Chapter 5: Luffy’s Persistence! Becoming Part of the Crew!

A week had passed since I last saw the new boy, Luffy. Ace and I had just laid down to go to sleep, when we heard one of the bandits call out, "Boss! Boss! Luffy's back!"

"H-He's alive?! Where were you all this time," I heard Dadan shout.

I sat up and looked over at Ace and it seemed as if he were still asleep. I got up off of my cot and made my way down to see all of the commission. I peeked out, I saw Luffy covered in scrapes and was all beat up. "What's going on," I asked, mostly just announcing my presence.

"Anne, perfecting timing. Get the first-aid supplies and treat Luffy," Dadan ordered.

I did as I was told and got the supplies as they led Luffy inside. "Take it easy," Magra told Luffy, leading him over to me, who just got everything set up. "So where were you and what have you been doing?"

I started dampening a gauze with disinfectant as Luffy said weakly, "I was… being chased by wolves… at the bottom of the gorge…"

As I started dabbing the damp gauze onto his wounds, I asked, "The gorge? What were you doing down there?!"

Luffy just shrugged and winced at the sting of the disinfectant. He did pretty well, letting me bandage and disinfect his injuries. Once I finished, Dadan picked us both up by the back of our shirts, took us to our room, and threw us onto our cots as she yelled, "Go to bed! I'll start working you like a dog tomorrow, boy!"

She slammed the door behind her on her way out. I looked over to check on the boy and saw that he had already passed out and was in a deep sleep. I gave a sigh at his sorry state, went over and covered him up with a blanket, before getting under my own.

For the next three months, Luffy would alternate following Ace and me. For every five days he followed Ace, he would follow me for two. Curious as to why, I asked him about it.

"Well, I want to be friends with Ace and you," Luffy told me once while I was fished with him. "You don't run away from me like Ace does, so I don't need to spend as much time trying to keep up with you. That's why I follow Ace more!"

"That… doesn't really make sense," I told him, yanking the pole in my hands, pulling in a large trout. "Ace only treats me the way he does because I'm his sister. So, why do you put yourself through this, getting new injuries every time you try and chase after him?"

"You two are the only ones I got here," Luffy told me, yanking his pole, pulling in a tiny guppy. "So I want to be friends with both of you… Are we friends, Anne?"

"I don't know," I told him, recasting my line. "Friendships usually take time. I don't dislike you, but we aren't super close. So, I'd say we're a little more than indifferent acquaintances."

Luffy tilted his head to the side as he asked, "Aquant-what?"

I let out a sigh, "It means we aren't exactly friends yet."

"Aw, but why not," Luffy moaned. "I really want to be your friend. And Ace's, too!"

"Just give it time," I told him.

A few days later, while Luffy was following Ace today, I decided to put one of my newest plans of getting treasure today. After fishing up lunch for the Dadan family, I began flying towards the noble's part of the kingdom, the Elite District, to start my heist. Once there, I stole a noble's little white dress from a clothes line and put it on, hiding my tank top and shorts nearby. I used the air around me to fluff up my hair to give me the full appearance of a pompous little noble girl. I walked the streets incognito and surveyed the area, looking for unsuspecting targets. When I saw noblemen and women get their wallets out to buy ludicrously priced objects like jewels and décor, I would send a strong gust of air their way, blowing their wallets out of their hands and over the buildings. I would then go into an abandoned place and use the air to bring the wallets to me. I would take the bills out of the wallets and stuff the bills into a sack I had brought. I did this for a solid two hours, and my haul was the largest I've ever gotten!

Wrapping up for the day, I grabbed the clothes I originally wore and stuffed them into the money sack. I attempted to lift up the sack myself, but I might have done a little too well in getting my loot today, because I couldn't even lift it! I had to use the air to help me move it and myself up into the air, where I then flew back to our secret treasure tree with the sack. As I was flying close to the tree, I could see Ace and Sabo comparing haul sizes. "Wow! You got more than I did! Where'd you get all this money," Sabo asked Ace.

"By the main gates. I stole it from some street punks! I think they were from a merchant ship," Ace explained. "For once, I think I might have gotten more money than Anne!"

"Sorry boys," I called as I landed on the tree branch next to them with my heavy sack, revealing the inside to them, "but I believe I had the bigger haul."

"I mean, I should be happy that you get so much treasure for us and we're saving up together to be pirates someday," Ace said with a groan, "But come on! I bet if you didn't have those powers of yours, I'd be the one bringing in the most treasure! Besides, why in the hell do you look like that?! You look ridiculous!"

"I still think I'd get the most, even if you had the same powers as me," I teased, playfully sticking my tongue out in a mocking manner. "Remember, it's all in the way you use the powers, which those with creative minds excel with, like myself! As for my clothes, it was a part of my plan to get the money, which helps show how creative I can get!"

"Are you saying I wouldn't be able to use your powers as cleverly as you," Ace shouted in defense.

"Well, in a way, Anne is basically the mastermind of the group," Sabo joined in with a laugh.

Ace and I bickered back and forth, which somehow turned into who would make a better pirate. "So I wonder how much a pirate ship costs," Sabo brought up, breaking Ace and me apart as we finished putting everything into the tree.

"Don't know," Ace said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It could be tens or even hundreds of millions. Hurry up and close the flap. Someone might see us."

"A pirate ship," we all heard a small voice exclaim loudly below us. "You guys wanna be pirates?! Me, too!!!" Ace, Sabo, and I all jumped and froze. "So you come all the way here every single day, huh, Ace! And you're here, too, Anne!"

"Shut up," Ace called down to him as all three of us climbed down the tree.

Ace and Sabo ended up tying Luffy to a tree while I stayed on lookout. "Is he 'that' Luffy you keep talking about," Sabo asked Ace.

"So, you finally made it all the way here," Ace said intimidatingly to Luffy. "I didn't take any paths that normal people can follow."

"That's where you messed up," I told Ace, deadpanned. "Since when has he been normal?"

While tied to the tree, Luffy was telling Sabo to be his friend, too. "This is why I keep telling you two to live here," Sabo told Ace and I. "You brought this on yourself by doing your training on the mountain paths, Ace! What're you gonna do now?"

Ace tightened his grip on his pipe as he said, "He knows our secret. If we let him go, he'll tell the whole world. We gotta kill him."

"Wait, what," I asked, unsure if I heard correctly, "can you repeat that? Can't we just keep him hidden and away from people until we leave?"

"That sounds like a lot more work, it's gotta be done," Sabo disagreed.

"WHAT," Luffy exclaimed in horror. Sabo tried to shut him up by forcibly shutting his mouth, but Luffy continued to scream out. "I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D KILL ME!! HELP!! I DON'T WANNA DIE!!"

"Sabo! Hurry up and kill him," Ace panicked.

"I never killed anybody before," Sabo argued, passing it back to Ace.

"Me neither! I don't know how," Ace protested, then looked at me. "Anne, you're the oldest! You do it!"

"Like hell I will," I yelled as I smacked Ace upside the head. "Like I said, we don't have to kill him, we just have to keep him away from people."

Luffy continued to scream for help as the boys forcibly tried to shut him up, until we heard an adult voice nearby. "Untie him for now," Ace ordered Sabo. "We have to get away from here or they'll find the treasure!"

Using an air blade, I quickly cut the ropes and we all ducked into some nearby bushes. Peeking out, we saw two average-sized men who were all beaten up and one giant man with a long sword and tattoo on his arm. "Ace, Sabo and Anne? Those three are notorious around here," the larger man said. "Are you sure it was Ace who stole the money from you?!"

"Yes, it's embarrassing to admit it, but he caught me off guard," the smaller man with an arm-sling told him.

"That stupid brat… He'll regret taking our money," the larger man growled. "If Captain Bluejam gets word of this, he'll kill us all."

I glared at Ace and hissed quietly, "You stole from the Bluejam pirates?! Are you an idiot?!"

"Crap, I didn't know! I shouldn't have robbed them," Ace whispered in regret.

"That's Porchemy," Sabo whispered. "And he's holding a real sword! Don't you know he's crazy?! When he defeats somebody, he scalps them alive! … huh? Where'd 'he' go?"

Ace and I looked over to where Luffy used to be and noticed he was gone. I couldn't help facepalming. Turns out he had run out and was immediately captured by Porchemy. "Dammit," I muttered as I bit my lip. "The nimrod…"

Luffy was kicking and screaming for Porchemy to let him go, and, like an idiot, he called out for Ace and me to help him. "Did you say Anne and Ace? You know those siblings?"

"They're my friends," Luffy said proudly, but then backtracked and said, "Oh, but Ace tried to kill me just now."

"He's blabbing already," Ace spat, clicking his tongue. "That idiot better not talk, they'll take our treasure away!"

Porchemy held Luffy up by his shirt and said, "I might as well ask. Today, Ace stole some money from us and ran off with it. Do you know where he is?"

Sabo, Ace, and I waited in silence for Luffy to give us up. Luffy began sweating, avoided eye-contact, and whistled as he gave an obvious lie. "Heh heh, so you don't know, eh," Porchemy asked. "Heh heh, but I'll make you remember! Don't worry about that!"

Luffy began to protest and try to fight back, but to no avail. Once the three men left with Luffy, I stood up and got out of the bush. I brought my fist up to my face and bit my thumb to think. "Why are you just thinking, Anne," Ace yelled. "Why aren't you just using your powers to go and get Luffy back before he spills the secret about the treasure?! It's not like those guys can even touch you!"

"We don't know that, Ace! It's complicated," I snapped back at him. "I told you before, there are some people that can still hurt me if I'm not careful! I have no idea if any of them can use those skills, and if they can, then they could capture both Luffy and me. I first gotta know if they can use Haki before I act rashly. Besides, Luffy can't go intangible, so he would still be a target… I'll go and act as a spy on the group. I'll gather information and, er, keep an eye out to make sure Luffy doesn't spill the beans."

I honestly just wanted to make sure they weren't going to kill him, but if that had been my only reason, I knew Ace and Sabo wouldn't let me go. "But you just said you weren't sure if these guys could hurt you or not," Sabo said as he grabbed my wrist. "What if they can and you get caught?!"

"Then I'll leave," I told him. "Simple as that. You forgot that I can still fly."

Ace crossed his arms and thought with his eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed. "Alright," Ace gave in. "I don't like this at all, but we really do need to know if that brat says anything… Just promise not to get in over your head. Sabo and I'll start moving the treasure while you're gone, in case that blabbermouth gives up the location of the treasure."

I gave a nod as I turned and ran the direction the pirates went. I followed their tracks through the forest and followed them all the way back to their hideout. I snuck around the hideout, peeking inside cracks to see if I could find Luffy.

When I finally saw him, it was just in time for Porchemy to bring a large mallet down onto him. Thank goodness he had eaten a Devil Fruit or else he would have been all over the walls! He sprung back up as he tried to explain how he ate the Devil Fruit, scaring the crap out of the group of pirates that were in the room with him. "The Devil Fruit… looks like this one's for real… Get me my gloves," Porchemy ordered.

One of the pirates brought him his spiked gloves, and he continued to say as he put them on, "Listen, you little punk. Your friend Ace stole some money from our band of pirates. We need it back. And you know where it is. So tell me!"

Porchemy gave Luffy a right hook with his spiked gloves, causing Luffy to bleed. Luffy was crying as blood dripped down his face. I bit my lip, feeling bad for Luffy. He was in this situation because of the three of us.

I continued to observe Porchemy and the environment. It didn't seem like he was using Haki in his gloves, and all of the other pirates seemed to be too ignorant or underskilled to even know what Haki is. Well, know less than I do. I just happened to know the basic understanding of it.

This went on for hours and Luffy was still not talking. It was nearly sunset and I had had enough. Just as I was about to barge in, I happened to see Sabo waving to get my attention while hiding in the tree line in the forest. I grabbed some paper and a marker I found in some of the nearby junk piles and wrote a note that said what was going on, how many people were here, how Luffy hasn't talked yet, and also that I would be acting very soon.

It was obvious Luffy wasn't going to say anything for our sake. He was willing to put his safety on the line for us, and I wasn't going to let him do it alone. I folded the note into the shape of a paper airplane, and, using the power of the air, I glided it over to Sabo. He quickly read it and gave me a nod before running off into the forest, most likely to inform Ace.

Some time passed and Luffy wasn't even screaming anymore. Porchemy was getting desperate and still kept hitting Luffy. One of the pirates tried to stop him, feeling bad for the bloodied up Luffy, but Porchemy just punched the pirate out of the way. I stood up from where I was crouched, and just as I was about to head inside, Ace grabbed my arm. "I heard from Sabo," he whispered to me. "So what's the plan?"

The three of us huddled together as I began to go over the plan. "It's not much, but…"

~ ~ ~

Porchemy had enough of Luffy, grabbing his long sword. "If you don't say anything now, you'll die," he growled, drawing his sword back.

Luffy just kept repeating that he wouldn't tell. Just as Porchemy was about to swing his sword down onto Luffy, I burst through the door, demanding Porchemy to stop. "Well, well, well," Porchemy said with a sinister chuckle. "Look what the cat dragged in, boys. You must be the infamous Anne I've been hearing about."

"B-Boss," one of the bandits started to say as he took a stop back, "The long dark hair, dark eyes, petite figure… that's the Airess of Goa!!!"

"Oh good," I said with an innocent smile as I tilted my head to the side, before I straightened it up with a glare and evil grin, "you've heard of me. Give the boy back now before you face the fierce winds of the Airess."

I didn't believe any of the cringey crap I was spewing, I was just trying to see if I could intimidate them enough to avoid the use of violence. "As if," Porchemy growled. "Either give me back the money Ace stole, or tell me where I can find him!"

I started to create streams of air around me, which happened to be Ace and Sabo's signal. On cue, they both came barging through the wall, swinging their pipes around while I sent blades of air to cut Luffy down from the ceiling. While Porchemy's attention was focused on those two, I slipped past him and caught Luffy before he hit the ground. As soon as I had him in my arms and started running for the hole in the wall, I yelled, "I got him! Book it, boys!" Sabo and I made it to the hole, only to look back and see Ace staying behind. "Let's go, Ace!"

"Go on without me," Ace shouted. "Once I face off against an enemy, I never run away!"

"Ace, stick to the plan," I yelled at him angrily. Once I saw he was not going to budge, I tossed Luffy over to Sabo as I rushed over to Ace's side. "Sabo, take Luffy to the spot. We'll be there shortly. I'll make sure of it"

Sabo hesitantly nodded and ran off with Luffy. "You get going, too, Anne," Ace told me.

I loosened my shoulders by rolling them and popped my neck, replying, "As if. Can't leave my little brother behind."

"Like I'm going to be losing to some brats," Porchemy shouted as he ran at us.

Ace attempted to strike him with his pipe, but Porchemy swung his cutlass and cut the pipe in two, as well as scraping Ace's forehead. Before he could get another cut in on Ace, I used the air around Ace to push him out of the way. So far, I had never actually used my powers in a fight with the exception of intangibility, so this was going to be a new experience for me.

When Porchemy saw me push Ace aside, he lunged towards me with the cutlass. I put my arms up reflexively and shut my eyes in anticipation of getting cut . However, the sword cut right through me as if I were air. This left Porchemy speechless and me in awe as I looked down to where I had been cut in half. I then looked up with a cocky glance and grin. While he was still recovering from his swing, Ace and I took the opportunity to each get a hit in on his face. Ace used his broken pipe to smack one side, and I used a fist with increased speed thanks to a boost of air. This knocked the big oaf right out, collapsing to the ground. "Alright, let's go now, Ace," I barked as I grabbed his arm and ran.

"Fine," Ace spat as he started running on his own behind me.

Ace and I ran out of Gray Terminal and into the forest for cover, in case there was anyone following us. We ran all the way to our designated meeting spot, where we met up with Sabo and Luffy. Luffy was still bawling his eyes out as Sabo was taking out all of the necessary first-aid supplies from the box that we were going to need for all three boys. I gave a sigh and started tending to Luffy's injuries.

"I should just become a freaking doctor, with how often I'm treating you guys," I grumbled. "I should start charging you guys. Maybe then you would stop getting hurt all of the time!"

"You know we all share the same treasure," Ace teased. "That would kind of defeat the purpose."

"Seriously, Ace," Sabo said, leaning against a tree, "you got a real bad habit! How can you refuse to run away when you're up against a real pirate?! Why do you have such a death wish?! After this, Bluejam's whole crew's gonna want revenge. They'll hunt us forever!"

I finished wrapping the bandage around Luffy's head and moved to Ace. I rolled a piece of tissue and had him stick it up his nose to stop the bleeding.

As I was wrapping Ace's head, Luffy was blubbering about how scared he was, and Ace yelled at him to stop crying, shutting Luffy up. Luffy then proceeded to thank us for saving him. This ticked Ace off a bit, making him feel guilty about how he had been treating Luffy this whole time. "Why didn't you just tell them," Ace shouted. "You knew those guys kill women and children without a second thought!!" Luffy told him that if he had told him, he wouldn't be able to be our friend. "So what?! It's better than dying! Why do you want to be friends with Anne and me so bad anyway?! Don't you remember what I did to you?! And now you followed me all the way here!!"

"BECAUSE," Luffy started to yell back, "I GOT NOBODY ELSE!!" This surprised Ace, but I remembered Luffy telling me this once while fishing together. "I can't go back to Windmill Village and I hate bandits! If I can't follow you two… I'll be all alone. I don't want to be alone! I hate it more than being hurt!"

"What about your parents," Ace asked him.

"I don't have a family except Grandpa," Luffy told him.

I finished wrapping Ace and nudged him in the side. "Sounds a bit like us," I told him.

Ace gave a sigh. "So you feel better when you're around us," Ace asked him. "You… need me? Need us? Do you… want me, er I mean, us to be alive?" Luffy nodded and told him that he did. Ace scratched his head awkwardly as I gave a soft smile as I moved to treating Sabo's minor injuries. "Okay. But I hate little babies like you."

"I'm not a baby, I'm strong," Luffy defended. Ace mocked him by asking why he was crying then. "You ever get punched with spikes?! I'm only seven! When I'm your age, I'll never cry! I'll be tougher than you!!"

"I didn't cry when I was seven, stupid! I'm not like you," Ace protested.

"Oh yeah, what about that time when-," I was starting to say before Ace yelled at me to shut up and not to say anything about that.

Luffy then exclaimed that he was going to be stronger than anybody and that he had promised Shanks that he would be a great pirate.

Ace was about to continue mocking Luffy, but Sabo interrupted by saying, "Hey, I got a problem here. I've been living at Trash Mountain my whole life. But after this, all four of us are gonna be hunted by those pirates."

As I finished treating Sabo, I gave a chuckle as I said, "Don't worry, I got an idea..."

~ ~ ~

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE," Dadan shouted as all four of us went into the Dadan house. "ANNE! ACE! LUFFY! WHY IS THERE ANOTHER KID HERE?!"

"Hey, you're Dadan, right," Sabo asked as he took her hand in his and began shaking it up and down. "I'm Sabo!"

Dadan gave a slight glare as she told him, "Sabo?! I know that name! I heard you're a dirty little troublemaker!"

"Oh, I heard you're a nasty old hag," Sabo retorted.

"Please, Dadan," I told her with puppy eyes. "I don't ask for much and we'll take good care of him!"

"Like hell you don't ask for much," she said with a raised eyebrow. "Just last week you asked me for 200 berries! Er… but fine, as long as he does his part in helping with the chores!"

We all cheered with joy. We immediately showed Sabo around the house and where he would be sleeping with us, soon to begin our new adventures together, the four of us!