Luffy groaned at the headache that should be impossible as he turned over in his bed. His drowsy eyes blinked in confusion. Didn't he sleep in a hammock like the rest of the guys on his crew? He blearily looked around the room. It was familiar, but not. He got out of bed, tiredly stretching his arm to grab Boshi on his way through the door. The pirate plopped the straw hat on his head, and immediately felt something wrong. He stopped in the hallway, tilting his head this way and that, trying to figure out what was wrong. Thinking hurt his head more than it was before, but he felt it was important.

A light came on from behind a crack in a door down the hall. "Luffy? Is everything okay?" Someone asked through the haze of sleep. He recognized the voice, but at the same time, he didn't. The door opened, pouring light into the hall, and making him squint at the sudden brightness. Then he looked up (and up and up) at Makino's worried face, and realized what was wrong.

"I'm hungry!" Luffy grinned upupup at Makino and pin wheeled his arms excitedly at the prospect of food.

She smiled down at him indulgently, "Then let's get some food in your tummy!" She cooed, and led them down to the kitchen. The feeling of aching didn't go away after the midnight snack.

He had to look up even higher than Makino to see the face of his grandfather. "Jii-chan!" He squealed, streaking from Makino and away from a bath. He almost tripped over his rubbery limbs, but recovered mid-tumble to leap into Garp's hesitantly open arms. Luffy was nude in the middle of town, hesitance was easily understood (except Luffy, who didn't know why being naked made others awkward. Naked was naked). It could also be because Luffy didn't remember ever giving his grandfather a hug, but it had been years since he had seen him, and they had actually gotten along pretty well that last time. Where did that come from? He was pretty sure gramps visited just last month to throw him into a canyon… He remembered something bad happened to cause a lack of reunion over the years, and all he wanted was a hug from his gramps.

And he always got what he wanted. Just ask his crew. His crew? He remembered flashes of people: a green haired swordsman, a black haired sniper, a ginger navigator, a shitty blond cook, a doctor that was a beast, a cyborg shipwright, a nice smile with cyan eyes, a laughing skeleton, a reverse merman…

A sharp poke to his forehead banished those memories to see a concerned look on Garp's face. "Oi, Luffy," he spoke with surprising softness, "you okay?"

"Huh?" Was his eloquent reply. He blinked a few times, and the thoughts passed. "Oh yeah! Jii-chan, you'll never guess what happened when you were gone!" Luffy then proceeded to tell his grandfather about the most recent visit of Shanks and his nakama like a chattering squirrel. Still naked. He missed the look Makino and Garp shared over his head as the two went back to the bar.

He did notice that Garp had yet to pound his head in, and if hugging his grandfather before his baths would see to their end, then maybe baths weren't so bad… maybe.

He didn't know why he couldn't stop crying when he saw that other kid. What was his name? Ass? Ash? He couldn't remember, and maybe he cried a little harder at that.

He followed after the other kid. Jumping over the boulder, sidestepping the avalanche, and stretching across the broken bridge seemed to be the final straw for him. The other kid shoved him into a tree, his pipe pressing threateningly into Luffy's throat. "Why are you still following me?" He demanded.

"'Cause if Jii-chan is your Jii-chan too, then that means we're brothers, right?" Luffy reasoned, not reacting to the pipe at all. It wouldn't hurt even if he was smacked with it. He was a rubber-man after all! He didn't voice the fear that he thought the other kid would disappear if he let him out of his sight. And disappear in a bad way.

"Ace?" Someone called from above. Yeah, that sounded like the right name for this kid.

They both looked up, Luffy stretching in a way that would have been impossible if he wasn't made of rubber, craned his head upwards. He felt like he should know the blond haired kid perched in a branch with his fancy clothes and too big top hat. He scrunched up his mouth into a tight frown, not sure what he was preventing himself from saying, but doing it anyways.

"Ace? What are you doing?" The blond asked, and Luffy watched him jump down smoothly. He barely noticed the pipe's quick disappearance.

Ace scowled at the ground. "Nothing." He pointed at Luffy. "This kid won't stop following me!"

The blond gave Ace a look that Luffy thought was fond, but he was never that good at touchy-feely emotions. So who knows what that look was. "And you were trying to kill him for doing that." The blond stated, scratching at his hairline with a small smile on his face. It very quickly faded away when Luffy fell under the blond's focus.

Then it was pasted back into a grin. "Hello there. I'm Sabo, and Grumpypants here is Ace. Don't mind him, he's a softie on the inside!" The blond greeted, and was soon tackled by Ace.

Luffy couldn't help but start laughing. The anxiousness he felt when he first heard Sabo had faded, and he couldn't label what he was feeling. But that was okay. Ace and Sabo were here, and they were okay.

He didn't bother to question why that made him feel better.

He was arguing about who would be the better pirate when the room grew quiet. Luffy turned around to see a looming figure in the doorway. "Jii-chan!" He called, and rocketed himself to his grandfather to hug him. He then proceeded to chatter hyperactively about what had been happening since he had last saw him.

Garp seemed to loose his menacing aura around the time Luffy had started to rub his elastic cheek on his grandfather's. The rest of the night went pretty well, and there were no Fists of Love involved for the rest of Garp's stay.

Ace gave Luffy a strange look after Garp had left that he didn't understand, and Sabo grinned and said he should hug his grandpa more often. There was a secret hidden in the shadows of Sabo's face, but Luffy couldn't get himself to say it out loud. In the end, he just nodded.

Garp's visits started to become something Luffy looked forward to, since his grandpa had started to properly teach the three of his grandkids (Sabo being the most recent addition after they shared sake), at least more properly than he had before. There were no more random visits to the bottom of a ravine.

And Luffy was always pushed forward or reminded to give his grandfather a hug and affection whenever the Marine stopped by. He didn't mind though, the ache he had that wasn't hunger went away for a bit after wrapping himself around his gramps.

Garp still got a bit cranky whenever piracy was mentioned, but he was more likely to grumble over a bottle of alcohol than punch someone's head in. So his relationship with his grandkids got better even though he still wanted them all to become great Marines like him.

Luffy was almost certain that Sabo was still alive. Even after being told about his death, and how they had watched him be shot by a Celestial Dragon. But while he felt worry for his brother, he didn't feel like he had lost him. Ace was quick to get angry at him for that when he noticed.

"How can you not care?!" He shouted at him. "He was our brother!"

Luffy scrounged up his face, trying very hard to find the words he needs to describe what he was feeling. "I think he's still around, but Sabo's not here." His frown curled deeper. That hadn't been what he was trying to say.

He wanted to explain that the worry he felt was something like not being able to protect his brother because he is so far away, that he was alive but out of his reach- not somewhere he knew to be safe. But Ace nodded like he understood, and left to go cool off.

They had that argument many times, and Luffy could never explain how he knew for sure that Sabo was alright as any other living person on the Blues.

He always trusted his feelings about everything. Whether they were about trusting this one person unconditionally, leaving his share of treasure on the island, or randomly sealing himself into a barrel in the middle of the ocean.

By the sound of his little boat being torn apart by powerful torrents of water he was glad he did. He would have sunk to the ocean floor like an anchor if he hadn't gotten into the barrel in time. And luckily, his gold wouldn't be there either!

And now, he was going to go to sleep. The rocking motions of the water lulled him until his eyes closed.

Next thing he knew, he was stretching out of his barrel. "That was a great nap!" He checked Boshi was still on his head, and satisfied it was still there, he looked around. There were two guys sleeping on the wood floor, and a pink-haired kid with round glasses that automatically had his trust the moment their eyes met. Maybe this kid would be his nakama? He didn't quite feel like nakama though…

Coby was the kid's name, and he was quick to warn him about the pirate crew that was pillaging the cruise ship they were on. Luffy wasn't worried.

The fight had been fun, and now Coby was going to take him to a Marine base. His feelings, and he was starting to think he should rename them to something else from how gooey-feeley the phrase was starting to sound, were practically demanding him to go see this dreaded "Pirate Hunter."

Unfortunately, Coby didn't want to be a pirate. He wanted to be a Marine and protect the people from injustice. Luffy wasn't about to change his dream, and had the sudden feeling that Coby was going to be running into his grandpa during his service. He had a thought that hugs wouldn't make that meeting any better. Poor kid. He needed it though to become what Luffy could barely see in a blurry silhouette.

Why did he suddenly wonder if Coby needed his glasses, or if they were just for show? He blinked slowly, and the thought passed.

They go their separate ways after setting the corrupt military of the island straight, and Luffy has his first nakama!

Zoro is exactly what he expected, but not. He doesn't lift weights that could be used as an anchor for a battleship. He doesn't have as many scars as he thought he would. Luffy thought the swordsman would only have one working eye with a slash on his right that forced it closed, and that there would be scars of cuts at his ankles, and a long reminder of a blade diagonally across his chest, but no. Zoro doesn't have any of these. At the same time, Zoro has slept through everything, and his sense of direction was horrible. Zoro has loyalty, and patience, and a high tolerance for alcohol and pain just like Luffy knew he would. Zoro is still Zoro, and Luffy wonders why he would think that in the first place before abandoning the thought when his head started to hurt.

Some of his ache goes away with Zoro around.

He knows her name before she introduced herself from her perch on a rooftop. Like it was on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to be remembered that it was there to be said.

He knows she was lying because she flicked her hair over her shoulder that certain way, that she had a hand that hovered over where she concealed her weapon, that the faces she wore to convince him were fake. But that was okay. She wasn't nakama.

Yet.

He was determined she would be eventually his nakama, and she would never need to lie again.

Usopp was a coward. But Luffy could see how this teen before him could grow so strong for his nakama. Just like he could see how Coby was going to grow strong. So he tried to encourage the sharpshooter to join his crew. It didn't really work, so he shrugged, and decided that he was hungry.

Usopp could tell the best stories that Luffy listened to with stars in his eyes. Some even felt like they were true, and he wondered if this soon-to-be nakama had the same… mystery feelings? as he did, but the rubber-man never managed to get the question past his teeth.

The pirates attacking the island were small-fry. Luffy knew that. He was still having a hard time with them. They just kept getting back up to be knocked down, and while some of them ended up killed by their own comrades, the rest were just getting pounded on.

What a time for Zoro to be lost… Ah, there he was!

The cat-captain pissed him off past Raftel. Giving up on life on the sea, and still calling himself a pirate? Using his crew like pieces to a game to be thrown away when they were no longer useful?

It made this pressure he didn't know he had been bottling up explode, and he could feel it spread outwards like a ripple in water. Everyone close to him fell to the ground unconscious, and the cat-captain was foaming at the mouth from his spot on the hard packed ramp.

He blinked slowly. Was that supposed to happen? He turned to look at where his crew had gathered on the top of the cliff (including Usopp-to his delight), and noticed their strange looks. "What?" He asked. Maybe they knew what happened? Nami was good at explaining things.

They didn't know either, and eventually they had been directed to the manor the sick girl lived in to be patched up.

The Straw Hat Pirates set off the next day in a new boat named the Merry Go with another nakama that filled in the space that ached so deep down. Usopp was quick to paint the sails with their new mark, and everyone got comfortable in their new home.

Sometimes he woke up with "Sanji! Food! I'm hungry!" on his lips before he swallowed it down.

Its mornings like that where it takes him a while to figure out why he was on a boat with a sheep for its head, and not a large one made from mystery wood and a lion at the front. He had to remind himself that his crew had only three people with him as their captain, and not more.

His crew doesn't notice.

Sometimes he would look down at his right arm, and expect something to be inked there. Just two letters and two numbers with two of them scratched out. He couldn't remember the exact letters or numbers, their order, or its meaning, but knew it was important that it was there on his skin. Important that it was seen.

Sometimes he would rub his chest, and feel surprised that it doesn't hurt. Not in the way it hurts deep down, but the way fire burns at his skin when he gets too close to cooking food. Surprised when he changes shirts to be cleaned (on Nami's order, and Sanji's threats) that there isn't a scar on the middle of his chest with a matching one on his back. He feels like this scar is like the ones he thinks Zoro is supposed to have, and he wonders what he did to get it when he believes it is there, hidden by his red shirt.

He would forget that he had to introduce himself to his opponents- hadn't they seen the bounty posters? But he didn't have a bounty. He really wanted one with a big price under it! That would be so cool!

Luffy was soon distracted by an explosion off the side of Merry. He crows with happiness when Usopp aims at the next rocky outcropping, and blows that one up too.

The two bounty hunters were really interesting! They even helped direct Merry to a restaurant!

He has a feeling (the mystery one that aches and tells him to trust people, so it had to be right) that he was going to regret deflecting that cannonball towards the floating restaurant.

Yup. It was right. It wasn't fun at all to be a busboy.

And his crew wasn't going to help either!

He could feel a pout curving his mouth. He was really hungry!

But he was still glad he did it, or he might have missed finding his new chef.

"Hey curly-brow chef! Join my crew!"

"I refuse."

"I refuse your refusal!"

The blond (the mystery feeling said his name was Sanji, but he didn't care. He'll introduce himself eventually) dropped his cigarette and splutters about how he couldn't do that.

Luffy just laughed.

He's beaten down Kreig. He's watched his swordsman be almost cut in two (in the same place that he thought Zoro would have a scar, and he will. Luffy isn't too happy about that, but doesn't let that get him down). His navigator has gone off somewhere that some of his crew has followed. And with Sanji and one of those bounty hunter guys, he follows after Nami too.

The mystery feeling has come back full-force, and he can feel a fight brewing beneath his skin.

He's going to beat down Arlong too for what he's put Nami through.

After a big celebration and kicking the butts of the local military, they were off with a couple of trees growing on the rear deck of Merry. They smelled good, but Nami wouldn't let him near them.

He played with Usopp, causing a few (accidental) explosions, and chased around by Nami and then Sanji for disturbing the navigator. He tripped over Zoro because he wasn't going to wake up anyways, and bugged Sanji for food.

Then a mystery bird came by with a newspaper, and Nami's shriek woke up even Zoro. Even cannon fire couldn't wake him up!

She shoved a bounty poster in his face. "Why would you wave at a cameraman? Now we're going to be hunted!" Nami shrank away with a gloomy cloud around her head, the bounty crumpled in her hand.

He blinked. Grabbing the poster so he could read it properly. Usopp and Zoro leaned over to look.

The sharpshooter goggled at the price, and Zoro whistled appreciatively. "Thirty thousand? Not bad, captain."

Luffy shrugged. It was pretty high, but he felt like it was much bigger than that. His thoughts were quickly sidetracked by Sanji calling everyone in for lunch.

Loguetown was so much fun! He got to have an adventure that ended with seeing the last thing Gol D. Roger saw before he died. He even got hit by lightning! He fought some smoky guy that had been a pain to fight, but he had managed to hit the guy (somehow, he didn't know he could hit smoke but he did) and run off to his nakama to set sail.

Then he got to eat a lot. That was as good as his adventure at Loguetown! He was so glad he had convinced Sanji to become his chef.

And now Merry is being drawn towards that waterfly (a reverse waterfall), and Sanji brought out a barrel.

"To be King of the Pirates!" He exclaimed after everyone else had shouted their dream to the seas, and together they crushed the barrel beneath their feet. The liquid running out and mixing with the rain of the storm on Merry's deck.

The island whale on the other side of the waterfall (because the waterfly had turned into one) was almost a surprise to the rubber-man. And that was only because he felt like he had done this before. He knows he hasn't. Even meeting the old sunflower guy and the fight with the two poachers couldn't shake the feeling. But he felt like he knew the girl with blue hair from somewhere…

Every once in a while, Luffy would get weird. Weirder than normal. It was something that everyone noticed after a while of being part of his crew.

Some mornings, he would wander Merry like he was lost. Like something older was peering out from his eyes.

They noticed how he seemed to never be truly surprised. He had handled their first storm on the Grand Line better than the rest of the crew. He had managed to not trip over anyone in the cramped quarters before Merry, unlike everyone else who had to get accustomed to each other. He seemed to know what he was doing when it concerned people, like he had four categories that everyone he meets was filtered through.

There was one solely for his nakama. Nami confirmed that their captain had chosen them for his crew the moment he lays eyes on them. Zoro grunts, but that might be because Usopp tripped over his knee.

One was for friends, where they weren't quite nakama, but Luffy was still fond of them. Buggy the Clown had somehow gotten onto that list, and so had Smoker the White Hunter. Princess Vivi of Alabasta was also quickly sorted into this list since their captain never offered her to join even though he followed her requests.

There was another one for outsiders. Basically people that he didn't really care about unless they give him food, then they were elevated to friend status.

Then there were enemies. Sanji tells them about how he had pounded down Kreig after Nami asks the chef nicely. Arlong was another example, and Zoro adds the marine that got his metal jaw shattered by Luffy's fist. They never got a chance of forgiveness from their captain.

They follow his lead when it comes to the people outside their crew they come across since he was usually right. But sometimes it's difficult.

Like when Luffy smiles at Miss All-Sunday like she was nakama.

When he hears that Nami has fallen sick, he feels like he had been expecting it. It makes him angry at himself. Nami might die from this, and he somehow knew this was going to happen? What should he do then? What could he do? He still had his promise to Vivi to get her back to her kingdom as soon as possible. So he asked the princess, and let her decide. She was smarter than him anyways.

"Then, let's find a doctor to heal Nami-san!" She said with a firm face. She probably knew the same thing he felt: Nami wouldn't last to the end of the journey to Alabasta.

So they started to wander through the ocean with no regard to the Log Pose on their navigator's wrist. They had run across some jerk and his crew at some point in the fog, but he kicked their tail over the horizon.

They found an island named Drum, and were greeted with the business ends of guns. Luffy stepped in front of them all, one in particular only a couple fingers away from his chest, and stated. "We need a doctor."

He was made from rubber. The bullets wouldn't hurt him like they could his nakama. He wouldn't let them be hurt.

When Sanji volunteers to come with him up the mountain, Luffy agrees. He has a bad feeling about it, but this is for Nami, and his cook knows that. He doesn't understand why he still feels (he was sure it was coming from the mystery feeling) like it was all going to turn out alright.

With Sanji in his teeth and Nami on his back, he digs his fingers into the cliff face and climbs. He isn't concerned by the lack of feeling in his arms and legs. He keeps climbing. Then he's on the top, but he really can't move his limbs any more. They won't listen to him and won't shift anywhere. It's the most helpless he's felt in a long while, with him watching his nakama slowly get worse. Sanji's legs haven't moved in a while, and Nami is still sweating even though it's so cold.

Then a shadow passes over him, and he looks up. "Please." He forces out. "My nakama." Then he's not awake anymore.

When he wakes up again, he instantly knew he was looking at his next nakama. The furry creature that is leaning against the doorframe strangely and watching him for some reason. But he's hungry, so he just calls out from his comfy place in the bed, "Sanji! Food!"

That seems to have been the wrong thing to say, because his new nakama ran off screaming, like he was going to chase him. He wasn't. It was warm beneath the covers. Sanji, from his position in the next bed over, grumbles into a pillow, almost in pain, but not. He could see Nami on the other side of the room. Her face was peaceful and her breath was steady, and that was all he needed.

He laughs quietly, it was almost a giggle, and snuggles deeper into the covers with a comfortable sigh. Luffy's glad that everyone is alright. Now he had to convince the monster to join his crew, and everything was going to be great. He slipped off consciousness between one blink and the next.

Nami's better. Sanji's better. Chopper is crying, but that's because he has nakama now, so Luffy isn't worried. Vivi is being nice to the doctor, trying to cheer the reindeer up. Usopp is on lookout while tinkering with something in the crow's nest. Zoro is sleeping between the trees.

Luffy is just happy that their adventure gets to continue with everyone safe and near him. He smiles out to the oddly calm ocean, and laughs. "Shishishishishishishi!"

They're running low on food. It's mostly his fault, but not all of it. Sanji isn't happy, and kicks Luffy around a bit. He didn't really mean anything by it, Luffy could tell, or the rubber-man would have felt something.

The others that helped him clean out the fridge were sentenced to fishing, but Luffy has a feeling (the mystery kind) that they won't be pulling up food.

Yup. He was right. He danced with the okama guy they pulled up for a bit, and felt a little surprised that he was one of their enemies.

Luffy was sure that Bon Clay was a friend. He shrugged, and didn't think that hard on it.

That Mystery Powder tasted horrible, and deserved to be burnt. Now he had to go clear out his mouth with tasty food. His mouth started to water at the thought.

With a cry of, "FOOD!" He rocketed in the direction his nose led him. He bounced up to the counter and started to eat.

He didn't expect to see his brother at this island, but at the same time, he did. Smokey was the same, but with not as much happy feelings, and more annoyance. He was just trying to help one of his friends save their country! Why did he have to be chased for that?

Didn't matter much though, and they were off to another port. He waved goodbye to his brother, not worried all that much since his brother would be able to take care of himself until at least the next time they met.

Crocodile is a bastard, and that was enough reason for him to push himself past his own limits as they battled.

Some of those punches felt like he was rubbing his skin off with rough stone. The more satisfying ones happened when he noticed his knuckles turned black, and the sensation of real impact made him feel better.

Then he got dried out like a squid and tossed into a sandpit.

It wasn't fun at all.

But Robin (and wasn't her name Wednesday or something? Why did he think her name was Robin?) pulled him out in time for someone to come swooping in from above.

If he had the energy, he would be bouncing around with sparkles in his eyes and shouting about how cool that looked. But he didn't. He just laid there and waited for the huge bird to turn into a man and be fed water from a leather pouch.

Then he felt better, and they flew off to catch up with his nakama and beat down Crocodile.

HE MISSED FIFTEEN MEALS! How could he do that? How was he still alive?

Oh wait, the lady that looks like Igaram brought in a cart full of food.

MUNCH!

That's better. He'll still need more later, but he'll be fine until then.

Zoro's face is funny when he's angry.

He had given Vivi an offer that he knew she wouldn't take. But that was okay. It was worth it to see her resolve harden for her dream.

That was all that mattered in the end, right?

He wasn't sad that the princess was no longer with them for long. Robin was quick to surface after they had taken care of the marine ships that had been following them.

He couldn't stop laughing at how his crew reacted to their newest member.

It was the sea that called to him like a siren of adventure and freedom. So he went. He collected his crew from one place or another, filling up the deep ache that was somewhere in his chest one piece at a time.

He knew he was still missing members no matter how many times Zoro insists that a musician is unnecessary, and the way that Nami's shoulders tense when he talks about how a reverse mermaid was going to be a part of the crew eventually. How Usopp boasts that there isn't any need for another shipwright with how skilled the Great Usopp is.

But going back to the sea, Luffy was agreed to be the one who fell into the water the most out of all the members that called Merry home. It was Zoro who fished him out of the water, and he seemed resigned to the task. Sometimes Sanji would do it, but usually it was Zoro.

Chopper always checked him over after his time in the ocean like he could be hurt after the thousandth time beneath the waves. But if it made his tiny doctor feel better, he would bear it with a grin.

Sometimes he didn't fall into the water. He could have been bumped or pushed over the rails by accident or on purpose. He has been pulled under when he was fishing. Other times he would jump in.

All of these times, he feels the same way once his body is in the ocean. Weak, heavy, almost like it drained away his will power and energy and replaced it with the ship's heavy ammunition.

This was not one of those times.

He looked out through the tiny round window in his barrel as he walked along the ocean floor, approaching a sunken ship on Nami's orders.

He kinda wants to keep that rusty armor, but then he's distracted by a monkey-looking guy.

Nami doesn't stop talking about thunder for a while after he had beaten down that fake God of the skies. And something about rubber too?

Luffy could remember her muttering something about that right after Loguetown also…

Oh well. Everyone's safe and happy, and enjoying the party. That was all he really needed to sleep soundly that night.

He woke up a little later to take a leak to see Usopp freaking out. A mystery ghost? He had to check it out!

From the tree line, Luffy could see a glowing figure with a mallet repairing Merry plank by plank. Of course, he couldn't be satisfied with that. He walked up to the boat, ignoring the way his sniper not so quietly whispered for him to come back- to stay away from the unknown creature, and jumped aboard.

"Hi, I'm Luffy!" He called to the figure that looked like a child now that he was close enough to notice.

It was official. The next time he found a balloon octopus, he was keeping it!

That was a great ride! (Maybe even better than the waterfly and waterfall. He had some high standards.) Their landing could have been better. Like, not in a Marine base? But it couldn't be helped.

The launch they had to do with the Reject Dial made him feel nostalgic for some reason, but when he thought hard on it, the memory slipped away and he was left with a headache for thinking so hard.

That maaaaaaan had ice powers! It was so cool!

Ah. But he was a marine, and he was being mean to Robin. His words didn't really sound mean, but Robin was starting to look upset. Luffy really didn't want to fight right then though, so he cut through the tension easily.

"Hey, do you know Coby?" He got some strange looks for that question, and only Zoro seemed to know who he was talking about.

The maaaaaaan blinked slowly. "Pink hair? Round glasses?" The ice man asked. Wasn't his name something about a blue bird?

Luffy nodded. "Yeah. Has he met Jii-chan?"

Now all of his crew was lost.

"Yeah. He's riding up the ranks pretty quickly." The ice man answered lazily, but his eyes were sharp. "How do you know him?"

"I dropped him off at a marine base at the beginning of my journey. It was fun!"

The blue bird guy hummed. "I'll take your word for it." There was a pause, and his crew looked like they were going to say something when he continued. "Well, I suppose I'll be off then." He stood up and started to walk towards a nearby bike.

Luffy nodded with a grin. "Okay! Tell Jii-chan I said hi!"

His crew looked stunned. They had met an Admiral without a battle. There should have been a battle because of what the two sides were, but no. No fight.

He was in a good mood for the rest of the day, ignoring all questions about who his grandfather was. He had a mystery feeling they were going to be meeting his gramps soon enough.

Robin's gone. Usopp's gone. Merry is dying. Someone's been trying to steal their money. And he was fed up with all of it.

Of course someone is trying to kill one of his new friends. That's just the kind of day he has been having.

Luckily, there are conveniently placed enemies to pound on to release this tension that has been building since he had gotten to Water 7.

He didn't win, but he would next time, or the time after that. He was stubborn enough to succeed eventually. The fact that Robin was with them unwillingly (he could see it in the way she moved her hands, the way she shifted her feet) only solidified that he would win again and again until his… she studied rocks and old things right? What were those people called again? Whatever. He would win until Robin was back. No ifs ands or buts.

When he woke up after that big fight at Enis Lobby, he found himself dangling by the collar of his shirt and the big hand fisted in it. The stinging on his head was telling enough, but he looked up anyways. "Jii-chan!" He yelled, stretching his arms out to wrap around his grandfather. He hugged him.

He and his grandfather laughed in the ensuing silence, but not for long. Someone pulled Luffy off with a desperate sort of urgency. Then he was surrounded by his crew. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Hugging a Vice-Admiral!" Nami shrieked, before she realized what she said. "Wait! Jii-chan?" The rest of his crew seemed to be reacting the same way, but Luffy wasn't paying attention.

He watched his gramps get scolded by a familiar figure. Well, their hair color was familiar enough. Pink hair and round glasses? He rocketed past his crew to hug him with a happy cry. "Coby! You've gotten so big!"

They fought, and so did Hippo and Zoro.

Then they had a big party!

He has always wondered if other things could poop. It was something that happens after eating, so it's got to be important. Rubber people can poop, reverse mermaids can poop, so can bird people, and he recently learned robot people can poop too. So, to him, it's obvious what he's going to ask this new mystery figure on the cool ship…

Make that two questions when the moving skeleton is clear enough to see through the fog.

He can hear Nami groan next to him when she takes one look at his expression, and Robin is quick to follow with her quiet chuckle.

"I can." The skeleton with a cool afro says seriously to his first question, and "Sure." for Luffy's second question to join his crew. He can already tell they are going to get along great!

That's when Brook flees from the mystery ghost, and Sunny is suddenly surrounded by gates.

Bastard cucumber-head guy took his shadow! Admittedly, the giant his shadow is in is totally awesome, but now he's got to beat this Moria guy if he ever wants to enjoy his special seat in the sun again!

Oh, and to get Brook to join his crew too. So the ending is obvious, even if he can't handle another battle after beating down that shadow guy.

Kuma is a different story.

Somehow, he's always asleep for a while after his big fights, and he's not sure where he is during those times.

Sometimes he can hear what's going on, or feel the time pass, or force his body to eat because, seriously, he's never going to skip a meal again.

But this time all he can see are trees that are taller than he has ever seen before with bubbles floating everywhere.

The area makes him feel a bunch of feelings that he can't name, one of them he has been feeling when he looks at the paper his brother had given him before they had parted ways. How the paper is smoldering smaller and smaller. He doesn't know what it means.

But he does.

His head starts to hurt, so he looks around again. Luffy doesn't have that much time before he is roused from his sleep by the smell of Sanji's cooking.

When he is fighting, he knows he is holding himself back somehow. Like there are moves he has behind doors that he doesn't know how to open. He can't even make that pressure thing he had done on Usopp's island happen again, no matter how many times he's tried. He can't get his knuckles to turn black when he wants them to, and when his hands do turn black, it's almost every part of his hand buthis knuckles. It's getting annoying.

But sometimes, a door opens during a fight, and he becomes that more dangerous to his opponents. He pushes himself even outside of fights so he can be even better at them. It's for his nakama, for the people that make him feel whole. There's still someone left, but he knows they will show up soon.

((A/N: I'm thinking about just letting this hang the way it is and let you decide what happens next since it's a rather popular debate topic.
Or I could try to write both options, but that would take a while. This one has taken me forever. Also, I've posted this first on Ao3, so if you want to check out the stuff over there, feel free! The username is Sariau.
Might let you guys have a word in it:
Which version do you want me to write first? With Ace or Without Ace?
Let me know down below!

UPDATE: I've starting working on the next portion, but I would really like feedback and a reader's input. So send me a PM if you would be interested.))