Storms and Dreams

"We need to sail now," Nami shouted at her crew as they were running toward the ship. She didn't need to be a navigator to understand that a storm was coming, despite finding it weird that it almost felt that it came out of nowhere.

While Nami was thinking of the weather, Luffy was thinking about something else; closing his eyes, he spread his Observation Haki as far as possible; he could feel someone coming and another voice nearby, but what caught his attention was the third voice, but Luffy couldn't tell how strong this one was before suddenly disappeared from his Observation Haki.

Luffy's eyes widened; the voice is gone? How is that possible, or did the voice die?

They turned around the corner only to see a woman standing against the wall, breathing heavily; they immediately recognized her marine outfit; before Luffy could ask the woman to move away, her head raised, her eyes found her target, glaring daggers at a certain Swordsmen.

"Who is this beauty?" Sanji asked, his eyes filled with hearts while drooling like a dog.

The girl ignored the freak before pointing her sword at Zoro; of all people, Luffy noticed she was alone, not sure if that was brave of her or foolishnesses or both.

"You will pay for what you did to me, Roronoa Zoro?" She declared with a dangerous tone, glaring daggers at Zoro, who just brushed off her threats with a shrug of his shoulders.

Sanji was enraged, ready to kick the swordsmen for harming such a beautiful woman; Usopp saw that coming from a mile away.

"What did you do, shithead?" Sanji shouted while being held by Usopp, who was wondering why exactly these two just couldn't stop fighting.

Zoro didn't pay him any attention; instead, he just quirked an eyebrow at the girl in front of the pirate crew.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to you!" Zoro replied, getting bored of this girl who looked to be able to pop out of nowhere just to annoy him.

Before Tashigi could say anything, Luffy took a step forward.

"Oj Zoro, who is she? Is she your girlfriend?" Luffy asked with a teasing tone; this caused the whole crew to snicker, except Zoro, who looked pale, and Sanji, who was crying tears of despair.

Both sword users turned red like a tomato before glaring at the pirate captain.

"SHE/HE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND," They both shouted in embarrassment; Nojiko burst out laughing; Nami tried to keep on herself while Usopp was trying to help Sanji to stand up.

"Suree," Luffy whispered with a small whistle that only annoyed Zoro even more.

"I'm here to defeat you, Roronoa Zoro; let's fight," the girl declared before unsheathing her sword; Zoro turned towards the girl before unsheathing only one of his swords, the crew immediately understood that he either wasn't taking her seriously or she wasn't that strong yet.

"Defeat the Shithead," Sanji shouted with hearts in his eyes, earning a facepalm from Usopp.

Tashigi rushed towards Zoro, but with a single move of his sword, the swordswoman was against the wall, her sword was on the ground, and Zoro was pointing his sword towards her neck.

She clenched her teeth but didn't close her eyes; she was a swordswoman, she couldn't show fear towards death, she expected the finishing blow to come, but instead, Zoro just put his sword back to its scabbard before turning around, walking towards his crew.

"Wh-what, Finish This; why are You Not Killing Me?" She demanded in anger; this was humiliating.

Nami seriously wondered if the girl had some kind of death wish, it was one thing to challenge a swordsman who is clearly far stronger than you but then demands to be killed?!

"No, return to me when you're stronger; only then will we have a rematch," Zoro declared, looking at her; Tashigi's eyes widened at his words. She wasn't sure what to say, was she supposed to shout or feel grateful?!

But before the swordswoman could say anything, Luffy decided to end this.

"Oj Zoro, as much as I'm enjoying this lovely date of yours, we need to return back to Going Marry," Luffy said with a smirk, clearly enjoying this. Zoro murmured something under his breath before leaving with his captain.

Almost reaching the docks, Usopp was the first to see Going Merry, a wide smile spread around his face.

"There it is," he shouted, but before they could reach it, white smoke suddenly formed around them; it was thick enough they couldn't even see beyond it, but before anything else could happen, Luffy turned around before punching a certain marine captain in the chest sending him crashing against concrete.

The smoke around them disappeared, Zoro was about to use his swords; Sanji prepared to fight when Luffy spread out his arm for them to stand behind him.

"No, Everyone, return back to the ship," Luffy ordered with a firm tone, clearly showing he wasn't messing around; his voice lost all the goofing he usually had.

The others nodded immediately before rushing back to the ship.

The marine captain stood up from the rubble, glaring at the pirate captain but at the same time confused as hell.

Haki?! How is it possible in East Blue? He wondered, his fist turned to smoke.

"How can you use Haki?" Smoker demanded, glaring at the captain, who didn't show that he was intimidated in the slightest. Actually, he looked uncaring.

"You are a Logia user; that's rare in East Blue; as for how I know Haki, well, a pirate should not reveal his secrets," Luffy stated, the smirk not leaving his face.

Smoker rushed towards the straw hat captain, his body turned to smoke, the smoke spread everywhere around Luffy trying to confuse him, Luffy couldn't see anything but the smoke around him, but he really didn't need to, the marine captain suddenly showed up behind Luffy ready to strike when Luffy suddenly turned around at last second punching him again sending him away. The debris flew everywhere; the front door of a shop and a part of the wall was destroyed.

Luffy expected him to stand down, but Smoker slowly stood up again, blood leaking from his mouth, his nose bleeding but still refusing to stand down.

"What is your name?" Luffy asked, impressed by his courage.

"My name is Smoker."

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy; I'm sure we will see each other again," Luffy stated before sending a wave of conqueror's haki, far stronger than the one at the execution platform. Smoker suddenly felt dizzy again; a weight held him down, falling to his knees; Smoker felt everything going dark.

Later

Smoker opened his eyes slowly, everything seemed blurry, his ears heard different voices shouting close to him, he was having a bad headache, and the loud voice in his ears was only making it worse...

"SHUT UP," he roared; the soldiers immediately went silent except Tashigi, who looked relieved.

"How are you, Captain Smoker?" Tashigi screamed; the captain stood up from the hole he had formed.

"Peachy." He answered with a humorless chuckle as he stood up on his legs; the pirate captain had spared him, that was unusual. Smoker wanted to kick himself; he had seen nothing; at the very least, he should have been able to see it coming, but he had seen nothing, only his body slamming against the concrete, but he wasn't going to let them leave, he was Captain Smoker of The Marine. "Persist in your pursuit! They're not leaving this island!"

"Yes, sir!"

Luffy

As Luffy was rushing towards his ship, he suddenly felt a new voice close to him; turning to face the new voice, Luffy's eyes widened.

How did he sneak up on me?! And who is he? Luffy asked himself; he couldn't help but notice how strong this one was; he felt the same level of power as his grandpa!

Luffy knew if this person wanted to harm him, he had no way of winning, but he then noticed that this 'voice' felt familiar??

"Can you tell me who you are?" Luffy questioned the tall guy with the green cloak. His cowl obscured the man's face, but a burst of lights showed a craggy face with a tattoo on his left side. The tattoo, which looked tribal, ran from the man's chin to his forehead.

"Pirate King, huh?" As they exchanged glances, the guy laughed. "It's OK with me. If you've made up your mind, then go."

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked, still keeping his guard up.

Another lightning struck the sea, and a flash from the lightning illuminated his face again; this time, Luffy was able to see his whole face.

Luffy's eyes slightly widened; he remembered his grandfather had once talked to him, Ace, and Sabo about the most dangerous people alive in the world right now; he had shown posters of Whitebeard, Kaido, and a few others that weren't even pirates, one of the posters had the face in front of him.

"You have a Journey in front of you, so I'm going to be quick," the man stated before he started talking...

.

.

.

"What??"

Narrowing his eyes dangerously, the straw hat could hardly comprehend what the man just said after he proceeded with it, but before Luffy could demand what the man was talking about.

"You need to leave; we will eventually meet; our journey will lead to the same island?" Luffy felt new voices coming toward them.

When the cloaked guy heard the Marines closing upon him, he stood between Luffy and them; Luffy knew he needed to return to his crew; therefore, he ran towards the ship without looking behind.

"Why are you here?" Smoker demanded, recognizing the man standing in front of them. "Why are you helping the Straw Hat?"

When Smoker was ignored, he almost bit down his cigarette. He yanked the huge Jitte from his back, already losing his temper with this man.

"Answer me, Dragon!" Smoker pointed his weapon, knowing he was no match for a guy like him, hearing gasps from behind, but Smoker didn't pay them attention.

Dragon extended his arms out to his sides instead of responding. The wind suddenly stopped, but Dragon kept smiling. Then it started up again, this time with a distinctly green hue, and blew like a storm across the island? The marines were blown away like ants in strong wind; many of them flew before slamming into the ground or stores. Smoker braced himself against the wind as much as he could. The wind blew into Loguetown like a tornado.

Luffy

The captain reached Going Merry before any of his crew could greet him. "We need to leave now," Luffy ordered; they all nodded before preparing the ship to sail away; as the ship was leaving the docks, a wind blew in their direction, helping the ship to take speed; Luffy stood at the back of the ship, Loguetown slowly disappearing in the horizon, but the Straw Hat captain had many questions in his head.

What the hell did he mean by that?

Smoker

Smoker kept trying to hold himself together; the wind was strong that made every marine around him fly away, his arm in front of his face, trying to open his eyes when the wind suddenly stopped.

What the hell? Smoker stood up, breathing heavily, finally being able to see, but Dragon was nowhere in sight; Smoker wasn't sure if that was for better or worse!

Why is a person like him in Logue Town of all places? Smoker asked himself, his head was spinning with multiple questions, but with no answers, he knew the man must have some kind of connection with The Straw Hat.

Before Smoker could think of a possible answer, he heard footsteps rushing towards his position; turning around, his eyes saw Tashigi leading several marines.

Deciding to think later about it, Smoker turned to his soldiers.

"We need to chase the Straw Hat?" Smoker ordered, but it seemed it was already too late.

"Captain Smoker, we just saw the ship sailing away; we can't follow them in this storm," Tashigi reported; after the wind had died down, a few soldiers had reported to Tashigi that the Pirate Ship had sailed away.

"What shall we do, Captain?" Tashigi was waiting for instructions.

At that moment, Smoker decided that his holiday in Logue Town was over; it seemed he needed to chase the straw hats himself; Smoker ordered them to return to the Base and every pirate to be arrested.

Arriving back at the base, Smoker wasted no time calling the Marine; it was time to leave.

Going Merry

The storm was still very much causing for the Straw Hats; Nami gave orders to everyone; despite the waves crashing against the ship, despite the rain, Nami was not going to let Going Merry to sink, not on her watch.

Eventually, the storm died down, the rain stopped, and the water calmed down; Nami breathed a sigh of relief; it was finally over, and now the whole crew looked forward, eager to see where their journey would lead them. Grand Line.

Seeing the danger was over, for now, Luffy decided to sort of celebrate the beginning of their journey. Grabbing an empty barrel.

"What are you doing, Luffy?" Usopp inquired as he saw Luffy.

"I believe we should have a ceremony to commemorate the event." With a smile, Luffy answered.

"All right, let's do it!" Nami flashed a dazzling smile.

"I'm going to the Grand Line in search of the All Blue!" As he positioned his heel on top of the barrel, Sanji stated.

"The Greatest Swordsman in the World!" As his heel was on top of the barrel, Zoro stated.

"I'm going to draw the map of the world!" Nami grinned as she put her heel at the top of the barrel.

"I'm going to become the greatest Female Pirate in the World," Nojiko stated, grinning at her sister.

"To become a brave warrior of the sea!" As he placed his heel on the barrel, Usopp exclaimed.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King!" Luffy stated with a grin.

"To the Grand Line!" The crew shouted in union.

The six members of the crew all elevated their legs and lowered their heels at the same time. The barrel fell, and the whole crew laughed together.

Later

"Luffy?"

It had been just six hours since they had left Loguetown, and the storm had yet to subside. Zoro was on watch. Everyone else was asleep, save for Luffy, who was a few feet away from the fridge, Nami, who was writing something in the galley, and Nojiko, who had come to get a drink before bed.

"What is it, Nami?" A quiet moment passed between the two of them before Nami rose from the table and made her way over to her captain. Before he could ask what was up once more, the orangette pulled Luffy close to herself and sealed their lips together in a searing and deep kiss that conveyed so much emotion that neither of them realized that a full two minutes had passed before they broke apart. "N-Nami?"

"Don't ever do something like that, okay, you idiot? I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you."

"But you didn't," he replied with an innocent tilt of his head.

"You're not only the crew's keystone, you're our rock Luffy," Nami whispered as she hugged her lover from behind. "You can't leave us alone in this world."

"Promise me that Luffy," the orangette sniffed as she gripped him closer.

"It's a promise Nami," Luffy pledged as he stood there and threaded his hand together with Nami's before kissing her on the lips.

Smoker

"Gahahahaha!" Garp laughed as he held the speaker for his Den-Den Mushi in his hand. He had connected with Captain Smoker, who was currently pursuing his grandson and his crew. The lower-ranking Marine had spoken with him at length about what had happened in Loguetown, including his confrontation with Luffy and Dragon. "So, my no-good son saw my no-good grandson off, eh?"

"Son? Dragon the Revolutionary is your son?!" Smoker roared into his Den-Den Mushi, the one on Garp's end mimicking the facial expression of the shocked Captain.

"Luffy's father is the most wanted man in the world!" Coby cried out from his spot at the door.

"Holy shit!" Helmeppo gasped as he froze in shock.

"Hmmm? Did I just say that? Oh, well, forget about that please, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that."

"THEN DON'T SAY IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Smoker, Coby and Helmeppo shouted as one.

"Anyway, Captain Smoker, it's futile to chase them up the Red Line entrance to the Grand Line. There are too many islands they could potentially head towards on the first leg of their journey down the Paradise."

"Do you have any suggestions then Vice-Admiral?"

"Alabasta is a good place to lie in wait."

"Why there? I don't trust that Shichibukai, Crocodile." A growl passed through the Den-Den Mushi. "I don't need a pirate to help me catch another pirate."

"Just call it a hunch, Captain Smoker."

"Yes sir," Smoker muttered as he ordered his men to requisition an Eternal Pose from Marine HQ for Alabasta. "What about you sir?"

"Fate will allow me to meet my no-good pirate of a grandson once more. I'm not too worried about abandoning the chase for now." Garp grinned as he leaned back and looked over his shoulder at the two Seaman Recruits standing at attention. "Besides, it's time that I start training my two new protégés seriously."

"So Marineford then? Well, I wish you luck, sir." The Den-Den Mushi then fell asleep, indicating that the transmission was cut.

"Geez, doesn't that kid know that the superior officer is the one who hangs up?" Garp asked rhetorically as he placed his speaker back on the shell of his Den-Den Mushi. "Not that I care about rank anyway! Gahahaha!"

"Helmeppo?"

"Yeah Coby?"

"It was nice knowing you, even if you act like a spoiled brat."

"Nice knowing you too, crybaby."

While Coby was talking with his friend, Garp knew he wasn't exactly going to Marineford, at least not right now, it was time for him to meet someone. It had been years, after all.

Going Merry

"Nami? Why'd the light go out?" Luffy questioned while hanging upside from the Going Merry's figurehead by his feet.

"The shifts must be switching," Nojiko mused as she locked their heading for the time being as instructed by their navigator.

"If I weren't here, this would be the most inappropriate time for this to happen," Nami muttered under her raincoat. "Luckily, you have the best navigator in the world as a crewmate Luffy."

"That's our Nami," her captain praised as he pulled himself up.

"More importantly, though, could you please get off of there. It's dangerous!"

"Shishishi, I'm fine! I'm fine!"

Nami grumbled some rather colorful and descriptive words about her lover before turning back to the laminated sea-chart in her hands. "But what's really troubling right now is what lies ahead of us. I can't believe the rumors are true..."

"Rumors? What rumors?" Luffy questioned with a tilt of his head. Without even giving heed to his words, the orangette beckoned her fellow Straw-Hats to meet in the galley with the rest of the crew who were preparing for lunch. Once everyone was seated in the galley, the navigator stated what rumor she was talking about.

"The entrance to the Grand Line is a mountain."

"Well, yeah. How'd you think pirates got to the Grand Line? Through the Calm Belt?" Luffy asked while picking his nose with his pinky finger. "It's called Reverse Mountain, and it has five rivers leading going through it, one for each of the Blues and one for the Paradise of the Grand Line. The currents switch around for two days out of the week, flowing down instead of up."

"There you go again with Paradise," Usopp muttered as he chomped on a piece of chicken leg. "Why are you calling it Paradise if those of us who are former Krieg Pirates know it as the Pirate Graveyard?"

"That's the name for it for those who were defeated by the first half of the Grand Line," Luffy snickered as he flickered the booger on his finger into the nearby the nearby trashcan. "For those who finish it, the second portion, the New World, is a million times more terrifying. Thus, those who run away from the New World call the first portion Paradise."

A shiver ran up every single one of the Straw-Hat Pirates'. Usopp's cold shudder was worse, as he could barely fathom what horrors awaited in the New World that made the first half seem like paradise. "You said for pirates anyway; what about the Marines and civilians?"

"Generally speaking, most people never leave their home sea unless becoming a merchant, a pirate, a Marine, or they're of nobility. The thing about Marine ships and ships used by nobles is that the bottoms of the hulls are lined with kairōseki, which essentially wards off Sea Kings, so paddles are usable in the Calm Belt," their captain explained as he tore into a piece of mutton.

"What's kairōseki?" Nami asked.

"It's a weird stone imbued with the powers of the seas themselves. Anyone with Akuma no Mi powers who touches the stones feel their strength begin to drain as if they were submerged in water." Nami's eyes widened when she heard that.

"Welp! Nothing to worry about, Shishishishi!" Luffy suddenly stopped his boisterous laughter when he felt that the unstable waters that had been with them for the last day had suddenly stopped for no apparent reason.

"Luffy? What's wrong?" Nami asked.

"Were not rocking anymore."

"Finally! I was getting sick of the swaying to and from in my hammock," Zoro muttered.

"Yeah, Luffy's right! It's no longer stormy outside!" Usopp shouted as he opened his own of the galley's portholes and stuck his head out, some water clinging to the seal dripping down onto his long nose.

"This can't be right; we should have been blown to the entrance of Reverse Mountain by that storm," Nami muttered to herself as she checked over the map. She stepped outside with the five other Straw-Hat Pirates.

"That's weird. It's like there's some kind of barrier between us that's keeping the storm away from us." Nami said.

"That's because of the Calm Belt. There is literally no wind out here for some mysterious reason that not even the R&D Division of the Marines can answer." Luffy's eyes hardened though. "We need to get back into the storm on the double."

"Why do we need to do that?" Usopp asked, and Zoro nodding their heads in agreement.

"Like I said before, Marine and noble ships are coated with kairōseki to fool Sea Kings while traversing the Calm Belt using oars," Luffy said as his eyes peered off into the horizon. Something had not felt right when the Going Merry entered the Calm Belt

"Bearer of the Blessings of the Seas..."

"Did you guys hear that?" Luffy grumbled as his eyes scanned about.

"Hear what Captain?" Nojiko asked from her spot, now on full alert.

"Inheritor of the Will of D..."

"There it is again!"

"What's wrong Luffy?" Zoro questioned as he hoisted three paddles from the main deck to the port and starboard rails.

"He who shall shake the very foundations of this world..."

"Who's speaking!"

"Luffy, you're scaring me," Nami whispered as she looked on in horror as her lover seemed to slowly go insane.

"We have been waiting for you for over eight hundred years..."

"Show yourself!"

"Luffy! Be quiet, didn't you say there were Sea Kings out here?!" Usopp hissed as he did a shushing motion.

"Do you want them to hear us Luffy-kun?!" Nojiko asked.

"A promise made long ago shall be fulfilled by your hands..."

"What promise?!"

"Nojiko what should we do?" Sanji asked looking at the brunette woman.

"Receive our blessings that will guide you child..."

"Why do I want a blessing?!"

"Luffy, please you're freaking everyone out," Nojiko said as she grabbed Luffy by the shoulders and shook him slightly before slapping him twice, attempting to break him out of his funk. That seemed to have done the trick as Luffy was broken from his delirium, his eyes blinking owlishly back at the Helmswoman. "Now tell us what's going on, you're worrying all of us."

"I'm hearing voices..."

"The Blessing of the Emperors of the Seas..."

"Blessing... of the EMPERORS OF THE SEAS!"

Soon the voice stopped, Luffy breathed a sigh of relief, the whole crew was looking at him with concern. The Straw Hats were soon looking up at the gigantic mountain that was in front of them.

They were astounded to see that the current did indeed go straight up the mountain's face. The difficult ascent up the mountain was adorned with archways.

They then saw that they were moving at a rapid pace and were going right towards the door.

"Everyone get a grip of anything!" Luffy yelled, and the others grabbed anything they could. And before long, the gang was soaring up Reverse Mountain. They could only stand there and watch the arch's whiz by at unbelievable speeds.

Everyone was clinging to the bars with their lives in their hands. They were soon at the summit, soaring through the air for a brief time before the spacecraft collided with the mountain and was hurled back down.

Except for Luffy, who was presently Laughing wildly, the crew was deafeningly quiet. The remainder of the passengers were nervous as they awaited the end of the frightening voyage, which they hoped would not be due to the ship colliding with the rocks.

They saw a heavy fog blocking their vision of the mountain's foot as they rode the current down the mountain. However, through the mist, a bizarre enormous bulk could be seen. The Straw Hats were then startled by a deafeningly low howl.

"What the Fuck is that?" Nami shouted in fear.

As they rushed down the mountain, the Straw Hats started to fear. At this moment, the fog had dissipated, and they could see the massive thing for what it was. It was a massive whale, and the frightening aspect was that its massive jaws was open and facing the downstream escape. Most likely, it was lazily catching all the fish that got trapped in the current that carried them from their home sea to the whales' waiting stomach.

The whale seemed to be completely oblivious to the ship that was heading directly towards its jaws.

Luffy started to laugh, but his crew remained terrified. Some attempted unsuccessfully to guide the ship away from the big whale, but the tide kept them on track. They soon found themselves sailing right through the whale's jaws and into the beast's guts.

As the whale closed its jaws, they were all enveloped in darkness. The whale had gotten its fill of food this time and was ready to resume its assault on the impenetrable mountain. He dove into the water and started swimming away from the mountain, intending to pound it with himself.

The Straw Hats were still alive, much to the amazement of the crew. They were on a peculiar greenish sea, with a beautiful blue sky and clouds above them. They could see a little island ahead of them with a cottage on it.

"Are we hallucinating?" Usopp was taken aback and inquired.

"Are we alive, or are we dead?" Zoro was the one who responded.

"Didn't we gotten eaten by a whale?" Nami had inquired.

"Then we're both dead," Zoro said.

A voice was heard before anybody could comprehend what was going on...

"Hello there,"