I'm adding this chapter in because I feel like the crew would need a little bit of closure, after worrying about Luffy so much. Naturally, Luffy provides it without even realizing they need it.
Based on One Piece Chapters 843, 844, and 845.
This will be a tragedy. You have been warned. Also, Character Death. Again, warnings now.
Chopper stared up at Luffy with big eyes, his smile bright, looking expectant. "Luffy?" He asked at lunch, about a month and a half later.
"Hmm?" Luffy turns to look at him, mouth bulging with how overly stuffed it is, before holding out a dragon fruit to him. "Hwant soam Chopa?"
"No, no. Can I ask you something?"
"Shur." Luffy agreed with a grin, laughing even as he continued eating.
"Can you tell me more about Ace?"
It was the forbidden phrase. They hadn't thought to really ask a lot of questions about his brother after they parted ways. The Davy Back fight had led to that whole meeting with Aokiji and then Robin's betrayal. After adding Franky to their growing family, then Brook and the Thriller Bark event, it had been briefly brought up again when Lola pointed out that his life force was fading when Luffy proudly showed her his big brother's paper. Luffy himself had said they shouldn't go after Ace, though, even though Nami and the others had been ready, even tried to persuade him, to take a brief side track from their adventures. A few of them still felt guilty; they should have tried harder, done more, and maybe things would have turned out differently. And after Ace died, they just had silently agreed not to bring it up, not to push Luffy out of his comfort zone. He so very rarely showed them any weakness, they didn't want to push or hurt him more. The rest of the crew waited with bated breath as Luffy slowly chewed, looking thoughtful. "Hmmm."
He swallowed, then looked down at Chopper, grinning. "Sure! What do you want to know?"
Chopper looked excited to learn something new about Luffy. "What was he like growing up?"
"As a kid?" Luffy laughed, holding his stomach. "Shi shi shi shi! Ace hated me as a kid! We didn't get along at all!"
"Ehhhh?" Usopp leaned forward, suddenly even more invested in this conversation.
"Yup, yup! He spit in my face the first time we met and he wouldn't have anything to do with me for a very long time!" Luffy was still laughing, not seeming bothered by this conversation.
Robin smiled and closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment. Franky was outside, manning the helm, and Nami was tending her orchard. Zoro was training in the bird's nest, as well. Jimbei and Brook were just relaxing outside in the sun, having a quiet conversation about teas and the weather. It didn't seem fair to her that the rest of the crew be excluded from this conversation. Only herself, Usopp, Chopper, Sanji and Law were here. She smiles brightly at Chopper and Luffy. "Doctor Chopper, don't you think this is a conversation that would be better had outside? I think our captain could use a little fresh air, don't you?"
"Oh! Uh huh!" Chopper agreed brightly. He turned and tugged on Luffy's arm, gesturing towards the door. "You should get more fresh air!"
"Doesn't he get enough as it is already?" Usopp complained, standing up regardless and helping pick up a couple plates of food. After his last fasting session, it seemed to be the crew's new mission to make sure that Luffy always had enough to eat, whenever he wanted. It wouldn't last, couldn't, but for now they were beyond indulging of the rubber man.
"You guys go ahead. I'll join you in a minute. Just need to add some spices and then I can leave this to simmer for a couple of hours." Sanji told them absently. He, too, was incredibly curious to hear more about Ace but cooking for his captain and crew came first.
"But Chopper, Robin, my food~" Luffy complained, piling food high on a large platter and heading for the door.
"Fu fu fu fu." Robin laughed. She used her abilities to hold to door open for him before grabbing a few more plates herself. "I'll bring more if you're still hungry, captain."
"Really? Thanks, Robin, you're the best!" Luffy exclaimed, running outside. He headed straight for the grass, laying out and eating some food first. Brook came over to sit with them, sipping some tea and relaxing. Jimbei stayed by the railing, soaking up the sun and enjoying the slightly ocean spray. He could hear the conversation well enough from where he was. He felt Chopper's eyes on him and he furrowed his brow in confusion for a minute. "Oh! Wright. Ascu."
He chewed and swallowed again before sitting cross legged. He laughed, the sound naturally drawing attention from the crew. It was an endearing sound that they couldn't seem to get enough of. "Shi shi shi shi. So, yeah. Ace hated me when we first met. I can't recall how many times he tried to kill me or lose me in the woods!"
"And that's your beloved older brother?" Law drawled, clearly not impressed. Luffy turned his bright smile on him, still laughing, and the other pirate captain clucked his tongue, looking away. "Tsk. Idiot."
"Shi shi shi! Yeah, Ace called me that too~ I met him right after I last saw Shanks!" Law stiffened, not knowing the connection between the rookie and the Yonko, one of the most powerful beings in the Grand Line, but Luffy was already continuing on. As he talked, Nami came out from tending her orchard, Franky smiled while listening from the helm, and Zoro peered down, curious as to what was going on down below. He couldn't fully hear it from the bird's nest but he could see how animated Luffy was, which was always a good sign. "Gramps was real mad! He dragged me into the mountains and left me with some mountain bandits. I really didn't like them at first, cause while they weren't the same ones, mountain bandits are the ones who kidnapped me and threw me into the sea. But I couldn't fight my Gramps so I had to stay there."
"Wait, wait. Back up. Mountain bandits kidnapped you?!" Nami shrieked.
"Mmm. Yeah, when I was a kid. They were making fun of Shanks, so I got real mad and picked a fight with one of them. Shanks just got back into town and tried to stop them, but the leader kidnapped me." He recounts the entire story with no inflection of the danger.
"How old were you?!" Nami demands, her hands automatically going to her hips as she hides her concern for a young Luffy behind anger.
"Ummmm." Luffy does some quick math on his fingers before proudly displaying his answer. "I was seven!"
He laughs again before adding to his story. "Anyway, the mountain bandit ran away in a boat, carrying me along, but once he was out of the village, he didn't need me anymore. So he threw me into the ocean. I was really frustrated and scared and was sure I was going to drown and die! Shi shi shi shi! And then our local sea monster popped up and ate him. Ate him, his boat, and then looked straight at me! I tried flailing some more but an anchor is an anchor so I couldn't do anything. I was really sure I was going to die then."
His story had his crew riveted. Obviously he turned out fine, he was still alive after all, but what happened next? Luffy continued, still laughing about the whole thing, not noticing how he had them on the edges of their seats.
"That's when Shanks showed up! He grabbed me and saved me, but he lost his arm in the process. He looked at the sea monster and told it to stand down, to go away. And the amazing part is that it did!" He throws his arms wide open, with childlike glee and wonder. "Oh! He must have the King's Haki like I do! I didn't know about that back then, though. I just knew he was the coolest person in the whole wide world and he gave up his arm, just to protect me."
"So, as a child, you're saying your life was worth so much that you single handedly managed to partially cripple forever one of the Four Yonko, a man considered one of the most powerful in the Grand Line?" Law emphasized, trying to keep up.
Luffy laughed and grinned at him. "I have no idea what you just said but yeah, Shanks lost his arm because of me. And then, we made a promise. I would become Pirate King, build up a crew way better than his, and return his hat when I did."
Law huffed in annoyance. He managed to forge an alliance with the one rookie who had a personal connection, an entire past with one of the Yonko. The same rookie who was determined to beat all four Yonko. Of course he did. That was just his luck.
Luffy starts stuffing his face, looking thoughtful. "Whut were ve toaking avout agin?"
"You were telling us about how Ace hated you growing up?" Usopp replied, helping refocus his captain's story. As amazing as that story might seem to Law or some of the others, it just seemed par for the course to Usopp. After all, he's always seen what an amazing person Luffy was after meeting him.
"Oh. Right." Luffy tries to recall where he left off. "Well, after he spit in my face the first time we met, I got really mad at the time about it, too. And then, ummmm." He taps his temple thoughtfully, trying to remember back. "Well, until I actually stumbled across him and Sabo and their hidden treasure stash, he wouldn't really have anything to do with me. Then some really big guys grabbed me! They kept asking me where the treasure was- oh right! Sabo and Ace wanted to pirates when they grew up too and they were already creating a pirate treasure pile, which I accidentally found, and that made them mad! And then these big guys grabbed me but despite me telling them that I had no idea where it was, for some reason they wouldn't believe me! Isn't that odd?"
He laughs, finding that mysterious. His crew, on the other hand, all collectively sigh. They've had to deal with Luffy's terrible lying skills so they can easily imagine that it was just as bad as a kid. He would have been a dead give away the minute he started trying.
"What happened after that?" Nami asked with a sigh.
"Oh." There was a pregnant pause, which even Zoro felt, as he was coming down from the bird's nest to join them. Luffy scrunched up his face, like he was remembering something unpleasant. "Well, I almost died. They took me and beat me a lot, until I couldn't even scream anymore, according to Sabo. I don't really remember, beyond that it hurt a lot. He had metal gauntlets, which were super cool! Up until they started hitting my head and face, that is." He frowns at the memory, not exactly pained by it but not able to laugh it off like most of his others, either. Suddenly, he grinned, his face lighting up in a huge smile. "Oh, but then Sabo and Ace decided to come rescue me after all! I got a huge lecture from Ace, about how stupid it was, not telling them where the treasure was, but he agreed to be my friend after that. And then, and then!"
Luffy grew ecstatic, telling them animatedly all about growing up with Sabo and Ace. Robin watched on, chuckling quietly, enjoying how happy her captain looked. Why had they avoided this subject for so long? It was clear that he adored his brother from the start, even she had heard about it after joining the crew, yet they had avoided it for fear the memories would be painful for him. Yet here he was, defying their expectations, delighting in relaying all about how awesome his brothers were. He talked about training with them, about never winning any fights with them and how they were insanely strong. He talked about the adventures they went on, sneaking into town for food or stealing stuff. He quieted, just a bit, when he talked about Sabo being taken away and his face fell when he mentioned how Sabo supposedly died. Nami clutched her hand to her mouth, holding back a gasp and a sob, eye watering. He'd been so young at the time and of course he truly would believe that Sabo had been killed by nobles who fired upon his ship. Celestial dragons, from the sound of it, but it was clear that he didn't make the connection in his mind. Or maybe he did but Luffy was the kind of person to judge everyone by their own qualities, not to just lump on group of people together because they shared a common trait. Law gritted his teeth as he listened to Luffy talk about that time, the context of why Ace's death hit him so hard coming into sharp focus as he finished that part of the story with a few words.
"I cried all day and all night. They had to tie me to a tree, to keep me from running off. Ace came and found me the next morning, untied me. He promised me…" He falters for the first time, a look flitting across his face too quickly for them to decipher. Hurt? Disappointment? Betrayal? Resigned? Some sort of crushing feeling, naturally, before it turned into a soft, sad sort of smile. "He pr-promised me he wouldn't die." His voice falters for just a second, but the emotion in his voice is thick enough to leave a choking feeling in the air. The smile doesn't fade right away, either, as he looks down at the grass. "Guess it's impossible to keep every promise, huh?"
The tension was so thick, it could literally be cut with a knife, but Luffy simply shook his head and his usual smile was soon back in place. "Oh! But then, but then!"
And he was off again, talking about what it was like training with Ace afterwards. They didn't handle Sabo's death well, the crew could tell from the interactions after that. It was hard for them, at first, learning how to change from a three person fighting style to a two person fighting style. They clearly had enough practice, though, spending the next seven years together. Then Luffy was excitedly telling them about how Ace set sail to become a pirate. He grinned, laughing and light hearted again. "We agreed we'd set sail at 17, cause that's what Sabo wanted to do. In his honor or memory or something. It was pretty cool, watching Ace set out, and three years later, I went off myself. I sailed out of the same village where I met Shanks, beat up that stupid sea monster, and then got lost at sea! And almost died after that, when my boat was sucked into a whirlpool!" He laughs again, louder this time. "Luckily, I had an empty barrel of water so I climbed in that and floated along until someone picked me up. It was another pirate crew, which is how I met Coby, and together we sailed for a bit until we met Zoro and parted ways."
Now, Zoro could understand a whole lot better why Luffy couldn't stop crying in Dressrosa after meeting Sabo. It made so much sense. He had just literally, met the brother he thought was dead for a decade. As Luffy went back to stuffing his face, now gushing about how great the food was, the crew marveled out how well Luffy seemed to be handling the situation. Perhaps Luffy was a lot stronger mentally than they usually gave him credit for; sure he could be childish, impulsive, and prone to pouting or acting spoiled, but in a pinch, he was always ready to be what anyone needed of him.
Perhaps, they just didn't give enough credit to their captain, after all…