I do not own One Piece
-0-0-0-
Beta read by the wonderful Karukyuu, whose work you should also go read!
-0-0-0-
Why Shanks gave up his arm.
-0-0-0-
The Red Hair pirates were finally sailing away from their final stop at Foosha Village, leaving behind events that would have repercussions that would shake the world in the years to come.
Their final departure from Foosha Village was an emotional one as a crying Luffy held onto Shank's Hat, and all of the Red Haired Pirates knew they would miss the little guy. The entire town was full of nice people they appreciated, but the kid had wormed his way into a special place in their hearts. Moreover, they all respected the determination they heard in his vow to surpass Shanks.
Still, while they all keep up their bright faces as they wave goodbye, inside they are all conflicted.
It is not until they are out of sight of the island that Benn Beckman finally voiced what everyone has been wanting to ask. "Captain, what happened back there? Not sure which you valued more, your Hat or your arm, but I can't help but think you were waiting for Luffy to say all those things! That you were planning to give him that Hat! Which makes me think there's something more with how you got yourself hurt."
Shanks says nothing as he presses his right hand against the stump of what had once been his dominant arm.
Despite tearing off another bite of meat, Lucky Roo's grin was gone, making his face seem empty. "Even if the Sea King was so close to Luffy that you didn't have time to do anything or think of anything, someone like you'd have your arm coated in haki still. That measly Sea King's teeth should have broken against you. You let it bite off your arm!"
A ghost of a smile inched across Shank's face.
Now Yasopp chimed in. "And that nonsense about being unable to find Luffy in time, your Observer's Haki should have found them in no time, that bandit shouldn't have even gotten through that smoke cloud with Luffy. You wanted something to happen!"
Their Captain had begun his training in haki by both the Dark King and Pirate King themselves, and this little "vacation trip" was meant to be a moment of calm and peace before heading back to the New World to claim some of it for their own. Preferably before old Whitebeard claimed the islands with the best booze.
Patting his now bare head, Shanks sat down against the mast. "Monkey D. Luffy, whose grandpa's name is Garp." The pirates stiffened. "That's what I got from Makino a few weeks ago."
Closing his eyes now, Shanks went on. "Garp's gonna want to turn his grandkid into a Marine, regardless of his dreams. Luffy needed something to hold on to, a memory and something physical that Garp wouldn't dare take away, to remember that dream. No matter how isolated or abused he is by his main family member."
Some of the sharper members of the Red Haired Pirates caught on quickly, that Shanks had not taken Luffy along with them just because it was "dangerous." It was lethal.
The Fist still despised pirates like them, because while they did not prey on civilians, they still ground under their heels marines who did protect the innocents from the bloodthirsty reapers, marauders who raped and killed because they could, and because friendly men like Shanks legitimized the ones undeserving of the title: "pirate." If he learned that his grandson had been "kidnapped" by such people, Garp would rouse the entire might of the Navy and Cipher Pol at them, a force that would inevitably find Luffy, wherever he was hidden.
Even if Luffy survived the inevitable crossfire between Garp and Shanks, he might still be killed for association. The fact that the grandson of such an infamous hero was being raised secretly in isolation, as opposed to pampered luxury, implied that the usually insanely impulsive and temperamental man was being (or attempting to be) uncharacteristically subtle for once, as if he knew somethings others did not. Something that made him afraid of anyone knowing about Luffy. Never even heard of him having a son for that matter, Benn reflected. It's also entirely possible that there's others he's afraid of knowing about Luffy. One of the Emperors or other pirates he ticked off?
Despite this (theoretical) charitable side to Garp, they had also caught the signs of abuse the child suffered; such as when they asked why he kept stuffing his face every chance he got, as if he never knew when he would have his next meal, he answered that it was a habit from how he never knew when his Grandpa might throw him alone into the middle of the forest to fend for himself.
So that Hat's supposed to be like a sort of totem against that? Against Garp corrupting him? Benn wondered.
Raised in such a lifestyle, the kid might become a Marine just to please his Grandpa, but the man would not dare take away the Hat now, not if it would risk Luffy turning completely against him. Not after what Shanks had done for the boy. Heck, Garp might even have it in his heart to respect what the pirate had done for his grandson, and accept the Hat's presence.
"But you coulda used anything else but your Hat," Yasopp pointed out, having never seen his Captain bareheaded before, despite being his first recruit. "That doesn't explain why you went to such lengths for the kid, even if it was Luffy. There'd got to have been another way to help him like that without losing your arm!"
Their Captain said nothing for a whole minute.
Then two.
After five minutes the crew was really starting to worry.
Shrugging his shoulders, Shanks heaved himself up and started to stretch despite how perfectly toned his body was, still stalling to answer. Finally: "I've been asking Luffy a lot of questions ever since we first met, quietly testing him really, but what he's said, about being a pirate, I've only heard one other say stuff like that. That's why I told him before what my Hat meant to me, because I was already preparing to leave it with him. I just didn't expect the opportunity those bandits presented." For a moment though he looked embarrassed. "But I really didn't expect to lose my arm like that," he ruefully admitted. "I kinda overplayed being too weak."
He turned to head towards his cabin before they could say anything, but then Red Haired Shanks looked back and shot his crew a look that froze them in place as they saw the steel within his eyes. "Luffy has a great destiny before him, but he had to learn how far you must go to protect those precious to you. How your friends and crew, your nakama, are your greatest treasure in life, and that no sacrifice is too dear to pay so long as they are safe! He had to learn that, not just for himself, but for the sake of everyone else." The thought of a Luffy who did not value those around him, what he could become, was too terrifying to consider.
"…And you really sure that was necessary?" a crewmember muttered.
"Someone…a pirate…who values freedom, and sails the sea, but also knows the importance of life," Benn breathed out. "Someone to show the world what a true pirate is like."
"Yes," Shanks nodded with a smile that was both warm and knowing. "I made a bet, on the Next Era today. A bet…that that boy…will be our King!"
-0-0-0-
Author Notes:
Inspired by the suggestion that Shanks deliberately chose to lose his arm, that it was not a case of Luffy being in too much danger for him to risk anything else, and I look forward to seeing how accurate Oda reveals me to be.
I also find myself wanting a fight between Garp and Shanks more than Blackbeard vs. Shanks.
-0-
Please Review and I will get back to you!