Greetings! Fans of One Piece and ZoroxLuffy pairing! I've currently caught on the latest episodes of One Piece…since beginning college, I kind of abandoned it to concentrate on studying. Anyway, here I am back on track with my undying "fangirl" streak in the yaoi "shipping" department.

I am new in this fandom actually, but in the past I've tried writing a LuNa fic which, unfortunately, only ended up being a one chapter unfinished story. Moving on! I hope you like what my brain has composed shipping Luffy and Zoro.

Just to remind you people, this is an AU fic so yeah…there will be no 'Oh Captain, My Captain!' situations here.

xXOOOXx

Complete Summary: Luffy is the only heir to the throne of Red Empire. Shanks, his father, had kept him in the dark about an arranged marriage with one of the Yonko. Reason for this secret? Luffy has acquired an ability no one would even dare imagine a man could have. And his royal bloodline adds interest to those who want to gain this power. But is it really power…? Or a curse? Aside from Shanks, only Luffy would know. And it is as they say, "unexpected things are bound to happen".

Notes: Alternate Universe, Most of the characters will be positioned into different roles, Some OOCness.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I definitely pretend that I'm Eiichiro Oda…sometimes…..heeeheheehehee :D

On with the story! Sorry for the ginormous author's note!

xXOOOXx

Title:

YOUR CURSE, MY SALVATION

xXOOOXx

PROLOGUE

There it was again.

The sensation of coldness embracing every part of his body. The inability to move a single limb, the helplessness he was feeling as he sunk deeper into the dark abyss. His eyes not recognizing which part of the ocean he has been thrown into. Murky atmosphere suddenly engulfing the last line of light he has been mocked with.

He had hoped several times for a miracle to happen—the chance of being able to fight back the current pulling him down, the chance to haul himself out of the water, and the chance to see the beauty of the sun reflecting on the very sea trying to take the last spark of life from him. The dim hint of hope was always nowhere to be seen and so he decided to just always give up on whatever end he was destined to have.

He was kind of used to this. But who would, really? Drowning does not include an everyday surviving scenario. Eventually, the god of death will be tired of playing with people's lives and soon take what was supposed to be the reason for its existence.

But when will that happen? I'm not afraid of death, but I'm afraid for the people I will be leaving when that happens.

He was already smiling even before opening his eyes to the bright light seeping through the partially opened curtains of his floor to ceiling windows. It was ironic how his face got this kind of expression when not too long ago, he was dreaming about the end of his existence. He lifted his hand to block the prying rays attempting to sting his eyes and realized that he may have left the windows slightly open for there were strong winds trying to ghost over into the room. Shifting slowly to sit up, he nonchalantly threw the heavy royal duvets away from his legs and started approaching the vast expanse of sliding glass doors noble architects seemed to believe as the fitting type of windows for royalties. Each step made him wince for the reason that this time, his dream kind of prolonged its duration. It was a sudden and uncalled for occurrence in his usually baffling night escapades during sleep.

Stopping in his way to the curtains, he brought his thumb and forefinger on his temples and started putting circular pressures, massaging them. He didn't notice the sound of his door clicking and opening but let the monotonous tone of heels tapping the marble floor make way towards his intended destination. In one quick motion, his thick, red curtains obscured the offending light securely. It wasn't as if he hated the sun, but today it was just giving off a much-brighter-and-blinding type of light.

"Thanks Nami." He smiled at her cousin who was looking at him strangely.

Within a second, she was invading his personal space and taking him by surprise.

"Wha—" Nami raised her hand, palm face to face with her cousin.

"Hmmm…you've dreamt about it again?" The same palm cupped her cousin's right cheek in an affectionate gesture. "Tell me what happened now, Luffy." She was looking at him with an understanding that could comfort every uncertainty that was bothering him.

Luffy smiled, although the tiredness reflecting on the state of his face took away some of its brightness. He has darker bags under his eyes, paler complexion due to stress, and the slight twitches of his fingers sold him out to the scrutinizing and ever-knowing eyes of his cousin. He sighed in defeat but only waved his head.

"Still the same." He paused for a moment to consider something. "Hmmm…maybe it went a little longer this time…?" He trailed off and began laughing in an attempt to lighten his mood. "But you know, I'm still here so there's nothing to worry about."

A strong clutch on both of his shoulders surprised him and he was faced with an angry expression from her cousin.

"What do you mean 'it went longer this time'?! Don't try joking about this! Have you seen yourself in the mirror? You look like a mess! Your dreams are always the same, you say? It stays the same because it's meant to warn you about something! Something…" Nami tried to find a word, slightly breathing hard due to her sudden outburst. Unfortunately, she wouldn't dare name any negative possibility involving her beloved cousin. "Just…" She looked away but kept her hands on Luffy's shoulders. With nothing else she could find to say, instead she gave him the strong embrace of a concerned older sister.

Luffy leaned into the contact and mimicked Nami's action. He couldn't blame her from worrying. A lot of people have been worried about him, even before the time he started having this particular dream of drowning and being engulfed by darkness. The King's people and his as well, have always watched out for him. Being the only heir to the throne was a very crucial responsibility held by the ruler of the Red Empire and his warriors. Without someone from the royal bloodline to take the throne, the worst of fears was that anyone could force himself in the position of the King. It was every Kingdom's nightmare.

But this particular dream he'd been having for the past month may have been caused by an unlikely incident that happened while he was being taught to hunt. The chosen training ground was located at a certain part of the forest. Although it was the less dangerous part, unexpected things were still bound to happen.

Luffy had always been praised for being a fast learner. His eyes were sharp and his movements sleek. He could go from one place to another without giving out a single clue to the prey that it was being hunted. For three hours of hunting with little guidance from his mentor, Yasopp, he was able to bring back two average-size deer and one young brown bear. He only brought the bear cub for show as he had only shot it in one of its paws. The arrow was shot carefully just to make the cub slow down and not endure a life-threatening wound.

"Oi Luffy! What are you doing with that cub?" Yasopp asked as he watched the prince cautiously remove the arrow from the bear.

"I just really wanted to hold one up close!" Luffy concentrated on the task he was doing while remembering Chopper's pointers about the 'proper way of lending out a hand in the infirmary department'.

There was a small cry that came out from the baby bear as the arrow was eventually released. Luffy was shocked for a second; thinking if he had actually damaged a vein in the cub's paw. He sighed in relief when the baby bear began standing once again as if no wound was involved earlier. Luffy reached for his first aid pouch and expertly cleaned and wrapped the small injury.

"I'm sorry little one. I couldn't get a hold of you the normal way. I just really wanted to see if we could be friends!" Luffy spoke the way he usually does with the children of their kingdom. It was as if talking to a human child instead of a brown bear cub. "Here!" Luffy slowly reached out a candied apple towards the animal.

Yasopp rolled his eyes. The display earlier was cute, he would say that, but now Luffy was being too child-like for a twenty-year-old prince. Giving a sweet treat to a baby cub? Seriously.

"Luffy. That's enough now all right. The mother of that cub is already looking for it—" Luffy gave him a glare for calling the animal 'it' but he ignored it, "—so we better go." He continued with a thumb pointing back to where they entered the forest.

Luffy ignored him as well and played with the cub. Surprisingly, the young prince had the ability of taming animals and making them his 'friends' in a sense of the word. But how could anyone not befriend a prince who was too down to earth and with the behavior of an eight-year-old?

Yasopp was about to say something again to Luffy when he heard the prince gasp in surprise. He immediately knelt down beside him and started pushing away the cub.

"What? What did he do? Did he bite you? Where? Tell me where!" Luffy's mentor suddenly switched to his overprotective mode. He might have laughed if it wasn't for the thought that he knew Yasopp was aware of how wild animals' saliva contains bacteria that cause certain infections and illnesses.

"Don't! Don't push the cub away! He didn't do anything. He didn't bite me." Luffy shifted to grasp the fallen fruit the cub gave him. Where the cub hid it, he didn't bother thinking about. "He just gave me this! In exchange for the apple I gave him!" Luffy grinned wide and moved over to where the cub had backed away.

"Wh—what?" Yasopp regarded the fruit.

It looked strange. Instead of two leaves sprouted from a core alongside a stem, they were wrapped around the whole of the fruit. The skin, as he observed from portions where the leaves didn't cover it, was the color of sakura blossoms with a texture of a ragged pattern. When he touched it, Luffy reluctantly handing it to him for inspection, it was soft and it gave out a scent that he was familiar with but couldn't put into words.

"Do you think it is edible?" Luffy asked. He was finally gesturing for the cub to go back to his mother. Luffy would miss him, but they would really be in trouble if the mother bear finds her cub with a human.

Yasopp took awhile observing the fruit, but he didn't have the slightest assurance that this particular produce was edible. He had no idea where the cub might have picked it up. It did smell great though, no matter how he couldn't decipher the familiarity of the scent, and when he slowly unwrapped the leaves from the fruit it gave off an appetizing charm.

"I'm not sure but we sho—" Yasopp's words were cut short as the fruit was snatched out of his hands in a lightning speed and the next thing he knew, he was hearing its flesh being devoured by his prince.

"Prince!" He shouted in a panic and was too late to steal back the fruit, as the only thing left was the stem thrown at the side of Luffy's place. "Ohh….Oh no….." He immediately paled and trembled. "The King…he might k—kk—kill me for this!" Yasopp mumbled words about his impending demise.

"Don't worry Yasopp-sensei!" The young prince slapped his back to snap him out of mumbling about dying. "I don't feel anything weird. And it tasted good!" Luffy stood up and brushed off dirt from his hunting robes, all the while smiling in satisfaction. "Come on. Let's go back. That single fruit really made me hungry."

The time they went back Yasopp observed silently for any signs or even the smallest change from Luffy. Was the fruit really safe? He didn't recognize its features but he might really be worrying too much about it. And Luffy seemed to act normal as he downed several servings of food all throughout dinner. He sighed and went back to his own quarters to prepare for the one month mission the King has asked of him.

Three days after the hunting trip….it began.

There was suddenly a time when Luffy, out of the blue, collapsed while he was in the East Wing Drawing room discussing some topic with Nami. He fell straight towards the carpeted floor even as Nami scurried to catch him. He was reaching out blindly, gasping for air, and scratching the floor with his nails as if he was in pain. And he was, indeed. The sensation was so sudden; it took him off guard and gave him the strangest shifting motion in his insides. He couldn't explain it due to alarming reasons. It was as if his guts were twisting on its own, affecting his lungs and making it hard for him to breathe. He could barely hear Nami's screams for help.

When he was starting to black out, sweat dripping down the sides of his face, everything abruptly stopped.

Even...his breathing.

It took about a whole day for a swarm of doctors, led by Chopper and Doctorene, to make sense of what went wrong. In the end though, there wasn't much to explain. They said Luffy had an 'attack' [that much was obvious]; of what kind, they didn't know, they couldn't tell. As if what just occurred was beyond their expertise.

The King was outraged because of this. But as the good King that he was, Shanks didn't blame any of his servants and the doctors. Somehow, at the back of his mind he had encountered this kind of symptom before and couldn't spot the reason why it felt like he didn't want to know what it actually was.

Shanks looked back down on his only son, terrifyingly still as he slept through the unknown pain. The rare sight was making his chest hurt and caused various possibilities flood in his mind. In order to stop his pessimism, he got off the chair and went to look out the window.

Tonight was a full moon. Oddly so, there were no stars scattered on the dusky horizon.

The luminous bright orb can be seen through his son's window seeming to look a bit bigger than it should. Since he was currently feeling unnerved by Luffy's condition, his observations concerning other things were inevitably escalated. He noticed that there was something different about the moon. The glow was brighter than usual, like a firefly's radiance underneath the cloak of darkness. And as strange as it already is, it appeared to project its own rays on a particular spot. Letting this take off his mind from worrying about his son for just a bit, he traced where the rays were directed. His eyes landed on a singled-out tree, with an obvious statement of standing out from others.

The tree itself was glowing, almost sparkling with the moon's rays. The leaves were the color of the lightest and brightest shade of pink—as if it was shy of blushing by itself among the shadowed trees and trying to blind out its real tint.

Shanks missed for a second the sound of Luffy's weak groaning. The second time the ill prince did so, Shanks didn't wait for another second to pass to go beside his son's bed and calm him from whatever bad dream that was now plaguing his son's sleep.

"Come on, son. Luffy, it's okay. I'm here. Your father's here." Shanks held onto his son's both hands and rubbed them gently. The gesture didn't help ease Luffy's state at once, but only after several strokes and lots of reassuring whispers.

The King didn't know why, but he had the sudden urge to look back at the strange tree.

What he saw though was only the faint glow of the moon and the darkness looming over the trees in the forest. Shanks turned away from the abrupt change and began praying to every god he knew.

The day after Luffy had woken up, he started having headaches instead of the severe attack he went through. For the next few days, he was rejecting any food that was served to him. He also began having dreams where he always found himself deep into the ocean and trying desperately to breathe…all to no avail.

This went on for weeks until Luffy, as impossible as it may be, got used to the drowning dreams and the occasional lack of energy. But he would never accept the fact that his father had forbidden him to train outside of their kingdom…or rather, forbidden him to get out of their castle's vicinity altogether.

"I know you're bored." Nami heard Luffy's sarcastic laugh. A laugh that could rarely be heard from the prince.

"Understatement of the year." Luffy almost rolled his eyes but chose to gently pull back from Nami's embrace and approach one of his wardrobes. He pulled out a white bath towel and his red bathrobe.

For a month he had been following the same routine. Waking up from his tedious dream, getting up and taking a bath, and then either horseback riding or reading some books. He was afraid that he was beginning to get used to it. Sadly, being trapped in your own home [rather castle] for a month could make someone resort to these monotonous activities instead of dying due to boredom.

Nami remained silent as she watched her cousin prepare for his day. Only before Luffy entered the door to his bathroom did she speak. The young prince looked at her curiously when she didn't notice the wide grin she was sporting. She leaned on Luffy while his back faced her and pressed her cheek to his, holding the sides of his arms.

"I have a surprise for you."

Honestly, if it weren't for the mischievous expression Nami had and the tone of her voice when she whispered what the surprise was about, Luffy would have just shrugged and went straight to taking a dip in his tub. What made him perk up in interest though were Nami's next words.

"Uncle has left early today to do some business in the neighboring country. We could do something…" Nami paused just for the sake of the thrill. "…outside."

If this were another normal day when he was free to do whatever he wanted to, it wouldn't matter so much to be compared as a surprise. Also, he would have immediately asked and worry about the reason his own father didn't give him the heads up about suddenly leaving and doing some business in another kingdom. Being adventure hungry has reduced the young prince for taking a bolder behavior, even if it would be against the King's orders.

"You don't have to ask the maids to prepare your suit. I'll be the one to do it." Nami winked and shoved him gently inside his bathroom. She couldn't remove the grin on her face just watching Luffy brighten up in excitement.

Well…for a guy like Luffy? One month without an adventure would really kill him.

She turned back towards her cousin's wardrobe and picked simple ones he could use to go out for town. She would have to return to her room to lend him her casual-looking cloak since the prince doesn't own something that wasn't too flashy for a commoner's taste.

Luffy was singing softly.

They were already outside the castle and was treading towards the small theater located in the middle part of town. The place wasn't actually a theater but a mimic of one as the stage will not be found inside a brick house building. The set up of the show was only covered and surrounded by a very big tent, an enough size for loyal viewers and fans of the actors who always come to watch their show. There were no worries regarding the durability of the tent as this was made with a very thick type of canvass and lined with another layer of cotton fabric from the inside.

He stopped and a wide smile parted his lips in awe. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed this theater before. But then this was also the first time he was able to visit the inner part of the town. Due to security reasons and caution about hiding the identity of the prince until he was of age for the throne, he was not allowed to wander on unknown territory. The guards were all aware of it, but since they were keeping low profiles during these visits, they couldn't afford to let the prince be vulnerable in the dark side of towns. Surely the King was doing so well keeping peace within his jurisdiction but the ironic reality was that there would always be people who were up to taking advantage of others.

"Today they will be presenting a new adventure story." Nami whispered beside him and Luffy had gotten more excited by the news.

"What kind of adventure?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Pirates. I believe 'One Piece' is the title." Nami answered and began pulling Luffy to a seat.

Local viewers were fast getting their own seats while others who came a bit late didn't complain about having to stand. Children and families were also around. Kids around Luffy and Nami's age were the majority.

"They're really popular, huh?" Nami observed as she looked around, securing her own cloak [lighter color compared to Luffy's] as she did so.

"Yeah!" Luffy responded, sounding like his usual self.

Nami watched her cousin intently. She was really happy she thought of bringing Luffy out. It was an impromptu idea since she wasn't also aware of her Uncle's rather sudden trip. But that may have been a blessing in disguise. There would be less suspicion when they get back. And maybe, if she could make Luffy forget about his dreams for a while, he wouldn't look so weary like how she often saw him for the past month.

She was a bit surprised by the hand that gave a squeeze on hers.

"It's starting." Luffy whispered as he focused his attention on the show.

xXOOOXx

Phew! That was…uhmmm well, I should consider a long prologue? Or rather a boring one. I know, I know, this chapter only talked about several topics all at once. But basically this chapter gives an introduction about Luffy having dreams and his condition. It is not clear yet but I'll eventually get to that.

I hope you like it….even just a bit. I just had to write something that has been bugging me, even during sleep. And well, I'm not an expert but I do want to explore on Luffy being a prince…and not being so….Luffy [like in One Piece]

Also, the pace of the story will be about slowly introducing other characters in different chapters.

Sorry for the long note! I hope you stay tune and give me your comments/reviews! THANKS!