Chapter Text
Luffy woke up in his too-small hammock in the treehouse. Which was weird, because last time he went to sleep he’d been in his nice comfy bunk on the Sunny. Or, he thought he’d been on the Sunny, but hadn’t they gone on an island? It had been a winter island, he remembered Usopp made a really funny noise when he and Chopper brought some snow in from the deck to wake him up with, and they’d had a really fun fight with a squished-head bounty hunter and then... then nothing. That was weird.
After frowning at the ceiling for a moment, he rolled out of his hammock and wobbled slightly. Right, treehouse, the floor wasn’t gonna move under him. He jumped out the trapdoor, and on hitting the ground tumbled forwards with a yelp, his limbs going everywhere. Luffy sat up with a huff, righting his hat on his head, then blinked in surprise at the shirt he was wearing.
It was Ace’s, he could tell because it was way too big for him, almost falling off one shoulder. It smelled like Ace too, even though Luffy had definitely slept in it. Weird. Weirder still, his body was way too small! He pulled the collar out to look down the front of his shirt, and there wasn’t a scar there at all.
He pinched his cheek, pulling it out and letting it snap back, but nothing changed. Okay, so not a dream. He considered it until his stomach started to growl for breakfast, then rolled to his feet with a smile. Mystery travel thingy. He’d figure out what to do next after he caught breakfast, and maybe lunch too. Oooh, and he should go see Dadan! She was a bandit, but she was a pretty clever one, maybe she could figure out how come he was here instead of home on Sunny with his nakama.
Hunting was way harder than it should’ve been, his punches weak and only hitting where he meant them to about half the time, but he had two crocodiles and a big dumb snake which had tried to steal one of them roasting over a bonfire by lunch so it was pretty okay overall. It was hardly anything like Sanji’s cooking, but fire-roasted gator would always be one of his favorites! Once the fire was out- if he burned down the treehouse he’d have to stay with the bandits until he got back to his crew- he headed over towards the Dadan house, aiming punches at random trees as he went until he at least hit more than he missed. It was like his body wasn’t listening to what he wanted it to do! His arm snapped back to normal size as he entered the clearing in front of the Dadan house, and a smile split his face.
“Makino!” he yelled, running forward to wrap his arms around her in a hug. They only went around twice, but that was okay because she laughed and hugged him back.
“Hello, Luffy.” she smiled when he pulled away enough to beam up at her. “Do you want cake first, or presents?”
Luffy frowned, thinking hard. Presents were sorta like treasure, but Makino probably only had clothes and boring stuff. Cake sounded nice, but it wouldn’t be Sanji’s, and Sanji’s cake was the best.
“Presents.” he said with a firm nod, and Makino laughed, pulling a bundle wrapped in newspaper pages out of her basket.
“Looks like my little man is growing up after all.” she teased, handing it over to him. “Only fourteen and you’re too big for cake.”
“Hey!” Luffy protested, and Makino smiled wider, holding her basket behind herself.
“I’ll just have to give it to Dadan and tell her-”
“I changed my mind, I want cake!” Luffy yelled, and Makino laughed, producing a cupcake. “That’s a baby cake, for babies.” Luffy huffed, but he snatched it and stuffed it in his mouth anyways, ignoring the laughter from the watching bandits. It wasn’t as good as anything Sanji made, but it still tasted great. Probably because Makino made it just for him, food always tasted better when your family made it for you.
“The rest is already inside.” Makino said as he licked the frosting off his fingers. “Some of Dadan’s gang insisted on helping carry it up.”
“Shishishi, thanks Makino!” Luffy beamed, then remembered the package he’d stuffed under his arm. Once he ripped the newspaper off in a bazillion little pieces, he sure did find the most boring treasure ever. But at the same time... “It’s perfect.” he said softly, smiling down at the top of the pile of folded clothes. It was his old vest, the one he’d set out in, cheaply dyed canvas meant to match his hat, with sturdy buttons that wouldn’t snag while he was running around the jungle. There were other things as well, tank tops and spare vests and a new pair of sandals, but that red vest was the best.
“I’m glad you like it.” Makino smiled, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Now, how about we go make sure Dadan’s boys don’t eat your cake.”
“Ah! My cake!” Luffy yelped, and nearly dropped his present as he bolted inside. The bandits had cut slices for everyone- rude, it was his cake and if they wanted some they should get their own- but at least his slice was waaaay the biggest and also Dadan hadn’t let them start eating without him. He inhaled his slice of cake, then thanked Makino again for the new clothes and pulled his red vest on, leaving it hanging open. It was weird not having sleeves, but being small and weak and fourteen again was weirder, and not having his nakama with him was weirdest of all. He would have to fix that, and soon.
Though... they would all be weak again too, wouldn’t they? So they would just have to split back up again to get stronger, dammit. Because there was no way Usopp would leave that nice doctor girl alone with her crazy butt-ler, or Nami run away from working for Arlong, or Sanji stop working at the Baratie if they weren’t ready to leave right away. And Zoro... well, Luffy was pretty sure Zoro was still being a bounty hunter right now. Man, this finding everyone stuff was hard! He couldn’t even begin to imagine how to get to the nakama he’d met in Paradise, they would just have to wait a few years until he was strong enough to set out and pick them up. Or maybe they’d find each other! That would be nice, then he wouldn’t have to pick them up one by one.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up all at once, and Luffy dove forward with a yelp. Huh, so he still had the reflexes Old Man Ray had beat into him, even if he no longer had the muscle memory to use them properly. Weird, but handy! He spun around, and the smile dropped right off his face as he found not a wild animal behind him but something far more dangerous. “G- Gramps?!” he yelped, clutching his new clothes to his chest. Makino just gave them to him, she’d be upset if he got them dirty before he ever wore them!
“Happy birthday, brat!” Gramps bellowed, winding up for another swing. “Become a damn Marine already!” he threw a Fist of Love, and Luffy bounded up into the tree overhead.
“No way!” he yelled down. “I’m gonna be King of the Pirates and you can’t stop me!” he pulled a face at his grandpa, then bolted along the tree branches, running for the treehouse. Once he put Makino’s gift away like proper treasure, then he’d see how well he could really fight with this fourteen year old body.
Gramps took his sweet time getting to the treehouse, so Luffy decided to go hunting again, this time getting two boars. The bigger one would be his, and Gramps couldn’t get mad about it because it was his birthday. Gramps did manage to get him in the face with a Fist of Love coming back into the treehouse clearing, but that was mostly because dodging with a huge boar on each shoulder was a lot harder than dodging with an armful of clothes. At least he spitted up and started roasting the boars while Luffy was disentangling himself from the young tree he’d been thrown into. He had to make his limbs stop doing that.
“This is the year I convince you to become a Marine!” Gramps declared when Luffy finally got his arms and legs back to their proper length.
“Nuh uh.” Luffy grinned. “I will be King of the Pirates. Being a Marine would be too boring!”
“Dammit, Luffy! Fist of Love!” Gramps swung, and Luffy almost managed to dodge. Even with Observation haki to help though, it seemed he wasn’t fast enough to get entirely out of the way. He was way too weak to be going and getting his crew right now, if he couldn’t even stand up to Gramps!
He didn’t even have time to try to hit his grandpa back, spending the whole fight scrambling to dodge or recover from punches. Gramps wasn’t even fighting seriously, he spent the whole time paying attention to the damn roasting meat! And when he decided the food was done, he caught Luffy by the collar and sat on him.
“Get off me, you big dumb jerk!” he demanded, flailing but unable to get the leverage to actually move his grandpa. Maybe a gum gum balloon?
“I know Makino taught you manners, brat.” Gramps cuffed him on the back of the head, and Luffy whined at the smarting sting. “Quit squirming, or I’ll take the big one myself.”
“Hey, no fair!” Luffy protested, but Gramps ignored him. After another fruitless minute of struggling- Gramps was too heavy for him to get enough air in to become a balloon- he went limp and let Gramps haul him up with a scowl.
“Quit pouting, brat.” Gramps scoffed, dusting off the front of Luffy’s vest with one huge hand. “Here, happy birthday.” he handed Luffy the larger of the boars, and Luffy slumped over it with a frown. “What? I thought you liked roasted boar!”
“It’s not much of a present if I caught it.” he grumbled, biting a chunk out of the shoulder. “And you’re a shit cook, Gramps.”
“If you want me to take you to a restaurant, you need to learn some table manners, brat.” Gramps scoffed, and Luffy froze.
“Restaurant?” he asked, eyes wide.
“Kinda like Makino’s bar, but instead of drinks they mostly serve food.” Gramps explained, as if Luffy didn’t know what a restaurant was. He’d dined and dashed in plenty of them with Ace and Sabo.
“Makino taught me table manners, promise!” he said quickly. “Could we go somewhere with lots of meat? The best restaurant in East Blue!”
Gramps blinked, then his face did something weird, going all soft and mushy-looking. “If that’s what you want for your birthday, of course we can go to a restaurant Luffy.”
“Thank you, Gramps!” Luffy set his meat aside and leapt to his feet, flinging his arms around his grandpa. “But uh, Ace and Sabo and I got banned from all the ones in Goa.” he laughed, and Gramps laughed too for a moment before punching the top of his head.
“Future Marines pay for their food, brat!”
“Ace is a pirate, and I’m gonna be one too!” he shouted back, and got another bonk on the head for it.
“Ah, whatever.” Gramps scoffed. “There’s a place we should be able to reach with a few days fair winds. We’ll leave after breakfast tomorrow.”
“You’re the best grandpa ever.” Luffy grinned, picking his meat back up as he leaned against his grandpa’s side.