Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
"L-Luffy?"
The Princess had so many questions looking at the man crouching in front of her with the red Knight harness. Why was he wearing the harness? How was he still alive? Was he even alive or was she in heaven with him? But if that was it, why did he have such a huge wound under his shoulder?
Fat tears rolled over Nami's cheek, seeing him smile at her. He lifted his hand to brush the tears from her cheeks and Nami unconsciously leaned more into his warm hand. "I don't think rubbing your tears away works if you keep crying like tha-"
Nami leaned forward, earning a gasp from Luffy because of her sudden action as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I-I thought you were dea-head!" Nami cried loudly in his neck.
Luffy smiled and patted her back softly. "I'm sorry. I am alive! And you're safe now."
Nami kept hiccuping in his neck while Luffy was softly rubbing her back. Luffy was in quite an uncomfortable position, almost losing his balance as he was crouching and as he was being pulled close to Nami. He shifted his leg a bit and he placed his hand on the bed... At least, he thought. The slave placed his hand on her upper leg, resulting in a huge shriek from the Princess. Nami immediately pushed Luffy away and she crawled back against the wall.
"Ouch, Nami. What-" his onyx eyes landed on Nami, seeing a little trembling girl against the wall, hugging her knees. She didn't look at him, so he couldn't see her expression. "...Nami?"
Luffy went closer to her and he was about to touch her arm, which she apparently noticed. "D-Don't touch me. Go away."
His eyebrows knitted down into a worried frown. Something was wrong and he couldn't figure out what. "Nami... What's wrong?"
"Go away."
She was still trembling and Luffy couldn't help but turn a bit angry. Not at Nami. Luffy would never be mad at Nami. Luffy already heard Makino talk with Shanks about what Lucci might have done to her. He was an idiot, but even he knew what Lucci could have done was terrible. "I'm not Lucci." A small gasp escaped from Nami. "I won't touch you unless you want me to..." Luffy pouted a little bit. Ever since Nami kissed Luffy, he wanted to return the favour. The feeling that kiss gave him made him soar, and even though no one taught him about love or what the feeling could be, he was sure he loved the trembling Princess in front of him.
"I'm sorry I touched your upper leg. I didn't mean to."
At this point, the traumatized woman couldn't hear the man in front of her anymore. The only thing she heard was herself beg Lucci to stop touching her. She felt his hands burn everywhere on her body.
Luffy was actually getting really worried about her well-being, seeing as she didn't react to him at all. What the hell did Lucci do?
"I-I'm going to leave you alone for a bit... I guess," Luffy said insecurely. "I just... wanted to tell you I... liked it when you did the kiss thing. I really like you..." he tilted his head a little. "And I was worried about you," he whispered the last part. Nami still didn't seem to say anything so Luffy couldn't help but pout. Luffy felt as if he couldn't protect her. "I'll be next door..."
"Stay." Luffy was surprised she said something. Nami finally looked up, her eyes still filled with tears. "I want you to stay. I don't want to be alone again." The Princess grabbed his hand and pulled him closer to her. "I'm sorry I pushed you away... It's just..."
"It's ok," Luffy said with a smile. He didn't dare to touch her again though. Nami patted on the free space next to her on the bed and Luffy sat down after removing his leg harness. They were sitting next to each other, and at first, it felt a bit awkward for Luffy because he had no idea what to do and he was very careful with the placement of his hands. The slave looked down feeling the Princess' hand softly grab his.
"Thank you," Nami whispered. Luffy's smile widened now. He actually wanted to ask what happened with Lucci, but he didn't want to see her scared and trembling again. Still, he felt happy to be with Nami again and to be alive. Luffy saw in her eye corner she was looking up at him. "I even forgot I had kissed you after everything that happened. I really like you too."
Luffy saw a small blush creep on her cheeks. The things Luffy kept saying to her apparently worked to make her feel safe again. The Princess placed her head onto his shoulder, which was a tad painful for Luffy but he wasn't going to say anything to her. No, right now, he was going to enjoy being with her before he went into war...
Nighttime fell over One-Piecae, and after two hours Luffy still hadn't left the bedroom he went in to talk with the Princess. Shanks and Makino were still sitting on the worn-out couch after they had eaten a bit. Shanks was even surprised Luffy didn't come and eat something too.
The cabin's front door opened, and Shanks and Makino both looked up, looking at the green, yellow and blue Knight coming into the cabin. Shanks smiled and waved. "Welcome home."
The blue Knight was the first one to remove his helmet, showing Sanji was under it. "Where is Luffy?"
Makino pointed to the bedroom door. "He's been there in the bedroom for 2 hours with the Princess."
Sanji stared at Makino with disbelieve. He soon looked at the bedroom door and he couldn't help but charge towards it until he got stopped by Shanks.
"Wait one second before you butt into stuff that isn't your business," Shanks said with a severe serious expression on his face. Sanji stopped walking and Shanks also caught the attention of the green and yellow Knight. "Sit down."
Sanji and the two other Kights complied and they sat down on the opposite couch, which was slightly more worn-out than the couch Shanks and Makino were sitting on.
"We haven't told Luffy about this. Mostly because we don't trust his reaction. If we told him about this, he would go back to the castle and kill Lucci immediately." Makino began explaining.
The green Knight now removed his helmet, showing a sweating, yet confused, Zoro. "What did that asshole of a 'Prince' do?"
Makino now looked at Sanji, who could only look surprised. "Lucci asked you to go away, right?"
"Ah, yes. He asked me to leave him alone with the Prince-" Zoro and the yellow Knight both looked at Sanji, all three suddenly feeling an ominous gut feeling. Sanji didn't even dare to finish his sentence.
"When I entered her bedroom to save her, I immediately noticed her dress was ripped and her underwear was discarded," Makino told the three in front of her like ripping off a bandage. The next and last to remove the helmet was the yellow Knight, Robin.
Robin showed to be tearing up. "H-How far?"
"I am not sure. She won't tell me anything because she doesn't trust me. I still haven't told her who Shanks and I are." Makino looked at the bedroom door with a saddened expression.
"I see..." Robin whispered.
"So what is the plan?" Zoro asked matter-of-factly. "Wait for them to finally come out and explain to the Princess what happened or pull them out of there before they won't arrive for the next 8 hours? We can't lose time."
Shanks sighed and scratched his head. "Let's just wait for the other three to show up. Otherwise, we have to explain everything twice."
The three pretend-Knights nodded, understanding they had to be a bit more patient. It was their luck they didn't need to be patient for long since the front door of the cabin opened again. Chopper almost cried tears seeing Robin, Sanji, and Zoro again. Shanks and Makino smiled and waved at the black-haired, yellow-eyed man and the grey-haired, older man.
"Welcome home," Shanks said with a smile. "We're waiting for the Princess to wak-."
"I'm so glad to see you guys! I was so worried about you!" Chopper yelled loudly, hugging Robin, Zoro, and Sanji. Robin hugged him back, Sanji grinned and Zoro patted him awkwardly on his head. Shanks and Makino were sitting in complete nervosity because there was no way the Princess couldn't have heard that. "When you guys went back to the castle as Knights I was so worried you'd be found out!"
The bedroom door opened swiftly, showing a wide-eyed Princess. Shanks, Makino, the three fake-Knights and the little Doctor looked back at her.
"Hi, Princess... Did you sleep well?" Shanks asked nervously. Not nervous because she suddenly got out of her sleep, but mostly because the Princess was looking at four people who were assumed to be dead. Was she going to be shocked? Pass out? Cry? Luffy, who was standing behind Nami, casually rubbed his eye but he quickly stopped when he saw Nami slumped backwards. He immediately caught the Princess, seeing she passed out.
"Passing out is such a Princess thing to do," Shanks said with a little smirk, which Makino quickly disrupted by elbowing his stomach.
"That girl thought she had lost all her friends, blaming herself. Be gentle."
"I was just kidding!"
While Makino and Shanks were bickering, Luffy had already placed the Princess back to bed. The moment he placed her head onto her pillow was the exact moment she woke up again. The Princess looked at the door with an expression of shock. "W-Was I dreaming?"
"No," Luffy answered. "Everyone's all right. It's a long story... I had troubles getting it but we're gonna explain everything to you!"
Nami looked at Luffy, her golden eyes filling with tears she didn't know she had left today. Still, for her, it felt like a dream. If it was, she didn't want to wake up. After contemplating for a bit, Nami stood up to walk back to the living room of the cabin. Luffy kept walking behind her to make sure she wouldn't fall again.
Nami slowly grabbed the door handle with a shaking hand, hoping the people behind it won't suddenly disappear. The Princess looked behind her, still seeing Luffy look back at her with a confused expression. Luffy was still here... So the people behind the door will too, right? After collecting the courage the Princess needed, she opened the door to the cabin's living room.
Everyone was still here. Robin, Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper and the four strangers she had never seen before in her life. Nami immediately went to hug Robin and Chopper. Sanji wanted to join in the hug, but Zoro stopped him from doing so, saying it was inappropriate. Even though the hug wasn't really comfortable against Robin's hard harness, Nami still tightened her grip on her. While Luffy was watching Nami, he went and sat down next to Zoro.
Chopper turned around to look at Luffy, but he couldn't help but gasp when he saw Luffy's complete red drenched shirt. "Your stitches are open!"
Luffy cocked an eyebrow and he looked down at his shoulder. "Ah, yeah, look at that-"
"'LOOK AT THAT'? YOU'RE LOSING A LOT OF BLOOD!"
"Nothing new there," Zoro said, waving his hand in the air.
"Nothing to worry about," Sanji said, waving his hand in the air.
"Nothing's wrong; doesn't hurt," Luffy said, waving hi-
"ARE YOU PEOPLE MONSTERS!?"
"Who are those four?" Nami whispered softly to Robin, while not letting her go. Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper were discussing loudly in the background, but both Robin and Nami ignored them.
Robin smiled, brushing the Princess' orange hair. "They saved us. Without them, we would have been dead."
The golden eyes of the Princess traced the four people, who seemed to be discussing softly. Perhaps she should give those strangers a chance, but Nami kept remembering Sanji telling her not to trust anyone. Yet, Sanji did seem to trust them. Even Luffy, who had been protective of Nami since the beginning, seemed to trust the strangers.
Nami pouted slightly, looking around her and seeing Chopper was taking care of Luffy's wound. The Princess now cocked an eyebrow when she noticed the armours. Why hadn't she paid attention to them before? There was a total of four armours. One of the strangers couldn't help but smile, seeing Nami look around and connecting the dots slowly but surely. Her mouth slowly gaped open, finally knowing who the four strangers were.
Nami turned to look at the four strangers, who looked back at her with a smile and crossed arms. "Y-You people are-!"
"Yes, we are," the grey-haired man smiled. "It's really nice to finally talk to you, Princess."
"I-I don't get it!? You four are traitors!"
"Ouch, Princess," Shanks said melodramatically, placing his hand on his heart. "And here we are being called traitors after saving you."
"We actually are... We went against Lucci's wishes..." the raven-haired recalled.
"Well, we are double traitors then," Makino said with a grin. Nami was looking at the four real Knights, discussing whether they actually were traitors or double traitors. The opinions were quite divided. Especially the red-haired was discussing with the black-haired. It reminded her a bit of Zoro and Sanji, but way more civil.
Makino looked at the others, seeing them all look baffled at the four real Knights. Except for Luffy and Chopper; the latter was cleaning the wound of the slave. Makino tapped Shanks' shoulder, bringing him back to the main explanation. Shanks looked at the others, seeing they got really off track.
"Oh, right!" Shanks exclaimed. "We were going to explain the situation!"
"You guys seriously have the responsibility to protect the Princess?" Zoro asked with half-lidded eyes. "Because it worries me, to be honest."
"It started back at the castle when the four of us were about to go on a break,-" Shanks started, ignoring Zoro's glaring daggers.
"I got ignored..."
"Lucci walked towards us with his Knights. Which was already weird because we protect the Royalties and they aren't allowed to interact with us, so a Royalty walking towards us for 'small talk' already seemed suspicious."
"And we already didn't like Lucci and his entourage," Makino explained. "Lucci had been talking with Arlong, and we know Arlong is very evil. Something seemed off, so we kept our distance."
"Wait, you know Arlong is awful!?" Nami asked with a gasp. Zoro and Luffy also looked with surprise. "Why haven't you stopped him!?"
"We just haven't had the opportunity to kill him yet," Makino said with a smile, accompanied by a grin from Shanks. Everyone, even the two other Knights, looked with widened eyes at the two. "But that's just personal."
"Personal?" Zoro asked confused. "What did he do to you?"
"We're straying away from the main explanation," Shanks said sternly, but not before stealing a glance from Luffy - who noticed. Luffy cocked an eyebrow, yet Robin and Zoro also seemed to notice the quick glance. Was Luffy their personal reason? "Lucci ended up giving us a lot of money. And with a lot, I mean a lot. We could have built our own castle. He gave us the money to bribe us. The four of us discussed and we accepted the bribe."
"Traitors..." Nami whispered mad.
Shanks heard, but he explained further: "We agreed, so we could get closer to Lucci. The closer we were to Lucci, the closer we were to his plans, and this way, we could ruin his plans. Which we did the moment we heard what they had planned for Luffy."
"Lucci and his men knew you were bringing him to Chopper. You people are good at making plans but you don't look around at your surroundings. They were eavesdropping," Makino explained further. "The only thing that didn't go according to plan, was for the Princess to kiss the slave and a Knight of Lucci's seeing it happen."
Said Princess blushed deeply and hid her face in her hands, and the slave rolled his lips inside as he wasn't sure how to act with that tickling feeling in his belly.
"Because of that kiss, they decided to kill you immediately," Shanks said with a sigh. "I saw everything happen but I couldn't let my cover get blown. Besides that kiss from the lovely Princess, you have had it really awful..."
"C-Could we please just avoid that word!?" Nami asked flushed. She was very close to digging a hole and crawling into it. Luffy scratched his cheek. He really has had an awful time, so that kiss really was a big highlight throughout the drama...
Shanks smiled slightly, seeing the embarrassed state of the Princess and slave. "After Lucci's Knights made a 'grave' for Luffy, I helped him."
.o Flashback o.
"Well, let's make a nice grave for him. Shall we?" Crocodile said, receiving laughter from the other two Knights. Chopper trembled and he was completely frozen from shock as he watched the three Knights take Luffy away. Luffy didn't move anymore either.
The red Knight was standing behind a tree, seeing everything happen. He was softly scolding himself. He knew the original plan was to bring Luffy to the castle and torture him there, but Crocodile couldn't help himself apparently. Lucci's Knights walked into the woods and the red Knight walked slowly and softly behind them.
Crocodile actually made sand shift underneath them, creating a hole. Luckily for Shanks, the hole wasn't too deep. "Bye-bye, dirty slave."
The three Knights laughed as Luffy got dropped into the hole. Crocodile closed the hole again and the three of them walked away, leaving Luffy to rot... Or at least, that's what they thought. After a few minutes, the Knight ran towards where Luffy lay.
The red Knight dug the hole open, and he pulled Luffy out of the hole as soon as he got a good hold of the boy's arm. Shanks removed his helmet and listened closely against Luffy's bloodied chest. A sigh of relief left Shanks' lungs when he still heard Luffy's heartbeat and respiration.
"Damn Luffy, how strong are you...?" Shanks whispered, patting his cheek and hoping he would wake up. Luffy slowly opened his eyes but his hand immediately reached to his shoulder as his wound stung. "It's ok, it's ok. You're safe but stay quiet."
"W-Who are you?" Luffy asked, even though he was just told to be quiet.
Shanks placed his finger before his mouth, signing again for him to be quiet. Shanks stood up and he lifted Luffy over his shoulder, to which the slave could only pout too.
"I-I can walk myself."
"Debateable. You lost a lot of blood. Now shush it."
.o Flashback over o.
"After that, I brought Luffy to this cabin, cleaned his wound as well as I could and he was asleep for a long while," Shanks explained. "This cabin is the hide-out for us, the four Knights, and it was the first place I could think of to bring Luffy."
"The plans changed again when Zoro, Sanji, and Robin went to Chopper after hearing the news from Nami. Lucci's Knights were there again, but I and-" Makino pointed at the black-haired man next to her "Mihawk were there too. We also made sure Rayleigh was distracting Lucci back in the castle. So, we cornered Robin, Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper in Chopper's house."
.o Flashback o.
The backdoor opened, showing two other Knights... but these were coloured. A purple and yellow Knight!
"Y-You're Princess Nami's Knights! You gotta save us!" Sanji exclaimed, feeling desperate in this situation. Crocodile's laughter threw Sanji, Zoro, Robin, and Chopper off, not knowing why he was laughing.
"Of course they aren't going to save you," Crocodile began. Zoro and Sanji looked at the two coloured Knights, seeing no movement in them. "If anything, they are going to kill you. They are on our side now."
The two-coloured Knights moved forward, only making the foursome even more cautious. "Knights, be sure to kill them and drop them somewhere. Maybe close by that other slave I already killed."
Zoro clicked his tongue in annoyance while Lucci's lackeys walked away with laughter. Zoro, Sanji, and Robin looked at the two knights, glaring daggers as they did. They weren't sure how strong the two coloured knights were, or what they could even do right now. Chopper was only trembling against Robin, feeling slightly regretful having helped the Princess because his life now depended on it.
"Roronoa Zoro. Vinsmoke Sanji. Nico Robin. Tony Tony Chopper."
The four felt a shudder down their spine after hearing the purple Knight say their full names, which was extremely weird for Zoro, Robin and Sanji to even hear - since they haven't heard their last names in years. How did the Knight know their names?
The purple Knight heaved his sword in the air.
"Please, scream once my sword hits the ground."
The moment the sword connected the wooden hardboard floor, was the moment Robin let out a piercing scream from the top of her lungs; startling Zoro and Sanji in an instance. They didn't scream since they still weren't sure about the two Knights, but the lackeys of Lucci seemed to fall for it.
"Aah, the sound of horror. I love it," Crocodile said while lightening his cigarette.
"Move to the back and hurry," the yellow Knight said to the four people. They did what they were told and they went to the back, still not fully trusting them. Alas, they figured they either trust them or die this instant. If they don't trust them and they were right, the outcome would still be the same.
Chopper and Zoro watched the yellow Knight cut open a bag of blood and it got spread all over the floor. Chopper got a bit nauseous seeing what was happening with his house. Whose blood is that?
"Whose blood is that?" Choppers question got asked out loud from Sanji, who apparently saw everything happen too.
"It's animal blood. If Lucci's Knights would come back and they saw nothing of evidence, we would be figured out." the purple Knight answered stoically. Sanji and Zoro looked up with a cocked eyebrow. The Knights actually had put some thought into this.
The yellow Knight walked to the back and she met with the others. The Knight crouched and remover her helmet, finally showing who she was. "Alright, listen-"
"Wait, I met you before at the orphanage..." Robin suddenly muttered, recognizing the woman in the yellow armour. Zoro frowned deeply, but he didn't recognize her. When should he have seen her at the orphanage?
"Let's keep that all for later. My name is Makino. I'm introducing myself now to gain your trust. We are on your side, and we will free the Princess from Lucci's claws." the four listened intently. "We first go to the cabin, where we will give you our harnasses and we'll explain the plan. We have to be quick and we have to be sure Lucci's lackeys won't see us. Now quick!"
Everyone nodded, and they were softly hoping this plan would work.
.o Flashback over o.
"Sanji, Robin and Zoro stayed at the castle with the Princess while Luffy, Makino and I went and saved her," Shanks explained. "Luffy stayed at the wagon to keep watch and... The three Knights were supposed to keep watch over the Princess."
The stomachs of the three fake Knights turned when Shanks said that, but it was difficult. If Sanji denied Lucci's command, the fake Prince would have figured something. Yet after Sanji didn't deny his command, the Princess got in trouble. The cook had no idea which option would have been better.
"Chopper needed to see an old acquaintance, and Mihawk and Rayleigh went with him." Makino clapped her hands with a smile. "Tomorrow we will discuss the plan, but first we will need to eat and sleep."
"I'm not hungry," Nami said with a slight frown. "If you don't mind, I will go to bed immediately and try to get some sleep."
The Knights couldn't help but frown slightly, and Luffy and Robin looked worried. The Princess already looked so famished; it would be better if she ate something... No one would say anything still.
The Princess walked back to her assigned bedroom, but not before granting a peek to Luffy. The slave noticed, but he wasn't too sure what she meant. The door closed and Luffy immediately looked at the four Knights.
"What happened to her?" Luffy suddenly asked, but not hard enough for the Princess to hear. Shanks and Makino looked up with surprise. Makino knew Luffy had seen her almost naked back in the wagon.
"He's stupid but not an idiot," Zoro suddenly interrupted. "His instinct is also very creepy so you better just come clean."
Makino and Shank both looked at each other, and next they looked at the boy standing across from them. "Do you know what sexual abuse is?" Luffy nodded slowly but noticeably. "We barely stopped Lucci from doing that to the Princess."
The whole room became quiet. Luffy looked at the door of the room Nami went in just a few minutes ago. "Barely?"
The slave saw the two Knights nod in his peripheral vision. Luffy hummed softly, which weirdly enough frightened the Knights a bit. That was not the answer they expected.
"I'm gonna kick his ass."
"No, Luffy, not now. We understand your frustration but you really should hold back until tomorrow." Rayleigh answered, but he didn't get much of an answer from Luffy besides a small nod. At least he seemed to understand it, no matter how much he was cooking inside. The slave might seem like an idiot most of the time, but he still knew they had an advantage. The Knights were on their sides; the Princess was saved now and the counterparty didn't know Luffy was still alive. If Luffy were to show up now, everything would be ruined.
The slave took a deep breath and he went to the front door, going outside for a bit.
"O-Oi, shouldn't we stop him?" Chopper asked worriedly. "What if someone sees him?"
"Don't worry," Robin replied, rubbing her temple and trying to register this all. "He understood but he's just going to take a walk. Maybe break a few stones in his way."
Just after Robin just said that a huge tree fell down seemingly punched down by Luffy. The falling tree and conversation outside the door didn't go unnoticed by the Princess, who was hugging her legs on the bed, hiding the tears she still had left. For the first time in days, seeing people get mad for the state Nami got in, made her feel loved.
The black-haired handmaiden stood up and discarded the rest of the harness, putting it neatly on the table so it can be used for the next day. Taking a deep sigh of herself, she walked up to the Princess' bedroom, knocked a few times and entered the room. Time to see if the Princess wanted to talk about what had happened...
"I guess we all should sleep. The Knights will sleep in the living room. I have a spare bedroom for the men all the way to the back. It's nothing too luxurious, I'm sorry," Makino explained feeling a bit embarrassed for the lack of hospitality.
"Don't worry. It probably sleeps better than on the beds we have back at the castle," Zoro muttered thinking about his hay beds. Makino frowned a bit apologetic but she nodded in understanding.
When it got later in the night, almost everyone had gotten to their beds. Only Makino, Shanks and Rayleigh were sitting outside at a bonfire. Mihawk was holding watch in the forest until it was time for Rayleigh to switch.
A bedroom door slowly opened and around the door, an orange-haired Princess was looking around. She saw three Knights sitting outside, of which two she needed to speak with now. As soon as she entered the living room, she noticed the green-haired slave sitting on the couch, also holding his eyes on the Knights.
Zoro looked up, seeing the Princess who was nervously fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. "You can't help but wonder too?" Zoro asked. Nami nodded slowly, looking back at the Knights. What was their connection with Luffy...?
"Do you think they'll tell?" Nami wondered softly.
Zoro frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "We should just try and ask, I guess."
They both went outside and they sat down across from Shanks and Makino with determination, while both could only look up with surprise and confusion.
Zoro looked stoic at Shanks, who could only lift an eyebrow in confusion. "What is your beef with Arlong?"
"Oh, my cue to leave," Rayleigh muttered. He waved with two fingers before entering the cabin and giving them their privacy.
"What makes you think we have beef with Arlong?" Shanks wondered with a slight smile.
Zoro clicked his tongue annoyed, not wanting to play this game. "Don't kid around. You said want to kill Arlong and felt the need to look at Luffy when you did."
Makino rolled her lips inside, a bit unsure of what to say. They hoped no one saw them look at Luffy.
"Listen, Luffy is a slave like me and Arlong is my boss. We want to kill him too, believe me. But the moment your revenge towards him clouds your minds and bring this plan in jeopardy will be the moment we're in trouble. So we want to know: is your revenge grounded or not?"
Shanks whistled hearing Zoro speak. That was quite a speech. Shanks and Makino shared one glance before looking back at the Princess and slave. The Princess wore the same determined expression as the slave.
"Haaa," Makino exhaled, feeling slightly nervous. "I guess you have the right to know the truth then."
Nami gulped nothing and turned a bit nervous too, seeing how nervous Makino has gotten. Makino and Shanks shared one more glance with a smile before looking back at the two people in front of her.
"OK so... Shanks and I have been married for quite some time... We have had troubles conceiving a child."
Nami rolled her lips inside, feeling guilty now for asking something she felt like it wasn't her business to know. Yet, this story had something to do with Arlong and Luffy...
"After a while, we wondered... Why not adopt a child. We went to the orphanage many times, and we just fell in love with this seven-year-old boy with a lot of guts and humour. We met Luffy."
Makino continued, looking at the fire in front of her: "We found out Luffy had an older brother at the orphanage, Ace. We couldn't adopt one and leave the other behind. We couldn't break them apart. So we decided to adopt them both. It took a while to finalize the adoption process, so in the meanwhile, we visited the orphanage a lot and we played a lot with Luffy and Ace."
Shanks took over when Makino's voice seemed to tremble. Nami had a hard time listening to this because she knew it was going to end terrible one way or the other.
"Yes, also in the meantime we prepared their bedrooms, clothes and toys. The day had come to pick the boys up. We were ecstatic. We visited them so many times we practically already saw them as our sons. By the time we got to the orphanage, we found out they were bought by the Royal family. They were bought by Arlong and we couldn't do anything anymore. Apparently, money was more important, and we had no money left after buying everything for those boys."
Zoro and Nami were completely silent. Did Nami's Royal family cause this heartache?
"As I said, we already saw them as our sons. This cabin was supposed to be our home. The room behind the kitchen was supposed to be their bedroom."
Makino stood up and she went back inside the cabin, much to Nami's horror. Was she crying? Did Nami and Zoro cause her to cry now?
"Two weeks later we found out Arlong had heavily wounded Luffy. Probably so much he forgot bits and pieces because he has no idea who we are. They tried to escape because they wanted to be with us. Ace paid the biggest price and for that, he got killed."
Nami's eyes slowly grew. Zoro already knew the story of Luffy getting wounded and Ace dying, but he never had heard it from this point of view.
"So the only thing we want to ask you, please let us take care of Arlong for what he did to our sons." Shanks finally met them eye to eye, showing his eyes had gotten wet. Not only his, Makino's and Nami's eyes had gotten wet.
But also the eyes of the black-haired slave who couldn't help but eavesdrop again.
Such a happy ending again. Not. This story is turning darker with every chapter, or not? Next chapter, flashback time with little boy Luffy and Ace.