Chapter 7: To Stand On Your Own Feet
The image faded and they were left alone in the darkness once again—but they were all silent as they thought over what they just learnt. The concept of a family…? Just the word 'family' sounded almost foreign to most of them. They were all orphans in a sense—for they had precious few, if any, memories of their biological families—until others stepped in to fill that role that one would associate with the comfort of family.
Such realizations caused them all to become lost in their own thoughts of the families they left behind—hoping that they were all alive and well.
None of them spoke again until the memory returned and they looked to be down some dark alley in Edge Town, judging from the grimy buildings and vagabond-looking thugs that were gathered. The problem was that they were ganging up against Sabo, who had his back against a wall, who was glaring at his enemies as they advanced on him slowly with menacing grins.
"Whoa, that went from wholesome to serious in a flash," Sanji muttered.
"Hey, he's severely outnumbered!" Usopp said as he did a quick headcount, "What's going on? Why's he trying to take them on alone?"
"I wouldn't worry," Franky said with an evil grin, "I'm sure that our boys can take them down easy. This is a classic strategy."
"What strategy are you talking about, Franky-san?" Brook asked as he looked around, "And I don't see Luffy-san or Ace-san…?"
"Sabo," the mugger up front said with a rather evil grin as he played with a knife, "Who gave you permission to enter our territory?"
"His… territory?" Nami repeated in confusion.
"Yeah, you see them in all the big cities. The rough parts of any town, there's always gonna be those who claim a part of it as 'theirs' so to speak," Franky answered, having years of experience of guarding his own home turf from pirates. "You get people who gather together in gangs and they tend to fight each other over the limited space, and they do attack anyone stupid enough to enter it without permission. This isn't any different."
Just then, Robin noticed something moving above them. When she looked up, she spotted two small figures looking down at the scene, and she couldn't stop the smirk as she figured out what was going on.
But Sabo obviously knew what was going on too, for he folded his arms and repeated with both a grin and a mocking tone, "Your territory? You guys are so full of yourselves! Talk is cheap! Hurry up and bring it on if you don't want to have your asses kicked!"
At that, the man in front sneered, "Fine! You asked for it!"
Some of the Straw Hats tensed up as the muggers' ran towards him, one even declaring, "But we ain't going easy on ya because you're a kid!"
"Good thing for him that he didn't come alone," Robin smiled as she looked up again in time to see two figures jumping from the roof. Or rather, it was Ace who jumped, holding onto Luffy's foot, who was clinging to the edge so that his leg stretched out for Ace to swing down with his pipe staff.
"Not bad," Zoro said approvingly, watching as one of the thug's heads collided with Ace's staff and fell to the ground with a loud 'thud'.
"That kid!" one of the muggers yelled in a stunned voice before he held up a knife, not sure where to turn his blade on first.
"This is what happens when you get cocky and underestimate your opponent," Sanji commented with a shake of his head as Sabo, who was now grinning, held up his own staff.
"Pay attention!" Sabo called while taking the leader out with a single swing. At the same time, Ace let go of Luffy's leg so that when it shot back like the rubber band and the little guy was thrown off the roof.
"He had so much trouble with his powers didn't he?" Brook asked as he watched Luffy falling back down towards the fight with a startled cry. "Yohohoho… I'm glad to see he figured it all out eventually."
"How's he gonna land…?" Usopp asked as he watched Luffy plummeted to the ground, but his fall was luckily broken when he landed on one of the thugs before jumping up and charging into the fight with his brothers.
"YEAH!" Chopper cheered out watching them fight as Franky and Usopp were rooting them on even Nami was enjoying the sight as the boys took on the entire group as Zoro watched with interest.
He always knew that Luffy's fighting style was completely improvised; since it followed no particular rules or code of honor, so their captain wasn't afraid to fight dirty if the situation called for it. For someone with no formal training, Zoro had always wondered where he learned to fight… now he knew since all three seemed to fight very similarity.
It was really quite entertaining watching the brothers fight together—their teamwork already excellent as they were able to cover one another if they had to. Ace and Sabo always keeping an eye out for Luffy, who was still experimenting with his powers as well as seeing how far he could push his own strength. The funniest moment was when one guy made the mistake to try to punch Luffy in the face. Though it had succeeded in denting his face, caused no actual harm to him, Luffy suddenly couldn't see and was fumbling around until Ace and Sabo jumped in to protect him. Once the remaining guys were nothing but bleeding lumps on the ground with their own faces beaten in, a loud whistle could be heard blowing nearby, accompanied by the sounds of shouting.
Ace looked up, halfway through another beating before dropping the man and called to his brothers, "The authorities are coming! Let's get out of here!"
Luffy stumbled around, still trying to get his face back to normal so he could see, while the other two were already climbing up the nearest wall. Once Ace was at the top, he called back, "Luffy! Hurry up! This way!"
Luffy turned around in the direction of Ace's voice and shot his arm out randomly; Ace was able to grab it and pulled him up onto the wall, just as his face popped back to normal.
"It's back!" Luffy cried out happily and soon they bolted down the street just as Goa's authorities showed up, demanding to know what happened. The Straw Hats could only laugh as they went running after the brothers, wondering just what was going to happen next? They didn't stop running until they were far away from the walls of Goa and back to cover of the forest. As they all caught their breaths, the boys were standing up on a hill that overlooked the city in the distance as they discussed what to do now.
"It's getting late!" Sabo said, pointing to the sun that was covering everything in colors of orange, gold, and red. He put a hand on his stomach and suggested, "Let's get deer for dinner!"
"Yeah!" Luffy yelled out excitedly, already drooling at the thought. "I love venison! Let's go hunting!" and then he went running off with the other two right behind him, yelling at him not to charge in without thinking.
"What?" Chopper cried out in panic. "He really does like venison?"
"Don't worry, Chopper," Robin smiled, patting his shoulder. "This all happened a long time ago, remember? They wouldn't eat you… though they might've gone after some of your relatives…?"
"Robin," Nami scolded softly, wondering just why Robin loved to voice her morbid thoughts.
"He did try to eat me when we first met," Chopper grumbled at the memory, turning a little blue in the face before glancing nervously at Sanji. "And so did you!"
Sanji laughed as he held his hands up as everything around them went dark to go to the next memory as he reminded him, "Now, now… we didn't know that you were so cool at the time."
Though Sanji loved to tease Chopper about their emergency food supply, or back-up food, he knew he could never bring himself to cook venison ever again.
At his kind words though, Chopper blushed and said as he danced around, "You're just trying to get on my good side, it won't work! Praising me won't make me forgive you, you jerk!"
In other words, it totally worked. Either way, the next memory returned in time to show that the boys returned to the bandits with a large, dead deer in tow, which Dadan had the boys cook up until they had an enormous plate full of meat—and a whole hut full of hungry people.
"Oh, this is gonna be good," Zoro said looking at the hungry looks on everyone's faces and leaned back to watch. Like he hoped, it was sheer chaos as the boys and bandits all fought tooth and nail over the food. It was like watching a bunch of wolves fighting over the newest kill. The three brothers showed no mercy as they launched themselves onto the plate—didn't even care who they sent flying as they ate as much as they could. Ace and Sabo were even able to kick a few of the larger bandits away so that Luffy had a chance to grab some food for himself.
"Ok, I get it now. This is why he's always stealing food from our plates during meals, but he has to know that none of us are gonna steal his food? We're not those bandits?" Nami asked, understanding one of Luffy's many quirks.
"I think at this point it's such a deeply ingrained habit for survival that he can't help it," Brook offered. "If he lived ten years with them and if every meal was like this…?"
"Yeah, it's just not worth it. Keeps us on our toes though," Zoro offered, knowing that them keeping their guards up during meals was good for them in a long run.
As for Dadan, she just sat in the back of the room as they fought, drinking Sake to calm her nerves even as food was flung everywhere. Finally, when she could stand no more, she screamed at the brothers before throwing them into the bathhouse—obviously desperate for a break.
"And don't come out until you count to ten thousand!" she yelled before slamming the door behind her. As she went back to the main room, it was a complete mess and the rest of the bandits were laying there bruised and beaten while there were sounds of fighting and laughter coming from the bathhouse.
"Looks like she's at her wits end," Usopp said as they watched them get brooms and mops out.
"I can't help but feel bad for them…" Sanji laughed, shaking his head in a piteous way. "It's a wonder that they didn't throw them out long before now… their sanity could be at stake if they keep up at this rate!"
"I mean… they do bring home free food so, I think that it all balances out," Franky offered as Dadan looked at the mess furiously, "Besides, the other bandits are just as disastrous at meal times so they're not innocent. If she wants to be mad at the mess, then she should be yelling at the others too."
"Maybe if they thought to learn some manners, then they might not be making such a mess," Sanji suggested as they watched them clean. After an hour of it, the room was spotless and they were all looking at it with satisfied expressions.
"Enjoy it while you can," Brook laughed knowingly, for no sooner did they finish…?
"Luffy! You bastard!" Ace's voice yelled and the three boys appeared, still dripping wet and covered with nothing but towels, chasing each other from out of the bathhouse.
"Aren't they cute?" Nami cooed, watching them run around, leaving wet footprints and puddles all over before she caught the look on Dadan's face as she could only stand and watch.
"B-Boss?" Dogra whispered to Dadan, as the boys kept playing and the rest of the Straw Hats looked to see what had caused the slight terror in Dogra's voice. Dadan's face held no emotion save for a forced smile, but her hands were shaking so badly that she ended up snapping the broom in half.
"Oh, that's not good," Franky said warily.
"It's just water…" Usopp offered at once, noticing the twisted gleam in Dadan's eyes as she looked at the boys, "It's not like its mud or anything…?"
"I think that she's at her limits…" Zoro said with a yawn. "There's only so much you can take from someone before you snap."
"Yeah, and it doesn't look like it will take much more to drive her over the deep end," Sanji said sympathetically as they watched everyone head to bed. The bandits were all out cold by the time that they found their blankets, but the three boys, who they followed to a loft where they had made their bedroom, were still up and didn't look ready for sleep just yet. They all stood apart from each other, their fists held in front of them—ready for yet another fight.
"Last training session for today!" Ace confirmed to them both.
"Don't they know when to call it a day?" Nami asked with a sigh. Seriously, what was with them? Is fighting a hundred fights a day not enough? Just where did they get this energy?
"And I'll win!" Luffy declared holding his fists in the air.
"You never learn," Sabo laughed at him.
"Nope, he doesn't," Usopp said as they all nodded in full agreement.
"I don't think anything less than a beating can get him to learn his lesson," Nami confirmed, "And even then, that rarely works for long."
"Here we go!" Ace yelled, jumping forward like a jungle cat and soon it was an all-out brawl which only ended when Luffy was smacked right through the floor—which resulted in a loud scream of pain that didn't belong to him.
"Ouch…" Usopp hissed, when he looked down to see what happened, "EHHHHH! He landed right on Dadan! That had to hurt!"
"For him or Dadan?" Sanji asked, looking down the hole with Ace and Sabo, who were looking impressed with what just happened.
"Luffy?" Ace yelled through the hole. "Are you alive down there?"
"What a crappy floor," Sabo commented.
"I agree with you," Franky nodded, shaking his head at the hole. "Whoever built this house didn't do such a SUPER job with the floors."
"You bastards!" Luffy yelled up at Ace and Sabo, completely unharmed.
"HEY!" Dadan screamed at all three of them, which seemed to have gotten through to the boys that maybe now wasn't the time for honest criticism.
"Should we go to sleep?" Ace asked Sabo, who quickly nodded.
"Yeah…" Sabo agreed, and just like that, after Luffy jumped right back up to them, all three collapsed on top of each other in a big nest of blankets. The memory faded after the Straw Hats got a look at the three of them still punching and kicking each other in their sleep.
"Poor Dadan," Chopper said shaking his head, really feeling bad for her now. While she may be somewhat scary and mean, she was really trying hard to keep it all together.
When the next memory appeared, they were back with the boys who were all still sleeping even as bright sunlight shone in through the cracks in the walls. At least, until Dogra came in and woke them up, telling Luffy that there were some people here to see him, which got them all interested as they tried to think of who it would be.
"Oh, please don't let it be Garp," Usopp begged as Luffy slowly sat up as he rubbed his sleepy eyes; his curiosity winning over the desire for more sleep. Upon hearing they had guests, even Ace and Sabo followed Luffy downstairs, curious as well to see who would come all the way out here to see him. The second Luffy stuck his head out the door and saw who it was, he was wide awake and let out an excited cry before running out. The rest of them all smiled at the sight—or in Sanji's case, started to drool as hearts replaced his eyes—when they realized that it had been Makino and the Mayor waiting for him.
"Makino!" Luffy cried, running forward to hug her as the two both beamed at the sight of him.
"Luffy!" she cried out happily as she hugged him tightly in return.
"They came to see him," Chopper said with a wide smile, "I'm glad I got to see her again!"
"She is a truly lovely lady," Brook said earnestly, "I get the feeling she must have been worried for Luffy-san."
"Well, to be fair, she had every reason to be worried," Usopp muttered as he thought back to the hell that Luffy went through during the first few months of being here.
"Oh, my dear, Makino!" Sanji said, skipping over, and kneeling down in front of her. "Though we are separated through time… I feel as if we are meant to be together. Wait for me my dear… wait for me!"
Nami rolled her eyes at Sanji's stupidity before saying, "Ok, ignoring Lover Boy over there… it was kind of her to visit… and the Mayor too! I'm sure that it meant a lot to Luffy to know they were thinking of him."
"You look great!" the Mayor commented, looking a little different with a smile rather than the scornful glower they were used to seeing, "It's been six months so we came to see how you were doing."
"Wow, six months already?" Chopper asked, thinking back to how it was said that three months had passed before Luffy finally caught up to Ace at the Grey Terminal… so that was another three months that the three spent together before this moment.
"Yohohoho, time sure flies when you're watching memories," Brook laughed.
"But don't tell Garp-san," Makino said with a wink, putting a finger to her lips, silently telling him to be quiet about this. Luffy merely beamed up at her as he continued to hug her.
"Oh, he's lucky…" Sanji sighed, wishing that he could hug her too.
But soon the Mayor's smile faded to look grumpy again as he glowered at Dadan and the handful of bandits that were watching curiously from a safe distance.
"So you're really living with bandits," he observed, looking at Dadan with suspicion.
"You got a problem with that?" Dadan growled at him, having come out of nowhere—dark shadows under her eyes showed that she hadn't slept last night after Luffy came crashing through the ceiling.
"Yes! A big one!" he snapped back, clearly unafraid as he waved his cane at her, "You're a bandit, don't give me attitude!"
"What'd you say?!" she yelled back, now angry. "Are all people from Windmill Village annoying?"
"I'm starting to think that," Zoro commented, "But you gotta hand it to them. Those two are tough coming here on their own…?"
"Well, a normal person would never think to leave their grandkids with bandits," Nami pointed out, still sour about that regardless what anyone says.
While the Mayor and Dadan continued to argue, Makino clapped her hands together as she talked with Luffy.
"I have some presents for you! I assume Garp-san wouldn't think about these things…" she said, kneeling down to reach into a small basket before holding up a yellow t-shirt with a purple star on it, "Ta-da! New clothes!"
"Wow, that shirt's awesome!" Luffy exclaimed, with stars in his eyes as he hugged her tightly again before immediately pulling off his dirty tank top and put the new shirt on eagerly. Nami was a little surprised. Though, she could understand the simple joy that something like new clothes could bring, it was new to her to see Luffy get so excited to see something as new clothes since he would usually just wear the same thing over and over.
"I'm glad you like them! I just need to adjust the length so… I'll need you guys too," Makino giggled at Luffy's excitement before looking past him and more towards the house where Ace and Sabo were hiding in the doorway, clearly watching with a bit of jealously in their faces.
"And she even has some for them. But, how did she know about Ace and Sabo?" Chopper asked.
"Well, I don't think it's a stretch that rumors of a trio of trouble-making brothers have been making their way around the island," Franky offered with a chortle as Ace and Sabo looked startled that someone would have gone out of the way to think about them, "She must have put two-and-two together and guessed that Luffy was one of them."
Makino continued to gesture for them to join in—with Sabo only hesitating for a few more seconds before he came running out to meet her with an eager expression—leaving Ace leaning against the doorframe with a tense expression.
"You too," Makino encouragingly to Ace as Luffy admired his new clothes and Sabo was already pulling off his dirty blue coat.
Reluctantly, Ace slumped his way over to them, hands tucked into his pockets and a little red in the face as she got to work adjusting their sizes. After Luffy and Sabo were finished, she had Ace stand still as she held up the shirt to make sure she got the length right.
"I heard that Ace-kun was mischievous," she said kindly to him, never losing that smile like she couldn't think of anywhere she would rather be. "But you seem like a good boy."
Ace turned a bright red and looked away. "N-no, I'm not…"
"Awwww!" Nami laughed as Chopper giggled at the red on Ace's cheeks. "There's a first! He's blushing!"
"How could he not with such a kind gift from a beautiful lady?" Brook asked enviously as Sabo and Luffy laughed at Ace.
"He's so shy!" they heard Sabo whisper to Luffy.
Luffy then called, "You're blushing, Ace!"
"He's going to make them pay for that later," Zoro said knowingly.
"You jerks!" Ace yelled, holding a fist up as he was about ready to run over and pound them.
"Oh hey," Makino said hurriedly, "You can't move!"
Ace quickly lowered his hand as he remained still, but he warned them clearly, "I'll get you guys later."
The two just laughed—actually seeing Ace in such a state was probably a first for them so they couldn't pass up the perfect chance to tease. Meanwhile, the Straw Hats could only watch on, enjoying the simple but adorable scene as the following memories were the boys spending the day with Makino and the Mayor. Luffy was more than happy to tell them about what life was like living with the bandits and how they roamed and hunted in the forest all day. Makino merely smiled at his stories—which only caused Sabo and Ace to blush even more since Luffy spoke so highly of them—while the Mayor shook his head incredulously—as if unable to believe that anyone could allow a bunch of kids to run wild like this. When the sun began going down, Makino headed back to the hut and made dinner for everyone.
"I hope you like it!" she said, with a beautiful lay out of various foods that made some members of the crew drool over it in longing.
Chopper reached over to try and grab a plate, only for his hoof to go through it and almost ended up crying as Brook said, "I'm so hungry, I fear I'll waste away to nothing! Which is bad for me since there's not much of me left! Yohohoho!"
"She's beautiful and can cook," Sanji cried out, hearts in his eyes. "Oh, she and I are just the perfect match for each other!"
"Would you shut up about that?" Nami snapped at him in annoyance.
"Seriously, I wish I could eat some of that," Usopp said with his mouth watering, "How long are we going to watch them eat?"
"I'm more surprised that no one's been killed yet over dinner," Zoro said, surprised at how much calmer and well-mannered Luffy, his brothers, and even the bandits were.
"Well, I guess that they want to behave for Makino and the Mayor until they leave… after all, she did make that food for them," Franky laughed before he had this sense that something was wrong; he froze at the sight of a large shadow right behind Luffy and Ace. Oh God…?
"Meals should be good on the ship," Sabo said as he inhaled the food. "I'm gonna get the best cook first thing when I go out to sea!"
"I'm gonna become a pirate before you do so just forget it," Ace informed him.
"NO!" Luffy exclaimed, standing up to declare "I'm going to become a pirate first!"
Just then the rest of the Straw Hats noticed the figure as well and slowly paled when they realized what—or rather who—the shadow was.
"Is that…?" Chopper whispered in a squeaky voice, terrified at what was obviously about to happen.
"Ah huh," Nami whispered back, feeling a slight sweat on her forehead, this couldn't end well.
When the bandits finally spotted the man behind them, they spit out their drink and backed away as far as they could go until they hit the back wall.
Luffy and Ace blinked, clearly not understanding why they looked so scared.
"What's he doing here?" Zoro asked as Garp cleared his throat so that Ace and Luffy both turned blue in the face and had queasy expressions before they slowly turned around to see Garp's terrifying face tower above them.
"OH, CRAP!" Usopp panicked, his hands gripping his hat in terror. "IT'S GARP!"
"You're still spouting crap like that?!" Garp growled, and the boys both spit out their drinks before Garp yelled, "Can't you both understand that you must become Navy soldiers?!"
And then he punched both boys until they fell back onto the floor with large bumps on their heads.
"I guess even someone as strong as Ace was scared of something," Franky whispered, staring at Garp in horror.
"Can you blame him?" Zoro asked, though he was baffled as to why he felt levels of terror inside him as Garp towered over everyone else, "Who knows how many times Garp hit him over the years?"
"Dadan?!" Garp yelled.
"Yes, Garp-san!" she asked, only to be hit as well and fell back like Luffy and Ace.
"You're not educating the brats well," he yelled at her.
"It's taking all her energy just to stay sane with them, I call it a win they didn't lose it yet," Sanji said angrily. Now he wasn't fond of Dadan, but he couldn't stand by to watch anyone abuse a woman like this.
Makino was behind them, her hands over her mouth as Sabo sat there, staring terrified up at Garp before he gasped with a croak, "He's Garp? He's Luffy's and Ace's grandfather?"
"I think that's the common reaction," Franky nodded with a gulp.
"Squirt," Garp said turning his attention to Sabo, "you mentioned something about going out to sea too…?"
"If he wants to keep living, I suggest that he keeps his mouth shut," Usopp whispered as Chopper hid behind Zoro again as the swordsman could only pat his head while reassuring him Garp wasn't actually here.
"He's not a squirt!" Luffy exclaimed, defending Sabo at once—but they all knew at once that this wasn't good for the boy in question. Standing in front of Sabo, Luffy explained that he was their brother and they all promised that they would become pirates someday.
The crew shook their heads in sympathy for Sabo.
"The poor guy," Zoro mumbled, "Now, Garp is going to 'train' him as well."
"He has such a big mouth," Ace grumbled from the floor as he rubbed his sore head.
"One of his biggest problems," Nami agreed with a nod. Seriously, how can Luffy keep a secret from Porchemy, even as he was being tortured, to blabbing like this?
"Oh?" Garp said, cracking his knuckles, "That means there are three brats who want me to give them a workout!"
The trio of brothers blinked and started sweating as Garp gained a sadistic grin. Seeing him raise his fist was enough for them all to start screaming and make a break for it. At this point, none of the Straw Hats blamed them for running, knowing that there was no shame in wanting to stay alive.
But Garp was faster and caught up to them easily before he began 'training'.
The Straw Hats were standing far back, all of them looking sick and wincing as they watched the boys having their faces turned to mush as they were slammed through rocks and trees.
"Forget everything I said about those two being monsters!" Usopp cried out as the shockwave of one of Garp's punches knocked over a tree before he grabbed Sabo so that he could spin him around like a top in his hands. "Garp's the biggest monster of them all!"
"They could die! L-Luffy's grandpa is s-scary," Chopper cried again, still hiding as they could only watch the beat down continue for several long minutes. It went on and on until Garp seemed to think that they had enough and dusted of his hands while declaring it was over for tonight. He headed back to the house, just leaving all three boys bleeding and broken on the ground—barely even conscious.
"Yeah… I think I take it back," Nami whispered with a gulp, suddenly feeling ill, "I rather live with the bandits than with Garp. At least they don't beat them to within an inch of their lives…?"
"That's it for today!" Garp yelled to them, a hand raised in farewell. "I'll be harsher tomorrow. You can't drop dead yet!"
"They'll be killed if this goes on any longer!" Chopper cried out in panic, trying to think of a way they could get out of it because they won't live past sunrise if Garp had anything to say about it.
Spitting up vomit and blood, all three boys dragged themselves back to their feet and went stumbling back to the house as well, having to cautiously step over the sleeping forms of Garp, Dadan, and the other bandits since it looked like Makino and the Mayor already cleared out before.
The Straw Hats were all wincing as they returned to the loft and Sabo was pulling out their stash of medical supplies to patch them up.
"Do they ever run out?" Nami asked, truly baffled at how they always seemed to have things like bandages at hand. She knew that Chopper had to restock on their own medical supplies like bandages at every island they pass because of how often their crewmates got hurt and that does dig into their budget. Then again, she could only assume that the boys stole such things from town.
"I don't know, but I think I'm starting to get used to seeing them all wrapped up like that," Usopp said as Ace cautiously opened the door to peek out to see Garp passed out drunk with all the other bandits.
Ace looked back to the other two as Sabo finished bandaging Luffy, who was fighting tears, and hissed, "If nothing is done, that old man will kill us tomorrow."
Sabo nodded in full agreement, looking scared and pale at the thought. He whispered back, "Even if we survive, he'll keep at it until we give up our dream."
"I don't want to die!" Luffy exclaimed in panic while still trying to keep his own voice down at the same time. But it seemed that Ace already had a plan in mind as he suddenly broke into a mischievous grin.
"Well then…" he said, his eyes already bright again, "It's time to make up our minds, brothers!"
"Mm? What is Ace-san planning?" Brook asked, head tilted to the side curiously.
"He's suggesting that they leave, what else?" Sanji asked, knowing that it was either that or staying here and risk more pain.
"Yeah, I gotta agree that leaving is their only realistic option at this point," Zoro added as the memory faded away. Honestly, he couldn't see that they had any other choice since Garp wasn't the type of person to change his mind about something easily once it was made up. If becoming pirates was really an unacceptable wish in Garp's eyes… they were left with only one path and that was the challenge him from a distance.
When the memory reappeared, they were standing upon a small hill during the early morning. The sun was barely up and there was a slight mist that clung to the ground as they joined the three boys in running up the hill as fast as they could go.
"Where are they now?" Chopper asked as the three of them paused at the top and glanced over their shoulders.
"We got away successfully!" Luffy called happily, turning and jumping for joy.
"They're not coming after us?" Sabo asked anxiously, "Dadan and the others?"
"Wouldn't they be happy that they decided to clear out on their own?" Franky suggested.
"I'm not so sure about that, Yohohoho," Brook said, turning his head back in the direction that the boys came from. "They've been there for a long time… people tend to grow on you after a while. Even if they drive you crazy."
"Well, Dadan sure seemed willing to throw them out before," Chopper pointed out.
"I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later," Robin commented as Ace turned back to look down the pathway before a smirk came over his face.
"I can tell that she's happy now that her troubles have gone away," he said as Robin gazed back at him, a thoughtful expression on her face as she observed his attitude.
No sooner did he speak did it start to rain though, and the three of them bolted for the nearest bit of shelter that they could find, which happened to be under the roots of a large, thick tree.
"Let's lay low here until the rain stops," Sabo said while watching the rain as Luffy was giggling at how exciting this new adventure was.
"Of course he would find this all fun," Nami smiled at how Luffy seemed to be as happy as a clam even though they were practically homeless at this point. He really hasn't changed at all since he was a kid, hadn't he? She found it strangely endearing.
"Yohohoho! Luffy-san knows how to enjoy life!" Brook commented happily as the boys soon began to doze even when the pouring rain slowly turned to a light drizzle. As they drifted in and out of sleep, Nami looked up at the sky, wondering just what they were going to do about all this.
"We're so occupied watching, we haven't even thought of any other way how to get out of here," she reminded them suddenly. They all looked to her, some of them even expressing shame upon realizing she was right. They were just so drawn into this world that they kept forgetting that these were private memories and they really should leave before they witness something they shouldn't see.
"We keep talking about it, but forgetting at the same time whenever the memories return. It's almost like were watching the aftermath of a terrible accident or tragedy," Robin commented at one point, "You just can't tear your eyes away."
"Robin… why?" Chopper sniffled at the thought.
"There has to be some way to stop though," Usopp said half-heartedly. "I'm sure that we aren't the first people to have come down here so there has to be a way out. I know I wouldn't be happy if you guys watched my memories without me knowing… I mean… it's not that I don't trust you guys but…?"
"The past is the past," Robin nodded in agreement, pulling out her book from her bag again as she looked at the cover again grimly. "We all have memories that are private and special to us. But there's nothing written in here about viewing memories except that Luffy must've agreed to share them…?"
"But they don't seem that bad," Franky said, watching the boys all curled up with each other, "They're SUPER sweet!"
"But that's the problem," Robin reminded them with a frown. "While I agree that these memories are all special and happy, they are for now. We don't know everything that happened in Luffy's past. But Luffy does… and especially after what happened to Ace two years ago… these might be hard for him to see… if he's seeing them too."
They all froze as they remembered that horrible moment when they came to learn what happened to Ace during the Marineford War.
"You don't think…?" Usopp asked slowly as a cold sweat broke out on his face, "We'll see that do you?"
"If we continue to watch his memories about his life, then I'm sure that, sooner or later, we could end up witnessing even the war," Robin answered sadly.
"If that's the case," Nami said, turning pale, knowing that was the one thing she didn't want to witness. "We really need to find a way out of here before that happens! I don't want to see that!"
"I agree," Zoro said softly. "It's best that we start thinking of a way out of here before we see something that we're gonna regret."
"I already regret it," Chopper said with a sniffle. "I still remember when I first found out about how Ace died! I didn't know anything about the war until I read the paper! I can't tell you all how bad I felt! Even now, just thinking about how hard it must've been for Luffy… it feels like my heart was being torn apart!"
"I think we all feel the same. I was trapped in hell and it was only when I read what happened did it put everything into perspective," Sanji sighed, not looking any of them in the eye as he remembered how he was brainwashed by those stupid Okamas… he turned red with humiliation at the memory of him traipsing around in a dress and make-up on an island with nothing but those ugly creatures. He had disgraced his captain and crew so much in those few weeks of insanity and he would rather die than ever let anyone else know about his deepest shame—especially Moss Head. For it meant that he had forgotten the most important thing while acting the deranged idiot on that godforsaken island. Worst of all, it meant his captain was alone during what had to be the most painful moment of his life.
"I felt so terrible," Nami confessed miserably. She had been so scared imagining just how much Luffy had to have suffered. Ever since she left Cocoyashi, he was always there. She never really thought of it before, but without her noticing it, Luffy served as a kind of emotional pillar for her. He was always there when she needed him… and even when she didn't. She never really thought about how she, how they all, depended on him. It was selfish, but it had been so hard for her to know that he must've been in so much pain.
And then after all that…? To lose your brother and best friend right in front of you? She had no idea what she would've done if she ever lost Nojiko…?
"The one time that he needed us to be there, we weren't," Usopp said, sitting down on the ground, watching the boys all continue to slip in and out of sleep. "We were all safe and sound while he stormed Impel Down, and then went straight off to Marineford only to watch Ace die. Man, I still can't believe that he did that… I mean, when he first mentioned how he almost died in that prison, I thought that he was joking… but he…?"
"Wait, what do you mean by Impel Down?" Franky asked in confusion, trying to search his memory of anyone mentioning that before now but struggling to do so. "I don't think that was in the paper…?"
"It wasn't. We found out about it ourselves right after Sanji almost bled to death on Fishman Island," Chopper confessed as he stepped forward and speaking for Usopp. "I noticed that there was something wrong with Luffy's arm, and when I checked it out, I realized that it was because he got poisoned by that octopus Fishman that Zoro beat up."
"Poisoned?" Robin asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Chopper said hurriedly. "But Luffy was just fine! In fact, if I didn't say anything, I don't think he would've ever noticed it! Luffy now has some really powerful anti-bodies in his blood to fight off poison! When I asked if he had been poisoned before, he said that he almost died from it in Impel Down!"
"He really broke into the world's most feared prison all for a chance to save his brother?" Brook asked in awe, "Impel Down was infamous even back in my day for being impenetrable! How did he…?"
"I don't even wanna know what went on in that place," Nami said at once with a shudder. "They say that Impel Down is a living hell! A place filled with horrors and you're subjected to the worst kinds of torture imaginable before you're led to your execution!"
"It's just something that Luffy would do," Zoro whispered grimly. On one hand it made him admire his captain all the more at how far he was willing to go for someone he loved… at the same time, he couldn't help but fear that fact. He then added, "When someone he cares about is in real danger, he no longer cares about himself… and he will practically destroy his own body to save that person. It really doesn't surprise me that Luffy would go through all that just for Ace."
Zoro looked long and hard at the child that would one day grow up to become the feared 'Straw Hat Luffy'. He felt a great deal of anger there… not at Luffy though, it was at himself. He was in a different position than the rest of the crew, as he was the first person to join. Because of that, he felt responsible for everyone else when the captain wasn't there. He didn't envy Luffy's job as captain one bit…?
All that he, himself, had to do was work out and train until trouble popped up and then fight. But the captain must always remain on guard to protect the crew. He thought back to Thriller Bark and the sacrifice that he had been willing to make in offering his head to Kuma. Back then, he had made up his mind that if he couldn't even protect his captain's dream, then he could never achieve his own. It was the first time that he was willing to die for anything but his own ambitions…?
How he survived, let alone stay on his feet, was still a mystery to him, but he didn't regret his actions that day and knew he would do it all over again in a heartbeat. He just smiled sadly and knew that had they been in opposite positions… Luffy would've offered himself up to Kuma to protect him. Knowing that, how could Zoro dare do anything less than that in return?
Robin stepped forward to offer, "We just have to try to stay focused and start thinking of ways out of here. Maybe if we could figure out how we got here in the first place, it would help?"
But even as they really began to think about their options, limited though they were, Sabo was stirring. He opened his eyes sleepily and crawled out from under the roots, getting their attention. He looked around, obviously wondering what to do before looking up at the tree. It had been hard to tell with all the rain, but now they saw that it was one of the largest trees they'd seen yet in this forest as it towered over them so that they could barely see the top.
Sabo let out a whistle, having not realized how big it was, before some kind of inspiration came to him. He reached into his pocket to pull out a scrap of paper, brook off some bark from a nearby sapling, and began to draw what looked like scribbles on it.
"What do you think he's doing?" Brook asked curiously as he leaned over to look.
"No clue… but I think that I have a better chance at figuring out what those Ponegylph symbols mean than trying to decipher any of that," Franky frowned as he scratched his head in confusion. It kinda looked a little bit like a house but…?
"Be nice," Robin scolded gently.
Eventually, Ace and Luffy stirred and were looking around for him now that the rains had fully stopped. Upon seeing them awake, Sabo called them over, his face beaming with excitement as he showed them his crude drawing.
"Here!" he said, practically beaming with pride as he showed it off, "Look at this!"
"What is it?" Luffy asked, rubbing his eyes as Sabo put down the paper for them to see.
"I designed our hideout!" Sabo declared as though he had discovered the cure for all diseases. "We can't sleep outdoors forever right? So we're going to build it right here!"
"A hideout…?" Luffy repeated before his eyes got wide and he cried out, "HOW COOL!"
But Ace looked more skeptical before asking, "What about the materials?"
"We've got tons you-know-where," Sabo smiled, like he expected Ace to have guessed the answer to that already.
"Where?" Usopp and Chopper both asked baffled.
"YOW! The Gray Terminal! Where else?!" Franky asked while posing. "That place is SUUUPPPPEERR place for materials! You can get anything you need there!"
And so they did.
They went back to the Gray Terminal and found what they needed—like wood, rusty nails, ropes, and a collection of scrap metal—before dragging them back to the tree in a makeshift cart. The Straw Hats watched with bright interest as they passed the materials up the tree and began building. It was obvious that they didn't have a clear idea what they were doing as the next few memories were of them trying to figure it out. It was entertaining to say the least as they were building their treehouse to be as stable as possible while constantly being in danger of falling off or arguing about where something should go. At one point, Ace accidently ended up sawing off a piece of wood that he had been standing on, and had to make a mad scramble to grab hold of the platform as the wood and tool went tumbling to the ground after he cut through it.
"Really Ace?" Nami sighed as Sabo and Luffy laughed as Ace pulled himself back up, looking embarrassed. Really… he was supposed to be one of the two people of the trio with sense?
It took a few days for them to get it done. They would work hard during the day, while making occasional trips back to the Gray Terminal, before climbing down to the base of the tree to light a campfire. They could only roast small animals that they could catch before the sun went down, but afterwards would crawl underneath the roots and fall back asleep.
"Yo!" Franky said in one of the memories, watching Luffy trying to put up a wall before accidently hammering his thumb, "His hammering skills suck almost as bad as yours Usopp!"
"At least when he hits his thumb, it doesn't hurt him," Nami added as she watched Luffy pull his thumb back out from under the hammer and shook it off without a problem.
"Would you all stop picking on me?! Sorry for not being made of rubber like him!" Usopp snapped back.
As the treehouse came together, they realized that it looked a great deal like part of a ship—even with a ship's wheel like what they had on the Sunny. They even went as far as to climb some of the higher branches to add a crow's nest that was connected by a rope ladder.
"Wow! Look at that! They even have a flag!" Usopp pointed out as the boys added the final touch—a pirate flag with crossbones and the letters ASL in different colors.
"Man, these three have pirates on the brain," Sanji couldn't help but mutter with an exasperated laugh. "They eat, sleep, and breathe the pirate lifestyle, don't they?"
"I think it's amazing!" Chopper called out, looking at it with stars in his eyes. "I wish I had something that cool when I was little! But what does the ASL stand for?"
"For their names," Robin explained, thinking to how Luffy and Ace got into a fight over the color red at one point—with Ace winning obviously—and Luffy had to go with his second favorite color.
"Yeah, but you know… it's not half bad for a few kids," Franky said approvingly as he stood back to admire the treehouse. "It's like every kid's dream to have a treehouse like that!"
"Did you build a treehouse when you were a kid, Franky?" Chopper asked curiously.
"Nah, there aren't exactly a lot of trees in Water 7. Besides, I was too busy building my amazing Battle Frankies!" Franky said proudly.
"What's a Battle Franky?" Usopp asked, almost afraid to ask.
"Some badass battleships! Hey, some of them were strong enough to kill Sea Kings!" Franky grinned, though he was still proud of his old battleships, he still had mixed feelings when he thought about what happened to Tom. However, he knew better by now not to blame the ships… it was his own fault for carelessly leaving them around where that Spanda-jerk could've got his slimy hands on them. He pushed that aside as Usopp and Chopper were gushing over the thought and asking him for more details.
He was thankful that Luffy interrupted them by pointing up to their finished work as he declared, "It looks so awesome! Just like your design, Sabo!"
"Really?" Usopp whispered with another sweatdrop, "It looked like a nothing but squiggles to me on paper."
"Hey, he may not be much of an artist, but you don't have to be good at drawing to be good at building stuff. All that matters is that it looks sturdy," Franky reassured him, giving a double thumbs-up as his seal of approval.
"Great work if I may say so myself," Sabo said with clear pride, grinning as if he heard Franky's compliment. Yet that was when he noticed Ace was frowning a little and asked with his smile fading a little, "What's wrong, Ace?"
"This is a hideout," Ace reminded them with a rather mischievous grin. "So wouldn't it be good to set up some traps?"
"Traps?" Luffy repeated in surprise.
"Not a bad idea," Sabo agreed, his hands on his hips as he thought it over, "Alright, I'll think about it!"
"Seriously? Traps?" Nami questioned exasperated.
"Well, with Bluejam after them, it's not a bad idea," Robin pointed out as the boys climbed the tree again. "If nothing else, it should be enough for the traps to make noise to alert them of intruders."
As Chopper put his hooves up, attempting to climb the tree after the boys, the memory shifted a little. It didn't go all black like it usually did, instead it was as if they were on some kind of moving platform and they were suddenly soaring up to the tree so that they could see what was going on properly
"WHOA!" Usopp cried, grabbing hold of Sanji's arm to steady himself, "WHAT'S GOING ON NOW?"
"I guess since we can't climb the tree ourselves, we're getting a bird's eye view of it," Robin answered in interest as Nami screamed in shock and moved back to stand closer to her.
"THIS PLACE IS SO COOL!" Chopper yelled in amazement.
"BUT HOW'RE WE DOING THIS?" Usopp cried with his eyes bugging out.
"Don't know, but it is handy," Sanji commented as they slowed down and stopped so that they were right outside the tree house windows. The first thing they saw was Ace spinning the wheel around as Luffy climbed out the window and went straight up the Crow's Nest.
"Yeah!" Luffy called down to them excitedly, "We have a view of the Gray Terminal, Windmill Village, and the ocean!"
"That's not so uncommon is it?" Sabo called up. "We are on an island after all and this is the biggest tree here isn't it?"
"It's nice to see them from up here!" Luffy called, as if they just didn't get it. Curious, both boys climbed up to see what he meant, and the Straw Hats were able to magically follow suit until they were standing right outside Crow's Nest—supported on nothing but air.
"This is freaking me out," Usopp whispered, now hanging off Franky like a monkey, looking down to the ground—as if expecting to fall at any moment.
"So surprising!" Brook said in wonder, looking around and lightly tapping his foot beneath him, hearing a slight tap of a floor though he couldn't see anything.
"LOOK!" Franky suddenly cried out and they looked up. There was the village that Luffy had come from on the far left side—and their view stretch over the forest and ended on the right where all of Goa Kingdom was… but in front of them… was the perfect view of the ocean, seeing far into the distance, over the horizon.
"Breathtaking," Nami said, a wide smile on her face as she stared around her. The view alone was worth building a treehouse here—leave it to these three to build it in the largest tree of the island.
Ace was grinning from ear to ear as he agreed, "You're right! It is different!"
The wind blew their hair around and a seagull flew right passed them as they stood there enjoying it. All three stared out at the ocean with longing expressions, and the Straw Hats could tell that they just couldn't wait until the day they were ready to set sail.
"Luffy!" Ace yelled, startling them all as the boys jumped down to the main house. "There's a tailwind! Set the sails!"
"What are they talking about?" Chopper asked confused. "There aren't any sails…?"
Robin laughed in understanding as she explained, "They're pretending they're on a real pirate ship."
"Aye!" Luffy shouted as he slid down the ladder to where the ship's wheel was and soon all three were in on the game. Ace remained in the Crow's Nest, pretending to hold a telescope as he looked around, ordering for them to take action against Bluejam's ship.
"This is so cute," Nami giggled. "Oh, why couldn't Luffy stay cute like that?"
"What do you mean by cute?" Sanji asked, his eyes narrowing, now getting tired of all the 'cute remarks' that the ladies have been making.
"Everyone's cute when they're kids aren't they?" Nami asked him with a smile.
Sanji just looked away, furiously muttering to himself, "Man, what do kids have that I don't?"
"Just enjoy the show," Brook told him happily as the boys continued with their imaginary battle—with Ace even yelling at Luffy not to cry in the face of the enemy.
"SHUT UP!" Luffy called back angrily and the Straw Hats all laughed as they began continued with playing pretend. It finally ended when Ace hit a pumpkin with his staff and held it above his head shouting, "We win!"
They fell back onto the floor and began laughing as Luffy cried out, "It's so cool! THIS IS OUR HIDEOUT!"
(It's nice to work on some of the shorter chapters. Not much change happening here, but I do intend to make more changes in the next. Going to cut out a lot of parts that they don't really need and try to make it all flow better. I'm planning on getting through all of Luffy's childhood before taking a week off for a break. And for those who have been asking, yes, I will be adding Kuma's brief role, though that will be small since nothing happened. Just wait for it.)