Samster7421: Yes, yes he is.
Sorry! I was supposed to update this 2 days ago but it somehow slipped my mind. Got back from my family's home on the train last night and only got 4 hours of sleep. :( Happy holidays everyone, and I'm here to reward you with some tear-jerking stuff. We finally learn the history of Ace, Luffy and Sabo's family.
Ace, Sabo and Luffy's mother had gotten pregnant with Ace and Sabo when she was eighteen, with her partner who she thought was the love of her life. But, he showed his true colors once the woman, Makino, found out she was pregnant. He didn't want any children, and left her, sailing to another island.
Makino had been devastated, as her family deserted her as well, as she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. But, once Ace and Sabo were born, twins, in her own home by some midwives who left her not long after she gave birth, she didn't hate her life anymore. She had two sweet angels to raise, even if it was by herself and living in a tiny home with one bedroom that she gave to the boys to share, while she slept on the couch in the living room.
Ace and Sabo were adored, the best thing to happen to Makino. She raised them alone, and once they were both eight, they started to venture out of the home and city into the woods to hunt for food, mostly produce and plants to eat until they started to hunt for animals as well.
The good thing about their little family of three being outsiders was the fact that they were very rarely welcome in the town besides Makino's job at the flower shop, and therefore they weren't expected to go to the sermon who preached about the dangers and horrific existence of vampires. Even though Ace and Sabo never attended the lectures, just living in that village made them afraid of vampires. They were unnatural abominations.
The whole island was devoid of any vampires, for once any came, which was rare, they were killed quickly by the self-proclaimed vampire hunters, whose job it was to protect the village from the devils.
Ace and Sabo had never met any vampires before, so it wasn't as if they knew by experience that not all of them were bad.
One day, a couple months after the teens' fourteen birthday, they went home to see they had a guest in their tiny house. They almost never had anyone over. The teens both didn't have any friends. Each other's company was more than enough. The moment Ace and Sabo laid eyes on the man, they didn't like him much.
"Ace, Sabo, this is Dragon, your father," Makino had said in a happy voice. The man seemed nice enough, though the two teens knew he deserted their mother after he got her pregnant. Despite his kind demeanor, the teens didn't like or forgive him for abandoning their mother to raise them all by herself, without even the help of her family, who had deserted her as well.
But, she looked so happy that they couldn't bring themselves to remind her that he left her at such a hard time. Ace glowered at the man, while Sabo was as polite as he could be.
"Hi, boys. I'm really sorry about leaving you all when you should have had a father figure," Dragon had said sincerely. Or at least, sounded sincere. Ace could tell there was something off about him, and told the brother the moment they were alone in their bedroom.
"I don't like him, Sabo," Ace had said in a hard voice. Sabo agreed, not liking the fact he was going to stay the night. Makino had made it clear that the one bedroom was for the teens, and that Dragon would need to sleep on the floor or the lounge chair, while she took the futon. Their mother had never been the most assertive, so Ace and Sabo had been proud that she had been assertive and laid down the rules.
When Sabo said, "But, mom seems happy. Let's just wait and see." Ace glowered, but their mom did seem really happy, and he didn't want to ruin it with his suspicion, even though he felt he was right and that this Dragon was a bad guy, even if he was their "father". What kind of dad just ditches when he finds out he will have kids?
The next following days, Makino was overjoyed. Ace and Sabo knew she loved them with all her heart, but maybe they weren't enough anymore. That's what kept them from telling her that he seemed off and that they didn't like him. Both teenagers knew that if they told her that, she would kick him out. Probably. Hopefully.
Dragon stayed at the home with Makino when her sons went out to hunt or explore the forest near their little home. Whenever they went back home, Makino was happy, enjoying cooking them all good meals after Ace and Sabo gathered the ingredients for her food. Dragon continued to try and talk to them, though only when he felt like it. Sometimes, he'd completely ignore them, but they said nothing of it. It wasn't as if they wanted to spend "quality time" with him.
The longer Dragon was there, the more they disliked him. After coming home after a long day of hunting and exploring further into the forest, the teens came home to a subdued mother, Dragon gone. She didn't tell them what was wrong or where he went for a few days, but the teens were glad he was gone. Though they didn't like their mom being sad.
However, a few days after Dragon's disappearance, Makino was bright and happy. She kept touching her stomach, and Sabo had a feeling he knew what had happened. Ace was clueless, just glad Dragon was gone. Hopefully for good this time. So, the freckled son was the only one to be surprised when Makino took them to the couch one day, all drinking hot chocolate, and told them the good news.
"Ace, Sabo, how would you feel about having a baby brother or sister?" she questioned. It took a moment for it to click for Ace, who was shocked. But, the moment it clicked, he grinned widely. He realized at that moment that having a little brother or sister would be the best thing to ever happen! Sabo was happy, too, but not nearly as ecstatic as Ace. Sabo, being the more logical one, knew that it would put a strain on their financial position, but a little one would be fun. Something new.
"I want a little brother," Ace said so often, going up to Makino's growing belly a lot and telling the baby that he'd be a good big brother, and would always protect him or her. Hopefully a him. Makino was ecstatic that her sons were so excited, even though they were a bit peeved that Makino had gotten pregnant by someone who ditched her. But, Ace and Sabo would take care of their mother. They didn't need a father. Especially one like Dragon.
"I've come up with some names I want to name him or her," Makino said at dinner one day. "If it's a boy, I want Luffy. If it's a girl, I want Lucilia. What do you think?" she asked with a soft smile. Ace liked the names, grinning at them. Sabo was smiling too, and like the names as well.
Sabo asked, "Where did you come up with those names?" curiously.
"A story book I found at the bookstore that I will read to him or her once he's born. The hero of the story's name is Luffy. He'll grow up to be strong, like you two are. My knights in white," the mother said, caressing her belly, which was protruding significantly now. Seven months along. Makino was so grateful to have Ace and Sabo, who helped take care of her when she needed it.
Sabo had even taken up cooking, while Ace did the cleaning and laundry. They wanted Makino as comfortable as possible. They wanted a healthy little brother or sister. By halfway through the seventh month, Makino started calling the baby a boy. She just had a feeling it was a Luffy inside, and not a Lucilia. And she was perfectly happy having another boy. She also knew Ace and Sabo would rather have a baby brother.
Luffy was a very active baby in the womb, and moved around a lot. Sometimes it was uncomfortable when he would kick a lot, but it just excited Makino to have such an energetic baby. He also reacted a lot to music and Makino's voice. She loved Luffy to death already and he wasn't even there yet.
Ace and Sabo also loved Luffy, though they weren't as connected to him as their mother was. They vowed to do their best to be the best big brothers as possible.
Then, it all fell apart.
-x-
Makino wasn't feeling well anymore, and being near the end of her last trimester was uncomfortable often. Luffy was big now, and moved around a lot more than he had been, like he just couldn't wait to get out. Makino did go to the doctor, and things were progressing completely normally, but she was looking more and more forward to the pregnancy being over, though she was less uncomfortable than she had been when carrying two babies fourteen years ago.
Usually, one of the brothers would stay with her while the other went to hunt and get food, but that night, both teens went, as Makino was napping and told them she would be fine. She didn't know that Ace and Sabo weren't both hunting. Ace was hunting while Sabo went into town to sell some crocodile skin and buy his mom a present to make her happy. It was a onesie he'd seen a while ago but hadn't had the money.
The onesy was dark blue and was decorated with stars. That would be what they put Luffy in first. He also ended up buying a baby hat that had matching stars on it. Makino had said that they would buy most of the baby supplies they could afford when she was closer to her due date. They didn't have enough money for things like a crib, so Makino would be sharing Ace's bed with the baby while Sabo and Ace would share Sabo's. They would all be in one room, no matter if it became cramped, so the teens could help if something went wrong.
They were going to share the task of changing Luffy's diapers, and when he was old enough, would feed him when he was hungry and didn't need Makino's breast milk.
Ace got home first that night, carrying a boar and a large bag of fruit and vegetables he'd stolen from one of the farmer's fields in the dark. He dropped everything though, when he heard screaming coming from the inside of the house, heard through the window. Ace assumed, panicking, that his mom had gone into labor early, and rushed inside. But, it was so much worse.
"No! Get off me!" Makino screamed as she was being held down by the wrists on the couch. There was the man who had deserted them, once again, when he learned Makino had become pregnant. Only now, the man seemed different.
Ace and Sabo had never seen a real vampire, so it took a moment for Ace to figure out why he was different. Then, he sprung into action. "Get off of her!" Ace screamed as he pulled at Dragon's clothes. But, he was super strong now and just kicked Ace across the room with one leg as he bit down on Makino's neck, who was still yelling at the vampire to get off.
They had apparently been talking about something while Ace wasn't present. "Makino, stop! Being a vampire is awesome!" Dragon bragged. But Makino didn't want to be a vampire.
"No! It'll hurt my baby! MY Luffy!" she shouted. She cared more about the health of her baby than turning into a vampire, which she didn't want. Dragon scoffed as he dribbled his own blood in Makino's mouth, her jaws being held open by strong, cool hands.
"You won't give a shit about that baby after you're turned," Dragon said harshly, mocking her. Ace grabbed a nearby lamp and smashed it across the vampire's head. It did nothing, and Ace was thrown back into the glass coffee table. Some glass scraped his shoulders, but it wasn't too bad.
"No! I will always love my babies! Ace!" she cried, seeing Ace fly into the glass table. It was then that Sabo arrived, dropping everything in the open doorway and running forward to Ace, helping him up. Sabo was terrified, while Ace did his best to get Dragon off of his beloved mom. The blonde brother was frozen in fear. Makino stopped struggling as her energy left from the act of being turned. They still had time, it took half an hour to fully turn. That's what Ace told himself as he grabbed a broom, and snapped the pole in half, shoving the sharp wooden object into Dragon's back, plunging it into his heart from behind.
Blood sprayed across Makino's front and face. Dragon was dead almost instantly, and Ace grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw his dead body to the ground. His eyes were dark red, and his slightly open mouth showed fangs.
Sabo finally unfroze and ran towards his mother, who was very pale and dazed on the couch before she seemed to wake up and cry out. She felt it when something was wrong with her baby. "No, Luffy!" she cried. Ace and Sabo looked horrified at Makino's stomach. Did Luffy die?
But then Makino screamed in pain as her stomach cramped painfully, and she knew that she was going into labor. There were no midwives there, and there was no time to get a doctor, let alone hide the vampire's body so the small family wouldn't be killed for even being near a vampire. Especially now that Makino was in the slow process of turning.
She was horrified by it, but there was no other choice than to have Ace and Sabo try to save the baby, who was coming even when it wasn't his time yet. Makino's greatest fear at the moment was her baby not surviving. Or, even worse, her baby being delivered alive, and her killing it. Was Dragon right? She wouldn't care about her precious children anymore? She'd rather die than kill them.
They all knew that newborn vampires were supposed to only care about blood. Makino would end up killing her children. She'd rather die. "Ace, Sabo, Luffy is coming!" Makino cried out, screaming at the pain. "You have to deliver him!"
Ace nodded immediately. No matter how uncomfortable it would be to deliver his mother's baby, Luffy was their baby brother. Ace would save him, and Sabo would too. Sabo kicked everything around the couch away as Ace bravely got ready to deliver the baby. This was to save Luffy. He had to do it.
The teens had read a lot about babies with Makino, and had been interested in how the birthing process worked, so he and Sabo had both read a lot about it. Having done that was going to save Luffy.
Makino screamed during the birth, crying in pain and despair. She knew she wanted to die before she hurt her children. She could feel her body changing, felt colder and colder as the minutes passed. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Luffy to come out, but he wasn't crying when Ace finally held him and cut the umbilical cord with a knife Sabo had disinfected.
Luffy was so small, and still. He was breathing, but wasn't awake or crying. Ace didn't shake the infant, just gently smacked his bottom until he started crying. "Hi, Luffy," Ace cooed and looked up to Makino, who was so pale and eyes turning a lighter, redder brown.
What broke Ace and Sabo's heart was that Makino refused to see Luffy. She told Ace to keep Luffy out of her sight, sobbing. Luffy's high pitched crying accompanied her own.
"Ace, Sabo, k-kill me," she begged, making the two teens freeze. "Please, don't make me turn, don't let me kill you, or Luffy!" she cried, trying to ignore the sounds of her live, newborn baby she'd never get to hold, or kiss.
"No, mom, we can't!" Sabo shouted. The front door was open, but luckily, the small family lived quite a ways away from anyone else, or someone would have come to investigate the screaming.
"Don't let me kill my children!" Makino sobbed. Ace held the baby securely to his chest, who was crying, still wet with fluids from the birth. He watched his mother sob with a devastated expression. "Please!"
Ace walked forward on shaking legs and handed the baby to Sabo, who looked at Ace in disbelief. "Ace, no," Sabo pleaded, recognizing the determination in his eyes, no matter how haunted he looked.
Ace picked up the end of the broom that wasn't embedded in Dragon's corpse and stood next to Makino, tears down his face. "I love you three. So much," she whispered. "Take care of Luffy."
"I promise we will," Ace whispered back, before his shaking hands stabbed his mother in the heart with the wooden stick. Makino died, looking once at her crying baby with a soft smile, before stilling forever.
Sabo sobbed in the background, holding Luffy's close while the baby continued to cry. Ace couldn't hear anything but Luffy's cries. "Sabo, go clean Luffy off," Ace mumbled before he put a blanket over Makino, who wasn't bleeding much, as most of the blood had been sucked from her body. Both the blood that had coated Luffy and his mother's covered Ace's hands.
Sabo took the excuse and need and hurried to the bathroom, filling the tub quickly with warm water to wash the baby off. He went pale when Luffy slowly opened his eyes after entering the nice, warm water. They were red. But he didn't care. Luffy was his brother, their mother's last wish was to raise and protect him. And they would do that. Luffy was the last good thing to come from their beloved mother.
Ace felt empty as he dragged the vampire's body out of the house and into the woods far enough that no one would find it. He'd killed his mother. She had begged for it, but he had killed her. But, he would dedicate his life to raising his brother, his mother's last wish besides for death.
When he returned to the house, Sabo was rocking the baby in the bedroom, who was sleeping. They had no formula for him, and Makino wasn't there to feed him. They'd need to go buy formula. That was what needed first. But, Ace couldn't go into town covered in blood, so he walked lifelessly to Sabo and told him to go into town and get formula.
Sabo seemed afraid to tell Ace something, and kept Luffy out of his view. It hurt Ace, made him think that his brother didn't trust him after what he'd done, but Ace kept that thought to himself before he found out what the problem was.
Ace walked around the bed and saw what Sabo was trying to hide. Luffy's red eyes that had blinked open from the new voice in the room. But, it didn't bother Ace. Luffy was Luffy. Ace switched with Sabo, who wasn't crying anymore, just looked empty, and took the baby into his arms. Sabo had already dressed him in the star onesie and little beanie, a makeshift diaper out of cloth under his clothing. Luffy was moving his arms around before he stuck a tiny fist into his mouth and watched Ace with wide eyes.
Sabo hurried out of the house, leaving through the door in the kitchen and not the front, to see their mother still there, covered in a blanket or not. Sabo couldn't believe Ace had killed her. But, he had to remind himself that he did it for their mom's and Luffy's sake. While Sabo just stood there, frozen. He was weak, so much weaker than Ace.
Sabo looked sickly, but wasn't covered in blood after changing his shirt. He had a frozen face on as he bought formula from the store. He ignored the questions from the clerk who owned the shop and ran back home.
When he entered the house, through the kitchen door again, he heard Ace cooing soft words to the baby. "We'll take good care of you. Promise, we'll never leave you alone," he said softly. Sabo knocked on the door gently.
"I got the formula," Sabo said quietly. Ace just quietly said, "Okay," and carried the baby to Sabo. He had a glass baby bottle that they had already had from Ace and Sabo's time and tried to feed Luffy with it, but he spit out the formula and started crying. Ace and Sabo tried to not let their panic show.
"C'mon, Luffy, you have to drink," Ace said, rocking the baby to stop the crying, and trying a second time with the formula, but it went as well as the first, Luffy turning his head away. He clearly didn't like the taste of it. "What do we do?" Ace asked Sabo desperately. It wasn't as if Luffy had teeth he could chew food with.
Then it clicked for Sabo. "Ace, he has red eyes. Do you think he needs blood?" he asked in worry. Luffy could get sick if they were wrong and he didn't need blood. But, babies were supposed to drink after birth. The brothers both knew that.
"Where can we get any blood? Everyone hates vampires here," Ace said, making sure to keep looking happy at the baby to not upset him. He already seemed a bit grumpy from the gross tasting formula he was given. But, when Ace rubbed his tummy through the soft clothing, Luffy's eyes grew droopy. Apparently this action soothed him and he fell asleep in Ace's arms.
Sabo smiled sadly at the baby. Their mom should have been the first to hold Luffy and put him to sleep. "We can steal from the hospital," Sabo offered. Ace nodded and laid Luffy down on the bed on his back. The baby stayed asleep, and Ace told Sabo to stay with him while he left.
Ace washed off his arms and changed his clothes before sneaking off and to the hospital, which was closed as it was after midnight. He made sure to bring a paper clip and walked around the village, in the edge of the forest, and behind the hospital, which was near the shore with no houses behind it.
The teen used his strong and flexible body to climb up the side of the hospital and open one of the second story windows and hurried inside, looking for the blood bank he knew had to be somewhere.
Luckily, he found it easily, and grabbed seven bags of blood, and hurried back out the same window so no one noticed anything amiss. While he was gone, Sabo stayed with Luffy, crying softly into his hands. Their mom was dead, and now they had a newborn vampire baby to take care of.
-x-
After Sabo fell asleep with Luffy on the bed, Ace cleaned up the living room and took Makino's body out, carrying it easily. He knew that Sabo wouldn't want to see her buried. He just knew that, so he did it himself. Dug the hole with a shovel out in the woods, in a pretty area with lots of flowers. Far from the vampire. He felt heartless as he buried Makino, as no tears came.
He put a single, large rock over the head of the grave. He'd come back to write on it later. He knew that they would probably have to start staying awake at night and asleep during the day for Luffy's sake. They had fed him the blood, which he accepted easily, and then he fell back to sleep. The sun might hurt him, and neither wanted to risk that, so they would now become nocturnal. Everything was dedicated to the little angel now. Vampire or not, Luffy was a miracle baby to survive what had happened. It sure hadn't taken long for him to be affected by the turning, though.
It would be stressful now, to try and hide what had happened. Where Makino had gone and why the two teens never left the house anymore, besides during the night.
Luffy slept through the whole day, on his back on the bed Makino was going to share with him. But, now, Sabo and Ace had pushed their beds together and both slept on either side of Luffy so they could wake up during the night for him. They had usually stayed up late into the night. They didn't know what would be normal with Luffy and what wouldn't. They knew much about human babies, but Luffy wasn't. At least, not fully.
But, that didn't matter to his big brothers. They loved Luffy regardless. It wasn't his fault that this happened to him. He was the ultimate victim, unable to do anything to stop or get away before it had affected him.
Ace and Sabo suppressed their grief by taking care of Luffy. They convinced themselves he'd be upset if they showed that they were. They wanted to keep Luffy happy. No matter what.
-x-
Until the baby was a couple months old, he slept most of the time, even during the night, and Ace and Sabo took turns hunting and staying with Luffy. Even if the baby drank blood, the two teens still needed to eat themselves. Luffy was very sensitive to the amount of blood he consumed. They found out early that too much blood would upset his stomach, so they settled for only a few bottles of it a week. Other than that, Luffy didn't need to eat or drink, and was perfectly fine with only a few feedings a week.
Sabo noticed early that Ace wanted to be with Luffy at almost all times, even when the baby wasn't doing anything and just sleeping. Ace would lay on the bed next to him and read, or draw. The teens didn't talk about what had happened with their mother, as they didn't want to acknowledge that it happened in the first place. They bottled up their feelings as best as they could, and tried not to even think about what happened. Sabo had visited their mother's grave, only a couple of times, while Ace didn't at all.
The blonde brother knew that Ace felt guilty for what he did, but Sabo knew it had been the right thing, no matter how often he had nightmares and flashbacks to the ordeal. He didn't tell Ace about them, though. He didn't need to feel any more guilt. That he gave his brother nightmares for what he'd done.
But, it wasn't his fault it had happened. It was both of them. They weren't there when their mom needed them. That feeling would always haunt them.
-x-
Taking care of Luffy had been easier for the first few months, where all he did was sleep, drink and soil his cloth diapers. However, he was quite the trouble maker once he started to crawl, earlier than a normal baby would. He made a huge mess wherever he went, even pulled down a lamp on the table. The sound had made him cry, as it was sharp and sudden, but Ace and Sabo never got mad at him.
When the baby had started wanting to try out snacks that Ace and Sabo had, he made messes constantly. The two brothers ended up taping his plastic bowls to the table for him to eat so he didn't throw the whole bowl of flakes onto the ground.
The two really already knew he'd be very active, just by how he was in the womb, kicking around and constantly moving. The brothers had taught the toddler to walk in that tiny house, played with him, taught him his first couple words which would only turn to sentences right before they left the island.
Right after Luffy's second birthday, everything fell to pieces, again. Luffy had walked to the sliding glass window once, and pulled on the curtains, dropping them to the ground with a swish noise that wasn't too loud or scary. It was night time, and they always kept the curtains and blinds closed at night so there was no risk of Luffy being seen. He'd only been out of the house once, to visit his mother's grave as an infant with Sabo. Otherwise, he stayed inside all of the time, his big brothers paranoid about him being seen.
So, his little body was visible through the glass door as he looked at the dark forest outside of their home, the yard and trees beyond illuminated by the indoor lights. Ace had been in the kitchen cooking Luffy some oatmeal for his breakfast, as by then they had developed the two meals a night schedule, and hadn't noticed the curtains were dropped.
It was only terrible timing that a couple of kids were exploring the forest and saw the two year old child with red eyes and tiny pointed canines as he looked outside and at the other people in awe.
"Ace! Ace, luk!" Luffy had cried from the living room and pointed at the people outside. Ace dropped the plastic bowl in horror and immediately turned off all of the lights and scooped the boy up to take into the bedroom.
But, by then it was too late and word spread like wildfire that there was a child vampire in the village. If Ace and Sabo hadn't acted immediately, there was no doubt they would have all been killed. The moment Ace told Sabo about what had happened, the two sixteen year olds packed up everything worth taking with them and fled to the docks on the other side of the island before stealing a fishing boat and sailing off. It was incredibly lucky Sabo had always been fascinated with boats so he knew what to do.
Luffy saw the whole thing as an adventure, and was happy enough by having his brothers and special toys. So, that's when they left the island and their mother's grave. But, they knew if there was an afterlife, she'd be proud they fled and protected their little angel.
After that, the two decided they needed a crew, and found Deuce first, on the second island they'd landed on. Then, one by one, their little crew came together and became their second family.