A/N: I've just had a craving for some outsider POV and Straw Hat nakamaship recently. Set some arbitrary time in the future where Luffy's the Pirate King but only includes people who are currently a part of his crew.

Warnings: I didn't think too hard about anything in between current events in canon and Luffy becoming Pirate King, and I made up a name and gender for Makino's child, who features a little in this. Also, possibly OOC.

Today's front page news is of the newest Pirate King's whereabouts, titled "STRAW HAT LUFFY'S FIRST STEP AS PIRATE KING: CONQUERING EAST BLUE?" The rest of the article continues with similar sensational speculations, all of them trying to explain why exactly Strawhat Luffy has chosen to return to East Blue after reaching Raftel and none of them considering that "returning" is the key word. After becoming Pirate King (as promised), Luffy is going back to visit his hometown (also as promised).

Naturally, even though most of the world is being led on by the newspaper's theories, the residents of Fuusha Village and the nearby mountain bandits understand Luffy's true intentions.

Everyone is celebrating Luffy's anticipated return in Partys Bar, brimming with the desire to brag to the world "Luffy came from our village", even Woop Slap whose pride at Luffy's accomplishments is always begrudging ("Of all the things he could've been, a pirate!"). Curly Dadan and her mountain bandits are among the most rowdy, Dadan herself alternating between denying her happy tears, gulping down her beer, and cursing and praising Luffy at the same time. The rest of the villagers, now accustomed to the mountain bandits' crassness after many, many years of exposure to their presence, sing and cheer happily beside them while Makino hurries from table to table, refilling everyone's cups.

Makino's daughter, Yuuna, sits at the bar, drinking a cup of orange juice. When Makino finally gets a small reprieve, Yuuna asks, "Do I finally get to meet Luffy-san?"

Makino's answering smile is both unspeakably happy and sad. Yuuna can tell by the faraway look in her eye, the wide stretch of her smile, and the slight downward tilt of it. "Yes, he's very kind and interesting. I think you'll like him very much."

"He better be something," Yuuna mutters, taking a pointed sip of her orange juice. "Whenever he makes it into the news, everyone talks about him for weeks. It's like they worship the ground he walks on."

Makino laughs, ruffling Yuuna's hair. "You'll understand when you meet him." And then Makino's whisked away by another villager asking for more beer.

The celebrations continue well on into the night, becoming crazier and crazier until everyone either falls asleep from exhaustion or passes out. Makino makes sure that Yuuna goes to bed well before then, which explains why when the Sunny arrives at Dawn Island the next morning, Yuuna is the only one to greet them.

While everyone else is still asleep from partying too hard last night, which Yuuna is distressingly used to, Yuuna heads out to the place everyone except Woop Slap proudly showed her at least a hundred times more than necessary: the small dock where Luffy-san first left in his tiny dinghy.

Yuuna waits there, hands on her hips, the scariest frown she can muster on her face, to greet the Straw Hats when they arrive. It's not that she hates Luffy-san. In fact, from the villagers' stories, he seems interesting, someone she'd like to get to know.

But he's (at least partly) the reason for the frown lines on Makino's face and the times when she stares off into the distance, an irrevocable sadness in her eyes. And yet, when Makino speaks of him, her whole face lights up and she smiles so wide, it's like her face is also made of rubber. (Sometimes, very rarely, Yuuna thinks Makino's smiles for Luffy-san are more genuine and filled with more love than Makino's smiles for her. She knows all the villagers adore her, but with how much they talk about Luffy-san, it's hard not to resent him a bit sometimes.)

(Yuuna soon learns it's hard to resent him at all, but for now, slightly resentful is how she feels.)

When Luffy-san's pirate ship approaches, their jolly roger fluttering in the wind, Yuuna is awed by how gigantic it is: the pictures in the newspaper don't do its magnificence enough justice. As it gets closer, a lion's face, mane like a cartoon sun, smiles at her. On its head is a figure that she recognizes when the ship finally reaches the coast. Luffy-san sits there in all his glory, one hand on his hat and a gigantic smile, unable to be replicated by anyone not made of rubber, on his face.

He easily jumps down, and in her shock, Yuuna almost lets him past her into the town. Almost.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" she yells at him, and he turns toward her.

For a moment, his gaze is piercing, almost as if he's assessing whether or not she's a threat. Then, it's ruined by him sticking a finger up his nose and saying, "To visit everyone, of course. And for some meat! I'm sooooo hungry!"

An orange staff comes flying from the ship's direction and hits Luffy-san in the head. He collapses on the spot, although Yuuna's pretty sure the Pirate King should be strong enough to deal with five vice admirals without breaking a sweat, much less a single hit to the head.

"Luffy, I told you to stay put! We know you're excited and all, but can't you at least wait for the rest of us?" an orange-haired woman screams, leaning over the railing (Cat Burglar Nami, Yuuna guesses). "We're still deciding whose going to stay behind and guard the ship."

"Ehhhhh? But I want everyone to come and meet Makino and Woop Slap and all the other villagers and then Dadan, too!" Luffy-san whines.

Cat Burglar Nami yells, "Just stay put!", and when Luffy-san inches a little toward the village, a flip flop comes flying to also smack him in the head. Yuuna feels like a fish out of water, watching this exchange. Luffy-san is interesting in a way that the villagers never mentioned, and it seems Cat Burglar Nami is very, very used to dealing with Luffy-san and his interestingness.

Soon enough, Cat Burglar Nami disembarks, followed closely by Black Leg Sanji, Soul King Brook, Devil Child Nico Robin, Iron Man Franky, Cotton Candy Lover Chopper, and finally God Usopp. The only one missing is Pirate Hunter Zoro. Seeing most of the Straw Hats gathered before her eyes is surreal, even though Makino assured her many times over the years: "Luffy and his crew will come by someday."

Distantly, Yuuna realizes that her hands are shaking, and her curiosity about these pirates is quickly disintegrating. Although Luffy-san's earlier exchange with Cat Burglar Nami was relatively innocent and normal and although most of Fuusha Village believes that the Straw Hat Pirates are good people, Yuuna can't help but tremble in their presence.

Still, she clears her throat and tries to speak, Makino's words echoing in the back of her mind ("It's always good to be polite and introduce yourself when you meet new people."). "Hi, I'm Yuuna. The rest of the villagers are still asleep, so I thought I'd greet you guys instead."

Now, Luffy-san peers at her again, his eyes squinted and mouth twisted in concentration. "Hmmm, I don't remember you. Who are you?"

That earns him a smack on the back of the head from Cat Burglar Nami. "She just introduced herself!"

Yuuna says, "I'm Makino's daughter."

"Makino's daughter? Cool! Where is she? I want to introduce my crew to her!" Luffy-san says, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Then, he pauses and turns to Cat Burglar Nami. "Wait, where's Zoro? Did he get lost again?"

Cat Burglar Nami lets out a long-suffering sigh. "We need someone to guard the ship, remember?"

"Whaaat? But I already said I wanted to introduce everyone, and that includes Zoro! Nobody really visits Fuusha Village anyway. It'll be fine!"

With that said, Luffy stretches out his arms (something that makes Yuuna's jaw drop yet again) and launches himself back onto the ship. There's a crash and a yelp that sounds like "Seriously, Luffy?"

"Forgive my captain's rudeness, Yuuna-chan," Cat Burglar Nami says. "I'm Nami. Is there a place we can go to stock up on food?"

"I think Makino can help you with that," Yuuna says and begins to lead the way into Fuusha Village. Behind her, the other Straw Hats have started talking amongst themselves, their chatter loud and cheery in the quietness of the morning. She swears she hears someone inquiring after Demon Child Nico Robin's panties, a painful-sounding crack, and a "Yohohoho!"

To that, Cat Burglar Nami sighs and says, "Sorry about my crew mates." Over her shoulder, she shouts, "Boys, I told you to behave!"

Yuuna musters up the courage to ask, "Are they always like this?"

"Pretty much," she answers. "It drives me crazy sometimes, but they're my nakama."

There's a fond smile on Cat Burglar Nami's face as she says this, and Yuuna is reminded of Makino's smile whenever she speaks of Luffy-san. It seems Luffy-san inspires that fondness everywhere he goes, whether he's 7 or 17 or 27.

Since Fuusha Village is small, they reach her house quickly, and Yuuna asks the Straw Hats to wait outside while she calls for Makino.

Inside, Makino is preparing breakfast when Yuuna finally comes wandering in. She smiles down at Yuuna knowingly and asks, "I'm guessing you've met the Straw Hat Pirates?"

"Yeah."

"And?" Makino prompts. "What did you think of them?"

"Interesting, I guess," Yuuna says. "They want to know where they can stock up on supplies."

Makino ruffles her hair. "Well, why don't you invite them in?"

Makino watches as Yuuna dutifully goes to the door. One by one, the Straw Hats pile in, faces that Makino recognizes from their wanted posters and finally one that she recognizes from years ago. Luffy's smile is beautiful, and though she knew of Luffy's toughness and persistence, she thought sometimes that the trials he underwent as a pirate might have been enough to dim that smile. (Her eyes still sting with unshed tears whenever she thinks about Ace after all.)

With a cry of "Makino!", Luffy hugs her. Her smile stretches wider, and she urges Luffy and his crew to sit at the table. It's all a rather snug fit, with some of the pirates having to sit on the floor.

"Why don't you introduce me to your friends?" Makino asks, and Luffy happily launches into introductions.

He points first at the one-eyed, green-haired swordsman slouched in the corner of the room. "That's Zoro!" He introduces the rest of the crew in this way, repeating information Makino mostly already knows from wanted posters.

"It's nice to finally meet you all," Makino says, bowing. "You all seem like very wonderful people. I'm glad that Luffy's made such good friends."

Luffy's crew responds to her compliments in various ways. Zoro doesn't seem to react at all, except for maybe the slightest quirk of his lips. Nami and Usopp both seem to inflate a little, Usopp saying, "I am a pretty great friend." Sanji somehow manages to dance his way to her side, despite the fact that there's no space, and says something along the lines of "Your beauty and kindess is like that of a goddess's!" (Yuuna glowers at him when he says this.) Chopper wiggles around and blushes, shouting, "What you just said doesn't make me happy at all!" Robin offers a small, mysterious smile. Franky brings his gigantic arms together and poses while Brook starts to say something until Nami slaps a hand over his mouth.

Luffy himself smiles even wider and says, "Thanks, Makino!" And then, his expression shifts into a face Makino remembers meant she would soon find herself needing to replenish the contents of her pantry. "I'm hungry."

Makino sees one rubbery arm try to sneak its way to the plate of pancakes beside her, but before it reaches its destination, Sanji smacks it. Luffy's arm immediately retracts as Sanji snaps, "Where are your manners?" Then, turning to her, Sanji asks, "May I help you with preparing breakfast, mademoiselle? We've been low on food lately, so he'll want to eat a lot."

"Of course," Makino says, chuckling. Even as an adult and a well-known pirate, Luffy still has a childish innocence to him.

As Sanji maneuvers himself expertly around her kitchen, finding ingredients to cook with, Makino looks at the table to see Yuuna surrounded by most of Luffy's crew. It seems that despite Yuuna's earlier reservations, she's enjoying their company.

Usopp is in the middle of regaling Yuuna and Chopper with outrageous tales ("The island was made of a gigantic plant and populated by giants, who were the size of Sea Kings!" "Really? There were people as big as the Lord of the Coast?") while Nami attempts to add a sense of realism to them and Brook adds his own comments ("Oh my, when you put it like that, that island seems much scarier than it actually was!").

Once Usopp finishes with his story, Franky takes over the task of entertaining Yuuna with his robotic enhancements. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper especially react with enthusiasm to his changing hairstyles and amusingly tiny hands while Nami sighs.

Meanwhile, Robin sits a little off to the side, a book in her hand, although Makino suspects she's paying more attention to her crew's antics than the book. Zoro, too, is detached from the rest of the group, but he gets up as Makino's pouring some milk for Yuuna.

"You got any booze around here?" he asks gruffly.

"This early in the morning?" she says, even as she pulls out a glass and a bottle of sake.

Zoro grunts and accepts only the bottle before settling back into his original place, one eye focused on the group at the table. Beside her, Sanji grumbles about rude, brutish marimos around his breath, and Makino chuckles again.

Luffy has truly gathered himself an interesting crew.

After a hearty breakfast, in which Luffy's grabby hands make an appearance again, Luffy asks where Dadan is.

"They still live up on Mt. Corvo," Makino responds. "They might still be at the bar though. Everyone was up late last night, celebrating."

Luffy proceeds to hug her again and lead his crew outside. "I'll probably have to leave soon, Makino, but I'll see you again sometime!" he promises.

"Leaving already? Don't you need to stock up on supplies?" Makino asks.

"Oh yeah," Luffy says, laughing. "I forgot about that."

Makino laughs with him as Nami just sighs, not even bothering to smack him. "Well, I'm sure the other villagers you'll find at the bar will give you the supplies you need."

Sanji carries the dishes to her sink, apologizing for the excessive amount of dishes they've used and food they've consumed, while Zoro thanks her for the booze. The rest thank her, too, before they're out the door, leaving as fast as they arrived.

Like the Red-Haired Pirates before them, the Straw Hat Pirates have waltzed into and out of her life like a hurricane, leaving Makino feeling displaced. They've only been gone a few seconds, but the house already feels too big and empty without them.

Beside her, Yuuna says quietly, "If that's what pirates are like, I don't know why Woop Slap-san is so against them. They were so cool."

Makino ruffles Yuuna's hair and tries her best to stomp out the sadness welling up inside her. She should be happy that Yuuna likes Luffy and his crew, that Luffy's crew is so good for Luffy, that Luffy's finally achieved his ridiculously difficult dream, and that Luffy's possibly already inspiring the next generation.

At this moment, all she feels is that pirates really are selfish, searching for the next dangerous adventure while the ones who love them constantly worry about their safety. She wonders when she'll next see Luffy and his crew, or Shanks and his crew, and she wonders if Yuuna will follow in Luffy's footsteps and become a famous pirate, too.

Makino erases those selfish thoughts and smiles down at Yuuna. They haven't quite parted ways with Luffy yet. He's still in Fuusha Village, and when he sets sail again, Makino will be there to see him off, like she did when he was a young boy by himself in a dinghy with dreams bigger than life to chase.

A/N: This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, and the end was sadder than I intended it to be. I'll probably write another chapter about Luffy & crew meeting Dadan and her bandits, and that'll be the end.

Edit: I wrapped up that "need to stock up on supplies" plot point, which I forgot earlier. And I chose Yuuna as Makino's daughter's name 'cause "yuu" can mean "brave" and "na" can mean "vegetables, greens" (Makino's hair being green in the anime).