Hey there everyone! You know what? I was able to write the second chapter and publish it today like promised! I know the story isn't advancing fast, but I made it that way, and I hope you don't mind XD I saw that some people liked it, letting me know in reviews, and I really appreciate that! Thanks to all reviewers and followers for supporting me with this fic. A big THANKS to Honeydee for helping me out with the planning, and of course with my never-ending 100 Theme Challenge, which I highly suggest you go take a look!

I'm telling you right away: Dark Ages is going to be a really big and complicated fic. I want you all to know that already. This is a really big work that I'm planning to go through it until the very end, just like my 100 Themes Challenge.

Read on!

When Laura came into the bedroom the next morning, she saw a black-haired child snuggling really close to a sleeping beauty, clinging to her as he would with his real mother. The handmaid smiled sadly at them before shaking the Queen's shoulder to wake her up. She mumbled something incoherent as she wanted to sleep in, but eventually forced her eyes open, because she was a queen, and being a queen she had lots of duties to take care of. The child frowned a bit at the sudden loss of the comforting warmth and slowly woke up. His grey eyes were still hazed, and Rouge leaned in to touch his forehead.

"He still has a fever, Laura. And he must be extremely hungry. Would you be so kind as to make him take a bath while I go to the dining hall and fetch something to eat for the boy, my dear friend?" She whispered without adverting her gaze from the child's, as if she was trying to keep him from looking elsewhere. The older woman responded with an unseen nod and ran off to get buckets of water, both warm and cold to regulate the bath's temperature. As she filled the tub, the Queen stopped brushing the child's hair with her fingers, but when she was about to get up and head out of her quarters, small hands desperately reached out to her, his eyes pleading her to stay with him. The fear in his eyes was slowly starting to return, and Rouge was scared of a possible outburst like the one that had happened the night before. She wondered what could have happened to make such a young and innocent child into such an insecure being. She sighed and sat on the bed beside him, resuming the scalp massage she had started earlier.

"Your majesty, the bath is ready!" The handmaid called. She heard a sigh from the Queen, which brought her back into the bedroom with concern for her. "What's wrong?"

"Can you go fetch the food instead?" She murmured, still playing with the child's bangs. "He doesn't seem to stomach seeing me walk away really well. I'll make him bathe, so meanwhile can you fetch the breakfast and a change of clothes from... his room?" An old shadow came haunting the auburn eyes again, like it had been doing for a long time already, but it washed away a little when Laura nodded in response. "Right away." And she disappeared behind the door.

Sliding an arm under his lower back and the other behind his head and hugging him tightly, the blonde scooped the child up from the bed and headed to the bath, filled with warm water. She proceeded with removing the boy's clothes while he stood in front of her, a hand on her shoulder to keep his balance, weakened by the fever. She had seen his body already, but it was still breathtaking. His dirty skin was sticking to his bones, small cuts and bruises everywhere. He was so thin she could see his ribcage, each rib well defined, showing he had been underfed for a while already. He had some weird bruises on his neck, and although they were starting to fade, it was obvious he didn't get them from falling. Rouge picked the boy up again and placed him in the water. He stayed up, unmoving, as if he didn't know what she wanted him to do. She gave him a small smile and gently pushed him down into the tub.

However, the water that had started warming him up filled his lungs painfully.

Having no strength left to defend himself, he whimpered and clung to the Queen's nightdress desperately. He didn't want to go in the water. He was scared it would happen again, and to his relief, the blonde understood. When he thought the woman would take him out of the danger zone, she instead removed her own clothes and stepped in beside the child. She sat at the bottom of the tub, the water stopping a little above her waist, and she motioned him to come closer. Now he was truly confused. Not only did she climbed into the menacing water herself, but she even pulled him into a comforting hug. She petted his head, smiling at him sweetly.

"It's alright. I promise it won't hurt." Her whisper calmed the boy's trembling and his body relaxed in her arms. The Queen slowly started to run a cloth on the boy's legs, murmuring sweet and comforting words as she did so. She moved it to his stomach, then chest, rubbing the dirt away as roughly as she could without hurting him. Her touch becoming a lot more gentle, she passed the cloth over his bruises and cuts, making sure to clean them properly so they wouldn't get infected. The child winced a little and his grip on her shoulders tightened when she had to dislodge small rocks from his scraped elbow. The clean water had before long become grey of dirt and Rouge knew they either had to change the water or take another bath this evening. Since Laura hadn't come back yet, she opted for the second choice. Hunching over the tub's side, the blonde dipped the dirtied cloth into the bucket of warm water, then put it on the boy's head to wet his hair. His body slightly tensed at that, but he didn't protest. He trusted her.

That's when the Queen's handmaid knocked on the door, announcing them that breakfast was set in the bedroom and fresh clothes were ready and waiting for them on the bed. Rouge thanked her and, climbing out of the bath, proceeded with drying their bodies with a soft towel. Back in the room, she passed a creme tunic over the boy's head, tugging it down lightly to notice it was a bit too long and big for him. Since this was the smallest outfit they had, the child had no choice but to put up with it. Honestly, he didn't care. He was in fact quite content with it, for it was clean, unlike his old rags, and the fabric was soft, and much to his joy, not itchy. Soon after, the blonde had a white delicate clothe covering her own body, and Laura helped her to lace her beige corset on top of it. The older woman pulled on the strings to tighten it to its maximum and kept it in place with a knot. Rouge wore on top of it all a dark brown silk dress, split open in the front showing a milky-coloured underdress. The sleeves were long and loose down the elbow, a silver string keeping the upper part of it tight around the woman's arms with the same crossing design of her corset. A thick pearly band was now surrounding her waist, the front making a beautifully curved "V" and tied at her back with a fancy looking loop. Once Laura finished doing her hair, Rouge turned to the boy and smiled at him while he was looking at her with bewilderment. He had never seen such pretty clothing in his whole life. The woman now truly looked like the Queen she was, he back straight, her chin up, and her eyes showing her pride with fire.

"I haven't introduced myself yet." Her fingers joined together in front of her belly erased by the corset, her royalty growing with that simple gesture. "My name is Portgas D. Rouge, wife of Gol D. Roger and Queen of the Gold Kingdom. What is your name, sweetheart?" Her blue eyes dove into his grey ones, unfaltering as he spoke his name with as much pride as hers. Because it was the name his mother gave him.

"Luffy."

The Queen had left her quarters to assist her husband in some kind of a meeting, thus leaving Luffy alone with Laura. The handmaid gave him the best quality fruits they had for his light breakfast along with a small quantity of soup in which tiny pieces of meat were added to give the child the nutrients he needed to overcome his cold. She strongly felt like giving him a huge feast, since he had been underfed, but she knew this was for the best. To her relief, he didn't complain and even seemed content with that. While placing the dishes on the plate and the plate on the bedside table, she looked at the child out of the corner of her eyes. His black bangs were too long, covering half of his silver eyes. A deep cut was under his left eye, promising to become a scar in the near future. His clothes were definitely too big for his tiny body, and muscles were invisible under his skin. He wasn't as developed as a boy his age should have been, probably because he had been famished. She looked around the room and a smile grew on her lips as an idea popped in her head. She was going to try and make him healthy again.

"Luffy, would you please help me?" She asked as tenderly as she could.

In this sunny morning, both child and maid cleaned the Queen's quarters. They replaced the bed sheets with cleaned ones, made the bed properly, chased every single existing dust from every corner of every room, then spread new herbs to make the quarters smell good. Laura then brought the boy with her to do the laundry in her own room, linked to the Queen's chamber so she could be there whenever her Lady called, and made him help her wash the bed sheets and the clothes they had removed earlier. When Luffy finally started to get tired from all of the work he was unused to, she made him lay on the couch in the living room and tucked him in a light blanket. His eyes closed to her humming. Once he had fallen asleep, the servant brushed his bangs away from his face and touched his forehead gently only to notice he was a little warm, although it was nothing to worry about. She left the Queen's quarters, the plate of empty dishes in hand, and let the boy take his much needed rest.

The boy ran. And ran. He had listened to his every word, did what he had ordered him to do, so why was he trying to hurt him still? The child couldn't understand. But he was scared, so he ran. His legs were weak and heavy, the usually soft hand was rough and hurting his wrist, tears fell down his cheeks and blurred his vision, sobs left him, making him search for air as he was still running. Everything hurt so bad, but he was scared, so he ran.

Luffy woke up with a start. He was breathing fast and sweating a lot, but all of that didn't matter, because he wasn't feeling good. Beside him was the blonde, trying to shush his sobs with calming sounds, but the words he couldn't understand. Her auburn eyes turned to look somewhere else, her voice, muffled as if it was underwater, got a little louder, but the boy was too tired to try and comprehend anything. His stomach churned wildly, something he never experienced before, and left him really uncomfortable. He wasn't feeling well and he didn't like that. It scared him.

Rouge had seen the signs long before Luffy knew, so when his breakfast past his lips, there was a bucket right before him. The woman traced comforting circles on his back with a hand and held the boy's long hair out of the way with the other.

Three days had passed since that afternoon. Luffy still had a light fever, but he was a lot better than then. He never vomited after that, although he did dry heave a few times during the evening and night following that incident. There was always a woman beside him, to check up on him, be it either Rouge or Laura, and only that made him feel better, secured. He didn't want to be alone again. When he got well enough to eat a well-balanced meal without throwing it up, the handmaid made him help her do her everyday chores again, but she never let him leave the Queen's quarters. In the evening, instead of working on her embroidery as usual, the blonde would sit with Luffy on the couch and discuss a little with him. At first, he didn't talk much. He'd only answer her questions with a nod or a short sentence if necessary. However, it didn't take him too much time to open up to her. He eventually started talking about the food he liked, the animals that made him squeal and the colours that made him dream. The Queen soon noticed that he was always smiling whenever they talked together and even when he was doing cleaning with Laura. His face would light up instantly when any one of them came back to the quarters after leaving him alone for a short while, which did not happen often. To him, any exercise was like a game and he clearly enjoyed spending time with Rouge. The blonde easily got attached to him, and for a while she felt like she had come back to a few years ago. However, the boy was healing fast, and she knew he eventually had to go back to his home. And that day was coming soon.

"Luffy," she called softly, her mouth resting on the boy's head, snuggling to each other in the bed with the intent of going to sleep. "Do you mind telling me about your family?" The child made no sound or move to let her know if he had heard her or not, so the Queen asked it in another way. "Where are your parents, Luffy?" His body tensed at that, leaving Rouge to wonder whether she had made a mistake asking that or not. He snuggled a little closer to the comforting warmth, gripping the woman's nightdress tighter.

The blonde was lying on the ground, not too far away from his hideout. It was nighttime so the child couldn't quite see any details, but as he tried to shook her awake, he felt liquid slipping between his fingers. Was she crying?

"Sleeping," he whispered back, and he suddenly felt more alone than ever, and strangely guilty. Luffy had always lived with his mother, but he had left her behind that night. As much as he was lonely, he was certain that his mother was lonely too. He had done something mean to her. Auburn eyes softened at the thought of a possible reason for that answer, and petted the boy's head.

"Do you know where?" She asked again, but Luffy only shook his head. "Honey... you do know that you have to go back home, right?"

Black.

The child hugged her even tighter if it was possible and moved his head from left to right furiously. Sighing, the Queen grabbed his shoulders and forcefully pushed him away. His grey eyes reflecting the candlelight beam showed his worry and insecurity, and Rouge's maternal instinct almost took over. However, she was able to control it and when Luffy tried to hug her again, she stopped him by cupping his face in her gentle hands. "You can't stay here forever, sweetheart." Her voice, although showing a bit of pity, was firm as she wanted to get her point across. "You have to go back to your family, Luffy." A frown appeared on his face. He shook his head again, though this time more timidly and slower than before. The blonde couldn't help but wonder the reasons behind his refusal. "Why?" That simple word was strong enough to cause tears to swell up into the silver orbs.

"No one is going to be home," he choked out before releasing a sob, his voice higher-pitched than usual. Was that why he had been underfed and probably roaming the streets? Being abandoned at such a young age was definitely a cruel fate for the boy, but she knew it wasn't that rare an occurrence within the lower classes. After all, a child was only one mouth more to feed. Rouge pulled the child back into her arms, hugging him gently.

"Oh Luffy... I'm so sorry..." She whispered. They stayed like this for a while, then the tiny body against her relaxed and his sobs stopped to become even and deep breaths. "Good night, sweetheart." The Queen breathed out softly, placing a chaste kiss on his forehead.

I hope you enjoyed it! Please PLEASE I'm begging you, PLEASE leave a review. Even if it's only to say "I like it" Just leave one, I beg you on my knees! Of course, you can still tell me anything you want! What are your guesses on future possible events? What do you think will happen, or what do you think happened before? How is Ace related to Luffy in all of that? You can also tell me what parts you liked, and what other parts you found boring or a little bit too long for your taste. You can tell me if I made mistakes at some point (spelling, grammar, sentences, anything!) because I am not English, and I will try to correct it. You can tell me what you liked or disliked about my writing style. Seriously, just tell me anything, and I'll be happy! And I always respond to every review I receive XD

Anyway, thanks for sticking up with me, Golden Readers and Platinum Reader Put! I really hope you liked it!

See you this Friday with a new update for 100 Themes Challenge, or to those who only read Dark Ages, see you next Monday!

Voxei