Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece! One Piece is owned by Eiichiro Oda, Shonen Jump, and Toei animation. Please support the official release.
Chapter 5: We'll Meet Again
As the group walked to the bar they saw many of the townsfolk whispering while looking at them, William and Koby were concerned by the looks while Luffy didn't seem to notice it at all. When they made it back Ririka and Rika were standing in the bar with a table full of food ready, it was as if they knew they were on their way back.
"What's all the food for?" William asked.
" It's for you guys! We heard you beat Morgan and we wanted to thank you for freeing us!" Rika was nothing short of overjoyed when she told them.
By now the smell of the assorted dishes made its way to Zoro's nose and began to wake up. "F-food."
William pulled out a chair and set him down in front of one of the plates. Once he had woken up some more and noticed the food he scarfed the whole thing down, in less than ten seconds he had eaten everything on his plate and was onto another.
"Hey, save some for me!" Luffy shouted, he quickly rushed to the table and began to eat as much as he could. William and Koby also grabbed a seat, made their plates and dug in.
"Wow, this is really good!" The bladesman told Ririka, the bartender simply smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you all like it!" After his first plate Koby was full while William went in for seconds with Zoro and Luffy already on their thirds.
"Hey William!" Zoro called out, catching his attention. "Mind if I ask you a question?" William raised his eyebrow, curious as to what question he wanted to ask. "Sure, what's up?"
"Back at the Navy Base, where did you learn to fight like that?"
"From my grandfather." William took great pride in saying it, he wanted everyone to know where all his strength came from. "Your grandfather?" Luffy asked, cocking his head to the side. The bladesman nodded. "Yep, he was a marine back in the day, he taught me everything I know! If you think I'm good you should have seen him, the man was a demon with a sword!" He reminisced on the many fond memories he had of him, from their countless training sessions to the little moments he held it all in a special place in his heart.
Koby was curious about the use of past tense. "Wait, 'was'?" While he didn't mean to, his question made William think about that day, the day where he lost his grandfather and all the joy he had vanished in an instant. His smile turned into a frown and he got quiet. "Yeah, shortly before I left he passed away."
Koby immediately realised what he had done. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" He told him frantically while slamming his head into the table in a simply waved him off. "It's alright, you didn't know." Koby tried to shift the topic. "If you don't mind me asking, what was he like?"
He took a second to think of the perfect way to describe him until he found it and smirked a bit. "He was the father I never had!"
…
2 years ago
The forests of Lacha erupted with the sound of battle, underneath the shade of the autumn trees a duel was taking place. The two fighters charged forward and clashed blades, on one side was William who was slightly young and instead of his buster blade he was wielding a longsword.
On the other side was his grandfather. James may have been in his seventies but he looked amazing for his age. His jet black hair and full fledged beard showed little signs of greying with only a few strands of grey here and there. His body was in a similar state, each and every muscle was sculpted through countless years of training and combat.
William pushed forward trying to overpower him but no matter how much strength he used James would not budge. With a simple push he sent William back several feet back, the second his feet reconnected the ground he launched himself towards his grandfather and swung his blade only for it to be blocked with ease. Undeterred he continued his assault, relentlessly attacking to keep up the pressure in the hope he would eventually slip up or tire out but he never did. Every attack thrown at him was blocked, sometimes he didn't even see the swing coming but blocked it perfectly.
William grew more frustrated with each failed strike and in a desperate hail mary he raised his sword over his head and swung it as hard as he could. James saw the attack coming and simply took a step to the side letting the blade swing right past him. Using the opening to his advantage he got behind William and struck him in the back with the pommel of his sword. Even though the strike was more of a love tap the force was enough to knock him off balance, he stumbled for a second before recovering but before he could retaliate it was his grandfather's turn to go on the offensive.
In the blink of an eye he was right in front of him and just as fast swung his massive blade, William barely had time to block and when he did his grandfather followed it with another one. James never gave him a moment to breathe and constantly kept the pressure up, after what felt like the hundredth strike he swung his blade up, knocking him to the ground and knocking the sword right out his hand. The blade went spinning through the air before embedding itself into the ground, tried to get back up but was immediately stopped by a blade in his face. He looked up to see his grandfather over top of him with a smile on his face to which he returned in kind.
He then gave out a small chuckle. "I yield."
Satisfied he sheathed his blade and offered him his hand, William grabbed it and pulled himself up.
"Not bad today, Woodrow." James told him. "You're getting better."
"You really think so?"
"Of course I do, you're a hell of a lot better then when you first started!" William however couldn't help but doubt him, he wanted to believe him but every time he compared himself to his grandfather it was like comparing a house cat to a lion.
James saw the doubt in his eyes and let out a small sigh. "Follow me, I got a little surprise for you."
William was confused at first but ultimately agreed and the pair began to walk.
…
After a couple of minutes they arrived at their destination, a grassy hill with nothing but a single tree at the top. While the hill looked nothing special, William couldn't deny the entire area gave this sort of calming vibe even more so once a gentle breeze came through. The wind picked up a few leaves from the shedding tree and turned the grass into a sea of waving green.
His grandfather then spoke. "When I was your age your great grandfather brought me here and I did the same with your father as well."
That second part caught William's attention, his grandfather never talked about his father, even after countless attempts of trying to find out more about him he never went into detail beyond some basic information. All he knew was that his father's name was Marcus, he was a marine like his grandfather, and some time before he was born he died in the line of duty trying to help others. His mother was even worse he didn't not even know her name let alone what she looked like. A part of him wanted to know more about his parents but he was content with only having his grandfather because to William he was more than enough to fill the parental gap.
James then continued. " This was where I was given the responsibility of wielding the Buster Blade, where I gave it to your father, and now…" He reached behind himself, grabbed the sword off his back, and placed it in front of his grandson. "Where I am giving it to you!"
William was left speechless by his present. "Paw Paw, I can't accept this, I'm nowhere near ready!"
James just looked at him and smiled. "You can and you are."
"B-but I never beat you once!"
"The point of your training was never to beat me but to make sure you were ready for when you would finally go out to sea."
William was running out of reasons to reject the gift. "But I need more time."
"William, you and I both know that time is not on our side." The reminder brought a sour expression to his grandson,he knew the cancer would eventually consume him and the last thing he wanted was for William to take the sword from his cold dead hands. He took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look I understand that you feel like you're not ready to wield the Buster Blade but I'm telling you that you are! I've seen your growth over these last eight years and it has been nothing short of astounding, you went from getting your ass kicked by a bunch of East Blue nobodies to now starting to be able to keep up with me!" William's doubts were washed away by his words and replaced with pride in himself.
He asked the question one more time. "You really think I'm ready?" James simply nodded.
William looked at the blade, pondered for a little longer until grabbing and holstering it on his back. He then gave his grandfather a big hug with some tears trickling down his face. "I promise to make you proud!"
"It's ok you already have!"
"Now let's head to the bar, Matthew and the others are waiting for us and I can't deny the birthday boy his dinner and cake!" With that the duo left the hill and made their way into town, the both of them laughing and carrying on the whole way. William wanted moments like these to last forever, where he and his grandfather could just talk and let time pass them by but he knew that was just a fantasy so he savored every moment he could.
…
When William finished his tale he upholstered his sword and put it on full display for all to see. "And that's how I got this!"
"Woah!" Luffy and Koby said in unison while Zoro's expression was much more reserved but was nonetheless impressed, they all saw how strong he was and to hear of someone even stronger was almost unreal.
"Your grandfather sounds like he was amazing!" Koby added with William giving him a smile. "Thanks."
"Yeah, shame I didn't get to meet him, I would have loved to duel him!" Zoro smirked to which William let out a chuckle. " I would have loved to see you try, what I just told you was him barely even trying, the second he would have taken the fight seriously you would be on ground before you blinked!"
"Was he really that strong!?" Koby asked.
"Yep, I once saw him defeat ten men without even moving a muscle!" Everyone was flabbergasted, at first they thought he was just exaggerating but seeing the dead serious look made them all realise he wasn't, while everyone was shocked there was only one thought in Zoro's mind, was William's grandfather stronger than HIM?
"Wow you guys really are amazing!" Rika said to Luffy, her eyes and smile beaming with joy.
Luffy returned her smile with his own. "Yep and we're going to be more amazing now that we have a new member of the crew!"
"So, besides me, how many others have you recruited?" Zoro asked him. "You said you were gathering a crew to become King of the Pirates."
"Just you and William." He told the swordsman bluntly, Zoro was taken aback by the reveal.
"Huh!? T-then…"
"Yep, just three of us for now!"
"What about your pirate ship?"
"Oh, it's right out there." Luffy pointed to a window with a clear view of the docks with his fork, Zoro looked to see nothing but a small dinghy.
"That?" It was clear he was very unimpressed by it.
"Don't worry, we'll have a ship 'this' big soon!" The strawhat spread his arms out as wide as he humanly could. He can see it now, a massive warship with numerous cannons on the sides, sails with his own jolly roger plastered on each one, and standing at the bow was himself ready to take on the next adventure.
"I don't think Luffy was born with a sense of planning." Koby told Zoro with a little chuckle in his voice.
"Did I really make this guy my captain!?" He said aloud, rubbing his forehead.
"Nothing wrong with flying by the seat of your pants and letting the wind take you wherever." William chimed in.
"So where are you guys gonna go next?" Rika asked Luffy.
"Isn't it obvious?! The Grand Line!" Koby spat out his drink the second those words came out. "With only the three of you! That's suicide!"
William sided with Koby. "I'm going to have to agree with Koby on this one, we may be on a winning streak but we are nowhere near ready to head for the Grand Line."
"Is it really that scary of a place?" Rika asked him.
"Yes, ever since Gold Roger said he left his greatest treasure the One Piece there people from every sea have sent sail to find it only to get destroyed the moment they set foot in the Grand Line and that's just the first half." His grim description of the Grand Line did little to deter his captain. "But the One Piece is somewhere in there so we have to go there!"
"I guess it can't be helped then." Zoro smirked while leaning back into his chair.
"Not you too Zoro! William please talk them out of it!" Koby begged him.
The bladesman simply threw his hands up. "It's two to one, there's nothing I can do." Koby sighed and let his head hit the table.
"Why are you so worried anyways, you're not coming with us." Zoro asked.
"No, I'm just worried about you guys! Is that so wrong!? I haven't known Luffy and William for long but we're friends." He then turned to the pair. "Right?"
Luffy smiled. "Of course, we're gonna part ways but we'll always be friends."
"Luffy's right, we're friends no matter what." William added.
Koby began to tear up at both of his friend's declarations. "When I was little I never had any friends, much less anyone who would fight for my sake! Then again I never tried to fight for anything. But the three of you have taught me to fight what I believe in and I've decided I'm going to make my childhood dream come true! I'm going to join the marines!"
William and Luffy smiled at Koby while Zoro had a more puzzled look on his face. "Shouldn't you be worried about yourself then? Even if you were a chore boy, you still spent two years on a pirate ship. If the navy finds that out, they'll never let you join."
A wave of fear washed over Koby, he had almost forgotten about the two years of hell he endured.
"Hold on!" William spoke up. " Koby didn't willingly join Alvida! Why should the navy hold something against him that's not his fault?!"
Before anyone could say anything else the door to the bar opened, everyone one turned to see who had just walked in. Standing in the door was a marine with several others standing outside forming a wall blocking the entrance.
"Pardon the intrusion." He said calmly, walking towards the group. " Is it true that you are pirates?"
Luffy didn't waste a second in answering. "Yeah, we even gained a new member!"
The man's face soured and took a deep breath. " We are grateful for getting rid of that tyrant, however we are still marines and we can't shelter pirates. I'm sorry but I have to ask you to leave but to show our gratitude we will not report this to Navy HQ."
The room got deathly quiet, Rika and Ririka face's were solemn, they expected this would happen the second he walked through the door but it didn't make it any less sad. However Luffy, Zoro, and William didn't seem upset by their eviction. "Well, guess we should be going!" Luffy said as he got up and turned to Ririka. "Thanks for the meal ma'am." William and Zoro followed suit and the three began to walk out of the bar, Koby was baffled by how they didn't put up a fight or anything.
"Aren't you going to go with them?" The question brought him back to reality, he looked to see the marine looking at him. It was then he realised he had to make a choice, to either forsake his only friends for his dream or stick with them and lose his chance. He began to sweat nervously trying to decide but the soldier grew tired of waiting and turned to Luffy. " Well, is he?"
"Let me explain, I know all about his past." Koby eyes widened with horror, he knew Luffy had no filter and if he tells them the whole story then his dream would be dead. William was about to step in but he decided against it and watched to see how things played out. "You see there was this big fat pirate lady." He used his arms to show how big Alvida was. He then walked over to Koby and began to poke his head. "And for two years this guy was-" Before he could reveal the truth in a last ditch effort to shut him up Koby cocked his fist back and punched him square in the jaw, sending Luffy stumbling back a few steps. Koby was shocked by what he did and immediately regretted what he did, he looked at Luffy to see him not angry but smiling.
"Why you!" He recovered from the punch and delivered his own, knocking him flat on the ground. He then stood over top of him and repeatedly punched him. "Take that and that!" The punches weren't enough to leave bruises just enough to convince the marine and it worked like a charm.
"That's enough! I won't allow you to cause more trouble!" The soldier shouted. It was then William finally understood what his captain's plan was and smiled. Zoro grabbed the back of Luffy's shirt and pried him off Koby. "Alright that's enough."
The marine gave them one final warning. "It's clear that you're not friends! Now please leave town!" Luffy and Zoro walked out of the bar with William following close behind. As Koby laid on the floor he finally realised what Luffy was doing, he couldn't help but be mad at himself, even in the end he still relied on him. But starting now things were going to change, he would no longer be a helpless loser he was going to achieve his dream. He got up from the floor and bowed toward the marine.
"Please let me join the navy! Sir!" His voice was laced with conviction. "I'll be a chore boy or anything as long as you let me join!" The soldier thought about it for a second before one of his men piped up. "Lieutenant, I don't think it's a good idea! I still don't fully trust this kid. I've heard of pirates planting spies in the navy, we should do a thorough background check…"
"I'M NO PIRATE!" Koby cut him off. "I'm going to be a navy officer!" The two men were stunned by the boy's declaration. The lieutenant looked into Koby's eyes and saw nothing but sheer determination and willpower, he took a few steps and walked past the boy before speaking. "Countless of our comrades have been killed by pirates, don't take the navy so lighty. Permission to join granted!" Koby almost couldn't believe what he was hearing but was overjoyed to hear it. He turned around and gave his new superior a salute. "Yes sir! Thank you sir!"
…
"You know you didn't have to hit him that hard Luffy." William told him. Luffy just smiled and waved him off. " But I had to make it convincing enough!"
"I know that but he can't be a good marine if you put him in the hospital." His captain laughed to which William smiled and shook his head. As the trio walked to the docks William noticed something out of the corner of his eye or rather someone. At the dock on one of the ships he saw Nami getting ready to leave.
"Hey Luffy, do you mind going on ahead without me? I got something to take care of." William asked him, Luffy was curious but didn't pry into it and nodded. "Ok!"
"Thanks!" The bladesman smiled and nodded before breaking off and head over to Nami who was none the wiser to his approach, instead focusing her attention on the note left by Buggy until hearing the sound of footsteps hitting the creaking wood of the dock. She turned to see who it was and to her surprise and chagrin she saw William with a smile and waving. "Yo!"
"Oh, hey! What brings you here?" She said with a smile and wave of her own but she couldn't hide her nervousness to see him again.
"Easy, I'm not here to get any payback, I just want to talk." William tried to calm her down, Nami breathed a sigh of relief hearing that and went back to making final preparations. "So what do you want?"
"You know you didn't have to lie to me. I would've helped you if you asked." His honesty was met with a scoff. "Yeah right, like I should trust a pirate!"
He was disheartened to hear her distrust of him but he understood where she was coming from. He looked down at her hand and saw the note. "You planning on going after Buggy?"
Nami nodded. "Yep, he has the map and I'm not going to stop just because some pirate has it." Her voice was brimming with determination, he felt that even if that was locked up in Impel Down or Navy HQ that she would try to get it.
"Well let me give you a warning, don't underestimate him! He may just seem like an average pirate but he's not, trust me and whatever you do don't mention his nose!" Nami was confused, not by the advice that was pretty easy to understand but why he was giving any in the first place. "Why are you telling me all this, what do you have to gain?"
"Nothing, I just don't want to see you get killed." She was almost dumbfounded, even after lying to him and basically insulting him he was still being nice to her. She couldn't believe it, she thought surely he was lying and that he had some ulterior motive but when she looked into his eyes she found no malice or ill will but genuine care and concern for someone else's well being. In all her time being out at sea she never in a million years thought she would find a pirate who actually cared about others.
"Well I guess I should be on my way now." William turned and walked off the pier but not before stopping. "Oh right I almost forgot!" He reached into his pocket and grabbed something. "Catch!" He turned and tossed something to Nami which she caught. She looked at it and saw it was a wad berries, she counted it and it was roughly one hundred and forty eight thousand berries! "I know it's not much but it should help you get to a hundred million a little bit fast." He continued to walk away like nothing happened leaving Nami even more baffled by the swordsman, but before he could get too far away he heard her say something.
"An island." He turned his head back to Nami. "The money's for an island." He found the reason a little strange but was honestly just happy that she trusted him enough to tell him. "Well I hope you get that island!" He gave her a smile and a little two fingered salute. "Until we meet again!" She watched him walk back to what she assumed was the rest of his crew, she recognized the one with the strawhat from the bar and the green haired swordsman from the navy base but strangely she didn't see the pink haired boy with glasses with them. She quickly refocused her attention back into getting ready to leave, once everything was ready she untied her boat from the dock and pushed away from it. Once she raised the sail the wind instantly grabbed hold and sent her out into the open ocean and onto her next mission.
Back at the docks William saw her ship leave and smiled, he looked down at his now empty wallet but he didn't regret giving her the money, she needed it more than he did. By the time he got there the others were ready to leave and were just patiently awaiting his return. "Sorry that took so long! Ready to head out?" Luffy gave him his signature smile and nodded. "Yep let's go!"
However before they could untie the boat they heard footsteps coming from town and were rapidly approaching them. All three looked to see who was coming and to their surprise it was Koby. "Luffy, William!" He then gave them a proper navy salute. " Well that's new, a pirate being saluted by a marine!" Zoro joked, to everyone including Koby's surprise the lieutenant and marines had joined up with him. "Men, ten-hut!" He shouted and all the marine saluted the trio, Zoro just smiled while Luffy let out a chuckle but William took a step forward and saluted back. Some of the marines were actually surprised to see him salute but to the lieutenant it all but confirmed a suspicion he had. "It's William right?" He asked to which the bladesman responded. "Yes sir!"
"A couple of the men told me about what happened at the base and there is only one marine I've heard of who used a sword like that! Are you related to James Snow!" William wasted no time, he tightened his salute and took a deep breath. " Yes sir! I'm his grandson! Sir!" Every marine gasped upon the revelation, some had suspicions but to hear that Vice Admiral James Snow not only had a grandson but that he was a pirate. "If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you join the navy?" The answer he gave was not what anyone expected. " Because he asked me not to!" That only served to raise more questions amongst the marines, even Koby was confused why he would ask him not to join but before any could ask any further questions William finished his salute and joined the others on the boat, untying the boat and pushing off the docks.
Koby watched his friends slowly sail away, he was sad to see them go but he knew it was for the best and he had a feeling he would see them again, he didn't know when or where but someday they would meet again. " Those are some great friends you got there!" Koby looked up to see the lieutenant looking down and smiling at him, he then turned to his men. "Our salute was against navy regulation, as punishment we don't get any dinner for a week!" None of his men objected to it. "Yes sir!"
Back on the boat everyone got comfortable, Zoro found a spot on the port and William rested against the starboard while their captain stood on the bow, his arms outstretched and face beaming with joy. " Alright! Next stop the Grand Line!" Both of this crewmates couldn't help but smile as they sailed off into the sunset however it wasn't until long until William noticed that they made a crucial mistake.
"Hey did anyone get any food?"
…
Finally after what felt like a year our trio of pirates bid farewell to Shells Town and venture deeper into the East Blue! I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has been with me for this little story. I know in the grand scheme of things I have barely scratched the surface with this story and we aren't even close to meeting a certain white haired swordsman but I can't thank you who is on this wild ride with me.
Before you go I have three things I wanted to address , first I know 148,000 berries sounds like a lot of money but when you convert it to Yen and then to USD it is roughly 1,000 bucks which is a reasonable amount of money for someone to have when you're going on a trip.
Second, there have been many stories I have read where they include a song that goes with a scene. I was wondering if that is something you guys would like to see?( If I do, there will be a lot of Crisis Core tracks and most would be OSTs from other games.)
Third, what did you guys think of Nami's inclusion to the story? I used the anime version of Shells Town and kinda just went from there, early on I was scared to diverge too far from the source material but as I grow more confident I might start to change a few things, not too much but more like 90% of FF7 Remake and Rebirth where some things are a bit different but general story beats are still the same. So don't expect something wild like Kaido in Marineford or Akainu at Sabaody!
I also want to make the announcement that I'm redoing chapter 1, while it does a good job setting William and his motivations up I think I just don't like the overall flow and length of the chapter so sometime in the future I'm going to rewrite it I don't know when it will happen just that it will!
Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful day!