Disclaimer: I own One Piece as much as I'm a boy (here's a fun fact: I'm a woman).

Summary: Sabo was saved by Dragon when the tenryuubito, Saint Jalmack, shot his boat. He, Ace, and Luffy went out to the sea together at age 17/14. What would happen to our beloved Straw Hats if they had a captain who had experienced Grand Line once already?

Warnings: slight OOCness, language, gay jokes, language.

Pairing: as of now only what's in canon (pretty much just onesided Hancock/Luffy), however if my reviewers are heavily persuasive I might pair some people. However, DO NOT ask for LuNa, that's something I never liked. Actually I don't like a lot of popular pairings like LuNa, IchiRuki, NaruSaku etc. For one reason: abusive females (I dislike that anime/manga stereotype, that comic relief is so overused and not even that funny in my opinion).

A/N: I'm trying to stay as true to the characters' personalities as possible, except for Luffy and somewhat Nami. Nami will not be the extremely punch-happy bitchy broad she is in canon, but this has a good reason I will reveal next chapter.

A/N2: If you've read my other stories or profile you already know I'm a fag-hag and enjoy writing shounen ai. This story will probably not have this for main characters, unless I get very convincing reviews unanimously. Instead I'll use (bad) gay jokes and mention side characters in past or present non hetero relationships. I can give one example now: MihawkShanks (those two totally dig each other, lol).

PS: regarding manga vs. anime, I'm taking both into consideration and using the elements whichever I like more.

Posted: 18.08. 2011


Sabo's appearance:

He has a scarring on the left side of his face from the accident caused by the tenryuubito. He keeps that part of his face hidden by hair. What's changed notably is his hair is black thanks to a favor from Ivankov. He is also almost completely blind from that eye. He wears light blue shorts similar to Luffy's minus the ragged edges. He has a light blue swallowtail coat that he wears open to show off his toned physique. And of course he still has the same top hat. Not too different from when he was a kid.


Sabo, Ace and Luffy all have a tattoo on their right bicep. It spells out ASL, the letters underneath one another (similar to how canon-Ace has ASCE, with S crossed out.)

Sabo and Ace have a tattoo of Whitebeard's jolly roger on their backs, but Luffy does not, since he never planned on staying with him permanently.

Luffy looks the same, except he wears a yellow sash around his waist. It looks the same he wears post-timeskip. He wears his red vest either open or half tucked in the sash.


Luffy's powers:

Luffy is more powerful than in canon because he had harsher training in Grand Line than just Garp and his survival training he would've otherwise received. He's definitely not as strong as post-timeskip!Luffy, mainly because with age comes physical brute strength, haki control, and of course he has not discovered his gears.

Luffy's personality:

Remember how Luffy had no problem with eat-and-run, thieving and other misdeeds while he was with his brothers? This is how I think Luffy would turn out if he had a role model to study captaincy from up close and personal. Neither Ace nor Whitebeard strike me as men who would let their crew walk all over them, however much dear they may be held. So Luffy will be a bit harsher and not afraid to dish out punishment if it's necessary. He will also be a little more villainous than original, but of course still a rather nice person.


"So, remind me again why you want a crew from East Blue? The weakest of all Blues." Sabo asked when they had been sailing for about a day.

Whitebeard had thrown one hell of a farewell party to Luffy, who had been one of his 'sons' for two years, and then Hancock had given him and Ace a ride over Calm Belt. Ace hated Hancock with passion because he thought of her as a pedophile ("She fell in love with Luffy when he was only 15 for crying out loud!" He yelled at a laughing Sabo who just thought it was hilarious).

"Because I want to." Luffy replied simply.

Sabo shook his head. Ever since they'd set out three years ago Luffy always said he'll return one day to recruit a crew, even if he had better chances getting stronger underlings from Grand Line. Sabo, Ace and even Whitebeard had tried to convince him otherwise, but Luffy's remained completely adamant on his birthplace.

"So, where to first, captain?" Sabo asked, saying 'captain' in a teasing tone.

"You don't have to call me captain, y'know. You're technically not my nakama."

Sabo shook his head humorously.

"Take the general course towards Gecko Island."

Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"You want to recruit your sharpshooter first?"

Shortly before Spade pirates integrated into the Whitebeard pirates they ran into Shanks and his crew in New World. Luffy got sick of Yasopp's normal tirades about his son so he pretty much screamed at him if he would shut up if Luffy made Usopp one of his nakama. Yasopp didn't stop, of course, but he did give Luffy one of his flintlock pistols to give to his son as a gift whether or not Usopp would become Luffy's sharpshooter. Luffy promised to deliver the gift.

"Not necessarily. Syrup Village is the only place, aside from Baratie pops recommended, I specifically want to go to. If we find people I like on the way it's all as well."

Sabo nodded. The logic was sound, considering they had no idea where to start looking people otherwise.

"Hey look, is that a dinghy?" Luffy asked as he scanned the sea with The Look.

Soon after they had started their journey Luffy had been pouting he didn't have a telescope like his brothers did, so Sabo had recommended he try stretching his eyeballs bigger to see if he can see better or farther if he caught more light into his pupils. It had worked a little too well. And thus the Puppy Eyes of Doom were born (with capital letters for a reason).

Sabo turned to look at where his brother was pointing.

"Hey, you're right. I wonder if it's abandoned."

"Ne, Sabo, let's check it out."

The two sailed over. It was a small dinghy alright, but it wasn't abandoned. Aboard was a young girl about Luffy's age.

"Hmm? Is this some kind of fish? Is it dead? Can we eat it?"

Sabo slapped Luffy lightly on the head.

"It's a girl Luffy."

"Oh, I guess we can't eat it then. Oi, are you dead?" Luffy poked the passed out female.

Slowly she raised her exhausted gaze and smiled.

"Am I dreaming?" She started softly "To run into someone in this vast, open sea. I don't know who you are, but… could I have some water. I-I'll give you all the money you want, just please…"

Sabo didn't wait for her to finish but immediately scooped her up bridal style and placed her on their sailboat. There was a reason he had the nickname 'Gentleman Sabo'. Luffy went inside their tiny cabin and retrieved some water.

"Here ya go, missy." He said with a wide grin.

Sabo had gone to investigate the treasure chest the girl had promised them.

"What's in there, Sabo?" Luffy asked as he walked over.

"One moment, Lu, I need to get this thing open first." Click "Ahh, here we go."

A moment later a toy panda head on a spring jumped out. Luffy cocked his head, confused.

"That's treasure?" He asked.

"No I think we were scammed." Sabo replied and turned to see the redhead sailing further away with their boat. She let out a merry giggle.

"You're welcome to keep everything, including the boat." She said mockingly.

She glanced at the distance and her tone voice took the tone of a weather forecaster.

"There are some dark clouds incoming from north. Once it hits low pressure area a storm shall develop. All small boats out at sea are recommended to watch out."

Luffy and Sabo looked up at forming thunderclouds.

"That was a rotten thing she did." Luffy said like he was discussing weather while sipping tea.

"A." Sabo agreed.

"But she sure is good at predicting weather, isn't she?"

"A."

"She must be one hell of a navigator, right?"

"A."

"Think she'll join my crew?"

"Who knows?"

Sabo shrugged and grabbed ahold of Luffy's shoulders.

"Let's find out, shall we?" He said with a mild smile as Luffy swung his arm around a couple of times to build up a bit of momentum and launched it towards their boat. Luffy grabbed the edge of the ship and the two shot towards their old sailboat just as the woman's small dinghy sunk.

"What the…?" The girl exclaimed in surprise and fell over.

"I see you're doing better, miss. My name's Sabo. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Sabo said, taking off his had and made an elaborate low bow- his usual way of introducing himself.

"I'm Luffy, nice to meet ya." Luffy said while lightly tipping his straw hat- a habit pummeled into him by Sabo.

"N-Nami." Nami stuttered out.

"Whoo, that was some weather prediction skills you had there, Nami. Are ya any good at navigation?" Luffy asked, his tone as light as usual.

The girl, Nami, suddenly seemed a lot less scared and gained an air of pride.

"Only the best in East Blue."

"I must say I'm impressed. I pride myself in being one hell of a navigator myself, but I must admit I would not have realized that shift in weather as quick as that, or knowing where exactly it would stop." Sabo said courteously like usual.

"Maybe it's because we're in a sea where the weather actually makes sense?" Luffy jested and the two brothers shared a laugh making Nami raise an eyebrow, not getting the joke.

"Ne, are you a pirate, miss Nami?" Sabo asked.

The girl took offense.

"AS IF! Like hell am I a dirty pirate. I'm a thief that only steals from pirates." She said and stuck her nose in the air.

"Really? How did you know we were pirates?" Luffy asked.

"Eh?" Nami said and looked at the top of their mast.

"That's strange, I could've sworn I saw a jolly roger up there." She muttered, and turned to the two men. "Uh, so you aren't pirates?" She asked a bit sheepishly.

"Nope, we are." Luffy said and grinned widely. "Say, how about becoming my nakama?" He asked.

"No way!" Nami screamed.

"Why not?" Luffy pouted.

Nami opened her mouth to say that she hated all pirates and they were all scum, but was stopped as she was assaulted by Puppy Eyes of Doom. She blushed at how adorable and disarming the proclaimed pirate was. Sabo facepalmed. No one was immune to that, and Luffy knew it.

"Are you sure you're a pirate?" Nami asked, skeptical.

Luffy's Puppy Eyes of Doom disappeared immediately in favor of a pissed off look.

"Why the hell not!" He threw a tantrum, and stamped his foot on the ground strong enough to rock the boat. It rocked enough to upset a wave and soak the three of them.

"Careful now, you know you can't swim." Sabo placated his pissed off brother.

Luffy sat down pouting.

"Don't I look like a pirate?" He asked Sabo.

"I think she meant that you're not a complete asshole, as is the general outlook on pirates these days."

"Is that so? Okay, then I'll forgive you?" Luffy said grinning.

Nami wasn't listening, still clutching to the edge from Luffy's rocking of the boat. Her back was turned at the two brothers and her white shirt was soaked. You know what happens to wet white shirts, don't you? Yep, they get see through.

"That tattoo on your shoulder. It looks familiar." Sabo said and Nami freaked.

"W-what t-tattoo? I have a tattoo? I don't have a tattoo! Do you want me to get a tattoo?" She babbled in panic.

Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"What!" Nami screamed when neither of the brothers said anything.

"May I see your back?" Sabo asked out of the blue.

"Like hell!" Nami screamed and karate chopped him on the head.

She went on and on screaming at him, too busy being pissed off that she failed to notice Luffy sneak up behind her and shred her shirt to pieces. Nami let out a scream in surprise and karate chopped Luffy too. "You pervert!"

"I've never seen it before. But it looks like some kind of fish." Luffy said, not the least bit hurt, upset or even fazed by his female co-traveler's assault.

"A fish?" Sabo echoed.

"Yep. Ne, does this mean you work at a sushi bar?" Luffy asked excitedly as he thought about food.

"It looked more like a pirate mark." Sabo said thoughtfully.

"Pirate mark of a fish? Hey, didn't Jinbei say one of his old nakama migrated here?" Luffy said excitedly. Comprehension dawned on Sabo's face.

"Oh yeah, he did. What was that guy's name again?"

"Armstrong?"

"Uh, I don't think do. Um… ah! It was Arlong."

Sabo noticed as Nami flinched, but Luffy kept on babbling.

"Hey, let's go meet him. If he's Jinbei's friend he's my friend too."

"Don't get so excited, Lu. Jinbei said he didn't part with him on good terms, remember? Also he was supposed to be horribly racist against humans."

Luffy stopped smiling and contemplated about it.

"Yes, that's true. But I still want to meet him. That way we can tell Jinbei what he's been up to since they split up."

"You're the captain." Sabo shrugged.

"Ne, navigator lady, are you part of Arlong's crew? Na? You okay?" Luffy finally noticed the proverbial dark cloud over the girl's head.

Nami was quiet for a moment before she raised her head.

"Take my advice and stay away from Arlong." She said ominously.

"Nah? Why?" Luffy whined.

"Trust me you do not want to meet Arlong." Nami said, her face still staring down.

"Well, whatever. I'm still meeting him. Anyway, are you going to him anyway?" Luffy didn't wait for an answer. "Yes? Good. We'll travel together while we're at it."

Luffy just snickered as Nami gaped at him disbelievingly.

"Don't make up your mind by yourself!" She screamed at him once she had regained her composure.

"Do you have something against traveling with us miss Nami? I assure while we're pirates we're still perfect gentlemen towards women. You have no need worrying about us taking advantage of you in your sleep." Sabo said politely.

Nami humphed.

"We're also strong. You've no need to worry about being overpowered in an attack." Luffy said and patted his bicep.

"I would never voluntarily team up with pirates… but for our common goal, we'll work together… for once."

Sabo didn't point out that she was part of Arlong's crew. He sensed that it was a very sore subject for the girl.

"But all the money I loot is mine!" She said after Luffy cheered.

"What you loot is yours, what I loot is mine. Whoever gets to it first gets it." Luffy said, still very jolly.

"I can live with that."


"Oh hey look, a pirate vessel!" Luffy exclaimed at the speck in the distance.

"Right you are." Sabo said as he took out his telescope.

"Let's loot it!" Nami and Luffy said, both excited for the treasure it would be sure to hold.

Sabo smiled.

"You're in luck, miss Nami. We ran out of meat some time ago."

"Meeeat~" Luffy sighed dreamily and started salivating.

"Eh?" Nami asked, confused.

"Luffy's very good at obtaining money, whether it be looting or pickpocketing, however the one thing he appreciates more than treasure is food. His favorite is meat, which we ran out of as I said before." Sabo chuckled and looked Luffy, whose stomach was growling loudly now. "He's much more likely to head to their kitchen than treasury, so you'd better hurry if you want everything."

Nami nodded.

"What about you?"

Sabo gave a mysterious smile and then… "I have a big appetite too." Nami sweatdropped "And don't worry, we've already promised on 'you snooze you loose' policy, and we rarely ever break our promises."

"We're here guys." Luffy said.

Luffy stretched his hand at the railing and pulled himself up.

"What the…!" Nami exclaimed. She'd forgotten he could do that, in favor of fearing for her life.

"Hmm? Oh, I guess we didn't explain before, did we? Luffy has eaten a Devil's Fruit- the gomu-gomu no mi. He's a rubber man."

"Are you serious? I thought it was just a myth."

At that time Luffy threw a rope overboard so they could tie up their boat.

"Please hold on to me, miss Nami." Sabo said and didn't wait for her reply as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Hey, what the hell are you…?"

Nami couldn't finish her sentence as Luffy grabbed ahold of Sabo's free outreached hand and pulled the two of them up. Once they were up Nami bonked them both on the head.

"Tell me before you do something like this!" She raged. "Huh? Where'd they go?"

Nami didn't notice when they had sprinted towards the kitchen- they had been that fast. She just shrugged, and made her way to where she hoped was the treasury. She only hoped none of the crew members were awake at this point.


"Maaaan, this meat is good!" Luffy exclaimed, extremely satisfied and patted his slightly extended belly.

"Mm-hmm, I haven't had this kind of crocodile meat since we left East Blue." Sabo agreed.

Suddenly they heard a commotion coming from above.

"Na? Wonder what's going on up there?" Luffy wondered.

"Likely our little vixen got caught." Sabo responded. "I suppose it's our due to go."

"I'm taking all the meat with me." Luffy said as he stood up.

"Amen to that. Hmm? Oh look what's here. I'll take this barrel of grog." Sabo said and lifted the barrel on his muscular shoulder.

"Good thinking, Sabo. I'm in the mood for celebration!"

Luffy and Sabo made it to the deck to see Nami being restrained by two thugs while a third -captain, judging by the appearance- reached out his hands and placed them on the navigator's chest.

The next thing that happened was the same man slamming face first into the ground, Luffy and Sabo were standing over him both having one foot on the back of the man's head.

"Such coarse behavior." Sabo said, his voice taking on a cracked quality from held back fury.

"A man should never raise a hand to touch a woman intimately without their consent." Luffy added, his voice sounding similar.

As one Luffy and Sabo threw a punch, both one's fist making a connection with the two men holding Nami respectively, and knocking them out cold. The crew looked on with gaping mouths.

"They took out Shame and Shade with a single punch and crushed captain under their feet." They exclaimed in unison.

"Is that all the loot these pirates had, Nami?" Luffy asked, momentarily distracted by the bag next to Nami's feet, all the while completely ignoring the dozens of gaping pirates surrounding them.

"A-ah yeah. They didn't have too much, and what they did wasn't very good quality anyway." Nami said, a bit disappointed.

"Really? That's too bad. They had really good meat." Luffy said with a grin and shook the lumps of meaty goods he was still holding with one hand (Sabo was still holding the barrel on his shoulder too).

Suddenly the man underneath them started to shake and attempted to stand up. Luffy and Sabo backed up to let him do that and started to lead Nami towards their small boat.

"How dare you two brats? Do you have no idea who I am? I'm 'Gold-Finger' Flammy, the dreaded captain of Flammy pirates. My bounty is 9 million. You've sealed your fate crossing claws with me- LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU! AND WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT MY SHIP LIKE THAT FOR?"

Indeed Luffy had been curiously taking in every detail of the ship, as if trying to size it up for something.

"Nah, I don't want it." He exclaimed finally "It looks too yellow for my tastes."

A vein throbbed on Flammy's forehead.

"What the hell did you say, brat?" He asked, while attempting to cork his fury.

Luffy turned to look at the East Blue pirate captain.

"You're wearing too much yellow too." He said innocently, making the captain loose his temper even more.

"It's gold, GOLD, you stupid little brat! It's the glorious lifeblood that drives all pirates!"

"Looks like yellow to me. What do you think, Sabo?"

"Yellow." He confirmed with a nod.

Nami sweatdropped as the captain screamed out in fury and trampled his feet like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"A-are you sure you need to piss him off like this? He does have a bounty of 9 million, plus a crew." She said nervously.

The apparently bipolar captain gave the three a bloodthirsty leer.

"That's right, you're pathetically outnumbered. You should be begging for mercy."

Luffy and Sabo broke into laughter making the captain angry again.

"What are you laughing at, shitty brats?"

"Ooh, yes I agree. We're pathetically outnumbered." Sabo said while wiping tear from the corner of his eye. "But you are pathetically outmatched." Luffy added.

About 2 minutes later.

"Whoo, that was fun!" Luffy said as the three were sailing away from the ship with a completely decimated crew and a broken mainmast.

"I thought it was a bit dull. I hoped they would've lasted a bit longer. But oh well, we dragged it out as much as we could." Sabo said with a shrug.

"That was dragged out?" Nami said, still in shock after what she had seen. These two men looked to be as strong as Arlong.

"Yeah, East Blue is the weakest of all seven seas." Luffy said.

"Seven?" Nami echoed, confused "There are only five."

"Technically there are eight." Sabo shook his head.

"The four Blues and Grand Line." Nami said "Where are the other three?"

"There are the four Blues, and Grand Line. And two Calm Belts, often mistakenly thought of as a part of Grand Line. But anyone who's been there would beg to differ."

Nami nodded. "Okay, I can respect that. That's seven, so where's the eighth?"

"The Grand Line is in two parts." Sabo explained.

"Eh? Two parts?"

"Correct. The first half of Grand Line is called Paradise, but the second half is called New World. That's eight."

"Paradise? New World?"

"Yes. Allow me to explain how the entirety of Grand Line works, miss Nami. You see, all the pirates you've heard who return broken from Grand Line are those who couldn't cut it in the first half of Grand Line- Paradise. The first half is like a survival course, it weeds out the weak and only the ones who have true potential make it to the end. The pirates who are not strong enough either die or return with their souls broken by stronger foes."

Luffy started cackling. Nami sent the younger brother an odd look, surprised to hear such an ominous sound from the usually light hearted man.

"But the real battle, miss Nami, starts from New World. All the weaklings have been weeded out, so the only ones who are left are the insanely strong ones. The ones who make any sort of waves in New World are considered the most dangerous men in the world, be them pirates, revolutionary, bounty hunters, or even marines. Usually if you're potentially not as dangerous as 100 million you might as well give up on New World." Sabo explained.

"100 million!" Nami's mouth dropped open. "How do you know for sure?"

"Duh, we're from Grand Line." Luffy said like it should've been obvious.

Nami freaked out. "Y-y-you two!"

The two grinned.

"The reason why the first half is called Paradise is the strong, but not strong enough, who travel to New World often want to return to the 'paradise' that was the first half of Grand Line." Sabo said with a chuckle.

"So what's your bounty, since being from Grand Line and pirates you're sure to have one."

"360 million." Sabo replied casually.

"Hey let's have a drink!" Luffy said while opening the grog barrel, intent on avoiding giving an answer.

Nami's mouth fell open again (her jaw was starting to hurt).

Suddenly a proverbial light bulb lit above Nami's head.

"Wait a minute. You said that the weak won't survive. Why are you back? Too weak?"

The brothers didn't take offence, but only chuckled.

"Nope. I'm here to recruit my own nakama and start my own pirate crew. After that I'll return to Grand Line, nah here ya go Nami-chan." Luffy said and handed Nami a mug of grog.

"I see. What about Luffy? With such a fancy bounty and still following this guy his bounty must be even more impressive." Nami knew she probably shouldn't sound so sly, but she couldn't help it. Thankfully Sabo didn't seem to take the least bit offense, instead laughing it off in good humor. Luffy however looked mighty depressed all of a sudden.

"I'm not a part of his crew. As an older brother I naturally worry, so I took a slight vacation from my old crew and now I'm just chaperoning him until I can rejoin my captain."

"Ace wanted to come too, but he's too famous and has too many responsibilities back at pops' ship." Luffy said and helped himself a second mugful of grog.

"Ace?"

"Luffy and I have one more brother, but being who he is it's not too good an idea for him to even leave Grand Line. It might cause mass panic."


The three had been quietly sailing towards Konomi Island. Well sort of quietly, since they looted every pirate ship and snuck to eat on any cruise ship that crossed their path. Navy ships were ignored since they didn't want to pull any attention towards themselves. Nami was in an extremely good mood, since traveling with the two powerhouses from Grand Line she was just a fraction away from her goal of 100 million beli.

"Ne, ne, Nami-chan. Is that your home island?" Luffy asked, excited.

Suddenly Nami's good mood plummeted. She had been through a bunch of good times with these boys and she reluctantly admitted she had grown a bit fond of them.

"Luffy, Sabo, can I ask you not to meet with Arlong?"

"Haaah? Why not?" Luffy sulked.

"Arlong doesn't like humans. The only ones he tolerates are the corrupt marines he can buy off and… me. And that's only because I'm an excellent cartographer."

"It's okay. We still want to meet with him anyway."

Nami sighed.

She could only hope the boys were strong enough to make their escape before they were too late, but for now their fate was in their own hands.

The group docked near Cocoyashi Village and departed from each other. Nami didn't know where the boys went to, but she went straight to Arlong Park. She walked into Arlong Park and was immediately greeted by the humongous sawshark fishman.

"Aa, you're back, Nami. Sure's been awile. How was your trip this time?"

"Quite productive. I managed tons." Nami replied airily, showing off the bag with money in it. Arlong laughed.

"Hey brothers, Nami has returned! Get ready to celebrate!" Arlong shouted jovially. The fishmen shouted out cheerfully.

"But there's one thing I find a bit troubling, Nami." Arlong started slyly.

"Hmm? What?"

"A little birdie whispered in my ear that you did not return to this island alone. Did you bring some bounty hunters with you? Are you planning on betraying me?" He jeerer mockingly.

Nami's heart skipped a beat. She had not planned on saying anything, hoping those two would wizen up and leave after seeing the condition the island was in, but now lying through her teeth was a bad idea.

"Yes that's true I arrived here with someone, but they're not bounty hunters. They're just a couple of men who claimed to know a friend of yours and said they wanted to meet you. I don't know what they want from you exactly."

"Tch, you are trying to betray Arlong-san, aren't you Nami? I bet you thought that those puny humans were strong and secretly hoped they would beat him, huh?" Kuroobi, the ray fishman, accused. Nami snorted.

"Are you a moron? I admit they're strong and had absolutely no trouble taking out entire crews of pirates just by themselves, but do you honestly think I'm naïve enough to think they can fight you and win? Besides I'm so close to my goal of the promised 100 million beli it would serve no purpose." Nami mocked back.

"Shahahahaha. She's got you there, Kuroobi." Arlong laughed jovially. Kuroobi grunted, reluctantly agreeing, but still feeling a tad edgy.

"Well, it's quite rude to let our guests wait, isn't it? Why didn't you invite them inside, Nami?" Arlong asked.

"They wandered off on their own. Besides, it would be rude to invite them in without the master of the house's permission." Nami said and just waved her hand.

"Well then. Let's go and greet them." Arlong got up from his seat.

Nami set her steps towards the tangerine farm.

Arlong did some dealings at Arlong Park before he collected some of his brethren and made his way to Cocoyashi Village where he last heard the strangers to be.


Luffy and Sabo walked into town, Luffy with a spring in his step.

"What a quaint little town." Sabo mentioned. "But the people here seem to have a kind of repressed air about them."

"Yeah, I sense it too. I wonder what's causing it."

Luffy and Sabo had both more or less mastered haki. Sabo was skilled at both kenbunshoku and busoshoku haki, and used both equally in battle. Luffy used both just as well, however unlike Sabo he also possessed haoshoku haki, and that he still had not fully mastered. He could use it of course, but his focus was still off.

Using kenbunshoku they could 'hear' people's 'body and soul voices'… and they sounded pretty damned depressed.

"They kind of remind me a bit of tenryuubito's slaves." Luffy mentioned, no longer skipping, the townspeople's aura rubbing off on him.

"It's a little similar, but they're not nearly as bad off. These people have a glimmer of hope whilst the slaves were already dead inside."

Luffy nodded.

"Oh look, a bar! Let's have a drink." Luffy said, cheering up to his previous self instantly.

"Shanks has been a bad influence on you, Luffy. We're here for a reason, y'know."

"Hey why not? I'm not going to leave this island until I have Nami as my navigator anyway, so we're in no hurry."

"Nami said she's Arlong's cartographer, remember?"

"So?"

"…"

"…"

"You're paying."

"S'not like you have too much money on you anyway."

Sabo snorted and they entered the pub. The bartender would almost cry at the amount of money he was going to make off these strangers. That was until Arlong walked into his humble bar.

"I heard you were looking for me." He said, a cruel glint in his eyes.

"You're Arlong?" Luffy asked seriously, his eyes shaded by the edge of his straw hat.

"Aye, that I am."

Luffy's face stretched into a grin.

"Have a seat, why don't we have a drink!"

All the fishmen and humans' (except Sabo's) eyes nearly popped out of their skulls.

"What did you say?" Arlong asked, not positive he heard it correctly.

"He invited you to have a drink with us." Sabo said calmly.

He noticed immediately how the people seemed to hush and their spirits dropped drastically when the sawshark fishman walked through the threshold. Could it be that fishmen were the reason why these people seemed to be so repressed?

"And what makes you think that I would want to drink with you?" Arlong said lowly, but cautiously. Arlong was smart. At first glance the two didn't look any different than your average humans, but living in the Grand Line all your life you develop an extra sense towards people who are an actual threat. Arlong didn't know who those two kids were, but he could tell they were strong- stronger than anyone in East Blue should be.

"Eeeh? You don't want to have a drink with us?"

Arlong stared as the younger human's eyes went impossibly large. What was wrong with that person? Arlong almost found it cute! Almost.

"I wanted to have a drink with one of Jinbei's old nakama, but he doesn't want to." The straw hat wearing boy sulked into his mug.

Arlong's eyes widened.

"Jinbei? You know Jinbei?" He exclaimed in surprise. The rest of his crew was in a similar state of shock.

"Sure, he's a good friend of mine." Luffy exclaimed with a wide grin. Now Arlong was sure he was jesting.

"Liar! Jinbei wouldn't ever befriend humans, he despises them."

The smile slipped from the boy's face.

"What are you talking about? Are you an idiot?" He said and cocked his head in confusion. Arlong almost lost his temper there until the boy continued. "Sure Jinbei doesn't like most humans, especially pirates and the world's nobles ("Who does?" Sabo muttered), but he's never outright hated them. He's still friends with me and my brothers though."

Now that Arlong thought about it Jinbei, and Fisher Tiger too actually, had always favored Whitebeard pirates. Those two definitely seemed strong enough to be a part of his crew.

"Are you two… member's of Whitebeard pirates by any chance?" Arlong asked not only shocking his brethren but also the odd human sitting in the pub.

The straw hat boy grinned widely, while the top hat boy remained passive.

"I used to be. I'm in East Blue to start my own pirate crew." He said with a wide grin.

"I never heard of a Whitebeard's pirate abandoning the old man. Won't he kill you for that?" Arlong asked, but was surprised when both humans burst out laughing.

"Every one of Whitebeard's pirates are free to leave any time they wish with no consequences from pops. Just no one wants to." The older of the pair replied.

Arlong was silent for a moment, before making up his mind.

"I think I'll have a drink with you guys after all. I'd like to hear how's that old whale's doing." Arlong declared, completely shocking the nearby humans, but only mildly surprising his brethren, since they'd already guessed they weren't really dealing with normal humans.

"You, human, get my crew and I some alcohol… for free." He said at the terrified barman.

"Hey, hey now, that's rude! I'm paying!" Luffy exclaimed jovially.

"How kind of you." Arlong said with a leer.


Luffy, Sabo and the fishmen had been enjoying their drinks for some time when they were interrupted by a scream outside.

"Aaarlooong!"

Was that Nami?

The group of mermen plus Luffy and Sabo went outside. They saw the ginger woman nearly frothing in anger.

"How dare you?" She screamed angrily. "How dare you go back on you promise?"

Arlong hummed.

"Hmm? When exactly did I go back on my promise?"

Sabo did not like the sly tone Arlong had. Luffy looked between the fishman and the woman he was determined would become his navigator. Luffy did notice the unusual tension when Arlong had walked into the bar, but chose to ignore it at that time. Should he have paid more attention after all?

"Y-you! You used that marine to take my money away from me, didn't you?" Nami screamed. The commotion had people starting to come out of their houses.

"Like I said, when exactly did I break my promise?"

"Don't play innocent! You ordered those-" Nami never could finish her sentence as Arlong grabbed her by the mouth and a good portion of neck. Arlong laughed cruelly.

"The marines? You're very unfortunate, but a promise is a promise. If you can't get 100 million beli, I won't give you back the village."

Nami cursed Arlong through her tears.

"But it's okay. That 100 million… you can collect it any time for me." Arlong's merciless eyes looking into Nami's. "Or do you want to leave this island? Pay in mind I will kill everyone in this village if you do." Arlong let Nami go. "So, Nami. Are ya thinking of getting out of here?"

At that moment a man with a pinwheel tucked to his hat ran into view.

"That is enough! Everybody let's get our weapons and fight!" He yelled.

"Ho, a mutiny?" Arlong asked, amused.

"Wait!" Nami screamed and smile through her tears. "Everyone please be patient! I will try to collect the money again, okay? It will not be difficult at all this time."

The pinwheel man put a hand on Nami's shoulder and shook his head.

"This is their answer. There is no way they will ever let our village go. They just want to play with Nami-chan's feelings. We've prepared for the possibility of fighting them for a long time."

Arlong threw his powerful fist at pinwheel-man's face… but he never hit his target.

"Wait a moment here!" Luffy said, his voice literally making shivers go up everyone's spines, going so far to actually make a few people loose their footing. What surprised the villagers, especially the people who had seen Luffy being buddy-buddy with Arlong at the bar, was Arlong's fist caught in his palm.

"Let me get some facts straight here. Nami needs to collect 100 million beli to buy this village from Arlong. Why exactly?"

The pinwheel man answered.

"Eight years ago Arlong's group took over this whole island. Each month we have to pay 100,000 beli per adult and 50,000 beli per child. Buy our lives. If one person in the entire village cannot afford it, the entire village is decimated. Arlong made a deal with Nami-chan. While she would make him maps she would collect 100 million beli, buying this village and therefore our freedom."

Luffy's mouth slightly fell open. A shadow fell on his eyes and he let go of Arlong's fist.

"I see… So Jinbei's worst case scenario is a reality." He said, his voice low and owning a dangerous quality. It reminded Nami of the time he beat up that pervy gold-obsessed captain.

"Arlong. I'm going to have to beat you up." He said seriously.

Arlong's crew laughed and mocked him… until Arlong told them to can it.

"Arlong-san?" His crew inquired, surprised.

"These boys are not to be taken lightly. They're New World pirates and former members of Whitebeard's crew. Beating them will not be as easy as those marines we've been dealing with here."

People gasped hearing the name of the current greatest pirate alive. Nami was surprised too. She had not been aware of that.

Luffy cracked his knuckles.

"Oh, before we start, I have something I need to say to you." Luffy said and his demeanor slightly lightened momentarily. "Shirley sends her love.*"

A look of surprise made itself at home on Arlong's face before his expression morphed into the softest look Nami had ever seen on the fishman.

"How is Shirley doing?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically mild.

"As creepy as ever."

"As pretty as ever."

Luffy and Sabo said at the same time.

The strange soft look on Arlong disappeared. He was back as the same cruel Arlong he's always been.

Before the townspeople knew what happened Kuroobi was next to Luffy and throwing a punch at him. Luffy didn't even look at him as he grabbed ahold of his fist.

"Weaklings should really stay out of this fight." He said dangerously and lightly, well seemingly lightly, swatted at him with his fist limp. Seemingly lightly, because Kuroobi flew through a nearby house at neck breaking speed**.

"Kuroobi!" His comrades exclaimed and a pink octopus fishman took a step forward.

"I will avenge Kuroobi." He sobbed angrily, and waved six swords around.

Luffy looked at the fishman and something dinged in his mind.

"You… Are you Hatchan?" He asked.

The octopus looked taken aback for a moment.

"You've heard of me? People usually call me Hachi." He asked while pointing three thumbs at himself.

Luffy was quiet for a moment.

"Tell me Hachi. Why are you with Arlong and terrorizing these humans?" Luffy asked seriously.

Hachi didn't even manage to answer as his comrades burst out laughing and started spewing racist talk.

"I see, so you think all humans are scum, beneath you, and not even fit to breathe the same air as you." Luffy stated.

"Yes, that's true." Hachi nodded. That was all Luffy needed.

"Does that include Rayleigh?" He asked in a harsh tone.

Hachi looked like he had been slapped in the face with a rock… by his first crush.

"R-Rayleigh-san…" He stuttered and suddenly looked extremely ashamed.

"He has always been so nice to me…" He muttered to himself and honestly looked like he was about to cry.

"Chu~" A fishman spit water at Nami, but it was intercepted by Sabo who had whipped a bo staff out of his coat. He expertly spun it in a circle, making it into a shield for moment before gracefully swinging it at the ground making a large fissure run starting from Sabo to where Chuu was standing, making the smelt-whiting fishman stumble and jump away to regain his footing. He wasn't fast enough, unfortunately, as the next thing he knew the tip of the staff had been shoved into his stomach painfully. He dropped to all fours and started hacking, unable to breathe from the extremely strong blow. He was knocked out when Sabo hit the back of his head with his staff.

"Amazing…" Nami whispered, admiring a fellow staff-user whose skills were so impossibly superior to hers. This was the first time she's seen him draw a weapon, further showing how little of a threat he saw normal East Blue pirates to be.

Suddenly a loud bang caught Nami's attention. That and a gust of wind accompanied by lots of dust. Once the dust had settled a bit she gaped at Arlong and Luffy. Luffy looked a little rugged, minorly scratched at most. Arlong looked like he was struggling to keep standing up.

"No way." She whispered, hardly believing what she was seeing. Arlong was loosing!

"You really are a hypocrite, Arlong." Luffy said. "You preach how all humans hate fishmen because that's what their parents instill into them since birth. How are you any better?"

Luffy disappeared.

"What?" Nami thought.

Luffy reappeared again above Arlong and threw another impossibly powerful punch at the sawshark fishman, making another loud boom, and forcing him to make a crater in the ground. Arlong was very durable, however, so he still managed to push himself up. Luffy, who didn't like attacking an enemy, who wasn't standing, gave him a moment to regain his footing.

"You're as bad as a tenryuubito." He said once Arlong was standing again.

As soon as he said that a look of surprise crossed his face and the fishmen gaped. The humans didn't know what to make out of it, especially since straw hat boy's friend also yelled out. Luffy raised a hand.

"No, I apologize. That was uncalled for." Luffy said and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're no doubt the worst fishman I've ever met, but calling you as bad as one of the tenryuubito is far too harsh. I'm sorry." And he did sound remorseful.

Arlong snorted.

"Aren't you humans supposed to worship those things?" He asked venomously while wiping blood from his lip.

"The tenryuubito are revered… assholes. They're the worst scum in the world. Being completely immune to any form of 'justice' has made them more corrupt than a pit full of sea king shit. No one who has had an encounter with them likes them, but there's nothing much anyone can do against those nepotists. You can believe me when I say I hate them as much as you do."

There was complete silence among the living beings; the only sound visible was the wind rustling treetops.

Then Arlong attacked Luffy with his saw-like nose. He used it like a saber and with harsh, sudden motions tried to stab Luffy. Key word being 'trying' here, as Luffy expertly avoided every thrust with graceful moves. Seeing him move like that was actually quite beautiful.

"It is time to end this. Gomu-Gomu no Gatling Gun." Luffy rained a series of powerful punches at Arlong in a rapid speed. Luffy stopped his punches and jumped above Arlong's head and delivered the finishing blow. He jumped a few meters away and glanced at Sabo, who had successfully disabled the rest of the fishmen by himself.

"Sorry, Arlong, but this was for Jinbei, who will no doubt feel so guilty after he hears what you've been doing here in East Blue… and also for making Nami cry."

After he said that people started cheering. They screamed to send messages throughout the island that Arlong had finally fallen. Their jubilee was cut short when the marines arrived.

"Stop right there!" Yelled a voice that fancied itself authoritive.

The townspeople turned to look at the corrupt marine, hatred shining in the eyes of every single one.

"This must be my lucky day. I had a chance to see this fight to the end. No one would believe a bunch of no-name pirates took out a gang of fishmen." He laughed a mouse-like laugh, apparently having missed Arlong declaring them Whitebeard's underlings. "Because of you every single one of Arlong's beli shall belong to me! I, Captain Nezumi of unit 16, am happy to accept all the treasure!" He shouted out dramatically.

He was brought out of his high when Sabo rammed his staff at the back of his knee, effectively breaking it. Nezumi yelled out in pain, surprise and protest. He quieted down when a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see the silhouette of an ominous figure.

"This is for shooting Nojiko and destroying Bellemere's orange farm." She said and used her own collapsible staff to beat the $#*! out of him.

"After getting rid of these fishmen, you're going to help rebuild Goza Village that was recently decimated. You have no right to touch the money because it belongs to the villagers… Ah, and one more thing…"

Nami grabbed the beaten up marine's cheek in a painful pinch. The marine captain protested but no help came, as no villager would stand up for him and his underlings had been subdued by the freakishly strong brothers.

"Give me back my money." Nami said, her voice demonic. Nezumi could only gulp and nod.

When that was over Luffy grabbed Hachi by his shirt.

"I'm doing this as a personal favor to Rayleigh." He said and swung Hachi into the ocean, giving him a chance to retain his freedom.


"Pleeeease?"

"No."

"Preeety pleeeaaaseee?"

"No."

It was hours later into the celebration, and Luffy was trying to convince Sabo into an eating and/or drinking competition. No sane (or even insane) person would ever accept a challenge to that.

"Oh look, there's Nami." Sabo tried a distraction tactic, which always worked on Luffy better than a charm.

"Nami-chan!" Luffy yelled cheerfully. "Na? You've got a bandage on your shoulder. Did you hurt yourself?" Luffy asked.

"Its fine, Luffy-san, I just got Arlong's tattoo removed and another one in its stead." She said with a smile.

"Hey Nami, now that you're not part of his gang anymore, how about becoming my navigator?" Luffy asked with a wide grin.

Nami didn't say anything and Luffy took it as a 'no', so he naturally gave her The Look. Nami cracked a small smile.

"If you can drink me under the table. It would be embarrassing to have a captain that can't hold his liquor." She said and Luffy whooped.

Sabo left the pair to their drinking and went for a walk, as the outcome would be obvious. It was a nice night and he felt like stretching his legs so he went wherever his feet took him. And they took him to a cliff with a beautiful view of the ocean. Sabo noticed there was someone already there.

"You're miss Nami's sister, right?" He asked once he arrived next to her. He noticed she has sitting in front of a grave. "Pardon me for being curious, but did someone die, recently? From Arlong's attack?" He asked.

Nojiko shook her head.

"This is Bellemere's grave. She was killed by Arlong eight years ago."

"Bellemere? I recall Nami mentioning that name when she gave that marine the stick." He scratched his chin, trying to remember what it was exactly Nami said.

"She was mine and Nami mother."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss." Sabo said.

"It's okay. She's been avenged now. She used to be a marine y'know."

"Did she now?"

Nojiko proceeded to tell Sabo about her history with Nami and Bellemere. She told him how they were found by the female marine and then raised by her, going as far as telling a few silly things she and Nami, especially Nami, did when they were kids. And finally how she died.

"… so Arlong shot her. She died because she refused to deny she had daughters." Nojiko finished. Sabo nodded.

"I can understand that better than most people. I have two brothers but I am not related to them by blood either."

"Really? You have a strong physical resemblance to Luffy." Nojiko mentioned, a bit surprised.

"Thank you!" Sabo barked uncharacteristically loud, slightly startling Nojiko. "My apologies, but it's usually Luffy and Ace that visually look like brothers, not me."

Nojiko laughed.

"How about you, Sabo-san? Were you adopted as well?"

"Please, just call me Sabo. And no, my story is quite different from yours…"

Sabo ended up telling Nojiko everything up until the time he and his brothers left their birth island, only omitting minor facts… such as his two brothers' parentage, letting it seem like they were just a couple of orphans.


Luffy was grinning a wide smile as he gave Nami a glass of water as she knocked back some aspirin.

"I don't get it. I have an insane alcohol tolerance but you managed to drink me under the table like it was nothing. You barely looked buzzed." Nami glared at the man she had promised could become her captain. "You cheated didn't you!" She accused.

Luffy laughed infectiously. "Nope I didn't. A few years ago I ran into doku-doku no mi user. I got a lethal dose of his poison and had to go an excruciating healing process. Now I have an out of this world resistance, if not outright immunity, towards poison. Unfortunately that also affected my alcohol tolerance." Luffy's smile faded into a pout. "It's pretty annoying sometimes to have to drink a whole barrel of strong alcohol to even begin feeling affects."

A vein throbbed on Nami's forehead.

"That was totally unfair! That bet's null!"

Luffy shook his head.

"You're the one who made that bet before getting all the details. I won fair and square." Luffy stuck his tongue out at Nami. "By the way, have you seen Sabo anywhere? He's been missing since last night."

"I'm sure he'll turn up eventually. I don't think there's anyone here who would or could kidnap him even if he was heavily intoxicated."

"Sabo doesn't like getting drunk very much, so I doubt he drank too much anyway."

Nami and Luffy walked into Nami's house at the tangerine farm. In there they both almost fell over from the surprise. Sabo and Nojiko were sleeping… in the same bed… naked… and spooning.

"I think I'm kind of hungry." Luffy said flatly.

"Yeah, Morinaka-san makes killer meatbuns, and I think I would like some now too."

As one they turned around and left the house.


Luffy and Nami had already stuffed themselves (well, Nami had, Luffy was in the process) when they were joined by their older siblings.

"Enjoy yourself last night?" Nami asked with a sly tone.

"Hey!" Luffy protested as Sabo stole his meat.

"I quite did." Sabo said like he was discussing weather.

Nojiko sent Nami a grin and winked, though her cheeks were slightly dusted pink.

Their reunion was interrupted by a 'coo' sound from above.

"Oh, a news coo. Wonder if there's anything interesting." Sabo said and went to retrieve the paper. Luffy used the opportunity to steal his food back.

"Anything noteworthy?" Nojiko asked when Sabo leafed through the paper.

"Aside from a bounty on miss Nami's head, not really." Sabo replied, still as if talking about weather.

"Whaaaaaat!" Nami screamed.

There was an article that was surprisingly accurate. It was more or less about not very well known, but still dangerous, Straw Hat Luffy recruiting a group of people in East Blue. Nami's bounty was 10 million, because she had 'assaulted and defeated a marine captain cold-heartedly'.

"The picture is not too bad though." Nojiko consoled her depressed sister.

"What the hell, Nojiko? It's not cute at all." Nami wailed.

"I like it." Luffy said. "Me too." Sabo agreed.

"This can't get any worse." Nami said, depressed.

"Look at the bright side, Nami-chan. Think about all the marines and snooty rich people you'll steal treasure from. It'll easily be enough to buy ten fur-lined coats, for example." Luffy buttered.

"If you don't eat all of it…" Sabo muttered.

Luffy sent his brother a look.

"If the bill gets too much you know I usually eat-and-run."

Sabo laughed out loud.

"Aw man, does that bring back memories."

And that was how Luffy gained his first nakama.


PPS: this is actually chapter 2. Chapter 1 was Sabo contemplating past events during Whitebeard's banquet, but it turned out Horrible. There are some important past events I wanted to mention, but I think it's better to integrate them into later chapters. Don't worry, you won't be missing anything… except Marco putting poison into Luffy's grog just for shits and giggles.


Thank you for reading.

Please give me your honest opinion. Either about the plot, my writing style, grammar, spelling.

And I do mean honest opinion. But please, flames are a waste of my and your time. Except if you're a troll with no life.

I have 2 more chapters written and I shall post the next one in a week or if I can get 20 reviews!

* Shirley is not an OC. THIS IS A SPOILER those who haven't read the manga: Shirley is Arlong's little sister.

** I was imagining Ulquiorra 'swatting' Yammy away when they made first appearance at the show (Bleach, if you didn't get it).

Word count: 8425