Disclaimer: Same as always.

When the police investigators finally left, only Luffy and Sabo remained in the room. "You should never do anything like that. Never again." Sabo was standing next to Luffy with a neutral expression. His eyes were so devoid of any trace of emotion and his features gaze was so cold that it sent a shiver down the young raven-haired boy's spine. Despite this, the younger's resolve wouldn't be affected and his will to help his friends wasn't weakened at all. It was stronger than ever.

"You know I won't listen to you, why do you even bother?" Sabo's expression still didn't change.

"Because I don't want you to die the way I did." Luffy flinched.

"I won't."

Sabo sighed. There was something about mediums and psychics in general, they all seemed to have a death wish. Every one of them, at least the ones he had known had wanted to help others at the cost of their lives. Even him, he had tried helping others and to prevent his own death but he couldn't. At least, he hadn't died alone.

"If you do, Ace wouldn't be able to go on. He lost everyone else the same way." Luffy nodded slowly.

"I won't leave Ace alone in this world." Sabo took a step closer to Luffy.

"I just want both of you to live."

Sabo went to put his hand on the younger's cheek but passed through as always. He quickly brought his clenched fists to his chest and bit his lips before returning to the window with blurry eyes.

"Luffy!" Four young teens entered the room almost in a panicked mood as the approached their hospitalized friend. He was still laying in his bed with a scrunched face as the pain in his shoulder came and went.

"Are you alright?" Vivi asked first. The blue-haired girl had been pretty worried. Nami had called not long ago to tell her Luffy had been sent to the hospital due to him getting shot, she could hardly wrap her head around this before Nami revealed that her mother's body had been found. The two girls couldn't really decide what was the most shocking between the two, both news had been overwhelming. Not long after that, they had contacted Zoro and Sanji with the same information. Even if they were less affected by the information, both of them had been surprised and confused by it. Especially Sanji. He had noticed since the first day that Luffy was hiding something, and somehow, he thought him finding Bellemere's body wasn't just a coincidence. Just as he had thought it was weird Luffy knew his mother's name. Just as he had thought it wasn't normal to speak to air.

"I am, mostly. Nami, and you, are you alright?" Luffy had asked in concern. Her eyes were puffed red and she was sniffing a bit. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were unfocused too. Nami looked up at him and tried to nod, but she couldn't. Her legs were on the verge of giving out from under her.

She came closer and took Luffy into a hug before she started crying softly. Luffy bit back a hiss of discomfort as pain shot through his wound and started rubbing her back in circles slowly. Vivi came behind Nami and put her hand on her shoulder. Sanji and Zoro looked down in silence as they all untangled themselves and took a place around Luffy's hospital bed. The psychic grunted as he tried sitting up before Zoro started helping him.

"How did that happen?" Zoro spoke out the question on everyone's mind. They had all been really curious on how did Luffy of all people ended up in the hospital. Nami had heard the big lines from the officer that had come to her house, but not in details. The raven haired boy didn't look like the kind of guy who would randomly take strolls down a river or in the forest, but they hardly knew anything about him.

"I had to go visit someone in the town outside Cocoyashi, but I got there early and decided to take a walk down the river. I lost track of time and ended up pretty far, I saw something in the water and called the police." He had repeated the story in his head a few times before the little group had arrived. It was Sabo who had reminded him that he had new people who wanted to know about him and cared outside of him and Ace and those people couldn't know the whole truth. They looked at him expectantly and he furrowed his brows.

"What?"

The sighed. "What happened after that?" Sanji said curiously.

Luffy froze. He hadn't really thought of how to explain the rest since it was still a bit hazy. He settled to say exactly what he remembered, without the psychic part.

"Mr. Arlong came and tried to shoot me, but he missed and I ran into the forest," Nami stopped him.

"He is known as one of the best shots, how could he have missed?" Luffy shrugged nervously.

"He must have been under a lot of pressure, he knew if I didn't die, he would go to jail... So... He missed." They all seemed to accept the answer, but Sanji was frowning a bit still as he had noticed Luffy's nervousness at the question.

"I ran and ran... It's still a little fuzzy, he shot me and hit my shoulder... I ran again until I collapsed a few steps outside of the town... I don't remember everything well..." They nodded and looked at Luffy's shoulder. He was stiff and looked tired, but outside of this, he didn't seem to be shaken by the incident. Any other 13 years old would be crying and maybe screaming in pain or in terror after this, but he seemed to manage his emotions incredibly well. Of course, he had been scared, but he had been through worse. At least now he had the strength to run away, it was better than being trapped in one place as you helplessly look at one of your biggest fear in the eye.

He shivered. The little group was talking while Sabo and Kuina were casually exchanging the real details of today's events when the door burst open.

"Hey, Luffy, are you alright?" It was a curly haired boy who had entered the room panting as he had run as fast as he could to get there. He approached the bed not really minding the surprised stares he got, and one of recognition coming from Sanji. Luffy giggled.

"How did you learn about it so fast?" Usopp took a large breath as he tried to calm down from all his running.

"Your... brother, I think, called your professor Shanks to tell him you wouldn't be there tomorrow since you were in the hospital and he told my father since they were hanging out together in our house and I was in the room, so I heard and ran here to see if you were okay, I know you got shot, are you alright?" Luffy smiled sheepishly as he looked at the curly haired boy.

"Of course I am!" Everyone else looked at them in surprise. Nami, Vivi, Sanji and Zoro never really thought Luffy had some other friends.

"Who are you?" The two girls shouted, Zoro didn't really care and Sanji somewhat recognized the boy since he had seen Luffy go to his house.

"My name is Usopp! I am Luffy's..." The boy thought about it for a few seconds. He didn't really know how to describe it since he had seen Luffy twice and hadn't been really friendly. He could say he was an acquaintance, but he wouldn't care enough about an acquaintance to rush to the hospital the second he learned about it.

"He's a friend." The medium smiled. Usopp blinked before he nodded with a smile too. Somehow, Luffy was helping heal his heart from the ache he had been enduring ever since Kaya died just by being there. In his eyes you could see he cared and that he knew exactly what you were going through. He felt like he had someone to lean on in case he would need it. It was reassuring.

Zoro shrugged and accepted it easily, rolling with whatever happened. Vivi went to Usopp and started trying to know a bit more about the newcomer. Nami simply smiled sheepishly and sat on a chair while Sanji was trying to understand what he was missing. He remembered what he heard Luffy say when he was alone on the porch of the curly-haired teen, but he couldn't understand their meaning.

"What are you going to do now?"

Sanji froze. Was he talking to him? He turned back to see Luffy on the porch talking to... nothing.

"Really? Well, that is probably a good thing. I will miss you, you know."

Sanji looked at Luffy with a frown. The other teen was smiling as if he was talking to someone. He couldn't fake that to get attention or be talking to anyone around.

It simply didn't fit all together. He was missing a piece of the puzzle. He bit his lips in frustration. When he had confronted Luffy, his words were confusing him more than helping him.

I... can't explain.

Maybe Luffy was hiding something horrible. Maybe he was sick. Maybe Luffy was delusional. He wanted to know since the only thing he knew was that Luffy wasn't normal. Today's events just proved it. Nobody would come back from a traumatic and near death experience and smile. Luffy was smiling right now. It was hard to see this. See someone so carefree and happy when you were still burdened with some things that happened so long ago.

"Are you okay Sanji?" Sanji snapped to the injured teen in the hospital bed in front of him. Luffy was actually worried about him when he was the reckless one. His eyes showed too much compassion and understanding, it was almost irritating. It was as if Luffy already knew what he was thinking, why he was angry, why he was confused and why he was scared.

"Why are you concerned about anyone but yourself at this moment? Aren't you the one who almost got yourself killed?" He replied almost angrily. Luffy didn't flinch at the outburst. He smiled.

"Almost, like you said, I am not dead. I am okay for now, so why worry? Other people have worse problems than mine's." Sanji glanced at Nami. She was still very silent and was on a chair in the corner of the room. He looked down in shame and bit his lips.

"I guess you are right." He walked over to the orange haired girl and tried to get her to smile. It was sweet, Luffy thought, friendship was something he wanted now more than anything. He was sure he had acquired it, but even if Usopp seemed to now enjoy his company, Zoro didn't really care about who he hung out with, Vivi loved everyone and Nami was almost completely saved, Sanji doubted him. When he would tell them all the truth, would they leave him behind? He didn't know... He couldn't tell them now. He was too scared of losing them. He didn't want to lose anyone else.

I should've let you drown.

He felt a pang in his chest. The pain was worse than the one in his shoulder. Maybe his friends wouldn't accept him when they would learn about him.

"What are you going to do now Nami?" Sanji said as he sat next to her.

"I am going to stay with Vivi until Uncle Genzo finishes setting everything for me and Nojiko to go live with him." The girl smiled weakly. If she looked at the situation from a new angle, it was better now. Arlong couldn't hurt her and she knew what happened to her mother. They were going to have her funerals next Saturday, but she preferred not thinking too much about it. It was hard to do so.

"If you need someone to talk to, you can come to me. I can understand what you are going through." Sanji tried to smile, but it was forced. Nami's eyes widened in realization. They had known for a while about Sanji's mother, but he never talked about it. He was the type who would hide his emotions from others. Actually, the three boys in the room were, well, there was also Usopp, but she didn't know him yet. Zoro was really calm and relaxed about everything. Sanji smiled and was charming all the time and Luffy wasn't... truthful. It took her a while to see it, but really thinking about it made her realize Luffy would wear fake smiles and hide everything behind his mask. Even now after getting shot, he was smiling.

It didn't weird her out, make her mad or curious about Luffy, it just made her sad. Sanji, Zoro and Luffy were similar in that way, they would stay strong and keep the pain to themselves.

A few hours later when the sun had already set, Luffy was sleeping and Ace was sitting next to the bed in silence. He and Sabo didn't dare utter a word since they were worried it would wake the youngest up. He looked so small and fragile on the white hospital bed. His skin was still pale due to the blood loss stress on his body and he was barely moving. The only sign that he was still alive the slow rhythm of his chest rising and falling as he was breathing.

The door creaked open loudly. Ace and Sabo sharply turned their heads to the door and looked who was coming in. They expected a nurse or a doctor, but no.

"Hi, Ace. Is Luffy alright? I got a call telling me he was here." His voice was soft and considerate. The eldest brother had never heard this man talk with so much concern.

"Yes... He will be able to leave tomorrow or the day after since nothing serious was damaged. Still, they don't want him to move too much because of the stitches and want to make a few check ups before he leaves." Ace's words were sharp and said really quickly. He hadn't thought anyone else would come today and the man's visit was a real surprise.

The man sighed. "You know I care about you two." Ace's eyes narrowed.

"You have an odd way of showing your affection." He returned his gaze to Luffy's sleeping form. " Luffy and I will soon be able to live without having to deal with any of you. We will cut you both out of our lives for good like you always wanted." The man took a large breath.

"I never wanted that and he probably doesn't either." Ace looked angrier and angrier by the second.

"Then why isn't he here?"

"Ace. I don't think he did anything wrong. Give your grandfather a chance." Sabo spoke. Ace sighed and nodded.

"I can forgive you, Garp, I could even consider you part of mine and Luffy's family, but not Dragon. He was never a father to him." Garp lifted his eyes to meet with Ace's with a severe stare.

"He has been. Only once."

It was true. Dragon had been a father to Luffy only once in his life before he started glaring at him like he was a demon or a freak of nature. Luffy had almost drowned and he had jumped in the ocean's salty water the second he heard Luffy shouting. Now he would rather say he regretted doing that. Something had changed that day. He didn't know if it was Luffy, Dragon or both, but they never were the same. Every time he had a nightmare, Luffy asked for help, but Dragon sent Ace to do it for him. Every time Luffy smiled at him, his father would look down with a disgusted or disappointed glare at his only blood-related son.

Luffy deserved a father and Dragon had never been one. It wasn't really surprising he didn't come to see Luffy when he was in the hospital if he ever knew.

Garp sat next to the bed near Luffy and Ace.

"Ace... Make sure he doesn't die. I don't want him to die. Dragon probably doesn't want that either, I am sure. He is just scared." Ace frowned.

"Scared?"

"Just promise me you and Luffy won't die. I want you both to live." Ace nodded stiffly and the old man took a big breath before he sat up and walked out of the room, leaving the startled Ace behind.

"Your grandfather is a good man with a good heart. I don't know if I can say as much of your father." Sabo said thoughtfully.

"He is not mine or Luffy's father. Please don't bring it up when he will wake up." Ace said before he started passing a hand through Luffy's wild and tangled hair.

"Got it." And they didn't speak again for the rest of the night.

So we finally see Garp! I know he is a little OOC, but he is just really worried at the moment. Dragon is too, not that we really know a lot about his personality.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always,

Until next time!