- I Protect You -

I rarely ever take walks through the town, especially alone- I occasionally run into people I've met and talked to about Roger and the whole what if scenario of him having a son. It's very depressing because nobody had anything positive to say, it was always the same answer.

Luffy was the first person who openly expressed his need for me, and that he wanted me to live. Since hearing his answer it is the only thing I need to think about when I feel doubt about my existence, it's provided me with solace, peace of mind and I know now why I must continue living and it's for his sake and to keep a promise to Sabo- I will protect and look after Luffy till my very last breath.

I suppose, since it's almost nightfall that I should be heading back… I just figured a nice walk after such a big dinner would do me some good and since I'm alone it's given me some time to think. I will admit though that it does feel weird not having Luffy tailing me everywhere but it seems he headed out somewhere into town just after dinner- I should know, I followed him for a while but lost him in Gray Terminal, I realized today that he can be pretty sneaky, but at least he didn't see me- I'd hate to tell him I'd been following him, I can just imagine what he'd say …

"Ace loves me! He followed me for a change! …" And all that…

Anyway, I'm not bothered what he gets up to- I mean, he's still entitled to have a private life no matter how close we are. Well… I don't want to contradict myself, but it would have been nice if he told me where he was going… I'd feel some ease then.

As I was heading towards Gray Terminal, I heard some strange noises… almost like chanting. The voices sounded childish and definitely belonged to boys around my age, and there was quite a few of them.

I decided to see what was going on; if it was a brawl then it could provide me with some entertainment before I went home… plus, I was kind of in the mood for fighting as well, so maybe if it got out of hand or they noticed me maybe I could show those kids a thing or two- this definitely sounded like a plan.

I walked past a few shady adults lingering in Gray Terminal and rounded the corner where the loud chanting was coming from. It was strange how none of the adults had bothered to see what was going on… but then again since they were most likely kids, who the hell would care? I mean, one of them must have lost in a game or something trivial like that… if that was the case then it would hardly be worth my time. But you rarely ever see kids hanging about in Gray Terminal aside from myself, Luffy and Sabo when he was alive- so this was definitely a sight to behold.

At first I decided to inspect what was going on before jumping into the battle, I stood behind a pile of garbage and debris which was able to hide my presence completely to them, but I was able to see everything that was unfolding in front of me.

I saw a group of four kids, who were roughly my age, maybe a little younger all picking on some kid, I couldn't see who it was since he had been cornered into a heap of garbage which was hiding him from my sight. All this time they had been chanting 'freak' and 'loser' continuously and it was really starting to bug me… why didn't that kid just get up and knock them out? They hardly looked tough; anyone could easily take them on in a fight and win, unless they were someone as weak as… as…

Oh god… I thought… that's when my mind suddenly panicked, it couldn't be Luffy that they were picking on… could it?

"I am not weak! You'll see, I can send you all flying with one blow!"

The kids all laughed amongst themselves and continued trapping him in that small corner, there was still a chance it might not have been Luffy, but then again who was I fooling? There was only one stubborn kid in the whole of the Goa Kingdom with that childish, loud-mouth, bratty voice who couldn't back up any of his threats, who was actually a freak because his devil fruit gave him the ability to stretch his skin and deflect bullets, not only that but he wanted to become a pirate when he couldn't even swim- if that kid wasn't Luffy then I shouldn't be stood here right now- so, basically… it is him.

I didn't want to run to his aid… I'm guessing he had gotten himself into this somehow, someway, and if I ran over to beat those kids up for him, it would emaciate him… and I just didn't want to make him feel any weaker than he already is. You'd think he'd be able to handle a bunch of kids who were considerably weaker than me, those monsters we've fought in the forest and especially the Bluejam pirates… this should've been a breeze!

But when I thought about it more, those kids were being harsh and I mean really harsh… they were really letting him have it verbally, calling him all sorts of names that would make anyone break apart and loose focus in a fight. Plus he'd been backed up into a corner of garbage, they could all easily jump him and he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight even if he wanted to.

I continued listening to them for a couple of minutes but it was beginning to become unbearable- it was making me break down as well. I knew that if it was Luffy over there, then he was probably crying his eyes out and secretly wishing for me to come to his rescue… let me tell you, nothing and I mean, nothing makes me angrier or more protective over my Luffy than something or someone making him cry… especially when this was the reason.

Even if that wasn't Luffy, and I knew deep down that it was- there was no way that I was gonna let these kids pick on whoever it was – it's not really my sort of thing to care about anyone other than Luffy- but I would be a true monster if I didn't help out.

I walked out from behind the debris and marched over quickly- as I got closer to the scene my eyes confirmed my worst fears. Yes, it was Luffy and he was crying, he'd been back into the corner and he was sat with his legs pulled up to his chest- he was staring at them menacingly but he wasn't saying anything to them- he was just listening to them laugh at him and continue to pick on him.

One of the kids noticed me walking over and directed the others to look, they didn't seem too afraid at first, they were even laughing at the demonic stare I was giving them- they knew I was coming over to help, it was obvious. I approached the toughest looking one, who was most likely the leader and he in turn approached me.

"Get out of here asshole" He said to me, I wasn't going to let him off easily, not after saying that and definitely not after calling Luffy all that horrible shit. I was hoping that since I had caught all of there attention, that Luffy would get up and run back home- but instead he just got up and came round so he was stood behind my back, lightly holding onto my arm for protection- he was shaking, not so much that the others would notice but once you touched him it was as clear as day.

They all laughed at Luffy's actions, which only made me madder. "Shut up…" I mumbled angrily at first... But as they continued laughing at Luffy, I realized I had to scream it at them- "Shut up!" They went silent and looked at each other worriedly- I had them on the ropes "Get lost before I rip each of your hearts out and feed them to the numerous beasts living in that forest!" A ferocious roar echoed from the forest as they looked over- that had scared them half to deaf, they must've known by now that we lived in that forest and we had easily beaten half of the monsters living within its reaches…. I could only think about the incredible timing that creature decided to roar.

"Oh yeah?" The leader egged me on- I guess I hadn't scared him enough.

"Yeah! And which one of you dimwits has been picking on my little brother then?" I questioned… aside from the leader, the others shook their heads frantically and pointed at the leader. I was trying to assert myself to let them know that I wasn't going to back down, even if this ended in a fight- I would not loose, especially since I had Luffy to protect.

"What of it?" He replied "He's weak and you know- weak kids should know their place. There's no way a kid made of rubber is gonna be the pirate king- he'd be lucky to even be a pirate! Besides, he brought this on himself." He replied, he knew how I felt- pissed off and enraged but still he remained tough in front of his weaker friends.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, we invited him to play a game with us, right guys?" He turned around and the others now nodded, even more frantically then they shook their heads before. "He lost and couldn't handle it, so then he started threatening us- saying he could take us in all in a fight and you know, that's just uncalled for, we didn't mean to upset your little bro, but he asked for it."

I turned around and saw that Luffy was still slightly upset, but looking a lot better now that I was here- he had even stopped shaking. "Is that true?" He shook his head… "No! They told me last night that they thought my power was cool and they invited me to play with them today, but when I got here they started bullying me and forced me into that corner- they even hit me a few times!" He showed me a couple of bruises on his arms and legs- that was all I needed to see, I trusted Luffy a hell of a lot more than these losers, I looked back at them menacingly…

The leader backed up slowly- he could tell I was even more pissed than before… "Awh, come on dude! We were just joking!" The leader replied after seeing the bruise marks on Luffy's skin. From saying such a thing, it was obvious that Luffy was telling the truth as well… "We didn't realize he was yourlittle brother!" It seemed like they had at least heard about me… everyone in town knew I attacked people for their fortune- guess I was getting pretty famous already…

"And if he wasn't would that still make it alright? To go round beating up little kids cause they're different?"

They all shook their heads frantically… hah, this was pretty amusing! There was no way they were gonna attack me now, I could see the fear in their eyes- they were about ready to make a run for it. If I could tackle adults and steal their money within moments then these kids wouldn't stand a chance!

"Touch my brother again and I will have your heads- and stay out of Gray Terminal, this is my turf!" I said angrily… within moments they dashed away like bolts of lightning, I knew I wouldn't have to deal with them again and neither would Luffy, thank god. "Come on you, it's getting late." I said- I really was a good big brother wasn't I?

He smirked widely and hugged my arm tightly "Thanks Ace!" He said, I scratched the back of my head and looked away to hide any embarrassment that was showing up on my face. "You're such a pain in the backside, you know that?"

He continued smirking and said, "maybe one day, I can feel that pain in my backside too!" …

I couldn't even comprehend what he had just said to me… "What?" was all I could say… where the hell did that come from?

"I mean- maybe one day I can say to you- You're such a pain in the backside, Ace!" He laughed uncontrollably from his own crude joke… thank god he did not mean the other thing. I breathed a sigh of relief and rolled my eyes… "Right…" I said, I took hold of his hand and started pulling him towards the forest.

"Where we goin?" He asked me, "Home" I said.

From the area of the fight to the edge of the forest, Luffy had remained quiet- I guess he was thinking about what had just happened- I hope he didn't feel guilty or anything. I understand he wanted to make other friends, but half the kids in this kingdom are really horrible and hardly open to making friends with people like us. It's best for him to remain with me, I know I can make him happy if he'd give me a chance.

"I'm real sorry about that Ace- I wanted to fight them but they were being so mean to me that I just couldn't move-" His voice suddenly saddened and that made me stop walking, he was still pretty upset about what those kids had been calling him. From what he had said, made me instinctively turn round and hug him tightly, and we remained in our deep embrace for a good few minutes- hopefully no one was watching. "You'll always have your big bro to back you up, so don't go thinking your alone, kay? You don't need other friends when you've got me. You're special Luffy; you just don't see it yet." I said to comfort him, it kind of made me smile as well… and I'm not really sure why.

Luffy pulled back a little from the hug and looked up at me… "Am I really that special?" He pondered.

"Well- you're special to me! That's why when I saw you like that I ran over to help you, someone has to look out for you anyway- you're still pretty weak." I mocked, probably wasn't a good time for it, but he knew I was kidding.

He stuck his tongue out at me and I could only smile and pull him back into the hug… I really do like it when I can protect you.

I'm gonna write a sequel to this chapter- it'll be short but I'm sure you'll like it (: Reviews?