Hey, guys it's been a few years since I've written anything on this website, I've been planning on rewriting my stories before I post any new ones.
If you read this story before it was edited (as of 3/22/23) I hope you can re-read and hopefully enjoy it more than you did before!
Those who kept on supporting me during my hiatus, I appreciate you all!
Love, Izzy (SulongMirko, formally known as izzywolf22)
Summary: What if Luffy had a few more secrets than he led on? What would the crew think if they saw what Luffy was hiding? ; No beta we die like men
TW: depictions of character death, blood, torture and trauma
The crew just got reunited again after the two years they have been separated from each other, they barely had a few minutes of reuniting before they were chased by the Marines. The crew has now escaped after the battle they just had, Chopper was insistent on checking up on each crew member, especially since his records of the crew are now two years out of date.
Luffy was getting nervous, and he insisted that he would be last as a responsible captain "Should make sure that his crew is healthy before setting sail", in reality, Luffy just wanted to buy extra time as he was nervous.
Ever since he started his journey, Luffy was able to hide his visible insecurities well, he doesn't even know how that horrid mark resurfaced on his skin once again. Was it the war that messed his body up so badly and made his old scar more visible?
Luffy doesn't know, but over the two years he was separated he didn't even know that the mark had resurfaced. If Jinbe saw, he didn't say anything, not that he would blame the Fishman.
Luffy knew Torao wouldn't have given a shit, so if he saw it, he didn't say anything either. Rayleigh already was having him build up his mind, so it wouldn't collapse again during his training, he wouldn't have brought it up.
It was Hancock that saw it, Luffy was taking a food break and the Empress was sneaking up behind him. It was going to be a normal visit for her until Luffy heard her gasp behind him.
He turned and saw the horror on Hancock's face, he didn't understand what was going on until she pointed to the hidden brand on her back, and like that Luffy's world slowed down.
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"Luffy it's your turn!" Chopper yelled from his office, Luffy didn't even realize he was daydreaming until then.
Luffy went into the small doctor's office and sat down, Chopper went through and checked everything and missed it, Luffy let out a small sigh of relief, after all these years of destroying his skin to get rid of the mark, it almost just looks like a disfigured birthmark.
He never had the chance to get it covered back on Rusukaina and he didn't have time since he arrived back in Sabaody.
When Luffy's examination was done, it was nighttime already and Brook was to be on night watch. Everyone went and retired for the night, Luffy still mentally exhausted went to sleep not noticing a certain swordsman saw something unusual on his captain's body, but he retired anyway he can question Luffy tomorrow.
It was a common issue on Rusukaina, the war shook Luffy to the core and it wasn't long before he was plagued with nightmares. Hoping his nightmares would settle down once he was reunited with his crew was a false hope as he came to realize.
It was around 3 in the morning when Luffy woke up, he could remember his dream vividly well.
It was set in the bar of Luffy's home village, Luffy was inside sipping some juice as he watched his sisterly figure, Makino, clean the bar.
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"Luffy how are your brothers?" Makino asked. Luffy remembered his brothers were arm wresting behind him at another table, they all rarely came down to the town since they all lived in the treehouse in the forest.
It wasn't until Ace was more tolerant of Luffy that all three boys came to visit when Luffy wanted to see Makino.
Luffy was about to answer Makino before a man with a crazed face busted into the bar.
"THE WORLD NOBLES ARE HERE!" said man screamed into the bar, Makino's fair skin turned a sickly pale in seconds from the man's words.
"Wait, why aren't they at Goa?! WHY HERE!?" Makino shouted in fear. Ace and Sabo came and rushed to the bar where Luffy and Makino were. All of them had nervous looks on their faces as they saw Makino look so shaken up.
"Makino what's going on?!" Luffy yelled.
Makino turned to the three brothers and kneeled to their height, "Ace, Sabo, Luffy whatever you do you need to promise me something." Makino said seriously they nodded, "If a person in white commands you to do something, do as they say!" Luffy was shocked to see Makino so shaken up, the three were born to be rebellious but seeing the sister figure they cared for so much made them easily reconsider, and the three reluctantly complied.
The four went outside, the nobles were sitting on their slaves, and Makino made the three kneel and shushed them along with the others. The nobles were looking and picking people off the ground, they came to where the ASL trio and Makino kneeled.
Luffy wanted to speak, but he promised Makino he wouldn't no matter what. The noble commanded a guard to pick Luffy and Ace up and Makino wanted to cry, Sabo looked and glared at the noble Saint Jalmack.
"Stop looking at me like that you peasant!" the nobles being known for who they are, Makino went wide-eyed, Sabo didn't regret that little thing he did but he wished they didn't have to be cold-blooded, he smiled at his two brothers before being shot and 'killed' by the noble.
It was only a few seconds, Makino fainting from pure fear and sadness, Ace and Luffy were drugged and thrown into the cart. Sabo's little body was bleeding from the head as the nobles just went forward and collected a few more people.
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When they reached the slave grounds, they lined up all the new slaves. The guard came up to Luffy.
"Name, age, date of birth, and possession of a devil fruit?" Luffy was scared, he recently just woke up with his brother and remembered what just happened to Sabo before they were taken away. He knew he had no voice here and if these people were heartless enough to kill kids, he had to do what they said or it was the end of the line and he still had a dream to accomplish.
"M-monkey D. Luffy, age 7, May 5th… I have the Gomu Gomu no mi" Luffy spoke low, Ace turned to him, he was trembling in rage but with a newfound goal, he sighed knowing this is their only choice.
The guard went to Ace with the same question. "Portgas D. Ace..age 10, January 1st...no devil fruit." the guard kicked Luffy and Ace into a cell, Ace was glad that the guard didn't separate them. Ace was always rude to Luffy but the world just collapsed for the two boys and now Ace felt he needed to protect Luffy more than himself, it was what Sabo would've wanted.
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It was only four hours or so, a guard came with cuffs, and a box and ushered the two into a cold dark room. They changed Ace's normal cuffs into sea prism ones like his little brother, Luffy, and Ace was still confused until a guard shoved an orange swirly fruit down Ace's throat.
After some time they put Ace and Luffy on the table and held them down with their cuffs connected to the table. The two brothers looked at each other, Ace had a feeling about what was going to happen he felt bad for Luffy. When Luffy got burned before his rubber ability protected him somewhat but now he has normal skin.
They continued to look at each other, and not a second later the two were branded on their backs.
Ace wanted to hold his screams but this time he couldn't, he screamed along with his little brother for what seemed like an eternity.
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Luffy got up from his bed and went to the deck, he wondered how his slave mark became visible again after the war.
He always hid it well by stretching his skin a certain way, hidden by his clothes, or just because the scar was too disfigured back then he didn't have to worry about anyone recognizing it. Back then he even begged Ace to burn it no matter how much Ace protested when they escaped.
Zoro was the second to wake, he remembered what he saw yesterday and decided to ask Luffy, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good, but he was usually the one Luffy would talk to if he couldn't tell the whole crew.
He saw Luffy's bed empty and went to find him. He went up to the deck to see his captain sitting on the figurehead. Zoro went next to him.
"Morning.", he said casually as Luffy replied the same. Zoro saw the disfigured mark again hiding under his clothes, he looked at Luffy who turned to him.
"I have a feeling what I'm about to say is something you won't like…" Luffy tensed but looked at him anyway.
"Luffy?.. What happened to your back? It looks different from before." Luffy moved his neck only in a way he could do and saw indeed that his slave mark was getting more noticeable by the day, he grabbed his red cardigan and readjusted it. He looked to Zoro and said in a disturbingly calm voice, "It's nothing Zoro."
Zoro raised an eyebrow, he barely missed the hint of fear in his captain's voice. Zoro used his haki to make sure no one was watching them (a.k.a. Robin).
"Luffy I'm the only one here, I'm your first mate and your best friend when needed... you can tell me." Zoro surprisingly said in a comforting manner.
Luffy sighed, he knew they were bound to find out as much as he didn't want that to happen. "You guys were probably going to find out anyway since it's more visible now than it was before...I guess I'll tell you first, then explain more of the details later."
Zoro clearly heard the reluctance in his captain's voice, it was unnatural to see his captain like this, yet he feels honored knowing he is someone that Luffy can trust and rely on, despite knowing how bad the news might be.
Luffy scratched his neck, he pulled off the cardigan on his back to show the mark he had for years, it was slightly on his neck and between his shoulder blades.
"You guys have always seen this mark, but it wasn't until the war ended that the shape of my mark became more noticeable." Luffy started.
The silence was unbearable as Zoro saw Luffy trying to figure out a way to word his next sentence.
"When I was seven, Ace and I were taken by the Celestial Dragons, I was marked on my back and became a slave to them." Luffy's voice hardened with hatred.
Zoro wasn't usually the one to be surprised but this was one thing he never would've guessed could happen to Luffy.
It wasn't long before Luffy explained everything and asked Zoro to stay quiet until he wants to tell everyone.
Zoro wasn't the comforting type, so he just stood in silence giving a comforting aura towards his captain. Luffy had already cried a lot when he was a child, he had no reason to cry anymore but he appreciated the swordsman's gesture.
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It was about 1 in the afternoon, everyone ate lunch and was relaxing on the deck right now as Luffy was staring out into the sea on Sunny's head.
Luffy looked at Zoro who nodded, he walked over to Luffy who was tense, "Luffy I doubt they'll say anything offensive about the matter." Zoro whispered to him.
"I know but it's not something you can just blurt out, and I hope I don't have to explain everything from the beginning…some of that's hard to go through y'know… I'll be fine I hope, and if they ask I'll tell. " Luffy exhaled and Zoro stood by to offer support or to give a glare if needed.
Luffy had taken off his cardigan and walked around, he thought it was easier if someone pointed it out than him actually having to tell them. Zoro looked at Luffy, and in three minutes they heard Robin gasp.
"Captain-san….is that?" Robin couldn't even finish her sentence, but Luffy nodded.
'Oh boy', Luffy thought, he had a huge lump in his throat at this point.
The rest of the crew's attention was caught as they rarely ever hear their calm collected archaeologist express anything, in shock.
"What Robin?" Nami said, Robin just kept her head low with a hand over her mouth. Luffy scratched the back of his neck, Franky was crying muttering "Luffy-bro" and Brook just kept his head down.
The rest of the crew were just getting more confused by the second, thankfully some of the crew already knew what his mark meant.
"Zoro saw it yesterday... before my mark between my shoulders wasn't ever this noticeable until after the war ended. I always managed to hide it well, but the war messed my body up pretty badly. I knew since my mark was visible, one of you would accidentally see it… so I'm just going to tell you now once and only once." Luffy took a deep breath.
"Well does this mark seem familiar to any of you guys who don't know what this means?" the others thought for a while but no one spoke up.
"Jinbe has a tattoo over this mark, the new tattoo was his crew's mark over this, and a lot of Fishman has the same tattoo as Hachi. This mark I have between my shoulders is the mark of the Celestial Dragon, Ace and I were slaves…" Luffy said quietly.
It was agonizing, the silence that took over the ship was unbearable to Luffy. It wasn't long before Nami and Chopper were crying. Robin, Brook, and Franky seemed to know what the mark meant and were just crying before Luffy even said anything, Sanji and Usopp just looked pale in regard to the news.
"How?" Nami asked shakily. Luffy already knew that he was going to explain at least a little bit of what happened.
It was an uncomfortable silence, Luffy decided to sit down on the grassy deck and just sighed.
"Well, it was after Shanks left, I was dumped to live in the forest with some mountain bandits." Luffy started the story.
"I met Ace and my late brother Sabo there, they didn't like me at first, but we eventually got along. One day I went back to my home village next to the forest we were living in. We went to the bar that was owned by Makino, who was like a sister to me. It was a nice day until we heard the celestial dragons were docking."
Luffy just ignored the gasps he heard from the crew when he mentioned Sabo, he just wanted to get over with this quickly.
"I remember Makino panicking, she told the three of us what to do when the noble came around, we wouldn't have listened, but seeing Makino panic so much we did" Luffy looked down.
"We kneeled and the noble came up to Ace and me... when they picked us up -" Luffy slowly brought his knees to his chin.
"Sabo glared at St. Jalmack and because of that he was shot and killed right in front of us, I wish I could've blocked it but I couldn't, Ace and I were drugged and thrown in the slave-trading cart." Luffy took a pause, some wept more at the story, and even Robin let a few more tears slip out, knowing the similarity to Luffy's troubles.
"After that, I knew I couldn't mess around anymore, that day I stopped smiling, my face was emotionless just like Ace's. It was only four hours and the guard shoved a devil fruit down Ace's throat, they took us together and branded us." Luffy shuddered at the memory,
"It wasn't until the 5th year of us staying there that someone was bombing where all the slaves including us two were held, someone freed us and we escaped." Luffy smiled darkly.
"After they made sure all the slaves were out, everyone tore the slave households to the ground, then we got back to our home village and came back to the forest where we lived and trained to get our bodies back in shape. Ace was lucky since he was somewhat a preteen so his body wasn't completely ruined, but I wasn't so lucky, I was younger and wasn't eating right so, that gave me a weak appearance, shorter than every other guy, no visible muscle...it sucked." Luffy finished.
After his crew's sobs died down, Usopp spoke, "I'm glad for you being the way you are, but how are you like this though..always happy or looking happy?" it was an interesting question, after all, Robin took a while to have people want to protect her, to put a genuine smile on her face, how did Luffy do it.
There was a pause, Luffy thought about it himself, he had a childhood no child should have.
"Ever since I got out of there, I was really grateful for the stuff I still had, I never broke the habit. Being a slave never really gave us the time to mourn Sabo, so when we escaped back to our home island, that's when we let it out, and Ace and I were a wreck." Luffy said as he remembered what happened at Marineford.
"I honestly think having Ace in my life during that time made me like this, and two years ago I lost him, so the only thing that brought me back was you guys, it took some time but you were all my motivation to bounce back." the crew was touched by their captain's words.
Luffy smiled, he usually wasn't one to care for any of the crew's backstories, so having part of his story air out was a huge deal, but he also felt relieved.
Luffy and Zoro may slightly be a little OOC, but I like writing angst. Hope you enjoyed the rewritten version of this story!
Love SulongMirko