When Mayor Woopslap saw the enormous ship, styled after various sweets, the sails themselves seemed to sing and whip. Two impossibly tall figures stood at the prow, towering over the rest of the crew that came up to their hips at most. One was tall and stocky, with a black biker jacket and spiked knee-pads. A cream colored scarf wrapped around the tall man's shoulders, obscuring more than half of his face. The other was a woman, with long legs and a slim figure. Sadly, the woman's beauty was eclipsed by the long crooked nose and jagged scar running from above her right eye to the left side of her chin. Her long purple hair was spiked downward, and her flowing gown seemed to have tears in it, giving the illusion of a ghost or witch.

"Are you sure it's here, Aniki?"

The tall man scoffed.

"That redheaded drunkard wouldn't shut up about this kid or this island. This is the place. There's no question about it."

The mayor was sweating bullets when he came to meet the imposing pirates.

"H-hello, how may our humble village help you two p-pirates, sir, and madam?

The tall man seemed to take charge.

"We are looking for a boy named Luffy.

The mayor Woopslap visibly paled.

"P-please go easy on him and his brothers, he's only a child."

The man regarded him with a cold glare.

"We're Charlottes. We look after our own."

Luffy was once again sitting on a stool in Makino's bar, when the door opened gently, and in stepped an imposing man and equally tall woman in the doorway, having to hunch slightly to simply exist in the room.

He turned and started slightly, both figures being incredibly quiet despite their impressive height

The woman's eyes seemed to be getting slightly misty, and Luffy couldn't figure out why for the life of him. The man looked down at him and his eyes crinkled nearly imperceptibly around the edges.

"Are you the one known as Luffy?

Luffy's head bobbed under the oversized straw hat.

"Yup, and I'm gonna become a great pirate!"

The woman's already wide smile widened even further, if that was even possible.

"So Luffy, have you ever had a family?" The woman was the one to speak this time.

Her voice seemed watery, almost like she was about to cry.

"I have gramps and my brothers! My brothers are soooo cool but I don't like gramps. He trains me way too hard and even though I'm glass, his fist of love still hurts!"

At this, the tall man stiffened. The Marine Hero, Vice Admiral Garp, using Haki on his own grandson. The woman burst into quiet tears, deep sobs racking her body and shaking the stool she had sat on. Luffy tilted his head curiously. Nobody had ever reacted like this. Usually it was more along the lines of "poor kid" or "so sad" but never like this. He was about to ask the tall woman what was wrong, but then the man pressed more.

"Have you ever had a mom or dad?"

"What's a mom? Or a dad?"

The tall man sighed, somewhat exasperated. He knew that the boy would be a little behind, being raised on a fairly primitive island in the weakest sea, but this was a little much.

"A dad is a man that takes care of you, worries about you when you get hurt, teaches you things, and helps you do things that you can't when you're struggling. Everybody is born with a dad, but sometimes you can get more if they all care for you."

The tiny child took on a thinking pose, and after a minute, seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Oh, you mean Shanks! He was nice and cool and gave me this cool hat! He also had me promise to become a great pirate!"

The woman was laughing through her sobs now.

"Y-you really must've been starved for a f-father figure if you settled for that tomato-head."

The tall man's shoulders shook in silent laughter as he watched the tiny boy hurled himself at the woman screaming for her to take it back, and that Shanks saved him from the bandits. She caught him in her arms and settled the tiny almost-seven year old on her knee, practically glowing with happiness. The silence was ruined by Luffy's next question.

"What's a mom?"

The man hesitated at that.

"A mother is a woman that does the same things a dad does, and more. She cares for you, and tries to protect you as best she can."

The boy took on a similar thinking pose, and after a moment, shook his head. No, I don't have a mom. The closest thing is Dadan, but she's mean and only gives me rice and water. I have to hunt the rest myself." The woman squeezed him a little bit tighter, wrapping her arms around his little chest. Luffy didn't mind in the slightest, actually snuggling a little in the woman's warm embrace.

"What does this have to do with you visiting me?"

"Well Luffy, if a mother or father loses their child, they will go to the ends of the earth to find them again, and that is just what happened to my dear sister Brulee today."

Understandably, Luffy blue-screened at this. He looked up at the woman smiling warmly down at him, tears in his eyes.

"M-mom?"

"Yes, my little firecracker, I can't describe how happy I am to see you again."

Luffy hugged the woman—no, his mother—and they both let their happy tears fall.

The man waited, and after a few moments of nothing happening, cleared his throat.

"So Luffy, do you want to come home with us? We have an entire island and we can train you up to be the best pirate in the world."

Luffy nodded resolutely, and like that it was decided. Luffy was going to Whole Cake Island.

Luffy grabbed everything that could be considered his. This didn't consist of much, mostly just a few sentimental items like a glass marble Dadan had given him to practice with. Before long, everything was in the pack the Charlottes had given him. He walked out and down to where his brothers were.

Ace was the first to notice Luffy running up to them, followed by Sabo.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Luffy, both excited and sad, pulled the other two boys into a hug. "I met my mom, and now I'm going away with her to become a super strong pirate!" The others were about to respond when Luffy suddenly remembered something. He broke the hug and began digging around in his pocket. He pulled out a colorful snail creature and handed it to a very confused Ace. "This is so we can still talk to each other while I'm away! We just tell it what to say!... I think."

Ace quietly put the snail into his pocket before turning back to Luffy. "You're leaving!? With your mom!?"

Luffy told the whole story as Sabo and Ace simply stared, dumbfounded.

"But what if they're lying?" Ace yelled out. "Or- or what if they hurt you? Or someone else there hurts you?"

Luffy simply smiled in response. "I'll be fine! They're both good people!"

Ace weighed his paranoia against his trust in Luffy's instincts, and decided to let Luffy take the reins. He pulled Luffy into a hug and whispered into his ear. "Don't you dare die. If you die, then I swear I will find a way to bring you back and give you a thousand fists of love."

When Sabo joined the hug the dam broke and tears flowed freely down the cheeks of all three boys.

Sabo simply gave a "Goodbye, Luffy. I hope we can see you again." as Luffy ran down to the docks to join his newfound family.