Sorry for the late update guys! *eye smiles*. I kinda got lost in the road of life and so... Well, back to the story.
Shanks sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. He had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to explain to Luffy that he could not give him Whitebeard's number just like that. Especially since Luffy refused to tell him the reason.
"Come on now! Just give me the damn number!" Luffy whined, his face looked really annoyed. And the snail looked even more.
"Like I've been trying to say," Shanks started patiently. "I can't spread the number of a Yonko, Whitebeard no less, to rookies like yourself. Why do you even want the number? If you tell me that, then maybe, just maybe, I will consider it."
Luffy bit his lip, mentally considering what he could do to get the number. Sure, he knew Shanks wouldn't have given him the number so easily, but damn, was he giving Luffy a hard time! Oh, to hell with it!
"Wait just a minute, Shanks." The snail raised its invisible eyebrow and Luffy turned to his crew. "Guys, could you leave us alone, please?" It was phrased as a request, but his friends could see the order of captain disguised on that. They all nodded and went to the kitchen, where they wouldn't be able to hear.
When Luffy took the mic again, he could hear footsteps from the other side. "Shanks?" He called.
"I'm on an island right now, so I'm leaving the shore with my crew and going on the forset nearby, so we can talk freely."
If Luffy had been the idiot he was two years ago, he'd have started talking about the future events without a care and probably mess things up. But this time no. This time, and right then, he was speaking with Shanks not as Monkey D. Luffy, but as Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"So," Shanks said as he sat on the ground and put the snail on a rock. "What did you want to say, Luffy?"
Luffy straightened and entered the captain mode, just as Shanks just did.
"Shanks, I'm on a really serious situation." The snail narrowed its eyes and Luffy continued. "You see, I'm not exactly the Luffy you know. To put it simply, I'm from the future."
The snail blinked, it's eyes wide and he stayed rather quiet. Whatever he had been expecting, it surely had not been that.
"Luffy... Have you hit your head somewhere recently? Or did that old geezer hit you so bad he finally broke your brain?" Asked carefully the Yonko and Luffy rolled his eyes. Mihawk had been a lot more believing.
"Very funny, Shanks. But no, I'm dead serious. That would explain how I know Roger's voice and how I know that he even was your captain." Shanks seemed to think about it, and then spoke.
"You being from the future doesn't explain it." Opposed Shanks. "He is still dead even if you're from the future."
"What if I said he brought me here in the past?" Luffy asked in a challenging voice, then added. "Rayleigh hlped with that, too."
The snail stared and stared. "What?" He finally asked.
"Rayleigh helped mm with learning how to imitate Roger's voice, while Roger brought me and my first mate here." Luffy repeated. "The latter happened when I found One Piece. It seems the treasure was really everything a man could ask for. And I found out that was literally meant. The One Piece gives you a choice, or rather Roger's spirit carved on it does."
Shanks was half gaping in shock and half smirking in pride. "Well, well. Looks like little Anchor did it. Right, Pirate King?" He asked, sounding really proud and pleased with Luffy. Luffy however, was looking at the snail not smiling, but with a look filled with guilt and sorrow. He'd never get over the death of his crew, even if technically it had never happened.
"I would have taken the title, were it not for the cost of my crew." States he in a low voice and the traces of proudness leave the snail. "Though Roger-san insists I am the new Pirate King."
"What happened?" He asked, concerned at hearing the tone of Luffy's voice.
Luffy took a shaky breath, memories flashing before his eyes, and spoke. "We were ambushed, my crew had just faced the fleet admiral alongside a huge army and were left with too many injures, but alive. After that, we went to an island near Raftel, hoping to recover, but unknown to us, there awaited the new Yonko, who had just one week that had taken Blackbeard's place as a Yonko-"
"Wait, Blackbeard!?" Shanks interrupted with wide eyes. "As in-"
"Marshall D. Teach." Luffy confirmed and his eyes furrowed in hatred and disgust. "He's a traitor, of the worst kind."
"Luffy...what did he do?" Shanks asked, dreading the answer. He knew in how many ways one could easily become a traitor, but as Luffy had said 'of the worst kind', the Akagami had an idea as to why Luffy called him that. He just hoped he was wrong.
"The worst crime someone could do in a ship. Killed a comrade."
Shanks cursed, feeling anger at the man he and never liked but now he truly thought he hated Blackbeard. Killing a crewmember was absolutely disgusting, no matter who you were.
"How did the Old Man take it?" Shanks asked concerned, knowing Whitebeard considered his crew his sons and daughters, and also that his health wouldn't improve by taking the news of losing two sons.
Luffy sighed. "I don't really know, though my brother, Ace, being the commander of the second division Blackbeard was in, was furious and took the task of finishing him on his hands."
"I take it didn't go too well." Shanks winced when seeing the glassy eyes of the teen, who was probably lost in the memories.
"Correct. Ace lost, and Blackbeard gave him up to the marines." At this Shanks' eyes widened in shock, both at what had happened to his old captain's son and also at what that probably meant. Ace, if his heritage was revealed, would go to the execution platform without a second thought.
"Old Man Whitebeard wouldn't let the marines kill one of his sons." Shanks stated. "That's means only one thing."
Luffy nodded his now stiff head, knowing that Shanks had guessed right. "It was nicknamed The War of The Best. Whitebeard...lost...both the war and his life..."
Shanks was silent for a minute, his eyes closed in respect for the old pirate he knew since like forever. "What happened, who else fought? Who else died? Where was I? And what happened to Ace?" Shanks fired question after question.
Luffy choked down a sob. "Ace...died...protecting me."
Shanks winced again. He knew how Luffy blamed the loss of his arm on himself, he could just imagine what the sight of his brother dying for him could do to him.
Luffy composed himself. "I don't have time to answer all your questions, Shanks, and I was unconscious during the last part of the war., though I heard you came and stopped the war. Hawky will fill you with the details-"
"Did Hawk Eye, for some unknown reason, come back with you?" Shanks interrupted yet again, wanting to know how his fellow swordsman was involved.
"No, but my first mate, Roronoa Zoro-" Luffy noticed how the snail's eyes widened slightly before narrowing, kinda like Mihawk had done before, and wondered yet again why. "-was his disciple in the future and we agreed he could be a lot of help, so we told him, too."
Shanks burst in laughter. "W-what?! So he actually took in a disciple?! Hahahahahahahah! And here he had vowed to me he would never teach anyone! Hahahah! But I guess, it isn't really surprising."
"Why?" Luffy asked in curiousity.
Shanks blinked. "Why what?"
"Why isn't it so surprising? Does it have something to do with Zoro?" Luffy classified.
"What makes you think that?" Shanks asked now in a rushed voice, which surprised Luffy.
"Beacuse...he was looking at Zoro weirdly earlier. Last time I hadn't noticed him, I was too obvious, but this time there was definitely something there."
Shanks visibly relaxed, which made Luffy even more suspicious.
Shanks coughed. "Well, that's, um..I shouldn't tell you this, Luffy, Mihawk would kill me. Literally"
"Come on, tell me!" Now Luffy was obsessed with wanting to know, and he knew Shanks wasn't able to hide anything from him. "I told him my secret, it's only fair! And I know how to keep a secret! Please!"
"Well, hem...okey you win." Shanks sighed and inside Luffy was dancing in joy. "See, it's like this..."
At the end of Shanks' explaination, Luffy widened his eyes in pure shock, his jaw dropped and he couldn't help shouting. "WHAT?! But that's! That's insane! There's no way that...Are you absolutely sure?!"
Shanks nodded. "Yes, I am. That's the reason it didn't surprise me that Mihawk had taken a student in. But this is between us, Luffy, don't even think about telling someone else!"
Luffy, still within shock, nodded automatically, mumbling things like "impossible", "can't believe it" and "nuts". Shanks waited for Luffy to come back to his senses, while he was thinking about the conversation he just held with the young pirate. Then, his mind drifted to Luffy's request that led to said conversation and he choked on his own spit.
"Luffy!" He called, making Luffy come back to earth. "Don't tell me, the reason you want Whitebeard's number-"
"I'm not going to let it happen again, Shanks! Not again." Luffy cut him off. There was a brief silence between them, until Shanks sighed again.
"Are you sure about this, Luffy? I assume you know the risks."
"I wouldn't be here if I hadn't accepted those risks." Replied the future Pirate King in a serious voice.
"Then take my advise and instead of calling Whitebeard, meet him in person." Luffy was caught off-guard.
"What?" Shanks narrowed its eyes.
"This is a delicate case, Luffy. And if you play your cards right, you can save more lives than you intended." Replied Akagami, and Luffy shot him a confused look. Then realization came down.
"You mean-"
"Whitebeard is on the first part of Grand Line now, his health requires him to rest, so it's unlikely he'll go somewhere. His ship is somewhere near the Calm Belt, I think he recently went to pay a visit to Crocus-san. Good luck, Luffy." Cut in the other captain. Luffy smiled fondly.
"Thanks, Shanks. I'll make you proud." Shanks just shook its head and sighed. Really, he was sighting a lot today.
"Sure you will, Luffy." *Clank*
Luffy got up and streched. "All right. We're gonna kick Arlong's ass quickly and stop at Lougtown, then right to the Grand Line." He planned and entered the kitchen, where he found Zoro polishing his sword, Nami reading the newspaper, Sanji preparing lunch and Ussop working in God knows what. Luffy stared at Zoro like he was seeing him for the first time in his life, before taking a deep breath, putting on his usual smile and yelling.
"Hello guys! I'm finished!" They look towards him. Nami was the first to speak.
"Luffy, how do you know Red Hair Shanks?"
"Huh? Oh, he was at my village back when I was a kid, and then he saved me from some bandits. He stayed there for a year and while he was getting ready to leave for good, we made a deal that I'd return this hat" he gestured at the hat on his head. "When I made Pirate King." He finished and noticed that his friends looked weirdly at him.
"I don't want to know why I'm not surprised." Nami muttered and the others nodded. Zoro sheathed his sword and decided to 'borrow' the captain for a minute or two, and so they exited the kitchen.
"So, what did you tell him? What did he say and what's the plan?" He asked all at once and Luffy said he told him the truth. He also repeated the last words Shanks said.
" 'Save more lives than you intended' ?" Zoro questioned and Luffy nodded.
"I think I know what he was talking about." Zoro raised an eyebrow. "You remember why Ace even started searching for Blackbeard?"
Zoro brought a hand to his chin, lost in thought, before his eyes widened.
"Right! Ace said he had murdered a crewmember." He said and Luffy smirked, the look on his face brightened and Zoro finally got it.
"You want to save the crewmember that died, right?"
"Bingo! Applaud for the winner!" Zoro's features turned serious.
"Do you plan to avoid the entire War of The Best?" Knowing his captain, Luffy could have planned just that. Much to his surprise, Luffy shook his head.
"No Zoro, if we change things that much, the future as we know will disappear and we will not know what to expect regarding Blackbeard. And also Ace..." He trailed off and Zoro knew he shouldn't push it.
"Then what?" Luffy closed his eyes, thinking.
"I will meet Whitebeard as soon as I can and warn him and the crewmember about the future. We'll save the crewmember who died, but let Ace believe he died. When he is caught again, I will break Impel Down and let him escape. If I can't, I'll do like last time and aid the Whitebeard's. I'm thinking of having Dad arrange a meeting with Sabo and having him get his memories sooner. He'd like to help, too, I know how he regretted not being there in the future. This time I'll be able to-"
"Stop right there!" Zoro interrupted and waved a hand in front of his captain's face. "Good plan and all, but I don't like one particular thing."
Luffy looked confused. "What?" He asked.
Zoro stared at him. "You've been talking about how you will aid the Whitebeard's and you will save Ace. What about the rest of us?" Luffy froze. How much he had wanted for Zoro to miss that little fact. He looked away and Zoro angered, getting what was going on.
"You want to let the Sabaody event happen again, right?" He almost yelled, but he couldn't help it. It made him furious that Luffy wanted to go through Marineford alone. Again.
"Damn it, Luffy! Why do you want to let us aside from it?! Didn't you tell me that we could help? Before coming back in the past, didn't you say there was a way for them to know?"
Luffy looked at his feet, his shoulders stiffened and hands clenched. He slowly nodded.
"There is a way, for them to remember the future." Luffy said slowly, before making eye contact. "I have to use King's Haki." Zoro raised his eyebrows in confusion and surprise.
"The King's Haki is my will, my own spirit and heart." Elaborated Luffy. "It means it holds my whole aura, and if I want to, my inner thoughts, my memories. If I were to use it, the things they see will tick the buried memories of the future inside of them, thus making them remember."
Zoro was, for the lack of a better word, amazed. He didn't know that King's Haki had that kind of power. No wonder only a few have it.
"But if you can do that, then why haven't you done it yet?" Luffy became uncomfortable again. "Oh, no. You don't mean..." Zoro said slowly, and then pinched the bridge of his nose in order to ease an upcoming headache. He looks at Luffy again. "You weren't intending to do that from the very beginning, right?"
"If I did...If I did, you guys wouldn't stand till during the war."
"Of course we wouldn't!" Zoro snapped. "Why do you want to do this alone, that's what I don't get!" He added, irritated. Luffy found some courage on those words.
"Beacuse it's my problem!" Luffy shouted. "You don't have to endanger yourselves once more for the sake of my brother! In the future I lost almost all you guys, so I'm gonna do it in my own!" Zoro's eyebrow twitched and he looked ready to tear out his hair. He took a deep breath to calm down.
"Luffy, stop doing that." Luffy tilted his head.
"Doing what?"
"Stop being so damn selfless!" Zoro hissed, truly pissed at the way his captain always did the most reckless things alone, in order to spare the others.
"Was it your problem when I was tied on that post two years ago?" Luffy opened his mouth, but realizing he had nothing to say, he closed it again. Zoro answered it for him.
"No, it wasn't! And not even any of the times you saved us was! Was it your problem that Nami's village was enslaved by Arlong? No, it wasn't! Was it your problem that Kuro wanted to kill Ussop's friend? Or that Krieg took the crappy cook's restaurant? Was it your problem that Vivi's country was on civil war or that Robin was dying? Was it your problem that Wapol wanted to rule in tyranny Chopper's island? Or that CP9 wanted to kill Franky and that Moria had taken Brook's shadow? Tell me!"
Luffy stared wide-eyed at his first mate, his ability to talk looked like it had abandoned him. Zoro's eyes and voice softened.
"You've done so much for us, Luffy. For once, just for one time, please rely on us. Please let us help." Luffy's eyes watered at the loyalty and caring Zoro showed for him. He smiled warmly.
"Zoro."
"Well, couldn't you have been louder? I think someone back on the Grand Line didn't hear you." A voice said. Both tensed up and turned to see Sanji, Nami and Ussop staring at them, the latters slack-jawed. Both captain and first mate felt like crying, how in the world had they not sensed them?
"Um...hello?" Luffy said lamely and Zoro face palmed.