*Set shortly before Chapter 3*
He wasn't sulking.
He really wasn't!
He asked Cro... Cro... Croccy? Yeah, that, he asked Croccy to join his crew.
His answer?
"No way, mate. I like you, you're a fun guy to be around, but I couldn't join anyone's crew but my mom's.
I'll inherit her kingdom after all, can't have a captain if I am one myself."
He could understand that.
His instincts told him, that his answer wouldn't change, no matter how often he was asked.
So instead, he sulk... meditated, yes, he meditated in the corner of the room with a rain cloud above his head while drawing circles with his finger.
Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder.
"Still sulking, strawhat?"
He heard a playful voice behind him.
" 'm not sulking." he maturely answered, only to be lifted, placed on a chair, shoved to a table and have a big piece of meat shoved into his mouth.
As he reflexively started chewing, his eyes widened.
'This meat is better than Sanji's!'
He turned around quickly, only to see Sanji and Croccy, looking all smug, fist bumping.
"Told you, that would stop him from sulking."
Sanji started and Croccy nodded sagely.
"Indeed. We should collaborate more often in the kitchen.
That came out pretty well."
Sanji took a drag from his cigarette and answered.
"Yeah, those spices are an absolute dream to work with, where did you get them?"
Croccy turned with a grin on his face.
"Small island in Paradise, can't even be locked on with a log pose."
That got Luffy's full attention.
"There are islands we are missing out on because we use a log pose?!"
He asked indignantly.
Croccy seemed to read his mood and answered seriously.
"Don't even think about it. You are nowhere near strong enough to sail the grand line without the safety net that is the log pose."
If there was one thing, Luffy couldn't stand, it was someone restricting his freedom.
Just as he started to stand up, he froze.
The air stagnated, all his instincts were screaming at him to get as far away from that monster as he could and yet, his body simply refused to move.
It disappeared as fast as the feeling came, and he looked at Croccy fearfully.
"That was just a small sample of what I'm able to do. There are bigger monsters than me out there, so if you can't even shrug off that, it would be plain suicide to even consider leaving the established routes."
Croccy looked at him deeply and then he sighed.
"Look, there is some stuff I wanted to talk about with you anyways..."
What followed was an explanation of mystery skills named haki and a rough plan for training them, as well as the power structure in the New World, from which he learned only one thing: The Yonko, namely Kaido, Whitebeard, Big Mom and Shanks(!), were monsters that far surpassed Croccy in strength.
'Shanks is this strong. I still have a long way to go before handing this hat over.'
He thought with a hand on his second most important treasure. The first were his nakama, of course.
Croccy started talking about the mystery skills again.
"You'll have to work to master it.
I didn't give you the most efficient training methods because I know you three are the type of guy, that likes to figure out things themselves."
Zoro entered the conversation as soon as training was mentioned.
At the end of it, there was an unholy gleam in his eyes, that promised endless sparring matches.
"Also: I wouldn't want to serve you everything on a silver platter, the only reason I'm even going that far is because you are important to Robin and Merry.
That and I like your crew, they have the spark that's absent in most pirates nowadays."
That made him swell with pride.
Yeah, his nakama were awesome.
Croccy continued.
"So protect them."
The seriousness he spoke those words with sank into the very being of the young captain.
"Protect them with everything you have, for you are only free if you have someone to share your freedom with."
His words seemed to influence Sanji and Zoro too, as they fell into a thoughtful silence.
"Enough of this gloomy shi... stuff!"
He suddenly shouted.
Luffy snickered at his rather poor attempt to keep swear words from his daughter.
"Who wants to hear some stories from my travels?"
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"... And then, as a pre fight ritual, as he called it, he started dancing... With his nose hair!
If it weren't as disgusting as it was, I'd call some of the moves he pulled seriously impressive, though."
"I have to meet that guy!" Luffy managed between guffaws "Maybe he can teach Usopp some tricks!"
That set them off again, even Usopp, who looked mightily offended for just a moment.
"Well, that's it for the moment, I need some air."
With those words, Croccy left the room.
'Even though he isn't part of the crew, he's nakama.' Luffy thought, content with the situation.
'I'll have to seriously train if I want to protect my crew.
I don't ever want to feel that helpless again.'
He thought, as he remembered Croccy immobilising him with sheer will.
The scene of him being helplessly frozen to near death also sprung into his head.
Unknown to anyone, even the young captain himself, those short interactions with a monster, right after getting a reality check from an admiral, and the urgency he felt at this moment would change a great many things in the future.