Chapter 18

It's a beautiful thing to
meet someone who makes
you forget your troubles.

- unknown

Luffy didn't wake until early the next morning. When he did, he found that everything was dark. Too dark. He made a noise of confusion. The was a slight sound of movement to his right. He turned his head but couldn't make an outline of anyone, but he knew who it was.

"Trao? What happened? I can't see," he whined. "My throat hurts."

"Oh good, you're coherent," Law said in relief, putting down the tranq gun that he had been pointing at his sister with as a precaution. He held out a glass of water and guided it to Luffy's hands.

"Co-what?"

"Nothing," Law waved off, not in the mood to explain. He's tired from staying up most of the night, keeping an eye on Luffy. He and the Red Hair Pirate's doctor had been taking turns watching the boy. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Luffy scrunched his face up in thought. "Somebody threw something at me and Sabo. I thought it was that yummy sweet thing that Thatch likes to use on dessert, but it taste yucky, and it hurt my eyes." Then his face turned to Law as he just remembered something. "How's Sabo and Ace?"

"They're fine, probably still sleeping. It's still very early in the morning. It was just you and Sabo-ya that were targeted, so Ace-ya is unharmed. Sabo-ya just lost his sight for the time being. His sight should come back some time today. Yours should return soon too. You ended up getting the most of it due to your lack of height," Law explained.

"Okay," Luffy had sat up on the bed and kicked his feet back and forth as he listened to his brother. "Ace caught him? Is that who's in Marco's room?"

"Yes," Law said, unsurprised that Luffy knew. He and the other three already knew about Luffy's extraordinary Observation Haki. He's lip twitched upward as he told his sister why the boy did what he did.

"So he's a good guy," Luffy stated. "He just want to help Ace, even though Ace don't need help."

"That's right."

"I'm hungry."

Law laughed at the grumble from Luffy's stomach. "Let's get dressed and wake the other's up."

Luffy cheered and got up to run to his other brothers after being dressed by Law, only to slam into the infirmary's wall. Law just sighed and opened the door for him and held his hand to guide him through the hall.

Ace and Sabo were the first to be woken up with Luffy jumping on their shared bed. Ace yelled in pain when Luffy accidentally jostled his bruised leg. Luckily it wasn't broken like he'd thought.

"Ace! Are you okay? What happened?" Luffy patted him all over.

Ace managed to laugh it off and told him that it was just a prank gone wrong. He, Benn, and Law got a few small cuts, but they were fine. "I gotta learn to not pull a prank without Sabo double checking it."

Law and Luffy left them to get ready and went to the room across to find that Marco was already awake and dressed. The man caught Luffy when the boy launched himself at him.

"Good to see you're awake, Luffy-yoi," Marco ruffled his hair.

"Did I sleep long? I had a good nap," Luffy giggled.

"I think you slept most of the day yesterday-yoi." Marco fumbled with the boy in his arm when Luffy decided to lean back and hang upside to look at the person standing next to them.

"Hi! What's your name? I'm Luffy." He reached out both hands to touch the other person's face.

"I'm Jeff," he answered nervously. He was afraid of this boy. The kid was more dangerous than any of the older pirates on board.

"Trao told me you tried to save Ace. So don't be scared. You're a good person. Thank you."

"Huh? But I attacked you. I'm not a good person," he mumbled.

"No, you're a good person. I say so," Luffy said with conviction. Then he tilted his head with his hand still on Jeff's head. "Hey, how old are you? You're taller than me, but you're still shorter than Ace and Sabo though. I'm 13!"

"Thirteen?! You're short!" Jeff couldn't help but shout. Really, Luffy confused him. First, he thanked him for attempting to save his brother that didn't need saving. Then, he says he's a good person, even though he was that one that attacked him and his brother. Now, he's saying he's older than him, even though Luffy only looked about ten or so. "And why are you wearing a dress?"

"I am? Trao says I'm portable," Luffy smiled brightly. "Dresses are pretty. Wonder what it looks like today. So? How old are you?" He wound his arms around Jeff's neck, signaling to Marco to let go so he can hang off of the other boy's back.

"I'm 11. You're light," Jeff said in surprise. How can someone older than him be so small and light? Is this what happens to someone who became a slave at a young age? Then he realized what Luffy just said. "You can't see?"

"I'm hungry," Luffy said.

"Why are you hanging off me?" Jeff asked uncomfortably as they walked up to the deck.

"Because I want to."

Marco laughed. "It's because he can't see inanimate objects-yoi. He might just end up tripping over something."

"He ran into the wall earlier," Law said. "At least it's only temporary."

"Oh, I know!" Luff exclaimed. "Jeff lives on this island right? Can you take us on a tour?"

"But you can't see."

"It's okay. I don't need to see. I wanna eat. Oh!" He jumped off his ride and ran across the deck and launched himself at Shanks's back. "Shanks!"

"How did he know?" Jeff asked bewildered.

"Just remember that Luffy is special-yoi. There aren't many people like him who can tell whose presence is whose. Most of us can only tell if someone is there or not, sometimes determining whether they are enemy or ally," Marco explained.

"Special indeed," Law mused. "I still don't understand how he's alive. It seemed like he had a lethal dosage of that sedative. I mean, we did lose him for a good five minutes."

"I'm sorry," Jeff hung his head. He really didn't mean to hurt anyone.

"Luffy's forgiven you, so don't think about it anymore," Ace said limping up behind them, while guiding Sabo.

"Let me guess," Sabo grumbled, "Lu's running around like he can see just fine."

"Only if there's nothing to trip over," Law grinned. "What did you run into?"

"Everything and everyone," Sabo sighed. "Ran into Yasopp on the way out of the bathroom. Stupid Ace did nothing to help."

"You know-yoi," Marco said, "this is a good chance to practice your Observation Haki. You can get a small glimpse of how Luffy sees the world-yoi."

"Yeah, but his doesn't turn off, and it's tiring," Sabo whined like Luffy would.

"Oh, Benn," Luffy looked at the man over Shanks's shoulder, "Ace said you got hurt in one of his prank. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Benn answered slowly, confused as to how Luffy knew he was there but picked up on the lie Ace set up. "It wasn't too bad."

"Okay, good. Let's eat. Jeff said he's going to take us somewhere yummy."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Shanks grinned at the approaching group.

"Yeah! So, food!" Luffy cheered as he jumped off Shanks's back and grabbed Jeff's hand to pull him to where he remembered the plank was, only to run into a barrel that someone left.

The rest followed and watched as Luffy got back up and dragged Jeff down the plank, trip and roll off the plank with Jeff, run across the pier, weave around a few people, and run into the wall of the bar. Luffy just laughed and got back up and used his hands to feel his way to the door and ran inside with Jeff still on the ground, rubbing his sore bottom.

"I thought I was supposed to lead him," Jeff said as they arrived.

"He's hungry," Ace laughed. "So he followed his nose, and this happens to be the closest food place."

They went in to see Luffy sitting at the bar, waiting for his food. There were only a few other people sitting around at various tables enjoying their breakfast.

"What did you order, kid?" Shanks asked, sitting next to Luffy.

"Anything!"

"Then we will too," Shanks told the barmaid behind the counter. "Anything you have is fine, miss. I hope you have a lot of food. Three of these brats eat enough for ten grown men," he laughed.

Sabo laid his head on the counter in the seat on Luffy's other side. "Lu, how do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How do you walk around with your Observation Haki on all the time? It's so tiring. And how can you tell who is who?"

"I don't know. How do I turn it off?"

"Ugh!"

Luffy laughed at him before he asked. "I see lights. Some are brighter than others. All the lights feel different. Ace and Sabo's light are super bright, except when we play hide and seek. Then it's not as bright."

They all listened as they had wanted to know also.

"I don't see anything. I just feel that something is there or if it's coming towards me," Sabo grumbled. "Why is this so hard?"

"Normally, that's about right-yoi," Marco said to Sabo. "From what I've learned from everyone else, you usually sense that something is there. Once you get used to that, you'll eventually sense if something is coming towards you and whether it's coming with ill intention or not. The three of you have gotten better at dodging attacks, so you're improving-yoi."

Food came and they ate. A few minutes later a woman came in a took a seat at a table near the door. Luffy paused in his eating for a moment, before he picked up his plate to sit with the lady without a word to them. The others continued eating but kept an eye on the boy who started chatting with the woman.

They watched as the woman stared at the strange little boy in bewilderment as he started talking. Then she gave him a small warm smile, which Luffy returned brightly, and she started talking with the boy. After he finished talking, he came back to them, leaving his empty plate with the lone woman.

"What was that about?" Ace asked. Luffy just hummed questioningly. "Why did you go to talk to that lady?"

"Oh. She was sad, so I went to talk to her. She said she didn't know what to do with her baby because she don't like the man that gave her the baby. So I told her that people shouldn't be judged by their blood. That's what Grandpops says, right? Babies don't do bad things. She has to teach the baby good things," Luffy started on his next plate that was set in front of him. "Like me, right? Ace and Sabo taught me lots of good things."

"You are full of surprises, brat," Shanks ruffled Luffy's hair fondly.

"Really?" he tilted head.

"Yes, you are. How did you know what that lady needed?" Shanks leaned his head into his hand with his elbow resting on the counter.

"Sounds like she was crying. She was sad, and I asked her why she was sad. She asked what she should do with a monster's child or something like that. I told her babies are not monsters. Monsters are the big scaring things, and babies are small and cute. So not monsters."

"She wasn't crying-yoi," Marco said, concern clear in his eyes.

"Maybe you need to get your ears checked," Luffy shrugged, causing the rest of them question the boy's hearing. They all knew for certain the woman wasn't crying. Her face had been dry since she came in, though they could tell she was upset about something. But now she seems satisfied with the world.

"And here I thought he was some happy-go-lucky idiot," Benn laughed.

"He is," Law, Ace, and Sabo said.

"He has his moments-yoi," Marco said fondly. "I think this is what Queen Otohime was talking about, being able to hear people's heart-yoi."

The barmaid came by once again with another plate for the three black holes. "Thank you," she said softly to Luffy. "I don't know what you said to her, but she seems happier."

"You a friend of hers?" Shanks asked.

"Everyone here are friends, especially after you brought us here together," she laughed. "We talk a lot. I guess we're good friends. She's been down ever since finding out she was pregnant with a noble's child. She didn't know whether she should keep it or not. And if she kept it, she worried that he or she would be treated like a monster because of it's unknown father." She looked to her friend worriedly.

"'We are all children of the sea.' Grandpops said that to us," Ace said quietly. "Bloodline means nothing, we're our own person."

"I'll be sure to tell her that," the kind barmaid said, "and the others. She's not the only one, you know."

"I'm not surprised," Marco said. "Life as a slave is harsh-yoi."

"Yeah," Sabo said sadly. "You can't fight back. Even when you know you can easily overpower them strength wise. The master finds your weakness and holds it against you."

"But you're all free now," Ace smiled for her. "That's all that matters."

-*/-*/-/*

After spending the whole day with the pirates, Jeff wasn't sure what to think of Luffy. The teen would bounce here and there, run into things, constantly ask for food, and say very strange and childish things. Was he really older than him? Is this person really thirteen? Even worst is when his brothers seem to just let him do whatever the kid wants and buys whatever he wants.

"You guys are spoiling him," Jeff commented to Ace.

"That's because he's our sunshine. He shines bright even in a dark cell. As long as he smiles, we know everything is good. He's the reason me and Sabo found a will to live again," Ace said before walking towards a cotton candy vendor.

Jeff looked at him in confusion when Marco walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's with the face, kid-yoi?"

"Luffy. He's weird. He acts like a kid but sometimes says adult things. Ace, Sabo, and Law just indulge him."

"You've heard Ace and Sabo's story. Can you imagine having to raise a toddler at their young age-yoi? I think they did a great job under their circumstance. They've raised him to live his life the fullest, to live his life with no regrets. You should do the same-yoi," Marco gave him a smile. "Just so you know, those three aren't the only ones that spoils him rotten. He lives on a ship with over a thousand siblings who fell in love with his bright attitude towards life, and yet, he's still selfless-yoi. It's been five years, and he still blames himself for Shanks's arm."

"What happened to Shanks's arm?" Jess asked in surprised curiosity. It was something a lot of the people on the island has been wondering about but never asked.

"Luffy was kidnapped by someone we trusted," Marco hissed the last word, "and then tossed into the sea. This was right after the three of them ate their Devil Fruit, so he couldn't swim. I don't think he was ever taught to swim, now that I think about it. A sea king was about to eat him, but Shanks gave up his arm in order to save him-yoi."

They were interrupted by Sabo's cheer inside a bookstore. "I can see! I can see!" they could hear him from the streets.

They went into see him lifting Luffy in the air and spinning him around. The two outside looked at each other and smiled.

Jeff now understands, or as much as his young mind could and decided that he wants to be like them. To live life without regret.

Later that evening, Ace and Sabo asked if they could spend the night in the forest for old time's sake. While Law, Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and Jeff trekked through the dark forest with their oil lantern, Ace and Sabo told stories of when they lived with Dadan and about their tree house they never got to finish. Eventually, Luffy asked Jeff what his childhood was like.

"My hometown was on a small island in South Blue. I was an only child and lived with both of my parents. Everyday was fun, even though I had to help out in the fields. There were times when I snuck out on my chores to play with the other kids," he said with a fond smile before it turned into a frown. "I'm not sure what happened, but one night, this guy came and took me from my room. I remember yelling for help and my parents coming out of their room, but the guy killed them. This was two years ago. Shanks offered to take me back, but I don't think I can live there without remembering what happened. Right now, I'm staying with this really nice old lady who took care of me while I was a slave with her."

Luffy just hummed, thoughts miles away. "What about Trao?"

"I'm from North Blue. I had a younger sister. We both wanted to be doctors like our parents. I'd like to think I had a very normal childhood. I went to school, had friends to talk and play with even though I wasn't very sociable," Law shrugged.

Ace and Sabo purposefully tripped Jeff before he could open his mouth to ask Luffy about his childhood.

"Why are you asking? You've never been interested before," Law asked, distracting Luffy from Jeff's fall.

Luffy looked up at him in surprise before giving a blinding smile, "Just wondering," he sang before running ahead of the group, laughing as he swung from one branch to the next.

"Hey, wait!" Law shouted with his arm reaching out to stop Luffy, only to realize Luffy hadn't trip over anything since they've left Marco. "When did he get his sight back?" he asked the three behind him, who only shrugged in confusion before they all ran after Luffy.

-*/-*/-*/

When the pirates boarded their ship to go back home the next day after lunch, Jeff stopped Luffy from following the rest of the crew up the ship. There was something he wanted to say. After a whole day of observing and spending time with Luffy, Jeff has come to a realization. "I really admire you. You always seem so happy, and, and...and I just want to say that I'm going to try to live like you. To live without regrets."

Luffy answered with a smile. "That's how you should. Never regret anything you choose to do. That's why I forgive you for saving Ace. You are a good person. Oh, yeah," he took out a piece of paper and tore a piece to give to him. "When you can sail on your own, follow this paper. I think you'd like the people there. Just tell them I sent you. Oh, but you'll have to train to get stronger though, or maybe they want smart people. Whatever. They'll like you because you're a good person, and you want to help."

"Also," Jeff looked up at the pirates waiting for Luffy on the ship and back to Luffy, his face a little red, "I think I like you, and I hope I can see you again," he said quickly. He gave Luffy a peck on the cheek before taking off.

Hearing the cheers, whistles, and curses behind him, Luffy looked up at his friends and family in confusion. Marco had to hold Ace and Sabo back from jumping ship and roasting the kid, even though he wants to do the same. Law, on the other hand, was glaring in the direction that Jeff took.

"Seems you got yourself a crush, kid," Shanks said as Luffy walked up the plank.

"I didn't crush anything," the young teen tilted his head in confusion.

"Luffy," Ace said seriously, "you are not allowed near that asshole every again!"

"Huh? Who?"

"Never mind that," Law interrupted. "Luffy-ya, if anyone ever asks you to marry them, say no. You are not allowed to get married until we say you can. Got it?"

"Why?"

"Because I say so. Now promise me that you'll say no if anyone ever asks you to marry them."

"Ok."

"Good thinking-yoi," Marco sighed in relief. At least he doesn't have to worry about the most troublesome of his four getting married without his consent. "And no boyfriend or girlfriend-yoi."

"What's that?" Marco and the three teens sighed in frustration and went on to attempt to persuade their youngest to never date anyone as the rest of the Red Hair Pirates laugh at their over protectiveness.

"And if anyone touches you funny, let me know. I'll rip his family jewels off and burn it right in front of him," Ace said dangerously.

-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/

A/N: Yeah, I have no idea if this thing is a bad cold or allergies. So annoying. I didn't feel like giving this chapter one last read through. My head hurts.

As for Law's ya, I'll just start it now and will fix the other chapters later today, maybe. :P

I think I'm going to write a sequel. Maybe. Ideas and stuff keeps popping in my mind. Also because it sounds like some people are interested in it? So many maybes.

And Toolazytologin: I laughed really hard at your review and really thought about it. But no. XD