Title: Saw It Coming
Characters/Pairings: Shanks, mention of Luffy
Rating: G
He had planned to kill the kid. He'd made his plans, arranged matters perfectly, hardened his heart against what he knew he would have to do. When the time came, he couldn't do it. There were some people that called him soft-hearted or weak, but he never let that bother him. Those were people who hadn't been there, who had never met the kid. If they had, they would have understood.
It hadn't been an assignment or a mission, exactly, because that implied he didn't have a choice in the matter, or that he was following orders. He wasn't a Marine: he was a pirate, and a captain at that, which meant he always had a choice. Which was what this whole thing had begun as: a conscious choice to kill the kid while he was still young enough to be harmless.
Maybe the kid would have grown up harmless anyway, although with a lineage like his it was doubtful. Still, there was always that chance, or had been until he'd shown up and the kid, in his ignorant, sincere way, had made the choice to grow up to be the biggest threat any of them had ever imagined. Yeah, maybe if he hadn't gone to that island, if he'd left the kid alone, the boy would have grown into a simple, boring farmer like all the others from his village, would have led a simple, boring life just like everyone else; would never have grown to be such a danger.
He didn't regret it. Not one bit.
Probably the kid would have grown up and gone off to do exactly the same things he'd done up until now. He was the kind of kid who, if Shanks hadn't put the means in his hands, would have found a way anyway.
All those uncertainties and uncomfortable musings aside, the reality was that, whatever might have happened, what had happened was that, far from putting an end to that dangerous future, Shanks had given it a map to its destiny and a push out the door. As far as he was concerned, he'd even put a loaded gun in the kid's hand. If he ever mentioned this to anyone, it was to Ben, who would add that Shanks had made sure the gun was pointed at his own head.
And yet. That was the thought that always followed when he wondered what might have been. And yet he didn't regret a moment of it, and given another chance, he'd do the same thing all over again. Not because every kid deserved a chance to be the pirate king, but because it was Luffy.
He wasn't sure what it was about the kid, but there was undeniably something about him that made a person believe in things. Not in things like a new world order, or amazing treasures, but in people and dreams. Maybe it was just that Luffy believed these things with a faith so unerring it was infectious.
Shanks had been all set to kill the kid. He knew how dangerous the kid was, or would grow up to be. And then Luffy had looked at him with those big, earnest eyes, and told him that he was going to be the pirate king. And Shanks believed him.
He told himself he would kill the kid a bit later, and he was just taking a break in this village, which he couldn't do if he'd just killed a kid there. He didn't even believe himself. He'd let Luffy tag along with them, follow them around asking questions, hadn't minded when the boy befriended members of the crew.
Ben wasn't fooled at all, and told his captain so. The first mate was right: Shanks couldn't have killed the boy if his life depended upon it. At some point the kid had wormed his way into Shank's heart and life, and found a friend in the pirate captain. Shanks could deal with killing people - even kids - but never a friend. Friends were to be defended to the death.
And then, well, then a lot of things happened. There was the Devil's Fruit, and the Sea King, and the bandits, and Shanks gave up trying to fool himself.
After a time, the crew sailed away, leaving behind a rubbery little boy with a straw hat and a promise. At that time, Shanks knew as solidly as he knew the worth of himself and his crew, that one day Luffy would follow them to the end of the Grand Line as a great pirate, just as they had promised. He also knew that that day might be the day he died.
He didn't care. No matter how many times Ben asked, checking, testing his captain's resolve, the answer always came with a bright smile and excited eyes. I can't wait. It was a promise made between friends, and Shanks would see it through.
And yet. And yet, not matter how he searched his heart, he couldn't regret that promise, any more than he could regret not killing the kid. During those times of introspection, far from finding regret or worry, all he could find was gladness at the prospect of Luffy's triumph against the world. The kid was dangerous, terrifyingly so, and Shanks didn't give a damn. He wanted Luffy to succeed.
That was why he walked around with a big grin after hearing Luffy's staggering initial bounty, while others were meeting quietly to discuss this unwelcome turn of events. That was why he celebrated Luffy's arrival on the Grand Line, his defeat of Wapol in the old Drum Kingdom. As other faces grew tighter at the approach of this dangerous boy, Shank's grin threatened to split his face when he heard of Luffy's defeat of Crocodile.
Ben asked him if he was worried when Luffy seemed to drop off the ocean for weeks. Shanks found that he wasn't, and grinned like a little kid at Ben when word came that Luffy had sacked the G8 marine base.
And then the kid declared war on the World Government. Ripples ran through the world, washing over the farmers in the village, the pathetic pirates of East Blue, the islands he had touched on the Grand Line and everyone who had thought themselves strong enough to stop him on his journey. It resonated to the world powers, who asked themselves how it had possibly come to this, and why no one had seen this coming.
Shanks's smile couldn't have been bigger.