A/N: Beta by Navigator101, updated on 9/10/18.
Chapter 8
Sometimes you gotta remember,
everyone wasn't raised like you.
- Unknown
Whitebeard called the boys over. "Don't forget what I said before. We're in New World now. We're also closer to Doflamingo's territory. Stay with Namur and don't stray from him. Do you understand?"
The boys nodded, and Whitebeard let them go to Namur, who was waiting for them. The fishman led the boys to where another fishman stood in wait. "Jinbe," Namur greeted.
"Namur, it's nice to see you again. Is Pops coming?" Jinbe asked.
"He's going through inventory with the rest of the commanders. He said you can give your report later. Right now, we're to give these brats a tour."
Jinbe looked down where Namur gestured to and looked at the three kids, two boys and a girl. "What's with the kids?"
"Long story. Pops might explain. I don't know too much about them. Good kids though. Brats, this is Jinbei, one of the Seven Warlords."
The three kids stiffened at the title, hid behind the commander, and looked at Namur as if asking for help.
Namur looked at them in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"Warlords," was all Sabo hissed, and Namur somehow got the gist of it.
"Warlords are just like anyone else, like pirates. There are good ones and not so good ones. I'm assuming you've had a run-in with a bad one?" Namur explained. The three nodded. "If it makes you feel any better, he's like family. This island is under Whitebeard's protection. Jinbei is only part of the Seven Warlords to protect his crew, which consists of mostly escaped slaves, from the government." Namur explained.
"Escaped slaves?" Ace asked, feeling a little of his fear fading.
"I'm the second captain of the Sun Pirates. Our previous captain, Fisher Tiger, freed a lot of our people who were made into slaves," Jinbei went on to explain the symbol of his sun tattoo to the boys. "It's the reason why Whitebeard turned this island into his territory. So that humans won't dare to think about capturing our people again and turning them into slaves. I owe Pops a lot for that."
"Help slaves?" Luffy brightened up at that thought.
"That's right."
"Okay, then." Luffy declared. "You're good, not like Mingo."
"Who?" both Namur and Jinbe asked.
"Mingo. The pink bastard," was all Luffy said with his brothers nodding sagely with their arms crossed.
"Okay…" Namur decided not to ask. "What do you guys want to do first?"
Sabo held out his small pouch of treasures. "Cash this and buy new clothes. Ours are getting too small. I'm Sabo, by the way."
"Ace."
"Luffy!"
"Nice to meet you brats. I'm Jinbe and was just recently appointed as a Shichibukai, so I haven't met the others yet. No idea who this Mingo person is."
The two fishmen led the kids to the shopping area after exchanging the treasures for a good sum of belis. "What about Luffy?" Namur pointed to the youngest as the two older boys made their purchase.
"Luffy said he'd wear our old clothes," Sabo said as Ace paid.
"Luffy's a girl. Why would she want to wear your old clothes?" Jinbe asked, confusion clear on his face.
"Sorry, Jinbe," Namur shook his head in amusement. "Luffy's a boy. Sometimes he wears normal boy clothes, and other times he wears dresses."
Jinbe looked at Luffy as if the boy had a few screws loose before turning a critical eye on his brothers. "You let your brother wear girl clothes?"
"Yeah," Ace said defensively. "You got a problem with that? He can wear whatever he wants."
"Luffy looks good in them, at least," Sabo said brightly, watching Luffy go through a rack of dresses. "Did you find anything yet?"
"No," came Luffy's muffled answered as he tried to navigate his way out of the round rack. "Nothing pretty," he pouted as he popped himself out.
"It's okay," Jinbe said as he resigned himself to a boy that liked dresses. Whitebeard had Izo after all, what's another one. "There are plenty of other stores. I'm sure you'll find something."
"What about Criminal? It's a popular brand here on Fishman Island," Namur suggested.
Jinbe nodded. "We can also stop by other shops on our way there."
After a few stops, where Ace and Sabo bought a few more things and clothes, they made it to the store they were looking for. Luffy stared at the store window for a moment before his eyes lit up and he literally dragged Namur, actually remembering his promise to Whitebeard to not leave his side, into the store.
The boy didn't stop even when they were inside, dragging a complaining Namur behind him, with the other three running in not too far behind. Luffy finally stopped in front of a man behind the counter. "I want that dress," Luffy pointed to the window.
The man looked at the boy, unimpressed with his demand. "That dress is 20,000 beli. Do you have that kind of money?"
"They do," Namur groaned from the ground. And here they all thought Luffy had no strength. Apparently all those hidden muscles only worked when he was determined to get something.
The man looked surprised at seeing Namur and Jinbe, along with two other boys. "Oh, why didn't you say you were with Whitebeard. I take it back, it's only 15,000 beli, Whitebeard discount." The man looked the boy over and walked away to bring back the dress in question in the right size.
"Why don't you go try it on?" The clerk led Luffy to the dressing room.
After putting on the dress, Luffy came back out with a pout. "It's too short," he pointed to his shorts that were peeking out from under the dress. Ace and Sabo snickered at that.
"You wear shorts under that?" Jinbe said in disbelief.
Luffy nodded proudly. "You got longer one?" he asked the clerk.
"I'm afraid we don't," the clerk looked at the boy as if he were crazy. "If you have to wear shorts under your dress, we do have shorter shorts."
"No! Has to be longer. Ace's shorts are long."
"What?"
Ace and Sabo were rolling on the ground laughing at the clerk's reaction, as Namur hid his face under his hand.
"Luffy likes long shorts. He says it feels weird if he doesn't wear them," Ace said in between laughs.
"He's a boy," Namur sighed as he explained once more. "Do you have something similar but longer?"
"I'll see what I can find," the clerk walked away but not without looking at the kids in distaste.
It took a while for the clerk to come back. When he did, he found the boys looking through a rack of dresses, picking a couple out for Luffy to try on. The clerk handed the boy a dress he found with a sigh. A sale is a sale.
"Do you boys have enough money for all this?" Jinbe waved his hand over the few dresses that Luffy approved.
Ace and Sabo shrugged, not really sure if they did or not. "If not, we can go back to the ship and get more," Ace said.
"Anything Luffy wants," Sabo agreed.
Jinbe looked at Namur, who also shrugged, "The kid doesn't ask for much. Getting him clothes doesn't hurt." It was a lie. The kid was selfish, and it didn't help when everyone on the ship just catered to the boy.
Luckily the boys had enough for the dresses, and the group headed back out to let the kids explore the undersea island more.
After a few more hours of walking around and going into random shops, they took a break at a park. Jinbe and Namur were having a discussion about where to go for dinner, when they heard some kids yelling. They only paused for a moment before going back to deciding dinner when they recognized the voices as not one of their trio. That was when they heard what was being yelled.
They quickly turned their heads towards where they left the boys to play on the playground by themselves, to see three fishmen kids and two merboys yelling insults at their three.
Namur felt a little proud of them for not fighting back. Instead, Ace and Sabo gave the five fishchildren a slight glare before getting off their swing, while Luffy looked on in confusion.
Jinbe got up from his seat with the intention of telling the kids to stop, but one decided to throw a rock. Luffy easily avoided the rock but slipped off the swing and landed on his back in the process. His two brothers ran over in concern to make sure he was okay.
Once he was sure Luffy was fine, Ace growled at the five older kids, "Why you…" He got up and took a step towards them, but was stopped by Sabo's tight hold on his wrist.
"No fighting. We promised Marco," Sabo hissed with his other arm around Luffy.
"Why are you boys bullying these kids?" Jinbe demanded, standing in front of the five fishmen children.
"Because they're humans, and humans shouldn't be here," one spat and threw another rock. This one hit Sabo on the side of his head, causing blood to trickle down his face.
Luffy stared at the thin line of blood on his brother's face. Ace and Sabo had to cover their ears as Luffy wailed at the top of his lungs. Namur had, by that time, gotten up to come over to the boys to check on them, but even he had to reel back and cover his ears from how loud the boy was.
"Luffy. Luffy! I'm fine see?" Sabo physically turned his brother's head to look at him after he wiped his face of the blood, smearing it in the process. "See? I'm still here. I'm okay. It was just a little cut. See?" That seemed to calm Luffy down to just a sniffle.
"You boys okay?" Namur asked when he could finally uncover his ears.
"Yeah," Sabo sighed in relief.
"Just because they're humans doesn't mean you just go around attacking them," they heard Jinbe say.
"We're fishmen. We're stronger than those stupid humans. We should just kill them all."
Upon hearing that, Luffy stiffened and turned to give the bullies a blank glare, all trace of emotions gone. Not only did they hurt Sabo, but they wanted to kill them too. He wasn't going to take that sitting down. He was brought up learning that if you didn't want to be killed, you had to kill first.
Ace and Sabo recognized that look from when either one of them were hurt during a mission. It was a look that promised a very painful death to the one that inflicted that wound. They did the only thing they could think of and sat on top of their brother to keep him from doing something they'd regret.
"Luffy?" Namur reached out in concern.
"DON'T!" both boys yelled at the man.
"If you come closer, he may bite," Sabo explained as he and Ace stayed on top of a very still Luffy, stopping him from any movement. This seemed to calm the boy down, but the blank look hadn't gone away, so they stayed sitting on him.
"Yeah. We should be the ones putting those collars on them." One of the bullies threatened.
Ace and Sabo looked at each other in worry as the felt Luffy freeze under them, his eyes now wide in fear. They heard Luffy muttering to himself as he started to vibrate in fear. "No collar. No collar."
"That's right. They should be our slaves instead of the other way around. We're better than them."
The blank look was no longer on Luffy's face, but the look of pure anger replaced it as he growled and struggled to knock his brothers off him.
"Dammit, Luffy. Stay still," Ace grunted after being kicked in the back.
"No. No. No. Nononononono! No collar! No more! We're not going back!"
"What's going on-yoi?" Marco asked as he landed and turned his wings back to arms. "I thought I heard Luffy scream-yoi."
That was enough of a distraction for Luffy to knock his brothers off of him. Namur caught the boys before they fell and held onto them as they all watched Luffy muttering to himself again.
"'m not going back. We're not going back. No more collars!" he kept repeating, looking lost as he held onto his head.
"Luffy?" Marco tried to reach out to the boy, only for his hand to be knocked away.
"NO! NOT GOING BACK!" He shouted at them all. Then his eyes landed on Ace and Sabo and saw how they were being held back. "Let them go!"
Luffy charged at Namur to get his brothers back, but was blocked by Marco. "Knock it off, kid-yoi."
"Look," one of the fishmen children said, "now he's trying to attack one of our own." Now all the bullies started throwing rocks at Luffy, all the while Jinbe did what he could to stop them, getting hit by a few projectiles in the process.
Luffy slowly turned to face to the older kids, not bothering to dodge the rocks. "Don't hurt my brothers," he yelled as he ran towards them. Marco once again blocked his way by standing between Jinbe and Luffy. This time Luffy didn't even stop and launched himself at Marco.
Marco didn't hesitate as he held his arms out and turned them into flaming wings to catch the boy in a tight embrace. He struggled a bit as Luffy flailed his limbs about to kick and punch, even resorting to biting him on the shoulder, to get out of the hold. Luckily, the boy wasn't anywhere near as strong as the two older boys.
"Luffy-yoi, it's okay," Marco said to the boy soothingly while softly rocking him, hoping the warm flames would help to calm the boy. "No one is taking you back. Ace and Sabo are safe. Namur will protect them-yoi. I'm here, too. No one will take any of you while I'm here, okay?" Once he was sure the boy in his arms was calm, he turned off his Devil's Fruit. "There you go. Good boy. There's nothing to worry about-yoi I promise I won't let anyone take you boys from us, okay?"
Whitebeard, Haruta, and Vista arrived to see Marco rocking Luffy in his arms. "Marco's such a doting father," Vista said with a chuckle.
"What happened?" Whitebeard asked Ace, Sabo, and Namur.
Before any of them could answer, a petite woman with an entourage of castle guards marched up to the group. The woman stopped just long enough to study everyone there before walking straight to the fishchildren, leaving the guards with the pirates. She slapped each one of the five boys on both sides of their faces hard enough to make Ace and Sabo flinch with each hit.
"Why were you tormenting that poor child?" she asked in an even voice. The two young Whitebeard pirates were surprised that she hit them before even asking.
"Because they're humans, and they were on our island," one grumbled with both hands soothing his face.
"Not a good answer," she slapped him once more over the hand that was rubbing his face and turned to the next boy. "What did that child do to you?"
"She…she…," the next boy faltered before looking more confident, "she's a savage that attacked a fishman." The boy pointed to Namur behind them.
Namur didn't say anything and just gave the Queen a slight bow in acknowledgement. He knew the Queen would be able to sort everything out.
Otohime turned to the next boy. "And why would this child do something like that?"
"Because she's human." And there goes another slap and another to the boy before him.
"Not a good answer. Try again." She turned to the fourth boy. "What does being a human have to do with anything?"
"Because humans are evil beings that like to enslave us." And another slap.
Turning to the last boy, she gave him a slap instead of asking him a question. "Just because that child is human, has nothing to do with anything. This poor child did nothing to you. There is no reason to torture this poor soul any more than it already has been." She then softened her voice as she brought them into a group hug. "No one deserves to be a slave. Not us, not humans, no one."
She then turned around to find Luffy, who had wiggled out of Marco's hold, behind her with his arms raised up, asking to be picked up. Giving the boy a warm smile, she picked him up and he snuggled his head into her chest.
"Sounds pretty," he said as he let himself relax in her hold and fell asleep. Her eyes widened slightly, before she turned to walk up to Whitebeard's group.
"Queen Otohime," Whitebeard greeted with a dip of his head while Vista and Haruta bowed.
"One of our residents came to me while we were patrolling the town and told me what happened. I wish we could have met under better circumstances," she apologized. Her eyes landed on the two other boys standing beside Namur. Ace and Sabo stiffened in fear and gave her a stiff bow.
"Your hand is bleeding, Ma'am," Sabo pointed to her slapping hand as he shakily got up from his bow.
"If I can teach those boys a lesson, then the state of my hand does not matter," she brushed it off with a kind smile as she continued to look at the boys.
"Can…can we have our brother back?" Ace asked before remembering his manners. "Please? And you really should get your hand checked."
"So this child is your brother," Otohime's feature softened as she looked at the boy in her arm. "You boys are very kind-hearted. I think I will hold onto him for a while. You boys have something to say, now is a good time while I am here. I believe if it came from you, these children would understand far better than anything I say." She took a seat on a nearby rock, shifted her hold on Luffy, and held her injured hand up for one of her guards to bandage. Ace and Sabo looked to each other, wondering how and what the woman knew.
Ace took a few determined steps past the Queen, with Sabo following, towards the fish-kids and glared at them. "Get off your high horse and quit thinking that you fish-people are everything. Your people aren't the only ones that are taken as slaves. Those idiots will even use human kids and babies." His fists were shaking from anger at their ignorance.
In a calmer manner, Sabo added, "Luffy's had less than a year of freedom in his whole life, and he's only seven. We've been teaching him lots of things. Everyday he learns something new. As a matter of fact, he didn't even know Namur, who's been with us since our first day of being free, was a fishman. To him, everyone is the same. Everyone is good, unless proven otherwise. Today, you just taught him that fishmen are bad."
Seeing the five boys flinch and deflate at that statement, Ace calmed some. "Not all humans are bad. There are some good people out there. I'm sure there are bad fishmen that live here, just like there are bad humans and good humans."
Marco placed a comforting hand on Ace's shoulder. "It's been a long day. Let's go home-yoi."
"Home," Sabo repeated sadly. "I don't think Luffy's ever had a home. Gramps said Luffy was in the middle of being transported when…and even after, we never stayed in one place for long."
"He does now-yoi," Marco said as he lightly turned them around to face Otohime and Luffy. "You'll just have to teach him what home is."
"If it is alright with you, I would like to take these children with me for a few hours," Otohime said over the objections of the Minister of the Left. "I want to teach them that not everyone on this island is bad. I also believe this boy has something special."
Whitebeard laughed. "That brat is indeed special, but I'm not sure if he can read a person's heart like you." The Queen merely smiled fondly at Luffy.
"Sounds like your kids have an interesting past," Jinbe said.
"We're kinda curious ourselves," Vista said with Haruta nodding. "I mean, there was that thing yesterday too."
"A story for the captain's room-yoi," Marco moaned with his hand over his face, standing next to their captain. "I'm pretty sure yesterday's incident was still fresh in Luffy's mind, and that's why he overreacted."
Whitebeard nodded before adding to the two boys, "With your permission, of course. I think it's best that at least the commanders know what to expect if something like yesterday were to happen again."
Ace and Sabo looked at each other uneasily before coming to an agreement. "We trust you."
"Sounds like a lovely story. I will try to bring the children back to you before dinner, so that you may have your story time," Otohime said before taking her leave with the boys in tow.
-*/-*/-*/
"How did you know Luffy's a boy?" Sabo asked.
"I just do. Just like I know how much pain this child was in," the Queen answered.
"Can we have him back?" Ace asked with his hands held out making a grabbing motion.
"Observation Haki?" Sabo guessed as she handed Luffy over to Ace. "Can Observation Haki really read people's minds?"
Otohime laughed. "No, I can't read another person's mind. I can read their heart, especially strong feelings. Yes, it is because of my strong Observation Haki. It's something I was born with. I believe your brother can too. He probably reacted to their hateful feelings."
The two young boys were in awe at the sight of Ryugu Castle once it came in sight. They followed in stunned silence as they looked this way and that at the beautiful corals decorating the undersea castle.
Otohime opened the doors wide with a cheery call as all the guards returned to their post, "Children, I'm home!"
Ace tightened his hold on Luffy and held the small head close to his chest as he and Sabo scrambled to hide behind the Queen when three slightly larger mermen and an even larger mermaid swam their way.
"You two need to have a calm heart, or your brother will wake up in a panic in an unknown place," she whispered to the two hiding behind her. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?" They both shook their heads and took a few calming breaths. They weren't completely calm, but at least they were calmer than a few seconds ago.
"Mother!" the princes and princess called out in greeting.
"Nnn?" Luffy turned his head in Ace's hold and moved a hand to rub his eyes. "Mosser? Whas that? Food?"
Otohime was surprised at the question but didn't say anything as she greeted her children.
Sabo chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "No, Luffy. It's mother, and it's not food. How do you feel?"
"Mmm," the boy yawned, "tired." Once he finished rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Luffy turned his head around to take in his surroundings. "Ooo! Where are we? Is pretty!" he laughed happily, kicking his legs against Ace's sides in excitement.
"Mother, did you bring guests with you?" the merman with light blue hair and blue tail asked as he peered around her at the boys.
"Yes, I did," Otohime replied. "These three are children who got caught up in a little incident at the park."
The three mermen floated behind her to get a better look at their guests, causing Ace and Sabo to stiffen again. Luffy wiggled in his brother's hold to turn himself to get a better look at them in curiosity.
"Hi, I'm Fukaboshi," greeted the blue-haired merman.
"I'm Ryuboshi," said the merman with dark pink hair and purple tail.
"I'm Manboshi," said the rounder one with red ear-like fins on his head and purple tail.
"And – and I'm Shirahoshi," the large mermaid with light pink hair and tail said timidly as she tried to use her mother to hide herself. She then turned her head to her mother to ask, "Mother, are these humans?"
Ace and Sabo gave her a guarded look before Sabo answered cautiously, "Yes, we are."
"No, you're not," Luffy denied. "You're Sabo and Ace," he pointed to each one of his brothers as he said this. "And I'm Luffy!" He then wiggled in Ace's arms, wanting to be put down. The boy then stood in front of Otohime and stared at her curiously.
"What is it child?" she asked.
Luffy took a few more moments to look at her before giving her large smile. "I like you. You sounds pretty."
"Luffy," Ace said cautiously, "do you remember what happened at the park?"
"Huh?" The boy tilted his head in thought before a frown appeared on his face. "Oh. People saying mean things, and I fight with Marco."
"That's right," Sabo said. "You have to apologize when we go back. But right now, what do you need to do?"
Luffy turned back to Otohime. "Thank you for helping, Mosser."
The last word stunned everyone there, before Ace and Sabo laughed.
"Luffy, that's not her name," Sabo said.
"But thas what Hoshi call her," the confused boy pointed to the princess, who was now hovering behind her mother.
"She's their mother," Ace waved to the princes and princess, "not ours. They call her that because…uh…"
"It's like a dad, but a girl. Do you remember what a dad is?" Sabo tried to explain.
"Um, Dad is dragon. The person that help make me."
"That's right. A mother is the other person that helps the dad to make babies," Sabo tried to hold in a laugh at Luffy's answer.
"Oh~ Do that mean I have one too?"
"I'm sure you do," Ace ruffled his younger brother's hair. "You can ask Gramps the next time we see him."
"Okay," Luffy beamed. "So then, what's your name?" he asked the Queen.
Otohime crouched down in front of the boy and picked him up. "You may call me Mother. It doesn't bother me at all."
"Mmm. Okay," he placed his head over her heart. "Pretty. But Ace and Sabo sounds better. More fun, make me warm."
"The sound you hear from them is Love," she said to him as she led them through the castle. "They care for you very much. So much that even I can hear the warmth from them. You are very lucky to have them as your brothers."
Luffy giggled. "I know. Ace and Sabo's the best!" Ace and Sabo ducked their heads and blushed at the statement.
"I also would like to apologize. I am sorry for the way those children treated you. It should have never happened, but that is the way they were raised. I am trying to change that. I dream of the day when our people can live in peace with humans."
Luffy looked up to see her face. "What's human?"
"You are," Manboshi said, floating closer to them. "Humans don't have fins or tails and need air to live. We," he pointed to himself, "are fishmen, or mermen. We can live in the water and breath air."
"I don't get it. You have tail. Fishman have feet too? Namur says he's a fishman, and he have feet."
"No, Luffy," Sabo said. "Remember that book we showed you with lots of different animals? Just like tigers are different than lions, even though they don't look the same, they're still types of cats. Prince Manboshi is a Merman, but is still considered a fishman."
"Oh~ Okay. So it's a mystery."
"Here we are," Otohime said as they entered a beautiful garden. "Why don't we have lunch out here?"
"Yay! Food!" Luffy cheered as he was placed down on a stone bench under a gazebo.
"Are you sure?" Sabo asked timidly as he and Ace took a seat on either side of their excited brother. "We eat a lot and our table manner is atrocious." Especially Ace and Luffy, Sabo thought to himself.
"Yeah," Ace looked away from them and scratched the back of his head self-consciously, "it's not like we ever had a chance to eat with royalty."
"There is no need to worry," Otohime smiled at them. "Eat how you want. No one here will be offended."
"Just," Sabo hesitated as he looked to the royal children in front of them, "don't think that all humans eat like us. We're a special case, well, more like Luffy is."
"What do you mean? Why Luffy?" the oldest son asked.
"Luffy," Ace looked to the young boy beside him playing with his silverware and plate, not paying attention to them, "was never raised by an adult. It's just been me and Sabo, and well, you know, kids don't make very good parents." He ducked his head down in shame.
"My parents forced me to learn things at a very young age, but they weren't very good role models. And the adults that raised Ace weren't respectable people, but they were good people. The problem is that we weren't raised by adults very long ourselves. So we don't really know what we're doing." Sabo chuckled.
"Nonsense," the Queen admonished them. "Just look at your brother. See how happy he is? You have given him everything he needs. Love, happiness, and a place in your heart."
"Mother?" Shirahoshi gave her mom a questioning look. "Isn't a brother a boy, like Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi? Luffy is a girl, right?"
"Uh, sorry," Ace was red in the face. "That would be our fault. Luffy's a boy, but we let him wear what he wants."
"Maybe we should break him of that habit," Sabo said thoughtfully. "It's already causing a lot of confusion."
"Yeah, but he won't be happy if we tell him he can't wear what he wants. Not to mention he looks good in them," Ace said to Sabo.
"Yeah, but imagine when he grows up. People would make fun of him for wearing a dress, when he's clearly a boy," Sabo stated.
"What's wrong with my dress?" Luffy perked up, finally hearing something that interested him. "It's pretty." He got up from his seat to twirl around and show off his dress.
"Hm, yes, that is a very pretty dress-jamon," said a deep voice from behind the boys. "Though, it looks like it's seen better days-jamon."
Startled, Ace and Sabo turned their heads around to see a large merman with a scruffy orange beard and hair with a blue tail and a crown over his head. The merman waved a hand over to someone and said something before sending her away.
"Father!" the royal children greeted the large merman and the princess floated over to give him a hug.
"What's a fasser?" Luffy asked.
"Father, Luffy. It's another way to say dad," Ace explained.
"Oh, okay. You a dragon then?"
The man laughed. "No. I'm a coelacanth merman, King of Ryugu Kingdom, Neptune-jamon."
"I thought dad is dragon," Luffy's smile fell. "I wanna see real dragon."
Sabo sighed. "Luffy, dragons are mythical creatures. I don't think anyone's ever seen a real one. And Dragon is your dad's name, not what he is. Your dad's not a reptile."
"I don't get it."
"Ugh, maybe we should make Gramps show Luffy a picture of his dad or something," Ace mumbled with his hand over his face.
Neptune laughed as he took a seat next to his wife and children. "You children are amusing-jamon. I hear you sail with Whitebeard? Oh, here it comes-jamon." He waved over to the maid he talked to earlier and took something that she handed him. He held it out to them to take. "Please take this as an apology for what my people have done to you. I hope it's the right size-jamon."
Ace took the item from the man's hands and held it up. It was a pink dress, similar to the one Luffy was wearing but longer.
Luffy's eyes sparkled and he immediately pulled off the one he was wearing to put on the new one. "Thank you, Scruffy! It's pretty!" He twirled in it.
Both his brothers face palmed. "His name isn't Scruffy, Luffy. You're being rude."
"Huh?"
Neptune laughed. "Don't worry about it. I can already tell this one is a little on the special side. Just a little-jamon." He laughed some more.
"Honey!" Otohime slapped her husband's arm.
"Ow. What did I do-jamon?" the big man whined.
Lunch came and it was filled with laughter and flying food, but the royal family didn't mind. Afterward, the children played in the garden. The princes even taught the human children how to use the Bubbly Coral. They taught Luffy how to play tag and chased each other in the garden, using the bubbles to help them float up and around the garden.
When it was time for the three to return back to the ship, Otohime and Neptune escorted them back.
-*/-*/-*/
After dinner that night, Whitebeard called all his commanders, Jinbe, and the boys to his room.
"You sure you want Luffy here-yoi?" Marco whispered to Sabo.
"Not really, but he won't leave us," Sabo replied. "I have a feeling that he knows he's different. I mean there was that thing yesterday, and then the way he acted today. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like he's unsure of himself? He even picked up a fork and tried to use it during lunch."
"This meeting may help him understand himself more," Marco said, "and maybe answer some of our questions-yoi."
"Maybe," Sabo said slowly, "but Ace and I want Luffy to grow up thinking he's a normal person. Not some hypnotized killer, or whatever it is."
"It's okay. He has you and Ace to remind him that he's not just a tool. I know you've heard many times already-yoi, but really, you boys have raised him right."
"Aren't we a little too young to be parents?" Sabo grinned.
"Yes, but you're not too young to be good older brothers. Not to mention, the brat already labeled you boys as his parents," Marco grinned back.
That was when Ace and Luffy walked into the meeting room, with Luffy now cleaned up from his messy dinner. Sabo looked at Ace in concern over Luffy's depressed look. Luffy took Sabo's hand so that he was holding both of his brothers' hands. Sabo could feel his brother's hand shake.
"Boys," Whitebeard started the meeting, "it is entirely up to you what you tell us, but be assured that anything you say will leave never this room."
"We understand," Ace looked up at the man. "We'll tell you what we know. I'm not sure if we'll be able answer all your questions though." He looked to Luffy, who was staring at the floor. "You and Marco already know almost everything we do now. I'm not sure what else to tell you."
"You can start by telling the rest of us," Thatch offered, though he smiled at them softly. "I'm sure most of us already know that you three were slaves before we met you. You don't have to tell us everything if it's too hard though."
"No, we'll tell you everything. It may make things easier to understand," Sabo said. "It's like you said. We were slaves, but we didn't just clean house or do whatever it is normal slaves do. We were assassins."
Everyone, but Whitebeard and Marco, who had already heard all this, blanched at that.
"Yeah. Sabo and I were only five when we were kidnapped," Ace continued. "We had bomb collars at the time. We couldn't say no. Though, we did try to fight our way out, they were all stronger than us."
"About a week later, Luffy joined us. According to Gramps, Luffy was taken more than a year before us, so we don't know what happened to him before then. Do you remember anything before you came to us?" Sabo asked Luffy.
The young boy shook his head. "Only 'member Ace and Sabo."
"You can't really blame him-yoi. He was probably too young to remember anything that far back," Marco said.
Ace went on to take the stares off of Luffy. "We didn't know why at the time, but Luffy was the only one without a collar, and we didn't know Luffy could fight at the time. He was tiny, probably around two or so. We did our best to teach Luffy to protect himself when we weren't able to. At first we got easy jobs, and it wasn't too hard to protect him. But the jobs got harder and harder, and well, let's just say we were surprised when he killed those guys without batting an eye."
"We were sent from one ship to another, doing whatever the captain of that ship told us to do. They were all probably orders from the boss. I guess they realized how close we'd gotten to Luffy, because they eventually took off our collars and gave Luffy the small ankle collar because it's less noticeable and makes it easier for us to infiltrate," Sabo continued when Ace paused. "The last one was the worst. I'm guessing he didn't realize how important Luffy was to the boss. They would all beat Luffy to get us to listen, but the last one was the cruelest. Luffy always looked half-dead when he was sent back."
"Who's this boss? Do you know?" asked Jinbe.
"Joker," both of the older boys answered grimly.
"Mingo, the pink bastard," Namur repeated what Luffy said earlier, now understanding the name better. The boys nodded.
"We really didn't know until yesterday, but he wants Luffy back." They tightened their grip on Luffy when they felt him shake even harder, and Sabo continued. "Apparently the bastard's been experimenting with making his own army of proficient killers, a killing machine that can easily pick up any fighting style. Luffy is his one and only success."
"He apparently picked up Armament Haki somewhere. He was hitting me with a little bit of it," Marco said.
"Maybe he picked it up from watching you and Rayleigh spar yesterday," Ace shrugged.
"But Haki isn't something that can be learned just by watching," Marco countered.
"He knows Observation Haki," Sabo said. "Who knows how he picked that one up."
"That is definitely not something you can learn just by watching," Vista rubbed the end of his mustache in thought.
"Either it was something Doflamingo did or he was born with it," Whitebeard concluded.
"Queen Otohime thinks he was born with it," Ace said.
"That would make more sense, considering how strong it is-yoi," Marco mused. "He's able to tell apart each individual aura-yoi," he explained what he had found out from testing the boy on Sabody.
"So that's what's been going on," Haruta mused before he clarified. "There's been a rash of children going missing."
"What kind of children?" Ace asked.
"I heard they were mostly troublemakers without families that would want them back. Why? Does it ring a bell?" Haruta answered.
"Sounds like us, but we lived in a forest with mountain bandits. We were pretty well known in Goa for picking fights with the local thugs. I think the reason we were taken was because of that and because we knew how to hunt or fight or whatever," Ace explained.
"That would be a good candidate," Izo mumbled to himself. "Better than training kids how to fight from scratch."
"I just can't believe anyone would even think of doing something like that," Thatch shook his head. "That's just wrong on so many levels."
Jinbe didn't know what to say but shook his head. Kids, even worse, babies, were taken from their families. Wait. "What about your families? You said you lived with Mountain Bandits."
Ace and Sabo looked at each other before they told them of their past and lineage and how they came to live with the mountain bandits through their Gramps. They were relieved when none of them commented about their real parents.
"And who is this Gramps?" Jinbe asked, being the only one that wasn't present when the marine arrived.
"Garp," they both answered easily.
"Garp? You mean Garp, as in Vice-Admiral Garp, the fake Marine Hero that's actually an informant to the Revolutionaries and select pirates? That Garp?" Jinbe exclaimed. He turned to look at each of the commanders as they all nodded. "And you all knew that?"
"Well, it was a very tearful reunion when we called him about getting these kids into some kind of foster care-yoi," Marco said.
"And we found out that Gramps is Luffy's Grandpa," Sabo offered.
"Yeah," Fossa nodded. "That was a surprise."
"I wonder if Doflamingo knew that he had the son of the late Pirate King and the son of a runaway noble with a conscious taking care of his prized possession," Thatch said. "Well, even if he did, there's no way he could replicate that."
"I doubt that he knew, otherwise, he'd keep Ace as a bargaining chip with the government, and Luffy would be used to get Dragon to do what he wanted, not sending them out where they could be killed at any given moment-yoi," Marco stated.
"Wait," Jinbe held out a hand to stop them. "What does Dragon have to do with this?"
"Luffy's his son-yoi." There was stunned silence as Marco's words processed.
Before anyone could say anything, Whitebeard cut in. "Because of who these kids are and who they used to work under, they are here under my protection, instead of sending them to foster care."
"Well, okay. You boys sure are one surprise after another," Rakuyo laughed.
"…monster," Luffy mumbled through his tears.
"What did you say Luffy?" Sabo asked gently as he wiped the boy's tears.
"I'm a monster," Luffy repeated. He let go of Sabo's hand and hugged Ace, pressing his face into his brother's body, crying.
Ace rubbed the boy's back soothingly. "Who said that?" Ace growled. "Who told you you're a monster?"
Luffy mumbled something, but they couldn't understand him.
"Luffy," Ace tried to push the boy's face away, "we can't understand you, if you keep crying like that."
"Is true. I'm a monster. I'm strange. I do things I'm not supposed know how. Mingo did something. I don't know what," he couldn't stop his body from shaking. His voice trembled. "I'm a monster that's not suppose to be here."
Sabo untied his cravat and used it to wipe Luffy's face. "Ace and I want you here. We don't care if you're a monster. We just want you here with us." He gave a glare to Ace, letting him know this was what he went through with Ace when he was angry about his blood.
Thatch walked over and picked Luffy up, carrying him in one arm so that he could see everyone. "Take a good look at everyone here, Luffy. Almost everyone here has been called a monster at one time or another. Hell, most people run from us when they hear we're part of the Whitebeard Pirates. What I'm trying to say is, you're not alone. We've all done something in the past that we're not proud of, but it's a part of us. And don't you worry about that pink bastard. With all the monsters on this ship, there's no way he'll be able to take you back." Thatch laughed, causing Luffy to giggle hesitantly.
"Now, let's get you some warm milk and get you to bed," Thatch said as he walked towards the door. "Milk and plenty of sleep will help you grow like the rest of your monster brothers here."
"Brothers," Luffy said as he perched his head on Thatch's shoulder to look back at the other commanders and Whitebeard. "I have lots of brothers." Everyone smiled at the boy and nodded.
"Still, I wonder where he heard that from," Sabo mused to Ace. "I don't remember anyone calling him that." All Ace could do was shrug as he followed Thatch out.
-*/-*/-*/
The next day, Luffy and his brothers went with Jinbe to Gyoncorde Plaza to see the Queen again. Luffy had wanted to see her once more before they left later that evening, and Jinbe agreed to escort them.
There they found Otohime atop a platform with other people surrounding her, handing her papers excitedly.
"Mosser!" Luffy yelled as he ran towards her for a hug.
"Mosser?" Jinbe questioned the other two boys.
"He thinks Mother is her name and can't say it right, and she says it's okay," Ace shrugged.
"Luffy!" she said as she hugged him. "It's nice to see you again before you leave. And I see you're wearing boys clothes today, but aren't they a bit too big for you?"
"These are Ace's clothes," the boy giggled. "He say I'll grow big to fit one day. My old clothes don't fit no more, so I'm growing!"
"That's good," she said fondly as Ace and Sabo walked up the steps onto the platform. "Why don't you boys help?"
"What are we doing?" Luffy asked excitedly.
"You are going to help me reach my dream," she winked at him. "These papers will help us live in peace with the humans. Just help the people put these papers in these baskets for me."
It was not long after that that one of the baskets filled with petitions caught fire. Soon after, everyone was in a panic as the other baskets also caught fire from the flying embers. People were all over the place, trying to put out the fire and save the papers from being destroyed. In the midst of it all, a gunshot was heard, and Luffy, who had been up on the platform with Otohime, witnessed her fall.
"MOSSER!"
Ace, Sabo, and the three princes all rushed up after hearing the cry. There were orders for the guards to search for the culprit, but none of that mattered to the children. Shirahoshi was in too much shock to move as quickly as her brothers.
Fukaboshi pushed away the Minister of the Right, who was holding his mother, to hold her himself. "Who was it?" he howled in rage. "I'll destroy whomever is responsible!"
Luffy cried even harder at the rage he felt from the prince. He hadn't moved from where he was frozen when the shot happened. Ace and Sabo had to drag him away from the burning flames and closer to Otohime's body in the center of the platform.
It was only at Otohime's gentle touch did the older prince's reasoning come back. She still had enough energy left in her to tell her sons her last words, refusing medical treatment from the guards. It was already too late for her anyway.
"Luffy, I'm saying this to you also, please stop crying and listen," she said softly as she felt her energy starting to leave her.
Luffy sniffled and crawled a little closer to her so that she could see him. "Mosser?"
"You're a good child. I am grateful for being able to meet you and your brothers. Live in the present, live for the future, forget the bad, remember the good. Children," she looked over her sons and back to Luffy and his brothers, before settling on her oldest child, "please, whoever the culprit is, don't be angry for me. Don't lose to your anger and hatred because of me."
They all, including Ace and Sabo couldn't stop the tears from coming, knowing her end was near. In their grief induced state, they didn't even feel the ground shaking under them until Otohime spoke again. "Shirahoshi, control yourself."
Ryuboshi and Manboshi did the first thing they could think of to stop their sister from going out of control. They did a strange dance to calm their sister down from her hysterical cries.
"Mother," Fukaboshi said once his sister calmed down, "we'll recollect the burnt signatures, and we'll become great soldiers like our father. Just as we promised, we'll protect Shirahoshi with our lives. So please don't worry." He forced a smile onto his face for his mother through his tears.
Luffy tearfully joined in their pinky promise, along with Ace and Sabo. "Me too," Luffy said tearfully. "I help protect, too."
The Queen gave the three human children a smile. "You children are too kind. Thank you. It's just a hair's breadth away, the light of the real sun."
It was after all the fires had been put out that Marco showed up out of breath. He flew there as fast as he could after hearing about what had happened, leaving everyone else to finish preparing for their departure, not even sparing time to let Pops know he was leaving. The trio were the only thing on his mind as soon as he heard from the messenger Jinbe sent.
As soon as he landed, he crouched down to receive three teary eyed boys who buried their faces in his chest. Luffy was one thing, but to see Ace and Sabo crying that hard put an ache in his heart. It hurt to see these three children cry, more than sending off a sibling to Davy Jone's locker.
He didn't know what to say or do to relieve them of their pain, so he just let them cry on his chest for as long as they needed him. Marco swore that he'd do anything in his power to never see them in this much pain ever again.
-*/-*/-*/
After the burial, the fishmen citizens who came to visit the Queen's grave would see the human boys either sitting or lying next to her headstone. Even the Whitebeards came to pay their respect.
"Luffy," Sabo said softly by late evening "come on. Let's go back to the ship. You haven't eaten anything all day. Marco's worried."
Luffy had laid down with his cheek pressed into the ground, facing his brothers. "Sabo, Ace," he said with a determined voice, even though the tears were evident on his face, "'m gonna get stronger. More stronger, and more stronger, and more stronger, and more stronger, so I can protect everyone."
"You do that, Luffy," Ace said fondly as he crouched down to pat the boy's head. "We'll help you because we have to get stronger too."
"As do we," Fukaboshi said coming up from behind them.
"Hoshi brothers," Luffy said as he sat up on the mound of dirt.
"We will get stronger too, in order to protect what is dear to us," the oldest brother said as his two younger brothers nodded in agreement.
"You mad at me?" Luffy sniffled as more tears came down. "I was there, and I didn't save her."
Ryuboshi floated over to the young boy and pulled him into a hug. "We're not mad at you. There is nothing to be mad about. It wasn't your fault."
"Yes, it is," he cried and clutched the prince's shirt. "I was there!"
Fukaboshi placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's as you said. We have to get stronger, strong enough to protect those dear to us. We're not mad at you. So do not blame yourself."
Luffy sat up and wiped the tears off his face. "Okay," he sniffled. "I'm gonna get more stronger."
"You should get going," the older prince said. "Your captain has been waiting for you. We'll play again the next time you visit."
-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/
A/N: Opps. This one came out long. I didn't know where to stop this chapter. :P