Hey! Akiry here with with my first ever fanfiction! I don't think Eiichiro Oda specified how Luffy and Shanks met exactly, although I could be wrong seeing as I'm only at the Water 7 arc (I like to take my time with my favourite anime).
All reviews will be accepted and taken into account seriously, as well as any pointers or advice. I hope no one seems too OOC, please bear in mind that this is my first try.
If you see any grammar errors, be sure to let me know!

The early evening's sun glimmered as it overlooked Dawn Island. The day had been humid and lazy; the faintest breeze that had drifted through the air throughout the day had been a relief to all and very refreshing. Across Fuchsia Village, people could have been seen lounging in deck chairs in their front or back gardens or sprawled on the grass, too tired to do any tedious form of working, if any at all. The only places that seemed to have been open were the few cafés and bars of the island, each flocked with sweaty customers demanding cool beverages, growing weary and even ill tempered as the day dragged on.

But as the evening drew nearer, less and less people went out, preferring to stay indoors near their electrical fans, and soon by the end of the day, only a few places were open as most owners and waiters had gone home early, having worked all day through the blistering heat without pause. Still, the sun did it's best to warm the island as though it held a grudge against it and one of the only bars left open was Partys Bar.

The bar was quite old, for it had been resting there for quite some many years, but it was in good condition. And besides, in a quaint little place like Fuchsia Village, few people complained about what anything looked like anyway. Too poor to pay for any form of reparations anywhere, but not really caring about them in the first place, Fuchsia Village really was quite unexceptional. In fact, the entire island was overflowing with ordinariness. Not known for anything important in the world, there were no tourists, and there was no known gold on the island either, so pirates were few. Nothing ever seemed to happen on Dawn Island, and if it did, it was never anything extravagant.

The sign of Partys bar hung a little loosely and the paint was a little frayed. The wood of the beams was aged and the entire place needed a few patches here and there, but none of the damages were very serious.

'You know,' came the sweet voice of a waitress, 'Hot drinks cool you down a lot more than cold drinks,' She was explaining to a customer as she tightened her kerchief around her hair nervously, 'And we are running out of all our cool beverages so…'

'No.' someone interrupted her, he was an old man with a bitter look on his face and was seated at a table far away from the counter of the bar. He had refused to come any closer to the front to place his order, resulting in the young bartender having to go out of her way to leave the counter practically unattended to, to ask him for it.

'I came in here asking for a cold drink. If I had wanted your opinion on the matter then I would have made it clear! Is that so hard to understand? Now get to it!' The man pounded his fist on the table and eyed the young waitress menacingly, who, in turn, bowed her head respectfully and swiftly disappeared below the counter in order to make his order.

The man settled down again and rested his arms on the table as he studied it. The wood was worn and old, but nonetheless clean although it had few stains and scratches here and there. He scoffed as his hand moved over where someone had drawn into the table with his knife and he shifted uneasily in his slightly uncomfortable wooden chair. It had been a long day and he had grown even more restless as the day had coninued. He rubbed his hands together agitatedly as he waited for his drink to be served. He was so into his own private thoughts that he failed to hear the padding footsteps as someone approached him.

'Hey!' spoke a high voice, yanking the old man out of his thoughts, 'Don't be mean to Makino!'

The elderly man turned his head round wearily to see where the voice had come from and spotted a young boy, no more than 7 years old glaring up at him. He was rather short for his age which made his fuming figure seem quite harmless. He had jet black hair and piercing dark eyes; his fists were clenched tight and he raised one now to speak again.

'Did you hear me, old man?' he cried indignantly, 'Or are you too old and deaf to hear me?'

The man glared back at him now. 'If you mean that clumsy waitress, it's her own fault. She shouldn't be dawdling around here, making silly suggestions!' he spat the words out coldly, turning back to his table, 'I asked her for a nice, cold citron pressé with extra ice, and she asks me whether I want cocoa instead!'

The boy's hard look faltered for a moment, 'Citron what?'

'I don't have time to be explaining things to you youngsters,' the man replied quickly, not wanting to talk anymore and turning away from the young boy, 'Beat it, you pest!'

The boy's anger rose once again, 'What'd you call me?'

Just then, the waitress came back into view with a yellow tinted drink resting on a hand tray she held. She noticed the two squabbling and rushed forward, 'Luffy! What are you doing?'

Luffy turned round to face the girl, first angry, but then his gaze softened as he realised who it was, 'Makino!' he grinned, 'I'm saving your reputation.' He spoke proudly.

'Reputation, my ass,' grumbled the man, plucking at his thin, navy blue fleece, 'If anything, you've made it all the more worse. I'm leaving this place; it's no good for civilised people such as myself.'

The man rose, leaning his hands on the table for support, and got out of his table cubicle with some difficulty as Makino tried to make him stay. 'Please, sir, I'm very sorry about him! He's just a child; he doesn't understand what's rude and what's not. Really, I'm so sorry about all of this; I'll take full responsibility!'

But the man would not consent and left the bar quickly with his head held high, muttering something about ill manners and uncouth bartenders, only pausing to shout at a bewildered customer for having his leg poking out from under his table which had caused him to stumble.

The waitress sighed and turned with hands on hips to look down at the young boy who by now had climbed onto the man's table, probably in order to get a better view of the elderly man leaving, and had folded his arms in a callous attempt to make himself appear strong and tough.

'Damn straight!' he called after the man, much to the amusement of many of the other customers.

'Oh, he's so cute and thoughtful…' sighed one woman dressed in a purple jumper, relaxing with a tomato juice in hand, 'I wish my son was more caring.'

Luffy had not heard the woman but joined in with the chuckling that followed, carelessly mistaking them for cheering for his victory.

'Luffy.' Makino spoke, her voice was sharp but the fondness that seeped through it was unmistakable, 'Please stop scaring off the customers, or I'll be sacked.'

The boy turned his head towards her and pouted slightly, 'But he needed to be taught a lesson…' his voice broke off as he stared up at her, crestfallen.

She could not help but laugh lightly and let her shoulders relax as her eyes fixed on his young and boyish features. After all, he'd only been trying to help. At least he hadn't been tugging on the old man's hair, like he had done to a foul-mouthed woman the week before. She snickered at the memory and couldn't help but secretly compare the boy to a small, but ferocious guard dog. A cairn terrier, perhaps.

'Alright,' she sighed and ruffled the boy's hair, which she knew he hated but would allow her to do so anyway, 'I'm sorry. I know you were only trying to help.' She flashed a satisfied smile that caused Luffy's pride to sore even higher as he grinned mischievously back at her and allowed himself to be petted.

He caught sight of the drink she was carrying and was immediately interested in it. 'Citran pressing?' He said as he pointed at it.

The young girl blinked as she quickly worked out what he meant, 'Oh. The citron pressé? Do you want one?' she offered him the glass which he gladly took.

'What's in it?' he asked doubtfully as he smelt the tinted liquid.

'Not much,' the waitress smiled, watching in amusement as Luffy pulled his head back from the drink with a look of disgust on his face, 'Just water, sugar and lemon. It's quite nice, but some people don't like the bitterness of it. Take a sip.'

Luffy didn't need to be given the offer twice. Although rather than a sip, he took a great big gulp of the juicy water and spluttered as the sourness reached the back of his throat. Coughing, he remarked that you'd have to be crazy to be able to drink it and stuck his tongue out in an attempt to rid himself of the prickly flavour. The bartender giggled and playfully told him not to drink it all at once.

'You'll like it if it has more sugar in it.'

She walked back to the counter with Luffy close at her heels who clutched the glass carefully as he glared at it. Luffy stopped following as she went round the counter and watched as she bent down behind it again and retrieved a white, rounded china sugar pot and placed it on the counter before fetching a spoon for the boy to scoop the sugar with. Luffy's eyes widened as he glanced up at the sugar pot in what seemed like almost awe. The acrylic blue design of an anchor on it seemed to captivate his full attention. The bartender eyed him, quite amused.

'Do you like it, Luffy?' she asked as she picked him up to sit him on one of the vacant stools of the bar.

He fidgeted at her helpfulness, proclaiming that he could get up by himself, but as he had now been placed right in front of the little pot, his temper died down fairly quickly and he contented himself with staring at it.

'It's pretty, isn't it? Mayor Woop Slap found it washed up near the coast and brought it to me as a little gift just yesterday. He found it in a crate filled with brown paper to protect it; though it's still amazing how it managed to stay intact.'

'Where did it come from?' Luffy asked, his gaze never leaving the little blue anchor.

'I don't know. But I heard that one of the villagers swore he saw a pirate ship the same day.'

At this, Luffy spun his head round to face her, 'Pirates? A pirate ship? Really? Where?' Upon hearing that one word, "pirate", Luffy would always leap to ask as many questions as he could within the shortest amount of time possible.

Makino laughed pleasantly, not surprised in the slightest by Luffy's eagerness. After all, it was rare for the villagers to see a ship in the first place, let alone a pirate ship, 'I'm not sure where. You'd better ask Gyoru, he's the one who saw it.'

Upon hearing this new information, Luffy stood up in his seat with fists clenched, 'I've decided!' he said loudly, causing many faces to turn round his way, 'I will go and see Gyoru and ask him about the mystery pirate ship!' And with that, he hopped down from his chair and started running towards the door.

'Luffy!' Makino called him back, 'Aren't you going to finish your drink first?'

Luffy turned round and stood facing her, nonplussed. He seemed to be considering it. There was a short pause where he said nothing, then, all of a sudden, as if someone had whispered the answer to him, his face lit up and he smiled.

'Oh yeah!'

He skipped back towards the counter and the stool and stood facing it as if challenged by its height. He jumped up; he could reach the top easily but his arms flailed uselessly as he tried to get a grip on the velvet-coloured cushiony material on top. Makino and several customers looked on in amusement as he puffed one cheek up in annoyance. After several more tries, Makino left the counter and lifted Luffy into the air and plopped him down on the seat, much to Luffy's dislike.

Once the young mischief-maker had calmed down a bit, Makino started pouring sugar into his drink and Luffy inspected the sugar pot once more. But his mind was back with the pirate ship, eager to demand Gyoru where he had seen it.

Please don't hesitate to review and thank you for reading this!