(Unbetaed)
"Shanks's coming! Shanks's coming! Shanks's coming!" Luffy shouted while running around the Moby Dick in pure happiness, Marco felt a head ach coming on but smiled any ways for the kid.
"Yes I'm afraid he is-yoi." He sighed while Luffy cheered some more at this information.
"Who's Shanks?" Ace asked Marco who looked down at the kid a shadow covering his face.
"The most annoying man you will ever meet in your life." He said seriously Ace took a step back and gave Marco a weird look.
"H-how so?" Sabo asked from beside Ace looking at Marco weirdly.
"Just picture a grown, drunk Luffy with red hair and you have the man known as Shanks-yoi." He sighed while Ace and Sabo's eyes widened in horror.
"Then why is he coming here?!" Sabo exclaimed not that excited to see that version on his little brother.
"Because he is one of the four emperors just like pops, he's also Luffy's idol unfortunately." Thach said joining the conversation and Marco sighed once again.
"Of all the people Luffy could look up to Shanks would be it. Seriously why didn't he ever look up to me that way? I've known him longer-yoi." Marco said annoyed at the man already Thatch laughed and patted Marco on the shoulder.
"You're his brother and Shanks is someone outside of the family, someone he can watch from a distance. He does look up to you Marco he just does it in a different way, that's all." Marco gave Thatch a grateful smile while the two boys looked confused at the grown men.
"How long till he gets here then?" Sabo asked still afraid of the description of the man but excited to meet another that had the same title as his pops.
"Soon enough-yoi." Marco said before he headed off to chase after the hyper child.
Luffy was excited; he hadn't seen Shanks is almost 2 years! He couldn't wait to show him how much he had grown since he first got his hat. He had worked really hard on controlling his gomu powers but his aim was still a struggle for him.
He really was trying it was just so hard! He was taught to imagine the exact spot he wanted to hit and he did but he always missed it a little bit. He wanted to be stronger first then aim but Izou kept scolding him saying strength was nothing if he couldn't hit his target. He didn't understand so he just did what he always did and hoped for the best.
"Ne Luffy, what's Shanks really like?" Ace asked Luffy who brightened at the thought of the man.
"He's so cool! He's super strong and can do anything! He likes to party a lot and I got my gomu gomu no mi from him." Luffy's grin was almost splitting his face.
"He's really strong?" Sabo asked him and Luffy nodded his head quickly
"Mn! Thatch said that he was as strong as pops!" He shouted and Sabo covered his ears quickly from the noise.
"Calm down Luffy you're hurting my ears!" He exclaimed at the kid in annoyance who only laughed.
"Shishishi sorry." He smiled not sounding sorry at all before running off to see the old man.
"Pops! When is Shanks coming?!" He shouted up at the old man who just laughed at the kid knowing he would be this excited.
"Soon enough my son, we are planning on meeting on the closest island." He smiled down at the kid who was now climbing his leg to sit on his lap.
"He's not coming here?!" Luffy began to pout.
"No, it's safer to meet at an island under my protection. Think of it this way little one, you get to have an adventure and see Shanks all in the same day." He knew that would catch the kid's attention.
"Adventure and Shanks…?" He trailed off his eyes shining brightly at the thought only a plateful of meat could make this any better.
"How much longer?" He asked his father and Luffy's eyes were wide and bright making the old man's heart swell for the boy.
"We will be there in an hour; if you go to the figure head you can see the island from here." He pointed his large hand in the distance they were traveling. Luffy jumped off his lap and waved good bye before rushing to see the island from the spot.
Lying on his stomach Luffy stared at the approaching island a wide grin on his face and his hands tugging on the sides of the hat in anticipation.
"Shanks…" He said to himself closing his eyes remembering the time he spent with the man.
Marco was watching from his spot above at the kid a twinge of jealousy at the rival emperor for having hold of the kid's heart like this. He couldn't help however to smile softly at the way Luffy was acting. He knew Luffy loved them all but Shanks was on a level higher than them, lower than pops but more than Marco and Thatch. He shook his head to clear out the dark thoughts of being less loved then Red Haired Shanks and tried to feel the excitement the kid was letting off, everything was going to be alright and Luffy would have some fun.
When they were close enough to the island Luffy spotted the Red Force anchored at the docks and practically vibrated at the thought of seeing Shanks again, Ace and Sabo were a little shaken around how Luffy was reacting to the man so they watched him closely.
When the large ship anchored at the docks many people were there to greet the crew but Luffy went running straight off and towards a man with bright red hair jumping in the air and hugging the man around the middle.
"Luffy!" He laughed out loudly making Luffy just hug him tighter.
"Shanks, I missed you." He said putting his face into the man's shirt hiding the tears of happiness he felt coming.
"I missed you too kid. You're taking care of my hat right?" He said patting the kid on the head the straw hat dangling around his neck.
"Mn!" He said letting Shanks go and pulling the hat onto his head tightly.
"I can't give it back to you yet though." He said seriously making Shanks laugh once again
"Dahahaha! Of course you can't! You're not a pirate yet! Dahahaha!" Luffy felt his eye twitching.
"I so am a pirate! I'm just a mini one!" Luffy stomped his foot onto Shanks's foot in annoyance and the man grabbed his foot in pain.
"A brat is still a brat." He said nursing his sore foot now and smiled when he saw Marco standing behind Luffy his hand on his hip and a look of annoyance on his lazy face.
"Marco, it's been a while! Do you want-." He was cut off rather sharply by Marco who glared at the emperor.
"Never-yoi." He said and shanks laughed.
"Just checking, Luffy how about we go get some lunch it's been a long time I bet you have some good stories to tell me." Luffy nodded his head and took Shanks's hand letting the man lead him away from the crew he waved goodbye to Marco quickly then disappeared into the crowd of people with Shanks.
"Do you want us to follow them Marco?" Ace asked the blond never taking his eyes off of the way Luffy went.
"Nah let them be. Shanks's a weird man but he does care about Luffy. He'll protect him from anything and everything." He said his own eyes watching the direction they went to memorizing it just in case something happened.
"If you say so.." Ace said but shrugged his shoulders in acceptance.
"So that's the man Luffy looks up to?" Sabo said while thinking the description of the man was spot on, a drunken older Luffy with red hair.
"Yeah, Luffy got his hat from Shanks and made a promise with him to become a strong pirate someday-yoi." Marco said leading the kids towards the town to walk around with them.
"Is that why he wants to be the pirate king?" Ace said looking at the ground as he said those words.
"Probably that's a part of the reason but not all of it. Pops told Luffy old tales of the Pirate King and Luffy really liked them. When the dream started I'm not sure but it's not like we've really done anything to stop this dream. If anything I don't really mind having Luffy become the king, if he can prove he's strong enough for the title then it would make me proud to call the next king my brother-yoi." Marco said with a thoughtful smile on his face while Ace just stared at the man really taking in his words.
Luffy had a big dream, one that man other pirates have and one that man other pirates have given up on. Ace wasn't sure what his dream was, he knew he wanted his name to be known but how? Where did he need to start for that? Was that really a dream or was it just a wish? Ace was so caught up in his own mind he walked into a stranger by accident.
"Watch where you're going you stupid brat!" A man who looked and smelled like a bandit sneered at Ace making Marco stop in his tracks to glare at the man.
"I could say the same to you-yoi." He said back to the bandit calmly but all could hear the ice in his voice warning the stranger that fighting Marco was out of the question. The bandit sneered once more and walked off complaining of needing a drink to drown them out.
"I smell trouble…" Sabo said from beside Marco who was helping Ace back on his feet when the brunette wrinkled his nose in response.
"You sure trouble is what you smell? I smell bandit and man does he need a shower!" Ace replied waving his hand over his nose making Sabo laugh and Marco smile.
"Common brats let's keep moving." And they headed off into town.
-Line Break-
"So Ace and Sabo they didn't really like me at first but we're cool now! I got beaten up really bad though before we became friends that hurt a lot! The guy had a spiked glove and he kept hitting me! I was sorta scared then Marco and Thatch came in all cool like and fought off the bad guys! I was tired though I mean I was hit really REALLY hard a lot! I wasn't scared that badly, I knew they would come for me." Luffy said to Shanks who listened to the kid at the bar table he took in the kids words and felt concern at the thought of him being hurt.
"Those kid's juts left you there? Why did you want to be their friend any ways Lu? I mean they abandoned you with someone you didn't know, you could have been killed…" Shanks said worry in his voice
"I wouldn't have minded…" This caught Shanks's attention.
"Being alone hurts; it hurts so much that I'd rather die than feel that pain." Luffy had stopped eating his meat and Shanks watched him closely
"You're never alone kid." He said seriously
"I know but not everyone has time to be with me, they all have bigger things to do and I'm still small there was no one to play with." He said his meat now completely ignored.
"Bu you're friends now right?" He said trying to get the kid away from the sadness and it worked when Luffy brightened
"More than that! We're brothers and if anyone ever tries to hurt them I'll beat them up! " Shanks smiled at those words he'd have to meet the two brats and make sure they understood Luffy was to be protected by them at all times.
"Oh will you?" He laughed out making Luffy scowl and stand up on his bar stool
"Of course! My punch is as strong a pistol!" And he mock punched the air to emphasize his point but Shanks took a bite of his food and smiled again.
"A pistol? Right…Sure.." he said off handily causing Luffy's brow to twitch in annoyance
"What's that supposed to mean!?" He shouted at the man
Shanks was about to mention something unimportant when the door to the bar opened suddenly with a bang on the wall making Luffy turn his head to stare at the person who made the noise. Shanks's crew and Benn all stopped talking and watched the man curiously as he and a group of people came strolling into the room.
"Serve me and my men up the best Sake in this joint." He said and Shanks who was sitting beside Luffy became protective of the kid and turned his back towards Luffy putting the kid behind him ever so slightly on the bar stool. Marco would never forgive him if Luffy was hurt in his presence.
"I'm sorry sir; we've just run out of Sake…" The waitress said nervously and the man raised his eye brow.
"Then just what are these stupid pirates drinking, water?" He asked waving his hand towards the crew who were ready in case of anything but didn't move at all.
"They're drinking Sake but they just finished the very last of it." She said trying to keep calm Shanks waved his hand in the air signaling the man over.
"Here, my men drank a lot but I do have this once bottle left over why don't you have it." He said in good nature that the man didn't seem to appreciate. He looked right at Shanks before lifting his hand up and shattering the bottle sending the Sake and Glass everywhere.
Luffy pushed himself back in surprise at the sudden amount of liquid spilling everywhere and the waitress covered her mouth in shock.
"I'm a bandit worth 8 million berri one bottle of Sake isn't going to be enough" He said while Sake dripped off of Shanks's red hair. When Shanks looked up he had a look of worry on his face.
"Ahhh now the floor's all wet; sorry about that Ms. Waitress do you have a mop?" And Shanks got on the ground and stated to clean up the mess that was made. She came out of her shock and began to run and help shanks clear up the mess in a panic.
The bandit pulled out his sword still glaring at Shanks and sliced it along the bar counter shattering everything spilling drink everywhere Luffy was shocked into silence and couldn't move.
"If there's no Sake here then I'm wasting my time, later idiot pirates." And with that the bandits left howling in laughter at the mess they had created. Luffy was now shaking holding onto his glass he had never been so angry before how dare they do that to Shanks!
Shanks was on the floor covered in sake and a blank expression on his face the waitress came over to help him asking if he was okay.
"Ahh I'm alright there's no problem." He said before looking up and laughing loudly and the crew laughed just as loud
"He really got you captain!" Yasopp shouted tears in his eyes from laughing so hard
"How shameful!" Another shouted laughing and Shanks laughed loudly among them the only one not laughing was Luffy.
"Why are you laughing!?" He shouted at the crew who all stopped to look at him in shock
"Hmm?" Shanks said to the kid who jumped to the ground and balled his hands into fist and shouted right at Shanks
"That was embarrassing why didn't you fight back?! So what if you were outnumbered, you should have fought like a real man! Aren't you supposed to be a pirate?!" She shouted very quickly at Shanks stomping his foot. Shanks brushed his hand through his hair and smiled softly at the kid.
"I understand how you feel but it's just spilled sake, nothing to get crazy about." He said and gave a small grin at Luffy who just made a face and began to walk away.
"Screw that, I'm not going to be a weakling. I'm going to find Marco." Shanks sighed and shook his head at the kid but let him go Luffy would find Marco and hopefully the pineapple head guy would explain it better to then kid.
Luffy walked around town huffing out in anger, how dare they do that to Shanks and how dare shanks not fight back! Marco and Thatch would have fought back! He didn't know shanks was that weak! He was wondering around when he saw the same bandit sitting outside laughing and talking loudly about how they beat up and humiliated a bunch of weak pirates.
"Did you see their faces?! Such weaklings!"
"Cowards the lot of them!" Another said and hit his knee in laughter
"I should have just killed them all right there and then." The leader said cockily to his group and Luffy had about enough of them. If Shanks wouldn't stand up to them he sure as hell would.
"Shut up you big buffoon!" Luffy shouted at the bandits who all stopped what they were doing and stared at the kid.
"Hey, wasn't he with those coward pirates?" One of them asked suddenly and the leader raised his eye brow in interest.
"I said stop making fun of Shanks!" and Luffy ran at the man trying to punch him only to be knocked down by the bandit.
"And what if I don't feel like it?" He said with a slimy smile
"Then I'll kick your ass!" Luffy shouted and the bandits laughed.
"Such a foul mouthed little boy why don't I teach you a lesson!" and he punched Luffy in the stomach making him land on the ground hard.
One of the villagers knew that Luffy was a part of the White Beard crew and wanted to end this trouble without getting the captain involved so the villager ran as fast as she could to the mayor explaining what she had seen and they moved quickly to defuse the situation before the pirate crew could cause trouble.
By the time the mayor got there the bandit was holding Luffy up by his cheek looking at the kid in interest as it stretched out in his hands before he smiled.
"Your body sure is interesting…."He said with a laugh looking Luffy over in interest.
Shanks had cleaned himself up and was walking through town hoping to find Luffy and have a good talk when he ran into Marco Thatch and the two other kids who all looked shocked not to see Luffy with any of them.
"Where's Luffy-yoi?" Marco said his voice tight with a worry now there.
"We uh, had a fight I guess you can say. He told me he was going to find you." Shanks said rubbing his head and smiling slightly Marco sighed loudly
"And why did you fight?" Thatch said that was very unusual for Luffy to act like that.
"Well you see…" He started but then heard a bunch of commotion coming from a street over Benn who was behind Shanks raised his brow and the few members of Shanks crew looked on in curiosity.
"Shall we go see what's going on?" He said with a smile and they all headed towards the noise only to see Luffy being pushed around by a bandit.
Blue flames started to lick Marco's shoulders and his eyes narrowed Thatch's hand moved towards his sword but Shanks kept a calm face.
"Stay here." He said and started to walk forward.
"Ahh it looks like punches and kicks don't do any damage to you." The bandit said very interested in the kid now.
"Dammit say you're sorry!" Luffy shouted trying to punch the bandit Ace and Sabo were glaring at the man holding Luffy in the air ready to jump in at any given second.
"A rubber person huh? I never imagined such a strange creature could exist" He said looking at Luffy who swore at the bandit and tried to punch him some more. The bandit swung his arm and Luffy went flying into the ground and bounced a bit before stopping.
"Shit! I won't ever forgive you!" Luffy shouted at the man and Ace and Sabo nodded their heads in agreement they would never forgive this man.
"A rubber person huh? I bet I could make a lot of money if I sold him at Saboady…" he placed his hand under his chin in thought Marco had enough his flames were now starting to flare. How dare this man talk of selling his little brother, his little Luffy, Marco was going to kill the man for those words but Benn held onto his shoulder.
"Leave it to Shanks." He said sternly and Marco glared at the vice-captain.
Luffy had grabbed a stick from the ground and began to run at the man hoping to hit him only to be kicked in the head by the bandit and knocked down.
"Please can I go kick his ass?" Ace said never taking his eyes off of Luffy he was gritting his teeth so hard his jaw as hurting.
"Leave this to Shanks." Once again Benn said to the group.
The bandit was now standing with his foot on Luffy's head and he was smiling down at the kid.
"All I wanted was to have a nice drink did I say something you didn't like?" He asked Luffy who was struggling to get back up.
"Yes you did apologize!" the bandit sneered at Luffy and pulled out his sword
"Fine, I've decided I'm not going to sell you I'm going to kill you instead right here and now." And he placed the sword at Luffy's throat Marco had enough screw what Benn had said he was stepping in. He took a step forward when Shanks caught Luffy's attention.
Shanks walked up to the bandit a smile on his face and his eyes over shadowed from the bright sun.
"I was wondering where you had gone to Luffy, didn't you say you were looking for Marco?" He said suddenly stopping in front of the bandit. Benn and the group walked past Marco, Thatch and the kids to stand behind Shanks supporting him.
"If it isn't the bandits from earlier, Luffy didn't you say that your punch was as strong as a pistol?" Shanks asked the kid never taking his eyes off of the bandit.
Luffy glared at shanks annoyed he would remind him of that.
"You shut up!" He said from under the bandit's foot.
"Pirate you're still here? Are you done cleaning already?" He asked Shanks with a grin while Marco and Thatch were confused now on the situation. Shanks clean? Please like that will ever happen!
Shanks took steps forwards still glaring at the bandit who seemed to not realize he was in danger.
"I don't know why you're here but I suggest you run away before you get hurt. If you come any closer you're a dead man, coward!" He said pointing his sword at Shanks now who just ignored him and continued to walk forward another bandit stepped into Shanks's path and snarled at him.
"Didn't you hear what he said?" He cocked his gun and pointed it at Shanks's head "Don't take another step or I'll blow your brains out." He said and Shanks stopped walking.
"Now that you've drawn your pistol I assume you're ready to put your life on the line." Shanks said suddenly taking his eyes off the leader and looking at the bandit beside him.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" He said confused.
"I'm saying that a pistol isn't for threats it's for action." Shanks smiled at the bandit who looked very confused now as Lucky snuck up and shot the bandit in the head making the kids eyes widen in surprise.
Luffy had seen people get shot before but not that close up. Izou always made sure Luffy was at a safe distance whenever there was a fight and Pops was always there to protect him.
The bandits looked at the dead man in surprise then looked up at the pirates while Lucky took a bite of his meat.
"You killed him how could you do that you cowards!?" one of them said suddenly in shock.
"Cowards? Don't be naive! Do you think you're dealing with saints?" Benn said glaring at the bandits.
"The people in front of you are pirates. Listen bandits, you can throw food and drink on my head and I'll laugh that off but if you for whatever reason hurt one of my friends I'll never forgive you." Shanks now glared fully at the bandit who just began to laugh not realizing anything. Thatch sighed putting his sword away
"Idiots I hope Shanks's gives it to them." Thatch said Marco also sighed and relaxed, when Shanks got like this the bandits stood no chance.
"We're not going to fight?" Sabo asked the men in confusion.
"Shanks is an emperor just as much as pops is. If they wanted to fight Shanks they would need to call out Garp for the task-yoi." Marco said rolling his eyes.
"Will not forgive you said?" The leader said cocking his head at shanks "Pirates who float around on the sea challenging bandits? What a joke!" and pointed at Shanks "Kill them all men!" He shouted to his group.
Shanks was about to take a step forwards but Benn moved faster.
"I'll take care of them, I'm more than enough." He said pulling his rifle out of his sash and staring at the bandits he pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and burned the forehead of the first bandit to come his way and began to use the back of his rifle to hit the bandits down. Once all were brutally beaten to the ground Benn lit up another smoke while everyone watched in shock. He pointed he rifle at the leader who had his mouth hanging open staring at his fallen men around him.
"Don't flatter yourself bandit." Benn said with a grin "If you want to fight us you should bring a battle ship with you next time." He said and Thatch laughed.
"See I told you they'd need the big guns to take on Shanks-yoi." Marco said off handily.
Luffy stared wide eyed at Shanks and Benn while the bandit looked around now feeling afraid.
"So cool!" Luffy said out loud and Shanks had to fight a smile from forming on his face.
"Wait! The kid provoked us!" He said to Shanks who stared at the bandit leader.
"Whatever aren't you a wanted man?" Shanks asked with a small smile.
Marco sighed this battle was over he went to take a step forward when the bandit threw something at the ground and smoke appeared when it faded away Luffy and the bandit were gone.
Marco's eyes widened as he sprinted towards Shanks who looked equally as shocked at the sudden change in situation.
"Spread out men! Find the kid!" He ordered to his crew and Marco said the same to Thatch
"Find Luffy at all costs! Ace, Sabo go find pops! I'll look from above!" and he jumped forwards turning into the phoenix that he was and the groups wasted no time taking action.
Ace and Sabo ran as fast as they could back to the Moby Dick where a few commanders were talking to one another and Pops was listening from his chair.
"Pops!" The boys shouted and everyone froze
"Luffy-Luffy has been taken by a bandit!" The old man's eyes narrowed and he stood up from his chair.
"Then we'll just have to get him back. Everyone! Your brother is missing! Spread out and search for him! Bring the bandit back to me." He said and a yell was given as everyone left the ship in search of their little brother.
Shanks was panicking this was his entire fault! He should have killed the bandit as soon as he hurt Luffy but he wanted to give the kid a show, a reminder as to why he was the strongest one around. He wanted to look good for Luffy and look where it got him. He ran by the docks away from their large ships when he saw Luffy in a small boat out away from the shore.
"Luffy!" He said why hadn't Marco come out this way yet?! He didn't even stop and think he just jumped right into the water as Luffy was thrown overboard. Shanks picked up speed as he saw Luffy trying his very best to stay above but his devil fruit abilities were about to bring him under.
"Someone, anyone! Help me!" Luffy shouted as loud as he could despite his situation and Shanks looked up suddenly to see a large seaking staring at the bandit before eating him whole and crushing the ship.
He would have laughed at the irony as a bandit should never have taken to sea without knowing the dangers but he saw the monster turn its eyes onto Luffy and dive back under to take another attack.
Like hell was he going to allow this creature to kill the kid! Luffy was too important to way too many people to die like this! Luffy's death would kill Marco and hurt the family in a way Shanks refused to imagine. He grabbed Luffy as suddenly as the Seaking returned and snapped his Jaws around Shanks's arm tearing it off. He would have cried out but Luffy's wide eyes of fear kept his mouth shut and his eyes closed.
Shanks was pissed now, pissed at the bandit for causing this, pissed at the seaking for eating his arm Shanks was full out pissed. He turned his eyes towards the creature and let it know just how mad he was.
"Get lost." And he released a wave of Haki scaring the crap out of the monster sending it as far away as possible. Shanks wasn't sure how long they stood there he was bleeding into the water turning it red around them.
"Hey, how long are you going to keep crying? You're a man aren't you?" He asked but felt like crying himself.
"Bu-but Shanks! Your arm!" Luffy cried out holding onto his shirt tears pouring down his face.
"What this? It's just an arm. I'm just glad you're safe Luffy." And he used his other arm to pull the kid closer to him hugging him tightly as his crying got louder and louder.
When they made it back to land Thatch was there his eyes wide at the blood covering both Luffy and Shanks they grew even wider when they saw Shanks's arm or lack of. Shanks took a step forward and stumbled Thatch caught him and helped him down Luffy was crying loudly silently blaming himself.
"Luffy, a real man doesn't cry that much." Shanks said weakly leaning against a wall and Thatch called Marco over using his Transponder snail. Marco in turn let everyone know they were safe and all rushed towards them.
"You need to get your arm looked at Shanks." Benn said kneeling down to his level and Shanks smiled softly
"Of course I do Benn…" He let everyone help him up and take him back to the Red Force to rest Luffy cried a lot more into Marco's shirt.
"Shh it's alright-yoi." He said and carried the kid back towards the ship Pops was standing there looking at them worry evident on his face. Marco passed the crying child over to him where he returned to hugging Luffy.
"You're safe my son, nothing can hurt you now." He said but Luffy just continued to cry until he fell asleep.
Thatch looked up at the kid knowing the pain he must be feeling.
"The bandit's dead eaten by a sea king." He reported to his father who shook his head.
"Took the easy way out." He said annoyed he didn't get the chance to punish a man for hurting his son.
"The thing ate off Shanks's arm; I think those are tears of fear rather than sadness." He reported and the older man nodded his head.
"He may have nightmares-yoi." Marco said Ace and Sabo stood back and watched the scene but stepped forward finally.
"Then we'll protect him. If nightmares are on their way then we'll fight them off." Sabo said pointing a thumb at himself and grinned widely at the men.
"As long as we're his brothers nothing will ever touch him again, not even nightmares." Ace said crossing his arms and glaring slightly daring anyone to challenge his statement.
"We'll be counting on you." Haruta said coming up behind Ace and kissing his cheek Ace blushed in surprise and tried to wipe it off Sabo laughed at him until he got his own Kiss reacting the exact same way as Ace.
The next morning Luffy woke up in Marco's bed he wasn't too sure when he fell asleep but he knew he was hungry. He got up excited about food when the memories of yesterday crept in and his stomach dropped.
"Shanks…" He whispered and Marco opened the door looking at him and smiling.
"I was wondering when you were going to get up, foods ready-yoi." He said but Luffy looked away.
"Not hungry anymore." He said and Marco sat down on the bed looking at him.
"Shanks is alright-yoi." He said making Luffy look up.
"He is!?" Marco nodded his head.
"It's going to take a bit more than a seaking to take out that guy, common lets go eat and we'll go check up on him, sound good-yoi?" Luffy nodded his head and took Marco's hand and walked towards breakfast.
After breakfast they did go see Shanks Marco took Luffy to the Red Force but chose to wait outside and let them talk.
"S-Shanks?" Luffy said as he opened the door to Shanks's room.
"Common in kid." He said and Luffy ran to the bed where he was resting.
"I'm sorry!" He shouted and hugged Shanks tightly.
"There's nothing to apologize for Lu. I'd do what I did again in a heartbeat, you're too important to me." He said softly and allowed the kid to cuddle into his side resting his head on Shank's chest.
"Did it hurt?" He whispered and Shanks looked at the ceiling.
"Of course it did but loosing you would hurt a whole lot more." Luffy felt tears building in his eyes and blinked trying to stop them.
"You're the coolest ever Shanks." He said making the man laugh loudly.
"Don't you ever forget it kid." Luffy laughed softly along with him. He was still sad about Shanks's arm but he was happy to have his hero still alive.
-Line Break-
"You're leaving now?" He said as Shanks walked into his ship a new cape covering the missing arm his red hair blowing in the wind.
"Yup looks like you guys will be as well." He said Luffy pulled the straw hat onto his head and tried to give his smile to the man.
"I'm still going to miss you." He said and Shanks laughed.
"You better!" He turned towards the kids who were watching him before smiling at them.
"We didn't get to talk much with everything that happened. I've heard a lot about you both from Luffy. I'm leaving him in your care." He said and Ace and Sabo's eyes widened before they attempted to not look embarrassed
"We'll take care of him." Ace said grinning up at Shanks who returned it as a spark of recognition passed through his eyes and he looked at Ace a little bit longer.
"What's your name kid?" Shanks asked Ace who now studied the man his smile dropping quickly.
"Portgas, Portgas D. Ace." He said and Shanks eyes lit up in excitement as a memory of a beautiful woman flashed through his mind and a dark haired captain who loved that girl.
"What a nice strong name you have kid." And with that he turned and left Ace just looked at him in confusion what did the man know?!
"Oi Aka Gami!" Marco shouted out suddenly making him stop and turn back towards them.
"I owe you for this, thank you for saving him-yoi." He said truthfully.
"Then why don't you-." He started but Marco's eye twitched before he shouted.
"Never!" Shanks laughed and waved good bye. He was telling Luffy the truth that morning he would give up his arm once more if it meant that the kid could survive to see another day. Heck he'd give up his life for that kid and he got to see something interesting. Portgas D. Ace, he recognized that name the lover of his captain shared that name. Ace did look a lot like her but shared Roger's dark hair and eyes.
"I wonder just how the world will change with them as siblings." Shanks laughed a brotherhood of D's the world would never be the same and Shanks couldn't wait to see that.
Hello there! I have a super long chapter for you! :D My beta is probably busy right now and I can't wait to post chapters for too long so I am careful on what I'm posting because I really do like what my Beta does for me. :) I was asked to bring Shanks back into Luffy's life so here you go! Romance Dawn part 3 :P I do feel the end was a bit rushed but I do hope you guys liked it :) It was so hard not to call the waitress Makino! :P I didn't add really any Shanks getting to know Ace and Sabo because I am going to do something with them in my sequel :) But I wanted to have Shanks recognize Ace even just a little :) Alright so I think I covered everything I wanted to say with that! to Guest who left that amazing idea oh goodness you just made my plot bunnies go crazy! :D I wish I could have messaged you to thank you so I shall do it here :) GeneralYumi Thankyou! I was having a nervous breakdown on my first day of Placement and you made me smile with your good Luck! I really needed it and you helped me out :) Thank you to all who read my story here I appreciate all of you more than you know! I'm off now to make dinner Please Review for me if you can I like to read them :) Keep well guys! DR