Omake
What if Shanks had a presence in the childhood of Luffy, Sabo, and Ace?
Age 7
"Oi, you landlubbers," Shanks called, a wide grin splitting his face. "I'm back!"
"Yeah, yeah," Dadan replied, flapping a hand and not bothering to glance up.
The redheaded pirate blinked at the lackluster greeting. "The kids aren't here?"
"Out hunting," was the curt response. Shanks just laughed it off and exited the large cabin, eyes closing as he searched for a cluster of three different energies. Such potential in such little packages, he thought, honing in on his goal a fair distance into the wild forest.
"Run!" Ace yelled, as the hulking Goliath of a bear brushed off their attacks with an annoyed twitch. Sabo's face was a similar mask of alarm, while Luffy... Well, it'd be a far stretch to expect the little idiot not to be grinning, to be honest.
But then she tripped, and that pull of glee gave way to shock, and then to fear, and both he and Sabo gave cries of horror, desperately trying to reach their little sister as the beast drove razor claws down, down, down
red
"Hey there big guy," a deceptively jolly voice spoke. As short as he still was - though Ace was dread to admit such a thing - he could see nothing but the man's broad back, the vibrant waves of red that peered out from under a well-kept straw hat, and the sliver of a blade braced against sharp claws. But the tiny quivering of stiff brown fur in nonexistent wind belayed tremors wracking the skin underneath and he knew, he knew, that dark, ringed eyes were glaring coldly at beady black. "Why don't you play with me instead?"
The bear dropped to all four feet with a high whine; it turned and fled, visibly shaken by the presence of a greater predator.
Wide chocolate brown peered up in awe, hero-worship obvious in the brightening of irises. The afternoon sun sat high in the sky and its light reflected golden from Luffy's eyes. "S-Shanks?"
"Hiya, Luffy," the man greeted, grinning at the child sitting on the forest floor, his own eyes crinkled closed.
It was hard to tell if the size of his smile was a reflection of what Shanks truly felt, or if its purpose was to protect Luffy from the danger lingering in his gaze. The adoration she met him with was not something to be dismissed or trivialized; Ace didn't doubt that there were many lengths that the pirate captain would go to keep the stars in her eyes. It was a sentiment the boy could wholly relate to, but knew he should be wary of.
Nonetheless, he was grateful for Shanks's intervention. Though he would not go so far as to call him a 'good man' (such people were truly rare in this world, Ace could personally attest), Akagami no Shanks was… rather tolerable, as far as grown-ups went.
Luffy jumped to her feet, an open-mouthed smile stretching her cheeks impossibly wide. "Shanks! It's Shanks! Ace, Sabo, look! It's Shanks!" She cheered and began to crawl up the man's cloak, eager to reclaim her throne on his shoulders after months of separation; the pirate captain made short of her work by lifting her up and seating her as she desired. Shanks lifted his hat by its rim and plopped it up on Luffy's head. She giggled and shuffled her hands wildly in his freed red hair, twisting it up into twin devil horns.
"We can see that, idiot," Ace replied, rolling his eyes at the immature display of affection.
Sabo, however, was breathless with shock, the remnants of panic burning its way through his lungs. Relief echoed in the tremor of his voice as he finally choked out, "Shanks, you really have the best timing."
A large warm hand landed fondly on blond and black. The pirate captain looked down at both Ace and Sabo, his eyes back to normal but smile grown wider. "I wouldn't let anything happen to any of you."
The sun burnt a dim orange against the horizon as the four of them trudged back to the bandits' cabin with enough raw meat for a feast of a hundred - considering the appetites of the people involved, there was a high likelihood that there would be a shortage by the end of the night. Shanks was back after all, and the three siblings... well.
When they reached the threshold, Luffy jumped off Shanks's shoulders and grabbed a large boar from the makeshift sled. She had caught this fellow on her own, and her short hair was still a veritable bird's nest from all the congratulatory hair-ruffling that had followed. The girl ran forward, tugging the lump of meat through the doorway to show it off to the bandits, her face more teeth and gums than anything else. There was a happy cry of, "Makino!" and familiar tinkling laughter.
Sabo sped up at the promise of Makino's excellent cooking, pausing briefly by the languidly strolling Shanks to give him a gap-toothed grin and exchange a fist bump before trotting into the cabin.
Ace shuffled behind Shanks at a considerably more reluctant pace, hesitance clear in the shuffle of heels against dirt. Finally, a hand shot out and grasped the fabric of Shanks's cloak. Feeling the tug of cloth against his shoulders, Shanks peered back at him in bemusement.
"What is it, Ace?"
Ace stubbornly glanced the other way. "Thanks," he grumbled under his breath. The boy shifted side to side in discomfort. "For saving Luffy and all. And for coming back."
Shanks just chuckled and tousled the boy's hair. Though Ace scowled, he made no move to shove the hand off.
Sprawled haphazardly on the warm wood floor with three children getting into a scuffle over a hunk of meat directly over his head, Shanks couldn't help but to enjoy himself as much as on any adventure. Laughter bubbled from his chest and reverberated heartily in the ruckus of the cabin, echoed by the sounds of merriment from the bandits and Makino and the three children themselves.
This was home.
AN
For Sarah132cs: your promised present for 100th favourite... a month or so late… Apologies? :D?
For my readers in general: I AM ALIVE.
I posted this here instead of as an individual one-shot to tide the rest of you guys over too, since it's been a while since my last update. However, it isn't canon-compliant to Sol; this is just a standalone, meaning Shanks wasn't involved with Ace and Sabo as children in this story.
The next chapter is in-progress. Unfortunately it's been in progress for nearly two months.
If you have been checking on my profile you would see a few explanations (excuses) about this and that. I can't promise consistency in my stories, or even commitment, but I'll try to give you guys what I can.
Actually, I reread the earlier chapters (for the millionth time) and I'm still struck dumb wondering why and how you guys are reading this story, and liking it. The One Piece style humour doesn't flow with my style of writing at all, and everything is a little awkwardly put together and - well, it could do with some improvement. So thank you so very much for actually enjoying my writing! (I suppose I really am my own worst critic.)
But if there's anyone amongst you who specialize in betaing, not for grammar or syntax but for cohesion of conversation and flow of narration and making humour actually funny, complicated stuff like that (also, in kicking my ass into gear and acting as a sounding board haha), if you're interested in helping please PM. ;-;