Author's Note: A lot of things are going to be different in this, but also pretty much the same.
I don't have a Beta, and I kind of suck at editing my own work. I've read over this a few times, but I'm sure I didn't catch all of the mistakes. I write to relax and because I love it, but I'm not perfect.
(1) Quote from One Piece chapter 1, Romance Dawn.
Warnings: Excessive use of commas. Violence. Self Insert OC.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
Chapter One.
Luffy runs his fingers through his hair, roughly yanking at the knots he finds in frustration. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do. He can imagine a manual. It tells him that he needs to get to this destination without telling him how. It's all wrong; he's all wrong. There are several important things that he lacks, and he just doesn't believe that he will ever be able to live up to his name. He doesn't believe in the Pirate King, or at least not in a world where he becomes it.
There's a pirate crew in Party's Bar, and he can hear their laughter from where he sits outside. He imagines that Makino must be overworked and wants to help her, like he usually does on busier days, but he can't imagine facing them. A small part of him is too worried he'll mess it all up. There's a part he needs to play, and he's memorized the lines but there's no feeling.
The boy presses his back against the wall and bites his nails down until it hurts. The dirt under them tastes weird on his tongue- he focuses on that so he doesn't think himself to death. He wonders if he's enough, if the person he used to be can turn into something larger than life. He ignores how his gut clinches when he stands up, how his stomach rebels when he pushes open the door.
He'll never know if he doesn't try.
The red-haired man is distinct, even amongst a crew of very recognizable people. He only remembers Shanks and Usopp's dad, but there are still a couple who are familiar to him. The fat man sitting next to an older man with black hair and a scar. Lucy, or Lucky, or something like that. He ignores them all and searches out Makino, plasters a crooked grin on his face and climbs up the stool in front of her.
(He tells himself it's not because it's right next to Shanks, and he definitely is not the fangirl he was once before. Not at all.)
"Hi, Makino!" His grin widens.
The woman's strained smile softens when she sees him. It always does, and Luffy thinks that maybe she's the kindest person he's ever met. There's no reason at all for her to let him hang around. She doesn't really need the help, but she likes him. Or, at least, Luffy hopes she does. She's pretty much all that he has in this small town, when Garp's not around. No one else has time to entertain a little kid. "Luffy," She greets him. "Where've you been? Have you had lunch?"
A little embarrassed (Shanks is right there), Luffy scratches the back of his head and laughs. "Eh, I forgot? I was out in the forest again." He peeks at the pirate from the corner of his eye and blushes when he sees the man's amusement. It darkens when Makino laughs, like this is a totally normal thing… which, it kinda is, but Luffy doesn't want to admit that. He's supposed to be more mature and responsible and stuff. He's practically an adult by now, despite his child body.
He wants to be strong, though. Stronger than anything. Strong enough to save the people that might need him. He doesn't want to fail them, especially not if it means they'll lose their lives. And they don't have to join his crew, if he ever decides to make one. Luffy just wants them to be happy, and- as far as he knows- he's the only one that can help.
He doesn't know if he'll be enough, but he hopes.
So he turns to Shanks and covers up the way his hands shake by tucking them under his armpits. "You're a pirate, right?" He asks, even if he already knows. He can at least bluff his way through this. "Do you have adventures?"
And either Shanks is super drunk, or he sees something worthwhile in Luffy, because he doesn't shake the kid off. He grins, wide like Luffy's own, and tells the boy about sea kings and warlords and Marines. Luffy doesn't think he ever stood a chance, because he wants that.
When the Red-Hair pirates leave for the first time, Luffy asks a question that burns. He wants to know, just as badly as he wants the kind of life Shanks lives.
"What's freedom?"
Shanks ruffles his hair, laughs. "You'll have to find out on your own, kid."
Luffy sticks his feet in the water and watches them until the sky is dark and their ship is gone. He clenches his fists and asks himself if he really wants to be Pirate King.
He feels the answer in his bones.
Yes.
The next time Shanks comes to Foosha Village, Luffy challenges him to a fight. "I could beat you with my eyes closed!" He can't. They both know this, but Luffy is determined to get Shanks to acknowledge him. To the pirate, he's still just a kid. Barely six and scrawnier than most, despite the harsh "training" (torture) his Gramps sometimes puts him through.
Shanks laughs him off, easily holding Luffy down with one hand. It's embarrassing, but…
Pirate King.
He has to be enough.
"Take me with you!" Please, show me what freedom's like. I want to see it. I want to feel it.
"No way!"
Luffy doesn't show that it hurts him. He grins like he knows that Shanks will eventually give in and helps Makino out by wiping off the bar. He can't clean the rest until the pirates leave, and it doesn't look like they'll be going for a while. He's glad for that, even if he knows he'll return home more tired than anything. He's happy like this; with them.
He wants to keep this feeling forever.
Luffy kinda forgot about the bandits, but when they come into Makino's bar and humiliate Shanks, all he can feel is hot anger coursing through his veins. He wants to fight them, but he can do nothing but sit there while the idiot bandit walks all over his hero. He kinda feels like he's going to explode from the pressure, but the bandits leave before he can do anything.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" He knows why Shanks let that man-
He knows.
It changes nothing.
Luffy feels like strangling Shanks now, too, but he says nothing and stomps away, ignoring when the pirates call out for him to come back. He wipes away the angry tears with the back of his hands. Shanks is everything Luffy aspires to be, but he doesn't want to ever let anyone walk all over him like that, even if they're weaker. It's disgusting.
He forgets the fruit he was supposed to eat, such a major thing in another Luffy's life, and doesn't remember until much later that night. He completely misses his chance to eat it, and isn't even sure if he wants to. He can be strong without it. He can be Luffy without it, he reassures himself.
Luffy doesn't entirely believe it. He goes to bed with his stomach in knots. Shanks left, and Luffy didn't go to see him off. The bandits are still out there. And the Devil Fruit… The seven year old rolls over and shuts his eyes as tight as he can, as if this will fight off the guilt he feels for messing things up so badly.
He kinda hates himself right then. Shanks is stronger than he'll ever be.
The bandits come again a month later. Party's Bar is nearly empty when they arrive, and Makino has just finished washing all of the dishes. She makes him a glass of juice and talks to him about Shanks' crew. She says that she thinks he's brave for laughing it off, and Luffy feels sick because he agrees but he doesn't want to. He never wanted to see someone he looked up to brought down like that.
The door opens before they finish their conversation, and they're rude to Makino and maybe he can excuse that, because he really shouldn't start trouble. He's not rubber, like the original Luffy. If he challenges them, he really might die, and he's scared of that happening again. He's already so invested in this life, still so young. And while Makino doesn't like it, she would hate it even more if Luffy died for her. So he grips his glass tight in his fist and tightens his jaw.
He won't- But he does.
Luffy wants to kill them when they start insulting Shanks while he's not there to stick up for himself. Shanks and Benn, and Lucky Roo, and Yasopp and everyone else on Shanks' crew don't deserve to be spoken about like that. They're all his friends.
(He used to avoid fights, and like all women he was terrified of large men. He wasn't anything special at all, just some bartender girl trying to live a steady life. His old self would've cowered behind the bar, even if they were insulting someone she loved. Luffy doesn't want to be that person. He wants to stand up for his friends- his nakama- even if he knows he's starting a fight he can't win.)
Fueled by anger, Luffy stands up on his stool, ignoring Makino's desperate whispers telling him to sit back down and oh, please don't and screams, "SHANKS IS A BETTER MAN THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!"
That's all it takes to piss the bandit off, but the idiot laughs it off and Luffy doesn't even bother pushing down the pure hatred he feels. The bandit says, "That pirate? He was pathetic."
Before Luffy can even think about it, he's launching himself at the man, hands outstretched because he doesn't know what to do with them yet. He just knows he wants to rip and tear and hurt. The bandit catches him before he can do any damage, easily yanking him up by his neck. Luffy abandons his attack to claw at the man's fingers.
They end up taking him to the middle of town where all the villagers can see. He's on the ground, and before he can get up to escape, a foot buries itself in his back. The bandits laugh while everyone in the town looks terrified and worried. They don't do anything because they can't. It's useless. (Luffy's a kid, but is he a kid worth dying for?) The bandits beat him until his head rattles, until he can't think or see straight and his brain feels like it's bleeding. Still, he blindly lashes out, weakly hitting their legs and their arms when they come near him.
Their hits aren't as strong as Garp's, but his Gramps has never beat him down like this before. He's never been so exhausted, before. There are tears in his eyes and he can't tell what it's from: the pain, the anger, or the fear. Luffy tastes blood in his mouth when a kick catches his jaw and he's disoriented for a few moments, and their laughs are echoing over the ringing in his ears.
Pirate King, he thinks, because it's all he has to hold onto right now. I'm going to be Pirate King.
It feels like forever before Shanks comes, but the bandits are dead within seconds when he sees the state of the boy and the fear in the villager's eyes. Makino is crying, and Woop Slap is still on the ground, where he'd been begging them to let Luffy go. He doesn't speak to them. Doesn't even give them a chance to explain. His crew kills them without blinking. Shanks picks him up, wraps his arms around him, and Luffy clings so tight it hurts but he doesn't let go. He's safe- finally, thankfully, safe.
Luffy cries in Shanks' shoulder. He doesn't want anyone else to see.
Later, it's Makino who takes care of him. She wraps him up in bandages and fixes his broken nose. He's missing a few baby teeth and his tongue hurts when he moves it. She cries over him when she sees all of the bruises, and it makes Luffy feel better, somehow. So he smiles his best smile and tells her that everything is going to be okay.
Even if he's going about this all wrong, it has to turn out okay. It just has to.
(Later, when Luffy finally sees himself in a mirror, he notices a distinct scar under his left eye. He laughs.)
When Shanks leaves for a final time, Luffy can't help his tears. There wasn't enough time to do anything, and he loves Shanks like he loves Makino. He doesn't want him to go, but Luffy understands why the man has to. Shanks has been there for too long, and he's a pirate. He's supposed to travel, and go on adventures with his nakama. There's nothing for him in Foosha Village, but still… Still.
Luffy clenches his fists. He won't see Shanks for a long, long time- if they ever do meet again. There's a whole lot he can say, meaningful things, but he doesn't open his mouth until he and Shanks are standing on the dock while his crew prepares to leave.
"You won't take me with you?" He bites his lip. He knows it won't happen, but…
Shanks leans down until Luffy eye's meet his chin and grins. "Nope!"
"Then-" Luffy pauses, swallows, and gathers courage. "Then I'll find my own crew, and they'll be even stronger than yours! I- I'm gonna be free! I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF PIRATES!" It's a promise, when he finally says it out loud, and especially because he's saying it to Shanks. He won't break it even if it kills him.
Honestly, Luffy doesn't expect Shanks to give him his hat. He's not the original Luffy, not like the special boy who wormed his way in all of their hearts, so he knows that he probably doesn't remind Shanks of Gol D. Roger at all. It's shocks him when the man actually does give Luffy his strawhat. Luffy clutches it protectively against his chest and stares, wide-eyed, up at the still grinning man.
"Pirate King, huh?" Shanks' smile is a little soft, a little wistful. Luffy barely notices it, surprised as he is. "Then this is my gift to you. It's my favorite hat, y'know." He stands up and starts walking away, but- like an afterthought- he says, "When you become a great pirate in the future, you'll return that hat to me." (1)
Luffy puts the hat on and cries while the Red Hair pirates leave. He doesn't leave the dock until Makino tells him that she made dinner for him.
The seven year old grins as wide as he can, ignoring the pain it causes. "Thanks, Makino." He lets her lead him away.
He's happy.
And someday, he'll be strong.
Barely one week later, a ship arrives at the port. Monkey D. Garp climbs out, stretches his arms, and grins.