Authors Note: I've been writing this fic on and off since chapter 794 was released so I cannot begin to describe to you how happy I am that I can finally share this with you guys!
Some dialogue has been taken/paraphrased from the anime/manga and doesn't belong to me.
Dedicated to the wonderful Mithril for all her support, and also to the half dozen other people who kindly encouraged me and kept my spirits up. You know who you all are! :D
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Chapter 1: The Dawn of the Adventure
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It was the wonderful day for sailing. The skies were clear, the waters calm, and the gulls that cried overhead while they circled the small vessel proved to be good company. All in all, it couldn't be a more perfect day.
Purupurupuru. Purupurupuru.
Well, the young man on laying deck mused, his mind still clouded with the remnants a nap that had been so rudely interrupted by the shrill cries of a den den mushi, it wasalmostperfect. Pushing his hat away from his face, he had to squint as the bright light hit his eyes. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision and was about to make the effort to heave himself up when the noise finally quieted. Sighing with relief, he let his head fall back against his crossed arms, stretching like a contented cat in the warm sun.
Purupurupuru. Purupurupuru. Purupurupuru.
"Seriously?" he moaned. The thought of moving was most unappealing, but since the small snail showed no signs of shutting up and it was ruining the soothing sounds of the small waves lapping against the bow, the man pushed himself to his feet. A quick glance at the wheel and then the horizon showed exactly what he had expected. His rope contraption had held him on course while he napped, something he desperately longed to return to. Though that would not happen now, he knew as he scrubbed at his face with one gloved hand. The other reached out and lightly tapped the snail's shell where sat atop the wheel, while he focused on suppressing a yawn as the call connected.
"-completely selfish! He knows he needs to pick up when we call! It's unbelievable. Oh, don't tell me to calm down! What if we were under attack or something?"
"Then I hope you'd be busy defending the place rather than calling me," the man interrupted, leaning his weight against the railing, the wind whipping gently at his blond hair.
"Sabo!"
"Good morning, Koala," Sabo greeted amicably, ignoring his friend and comrade's annoyance with practiced ease.
"It's two o'clock in the afternoon," she hissed in reply.
"Is it? I hadn't noticed," he returned pleasantly.
"Seriously, why don't you answer your damn calls? I've been trying to get hold of you for the last half an hour! Didn't you hear it ringing?"
"Then I really hope Baltigo isn't under attack because I think your skills could be better used elsewhere than in the call room," he teased softly. There was a splutter of indignation from the other end of the line that only made Sabo chuckle. "I'm on my way back from Tequila Wolf. If the plan to raid it is still on, we're going to have to re-think our strategy I'm afraid," he said.
"I'm not calling about your report – wait. Why? What did you find?" Sabo heard Koala hissing at Hack to hand her a quill and some parchment.
Sabo sighed heavily, frustration causing a frown to mar his face. "Because they've only gone and moved the slave village, haven't they? They've made a lot of progress since our last scouts reported back. Although, after seven hundred years you've gotta wonder what the sudden rush is," Sabo huffed.
Koala cursed quietly. "Bunny Joe is not going to like that," she said. "We don't have the time or resources to do another full reconnaissance. We'll just have to hope his team will still be able to pull off the raid with what we already know."
"We've dealt with worse odds before," Sabo shrugged. He trusted his fellow Revolutionaries would be more than capable of executing the plan to release the slaves. They had succeeded before on much less information. It would certainly make the mission more dangerous but every person working under the banner of the Revolutionary Army knew the risks from the moment they signed up. "I do have some good news, too, though" the blond offered with a grin.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I found the most amazing restaurant while I was in East Blue. It's called the Baratie and I think I can safely say it has some of the best food I've eaten in years!" he exclaimed, feeling his mouth begin to water at the memory of all the delicious plates of food the chefs had whipped up.
Koala snorted and Sabo could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Of course you'd think with your stomach," she said, although her voice lacked any heat. "But I hadn't actually called you to discuss restaurants or collect your report, which, I might add, is late again."
It was Sabo's turn to roll his eyes. "At least I actually gave you one this time! Take what you're given already."
"Yes, I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies. Speaking of which, Sabo, Dragon-san is headed to Logue Town. He left early this morning."
Sabo blinked in surprise. Dragon was leader of the Revolutionary Army and possibly one of, if not the most wanted man in the world. He hardly ever left their base at Baltigo anymore. As far as Sabo knew, he hadn't left since Ivankov was imprisoned in Impel Down and Kuma had left them to join the Shichibukai, because if the Revolutionary Army were to lose another important figurehead, its continued existence would be jeopardised. Sabo had been a member since he was about ten years old and while he had recently been promoted to Chief of Staff and could assume command in the absence of Dragon as his second, there was still a lot that Dragon had yet to share even with Sabo surrounding the founding and causes that prompted Dragon to start the revolution in the first place. Dragon was cautious, although he did have his moments, and rarely shared everything with a single person, purely for their own safety should his confidant be captured or defect.
The wind suddenly rose up, sending a spray of seawater across the bow and shaking Sabo out of his surprise. Realising Koala was waiting for his response, he gave himself a mental shake. "Did he say why?" he asked curiously.
"No. He announced this morning that he needed to see something and that he was going to Logue Town and left. Crow-san gave him a lift." Sabo could hear his friend's frustration. He did sympathise somewhat with her plight. It was bad enough the Chief of Staff had a bad habit of wandering off; she really didn't need their leader to start doing the same. "Dragon-san said he'd come back to Baltigo with you, since you're going to have to pass by on your way back."
"Okay," Sabo replied, quickly double checking the log pose sat by the wheel and doing a quick calculation in his head. "I'll be there by tomorrow morning. I have a suitable vessel so there's no need to send Crow-san back out to collect us."
"Great. Oh, and Sabo? Try not to cause any trouble! Remember you're going to have Dragon-san with you and the last thing we need is -"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. See you when we get back!" he called cheerfully.
"Hey, wait! Don't you hang u-"
Sabo smirked as he disconnected the call. He would definitely be paying for that when he got back to Baltigo, but right then he had more important things to concern himself with. He dropped the snail into the pocket of his black coat that hung casually over one of the handles and deftly untied the rope locking the wheel in place. Double checking the log pose, he made a quick adjustment, setting his boat on a straighter course to Logue Town. Raising his head to the clear blue skies, Sabo grinned.
xxx
As always when he was lucky enough to pass through one of the most famous islands in the world, Sabo made a beeline for the execution platform. Ever since he had first seen it, his body still recovering from the explosion that had claimed his memories, and so nearly his life, Sabo had been inexplicably drawn to the platform. He hadn't been able to understand the connection he felt to the name Gold Roger, although Dragon had been quick to correct him to the proper pronunciation of Gol. D Roger. The mere mention of the initial had been Sabo's first spark of familiarity since he'd awoken on Dragon's ship. But he hadn't been able to remember anything to go with it. He could only guess he'd heard it before, but the lack of any memory had driven him to tears as he stared up at the towering platform, sending a few of the Revolutionaries who'd accompanied Dragon and Sabo ashore into a small panic. He had allowed them to usher him away from the square, his eyes burning and tender skin itching from his salty tears while he grieved for something he couldn't remember.
There had been many other moments over the years that caused him to pause and try to force his brain to cooperate and unlock his memories, but none had been as strong as that first time at the steps of the execution platform in Logue Town.
A gust of wind whipped through the street, forcing Sabo to make a grab for his hat before it flew from his head. Turning into the wind, Sabo saw the clouds above beginning to group together. A storm was approaching. Frowning thoughtfully, Sabo turned back towards his destination, picking up the pace. He had time for a quick look before he had to find his leader.
He had expected the square to be mostly deserted. It certainly still held its appeal to the general tourist mass but the marine base stationed nearby did its job of keeping away pirates who would happily turn the execution platform into a shrine, so Sabo was more than a little surprised to see a large gathering in the square. He paused on the edge of the crowd, pulling his hat down securely to obscure his face. Although unlikely, he didn't want to take the risk of someone recognising him.
"-ing on?"
"-marines should do something!"
"-platform-"
"Pirates!"
Sabo followed the excited gazes of the townsfolk. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, surprise causing the words to slip out. The Revolutionary could hardly believe what he was seeing. If it wasn't for the fact it was currently being witnessed by the majority of Logue Town, he seriously would have thought he was imagining things. But no, atop the platform, as clear as day, two figures stood. Or rather, one stood, his coat billowing about him like a pair of wings. The second person, smaller and leaner was on his knees, clapped in the pillory. And looking remarkably calm considering his current predicament, Sabo noted, somewhat bemused.
Sabo turned his attention back to the man gallivanting around the platform like he owned it. Sabo sighed as recognition dawned on him. There was no mistaking that clown and his cohorts prancing around at the bottom of the wooden structure. They cackled gleefully and Sabo scowled when several cracks of gunfire erupted. The crowd around him began to shift, a low murmur of displeasure running through them all. Sabo hoped for the sake of the Buggy Pirates that they could control themselves enough to not send any shots directly into the crowds. The pirates' actions had managed to bring the crowd to an almost dead silence though and while he watched the scene play out before them, Sabo was suddenly able to hear Buggy and his prisoner.
"Now," Buggy stomped heavily on the young man's head, grinning as he twirled his cutlass above the man's unguarded neck. "Any last words? You have a big audience." The man scowled. Buggy laughed heartily. "Ah well, never mind that. No one wants to hear it."
"I AM…"
Sabo held his breath, unable to tear his gaze away from the young man staring down at them, a look of utmost seriousness on his face.
"-GOING TO BE THE PIRATE KING!"
"Are you gonna become pirates?! I'm gonna become one too!"
Sabo staggered back, his ears ringing and head pounding. Desperately trying to clear his head of the declaration seemingly echoing in his head, he looked around desperately. He could have sworn that he had heard a child – a young boy, possibly – but there were none around him. Instead the only thing that could be heard was the crowd's stunned murmurs.
Practically falling back against a wall in an effort to regain some equilibrium, Sabo almost missed the blurs of green and yellow fly straight past him.
"LUFFY!"
"Luffy, is it?" Sabo muttered, glancing at the man still stuck in the pillory and having an argument with a pair of older teenagers who had launched themselves at the Buggy Pirates. He took a single, unconscious step forward before another presence registered with him. He froze, distracted, a fleeting thought vanishing from his mind as quickly as it appeared. Frustrated, Sabo almost growled but he forced himself to block out the commotion unfolding around him.
He turned slowly towards one the buildings on the other side of the plaza. Concentrating hard, Sabo zeroed in on where the presence felt strongest. It wasn't Dragon, he quickly concluded. Dragon liked high places he could use as an outlook but he rarely ventured inside if he could help it. Sensing the underlying hostility, Sabo could only think it was Captain Smoker, the marine in charge of the local outpost. And judging by the formidable aura that bounced off of Sabo's own observation haki, he more than lived up to his reputation.
A flash of white in a first floor window drew his attention. A marine stood in the window, his gun trained on the arguing pirates down below him. Sabo cursed silently, inwardly furious that he had let himself get distracted enough to not even notice that the square had been surrounded. In nearly every window with a prominent view down onto the platform there stood a marine, poised to attack. He guessed by the fact they hadn't made a move yet that their plan was to let the pirates destroy each other before rounding up the stragglers.
It was a smart move, Sabo admitted grudgingly. He supposed that Smoker had the docks on lockdown too. Sabo turned to the execution platform, strangely filled with regret at the thought of leaving, but he needed to find Dragon. He should find Dragon. They had to leave before their presence was noted and it would be easier to do if everyone was still preoccupied. He stared at the dark-haired teenager thoughtfully. His declaration that he was going to be Pirate King was ballsy and might have caused a lot of people to snicker at his boldness and write it off as a joke, but Sabo strangely couldn't help but think the kid had been deadly serious.
Sabo tried to shake himself out of his stupor. He couldn't hang around all day watching pirates – for Luffy could only be a pirate if he was walking around making such statements – no matter how much he felt like he should stay, he had to find Dragon and he owed the kid nothing. His own discovery wasn't worth lending his assistance to a pirate who was clearly so reckless he'd been caught before he could even enter the Grand Line. But he also found he couldn't ignore the feeling he should be doing something. Anything.
Torn, Sabo remained where he was until a rumble of thunder echoed overhead. Sabo felt the first splatters of rain hit the rim of his hat and freezing cold wind blew into the square from the side streets. A piercing crack followed by the sharp and distinct smell of sulfur rang out above the square. Sabo raised his face skywards, eyes widening in disbelief, and watched a ripple of lightning roll overheard. The thunder growled ominously and the rain began to pound the pavements. The crowd began to disperse, scattering in all directions as people ran for shelter from both the weather and the battling pirates.
"Zoro! Sanji!"
Sabo turned towards the platform, Luffy's voice carrying surprisingly well considering the commotion going on around the square and he felt compelled to listen.
"Sorry. I'm dead!"
To the Revolutionary's surprise, the pirate was grinning despite the sword poised to swing down to meet his neck. How could he smile, Sabo wondered, baffled beyond comprehension. No one smiled in the face of death. No one except one man.
Sabo had read several eyewitness reports of the Pirate King's own execution. He had smiled. He didn't have time to ponder the oddity, for in the next moment, Sabo, along with everyone else in the square, was forced to shield their eyes and cover their ears as a bolt of lightning struck the execution platform. Sabo ducked down to avoid the dust and debris flying from the site of impact.
A stunned stillness settled over the square, with no one even daring to move.
"Shishishi! That surprised me!"
"You and the rest of the world," Sabo muttered, before the voice ripping through the silence registered. His head snapped up. To his utter amazement, Luffy was now stood against the backdrop of the destroyed platform. He patted at a straw hat with surprising care before slapping it onto his head, grin still fixed firmly in place.
"Do you believe in a higher power?" the blond in a black suit asked nonchalantly of his green-haired companion from not too far away.
"Don't be ridiculous! We need to get out of here, Luffy."
"Ah! Here they come!" Luffy shouted, bounding past the pair and towards the furthest exit of the square. Marines had started to flood out of the nearby buildings, shouting orders left and right and fighting their way through the still stunned crowd.
Sabo couldn't help but smile as he watched the trio make their bid for freedom. Making a quick decision, the blond disappeared down the closest side alley, following the small group's route to the docks on a parallel street.
Luffy was far too interesting, Sabo thought. He had better things to do than track the progress of a runaway pirate, but much like he hadn't been able to leave the square, he felt obliged to see the pirate to the docks. He had no idea why. Sabo was pretty sure he had never heard of Luffy before that afternoon but the insistent tug of something pushed Sabo onwards.
Twin shouts of surprise and dismay from the other street had Sabo springing to the roof.
"Seriously?" he muttered to himself, incredulous at the scene laid out below him.
Luffy, who only minutes before had miraculously managed to escape his own execution, was now sat pinned underneath none other than Captain Smoker himself. His thrashing limbs, that stretched far beyond all normal human proportions before snapping back like a rubber band, were stronger than they looked considering they were making cracks in the pavement beneath him, but they were utterly useless against Smoker. Luffy was clearly inexperienced fighting against logia type devil fruit users, despite obviously being a devil fruit user himself. It at least explained how the pirate had emerged unscathed from the lightning strike but Sabo still had to forcefully quash the worry that bizarrely bubbled up in his chest when he imagined the trouble Luffy could get into as a new rookie in the Grand Line.
Sabo couldn't take his eyes away from the jitte in the marine's hand, glistening in the pouring rain. If he squinted, he could almost picture another man standing over Luffy, who he imagined to be smaller and weaker, nothing like the man currently flailing about on the ground like a wild animal, and threatening him with a similar weapon. But that didn't make any sense, Sabo thought, his mind racing a mile a minute. He had never met Luffy, and certainly not as a child. Sabo had barely left Baltigo those first few years and Luffy didn't look that much younger than him, so why would he picture such a thing?
"Looks like my run of bad luck is over," Smoker smirked, raising his sword above his head. Sabo tensed, poised to jump down into the street when someone beat him to it.
"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly."
Sabo jolted in surprise when he recognised the reassuringly familiar figure who'd caught the swinging blow. He wasn't ashamed to admit that his first thought upon seeing his commander standing over the marine captain, his favourite hooded cloak shielding him from the downpour, was that Koala was going to kill him. Painfully and slowly. They were definitely not laying low and were definitely drawing attention to themselves.
Sabo was completely perplexed by this new turn of events. Dragon had done many things over the years that had stunned him, but this had to be one of the most surprising. The Revolutionaries very rarely involved themselves in the affairs of pirates. While Sabo was one of the worst culprits for involving himself in things that shouldn't concern him or the Revolutionaries, Sabo couldn't think of a single other incident that Dragon had revealed himself to a marine to save a pirate.
"What's going on?! Who's there?" Luffy continued to struggle fruitlessly underneath Smoker, who glared up at Dragon in pure disgust.
"You!" Smoker snarled, tensing like he was readying himself to pull his arm from Dragon's grip.
"Us," Dragon corrected idly, his gaze never leaving the marine but his words were clearly directed to Sabo.
Sabo sighed, absently already thinking of a thousand excuses to give to Koala even as he jumped down into the street himself. He walked slowly and steadily, arms loose at his side and pipe still hanging at his back. Dragon was making no move to outwardly attack Smoker, and Sabo would gladly follow his lead since he really had no idea what in the world Dragon was thinking.
Sabo walked confidently past the blond and green-haired men, both of them standing tense and unsure while the scene before them unfolded. They eyed him warily, but he ignored them, stopping only when Smoker sensed his approach and jerked his head towards him. Sabo nodded his greeting to Dragon.
Smoker huffed, his gaze darting between the two Revolutionaries he was now caught between. He rose steadily, finally allowing Luffy to push himself back to his feet, although he was nearly knocked clean over again when a huge gust of wind rattled down the street. He grasped protectively at his straw hat.
"Hey, Luffy! Let's go!" the green-haired swordsman shouted, voice barely carrying over the wind, but clearly wanting to take advantage of their new opportunity for freedom. "Quit dragging your feet! There's a storm coming! We're going to get trapped here!"
"Right!" Luffy agreed. He sidestepped Smoker, who ignored him in favour of keeping Dragon in his line of sight. He cast one final glance at the pair facing off with one another, seemingly unconcerned about the storm gathering pace in the skies above them before he jogged away, far too slowly for his crewmates' liking, if their urgent cries were anything to go by.
Sabo waited until the pirate was almost level with him before speaking quietly. "You might want to get a move on," he encouraged, "The other marines won't be far behind."
Luffy's head snapped to him and Sabo found himself pinned under one of the most inquisitive gazes he'd ever seen. Sabo was surprised to see Luffy falter momentarily, his eyes widening as he caught Sabo's gaze, before he regained his momentum and barreled passed. Sabo watched the pirate's progress down the street out the corner of his eye, and he only returned his attention to the two men left in the street once he was sure they had left, an odd compulsion to make sure they did actually get to safety filling him.
Sabo turned just in time to catch Dragon smirking ominously. Sabo mentally groaned and ducked quickly into a doorway, bracing himself against the force he knew was coming. He reached up to keep a tight grip on his hat when the strongest gust of wind yet swept down the street, sending small debris and litter swirling while doors and windows rattled in their frames. Sabo's coat whipped at his knees for what seemed like hours but was actually no more than a minute before calm descended upon the town again.
When Sabo lifted his head, he was unsurprised to find that he was alone in the street. Taking the opportunity to disappear before Smoker returned to track them both down, Sabo emerged from his meagre shelter and took to the roofs once more.
It was easy to follow Dragon's presence. He had been following in the man's footsteps since he was about ten years old and it took him no time at all to locate his leader atop an old warehouse roof at the harbour.
Sabo didn't bother to mask his approach and he drew to a halt beside the man. Dragon didn't acknowledge him, his gaze fixed on something in the distance, bobbing up and down on the rough waves but making good progress away from the town despite the bad weather. Sabo squinted in the dim light and he was just able to make out the small vessel – a caravel, if Sabo wasn't mistaken – that was captivating his leader. In the ferocious winds, Sabo could just make out a black flag snapping around.
"So us Revolutionaries are saving pirates now, are we?" Sabo enquired, voice bordering on teasing and conveniently ignoring the fact that he had almost stepped in to assist the same pirates himself before Dragon had saved him the trouble.
Dragon's only response was to grin. Sabo felt his own grin falter and his brow knit in confusion. He had seen that grin once before today already and it hadn't been from Dragon; it had been on the face of a young pirate caught atop the execution platform.
All at once, Sabo felt a bolt of understanding hit him. Familiarity, he thought, turning back to watch the ship heading towards the horizon and the Grand Line beyond. Familiarity is what he'd felt as he'd watched Luffy. He supposed he could be forgiven for not recognising the feeling before; very rarely did Sabo find anything outside of his tight knit life in the Revolutionaries familiar. He thought back to Luffy's faltering when he had seen Sabo. He shook his head and smiled ruefully.
It was a shame, Sabo noted, drawing in a deep breath, that he and Luffy hadn't been able to speak; that the circumstances had conspired against them. He had the feeling Luffy could be a pretty interesting person to know.
xxx
"That was a close one!"
"You don't say, Shitty Cook."
"Shut up, Marimo!"
"Then don't state the obvious."
"That reminded me of the time I had to escape a tornado! I was all alone when - Ow! Nami, why are you hitting me?!"
"We don't need any of your wild tales right now."
"Well there's no need to hit me!"
Luffy wandered away from his squabbling crewmates and towards the railing, his eyes fixed firmly on the island they had barely managed to escape from. It had been fun, Luffy thought with a grin. Despite the almost execution and the disgusting smell of sulfur lingering on his clothes that the storm hadn't managed to dampen, Luffy had enjoyed himself. He had only wanted to see the platform where the Pirate King – his brother's father – had met his end. And where the legend of One Piece began. He'd had no idea that Buggy would've held such a grudge against him that he'd actually followed them. And his anger towards Shanks was funny; he'd have to ask the next time he saw the red-haired pirate if Buggy was actually telling the truth, because if that was how he'd eaten his devil fruit, it was funnier than Luffy's own accidental ingestion! He was almost looking forward to the next time he met the clown; he was amusing.
And there had been that smoking marine, Luffy thought. He was drawing a blank on how he could possibly fight the guy when he couldn't even touch him. Although, the man in the cloak who'd helped him had managed to grab him. That was certainly a mystery. And there had been the blond guy, too…
"Hey, Luffy, who was that guy?"
"Hm?" Luffy turned to Sanji who had somehow managed to light his cigarette despite the lashing rain still falling around them. "What guy?"
"The one in the top hat, with the goggles," Sanji clarified, taking a drag. "You looked like you knew him."
Luffy shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't know any of those guys. That blond, he just looked like someone I used to know. That's all."
"You sure it wasn't him?" Zoro asked quietly, and Luffy had the feeling he hadn't quite been quick enough to hide the flash of pain in his eyes.
"That's impossible," he said simply. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, but he couldn't see any more of Logue Town. He mentally shook himself, wondering what in the world Ace would say if he could see Luffy getting all mopey just because he'd seen someone who looked like their brother. He'd probably get Ace's best imitation of Gramp's fist of love.
Luffy snapped his attention back to his crew, who were all watching him curiously. He flashed them his widest smile.
"Let's head to the Grand Line!"
He was met with a chorus of cheers.
XXX
Next Chapter: Introducing Ace
Please remember to review!
I'm just going to take a moment to address one of the surprisingly frequent comments I receive is regarding Same Difference and a possible sequel. I can categorically tell you I will not be writing a full sequel and the main reason is this fic. Don't get me wrong, I love Same Difference and have a few one shots in the works, but to me Overcoming an Era is the fic Same Difference could've been had I had the confidence in both my writing and my One Piece knowledge. I was a new fan when I wrote Same Difference. Now I'm much more seasoned and daring and I hope this will be a worthy successor to Same Difference.