Thanks for clicking! Hope you read to the end and I hope you don't leave without telling me your thoughts! Remember: Negative reviews are better than none! At least we know what not to do.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy the story!
Note: So...my renewed interest of Lucci is due to the fact that he makes an appearance in Dressrosa lol. Which soon lead me to read the CP9's mini-story (which I had no idea existed tho that may just be me) in St. Poplar. Hoho~ They were adorable there, yeah? XD
Disclaimer: Oda-sensei owns One Piece, I do not.
偏移
WHEN GETTING LOST IS A GOOD THING
"Everything has a core. If one hits that one integral spot—accidentally or not—its course can change history forever."
FUUSHA VILLAGE
The seven-year-old Luffy opened her eyes at the sound of someone's snoring, the first thing she saw was the wooden beams and girders she often climbed and played on as if they were tree branches. She then turned a little and felt the softness of the futon and coldness of the wooden floor each occupying half her back. Apparently, she fell asleep as she waited for Dadan and Ace to get back.
She then absorbed the sound that was distinctly the sound of Ace's snore.
Her eyes shot open and she tilted her head to the source and saw it was Ace all bandaged up, but well (as proven by his loud snores). She was already up and crawling next to him before she knew it.
"Mornin' Luffy." Someone behind her said and saw some of the bandits sitting there, around Dadan.
Dadan
She was in a much worse condition and Luffy crawled to her, but Magra raised a finger to tell her to keep quiet and she pressed her lips together in obedience. "What happened?" She asked, quietly, and Magra said she and Ace fought the pirates. They'll be fine in no time.
Satisfied with the answer, she turned to Ace again and leaned down on her stomach, then resting her chins on her palm and watched her surrogate brother sleep in peace. She didn't know exactly what happened with Bluejam's crew but she was happy he was safe.
She stayed there, uncharacteristically still, for many long minutes. She wasn't sure why she's memorizing his face and all his freckles and even all of his mumblings… but she continued to do it, for a long time.
When she was done, Luffy grinned and sat back up. For a moment she caught one more glimpse of Ace and had the urge to lean down and to press her lips on Ace's freckled cheek. He seemed to have felt this, as he smiled and hummed in response, shifting lightly while continuing on sleeping. She chuckled at this, just before she stood up, and by then a perpetual grin was now pasted on his face.
She took her hat to flop it back on her head, climbing up to her cabinet and changed into her comfy- stretchy cardigan and denim shorts, heading to the door a moment later. She threw a careless 'see you soon' to the bandits and the unconscious Dadan and Ace, just before she left.
As she skipped from root to root, to rock to rock, she mused that now that Ace was back, Sabo was the only one left.
And it was time to get him back, too.
…
Her feet stopped at the mouth of the forest, about several minutes into walking. The three of them created the shortcut, with just enough space cleared for their three little bodies, and it went directly to the gates between Gray Terminal and High Town.
However, she turned away from it and decided to run along the coast instead. Partly because it's brighter there, there was more wind, and it she used the shortcut all the time. Might as well make a change of pace, and perhaps they'll have luck getting Sabo back this time.
Little did she know that the choice would change her path for years to come.
偏移
She ran along the rocky shores to the town, effortlessly jumping over massive protruding roots, and avoiding falling on the occasional cliff-of-doom.
As she ran though, her feet stopped at the sound of an explosion. Her eyebrows furrowed and she ran just a little faster than before, and halted when she caught sight of smoke a few kilometers away. It was just a line from where she stood, but it was visible enough to make her heart thump in worry.
She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to see as she ran but she was too far to really know what happened. She continued to run and run and jump until she was close enough and saw it was a fishing boat.
She knew that fishing boat, and her heart stopped at the realization.
"SABO!"
Her eyes detected a ship nearby, a few hundred meters away. "OI! Turn around!" She yelled, so loud her lungs felt like they were bursting. "Can't you see Sabo needs help?" She continued, bellowing. "TURN AROUND!"
But it never did. So she decided to save Sabo herself.
偏移
"HMPH! So what if it's a kid? He's got that hideous pirate flag. He must be killed." St. Jalmack yelled indignantly as he sauntered to the interior of his massive ship, his weapon still smoking from its recent use. "How dare that brat enter my way. Annoying!"
Then his feet stopped as he looked at him—eyeing him from head to toe—an ebony-haired teenager of about seventeen. "Oh don't you worry Lucci-kun! I got it handled!" He said, raising the bazooka proudly.
"Of course." He said, rather impassively, and closed his eyes and relaxed into his seat.
Lucci had been on the verge of finally performing the ultimate technique of Rokushiki: Rokuogan when he was interrupted and got assigned to guard the noble, and he—being a dutiful soldier—at least needed to replay the techniques in his head.
As he sat, trying to practice in his head, he felt the Tenriyubito's analyzing stare. "I have to say you're just the right amount intimidating. Though as expected for the boy who single-handedly killed 500 soldiers and massacred a pirate crew that took over a country! Ha-ha!"
He frowned at the noise and opened his eyes to glare, but the man was dense that he just continued to blabber around until he reached his throne and waited to reach Goa. For a moment, St. Jalmack relaxed into his cushioned seat and thought there can't be anything that will ruin his mood now.
But the image of an impertinent blonde kid on an ugly boat actually daring to cut his path passed by the World Noble's head once more, and he frowned deeply, body cringing in disgust. "On second thought, I want to take a long bath…" St. Jalmack announced. "That brat totally ruined my mood!"
"B-But sir—we're already there—" A servant tried to reason with him but Jalmack placed a tentative hand on his bazooka in response. The servant flinched and kowtowed. "Ah, y-yes, of course." The servant hurriedly said, making one more bow and stayed in place.
So the tenryubito disappeared to his quarters, announcing that the welcoming party can wait an hour or two.
And thus, all those who were in a boat stayed still while they docked, asking the welcoming party of nobles to wait a little longer.
Not long after they land, however, Rob Lucci sensed a movement. One that was stealthy and quick enough to get his attention.
'An enemy?' He internally voiced out, though he didn't think anyone would dare sneak into a Celestial Dragon's ship.
He walked to the balustrade and he saw the intruder.
It was a brat.
Then he watched as she stretched her arms to reach a part of the ship, sneakily entering the cabins.
He corrected himself. It was a brat with a devil fruit.
As he made a mental note to kill a couple of guards for their general uselessness later, he stoically sauntered towards where the girl was. He appeared behind her a few seconds later, making her gasp in shock. "EEK!"
He grabbed the back of her red cardigan to lift her up to eye level, analyzing her mechanically as he was trained to: A pint-size brat in country clothing, a moon-shaped scar under her left eye, and the most unusual aura he had encountered so far.
Further, the girl was about seven or eight years of age and she was sweating in nerves, looking anywhere but his eyes. At least she knew she had been caught red-handed.
"I j-just wanted to borrow a boat. A small one will do!" She told him, trying to reason like the brat that she was.
"I…I…I was going t-to return it. I promise!" She said, squeaking. "I... I was going to use it to save my brother!"
Lucci raised a disbelieving eyebrow and she apparently interpreted it as a sign to continue with her blabbering. "He was on a fishing boat with a pirate flag! His boat got burned and I need to save him!"
He remembered the blonde boy the World Noble shot with his bazooka, and he just stared at the unknowing girl. "It's useless." He said, voice even more monotonous than before.
"Why?"
"He's already dead."
Her eyes widened, but she shook her head. "How do you know that?!" She squeaked and by this time she was no longer scared of him. She was offended. It was because of her yell that some of the guards finally heard the noise. "He's okay! Sabo is always fine! He's strong!"
"B-Besides it's your fault so you need to lend me a ship." She continued to yell, effectively spraying a bit of spit on his face. "You didn't turn around to help him! That's cold!"
She did not even consider they were the ones who caused it.
She was too naïve, even for a brat.
He hated her already.
…
"Lucci-san! W-What is this?" One of said-useless guard reacted at the sight of a kid in the ship.
He narrowed his eyes and raised his free hand about to use Shigan on the weakling, but the brat on his other hand suddenly yelled. "AH!"
"Mr. Guard! Don't make him angry. You just made him angry!" She yelled at the guard, scolding, and Lucci's eyes widened slightly as he turned his head to her. "I was so close to convincing him to let me borrow a ship, too!"
That was not true.
Still, he looked at the girl who sensed his annoyance through his trained stoic façade with unwelcome wariness. He dropped her to the floor, an imperceptible vein on his head softening, admittedly interested in what she will do next.
"So does this mean I can borrow a boat?"
"No."
"EH?"
Soon two more guards appeared with their swords and guns. He combed his shoulder-length hair back, gesturing to stand aside. "Defeat them and I will let you have your boat."
"EH?"
He stepped away and looked at the three suited guards and then the little girl not even half their size. She looked torn and a bit anxious, but she bit her lip with determination on her eyes.
"For Sabo." She said, just before running to her opponents.
"Oi, oi." One of the men said, looking at him. "Lucci-san, you can't be ser—"
He was cut off by a clean punch on his face. The other two flinched at this and their bemused faces turned to ones of annoyance and they attacked the girl with sheathed swords and the back of their guns.
Many more guards appear and he raised his hand to keep them from interfering, his eyes boring into that small lithe feiry form oozing with willpower.
He watched as the girl's sights never left her opponent since she began attacking, her simple-minded brain no-doubt formulating strategies based on instinct. Soon, while she was a few meters away from her opponents, she parted her legs for balance when she formed a fist. "Gomu gomu nooo Pistol!" She yelled, and her fist stretched, making the men gape in shock.
"What the—"
And the punch connected against a face and she used the momentum to carry her own weight to fly to her enemies. She stretched her feet to hit the other one, easily avoiding the former's attack. The three groaned in pain but one managed to stand up and he looked at the girl seriously. This obviously didn't sit well with the girl, who—as another booming sound from the sea was heard—was quickly losing her patience.
Glaring at the man, she clenched her hands and yelled. "Go down already!"
He felt himself shiver at the intensity of her words and—to his surprise—he soon heard consecutive thumps right in front of him.
The man fainted. Along with a few others on his side.
Lucci stared in shock while the other two gapes. "W-What is that?" The soldier yelled. "You—what did you do?!"
The kid hadn't even noticed what she did, and she kept her glare, intent on taking the two remaining ones down.
"Enough." Lucci told the men. "You've already lost." He said and he strut to stand in front of them, making them look at him in puzzlement. Their faces instantaneously contorted in terror as Lucci raised his hand and with his index fingers inserted bullet-like holes in all their bodies—all in a blink of an eye.
From his periphery he saw the kid and the soldiers gasp, though it was only she that dared to question him. "HEY!" She yelled, shocked and confused. "Why'd you do that!?"
"They were weak." He said, cold and sure, but she told him something that shook him a little.
"Yeah you're strong." She said, pausing, eyes defiant and far from admiring. "The strong're supposed to protect the weak!"
"JERK!" She screamed so loudly that the words rang in his ears, in so many ways. "FORGET IT! I don't need your help!"
He stayed frozen in place for a second longer than necessary and he heard her stomp away. The soldiers gesture to block her path and he looked at them, eyes commanding them to tell her be. He let out a bored sigh before turning away.
And as he walked away he tied his hair up to a ponytail, sitting back to his seat and continued to mentally study Rukuogan.
Although…, he noted it was a bit more difficult to concentrate this time.
…
Luffy's scowl did not disappear as the soldiers made way for her. That JERK. And there she thought he's a good guy! So much for being a good judge of character…
"Oi, don't. Leave her alone."
"She's just a kid, what can she do?" Another guy said. "Saint Jalmack's quarters are pretty far from here, anyway."
"Someone stationed below would deal with her." A guy whispered, slightly stuttering. "Not us. We don't want to go against Lucci-san, now do we?"
At this she stopped and looks up at the nearest man, who flinched in anxiety. "Hey ossan, where's a boat I can borrow?"
"A-Ah. Will a lifeboat do?"
"Yes." She said, though all boats were pretty much the same to her.
The guy pointed to a direction and she went there, though as she walked and walked and walked she didn't know how she ended up inside a massive room, and she mumbled how rude the guy was—probably giving her the wrong directions.
And she was getting hungry, too, actually. But that can wait. Sabo might be a great swimmer but he may need her help!
"Hohohoho~ What a treasure! I wonder what slave I should feed this one to? The snake one was awesome. The massive girl from Amazon Lily sure ate it up nicely!"
She heard to word 'feed' and her ears twitched and her nose sniffed. She followed the voice to a slightly open door with weird designs.
"OI YOU TWO AT THE DOOR! Can't you check when my bath'll be ready?"
She watched as the guards entered the interior room and went closer herself, stealthily looking into the small open line the opened door made.
Luffy took a peek to see an ugly old man with square glass on his head admiring an orange fruit. It had swirls on it that looked very very familiar. The two guys in suit looked around to the servant who was apologizing because the bath needed time to heat up. At this, the guy turned red in anger and was ready to slap the girl when another servant came out from another room with steam coming out of it. "Your bath is ready, sir."
The man's annoyance dissipated, and his face contorted into a very ugly smile. "Ah, yes."
The two men gestured to get back to their positions by the door, when the man shouted again. "YOU TWO! Guard the door here."
"A-Ah, yes, sir." And they turned back to the direction of the room and proceeded to guard the bathroom door.
Her eyes ended up on the fruit again and she stretched her arm to get it.
She casually walked away with the fruit on her hand, eyeing it as she went farther and farther away from where she took it. She looked at it carefully, trying to recall where she'd seen something similar, and her stomach flopped when she finally places it in her memory:
It's… that horrible tasting fruit…!
"Eew." She uttered, almost dropping it, but remembered Makino say she shouldn't waste food. With a shrug, she put it on her hat making it bulgy.
Maybe Sabo can eat it. He's not a picky eater.
Eventually, she did reach the life boat and with all her strength she rowed until she was where the smoke was.
She brightens to see that he was fine, unconscious form managing to hold on into a piece of wood, but he was still out cold and he had some horrible horrible-looking burns.
Sabo
Her hands moved even faster and she was beside him a moment later, her eyes stinging a little due to the smoke. She leaned down to wrap his arm around her shoulders and lifted him up, but it was hard because the piece of wood was really unstable.
"Lu…Luffy."
"Sabo!" She yelled, smiling, almost losing her balance. She managed to get back to balance and she turned to him to tell him it's okay now, though she realized he once again already lost consciousness. Still, she was glad he's okay.
But it didn't even take a strong wave for them to completely lose balance and almost fall down on the sea. She gasped when she realized she had let Sabo go and he dropped to the sea. She grabbed whatever piece of cloth she could but he still fell into the water. It felt like the sea was eating him up, pulling him deeper into the pit of his stomach, and she gritted her teeth—her strength was fading, fast, and she knew she couldn't handle this for much longer.
"S-SABO!" She yelled as she used her other hand to pull out her quickly-softening hand in the water. She refused to let Sabo go, and she didn't notice how her feet were sliding to the edge of the broken ship.
Still, even with the curse of the sea a renewed power was ignited within her—Sabo can't die, not like this—and even when her slippers were halfway to the water she managed to pull him up. She uses all her remaining strength to put him on a drifting wood in front of her.
She looked and made sure he's on a stable position, just before noticing she has already lost her platform. This time, she was the one pulled down by the water.
偏移
—An Hour Later—
"So where have you been Lucci? Why are soaked?" St. Jalmack asked, about well over an hour after he had last seen the CP9 agent. "What kind of job do you think—" He stops as he gulps under the young man's stare and Jalmack forgot to even act indignant.
Lucci didsn't maintain his glare and gave a customary apology and excused himself, saying he had to change clothing.
As he walked, he squeezed the water out of his sleeves, thinking that it seemed the world noble hadn't noticed the fruit gone yet.
The devil fruit. When he jumped down the water, he saw how a user was helpless against the water. It wasn't that they couldn't swim—it was worse—they couldn't even move a muscle.
Lucci thought that they were more of weaknesses than strengths. He swore he won't be eating those cursed fruits.
He didn't need them anyway, he told himself.
He remembered seeing the fruit on her life boat, and recalled the World Noble making a passing comment of making him eat it. His eyes had twitched at the memory and he ignored ever seeing it there.
When he saw her breathing after saving her he stood up, but as he turned he felt a tug on his white shirt. His expression hardened a bit more, just before he turns to look. It was her, panting. "…t-thank you."
Then she flashed him that wide toothy smile he'd come to associate with her. He stared for a moment, before freeing himself of her hold.
"Geppou." He uttered, concentrating force in his feet.
And he left her, just like that.
.
"Are you ready, Lucci-san?" A voice from the other side of the door asks, and the eighteen-year-old realized he has been in a daze for quite some time.
"Ah," was all he said, thinking it was better to get all this over with and get out of this island.
…
For hours, Luffy tried to look for Sabo, passing through the Gray Terminal scorched to the ground. There were a lot of people missing though, and by instinct she knew they were all okay.
"SABBBOOOOO!" She called, with as much volume as she could muster. "WHERE AAAAAAAAAREEE YOOOUUU."
She yelled and she knew by instinct that this was the area where the current should have taken him. But she didn't see him. She never did.
He can't have fallen off that piece of wood, has he?
At the thought, she became more anxious and her calls became more desperate and strained. When the skies began to turn orange, she could already hear her heartbeat from fatigue and worry.
But when the sky was eerily red as blood, she caught sight of a cloaked man flying, carrying a small creature with familiar blonde head.
He was literally flying to a boat faaar away from shore and she couldn't speak for a second, shocked and awed by what she was seeing. They were already on the boat when she realized she shouldn't be just standing there.
She gasped and she ran to the shore. "OI! GIVE HIM BACK! SABOOO!"
"SABBOOOO!"
"As I thought. They are making a move."
"Wha—you!" She squeaked stepping back, then she gathered her wits and grinned. "Thanks for earlier."
Then she faced him, and then looked at the boat. "Who are they? Where are they going?"
"No one knows for sure yet, but they're starting a revolution of sorts." He told her, almost mechanically. "I suppose Mariejoa has more reason to sending me here."
She turned to look at him with those massive round eyes. "Hey. You can fly too can't you? Can you get Sabo for me?"
"I'm only here to get information and confirmation of their existence." He said, making her frown. "Going after them is no longer my job." Though in reality, according to the Cipher Pol sources, at his current strength he was no match for them. The past few years, the organization had been gathering powerful people at the level of shichibukais.
He took a closer look at the ship, his sharp eyes ending on the head that extended to its whole body. It was a Dragon.
He had been hearing of him, though only after extremely deep amounts of investigation, and Rob Lucci had a feeling that Dragon will be one of the most dangerous people alive.
He clenched his knuckles.
If he had been stronger, he could've taken them on, he'd have been able to gather much more than information, he'd have given 'absolute justice' the greatest offering. It had been five years since he was enlisted to CP9, but right now all he can do was what the lower groups can: Gather information.
He then felt a soft pressure on his crunched fists. It was her small small hands, patting his pale ones that were twice as large as hers, and if he was any other person his eyes would've widened.
"Hey it's okay. I don't blame you." She said with a smile, evidently misunderstanding the source of his mood. "We'll get him eventually."
He pulled his hand away at the shock of something that resembles disgust, though not quite, nor had he the time to tell what it was.
She just stared up at him with a supposedly reassuring smile, and he really wanted to wipe it away.
Immediately, he knew she will be trouble when she grew up. She will be strong. That personality of hers will definitely add to her strengths, though he mused it will have to do with angering and provoking people.
She could even get under his skin and that was something that had never happened before, not like this.
And then there was the infamous conqueror's haki, and that thought made him frown deeper than ever.
Who is this kid?
He gave her a sideways glance, suddenly very intimidated of what this kid would grow up to be. As an opponent she will be extremely troublesome and it was logical to kill her while she's still a bud.
But he didn't want that, for one reason or another, and to his chagrin he couldn't quite point out why yet.
So he decided to do the next best thing:
Turn her into an ally.
.
.
"So… can you tell me what we can do?" She asked, interrupting his line-of-thought. Lucci looked at her for a moment, making her blink and tilt her head.
"What?" She asked but he kneeled down in response so their eyes were leveled and she looked at him, listening.
"You owe me your life." He told her, a matter-of-factly, and she noded with similar straight-forwardness.
"I do."
"So you owe the government your life."
"…huh?"
He stared at her and thought she could be one of the greatest weapons on the world government will ever have. The girl, on the other hand only looks at him, utterly puzzled. "But I'm gonna be a pirate."
His eyes twitched at the word. Nevertheless, he stared at her knowing what he can say to get her to agree. "We could look for your brother together."
And she brightened up and his eyes soften indiscernibly.
This won't be a mistake. He'll make sure of it.
偏移
The young Ace woke up from a comfortable slumber, hands absent-mindedly rummaging his surroundings for a certain someone. His eyes opened when his hands found nothing but the hard wooden floor.
"Where's Luffy?" He asked, abruptly sitting up, and looked around, soon realizing night had already fallen.
"She went out." Dogra mumbled as he assisted Makino as she changed some of Dadan's bandages. "It's been a while though."
"Where?"
"I don't know. You know how she works."
But somehow there was a sudden pit in his stomach he couldn't shake, telling him to get up right now. So he did and he ran to the door to look for her.
To no avail.
And he realized after several more hours of looking that she may no longer be in the island.
Still, he kept looking. A few more hours, he told himself. Because Luffy won't leave without a word like that.
But well after the sun had risen, he did find a message near the sea, along with pieces of broken wood and hats that will break his heart.
He was not sure if he prefers she left a message, after all.
…
Ace stared at the water with debris from his ship, Sabo's favorite top hat floating helplessly. When he had asked around town first thing that morning, they told him witnesses saw Sabo's ship shot to the ground.
And that there was no way he can still be alive.
He gripped Luffy's beloved straw hat and the piece of paper that held her message for him, not believing a word they said.
"I'm following Sabo!" She had told him in her letter, clumsily tucked in her straw hat along with an ugly looking fruit resembling fire.
"I'll be back. Hold on to my hat for me. You can eat the fruit though." And he did, and it is the most horrid things he would ever taste.
Then his eyes ran over the last line, and he read it—as he would every single day after she left.
"Love you Ace! I know Sabo'll tell you that too."
.
.
But years would pass and there would be no news of her.
Still… Portgas D. Ace would sail three years later than planned, as if his beloved little sister would come back and sail when she reached seventeen, as promised.
She never came of course, and he set sail to form his own pirate crew.
"I will find you." He would say, facing the endless sea, gripping her precious treasure in his hand. "Both of you." And he would fight his way through many obstacles, garnering adventures Luffy would've loved to have, and protecting her treasured hat and his memories of both his sworn siblings.
During his travels, he will always correct people that the hat was not his, and it will be returned to its owner very very soon, but—as many of his future crewmates will wonder about—
He named his pirate crew the Strawhats, anyway.
.
.
END!
Note: (1) So you can see here that though Ace still gets Mera Mera no Mi, but isn't a WB pirate anymore so BB won't get to him. He'll survive! Yay. Also, Sabo's memories will have to be triggered by something else. Ha-ha.
(2) Out of curiosity, with this kind of set-up, who'd you rather end up with Luffy?
(3) I wrote this because even though Lucci will be part of Luffy's R. Harem in 'Rivals and Oniichans' …, the guy reappearing in front of Luffy takes a loooong time and I kinda was itching to write them together. So… there. xD
偏移
REGARDLESS, do tell me what you thought! Crits and flames are accepted.
In any case, never leave a completed story without saying your thoughts, at least once! Do it for us! xDDD
THANK YOU FOR READING!