"So," Luffy reclined as much as he could in the cramped boat, "Do you know where the closest land is?" Of course he knew where he needed to be, he just really didn't want to have to do anything yet. Call him lazy, but he really just wanted to take a nap right now.

Coby thought for a moment before answering, "Yeah, but I don't think we should go there. It's home to a Marine Base under Captain Morgan."

Luffy didn't open his eyes. "That's fine. Neither of us have a wanted poster yet so we shouldn't get into too much trouble based on appearance and names alone."

"You're probably right." That reasoning wasn't going to stop Coby from trying a different course, though. "We still can't go there!"

Luffy was getting a bit irritated with this kid trying to undermine all of his decisions. He's willing to give his not-yet rival the benefit of the doubt, but all of his instincts were screaming at him to put this kid in his place. "Why not?"

"Because there's a really dangerous criminal being kept there!"

"All the more reason to go!"

"No way!"

It only lasted for a few hours, but Luffy's tolerance was finally at its end. Weird. Normally he has the patience of a perfect saint, at least compared to Nami. "Coby," the kid flinched slightly at the low tone, "Look, I don't mean to be rude or scary, but I need you to understand something." The pink haired boy was shaking, "I'm the captain here, not you. This isn't my ship and you're not on my crew, but that doesn't mean I'll put up with you trying to forgo all of my decisions. You were on a pirate ship for a while, and I can tell you that this is going to be the same in the Marines: Going against a captain's orders is a surefire way to be thrown overboard. I thought you would understand this after being with Alvida for so long." Sighing, Luffy laid back down and closed his eyes. He didn't like speaking like that, nor did he like using that tone with one of his closest friends! But he needed the boy to understand. "Let's go to that Marine Base, ne?" Coby just nodded, not that Luffy saw it.

Luffy slept for the rest of the trip. They arrived on the island a few hours before sunset, so he had some time to get to Zoro before that kid - what was his name? Hel-something - had him executed. When they finally did arrive, he didn't let the heavy atmosphere around Coby last. What better way to break tension than to add more pressure to it? "So, tell me more about this Captain Morgan guy." The surrounding townspeople jumped back in fear when they heard the name. Luffy laughed and pointed this out to Coby. He didn't find it amusing.

"I don't know a lot about him." the pink haired boy said, "I do know that he's known as Axe-Hand Morgan, though." Again, the townspeople jumped back and Luffy giggled a bit. Coby didn't know why, but he felt a bit lighter at the people's reaction to the obviously dreaded captain's name. He even felt himself laugh a bit. He quickly stopped, though. These people were obviously scared and he wasn't going to laugh at them. That was just mean.

Luffy led the way to the marine base under the guise of just wandering. He was bad at directions - not as bad as the man he was coming to pick up - but he would be able to find his crew no matter where they were.

It didn't take a long time before the two found themselves in front of the wall that separated the base from the town. Smiling, Luffy pulled himself up to sit on it and watched Zoro. Coby found his way up eventually, but he didn't say anything. The two just sat there and watched the courtyard. It was uneventful, seeing as there was no movement, but the two didn't move from their spots.

Finally, Zoro looked up at the two boys a bit away from him. "Hey, you!" Luffy almost reacted to the voice of his first mate with something other than a slight tilt of his head. It was so refreshing to hear one of his crewmates again after so long! "Get lost!" He expected this reaction, but it didn't make the sting go away.

Coby flinched at the tone the green haired man used to address them. Before he could say anything, though, a ladder hit the wall next to him and a little girl climbed up, only to jump over to the Marine side of the brick fence. "What are you-" she shushed him and ran up to Zoro.

"Here, mister!" she held up a few rice balls, "I thought you would be hungry, so I made these for you."

Luffy watched as Zoro told the girl to go away and that he wasn't hungry. He really wanted to step in, but he needed to keep as close to the original timeline as he dared to or remembered. He didn't like it, but some things absolutely needed to happen in order for his crew to trust and respect him to a certain degree. If that meant having to sit in the back, he would do so. He'd be reluctant and anxious, but he would let things play out.

Luffy stopped listening to the conversation between Zoro and the small girl. Instead, he let the sounds of the town behind him take over his hearing. His Observation Haki was still going, but it was only a low buzz in the back of his mind. He didn't know why, but this form of Haki was coming to him a lot quicker and easier than before, it was also presenting itself in different ways. He figured it was worth exploring at a later time. He didn't even realize he'd spaced out until the little girl was flying through the air. Reacting quickly, he reached out to grab her and break her fall. He knew the Marine meant well and was scared by that blond daddy's boy, but throwing her was no way to deal with the situation. Maybe try escorting her out next time?

"Thanks, mister!" The girl bowed after she and Luffy stood from the ground. He just smiled at her.

"Are you alright?!" Coby climbed down the ladder and ran up to the two.

"Yeah," the girl said. Luffy nodded.

Coby asked the girl, "What were you doing?! Why did you go in there! That guy's dangerous!"

"He's not dangerous!" the girl shouted back, "He's really nice!"

"There's no way he could be nice!" Coby denied, "No way! Everyone says that he's a ruthless killer-"

This is where Luffy stepped into the conversation. Though, he faintly remembers these events going a different way. Oh, well! "Just because everyone says it's so," he put his hands on both of their heads to ruffle their hair and smiled, "doesn't make it true. I thought I told you this already, Coby?"

"I know! I just-" Coby's resolve relented a bit, "I don't think I can just disregard everything everyone says. There has to be some truth to it, right?"

By now the three had started walking away from the Marine Base. The girl - Rika, he remembered - was leading the way to her mother's restaurant. "Yeah," Luffy shrugged, "Every great lie or story has at least a bit of truth to it." He remembered Usopp telling him that once. He still couldn't lie to save his life, though, but he could twist the truth around to an extent. "I don't doubt that he's killed before, but I don't think he's ruthless." He knew Zoro wasn't ruthless. Maybe at some points, but never always. The man was more blunt than anything.

Rika agreed, "Yeah! He's not mean! He's nice!" she then got quiet, "It's my fault that he's there, anyway." Coby looked at her questioningly and Luffy just glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Captain Morgan's son, Helmeppo, is a jerk. He walked in like he owned the place and demanded food for himself and his dog! I tripped on his dog and I spilled his food. The dog jumped at me, but Zoro got in the way and hurt it really badly."

Luffy remembered hearing this story from Rika, but he also remembered hearing Zoro's side later on. In both versions, though, that Helmeppo kid is in the wrong. Zoro did end up killing the dog, though, which was a bit tragic, but it was deserved nonetheless.

Shrugging, Luffy opened the door to the restaurant and walked in. He sat near the table Nami was at and ordered about half the menu. As he waited patiently, he let the two kids with him speak as he listened. It was entertaining to listen to them and he idly wondered about what had happened to Rika in his past timeline. He was snapped out of his musings when Helmeppo opened the door and barged in again, no dog in sight. He didn't care about what the blond brat was laughing about until Zoro's name was mentioned. When the execution was announced by the boy, Luffy stood up and punched him in the face. Then, he stormed out of the restaurant after dropping some money on the counter as he passed. He didn't get to eat anything, but he'd still ordered. Besides, if he was lucky, he'd get to eat it all later!

He knew Coby was following closely behind him, so he spoke, "Not all pirates are bad, and not all marines are good. Do you see that now?" Coby made a small noise of acknowledgement, "The sooner you learn to recognise the differences, the better." The rest of the walk was quiet. Luffy had made his point and Coby was rethinking everything he'd ever been taught. The world had never been black and white, no matter how people and propaganda present it to be. Life is a myriad of colours.

Coming up to the front gate of the Marine Base, Luffy didn't even stop and walked right in. Making his way to Zoro, he picked up the filthy rice ball at his feet and held it in front of him.

"What do you want?" Zoro glared at the raven haired boy, "I thought I told you to get lost."

"I did," Luffy smiled, still holding the dirt covered rice ball, "But I came back."

"Why?"

"I thought you'd be hungry."

"I'm not hungry." A small noise from the man's stomach said otherwise. Luffy smiled knowingly and Zoro growled, "Fine." He opened his mouth and Luffy dumped the dirt ball into his mouth. When he swallowed, Zoro watched Luffy cautiously as the boy sat on the ground. "Tell that little girl it was really good."

"No way." Luffy said, "You have to tell her yourself."

"I'm not leaving here until the month is over."

"You really expect them to hold up their end of the deal?"

"What?"

"I heard him in town earlier. That Helmeppo kid is going to have you killed tomorrow morning."

"What!"

Luffy stood up, "I'll make you a deal." This caught Zoro's attention. "You, Roronoa Zoro, will join my pirate crew as my first mate! In exchange, I will break you out of here."

"No way." he denied. Luffy just smirked.

"Let me try this again." He was going to get Zoro to join one way or another. If he had to change the wording a bit, then so be it. Either way, it was blackmail. "You can either stay here and die like a dog at the hands of the Marines, or you can join me and travel the world."

This time, he thought about it for a moment. "If I join you," he said slowly, "I've got a few conditions."

Luffy smiled. It was different words than last time, but he knew he'd just gotten his first mate back. "What is your dream?" he asked.

Zoro smiled back, "To be the greatest swordsman in the world. Is that okay with you, captain?"

"I'd expect nothing less from the first mate of the Pirate King."

"If you get in the way of my dream," Zoro wanted, "I'll have you pay at the end of my blade." The words held a much deeper meaning to Luffy that Zoro would probably ever realize.

"I could say the same." The two locked eyes and the deal was set. "I heard you're a swordsman, but I don't see any swords."

"That brat stole them. They're somewhere inside." Luffy nodded and ran away from the building. "The other way, you idiot!" He laughed and turned around. He knew that that'd be the only time Zoro got the directions right, so he had to give it to him.

He made his way through the building, avoiding the soldiers inside via Observation Haki. He was gonna go to the top, but he'd save that for later. It was cruel, but Luffy wanted to let them get the statue up and situated before he broke it. It'd be funny on his end, as well as more satisfying. But that would have to wait until after he got Zoro's swords. Suddenly, he missed the weight of his own sword. It would take a while, but he'd get it back. The knife strapped to his lower back would have to do for now.

Wanting to stir up some chaos, Luffy slammed open every door he came across. It didn't matter that they weren't the doors he was looking for, he just thought it was fun. So, he made as much noise as he wanted until he got to Helmeppo's room. Quietly opening the door, he spotted the three swords in the corner. When he looked out the window to see what was going on, he smiled to himself. "I've got a few minutes," he decided. Holding onto the inside, he let himself drop out of the window before catapulting himself up to the roof. Seeing no one there, Luffy went behind the statue of Captain Morgan and hit it hard enough to knock it over. As it fell into the courtyard, he jumped on its head and rode it down. It was quite fun. Before it hit the ground, he jumped in front of Zoro and Coby to protect them from the just fired bullets.

"What do you think you're doing!" Captain Morgan demanded. He was answered with the shattering thud of his statue. The head broke off and rolled toward them, stopping a few feet from the group of marines, face down.

Luffy's hat covered his face as he spoke. "I think I'm saving my friends." He pulled a sword from its sheath - not the Wado Ichimonji, not without permission - and handed the other two to Coby. Holding himself and the sword in a stance Zoro had taught him once upon a time, he smirked at the Marines. "You can go ahead and try to stop me."

"What are you standing there for!" Captain Morgan yelled, "Get him!" The marine's were hesitant, but they readied their weapons.

Luffy, instead of attacking, cut the ropes off of Zoro who took all three swords and blocked every single marine from getting to Luffy. The raven haired boy gained a slightly manic look in his eye as he waited for Zoro to speak.

"You're insane." the green haired man smirked.

Luffy, too, smirked as he got ready to attack, "I know. You'll get used to it."

Zoro jumped over Luffy to attack Morgan, who had come up behind the young pirate. Luffy, on the other hand, swiped his leg about a foot over the ground and took out the rest of the marines. Straightening up, the two turned to each other and smiled. There was no better way to judge a person's strength and reliability than in the heat of battle. Even though this was their first meeting, the two could confidently put their lives on the line for one another.

Coby stared at the two in awe. They fought together like they'd known each other for years! He was sure they'd only just met, though, so he was very impressed and confused. He didn't say anything, though, as he followed the two back through the town and back to where Rika and her mother were waiting at the restaurant.

"Welcome!" Rika's mother greeted them when they entered.

"Mister Luffy!" Rika shouted, "Mister Zoro! Welcome back!"

The two greeted the little girl and sat at the same table Luffy had earlier and ordered some food. Luffy made sure not to order too much, but he got enough to hold him over for a while. The food he didn't get earlier had apparently been handed out as freebies, so he didn't have to mourn the loss of perfectly good food. As they ate, he listened to everything going on around him. Nami was now gone, but he knew he'd run into her soon. Just as the two finished their food, the Marines walked in. Zoro stiffened and swiftly moved his hand to the hilt of his swords, but didn't do anything more as he looked at Luffy.

The Marine at the head of the group addressed Luffy, "Am I correct to assume that you are a pirate?"

Luffy smiled, "Yep!"

The Marine spoke again, "We are more than grateful for your help, but we can't let you stay here any longer. We'll give you a boat, but you need to leave."

Luffy nodded and dropped some beli on the table, Zoro following after him. Before they made it out of the door, Luffy said, "I found that kid over there and made him bring me here. He said he wants to be a Marine. Take him to my grandpa for me, will ya?" The marines, Zoro and Coby were all confused and Luffy's smile grew, "And don't you dare forget my name!"

"What's your name?" The Marine he'd been speaking to this whole time asked.

"Monkey D. Luffy!" With that, he grabbed Zoro and fled the scene. The two made it down to the docks, stole a small boat with a sail and set off on their own. Luffy could only imagine the shocked looks on everyone's faces when they realized that Garp the Fist had a grandson. If they even believed him, that is.

"So," Zoro said, "You seem like you have something on your mind. You wanna talk about it?" He really hated all that touchy-feely shit, and he avoided it at all costs, but something about this kid - his captain - was making him actually care. It was weird to him.

Luffy didn't say anything for a long moment. He didn't exactly plan on how to tell Zoro that he was from the future. He knew he'd have to, but he didn't know how to phrase it. It's not like he could just tell him! At least, he didn't think it would be that easy. Finally, he sighed, "I do have something to tell you, but I don't know how to word it, y'know?"

Zoro opened his eyes and observed his new captain. "You don't have to tell me right now." he offered, "Instead, why don't we formally introduce ourselves?" At Luffy's confused look, he elaborated, "Well, we didn't exactly meet under the best circumstances, and I really only know your name…"

Luffy smiled as Zoro trailed off. It wasn't how their first meeting went originally, but he figured this was probably as normal a meeting he would ever have. "My name's Monkey D. Luffy, youngest of three brothers and the future Pirate King!"

Zoro smirked, "Roronoa Zoro, only child and the future greatest swordsman in the world."

"Nice to formally meet ya, Zoro!"

"Likewise, Luffy."

The two shared another smile before they let themselves lapse back into a calm quiet. Eventually, though, Luffy spotted a white bird in the air and changed their course to follow it. He didn't tell Zoro, of course, but he did acknowledge that his first mate realized they were moving a lot faster than they had been before.

"What's got you in such a big rush?" the green haired man asked.

"Food." Luffy didn't even look away from the bird as he said it. He was a bit hungry, yes, but he was mostly excited to meet up with Nami again. Though, Zoro didn't need to know that little tidbit of information yet. He figured that he'd tell Zoro about the whole time travel thing after they found their navigator. If said woman just happened to overhear, it wasn't his fault and he wouldn't take any responsibility for it.

"Food?" Zoro wondered aloud, "Is this gonna be a recurring thing with you?"

"Most definitely." Luffy admitted, speeding up and not letting the bird out of his sight. It was only a few minutes later that they found the island. Only then did Luffy slow down.

Docking on the island, Luffy walked the roads with Zoro under the guise of looking for food. It wasn't a total lie, but he was also looking for Nami. Again, Zoro didn't need to know everything yet.

"There she is!" The two both stopped and turned their attention to where they were looking. Several yards in front of them was a small group consisting of several clown-looking men chasing after a young woman with short orange hair. Luffy knew who she was without needing to look and Zoro just wanted a nice place to nap.

The woman turned around to continue running. When she spotted Luffy and Zoro, she gained a smirk and ran towards them. "Just in time, boss!" she exclaimed, much to Zoro's confusion. Luffy knew this would happen, though, and was fully prepared to beat these guys up. "Take care of them for me, will ya?" She didn't wait for an answer before she ran.

"Hey, wait-!" Zoro yelled and turned to follow after her.

"Better get this over with." Luffy muttered. Swinging his arm back, he didn't let the men speak before he hit them with a rubber sucker punch that took out the whole group. Why would they stop in a perfectly straight line? That was stupid of them. Then, he turned to chase after Nami. Zoro had followed her already, he knew, but had probably gotten lost. Deciding that his first mate would eventually find him - or vice versa - he chased Nami in order to continue the story he knew.

It took a lot longer to catch up to Nami than he remembered. Maybe it was because he actually had to chase her this time instead of her waiting for him. She obviously thought he would either die or get captured. Oh, well, he just shrugged her behavior off. It's not like she'd always be like this.

When he finally did find her, the first words out of his mouth got her to give him a small - but genuine - smile and a chuckle. "I saved your ass, so you owe me a meal!"

"What about the guy who was with you?" Nami walked towards him so they didn't have to speak so loud, "What happened to him?"

"Zoro?" he smiled, "He'll be fine! He's probably a bit lost - no sense of direction, I tell ya, no matter how much he denies it! - but he'll find us eventually."

"'Us'?" Nami scoffed, "There is no 'us'. I'll get you some food, but we part ways after that."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?"

"You were being chased by those guys for a reason, right?" She nodded and he threw his arms behind his head in a relaxed position, "So I figured that you'd probably appreciate a bit more help before ditching this place." At Nami's slightly bewildered expression, he quickly added, "You aren't finished here, right?"

Nami was at a loss for words for several seconds, opening and closing her mouth like a fish, "How did you know?" Luffy just shrugged and continued to walk.

About five minutes later, Nami pulled Luffy inside of a house and offered him pretty much everything there. Knowing that this food was not hers to give - nor his to eat - he chose a few things and ate very sparingly. When he had finished his meal, he thanked Nami and the owner of the house quietly - just as he'd been taught to so long ago - and put the dirty dishes in the sink to be washed. He would clean them himself, but he felt like he'd be letting Sanji win that fight and he really didn't want to give his chef that particular win. He'd fight this battle until the day he dies and he'd make sure he'd win!

"Y'know," Nami said from her place on the counter, "If your offer of help is still on the table, I'd like to accept it."

Luffy thought for a second. If he played his cards right, here, he could get her to agree to an alliance with him and Zoro before they set off. That sounded like a plan. He smiled, "Yeah, I can help ya still! But, I have a condition."

That's not what Nami wanted to hear. Though, she should've figured this would've happened. After all, that's how every sentient being she'd ever met worked. An eye for an eye, a leg for a leg, a service for a service. "What is it?" she asked politely.

"Zoro has the worst sense of direction I've ever seen," he wasn't about to sugarcoat anything, "And I'm not the best with directions, either. So," Nami really didn't like where this was going, "I want you to help us get from island to island! I help you, you help me." This was a little thing he picked up from hanging around with Law, Kidd and Bonney so much. It was a weird personality swap into what the others called 'Boss Mode'. Not to be confused with 'Captain Mode', 'King Mode' or 'Monster Mode'. Not that he knew the differences.

It was now Nami's turn to think. It was obvious that this kid - he couldn't be older than her, even saying they were the same age was a stretch - had an ulterior motive. She didn't know what it was, and she's not sure she wanted to know. If she accepted, she'd have to change the condition to be a bit more in her favor. After all, she still had a job to do. "If you help me finish up my business on this island, I'll help you and your friend navigate your way around," she stuck her hand out. Before the two could shake, she pulled her hand back and added, "Only!" she said loudly, "Only for the rest of the month. Once this month is up, I'm gone and you're on your own."

This time, Luffy had to think for a moment. It had taken about that time frame to get to the Baratie last time. By then, they should get ahold of Arlong's wanted poster. If not, he kind of knew the way to Nami's home. Knowing the general direction would be a more accurate phrasing. He knew he could get there, though. Nodding his head, Luffy said, "This is a Sailor's Deal. If you break it, I'm allowed to rob you blind and throw you overboard." He knew that there was no such thing as a 'Sailor's Deal', but he hoped she didn't know that. Though he had meant to call it something else, he just couldn't remember what it was. Oh, well! Not his problem.

Nami didn't hesitate longer than two seconds before shaking his hand in agreement. She didn't know what a 'Sailor's Deal' was, but this quick poker game was in her favor, so she'd agree. She did, after all, have the winning hand in this situation. At last, that's what she believed.

Luffy's smile stretched across his face after she let go of his hand. Now that she thought she had the upper hand, it was time to get a small laugh to himself. He knew he shouldn't - given he knew what she was going through and he respected her for surviving - but he couldn't help himself as he knocked her off her kind of high pedestal. She'd have to get rid of most of her ego eventually anyway, even if it was just an act. "By the way, there's something you need to know about me and Zoro."

"What is it?" she asked. She was just about to tie him up so that she could rob this place blind.

"Me and Zoro," he paused for effect and leaned in to make the reveal more dramatic, "are pirates."