"Wake up you two!"

You slowly rub your eyes open. The first thing you see is an angry Nami shaking Luffy.

"You think you can just secretly eat the snacks I got a hold of?!" she yells at him, but he isn't reacting at all. He is still dozing off.

After you yawn and stretch, you are ready to put a stop to this bickering. "Please stop. I gave him some of the candy, he didn't take it secretly."

She lets go of Luffy and sighs. "Still, we don't have any other food or water left. How are we gonna survive like this?"

Luffy hits his head on the wooden deck and finally wakes up. You walk over to him and put his straw-hat back on top of his head. He looks at you and smiles widely, thanking you. He jumps over to the other boat to sit at the very front of it and scans the area.

"I see something!" he exclaims.

You hop over to his side and look over his shoulder. "Where?" you ask excitedly. You follow the direction he points at and there in the distance you see a small island.

"Let's go and see if someone will join us there," he says.

"Let's look for food too," you add.

Just like that Luffy and you start rowing together, distancing yourselves from the other boat at high speed.

"Wait!" Nami, who got left behind, yells after you.

ஐ

After a while, you arrive at the island. The island is small, you can only see a patch of forest and a hill in the background. You jump off the boat and walk ahead. When you turn around, Luffy is the only one behind you.

"Where are the others?"

"Zoro is sleeping and Nami said we should gather food since we're the ones who secretly ate," he replies.

She's making this sound like a punishment.

You sigh and look around the forest. Suddenly you see a fox with chicken-like features, a snake with rabbit ears and a pig with a lion mane walk passed you.

This island sure is peculiar.

"Get out! I am the Forest Guardian. If you take one step closer to the forest, you will face the forest judgement!" A voice echoes from the trees.

"What is this?" you mumble.

"Looks like the voice is coming from there," Luffy says and walks forward, despite the warning.

The sound of a fired bullet passes you. Instinctively, you pull out both of your guns and aim at the pistol, which a person behind a bush is holding. When you pull the trigger, you are reminded that your guns don't function properly due to the missing gunpowder.

Shoot!

You turn to look at Luffy, who rebounded the bullet.

"That surprised me!" he exclaims.

"Someone behind that bush fired the bullet." You point at it.

Unexpectedly, feet appeared under the box the bush is in and it starts running away. Both of you are too surprised to sprint after it, but soon it trips over its own feet and a man reveals himself.

ஐ

"You were trapped in this box for 20 years?" you repeat.

"That's really stupid."

"What did you say?!" Gaimon, the island resident, yells at Luffy.

Gaimon told you about the unfortunate events that took place on this island, leading him to get stuck in the box. He's been protecting the treasure on top of the hill for 20 years now.

"That's a lot of determination you have," you say. You take out your guns from your belt. "Could you perhaps give me some of your gunpowder? Mine ran out."

"Sure." Gaimon glances at your guns and freezes. "This gun!" he screams and points at your golden gun. "I remember this gun!"

Your eyes widen. "What do you know? Have you seen me before? Do you know anything about my past?" You bombard him with questions.

"Wait, wait. I only remember seeing a picture of it. It was 25 years ago, exactly two years before Gold Roger conquered the Grand Line and became Pirate King–"

"Gold Roger?!" He catches Luffy's attention. 

You gesture him to carry on.

"Yes, it was at that time. A strange wanted poster with only a picture of the golden gun was going around. Not many pirates paid attention to it, but the true treasure hunters knew. Although we only had a picture of the gun as a clue, rumours said the owner was just a 14-year-old girl. The sum of the bounty was huge, it was easy cash!"

Disappointed, you sprawl yourself on the ground. "Nothing to do with me then."

"Hmm, you're right. That girl would've aged a lot by now," Gaimon responds. "But I'm sure it was this exact gun..."

"It was over 20 years ago, you probably don't remember it correctly."

"No, my eyes are never wrong! I remember it as clearly as the treasure I saw on top of the hill!"

Luffy walks over to you and reaches his hand out. You take it and he lifts you off the ground. "Old bush man, how about we help you get your treasure?"

ஐ

You gulp at the sight of the rocky hill. It is much higher than you thought. You place your fingers into one of the notches and try to pull yourself upwards, but the moment your feet start to slip, you push yourself away from the wall and land on the ground. Sweat drops start appearing on your forehead as you support your arms on your knees and pant.

What is wrong with me?

You feel the warm touch of a palm on your shoulder and you turn to see Luffy next to you. "You okay?" he asks. You straighten yourself up and nod. "You have to go up. I can't climb it."

"Sure!" He stretches one arm upwards, clings onto the edge of the hill and launches himself up into the air. Gaimon gasps at the sight and you just watch him disappear on the top. After a while you see him holding a chest and presenting it to you. Gaimon cheers and asks him to drop the treasure chests, but Luffy refuses to do so.

Huh?

"What's wrong? Can't you drop it?" you ask him.

"I don't wanna do that!" he replies.

You look at him and then at Gaimon confused. His expression darkens. "Don't worry, I'll go get your treasure if he doesn't drop it." You walk up to hill and gulp again when faced by the steep surface.

"Forget about it!" Gaimon suddenly shouts. "Straw-hat kid... you..." His eyes start tearing up. "You are a good person!"

Your hand slides down the stone wall and you quietly listen to Gaimon's thoughts. He always had his doubts about the treasure chests being empty, but continued to have hope and protected the island. Luffy confirms his thought as he starts sobbing.

A part of his story stirred up feelings inside you. You clench your fist and feel like punching this stone wall in front of you. A faint sound of thunder could be heard as the clouds around the island darken abnormally. You couldn't quite comprehend the sudden outburst of emotions.

Is this anger? Is this sadness? Why am I feeling this way?

Suddenly Luffy starts laughing. "Don't be disappointed, old man! You meeting us after these 20 years is a good thing too! Cause if it had been 30 years, you might've already been dead."

His laughter and encouragement made your negative feelings fade away. You look down on your hand and on the marks your fingernails left. A sigh leaves your mouth and you mock yourself for worrying too much, for not behaving like you usually do. The gloomy clouds fade back into a pure shade of white.

Luffy proceeds on asking him if he wanted to join him on finding the great treasure One Piece, but Gaimon turns down the offer. He wants to continue being the forest's guardian because he sees the animals on this island as his companions.

"I'm sure you'll find One Piece and I'm sure you'll learn about your past, young girl!" Gaimon says as you wave back at him.

"That's right, we will do it! See ya!" Luffy shouts while looking back.

He turns to you and smiles. "Now let's go get some food!"

✘