1 The Beginning

Of course... reincarnation. At least... what else could this be? I've always had the question 'when you're reincarnated, is this new life better or worse than the previous one?' And honestly, I have yet to figure out the answer to that.

In my old life, I was an assassin, but that doesn't mean that I was some girl who lived in darkness and doesn't know anything. So when I was reborn and saw... weird things- like snail phones and how my name is Grant D. Luna. From there, it was easy to figure out that I was in the One Piece world.

At first, it was a real shock. I never thought that I would be in a story, a comic- or that it even exists! Though... it's not a story anymore. The moment I saw my little hands and noticed that I was a baby again, it was definitely not fiction. No, this is my new reality. It might have taken some time for me to figure out that I was reborn- which is the weirdest feeling in the world- but I did. I was- I am.

Nevertheless... thank God I read the manga! Thanks to it, I already knew quite a bit about this world. In fact, the last I remember reading to, the Straw Hats were in a country called Wano. Then again, it was mostly about the Straw Hat Pirates, so maybe I didn't know too much…

See, who I was reborn as and when I was born were very important. Not to mention, how my entire life now has to deal with the underworld! (Why wasn't this place ever mentioned in the story before?!)

That's not the only thing I'm upset about though. I'm also upset that I died before I learned what the hell the one piece even is. Oh, and now that I'm also a D, I really wonder about the meaning of it too. What's its meaning? Why in the world did I have to die before I learnt these things and was reborn into this world?

Those were the thoughts I had while I cried as a baby. Not thoughts a baby should have, I might say, but… they're a good reason to cry... right?

xx Seventeen Years Later xx

Empty eyes stared back at Luna from the mirror as she thought of her past. It might not be seen at the moment, but there was still a fire within her. A long time it's waited to be re-lit, and soon perhaps, that time will come.

She thought of her family for a moment. In her previous life, she was an orphan. So she was happy that she had a family here. And Luna really loved them despite everything.

Her life wasn't peaceful. Far from it actually, it was very bloody. But even in her previous life, she wasn't a saint. Both lives, actually.

A self deprecating smile appeared on her face. Did this actually make her twice the bad person?

Luna turned her head to the big windows that replaced one of the high walls and of this bedroom, and watched the full moon for a moment. The finger's of her left hand unconsciously drifted to her right forearm and lingered there for a moment. Three dark letters were tattooed there.

She loved her family. At some times, they were like a fairy tale, and others... they were like a nightmare- but so long as there were times where she was happy, Luna could hardly care about the bad times.

Now, it was gone. The life she loved was gone. Her sun and her snow. Now, all that she had left, was a hell. It was a hell that she couldn't help but love sometimes... but she still wanted to be free of it. At that thought, a small smile grew on her face. It was time she broke free from this hell.

With a final glance at the mirror, Luna turned and walked towards the large heavy door of this bedroom.

It was time...

xx Present xx

It's only been a year, and yet Luna hadn't a clue on how it could have turned out like this.

'That stupid whirlpool,' she thought, then let out a huff in annoyance.

She decided that she would live in Shells Town for a little while since she really wanted to see the start of the crew. Only, it was boring for her to stay in one place like that all the time. Luna much preferred traveling to being still and left often to compensate for it. Shells Town remained as her main home though and she kept everything she owned in her single-room house.

Two days ago, she heard that Roronoa Zoro had already been captured for a week. She rushed to return, but then-

'That stupid whirlpool…!' she grit her teeth as she cursed the thing.

She had woken up too late to change the course, and now, here she was, laying on some piece of drift wood. It was all that was left of her ruined rowboat.

There was a clear, blue sky above, and she watched it as her anger and annoyance changed to boredom. Then a song popped into her head, from her previous life, and with nothing else to really do, she sang it aloud.

The first song was that titanic song because it fit perfectly- she even felt like she was Rose. Except, of course, she couldn't get in the role much, since she was alone, the sky was clear, and she was absolutely not freezing. (Soaking wet? Yes, but not freezing.)

She stared at the sky while her left fingers absently traveled up to her right forearm tattoo. Then a song from that Jack Sparrow's movie, Hoist the Colours, came to mind. Perhaps it was because of the situation, but Luna wasn't sure as to why this particular song came to mind for her to sing. Then again, she had thought that if she were to die for a second time... this was certainly a stupid way to go.

The first time she was on a mission, but this? (Starvation, really?!) Almost a full day and a half have passed, and she hasn't eaten anything. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth was parched. Why did she always end up in this kind of situation?

At that moment, her observation haki suddenly alerted her. (She was glad that she learnt it, even if it wasn't very good at the moment and was all that she managed to awaken currently.)

Almost at the same time that her observation haki alerted her, she heard a voice call out.

''Hey...! You really have a nice voice! Are you a musician?!'' startled by the sudden random person's question, Luna turned her head a little to look at him.

It was a guy. He wasn't too far away, and he was on a little, sailing dinghy- which kind of looked like her's before it got wrecked. Instantly she recognized him, and he sounded excited. She guessed he would be though, he's really wanted a musician from the very start.

Still, really?! This wasn't how she wanted to see him for the first time.

'So he hasn't met that Koby kid yet...' she mused thoughtfully as she noticed that he was alone on his boat. ''No, I'm not a musician,'' came her blank response as she stared back at him...

The other seventeen years old looked exactly as she thought he would. Shaggy black hair, wide black eyes and a slim, yet muscular, body. Even his trademark straw hat was atop his head.

''Oh. You're not?'' He sounded a little disappointed before he went on, ''that song sounded like a pirate song though! I've never heard it before! And what are you doing there?'' he laughed at her when he was done, and Luna stared incredulously.

''I'm floating.''

He tilted his head, a confused expression on his face, ''floating?''

''Yes, floating.'' She thought it was rather obvious.0

They stared at one another for another moment. Then, just as he looked like he would speak again, Luna suddenly rolled off her broken piece of wood and went into the water with a splash.

'He's heading to Shells Town anyhow so it should be fine...' Luna thought as she swam towards his little boat.

In a single heave, she pulled herself up and into the sailing dinghy. ''It is a pirate song. It's from an old story about a pirate who fell in love with the sea.'' She spoke without a care as she sat down across him and squeezed the water out of her hair.

Not seeming to care that she suddenly joined him in his boat, the other teen looked at her with excitement at the new information. ''Really?! There is a story like that?'' he asked, which caused her to smile a little.

A mischievous glint flashed in her eyes at her companion's excitement, and she smirked. ''Yeah, do you wanna hear it?'' she asked, and flicked her damp hair back over her shoulder.

He nodded furiously, ''yeah!'

She chuckled at his childishness a little as there was also some amusement in her eyes, ''you see it was a long time ago...'' She then went on to tell the story of Davy Jones and Calypso to Monkey D. Luffy as though it was some kind of a legend.

''Wahoo, that was an amazing story!'' He laughed when the story finished.

She laughed too, ''I know, right?! But... it's just a story. No one truly knows what happened to Davy Jones. Everyone says different things too. Some even say that he never existed.'' she added mysteriously. He blinked at her, then they both cracked a grin. As though it were a funny joke, they burst out laughing!

'Wait- this isn't how you start!' Luna suddenly thought, which made her look at her impromptu companion.

''By the way... who are you?'' she asked.

He also stopped, then blinked twice before a big smile formed on his face. With confidence he declared, ''I'm Monkey D. Luffy. The man who will become the Pirate King!''

''Really?'' she questioned with a tilt of her head.

''Really,'' he gave a sharp nod.

She smiled a little, but it was an honest smile. 'So much better in person!' she thought. Then aloud she said, "I see, good luck then!''

Luna didn't think it was possible, but his smile seemed to grow even bigger at her response.

''Thanks! What about you?'' he asked, curious eyes on her.

''I'm Grant D. Luna. It's nice to meet you!'' she said with a smile.

''Yeah! By the way, what are you?'' At this, Luna blinked.

'Eh? What does he think I am?' she questioned herself as she gazed down at herself.

People told her she got her looks from her mother. Her long white hair went down to her hips, and had golden highlights that glinted in the sun. Around her face were five thin french braids that kept her hair out of her way when she was fought, while the rest was left loose.

Wide ocean blue eyes that perfectly reflected the sea inside them, told anyone who looked that she had been through a lot. Yet, at the same time- just like the ocean- no one could truly know all of the sea's secrets. They were deep, and if one wasn't careful they could drown.

As though kissed by the sun, her skin was naturally tanned. And her hourglass-shaped body was perfectly fit- muscle tones lean yet soft.

A white, long-sleeved shirt- with the sleeves folded to her elbows- fell loosely around her body due to it's basic design. Even with the ties that were at her throat to try and make it fit better. Black, high waisted, short shorts were tied with a blue sash- that had gold floral engravings on it- was around her waist.

A bullet holster went across her chest, to hold her 'party bullets'. And her modified grenade launcher for said bullets hung in a holster strapped to her right arm. On one side of the launcher's barrel were words that spelt 'Fun Gun' on one side and 'De Luna' on the other. And beside the words 'De Luna' were some stickers and doodles. On the back of her chest holster were two vacant spots that would hold her baseball bat and mallet- but she didn't have these items with her at the moment.

Hung at her side was her katana, it's handle and sheath a pitch-black. Strapped to the mid-thigh of her right leg was a tiny black dagger. Around her hips, just hidden under her blue and gold sash, was a thin leather belt. It held four black throwing knives and a light blue pouch.

Around her right wrist was a silver skeleton bracelet. It was a heavy piece of jewelry, and like everything else on her person, was made of sea stone. Though, over the years of owning the bracelet, Luna hardly ever noticed its weight anymore. Above it, on her forearm, was her three-lettered tattoo in a deep black ink. It was a name; 'Leo'. Her left forearm held a blue diamond bracelet that was shaped like a dragon who had bit its tail. And just above her dragon bracelet, on the underside of her wrist, was a small ice blue snowflake tattoo.

On her feet were white, one-inch high heel ankle boots.

Confirming that, yes, she was still herself, Luna looked back up at Luffy with a confused tilt of her head. "Human...?"

Luffy burst out laughing, and Luna frowned. 'Is he mocking me...?!' she thought, suddenly annoyed.

''Not that! I know that! I mean, you have a lot of weapons! Are you a pirate too?!'' He glanced at her weapons curiously.

'Ah... That...?' she laughed at this, no longer annoyed.

Luffy tiltled his head in his confusion, having no clue as to what was suddenly so funny, but kept the smile on his face as he waited.

After she calmed down a little from her laugh, ''Ah, sorry... No, I'm not a pirate.'' she explained, which had him blink at her. She couldn't blame him that he thought she might be a pirate- she was carrying a lot of weapons.

''Sometimes I fight with pirates and bandits for their bounties.'' She gave a shrug at the statement. ''Oh, but I'm not a bounty hunter either! I'm just a normal person who needs money.'' Luna finished with a nod of her head. She didn't have a specific reason for it, but she didn't really want others to know her as a bounty hunter.

Luffy nodded sagely at this, as if he had known all along, but then suddenly looked at her with a little tilt of his head. "Why do you want their bounties? Do you really need the money that much?" he asked. Not every girl would carry a bunch of weapons and go after wanted people without a specific reason.

Though he didn't know that she would do so just to have a little bit of fun.

Luna looked at him, assessing quietly. She might not know him personally, but from what she could remember of the story, he had good character. Luffy wasn't the type to gossip about others. He didn't know anything about her, and maybe knowing things about him that he hasn't told anyone else- because of the show- made her feel a little guilty. With a small sigh, Luna turned her eyes to the ocean waters around them. She wouldn't see him again after Shell Town anyhow.

As he watched her, Luffy caught the longing look that Luna had in her far away gaze towards the sea.

''I wanted to see the world freely, with my own eyes.'' Her left fingers unconsciously went towards the three black letters on her arm. Luffy followed the movement with his eyes as Luna kept looking at the sea. ''My brother and I made a promise when we were ten years old, at our mother's funeral. We would run away from our father, and everything else, to see the world for ourselves- freely- once we became seventeen.''

She smiled a little at this. It was a promise he had forced on her when she gave up at that time. Luna knew of Luffy's story with his brother, and the promise they had was a little similar to her own. Maybe that was the reason why the words began to come out of her mouth like this, after such a long time, and without care. She felt like she knew Luffy for a lot longer than just a few minutes as she talked with him like this, and knew he wouldn't judge. He might even understand her a little.

''You see... my family was from the underworld, and my father was someone really important there. He would do illegal things like drugs, smuggling weapons, slavery, and... a lot of other bad things.''

'A lot actually...' she grimaced before she went on, ''my brother was supposed to take over at seventeen, and I was to support him. Father would send me on a lot of missions for me to learn how to become the perfect weapon or the perfect shield. At least, that's what he wanted me to be." A small sigh escaped her as she said this, gaze still on the sea, and a sad smile was on her face.

As Luffy listened quietly, a slight frown formed on his face. He didn't like it.

Luna was okay with it though. Her mother and brother had been there for her. Plus it wasn't as though she had been born a saint or anything- she had been an assassin after all.

A small frown was on her face as she thought about her father. Her right hand went to her left and touched her dragon bracelet. With a relief that she didn't show on her face but couldn't hide in her eyes, her hand slowly slid to her snowflake tattoo.

With a small sigh, Luna's frown soon turned into a sad smile. ''My mother… she was an amazing person. She'd gather my brother and I close, and tell us stories about the world- be it through books or from what she knew.'' As she spoke, Luna could hear her mother's singing voice echo in her mind for a short moment. ''She would always say that 'like how every snowflake is different from one another, no two humans are exactly alike.' And she was right, like always. No matter how many people I've met, there really weren't any two that were exactly alike.''

Luna turned to Luffy then, finished with her story. But Luffy kept his stare, his eyes imploring. He knew there was more to her story, since she was alone now, and not with her brother.

For a moment Luna thought that perhaps Luffy's mind had wandered to his own past as she spoke. When he didn't speak, Luna looked away from his eyes with a small sigh. Her eyes clouded, like a sea that was about to storm.

''We were fifteen. He was sent on a mission, but he never came back. My father said he was killed. I didn't believe it at first and waited for his return, but...'' she paused a moment as she went on, pained. ''It took me months to do something about it. A year or so later, I left for revenge. I thought that was the only way I could move on.''

'It's odd how fate works.' Luna couldn't help but think then, 'revenge did nothing to help me move on. Instead, it was the people I met along the way that helped me.'

''For a long time, I thought about running away to keep our promise. But so long as my father was alive, I knew I would never be truly free. He would come after me.'' Her eyes became bright, ''so when I became seventeen, I killed him. Destroyed everything and everyone before I ran far away.'' A relieved smile grew on her face at this, with a proud glint in her eyes. ''It's been about a year now... I couldn't decide what I should do now that I'm free. Where I should go first? ...for now, I'll just have some fun, save my money, and eventually, I'll get a boat. Then I'll be able to keep my promise and see the world for myself.''

Luna gave a small nod to herself, satisfied with that decision, then seemed to remember that she wasn't alone. She turned towards Luffy and gave him a cheeky smile. ''Once someone has promised something they should keep it, right? Dreams and promises are important!''

There was no response from Luffy when she was done. Surprised, Luna blinked, unable to see the other teen's eyes due to the shade of his straw hat.

'...wait.' Luna's expression dropped. 'Did he seriously fall asleep?!' She opened her mouth- about to yell at him for falling asleep- when he suddenly leaned forwards to hug her. Startled, Luna froze.

''You're crying'' he said, and his tone was gentle.

"Wh-" a voice so weak that Luffy barely heard her response, Luna realized that he was right.

Only now did she notice the hot tears that flowed down her cheeks, a soft sting where the salt water rolled on her skin. Her breath had begun to hitch, and a tight pain grew in her chest.

As though he had read her mind, he spoke with a soft voice that she never thought she would have heard from him.

''It's okay,'' he said.

And like it was all the permission that she needed, the tears suddenly started to flow down her face. She made no noise as the tears flowed, but her body shook just a little, and he tightened his hug in response. He didn't say anything, but she didn't need him to.

They stayed like that for a while- it probably not even five minutes- but it felt like forever to them. With her head rested against his neck, Luna thought that it was surprising how much he smelt like the sea.

Meanwhile, Luffy ran a hand through her hair soothingly, mildly surprised of how soft and silky it was. His other arm was kept securely around her waist.

Eventually, Luna slowly raised her head. Luffy loosened his hold on her until she was finally let go completely. Eyes red and puffy, Luna looked down, not really wanting to be seen.

As discretely as she could, she wiped the last of her tears away from around her eyes and cheeks. She didn't want to be seen as weak to anyone. ''It's not really a story one wants to hear so early in the morning... Sorry.''

There was a moment of silence that lasted for all of two seconds before- "I've decided. Join my crew!" Luffy declared loudly and clearly, with a big smile on his face.

Luna blinked before she suddenly lifted her head and looked at him with wide eyes, her hand still on her cheek to wipe away her tears...

Surprised by his sudden declaration, a sudden laugh spluttered out of her, "wha... what? What are you saying...?" and she laughed. It came out quickly, like a funny joke had just been shared with her.

Luffy, pouted. "Hey, I'm serious!" he said, then grinned when he caught her eye. "I mean what I say! Join my crew, Luna!"

Her laughter stopped short, and she stared at him. It was as though she were looking at a puzzle. Not once did Luna think that she'd ever hear him say that to her. But now...

"You're serious..." it wasn't a question. Almost tiredly, Luna brought up a hand and laced her fingers through her bangs. She tugged at the roots of her hair gently as she kept her attention on Luffy. "You're out of your mind. I'm telling you that I was some kind of an assassin. I did a lot of horrible things and I've killed a lot of people. Even though pirates are no better, I can tell you're a good person. I can't be on your crew.''

Luna let her hair fall through her fingers, then gave a small shake of her head as she spoke. Of course, she knew that it would be fun to be in his crew. They were funny, went on adventures, and they were all a little bit crazy- even the most normal of them. To join would be something that she would want to do- but her concern as to what her presence might change held her back.

Luffy was supposed to be the Pirate King in the end. What if something happened- because of her- to change that? Plus, things would start to change. The story wouldn't be the same anymore.

Only, Luffy's expression became rather angry when he heard this, "your past doesn't matter! You want to see the world freely and go on adventures, right?! Of course, you should join my crew!''

Against someone like him, Luna thought her reason felt rather weak. Luffy was a good person and pretty damn stubborn. He wouldn't care about the past, the present and future more important. This made her smile in her mind but outside, no emotion was shown. They both stared at one another, neither backing off in their stare off.

Luna felt a little surprised even though she didn't show it. Luffy was a childish person who does whatever he wants. When she thought of his past though, Luna knew that he could make this sort of expression. From what Luna could remember of the manga, he often surprised people with a sudden moment of maturity. She was certain that, while he might be childish most of the time, he was also mature due to everything that he had gone through up until now. Though, Luffy probably thought it was unnecessary to show it all the time.

Eventually, Luna was the first to give in. ''I've never thought about becoming a pirate before.'' she said honestly and sighed.

They locked eyes then, and Luna's expression grew serious. She didn't know what to do about him- Luffy was pretty damn stubborn- but she did know one thing for certain. She would need time to think.

''I was going to Shells Town before my boat got caught in some stupid whirlpool and was wrecked. I have a house there that I need to get back to. As for joining, I'll decide for sure when we get there. Deal?'' She was so proud of herself right now that she mentally gave herself a pat on the back. She could just disappear when they arrived…! Or she could think carefully until they got there. There was also the matter of Zoro, Luffy's first mate.

Luffy smiled really big at this, like she had already said yes. He already had his mind set about her though, and there would be no escape. ''Alright, It's a deal! Let's go to Shells Town, so you'll join me!'' he went on to celebrate as though she had already agreed, which had Luna's eyebrow twitch in exasperation.

''Hey, I didn't say that I will join! I said I will decide when we get there!'' Luffy kept laughing though, as if he hadn't heard what she said. She let out another sigh and move to relax against the side of the boat before she suddenly made a face like she remembered something, ''hey, do you have anything to eat?'' Luna questioned, to which Luffy stopped his laughter and looked at Luna with a sudden panic!

"Agh-! I had forgotten! My foods been gone for over three hours already!" he lamented, and Luna could see the tears forming in his eyes at the statement. He looked so upset as he held his stomach, ''and I'm so hungry…!'' his stomach growled it's affirmation.

Luna thought that maybe she shouldn't say anything, but...

''I should be the one complaining! Why don't you try to not eat for over a day and a half?! I'm the hungry one!'' ...it slipped out anyways.

Luffy looked up to her and blinked in the most innocent way. Instantly, Luna felt like she had just killed a little puppy. She sighed as she closed her eyes to let her anger fly away. When she next spoke, it was in a much calmer tone, ''whatever. I'm sure we will find something to eat soon.''

Luffy smiled brightly at this, ''Oh, we will?! Then do you know how to get to Foodland?''

This time Luna blinked. ''I have a compass.'' she reached for her long-chained necklace, which was actually a compass, and stared at it for a moment. ''But I don't have a map.'' scanned the inside of Luffy's boat before she did the same for the area ''...and I have no idea where we are...'' she then turned to Luffy and stated, "I don't know how to get to Foodland...'' before she casually adds, ''nor Shells Town.''

They stared seriously at each other for a second before they burst out in laughter again. Unanimously, it was decided that they would go wherever the sea currents lead them.

x

The day went on, and Luna found herself sharing stories with Luffy to pass the time.

Luna explained to him her weapons of sea stones, her special bullets, and her modified grenade launcher. Luffy loved the idea of party bullets, as she thought he would. After all, who wouldn't.

Naturally, Luffy wanted to see what these 'party bullets' were about. But Luna said no, because that could be dangerous- which prompted Luffy to try and get her launcher to test it out for himself. In response, Luna whacked the black haired teen on the head with her sea stone skeleton bracelet.

With tears in his eyes, and suddenly terrified, Luffy asked her how she knew about the 'fist of love'. Confused at the question, Luna asked him what he meant, which lead him to tell her a little about his 'monster' of a grandfather. He didn't say who his grandfather was though, and this made Luna remember the fist of love in the manga, while she mentally shook her head. Out loud, she decided to take the time to explain sea stones to him.

He was also confused when she told him about her other two weapons. He asked why she was using babies as a weapon and looked even more shocked that she had babies in the first place. She accepted that it was her fault since the first thing she said about them was, 'I also have my babies...' It took a while to explain it to him, but he understood in the end. He laughed long and hard while saying that he should have known and wanted to see them too.

Eventually, the topic of Shanks came up, and Luffy began to tell her about him. Luna already knew most of it, but not everything, and to hear the story first hand was completely different from reading about it.

''I heard that Red-haired Shanks came to the East Blue but... People were shocked when he came back to the grand line to see that he had lost an arm and even his trademarked straw hat.'' She might have gotten a little too lost in the story because her voice came out in awe. Luna already knew about Shanks and how big of a pirate he is. Of course, she always knew, but living it was different.

Luffy hadn't told her about his lost arm. He only said that he saved his life. And when she saw his smile change into a sad one, she suddenly felt very guilty- as though she shouldn't have said anything at all.

'Shit- I'm a very bad person! What should I do? Should I give him a hug too?' While those panicked thoughts raced through her mind, Luffy's sadness had already vanished. As shown within the books, he bounced back from sadness and into excitement with enough speed to give Luna emotional whiplash.

''Woah! You know about Shanks?!'' But then his expression turned into a somber one. ''He lost his arm when he saved me, but that's why I promised him!'' He wasn't saddened by this fact, and that got Luna to smile back at him.

''I see,'' there was a calm air around them for a moment, but it flew away as Luna yelled out suddenly. ''Of course I know about Shanks! He's one of the Four Emperors!'' she felt rather insulted from the insinuation, which was probably why her voice was a little louder than intended and startled Luffy, who hadn't expected it.

Looking like a little puppy, with his big innocent eyes he asked, ''who's the 'Four Emperors'?'' which had her bite her lip and look up in exasperation- it was too cute for her!

Of course, he doesn't know- even if it was early in his story, people usually already knew this. So with a calm educative tone, Luna decides to tell him about it. ''The Four Emperors- also known as Yonko- are the most notorious and powerful pirate captains in the world; Kaido of the Beasts, 'Big Mom' Charlotte Linlin, 'The Strongest Man In The World' Whitebeard Edward Newgate and... Read-Haired Shanks. These four pirates live in and rule the second half of the Grand Line- which is also known as the New World''

Excited as he listened, his eyes looked bedazzled and a way-too-big smile crept up on Luffy's face. ''Woah Luna! You sure know a lot, and you're so smart! As I thought, you should really join my crew!''

Her eyebrows twitched again, but her voice remained calm as she replied, ''you should know at least this much if you want to become a Pirate King you know…'' With a sigh, she shook her head. ''Information is an important power. You should know about the people you have a chance to cross roads with, or it could be your destruction.'' A somber thought really, like Kuma or the Admirals, but she quickly shoved it away. ''It's not like I know everything, but I still keep up with the world. You should do that too.''

Luffy, on the other hand, laughed at this. ''It's fine! I have you to do it for me, so I won't need to!''

Annoyed, ''I told you I didn't say 'yes'!'' she barked out. He kept on laughing, for he knew that he'd get her to join- not that she knew this.

'Maybe I should just run away... ' she thought grouchily, but then gasped as she sprung up to her feet so fast that Luffy dropped his laughter and looked at her curiously.

''What?''

Luna pointed to a whirlpool just ahead of them with an angry expression. ''That's the stupid whirpool that wrecked my boat!'' And then she remembered, 'right, Koby! Ship! And food!'

Luffy stared at it and laughed, "with the weather so nice, where did this come from?"

Luna turned her head to him blankly, ''I don't know.'' she answered.

Now up on his feet, Luffy went to the single barrel that was on his ship. He took the lid off of it and hopped inside.

''Come on, it should be fine if we're in this!'' It was the large smile on Luffy's face as he said this that suggested to Luna that he was happy with the situation.

''No way we would both fit in that.'' She stated plainly as she studied the barrel.

An idea came to her then, which caused a smirk to form on her face. She put her hand to one side of the ship and pulled! With a sharp crack that had splinters of woods fly away from her, Luna held a decent-sized piece of flat wood in her hands.

"You say in the barrel, but I'm gonna swim." the white haired teen decided then, and gave Luffy a smile when she noticed his stare from within the barrel. "I'm sure if it's in our cards, we'll meet again. Besides, if you want me that bad, I've already told you where I'm heading. Now put the lid on that barrel or you really will die!"

With that, Luna jumped off the side of the boat and began to swim away with her new paddle board.

Luffy, was frozen. Yet as Luna wondered just how she had escaped from the whirlpool the first time, she heard him finally come back to his senses somewhere behind her.

"WHAT?!"

Luna snickered to herself at his tone.

xxx

Koby was in shock when he heard what the straw hat-wearing teen said as he ate some meat. Never had Koby ever thought that he could escape from here. Not once had he let himself even think it. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the storeroom ceiling cracked, and a random pirate fell through! From the new hole in the ceiling, yells filled the room.

''That girl's crazy!''

''Why is she suddenly attacking us?!''

In fear, Koby wondered what had happened. Then the teen- who had introduced himself as Luffy- spoke up. ''Hmm? What's going on?'' he wondered and started to go up to the deck with some meat in his hands.

''Ah! Wait, Luffy-san!'' Koby tried to stop him, but failed miserably. Eventually, he simply followed along, still curious himself as to what had happened. When they arrived, Koby's jaw fell in awe as he took in the scene. Beside him, Luffy's eyes practically gained stars.

''Woah! This is what she meant by 'Party Bullets' and 'Fun Gun'?!'' He laughed while the other pirates were all over the deck!

Some tried to fight, others tried to run, most of them however, stood around, petrified- absolutely horrified at what happened around them. There was a particularly fat woman- with a large cowboy hat on her head- who looked extra angry though, as she watched the pirates run around on the deck before her.

Colorful smoke clouds erupted around the teen as bullets from her gun hit their targets and exploded. Men cried out in pain as they were hit, or stopped in awe as they were distracted by the colors.

There seemed to be two main types of bullets. One was made to create smoke clouds, mixed with confetti, and often obscured vision. The other seemed to be paint bullets, which had glitter mixed within the colors, that usually blinded people or made them gasp out in pain as it hit them at full force.

It was chaos and confusion all around her- yet the young woman only laughed. Steps light and movements agile, she twirled and spun as she dodged any attempts to attack her. It was as though she were at a party that had reached its climax.

To those that she had stunned with her color-fetti clouds, Luna knocked them out with a sly grin. When she hit a target with her glitter-paint, they usually went down right away, but she wasn't opposed to handing out accidental kicks as she passed them.

Eventually, a few of the men gathered their wits enough to point guns at the white haired teen. When they fired, she let out a laugh that almost sounded like a melody and raised her wrist to let the projectiles bounce off of her skeleton bracelet.

Someone came at her with a sword then, and Luna ducked. Then she swung her rifle, and her opponent groaned in pain as it hit his ribs.With a snicker at the damage and chaos that she has caused, Luna danced away from any other attacks.

Graceful and wild, Luna had her fun. Yet somehow, she still gave the impression that this wasn't her full strength. It felt as though she were toying with the lot of them.

With an excited grin on his face from what he had seen, Luffy decided to call out to her, heart pounding in elatement. "Luna! You followed me after all?!"

Startled, Luna turned towards the voice. When she spotted who it came from, her mouth fell open just the slightest bit.

'Isn't he supposed to be at that pirate's island hideout?!' Luna thought furiously, now completely confused. 'What is he doing here?!'

"L- Luffy?!" Luna called back, unable to keep the stutter out of her voice in her surprise. "Wha- what are you doing here?!"

The chaos continued to ensue around them- someone's hair had caught fire and they ran about screaming for it to be put out, someone else ran about screaming while they held their eyes and paint covered their face- yet Luffy only shrugged, like it was just another happy evening, a relaxed smile on his face. "Dunno, the barrel came here." he said, then gave a small pout, "then that means you didn't follow me...?"

"Wha- of course I didn't! I told you I'd go on ahead!" Luna huffed, then let out a tired sigh, "just when I thought I could get something to eat too... You know- these guys were so rude to me! I asked for food when I heard people talking up here, and they just attacked me for no reason!"

"They did?!" and Luffy sounded very offended by this. He narrowed his eyes at the pirates who ran around the deck of the ship. The fact that he had pouted somewhat- from the knowledge that Luna hadn't come here because of him- only a moment ago was immediately forgotten.

All through their conversation, Luna and Luffy had ignored everything around them. Koby watched with large eyes that seemed to bulge out of their eye sockets, eyeing the two as though they were crazy.

First, was the black haired teen, who appeared from within a wine barrel and said things that he will remember for the rest of his life as he ate meat from within the storage room. Now that he thought of it- had that meat even been cooked first...? Then, a white haired teen came and began to attack the ship because of some incident about food. They both did things that Koby had wanted to do the most, all the while looking like they're having the best time of their lives. And if it wasn't shocking enough, these two somehow knew of each other too!

'He said he'd become the Pirate King, which means that he is indeed a pirate. Since Luffy knows this person, does that mean that she's a pirate too...?' Koby thought despite his shock.

Luna's eyes traveled to Luffy's hands and spotted the drumstick he still held tight. A glint seemed to appear in her gaze at the sight of it, and she looked at him sharply.

''There's still some left. Right?''

It wasn't really a question though, and Luffy shivered at the sound. With a nervous gulp, Luffy gave a nod of his head. He knew she was hungry, and was suddenly glad that he didn't eat everything.

In an instant her threatening aura disappeared, replaced with a happy one, at his affirmation.

She gave him a bright smile, "awesome! I'll leave the rest of it to you!" she said with a cheer and hurried along to get below deck.

Luffy let out a tiny sigh of relief, which soon turned into a laugh.

Luffy laughed, then shouted back, ''okay!''

After she left, they heard an angry yell. ''Who was that little bitch?! And Koby! Who is this boy?'' It was the cowboy hat wearing woman from earlier.

Though, her body was so large and her voice so gruff, it was rather difficult to call her a woman. Over her shoulder was a spiked club and her black hair was rather greasy. She gave Luffy a once over, as though to size him up.

''Are you Roronoa Zoro? The Pirate Hunter? Did you finally come for my head?''

Confused, ''Zoro?'' Luffy asked, a slight tilt to his head as he thought. Then a big smile appeared on his face. ''Nope! I'm Monkey D. Luffy!''

x

Voices drifted down below deck from above as Luna found the storage room. She entered and immediately went about gathering food and drinks for herself.

Unable to help herself, Luna munched on a random apple and drank from a particularity good alcohol bottle as she gathered and packed items for sailing. A sudden loud shout made Luna jump and glance towards the ceiling, before she shrugged and continued what she was doing.

So Luffy and Alvida didn't meet up on her secret island to fight. Perhaps Luna should have been more alarmed that they didn't, that maybe she had changed something somehow, but she wasn't. Currently, all Luna cared about, was not dying from starvation or thirst.

Satisfied, Luna heaved a bag full of sustenance over a shoulder and turned to leave the room. On her way out, she spotted a stray apple and plucked it off its crate.

The young woman hummed happily as she took a juicy bite of the fruit and made her way back above deck. A shout made it's way down to her, and she briefly thought that perhaps Luffy had finished with his fight too. (Though it was still weird to actually hear his voice instead of imagining one for him.)

Once she was above the deck again, Luna took in the men who scrambled to prepare a sailing dinghy, then the Marine boat that was fast approaching. She took another bite of her apple.

Hearing her, Luffy turned to Luna as she made her way towards him. His smile grew bigger when he spotted the bag over Luna's shoulder. ''Luna! Did you take food with you?''

At his question, Luna beamed, "that's right!" and walked right passed him. She put a foot over the ship's railing and made to jump overboard, where her piece of drift wood awaited her. "So see ya-"

Before she could so much as jump, Luna watched in shock as a rubbery limb wrapped itself around her waist three times. Lucky her grip on the bag she carried was tight, as she would have dropped it from the sudden yank her body took when the rubber arm began to retract back to it's owner.

Her last word turned into a startled yelp as Luna was pulled towards a falling Luffy. He had jumped from the boat himself, only to land on the prepared sailing dinghy. Much more gently than he had Koby- who had been nabbed by the back of his shirt and thrown on board- Luffy placed the shocked Luna down in the boat. Then he gave her a triumphant grin, to which she huffed and rolled her eyes when she finally snapped out of her thoughts to notice.

x

''So... who is this kid?'' Luna asked as she drank some sake.

When she looked at Koby, unimpressed with what she currently saw, she couldn't help but think of how Garp will help him in the future. Currently, Koby was rather short. His pink hair was in a horrible bowl cut and behind the glasses, his eyes looked rather dull. Even his shoulders were slumped inward on himself, a clear sign of just how small his confidence currently was. And in the hours since they escaped from the ship with Alvida- and under the radar of the Marines who had arrived- the pink haired teen had yet to say anything.

With a chunk of meat in his mouth, "huu? Ouh, thath Kovy!" Luffy swallowed. "He wants to be a Marine," and he took another bite of his drumstick.

Luna nodded, as though she understood the whole thing, and turned to said future Marine. Koby met her gaze apprehensively, then glanced away quickly to look down at his lap. His hands curled into fists around the fabric of his pants as he looked to all the world a man about to receive judgement.

''I see. Good luck, kid! I'm Luna, by the way.'' Koby's head whipped up to the white haired teen, eye wide in shock at her casual answer.

He was so used to hearing that his dream would be impossible... Koby had stopped saying it out loud. Tears sprung up to the corners of his eyes, but with a sharp intake of breath, he managed to hold them back with a tentative smile.

''Um... Thank you. It was always my dream to become a Marine.'' he admitted shyly, and Luna smiled in response.

''Well, if it's your dream, you should make it come true.'' she encouraged, and Koby felt something akin to awe. The way that both Luna and Luffy could just tell him to follow his dreams if he really wants to have them... it was inspiring.

After a moment of silence, where Luna went back to her drink and Luffy continued to eat his food, a question he had thought of earlier came to Koby's mind.

''Hey, are you a pirate too Luna-san? Since you know Luffy-san-'' but was cut off as both Luffy and Luna answered at the same time.

"Yeah!"

"Nope."

The two paused, looked at one another, and scowled.

Confused, Koby watched as they had a silent stare off, before Luffy turned to address him.

"She's part of my crew." he stated firmly, as though it were an obvious fact.

This only irritated the white haired teen though, but Luna took in a breath to calm herself as she turned to face Koby herself.

With an angelic smile on her face, "I told him I'd think about it and decide when we got to Shell Town. I haven't actually agreed."

Koby nervously looked back and forth between them, unsure what to say to the annoyed teens. When they both began to pout in their own ways- Luffy angrily chewing food, Luna grumpily chugging her drink- he decided a change of topic was in order

''Luffy-san... if you are looking for the 'One Piece' doesn't that means you'll have to get into the Grand Line?''

At this, Luffy brightened up and a smile that was all teeth appeared as he affirmed it, ''yeap!!''

''But... that place is known as the pirates' graveyard!'' Koby stated, tone tinged with panic.

''Yeah, that's why I need a strong crew. I already have Luna and-" Luna made a noise of protest at this, but it was ignored by the rubber teen. "-and we're going to check out the second member when we get to Shell Town! There's gotta be a reason as to why he was captured right?"

Koby gasped at this, ''you don't mean... Roronoa Zoro?!''

Luffy smiled as he said, ''if he's a good guy, I'll ask him to join me!'' and started to laugh. His laughs only got louder with every word from Koby that said it was impossible. Koby even went on to explain how Zoro is a demon, but the knowledge didn't seem to phase Luffy in the least. Unbothered, he kept laughing.

Koby looked like he could go crazy at any moment! With a jolt, as though he suddenly remembered something- he turned towards Luna with a hopeful look. ''Please, Luna-san, at least say something!''

At the mention of her, Luffy finally stopped his laughter. Attention on her and smile still on his face, ''right! Do you know about Zoro, Luna?''

Luna thought about it for a moment, unsure as to what to say. She knew of him from both the story and from what she had gathered of the Straw Hat crew when she got here. But Luna's never actually met the guy personally. She decided to omit what she knew of him from her past life and go with what she knew from her current life.

''I've heard the same things Koby's mentioned already. But they're just rumors. I've found no facts or incidences to base them off of, so we can't actually know if they're true or not. If you want to know someone, you should just go and see what they're like yourself.'' Then she glanced at Koby with an earnest expression, ''the world is not always so black and white, Koby. You should never judge a person on just what you've heard about them. You should be able to use your own eyes to see the world and then decide on your own.''

With her piece said, Luna ignored the beaming smile sent her way from Luffy and leaned back against the side of the boat with a small sigh. With everything that's happened today, she was rather tired- swimming against the current of a whirlpool will do that to you, she supposed.

And since Koby was here, she figured that- like in the manga- he would get them safely to Shells Town. He might still be naive and confused for now, but Luna trusted that Koby would become a great Marine in the future.

Just before her eyes closed, Luna spotted Luffy again. Their eyes met, and there was some kind of understanding- along with something she didn't recognize- that passed between them. His smile turned soft, and that was the last thing Luna saw before her eyes closed for her nap.

xxx

It was the gentle poke to her cheek that first brought Luna out of unconsciousness. Then a soft call of her name came, and she groggily opened her eyes. She met two inky black eyes, and her mind went blank.

The two stared at one another for what felt like an eternity, though in reality it was less than a minute. Then, as though they had come to a silent agreement, they both drew back.

Now sat up properly, Luna looked to the hand Luffy extended to her when he stood up. Accepting the offer, Luffy pulled Luna up to her full height as she looked towards the land they were currently docked at.

"We're here already huh?" Luna grinned.

''Yeah!'' Luffy then turned to her with his usual toothy grin. ''Let's go and find this Zoro guy''

Luffy let go of Luna's hand as he hopped out of the boat excitedly. Luna and Koby followed at a more sedate pace. But there was a soft look on Luna's face as she got lost in her thoughts. From what she knew of the story in her previous life, Zoro's character should be very similar to her brothers- in the way that they both had big, soft hearts... despite their want to hide it.

''Oh, Luna! You finally came back?!'' An old fruit seller asked with a big smile after he spotted the white haired teen. Knocked out of her thoughts, Luna sent a kind smile back his way.

''Yeah, I've just come back!'' She was handed an apple when she got close enough, and she accepted the offer with delight. Luna never got tired of the kind gesture each time that she visited the town, not to mention that free food was always nice!

"You know Luna, old guy?" Luffy questioned when he heard the conversation, yet his eyes followed the apple in Luna's hands. "Then, does that mean you can tell me where I can find this Zoro?"

He was about to just take an apple, but Luna gave him hers before he could try. Gleefully he accepted and took a bite of the apple- never one to reject any type of food- but paused in question as the town's people suddenly reeled back in shock. Everyone around them looked so scared and shocked after Luffy's question that Luna had a hard time holding back her sudden laughter.

Luffy, on the other hand, looked rather confused. Koby pushed at Luffy's back, eager to get out of there. He muttered something about how Zoro must have done something really horrible for the villagers to act in such a way from just the sound of his name. Luna gave the old fruit seller a tiny wave as she followed after her two companions.

''I heard that this town is under the protection of Axe Hand Morgan,'' Koby mentioned conversationally. Only this time, he was the cause of the townsfolk's funny reaction. Luffy laughed at this while saying what a weird town while it was Koby's turn to look confused this time. "Zoro I get... but Morgan too...?" he questioned weakly.

Luna put her hand on his head and ruffled his pink hair. There was a sad smile on Luna's face, but her eyes held a knowing glint to them. Koby looked up at her, confused, but paused to take in her expressions. Ever so slowly, a determination came about Koby- as though he understood exactly what Luna wanted to say without her saying anything out loud.

x

''I can't believe I'm finally here. After all that time with Alvida... Finally, Thank you! Luffy-san! Luna-san!'' Koby turned to the mentioned teens with an overly happy expression, but they weren't there anymore.

Instead of being on the road directly behind him, Koby did a double take when he noticed his two companions had climbed up the wall just outside of the Marine fortress!

''Wait! What are you two doing?!'' Koby yelled out.

They both glanced back over at him, their expressions were clearly unimpressed with Koby's question. ''Climbing,'' both said simultaneously, which got Koby to gasp in with shock.

Luna stared at Koby for a second, before she let out a small sigh. She had forgotten just how cowardly the pink haired teen was currently. With a shake of her head, she turned her attention back to the wall. It was time for her to see Zoro for the first time, and that made her rather excited for the encounter.

''Is this Zoro?'' came Luffy's curious voice from beside her as Luna finally pulled herself up to see over the wall.

"Probably! He matches the description that was given for 'Zoro' anyhow." Luna answered him. Koby popped up beside Luna, and cautiously looked over the wall towards Zoro.

''There is no way Zoro would be here. He's probably deep in the fortress, and kept in the prison cells...'' Only, Koby swallowed his words as his eyes caught sight of the tall man strapped down to the cross erected in the center of the fortress courtyard. The preteen froze, open and closed his mouth fearfully, before he lost his grip on the wall and tumbled backwards.

With a front row seat to the sudden fumble, it somehow struck Luna as funny, and she couldn't hold back her sudden spurt of laughter. Luffy gave her a look, and Luna covered her mouth as she looked away, still shaking. After a moment the white haired teen managed to calm down, and avoided the look Luffy still shot her way. With a small shrug at this, Luna turned her head back towards Zoro.

He was a muscular man of average height with lightly tanned skin. He had three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe and a black bandana tied around his left bicep. Long black trousers, with their ends tucked inside of black boots, covered his legs while a plain white shirt with three undone buttons at the collar covered his torso. Around his waist was a green haramaki which would hold his swords- though they weren't present at the moment.

With a slightly closer inspection, Luna noticed just how bad of a shape Zoro seemed to be in. Under the hot sun, he looked exhausted as his skin tone changed to a clammy grey. He also looked very thin- obviously starved. Yet despite it all, the look in his eyes was of a soul who was set to see this through. He truly believed that he could do this.

It was intimidating alright, and Luna could see why Koby had gotten so frightened at the sight. That type of rigid and unbroken spirit was not something that one often saw.

''Those ropes look pretty easy to break.'' Luffy commented, chin in his hand as he stared at Zoro.

This time, it was Luna's turn to shoot Luffy a look- to which he shrugged at. From the ground behind them, Koby shouted up at the duo that they should stop playing games. Zoro could easily kill them if he so wished after all! As he spoke, Koby climbed up the wall a second time.

''Hey...'' All three of them turned to Zoro, eyes wide in curiosity. Though, compared to the other two, Koby looked more scared than curious.

''Hm?'' Luffy questioned and tilted his head curiously.

''Could you please... Come over here and untie me? I've been tied up for a long while, and I'm exhausted...'' Only he didn't look like he was actually asking for help. It looked more like a wolf had just called to some naive sheep to come be dinner.

''Look, he's smiling…!'' Luffy sounded rather surprised by the fact.

''He..! He talked!'' Koby whimpered.

"Did you think he didn't know how...?" Luna questioned plainly, but Koby only continued to whimper as a response.

''I can repay you. I could hunt down a fugitive and give you the rewards. I'm not lying. My word is my oath.'' Zoro continued, and Koby's whimpers grew worse from between Luna and Luffy as his panic grew.

Luffy made a movement to go forwards, and Koby finally cracked. "No! Don't do it, Luffy-san! Don't be tricked by his words- they're lies! When you free him, he'll just kill us in his escape!" he squeaked, and his entire body trembled as he grabbed the side of Luffy's vest to keep him from going any further.

''He can't kill me." Luffy, stated with a factual shake of his head towards Koby. "Because I'm strong too.''

Luna couldn't deny that Luffy was strong. And with the condition he's currently in, Zoro wouldn't be able to hurt the rubber captain even if he wanted to.

Yet, Luna has always wondered what an outcome of a serious fight between the two of them would look like. Would Zoro win, or would it be Luffy? Though, even if Zoro fought with his full strength- and with Luffy's weakness of sharp objects too- Luna thought that it would probably be Luffy who'd win.

On top of it, right now Zoro was rather cocky. She could see it in the way that he stared at them. And, with a little disappointment, Luna realized that's probably how he would stay until he gets defeated by Mihawk later on.

''Ah?'' Zoro's eyes look to Luffy sharply, and much to Luna's amusement, he seemed to have taken the black haired teen's words as a challenge.

A sound caught the group's attention then, and they turned to see what it was. Luna's expression went from surprise to worry as she watched.

'Rika?' she thought, 'was she supposed to be here? I can't remember. She won't get in trouble will she?'

It was a little girl. Short brown hair parted in two pig tails, and a parcel held ever so delicately in her hands as she climbed up a ladder to get to the top of the Marine Base wall.

Luna couldn't take the worry anymore, as it was clear to her just where the girl was intent to go, "Rika?" she called out

The little girl looked towards the voice, surprised. When she noticed how it was just Luna, a happy smile broke out on her face.

''Big sister Luna!'' she greeted happily, but then seemed to remember where she was. With a single finger over her mouth to tell the others to stay silent, the girl proceeded to climb over the wall to get to Zoro.

''Ah..!! Don't do it! It's dangerous!'' Koby whisper-yelled in his panic, worry in his tone and on his face as he watched the girl go.

Rika didn't listen to him though. Luffy, turned to Luna then, but she kept her concerned gaze on Rika.

''Don't worry, I don't think he would do anything to her even if he could.'' Luffy stated, causing Luna to glance at him briefly.

''It's not Zoro that I'm worried about.'' she answered back quietly. It confused Luffy, but he didn't dwell on it too long after he turned his attention back towards the courtyard.

'Don't yell at cute kids, Zoro.' Luna thought as she watched him do so when Rika offered him her rice balls. It irritated her enough to consider punching him, even though she knew full well why it had to be done.

''Roronoa Zoro!!! Don't pick on little kids. I will report it to my father you know!''

Everyone present looked towards where the voice had come from. Instantly Luna got a disgruntled look on her face- like she had just spotted a bug. The first time that he saw her on the island, he had asked her to be his. He even used the fact that he is Morgan's son to get her to agree (as though that fact were enticing.)

'That idiot Daddies Boy...' she thought with annoyance. Luna always held back against him since she knew she shouldn't kill him since he was supposed to be a good Marine... eventually. She also figured that she didn't want to cause trouble with the Marines here. But the urge to punch him... it was strong with this one.

"Ah. A weirdo's just arrived." Luffy commented, to which Luna gave a solemn nod.

''He must be someone important in the Marines…! Thank goodness! The girl is safe now.'' Coby said with relief.

''Do you know him, Lu-...'' Luffy started to say before he abruptly stopped himself when he turned to Luna and saw her face.

There was a look of clear dislike on Luna's face. For the situation or the Marine, Luffy wasn't certain yet, but he knew that something wasn't right as he turned his attention back to the scene before them.

As Helmeppo praised his father like he was some sort of God, Luna gritted her teeth. The fact that Helmeppo currently thought that whatever status his father had gave him the right to stomp on Rika's hard work of a rice ball made her sick. So when Helmeppo ordered his men to throw the small girl over the wall, to distract herself of all the ways she could murder the man in her mind, Luna was quick to push off the top of the wall to catch Rika before Luffy could.

Like an agile cat, Luna twisted in the air with Rika in her arms so that she could land on her feet.

"You alright, Rika?" Luna asked when she had set the girl down on her feet. The girl stared at Luna in shock as she was checked over for any injuries.

Koby jumped off the wall then, and ran over to them with worry plastered onto his face.

With a sigh of relief, Luna looked up when she was sure that the girl wasn't hurt. Her eyes met Luffy's, ''I'm going to take her to her mother. They live in the restaurant that we saw on the way here." she said and a smile came to the noirette's face.

"I'll meet you there, then." Luffy responded before he turned his attention back towards the Marine base courtyard.

With Koby and Rika accompanying her, Luna lead the way to the restaurant. She told Rika about how Luffy and Koby had come to the island with her, and of how- even though he was a pirate- Luffy was a good person. When she mentioned that Koby was a good person too and that he planned to be a Marine, for some reason said pinkette gave her a very happy smile. Luna really didn't understand why or how, but she had somehow made Koby happy with the statement.

An idea came to Luna then, and she smiled mischievously. On her way here, she'd thought a lot about joining Luffy or not. Now she knew her decision, and exactly how to execute it.

In front of the restaurant door, Luna stopped and crouched to Rika's height. "Rika, can I ask you something?" she questioned in a whisper, like it was something top secret she was about to impart to the girl.

Her eyes lit up, "what? What is it, big sister Luna?" Rika whispered back urgently, eager to know what Luna had to say.

Luna smiled, ''when that straw hat-wearing boy comes here, if he says that he wants Zoro in his crew... Tell him that I will join him if he can manage to make Zoro join him. Okay?''

Somehow, Koby managed to look even more shocked than Rika at the statement. Luna wondered why that was- he had seen just how insistent the straw hat captain could be for himself after all. Maybe it was because of her condition to join the crew. Yes, that must be it. Koby had been very insistent that Zoro was a bad person after all. Luna mentally nodded at her conclusion.

''Are you going to leave for good this time? Become a pirate?'' Rika asked sadly, which made Luna's smile soften. Luna gave a nod of her head, mind made up, and Rika let out a soft sigh. Then she brightened up and gave a nod. ''Okay, I'll tell him!''

Luna leaned in and gave the small girl a hug. "Thanks, Rika." she said and gave her one final squeeze before she let go. Then she straightened up and began to walk in the direction of her island house. "You make sure she gets to her mother, Koby!" Luna warned with a smile and wave at said pinkette.

As Luna turned a corner of the street, she heard him say that he would.

xxx

Inside the restaurant, Koby had sat down at a table. It was as he questioned Rika on where her mom could possibly be at the moment that the door to the establishment opened. Koby stopped mid-sentence as he saw that it was Luffy who had just entered. Silently he watched as Luffy's eyes roamed the room, passing over him twice before they finally came to a stop on him.

''Where is Luna?'' was the first thing out of Luffy's mouth after he had joined Koby at the table.

''Big sister Luna went to her home. But, I think she might come back later." Rika answered with a smile.

Luffy opened his mouth to ask another question, but was interrupted when the back door opened. A woman came in with a worried expression on her face, before she let out a surprised gasp when she spotted them at the table.

''Rika! I'd looked all over for you! Where did you go?! And who are these boys?'' She went towards Rika and shot a suspicious look towards Luffy and Koby.

Oblivious to the suspicion, Rika gestured to the two teens grandly. "Mom! These two are friends of big sister Luna!" she exclaimed. Almost immediately, the middle-aged woman relaxed.

''Oh, they are?'' she breathed in relief, Luna's friendship was enough for her apparently. The reaction caused both Rika and Luffy to laugh merrily.

''Oh, you know Luna? I'm Luffy!'' He said with a big grin. A friend of his friend is also his friend

The woman introduced herself. She is Ririka, Rika's mother and the owner of this restaurant. Then she went on about how they knew Luna- of how Luna would be a waitress every once in a while and would sing (on rare occasions only though) for their customers. All in all, the teen was good at what she did.

"Oh yeah, I like her singing too!" Luffy grinned happily, but then pouted, "though, she told me she isn't a musician."

"No, she's not." Ririka smiled as his pout seemed to deepen- if that was possible.

''She goes to different places and comes back with bandits or pirates to take their bounties,'' Rika spoke excitedly. To her, Luna was so cool. Luffy grinned at the girl's enthusiasm, reminded of when Luna had told him of this herself earlier that day.

"So... she's a bounty hunter?" Koby questioned with a tilt of his head, confused.

"Nope!" Rika giggled at Koby's expression, "she just loves to fight and the money's a great bonus! Then she usually always brings those she captures here because these Marines know her."

This didn't help much with Koby's confusion though. ''Know her? Do you need to know the Marines to bring in a bounty?"

This time Ririka answered, ''she doesn't want to be known as a bounty hunter. And, for some reason, she doesn't want her full name to be known. Here, we know her personally, so we don't need to ask about her full name. The Marines know her as De Luna.'' she explained with a calm smile on her face.

''De Luna…?'' Koby repeated as he rifled through his memories.

The name sounded familiar. Where did he...? Abruptly, Koby remembered how he had spotted the name 'De Luna' inscripted on to the side of one of Luna's launchers.

Appeased from the memory, Koby nodded in understanding of Luna's actions. Usually, Marines would ask for all the information of the person who brought in a bounty. It was to make sure that they weren't about to pay a criminal for the capture of another criminal. Then, after several bounties had been handed over to the same individual, they would be addressed as a bounty hunter.

If she didn't want to be a bounty hunter, and didn't want the Marines to know her full name, it made sense that Luna only brought her bounties here as they likely wouldn't accept them anywhere else on so little information.

Ririka's words had Luffy think about when he and Luna had first met. She had no problems in telling him her full name, and just after they had met too. He didn't know much about the underworld, but after everything she's told him, he thought that it might be dangerous if she's recognized.

'Like Ace.' he concluded silently. In the short time they were together, he noticed how she acted a lot like his brother at times. 'Maybe that's why...'

He only knew her for about a day, not even a full one yet. They had just met only this morning, just after sunrise. Yet he felt like they knew each other for longer.

Suddenly Koby's voice cut into Luffy's thoughts.

"So what really happened with Zoro? Why were you trying to feed such an evil guy?" the pinkette asked, which was received with anger by the little girl.

"He's NOT evil!" Rika yelled, "Zoro isn't a bad person! He SAVED my life!"

Interest piqued, ''saved you?'' Luffy asked and Rika nodded.

''Yeah, you see....'' and she told them what happened, how Zoro actually killed Helmeppo's pet wolf because it was about to attack her and was now strung up in the court yard as punishment.

''So, you're saying... Zoro only got arrested because he killed Helmeppo's wolf?'' Luffy asked, annoyed that was the only reason.

"So what if Zoro has a bad enough temper to kill wolves? That isn't a crime." Koby stated as thoughts of what Luna said on the boat rang in his ears at that moment.

'The world isn't always so black and white, Koby. You should never judge a person based only on what you've heard about them. You should be able to use your own eyes to see the world and then decide on your own.' she had said.

''The only bad guys here are Morgan and his goons!! You'll get executed if you disobey them, so everyone is afraid of them." Rika spoke with anger, then settled with sadness as she continued. "Only big sister Luna's not afraid but... she's not always here.''

Just as Luffy was about to speak, they heard the door open again. It was Helmeppo. He laughed as he entered the establishment and sat down at one of the tables. Almost immediately Helmeppo hit the table with his fist to cause a loud bang that made everyone jump at the suddenness of the sound.

"Hey, waitress! What do you think you're doing, making me wait? Hurry it up and get my water already!" he snarled at Ririka, who hurried to complete the sudden order. As she scrambled off, Luffy, Koby and Rika watched as Helmeppo leaned back in his seat and proceeded to kick up his feet onto the table. "Heh. You know what? I think I'll just execute that Zoro publicly, three days from now. It'll set an example to not cross me!" he even snickered as he said it.

The air around Luffy seemed to turn cold as an icy fury built up in the pit of his stomach. "Three days..." he stated quietly, voice rough. Then Luffy turned to face the son of the Marine captain, temper spiked. "Didn't you say you'd give Zoro till the end of the month?"

At the sound of Luffy's inquiry, Helmeppo looked over to him. He raised a brow, "what a rude tone. Do you know whom you're addressing? Who even are you?" Then, as though he had only spoken to himself, his expression suddenly turned gleeful as his tone dripped with mockery when he continued. "What an idiot! Who told you that I'd do that?! I'm merely keeping Zoro on display until I find him worthy enough for the mercy of death."

The world seemed to go white around Luffy, the only ones present being him, Helmeppo and the rage that stirred within him at the words. Knuckles white, Luffy stood and strode over to Helmeppo. Luffy took a fist full of the overly smug captain's son's perfectly ironed white button up, pulled him off his chair, and then punched him in the face with enough force to break his nose.

''Luffy-san!!'' Koby gasped before he ran towards Luffy and tried to hold him back. ''Stop, Please! You want to mess with the marines or something?!'' But then Koby froze when Luffy answered, voice hard with his resolve.

''Koby. I've decided,''

"Wh- what...?" Koby stuttered, taken off guard.

''I'm gonna ask Zoro to join me!!'' A wide grin of defiance appeared on Luffy's face as he said this, eyes locked on how Helmeppo struggled to sit up. The captain's son had fallen and knocked over the dinner table from the force of Luffy's punch.

Other customers who were present stared at the scene in shocked silence from their seats, while the towns people who had heard the commotion and decided to stop to see what had happened had the same reaction. No one was as shocked by this as Koby though, as the pinkette stared up at Luffy with clear disbelief.

Throughout it all, only Ririka stayed calm. Her belief that anyone Luna considered as her friends were good people held firm. If Luna allowed this straw hatted teen to come here, to Ririka, there could only be one meaning.

"Y- you hit me...?!" Helmeppo's voice was riddled with disbelief as he brought a hand down from his nose to stare at the red glob of blood on his palm. Then he looked up to Luffy, face red with rage, "You hit me! Not even my father's ever hit me, and he's Axe-Hand Morgan!"

Luffy moved to go hit the guy again, but Koby quickly placed himself between them and braced against Luffy's movements.

"No! Leave him, Luffy-san, they're Marines!" Koby grabbed fists full of Luffy's button vest. "Calm down, please!"

"So what if they're Marines?!" Luffy growled angiryly, "a bastard is still a bastard, no matter who you work for!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, customers got up from their chairs joined the outside crowd in getting away. Even Helmeppo's guards took a step forwards in attempt to cover their charge from Luffy's view.

''Why don't you fight me yourself?!'' Luffy demanded Helmeppo once the restaurant had emptied of everyone except for Ririka, Rika, Helmeppo, Helmeppo's guards, Koby and himself. A frightened look seemed to come to the captain's son at the thought of fighting Luffy, and his hand went up to hold his nose again.

Koby tightened his hold around Luffy, ''Luffy-san! Don't do this!'' he pleaded.

Two of the Marine guards inched back from Luffy and began to help Helmeppo up while the others kept their tense stares on the straw hatted teen.

''You will regret hitting me! You'll get a death sentence for it!! And my dad will be the one who executes you!'' Helmeppo threatened as he was carried out the door by his fathers men.

Luffy watched him go, then stopped fighting against Koby's hold. The pink haired teen almost fell from the sudden loss of Luffy's weight against his own.

"A guy like that isn't worth being hit." Luffy decided then, despite already having hit him.

''He ran away...'' Koby murmured, and Rika walked up to Luffy. Her eyes sparkled in awe as she tugged lightly on the side of his vest.

"I was scared to death about what would happen to you when you punched him! But you were so cool, big brother! It made me feel better too!" the girl praised, which got Luffy to grin at her.

''Really? I should have hit him a couple more times then!'' he declared loudly as he held up his fists as though to hit an imaginary opponent in front of him. The action caused Rika to giggle happily.

''You said you want to Zoro join you, right?''

Caught a bit off guard from the sudden question from Rika, Luffy paused, "Hm? Yeah. I've decided that Zoro will join my crew!" he declared and gave the girl a wide grin.

''Big sister Luna told me that if you ever decided to have Zoro join your crew, that I should tell you something!'' Rika mentioned with a nod of her small head, which caught Luffy's attention all the more.

''Oh? What is it?'' Luffy questioned, his curiosity of where Luna had gone piquing all the more at the fact that she had left a message for him.

''She said that she would join your crew!'' Rika said excitedly, which got Luffy's eyes to light up. Just as he was about to celebrate the news, Rika continued, "but only if Zoro says he'll join you."

Luffy froze. ''Eh?'' he questioned, tone low and expression suddenly blank.

''Oh, that's right!" Koby spoke up, and put his fist on his open palm as he remembered, "just before she left, she said that if you wanted Zoro in your crew, we should tell you that she will join you. But only if you manage to make Zoro join you.''

Luffy stayed silent for a moment, his eyes shadowed by with his straw hat. He stayed silent for so long, it made Koby a little worried. Then Luffy suddenly burst into laughter!

''She really said that?'' he giggled, and got nods from both Koby and Rika. "Shishishi! Then she's gone to pack her things!" he stated confidently.

Koby gave him an odd look, "What do you mean, Luffy-san?" Then the pink haired teen shivered at the look on Luffy's face as the noirette finally lifted his face.

"Only that Zoro will join my crew." he stated lowly.

"I- is that s- so?" Koby whimpered, now scared for the bounty hunter. Somehow, the grin on Luffy's face almost seemed demonic in that moment. There was no way that the swordsman would be able to get away now.

"Are you okay, big brother? You're sweating up a waterfall!" Rika gasped at Koby, before she noticed Luffy leaving and turned towards him. "Wait! Where are you going big brother Luffy?"

"I'm going to fetch Zoro of course!" Luffy replied easily, as though said swordsman had already agreed to join him on his adventures.

Luffy was very happy. He remembered how he had expressed the desire to see if Zoro would be good enough for his crew on their way here and was pleased to know that Luna approved of the bounty hunter joining. Now all he had to do was get Zoro to say yes, and Luffy would gain not one, but two crew mates because of it. The very thought thrilled him.

x

Luffy, Zoro and Koby were now all seated at the restaurant. When Luffy went to go get the green haired swordsman, Captain Morgan showed up and they ended up in a fight with him. It was pretty sad how easy it was to defeat the Marine's Captain, but the soldiers under Morgan's rule had rejoiced at their captain's defeat.

Now, after being blackmailed into it, Zoro had joined Luffy as his first mate on his pirate crew.

''Since we're going to the Grand Line, how many people are already on our crew?" Zoro asked around the glob of mash potatoes he put in his mouth. Oh good lord, it tasted heavenly! (Especially after no food or water in days!)

Luffy grinned, then pointed between himself and Zoro. "You, me and one other."

Zoro choked. ''Three?! Just a three-person crew?! Can we even call ourselves pirates?!''

"Why not?" Luffy challenged with a laugh, "we're all strong, so of course we can be pirates!"

Zoro was about to yell something again, but he stopped himself. He tilted his head as a thought occurred to him. ''Three? Who is the third one?'' Then Zoro's eyes landed on Koby, which got the pinkette's eyes to widen.

''It's not me!! I want to become a marine, not a pirate!!'' Koby yelled out, and rapidly shook his head and hands to try and get the message across.

''She'll be here soon.'' Luffy interrupted before Zoro could ask another question about it. Then the captain gave his first mate a grin before he returned his attention to the food in front of him.

As though his words were a premonition, as soon as they were said, the restaurant door opened. When Zoro glanced over, he instantly recognized the teen that stood there. She had been with Luffy and Koby when they first arrived to see him after all.

She was shorter in person than he had thought, even with the high heels that she wore she was shorter than Luffy. But it was her eyes that really caught Zoro's attention. They were as blue as the sea, yes, but it was the knowledge that they seemed to hold- the knowing that is there- acompanied by something else (something hinged, perhaps?) that made him second guess her. Why would someone so young have eyes like that?

With a calculating look, Zoro took the time to look over her. The weapons on her person, her jewelry on her wrists, how her white hair had golden strands through it, and overall, how intimidating she could be. Zoro knew from her build alone that she wasn't weak, that she probably knew how to kill a person with each one of the tools strapped to her person with swift precision. Especially that katana clad in black, that he could now see she had at her hip. That, and all the black knives that were in holsters around her hips.

"LUNA!" Luffy called out enthusiastically the moment he spotted her. Out of the corner of Zoro's eye, he could see his captain waving her over to them with a stupidly happy grin on his face. "You ready to leave now? Zoro said yes!"

The corner of his green eyebrow twitched as Zoro was suddenly reminded of how he was blackmailed into saying yes again- but he let out a sigh as he knew there was no backing out now. He never went back on his word after all. When Zoro brought his attention back to Luna from Luffy, he saw the returning smile on her face and- was that a glint of enthusiasm in her eyes? How odd.

'So she's the third one... Luna was it?' Zoro thought as his eyes went back to her katana.

Unconciously, Zoro's hand went to his white katana- the Wado Ichimonji- as memories of Kuina popped up for a moment. A smirk made itself known on his face as he imagined himself in a spar against Luna. She might just put up a good fight, something he hadn't had in a while.

xxx

There wasn't much in Luna's little house that she needed to pack. In fact, it would all be able to fit in her single steel-blue backpack.

First were her books. Some of them were notebooks- only two of which were still empty- that had been filled like a personal logbook... that might have turned into a diary series. There were some informational books too, like her 'How To Exercise Properly For Dummies' book, that she had gathered over the years.

There was even this one book about the Grand Line that she had found a while ago. And now that she would join the Straw Hats, Luna planned to hand it over to Nami after the Arlong arc was taken care of. Besides, it wasn't like she understood much about what was written inside of it anyhow.

Her clothes were next, not that she had many. They got tucked in the backpack, on top of her precious books.

Then Luna picked up chests- all of which locked with a special key- and carefully hid them amongst her clothes in the backpack.

The Government and the World Nobles have never liked those with the letter D in their names. They liked Luna even less. To them, she knew too much. Which was why Luna didn't want to catch their attention if she could help it. In fact, that was one of the reasons as to why she hid her name.

Last to go into her bag were her 'babies'. She placed each one in with care and love so that they wouldn't fall out.

With one last sweep of the living space that she was in, Luna felt satisfied that she hadn't left anything behind. She went out the door- then took three steps back into the house when she spotted a bottle of whisky (still full!) out of the corner of her eye.

"Yoink." Luna grinned as she snatched it off the counter, then left once again.

x

It was Luna's worry of joining the Straw Hats, the changes that she could already have created by doing so, that brought her to the rooftop that allowed her to overlook the Marine base. She tried to not be too loud when she witnessed Luffy actually blackmailing poor Zoro into joining his crew, and laughed. Then again, maybe her volume didn't matter- Luffy had already spotted her here a while ago.

When she arrived on the rooftop, it was just as the Marines had arrived in the courtyard with Axe-Hand Morgan leading them. Her hand had gone to her kanata, and her body tensed in anticipation to jump in should there be any discrepancies that might not let Zoro and Koby live through this. She was going to be part of their crew after all, and she protected her friends fiercely. Especially when she had the power to do so.

Then, like a hot coal had lit up on the side of her head, Luna felt as though someone had spotted her. When she turned in the direction it came from, her eyes locked onto the dark orbs of her future captain. It looked like he had looked out the window before he decided to jump out of it with Zoro's swords in hand- and spotted her while he was at it.

It was only for a split second really, but it was long enough for her to get the message. He wanted her to leave it to him. Luna could see it in his pressing and intense gaze. And it wasn't a favor either- it was an order.

Instantly Luna felt the need to rebel- 'you're not my captain just yet!'- but figured that if she gave in now, how would she listen later? So instead, she took her hand off of her weapon and made a show of sitting down. Luna wasn't sure if the responding satisfied grin he shot her in return pissed her off more or reassured her that all would be fine.

'Or was he mocking me...?' Luna wondered irately as she watched Luffy slingshot himself out of the glass window and to Zoro's defense. Then she shook her head, 'never mind, I don't think he would try to mock people... or would he...?' It gave her a bit of a migraine to think about it.

She got out the bottle of whisky that she had snatched from her house and uncorked it. From around the glass of the whisky bottle, Luna watched as Zoro and Luffy teamed up to take down the Marines with ease.

"They're a good team for just meeting one another," Luna sighed out after she had swallowed. She licked her lips and a smirk grew as she witnessed Luffy finally punch Helmeppo. "That's more like it...!" she took a victory swig.

Then Luna almost choked on her drink when her gaze met Luffy's for a second time that evening. Zoro had fallen limply to the ground in his exhaustion- that's what happens when you don't eat, drink, or move for days on end, then suddenly decide to take part in a fight- and before Luffy turned to help him, he looked her way.

A cocky smirk had appeared on his face, and he rose a brow at her as though to ask 'what'd you think of that?'

It was a look that Luna had never expected to see on the rubber captain's face, especially when she was expecting certain characteristics from him due to the story. Though surprises like this- the differences between reality and fiction- when it came to personalities, always managed to amuse her. Especially when she had been geared to expect certain characteristics from people due to the manga she read.

In response to Luffy's quiet question, Luna rose her whisky bottle in a toast and sent him a smile. She didn't think he'd be this proud over his actions today, but figured he deserved it after obtaining two crew members in one shot. The straw hatted captain turned away, but Luna could hear his loud boisterous laugh from where she sat anyways. And from the looks on their faces, Luna deduced that both Zoro and Koby both thought the rubber captain was mad in that moment.

As the guys walked away towards the restaurant, Luna got lost in her thoughts.

There would be no turning back for her now. She had already agreed to go with Luffy after all, and she planned to keep her word. At first she had been determined to stay away from the Straw Hats. She even wrote a coded book from her memories as an assassin to remember the main plot points to their story so that she could steer clear of them. But then... she went out to try and fulfill her promise to her brother. Quickly Luna had realized just how lonely it was without other people with you. It was lonely enough that Luna knew she'd eventually go mad from it.

Then she actually met Luffy, spent time with him, and got to know him somewhat. What she found was that the manga she read on his life and reality were two very different things. Sure a lot of things that happened in the manga actually did come to pass eventually, but it wasn't exact. It wasn't perfect.

Besides, for all she knew, a meteor could fall on the earth just after Wano. No, they might even die there... Maybe the only reason they didn't is because people wanted the manga to continue and everything after that point was made up.

A slow sigh left her as she shut her eyes. Luna probably didn't need to worry about her presence too much in the long run. She would take everything as it came, face it head on with her crew and do her damnedest to survive with them.

Maybe it was because of the liquor, but the thought of surviving with them brought a smile to her face. Yeah, she would protect them. They're her friends now, after all.

xxx

'He's looking at my katana,' Luna thought as a smirk came to her face and she put her hand on it's black hilt. 'Will he want to spar?' Zoro's eyes left her katana and met her own. His smirk grew in response. 'That's a yes.' she grinned to herself happily, and briefly thought of the next place were they could do so.

''Hey!'' she greeted them with a big smile, and waved back before she joined them at the table. She put her backpack down on the floor beside her as she sat, then smiled and thanked Ririka as the woman put some food and sake in front of her.

''Luna! This is Zoro, our newest crew member! He is a swordsman who uses three swords all at once! Zoro, this is Luna!'' Luffy introduced them with his never-ending, bright smile all the while he ate. How they understood him.... who knows?

Luna laughed and glanced at Luffy, ''actually, Luffy, I'm the new crew member since I joined right after Zoro.'' This caused Zoro to look confused as Luffy blinked like he just noticed that.

Then he laughed, ''you're right! Zoro! This is our newest crew member, Luna!'' Somehow, this seemed to make Zoro even more lost and Luna burst out into laughter due to the look on his face. Koby, Rika and Ririka seemed to follow easily enough, and laughed with Luna and Luffy happily.

''What are guys talking about? How could she have joined after me when this is the first time that we're all together? When did this happen?'' Zoro questioned, still very confused.

Koby was the one who decided to explain, ''it was a deal between Luffy-san and Luna-san. Luffy-san was trying to make her join him for a while now, see. So after miss Rika joined us, Luna decided that if Luffy-san wanted you to join his crew, then she would join after you had agreed." He smiled as he spoke, enjoying the incredulous look on Zoro's face.

''She was watching us from a roof the whole time.'' Luffy added with a grin, like the thought amused him.

Luna thought that he really didn't have to add that she watched the whole thing.

''Ehhh?!! Luna-san! You were there too???!!'' Koby spluttered in surprise, eyes wide with disbelief.

'Thought so,' Luna thought with a mental sigh, then gave them a nonchalant smile. "Yup." she confirmed aloud anyways.

Koby was no so easily appeased however, "you could have helped out though!" he pointed out, and tears began to form at the corner of his eyes as he stared at her.

''Well, it worked out in the end right?! You should look at the future, not the past.'' Luna deflected with a laugh and took a drink of her sake.

From that answer, Koby looked like it was gonna drive him insane. Zoro still didn't seem to know what to do about this bet that had been made on him. And Luffy laughed merrily at Luna's answer while (somehow) managing to not choke on his food.

''What were you gonna do if he had decided that I shouldn't join?'' Zoro questioned suddenly, which got everyone's attention.

Luffy stopped his laughter but didn't stop eating. Instead a smile was left in place as he ate, as though he already knew what the answer would be.

Luna put down her drink and lifted an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have joined, obviously." she stated plainly, which got Zoro to smirk.

The teen looked over Zoro appraisingly then. She might not know him personally, but she knew from the manga just how strong he would be- the potential he has. Even without the story, she had felt the determination in Zoro's words when he had spoken to them.

At the moment, Luna wasn't sure who would be stronger in a fight- her or Zoro. He wasn't strong enough to take her on at full strength at the moment... so it might end up in a draw if she used nothing but her katana to fight.

It was the future that she really looked forwards to though. When he finally learned Haki... he would be strong. She only knew a little Haki at the moment, so she'd have to learn some too. But that meant that they would both grow strong- because Luna was not weak, nor would she tolerate herself being so- and their spars would become all the more interesting. The thought made her smile in anticipation.

''So you're after Hawk-eye?'' Luna suddenly asked. She was a little excited, as she knew that they would see said legendary swordsman soon.

Zoro's eyes grew a little wide in his surprise, "Ho-"

Luna cut him before he could even ask while she gave him a look that portrayed just how stupid she thought the question to be. ''I was on the roof'' she deadpaned which got Zoro to frown at her.

''You know him?'' He asked as he glanced at his white katana, which got Luna to think of how similar she and Zoro were- fulfilling promises to dead people.

''I sailed to the sea to find him.'' He glanced at Luna with a glint in his eyes, that lingered on Luna's black sheathed katana for a moment. Then he brought his eyes up to meet hers, "what about you?''

Luna laughed at this, ''don't worry! I don't care about that title. I'm not a pure swordsman anyways.'' she dismissively waved her hand and looked at him with some amusement in her eyes. Zoro gave a nod at the answer, and if Luna hadn't been watching, she probably would have missed the way his shoulders sagged the barest amount at the omission. Had he been that worried to fight against a crew member for the title? Luna pretended like she didn't notice.

"I might carry a sword, but that doesn't mean that I want to be the greatest, you know? Besides, I know the guy and I couldn't beat him right now anyhow. And there are a lot of people out there who also know him, or know of him." Luna continued, her tone falling to be a little like a reprimand before she quickly lightened it.

'Is he embarrassed?' Luna thought with a lighthearted chuckle as she spotted red on Zoro's cheeks when she had finished speaking. 'I wonder what he'd do if I cooed at him to not be.'

''I don't know him though...'' Luffy commented sadly, almost sulking at the omission.

"Don't you worry, Captain," Luna turned to him with a smile, and he seemed to brighten up at the title. "I can teach you everything that I know!"

Suddenly, Luffy's smile looked a little strained. 'Lessons,' he thought with a shiver as traumatic memories with his grandfather popped up in his head. He blinked twice before he turned to Zoro, as though Luna hadn't suggested trying to impart knowledge to him. Zoro blinked in confusion but went with it while Luna let out a small sigh from being ignored.

Luffy looked to Zoro then, "Luna's pretty smart you know! She already knows a lot, and she's really good at gathering information." The straw hatted captain nodded sagely at his own words, proud of the way he had said them.

Zoro's attention went to Luna then, and saw that she too now nodded sagely with the captain, clearly proud of herself and flattered from his words. The swordsman wasn't sure what to make of the duo as he sighed with exasperation in his mind.

''How long have you guys known each other? Koby said Luffy was trying to make you join for a while now, right?'' he questioned wearily, but was shocked silent by their quick answer- one he did not expect for how they acted.

''We met this morning.'' they both said simultaneously, and Zoro nearly fell off his chair. Luna asked him if he was okay with a concerned look on her face and he replied- rather sarcastically- that he was fine. Luffy laughed jovially before he returned to finish his meal.

As they ate their food, Koby brought up the topic of joining the Marines. He was worried they might think him a pirate because he had sided with Luffy and Zoro during the fight- something Zoro smirked and teased him about. Luna left it be, since she knew that Luffy could handle it, and entertained herself by a conversation with Rika.

Luckily enough, it was just as Luffy was about to finish off his food that the Marines finally showed up. Luna took one glance at the door before she decided that it would be good pack up some food for later. As Koby and Luffy got in their fight, Luna procured some alcohol from Ririka and said her goodbyes with both mother and daughter before she joined her crew mates in exiting the establishment.

When the Marines saw Luna follow the two pirates, they began to mutter amongst themselves and share uncertain looks. Then the vice captain of the Marines, now in charge since Morgan's defeat, bravely stepped forwards. "Wait. Are you going with them, Luna?''

''Yeah, I've decided that I would become a pirate.'' Luna said with a grin to him as she slung her bag of food over her shoulder ('like Santa's bag of presents', she thought briefly with amusement), over top her backpack.

There was a pause as the Marines registered what she said. Then, ''I'm not going to say anything for now, but if I'm ever asked for information, I will use the name 'De Luna' to refer to you!" the vice captain informed with a shout as Luna left with Luffy and Zoro. The white haired teen grinned, but didn't look back as she waved to them in thanks.

'De Luna,' she considered. The name was only really well known to those in the underworld, or to those who shopped in the blank market. Otherwise, it was unknown.

Admittingly, Luna was glad that one of the rules to the underworld was to 'never speak of what you hear here to anyone'. It would keep her somewhat safe after all. Well, for now at least, it would be fine for the Marine to have that name. For the world to know her by it.

Besides, it was on her rifle. Someone was bound to use it eventually.

Now that she thought of it though, some of the Straw Hat's future enemies might know about her because of that name. They'd recognize her for sure then. Luna had made her own enemies too, along the way to get to this point in her life. They'll become part of the Straw Hat's enamies if she wasn't careful on how she handled them... but there wasn't anything she could do about that at the moment.

When they reached the tiny sailing dinghy, Luna shook off her thoughts and hopped in. Zoro sat opposite to her and pushed off the dock so that they could get moving. Immediately Luffy went to the head, after he had unfurled the sail, and plopped down on top of it with a big grin.

''Let's go!'' Luffy shouted in excitement as he punched the air in front of him to punctuate the statement.

The pirate crew of three turned at a sudden shout. On the docks was Koby. He gave them a salute as he said goodbye, and soon the rest of the Marine platoon stationed at Shell Town appeared to follow Koby's example.

"See you later!"

Even without Luna's knowledge of the future, everyone present somehow knew that they would see Koby again.

This was how my adventure with the Straw Hat's began.

(A/N: This fiction is currently going under editting by the beta reader 'Wondla Master' Rest of the chapters will be editted like this chapter.

Some of the character's weapons are inspired by Harley Quinn.

I hope you enyojed the story!)