Chapter 2: Act 1 - Prologue

A/N

I just want to reiterate that the updates will be biweekly and chapter length will increase eventually once I get a better hang of the characters and such.

Special thanks to Fox for helping out with the fic as well as Archer, Murph and Maruf for beta.

x.x

Chapter 2: Friendship

"How old are you, Luffy?" Robin asked.

"Five. You?"

"You're a baby! I am nine years old, which means I am older than you," Robin said with her tongue stuck out.

"Not fair," Luffy moaned, until suddenly his head perked up and his expression quickly changed into one of seriousness. "I will become older than you one day," the boy said with determination, making the girl sweat drop. He really was stupid but still, this stupid boy was now her friend, so it didn't matter to her though he could use some help in the intelligence department.

After the introductions were done, both the kids started playing together in the woods as though there was no tomorrow. Robin, who had been guarded at the start, had slowly and steadily opened up with Luffy, letting her emotions show once again and letting herself enjoy this. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that she'd find a friend out of nowhere, somehow trust said friend, and come out of her shell without having to force herself for it. She had been having fun until they came.

"Hey, freak! Who did you trick this time?" one of the kids jeered at Robin as soon as he saw her.

"Robin, what is he saying?" Luffy asked confusedly.

"Will you tell him, or should I tell him, freak?" another kid jeered.

"Robin?" Luffy asked once again, turning towards her fully this time.

However, the girl was frozen stiff, suddenly unable to move or think. The recent memory surfacing and her wound opening up once again. She tried to bury it deep within her as she usually would, but the memory kept playing within her head again and again. Her head was down as her bangs covered her eyes, hiding the pain and small droplets of tears that had started forming. She wanted it to stop. Why couldn't it? Why did it have to hurt so much?

"She's a freak and a bad person," the first kid started. "She does nothing but trick people to get things done."

Robin, on her part, couldn't defend herself. Only listen to all the jeers thrown her way as she was frozen stiff, trying to get out of the endless loop. The insults weren't helping her at all, and the tears weren't drying up.

Luffy had a blank look on his face as he processed whatever he had heard. He was only five years old and had very little experience of the real world. So instead of thinking anything else, he went with his gut instinct. He turned towards his new friend, hunched over, and looked at her. It surprised him to see that she had started crying yet again, and a similar pain as before started welling up in his chest, making him uncomfortable. He was convinced that this pain had to do with his friend being upset hence, he would do anything to make her happy again. His expression became gentle as he lifted her head up and looked into her blue eyes, which were now puffy.

"Don't cry Robin, I am your friend. If they are not your friends, they are not my friends." Luffy said. The logic didn't exactly make sense, but then again, he was five. What could one expect from a child his age?

The line of reasoning made Robin laugh a little in between her sobs as she tried wiping the tears from her face. The voices of the others had slowly started fading in the background as she focused on her first friend ever.

"That doesn't mean they can't be your friends, Luffy," Robin said. Despite being broken down so much, she still looked after others, which sadly not everyone did.

Luffy frowned at that as he said. "They made you cry. Those who make you cry are not my friends."

"What are you saying? She is a freak," another kid yelled but was promptly ignored by Luffy, who was still focused on Robin.

The girl in question had her eyes widen in surprise until a small smile graced her lips and a tear of happiness fell down her face. This was the first time someone had ever stood up for her and went so far. Words couldn't even describe how she was feeling currently.

"She is bad luck," the same kid from before yelled.

This time, Luffy whipped his head around with anger blazing in his eyes as he glared at the group of people who had been insulting Robin ever since they met them.

"Shut up! She is my friend," Luffy yelled, shocking them.

"Her? The freak who can grow arms anywhere?"

"She is amazing! You're just jealous that you can't do it."

"What can you even do with more arms? It's just useless," another kid replied arrogantly.

"You can eat more and faster," Luffy replied, making the others, including Robin, sweat drop.

'Really?' was all that they could think about.

"Are you stupid?" the kid yelled.

"Wouldn't you like to eat more?" Luffy asked cluelessly.

"Why would I eat more than necessary?"

"Because food is tasty," Luffy replied with a straight face. If he had more hands, he could eat more delicious food since he would be able to eat faster. Were these people stupid?

"Idiot," a kid shouted. "She is a demon and she will take your life if you get close to her," making Robin grimace.

Having had enough of the kids, Luffy screamed, "She is MY FRIEND. SHUT UP! If you say anything else about her, I will beat you."

Seeing the enraged look on Luffy's face and the fact that he was friends with the freak, the kids decided not to do anything, walking away haughtily as though they were sparing the two.

Luffy then turned to Robin, only to be brought into a tight hug by the dark-haired girl as she cried her heart out in relief. Even though the time spent with him had been brief, it was enough for the girl to finally feel how it was to have a friend. Someone who stood up for her, called her his friend, and was there for her. The pull that she had experienced initially was back in full force, as she could not help but spill out all her emotions to the boy in front of her.

The boy, on the other hand, was confused and concerned. Did he do something wrong? Why was she crying? Just before he was about to ask her about it, Robin spoke.

"Thank you, Luffy."

"Shishishishi, you're my friend. Friends are always there for each other," he said, earning a big smile from the girl. "But why are you still crying?" the boy asked with concern seeping in his voice.

"I am happy, Luffy," the dark-haired girl replied.

"But then why are your eyes wet?"

"These are tears of happiness."

"Ehh?" Luffy asked with confusion written all over his face and a question mark popped out above his head.

Robin just giggled at his antics, wiped the last of the tears from her eyes, and smiled brightly at her friend.

"Let's play," she said, making Luffy perk up as the two resumed their game.

...

~With Garp~

...

Garp was walking towards the big tree in the distance, which was his intended destination when he detected several presences approaching Luffy. He stopped and focused on those briefly before he felt them leave after a few moments. Satisfied with the outcome, he started moving once again with a smirk present on his face. His grandson was able to handle things on his own, it seemed. The boy had a lot to learn, but this was a good start, nonetheless.

Garp schooled his features once he was outside the tree.

"Stay outside, don't let anyone in," he ordered his men without turning around as he barged inside the library.

"Ho!" his men saluted as they took up positions all around the tree.

As soon as Garp entered the library, he was greeted by several scowling faces until they saw the coat the marine was wearing. Immediately, they lowered their eyes and broke out in whispers.

"What is the Navy doing here?" one of the archaeologists whispered to another.

"Did they get to know about that?"

"Idiot! Shut up, do you want to give it all away?" the first person asked with urgency in his voice.

"Oi oi, isn't that Garp the Fist?" a man whispered screamed.

The eyes of the rest of the people popped out of their faces in shock as soon as they realized who it was. Of all the people, he had to come?! This was serious and concerning!

Garp promptly ignored the whispers as he looked around the place before he said, "Where is the person-in-charge of this place?"

No one answered for a minute, making the vice-admiral lose his patience. Instead of saying anything, Garp glared at them, making everyone shake in their boots before a man promptly stepped forward. He was an elderly man with a shaved top, with his green hair adjusted jutting on the sides and the back top, combined with a large beard, all in the shape of leaves. He wore a red-and-white striped shirt with a large belt at his waist, pants, and a blue-and-black jacket.

"I am the director here, sir. What can I do for you?"

"What's your name?"

"Clover, sir."

"I want to have a word with you, let's go to a private place," the marine ordered.

Clover couldn't help but nod knowing that he had to tread carefully. Any other marine could still be handled but this was Garp, the hero of the marines. If he did anything wrong, he knew everything that they worked towards would be gone at a moment's notice.

Garp, on the other hand, had to be careful with this business. He was known to be loud and straightforward, taking things in stride, but there were certain times when he had to be more cautious and handle things quietly. Some business had to be dealt that way, a particular instance involving a certain pirate came into mind. He cleared his head and focused on the task at hand. Garp intended to get this over with as fast as possible, before it turned into something worse.

Garp could only hope that it was resolved peacefully.