Consciousness came back to Luffy slowly, which was unusual. Usually he would jerk awake from a nightmare, or Sanji would wake him up for his cleaning. It was weird. The only times Sanji and Zoro wouldn't wake him up was when Luffy was being…

Luffy sat up, the adrenaline waking him, clearing his senses. He looked around panicked, only to stop dead.

This is not their room.

He looked around, being met by an empty, dark space.

He started to shake. No, no, no, why? What had he done ?! Why was he being Righted ?! He couldn't remember what he'd done wrong, but he had to have done something if the Lady thought that he needed the Room .

"Cupcake?" Luffy's gaze snapped to his side, seeing Sanji laying beside him, looking up at Luffy with a relieved gaze. He seemed happy to see Luffy awake.

No, why was Sanji here? Sanji was not supposed to be here. Was the Lady going to Right him too?

"Cookie, what's wrong?", Sanji asked, giving Luffy a worried look as he sat up, the blanket pooling by his hips, revealing bandages all over his arms and his throat and his head and how did Sanji get all of those injuries ?

"S-Sanji?" One part of Luffy hated how small his voice was, but the rest of him was too afraid of someone hearing him. "Where are we…?"

Sanji seemed surprised at Luffy's question.

"You don't remember?", he asked, confusing Luffy even more. What was he supposed to reme-

-ACE?!

NO, NO PLEASE!

WHY IS HE TRYING TO HURT ME?!-

Luffy gasped as the memories from earlier exploded in his mind. He felt his body start to shake as he remembered. They had tried to escape, but then the Lady had come and she'd done that . And then…

Ace and fire.

That was the last thing that he could remember. And that had to mean…

Luffy spun around, starting to shake Zoro, trying to wake him up! Why wasn't he waking up?!

"Luffy! What are you doing?! Stop !", Sanji yelled, pulling Luffy from Zoro, into his own arms. Luffy trashed, trying to get out! Didn't Sanji understand?! Surprisingly, Luffy was able to get out of Sanji's grasp, and if Luffy's mind wasn't on other things at the moment he would have been startled. He was never able to get out of Sanji's or Zoro's grips.

"Zoro, wake up! We need to go!", Luffy yelled, once more starting to shake Zoro. Just as he was about to tear off the blankets that were covering Zoro, Sanji took ahold of his arm, spinning him around to face him.

"Luffy! What are you talking about?", Sanji asked, confused, staring at Luffy with a puzzled look, and he looked so desperate to understand, to make whatever that was hurting Luffy go away . That stare broke the barriers in Luffy, as he started sobbing, collapsing into Sanji's open arms.

"He, I saw him, and-and, he-!"

Sanji hugged the small boy close to him. This was not how he'd thought Luffy would've reacted when he woke up, but thinking about why would take to long. His confusion was being replaced by hot rage, and fast.

"Who is this ' he' ?", Sanji's voice was cold, monotone, filled with fury. Whoever was scaring his Angel had already signed their death contract.

Luffy couldn't answer, his cries making it impossible for him to speak. He knew he was scaring Sanji, but he couldn't stop. Now that he was more awake, he knew that it was impossible for Ace to actually be there. It had been the Lady's beam that had been playing tricks on him, but knowing that didn't make the fear go away. Not anymore . The only thing he could do was hug Sanji tighter.

Sanji opened his mouth to try to get more information from Luffy, but -

"Well, look who's awake," a stranger's voice said, snapping Luffy from his sobs. He looked up from Sanji's chest, watching as a man, (or was it a woman?), walked into the infirmary.

" Leave , Izo- san ," Sanji hissed at the person, Izo , hugging Luffy tighter. The boy would lie if it didn't calm him down slightly. The person simply shook his head.

"Pops told me that it's my turn to give you food, so I'm not going." they said, before they pointed at Luffy, ignoring the flinch it invoked. "And this guy needs some food. He's been unconscious for quite some time now."

Luffy's eyes widened in surprised. He'd been unconscious? And for long ?! How could he have let himself?! What would had happened if someone had tried to hurt Sanji or Zoro! Who would have protec-. What was he talking about? Was he supposed to protect them? He couldn't even protect himself , much less his precious Nakama. He was too weak .

"I got it under control, now leave!", Sanji growled. He didn't really have anything against the Okama, he was one of the few people on the ship, after Marco and Alys, that didn't treat them any differently after everything that had happened to them. But right now, he wished the Okama could just disappear .

Izo just lifted an eyebrow at the hissing teen as he carried a tray of food into the room. It was the usual, boring, tasteless broth. Sanji couldn't wait until his injuries were healed so that he could make his Nakama something actually edible . Sanji would never turn his nose up when presented with food, and certainly not when he and his Nakama were surrounded by potential enemies, but for hell's sake , they could at least be putting in some effort!

Sanji slowly reached out, about to take one bowl from the tray, but flinched away when Izo leaned forwards to make it easier for him to reach, suspiciously eyeing the okama.

"I won't snatch it away, you know," Izo mumbled, but when he was ignored by the teen, he let his gaze wander to the boy in the teens lap.

So this was Ace and Sabo's little brother, huh? He was very similar to them, having the red eye color and black hair, just as Ace, and the big round eyes and wavy hair, just as Sabo. A part of him wanted to ask the boy about what had happened to him, but Ace and Sabo had told the crew to not take it up, and Izo couldn't blame them.

The two of them would always talk about their little brother. How he was weak, but not really , how he would always cry, or how he used to when they were little, and how he would always get into trouble, which never really changed. But looking at the small shivering boy in Demon's arms, who was looking up at him with teary, scared eyes, he saw nothing of the boy he'd heard so much about.

He ignored the hissing blond teen as he crouched before the small boy, smiling at him gently.

"Hello, little one. Did you sleep well?", he tried to keep his voice calm and reassuring, and it seemed to work as the boy gave a single nod, glancing at him with a curious stare. "That's great! I made some lunch for you. It's not very tasty, I'm not good at making food, but I hope you'll like it anyway."

Luffy carefully peeked at the tray, his stomach growling with hunger. He was really hungry. One little sip wouldn't hurt, right?

He carefully reached out, even though he could feel Sanji tensing behind him, his gaze switching between the bowls and Izo. His fingers lightly took hold of the warm bowl, and his stomach rumbled at the feeling of warmth emitting from the porcelain. When was the last time he'd had warm food? He couldn't remember.

With a shaky grip, he lifted the bowl from the tray. It was easier than he thought it would be. It actually felt, light? Usually he didn't even have the strength to sit up.

Slowly, he carried the small bowl into his lap, cradling it like it was a priceless treasure, letting the heat of it warm him up. He started to lift it up to his lips, to take a long sip, when-

"What is it doing! Scarfing down so much food! It'll destroy it's figure of this continues!"

"You eat ALL OF IT?! Seems like something has to be RIGHTED!"

"EAT IT, BITCH! I THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD RELATE TO TRASH! THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE!"

Suddenly it felt like his arms were on fire, scalding hot, burning. Looking down, he saw how the bowl he'd lifted had been crushed into thousands of pieces, the hot broth running down his arms and chest, burning him. He knew he should be reacting, but he felt oddly numb, disconnected from the world, like he was under water. He heard someone screaming.

Someone was talking to him, but he couldn't make out what they're saying. Something wet and cold spread over his arms, making the burn go away. It felt nice. The same someone that had been talking to him, was now whispering comforts in his ear. It was nice.

Everything went dark.

The deck was quiet, the conversations between the commanders had died when the blood curling scream had come from the second infirmary. It had been an hour ago, but the tension still hadn't eased. Sabo had tried to run in, but Ace had stopped him. Sabo knew that he would only worsen the situation if he went in there, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to. He was sitting on Pops knee, cuddled up close. Usually he hated sittings in Pops lap, he was an adult for Hell's sake, but right now this was just what he needed. Ace was pacing in front of them.

When the door to the infirmary opened, everyone noticed, the doors creaking loud in the airy silence. Izo quietly walked out, carrying the tray under his arm, and in a small bag with shards?

"Izo, my child, what happened?", Pops powerful voice echoed over the deck, asking the question that had been on everyone's minds since the scream.

"I, I don't know? He was about to eat, but suddenly- he just-! He broke the bowl, like it was nothing! He got burned pretty bad, but I and Alys was able to help him. I have no idé how he was able to do it though…", he mumbled, running his hand through his hair.

Sabo swallowed, the image of his baby brother getting hurt wasn't what he wanted to think about right now.

"I was afraid this would happen, yoi." Everyone turned towards Marco, surprised by his statement.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?," Ace snapped. Sabo would usually lecture him for his behavior, but right now he didn't have the energy. He hadn't been able to sleep last night, for multiple reasons.

"Your brother has a Devil Fruit, right," Marco didn't really ask, more like stated. Ace nodded anyway.

"You think it's...?", Pops asked his oldest son. Marco nodded, looking grim.

"Could someone please explain what the two of you are talking about?", Sabo asked, annoyance seeping into his tone.

"Seastone takes away the Devil Fruit power and the user's strength. As you may know, the user will have a hard time doing anything with them on. However, if you wear it long enough the user gets used to being drained, and their body will adapt. If the seastone then is taken off, the user will be a lot stronger than they were before.

"When I was young the world government would cuff Devil Fruit users for a long time, ignoring the side affects. When the prisoner than was set free, when the cuffs finally were removed, the Devil Fruit user would be a lot stronger. They wouldn't be used to this added strength, and would have a hard time controlling it, which would led to them destroying whatever they touched.

"It's why imprisoned Devil Fruit users only gets cuffed in periods nowadays," Pops explained. "This strength boost is probably what has happened to your little brother."

Sabo nodded, it made sense. The human always tried to adapt, this was no exception. Luffy had already been strong, he couldn't imagine how much his strength had increased over the last two years. Of course, he would still be weak in some areas, like actually using his Devil Fruit, something he hadn't been able to do for the last two years -

Sabo cut off that train of thought, not wanting to think more about how long his little brother was trapped in such a place.

"Was he calm before the accident, yoi," Marco asked Izo, probably trying to figure out what had made Luffy react like he had.

"Well, even before he broke the bowl, he was very timid and scared," Izo told them, looking specifically at Pops. Sabo swallowed, it felt wrong to have his little brother and timid and scared in the same sentence. "It looked like he had had a panic attack when I came into the room. He was whispering about a him and how he was going to hurt him."

"Maybe the one that t-tortured him were a male?", Sabo mumbled, looking at Marco for clarification. Right now, with Thatch still being unconscious, he was the one that knew the most about the three boys.

"No, yoi," Marco shook his head. "We meet that person, and they were, without a doubt, female."

"Then, who is he talking about!?", Ace yelled, seemingly at the end of his rope, as small flames started to dance across his shoulders.

"I think it's you."

Ace's flames died down the second Marco had uttered his statement. He looked at Marco with a lost look.

"What are you talking about…?"

"The woman that was torturing them, she tried to stop our escape, yoi. She seemed to have a Devil Fruit as well, as when she tried to stop us she sended some sort of beam that hit Luffy. He started screaming, thrashing around, attacking anyone that came near him, yoi," Marco told them. "Most of what he yelled I couldn't make out, but I'm pretty sure he said stop, your name, and Sabo's a few times, yoi. Whatever the woman did to him, it seemed like the two of you were involved with it, and not in a good way, yoi. I completely forgot about it after, you know..." he gestured to Ace, but the two brothers barely noticed.

Luffy had been tortured, and they had had some part of it. Had Luffy been waiting for them to save him? Sitting alone in a cell, praying that his big brothers would come for him. Had that woman told him they were coming for him, only to break the boys hope into a thousand pieces? Did he hate them?

Whatever had happened, it didn't seem that Luffy were going to take kindly to seeing them. Maybe they should just let him heal, and then let him go? Did Ace and Sabo even have a place in Luffy's life anymore, or was it time to say goodbye? Maybe this was Sabo's punishment for not being by his darling brother's side when he needed him the most?

No, Sabo wouldn't abandon his brother a second time. He couldn't! Right now, Sabo needed to kill that self pity that had welled up inside of him, and focus on helping his little brother. And even though he didn't like it, he knew what he and his brother needed to do.

"I think it's time for us to see our brother, Ace."

"Are you sure that they aren't too tight, Cap'?", Zoro asked, holding Luffy's bandaged arm in a gentle grip. Luffy nodded, giving the green haired teen a small smile. Really, Zoro could be such a worrier sometimes.

"Do you want to lay down, take a nap maybe?", Sanji chimed in, straightening the blanket that was around the black haired boy's shoulders.

"No, thank you, Sanji-san," Luffy smiled, he wasn't tired at all. Now that he thought about, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this energized . He really wanted to just run around. He knew Sanji would get a heart attack if he did, but he could dream.

"Sorry for being such a worry wart, Cinnamon Bunny. You just gave us a scare." Sanji mumbled, letting his fingers run through the boy's hair.

Luffy looked down, feeling guilty. He hadn't meant to make his Nakama worry. But, really, how was he supposed to know that he could destroy bowls super easily? It had never happened before!

However, the Okama person, Izo, and the big doctor Lady, called Alys, had patched him up, which had been super weird! Didn't they know that things like him didn't deserve such things? If they showed him kindness he would get spoiled and that would lead to his Nakama getting hurt! He hadn't said anything, after all he was not allowed to talk back, but he did hope that they would stop soon.

Luffy sighed, cuddling closer to Zoro who was sitting behind him. He just had to be careful not to break the rules, and everything would be fine.

"Luffy, we wanted to ask you something." Luffy looked up at Sanji, surprised that he had used his name. Sanji would usually call him a nickname, and would only use his real name when things were serious.

"Ask away," Luffy half smiled, a bit confused.

"We, we meet two guys that knew your name," Zoro murmured. "They wouldn't tell us how they knew you, but they said they knew you from, from Before. We just wanted to make sure…"

Luffy frowned. Someone he knew? Here? Sanji had told him that they were on the pirate ship of the Whitebeard Pirates, and even though Luffy didn't know who they were, they seemed like a big deal. Luffy's pretty sure he would have remembered if he knew someone who was living with such a big pirate crew.

Sanji took a deep breath, taking hold of Luffy's hand, gently stroking his thumb over it.

"They're names were Ace and Sabo. Do you know them?,"

Luffy's thoughts stopped. No. It couldn't be. Ace had just been an illusion, right? It had been the Lady that had done that to him, right? Ace and Sabo wasn't, couldn't be here, right?

Wait. Did that mean Ace actually had been there, had actually tried to hurt him? But, but, no. Ace wouldn't, would he?

He knew that Ace and Sabo hadn't always hurt him, but that was the only thing he could remember. Them punching, kicking, taunting, touching him, the memories of them hugging, laughing and tickling him long forgotten and replaced.

"Luffy?", the soft sound from his Nakama drew him out of his thoughts. They were both looking at him with worry, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Luffy sighed, looking down on his hand that were still in Sanji's grasp. They had promised each other to never lie to one another.

"They… they're my… my brothers."

Sanji and Zoro tensed, both letting out a gasp.

"What?", Zoro asked. "Why didn't you tell us!"

"Oh, God. If I knew that they were your brothers, I would've never-! Lu, I'm so sorry," Sanji choked, tightening his hold on Luffy's hands, slowly bringing them to his lips, lightly kissing them. "Please forgive me, I didn't-"

"Stop," Luffy cut Sanji off, he withdrew his hands from his grip, holding them to his chest. "It's no big deal."

"Of course it is, Lu," Zoro murmured, hugging the boy's waist tight. Luffy just shook his head, a tear running down his cheek.

"N-not anymore. I- I can't remember -", he choked, not able to finish his sentence.

The two older teens' eyes widened, before they softened in sympathy. They had also been affected by the Lady's power.

Zoro couldn't remember Koshiro giving him Kuina's sword, even though he knew that he had. That memory had been replaced with Koshiro beating him to death with it.

Sanji couldn't remember Zeff ever given him a compliment, even though he knew he would give them any time Sanji had deserved them. All of those time had been replaced by taunts and threats. It had been stupid of them to think Luffy hadn't been affected as well.

Luffy just looked down, trying to make his breathing regular once more. He wanted to remember, but it was like he always was met by a wall in his mind, a wall he couldn't break through.

"It'll be alright," Sanji smiled, wiping away the tear running down his cheek. "We'll always be here. We'll never leave you."

Luffy smiled, sniffing, nodding. Of course. Sanji and Zoro was his everything. They didn't care that Luffy wasn't worth anything, didn't care that he was nothing more than a thing. They would never leave him.

Opening his arms, capturing Sanji in a big embrace, letting his arms stretch long enough to hug him completely. He'd forgotten how nice it was to be able to stretch. He'd really missed this.

"So this is your Devil Fruit, huh," Zoro marveled, pulling Luffy's cheek, staring as it stretched. "Neat," he smirked.

Luffy smiled up at him.

"I know right!"

Zoro let go of his cheek, it snapping back into place, surprising Luffy. Sanji laughed at Luffy's startled expression, before he took hold of the covers, drawing them over the three of them.

"I think one fast nap won't hurt, right?", he smiled, laying down at Luffy's side, still in Luffy's embrace.

Luffy pouted, but was interrupted by a yawn. Seems like that energy from before was gone. Making sure that Zoro and Sanji were huddled up close to him, he closed his eyes, letting sleep take over.

...

Morning had just arrived on the Island of Goa. The fishermen were preparing their boats for a long day of work, the bakers were opening their doors, and a few early birds were already walking around the market place.

However, on one side of the Island, in a small clearing, three boys were wide awake.

"Oi, Lu, could you let me go? We'll meet out on the sea soon, I promise!", The next oldest boy, Sabo insisted, trying to stop the thirteen year old called Luffy from crushing his inner intestines. Luffy just smiled, hugging his brother closer.

"Nope!", he laughed. "Sabo should stay here until he's seventeen. Not before, not after!" Luffy didn't want Sabo to leave so soon. He had been prepared for Ace leaving, but not Sabo too!

"Lu, let go of him. We've talked about this, he needs to leave earlier than our promise," The oldest boy, called Ace, yelled from the dinghy where he was stacking the provisions that he and Sabo might need for the start of their journey. Or, let's not fool themselves, would need.

Luffy huffed, letting go of his brother. He knew that Sabo needed to leave earlier, but that didn't mean he liked it. Really, couldn't they just beat the shit out of this Outlook guy? He had been confused at first, after all, Sabo had told them after the Fire that the nobles wouldn't be going after them anymore, so why wasn't that the case now?

Right, something about some guards seeing Sabo and recognizing him. Or had it been a noble? Luffy wasn't sure, he'd fallen asleep before Sabo had finished the story.

"Why can't I go with Ace and Sabo now?", Luffy asked, jumping over to Ace, giving him the puppy dog eyes of doom. Just as Ace was about to crack, Sabo hit Luffy over the head.

"You're too young, darling," Sabo answered, as Luffy petted the bump forming on his head. "You can't even punch straight!"

Luffy gave an exaggerated gasp, holding a hand over his chest, glaring up at his blond brother.

"Sabo, that only happened, like, one time!"

"More like one hundred," Ace muttered under his breath. Luffy spun around, now facing his oldest brother, puffing out his cheeks in defence.

"Ace!", he whined, pouting at his brother, making Ace laugh.

"Gods, Lu. You're adorable!" he grinned, pinching his little brother's cheek. Luffy shooed him away.

Free from his brother's grip, Luffy opened his mouth to protest, because he was in no sense adorable, but was cut off by something being pushed onto his head. Looking up, he was met by the sight of yellow straw. The pout was replaced by a wide grin.

"Hat!", he smiled, pushing it down further on his head, letting out tons of very manly giggles.

Sabo shook his head at his brother's behavior, hugging the boy close one last time.

"Take care of yourself, Lu'," he whispered, before he jumped into the dinghy with Ace, a big pack of food on his back.

"We'll see you on the grand line, Lu!", Ace yelled as the boat started to depart. Sabo opened his mouth as well, but was cut off when the bushes on the outline of the clearing started to shake.

For a fear filled second, Luffy thought that it was the guards from Goa that had come to take Sabo away again, but that theory was quickly debunked when a group of bandits and two of Foosha village residents entered the small clearing.

"They haven't set sail yet!", Dogra yelled, being the first to enter the clearing. "Hurry!"

"Wait, boys!" Makino chimed in. "I've got some bread for you to have on your journey!"

"Oi, you damn brats. How dare you just leave without saying a fucking word!" Dadan raged, even though Luffy could see tears running down her cheeks.

"Don't you have any manners?! Didn't even notify us," Mayor scolded, even though he was smiling.

Ace and Sabo looked astonished at the people entering the clearing. They didn't think anyone, except Luffy of course, would even notice that they were gone. For once, they were happy that they had been wrong.

"Sorry, guys," Sabo grinned, pushing out their little dinghy out on the sea. "But we'll take our leave now! Thank you for everything!"

"Look for us in the newspapers!" Ace beamed, waving at everyone. "We'll make it big, I promise!"

And soon the dinghy reached the horizon. Makino gave Luffy a side hug, tucking one of his bangs around his ear.

"Guess it's just us now, huh?" She gently smiled down at the boy. Luffy sighed, looking out on the sea, seeing the ship finally crossing the horizon. The revolution that he actually would be without his brothers, for the first time in nearly seven years, wasn't a happy one.

"Yeah…", he mumbled. A sharp pain from his leg made him break out of his daze. "Oi, what was that for, Mayor!"

"Don't space out like that, kid," the old man scolded, waving his cane threateningly at Luffy, making the boy flinch away. The old man shook his head, before his gaze went out onto the sea. His eyes softened. "Don't worry, my boy. These three years will come and go before you know it. And really, what's the worst that can happen?"

Luffy smiled down at the old man, before he looked around the clearing at all the people that he considered his family. All of them were smiling at him, even Dadan! A warm feeling wrapped around his heart. Yeah, Mayor was right! Everything would be alright. After all,

What Was The Worst That Could Happen?

2 Years Ago

Goa Kingdom