Warnings: Fluff, ghosts, vampires, angst, character death, tragedy, illness

Disclaimer: I own the plot and words but Eiichiro Oda owns everything concerning One Piece

The Questionable Past

Luffy's eyes were sparkling and he was bouncing up and down on his bed, his eyes staring straight ahead of him as the teen finished his story.

"…and that was how I, the Great Usopp, defeated the largest army on the planet with only one hammer!" He finished the statement with a proud pose, his arm crossed and his fist over his heart. The long nosed boy looked down, grinning when the child giggled and clapped his hands excitedly.

"You're so awesome, Usopp!" The child cheered, smiling up at the elder. Usopp grinned.

"Of course I am! I have eight thou-"

"Telling the boy one of your stories again, Usopp?"

The teen looked up, grinning when he saw Shanks popping out of the ceiling.

"Not like you don't tell him any."

"Yeah, but most of my adventures are real stories."

Usopp paled a little and mumbled a complaint, his arms crossed. It only made Luffy laugh at them. Usopp half heartedly glared at the boy for being laughed at, but if one looked closely, there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. Shanks, on the other hand, was laughing loudly along with the boy.

"Luffy, want to hear about one of my adventures?" The boy's eyes glimmered as he nodded his head frantically at Shanks' question, cheering. Shanks laughed while Usopp leaned against the wall. "How about I tell you about the time I visited an island in the sky…"

It always made them happy to see Luffy so excited and happy just by hearing their stories. It made Usopp glad as well because most all of the stories had his dad in them, unless Shanks was talking about when he was on Roger's ship.

Speaking of Roger, he walked through the closed door with Rouge, grinning at the three of them.

"Roger!" Luffy cried out with a huge grin on his face, waving at the ghost. Roger laughed boisterously and approached the three while Rouge followed, a soft smile on her face.

"You three seem very awake for being up in the middle of the day."

Luffy pouted. "I'm not tired and I wanna play but I can't leave the room."

Roger smiled slightly, knowing the boy's frustrations but at the same time agreeing with the Whitebeard pirate's decision. After all, if he was out there without supervision and got in trouble (which was bound to happen; this was Luffy, trouble was his middle name) no one would be able to help him and things could get extremely dangerous for the boy.

"You know it's not safe for you to be out there alone, Luffy," Rouge said softly, sitting next to the boy who looked up at her, still pouting.

"I know, but I get really bored in here," He whined, making her chuckle softly.

"Well, you are supposed to be sleeping right now, Anchor," Shanks smirked at the kid, who glared up at him, complaining.

"I'm not an anchor, stupid Shanks!" Luffy stuck his tongue out at the red haired ghost, who did the same thing right back at him.

"You can't swim though, just like an anchor."

Luffy was fuming while Shanks smirked. Roger laughed with Usopp while Rouge sighed with a fond smile on her lips. Then, Luffy yawned, looking tired. He rubbed at his eyes while Rouge chuckled softly. She had Usopp and Shanks get off the bed as she pulled the covers out from under the boy and managed to coax him underneath them.

"You've been awake for more than twelve hours. It's time for you to sleep," She said softly, humming. Luffy whined.

"'M not tired," His yawn contradicted the statement, though, and soon, the boy was fast asleep on his bed. Rouge looked up at the other's, her eyes serious.

"It's approaching once more, isn't it?"

Roger nodded. "As long as he can't get near the boy, everything should be okay."

"But we're powerless during that time. Should we just show the pirates everything already?"

"No," Shanks said, firm and stern. "Luffy's not prepared for that yet. We still have time, and he won't be able to get to Luffy as long as the pirates are here. They won't let anything happen to him."

Rouge frowned slightly, sighing in exhaustion and sadness. "I just hope history won't repeat itself."

Luffy had collapsed to his hands and knees on deck, violently throwing up whatever food was in his stomach. He had been feeling odd all day, then it began to hurt. Now his throat felt like acid and he wanted to cry.

He felt a big hand running up and down his back while the other pushed his hair out of his face as he threw up the contents of his stomach. By the time he was done, he was shivering uncontrollably. Everything was cold and he just wanted to be warm.

A cloth was gently wiped across his face before he was lifted into warm arms. He looked up and saw Sabo was moving him to be able to hold him. He clutched around Sabo's neck to make it easier for the elder and because being held so close to the elder brought him comfort. As Sabo brought him away, he could see Ace behind him along with Thatch cleaning up the mess that he had made, mumbling worriedly to each other.

He felt guilty.

He apparently said something about it because Sabo told him it wasn't his fault as they descended to the lower decks. He looked up at Sabo through his now blurring and hazy vision and groaned in pain. A hand was on his forehead then and he heard Sabo say a bad word before his pace quickened. This happened every year for some reason and he was beginning to question why.

Sabo had similar thoughts, wondering why once a year, without fail, the boy would get horribly ill. It was always around the same time of the year as well. It kind of reminded him of his early life. Before he was picked up by the Whitebeards, his parents actions towards others horrified him. They would hurt him as well and sometimes it got so bad, he would puke until he passed out and his throat bled. But Luffy, he wasn't horrified or anything. Just every year, he got horribly ill. And if they weren't careful during that time, they really could lose the boy.

He entered the boy's room and gently laid him on his bed, brushing his hair away from his forehead. He was sleeping now, despite his labored breaths. It made Sabo give a small smile of relief before he left the room to find a doctor or nurse who always had the medicine prepared for whenever he got sick.

Luffy looked up at the woman before him. He realized that he was younger now, and a lot shorter too, probably just barely two. The woman kneeled before him and pulled a stuffed bear out from behind her back, handing it to him. He heard himself giggle and then the woman spoke, but he couldn't understand her words. He just babbled something and reached for her face, his chubby little fingers ghosting over her lips, making her smile.

She was very pretty, though, and he felt warm and happy around her. She had long, soft black hair that she let him grab at and when she kissed his forehead, her lips were soft. She spoke to him softly and everything she was doing made him happy.

This was Mama.

They were just playing with the bear when, suddenly, the door was slammed open. Luffy was startled as he watched his mother stand, arms spread out. She yelled at him desperately, but all he understood was the meaning he then didn't know, "run", as he heard deep voices, screaming and shouting angrily at them, and saw the shiny, pointed objects pointed at him. He began to cry as he got up to his feet and attempted to run away, his instincts telling him danger was far too close.

There were loud bangs and shouts and Luffy cried out in fear as he ran away, looking for a safe haven. But it was futile – they grabbed him and pulled him back, the hands that haunted his every nightmare that he has had since.

It hurt a lot, their metal poles and kicks and punches. He could only cry out as he heard his mother screaming, crying and begging them to stop hurting him. They ignored her.

After what seemed like hours, they stopped. They walked out and Luffy was sure he wouldn't wake up again if he took a nap right then, which seemed very tempting. The thought terrified him, but he felt it was true since his vision was running black. He didn't really understand, but for some reason, it made him somewhat sad.

Then he felt a soft hand grab his arm. He tilted his head and saw his Mama crawling towards him despite the blue blood that was seeping onto the floor in her hurry. Luffy cried out for her and she gave him a sad smile as she spoke his name, comforted him, as her own tears fell to the ground. Then something happened because all of his wounds began to disappear, leaving him covered in blood only. She whispered something to him that sounded like "I love you" before her hand fell to the ground, limp, in a pool of blue blood.

Luffy got onto his hands and knees as the last of his wounds healed and crawled to his Mama, trying to shake her awake. But she wouldn't wake up. Something hurt in his tummy and he began to cry for his Mama louder, shaking her more.

It didn't work.

He laid there on her body for days, crying out his eyes, refusing to move. The most important person in his life, he realized, was gone. Now he had nothing – unless he could find Papa, the second most important in his life.

Somehow, despite his hunger, he pushed himself to his feet and walked to the table unsteadily. He tried to get on one of the chairs but only fell on his butt. He whined and whimpered in pain before getting up again and succeeding this time. Then he climbed onto the table and over to the food that had been left out before those men came. His stomach was in pain and he needed to eat.

He stuffed his face with stale bread and over ripe fruit and spilled apple juice all over himself while on that table, but he felt better now. He ignored the stickiness of his clothes after eating and tried to get down safely, only to fall and land on his head before rolling on the floor several times. The two year old began to cry as he sat up, holding his head as he got to his feet. Maybe someone outside could help him. Maybe Mama just couldn't wake up – maybe someone else could wake her up.

The doorknob was far above his reach. He jumped and jumped for several minutes before realizing he needed something else. He blinked before walking over to the table and grabbing the chair he used before, attempting to pull at it. It was heavy, but it moved, so he kept pushing and pulling. Several times, he landed on his butt or back and when he tried to push it, he face planted. But, after several long and painful minutes, he managed to get the chair across the room and to the door. He climbed up, more carefully this time, and stood on his tip toes, managing to open the door. For the first time in days, he smiled. He was hopeful. Maybe everything could get fixed.

He wished he never opened that door.

He had run into the village, yelling for help with just strangled sounds since he knew no words, but was only met with tragedy. Every person he knew lay on the ground. Blue was splattered everywhere and large puddles of it covered the ground, mixed in with the mud. Houses were burned to the ground or still burning, their oddly colored purple flames devouring all, leaving a thin layer of ash on the ground. The air smelled of decaying, burned flesh and singed wood, a thick cloud of smoke and pungent odor surrounding the young boy. The grey sky began to cry and he could only fall to his knees. Everything was gone. Those men had taken everything away.

Then he looked down when something touched his small foot – it was an eyeball.

He let out an agonized cry as he called out for his Mama and Papa – Papa. He moved his small legs, stumbling and tripping, and began to run through the pouring rain, calling out Papa, the only other word that he knew perfectly. He ran through the streets, ignoring the blue blood of all the people he knew – the baker who gave him cupcakes, the butcher who would sneak him some meat whenever they were buying food, the farmers son who was older yet always played with him, the neighbor's daughter who would watch him when his Mama and Papa were out, the barmaid who always gave him hot chocolate – searching for his Papa.

When he found him, his world stopped.

The second most important person of his life was before him in a gruesome manner, something a two year old should never see. His father was sticking up from the ground on several spears. He looked as though he had fought hard, as he had red blood on him as well and wounds littered his mangled body. But the scariest part was his head – it had been cut off and placed on a spear nearby. His eyes had rolled back, showing only the whites, and his mouth was left open in what appeared to be his last words. The tattoo on the left side of his face was covered by hideous and painful burns.

Luffy only stared, pupils dilating as the tears ran down his cheeks. His legs, once again, collapsed underneath him. He fell to his knees, staring straight at his Dad yet at the same time unseeing. After several suffocating long minutes, his agonized wails pierced the skies. He brought his hands up and wiped furiously at his eyes, but nothing worked.

"It's all the red bloods fault, isn't it?"

Now seven again, he turned and looked at the figure before him.

"Don't you want them dead? We can kill them all together."

Luffy backed up, scared of the thing and the darkness surrounding him.

"No," He whimpered. He was terrified and didn't really know what was going on. He felt the figure before him grow angry, though, and then hands began to come out of nowhere. He cried out as they grabbed at him and began to pull him under. "Ace! ACE!"

"LUFFY!" Luffy's eyes opened and he saw that Ace was above him, trying to shake him awake. He let out a loud cry and launched himself onto the other, startling him when he began to wail. He always had nightmares when he was sick, but never like that.

"Mama…Papa…" Luffy whimpered and cried into Ace's chest. Ace's eyes widened as he held the child to his chest. He looked over by the door, where several other people were standing. They all had similar looks of shock on their faces. In all the four years Luffy had been here, he had only once ever mentioned his parents and to Ace alone. They knew virtually nothing about the boy's family, but they could tell it was something that a child shouldn't be put through. Ace's heart clenched as the boy continued to wail, but all he could do was try to soothe the boy as he cried.

AN: I have a bad habit of writing really sad sh*t. So I'm just apologizing in advance for the future sadness that, if you can't tell by now, is inevitable. I feel reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyyy bad for putting Luffy through that, but gahhhh the plot bunnies demanded it be done. Who do you guys think the mysterious man, he, is?

jam klaoo: I'm so glad you like it! I love vampires too :) . I feel bad for putting Ace through that :(

Kiki2000: hahaha, thanks :) And I can't answer that question, but it will be answered in due time. He can't make anything appear - he has to be given something by a ghost with the intention of giving it to another person. I hope you liked this chapter! :D

Cyborgnetics: Thanks! I'm glad you like it so much! :) The blue blood will be coming up more later and YES SHANKS! He plays a very important role in this story. I can't answer that question about blue blood, but you'll see soon!

youshouldn'tneedtoknow: Thanks! He's going to be coming up a lot pretty soon :)

MysticMaiden 18: Shanks is dead but you're going to be seeing a whole lot of him and now you know what happened to poor lil' Lu :(

ichigi111kurosaki: Here ya go :)

LyricoJ: hahaha, you'll know soon :)

luffylova: 1) Yes, Shanks is dead but he's going to have a huge roll in this story. 2) Here's Usopp (he's dead too), Robin is soon, Chopper MUCH later, Franky and Brook will be coming up but I dunno when exactly, just know it's before Chopper and after Robin

shadowmarialove: Yes, Luffy sees the dead. It doesn't explain a lot, but when more answers come up, hopefully it'll make more sense. For the tangerines and flowers: If a ghost gives Luffy an object to pass on to another person, Luffy must give it to that person or the object will fade into nonexistance.

I love you guys to much! Like seriously, you guys all rock. Which is why I feel bad saying this: When school starts in a little over a week, my updates will slow IMMENSELY. I already know I'm going to have a crap ton of work this year, so I may only be able to update during weekdays or when I have a serious case of I'm-not-doing-this-sh*tty-work procrastination for school. I won't stop updates, but I'm just saying this now so I don't put it on you the day before school. Sorry guys :(

Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review! :)