*severely underestimated how crap her writing used to be, and how much I have to rewrite to make it not crap*

The first few days after the Red Haired pirates final departure from Dawn island was hard on the Monkey D. siblings. Luffy seemed to bounce back much faster than his sister, throwing himself into practice his new 'moves'. He was delighted to discover that if he stretched his arm back before he punched, he could put a lot more force into his punches, making them even stronger! His aim...well he was still working on it.

Leo found it much harder to shake her depression, as she didn't have a distraction like Luffy did. Before she had been able to spar with her brother just fine, but now? Even with zero control of his new powers Luffy's strength shot up to a whole new level, leaving Leo struggling to catch up. They had certainly tried, after all Leo was the only child on the island who now didn't run away from Luffy,but after several broken noses Luffy decided enough was enough and refused to spar with her. He wasn't willing to risk her health just so he could get stronger. It wasn't worth it.

To make matters worse their grandpa had finally returned to them, and upon learning that Luffy was now the user of a devil fruit (after a minor freak out he smacked his grandson through a wall for being so stupid as to eat a fucking Devil Fruit. How on earth did he plan on becoming a marine if he couldn't swim!) He then decided it was time to continue his marine training. Which of course meant dragging Luffy into the jungle for 'training' leaving her behind in their small three bedroom cabin. Every time she approached the subject of maybe being allowed to join her brother on his 'training' even if it was just to watch Garp would completely flip out. Under no circumstances was she to leave the house until they got back!

According to Garp Luffy was going to become a great Marine, while Leo was going to grow up sheltered and protected, and either become a paper pusher in the marines, stuck on the career track behind a desk or end up as the wife of a Marine, staying at home safe and sound. Nothing sounded worse to the young girl. Her heart yearned for adventure and freedom, for the ocean. She wanted to sail to the ends of the earth, visit every island this world had to offer, to stand upon every beach...she didn't dare breath a word of her dream around her grandfather. Every time she mentioned wanting to sail he looked as if he was going to have a panic attack.

He would instantly start lecturing about how dangerous the ocean was, that a ship was no place for someone as small and fragile as herself. He wanted Luffy to grow up strong, so he could continue protecting his precious granddaughter when he is passed and gone,

"I don't need protecting gramps" She'd grumble, "I can fight and protect myself"

But in the end he'd always put a firm foot down, it wasn't happening. Not on his watch. The only good thing that really came from it all was that Garp wasn't as physical with Leo as he was Luffy...in fact he wasn't physical at all. Where's he'd freely throw out 'fists of love' to his grandson, having no issues at tossing him around like a rubber ball. To date he had never laid a hand on Leo, not in violence. Only to gently cup her face and stroke her freckles. She was his precious star, and he had to protect her.

But of course this meant she was often left stranded in a house that suddenly seemed so much larger, for days at a time. With only the heavy clouds that settled around her shoulders to keep her company.

She tried to keep herself busy, she started with cleaning the house...but with only her there really wasn't much to clean, killing maybe an hour at most. She'd make the short walk into town to by food and other supplies...but again, Garp and Luffy spent most of their time in the forest. If they did return it was late at night, when Leo was already curled in bed. She entertained the idea of visiting Makino, but the thought of visiting the tavern without her brother sent a stab of pain running up her side. It just felt...wrong and besides what would she even do?! Luffy was the one who lead the conversation, the one who made the first move. She would happily sit by his side, cutting in every now and then, but ultimately let him take the lead. The thought of being the center of attention had her heart jumping in panic.

So once her chores were done and dusted, and she was left with an entire day to somehow pass away she did the only thing she really could do. Packing lunch into an old rack sack, she'd start the short walk to the shore line. Sometimes she'd stop at the docks, watching the fishermen go about their work, most days she just passed on by, waving as she passed. The further she walked along the coast the higher the cliffs grew, and the less populated the area became. It took half an hour to reach the knotted cheery blossom tree she had carved her 'pirate mark' in to.

The tree marked the exact spot where the ocean had carved out a tall scar in the cliff face, providing Leo with the perfect ladder down to the patch of sandy beach below. Dropping her bag down onto the sand she started the slow process of climbing down the cliff face to her secret little cove. Well it wasn't completely a secret, she had of course shared it's existence with her brother (how could she not).

Stripping down to her underwear she'd spend the afternoon swimming in the shallow waters, protected from both sides by the curving cliff face. Leo figured that over the years the ocean wore away in this one spot, creating a protected 'bubble' so to speak. She'd then crawl onto the sound, eat her fill and doze on the warm sand, coating her wet skin as she rolled around. Luffy used to join her, while not able to swim quite as far out as she was, he still found joy in splashing in the shallows. But ever since he had eaten that devil fruit...Leo stared at at the blue sky, her heart clenching painfully. Luffy hadn't joined her in their cover since he had eaten the fruit.

Even this tiny spark of light soon lost it's luster, as the dark fog clawed at even this, sucking the enjoyment out of it. What even was the point of having a secret beach if she couldn't share it with her brother?

Her visits to her beach became less frequent, until she stopped visiting all together, she stopped visiting the docks, cutting herself from the ocean. What was the point? What was the point in enjoying something when she couldn't share that with Luffy? After a while she didn't even bother cleaning up after herself, dishes began to stack up and piles of dirty clothes grew to the size of considered it a good day if she could roll off her futon and stumble out of her room. Now Luffy wasn't the brightest of people, but when it came to his sister, no one was more knowledgeable than he. And he knew something was wrong. Her tired smiles didn't have the same light in them, she couldn't even gather the energy to laugh at his jokes and pranks when he was around! He even knicked a bit of food off her plate to see what her reaction would be. Nothing!. What really worried him was that she had stopped sneaking into his room at night! Garp was pretty insistent that they slept in their own rooms, that it was inappropriate for a boy and a girl to share the same bed (even if they were brother and sister) Not that either of them actually listened to him. Every night without fail Luffy would find himself in Leo's bed, or Leo would find her way into his bed.

Until he was returning home too tired to even attempt sneaking into his imouto's bedroom, leaving the task instead to her. Which worked out alright for a few days...until one night she didn't. Too tired and sore from training he couldn't force himself to crawl from his warm and comfortable bed. The next night he was awoken by her crawling under his arms, snuggling into his chest, so he didn't think much of it. But the absent nights grew in frequency until they stopped altogether. Sleeping suddenly became a tiring and stressful task, his mind unable to settle without his sister safely tucked into his arms. What if something happened during the night? What if she needed him? What if he needed her?!

His baby sister was hurting and he wanted to fix it. But how could he fix something when he didn't know what was wrong? He just wanted everything to return to the way it had been before!

Ironically, it was Garp that started that started the series of events that would provide the solution to the problem he had unintentionally created. As it always did, duty called. The old marine was growing more and more worried about his grandchildren, Luffy seemed stuck on a path that he just knew was going to lead to the boys demise. He knew Luffy probably thought he was being mean, but there was just no way he could get the boy to understand. He had to become a marine if he didn't...Garp didn't even want to think about what would happen if he went through with his promise to become a pirate. His poor old heart couldn't handle it.

Then there was Leo, his precious little star. With every passing day her light dimmed, and Garp had no idea what he was doing. Luffy was easy, but Leo? He had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that every time he looked into her dull eyes his heart shattered, panic rising in his chest. They had always warned him the only thing keeping her alive was her own will to live, what if she broke? What if she gave up? He had to do something to fix both problems, but he had no idea how.

But these problems all seemed to stem from the fact that Garp had left them alone, obviously that was a mistake. The peaceful village had made Luffy weak,had allowed scum like that red haired bastard to fill their heads with dangerous ideas. Dangerous ideas that were no doubt the source of their current misfortune! Which left him with only one option. They needed to be relocated.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was just like any other day for Leo, she was risen from her slumber by the sound of Garps attempts to drag Luffy from his own deep sleep. How on earth could anyone sleep through the racket they made. Even so she kept her eyes shut, waiting for the crash that would soon follow Garps shouting. Luffy would shout and whine but would ultimately quieten once food was placed in front of him. Once his hunger was satisfied Garp would drag him out to the jungle for another day of training. Leo would then let herself slip back into sleep. Drifting in and out of the and of waking until the boys returned and called her to dinner.

But today didn't play out like every other day. Instead of the crushing silence coaxing back into a heavy dreamless sleep she felt herself being shaken by her brothers warm rubbery hands.

"Leo! Wake up Leo!" he shouted as he shook her

The dark haired girl groaned, swiping an arm out at her brother, before tugging a blanket over her head,

"G'way Luff 'm sleeping" she mumbled

"You gotta wake up! Gramps has a surprise for us!" he bounced on her futon, careful not to jump on her legs.

Finally fed up Leo kicked out, catching Luffy in the stomach, the blow sending him rolling off her laughing, against his new rubber body her kicks and punches didn't even hurt anymore! (unless she kicked him square between the legs. That still hurt like nothing else)

"Fine, fine I'm getting up" she groaned, "Just quit your shouting"

Luffy just grinned, pulling himself into a sitting position crossing his legs, his precious straw hat hanging against his back by a bit of string. Leo eyed her brother for a moment, this was the longest they had spent together in a number of months. She had kind of expected it to be awkward, she was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't. With a sigh she threw her blanket off her, pulling herself over to the pile of discarded clothes, picking through different shirts, holding them up to her nose to determine which were clean enough to wear.

"So what does the old man want?" she muttered as she pulled on a baggy dark blue shirt, noting absently it wasn't actually hers. She grabbed a pair of shorts, again not hers...maybe she should get around to sorting through them one of these days...before carefully picking up Shank's red sash (which she had wrapped around her pillow, the smell of sake and whiskey was oddly comforting.

"Don't know" Luffy grinned with a shrug, "It's a surprise!" He had promised it was a good surprise.

Leo just nodded absently, causing Luffy's grin to call,

"Leo..." he started with a frown.

Leo rose her gaze to meet his eyes, her eyes softening as Luffy's face twisted in frustration. Words were never easy for the duo, they could never find the right words to match what they wanted to say. So instead Luffy reached out, grabbing her hands, giving them a squeeze as he stared deep into her eyes, trying to get across everything he was trying to say. I'm worried about you. Leo blinked. She wasn't entirely sure how she understood what Luffy was expressing through his actions...but she did. Maybe...maybe she could just... Twisting her wrists she entwined her fingers with his, Please don't worry She gave his fingers an experimental squeeze, I'll be fine she offered him a weak smile I always am in the end.

They continued to explore this strange new form of physical communication until Garp kicked in Leo's door, grabbing the two declaring that they were now leaving. He dropped Leo to the ground as he marched the children behind their house and into the jungle, ordering her to stay close. Leo followed along obediently, slipping her hand into Luffy's.

"JiJi where are we going?" she questioned, speaking to her grandfather for the first time in probably a week. The excitement of the situation jolting her from her depressive slump, at least for the time being.

"We're going to meet someone" he answered her, "Several someones in fact. I'd like you guys to meet Ace"

Luffy had to jog to keep up with his grandfathers long strides, the only thing keeping Leo from falling behind was Leo's hand tugging her along.

"Hey Jiji, who's Ace?" he asked after a few minutes of silence,

"Well you see..." he hesitated a moment, trying to find the best way to word it to the children "He's going to be your big brother from now on"

The comment had Leo freeze mid step, causing Luffy to continue forward, his arm stretching as he went...another brother? That...that couldn't possibly send well for her. What if Luffy decided he liked this Ace more than her? What if he wants to spend all his time with his new brother? What if he wasn't a good big brother?! Every possible terrible situation ran through her mind, informing her of each and every way this could go wrong.

With much slower steps she followed Garp and Luffy, the weight on her chest and shoulders heavier than before, pessimistic of what the future held for her, truly unaware of what the universe had in store for her and her brothers.