Author's Note: Hey wonderful readers! Just wanted to thank everyone for their follows/favorites and sweet reviews! Ya'll rock XD Anyway, hope you're ready for a fun (and VERY long chapter) It's one of my favorites ;)
To Blackthorn Ashe: Lol sorry, I couldn't help myself XD
To MelodiofHope: Thank you for the review! Yeah, Ace stumbled on something unexpected :) and it will lead to many fun things in the future!
To starelight: Thank you for the compliments! *blushes* I'm glad you enjoyed the surprise. You gotta read this new chapter for some answers ;)
To Bunnyprincess90: Haha you have no idea how fun it was to put Sabo in here knowing everyone would freak out XD Hmm... war huh... well better keep reading and see what happens in the future! WHO WILL KEEP THE PRECIOUS CHILDREN!? DUN DUN DUN
To yukino76: Glad you liked the cliffhanger! Yeah, Teach is all bad... totally agree with you there.
To myzmsandraa99: Hey again! Haha you can read the update to see what happens with Sabo and Ace ;) Katakuri definitely doesn't want to give Lu up... especially after this chapter. See ya next time!
To Squidzi Galaxi: Cliffhangers are great XD Better read the chapter to find out what happens ;)
To animefan1991: Thank you so much for your sweet comments! It made me smile to know that I make your day XD Good question and good news, Big Mom enters this chapter! Katakuri was able to keep Lu away for a while with his new injury and everything, but he can't avoid her forever! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
To B.A Victoria: *feeling your sarcasm* lol yep... things MAY happen...
To Lloydia: Thanks for the review lol!
WARNINGS:
- Violence
- Child Abuse/Brief Torture
- Big Mom...
- Attempted Kidnapping
- Bullying (both verbal and physical)
- FLUFF
IMPORTANT NOTE: I've gone in and made some small changes to the chapter and re-uploaded it. Hope that didn't throw anybody off XD Anyway, if you've already read the chapter, it may be a good idea to read back through it and make note of some character changes I made to Perospero and a few of the situations. If not, go ahead and read to your heart's content!
To fakescorpion: Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. When you pointed it out, I realized I'd definitely taken Perospero out of character. It's probably because I don't particularly like him all that much as a character (I personally find him a bit creepy lol), but you were totally right. I also changed Katakuri's reaction to Flampe a bit so that's hopefully a more "Katakuri" like reaction. There's a few other things I changed, but you can read those for yourself XD Anyway, figured I'd take your feedback to heart and go ahead and change things since I've got some free time tonight. Thanks again, and let me know if you like the changes I've made.
"How do you know my name?" The blonde revolutionary asked with suspicion and confusion written all over his face. Ace ignored the questioning glances of the Whitebeards and slowly approached Sabo, his dead brother.
"I-It's me, Sabo. It's Ace. Do you not r-recognize me?" He said slowly with a shaky voice. The revolutionary frowned and crossed his arms.
"Ace? No, I'm sorry, but it doesn't ring a bell." The man replied before giving a small smile, "You see, I'm suffering from amnesia, so I can't remember anything before Dragon saved me."
'Seriously? Well, that would explain why he didn't return after the accident.' Ace thought, continuing to look over Sabo.
"So, you're a friend of mine or something?" Sabo asked, "I didn't expect to have any friends since my feeling of revulsion for Goa was so strong… are you Noble?" At that, Ace started to chuckle low in his throat before bursting out in raucous laughter.
"A Noble!? You've got to be kidding me!" He laughed, before calming down and fixing Sabo with a hard sneer, "All right Sabo, you've got five minutes to remember me before I kick your ass."
"E-Excuse me?"
Ace ran towards his long-lost brother as fast as he could and slugged him right in the face, making Sabo fly backwards into a pile of rubble.
"Do you have any idea how long we mourned for you, bastard!?" The freckled teen cried out, his voice cracking, "Lu wouldn't stop crying and still isn't over it!" He continued his assault by kicking Sabo in the gut and went to punch him again but was blocked by a familiar pipe.
"Look, I'm sorry but-"
"NO EXCUSES! I get you lost your memory or whatever, but you'd better remember right now, damn it! Lu needs me… needs us!"
They continued to fight, Ace channeling all of his fear, frustration, sadness, and joy into his fists, praying it would get through to Sabo. After a particularly sloppy punch, the blonde was able to break them apart and leap away from him.
"Who… who are you?" Sabo asked, breathing hard, "It feels like we've done this before." Ace put down his hands and walked towards the other teen, tears forming in his eyes. He grabbed Sabo's pipe out of his hands and threw it to the side before pulling his brother in for a tight hug.
"I'm your brother, idiot."
Sabo immediately went still and his breathes quickened.
"W-What? What did you say?"
"Yeah, I'm your brother, Sabo. Pretty sure I'm older than you, but we're the same age. We lived in Grey Terminal together, robbing thugs for their money and saving up our 'Pirate Fund'." Ace replied, going down with Sabo when he fell to his knees, "Then Luffy came along, our precious little brother. You've gotta remember him and his ridiculous smile."
Ace backed up slightly to push the straw-hat into Sabo's arms.
"Please, remember."
Sabo took the hat like it was made of glass and turned it around in his hands.
"Ace… L-Luffy?" He whispered, running a gloved hand along the hat. "I-I don't-" The freckled teen huffed before grabbing Sabo's head and butting it with his own. Ignoring the blood flowing from both their foreheads and holding the other's head tightly, he whispered,
"Remember, Sabo, remember our brotherhood, Lu's laugh, Dadan and her clan, our treehouse, how we would fight one-hundred times a day… REMEMBER!" Ace screamed hoarsely, their foreheads still touching.
At that, Sabo fell onto the sandy beach, clutching his head and screaming. Noticing the brown-haired girl start to approach, Ace put up a hand to stop her. He needed this, Sabo needed this. The other teen screamed for a few minutes before his writhing came to a stop and he sat up, blood dripping from his face and nose.
"Ace, you bastard, I think you broke my nose." Sabo chuckled as he stood up, "Only you would find out I was alive and punch me in the face. Lu would've hugged me."
A smile grew on Ace's face as Sabo smirked cheekily at him, a contrast to the tears in his eyes.
"I remember everything thanks to your damn head-butt, you're still just as violent as ever." Ace barely let him finish before rushing forward and hugging Sabo close, this time feeling his brother's arms around him as well.
"Welcome back, Sabo."
"It's good to be back, to have those precious memories back."
Their reunion was interrupted by obnoxious crying coming from the Whitebeards. Ace separated from Sabo and rolled his eyes, knowing who it was.
"THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!" Thatch bawled, "YOU'RE AMAZING, ACE, SUCH A GOOD BROTHER!"
"Sabo, you have your memories back? That's awesome!" The girl cheered before her smile dropped, "Wait, that doesn't mean you're going to leave us, does it?" Sabo laughed, and Ace huffed as the Whitebeards all smiled brightly at him.
"I'm very happy for you, son." Whitebeard said with bright eyes, "You found a brother it appears you weren't looking for." Ace couldn't even bring himself to rebuff that, just giving the old man a tiny smile as Sabo wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Sounds like we've got a lot to catch up on, Ace. How long has it been since you left the East Blue? I also didn't expect you to join the Whitebeards… what happened there?"
"I haven't joined them," Ace spat, glaring at Marco who chuckled, "They kidnapped me and are… helping me with… something, or so they claim."
"You were kidnapped?" Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow, turning to examine the Whitebeards and their big smiles with an appraising eye, "Sounds rough. Say, what about Lu? Did you end up leaving him behind or… what?"
Ace immediately gulped and went pale. Sabo seemed confused as the Whitebeards also turned a bit solemn.
"What happened?" Sabo asked, a serious look on his face.
Ace glanced nervously at the Whitebeards, making eye contact with Marco who nodded and led the others a good distance away, ignoring Thatch's whining that he wanted to hear the story too. Sabo's companions also moved away, returning to their duties with the freed slaves.
Now alone, Ace told Sabo everything, starting with when Lu ate his second devil fruit. It turned out to be a harder tale to tell than he anticipated, especially recalling their torture under Crowley followed closely by their separation. Sabo listened intently as he detailed his experience aboard the Ecstasy and his subsequent rescue thanks to the Whitebeard's attack.
"Now, they're helping me find Lu, though I don't fully trust them. Who knows what they'll do once we're both on board." Ace said quietly, "From what they found at… Sab…what was it?"
"Sabaody?" Sabo suggested.
"Yeah, that's where we found out Lu had been sold to whoever lived here. Your friend said that he hasn't been here for a while and was taken to the Menagerie. That's where we're going next."
Sabo stood with his arms crossed, cold fury emanating from his blue eyes.
"I'll kill them." He growled, "I'll murder whoever dared to lay a hand on you and Lu."
"Well, two are already taken of," Ace chuckled darkly, "Crowley's laying at the bottom of a ditch and the asshole who lived here-"
"Is in hell where he belongs." Sabo finished before putting a hand on Ace's shoulder, "I'm coming with you to save Lu."
"I'd hoped you would." Ace whispered, falling into Sabo's chest and breathing in the familiar scent, "You have no idea how happy I am to have you back. Lu's going to be thrilled when we rescue him."
Sabo wrapped an arm around him and chuckled.
"The big, scary Ace I knew has become a bit touchy-feely, huh?"
"Shut up."
When Luffy woke up, he was surprised to find Sir Kata in the living room with someone else he recognized.
'Isn't that Sir's older brother?' The boy thought, recalling meeting the weird man a few days ago. He didn't really like him.
"Good, you're awake." Kata said with a somewhat strained voice, "Could you come over here, Luffy?" The boy was immediately scared that he'd done something wrong, maybe slept too long? Pulling his tail close, Luffy padded slowly over to the two men, eyeing the candy man warily.
"You remember, Perospero, right?" Sir Kata asked, to which Luffy nodded, clinging tightly to the massive pirate's leg.
"Awww... come here, little one, and let me get a better look at you." The weird man exclaimed with a smile, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Luffy didn't move, nervously looking up at Sir. Would he get in trouble if he didn't really want to go to the man?
"Sorry about him, brother." Sir Kata replied with a sigh as he placed a hand on Luffy's head, "He's somewhat frightened of you, it seems." The man sighed.
"It's fine... I know he's been through a lot."
Luffy fumbled around for his tail and pulled it close as both men stared at him intently.
The awkwardness broke as the candy man stood up and moved to the door. Sir Kata stood as well, gently detaching Luffy from his leg and placing him on the couch.
"Mama expects you and little Luffy at the Tea Party in an hour. What are you going to tell her about... you know." The weird pirate said, glancing between Sir and Luffy. Kata leaned in and whispered something to his brother, prompting a huff from the other. "Well, do your best. Chances are it won't go well... she's gotten quite irritated with you over the past week for not coming to see her."
"I'm aware," Kata said with a quieter voice than normal, "Hopefully, she'll be satisfied with one visit for now." The candy man shrugged and went to leave, but not before leaning down a little and waving at Luffy.
"Bye for now, kiddo, I'll see you in a few hours at the Tea Party! Maybe then we can get to know each other better!"
Sir Kata rolled his eyes and closed the door on his still waving sibling. Returning to the couch, the pirate sat next to Luffy and patted his head to get his attention.
"Listen, boy, my mother is having a Tea Party and we will be attending. It may be… scary for you, and I want you to be prepared." Luffy nodded but trembled a little. "You've been doing so well this past week, so make me proud, hmmm?"
They then moved to Luffy's closet and Kata chose some nice black shorts and a simple red, long-sleeved collared shirt for him to wear. He was allowed to wear his sandals and the shorts had a small hole in them that made it more comfortable for his tail. Sir Kata didn't change at all, but finished Luffy's look with a pair of suspenders that helped hold his shorts up as they were a bit big on his tiny waist.
"Tuck your shirt in, Luffy. I'll be right back."
He watched Kata move into the other room before turning back to examine his somewhat uncomfortable outfit. The Tea Party must be pretty fancy if he has to wear stuff like this. Hearing the man returning, Luffy quickly stuffed his shirt into his shorts.
Kata returned with his sister, Branch, who fussed over his hair and combed out of his fur gently.
"Well, I'd say he's as ready as he'll ever be…" The woman huffed, looking him over.
"Thank you for your help, Brulee. We'll meet you by the mirror in the kitchen, just give me a minute."
"Of course, brother."
The pirate knelt down beside Luffy and moved his chin, so their eyes met.
"As I'm sure you've noticed, little one, not all of my family members are… kind, and I may not be able to stay with you the whole time due to my position in the family. Nearly all of my siblings and some others will be at this Tea Party, and I want you to treat them all with respect and courtesy, regardless of how they may treat you." Sir Kata instructed before his eyes hardened a bit, "However, should they attempt to harm you physically or otherwise, you are to come to me immediately, understand?"
Luffy nodded, his hands shaking. He was nervous about this now. Kata pulled down his scarf and smiled at him, ruffling his hair.
"Don't worry, you'll do just fine. Oven, Daifuku, Brulee, and Smoothie will be there as well if you can't find me." Luffy sniffled and looked up at the pirate.
"Can I h-hold your hand?"
"Yes, at least until we reach the Tea Party."
So Luffy stretched up his little hand to meet Sir Kata's massive gloved one and felt his heart rate calm a little.
Emerging from the mirror, Luffy gaped at the massive cake palace. He'd seen it before when Kata had first taken him off the boat, and it was still impressive. The boy whined a little when Kata let go of his hand, causing his rubber arm to snap back into place.
"Stay close to me." Kata instructed, striding towards the main doors of the cake tower. Luffy padded after him and Branch, looking around nervously at how many strangers there were, all dressed in nice clothes.
Once inside the building, Sir Kata led them up a few flights of stairs before coming to a stop in front of a massive door with a face on it. The pirate turned to face Luffy.
"Are you ready to meet Mama?" He asked, brows furrowed a bit. The boy nodded but didn't like the dark feeling coming from inside the room. It was scary.
The pirate pushed the doors open, which sung in delight as they swung, to reveal a big room where a huge woman sat on a throne, eating screaming cookies.
"Ah, Katakuri, you've finally decided to grace me with your presence!" The lady yelled, mashing her teeth together. Luffy immediately disliked her. "Oh, and you've brought your little pet, bring him up so I can get a better look!"
As Sir Kata made no move, two chess soldiers came up behind Luffy and grabbed his arms, dragging him forward. Remembering what the man said about being nice no matter what, Luffy simply gazed up at Sir with wide eyes as he was thrown onto the ground in front of the scary lady's throne.
He scooted back in fear when a cloud and sun pressed close, examining him.
"He's a runt!"
"What's he supposed to be, Mama?"
Luffy whimpered when the woman herself leaned down and grabbed him around the waist. Crying out a little at the pain, he was glad his rubber body could take the strain, though his burn throbbed at the pressure.
"So… you're the 'D'…" She sneered, squeezing him tighter and making him let out a quiet scream, "Such a weak and pathetic thing, not worth my favorite son's time if you ask me." Luffy bit his lip at the insult, scared and determined to make Sir Kata proud no matter what.
"Mama, please, he's still injured." Sir called out from below him.
"Ah, he'll be fine, D's are durable little monsters." She said before throwing him down onto the floor and cackling when Luffy yelped in pain. "You've been training him, right Katakuri? Should we test how obedient he is?"
The woman then stepped down onto his back, hard, making Luffy scream. The boy's breathing became erratic as he felt bones creak under the pressure.
'Why does it hurt so much!?' He thought, with tears in his eyes, 'I'm made of rubber!' It brought back memories of how Sir Stanford would hurt him while he had those special cuffs on.
"Mama!" Kata yelled, sounding distressed.
"Relax, I'm almost done." She cackled, removing her foot and allowing Luffy to breathe. He coughed and gasped, pushing himself up to face the woman. "Sit, boy, like a dog."
Luffy swallowed hard and moved to turn around to Sir for clarification, only for Mama to slam her foot into the ground, making him fall over.
"Don't look at him, just me. Now SIT!"
Trembling, Luffy sat on his butt with his legs crossed, hoping that was what she wanted. When the lady continued to scowl down at him, his eyes darted around the front of the room desperately, praying for some help. Thankfully, he met the gaze of a nice-looking lady with a large head who slightly adjusted her seated position to where her hands were on the floor in front of her and she was balanced on her feet.
Copying the woman's position, he balanced on the balls of his feet and put his hands on the floor.
"Ah, there we go." Mama cooed, "Now, roll over."
Luffy could feel beads of sweat falling down his spine as he laid on his back and rolled onto his stomach. He'd had to do a lot of things under Sir Stanford, but this was truly humiliating. Especially since he had to do it in front of Kata.
"Not bad, now sit again, pet, and bark." Before he could, a voice interrupted.
"Mama, since he's actually a cat, shouldn't he meow?" The speaker, was the first of two perfectly round children, who'd just floated into the room using some balloons.
"Ah, you're right, Dolce… Meow, boy!"
Luffy flinched at the volume of the command but moved back into the sitting position and let out a quiet little whine.
"What was that!? LOUDER!"
The boy's tail curled around his body in fear, and he tried again this time, much louder.
"MMMMRRRROOOOWWWW!" Luffy yowled, letting out a sound he didn't know he was capable of. For a moment, the room was silent, before claps erupted around the room.
"Much better!" Mama exclaimed, "Looks like Katakuri's doing a decent job of taming you after all. Now, let's go join the others and have a wonderful Tea Party!"
Luffy collapsed onto the floor and wrapped his arms around his trembling body. Sir's Mama was definitely bad, very bad. Once the female pirate had skipped out of the room, Kata was right next to him, concern clear on his face.
"Are you all right, Luffy? I'm sorry, she is… challenging."
The boy confirmed he was okay with a nod and accepted Kata's help standing up. He then smoothed out the wrinkles in Luffy's shirt and began to lead him out of the room whispering,
"I'm proud of you, little one, you did very well."
Though he was sore and somewhat humiliated, Luffy smiled a little, happy he could fulfill his promise to Sir Kata. As they left, the boy looked around for the nice lady who'd helped him, only to come up empty.
After meeting Sir's Mama, they moved up to the top of the cake tower, where tables with all sorts of food were set out and the guests were eating to their heart's content. Luffy felt drool forming in his mouth at the sight and smell but held it in since he wasn't sure if he was allowed to have any.
"Luffy," Kata said quietly, drawing his attention, "I need to go sit with Mama and greet the guests. Why don't you go stay with Oven and Daifuku? They're right over there, can you see them?" The boy nodded and received a short rub to his ears, before Sir Kata was gone.
Now alone, Luffy grabbed his tail and looked around nervously, trying to locate Sir's brothers who'd vanished from view. Most of the people reminded him of the nobles in Goa, always looking down on him and gossiping. Sneaking through the crowd of people, he yelped when he ran into someone, immediately muttering a quick apology.
"What's this, a little kitten? How adorable!" A female voice cooed. Luffy looked up at the blonde lady, immediately feeling she was bad. Ignoring her calls to come back, he ran around the tables and hid in a corner, trying to catch his breath.
"Oh, look, it's the pathetic little slave." A new voice sneered. The boy bit his lip and looked into the eyes of a young girl wearing a spotted dress. "I can't believe my perfect big brother, Katakuri, even takes the time of day to take care of you."
With every slur, Luffy flinched, tears falling against his will.
WORTHLESS.
WEAK.
USELESS.
PATHETIC.
STUPID.
SLAVE.
Luffy yelped when a tomato hit his cheek followed by other types of food that got all over his clothes and into his hair. The girl pushed him down, stepped on his tail, and pulled painfully at his ears before leaning down to whisper,
"You should just go die, cat."
At that, the jeering group retreated, leaving Luffy a dirty mess. Once again, he thought back to his time with Sir Stanford, and how similar the insults were. He thought he'd gotten past it, but it hurt, for someone to tell you your life wasn't worth anything.
'Is this how Ace always felt?' Luffy thought, picking a piece of food off his cheek.
"Ah, are you all right?" A female voice asked in a concerned tone, "What happened?" Turning to face the newcomer, Luffy's eyes widened as he recognized the lady who'd helped him "sit" properly.
"Y-You're the nice lady…" He whispered, wiping his eyes with a dirty sleeve.
"Yes, my name is Chiffon." She replied with a smile, gently grabbing his arm to stop him from wiping his eyes, "Don't do that, you'll get food in your eyes… come on, let's get you cleaned up."
Chiffon moved to hold his hand firmly and led him away from the main crowd and into a small room in the side of the cake tower where she took a cloth and started to clean his face.
"I'm… L-Luffy." The boy whispered as Chiffon scrubbed rotten food off his face, fluffy ears twitching at the feeling.
"It's nice to meet you, Luffy!" She exclaimed, wetting the cloth once again, "Has Big-Brother Katakuri been taking good care of you?"
"Yes!" He immediately chirped, a soft smile appearing on his face, "Sir Kata is really nice!" Chiffon hummed in response as she took a wash-cloth to his matted hair. Luffy purred softly, enjoying the feeling.
Suddenly, Chiffon let out a grunt of pain and was torn away from Luffy, startling him back into full alertness. A man in all black with a cap covering his eyes had kicked the nice lady away and his companions, also in black, held her by the throat.
Before Luffy could even let out a squeak of anger at his new friend being hurt, large hands wrapped tightly around his body, covering his mouth and pinning his arms and legs down.
"Shhhh…. Just relax…" One of his captors whispered, "We don't want to have to hurt you, brat, so stop struggling." Luffy let out a muffled yell and continued to thrash around, ignoring the man's warning.
"L-Luffy!" Chiffon choked out, fighting her own captors.
"Oi, shut her up!" A third man growled, "We can't afford to get caught when we're so close!" The men holding Chiffon nodded and moved her down to the floor where they stepped on her neck, silencing any protests.
Luffy was passed to another group of men who shackled his flailing wrists behind him, which instantly made him go limp, a feeling of weakness flowing through his body.
'Oh, no!' He thought, breathing heavily, 'It's the bad stone…' Luffy couldn't help but stop struggling even as the hand around his mouth tightened.
"This is Squire 1, over." The one who seemed to be the leader whispered into his tiny den-den mushi, "We have the target and request immediate extraction at the rendezvous point."
"Roger that, Squire 1, good work." A stern voice on the other end of the snail answered, "Just get to the edge of the Chateau and we'll take it from there."
The man put his snail away and took a deep breath, glancing back at Luffy with determined eyes.
"Make sure he's restrained properly and take care of the woman, we can't have any witnesses." Luffy whined in protest as more chains were wrapped around his ankles and torso. A pained yelp from Chiffon drew his attention and it was like his world went grey.
The nice lady who'd helped him was beaten, bruised, and bloody with a gun pointed at her head. One of her attackers was screwing something onto the barrel of the weapon, and their intention was clear.
They were going to kill her… kill Chiffon.
He bit at the hand over his mouth, making his captor grunt in pain and pull his hand away.
"No-" Luffy started before a gag was forced between his teeth, silencing him.
"Seriously, kid…" The leader grumbled, securing the fabric behind Luffy's head, "Just stop. The less you fight this, the easier it'll go."
The boy grunted as he was thrown over the shoulder of one of the attackers and met Chiffon's eyes desperately. She smiled kindly at him even as the gun was moved into position.
"It'll be all right, Luffy. Just hang on, okay?" Chiffon croaked, her eyes filling with tears.
How could he let this happen? Kata would be so disappointed in him if he let one of his sisters die! But, no matter how much he struggled, Luffy couldn't escape and received a slap to the face for his efforts.
It was like time slowed down. The gun got ever closer to Chiffon while Luffy hung helplessly from his kidnapper's shoulder. The little girl's words stung even more now. He was so weak and useless…
Make me proud.
Kata's voice echoed in Luffy's head, bringing him back to the present. Grinding his teeth against the gag, he took a deep breath to calm himself. Regardless of what other people thought of him, there were still those who loved him and cared about him!
'Ace, Makino, my new uncles, Chiffon… Kata… k-kuri.' That's right… Sir Katakuri, who'd saved him!
Taking his captors by surprise, Luffy kicked the man holding him in the gut and used the leverage to flip himself onto the floor. Moving onto his knees, he pushed his tail behind the gag and pulled down to remove it. Even as the men rushed at him, Luffy was calm and determined.
Opening his mouth, he yowled as loud as he could,
"LEAVE CHIFFON ALONE, YOU BASTARDS!"
It was like the room was rippling as he screamed, his attackers frothing at the mouth as they collapsed, seemingly unconscious. When it was over, Luffy swallowed hard, trying to calm his breathing. Chiffon sat up and dislodged herself from the limp bodies before turning to stare at him in shock.
"W-Was that…"
"Holy s-" Started a familiar voice, only for it to be cut off by a,
"Hey, watch your language in front of the child, Oven!"
Luffy turned around and immediately relaxed at the sight of Oven and Miss Smoothie who were panting hard. The large man stepped over the bodies and knelt down next to a now shaking Luffy, all the fear and exhaustion catching up to him.
"Hey, Kit, you okay?" He asked, grabbing a key from Miss Smoothie who'd taken it off the unconscious leader, and used it to remove his chains along with the gag around his neck.
"Yes, S-Sir…" Luffy responded, breathing in a sigh of relief as the chains were removed. Chiffon then ran up to him and pulled him in for a tight hug.
"See, you're all right!" She cried, "And… you saved my life! Thank you, Luffy!" The boy returned the nice lady's hug and smiled widely.
"You're welcome!"
When Katakuri felt the blast of Conqueror's Haki, he immediately started running through the Tea Party towards its source. Leaving Perospero with Mama, he instructed Mont D'our and the others to move the guests away from the scene while he investigated.
It took only a few minutes for him to arrive at the little room, where Oven and Smoothie had already tied up some suspicious looking men.
"Oven, what happened?" He asked, looking around his brother to try and get a look inside, where he knew Luffy was. What was the boy doing over here!? His younger brother put an arm around his shoulder and led him away from the door a little way.
"Katakuri, those men in there… they're Cipher Pol." Oven whispered, a serious look on his face, "Based on what Chiffon says, their target was definitely Luffy, and they almost got away with him."
"What? How did they get into the Tea Party!?" Katakuri growled, "Our security is top notch!"
"We don't know yet, Brother, but it looks like little Kit gave them quite a lot of trouble and not only caught all of them but saved Chiffon's life!" Oven said with a smirk, glancing back into the room, "Your kid's got Conqueror's Haki."
At that, Katakuri felt a mixture of pride and shock.
'Luffy has… but he's so young!' The pirate thought, 'It's much too soon for him to unlock such a power!'
Pushing past Oven, Katakuri stalked into the room and took in the scene. Chiffon was reclining against a cracked wall, looking worse for wear, with Luffy in her lap. The kid had tear streaks on his cheeks and was covered in an assortment of food.
The government agents were all still unconscious, but he'd get what he needed out of them once they woke up. After instructing Smoothie to take the captives to the dungeon, Katakuri approached Chiffon and sat next to her, drawing Luffy's tired gaze.
"Sir Kata…kuri." He whispered, making the man's eyes widen. "Sorry… I made a mess, after I was doing so well…" Chiffon shifted the boy as he slumped against her.
"He's a bit out of it I'm afraid," She chuckled, ruffling the child's hair, "You should've seen it though, he was quite impressive!"
"So I heard," Katakuri responded, taking the drooping kitten from her, "Do you need to go to the infirmary?"
"I'll be fine, you should focus more on Luffy right now. Though you should know..." Chiffon then leaned in close and told him what had occurred before she'd found Luffy and why he was covered in food. Gritting his teeth in anger, Katakuri cursed Flampe and made a mental note to lecture her later (along with question the kid for more details).
Cradling the now snoozing kitten in his arms, the pirate stood and left the room. Leaving Oven in charge, he hailed Brulee and returned quickly to Komugi Island.
Watching from her perch high above, Stussy clicked her tongue in frustration at how the operation had turned out. After all the trouble she'd gone through to get their "special operations" team into the Tea Party, they'd gone and failed!
How hard was it to kidnap a child!?
Once she'd identified the target in the crowd, and noted he was separated from Dogtooth, Stussy had signaled her team and sent them in. At first, it had gone smoothly, but the kid had to unlock Conqueror's Haki at the worst time!
"Conqueror's Haki you say…" A deep voice on the other end of the den-den mushi mused, "Unfortunate timing. Still, we need you to-"
"I'm going to stop you right there." Stussy interrupted, "You know as well as I do that I cannot risk my cover right now! Not when I'm helping to keep Big Mom's reign of terror contained. You want the kid, come get him yourself!" The man sighed at her response.
"I understand. However, know this, we will not stop coming until we have the boy, and your assistance will be required."
"Why are the Elders putting so many resources into one child's capture? I received a report you've got nearly the entirety of Cipher Pol and a special task force from the marines on this!" Stussy asked, genuinely curious. She was aware he'd eaten two devil fruits and was a D, but other than that, he seemed quite ordinary.
"Monkey D. Luffy has become an issue of great importance. During research surrounding his background, we discovered his true lineage…" The man took a deep breath before continuing, "He's the only son of Dragon, the revolutionary."
At that, Stussy couldn't contain a gasp of surprise. Seriously? But that would mean…
"Yes, as I'm sure you've ascertained, capturing the boy will not only give us a great resource to use with regards to his devil fruits and anatomy, but may also help to end the conflict with the rebels."
"I see, very well, I'll stay on alert, but no promises I'll be much help. Dogtooth is notoriously difficult to fool." She replied, running a hand through her hair.
"Good, we'll be in touch." Then, the snail disconnected.
'To think, such a small child would be so much trouble…' She mused, chuckling darkly as she watched Dogtooth take the boy away.
Luffy woke up when Kata gently placed him on the bathroom floor. The man had removed his scarf and was working on drawing up a bath. When he noticed Luffy was awake, the pirate sighed and tapped a finger underneath the boy's chin.
"You seem to attract trouble, you know that?" Luffy giggled as Kata tickled him a little and smiled softly.
"Ace tells me that all the time." The pirate then stopped the flow of water into the tub and motioned over to the counter with his head.
"I put a change of clothes on the counter, come out to the living room when you're done."
"Yes, Sir." Luffy whined, knowing Kata wouldn't let him not take a bath. They'd already been through that once before. The pirate flicked his forehead lightly and gave him a look that said 'just try and whine again' before exiting the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
For once in his life, Luffy enjoyed a bath. It felt nice to get all of the food out of hair and to wash away the trials of the day. Once he was finished, the boy padded out into the living room to join Kata, wearing a soft purple t-shirt and pajama pants with tiny donuts all over them.
Wasting no time, Luffy stretched up to pull himself close to Kata, purring when the man stroked his ears.
"Luffy, are you aware of what you did today?" The man asked, still petting his now twitching ears. The boy flinched and curled in a little.
"D-Did I mess up?"
"No, but you did use a very rare ability to protect Chiffon. It's called Conqueror's Haki, or your force of will." Luffy frowned as he concentrated on the word.
"So… it's like what Ace did back then… right? Scream and make the bad guys fall asleep…" Katakuri then stopped petting Luffy and picked him up under the arm pits to bring him level to his face.
"Ace, your brother, did this too?"
"Yeah!" Luffy chirped, swinging his legs and tail in the air, "He saved my life when a bad pirate named Bluejam tried to kill me! All he did was scream and they all collapsed!"
Kata seemed to be deep in thought as he put Luffy down and allowed him to curl up into a ball in his lap. After a while, the boy yawned and pulled on the pirate's vest.
"Could I sleep with you tonight?"
"Any particular reason?" Kata asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Cause I wanna read a bedtime story with you!" Luffy chirped, wringing his hands together nervously.
"All right, go pick one from the shelf."
Luffy squeaked in happiness and immediately rushed over to the bookshelf in the living room to find a good book. It took him a few minutes to pick one and another five minutes for him to successfully get it off the top shelf, but he did it, and skipped into Kata's room where the man was reclining on his massive bed.
Cuddling up to him, Luffy handed the book over to Kata who chuckled a little.
"This one again?" The boy nodded vigorously and leaned over to open it for him. He loved reading about Monblanc Noland!
So, with Sir Kata's help, Luffy read through the story, out loud, using his finger to trace the sentences. He'd improved a lot since he'd started receiving lessons from Kata and he couldn't wait to show Ace when they saw each other again!
Eventually, when yawns started to come more frequently, the pirate gently closed the book and put it on the nightstand. Luffy sleepily curled up into a ball right in the crook of Kata's neck with his tail drawn over his face.
"Goodnight, Luffy." Sir Kata said quietly as he pulled the covers up. Luffy yawned again before whispering,
"Night… Papa Kata…"
What. Wait… what? WHAT.
Katakuri lay completely awake in bed, trying to process what he'd just heard. Had Luffy just called him 'Papa' in his sleepy stupor!? He hadn't finished processing being called by his full name earlier that day!
Holy crap… was he ready for this kind of a commitment? Could he be a good father figure to a traumatized tiny ball of fluff who could use Conqueror's Haki!?
'…actually, that sounds like someone who'd be related to me…'
