Welcome, this is a pretty shortchapter

Warnings: PTSD and Human fights

xXx

"Ladies and gentlemen, Holy ones of MarieJois! Tonight, courtesy of the ever-beautiful Saint Marie, we have a brand new slave in the arena for your entertainment!" I shifted uncomfortably at these words. I had no clue what was going on or why I was there. Did I finally outlive my usefulness to these bastards? They took off my seastone cuffs, allowing me to use my devil fruit and filling me with some of the energy I once possessed. The loud voice continued to carry through the walls surrounding me, though I couldn't understand what it was saying.

Suddenly, without warning, I was thrown into a large arena with loose sand for a floor and blood-soaking large spots near the center. On the other side of the arena was my opponent. He was at least triple my size and double my age, but that was not hard seeing how I was eight. At least, I was pretty sure I was. His body was extremely muscular, lined with unruly cuts and bruises much like mine; he also had a sword unlike me who only had my gomu-gomu no mi.

"Fight!" I suddenly heard, snapping me out of my thoughts, and causing me to jump backward. The man immediately rushed at me at full force, catching me off guard. He was already closing in on me before I even realized it or could comprehend what was going on. A pain erupted in my shoulder and blood was splattered on the ground. My blood. I gritted my teeth at the impact and glared up to look the man in the eyes. He looked sorrowful like he didn't actually want to kill some eight-year-old boy for the entertainment of some sick people, who would have thought. My body began to act on its own and dodged the lumbering man's next attack.

"Gomu-gomu no pistol!" I aimed it at his head, causing it to snap back in an inhuman fashion. It was over too quickly, my panting filled the now-silent arena as the man fell to his knees and never got back up. I basically forced my gomu-gomu no pistol to be as accurate as humanly possible, mainly because my life depended on it.

"The child slave has killed the beast! We have a new victor!" That did not matter to me though. I was pushed roughly out of the arena with no regard to my shoulder wound, but even that felt numb. What would Ace and Sabo think? Grandpa would think I'm a criminal now.

I just killed a man.

_xXx_

Sweat dripped down Luffy's face as Ace watched him for signs of nightmares. Pineapple-head had put the oxygen mask back on him after he fell asleep, making it hard to tell if the boy was having night terrors.

Luffy began to whimper, causing Ace to jump up from his seat. The sound was so pathetic, so broken, it broke Ace's already mangled heart. He began to gently shake his brother in an attempt to wake him. His heart sank as he realized these nightmares would no doubt, become a regular occurrence.

Luffy's eyes snapped open and he let out a shocked gasp. His eyes were unfocused, not seeming to recognize where he was or what was happening around him. He started pulling off his oxygen mask and the many fluids attached to him, trying to get up.

"Luffy! What are you doing?! Get back in bed!" Ace exclaimed, trying not to wake the whole ship while also trying to get his distant brother's attention. His brother ignored him, stumbling toward the sink, his body barely able to hold itself up. Where's he go- the sink?

Luffy practically fell onto the sink, his unstable body unable to hold him up any longer. He turned on the faucet to as hot as humanly possible and began scrubbing his hands, hot tears began to stream down his sunken cheeks. Ace walked over to the sink where Luffy was and began to rub the bandages off to expose raw skin. He scrubbed without saying a word until his knuckles began to bleed, crying softly into the scalding water. Ace was yelling at him to stop, but he didn't, too absorbed in whatever he was trying to do.

"It… won't come off."

"Lu?" Ace said as gently as possible, comforting was more of Sabo's thing. "Hey, talk to me, what's going on? What won't come off?" There was no response. Ace then calmly and gently grabbed Luffy's shoulders and pulled him away from the hot water, gently hugging him, and knocking Luffy out of his thoughts. His eyes were wide and unfocused, but thankful. "I'm gonna need you to talk to me so I can help you, Lu."

"Ace, I'm so sorry… They made me do things. P-please, don't be mad at me." Luffy said through soft tears that were so un-Luffy-like, "I'm a murderer, Ace. T-they made me kill people, hundreds of them to survive, t-there was an arena… and, and they watched us fight." Ace just tightened his hold on his baby brother who was now sobbing. Ace's anger swelled to an uncontrollable amount at Luffy's words, no one put his brother through hell and walked away after. Ace and Luffy just sat on the floor until Pineapple-Head and Sabo came back.

_xXx_

"Is he okay now, Ace?" Sabo asked, worry lacing his voice.

"Possibly," Ace looked down to Luffy who was quietly crying. "Hey, Lu. You doing better?" Luffy just looked up with sad eyes.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's ok. You've been through more than most people could ever comprehend. No matter what, just let me and Ace help you, 'kay?" Sabo said gently cupping Luffy's face in his hands. A wave of calmness washed over Luffy as he felt his brother, calmness that he hadn't felt in six years.

"Ace, go grab his hat, please."

"W-what?" Luffy questioned. Did they actually find his hat?

"Ok," Ace simply said as he handed Luffy to Sabo and hobbled out of the room, his leg asleep from Luffy lying on it.

"Luffy, I know that you've been through hell and you're scared, but I'm going to need you to calm down a bit, yoi. We don't want you to open up your stitches again." Marco said. Ace slowly walked back into the room, hand behind his back trying not to scare Luffy further. Luffy stared at Ace with wide, scared eyes that peered into his soul like a lamb before the slaughter. Ace fingered the woven straws that made up the old worn hat, something he would do when he particularly missed his baby brother or got angry. The reminder of such a great light in his hard life gave him comfort, now that same light was here, dimmed to almost an extinguished degree. But he would help Luffy, repent for the six years he spent in hell, and it started with the straw hat.

"Luffy, I have something for you I think you would like," Ace said softly. He softly walked towards Luffy.

"Sabo! SABO!"

"I'm so sorry we couldn't save you."

"Luffy…Luffy has been taken!"

"WHAT?!"

"We were so weak, and you paid the price for it."

"Gramps, you can get him back, right? You're a powerful Marine right?!"

"I can't, I'm sorry, who took Luffy is untouchable, even for me."

"I'm so, so sorry."

"Sabo, let's sail out. Let's go find our baby brother, or die trying. He has to be alive, we'll go to the Grand Line, then the New World. I can't ever chase my dreams knowing that my baby brother can't chase his."

Ace put the straw hat on Luffy's small head, his ivory black hair pushing out underneath. His breath hitched at the familiar feeling on his head, fresh tears welling up in his scared eyes. Sabo was gently holding him as Marco changed the worn bandages on his hands.

"You… you won't take me back there?"

"Never."