Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Monkey D. Luffy and Baby 5

Requested By: Awareness Bringer (FanFiction)

Baby 5's wavy black hair whipped at her face as she plummeted face-up from the vibrant blue sky. She could vaguely hear Caesar screaming bloody murder as he fell a few feet below her, but it was hard to feel anything over the tremendous roar of the wind in her ears. Buffalo's retreating form was now a black speck against the tapestry of the sky. She wanted to resent him for abandoning her at the hand of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Marines, but he had apologized right before dropping Caesar and herself, insisting that Doflamingo would pay them back in due time… The tears that flooded her eyes were whisked away by the wind in the form of little pearly droplets. She knew that Doflamingo wouldn't do much of anything about it, likely, and that her fate would go unavenged. Still, at least she had been useful…

Baby prepared for harsh contact, either with the deck of the Straw Hat ship, or, most likely, the unforgiving ocean, which would swallow her up and deliver her to a watery grave. The Straw Hats and Law only wanted Caesar, after all.

That's what she had thought, anyway.

She gasped in shock as a slim, rubbery arm wound several times around her slender waist. All the breath was then forced from her body as she was yanked sideways, pulled up against Monkey D. Luffy's side as he hung from the top of the mast.

"Phew! Gotcha! That woulda been a pretty tough landing, shishishishi!" he sniggered nonchalantly. Baby 5 blushed and pressed her hands against her short skirt to keep the crewmen below from having a good look at her concealed modesty. She could see Caesar, sniveling pitifully, and being manhandled by a green-haired swordsman.

"Let me go!" she snapped up at the straw hat-bearing captain. He snorted in derision and shimmied down the mast to deposit her safely on the deck of the ship. Her eyes quickly swept across the people populating the vessel, wondering if she could potentially battle her way out of the situation. Once her eyes met Law's ferocious, feral gaze, all thoughts of bravado were immediately quashed. She quivered as he stared at her measuredly.

"What're you gonna do with her?" the orange-haired girl asked the Heart Pirate curiously. Law twirled his Nodachi in his hand to rest it on his shoulder, that same intense stare permeating Baby's every fiber and keeping her locked to the spot.

"I have no use for her. I could pull off her head and send it to Doflamingo as a present." Baby 5 gulped and wrapped her hands around her throat as if it would guard her from Law's devilish vivisection. She knew that it would not kill her, but the idea of being a disembodied head and therefore unable to defend herself against Doflamingo's wrath frightened her. For a moment, Baby entertained the idea of begging for her life. She had too much dignity for that. Her hand twitched, and it began to distort as she imagined an easy way out… If she just shot herself, she could avoid any of the unpleasant tricks Law would think up for her…

"Torao! No way!" Luffy interjected hotly. Baby 5's eyes widened as he stepped in front of her, a defensive arm across her chest.

"Why do you care?"

"My ship, my prisoner!" he insisted. Baby looked down slightly at his broad back, only a few inches from her. She could so very easily turn her hand into a blade and plunge it into his heart, but for some reason, she could not bring herself to do so. He had defended her, even though she was his enemy in all meanings of the word. Her bottom lip wobbled slightly as Law's hawkish eyes darkened in defiance. Feeble hands shakily rose to curl into the red fabric of Straw Hat Luffy's vest, curling into the cloth to ground herself and silently plead. She could be useful as a prisoner. As long as she was needed and valuable, she really didn't care about where she was or who she was with… For a moment, Law looked like he was going to argue; however, after a second, he gruffly exhaled and whirled around to stomp off.

"Fine. Whatever."

"Shishishishi!" Luffy snickered as if he had won a game rather than an argument. Baby's hands were retracted from his shirt as he spun around to face her, one large hand pinning his straw hat to his head. She just gawked up at him, still pale and sweaty from terror, as he beamed brightly down at her. "Yep, yep! You're my prisoner now, got it? What's your name?"

"B-baby 5."

"That'sa weird name. I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates- oh, and kick Doflamingo's ass, because Law wants me to." Baby's eyes went as wide as dinner saucers.

"What?! You can't! Nobody can beat him!" She should know better than anyone; she had been trying to kill him for a long time for mercilessly slaying her previous fiancés. Luffy puffed out his cheeks in a sour pout.

"Well, I'm gonna!" he insisted with a stamp of his foot. Baby considered arguing with him, but just from their limited interaction, she could already tell that he was denser than a freshly-molded brick of iron. She just exhaled deeply and shook her head, but then was reminded of her present predicament. Blushing as she turned her head to the side, her pride bruised, she offered up her wrists to him.

"Whatever… Just throw me in cuffs and get it over with, will you?" She was relieved that Law would have no hand in what happened to her, but though Luffy had stepped in to spare her that torture, she had no idea what his mischievous little mind would think up to keep her subdued. She kept her eyes trained on the deck of the ship as she awaited the clap of irons. Several seconds passed. She grew impatient and looked at him expectantly to find him staring stupidly at her hands.

"I ain't gonna cuff you. I'm not the Marines, y'know."

"But I'm your prisoner."

"Yeah, and?" he shrugged while digging in his nose in disinterest. "I don't care what you do as long as you don't piss me off or wreck my ship. Just make yourself useful or somethin'." At the mention of the word "useful," Baby's heart slammed against her ribcage, and her eyes lit up. She was immediately rendered docile.

"Of course!" she squealed with her eyes sparkling. "I will be useful! Don't worry!" As she ran away, she held a hand over her heart that was so frantically beating; it was an emotion she had felt so many times, the grand bliss of being able to please someone, mingled with the rosy tinges of the onset of love. I will be the very best prisoner for Luffy~

Luffy was left there puzzled as she dashed off to find something to do.

The course to Dressrosa from Punk Hazard was a long one, and so Baby had plenty of time to get acquainted with the Straw Hats. She made good on her promise to make herself useful, fluttering about like a nervous bee asking the crew for odd jobs that she could handle. At first, they were a little perplexed, but once Baby mentioned that it was at Luffy's bidding, they shrugged and complied; it seemed they were used to his oddities and were more content with conforming than arguing. Even on the first day, Baby 5 was amazed by the diversity of the crew and soon began to find that she actually enjoyed being around them.

Though she did a lot of things, Baby found jobs that she particularly enjoyed. The ship always needed some sort of odd repair due to Luffy's boisterous exploits, and so she often assisted Franky and Usopp in their work. She found the pair of them to be a rather comical bunch. Usopp told her outlandish stories that were so obviously not true, but she enjoyed them nonetheless, and Franky was just so loud and bizarre that his enthusiasm was infectious. While they toiled away with hammers, she would fetch nails and boards for them while they worked together to construct the most ridiculous story they could between the two of them. They always asked Baby for opinions on the details, and she always replied that they were brilliant.

Baby 5 had never really had any women to spend time with, and had never really known that she craved female companionship until she had begun associating with Nami and Robin. She would help Nami prune her tangerine trees or help Robin with her research, and she found herself in awe of them. Both of them were so passionate about their craft. Baby didn't really have anything to be excited about except for her need to serve others, so she found that commendable. They told her lots of things about their work, and she absorbed all of it, noticing how happy it made them to talk about it.

Sanji always needed help in the kitchen to satiate the crew's hunger. He was a flirty guy; if her heart had not been committed to pleasing Luffy, she would have quickly fallen to his advances. He was never forceful, though; he always respected her personal space and never advanced on her wrongfully, only threw pretty words and gifts her way. Baby had only ever been mediocre at cooking, and when she expressed interest in learning so that she could help him better, he was overjoyed at the prospect. Sanji was easily the most brilliant cook that she had ever met. When she messed up and started to cry, thinking that she was a failure, he would always grin and pat her on the head with reassuring words- and he ate her messed-up meals, no matter how disgusting they probably were.

Sometimes when the others didn't need her, she would wander into the bowels of the ship to find Brook the skeleton. Baby had no idea how a skeleton could be a pirate, but yet, there he was. Brook was a fabulous musician, and he often asked Baby to simply sit and listen to him perform, practicing a piece he wanted to show the crew later. She always would, enraptured, and give him a standing ovation when she finished. Then he would go "Yohohohohoho, can I see your panties?" which freaked her out and made her shoot at him. He always laughed it off because he was dead anyway.

Zoro never really asked much from her. All he did all day was sleep and train and drink; still, Baby wanted to make Luffy proud and equally serve his whole crew, so she always made sure to brink him more sake or a dry towel when he finished a workout. He wasn't a man of a lot of words and would only mutter gruff words of thanks, but one time he ruffled her hair affectionately with a smile. She thought about it for the rest of the day, so pleased with herself. After that, he always did the same thing, and Baby looked forward to it. Doflamingo had never really praised her like that.

The Straw Hats got into a lot of scuffles even when they weren't taking down Warlords or overthrowing corrupt regimes. The little reindeer Tony Tony Chopper could only handle so much and often asked Baby to help with wrapping bandages or other small things she could manage. She found the reindeer endearing and cute, and he was always so happy to tell her what he was doing and why. Once, the entire crew had gotten involved in running off some Marines. They had all been injured significantly, and Law (who she had mostly avoided) came in and spooked her.

To her shock, though, he didn't really show any animosity. He walked over to her, where she was winding bandages around the muscle of Luffy's arm, and inspected her work. She had almost teared up then, expecting rebuke; instead, he had muttered something along the lines of "good job" before walking away like he had said nothing at all. Baby even began to see Law in a new light after that. So, when she heard Law and Chopper studying medicine together, she had crept in and timidly asked if they would both teach her what they knew. They both complied. She made a point to be softer to him after that.

Baby's most favorite job by far, though, was for Luffy. Luffy only ever asked one thing of her: to let him lay his head on his lap and let him sleep. Baby was more than willing to comply. Sanji would always yell at him, calling him indecent, but Baby would practically glimmer with joy as he flopped down anyway and went right to sleep. She didn't even mind when her legs went numb, so numb they hurt, because she was useful.

Even more than that, all the Straw Hats were appreciative of her usefulness, which was something she had never, ever received before. It was so tiring, though, to run around all day; she practically collapsed in her bed right after dinner, her feet aching and body throbbing with exhaustion, but she always had a smile on her face… because she was needed.

Baby spent several weeks in that routine. One time, as Luffy flopped down to lay on her lap (she had discovered that he liked to snooze during a particular time of day, and so she always made sure to be waiting in his favorite nap spot), she was surprised to find that the entire crew convened there as if it were planned. Even Law was hanging in the background, pretending to be disinterested.

"Luffy! Don't go to sleep," Nami huffed and pointed an accusing finger at him. "We need to talk."

"'Bout what? Can it wait? I'm sleepy," he muttered and picked his nose while looking at her.

"About you using Baby!" Baby 5's eyes widened slightly at the accusation.

"She's right, Luffy," Robin told him measuredly as he began to point. "Baby has been here for some time now, and we don't think it's fair that she's being used in such a way. It's time that we put an end to it."

"Ah, no, no, you all misunderstand!" Baby laughed lightly and waved her hands dismissively. "I enjoy it! Really, I do!"

"Baby, you don't have to lie," Sanji frowned at her. Something about the deep concern in his gaze made the rebuttal choke in her throat. "We're not stupid. By the end of the day, you're dragging on your feet. Have you looked at yourself lately?" Baby blinked in response. Now that she thought about it, she had been achy and fatigued for a while now. She raised a hand to her face to find bags under her eyes that she was pretty sure weren't there before, and when Baby ran a hand through her hair, it was not as silky as she remembered it being. But still, why was that a problem?

"I don't understand. That just means I'm being useful to you all, right? It's a good thing that I'm working so hard!"

"Baby." She tensed as Luffy's voice sliced through her like a blade. She glanced down at her lap to see him gazing intently up at her. Something intense was in his eyes that both excited and unnerved her. "… You guys, buzz off. I get it, so let me talk to Baby alone, will ya?"

The Straw Hats and Law all obeyed, leaving Baby and Luffy alone on the deck of the ship. Baby blinked as he sat himself up with a huff, spinning around to face her with his legs crossed. Stunned by the sudden development, she just sat there still on her knees, blinking rapidly at his blank yet oddly intense expression.

"Have I done something wrong?" she immediately panicked. Her face flushed with the fear that Luffy no longer wanted her aboard and would send her back to Doflamingo. "Please-"

"Stop. I'm the one who's done something wrong." Her cries halted in her throat, and she looked at him incredulously. Embarrassed, he puffed out his cheeks and looked through the bottom corners of his eyes at the deck of the ship. "They're right, you know. I shouldn't allow you to work yourself to death."

"But I'm your prisoner. Why does it matter?"

"Nuh-uh! You're my nakama now, Baby 5, and a good captain doesn't let their nakama do stuff like this!" he huffed. His black eyes flickered back to her, burning with a raging fire that made her heat up inside. Nakama…? Baby had never been referred to as such before. Her eyes began to sparkle as an intense joy welled up within her. She was needed, but in a way much better than she had imagined; she was needed to simply exist, and that was enough. There were no strings attached. She felt something wet roll down her cheeks, and she lifted her hands to her face with a pathetic sniffle. "Baby? Did I make you sad?" Luffy asked worriedly, his face leaning forward some to peer into her watery eyes.

"N-no! I… I'm just so happy…" she whispered with a light laugh. "I just… All my life, I've just wanted to be wanted, and now I finally feel that way…"

"Oh." He blinked. He didn't pull away, just sat there while she softly cried. She found that somewhat unnerving yet comforting. She wiped at her cheeks with the backs of her hands. She was not catching the sheer amount of them that was spilling from her eyes. Suddenly, Luffy reached up to swipe his thumb across one of her cheeks. She froze. His touch was incredibly soft and gentle.

"L-Luffy…"

"Ta be honest, I kinda caught on to what the crew was talking about pretty early…"

"Why didn't you bring it up sooner, then?"

"Well, you just looked so happy, Baby. If I told you to stop, then I thought you would be unhappy, and I didn't want that." Baby's breath hitched as her heart slammed up into her throat, swelled with more love than she ever thought possible. It was different than the love she had felt before, for those eight previous men- truer, more genuine, more blissful. Something about the way Luffy was looking at her right now just made her feel so cherished that she couldn't stand it. All she ever wanted was someone else's happiness, but to have her joy considered special? It was almost more than she could bear.

"Oh, Luffy!" she cried and flung at him. He let out a muffled squeak of shock as she threw her arms around him and pressed her lips against his in a kiss. It was a hard kiss, but nothing too dramatic, only their lips smashed together. Luffy's hair groped at the air for a moment, unsure what to do, before they settled themselves in her tresses of black hair. Baby was going to pull back, but suddenly she found Luffy's lips pushing back on hers, and her mild melted into a state of euphoria, which prevented her from thinking or acting at all. They remained there for a few moments, softly kissing each other, before she finally pulled back and looked into his eyes through thick, teary lashes.

"Well, that was something. I've never kissed a girl before."

Baby flung back in a dramatic gasp, heart thumping. I'm Luffy's first kiss! Oh, I have to do something! I have to be good, so he doesn't fall out of love with me!

"Ah! What do you want me to do, Luffy? Do you want to nap on my lap? Or do you want me to cook you something, or-" he cut her off by covering her mouth with his hand. She blinked a few times, confused, then nodded to show she would comply with his desire for her to be silent. He dropped his hand, and it fell onto hers, entwining their fingers.

"Nah. Wouldja just sit in my spot with me and look at the ocean?"

If Baby wasn't in love before, she was in love then, as she sat on the figurehead of the Thousand Sunny with Luffy's arms around her waist and his chin propped on her shoulders. The salty spray playfully nipped at her bare legs as she gently swayed them back and forth.

Doflamingo… I might be a traitor, and I know I'm going to pay for it somehow. But I don't care. I thought, for the longest time, that with you was where I was meant to be, that I existed to serve your needs… But that isn't true. This is where I was meant to be, right here with my nakama, who love me for me and nothing else.