Canon spoilers, beware!

As in just below this line. Read on at your own discretion...

You were warned.

Before The New World starts off during the two year time skip, approximately a year and eight months through Luffy's training. In order for you to understand this story, you should at least be up to the point where the Straw Hat Crew reunites on Sabaody Archipelago after the 2 years.

This will mainly be a Luffy-centric story, and there will be a pairing. Luffy/Vivi all the way. The rating is T at the moment, but that may change eventually. I haven't decided yet. I'll be sure to say in an Author's Note if I ever do make it M.

First and foremost, this is intended to be a fun piece. Hopefully you'll enjoy it. That's all for now I think. Onward!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Chapter 1

Time To Go

On Rusukaina, a deserted island in the Calm Belt northwest of Amazon Lily…

Sighing, a young man sank to the ground. He sat there for several moments, glancing around moodily. Feeling restless, the man scratched his armpit. A rather uncharacteristic contemplative expression spread across his face.

Now what was he supposed to do?

He'd been there for some twenty or so months, working his hardest to get stronger so that he'd be able to protect those he cared about. His brother Ace's death had stuck with him, clinging to him as it likely always would. It was a part of him now. Not only a constant reminder of how he'd failed to save someone important to him, but as motivation to never let something like that ever happen again.

Especially not to his nakama, his friends.

At least now he felt he stood a chance of accomplishing that. He had the ability to defend the people important to him. Rayleigh had given him that, for which he'd be forever grateful.

But at this point, Rusukaina was getting old. He'd made all the progress he was going to be able to make from this island, learned all he could from the monstrous creatures that inhabited it. Unfortunately, there was still several several months left before he was scheduled to meet up with his crew on the Sabaody Archipelago.

What would he do until then?

A lot of time had passed while he'd been training. He'd be dumb not to suspect that some things had probably changed out there, beyond the confines of this small island. He spent much of his down time just pondering how those he knew before may be different now, how much all of them might have changed.

That considered, just from looking at the man you could tell that he himself had changed too.

He had grown taller – an astonishing three inches – and notably had a more defined, mature look about him.

The long-sleeved red cardigan he now wore was unbuttoned, leaving much of his upper torso revealed. His toned chest and abs were out in the open for all to see, along with the large, dangerous-looking X-shaped scar he'd received from Akainu in Whitebeard's war.

Additionally, much like his red top, his blue shorts were also innately plain. They had pockets, which were perfect to store meat in. And to top it all off a yellow sash was loosely tied around his waist.

Yet, not everything was different.

He still had the black hair, and it was still reasonably short but not terribly so, and he still sported that rather noticeable scar directly beneath his left eye. Those things hadn't changed.

Neither had his sandals, as they were the most comfortable footwear he knew of, and of course he still prized Shank's straw hat above all else. Said straw hat was sitting safely atop a rock at the moment, where it had been perched ever since he'd arrived.

Had anyone not already guessed, this man was none other than the infamous pirate Monkey D. Luffy, the 19-year-old captain of the Straw Hat Pirates worth 400,000,000 beli.

His reputation as a ruthless enemy of the World Government was very much exaggerated, as was the reputation of his crew, but there was just no helping it. He was a pirate, after all, and they always received the bad rep.

This was not, however, to say he hadn't crossed the World Government many times, or that he wasn't reckless to a fault, but most never even considered the fact that he wasn't the man the government made him out to be. They all naively listened to what the World Government said and blindly followed what it did, unaware of how corrupt and suspicious it really was.

That's just how it was, he'd accepted that long ago. He didn't have to like it though.

Luffy yawned, folding his hands behind his head as he leaned back against the trunk of a tree near his campfire.

"Another night…" he dejectedly muttered, tilting his head upward. Through the opening in the canopy of trees surrounding him, a small patch of the night sky was visible. He could just make out a dozen scattered, twinkling stars through it.

The rest of the endless sky above him was concealed by the oppressive forest cover, even if realistically he knew it was all there and just out of sight. That one lone section of it was clear though. From that angle, it appeared as if that little blob of sky was caged off, isolated from everything else by the tree tops.

Coincidentally, that was exactly how he felt at the moment. Isolated.

He was trapped on this island, away from any human contact whatsoever, and had been for awhile. Rayleigh had left the island over two months ago, telling him to continue training by himself. But without anyone else to keep him company, Luffy just felt…odd. It felt unnatural, honestly.

Being alone like this bothered him more than he would have thought – much more than it used to when he was younger. He knew why that was too, why it bothered him so much now.

It was because he had gotten so used to the rowdy life of a pirate, of spending almost every waking moment with his crew and of going on all sorts of adventures with them. After doing all of that for so long, it was no mystery why doing anything different just didn't feel right anymore.

He missed it – the lifestyle, the adventures, the fun…all of it. But what he missed the most was them.

His nakama. His friends. It had been over a year and a half since he'd last seen them.

Luffy wondered what they were all doing now. He knew they were all okay – they were strong, after all – yet he couldn't help but be curious about what the remaining Straw Hats were up to.

Had they gotten even stronger too, like him? How much had they changed? Were they even the same people they had once been?

Would he be able to recognize them after such a long time apart?

Luffy blankly stared up at the stars in that narrow gap of tree cover, imagining each of his friends. He wondered if they might be looking up at those same stars from somewhere else in the world.

Zoro, his green-haired First Mate, who was a swordsman that used three swords instead of just one.

Nami, his navigator, who was obsessed with money and tangerines, but a weather genius nonetheless.

Usopp, his liar and sharpshooter, who could hit any target no matter how far away.

Sanji, his chef, who was a great cook that was still strong despite using only his legs in combat.

Chopper, his doctor, who was a super cool reindeer that could talk and fight.

Robin, his genius historian, who was knowledgeable about a lot of things but also strong in a battle.

Franky, his shipwright, who was a cyborg that loved Speedos.

Brooke, his musician, who was an awesome skeleton with a cane sword.

All of them were out there, somewhere in the world, and he couldn't wait until he finally got the chance to meet up with them once more. In four months, that would happen, but not before then.

He wished it was sooner, yes, but it wasn't. If only he could somehow change that time frame now...no. It wouldn't be possible. There was just no way he would be able to contact all of them like he had back then.

It wasn't fair. He was bored out of his mind!

Luffy hated being bored.

This was when inspiration suddenly hit him, with a great idea that would make the remaining time until he met up with his crew go by that much quicker. He truly couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before this moment, it was so obvious, and it just got better and better the more he considered it.

Yes, that's what he would do. Tomorrow, in the morning, Luffy was going to leave the island of Rusukaina.

OOOOO

Luffy was woken the next morning by something tickling the side of his cheek.

"Mmm…" he groaned groggily, opening his eyes to find a large snout the size of his entire body resting beside him. He squinted against the bright sunlight pouring down on him through the gap in tree top cover overhead. "What the…"

He rolled away from the snout, and its whiskers, as soon as he realized that they were the problem. Of course, he should've known! Trevor always slept right next to him.

Trevor was a large hound-like animal, though Luffy had no idea what specific kind of animal the beast truly was, who he had befriended after fighting. The furry and over-sized doggish creature was actually shockingly strong, and had razor sharp canines as well as small bent horns along his spine. It was a type of species the rubber man had never seen before coming to Rusukaina.

After a couple more minutes of trying to fall back asleep, Luffy suddenly jumped up, wide awake. His plans from the night before came back to him just then, and he grinned excitedly.

"Right! Today I'm leaving to have my own adventure!" he cried, chuckling. "At least 'til I meet up with Zoro and the others at Sunny."

"Yosh! I need meat for the journey," he called out obnoxiously, reminding himself and every other living thing nearby as he started walking forward into the surrounding forest, outside the boundaries of the clearing his camp was in.

He halted, glancing back to his camp thoughtfully at its residents, four assorted beasts, while they simultaneously stared back questioningly at him. Shaking his head as if finally deciding, Luffy mumbled, "No, I can't use their meat. I made friends with them."

He turned back around and continued on into the brush in search of a more suitable source of meat, letting the four big creatures return to their slumber.

There were several animals that Luffy had 'tamed and named' – as Rayleigh had put it – while on Rusukaina, but apart from those select few, the rest of the island's inhabitants were fair game in terms of meat. He had scoured practically every inch of the island during his long stay there, so he knew its terrain like the back of his hand. He also knew which animals tasted the best after trying all of them at one time or another.

Unlike when he'd arrived, Luffy was now powerful enough to take down the toughest beasts on the island, thanks to his Haki. Because of this many of the creatures knew by now to be wary of him and avoid him at all costs, lest they wished to become his next meal.

Fortunately for Luffy though, there always seemed to be some animals that were either unaware of his strength or just completely ignored it and attacked him anyway. This was why he had never run out of game to hunt, or meat to eat. Rusukaina hosted a surplus of life, odd and tough as it may be, so it was the perfect place for someone like him, who ate as much as inhumanly possible at every meal.

It took Luffy but a mere hour or two to round up enough meat to last him a couple weeks before he found himself standing on the coast he had first arrived at, with huge bags of all the meat he had gathered and large barrels of water from the nearest creek, sitting behind him.

Where he'd gotten the monstrous cloth bags or the wooden barrels in the first place was irrelevant at this point. All that mattered was that he had them.

Luffy excitedly stepped over to the rock where his, or rather Shank's, straw hat was perched and reverently lifted it off of the rock.

He scanned it appreciatively for a moment, before putting it atop his head, relishing in its comfortable weight as he did so. It had been a long time since he'd last worn it. He had visited it many times, of course, when he was feeling the most nostalgic, but he had never actually put it on, instead vowing not to wear it again until he was finished with his training.

It was finally that time, it seemed.

Bending down next to the rock his hat had been on, Luffy picked up something that looked like a large seashell. In truth, the rubber man knew it to be a Dial from Skypiea by its appearance, but he still examined it curiously. It hadn't been there only a couple days ago, when he'd last visited his hat.

"How…" he said confusedly, wondering how it could have gotten there. He looked up at the clear sky above him suspiciously, running through the possibilities.

Maybe it had fallen from the sky? From another island up there?

Luffy scratched the side of his temple. That didn't seem likely, even to him. Plus, if it had actually fallen from a sky island, there weren't any signs of its landing that he could see. There should've been a small crater where it landed at the very least, which there wasn't.

That left only one alternative, in Luffy's mind. Someone on the Blue Sea had brought it and placed it there purposefully.

That scenario made him scratch his head too, however. Doing such a thing shouldn't have been possible, at least not undetected. Rusukaina was not that big of an island, and Luffy's Kenbunshoku Haki had long been developed enough that his senses faintly reached across the entire island. That said, he would have been able to sense if someone had come to the island and left the Dial there.

What else could have happened though?

Unless...could an animal have left it there? That would explain why he wouldn't have sensed it, with all of the other animals on the island. But that then led to the question of where an animal would get a Dial in the first place.

Shaking his head in bewilderment, Luffy decided to drop his musings of the Dial's origins and came upon another unknown.

He didn't even know what type of Dial it was.

The rubber man turned the Dial around in his hands a few times, being careful not to press the button at its apex. After examining it closer, he still had no idea what kind it was nor whether or not it was a dangerous type.

He realized he should have been paying closer attention on Sky Island and back when Usopp used them. He had never really familiarized himself with the different types of Dials and their appearances like Usopp had…if only the sharpshooter were here now! Then this wouldn't be a problem at all.

His long-nosed nakama was not here though, Luffy noted dejectedly, which left him in a bit of a pickle. There was no way to figure out if the Dial he was holding was a dangerous Impact Dial or just a harmless Flavor Dial.

Well, that just meant there was only one option left.

Perking up, Luffy smiled. "Guess I'll just see what happens then."

He pressed the Dial's apex without any further hesitation.

There was a long precarious moment where nothing happened, and he started to think that maybe he had been mistaken in thinking it was a Dial and not just a normal sea shell, before Luffy finally heard a voice. A familiar voice, incidentally.

It was coming from the Dial itself. So it was a Tone Dial!

Laughing, Luffy brought the Tone Dial closer so that he could hear it better. He went so far as to put it right up against his ear, bumping his straw hat in the process so that it sat lopsidedly on his head.

Rayleigh's wizened voice could be heard from the Dial's opening.

"-llo, Luffy! I see you're faring well on your own. That is good, my boy, keep it up. I trust you know of Dials and how to use them after your trip to the sky? Well, you pressed the button already, so I expect you do.

Now, I suppose you are wondering why I left you this Tone Dial. I didn't want to disrupt your training, so I decided to leave you this instead. Along the same vein, I bet you're also wondering how I personally left this without you noticing. I know I would be curious.

That, I'm afraid, is an answer I'm not willing to give you. I can give you a hint, however. I will tell you that it does in fact have to do with Haki, though admittedly it is one skill that many Haki-users never take advantage of, because they do not know enough of the ins and outs of Haki to use it.

That is not the hint though. This is the hint: what I did was not a new form of Haki. Rather, it is just a clever manipulation of one of the three types. See if you can't figure it out on your own, Luffy! Think of it as your next challenge toward mastering Haki, alright? It should help you in the New World if you manage to get the hang of it.

But back to the real reason I delivered this Dial to you. I'm sorry to say, Luffy, that I fear I will be unable to meet you on Sabaody Archipelago when your two years are up. Something's come up, and I am needed elsewhere, so this is my farewell to you. Don't worry, your ship is coated and safely awaiting your return, I promise. Pay a visit to Shakky in Grove 13 to find it when you're ready!

One last thing before I end this terribly long message. Take heed of these words, please. The power we all know as Haki is essential where you intend to go. If you know what you're doing, you will be a force to be reckoned with!

What you've learned from me are just the basics of the three types – the tip of iceberg if you will. So, continue to expand on them. That is something I can't emphasize enough. You will spend your entire life training your Haki, and still not have it fully mastered even at my age! That should give you some idea of how much potential your willpower has.

Manipulating Haki is a skill that - and I say this with confidence - has never been 'mastered.' Personally, I believe it will always stay like this, but feel free to prove me wrong, Luffy. I dare you!

And with that, I believe it is time for me to take my leave. My time on Roger's ship were some of the best years of my life, so enjoy these days while you can! Hopefully, we'll meet again someday. Maybe even sooner than you think.

Good luck on your journey, Luffy. Please pass that on to your crew for me – they're a good bunch. Trust them! Farewell!

…Oh, and keep the Dial. Consider it one last gift from me. You never know when it might come in handy! Hah!"

The Dial message ended with Rayleigh laughing heartily. It was a couple of silent seconds before Luffy laughed back, just for the hell of it.

He was a little disappointed that his mentor wouldn't be able to see him off at Sabaody Archipelago, but he was grateful that the man had been nice enough to leave him a goodbye. Rayleigh had really opened his eyes to power during the time the man had spent training him.

Now he was that much closer to becoming the Pirate King and returning Shank's hat to him. Luffy's eyes brightened momentarily as he considered this, before he quickly turned his attention back to the present.

Pocketing the Tone Dial, he quickly stepped over to the edge of the island, to the small drop off where water met land. Facing the sea, Luffy grinned and cupped his hands around his mouth, taking a deep breath.

"ACE!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Standing back, Luffy folded his arms across his chest and waited, tapping his foot idly. Below him, waves crashed against the sides of the island constantly. It was a comforting sound to him, actually, almost like he was out sailing and the water was just sloshing against his ship. That brought a light smile to his face.

The sun glittered off the blue ocean brightly as he gazed outward into the distance. As far as the eye could see, there was no land in sight. He wasn't too concerned about that though.

He knew if he moved to the southeast side of the island, he would be able to see the faint, miniscule outline of Amazon Lily, but that wasn't where he wanted to go. That did, however, remind him of something.

Hancock was supposed to pick him up after the two years were up, but if Luffy left the island now, he wouldn't be there when she arrived and she might wonder where he went. He should leave a note or something, he decided, so that the Kuja tribe wouldn't worry.

Just as he was about to go about doing that, rushing water could be heard, interrupting his current train of thought.

Luffy glanced back toward the ocean, another grin sprouting on his face. Water erupted upwards as something emerged from the blue depths, something gigantic. The water fell back to sea level with multiple crashes, further revealing the humongous monster.

The creature was probably the biggest Sea King Luffy had ever met, which was saying something, as in the Calm Belt the biggest Sea Kings in the world were plentiful. It was so large that even the smallest tooth in its mouthful of razor sharp teeth dwarfed the Thousand Sunny at least twenty times over.

The Sea King's body was generically serpent-like. There were no fins on it, as it moved through the water like a gigantic sea snake would, nor did it have any other sort of limbs. Its head was probably a mixture of 2 or more creatures, but Luffy thought it looked very dinosaur-like. Almost raptor-like. If you had to put a label on it, that's how he would describe it. There was a large curved horn on the end of its nose bridge/snout, along with many other smaller (though not small by any means) spiky horns on top of its head and down its back and spine all the way to its tail.

Its scales were armor-like, colored dark blue like the deepest parts of the ocean, and its eyes were prominent golden slits surrounded by black. All of this gave the beast a rather intimidating appearance, but really, once you got to know him Ace was pretty friendly. Just like Luffy's late brother.

With a cheer, Luffy shouted a greeting, "Ace!"

Ace, the massive Sea King just described, turned its eyes down to look at Luffy and gave a roar back in greeting, rattling the entire island as it did so.

Luffy fondly remembered when he'd first met the Sea King, shortly after he'd arrived on Rusukaina. Ace had been surfacing leisurely when Luffy had recklessly decided to test his skills against it. This was in the early phases of learning Haki for Luffy, so his strongest attacks against the Sea King barely even tickled it. Ace had promptly and utterly defeated him with just one swipe of its spiked tail.

The Sea King had been preparing to eat the Rubber man when Rayleigh had been forced to intervene and snatched Luffy away before Ace could close its jaws. The beast, unsurprisingly, was not happy about that, but there was nothing it could do as Rayleigh and Luffy were halfway across the island by then, thanks to the old man's frightening speed.

Several months later, a similar situation occurred. Luffy was strolling along the coastal line during a break in his training when the Sea King suddenly emerged…

"You!" Luffy cried, pointing up at the Sea King towering over him in recognition. He remembered that monster straight away, just as the Sea King seemed to remember him as well. Luffy was its prey that had gotten away, after all.

"I'm stronger now," he warned the beast as it lunged forward, snapping its jaws in Luffy's direction with unexpected speed.

Luffy was ready though, and blurred away just as the King's humongous jaws bit into the island itself, tearing a chunk of the island away as it pulled back. The Sea King attempted to hit him several more times, but Luffy managed to dodge each time.

Finally, with a second of time to prepare, Luffy enlarged his arm and transitioned into Gear Third, while imbuing his giant fist with as much concentrated Busoshoku Haki as he could. He leaped toward the Sea King at the same time as it was lunging, and clobbered the beast with just that one punch.

The beast dropped, somehow landing part way onto the island, while Luffy whooped victoriously.

"Hah! I told you I was stronger!"

Ace hadn't taken too well to losing that first time, and so five more battles occurred between the two of them, with Luffy coming out on top in all of them. It was after those fights that the tamed Sea King eventually became his friend, who he ended up naming after his late older brother.

And that's where they found themselves today.

Ace towered over him as usual, looking curiously down at him. Luffy could just discern the Sea King's questioning stare at why it was being called.

Laughing, Luffy yelled, "We're going to go on an adventure! You ready?"

Ace roared once more, which he took for a "Hell yeah!"

Luffy pumped a fist in the air, "Great! Just give me one second, I gotta do somethin'!"

Closing his eyes and putting his hand to his chin, Luffy tried to figure out how he would go about leaving a message for the Kuja tribe. The Tone Dial immediately came to mind as something perfect for just this sort of situation, but he was hesitant to discard it so soon.

He'd rather keep it if he could, but what else could he use to send a message?

After thinking for a brief moment, Luffy could only come up with one option. It should work just fine though. He opened his eyes and began looking around searchingly, finally finding a flat rock slab near the rock that he had previously perched his hat on.

"That should do," Luffy murmured to himself, before sticking his right pointer finger up to his mouth and biting the skin of his fingertip. The pain was minimal as it bled freely. He squeezed it to try to push more blood out before he started crudely writing on the light-colored rock slab, using his own blood as ink.

Hancock, Margaret, and rest of Kuja tribe:

I'm done with my training, so I'm leaving now. Don't worry about me, I'm going to explore a bit before I meet my crew back at our ship when the 2 years are up. I'll be sure to come back and visit sometime! Thanks for everything!

Luffy

Sitting back, he admired his work with a satisfied smile spread across his face. The letters were very lopsided and disproportioned, but it was still legible. Barely.

"Perfect!" he exclaimed aloud, genuinely happy with how it all turned out. After a moment of deliberation, Luffy bent back toward the rock and added a small heart shape next to his name, smirking as he thought of what Hancock's reaction would be to that.

Luffy was well aware of Hancock's feelings toward him, and how much she cared for him. He almost wished he would be there just to see her reaction when she saw it. He closed his eyes for a moment, just picturing the Snake Princess.

It was true that before his training, Luffy had been ignorant of such things, but Rayleigh had opened his eyes to more than just power. After realizing that Luffy hadn't had anyone to explain such things, the older man had a talk with him. "The birds and the bees," he'd called it, although Luffy wasn't entirely sure why since that uncomfortable conversation hadn't contained any mention of birds or bees whatsoever.

Yes, he wasn't a little kid anymore. It was almost as if Rayleigh's talk had set him off - flipped a switch or something.

That was how he now understood just what drawing that heart next to his name would do to Hancock. It was just too bad he wouldn't be there to see it, nor would he be able to say goodbye to her in person. It was time to leave though, he'd already decided that. He would just have to hope that he ran into her in the future so that he could thank her for everything she'd done for him.

"Yosh! I'm ready, Ace, let's go!" he finally exclaimed, turning in Ace's direction.

The Sea King leaned downward closer to ground level, allowing to Luffy to stretch his rubber arms and climb up on top of its massive head. From there, Luffy once again stretched his rubber arms and grabbed the bulging bags of meat still sitting on the ground, before similarly grabbing the water barrels.

When he finally got everything he needed atop Ace's head, securely pressed between the various spikes sticking out of the Sea King's head, Luffy plopped down near the front of Ace's head, just above the Sea King's eyes, so that he could have an unobstructed view of everything.

Conveniently, there was a horn located directly behind where he was sitting that he could lean back against, ensuring maximum comfort. When Ace straightened back up to its normal height above the water, Luffy oohed in awe at how high up he was. It was spectacular – he felt like the king of the world all the way up there!

"This is awesome, Ace!" he shouted zealously, taking in everything from so high up in the air.

Once he'd calmed down, Luffy glanced around in different directions, trying to figure out which way to go. He did not have a Log Pose in his possession, which would make his travel plans a bit unconventional, but he was intent on traveling somewhere despite that, so he decided he'd just have to choose randomly.

It would be better that way, more spontaneous.

Luffy turned his head, he knew Amazon Lily was in that direction. He whipped his head in another direction - and he knew that the Marine prison and headquarters were in that direction. Those were two places he didn't want to go for sure, so he picked a direction away from both of those destinations that he knew would still lead him back toward the Grand Line.

And there it was, that's the direction he would go.

Luffy was fully aware of the fact that trying to go certain directions wouldn't work at all once he left the Calm Belt and got back into the Grand Line, but he was okay with that. He'd just go wherever the ocean wanted him to! It sounded like a good idea to him!

"Alright, Ace! Go that way," he commanded, pointing determinately in the direction he wanted. Ace complied immediately, moving in that direction with only slight turbulence.

"And remember not to go underwater this time!" Luffy reminded the Sea King, recalling the last time he'd tried to ride Ace for fun. It had been a complete and utter failure, and he really hoped this time would be different.

Ace groaned loudly in acknowledgment, thankfully understanding the rubber man's sentiments.

"Yosh! And we're off to the Grand Line!" Luffy called out to the world, before on second thought adding, "Again."

End of Chapter 1

Just for a brief reference, if you couldn't remember exactly which type is which, these are the types of Haki:

1) Kenbunshoku Haki is the sensing type of Haki.

2) Busoshoku Haki is the armor type of Haki that can protect and reinforce the user offensively or defensively, and even allow the user to hit Logia-type Devil Fruit users.

3) Haoshoku Haki is the Conquering King's Haki, the rare type of Haki that only one in a million have that allows the user to overpower the wills of others and even knock weak-willed individuals unconscious.

REVISED