The Sand Trap And Re-Enter Fire-Fist Ace...

(Warning this will be split into 3 parts)

Chapter 22 - The Sand Trap and Re-Enter Fire-Fist Ace...

Chopper seemed to be too happy to speak. They all were sitting on the ground and watched as he lay back in the soft dirt and smiling with his eyes closed. As if he was dreaming of pleasant things.

"You glad that you got to see home again Chopper?" Nami asked with a smile as bright as his.

"Yep," Chopper giggled to himself. "But I loved watching those memories even more! It brought everything back! Like the reason I wanted to go out to sea in the first place! It's great!"

"And look at how far you've come since then," she told him as he jumped back up and began jumping around happily. The rest of the crew laughed a little at how cheerful and carefree Chopper was acting here.

"Yow! What a SUPER thing to see first-hand!" Franky called, jumping back to his feet with a clunking noise. "I can't begin to describe it!"

"I know what you mean! Yohohoho!" Brook said, his voice filled with awe. "Such an amazing will it would've taken to get up that mountain! I was freezing to the bone just watching! Course that's easy for me as I am already all bone! Yohohoho!"

"What about you two?" Usopp suddenly asked Nami and Sanji, and they looked at him in confusion until he added, "About seeing him… go through all that? I mean… you ok with it?"

They both looked down at the ground, neither one said anything until Sanji sighed, leaning up with his back to the tree trunk, lighting up another cigarette. "I should've guessed that he would do something like that," he said, as he put away his lighter. "I mean, when I woke up and saw him all bandaged up, you'd think I'd realized what might've happened."

"I think we all knew," Robin offered, "After all, it wouldn't be the first time that he put himself on the line for a friends. And I think it's safe to say that it won't be the last. He can be very protective of us all. So is it really that surprising that he would risk his health in such a way?"

No one could think of anything to say to that as they all rested and thought it over. As amazing and touching as it was, everyone also felt disturbed and anxiety in the pits of their stomachs and spread to their souls. This had been very painful to witness… to see a friend struggling so hard for the sake of their lives… and even harder to think about the pain and damage that Luffy was willing to put himself through for all that.

It was cruel, and a bit of twisted irony that felt like it could rip the ground from their feet. It felt like a bad dream, in reality. It only made the fact that they've failed to find this creature after all this even more pathetic. Around them, the familiar memory shift came back and they were back on the deck of the Merry.

The small band of pirates within the memory were gathered around each other. But what really got their attention was the fact that another man—at least they thought it was a man—was there with them. Dripping wet and gasping for breath, he was a very tall, male ballerina with heavy makeup, and a pair of swan heads on the back of his pink coat.

"BON CLAY!" Chopper and Usopp both cried out happily.

"Who?" Brook asked in confusion as he and Franky both looked at him with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"That would be Mr. 2: Bon Clay," Robin answered.

"Wait, so he's the enemy?" Franky said in revelation.

"He was!" Usopp said quickly, "But he was our friend!"

"We owe him big time," Sanji sighed. And he explained that after they were able to beat Crocodile and put a stop to the rebellion, ballerina boy hid their ship from the Marines when they were looking all over for them. And how he had even disguised himself and his men as themselves in order to draw away the Marines pursuing them.

"Wow," Brook whispered in astonishment.

"A true man!" Franky cried, blowing his nose loudly on a tissue. "Even though you were once enemies, he still sacrificed himself for you all!"

"Yeah," Usopp said sadly looking at him.

"You don't think that Bon-chan is really dead do you?" Chopper asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

No one could think of an answer for him. In truth, they didn't know what they could say to him to that. But then, the Bon Clay they were watching was gasping out, "I thought I was going to die there for a minute." He looked up to the Straw Hats and said, gratitude in his voice, "HEY! You saved me thanks! I never imagined that my life would be saved by a group of complete strangers. Thanks again," he bowed his head several times, "I'll never forget your kindness, but could I trouble you for a cup of warm soup? Chicken noodle will do."

"Pushing his luck here," Sanji said in amusement. He remembered how Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Carue had eaten all the food that he had carefully laid out for them all to last until they reached Alabasta. He shook his head, not for the first time, truly grateful that they got a fridge with a lock.

"NO WAY!" the memory Straw Hats all screamed at Bon Clay.

"We can't even feed ourselves!" past Zoro yelled, all of them looking dangerous at the reminder that they were starving.

They watched as Bon Clay flirted with Vivi and began to show off his abilities to them. For Brook and Franky, who hadn't seen his powers, they were as stunned as the memory selves. They learned here that Bon Clay had the powers of the Clone Clone Fruit, which allowed him to become a flawless copy of someone he touch with his right hand, in both face and body.

His antics immediately amused them, and Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper fell head over heels for his ability. To Nami's dismay, he once transformed into her and allowed them all to view her breasts which caused Sanji, Franky, and Brook to all start drooling. And as memory Nami punched out Bon Clay, the present-day Nami clobbered all three men.

Bon Clay, however, recovered from that quickly as he began changing faces for Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper's amusement. Soon they were dancing and looking ready for another good party when Bon Clay's ship showed up and he had to leave. But as he did, his crew called him by his Baroque Works codename, surprising all of the Straw Hats - even Vivi did not know who he was, despite being told about what he looked like.

"Really?" Franky asked exasperatedly. "She was given the complete description of the guy but she still didn't know who he was? How many male ballerinas does she know?"

"Yeah, Vivi could be a bit dense at times," Nami agreed with a sigh. "I remember when we were travelling across Alabasta and she kept forgetting to warn us ahead of time of the dangers of the desert. Like giant scorpions and lizards…"

But what really upset Vivi was the fact that one of the faces that they saw turned out to be her father—the king of Alabasta.

"That's not good," past Zoro said with concern in his tone, "If he can mimic the face of a king that easily, Mr. 2 has the potential to cause a lot of trouble."

"Looks like we let a really bad guy get away today huh?" past Usopp asked and Chopper looked surprised as he asked if he really was a bad guy.

"Shame," Franky sighed. "He seems like a real riot to have around."

"Seems so," past Nami said anxiously, walking around, "And having him on the other side is not a good thing. If Mr. 2 realizes that we're the ones that Baroque Works is after, then he can use the memories from earlier to transform into any one of us. We won't even be able to trust our own friends!"

"That would be a problem," Robin stated, "But now that you have seen Mr. 2's power in person, you won't be taken by surprise later."

"It was a bit of a mixed blessing," present-day Nami agreed as her past self looked annoyed with Luffy, who didn't seem to understand.

But suddenly, memory Zoro stepped in. "No, hold on a sec," he clapped a hand on Luffy's shoulder as an wicked smirk appeared on his face. "Luffy's slow but he's also right not to be scared. Just hear me out on this one and I think you'll agree… it's actually a good thing that we ran into Mr. 2 when we did because now we can prepare and then beat him at his own game."

"What did you have in mind, Zoro-san?" Brook asked as the memory faded at that. "You had a plan?"

"Yeah, and it was probably the one good plan he ever had," Sanji said causally as Zoro swung his sword at him, which he easily dodged. "As dull and slow as always."

"Did you just call me dull and slow?!" Zoro yelled at him.

"ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Nami yelled, giving them both hard pounds on the head and knocking them to the dirt. "CAN'T YOU GO FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT FIGHTING?!"

"Nami… swaaaannnnn…" Sanji swooned with a face-full of dirt.

"As harsh as ever," Robin said lightly as Chopper hid behind Usopp again. The next memory was up again and they were glad to see that they were still on the Merry—but everyone was tying bandages around their arms.

"Did something happen?" Brook asked in worry. "Were you attacked on the way to Alabasta?"

"Well, we did have a run-in with a giant Sea Cat, and spotted a fleet of Baroque Works ships, but these aren't injuries," Nami explained, moving her long hair out of her face and calmed down.

"It really was a good idea," Usopp added quickly, hoping to stay on her good side so that she wouldn't have a reason to hit him. The answer came to Brook, Franky, and Robin when Zoro finished wrapping his own arm up. "Just make sure you tie it tight! I don't want anyone fooled by the enemy's disguises!"

"What a good plan," Vivi said, as she finished tying one on Nami's arm.

"We'll always know who are friends are," memory Nami said firmly. "Just look for the bandage on their arm."

"Oh, I get it now!" Brook said happily. "So you can tell who is who!"

"Not bad," Franky said in an enthralled voice. Robin didn't say anything, knowing that Baroque Work's information network had been top notch. So they eventually found out about the bandage tied around the left arms—but she just watched on—knowing that it was no longer important.

"This Clone Clone Fruit guy," past Sanji said the bandage in his mouth as he finished tying his own on, "Does he really look that similar when he turns into someone else?"

"You have no idea, it's the same not just similar!" memory Usopp said, "It was crazy! Really! You should've seen it Sanji! He changed into every one of us! Even Nami! And we got to dance with him!" But Sanji said that he wasn't the least bit interested in dancing with a male ballerina.

Present-day Sanji shivered at the very thought, feeling the urge to start choking up blood just thinking about it. Now he wouldn't mind in the slightest if it was a beautiful woman ballerina he would be dancing with, but he was forever scarred by the idea of drag queens. They weren't normal in his mind… he covered his mouth, feeling sick of his memories in hell.

"We know that someone with his powers is somewhere among the enemy," past Zoro said, holding up his arm, "So we need to be really careful to be on our guard at all times."

Memory Chopper came forward and asked Usopp. "So," he said in a determined voice, "What should I do to help against this guy?"

"Just do whatever it is you can do!" past Usopp said firmly, "You're not expected to do anything more, Chopper. And if you get overwhelmed, then just run!"

"You realize that sounds pathetic put like that," Sanji said to Usopp who gave him a nasty look.

"I was just speaking the truth!" Usopp answered firmly. "Just do what you can and hope that it's enough!"

"Sounds like the pep talk he always gives himself," past Sanji said and Usopp shot both past and present Sanji furious looks.

"Whatever it is I can do!" past Chopper said softly to himself before he looked up. "I got it!" he declared and they then heard Luffy from the front of the ship call that he could see the island.

Looking up, the present-day Straw Hats glanced up to see an island covered in sand and brick houses that could only be a town in the distance.

"Looks like you all finally made it," Brook said quietly.

"Yeah, all it took was a couple giants, near starvation, and an avalanche," Nami sighed as memory Zoro unwrapped the bandage so that they could see the black 'X' put underneath. So that if there was even the slightest suspicion that something was wrong, they were to take off the bandage and show them the mark. If they couldn't do that then that would prove that they were an imposter.

"Again, the only time that he came up with a good idea," Sanji said loudly as Zoro glared at him with his one eye.

"I dare you to say that again!" he yelled.

"Oh, believe me, I can say a lot more!" Sanji retorted as his past self stated that it wasn't like Zoro to come up with something like this and stated that he must be an imposter. But when past Zoro yelled that he was going to kill him it cleared up any suspicions that Luffy and Usopp had.

"I can't believe that you believed that idiot!" Zoro growled furiously at him.

"Well… no we didn't," Usopp stuttered quickly, clearly lying. He was grateful that Luffy stood up and making a speech for them all as he held out his arm to see the bandage. "Ok, no matter what happens on that island, remember, this thing on all our arms…!"

Just then, everyone moved in to hold out their arms as well—even Vivi and Carue—and they formed a circle as Luffy finished yelling out, "Is a sign of our friendship! Now! Let's land ok?!"

"That is so sweet!" Brook said happily as the memory faded. But he seemed to become a little melancholy as he looked at his own arm to see the bone. He never really thought about tattoos but he was now wishing that he could be part of that circle as well.

Robin seemed to understand as she clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Friendship is more than a symbol or an object," she reminded him and he looked up at that.

"Yohohoho, you're right, Robin-san," he said, and though it was hard to tell with his skeletal face, but he appeared to have been smiling. "I almost forgot that. Ah, Robin-san, would you be so kind enough to show me your…?"

"Don't push it Brook," she answered lightly and he sighed in disappointment as they waiting for the next memory to show up.

The memory restarted and the Straw Hats found themselves in a desert town. They could see the heat waves coming out of the ground and see the burning sun above them. On either side of them were booths filled with vendors, all trying to get people to come in close to buy something from them. But as they looked around for themselves, they spotted themselves running towards them.

Most of them were suddenly dressed in assortment of clothes that covered them up and were clearly made for crossing the desert. Only Luffy remained in his usual clothes, and the women were dressed in outfits consisted of a blue and purple halter top with a pink shroud and a long white skirt with the top part blue and showed a lot of skin.

"Ohhhh!" Brook said in wonder. "What a wonderful outfit, Nami-san!"

"Shut up," Nami snapped at him, shooting Sanji an annoyed glare since it was his fault that he went and bought those dancer clothes. Though she couldn't deny that she loved that outfit as well.

"What are you all running from?" Robin said in interest, recognizing those looks of anxiety on their faces. But that was answered almost at once. Smoker was there with a whole crowd of Marines right behind him.

"What's he doing there?!" Franky yelled as they ran ever closer to them, "I thought you left him back in Lougetown!"

"We did," Zoro said loudly as their past selves caught up with them and they all turned to run with them, "But he followed us all the way to Alabasta!"

"Wait, what? Why would he do that?!" Brook called out.

"Who knows?" Sanji cried out, looking around at once. If his memory was as good as he thought it was, then this was the place where they'd… then as Smoker threw out a fist of smoke towards them, a wall of fire appeared out of nowhere and blocked the attack.

"What is that?!" Brook called, thinking the worse as they all stopped and stared behind them at the protective wall.

"Don't worry!" called out Nami joyfully. "This time it was an ally helping us out here!"

And she was right. From within the smoke, a familiar figure appeared. Bright orange hat, a dark purple tattoo on his back, messy black hair falling over a face full of freckles and a wide grin…

"ACE!" Franky yelled happily.

"That's right," Robin smiled, "You did mention that you ran into him here in Alabasta!"

"Oh, it's so good to see him again!" Chopper called happily, jumping up and down in joy. He really missed seeing memories of him and Luffy as little kids.

"You again," Smoker sneered at Ace.

Ace just smirked right back. "Just give it up!" he called as the flames burned around his body, dispelling the smoke. "While you may have the power of smoke, mine is fire! A fight between the two of us would be pointless! It'd probably go on forever!"

"I forgot how cool he was," Usopp laughed happily. "You go Ace!"

"You know, it's nice to have a Logia Devil Fruit User on our side for once," Nami said, also smiling widely. Their past selves were all frozen where they stood, staring back at him

Even past Zoro looked deeply unnerved by this as he proclaimed, "Alright, it looks like the mystery man has Devil Fruit powers."

"You knew him?" Franky asked at once.

"I remember seeing him in town while we were getting new clothes," Zoro told him. "He was talking to some old lady if she had seen Luffy. I knew he was part of the Whitebeard Pirates thanks to that mark on his back, but I didn't know that he and Luffy were brothers until here."

As past Usopp cried out if any of them knew who he was and why he was helping them, Luffy stepped forward, a look of stunned disbelief on his face. "That you, Ace?"

Ace smirked even wider as he turned to look back at him. "You haven't changed a bit, Luffy."

"It is you! Really?" Luffy cried, his face still registering shock, "Wow, did you eat a Devil Fruit or something?"

"How else would he be doing all this?" Usopp asked as Ace answered back, the fire dying down a little bit.

"Yeah, the Flame Flame Fruit," he said but he kept his eyes on the Marines as they started to organize themselves. "Anyway, now's probably not the time for chatting. You guys get outta here. I'll catch up! Don't worry about these guys, I got 'em! Go on!"

Smiling, a look of understanding came over his face, Luffy nodded at once as he turned and called for them all to follow him.

"But… LUFFY?!" past Nami cried in surprise.

"Who is that guy back there?!" Sanji added. They ran on with each one of them asking who it was who just helped them, asking if they had knew him from somewhere. It was then that he finally came out and told them the truth. "Yeah! He's my big brother!"

"That was a real shock to hear that the man we ran into was his brother," Usopp said shaking his head as the past selves all had looks of stunned disbelief on their faces as well.

"BROTHER?!" they all shrieked when suddenly they saw it. A tower of smoke and flames spinning rapidly like a tornado in the distance was rising up from behind the buildings and that got everyone's attention.

"Oh, boy… he must be going to town back there!" Franky laughed with a long whistle and they all stopped running to look at it in wonder. The people around them were all staring at it as well, and muttered worriedly to what was going on.

"Truly a sight to see!" Brook said, "Ace-san is as strong as I thought he would be!"

They all talked about the power that Ace had before Nami turned back to Luffy and asked if he really was his older brother.

"Yep!" he said proudly, his eyes never once leaving the tower of flames. "His name's Ace!"

"Look, I'm not surprised to hear you have a brother Luffy," memory Zoro said impatiently, "But what's he doing here on the Grand Line?"

"I guess we should've known that he had a brother from the very start," current Zoro nodded to himself. Yep, it was clear that Luffy's competitive streak had to come from somewhere.

"Ace is a pirate just like I am, he left home three years before I did to search for the One Piece," he explained, smiling the whole time. They all stared at him, but the fireball was slowly growing bigger and Nami reminded them all that it was time that they just kept going. The fireball suddenly billowed out in almost like an explosion as went back to running.

"Wow, I'd never thought I'd run into my big brother in a place like this!" Luffy said happily. He was running backwards so that he could keep his eyes up on the action in the sky here.

Chopper had to nod his head to that as he changed to his Walk Point so that he could have an easier time keeping up with them all. As they ran, memory Nami cried for them to turn left… which Luffy did, but since he was backwards, he ended up going his left instead of their left and went down a different street.

"So that's what happened, that idiot!" Nami yelled as they went after him, still staring happily up at the smoke.

"Well, to be fair, he did go left," Robin laughed a little as Luffy eventually realized that he was lost and was looking around the alleyway that he was now in, clearly not understanding what happened here. He set down the barrel of water that he was carrying and sat up on it as he stared around.

"What the…? Oh that's weird," Luffy muttered, folding his legs and arms. "I could've sworn they were right here. Now they're all gone, where'd they go?"

"If you had been paying attention you wouldn't have gotten lost!" Nami snapped, shaking her head. Really, trying to keep Luffy outta trouble was like watching a toddler who had just learned to walk. You couldn't take your eyes off him for one minute before he got into trouble.

Suddenly a shadow appeared above them and that good-natured voice, with a hint of fondness in it suddenly spoke. "Well, guess giving you a chance to escape was pointless?"

They all looked up and there he was.

"HEY!" Ace called from the rooftop—looking a little but older and more muscular than he had been when he left Goa.

"Hiya, Ace!" Luffy exclaimed happily, grinning widely as he jumped down to his little brother.

"It's been awhile hasn't it?" he said brightly, looking at him up and down.

"I see that three years at sea really did him a lot of good," Usopp said, looking at his muscles. He then felt his own, remembering the two years of fighting for his life against man-eating plants and giant insects—yeah, he supposed that struggling to stay alive would do that to anyone.

"You could say that," Luffy said, his eyes lighting up brightly so that he looked even more child-like than usual as Ace laughed. Luffy jumped from the barrel and suddenly the two began to arm wrestle with each other.

"They've barely even said hello to each other and they're already competing," Nami sighed.

"Of course," Franky laughed, knowing that all too well. "You honestly don't understand brothers, Nami."

"How many years has it been?" Luffy asked as he began pushing hard on his brother's arm.

"Eh, I don't know," Ace answered honestly as he kept his arm steady. "But you haven't changed that much in that time. You're a little taller but you pretty much look the same."

"They both do," Chopper said thinking back to the memories of when they were together as kids. "Neither of them seemed to have changed much."

Luffy tried harder to push Ace's arm down. "So do you. Aside from those powers you got from eating a Devil Fruit you haven't changed a bit!" Just as he was starting to push the arm down he went on, "Remember when you used to sneak into the fields, eat a hundred watermelons, spit the seeds out like a Gatling gun and run away?"

"No, that wasn't me," Ace said as he straightened his arm. "That was you!"

"How could he get that wrong?" Usopp asked himself softly.

"The Farmers would chase you and you'd scream like a girl!" Luffy went on.

"That was you too!" Ace countered, they were now dead even in their arm wrestling match. "I watched and laughed!"

"Oh, doesn't that sound so cute?" Robin laughed.

"Loving siblings…" Brook said fondly. Both brothers faces were red in the face as they kept attempting to win—and they were all wondering who would give out first. In the end, it was the barrel. It broke apart underneath them and the water splashed out everywhere.

"They broke it?" Nami yelled out. "Water always costs a lot in a desert kingdom. Especially in the middle of a drought like Alabasta—that water wasn't cheap!"

"I guess we're still the same," Luffy concluded, both still holding onto each hands before they gave the other a high five. "Just like old times," Luffy finished grinning.

"You know… I was really put out with Luffy for getting himself lost like that," Usopp said suddenly. "After we got back to the Merry and realized that he was lost, again, I was getting ready to give him a beat down myself."

"But I think we can all understand," Robin laughed a little. "This was the first time that they had seen each other in all this time, so I guess it's only fair to let them catch up a little."

"Yeah, and I really did like meeting Ace!" Chopper said loudly. "I'm really glad that we could before…" he stopped and trailed off. No one had to ask him what was wrong however as they looked grimly back to the two.

"Wait," Ace said suddenly as he reached into his bag and pulled out a canteen of water, "Wasn't your crew looking for you a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah," Luffy said as he watched Ace drink before he asked him what he was doing here in Alabasta in the first place. Ace looked surprised at the question and said, "I take it you never receive the message I left for you back on Drum Island?"

Chopper blinked in surprise at that. "You mean that Ace was back at Drum?" he said startled.

"I... I guess," Nami said, thinking it over, but before she could come up with an answer, Luffy asked him what he was talking about.

Ace waved his hand dismissively. "Well, guess that's a no. Don't worry, it's no big deal. It was to let you know that I would be in Alabasta for a few days I'm in these waters on some business."

"Business, huh?" Luffy asked curiously as Ace wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and tossed the canteen at him as he explained that he was now with the Whitebeard Pirates.

"The Whitebeard Pirates?" Luffy repeated in surprise as he drank some of the water.

"Yeah, you don't really picture Ace working under someone else," Zoro stated. "Ace isn't one to trust that easily. So this Whitebeard must've truly been something else."

"I guess," Usopp nodded, remembering how cold that Ace had been before and how he used to fight with his brothers on how he would never work for anyone.

Meanwhile, Ace turned around to show Luffy the tattoo of the purple mark of the Whitebeard Pirates on his back. "See this tattoo, that's our mark… and it's my pride."

Luffy continued to drink before Ace asked a question that they didn't see coming. "So Luffy, why don't you and your friends come join us? Come on, it'll be fun, what do you say?"

"No thanks," Luffy answered bluntly, not even had to think about it.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sanji laughed.

But he wasn't the only one who didn't seem to be expecting any other answer, for Ace was also laughing. "I had a feeling you'd say that," he admitted, "That's too bad cause you see Whitebeard's the greatest pirate I've ever met. That's why I'm gonna help him become King of the Pirates. And not you Luffy, sorry."

Luffy didn't seem like he minded. He just smiled back and added as Ace just beamed at him, "That's fine, so I guess we'll just have to fight then. Because I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

"Would you have joined Whitebeard if you were given the choice?" Robin suddenly asked, but she knew that there was no point in asking for she already knew the answer.

"He must've been one heck of a captain," Usopp spoke up after a few seconds of thinking, "And it would've been cool to work with an Emperor… but at the end of the day I don't think I could."

"Me either," Nami agreed softly, "I mean, we don't even know the guy for starters. But the only reason that most of us even became pirates was because of Luffy."

Now that she thought about it, the whole crew was like that. Even for the ones who had liked the idea of becoming pirates like Usopp, Chopper, and even Brook all had reasons to stay where they were and not to leave. It was as if it was Luffy's choice all along that they would join the crew and become pirates with him—the only reason that she wanted to go with them was because they weren't like any other pirates she had to deal with in the past. It was more than just the fact that they saved her and her village from the kinds of pirates she despised do much… but it was because Luffy was so different.

Ace didn't seem at all disappointed that Luffy turned down the offer however. He probably knew the answer even before he asked the question. He picked up his bag and soon the two were talking with each other as they headed down the alleyway, fighting over the water.

"Wow, I never thought that I'd run into you here," Luffy said happily as Ace finally pulled his canteen away from him.

"Well, I did promise you after you got your first bounty that I'd drop in and say hi didn't I?" Ace asked as he put the flask away, but pulled out Luffy's wanted poster. "Just what kind of trouble did you get yourself in while I was gone?"

"Oh! That!" Luffy laughed as Ace put it away as well. "Well, it's kinda a funny story how it all happened."

"I'll just bet it is," Ace said in amusement. "I can see that you're still getting into trouble even when I'm not around. But how was Makino, Dadan, and the others doing?"

"Huh?" Luffy asked in surprise. "Oh! They were all doing just great when I left home. Course, it's been awhile since I've seen them, but I bet that they're still doing great! He then began telling him everything that had been going on since Ace had left home. Ace looked interested in it all as Luffy then went on to explain when he left home and the crazy things that he'd been getting into since he did.

Ace laughed a few times before he finally said that they should hurry up and find his friends before the Marines did. He asked if he had any idea to where they were, and Luffy answered that they were probably back at their ship.

"Well, that's a start where's it docked at?" Ace asked him as Luffy admitted he didn't know. All the Straw Hats looked at each other exasperatedly, though with a hint of amusement, and Ace sighed, as if he had expected Luffy to know better than this. "Oh jeez, you know Luffy, pirate ship captains usually remember where they leave their ships."

"You would think," Nami sighed, feeling sympathy for Ace, "but his memory is as bad as Zoro's sense of direction."

"Watch it!" Zoro snapped back as Luffy laughed and admitted that he was hungry and he forgot all about it.

"You haven't changed at all," Ace sighed, looking more disappointed than annoyed. But it soon passed as he went and asked, "So, tell me about your crew. What are they like? Who are they?"

"I was wondering when he'd ask," Franky said as Luffy beamed at that. He then began to count down on his fingers, counting them all off, "Well, first there's a tough guy who carries around three swords. Wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world."

Zoro smirked proudly at that. "Then there's a navigator who likes maps, and tangerines, and money," Luffy went on.

"Though rude, he's got a point," Nami stated.

"There's also a cook that makes really yummy food…"

"Is that all I am to you?" Sanji snapped, wishing that he could tell the rubberbrained idiot off for that.

"There's a liar too…"

"Hey!" Usopp muttered. "Why not just tell him that I'm the sniper?!"

"You're a liar first and a sniper next," Zoro said as they laughed at the look of indignation on Usopp's face.

"Oh, and we just got a doctor who happens to be… a reindeer!" Luffy concluded proudly.

"Sounds like a circus when he puts it all like that," Franky laughed. Their ranks have members so vastly different from one another that it almost seems random if you think about it. Maybe he should've thought it over before he joined… he smirked to himself, knowing that he didn't believe any of that.

Ace listened in without saying a word for a moment before he smirked. "Really… you don't say," he said in amusement, "Sounds like you got a pretty motley crew there."

"That's putting it mildly," Nami said as Luffy also added, "We also have a princess and her giant duck."

"Hmm?" Ace hummed.

"Everyone in my crew is so interesting!" Luffy added animatedly.

"Sure sounds like it," Ace said with a smile, "But I'd wager you're the most interesting one of all."

"That's something that I can't disagree with," Sanji agreed as they all nodded, the brothers good mood becoming contagious.

"But still, only a handful of people for a pirate crew, that's just like you," Ace commented, sounding like he was going to laugh.

Luffy just looked ahead with excitement, "I'm still looking for a musician though."

Brook laughed proudly. "True, true, no crew is complete without a musician!"

"Funny that the member he wanted most was the last one to join," Robin said and he sighed sadly.

"Maybe," Brook said before lighting up and said happily, "But I'm here now! And that is enough for me! Yohohoho!"

"Stop right there, Fire Fist!" someone yelled and they all stopped to see that a group of people were stepping out from all over. From alleyways, both in front of and behind, as well as several standing on the roofs, smirking down at them like how a cat would when it corner a particular juicy-looking mouse.

"You got no place to run, Ace!" the biggest man of the group, who had a long and reddish nose, declared directly in front of them. "Your head is mine! It's my ticket to a promotion. Prepare to die!"

"They're joking… right?" Franky said, he had secretly been wanting to hear more of these two catch up.

"All talk, no bite," Zoro sighed irritable as the two brothers looked at them blankly.

"I know," Robin explained casually. "These were some of the Baroque Works Billions."

"Billions?" Brook repeated as she explained further, "The Baroque Works system of code names is simple. All the main agents are given code names and the ranking order among the organization goes by numbers; the smaller the number, the higher the rank an agent has. Below the higher ranking agents, there are 2000 subordinate agents called Millions and Billions. The Millions are the subordinates of the frontier agents and are 1800 agents in total. The Billions are the other 200 agents who are subordinates to the officer agents, and are also next in line to become a number agent should a position be opened."

"And there are a lot of openings since you all got involved in this whole thing," Franky added, thinking of everything from Whiskey Peak and Little Garden.

"That's right," Robin agreed. "And these guys are the next in line to become numbered agents if they had really proved themselves …"

"So should we be concerned here?" Franky asked, looking at them all.

"Nah," Sanji said, waving his hand at him. "Some of the number agents were no match for us. And these guys are weaker than they were. So I don't think that's anything these two need to worry about them."

"It's our lucky day boys," the red nosed man said smugly, as if promised a real treat, "this'll be easier than shooting fish in a barrel."

"With what? A water gun?" Zoro asked in annoyance. God, did these losers actually think they could take out these two that easily? Just then, someone recognized Luffy and pointed him out which got their attention, remarking about his bounty and they were practically drooling at that. But Luffy and Ace didn't seem be the slightest bit intimidated as they walked right passed them without batting an eye.

"Anyway, let's go find your ship," Ace said nonchalantly. "We'll start at the shore?"

"'Kay," Luffy said without any problems.

The Straw Hats all laughed at that, feeling just a little bit sorry for those bounty hunters. These two were just telling them that they weren't worth the trouble of fighting. That ticked them all off and soon they were charging at them. The fight didn't last long at all…

Though they were outnumbered, it was as if they were back in Edge Town in Goa and beating up the local thugs. They were clearly having so much fun fighting together and showing off what they had learned in their time apart that it was like watching a show. When they finished enjoying themselves, and scared the remaining millions, they continued on their way as if nothing happened and that was when the memory disappeared.

Franky burst out laughing as Chopper cheered happily. "That was great! I could watch those two kicking ass all day! Those punks didn't stand a chance!"

But several of the crew still had serious, almost grim, expressions. It was wonderful to watch these two loving life and everything, but it was also hard because of how they knew the story would end.

They did their best not to spoil the happy moment for the others as the next memory quickly popped up and they were all back on the deck of the Merry once again, each one of them having fun. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were toasting everything they could think off and laughing their heads off before Luffy turned to Ace and asked, "Ace! You sure you don't wanna join us? I'll be fun, I promise!"

"While I think that it would be fun, I don't think that Ace is any more interested in joining us than Luffy was of joining Whitebeard," Robin said calmly.

"Oh well," Usopp sighed as Ace smirked back at him.

"I can't right now, I'm chasing someone," he answered, though it was clear from his voice that he had no intention of joining anyway. He gulped down his drink. "He's a pirate named Blackbeard."

"Blackbeard?" past Usopp repeated, his eyes wide in realization.

"I've heard of him!" Vivi said suddenly, "He's the one who attacked Drum Kingdom!"

"That's right," Nami said smacking her head at her own forgetfulness. "I forgot about that! Ace was after Blackbeard! He must've heard about how he attacked Drum Island so he must've gone there hoping for a clue to where he went."

Zoro said coolly, "Makes sense."

Ace leaned comfortably on the barrel and informed them, "You see, Blackbeard used to be part of the second division of the Whitebeard Pirates. He was one of my own men, but he committed the most unforgiveable sin a pirate could. He killed one of his fellow crewmembers and then jumped ship. As commander of the second division, it's my responsibility to take care of him."

"He killed one of his own crewmates before he ran away?!" Brook cried out in outrage.

"That's so horrible!" Chopper yelled furiously.

"I also remember hearing that," Nami scowled. "He was actually one of Ace's subordinates before he killed another one of the commanders and left."

"Yeah, Jimbei mentioned that as well," Sanji said, thinking back to what the Fishman said during their big celebration feast. "And he was also the one responsible for killing Whitebeard during the war."

"No greater sin can be committed on these seas than betraying your comrades!" Brook said in repugnance. "Especially your captain! How dare he?!"

"What slime," Franky growled. How could you turn against your own crew like that? To kill someone you've known and probably fought alongside with… for what? What did this guy do to cause Blackbeard to want to kill him?

Nami said nothing as she folded her arms—though she didn't know the whole extent to Blackbeard betrayal, she knew that he did use, betray, and even killed those around him to get his way. She shook her head… it was scum like him that reminded her why she had hated pirates.

"So that's why you're after him," past Usopp said in hushed tones.

"I came here cause I heard that Blackbeard was seen in Alabasta," Ace went on, "In a place called Yuba, so that's where I'm heading."

"Hey," memory Nami said, looking to Vivi, "That's our destination too right?"

"What's Yuba?" Franky asked curiously.

"It was a town in the middle of the desert," Chopper said suddenly, "That dried up old man with the shovel…?"

"What?" Brook asked but Nami just pointed to Vivi, who was explaining it already. Vivi confirmed Yuba by pulling out a map and showing them. The town they had just left was called Nanohana, and they were now heading to a small city called Erumalu where they were going to dock the ship. After that they decided that they would travel up through the desert to a small oasis which was Yuba. She explained that was where the leader of the Rebel Army was and they were going to head there to try and talk to them about what was really going on and stop any more fighting.

"You don't say," Ace said interestedly. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Nami, Vivi I'll follow you anywhere, just tell me where to go!" past Sanji swooned.

"And I still hold true to that," current Sanji sighed happily.

"Hopefully it's right off a cliff," memory Zoro said.

"What did you say, Zoro?!" both Sanji's yelled and memory Nami snapped at them to shut up. She sighed before she turned back to Ace and added, "Well, it looks like you'll be with us a little while Ace."

Past Usopp laughed. "We're all real happy to have you aboard!"

Luffy confirmed that by the thrilled look on his face. Even if it was only briefly, he and his brother would be sailing together on the seas as pirates. As he laughed joyfully, holding his tankard out. "This'll be fun! To Ace!"

And suddenly they all toasted: "CHEERS!"

"Now that was sweet," Robin chuckled a little. "Already you were acting like Ace was part of the crew."

"Well, he's Luffy's brother," Usopp shrugged. "So of course we'd welcome him in like family."

"And he was a little more bearable than Luffy was," Nami laughed, "You'd never have guessed that he was so cold when he was little."

"I really wish I could've met him," Brook said softly and they all felt their spirits sink a little at that.

"I really miss him," Chopper said sadly. "He was so much fun to be around…?"

"Yeah," Zoro stated. "And we barely knew him. Imagine how much Luffy must miss him?"

"That's what makes it so miserable," Nami said sadly, sitting back down for a second. "The more memories I see, the less I want to know. I mean, these memories… and knowing what happens…?"

Robin put her hand on her shoulders again, offering her some comfort. "Why don't you guys hurry up and find that thing so that we can get off this freaky island?" Nami suddenly snapped at the boys.

"Hey, don't blame this on us," Zoro warned. "Do you think that we're enjoying this? But there's nothing that we can do! We don't sense anything at all on this island."

"If we can get some kind of hint to where the thing's hiding then we'd be able to find it," Sanji added bitterly.

"But even if we do find it, what then?" Robin asked, "Nothing we did before worked on it."

"There's got to be a weakness somewhere," Zoro said stubbornly. "But we won't ever find it if it doesn't come back out."

No one could think of anything to say to that as the next memory popped up. Here, the small group of people was now trooping across the desert. Luffy, Ace, Nami, and Vivi were all wearing robes to cover themselves up as they waked on, staring ahead of them at what looked like old ruins. The city they had come to looked to be crumbling away as they watch… as if it had been abandoned for the last few decades, everything was half buried in sand and the remaining plant life were nothing more than dried husks.

"Where are we this time?" Brook asked curiously.

But it was Vivi who answered them, her voice distance and sad as she spoke, "This is Erumalu. It was known far and wide as the city of green."

"Green?" Franky repeated, staring around. "Compared to what? There's nothing but sand and more sand!"

"This is what Crocodile was really doing," Nami sighed as Robin looked away, feeling a sense of shame wash through her. The past selves were silent for a moment before Luffy said, "It was green?"

Vivi looked back to them. "Take a good look around everyone," she said in despair, "This is what Baroque Works has been doing to my country!" Her eyes became miserable, "The people of Alabasta… this is what they had to go through!"

"Truly a sad thing to see," Brook whispered as they followed the group through the silent, withered city. It was indeed hard to believe that it had once been a flourishing city as they looked at the dried up trees and dead plants. This entire town looked like it had been left to die years ago.

"Wow, there's nothing here at all anymore," Luffy said quietly.

"No," Vivi agreed, "It's nothing but a ghost town now. But up until a few short years ago it was a thriving town full of gardens, and palm trees, and lush greenery."

"This place?" past Zoro asked skeptically, kicking at a dead tree so that it crumbled.

"You'd never believe that," Sanji said grimly. He remembered seeing all this before, but it wasn't any easier seeing it all a second time. "In fact, if Vivi-san didn't say anything, I don't think I ever would've guessed it."

"It's like just the skeleton remained," Usopp said before he realized what he said and added to Brook, "No offense, Brook."

"None taken, Usopp-san," Brook reassured him. "Here, I have to agree with you."

"Rain was always scarce here," Vivi went on, "But by saving every last drop of water and using it wisely, the city was able to make the foliage flourish. Unfortunately, that stopped when the rain dead. There hasn't been a single drop of water in this country for the last three years now."

"Whoa, three whole years?" Franky repeated as the others seemed startled by that. "That long? How's that possible? I know it doesn't rain much in the desert but…"

"The answer is simple," Robin answered sadly. "Crocodile was as clever as he was cruel."

"But wait," past Zoro said suddenly and they looked back to him, "Even without rain there's still the river as another water source."

"And it's close," memory Usopp added, jerking his thumb back to where the river must've been. "Why couldn't they have just piped the river in from over there?"

"Well, the answer to that is just up ahead," Vivi answered darkly. As they walked on, Vivi explained that when the rain stopped, the capital—where the King's palace was—rained there for days and days without stopping and it was apparently due to the work of Dance Powder. It was then they heard about how Dance Powder was created long ago by a country that had no rain. When burnt, it would emit a mist-like vapor that would speed up the process of premature rain clouds and create rain on the spot. The original creators of this powder thus called it Dance Powder because it would make them dance with joy with all the rain that it created.

But there was one downside to this. Despite the rain it brought, the powder unfortunately caused long periods of drought in other countries. The controversy that this powder brought eventually started a war. The lives lost in this war was so great that the World Government prohibited the manufacturing and possession of Dance Powder worldwide.

It was then that they found out that Baroque Works staged an accident in Alubarna three years ago where some delivery men brought a large shipment of Dance Power. The cart that they were carrying broke apart and the Dance Powder was spilled out for everyone to see. The agents then lied that the king had ordered for the powder to be delivered to Alubarna, the city where it rained the most. A large scandal then arose around Cobra as suspicions that he had been stealing all of the country's rain. As a result, the people of Alabasta blamed the king for the drought. As towns dried up and people starved, a rebellion was stirred up.

This was only proven when Vivi soon led them to what they thought was a dried up road at first, but she explained that this had once been the canal. Somehow, it had been destroyed and the people had no choice but to abandon the city when they ran out of water.

The wind suddenly blew and they could hear a loud wailing sound, like ghosts crying out from beyond the grave. The past selves all froze in fear at the sound, as Robin answered, "That's just the wind."

"The wind?" Brook repeated hurriedly. "But it sounds like someone's crying!"

"A whole bunch of people crying more like," Sanji corrected, "But Robin-chan is correct. It was nothing more than the wind."

As the wind continued to blow, the past selves looking around expecting a fight, but Ace stated what Robin just said and it was nothing for them to be concerned about.

"But it sounds like a voice… right?" Luffy asked him.

"Oh man, it's coming around from all sides!" past Usopp cried out in panic, "This isn't good!"

"There's no danger," Ace said firmly, "It's just the wind blowing around town, echoing and bouncing off the empty buildings."

"That's creepy," Franky said as Chopper nodded nervously. But Vivi was now looking heartbroken.

"It's like… it's like the city of Erumalu is wailing over what's happened to it!" she gasped out, sounding close to tears as her hood was blown off her head and her long hair was blowing around her face. The crying continued just as a mini sand tornado came flying right at them from the middle of the town.

"You've only been here for one day, but already you got a good look at what's going on here," Brook called as the wind came rushing at them.

"Hey, wait!" Usopp yelled, pulling his goggles down as the sand hit them. "What's that?!"

"What's what?!" Nami cried, but her voice died as she realized what he was talking about. Luffy, who was the one standing out front, his eyes squinting through the sand could see it as well. The sand and wind had collected together for a fraction of a second to make out the ghostly form of a human hand…

"What's that?!" Chopper yelled in panic.

"That," Robin whispered softly. "Would be Crocodile."

"Crocodile?" Franky repeated startled, but then the wind came wiping past them all and Luffy spun around to see the shadowy form of what looked like a striped cape disappearing into the wind.

"That is Crocodile's ability," Robin said sadly looking down at her feet as the past selves were starting to get their bearings straight, asking what was going on. But suddenly Luffy was running ahead, looking at what appeared to be someone lying in the sand up ahead.

"Someone's collapsed!" past Nami cried out behind them.

"You mean there's still people living in this city?!" Vivi cried in astonishment as she went running after Luffy as well, but they needn't have bothered. For when they got there, laying there was nothing more than a dried up skeleton…

The memory faded at that, each of them a little shaken up by what they just witnessed.

"Robin?" Nami asked softly, knowing how stiff her friend was standing there.

"I feel… shame," she whispered. "And regret. I know that it's not ever going to make up for my part in the rebellion of Alabasta but…?"

"It's never too late to say you're sorry if you really mean it," Chopper said at once, coming over to her.

"We'll go back to Alabasta someday to see Vivi," Usopp said to her bracingly, "Once we do, you can see her and apologize. I'm sure that she won't hold a grudge if she heard the reasons why you did what you did."

"Maybe…" she said softly. "But…?" but Zoro cut her off.

"You did what you had to survive," he told her. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's all in the past."

They all agreed, smiling and nodding at her as she lowered her head and smiled as well, silently grateful for their words. In the next memory they were walking through the hot desert. Each one of them was moaning in groaning about the heat and the hot sun that was bearing down on them all.

"I'm not even there, and I'm burning up just looking at it!" Brook said loudly. "How miserable?"

"What would you complain about?" Usopp said, suddenly irritated, "You're made of bones. You wouldn't feel anything."

"That's true, Yohohoho," Brook laughed. "But ah… where is that giant duck that was with you?"

"Oh, Carue?" Nami asked, "Vivi sent him on ahead to take a letter to her father, warning him about Crocodile's plan."

"I'm burning up!" Luffy groaned, leaning on a large stick to help him walk, "I can't even sweat anymore."

"Will you please spare us the melodramatics Luffy?" memory Nami snapped back at him as she fanned her face, "You'll wear yourself out."

He only groaned in response and she rolled her eyes, not at all surprised that he wasn't listening. Zoro, meanwhile, was dragging Chopper behind him on a makeshift sled.

"Can't go on…" past Chopper said, his tongue rolling out of his mouth, "Can't take… hot weather. I'm fine in cold weather."

"You must've been in the worse shape out of everyone, Chopper," Robin stated sympathetically. "Carrying around all that fur?"

"I grew up around snow and ice," Chopper said as he patted his thick coat. "I love being in cold weather, but I had no idea how hot that hot could get. At night, I was just fine! It got really cold here at night."

"Yes," Robin nodded, "It's because of the lack of cloud cover. That is why the desert is over a hundred in the daytime, but it can drop below fifty at night."

"What a stupid place to live in," Zoro said in annoyance. "Who'd want to live in such a miserable place? Blazing hot in the day, and freezing at night."

"I guess the people here are used to it?" Franky offered.

Past Usopp, who was leaning on another walking stick, looked to memory Chopper and said with his own tongue out, "It's because of all that fur, why don't you take off that stupid reindeer costume?"

This ticked past Chopper off as he sat up at once and got big, "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME BIG NOSE?!" he towered over Usopp, "DON'T MAKE FUN OF REINDEERS!"

"MONSTER!" past Usopp screamed back as Zoro kept trying to pull the sled.

"Man, you all look ready to tear each other apart here," Franky said in surprise.

"Hey, the sun was driving us all crazy," Sanji sighed as memory Zoro snapped at Chopper to shrink or he was going to quit pulling him. "By the end of the day I was ready to roast several members of this crew."

Past Chopper ignored Zoro as he and Usopp began fighting with each other so that he had to walk over and shoved Chopper's head down so hard that he shrunk. As they all argued, they noticed Ace walking by them all with a very strange look on his face. He was looking at them all with a slight frown on his face and a very critical eye…

"What's with him?" Nami asked, having never noticed what Ace was doing while they were walking.

"Don't know," Sanji sighed, "But I noticed that whole first day he was looking at us all like that."

They continued on, barely saying anything for a short time before Usopp asked what was with all these hills. He had expected the desert to be more flat, and Vivi confessed that this desert was very old… that some of these dunes could easily reach around 900 feet tall.

"That's like climbing a range of mountains!" Brook called, looking up at the endless hills of sand in front of them. "That'll take days to cross!"

"Well, I can tell you that it was a relief to say goodbye to all that sand," Usopp said, "I had sand in places that I don't even want to think about. Took me weeks to get all that grittiness off me."

As they all groaned out, Luffy was going straight for the barrel of water he was carrying for a drink, with past Nami telling him to only take one mouthful. Which he did, but his face stretched out and soon it was a fistfight with the other—the whole time Ace was watching them.

"What was the point of that memory?" Usopp asked at once when the images faded. "Just to make us relive how miserable we all were?"

"I hate deserts," Chopper sighed, he didn't need help remembering all the heat strokes, dehydration, and, in Luffy's case, hallucinations. No, he really didn't need to be reminded of that.

It was a nice change to see that the next memory they were standing around a fire with the sun having long-since gone and the clear sky was full of stars. The memory Straw Hats, Vivi, and Ace were gathered around the fire, under the cover of some large boulders.

"I'm so hungry," Luffy groaned out as he reached for some of the food that was roasting over the fire.

"Don't be such a greedy pig, it's still raw," past Sanji told him, but Luffy went straight for the meat which caused the cook to hit him furiously over the head yelling, "DON'T EAT THAT!" Once he was done with him, he then turned back to the two women and said lovingly that their food would be done soon.

"The desert is a truly a harsh environment," Nami sighed as they watched. It was funny to watch as they continued to argue like they would usually do on the ship. Whether it was over the food, the cold, or in Chopper's case it was admiring all the stars; they were talking and complaining about everything.

"Couldn't you see the stars on your home island?" past Usopp asked, shivering next to him as Chopper's eyes lit up in wonder as he stared up at the twinkling lights above him.

"They skies of the winter islands are almost always covered by heavy snow clouds so I've never been able to see this many before," he answered happily.

"Yeah, that was the first time that I'd really seen so many," current Chopper said happily with past Usopp muttering that he was way too cold to enjoy the stars at the moment. His past self reminded him that the cold didn't bothered him as Usopp was cuddling him like a teddy bear.

"That's because you wear such a nice fur coat," he said, hugging him tightly.

"Funny, you were telling him that he had a stupid reindeer costume just hours before," current Sanji reminded him.

"It was the heat doing all the talking!" Usopp said as memory Chopper told him to back off, and soon it turned into a fight that mirrored the one earlier.

"Chopper," memory Zoro snapped at him once he had grown and was towering over Usopp again, "Don't turn big, we gotta huddle for warmth."

"Instead of getting mad just kick sand in his face," present Zoro said in a bored voice.

"I'll be sure to remember that for next time," Chopper said, though he couldn't deny that he had liked being hugged like that by so many friends. Luffy suddenly came jumping over and soon Chopper was small again and they were all cuddling up, packing on top of each other like puppies in a litter.

"Awww…" Robin cooed. "So cute."

"Hey Chopper," current Usopp suddenly smirked, "Check this out." And suddenly he stuck his hand right through the fire and he grinned wildly as Chopper's eyes lit up and he went over to touch it as well. Zoro shook his head, hoping that they would stop playing around. But when he looked over at Ace, who was sitting right beside the flames, who watching the group suddenly start to fight and wrestle with each other, trying to get comfortable. But what really got him was that he was looking at them all with that same strange, unreadable expression on his face. As if he was a judge and trying to decide if someone was innocent or guilty of something.

"I suppose you're surprised aren't you?" said Vivi's voice and they all looked up in time to see her walk over to him. He glanced up at her politely as she went on, "I mean by Luffy that is. I have to admit I was a little surprised to at first."

"Why would he be surprised?" Zoro asked suddenly, "He grew up with Luffy. I'm sure that nothing he does surprises him here."

"I think that she's thinking that Ace is worried about his little brother," Nami said watching them.

"Yes, but I don't see why she thinks she has to explain anything about him to Ace-san," Brook stated thoughtfully.

"She's a worrywart," Nami shrugged. "It's in her nature to worry about every little detail."

Vivi looked up to the boys all still fighting before they all finally started to drift of. "After all, he doesn't seem like much of a pirate captain does he? I mean normal pirate captains are respected or feared by their crews. Just this afternoon a simple drink of water led to that big fight."

"Maybe," Franky laughed. "But none of us are exactly normal pirates right? I guess that's why we like him?"

"Yeah," Sanji muttered, "who wants to be on a ship with a captain ya hate? Where's the fun in that?"

"Well… I think… that's just the way Luffy does things," Vivi finally finished, "Took me a while to understand that."

"I think it took us all a while to understand that," Usopp said as Chopper nodded firmly. "And even now, we still don't understand half the things he does."

Ace only smiled, his eyes hidden by the rim of his hat as he confessed, "He's been like that as long as I can remember." Vivi looked down at him in surprise as he went on, not sounding the least bit taken back by anything she said. "He hasn't changed a bit since he was a kid," he went on, both of them watching Luffy. "He seems like a fool, but people have always gathered around him. He may be my little brother, but he has this mysterious charm about him."

The Straw Hats all blinked at those words. None of them had ever really thought about it, but just as Ace said it, they realized that he was right. Perhaps it was because of his childlike nature that really did it, but there was just something magnetic about his personality. Once you really got to know him, it was hard, if not impossible, to hate him.

"I guess I wasn't telling you anything you didn't already know," Vivi said, relief in her tone as Ace chuckled slightly to himself.

"He and I… do go way back you know," he said, but he smiled a little wider and looked up at her. "I appreciate it." He looked back to the sleeping pack of Straw Hats as he finished, "You thought I was worried about him, didn't you?"

"I'm sure he was," Robin smiled softly. "I'm also sure that he must've been worried about Luffy for those three years."

"Is that why he kept looking at us all like that?" Chopper asked, trying to understand.

"I guess he just wanted to make sure that he knew that his little brother was in good hands," Sanji admitted, frowning a little at his almost empty pack of cigarettes. At this rate he'd be out of it all before they would stop watching memories.

"Yes, but I guess my concern was a little misguided," Vivi stated as she bent down near the fire and added a few more sticks to it before Ace went on.

"He won't always behave like this," he said and they all looked to him as he leaned back comfortably. "Give him time and he'll… mature. Although… I highly doubt that he'll ever stop acting goofy like this."

"Really?" current Nami asked in amusement. "While he has matured a lot over our journey on the Grand Line, I have to agree that he won't ever stop being… Luffy."

"You really think that?" Vivi asked curiously as he laughed a little.

"Of course. He's my kid brother," he answered with a shrug, "This is who he is."

"True enough," Franky sighed. "He is still a big kid at heart."

"Well, I'm glad that there's nothing to worry about," Vivi said smiling at him.

"I wouldn't go that far," Ace corrected. "You always have to keep an eye on him. Ever since we were kids he's been making me worry about him. That child mind of his has always been getting him into trouble."

"Don't we know it," all the Straw Hats said as Robin and Brook laughed.

"He's not very bright but he's got a good heart," Ace went on, "He'll fall for every trap you lay out in front of him, but he's just so innocent that you just can't be angry with him for long. On top of all that he's looking for something a little more specific than most people…"

"He is?" Vivi asked in surprise. "You mean he wants to be the Pirate King…?"

"Nah," Ace stated as he reached into his coat to pull out his canteen of water and took a long sip from it. "That is his dream, but he's looking for something else."

"He is?" Chopper said in surprise. "What's that? I don't remember Luffy ever saying anything else like that?"

They all looked just as confused as he did.

"What's that…?" Vivi said interestedly. "This whole time he's talked about becoming the King of the Pirates. But he's never…?"

"Oh, I doubt that even he's aware of it," Ace said, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "But I know him well enough to know. He's looking for something greater than himself."

"What does that mean?" Usopp asked, looking completely lost.

"Yeah, what's he talking about?" Nami said slowly, not understanding what Ace was saying here.

"Greater than himself?" Vivi repeated in bafflement and the other Straw Hats looked just as lost as she did.

"That's right," Ace admitted, putting the canteen away. "He's looking for something you don't see every day… something grand, something spectacular, something that he can barely comprehend. I think, that's why he loves the idea of adventures so much. He wants to be the King of the Pirates, but what he wants more than that is to live life to the very fullest."

He smirked again as he leaned back against the rock as Vivi turned back to the fire with a very thoughtful expression on her face. The memory faded at that and they all looked at each other.

"Is that true?" Chopper asked softly.

"Well, I don't think I would've used that wording, but I have to say that it does sound like him," Zoro said thinking it all over.

"I suppose," Robin said, smiling in understanding. "Maybe we'd never really noticed it, but I have to agree with what he said."

"Well, if we ask Luffy this, I doubt that he'll understand," Nami said shaking her head with a smile. "Though I have to say that's pretty deep the way that Ace put it all."

"He really gets Luffy, I'll say that," Robin added.

"Well, I guess that he would," Sanji admitted as the next memory came up.

"It's happening again though," Usopp stated. "This had got to be parts of Ace's memory. How can we be seeing into it?"

"You got me," Zoro sighed. "Not much we can do about it though now is there?"