A/N: Might not be the best example of a helicopter parent but…

ONE-SHOT 2: HELICOPTER PARENT

There are a lot of things you can call Dragon and helicopter parent is one of them.

Warnings: Title/summary


There's a lot that people can say about Monkey D. Dragon.

That he is the leader of a revolutionary army: this is a simple fact, and the most well-known of him at that. Having formed the army decades ago, the man had made his name without even his own famous father Garp the Fist to help, with just two others at the start of it all to gather a number of people so huge, so ferocious that it forced even the navy to call him the worst criminal.

That he is justice: Dragon had, with his army, saved innocents where the navy either could or would not. Every member of his revolutionary army joined of their own volition, to, for the good of themselves and everyone else they care for, overthrow the world government to bring about a better world. Many contest this, including civilians and of course the navy, but more and more join him to this day.

That he strikes fear into people's hearts: indeed, with his usual stony expression making his already intimidating appearance even more menacing, there is not many that can argue this point, even the members of his army themselves. The few that may not agree can only be counted on one hand, and even they may shake in fear at times…

That he is a helicopter parent—

"What?" comes a deep voice accompanied by the sound of an opening door.

Sabo, the one reading from his piece of paper, Ivankov, the one grinning as Sabo read, Koala, the one who is shaking her head, and Kuma, the one whose smile widened towards the end, all snap their heads towards the doorway where Dragon is currently standing.

Sabo, in the midst of heavy silence, opens and closes his mouth like a fish.

"Do continue," Dragon says, crossing his arms.

"But… I wasn't talking about you, Dragon-san!" Sabo finally spits out. "I mentioned helicopter parent, obviously that was referring to Kuma-san…"

Kuma's smile doesn't waver.

Dragon says dryly, "I don't recall Kuma ever being that intimidating to anyone."

Sabo looks towards Koala who shrugs uncaringly in response.

"If you're not going to continue," Dragon says, "then I shall take my leave. Sabo, don't forget to complete your writeup by today."

"Yes, sir," Sabo grumbles while Koala celebrates.

"What are vyou busy with, Dragon?" Ivankov asks.

Dragon doesn't answer, but in his haste to leave, he drops a plush toy rabbit to the floor. Everyone stares while Dragon hurriedly picks it up and rushes off.


"I really want to see Luffy again!"

The voice of a very loud, very annoying captain rings in the air before said captain slumps onto the box of a table in a dead sleep, beer bottle still in hand. Beckman, leaning against a pole, sighs. "How many times has he said this?" he asks Roux rhetorically.

"Who knows," Roux says as he chews on a large bite of meat. "But I think Shanks should be more worried about the hiding of a lifetime he'll get if he ever meets the kid's guardian."

"I," says Shanks as he lifts his head and supports an arm with the bottle, "am not afraid of some old man whose prime was fifty years ago, Roux. I am a very strong Emperor now, and the only thing that's keeping me from becoming Pirate King is because I just haven't decided to find Laugh Tale…"

"No, not Garp," Roux says. "The father. Dragon."

Shanks freezes. "Dragon?"

"Oh, yeah," Beckman says, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Don't know how strong the man is but remember that incident on Banaro Island? Heard he capsized every marine ship that came at him there. Said there was supposed to be more than fifty… not that I believe it. Must be at least thirty though. Then that time where he sent down a massive lightning bolt that gave Kaxta its crater. And Shanks, you heard about how Buggy got charred from Loguetown. And you know the commonality in all that?"

Roux laughs. "And Shanks, you let his kid get a scar on his face!"

Silence reigns, then it comes to a screeching halt as Shanks lets out a yell, jumping to his feet and running for a couple of seconds before he falls splat on his face and doesn't move again. Beckman sighs once more. Oh well, he can leave him there until night-time.


"So you won't talk about Whitebeard?" the pirate sneers, leaning in.

Ace glares and kicks out, causing the pirate to jump away and laugh. He curses the Seastone cuffs around his wrists. "Of course I won't, dumbass!"

"Dumb, am I? Who's the reason why you're in this predicament right now?" The pirate smiles to himself.

"You just got lucky, prick!"

The pirate tuts. "Ace, Ace. I do have another choice for you. Considering your position, you might actually be useful in that regard."

Ace's glare deepens but he leans back and asks, "What?"

"What do you know about Dragon?"

Ace pauses, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you think I know about that dipshit?"

"Well, everyone now certainly knows that you are his son's brother," the pirate says, and Ace feels proud for a second. "And… I've heard tell of him, here and there that intrigues me. I don't think a man like… that will completely avoid your knowledge if you are that close to your brother."

Ace bites back the urge to go off about Dragon. He does have to keep quiet about most things, if only for Luffy's sake.

"For example, I have heard of Dragon being abnormally close to Straw Hat—"

Ace shouts, "What do you mean, close?! I was the one who fished Luffy out of ponds when that fucker was off doing his nails on the other side of the world!"

The pirate rubs his ear. "Well, Dragon did go to Marineford to save his son, and by extension, you as well—"

Ace shoots to his feet. "I was the one who jumped in front of a whole ass lava fist when that bastard just stood there and threw some winds around the damn place!"

"Whoa," says Thatch, who is now standing outside the cell. "Did we come here to save Ace or the other guy?"

The pirate, now on the ground with his hat having fallen to the ground, says to Ace who hovers above him, "But—"

"And he had the nerve to show up later asking if he could train Luffy for two years and even say that doing it with me wouldn't help shit!"

Marco, right beside Thatch, says to him, "Alright, let's get in there before Ace loses his voice, yoi."


"So, Rayleigh," Shakky says, wiping down a glass, "won't you tell me about what you did in those two years?"

Rayleigh smiles from across the bar. "I've told you a bit about them already, haven't I?"

"Don't be so tight-lipped with me," Shakky says, shifting closer.

"Well, it's not like that." Rayleigh's smile tightens into a grimace.

Shakky looks at him curiously. "I'm sure the problem can't be all Monkey-chan."

Rayleigh chuckles. "No, far from it. Unless you count Dragon."

Shakky blinks. "Dragon?"

"Well, there's a lot you can gather just from knowing about the man." Shakky nods. "He's powerful, of course he is, so he's the leader of an army with such a strong influence on the world. He's a stoic man, in all that you hear about him from word of mouth. That both fits well, and I believe it's all true."

"So?" Shakky encourages.

"Then imagine my surprise, Shakky, when I actually met Dragon two years ago. Of course, I held some hope for him. I didn't know Luffy too well then, so I figured he must be worried about his son just as a parent. You see how he was when he showed up that day, like a pillar amidst a howling desert. Almost incredible. Respectable, definitely. I imagined myself how Roger would be if he was in that position, perhaps it could have been something like that."

Shakky smiles. "And then?"

Rayleigh sighs. "And then, Shakky, Dragon turned up when I was trying to convince Ace that Luffy could not afford distraction as much as possible. Ace was being difficult, that I could understand, of course, he just went through something traumatising and he just wanted to be with his brother. Dragon had pretty much the same argument, and I then had to convince him as well."

"So this is when things went awry?" Shakky asks.

Rayleigh groans. "To say the least. Shakky, not only did he not agree, he did much more than that. He left the first day, silent as the wind. I thought he was out of my hair then. But the next day, he returned. He brought clothes, a toothbrush, a sleeping bag, the like. I, at the time, thought it was perfectly normal. Perhaps a little strange when he coerced Luffy to brush his teeth, but I figured, it's just hygiene. To many, it is a basic need."

"…Do you brush your teeth, Rayleigh?"

"Of course, of course. But back to what I was saying. It was normal at first, right? He pretty much stuck around that day. I let him, since it was just a day, I figured. Or so I thought."

Shakky, still frowning, nods.

"He came back the next day, this time with food. I thought, fine. He came back the next, with more food. I thought, with how much food I saw Luffy scarf down the day before, fine. Fine. He did not stop coming back every day that week, Shakky. Every day he brought something new. Just like how some believe a higher force created light the first day and the seas the next, Dragon was appearing before us producing food one day and toys the next. Toys, Shakky! What was a seventeen-year-old going to do with some toys?!"

Rayleigh and Shakky stare at each other.

"…Well," Rayleigh says, "Luffy did enjoy the toys. Played with a robot one after breakfast, hugged a huge shark plush toy in his sleep. But that's not the point. Luffy was there to train, and I impressed this upon Dragon. Again and again. He was getting on my nerves, frankly. The campsite was growing into some sort of playpen — and of course, speaking of playpen, Dragon had the idea to build a house as well. I managed to stop at least this."

"What about the training itself?"

At this, Rayleigh puts his face in his hand. "Yes, the training… Because Dragon was coming every week if not every day, his son was kept well-fed for most of the time. The man was singlehandedly destroying one reason for his own son to train, easily motivated by food as he is. So I had to come up with a variety of other things, I even held his toys hostage at some point… well, you can imagine Dragon's reaction to that when Luffy easily told on me. I was glad I hadn't gotten ahead of myself and destroyed them, so to speak."

Shakky hums. "But Monkey-chan did have the opportunity to train, at least? You even returned six months early, wasn't that because you were satisfied with how much he had improved?"

Rayleigh is silent for a long moment. "…Yes. Let's put it that way."


"Hey guys, dad's coming today!"

Luffy raises his head to seven dust trails on the ship and cocks his head. Only Robin, who is still sipping tea, and Zoro, who is waking from a nap, are still around.

"You know what," Luffy says, "I don't really understand why this happens every time."

Robin giggles, and it is the only thing that manages to happen before people start to rush back. "Luffy!" Sanji says first, yelling from the kitchen door. "Come and eat right now!"

"Food?!" Luffy bounds towards him, only to be stopped by Nami.

"Luffy! I prepared the bath!" Nami grabs his wrist. "Quickly get in there!"

Usopp shoves a ninja puppet in Luffy's hand. "Luffy! Tell Dragon this one's from me!"

"And this one's from me!" Franky shouts while pushing a two-man submarine with Luffy's face painted on the side.

Chopper jumps up and down while waving a stethoscope. "Luffy! Sit down and let me check if anything's wrong!"

"Luffy-san!" Brook is holding an electric guitar. "What would you and your father like to hear?"

"Where is he coming from?" Jinbe shouts from the helm.

Zoro is standing now, facing one direction. "Over there."

"No, behind you, Zoro," Robin says.

Zoro whirls around to see a huge man in green cloak landing gracefully onto deck. The cloak gradually slows its billowing and Dragon straightens to regard everyone with a critical eye.

Nobody dares to speak.

Except Luffy, who stretches rubbery arms for Dragon and shoots himself forward to wrangle him like an octopus. "Dad!"

Dragon waits until he is allowed to breathe again and raises his plush rabbit. "Here."

Luffy hops off and takes the rabbit. "Hmm…"

Everyone watches as Dragon, faced with an uncertain Luffy, slowly sinks to the deck.

"…thank you!" Luffy finally says, and Dragon shoots up again.

"You know, another thing about Luffy's dad they don't tell you about," Usopp mutters to the other spectators, "is how lame he is when something like this happens."