Sequel to the story I wrote called "How a Family Heals the Heart". It's long over due, but someone on AO3 asked for it and I thought it was a good idea to make a little one-shot about the crew finding out about Luffy's past.
For those who have not read my other one, Luffy had gotten his wings injured as a five year old boy, and Ace and Sabo had rescued him. Then they met the Whitebeard Pirates and became part of that family. Luffy was kidnapped a couple years later, and had his wings sawed off. He was soon rescued by Reighley and waited a Saboady to meet up with his family again.
Enjoy!~
"Nammiiiiii, why are we here? We've been here for hours," Luffy complained. The chairs were uncomfortable and the auction house had started to smell bad. Lots of sweaty people, since the room was also very hot. How Nami could ignore the smell was a mystery to Luffy since she always got mad at him for not showering regularly.
"Shush, the good stuff always comes last," Nami scolded. Luffy huffed in irritation and sat back in his chair. He, Sanji and Zoro were with her to guard their money from Thriller Bark that Nami had brought. She really wanted some sort of jewelry, though the men could care less about. Zoro had fallen asleep half an hour after the auction started, and Luffy couldn't blame him.
Item after expensive item came out, with Nami not bidding on anything. She wouldn't waste any money on something not worth it. She'd gotten plenty of jewelry from their treasure, but she just always wanted more. Luffy would never understand it.
Sanji was sitting on the other side on Nami, his hand twitching towards his tux's pocket. Smoking was prohibited in and around the auction house, and he really wanted a smoke. But he'd protect Nami-san and her money with his life. Though he'd enjoy it more if he could smoke while doing it.
Nami was growing frustrated and annoyed with all of the "cheap crap" being brought out and sold. She sighed as the last two items were announced. The first was a crown of an ancient queen. Nami had no desire for it. It was ugly. Nami frowned when she saw what was next brought out.
She didn't see Luffy's reaction, or hear his sharp intake of breath.
"Last item is a very rare item, folks!" the cheery auctioner exclaimed as a display case rolled out into the stage. "A child angel's wings!" There was a collective gasp. "They are broken, but still good to be hung on the wall as decoration. You can't go wrong with angel wings! Especially one as rare as a child's. It's been passed around through the years, but are still in great condition! First bidding is ten million beris!"
Nami exclaimed in surprise when Luffy wrenched the paddle from her hand, not too gently, and thrust it into the air. "Luffy, what are you doing!? You can't buy something this rare without cleaning us out!" she scolded, but Luffy clearly couldn't hear her.
"Two bidders! Raising the price to twelve million!" Luffy battled with a man across from him, who was clearly very rich and just kept raising the price. Luffy ignored Nami as she shouted at him to not waste their money. Sanji scolded him as well, but when he got no reaction, he grew suspicious. Zoro had woken up from Nami's shout and watched Luffy in confusion.
The look on the captain's face was anger but also desperation. He clearly, dearly wanted these wings. But the three with him found it quite strange for someone as good as Luffy wanting to buy wings that had been sawed off of a child. It was sick, and just confused the others.
But they had never seen him look this unnerved. Even when someone had torn through his straw hat. This reaction was so extreme that the others didn't know what to make of it.
After the bidding passed thirty million, Nami had stopped trying to get him to stop. He had to stop soon anyways. They only had forty five million, and the bidding price was raising steadily. When they reached forty three million, Luffy was becoming desperate.
"Fuck!" he shouted once he couldn't bid anymore. Zoro was surprised. He'd never heard Luffy swear colorfully, even during fights. Everything about Luffy at the moment was abnormal.
"Zoro, Sanji. We're getting those wings. Captain's orders," the pirate said sternly. Sanji and Zoro looked at each other, both wondering what was wrong with Luffy. The captain watched as the wings were rolled away and to the exit where the buyers would pick up their new merchandise. But both men got up to follow Luffy, who was still staring at the door his wings had been rolled through.
When he saw them, so tiny and broken, he almost had a flashback to the day he'd lost them, but he pulled himself away from that memory and stole the paddle from Nami's hand. He barely heard her as she shouted at him to stop trying to waste their money. To him, her buying jewelry was a waste, but it was her thing, so he never tried to stop her. But not this. His wings were much more important than some rare jewelry. He began to panic as the price kept raising. He didn't want to have to resort to violence, but he was getting those wings. They were his! Literally, they were his and he deserved to have them back.
He knew Zoro and Sanji were looking at him strangely, and that it might seem sick as to why he wanted a child's wings. Especially when everyone knew that the owners usually die after getting them sawed off.
Like his brother and parents. He knew he'd probably never find their wings again, since they were in perfect condition, but if he let this go, he'd never have his wings back. Sure, he could never use them again, but they were his, damnit!
The moment he ran out of money to bid, he made the decision to steal them, no matter what the cost. And that's why he gave the order for his strong crewmates to help him get the wings.
The three stood up and left the auction house, Nami trailing behind uncertainty. "But, if you guys go and take them, who's gonna protect the money and me?!" Luffy grew irritated. Money was important, but this was important to him, too.
"It's just money. We can steal more some time," Luffy brushed off. Zoro looked surprised at this. He backed Luffy up about the fact they could always get more money, but the way he said it was uncharacteristic. He sounded like Nami was irritating him. The swordsman wanted to hear why Luffy was so insistent about getting those wings.
There had been much more value to all of the other items. Why would he want broken wings? He'd ask after they got them back, because with Luffy's expression as it was, with or without him and Sanji, Luffy would get those wings.
The four reached the back of the auction house and watched around the corner until the one who bought Luffy's old wings came out, clearly high in social status, though not a Celestial Dragon. Well, it didn't matter. Those wings belonged to him, whether he bought them or not. No one can argue about the fact that they belonged to Luffy since they were literally once attached to his body.
Zoro, Sanji and Nami followed Luffy as he casually followed the man and the person who carried the wings for him. They were held up by a string on the ceiling of the display case. Once they were a fair distance from the auction house, Luffy flug himself through the trees and landed in front of the two men.
"Give them to me," Luffy said in a deep, angry voice. His eyes were hidden under his straw hat. The rich man just scoffed.
"You lost. You just don't have enough money! Deal with it. You aren't getting these w-" and then the man was flying into the tree behind him. Luffy had punched him so hard in the face that the teeth had skinned his rubber skin. Nami gasped and Sanji and Zoro furrowed their brows. Why was Luffy acting this uncharacteristic?
"Give. Them. To. Me," Luffy growled, giving a terrifying feeling to those around him, it even had Nami shivering. Luffy looked really scary. He hadnt even looked this angry at Arlong Park, or when he and Usopp got in the argument and then fight.
The man holding the case backed away, and then dropped it to the ground, turning to help his superior, who was out cold. Luffy smashed his fist into the case, tearing some of his knuckles on the glass.
The other three, who had done nothing to help, and didn't need to help, watched him in wariness. Luffy gently pulled the small, white wings out of the case and marched off. He was holding them very tightly to his chest, looking lost.
Nami liked his angry expression more than this horribly sad look, full of anguish. "Let's go, Nami-san," said Sanji, who shared a concerned look with her. "We'll ask later," he told her quietly. She was going to protest, but then looked back at Luffy and nodded silently.
When they reached the Thousand Sunny, Luffy marched up the plank and to Franky, commanding him to get them away from the island with a Coup de Burst. Those who had not been on the island were shocked at Luffy's face and the small wings he was clutching.
"Hey, did you guys buy those wings?" Chopper asked. He didn't like it. Someone must have gotten hurt really bad while losing these wings. Why was Luffy holding on to them so desperately? It made Chopper a bit confused and even angry that Luffy would have them buy something like that.
"Luffy stole them after he tried gambling all of our money and lost," Nami said with a bite in her voice. At least she hadnt lost any money, though. "Why did you want them so bad? Someone got hurt because of these wings! Or died!" Nami said angrily.
Luffy actually scoffed at this. She was right for most, but since Luffy's wings had been paralyzed, he hadnt felt them being sawed off. A small mercy. Everyone was taken aback by this scoff.
"Luffy, it's well, kinda messed up," Usopp said. Luffy was acting strange.
"Why did you steal them?" Robin asked pleasantly, though she was a bit bothered by what he'd done as well.
"Luffy-san, I agree with Usopp-san. It is wrong to have those," Brook said in an even voice. Then Franky started asking why, followed by pestering by everyone besides Zoro, who just watched Luffy calmly. He was getting angry.
"It's messed up, I know! But I deserve to have them! They're mine!" Luffy shouted back. Everyone else looked taken aback. "They were mine…" Luffy immediately sat on the grassy deck and laid them on the ground gently, feeling the broken joints that no one had been able to fix up, even after they were separated from Luffy.
"What do you mean?" Zoro asked. But things were starting to come together for him. Why Luffy never took his shirt off in front of anyone. How he hated talking about angels in general. Luffy didn't answer. Instead, he pulled his shirt over his head, shocking everyone. He was always so adamant of not letting anyone see his chest or back.
But what made them gasp were the long, jagged, and raised scars starting at his shoulder blades that stretched down his back.
"They were mine until I was six," Luffy said sadly. "My parents and brother were murdered for their wings, and when they tried to take mine, Ace and Sabo saved me, but my wings were already paralyzed. Then we were welcomed on Whitebeard's ship. I got kidnapped and they were cut off and then I was tossed into the ocean."
Everyone listened in silence. "I'll never get my families' wings back, but I at least wanted my own." The crew was in shock. Luffy was an angel? Well, used to be one. It angered all of them so much that such a thing had happened to their captain. And at such a young age, too!
They were also shocked about Luffy having been with the Whitebeards. Zoro closed his eyes and sat next to his friend. "Is this why you never want your shirt off?" he asked softly. Luffy stroked the feathers and nodded. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Luffy shrugged. "It was really private. I don't like thinking about it," he replied simply. "Nami, I'm sorry for biting your head off."
"N-No, I completely understand. These are more important than jewelry," she replied. "You must have been really cute with them," she added. Luffy chuckled.
"Yeah, everyone really loved me on that ship." Then the captain finally told his crew about his past. The good and bad, including his time with his Papa and all his older brothers. About his kidnapping and isolation, waiting for his family to come back to him. Everyone were very angry about the attack on him as a five year old child.
When Luffy said his older brother's name had been Usopp, everyone were baffled. That wasn't a common name as far as they knew. They also felt bad for him about that. Every Time he saw Usopp, it reminded him of his brother. But he spoke about his family with a smile, like Whitebeard had said he would all those years ago.
Getting all of those things off his chest, he felt so much better afterwards. They hung his wings on the wall of the galley, spread out as if they were in flight. The others had felt the wings, how soft they were, and they wished they were still attached to their owner's back. Where they should be.
But, Luffy had a part of himself and his family back. Finally, and he let go of the pain that had still haunted him sometimes. His current family were good nakama, and he couldn't be happier with who he called family, past and present. He'd have to tell all the Whitebeards about his discovery.
The End