister's hair, ignoring their older brother, who began to stew in jealousy. "I'll be alone with only a brute brother for who knows how long, I won't have a sweet person like you to brighten up my day~"

"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed, not bothered with how Sabo was acting because ever since that incident where he lost his memories followed by the bear incident, he began to dote on her as much as he could, this includes Ace as well. Everyone in the village, and the bandits, could see that both brothers are competing against each other on who could spend more time with Luffy, even though said girl spends an equal amount of time with her brothers, doesn't matter who wins.

Sabo was humming in delight as he continued to hug his baby sister when suddenly said sister was no longer in his arms and was merely grasping nothing but air. The Former Noble looked down before his face went neutral and slowly looked up, giving his older brother an icy glare. Ace completely ignored the glare as he grinned at the blond over their baby sister's head, arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Hmmm…my turned~!" Ace hummed smugly, and this tempted Sabo to punch the older ravenette in the face so that the two of them could brawl for Luffy's time and affection, again, but then he remembered that they were in Makino's bar and fighting in her bar is a huge NO! Especially with Luffy around.

"Bastard." Sabo snarled while Ace gave him the birdie. Makino sighed at the antics of her boys (because they're her sons, just as much as Luffy's her daughter), before shaking her head, turning and going inside her tavern, into the kitchen, before coming back out, and then thrusting a glass bottle in the middle vision of both brothers. Ace and Sabo blinked when something blocked their vision with each other before following the direction where the bottle came from and flinched when they saw Makino standing there, smiling brightly… too bright, in fact.

"Ah… hahaha…" Sabo laughed nervously as he grabbed the bottle and put it on the picnic basket that Ace's raised. "Thank you, Makino-san."

"Yes… thank you…" Ace cleared his throat, while Luffy laughed and let go of her brother and turned to look at Makino, who looked back at her and then winked, before going back to the boys, who looked ashamed, Ace even let go of his sister, who giggled.

"Now… the both of you are sailing tomorrow." Makino started, this made the two teenagers look at her and blink when she gave them a genuine smile.

"I don't know what you planned to do when you set sail, you could possibly be on the same ship or a different ship…" That statement made the two brothers glance at each other before eyeing the bar maiden once again. "With that in mind… Why don't the two of you just enjoy your time with your sister?

"Sorry, Makino-san," Sabo stated, as he looked at Luffy, who was beaming at him, and then at Ace when the older brother looked at their baby sister too. "We'll do just that."

Makino nodded in delight and then watched as the siblings left, waving back at them when they waved at her before exiting through the door. Shaking her head in fond exasperation, when she saw through her window how Ace immediately lifted Luffy to his shoulder and ran away, Sabo gaping for a second before running after them. "Silly boys."

~With Luffy and her brothers~

Luffy laughed hard from her spot on Ace's shoulder who was taunting Sabo. She knew that her brothers were doing this as they didn't want her to think about what would happen tomorrow, because for the first time in years that they'd been together, they would leave her behind without any knowledge of when they would see each other again (and it's not because they are fighting for her attention, she's naive to that, though she did wonder why the voices laugh whenever her brothers fought each other).

Ace finally stops upon arriving at the border of the forest which will then lead to their special cliff before putting Luffy down just in time for Sabo to tackle him. Luckily his baby sister was safe and was actually crouching down, watching adoringly at the sight of her brothers rolling and 'fighting' each other. She glanced down and grinned slowly at the sight of the picnic basket that was beside her, she glanced at her brothers again before sneakily putting her hand inside the basket and began to pat around it.

She then made a triumphant noise before pulling her hand out and snickered slightly when she saw meat on her hand, and without any hesitation she began to eat it, munching as she watched her older siblings squabble. Ace and Sabo were grinning as they tried to shove dirt into each other's clothes when they heard a munching sound. This confuses them for a second before their eyes widen and then snaps their head to the side where they can see their sister finishing her meat. Their jaw even dropped when Luffy was smugly looking at them as she swallowed the last meat that she was munching on.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted as he shoved Sabo away from him. "You brat, don't start eating without us!"

Luffy merely giggled before turning and running away, basket in her hand, and then Ace started to run after her, Sabo following soon after. As the siblings chased after each other, the youngest D could feel the fondness and the laughter of the voices that were watching their antics, this made her grin widely before stopping when she saw what was on the cliffside.

"Gotcha!" Ace declared tackling his baby sister rather gently as he didn't want her to fall on the ground, one to avoid her from getting any sort of injury (though her devil fruit is a huge help in that department), and two because right now his baby sister is wearing the gift that they gave to her which is short denim short, a colored white flutter sleeve top, with its sleeves drenched in faded yellow color, and a yellow ankle strap sandal and her Strawhat, which is now hanging from her neck squished between his chest and her back. Their middle brother chuckled as he stopped beside his siblings, and looked at the front and then back at Luffy. It was quiet for the three siblings before Sabo opened his mouth and said.

"So… what do you think?" Luffy slowly turned to look at him, tears slowly falling from her eyes. "We're sailing away tomorrow… so… we'll be missing your birthday for who knows how long… so… well…"

The young raven turned around and looked at her siblings, who seemed to fidget as she continued to eye them before she grinned and hugged them back. "It's perfect! Shishishishi!"

The brothers looked at her back in shock before melting down and hugged her tightly, it took a while but then they let her go and watched as their baby sister took in the temporary appearance of their beloved cliff. Streamers and banners were hanging down from the poles that they temporarily set up, though Sabo swore to himself to keep an eye on them as they seemed to fall at any moment, the banner held the sign that says 'Happy Birthday Luffy!'.

They also have set up some sort of canopy, made out of leaves, to provide shade, and underneath the canopy is a large picnic blanket on the ground where they can all see some covered plates put down on it. They also have a griller near the front of the tent and when Luffy turned to look at her brother, a question at the tip of her tongue, she stopped and giggled upon seeing a cart just hidden in the trees filled with her favorite food.

"I thought we were going to hunt together?" Luffy said looking at the oldest brother, who blushed and looked away, before looking at Sabo, who smiled.

"That was the plan but then we realized we rather spend time with you than hunt."

"So you were hunting while I was waiting for you at Makino's?"

"Yep. We pretty much prepared this place since last evening, we did also prepare our ship, but we focused here." Luffy beamed at her brothers before hugging them tightly once again. Sabo hugs her immediately, while Ace hesitates before hugging her as well. Unknown to the young girl, both of her brothers were wearing happy yet worried and fearful expressions behind her back. They knew Luffy was strong, possibly a lot stronger than them if she managed to fully control her devil fruit, but they didn't know what would happen to her once they left.

Because if they sail away, and then Garp finds out about it, he could actually try to release his anger at their baby sister (they never actually see their Gramps get mad or upset at Luffy, though she did still receive her own 'Fist of Love' albeit a softer version). Then there are also their enemies who are staying in Gray Terminal, who won't hesitate to go after her (though Luffy having her special ability will actually make sure that no harm will go after her). And lastly… boys… unknowingly, both older brothers were thinking the same thought, and coincidentally, they tightened their grip on Luffy, as their eyes darkened.

For some unknown reason, when Luffy entered her puberty stage (which basically started last year) she began to change, body-wise (she's still the Luffy that loves to make trouble for her brothers and loves them with all of her heart), and as male themselves, they notice the changes their sister is having (though they did freak out when she began to bleed… never in their life would they think that their sister would be bleeding inside out and it's because of their body difference… don't even start when they heard the bird and the bees from Dadan and Makino), how her body slowly changed and developed.

And it's not only them, they also noticed a few males, who are either the same age as Luffy or a couple of years older, in Foosha Village, Gray Terminal… and, for some reason, in High Town as well, took interest in her as well. The times they found her cornered at a wall by a male, or a group of them, on Gray Terminal or High Town were so many they lost count and that doesn't include the number of boys who flirted with her every time they head down to Makino's. Fortunately for Ace and Sabo, their baby was naive to their actions, unfortunately for the people who went near Luffy with bad intentions or even flirted with her… well… they'll avoid the three of them like a plaque.

Now, they're about to sail away to become pirates, and Luffy will be alone…

"Luffy!" Ace suddenly shouted, pushing his baby sister albeit gently, said sister merely blinked at him in confusion, while Sabo was frowning slightly. "Why don't you sail with us?"

"That's a great idea," Sabo added, his frown slowly disappearing. 'If Lu will come with us then we can protect her from boys!'

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Eh?" Luffy blinked again and then glanced at Sabo, who was smiling at her brightly, then back at Ace, who was looking at her with wide eyes.

"Let's go and sail together, Lu!" It was quiet between them before Luffy smiled and giggled.

"Silly Ace and Sabo. I can't fulfill my promise with Shanks if I go with you." She stated as her brothers wilted and merely watched as she moved away and went towards where the cart was.

"Can't we kidnap her?" Ace murmured, as Luffy bounced around the cart.

"Do you want her to hate us?" Sabo asked back as Luffy waved for them.

"Boys Sabo… boys…" Ace gritted out as he and Sabo straightened up and then went towards their sister.

"... We can get in contact with her dad…" Sabo suggested and then it was quiet again but then they sighed in defeat just as they reached Luffy, who tilted her head to the side in confusion which soon then disappeared when her brothers started to pull the cart from its spot and then moved towards their canopy. Ace and Sabo smiled as their sister jumped around them before moving further ahead of them.

"... I'll call Dragon before we sail away," Sabo mumbled as he and Ace paused near the griller. "I didn't realize how hard it is to have a sister."

"But you wouldn't change her for the world.." Ace grinned at him, which made him grin back.

"Neither will you." The older raven-haired boy merely shrugged his shoulders in agreement and they both looked at the precious treasure they had in their whole life.

"Ace! Sabo! Meat!" Both brothers sighed defeatedly and fondly. Then they began their advanced birthday party for Luffy, though the brothers were slightly disappointed in themselves that they couldn't get a cake for Luffy, however, when they saw how happy their baby sister was it was all gone and then they were happy as they enjoyed through the day. By the time they were done celebrating, all meat was already eaten, and then they were on their way back to Foosha Village nearly sunset.

"Ace! Sabo! Luffy!" Makino shouted, waving while holding a Cameko den-den mushi in hand, slowly heading towards them the moment she saw them walking out of the forest. Seeing that particular den-den mushi in her hand, Luffy perked up, grabbed her brothers' hand, and then ran, dragging her brothers with her, meeting Makino in the middle.

"Makino, you got it!" Luffy yelled in excitement the moment she stopped while her brothers looked at her in confusion.

"Luffy?" Sabo asked while Ace looked at her and then at Makino, who smiled and took a step back, then back to his sister.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Luffy insisted without trying to give any reason to them. Both of her brothers looked at each other, then at Luffy, and towards Makino, who merely raised her Kameko den-den mushi, and then back at each other. They sighed deeply before nodding as their sister yelled in delight, and then dragged them closer to her again, Luffy staying in the middle between them.

Makino raised the snail and watched as the brothers' eyes were on Luffy smiling fondly, and softly at her, while Luffy was grinning, warm brown eyes were shining brightly, her strawhat in her hand, and her shoulders shrugged up. Ace was wearing a yellow open-front shirt, his tattooed name peeking through the sleeves, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, a second belt with a large red "A" on the silver buckle over his right hip, which was unfastened and threaded the free end along the back to his shorts.

Ace also has a blue pouch belted around his left leg, and wearing black boots. He had his arms behind his head, picnic basket in hand. Sabo was wearing a white dress shirt, blue vest, frilled cravat, and a simple belt holding a pair of loose light-blue pants with black boots. The middle brother had his arms crossed over his chest and one hand holding a pipe, a black top hat with blue goggles on top of his head.

Without any sort of hesitation, Makino quickly snapped a picture and then lowered the snail, giving Luffy a wink before going back inside her bar. Luffy giggled as she trotted after the bar maiden while her brothers watched fondly and with a hint of confusion.

"Luffy it's time to go back," Sabo stated, said sister merely entered the bar without any indication that she heard them. This made him sigh as Ace shook his head and they waited for Luffy to come out, but the young ravenette merely poked her head through the door and gestured for them to come inside. The brothers glanced at each other again, before deciding to humor her one last time before they set sail.

Upon entering the pub, they immediately went to the bar counter where Luffy was bouncing rather excitedly, her eyes kept on switching from looking at her brothers then at the door which they could only assume Makino went through since she was nowhere to be found. Ace tilted his head to the side when he saw a white box tied with a pink ribbon on top of the counter and placed it near Luffy, but he didn't bother to question it as he just walked towards their Light.

"What exactly are you up to, huh?" Ace asked, ruffling Luffy's hair as he sat beside her left while Sabo sat on her right. "You really shouldn't bother Makino too much."

"I'm not…" Luffy puffed her cheeks this made Ace snicker and tease her by poking her cheeks. Sabo tried to make their eldest brother stop but he also subtly encouraged it. Luffy gently slaps her brother's hand but actually does nothing to fully stop it, this continues for a few minutes, where Sabo decides to give up and begins to play with his sister's shoulder-length hair. Though, the middle brother's eyes the white highlights that start from the bottom ends which then head up before blending in with her original hair color.

Both brothers love everything about Luffy, her happy and bubbly attitude, her ability to smile no matter what situation they're in, and how she can immediately bounce back no matter what fate throws at her. However, for Sabo, there's one thing that Luffy has that he doesn't like at all, and that's the white highlight on his baby sister's hair. A hair color that Luffy didn't gain naturally and instead it bears a reminder of his failure in protecting his siblings, a reminder that his sister risked her life to save him, a reminder of when Luffy was attacked by a bear… a reminder that Luffy nearly died and could have left her brothers behind without even sailing away.

Ace continued to tease Luffy, making sure her attention was on him and not Sabo, who he was looking at from the corner of his eyes. The oldest siblings could see how his blond-haired brother was so deep in thought that he began to gain a dark aura, which worries him as Luffy is quite sensitive when it comes to emotion, so Sabo needed to get back to the present. The oldest raven-haired boy looked at his sister, who was blinking and then frowned in confusion, and this made him nervous because it meant that Luffy was aware that something was wrong.

The youngest sibling was about to turn around and look at Sabo when Makino came out through the back door which they all knew that leads to her living area. The sound of the door closing snapped Sabo out, while Ace and Luffy turned to look at Makino, the former in confusion while the latter was slowly grinning.

"Is it done? Is it done?" Luffy asked, jumping toward Makino, while Ace looked at Sabo, put his hand on the former noble's shoulder, and gripped it tightly.

"You okay, 'Bo?" Ace whispered and Sabo glanced at him before looking at Luffy.

"Not really… I just want to be assured that Luffy will be fine when we sail." He muttered. Ace narrows his eyes and slightly shakes his head.

"Liar… you were looking at Luffy's highlights again." He stated. Sabo bit his lips and then shakes his head. "We need to talk about that Sabo."

"No, we don't," Sabo muttered back, The Oldest D tried to speak but then he was cut off by someone else.

"Talk about what?" Luffy asked jumping towards them.

"Nothing, Lu." Sabo immediately stated, ignoring the slight glare Ace was giving him while Luffy merely blinked before nodding and then showing them a brown envelope. Seeing that both brothers blink, glanced at Makino, who merely smiled at them, then back at Luffy, who was vibrating in excitement. Sabo didn't wait for any second longer and grabbed the envelope, before opening it and took out two thin sheets, flipping them over and staring.

"Lu?" Ace asked when he saw a picture of the very image that Makino had taken just nearly half an hour ago. Sabo looked at his sister, who was glancing at the photos softly, and then at her brothers

"I asked Makino earlier to take a picture of the three of us so that the two of you can have something to remember me by…" The young preteen girl then reaches her hand out and touches Sabo's cheek. "I know that you can't forget about me… but this is more or less something to remind you that I'm alive."

"Luffy…" Sabo called out, his voice breaking.

"I know you, Sabo…" Luffy started. "You're still blaming yourself for what happened years ago… well… you and Ace." Luffy glanced at the oldest brother, who looked away, then back at Sabo. "No matter, how many times I told you that it's not your fault, you always blame yourself. It was my decision to save and help Sabo, so it will be my fault… but you always insist that it wasn't… and then you have the nightmares… you began to look at me, at my highlights, and then sometimes you have this expression that you fear that I'll disappear. So I thought, why don't you carry proof that I'm alive and that I'm with you even before you set sail..."

"I'm alive…" Luffy whispered, her thumb wiping the tear that slowly escaped Sabo's eyes. "I'm alive and when I'm 17, I'll sail away from Dawn Island and become a pirate."

She then reached out her other hand towards Ace, who pursed his lips before grabbing it, and once Luffy had his hand she pulled him closer, then made them lean down to her height followed by her leaning her forehead against theirs. "I'm alive… I'm safe… you protected me… what happened years ago is not your fault. Never will be… you are the best and most awesome big brothers I have."

"Luffy…" Ace whispered, gripping the hand that moved to his cheek tightly, Sabo sniffled as he gripped her hand as well. Meanwhile, Makino was watching them for a while before turning around and giving them the privacy they deserved. She knew that what happened to Luffy years ago was something the brothers blamed themselves for, even though it wasn't their fault. Half of it was Luffy because it was her decision, but most of the fault lies with the people who separated the siblings and who fired Sabo's ship when he tried to sail away.

"Remember this please…" Luffy whispered. "I decided to save Sabo and I'm alive, and the reason I'm alive is because of my brothers. And who is my brother? It's these two amazing people in front of me… so stop being dumbasses and blaming yourself please and keep in mind that I'm alive because of my Ace and Sabo, because of my brothers."

"I'm sorry Lu…" Sabo stated, hugging her tightly. "I know… I know…"

Luffy nuzzled against Sabo's chest, her left hand still on Ace's cheeks, who had tears flowing my his eyes.

"It's hard Luffy… It's so hard to do so when there's something to remind us of." Luffy gave a watery chuckle at Ace's statement.

"Silly Ace, I can't do something about it since whenever we cut it'll grow back immediately with the same appearance," Luffy stated making them laugh but it wasn't full of happiness, and then they separated. Luffy wiped her brothers' tears while her brothers leaned against her touch, their eyes on her face, imprinting her face in their brains as much as they could. And then Luffy moved her hand away from and moved towards the counter, while her brothers looked at the pictures once again, Sabo gave Ace his copy, who then began to trace Luffy's image on it.

"Still wanna talk about it?" Ace muttered and this made Sabo snort.

"Luffy already talk about it…" He stated and smiled at the image of his baby sister smiling brightly at them. "Looking at this picture more… I really don't want to bring it with us… I might damage it."

"Same… I'll probably lose though aside from damaging it," Ace mumbled. "We need something that will ensure that it'll be safe." Sabo hummed in thought before he and Ace looked up when they heard something.

"Ace!" Luffy cheered, in her hand was the box that was on the counter which she then presented to Ace, who blinked in confusion and then grabbed it.

"What's this?" He asked and shakes the box gently, he glanced at Luffy who was smiling at him excitedly, before tugging the ribbon from the top and then removing the top lid of the box.

"What is it?" Sabo asked, looking at the box over Ace's shoulder and pausing when he saw what was inside. "Is that a hat and a necklace?"

Ace removed the hat and a red beaded necklace from the box and let the box fall to the floor. He examined the hat first and realized that it was an orange cowboy hat with two blue smileys, one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down the sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels.

"The necklaces are from Dadan," Luffy said, grabbing the necklace, unclasping the lock it has, and then fastening it once it's wrapped around Ace's neck. "The accessories above the rim of the hat are from Makino… and the hat is from me."

The young D then put the hat over Ace's head and stepped back beaming at how it looked perfect for her older brother. "Something to remember us by…"

"I already have a picture of yours…" Ace mumbled, and Luffy giggled.

"Yep, but Ace will hide the picture because you will always hide the things that you treasure, more so if they're fragile." She stated and then looked at Sabo while Ace flushed slightly. "Sabo…"

The blond-haired brother looked at her and smiled. "Yeah?"

Luffy looked at Makino, who came back once the siblings composed themselves and is currently holding a long-wrapped-up gift. The youngest raven-haired siblings grabbed the gift and then presented it to Sabo, who didn't hesitate in unwrapping it and blinked at the sight of a pipe. He glanced at Luffy, then at his gift, before giving his palm with a light tap using the pipe and winced slightly at the pain he received.

"That pipe is made out of carbon steel and sea stone, so it should last long enough and shouldn't take any damage at all, and will help you fight against Devil Fruit Users… or at least that's what Tou-san said," Luffy stated. "I asked him to make it for you months ago, and he also said that it actually weighs a lot, and thus just a single or light tap can already give you pain."

"But it doesn't seem to be that heavy," Sabo stated, Makino then decided to pipe in.

"It's actually heavy." She said and waved her hand at them when they all turned to look at her. "Luffy helped me with the pain. And you probably haven't noticed how heavy it is considering how strong you guys are."

Sabo hummed at that and looked at Ace, who backed away from him immediately.

"Don't you fucking dare." Ace snarled, wishing he had the picnic basket in his hand as that was where the knife that Luffy gave to him on his birthday is currently at. Sabo pouted at him as he pointed his pipe toward him.

"Why not? You tested your knife against me."

"But my knife didn't land a hit to you during that spar, and according to Luf, your pipe weighs a fucking ton… I won't go anywhere near you until I have my knife or my pipe with me."

"Bohooo!"

Makino and Luffy giggled as the brothers quarreled with each other again. Luffy beamed when they no longer had the dark aura that they had earlier, but then she knew it was only temporary as they might actually decide to be idiots again once they sailed away.

"Oh! Before I forgot…" Makino stated, went behind her bar, and grabbed a paper that was on one of the cabinets below it. "You guys need to have the number of our den-den mushi."

Ace and Sabo blinked at that and glanced at Luffy, who was smiling understandingly, then at Makino, who was about to write the said number when she realized that it was all silent and looked back at them.

"We…" Ace started, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We decided not to have the number of the den-den mushi." Sabo finished and this made Makino gape and straighten, waiting for the explanation of why they didn't want to have it. It didn't take too long as Sabo went ahead and explained. "It's not like we don't want to have it… it's more like…. It's something that will hopefully keep you safe."

"Yeah… Sabo and I decided that we want to avoid any connections to anyone here so that no one will know about you guys, especially if they're our enemies." At that statement, Makino looked at her boys and saw how sad yet determined they were, she then looked at Luffy, who was beaming at her brothers yet had a sad aura. She looked back at the brothers again and realized that her boys had a point, and while it was sad, it was one way to keep them, Luffy especially, safe.

"Alright… I do hope you will send letters once in a while." Makino said and watched as the siblings bid her goodnight and then left the bar, the brothers walking behind their sister protectively. The bar maiden can see Ace putting on the necklace and then his hat, beaming brightly at Luffy when she turns to look at him with a smile.

"Ace, Sabo!" Makino called out just before they passed through the door. She smiled at them and knew that she needed to say this to them as she had this feeling that she wouldn't be able to do so by tomorrow. "Safe sail!"

At that, the brothers beamed at her as their sister giggled. "Thanks, Makino!"

Sabo closed the door behind them gently and then followed after his siblings, who were waiting for him. Luffy grabbed his hand, while her other hand was already holding Ace's, and then they were on their way back to the forest. Luffy giggled as she swayed their joined hands, humming once in a while as she listened to the voices of her brother.

~The next day, early dawn~

"Are you sure you don't want to go with us?" Ace asked once more, standing at their ship and looking at Luffy, who was standing on the coast side of the island. The young-raven-haired girl merely giggled as the bandits and Dandan stood behind her.

"I'll be okay, Ace…" Luffy said while Sabo came out from the cabin of their three-man ship and looked at her. The youngest D looked at him when she felt something within him starting to waver.

"Luffy…" Sabo said, reaching a hand out towards her. Luffy blinked at the gesture before giggling and jumping down to the ship, hugging him tightly the moment she landed. Sabo froze slightly, before closing his eyes and hugging her just as tight, while Ace stayed still for a few seconds before going and then patted Sabo's shoulder. A few moments later, Sabo pulled back and then let Ace do the same, however, the oldest brother was hugging her tightly as if his life depended on it.

"Stay safe, Lu…" Ace whispered as he let go of Luffy, who nodded and then immediately jumped back to the coast, not wanting her brothers to grab her so that she could sail with them. Ace and Sabo knew the reason for her action and they were very much tempted to grab her, but they merely clenched their hands and smiled at Luffy, before lowering the sails and letting the wind lead them away from Dawn Island.

"See you in two years!" Luffy shouted as she waved while the bandits waved their hands and shouted their goodbyes, her brothers waved back at them. Luffy lowered her hands and clapped them together, closed her eyes, and prayed.

"They'll be okay little D. We'll take care of your siblings." Luffy smiled and then opened her eyes once more, and watched as the ship went further and further away from them.

~Two Weeks Later~

"What do you mean they sailed away?!" Garp shouted as he looked at Dadan in shock, said Leader of Mountain grunts at him.

"The two brats left two weeks ago at dawn, and the only reason we found out is because Luffy came here all alone, without the Mama Bears behind her." Dadan lied, looking as the Vice-Admiral went red before sighing heavily and then asking.

"Where's Luffy right now?" Dadan shrugs in response.

"Ever since her brothers left, she's been heading towards the forest after breakfast and then comes back for dinner." Garps nods at that before turning around left. He looked around before closing his eyes and stretched his Kenbunshoku Haki throughout the island to search for his blood granddaughter, then released it upon finding out that Luffy was in the middle of the forest. He then went in the direction where he knew Luffy would be, scowling heavily.

'I should visit them a bit earlier.' Garp grumbled, annoyed that his two grandsons had decided to become pirates. The good thing is that they left Luffy behind, which means he will have plenty of time to convince her to become a Marine. The Vice-Admiral perked up slightly at the thought of having his granddaughter as a marine, he even went as far as thinking about Luffy's possible ranking when suddenly he heard a growl, which he knew was coming from one of the Lords. The noise made him pause and look over his shoulder, frowning when there was nothing before spreading his Kenbunshoku Haki once more to check out where the noise was coming from.

Garp's frown deepen when he realized that his granddaughter's presence was actually where the growl was coming from. He tsk-ed, before immediately running toward where Luffy was, hoping that the brat wasn't fighting against the Lord, but the chances of that were low, especially when he knew that his grandkids like to fight and test their strength against those beasts. He was nearing a clearing where he felt Luffy and the beast when he noticed something was floating in the area and this made him pause.

Garp began to walk toward the clearing instead of running and noticed a few things about those floaters… one is that the floaters were multiple white fireballs, two instead of getting burned Garp felt nothing when touching the fireballs despite being made of fire, and lastly… the peculiar flames are surrounding his granddaughter and the growling, wounded Tiger Lord. The Hero of the Marines narrowed his eyes further before they widened when he saw that, instead of fighting, Luffy was kneeling right in front of the huge wound the Tiger had and the fireballs were hovering over her, then sinking into the bleeding flesh when his granddaughter made some sort of gesture.

Garp blinked further when the Tiger whimpered and turned its head towards Luffy, huffing. Luffy merely looked up and merely smiled at the beast, before focusing back on the wound. The current Patriarch of the Monkey Family focused his attention further on the wound that Luffy was kneeling at, before gaping when slowly the skin began to knit itself as more fireball began to sink into the wound. As the wound slowly healed, Garp knew that there was only one explanation for why this was happening and that was because of a devil fruit… his precious granddaughter had become a devil fruit user without him knowing… and it could mean that this happened between his last visit, which was before Ace's birthday, and now.

"Just a bit more…" Luffy mumbled, before freezing, and swerving her head in Garp's direction, eyes widened when she saw her grandfather standing there, even making eye contact. The young raven-haired girl bit her bottom lip before focusing her eyes back on the wound, silently berating herself for letting her guard down even though she knew it was something she shouldn't have done, especially without her brothers around. Garp jaw dropped when his granddaughter ignored him even though they made eye contact, he closed his mouth and then exhaled deeply before taking a step towards the clearing, followed by another, and then he continued heading towards his granddaughter.

Luffy kept quiet despite hearing her grandfather's footsteps, urging the fireballs around her to hurry, and then at the same time she tried to listen to the 'Voice' to get advice from them on her current situation but there was no response from them, the Sky, the Sea, and the Island, however, muttered their assurance, that it was fine for her to trust her grandfather though not too much.

"Calm little one…" The Sea muttered while the Island hummed underneath Luffy's foot. "Everything is okay…"

"Luffy," Garp called out, a few feet away from his granddaughter, who sighed and looked at him with no emotion at all. The preteen girl loves her grandfather, however, when she thought about her brothers, her Tou-san, Shanks and his crew, and Makino, she couldn't help but differentiate their ways of raising her (and her brothers too in Makino and Dragon's case) to Garp's. And it hurts when she knew how different it was… sure she would smile at her grandfather whenever he was around but her brothers were also around as well, and now that they weren't present… Luffy couldn't help but fear him despite being blood-related.

"Smile little one… think of your brothers." The Wind mumbled, ruffling her hair and this made her smile and greet Garp happily but it didn't hold the same enthusiasm when her brothers were around.

"Grandpa!" Luffy stated as the wound in front of her fully healed and the Tiger slowly moved its head towards her, nudging her gently to get her attention. Garp blinked at the greeting, having this gut feeling that it seemed wrong to see on his granddaughter's face, but he was distracted by how the Tiger Lord acted, even more so when it kept its eyes on him. Garp blinked again, before focusing his eyes on Luffy, who was fondly rubbing the tiger's nose.

"What was that?" Garp asked, and this made Luffy look at him innocently.

"What was what, Grandpa?" She asked, trying her best to appear ignorant in front of him and it seemed to work as Garp sighed and kneeled in front of her.

"Those white fireballs are the ones that sink into this tiger's wound and heal it."

"Oh…" Luffy started before smiling. "I don't know. It just appeared one day and hasn't disappeared ever since." Garp's eyebrows furrowed and then he asked.

"Did you by any chance eat something weird? Something that makes you want to puke? If you did when?" Luffy hummed in thought, moving away from the tiger, who whined in sadness, actually enjoying the caressing Luffy was giving to him. Luffy stalled in answering Garp for a few minutes before sighing internally and then answering.

"I did eat something terrible a few weeks after Ace's birthday…"

"And did the fireballs appear that time?"

"Nope…" Luffy shakes her head. "They appeared after Ace and Sabo left!" Hearing about her brothers, Garp's eyebrow twitched, before blinking and focusing back on Luffy.

"What?"

"Yep!" Luffy nodded, not knowing that her answer sealed her future, a future that the Voices didn't know despite being everything. "They appeared two days after Ace and Sabo left."

"...Are you sure?" Garp gaped when his granddaughter nodded again in agreement. He glances once more at the spot where the wound was and his gape turns into a grin when it only shows blood and no torn skin is seen. Luffy activated her fruit's ability just recently and within just a couple of weeks she managed to heal a gigantic wound without any prior knowledge. With that knowledge in mind, he turned and looked at Luffy again, while said granddaughter went back on patting the tiger, beaming in pride.

"Bwahahahaha!" Garp laughed and then leaned down, grabbing Luffy by the waist, ignoring the Tiger's growl, then raised her. "I'm so proud of you Luffy!"

"Gramps?" Luffy tilts her head in confusion, Garps puts her down immediately and punches her head. "Ow!"

"It's Grandpa!" Garp gritted out, ignoring the tiger's snarl, while Luffy whimpered as the Wind blew harder, while the land trembled, as the Sky slowly darkened and the Sea sent huge waves to the coast. Garp calmed down immediately, and beamed once more at Luffy, completely ignoring that he just hit his granddaughter. "Luffy, did you know what that was?"

"No…" Luffy whimpered, rubbing her head and stalling her devil fruit's ability to heal her bump.

"What you have is known as Devil Fruit, it tastes disgusting but it can give you permanent supernatural abilities that no other human could have… however in turn you will lose the ability to swim and will be weak against water. The only water where you will be okay is if it's 'moving water'."

Luffy made a humming sound, removed her hand from her head, and went back to petting the Tiger Lord. Garp gapes before face-palming when his granddaughter completely appears so disinterested in the knowledge he just shared. He forgot that Luffy has a short attention span, and it's hard to get her attention back again. He sighed in the end and merely grinned at his granddaughter, who continued to play with the Tiger, he is so proud of Luffy and he can't wait to boast about it.

~Marineford, Fleet Admiral's Office, Two Months later~

Tsuru narrowed her eyes when she saw how Garp was so giddy with excitement. Her fellow Vice-Admiral officer just came back from nearly two months of vacation, and it's the longest vacation that Garp requested.

"How's your vacation, Garp?" Sengoku, who was fixing his papers asked, before looking up at said Vice-Admiral, who was beaming.

"Bwahahaha! I'm so proud of my granddaughter!" He stated, and this made Tsuru and Sengoku blink. It was only the three of them in the room, drinking and eating crackers.

"Oh. Was she reasons that you extended your vacation?" Sengoku asked.

"Of course! Reason one is because Luffy's birthday was a month ago, so we celebrate that…" Garp munched a cracker as Tsuru and Sengoku narrowed their eyes at him. "And then the other one, which is the one time-consuming one, is me training her!"

"You trained your granddaughter?" Tsuru narrowed her eyes, she knew how Garp trains recruits and if by any chance this old man trained his granddaughter the same way he did with the recruits then there would be hell to pay. Garp paused and gulped, before nervously looking at the Female Vice-Admiral knowing exactly that she disapproved of his way of training.

"Bwaha…ha…ha…" He laughed weakly, Tsuru sighed in defeat and swore to herself that she would make Garp suffer later.

"I swear, you were born just to make your grandchild suffer." Tsuru sighed deeply.

"Hey! Luffy enjoyed her birthday with me!" Garp protested. Sengoku sighed as the two Vice-Admirals began to quarrel with each other again. He let it continue for a couple of minutes before clearing his throat and looking at them with narrowed eyes.

"Enough." He stated when they turned to look at him. "Tsuru, your mission."

"..." The Great Staff Officer sighed, before standing up and walking towards the door. "Gotcha."

The Fleet Admiral and the Hero of the Marines watched her go, the latter munching another cracker. When the door closed behind Tsuru, Sengoku looked at Garp.

"Are you familiar with the two upstart rookies?" The Fleet Admiral asked and he inwardly smirked when his friend stopped eating and looked at him. He merely laid down two wanted posters on the table and grinned when Garp popped multiple veins around his head.

"Those brats!" He shouted, slamming his hands on the table, glaring at the smirking picture of Ace and Sabo. Ace's wanted poster is a close-up of him looking directly at the camera, with a hat, that he hasn't seen before, tilted to the side, covering one eye of his and showing a few fringes of his black hair, smirking at the person in front of him. In the background was a destroyed Marine building, smoke still coming out from a few parts of it.

Sabo's wanted poster was showing him sitting on a crumbled wall of the building, and a few unconscious marines found him, his tophat was on his head, but it was tilted back and showing his blond hair. His left foot was up and placed on the area he was sitting on, making him lean his left arm on his left kneecap, the other leg was hanging from his spot, and his right hand was holding a pipe that he hadn't seen before as well. Both posters have 'Dead or Alive' with the same bounty of 25,000,000 berries, though the Vice-Admiral had to blink when he saw the names.

Portgas D. Ace and Portgas D. Sabo were glaring at him brightly. He felt a slight twitch in his mouth, slightly proud of his grandsons and at the thought that Sabo was adopting Ace's last name. Though his eyebrow twitched once more when he saw the images again and growled once more.

"Damn those brats…"

"Looks like you have another headache, Garp," Sengoku smirked. Said Vice-Admiral snapped his head towards him and grunted, but then Sengoku sighed. "I honestly thought that you would have your grandchildren as Marines but now you have other family members as outlaws again."

"..." Garp remained quiet but looked sullen. This made Sengoku sweatdrop and then sighed, deciding that he should change the subject as this is a difficult subject for his friend.

"By the way, why are you so proud of your granddaughter?" At that question, Garp beamed at him and laughed again.

"Hear this Senny…" Garp started. "My dear Luffy ate a devil fruit!"

"..." Sengolu blinked before closing his eyes and gritted out. "Garp… I don't think having your Granddaughter eat a Devil Fruit is something to be proud of."

"Of course there is!" Garp denied while the Fleet Admiral looked at his incredulity, and the Older Monkey D could see that and thus he added. "Senny! It's not every day that you can see someone control a devil fruit's ability in a matter of weeks, two weeks to be precise!"

"..." Sengoku blinked and silently wished that he shouldn't send Tsuru away so that he wouldn't be the only one to suffer in this insanity. "What?" He muttered, and then Garp told him about Luffy's devil fruit, though his friend wondered how much of it was the truth and how much of it was an exaggeration.

"...You mean to say, that your granddaughter ate a devil fruit and wasn't able to use its ability until her brother left?"

"Yep!" Garp smiled while the Fleet Admiral rubbed his temple.

"Garp… that's highly impossible." The Hero of the Marines pouted at that.

"Well, it's the truth. Luffy couldn't lie to save her skin. She sucks at it." At that, Sengoku hummed, rubbing his chin, thinking. If Garp's granddaughter managed to control her devil fruit's ability within a couple of weeks of exposure then she might be something else, no one can control their devil fruit within a single use, it will take months to years to fully control a devil fruit, more so if the aim was to have it awaken.

"Do you know what her devil fruit was?" He asked, thinking that the reason why Luffy was able to control her abilities so quickly was because the fruit she'd eaten was something easy to control… but if it was not, then she was a prodigy and someone they would need in their ranks. And If so… Sengoku needs her, now.

"Nah." Garp shakes his head. "Luffy couldn't remember what it was that she ate, all we know is that her fruit is fire and healing base."

"Hmm…" The Fleet Admiral hummed before nodding and standing up. "I'll take a look into her fruit if what you saying is true… if she's able to control her fruit's ability within a matter of weeks and without any prior knowledge nor experiencing any side effects… then she's useful in our ranks."

Garp froze at that statement and watched as the Fleet Admiral headed toward the door. "What do you mean by that, Senny?"

"Garp… your son had become the World's Worst Criminal, your grandsons had turned into Pirates, why would you think your granddaughter wouldn't be one as well?" Sengoku stopped by the door, inhaling and then exhaling, before turning to look at his friend once more. "So this time… I'm going to ensure that your granddaughter will be a marine."

"...Wha…. hold on!" Garp immediately stood up, but the Hito Hito no Mi user was already out the door, which was soon closed. "SENNY! WAIT!"

Garp ran and opened the door but the Fleet Admiral was no longer in sight. He ran in the direction where he guessed Sengoku went but no sign of him, Garp even went as far as using his Haki and the Marines loitering around, but he couldn't feel his friend at all, and the officers were denying seeing the Fleet Admiral. Garp only gave up on searching for Sengoku when he arrived at the Library, where he thought the Fleet Admiral would be since he said that he would search for information about Luffy's fruit, but he wasn't there. The Vice-Admiral paled and his hand trembled before he clenched it, followed by closing his eyes as he began to wonder… what has he done?

~Three hours Later, Pangaea Castle, Mariejois~

Sengoku walked through the hallway of the Palace, on his way to meet up with the Gorosei, with a slightly heavy heart, however, he was still determined to have his friend's granddaughter be in the ranks of the Marine, no matter what it takes (In the end, the Fleet Admiral will feel pride and satisfaction as he realized that Luffy's presence and abilities had brought glory to them and positively affect them (though he didn't know what kind of positiveness it was when it comes to the Gorosei until it was too late) though he is ashamed and even regret on how he had the young girl brought in their headquarters).

Sengoku paused and looked at the door in front of him before knowing and immediately went inside when he heard an affirmation from the inside. Upon entry, the Fleet Admiral could see that all of the Elders were present, slouching slightly, and talking with one another but they paused when he arrived and put all of their attention on him.

"What brings you here, Fleet Admiral?" The First Elder asked. Sengoku eyed them all and opened his mouth.

"Apologies for disturbing you," He started. "But I would like to know if you're familiar with a devil fruit that gives the user the ability to control white flame balls which can heal any sort of injuries?"

The Elders immediately straightened up at his question and narrowed their eyes at him. Saturn, the Elder who had a scar on the left side of his face, asked. "White Flames? We may have heard about it why did you bring it up?"

For some reason, the question gave the Fleet Admiral a shudder but he pushed and said. "I would like to gain information about this fruit."

"Why?"

"... I have received information that a pre-teenage girl has this ability, and since the young girl was unaware of this ability until recently, I want to know if it's dangerous."

"What? Are you sure?" The Fourth Elder, the one with a bald head and a large nevus flammeus spots on his forehead and a large white mustache, nearly shouted as the rest nearly grinned in anticipation. "How accurate is that information of yours?"

"... The girl is Monkey D. Luffy, granddaughter of Monkey D. Garp…" Sengoku hesitated but when he remembered the reason why he continued, he went and said. "The information came from Garp himself."

The Gorosei looked at one another before the bald elder with glasses cleared his throat and looked at him. "Aside from that is there any other information about the girl's ability?"

"Unfortunately… that was all the information Garp could get out from his granddaughter."

"...Then we might be in a dire situation." The Third Elder started.

"What do you mean?"

"We know a devil fruit that holds something similar to the ability you just mentioned… and if it's that fruit then… we need to get hold of the user."

"Why would we be in a dire situation?" Sengoku asked again as the Third Elder merely gave an answer that didn't explain anything.

"We'll discuss this matter further once we have confirmed if it's truly the fruit that we have in mind… however, let's put it this way. If it is the fruit, then whoever grabs hold of the user can dominate the world and destroy it or save it."

Sengoku gulped at that, before nodding. "Then we will bring the girl here."

"It is now an order, Sengoku…" Saturn said. "Monkey D. Luffy will be brought to Marineford and then Mariejoi, no matter what the cost is."

~Two days later, Marineford~

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, SENGOKU?!" Garp roared slamming the paper that he was reading at the table, while Tsuru frowned at the Fleet Admiral, who merely looked at them, blankly.

"What part of you confuse of, Vice-Admiral Garp?" Garp flinched back and gritted his teeth. "The retrieval order given by the Gorosei is clear. 'Monkey D. Luffy, the granddaughter of Vice-Admiral Garp, will be taken from her island, use any necessary forces if the target persists, and will be brought to Marineford for an examination of her devil fruit."

"For her Devil Fruit?" Tsuru wondered, but Garp growled.

"Use any necessary forces? What do you mean by that, huh?!"

"..." Tsuru glanced at the written order once more and narrowed her eyes before stating. "'Vice-Admiral Garp is given a special order… he will not be designated for the retrieval, he can go with the team, however, he is to merely accompany the team to the island and back to the HQ. Disciplinary actions will be taken should he disobey.'" Garp gaped at Tsuru before going back to the paper and reading the exact order that she just stated.

"Isn't this too much, Fleet Admiral?" Tsuru glared, but Sengoku merely leaned back on his chair and stated.

"Considering that the devil fruit that Garp's granddaughter has might end the world, it's definitely necessary."

"..." Garp crumpled the paper on his hand before throwing it to the ground. "Luffy's devil fruit is nothing like that!"

"Unless we can prove that her devil fruit is not the one the Gorosei had in mind, we will take any necessary actions." The Fleet Admiral glared at him. "You better watch your actions from now on, Garp. You can't contact or speak to the people on the island. I let the two of you know for old-time sake, but this order will commence in four days."

"Sengoku!"

"Leave. Now." Garp gritted his teeth once more, before turning around and heading to the door, slamming it close once he was out of the room. Sengoku sighed before turning to look at Tsuru, who merely looked at him disappointedly.

"You've changed…" She started, before putting the order down and heading to the door. "Rosinante would be disappointed with you."

Her statement shocked the Fleet Admiral, but before he could say anything in response, she was already gone and thus he left all alone. Tsuru shakes her head once she is out of the room before going and following Garp, knowing that he will be rampaging because of the order that was given. However, she couldn't help but wonder, what exactly is the devil fruit that Luffy has that the World Government decided it was necessary to use 'force' just so that she could be brought here to their base.

"Garp and his mouth," Tsuru muttered.

~Four days later, Unknown POV~

"I heard that you were the one chosen for the brat's retrieval mission?"

"Yes sir!"

"This is the information that we manage to gather, it might come in handy."

"Thank you, sir…"

"Also… use this…"

"...Are you sure sir?"

"Once you have the brat, use that immediately… punish the people who dared to hide the Daughter of Revolutionary Dragon."

"Daughter of Revolutionary Dragon… *shuffling of papers* *growl* yes sir."

~A week and a half later, Dawn Island~

A 14-year-old Luffy hums happily as she jumps on the rocks and swings through the trees, on her way to visit the Fuusha Village for any information about her brothers, who left her when she was still 13, a week after Sabo's Birthday and that was nearly 4 months ago. And as far as she knew her older brothers were enjoying the piracy life and wreaking havoc for the Marines to fix. Remembering the last news she heard her brother had done, Luffy giggled and thought that she was lucky her Gramps still hadn't visited her after that particular news, because if he did then she would receive a very painful fist of love.

"LUFFFFYY! DAMN IT! WAIT UP YOU MONKEY BRATT!" A loud voice shouted behind her, which made the said Monkey stop and look down behind her where she could see Dandan and her family running after her.

"Shishishishi! You need to keep up Dandan! You need to lose some weight~!" She giggled as her other mother figure glared and snarled at her.

"What was that you, brat?!"

"Boss, calm down!"

"Boss!"

The Dandan Bandits said, trying to calm their raging leader, who was cursing the raven-haired teenage girl, who had her knees hooked on the tree branch as she looked at them upside down. Luffy giggled as Dandan shouted at her before lifting her body and standing on the tree branch and looking at where the Fuusha Village was, blinking when she noticed a ship heading towards the port. Due to the flag and the symbol on the sail, it is obviously a Marine Ship but what made her blink is due to the lack of the dog figure her Gramps had on his ship. If it's not her Gramps but a colleague, does that mean that something happens to Gramps?!

"Dandan!" She shouted as she turned to look at them. This made the leader stop struggling, hearing the urgent tone in her voice. "A Marine ship is coming at the Portside of Fuusha, and it's not Gramps'!"

That made everyone with her blink before they ran down the path towards the village, with Luffy swinging and jumping through the trees. When they broke through the edge of the Forest, the ship had already anchored at the port side. Luffy, however, paused at what she was seeing, followed by the Dandan Bandits. The Marines that were disembarking from the ships had their guns out and laid out across their body, some of the Marines even had their hands on the hilts of their swords.

The villagers of Fuusha were crowding in front of the Marines, the mayor was seen talking to the buff one at the very front. Makino was standing behind the mayor, her face frowning as if disagreeing with the Marine and agreeing with the mayor. Tilting her head to the side the raven-haired girl, realized that the man they were talking to was a Marine Captain, who was sneering.

"What's going on?" Dandan asked her, making Luffy shrug and head toward the villagers, they arrived at the last line of the crowd just in time to see the Captain gesturing to one of his men, who was holding a torch, to hand it over before he threw it at one of the houses. Everyone screamed in enraged as the Mayor started to wave his cane.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked, grabbing hold of one of the villager's arms. The man turned to look at her, eyes widening upon seeing her before pulling Luffy in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked harshly and with a hint of concern, Luffy blinked and went to answer but then she heard the Captain shouting, which made both of them look at the front.

"I asked you where Vice-Admiral Garp's Granddaughter is! If you don't want us to burn more of your house or hurt one of you, you tell us where the brat is!"

"And we told you that we won't tell you unless you tell us the reason why, or let us call the Vice-Admiral! Also, why would you burn or hurt us?! Aren't you marines supposed to protect us?!"

"PWEH! Protect you? This village is nothing! Now give us the brat!" The Captain then unsheathed his sword and swung it towards the mayor, who dodged it just in time.

"Mayor!" Everyone shouted as they, including Luffy and the Bandits, crowded and stood behind him. The very person the Marines were searching for pushed through the front and kneeled as did Makino.

"Mayor…" Luffy called out softly as the old man rubbed his back, Makino and some of the villagers, who noticed her, snapped their eyes towards Luffy but before anything could be said the Captain seemed to have enough.

"That's it! Unless you tell us where the girl is, we will burn the houses, and anyone who stands in our way will be hurt!" With that stated, the Marines began to throw some torches. The village men tried to stop them but were either injured by the sword or got nick with the Marine Bullets.

"STOP THIS CAPTAIN!"

"YEAH! PLEASE STOP!"

Everyone shouted while Luffy told the bandits to lead the injured back to their circle so that she could help them with the wounds, when suddenly two more people stepped down from the gangplank and headed towards the starting edge of the fort. The villagers stopped shouting and looked at the new arrivals, including Luffy and the bandits, the former was wiping and touching an injured man's arm and the latter was surrounding her.

Everybody gasps or gapes as the very person who was supposed to protect their village was merely standing there, doing nothing but merely looking at the ground. Makino stood up, as well as the Mayor, and looked at him with disbelief.

"Oi, Garp! What is the meaning of this?!" Dandan suddenly asked as she stood in front of Luffy, blocking her from the marine's view. From the looks of it, the Marines were after her, and it sure as hell that she wouldn't let them take her daughter's figure away unless they told them the reason why and an explanation for going this far. But the Vice-Admiral ignored her, going as far as moving his head to the side.

"Garp-san!"

"Garp!" Everybody shouted, taking a step forward but still covering Luffy as they all had the same mindset as Dandan. There is no way the Marines will take the village's joy! This also had nothing to do with the fact of what certain bro-cons would do to them should something happen to her. Unfortunately for them, the Marine Captain noticed that they were hiding someone in the circle they created, which made him narrow his eyes and look at the pretty dark-green-haired woman, who was the only person who had the guts to step away from the line they created as they all asked questions at the Vice-Admiral.

'It's pointless.' The Marine thought. 'The Vice-Admiral isn't designated for this mission, and he can't answer you due to the orders. That's what you get for being a loyal dog but a blabbermouth, Vice-Admiral.' He added with dark amusement before an idea popped into his head. A horrible idea but a worthy one to let the girl out, he fingered his hilt as he looked at the woman at the very front.

Luffy, however, was breathing heavily. Looking around the village that was once her home, before she was dumped in the bandit house. Panting, Luffy thought how did it turn like this? She was just planning to visit Makino and the others together with Dandan and her family… That was it… a visit… so why is there blood everywhere? Why are some people injured… why is there fire… Fire… there's fire… too much fire… Wait… Gramps is there…. SO WHY IS HE NOT DOING ANYTHING?! WHY?!

"Kyaaa!" Makino screamed as she fell to the ground, holding her bleeding cheek. Luffy gasped, snapping out before she could have a panic attack, and turned to the front. Seeing her down on the ground, Luffy stood up before running around the people in front of her and then towards Makino, who was trembling at the sight of the Marine holding the sword that injured her, ignoring the hands that tried to grab her.

"Makino!" Luffy shouted as she skidded and kneeled beside her mother figure.

"Luffy…" Makino gasps as she turns to look at Luffy, who hushes her and touches the bleeding wound.

"So you're Monkey D. Luffy." A gruff voice stated, which made the said D look up, eyes widening upon seeing a Marine Captain, sneering at the sight. "We have an order from the higher-ups to take you from this place and ship you to the Marine HQ."

All those who heard his statement had their eyes widened before they all turned to look at the Vice Admiral who was supposed to protect them yet did nothing as his colleague burned some of the houses, and injured some of the villages and Makino. Hearing Luffy's name, made the Marines, who were harming the peaceful village, stop and then stand behind the Captain, blocking the way towards Garp but not their view of each other.

"What? What is this Gramps/Garp/Garp-san?!" They all shouted, shocked at the revelation. But the Vice Admiral did nothing but turn away from them.

"The boys who came from this island, Portgas D. Ace and Outlook Sabo, they're your brothers, aren't they?" The Marine Captain continued, this made Luffy flinch and look at him. When she saw the dark grin he was wearing, Luffy knew that she would have to break some promises she treasured.

"If you don't come with us, the Gorosei will order for all of the Marines to attack the ship your brothers are in and they cannot be saved, no matter how many times they will try to run."

"What…?" Luffy whispered.

"What is the meaning of this, GARP?!" Dandan asked as she stood behind the brat she tried to raise.

"Also… we will kill anyone dear to you should you resist us."

"HOLD ON!" Makino shouted, standing up, and taking a couple of steps forward as the wound she received was nothing more but a scar. "Why would you do that to a 14-year-old girl who didn't even do anything?! What are you going to do with her?!" This made the Captain glare at her before saying, grinning darkly.

"It's a direct order from the Fleet Admiral and the Gorosei… and since you're not the one we're after, it's none of your business!"

SLAP!

"Makino!" Everyone standing behind Luffy shouted as Makino was slapped by the Marine. Luffy stood up and headed towards the dark-green-haired woman when her arms were grasped by the Marine Captain, rather tightly.

"Let me go!" Luffy said, struggling, while Garp glanced over his shoulder when he saw his granddaughter at the hand of the Marine Captain, he closed his eyes regretfully before straightening up and saying.

"Let's go."

"AYE SIR!" The Marines saluted as they followed after the Vice-Admiral, Luffy continued to struggle against the hand that was holding her.

"Wait! Luffy!" Everyone shouted as they all prepared to stand up and go after the man holding the sunshine of their village when suddenly the Marines that boarded the ship pointed their guns at them.

"ENOUGH YOU BRAT!" The Marine Captain shouted as he let go of Luffy and slapped her in the face, even going as far as using Haki, which made Luffy's eyes widen when she fell and felt blood dripping out of her mouth, and her cheek was swelling when she touched it. She then winced in pain when her hair was grabbed rather painfully and made her watch the villagers.

"Look here you brat!" The Captain grunted. "If you don't cooperate with us, then we will shoot everyone in this town before we go after your brothers and make you watch as we kill them in front of you."

"What…?" No… no…

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS! WE DIDN'T COME HERE TO KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE!" Garp shouted but he was already at the ship. The Marine Captain merely waves his concern.

"Your orders were to accompany us to your village and back to the HQ, Vice-Admiral. I am the leader of this Retrieval Operation and thus you don't have a say in this."

"THEY'RE INNOCENT PEOPLE!"

"And learn your position for this Mission, Vice-Admiral!" This shut up Garp, though some Marines did lower their guns, the Captain merely ignored them and turned at the shaking Luffy.

"Are you going to cooperate with us now?" He sneered as Luffy shook her head, making him grunt.

"Ready to fire!" Hearing that and the guns clicking their safetys off, Luffy snapped and shouted.

"NOOO!" Everyone then glances at her as she sobs. "I WILL DO ANYTHING AS LONG AS YOU STAY AWAY FROM THEM! AS LONG AS YOU STAY AWAY FROM THIS VILLAGE AND MY BROTHERS!" This made the village gasp while the Marines lowered their guns as the Captain grinned in triumph and dragged her away, letting her treasured straw hat fly down to the kneeling Makino who shouted.

"LUFFFYYY!"

~In the Ship~

The Marine Captain threw Luffy inside a random quarter before entering and closing the door behind him. He glared at her when she suddenly tried to run towards the door, which he stopped by grabbing her arms and slapping her in the face once more.

"Behave you damn brat!"

"No! Let me out of this room!" Luffy shouted, not wanting to be alone with a man who had hurt her mother figure

"Tsk, annoying kid." He mumbled, before rummaging around his cloak and then pulling out a den-den mushi... a golden den-den mushi. Luffy paled, recognizing its symbol and meaning, her expression made the Marine grin.

"Recognize this don't you?" He waved it in front of her. "Ya know... Admiral Sakazuki gave this to me... he wanted me to order a buster call to the island that raised you..."

"B-buster call?" She whispered before glaring darkly. "You didn't tell me that earlier to threaten me…"

"Oh… it was a threat, however, I plan to still use this even if you came with us or not." He waved his hand dismissively, watching the young teen's reaction, said teen was gritting her teeth.

"Don't you dare... DON'T YOU DARE PRESS THAT BUTTON!"

"Why not, brat?"

"BECAUSE YOUR A MARINE AND MARINES KEEP THEIR WORD! I TOLD YOU THAT I WILL DO ANYTHING AS LONG AS YOU STAY AWAY FROM THE VILLAGE AND MY BROTHERS!" She screamed, before running towards the den-den mushi. The Marine captain immediately avoids her, sneering at her.

"Oh, but I am staying away from them... I'm not the one hurting them after all." He then carelessly, and eagerly, pressed the button before dropping it on the floor. The young raven-haired teen paled as she realized what had just happened.

"Too bad we can't have the front row view as it will take at least 2 hours for the fleet to arrive here considering how far this place is to the other bases and the roaming ships aren't near here either." He then grinned as the young girl fell to her knees, shaking her head.

"No... No... NOOO!" Luffy shouted, suddenly standing up and running towards the door and out of the room. The captain blinked, not expecting this before gritting his teeth in anger and following after her, but she was already at the side of the ship.

"MAKINOOOO!" Luffy shouted as she leaned over the railings of the ship, watching as the villagers tried to stop the fire of the burning houses, watching as Makino and Dandan, her mother figures, ran towards the wooden pier of the port when they heard her voice.

"LUFFY!" They both shouted.

"RUN! Run and sail away from the island!" She shouted ignoring how the marines on the ship were paying all attention to her words and how close the captain was to her. "BUSTER CALL! A BUSTER CALL HAD BEEN CALLED FOR DAWN ISLAND! RUNNN!"

Everyone in the village who heard her gasped and paled in shock before roaring in anger as they saw the Marine Captain grabbing Luffy's hair. The last thing they saw was him slapping Luffy in the face before the aft of the ship covered their view from them.

"LUFFFY!"

"You damn brat!" The Marine captain shouted as he slapped Luffy again, hand covered with Busoshoku Haki. He was about to slap her again when suddenly he was turned to the side before being punched by the Vice-Admiral.

"Bogart," Garp growled, his right-hand man nodded and gently grabbed Luffy's trembling shoulders, said the teen was in shock that her grandpa finally did something before letting Bogart lead her away as Garp continued to beat the captain to death. The swordsman led Luffy to her assigned room and left her alone as he needed to try and stop the buster call, not even thinking of at least consoling the grandaughter of his superior as he had no right to do so.

~With Luffy~

When Bogart left, Luffy grabbed the den-den mushi, which was given to her by Dragon after the incident in Gray Terminal, from the pocket of her shorts. Dialing a number she was familiar with, she kneeled beside her bed and wept, pleading repeatedly until it was answered.

"Hello–"

"Please!" She immediately screamed. "B-buster call... buster call has been called on Dawn Island..."

"Wh..."

"I... I can't do anything... please...Makino and the others... save them..."

"What's going on? What's happening Luffy?"

"I can't... I can't... please... please..."

"…Starlight…"

"Please… don't mind me… buster call on Fuusha… please help them…Tou-san…"

"I will, my starlight. I will."

"Thank you…"

~At the deck~

SMACK!

The marines merely watched on as the Vice Admiral went and beat the crap out of the very captain who hurt his Granddaughter, who ordered a buster call on innocent civilians, not even restraining his strength. No one even bothered to stop him, not even Bogart suddenly felt guilty about what they'd done. Especially as the wailing cries of the abducted teenage girl continues

'I'm sorry.'

~Fuusha Village~

The villagers and the bandits watched as the ship carrying their sunshine away slowly grew smaller and smaller. Mayor Woodslap closed his eyes before turning towards the crying women, the mother figures of Luffy, their eyes turned dull, including the villagers. And he understood why, it was because Luffy brought them happiness, while unseen and unnoticed, she made them happy, thus it wasn't shocking when they had tears in their eyes, the children more so.

Adults have known her since she was a child and they are forever grateful that they knew about her and sometimes let them treat her like their own child, the teenagers that were around Luffy's age admired her, either for surviving in the forest, for her dreams, or for her beauty and the children for acting like a sibling to them that was there to brighten their day.

The children merely wanted their big sister figure back, the person who played with them when their parents weren't available, the big sister who told amazing stories... they were taught that Marines are good... but marines just took their sister away and hurt her... they hate them... they hate marines... they just want their big sister back!

Purupurupuru~

Makino exhaled slowly as she realized that her den-den mushi was ringing before she hesitantly reached into her pocket, hoping that it was Luffy or... Hoping that it was Ace and Sabo so that they could help her, though she knew it was a pointless hope.

*Gacha*

"…"

"…Makino…" Makino then sobs and raises the den-den mushi and lays her forehead on her wrist, a bow if anyone could see it, recognizing the voice. It wasn't the one she was expecting, but knowing Luffy, she was probably the reason he was calling. The villagers slowly gained light as well when she spoke, hoping the same thing.

" *sobs* Please… Help her…Please help Luffy."

"What's happening?"

"They took Luffy away! The Marines took her away! You have to save her! They hurt her!" Dandan screamed.

"... I need to help you first. Luffy requested it claiming it to be a buster call... and I want a full story." Makino cried, her heart breaking at the thought that Luffy asked help from him for them and not for herself... just how selfless her daughter is?

"Luffy… Luffy… LUFFFYYYYY!"

~One week later, Marineford~

Sengoku and Tsuru were standing at the Harbor, waiting for the ship that was sent for the retrieval mission to arrive. Silently wondering if they encountered any issues with the mission as they arrived a lot earlier than usual. However, Tsuru had this feeling that this was related to that Buster Call they received a week ago, a call that was coming from East Blue. Once the ship docked, everyone waited for the people on board to come out, and they did… though they all had to double-take at the sight they were seeing.

The Marines who were currently on duty at the base froze at the sight of the Captain, who was tasked with this mission, being carried on a stretcher and away from the recently docked ship, nearly beaten to a pulp. Sengoku gaped at the sight of the Captain before turning his head to look at Garp, who was stomping towards him with a dark expression.

Tsuru, who was standing behind the Fleet Admiral, ignored her fellow Vice-Admiral, but instead, she turned to look at the young teenage girl walking behind Garp unsteady on her feet and currently wearing a blank expression. Garp's assistant, Bogart, was with the girl, helping her walk properly.

"..." Tsuru once more glanced at Sengoku and commented. "Looks like your order of use any necessary force was established."

Sengoku glanced at her, his hands clenched into a fist when they both turned and looked at the zombie-like girl, regret covering him like a cape.

"And it looks like we now know where that Buster Call was sent to," Tsuru added, before walking forward and heading towards Luffy, passing Garp but the Hero of the Marines ignored her as he went and grabbed Sengoku by the shoulder, then dragged him away without any hesitation. The Fleet Admiral let him do it, eyes still on the young girl, who was looking at Tsuru. Said Vice-Admiral was gently smiling at her, but then the girl looked away and continued to walk, fully intending to follow after her grandfather.

Tsuru sighed sadly and went to grab the girl's shoulder as if to comfort her, however, Luffy flinched away so hard that she stumbled and fell to the ground. Tsuru blinked in shock, while Sengoku froze once more as Garp paused and looked behind him when he heard that thud. Seeing his granddaughter on the floor, the Vice-Admiral let go of his friend and went to help her but she stood up on her own, patting the dirt that latched on to her.

Luffy then moved to the other side of Bogart, wrapping her arms around her body and slightly curling into herself as if trying to protect herself. Bogart glanced at her, before nodding at Garp, who pursed his lips before turning back to Sengoku and dragging him away. Tsuru, however, remained still on her spot and she only moved after them when she saw the girl glancing at her. The Female Vice-Admiral was tempted to be on the other side of the teenager but decided against it and went to walk on the other side of Bogart, who nodded in thanks.

'Looks like things are a lot worse than they are, Fleet Admiral.' She thought as she went and looked at the walking back of Sengoku, who was still getting dragged by Garp. When they arrived at the Fleet's Admiral's office, Luffy immediately went to the corner of the room and tried to make herself smaller, even if she was standing up, while Bogart stayed outside the room, closing the door behind them as Tsuru glanced at the girl before snapping her eyes to the front when she heard flesh meeting flesh.

She was greeted by Sengoku facing to the side, with a cheek swelling and Garp panting heavily with his fist clenched tightly. She wasn't the only one who saw Garp's violence as Luffy also went and whimpered, this made them look at her as she slowly slid down the wall and curled, raising her arms to cover her head.

"Garp…" Tsuru muttered, eyeing the child before looking at her friends. Garp glared at her over his shoulder before focusing his attention back on his friend.

"Use any force necessary…" The Hero of the Marines gritted out before roaring. "Is buster call necessary?!"

This made Tsuru straighten up, while Sengoku slowly turned to look at his friend with sad eyes.

"Don't." Growled Garp. "Don't you dare look at me that way! Violence wasn't necessary! The Buster Call on Dawn Island wasn't necessary! If you want me to bring Luffy here, just tell me! You don't have to go to extremes like that, FLEET ADMIRAL!"

"Garp…" Sengoku started, glancing at the girl before looking back at the man in front of him. "I'm sorry... I... didn't mean for this to happen."

This statement made Garp even angrier but then Luffy spoke up. "But it happened."

All eyes then went towards her, watching as tears slowly fell from her eyes as she sniffled, her last memories on Dawn Island flashing before her eyes. "Houses on the Fuusha Village were burned down… the villagers were injured… Makino was injured… threats for Buster Call were stated out…"

Slowly the preteen looked up and they all flinched at the sight of dead eyes looking at them. "And I already went with them, but I was merely beaten and the Buster Call was still initiated… it happened because you want me here…"

Luffy scrunched her as tears kept on falling one after the other. "Why would you do that?!" Wails then resonate throughout the room Tsuru tries to go near the girl but then decides against it as she looks back at Sengoku and Garp.

"Were you the one who gave the Captain the Gold Den-den mushi, Sengoku?" Garp growled. The Fleet Admiral looked at him, but it was Tsuru who answered.

"No… according to the reports… the request for Buster Call came Akainu." At that Garp froze, while Luffy looked up in confusion, she glanced at the man who was the Fleet Admiral according to her grandfather, before looking at the female marine officer, then back to her only relative in the room.

"Akainu?" He growled. "I thought the only people who knew about this mission were us and the one you assigned to, Sengoku!"

"It was only us!" The Fleet Admiral stated, before slumping slightly. "Someone might have overheard us and then told Akainu about it."

"Why am I here?" Luffy asked suddenly, gaining their attention. "I want answers on why I'm here that you killed innocent people?"

"We didn't mean to kill those people," Sengoku stated, ignoring the glare he received from Garp and Tsuru, his eyes only on the young girl, who slowly standing up.

"Whether you mean to kill them or not…" Luffy stated. "Whether it was done by you or by someone else… it doesn't change the fact that everyone I know… that the very place I treasure and was raised since a child was destroyed by your organization without any questions!"

"So why am I here?!"

"..." Sengoku closed his eyes as Garp turned around to look at his granddaughter, while Tsuru was eyeing them rather disappointedly.

"Because of your Devil Fruit." The Fleet Admiral answered, and this made Luffy step back, though she merely bumped into the wall.

"What?" She whispered, before eyeing her grandfather, who was looking away from her. "Grandpa?"

"Your Devil Fruit is from an unknown variant…" Sengoku started gaining their attention. "We have information that your fruit might be capable of destroying the world." Luffy gaped at that as the voices, which she ignored for days after the incident at dawn, suddenly filled her ears, hissing in anger.

"Lies! Lies!"

"If it is that Devil Fruit then we will have you join our ranks." This made them all stare at him in disbelief, especially Luffy.

"And what if it's nothing but a passive fruit?" Tsuru asked, unbelieving that her friend did this just for a Devil Fruit without any basis at all. Since when then he change so much?

"..." Sengoku looked at her before straightening and then looked back at the girl, who was so shivering and pale. "If it's nothing but a passive fruit… then we still have you join our ranks."

"What?" Luffy whispered.

"Sengoku!" Tsuru started.

"We need someone like you in our ranks." The Fleet Admiral started to walk towards Luffy but Garp blocked his way, making him stop and instead continue from his spot. "Your grandfather stated that you were able to control your fruit's ability at an advanced level within weeks, days, of activating it. We need someone of that in our ranks…"

"Stop!"

"Don't…" Luffy whispered, shaking her head, wanting the Fleet Admiral to stop just as much as the voice did. "Stop."

"Sengoku…" Tsuru growled in warning.

"And considering that you have nowhere to go to."

"SENGOKU!" Garp shouted.

"STOP!"

"STOP!" Luffy shouted, covering her ears to block his words, but it was pointless.

"You have no choice but to join our ranks." The Hito Hito no mi finished, and this broke Luffy's heart but then the Fleet Admiral's word rang in her head and thus she went and looked at her grandfather.

"Grandpa…" Luffy started. "Did you mean for this to happen?"

Sengoku blinked at that, wondering why she was blaming her grandfather together with Tsuru.

"Luffy…" Garp started, walking towards his granddaughter who was shaking her head.

"..." Luffy glanced at the Fleet Admiral before looking at her grandfather once more. "You told him, about my devil fruit… when you insists on me not to tell anyone! And then now I'm here… with Dawn Island gone… Fuusha Village, Makino, and the others are gone… leaving me with nowhere to go…"

That's a lie, Luffy knew that she could go to her Tou-san, her brothers, or even Shanks, but she hadn't gotten in contact with Dragon for days since her last call and that was when she told him about the buster call since she was being watched by Bogart or consoled by her grandfather and thus she kept the snail on mute.

She could break her promise and ask Shanks for help… but what does that make her? Luffy swore to be a great pirate but she doesn't even have her hat with her, the hat that was important to Shanks and the one she swore to give back to the pirate once she achieved her dream, and then she dares to break her promise as well. She might as well not contact him at all.

As for her brothers… her brothers would let her join them but what would they always think of her? She let their island destroy without doing anything despite knowing what her fruit is capable of. And even if they still accepted her, assuring her that it wasn't her fault, the threat of Marines going after her siblings still rang in her ear and this made her hesitate, because while her brothers were a lot stronger than her… they couldn't possibly defeat the waves after waves of marines going after them. So this leaves her with no one… not even her grandfather.

"That's not true…" The Sky hummed, as the Sea sent huge waves to the shore, making sounds to calm her down. "Your family will be always there."

"Little one…" The Sea called out, but Luffy, for the second time in her life, blocked their voices again.

"But to stay here as a Marine… as the Marine that you wanted." Luffy shakes her head again as tears slowly fall from her eyes once more. "You're so desperate for me to be a marine, so desperate to have your grandchildren to be a marine, that you would risk the lives of many innocent people!"

"Luffy!" Garp shouted, making her breath hitch. "You know I would never do that!"

"... You might as well have…" She stated. "Everyone's gone… and now… it seems that I have no other choice but to stay here…and be a marine just as you wanted…" She then nodded toward the Fleet Admiral.

"Just as he would want as well…"

"Luffy…" Garp started, walking towards her once more. "I swore to you that I didn't want this to happen…"

"..." Luffy looked away from her grandfather, closing her eyes tightly. Garp looked so heartbroken at the silent rejection his granddaughter gave him. "You… shouldn't have told him about my fruit."

Sengoku raised an eyebrow at that and opened his mouth but he merely received a glare from Tsuru which made him close it, just as Garp answered. "I was so proud of your achievements, Luffy… I swear to Oda I didn't want this to happen when I told Sengoku about your fruit."

"...Bring them back to me…" She whispered before sliding down once again, clenching her hand on her shirt, right where her heart was, feeling them breaking over and over again. Hearing the desperate voice of Makino reaching out to her, the villagers scream in pain and anguish, Dadan's anger and the Mayor's frustration. "Please…"

"..." Tsuru sighed in sadness before grabbing her two male friends and then dragged them out of the room, leaving the girl alone in her grief, and leading them to a different room, where she then demanded to know what happened during the mission and get an answer that she had in mind when Luffy started to speak. What did the young girl mean by beaten?

~Two hours later~

Luffy sniffled rubbing her eyes which had turned puffy and red when she heard the door open. This made her lifelessly look at the door, wondering who it was since it's been hours since her gramps, and the Fleet Admiral were taken away by that female marine and she hadn't heard from them since. During the time she was alone, for the first time since the destruction of Dawn Island, she began to think more about what happened and the words that were spoken, as well as her thoughts.

The young girl knew she was being irrational, blaming her grandfather for the actions of others, however, she couldn't help but do so… after all, if he didn't blabber about her fruit then this wouldn't have happened at all. But, she can't help but think that it might as well be her fault, after all, she was reckless enough to use her Devil Fruit without her brothers around. Still, she doesn't regret using it to help a friend, she just wishes that things didn't have to turn out like this. In the end, who does she have to blame for all of this?

Luffy blinked at the sight of the female marine, who dragged her grandfather away, standing in front of her, smiling gently towards her, before moving closer. The young D did nothing but watch her movement, especially her hands (the slap and hair-pulling that she received from that Marine Captain still resonates in her mind, (another thing to add to the list of her nightmares)), but when the marine did nothing but kneel in front of her, she relaxed slightly and waited for her to speak.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Do you know my name?" The old woman asked, Luffy shook her head in denial, though she may know who she is (she reads newspapers and books that her Tou-san brought for her and Sabo (Ace was more focused on defeating her Tou-san than reading, though he does read occasionally) and she sometimes encounters information about marines and she knew who exactly to avoid) her mind is currently blank. Nothing is registering or processing aside from what happened during the past few days, which is stressing her out but with no one on her side at the moment, she can only keep quiet about it.

"I see…" The woman then smiled at her. "My name's Tsuru, Vice-Admiral Tsuru, a friend of your grandfather."

'Ahh… the bearer of Clean Justice.' Luffy thought mindlessly, "Luffy…" She whispered, voice hoarse from crying earlier, and as much as she wanted to declare her dream, she had no energy to do so (is she even worthy of becoming a pirate king?). Tsuru smiled at that and sat on the floor instead of kneeling.

"Luffy? That's a lovely name."

"What do you want?" Luffy asked bluntly, not wanting the Vice-Admiral to beat around the bush. Tsuru blinked at her attitude but she merely smiled and said.

"Is it bad to talk with you as a friend?"

"...No… but you're a Marine and I don't have good memories with you guys." Luffy admitted, touching her cheek as her memories of the Marine Captain slapping her cheeks and then her grandfather using his 'Fist-of-love' on her and her brothers' heads.

"Can you tell me more about it?" Tsuru tilts her head to the side, encouraging Luffy to speak, to which the girl does.

"Gramps hits me and my brothers in the head during training, when we call him Gramps instead of Grandpa, and when he tries to convince us to be Marines, which then would to another training which would be throwing us on a ravine or to a pack of hostile animals." Hearing that statement, Tsuru closed her eyes in frustration and shook her head in disappointment.

'Now I know the reason why Garp's descendants are all outlaws.' She thought and then continued to listen to Luffy.

"The Marine Captain that you've sent with Gramps hurts the villagers, burns their houses, and then slaps Makino… he also swings his swords around. And then he slapped me in the face when I didn't want to go to him, pulled my hair, and then slapped me again and again once we were on the ship…" Luffy raised a hand in front of her as if to count something but then she stopped and shook her head. "I can't remember how many times he slapped me… my cheek was swelling and I also tasted blood… then the buster call happened as well."

Tsuru inhaled angrily at the pain the young girl went through. though Tsuru knew that Luffy was not the first, and not the last, to experience violence, she could at least help her and try to make things better for her as much as possible.

"Why are you asking me this?" Luffy asked head tilted as she eyed Tsuru. "I'm sure Gramps already told you what happened."

"... Indeed," Tsuru agreed. "But doesn't it make you feel better now that you have someone to talk to?"

"No," Luffy answered without any hesitation. "Talking about it just reminds me of Dawn Island… There's not even a single piece of news about my home island days after the buster call… why would you think that it'll be better?"

Tsuru sighed in defeat, knowing how correct the girl was, however, she also knew that bottling everything wouldn't help at all. Though with how Luffy's intelligence was showing, she can't help but comment. "You're a lot more clever than your grandfather."

Luffy shrugged at that and stayed quiet, eyes on Tsuru, who was looking at her. The bearer of Clean Justice tried to think of ways to make Luffy speak more but nothing came to mind, and when she tried to invite Luffy for a late lunch, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Tsuru ordered after seconds of silence, and when the door opened, she immediately scowled at the sight of Sengoku and Garp standing there, looking all meek but determined. "What do you want?"

"It's time for Luffy to eat Lunch."

"The Gorosei are asking for her." Both Male Marines stated at the same time. While Luffy and Tsuru appreciate Garp's statement, they don't appreciate Sengoku's, and this includes Garp as well, as both Vice-Admirals glare at the Fleet Admiral, who clears his throat and adds.

"The Gorosei can wait until she finishes eating lunch."

"Can't they wait until tomorrow?" Tsuru asked standing up.

"No." Sengoku bluntly answered. Luffy, who was looking at them silently, decided to stand up and stick with the female marine, not because they had a conversation, but because she didn't want to go anywhere near the men in front of her, not even her grandpa.

"Little one…" Luffy blinked at that, somehow finding this particular voice loud and clear even though she blocked all of them. "Don't fret little one… we'll find a way out…"

'...'

"Trust us…"

~Meanwhile with the Gorosei~

Footsteps rang in the room, despite the floor being carpeted as the Gorosei walked further into the room and towards a three-level red and white platform, had several swords and axes planted in the floor of the first and third levels, though the weapons on the first level are all rusty. On the top of the highest platform is an extremely tall, ornamented red and gold throne that bears the symbol of the World Government.

At once, the Elders kneeled in front of the throne, also known as the Empty Throne, as a mysterious silhouetted with a human hand, sharp almond eyes with red irises that have thin circles surrounding the pupils, and a crown that has four sharp, incredibly tall spikes on the top of his head(?), walk towards the chair and sat on it. Once the being sat down, the Gorosei looked up, still kneeling on the floor.

"We have brought news to you, Im-sama." The Third Elder stated. The one called Im merely raised their hand and then the second Elder, Saturn, spoke.

"A peculiar devil fruit with the ability to summon a white flame and heal is found and consumed by the granddaughter of one of our Vice-Admirals." The silhouette seems to perk at that and hums as the Elders grin.

"The girl is already in our hands and will be meeting us in a matter of hours." The First Elder stated, as Im stood up and raised my hands as if welcoming something. The Gorosei watched him for a few seconds before they all bowed their head and started at once.

"We will look more into this matter and bring you news of what we found out." Then they raised their head and looked at Imu, who they could feel grinning. "We will forever serve you, Im-sama."

Im then stood and left the room, their mind on the devil fruit that was missing for decades, a fruit that can solidify their position as the King of the World.

'A fruit that can summon white flames and heal… there's only one fruit that has the capabilities to do that… and without a doubt, the fruit that the girl consumed is that particular fruit. We… no, I must have that fruit, no matter what the cause is. The ritual must continue without fail!'

~A Week Ago, Somewhere in the New World~

In the New World, a particular pirate crew partied to their heart's content after a successful battle against a rookie pirate crew, which was then followed by arrogant marines. Laughter could be heard from miles away, especially the Captain, who continued to drink from his mug, unguarded, unlike his First Mate, who was the soberest one, despite drinking two mugs full, and was leaning against the railway of the ship. And maybe, that's the reason why it was the First Mate who noticed a peculiar shadow heading towards them at mach speed.

"Shit!" Benn cursed before shouting as he braced himself for impact. "Incoming!"

His shout garnered the attention of every member of the crew, especially Shanks, who unlocks his Haki to find out why his First Mate acted like that, however, before he could register the upcoming aura, the shadow burst through the sea surface, instead of hitting the ship like what Benn thought. Everyone's hands immediately went to their weapons as they eyed the thing that came out of the sea only to gape when they saw a Sea King towering over them.

Despite the weirdness of the Sea King appearing out of nowhere, Shanks and Benn were ready to defend the crew, though they both wondered what was going on, Shanks more so when the creature did nothing but stare at them. The stare-off continued for more than a few minutes before Shanks decided to walk closer toward the rails.

"Shanks?" Benn asked as he saw his Captain frown in confusion. Which is an understandment, Sea Kings never go near Ship Vessel only to stare at them, they attack ships and eat the bodies that fell to the sea. The First Mate glanced at the sea creature once more and then back at his Captain, whose frown deepened, making him head towards him and stood a few steps behind his Captain.

"Who are you?" Shanks muttered and this made all of his crew look at him.

"Boss?" Yasopp asked, wondering if his captain was still drunk.

"..." The Red-haired Captain shook his head and turned his back at the Sea Creature, making his crew panic, but relax when it did nothing but stare at Shanks, while said pirate merely pointed a thumb over his shoulder and stated to his crew. "Don't you guys feel something familiar about him?"

The Crew blinked at that and glanced at the Sea King, who glanced at them before looking back at the Captain, then shook their head. Shanks huffed but then he tensed when the Sea King started to growl. The Crew prepared to draw their weapon out as the Red-haired pirate turned and looked at the creature only to freeze when the snout was inches away from him. He glanced over to the eyes of the creature, who snorted and then began to open his mouth.

The Crew shouted as their Captain stood still, and when they were about to attack the creature, its mouth was fully open, and whatever he and Benn saw made the First Mate raise a hand to stop them as Shanks froze. Slowly, the Pirate Captain reached into the mouth of the Sea King, his hand trembling as he took out something from the mouth.

"Boss?" Lucky Roux called out when the creature backed away from them and whined as if in pain. Shanks then slowly turned to look at the crew revealing the very thing that he and Benn saw. Upon seeing it, the entire crew, aside from the ones that were recruited within the last seven years, felt their heart stop and their blood run cold.

Because in the hands of their Captain is a familiar Strawhat, a hat that Shanks left behind on an island in the East Blue. A hat that he gave to a six, nearly seven, years old girl with a promise to give it back once she becomes a great pirate. A hat that their Captain gave to his daughter in all but blood, a niece to the entire crew, a treasure that's hard to come by.

Shanks breathed heavily as he took in the appearance of his precious hat that was supposed to be on top of Luffy's head. It seems to be singed on the sides, and it was also torn up a bit, but what Shanks feared the most was the blood that was splattered on top of the hat. When Shanks turned the hat upside down, he exhaled shakily when there was blood as well.

"No," Shanks muttered before gritting his teeth and then turning around to glance at the Sea King, who whined again, then looked back at his crew barking. "Get the den-den mushi, now!"

Their rookie member blinked but when they received a glare from their Captain with a hint of Haoshoku Haki leaking out they flinched and then ran toward their communication to grab their den-den mushi. Yasopp, Lucky, and Benn went closer to their Captain, who was panting heavily.

"Call him…" Shanks muttered. "And Call Makino…"

"Calm down, Chief," Lucky stated, though it was a bit lackluster, especially when it seemed that the blood, blood that they weren't sure if it belonged to their Anchor, on the hat was fresh.

"No…" Shanks started. "Don't tell me to calm down. Something happened to my daughter so don't tell me to calm down!"

~Present~

Everyone waited for Luffy to finish crying and when she did, she was assisted by Makino to stand up and then sat on the chair, looking blanking at the papers in front of her.

"Luffy…" Makino called out softly, holding Luffy's hand but she remained quiet, eyes closed tightly. This made Makino sigh and look at the snails.

"We'll bring up the subject of those two later." She stated, Shanks sighed while Dragon scowled.

"Luffy?"

"Currently not responding," Dadan muttered, and then Gray slammed his hand on the table.

"She is already pressured enough by the Gorosei… we should have waited to gather this information of ours to avoid this." He growled, but Robin shook her head in denial.

"We can't delay any more recons activities." She started eyes on the papers that she'd begun to read the paper earlier, just so that she could block, even slightly, the cries of her Captain.

"What do you mean?" Yu asked.

"Luffy managed to get information about the celebration that the women had told her about." This caught the attention of everyone in the room, aside from Luffy, who was still quiet.

"And what is the celebration all about?" Nami asked. Robin glanced at her, then at Luffy, and then back at the papers, before putting them down and giving them a furious look which is directed at the people who brought pain to her savior and will continue to do so.

"Celebrazione del legame di forza … is a step of their plan. A celebration that will lead to their finale… L'unione del Ciclo…"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Ussop started, slamming his hand on the table. "What are these celebrations all about huh? What do they exactly want with Luffy?!"

"Under this Folder… the beginning of the cycle, it contains Five Steps, and those steps are called celebrations. Celebrazione del legame di forza is the fourth step. The First Step is L'inizio del Ciclo and that is the title of the folder." Robin paused and then flipped through the papers once more, as Luffy began to lean against Makino, who hums, trying to calm her down and bring her back to the present.

"This celebration more or less happens after they find the perfect test subject, and unlike from the folder that Luffy read out earlier, it seems that this information, as well as the others, changes depending on the test subject they have, but their meaning is still the same." Robin glanced up at the snails. "Some of the information written here is based on the information that the Fleet Admiral managed to get from Monkey D. Garp when he first talked about Luffy's… achievements…"

"Damn that old man," Shanks growled while Dragon shakes his head as he gritted his teeth.

"The Second celebration is… жолугушуу, meaning The Meeting… and this is more or less, details of how they plan to have an 'heir presumptive' meet with the test subject… at least that's what stated but the information they have here already hinted that Luffy had already met up with heir… seems to be dated when Luffy was 15 years old, give or a take a week or two."

"Wait, meet?" Mina asked, tilting her head to the side.

"But the only person that's a Celestial Dragon that she met that time was…"

"Rokudo," Yu growled.

"Shit…" Nami cursed as the rest of them looked at each other with narrowed eyes.

"We should have guessed that he's part of this plan as he's obsessed with Luffy-Schwan," Sanji muttered as he inhaled his smoke. Makino frowned as Dadan slammed her hand to the table.

"And what do they plan to do next, huh?!"

"Cristallizzato…" The Ohara survivor sighed as she massaged her temple. "Crystallized… this actually doesn't say anything at all… aside from the back that they will be celebrating when all steps or plans they have set up are clear and has no setbacks… most parts of the pages are blank."

"And it's only a one-time celebration?" Hana asked, frowning. This made the older raven-haired woman shake her head.

"No… this celebration will happen every single time that their plans and steps don't have any setbacks."

"Are you saying that it's still an ongoing plan?" Zoro asked, making their Archaeologist to sighed in slight frustration.

"That's a possibility, however, it could be finished and they removed a few papers and replaced them with blank ones."

"Everything is possible considering it's the Gorosei," Shanks growled.

"We can only hope that Luffy, or us, can make it complicated for them," Gin muttered, while the rest snickered, though halfheartedly.

"Knowing our luck, it might just happen." Peter shakes his head fondly, remembering the times when their crew made things worse for the plans of their enemies… though their allies are also included in that.

"What else is there?" Nami asked.

"..." Robin gave the papers an icy glare before looking at everyone in the room. "Two more steps Celebrazione del legame di forza… Celebration for the Forced Bond, which is preparatory for the last step, the L'unione del ciclo."

"Meaning what?" Dragon asked, eyes narrowing.

"They didn't put the last step on too much detail, especially the last step, which is basically a single page that has the statement 'SUCCESSFUL'."

"That's quite ballsy of them," Gray stated as Dadan growled and Makino tighten her hold on Luffy as she shakily asked.

"The Fourth Celebration? What about that one?"

Robin shakes her head at that. "As I said, it's more or less a preparatory step for the last one, however… it's slightly similar to the third step."

"How similar?" Gin asked.

"The celebration happens every time a requirement is accomplished."

"... Sounds the same to me." Franky frowned, but Brook hummed as he put a thumb and index finger on his chin.

"Not necessarily." He stated. "The Cristallizzato happens after every plan or step successfully… Celebrazione del legame di forza happens after every requirement."

"...Just what do they have in mind with those celebrations of theirs…" Makino asked, her hand covering her mouth, completely horrified at what she was hearing.

"Did they mention what the requirements were, Robin?" Dragon asked, and while no one could see it, they all could feel his anger and they were pretty sure that he was gripping something rather tightly.

"Nothing about the requirements." Robin shakes her head, and could only frown in slight disappointment. "I am not sure if this recon of ours is helping us a lot."

"Don't say that."

"Yeah, it's helping us plenty!"

"If we didn't have this information, we wouldn't know what's going to happen next!"

Everyone denied Robin's statement, trying to make her feel better, but it didn't seem to be working and then suddenly a hand was holding the Archaeologist's hand rather tightly. This made her blink and follow the direction where the hand came from only to see a bright smile coming from her Captain, her Luffy, who managed to snap herself out of the slight trance she went to.

"You did great, Robin," Luffy said, silencing everyone else. "We're okay, now."

"...Yes, Captain." Robin smiled softly and while Luffy knew this was not enough to assure her, she would accept it for now, she then looked at her crew, her mother figures, and the den-den mushi.

"..." Luffy inhaled slightly before exhaling and said. "Though it will pain us slightly… I would request for us to ignore their plans for now…"

"..."

"..WHAT!?"

"...Since when are you this polite, Anchor?" Luffy couldn't help the slight twitch on her lips at Shanks's comment, though she did focus on her crew's disapproval.

"Can you believe this brat of yours, Dragon?!" Dadan shouted, but her Tou-san kept quiet, the snail eyeing Luffy in consideration, who smiled sadly at them.

"I know this needs to be urgent… but right now this isn't important…"

"Luffy." Dragon suddenly cut off, making her pause. "...It pains me that you think that planning this is not important… however, I know you won't be telling us about this unless it's necessary."

Everyone paused at that as they eyed Luffy, who was fidgeting with the papers that she kept on hand, papers that had the information Robin managed to obtain but didn't register in the Ohara Survivor's mind, papers that Luffy was mindlessly reading as the people who cared for her talked and didn't notice her actions.

"That's right…" Luffy agreed. "Because their plans will not be successful."

"Why do you say so?" Yu asked as everyone looked at her seriously.

"...We all knew, years ago, that the reason why I'm here is because of my devil fruit."

"...Anchor…" Shanks muttered, blaming himself for letting Luffy eat the fruit, though he couldn't see it, but Luffy was shaking her head.

"Not your fault Shanks., Luffy stated and then tapped on the papers she was reading earlier. "Anyway… It was my devil fruit that made them interested in me and made sure that I have nowhere to go but back to their hands."

Here, Luffy looked at Robin, who blinked at the sudden attention. "Robin, when did they start to plan the L'inizio del Ciclo?"

"... After your Grandfather gave information about your abilities to the Fleet Admiral… or at least that's the statement here, as well as dated."

Luffy nodded at that and then turned to look at the snails, whose eyes were narrowing. "From what I'm seeing L'inizio del Ciclo is planned when they found out about my abilities… so there's a possibility that what information we're missing on the file is related to my fruit."

"What if it's not related to your fruit at all?" Franky asked, Luffy glanced at him and smiled.

"If that's the case then the plan I have in mind will surely disrupt their plans, a lot."

"... What kind of plan?" Dragon asked.

"All of us know that for the past months, we have made contingency plans for the bases and the island under my protection so that should something happen to me, to the Vendetta Marina, and to my Operation Leaders, the people will be safe from the Marines, Pirates and more importantly from the World Government." Luffy inhaled deeply and exhaled after seconds of holding it in.

"With those plans in place, we just need to find the right moment." Luffy started, closing her eyes before opening them, and looked at everyone in the room with determination and it matched her voice as well. "To disappear from the world."

"...Disappear?" Makino asked hesitantly.

"The Gorosei are either after me, my fruit, or both… so to avoid their plans from happening I need to disappear."

"Luffy…" Zoro started looking her directly in the eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"...I have to die." Everyone froze at her declaration but when they heard multiple loud noises coming from the den-den mushi, they unfroze and started to question her and her plan, excluding Yu and Zoro, who kept their eyes on their Captain. They watched as she merely looked at the table, eyes filled with pain and sadness, but then it was soon filled with determination.

"Out of the ideas that you have, this is the most ridiculous one, Luffy," Dragon growled, but his daughter didn't respond to him, she merely kept quiet, and the longer Luffy stayed silent the more the people who cared for her talked and talked. And Dragon knew, he knew, that his daughter was serious with her plan and Shanks realized this as well.

"You can't be serious ancho!" The Pirate Captain shouted, everyone, paused and looked at the Rear Admiral, who merely smiled at them.

"I am," Luffy stated. "As stated, they're either after me, my fruit, or both… the contingency plans we created are nearly done and so are theirs… they might even have the plan to capture my brothers so that they could tie me up more."

"Your death is not the solution, brat!" Dadan stated, but Luffy shook her head in disagreement.

"No… death is the only way."

"...Are you tired, Luffy?" Zoro suddenly asked and this made her look him directly in the eyes.

"Tired? I'm not tired." Luffy stated. "I'm just so sick of them trying to control me and the people I care for…"

"You could ask us for help," Yu added. "Come up with a better plan other than death."

"...No." Luffy denied. "I need to die, and this is not for debate."

"...We'll resort to death as a last option," Brook said. "I lost my captain once already, I rather not lose you before you could even sail, Luffy-san."

"Brook," Luffy muttered.

"We'll still come up with a plan to get you out without anyone dying on our end, especially you, Captain," Mina stated, as her twin nodded. "Try to disappear from the world and we'll disappear together with you."

Luffy's crew members nodded in agreement, while Shanks and Dragon sighed in defeat but then resolves entered their entire being.

"Then… we better come up with a fucking plan where my daughter doesn't have to die!" Shanks growled.

"My daughter too, you know," Dragon muttered and this made Shanks blink before laughing and then probably scratching the back of his head.

"Our daughter then."

"... I'll live with that."

Luffy smiled at that before inhaling deeply and then stating. "Alright, then let's create a different plan. I would rather not die without achieving my dream if I can help it."

"Destruction of Mariejois?" Peter asked and this made all of them look at him as if he had lost his mind, though Luffy blinked before giggling and answering.

"Admirals will be in the area in just a matter of minutes."

"Assassination on the Gorosei?" Robin muttered, Luffy shook her head.

"Can't, too many guards, and we only have a few numbers in our crew capable of assassination. And if it was that easy then we would have done it months ago."

"...Then–" And then this continued, the whole people in the room adding and suggesting plans as the day passed by. Their discussion only stops when they all have seemingly reached an agreement. Chopper then brought out the subject that they were talking about before Luffy and Robin swerved the conversation to the Celebrations.

"I have a question." He raised one of his hooves and this made his friend look at him in confusion. "Earlier… we were talking about the Fallen Angels of Mariejois…" The reindeer had to hold back a flinch at the growl that was coming through the den-den mushi. "We found out that Luffy is a replacement from this project of theirs… wouldn't that hint at the reason why they're obsessed with Luffy?"

Luffy sighed at that, before shaking her head. "When I read it further, there's no description of the previous angel, nor do they mention the requirement on how they choose to become an angel."

Franky hummed before looking at Robin and Luffy. "Any possibility that they could have hidden information about fallen angels?"

"Not that we see…" Robin said.

"Well…" Sanji said for the first time in a while. "There's a possibility that they burned it."

"If they did burn it, why not this one?" Nami asked.

"I'll look further into this one," Dragon said. "I'll try to ask the former slaves further about this."

"We'll check on our end as well," Nami said, as she looked at Hana and Mina. Luffy sighed rather depressedly and this made all of them look at her.

"We'll get to the bottom of this Anchor," Shanks said. "We'll get to the bottom of this and they will regret touching you and those who you care for."

Luffy nodded in agreement but remained quiet as everyone looked at her then they began to talk to one another but then the youngest D sighed and looked at them.

"Then shall we talk about the other information we found?" She asked.

"I believe we have enough discussion for the day," Dadan said. "We'll talk more about this at a later date." Makino nodded in agreement as Luffy sighed slightly in relief. The bar maiden and ex-bandit leader stood up, with the former grabbing Luffy's hand and began to lead her outside the room. The Rear Admiral could only gape as she was dragged away, glancing at her crew that remained in the room, who merely smiled at her.

"Wa-wait! Makino!" Luffy protested but then she was out of the door, with the curly-haired woman closing the door. The crew kept quiet as they continued to hear the muffled protest of the leader only to sigh and relax when they could no longer hear it.

Zoro looked at Yu, who was looking at him as well, they both nodded in agreement before turning to the snail.

"Makino and Dadan are now taking care of Luffy, do you have any messages that you guys want to give to us?" Yu asked.

"Hmm…" Shanks hummed. "Give me a copy of the information that Anchor and Robin got from Mariejois, all of the copy."

"Same with me," Dragon stated. "Also, with your plans, is that all that needs to be done?"

"For now, that is the plan we have in mind."

"I still would like you to reconsider having Luffy's brothers join our team," Shanks stated.

"...Luffy ordered us not to let them know…" Zoro started. "Her orders only affect us as her crew… it's different with you two."

On the other side of the den-den mushi, Shanks's sweat dropped. "Why do I feel like you guys merely want to avoid the brunt of those two sis-cons' anger?"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of them, Akagami." Dragon teased, smirking.

"Oh, fuck you!" Shanks yelled. "Do you have any idea what those two sis-cons did to me after thanking me for saving Anchor's life?!"

"I might have… I did train them once in a while, after all."

"...I hate you," Shanks grumbled but that was the last thing they heard between the two of them as Robin went ahead and ended the call.

"Honestly… those two," Nami grumbled as she rubbed her forehead.

"Still… Dragon's question and Shanks's suggestion are valid." Sanji said.

"Do we want to include Luffy-san's brother? Doing so might also involve Whitebeard, yohohoho!" Brook stated.

"Well… my question is… want do you think is important?" Zoro asked.

"Luffy."

"Luffy's freedom."

"Luffy's safety."

"Anything related to Luffy." Everyone answered at the same time and this made the Swordsman nod his head, but it wasn't him who talked, instead, it was Yu.

"That's right. What's important to us is Luffy." The leader of Vendetta Marina started. "So if creating more plans or even having those brothers on our plan will guarantee her freedom and safety, then it won't hurt to have them included."

"Even if it means having the Strongest Crew and the Strongest Man in the World on this?" Peter asked.

"Yes." Yu and Zoro answered. The crew then nodded in agreement and began to create a contingency plan once more, a plan that Luffy didn't know and would mostly not know.

~With Shanks~

Shanks blinked at the sight of a sleeping snail before sighing and then dialed Dragon's number through his den-den mushi, which then rang once and then immediately got answered.

"Those brats cut us off," Shanks muttered as Dragon snorted.

"Not all of them are brats, Akagami."

"Right, right." The Pirate Captain waved his hand dismissively. "How are you going to get more information about Luffy's situation?"

Dragon was quiet for a few seconds before he answered. "I have people here that we managed to save and were under the hands of the Tenryuubito for years, even before Luffy was born, so they might have information that we can't find or provide to us by the people that Luffy rescued."

Shanks sighed at that. "I swear it would be better if those brothers of Luffy would join us now."

"...Unfortunately, I have to disagree with that," Dragon said, and this made Shanks narrow his eyes at him. "As much as I want to have my daughter free as well, those brats are unpredictable, not as much as Luffy, but still unpredictable. So if they knew what happened to Luffy…"

"Shit… they might make things worse, what's more, they could be captured and then will be threatened with execution unless Anchor obeys their command." Shanks rubbed his face as he began to think more about letting Ace and Sabo know their sister's current situation.

"That's right… Luffy is telling us her reasons, but I'm pretty sure this has been in her mind and that is why she doesn't want them to be a part of this, at all."

"Fuck…"

"..." Dragon closed his eyes but when a picture of golden curled hair and a smiling face flashed in his mind, he opened them and stated. "Let's just do what we can for now. I'm pretty sure those crew of hers are currently making plans for Luffy."

"...Alright… Update me once you have an idea of what's going on."

"Of course."

*Gacha*

"Don't worry, Shanks," Benn said for the first time since the call between all three groups happened. "We'll free her for sure."

"...I sure hope so, Benn… I sure hope so." Shanks sighed as he looked through the window of his cabin, eyeing the sea that was glinting.

~With Dragon~

Dragon looked at the snail that was now sleeping, his thoughts revolving around the conversation that he had with his daughter and the people who cared for her. Gritting his teeth when he then remembered the plans that their damn forsaken Gorosei had laid out for his Luffy as if she was their pawn. As if Luffy was born to be their pawn.

"Damn it!" Dragon cursed out, before sighing in defeat and going outside of the room he was in. Once he was in the hallway, he then left with one destination in mind. It took a while to arrive but he did and the moment he unlocked the door, then entered, he could hear monitors beeping. He then closed the door, eyes immediately on the machines that were surrounding a hospital bed.

Said machine had wires and tubes hooked up on it and when Dragon followed the direction where those wires and tubes were going it led to a body that was peacefully sleeping on the bed. If it weren't for the chest moving up and down, as well as the machine that was indicating the body's heart condition, Dragon would think that person is dead with how still they are.

"...It's been four years since you got stuck like this…" Dragon stated as he sat down on the chair that was beside the bed. "I need your help right now… only you can help me get more information that could help Luffy."

"..."

"You know a lot more of their actions than anyone else I know."

"..."

"Please wake up… I need you." Dragon then grabs the fragile hand that is on top of the blanket. "...daughter needs you."

"..."

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"..." Dragon sighed, as he leaned his forehead on the hand that he was holding. "Wake up soon…"

~With G6~

"...And those are the information that we managed to get," Nami stated, looking at the hundreds of den-den mushi that were on the table in front of her.

"To think that they are willing to go that far."

"That's terrible of them."

"Is there anything else that we can do-Jamon?"

"For now, we shall continue with our current activities," Zoro answered as the snails began to murmur with one another despite not seeing each other.

"Right, you brats don't have to worry about us. I will have the Isshi-100 ready whenever you need us." A snail answered and when Zoro looked it bore the mark of the Sakura Kingdom. Other snails also provided their affirmation as well as preparedness and this made Luffy's top officers nod in agreement and relief as this would show that their allies and protected islands were ready for anything.

"Do you think you have information about this, Cobra-san?" Robin suddenly asked. "Your family is after all one of the twenty families."

"..." The snail that carries the mark of Alabasta sighed. "Unfortunately, I never heard of nor is there a record for fallen angels. It could mean that this occurred during the time the families settled down on Mariejois."

"..." The crew sighed in defeat at that. "Right, anyway, please focus on your safety first, because as much as we want to be unbounded from the World Government, it will be useless if you're in danger." The den-den mushi nodded and mumbled their agreement before the call ended.

"Ah, King Neptune," Hana said, and when she received a hum of confusion, she smiled. "We'll be planning for a celebration on the island soon, everyone has already been invited, and we are more than happy to have you, your family, and kin join us."

Neptune laughed at that as the rest of the snails, who weren't sleeping, cheered. "Then I'll be sending Jimbei there to have him discuss more this celebration of yours, Jamon!"

"Hahahaha! You will love the celebration these kids had." Cobra said.

"Of course… I do hope no island will be destroyed." Dalton teased and the G6 crew flinched before hastily ending the call.

"Come on…" Usopp said. "Can't they just let that go?"

"That incident happened nearly two years ago… they have enough time to let it go… but noooooo, they still talk about it," Nami said, before turning around and leaving the room, leaving Usopp to gather the snails and hide them, while the rest of the crew followed their navigator's action.

"Kufufufufu." Robin suddenly chuckled. "It was fun to see the island get destroyed and slowly sink to the ocean."

"Robin…" Yu sighed as the rest of the group chattered with one another. "Stop it."

"Yohohohohoho!" Brook laughed. "Pretty sure that we might destroy something soon though, might be on the celebration, yohohohohoho!"

"Brook! Don't jinx it!" Chopper yelled but the skeleton merely laughed as they began to talk about what would happen during the celebration or when the next destruction was coming. The crew didn't know this, but their happy moments will be disrupted. In the next couple of days, they will have to respond to a distress call, a call that will change everything they planned for… a call that will affect their Rear Admiral… a call that might or might not result in death.