Warnings: Fluff, possibly confusing things, possible OoC characters, OC Character

Disclaimer: Anything related to One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda but I own the plot and words.

Nightmares, Heartbeats, and Secrets

Not all of Luffy's nightmares were so horrifying that they would make him scream.

More often, the young boy would have nightmares of odd things that children's minds had the ability to conjure. Sometimes all of the meat would be gone, he would be hopelessly lost and alone, or he was surrounded by people who ignored him. Not necessarily typical of kids, but not nearly as bad as some of his nightmares.

That noon, Luffy had one of those nightmares, one in which he couldn't find Ace. He had woken up with teary eyes, sniffling and whining. He hated it when Ace was gone. It always felt as if there was a hole in his heart. He may have been raised by the whole crew, but it was Ace who found him first and took him in despite the fact that he could have easily left the boy there.

Luffy crawled out of his bed and put his feet on the chilly wooden floor before grabbing his bunny and clutching it close to himself. He scuttled over to the door and opened it, looking down the hall and sighing in relief when he saw no one.

The only person he wanted seeing him like this was Ace.

The little boy shut his door quietly and walked down the hall, his eyes darting around at the shadows that seemed to close in on him due to the eerie hall lighting. The ship creaked and groaned, making an uneasy expression come over his face as he bit at his lip, wishing that his room was closer to Ace's.

When he reached the door, he immediately reached for the doorknob, not even bothering to knock. He had come to Ace's room so many times before from his nightmares that Ace told him he no longer had to knock to come in. So the little boy opened the door and shut it quietly behind him. He frowned a little when he realized Ace's lamp wasn't on, making shadows look larger and more ominous. Luffy bit his lip tight and ran in the direction of Ace's bed, jumping on the covered lump on the mattress. There was a muffled "oof" before the bundle moved and then glowing red eyes stared right at Luffy.

Ace's eyes softened at the sight of the boy: tear tracks on his red cheeks, puffy eyes, snot dripping from his nose, his upper teeth biting into his lower lip from nerves, one of his hands clutching onto his old stuffed rabbit. He didn't ask why Luffy was crying, knowing already why he had come to his room, and reached out, pulling the young child under the covers with him.

Luffy sniffed and hiccuped into the warm chest in front of him as Ace heated his body, knowing that it tended to have a calming affect on the boy. He hummed that lullaby that Luffy would always ask to hear when he was scared, the one he sang that first time Luffy cried over a thunderstorm.

Ace shifted the two so that he was on his back while Luffy lay on his chest, making it easier for him to rub soothing circles into the younger's back. Luffy tried to bury himself into Ace's chest, causing a small, fond smile to appear on the vampires lips.

"Do you want to sleep in here with me today?" He whispered to the boy, already knowing the answer but asking anyway. The boy shook his head against Ace's chest, causing the man to chuckle. Long minutes later, the boy had managed to calm and he yawned widely, trying to keep his eyes open. Ace once again just smiled at the boy and told him to sleep. Once the boy had fallen into dreamland, Ace allowed himself to follow.

Not all of Whitebeard's crew was vampires.

They had a few demons, some werewolves, the odd angel they had found, a couple of magicians, and even a few humans. Of course their sleeping schedule's were the same as the vampires except for when the humans and magicians had watch during the day. Luffy always wanted to join them outside, but he wasn't allowed to do so due to messing up the young boy's sleeping schedule or if they did get attacked during the day, which actually happened quite often. The ship had to be protected and if they had a little boy to worry about, dangerous things could happen.

One time, however, Luffy had snuck outside and into the crows nest where there was a magician on watch. It was a girl with red hair similar to Shanks' except it was curly. She was short and had big bright blue eyes. Luffy thought that her name was Rose. Luffy had seen her a few times, but she was probably the most silent person on the crew.

She looked up when she saw the little boy, who was looking at her guiltily. He had thought no one was in the crows nest. She blinked at him before sighing and motioning him over. Luffy sat next to her and she wrapped part of her cloak around him as she continued to look out the paneless windows. The boy suddenly became tired and comforted all at once. It was strange to him, but there was a "thump" in her chest like his that he had never heard before in Ace or any of the vampires chests. It felt nice to hear the sound as he snuggled into her. She gave a soft smile he didn't see and slowly began to pat his head until he fell into a deep sleep.

It always baffled the young boy, how there always appeared to be an endless supply of blood on the ship for the insatiable vampires. He also wondered where the werewolves went on full moons. And where did the demons go on moonless nights? Why did the few angels on board always disappear at the strangest of times? Why did the magicians always seem worn out every Saturday of the week?

It made no sense to the blue blooded boy.

He only found out what happened by sneaking into Pops' room one odd evening when the sun was just setting. The crew was eating in the galley or beginning their daily chores. Luffy had nothing to do, so he had decided to go and play with Whitebeard. To his surprise, he had been having a serious conversation with Rose.

Luffy, being the curious little boy he was, wanted to know what it was about. They were talking, using large words in strange languages the young boy didn't understand, but he did see the sparkling magic the short woman used.

Suddenly, he was floating in the air. He gave a yelp of surprise as he floated over to Rose, tumbling in circles, before she grabbed him and held him to her hip as he tried to make his dizziness disappear. She gave a soft smile as Newgate gave a deep chuckle.

"What are you doing in here, Luffy?" He asked in his gruff voice as the boy turned his head to him and grinned.

"I was having an adventure!"

Whitebeard grinned at the response as Rose smiled, still messing around with the symbols in front of her.

"Rose, what're ya doin?" The little boy asked, staring with wide eyes at the symbols.

"Helping feed the ship."

"Feed the ship?"

She nodded as reveal barrels appeared before her, the ones he always saw filled with rum or blood. Slowly, they began to fill with the red liquid, and once they were filled and covered, another row appeared on top, and the process continued. Luffy watched, fascinated, as blood appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"It's not hurting anybody. It's lost blood and the blood of the dead. Right now, it's part of the circle of life."

"But aren't vampires dead?"

Rose chuckled. "They may be dead, but this keeps them from going on rampages."

Luffy stared in awe before turning to her. "Is this why the magicians are always tired on Saturdays?"

"Yes. They lend me magic. They don't know why, but it's a requirement on the ship."

Like the child he was, he kept asking questions. Whitebeard had no qualms with telling the boy. He may not be able to keep a secret, but it wasn't like the crew would ask him what happened. Since that wouldn't happen, it wouldn't come up. It wasn't like the crew would care anyway - they got their stomachs filled, and that was what was most important to them.

So Luffy learned all the secrets of the ship. Rose sedated the werewolves with magic during the full moon. She would calm the tensions between the angels and the other creatures on board so no bloody war broke out. She would help them return to heaven when they began to become a fallen, something worse than a creature of the night could ever be. She prevented the Demons from going on senseless hunts by locking them up on moonless nights, the nights when Angels were at their weakest and would be unable to stop them. The magicians had to give her power all week up until Saturday to do these tasks, never questioning it, while they got to restock on the weekends.

Only Whitebeard and Rose knew this. She helped to keep the ship running. She wasn't a commander or anything like that. She was just a normal crew member.

Yet she was so much more.

Luffy didn't really understand most of what he was told. He just shrugged it off as a mystery. His desires to know what the answers to those questions were answered, even if he didn't understand. Not that either adult minded him not knowing, since it made it easier for them. When his questions ended, he fell asleep against her shoulder because he woke up too early in the day.

AN: So, this chapter doesn't do much for the plot except introduce Rose and fix things that have personally been incessantly bothering me about this story. And yes, Rose will appear in later chapters, but not for a long time. I don't know how important she will be (I honestly made her up this morning) but she's been added to the plot. I hope you guys don't mind. She won't be showing up for a while though. And if you want a rough idea of what she looks like, she looks like Maria and Mamoru's daughter from Shinsekai Yori (I highly suggest this show to everyone who can deal with horror/mystery/drama).

Also, have any of you heard of SOPA 3.0? I have. I am absolutely infuriated about this because what the fuck states that my country's government has this power over the whole fucking world? Absolutely none. And to those silly corporations out there who apparently think they're higher than God - you're not - so get your heads out of your asses because I can guarantee you if this law passes you are going to have one fucking pissed off people on your hands. You will regret it if this bill passes. I can't sign the petition at the moment, but to all my readers who like reading/writing fanfiction or listening to covers of songs or video game walkthroughs or bloopers or who do any of these things, please sign it. I don't want to get jailed, I don't want you to get jailed. It's called fair use. We have our rights. Please sign it. (And here's evidence if you don't believe me.)

I'm just pointing this out too, the Democratic Party - who is under Obama who said this wouldn't happen again - revived this whole shit show. I had nothing against Obama (well, I don't know, I don't pay attention to politics, I think all government is corrupt no matter what party it is) until today. Fuck you Mr. President. Fuck you Democrats in office. Fuck you government.

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Okay, I'm done with my rant. Sorry if you've already heard of this from someone else.

Cybornetics: He's strong to still have his innocence. Yes, though they're dead, they're his parents.

LyricoJ: I doubt you'll find anything. I made it up myself. You'll see who "he" is next chapter but yes, it was the Marines. You'll be surprised about the story behind the Marines though.

luffylova: I'm sorry for making you cry :( and you'll see next chapter.

MysticMaiden 18: I know I feel bad for doing it to Luffy :( You'll see who "he" is next chapter and then more about why Shanks doesn't want to reveal that stuff in future chapters.

Kiki2000: Hehehe, you'll see who "he" is soon. :) Thanks! I can't wait to reveal them.

shadowmarialove: Yep, that's exactly it :)

Sorry for the late update. I was irritated, tired, and having writers block simultaneously yesterday. This new SOPA crap spurred me onto writing more though, just to annoy them and rebel (and cause I really wanted to get this out).

Thank for reading and dealing with my rant! I love you guys! Please leave a review! :)