AN:

First off I want to say thank you to the people who have favorited and followed the story so far, as well as the people who have commented, it's pretty cool to see that people like it.

I saw a question about the rest of the moon islands and if Luffy and the crew would be visiting them, and I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that it was one of those seeds I was talking about and I hate to say it but it could be a long while before that one grows.

The next couple of chapters will be a little slower, but it's needed to build the story the right way. Or at least the way I see it in my head.

With that being said, here's Chapter 8.

Chapter 8: Third Impressions

Luffy woke up, groaning. His body hurt everywhere. The boy slowly opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings.

He smiled when his gaze landed on a familiar head of orange hair. So she had decided to stay after all. That made him happy. He wanted to know her name, as she was interesting to him. Even though she'd been scared of the Forest Guy, she still tried to go after the treasure. That took some guts. He ended up getting it so he wasn't mad about her trying to steal it. It was just part of the adventure. And what an adventure it was.

Luffy sighed, groaning in pain as he tried to sit up. "So peeper, what made you stay?", he asked the orangette, who was currently sitting at a table in the middle of the room. She looked to be… drawing something?

The girl was dressed in a blue/white striped v-neck t-shirt and a short yellow-orange skirt with three intersecting dark orange circles, surrounded by white, going up the left side. Around the cuffs, neckline, and hem of the shirt, were two thin blue stripes, as well as three more. A large one around her breast and two smaller ones directly below.

The orangette huffed in consternation as she paused and turned in her chair, looking up from her work at the newly awakened boy. "You need to stop calling me that!", she huffed angrily.

"Well, I don't really know what else to call you… You never gave me your name.", he replied in pained laughter. It didn't help that, peeper, fit. After all, she was one.

The orangette quieted. "Nami.", she replied in a small voice.

Nami. He liked it. A wave. It fit her. She was gonna make waves with him, he just knew it. "I like it!", he said, finally managing to get into an upright position.

The girl blushed. Where did he get off saying things like that? He'd flashed her in the middle of a forest! Nami turned her head away and huffed, blushing harder. She definitely hadn't been peeping... "What's your's?", the girl mumbled, still turned away from Luffy.

"I definitely didn't hear that.", he said, whistling, having definitely heard it. He wanted her to ask him to his face.

Nami turned back in his direction and repeated herself, angrily, "I said, what's your's! And you're a terrible liar!".

Luffy laughed, once again groaning in pain, Shanks had said the same thing. "It's Luffy.", he replied. His body really hurt. He laid back down and held his arm up flexing his fist. Everything had gone into that last attack. 'Thanks, Sabo.', he thought, peering at his hand with a smile. He actually managed to push his haki to cover his entire hand. He'd gotten stronger. The only unfortunate part was he wouldn't be able to use armament for a while. That was a bummer. He would just have to get stronger without it in the meantime.

"Luffy." She voiced to herself, testing the name on her lips.

"Yep, that's me.", said the straw hat-wearing boy, his stomach grumbling. How long had it been since he ate last? For that matter, how long had he been sleeping?

"Thank you.", Nami whispered quietly into the air, her eyes locked onto the pencil she held in her lap. She couldn't look at him as she said it.

"For what?", Luffy asked. He remembered saving her but didn't think it was worthy of a thank you, so he thought it must have been something else. He was just trying to get to the treasure before her. And he had, so it all worked out in the end. Maybe she was thanking him for the free peep show?

"For saving me, obviously!", answered the girl, indignantly. What else would she be thanking him for?!

"Oh!", the black-haired boy exclaimed. So, it really had been that.

Nami sweat dropped, "Yeah.". She couldn't for the life of her think of what else he might have thought she was thanking him for. "I thought I was gonna get eaten by that wolf. You saved me… So, thank you.".

Right when Luffy heard the word wolf, he went into a panic. He suddenly realized that he didn't know where White and her cubs were. He'd left them behind to get to the cave faster. What had happened to them after he passed out? Were they ok?

'Safe'.

The soft 'voice' floated through Luffy's mind and he let out a sigh of relief. If he was paying more attention, he would have noticed that his new charm had grown slightly warmer, but he was only focused on White and the fact that she was safe. It was all that mattered. "Don't worry about it.", he said with a smile, knowing his friend was ok. "But, you WERE trying to steal my treasure! That was way too sneaky!", the black-haired teen exclaimed, looking in the girl's direction. She was lucky he had gotten it, he would have been really mad otherwise.

"Well, you're just an idiot. Like I wasn't gonna go after the treasure! Anyone could've seen that.", replied Nami, frowning at him. She'd made it super obvious.

"Now you're just being mean!", Luffy pouted as he tried to stretch his muscles out on the bed. His whole body was tight like a spring, "Plus, you said you wouldn't!". He groaned. It hurt, but he really needed it. He didn't know if he'd be able to walk otherwise.

Nami shook her head in exasperation. The newly dubbed Luffy really was an idiot.

The conversation paused as the girl watched Luffy stretch his body along the bed. She eventually looked away with another blush. What was he even stretching like that for?

"You should join my crew.", said the straw-hatted boy, out of the blue.

The orangette's eyes snapped to Luffy. "What crew?", she asked, suspicion clear in her voice.

"My pirate crew.", Luffy answered, looking at Nami with hopeful eyes. He really wanted to hang out with the girl more. He wanted to be friends with her! The boy continued to stretch as he awaited her answer.

"You're a pirate?", asked Nami, voice dropping and taking a darker tone.

"Well, not yet, but I will be.", Luffy replied. As soon as he got home, he was leaving again. That was for sure. Just thinking about it was making him excited. That wouldn't be for a while longer though. He still had some time for more adventures!

"Why would you ever want to be a pirate?", the orange-haired girl questioned, a venomous bite to her tone. Pirates had ruined her life. They were the scum of the earth. People who only took from and hurt others. They took her mother from her and she hated them for it, believing with all of her heart, that she always would.

"What do you mean?! Being a pirate is the coolest thing you can do!", Luffy exclaimed.

Anger bloomed in Nami's chest, "Pirates are scum.". How could the person that had saved her life say that he wanted to be the thing she hated the most?

Luffy looked at the girl blankly. "Well… yeah.", he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?", Nami questioned, confused. Hadn't he just said he wanted to be a pirate?

"Yeah… Pirates are scum.", Luffy said, the frown on his face looking strange taking the place of his usual smile. "I've seen it. Pirates have hurt me... People I care about too.". Bluejam flashed through his memory. Just thinking about the man was enough to put him in a bad mood.

"So then why do you want to be one?!", Nami asked, incredulously.

Luffy smiled, thinking about the pirates that inspired his dream. "Because those aren't the kind of pirate I want to be. When I was a kid, I met a group of them that are some of the coolest people ever!", he answered, "They were a real rowdy crew, but they were nice. The captain helped me out a lot back then. They're the ones that made me want to be a pirate in the first place.".

"Those kinds of pirates don't exist! You're lying!", yelled Nami.

"I am not! The captain's name is Shanks!", Luffy yelled back.

Nami was getting upset. If she was hearing correctly and Luffy wasn't lying, that would mean that she'd just been dealt a bad hand in life. The thought only made her angrier. "Pirates only create misery and nothing else.", she hissed through her teeth.

"So you're saying, I'm only going to create misery.", Luffy asked, seriously, pausing and looking her in the eyes.

The girl gaped. That hadn't really been what she meant by saying that.

Luffy saw the girl's reaction and turned away, focusing back in on his stretching, "Even if you think I will, I don't plan on making anyone miserable.".

Nami chose to stay silent rather than reply.

"I want to be a pirate because, to me, being a pirate is being free. I want to be free to do whatever I want, whenever I want to. And that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go even further than that. I'm gonna be the freest person there is, I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates.", Luffy stated with all the confidence in the world.

Nami couldn't lie to herself, he did make freedom sound nice. "You… King of the Pirates?", she asked, laughing. Even through her anger, she couldn't help it, an idiot like the boy in front of her becoming the King of the Pirates was laughable at best. She paused. When she actually thought about it, she'd seen him do some insane stuff. The image of Luffy's figure surrounded by the moon flashed through her head... Yeah, she'd seen stuff that she wouldn't have been able to convince herself was real if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. But come on! The Pirate King? That title was unreachable for anyone, let alone some idiot boy.

Luffy lowered himself from his stretching position and slowly sat up. His body didn't feel that much better, but he could probably move and that was good enough for him, for now. "Yeah!", he exclaimed, "So, are you gonna join my crew, or what?".

"Obviously not! I still think pirates are scum and that means you'll be scum when you become one.". Nami stated, looking at him with utter contempt.

"Yeah, you're definitely joining.", Luffy said, a smile on his lips.

"What the hell! No!", argued the orange-haired girl, indignant at the boy she was talking with.

"Too late", Luffy replied, now laughing.

"Not too late! I am not becoming a pirate! I'll NEVER become a pirate!", Nami yelled, standing from her chair, huffing, a crazed look in her eye.

Luffy paused, he could practically feel her anger and something else too... maybe sadness. "Fine.", he held her gaze. "I'm not giving up though. I'm definitely gonna convince you. You've got a dream and something is stopping you from chasing it.", he said.

Nami's eyes widened. How could he have known that?

"I'm gonna convince you to be a pirate with me. Then we can chase our dreams together.", said the straw-hatted boy, looking Nami directly in the eyes.

The orangette couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks and instead of returning Luffy's gaze, chose to turn away, gathering her things from the table. Nami sighed angrily and made to walk out of the room and end the conversation.

"Until then, don't tell me what your dream is. I don't wanna know until you agree to be a pirate with me.", the boy said to the retreating girl's back.

Nami paused, turning, "And what makes you think we will even be together long enough for you to make that happen?".

"I just gotta feeling.", Luffy smiled.

Nami huffed once again and turned back, opening the door, an angry look marring her face. Luffy was just so irritating! She slammed the door behind her and ran into someone approaching the room she'd just left.

"What's got you all riled up?", asked Zoro. The swordsman was just heading to get Luffy and Nami for dinner when she'd come barging out of Luffy's room.

Nami said nothing as she shoulder-checked the green-haired teenager covered in bandage wrappings. The girl winced as she continued on her way forward, Zoro was sturdy as a brick wall. She rubbed her shoulder. That might need some ice.

Zoro frowned curiously but didn't follow Nami's retreating form, instead choosing to enter the room she had just left. He opened the door to see Luffy standing from his bed. "What's got the witch's panties in a twist?", he asked casually.

"I HEARD THAT YOU DUMBASS!".

Zoro shut the door as quickly as he could. Just in time, apparently, as a loud thump echoed through its wood.

Luffy laughed, walking toward his vest and hat, "I asked her to join my crew."

"You did what?!", asked Zoro, incredulously.

"I asked her to join the crew.", the straw-hatted boy repeated, putting on said vest and sliding on his sandals, his hat finding its way to his head. He giggled to himself. Zoro was making a funny face.

The swordsman gaped. He could already feel a headache rising, "Why the hell did you do that?!"

"What do you mean? She's cool! She does have a peeping habit though.", Luffy answered with another laugh.

"I DO NOT!".

Zoro looked curiously at the door where the voice had come from, "Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not," Luffy said, walking toward his friend, "but she's definitely joining."

"I AM NOT!".

As the two approached the door, they heard retreating footsteps. Zoro sighed. He was just gonna have to get used to having headaches all the time. "Dinner's in one of the back rooms. Saul told me to come get you guys.", said the verdet in the direction of the boy walking next to him.

"Saul?", Luffy asked.

"Yeah, he's the owner of the place. He's been letting me stay here.", replied the verdet, quietly, knowing what was coming.

Luffy looked at his friend incredulously. Zoro had said he was going to be alone!

"I know, I know. I said I wanted to be alone. But, I think I needed to be alone to find this shop in the first place.", the swordsman said, seriously. He didn't know why he felt that way, but he did.

Luffy sighed listening to his friend. He wanted to be mad, but he just couldn't find it in himself. Even though Zoro hadn't been alone like he'd said, he'd definitely gotten stronger. He didn't know how he had given the cuts to the Forest Lord, but getting through its fur at all was something to boast about. The straw-hatted teen smiled. He wanted to see what Zoro could do. "It's fine. It looks like you've gotten stronger! Did you figure it out?", he asked. He wouldn't be surprised. He was sure Zoro was going to get it before they entered the Grandline.

"If you're asking about that power of yours, no. But I found something else.", the swordsman replied.

"Ooo, what is it?!", asked Luffy, excitedly.

"You said we should find someone strong to fight when we left here. You'll just have to wait until then to see." Zoro replied.

Luffy smiled, that seemed pretty fair. "I've gotten stronger too!", he said to his future first mate.

"Trust me, I know. I watched you fight that beast.", Zoro praised as they arrived at the door to one of the other back rooms in the shop. "Nami even stayed to watch. Tried to steal your necklace while you were unconscious too.". He glanced at the item in question, eyeing its new charm. He would eventually have to ask Luffy about those. For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that the Forest Lord had been guarding a tiny black stone. But then again, who was he to say? It was pretty beautiful after all.

Luffy laughed and smiled. That didn't surprise him one bit. Good thing his necklace was basically impossible for her to take off. "Definitely joining the crew.", he said more to himself than Zoro. The swordsman opened the door and they stepped into the room. A table sat in the middle, filled with all kinds of food, Luffy's mouth salivating at the sight.

"So you're this brat's friend?", a voice at the table asked, "Didn't think he actually had any.".

The comment made Zoro scowl in irritation.

Luffy looked away from the glorious spread of food in front of him. Finally! Cooked meat! "That's me! I'm Luffy!", he answered to the hulking man who had asked the question.

"Saul.", replied the older man in a gruff voice.

Luffy approached before he could even attempt to stop himself. "You're a pretty big guy!", he said, pulling out a chair from the table. It all just smelled way too good. He was HUNGRY.

"Hafta be. Otherwise, the metal wouldn't do what I want.", Saul reasoned.

"Metal?", asked Luffy, curiously, taking a seat a the table. He'd already grabbed a leg of chicken and was digging into it.

"I'm a blacksmith. Didn't you tell him about me, brat?", Saul asked Zoro with a scowl.

"He just woke up old man.", replied Zoro, in a flat voice.

The blacksmith couldn't really argue with that. "Whatever. Go get you're girly friend and eat before it gets cold."

"Don't ever say something like that again.", Zoro said, walking out of the door to go get Nami. The verdet shivered just thinking about the headaches that would cause.

Now that the two were left alone, Saul took a good look at Luffy. "You related to Monkey D. Garp by any chance?", he asked. Saul had known Garp in his early days. They'd come up together in the Navy, him as a blacksmith and Garp in the actual force. Luffy definitely had the Monkey D. blood, he looked similar to Garp, but Saul saw more Dragon in his face. Definitely smaller too. The older man grabbed another piece of steak, eating it alongside Luffy scarfing down his own food.

"Yeah. How the heck did you know that, gramps?", Luffy asked between bites of his third chicken leg.

"I knew Garp, coming up in the Marines. We enlisted around the same time.", he laughed, swallowing a bite of food, "Went pretty different directions though. He was a front-line guy and I was just fine makin' weapons in the safety of my forge.".

So, the old guy was in the Navy. "You're not gonna try to tell me to join the Marines, are you? Gramps always does that and I hate it! I'm gonna be a pirate, not a marine!", exclaimed Luffy, polishing off the last of the apples at the table.

Saul laughed again, "You don't gotta worry about that. I'm done with the Marines. Retired twenty-one years ago.", the blacksmith paused in his eating and frowned, "The Navy did somethin' that just didn't sit right with me. So, I packed up my forge and moved out here. To a simpler life.", he sighed. He was happy on East Lodestone.

"Well, I'm glad. It seems like you're happy. I like it when people are happy.", Luffy said, still shoveling food into his mouth. He could almost feel the satisfaction oozing from the older man at the mention of a simple life.

While watching Luffy eat more of the food on the table, Saul couldn't help but be glad that he'd made so much. He wasn't used to making food for anyone other than himself and sometimes Zoro, so he had made a ton. At the time, he thought it might be too much, but he remembered eating with Garp when they'd first enlisted and it looked like Luffy's appetite was similar if not more monstrous. Making so much had actually turned out to be a blessing.

"I am. And I'm also full.", the man said, standing from his place at the table, "I'm sure you brats can finish the rest.". Saul excused himself and made for the door. He would let the three kids finish the food. He glanced at Luffy still eating and couldn't help but think that the boy could probably finish it by himself.

"You're not gonna eat more?" Luffy questioned through large mouthfuls of food.

"Nah, you and your friends can finish it. I got some stuff I need to do back at the forge.", the man answered.

The door opened, Nami and Zoro stepping in and unknowingly interrupting the conversation between the blacksmith and the straw-hatted boy. "Bout time you got here brat.", Saul said, smirking at Zoro. He looked back at the table, "Food's almost gone".

Luffy had already almost eaten through most of what was set out for dinner. He looked up from his large leg of meat and smiled at the two newcomers.

"Luffy! What the hell!", Zoro complained, "Leave some for the rest of us!"

Nami only looked back at the staw-hatted boy with contempt. She was still angry with him after their earlier conversation.

"It's your fault for taking so long! Plus, I was probably asleep for a long time, who knows how many meals I missed!", Luffy exclaimed, hands reaching out to grab more food. His stomach was beginning to bulge from all the eating.

The two approached the table and sat down, each of them starting to grab food from what was left... Which wasn't much.

"A week.", Nami said, "You were out for a week.". The girl had filled her plate and was now eating, albeit at a much slower pace than the boy sitting beside her.

Zoro nodded his head, doing the same as the orange-haired girl, "Yeah, it's not really that surprising though, that fight was definitely something."

Luffy smiled through bites, his hand drifting to Nami's plate to snatch a piece of bacon off of it.

"Hey! That's mine!", yelled Nami, angrily, smacking Luffy's wandering hand away and shooting him a glare.

The boy only laughed and went back to eating his own food. He was glad Zoro got to see how strong he'd gotten while he could still use Armament Haki. If he had been asleep for a week... Luffy sighed, swallowing another large bite of meat. Yeah, he definitely wouldn't be using it for a while.

Nami glanced from her plate to Luffy. She was still angry at him and thought it was stupid that he wanted to be a pirate... but Zoro wasn't wrong. What she had seen over the course of that battle had shocked her too. Maybe… "Hey pervert boy.", she said, still protecting her plate from Luffy's hands, "Even though you're gonna be a pirate", her face soured as she said the word, "I still think we should team up.".

Zoro only sighed and continued to eat his food. He already knew where this was going. It looked like they might be leaving the island earlier than planned. 'Guess he isn't too worried about Levi anymore.', he thought, sweat dropping.

The food that wasn't already on either Zoro's or Nami's plate was gone and Luffy sat back to let his meal digest, doing the same with the orange-haired girl's words. Now that he'd finished the adventure the old man had sent him on, he was free to start another one! The black-haired boy smirked to himself. He just knew she was gonna be around for him to convince her to be a pirate. "What're we doin'?", Luffy asked in Nami's direction.

Zoro groaned and Nami sent him a glare. Turning back to Luffy, she answered, "I've got something I want you to help with. I could probably do it by myself but it would be nice to have some strong guys like you come along to make things easier.".

"Sounds fun! Where we goin'?", Luffy asked. He hoped she had a boat because he didn't think Levi was back yet and he didn't know if Nami would love the idea of being pulled around by a sea monster anyway. Even if he was Luffy's friend.

"Have either of you heard of a pirate named Mad Treasure?", Nami asked the two boys at the table.

"The name sounds familiar. I probably used to have his bounty poster, but they all got wet when we swam here.", Zoro answered.

"Swam here?", the girl asked, curiously.

"Boat sank before we got all the way to the island.", the swordsman scowled. He was still a little mad about that. That boat had lasted him years!

"You're both idiots.", Nami said. She thought that it was lucky the two were so strong, otherwise, their idiocy would have surely killed them by now! "Well, he's a pirate that loves treasure… obviously. The point is, I managed to find where he's hoarding all of it and I want to steal it. It's right here in the East Blue.". Nami looked at the two boys, gauging their reactions. Luffy looked excited and Zoro… less so.

"Alright! Now I'm excited!", the black-haired boy yelled, jumping up from his seat. He groaned in pain. That might have been a little too fast. He was definitely still very injured. "Let's go steal some treasure!", he hissed out, a pained smile on his face.

"Slow down, perv boy.", Nami told Luffy. That had been way too easy. She looked at the other occupant of the table, "What about you?", the girl asked.

The verdet sighed. He was doing that a lot lately. He guessed that was just his life now. Zoro hoped Mad Treasure was strong. He really wanted to show Luffy what he'd learned. "Yeah. You can count me in.".

She wasn't very excited about sailing with two boys she barely knew. One of which was a pervert... She definitely WAS NOT peeping!... But she was just going to have to do it. It was for Cocoyashi. Those two would make it almost a guarantee that she got the treasure. "Alright, the island is gonna take us about two months to get to.".

Luffy groaned, interrupting the girl, "Two months?!".

"But there are a lot of places to stop on the way to restock, so we won't have to worry too much about supplies.", Nami said, ignoring the boy's interruption.

He immediately perked up at the mention of stopping along the way. Maybe they would see some cool stuff when they stopped and maybe he would get to meet even more cool people! An important fact then hit the teen. Neither he nor Zoro was very good at navigation. "You wouldn't happen to be a navigator, would you Nami?", Luffy asked, crossing his fingers. It was worth a shot, right?

A proud look took over Nami's face. "You just happen to be looking at the best navigator in the East Blue. Maybe even the world.". She was proud of her skills as a navigator. She wanted to be proud of her maps too, but… She shook her head. Thinking about him right now would only make her upset and she didn't need a repeat of earlier.

"NOW YOU HAVE TO JOIN MY CREW!", Luffy practically screamed in excitement. He just had to have the best navigator in the world on his crew! And here she was, right in front of him!

"NO!", Nami yelled back with shark teeth, "I already told you! I'm never gonna be a pirate!".

Luffy pouted but quieted down. "I refuse.", he whispered under his breath, sitting back down in his seat and crossing his arms.

"What was that?", Nami asked in a sickly sweet voice.

Luffy gulped and looked down at his lap, "Nothing!".

Zoro couldn't help but laugh to himself. His future captain could take down wolves the size of small mountains but was cowed by a teenage girl.

"And what the hell do you think you're laughing at?!", Nami yelled and turned her head in Zoro's direction, hearing the laughing he'd tried to hide.

Zoro paled as he looked at the girl, her eyes practically on fire. 'Scary'.

Nami huffed and got back to the matter at hand. "I think we should leave tomorrow. The earlier we start, the faster we get the treasure, and the faster I can get the two of you out of my hair.".

"Saul's not gonna like that.", Zoro said. Who else was going to do all the manual labor?

"Well, you're just gonna have to deal with it.", Nami replied, "I'm not waiting.". She wasn't going to let her people suffer any longer than she had to.

Zoro sighed yet again, this time in resignation.

"Alright!", Luffy exclaimed standing from the table once more, slower this time, "I'm going to sleep! All that food was delicious and I want it to be tomorrow already!".

The boy walked around the table to the door, the other occupants doing the same, having also made the decision to sleep for the night. "Goodnight guys! Zoro I hope you have good dreams about swords and Nami…", Luffy didn't finish the sentence, but the implication was there.

"I DO NOT DREAM ABOUT PEEPING!", Nami screamed at the straw-hatted boy.

Luffy only laughed as he ran away from the angry girl as fast as his injured body would let him.

End Note:

This was one of the chapters where Luffy is more OOC than usual, but he's not really OOC for the story. In my mind, because Luffy knew haki, he grew up a little differently with his brothers and so he is a little different than canon. There will be more on that later in the story.

Mad Treasure will be our final destination in the East Blue before Luffy heads back home and canon begins, all of it lines up with the canon timeline really well in my opinion. Hope you all stay with me until then:)