Important Notes: This is a sequel to A Brother's Secret, but please take not that it takes place in the same world as in the "Epilogue" chapter during the In Another World, In Another Time segment of the chapter. You DO NOT need to have read that story to understand what will be going on in the future as it will be fully explained in this story, but there PROBABLy will be confusing aspects relating back to A Brother's Secret. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Warnings: Some disturbing imagery, OCs (they will not reappear), character death, possible OoC characters
Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, but I own my words and plot (and OCs!)
If You Have the Blood of a "Demon"
Luffy, three months old
The sky was a blazing orange, surrounded by dark gray clouds and the night sky. The air was thick with smoke, the smell of burning wood and flesh pungent. The flames were tall and roaring, taking down buildings and people, animals and plants – everything that stood in its way was destroyed by the inferno in seconds.
Children and mothers ran quickly to try and avoid the blows of the silver swords that came near them. Their shadows were long in the harsh light, but they were overwhelmed by the dark shadows of the soldiers chasing them. The men who were fighting back were quickly being taken down, their dark red source of life quickly joining the orange flames and shining like rubies in the enormous, flickering lights.
"Hiken!"
Some of the attacking soldiers screamed as fire burst across their skin, flames eating at their flesh. The perpetrator stared at them with hard yet pained eyes before turning and continuing to run barefoot down the hot, debris ridden, red, wet ground. One arm was held across her blood-soaked abdomen and the other held close a bundle with extreme possessiveness.
"There she is! Get her!"
The woman who had just attacked the soldiers gritted her teeth, speeding up as much as she could. Some of the men who had been protecting their home had suddenly stopped and turned to face the attackers, moving in front of the woman who was running the opposite way.
"You won't be getting them!" The defending men shouting. Their leader held up a sword, pointing it at the invaders while glaring. "Attack!"
The woman stopped and turned around, eyes wide with fear. "Raven!"
The leader turned back, her eyes hard. "You must run! You can't let him die! Go, we will be fine!"
"But-"
"GO!"
The woman gritted her teeth and would've ignored the other woman if it were not for the squirming and whining she felt against her bosom. "You better come out alive, Raven!"
She turned and ran despite the screaming of her heart and the older woman, Raven, grinned at her back.
"As you wish, my Majesty." Raven turned back to the battle and charged with the rest of her men with a battle cry, raising her large sword to attack the invaders clothed in blue and white. "You will not get our Queen!"
The running woman was panting now, holding the rags of her dress up as she ran and holding it to the wound bleeding out. Her steps were slowing, yet she did not give up. The sounds of battle – swords and guns, cannons, screaming men and women, explosions – grew more distant as she approached the docks. The water was lit up by the display of fire behind her as the city burned, but she dared not look back as she ran to the edge of the longest dock. At the end was a small boat, only large enough for one person. She jumped in and let go of the tattered ends of her dress to reach out and burn the rope holding the boat to the dock. She felt the dock rattling with the steps of a stampede of men in uniforms of justice and she took one last look at the burning island before setting her own feet aflame. She turned away, hurriedly guiding the boat away from her home, out of reach of the uniformed masses. She felt only slight pleasure hearing their enraged yells. She was too busy trying not to pass out and trying to protect the baby she held in one of her arms.
The baby snuggled up against her and cooed. She looked down at him with a soft, tired smile. "Don't worry, you'll be safe. I'll make sure you're safe."
Three days later, she was far from home and far from any sign of land. The sun was shining bright over the deep blue sea which was oddly calm for the New World. The woman couldn't see far and instead focused on trying to get food for her baby. She didn't have much left. He had taken most of the milk she had to offer. She knew he was upset and hungry, he was crying, but at the same time he seemed to understand something was wrong. His cries weren't as piercing as they normally would be and he tried to cuddle to his mother, as if trying to soothe her. She smiled softly at him and ran her hand over his hair gently.
She was surprised she had lasted this long. She supposed it was the luck of D that had allowed her to live this long without treatment for her wound, which had quickly grown infected. She hoped her baby wouldn't get sick from being near it – she would never forgive herself if that happened.
Something bumped into her skiff, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She could only tilt her head a little and then, she only saw wood. How had she not seen an approaching ship? She could hear the men on board yelling at each other and then she felt someone picking her and her baby up. Her baby began to fuss, but he was far too hungry and tired at this point to make loud noises and large movements. He merely snuggled closer to his mother for protection she knew she was currently not capable of giving aside from throwing an arm over him.
She felt herself being placed on the ground and suddenly she was surrounded by men and women alike in white doctors cloaks, shouting at other members of the ship, but it all sounded muffled to her ears.
Someone suddenly began to lift her baby away from her. She inwardly panicked. Not yet. Not yet. She still had time. She lifted one of her hands and grasped the offending wrist tightly, turning hazy eyes to whoever was holding her baby. She thought it went quiet, but she wasn't sure. Maybe her ears had just stopped working.
"Please…find Garp…Monkey D…Garp…Please…" Someone laid their hand over hers and she felt the promise, they would find Garp for her. She smiled and reached her hand up – the limb now trembling erratically from the effort of movement – to her son one last time. The arms moved her baby closer and she saw his large eyes staring at her, felt his small hands against her cheeks. Her smile widened as she felt a few teardrops escape the corners of her eyes. With great effort, she turned onto her side and kissed his forehead one last time.
"Live free…Luffy…please…"
She was gone before the doctors could try to save her.
The baby was eagerly drinking down the formula they had managed to get, thanks to the nurses endless stores and quick thinking. He was small, probably only three months old, far too young to lose his mother. The man had to wonder what happened though, for the woman to have had a wound so fatal and be in the middle of nowhere.
"How's he doing?"
The brown haired man turned to his blond haired friend as he approached from behind, coming up to lean on the railing next to him. The brown haired man gave a soft smile and a shrug.
"He's doing alright. At least he's not crying anymore."
It was silent between the two. The baby had cried loudly when his mother had been taken away. None of them had known what to do, not even food had truly calmed him, at least not until now, two hours later. The baby – Luffy, if they heard the mother correctly – was looking quite tired, his eyes drooping, yet he refused to let go of the bottle.
"I wonder what Garp is going to say."
The brunet haired man snorted. "Probably some justice crap, blame us for the death of the mother."
"I don't think he'd do that. You know what he's like."
The brunet's eyes went downcast. "Yes, but…if this kid is his family, then…"
The blond sighed. "It won't be pretty. At least we're not the ones in charge of calling him, though."
The brunet laughed softly. "I'm glad I don't have that job."
The baby began to squirm and the brown haired man immediately looked down. The baby had begun to whine and he quickly, yet gently, began to rock the baby, making comforting sounds as he held him closer. The blond watched the interaction with soft eyes as the man beside him finally managed to lull the baby to sleep. The brunet sighed heavily and the blond looked at him with empathetic eyes, knowing how his friend had a soft spot for children.
"C'mon Thatch, lets head inside. We should put him somewhere he can rest easy. You look like you need a rest too."
The brunet nodded and began to walk with the other man. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go find that crib the nurses were talking about earlier."
Whitebeard held the baby in one of his large hands. The baby was currently grabbing at his thumb, awed at the size difference between his own small hand and the man's own large ones. He assumed that the small, loud, always hungry baby was a D. There was something about him that made it impossible for him to not be a D. He didn't know what it was, he just knew.
One of the men in the crows nest shouted something about seeing an approaching ship. Whitebeard looked up and to the right when one of them shouted starboard, seeing the small wooden ship that they were talking about. He could see one large figure on it and knew, with one glance, that it was Garp.
He allowed the Marine to board once he was close enough. His commanders were all nearby, the rest of his crew spread out on the deck of the ship, watching. Garp, for once, was not grinning like he normally would have been. In fact, he looked rather worn. He had bags under his eyes and he was frowning, the corners of his lips dragging his skin to sag. His arms were crossed tensely, not with the confidence he would have had. It set alarm bells off in all of their heads and they all watched with keen eyes as the man glared at Whitebeard with what they thought was hate. Whitebeard could tell it was misplaced rage.
"What do you want, Whitebeard? I have no time for any meetings like this," Garp demanded, voice gruff and tired. From where he was, he could not see the baby cradled to the larger man's chest. He held his hand up when Marco opened his mouth to yell at the Vice Admiral, silencing his first in command. Whitebeard then spoke, purposefully keeping the child out of sight as he talked.
"We found something interesting a few days ago. A woman in a skiff powered by fire, floating out here on the seas of the New World. She said your name. Do you have any idea why?"
Garp's face pulled into a shocked expression before his eyebrows narrowed in outrage, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Is the woman alive?"
"No. She has died."
Garp seemed to deflate. Newgate noticed he was eyeing his hand holding the baby suspiciously now.
"Who was she, for her to have personally asked for you?" Marco said, staring at the Marine with hard eyes. Thatch looked next to him to his blond friend, grimacing slightly. Marco had been high strung about this whole thing. Marco said it was just a result of his animal instincts from his Devil Fruit. Thatch thought it was because the child may be in danger, something he understood, but at the same time he knew they had to keep calm and not anger Garp. They didn't want to have to fight the man now, especially since he already seemed quite irritated.
Garp turned to the blond with hard eyes. "She was the lover of my son, the mother of my grandchild, and the target of a recent attack by the Marines. I was hoping she was alive, but it seems to have been an empty wish."
Everyone on the ship traded uneasy looks except for Whitebeard. He stared right at Garp, judging him. He deemed his words true – but then again, when had the man ever lied – and shifted his hand. Garp's eyes widened as he stared at the pirate captain's hand.
"I believe this is your grandson, then."
He lowered his hand as Garp stepped forward, allowing the other man to take the baby from his grasp. Garp looked down at the three month old boy with fond eyes. The baby stared up at him, his eyes wide and wondering, before he directed a gummy smile at the man, reaching his small hands up to his grandfather. Garp smiled and held the baby closer. The pirates felt a little odd, seeing the man so peaceful. It was a very different image from the loud, confident Garp they were normally faced with.
"Thank you for rescuing my grandson. But, may I ask one more favor of you?"
"Do you think he ever met her? Aside from the day he said the Marines sacked her home."
Thatch looked over at Marco and then back at the small grave that Whitebeard had some of the commanders build, as per Garp's request. The Marine was not able to bury the woman and the Marines believed she had died at sea. He couldn't risk moving the body himself on such a small boat, already with a baby to care for, especially when he was already being suspected by his superiors for trying to help her escape (something he admitted only to them because she had done nothing wrong other than have the child and to Garp, that did not make her a criminal).
"I kind of doubt it," The brunet haired man said, staring at the grave before them. The woman had been a D, and learning that, it made sense that she smiled in her death. Her name was carved into the stone by Jozu with fingers of diamond. He had just finished carving and was staring at the grave with the other three. "I'm sure he wishes that he did, though. It's must be hard, losing someone that he would've been close to before he even knew her."
"It's always hard to lose someone. I'm just hoping that he'll be able to keep the baby a secret."
"It's Garp. He's a D. He'll manage somehow," Jozu spoke, staring at the grave before him with slightly sad eyes.
Izou, who had been walking around the field around them for quite some time, finally returned hands filled with flowers. He laid them at the foot of her grave and then stepped back. They were all silent for a moment, staring at the woman's grave, before soundlessly turning and heading back to their ship. Two things were on their minds: Would they see that baby when he was a man, and where was the Mera Mera no Mi now?
AN: Here it is! The sequel to A Brother's Secret! I honestly don't know how I feel about this chapter. I might rewrite it, might not, but I want you guys to know now that this story probably won't be updated for a month because life is deciding to kick me in the ass right now and it was a struggle to just find the time and energy to write this. I apologize, BUT I have big things planned for this story and I'm really excited for it! At the same time, I want you guys to tell me what you want to see in this story. I've written out most of the plot but I'm also a little stuck. I'm gonna try to figure it out. But for the fluffy scenes that we all know are going to happen, do you have anything you would like to see?
Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review to tell me what you think!
