"Are you lost, eagle?" Luffy asked an eagle he found while trying to hide from Sabo.
"And who are you?" the eagle asked him.
"Monkey D. Luffy, the next pirate king!" Luffy responded. "So, Monkey kid, do you know how to get out of here?" the eagle asked.
Luffy nodded and led him straight to the Grand Line. The bird left, grateful.
"Shishi, I'm lost," Luffy thought as he realized now he was the one who was lost.
He flew and flew until a pirate ship spotted him.
"Captain, a flaming bird in sight!" one of the crew pointed out.
"A flaming bird? Prepare to attack, the world just gave us a direct ticket to Whitebeard," ordered the captain, who had mistaken Luffy for Marco.
The phoenixes have been declared extinct by the world government, to the extent of naming the vice-captain of the Whitebeard Pirates, a devil fruit user. Any phoenix sighted has been mistaken for the pirate, or worse, disappeared and never reported. It's uncommon, as the phoenixes have been in hiding, where? No one knows.
"We got it!" the subordinates shouted. They shot down Luffy and managed to catch him before he fell into the sea, using haki.
With seastone chains, a cell, and a good guard expert in armament haki, they detained Luffy.
In the middle of the night when they least expected it, all their security measures were useless when an enemy ship began to attack. They were invaded, filling the air with the sounds of battle. Scary like the feeling of not knowing when it will end, or who will win.
When every decision can cost you your life, reputation, and sanity.
Luffy's guard stood determinedly before the intruder. A tall man with hair as red as the blood at his feet that the guard didn't notice, he noted his relaxed posture, mistaking it for indecision and weakness.
In battle, a single mistake can cost you your life, reputation, and the phoenix in the cage.
"Captain, what do you have there?!" asked Shanks' crew when they saw their captain with a phoenix.
"It's Marco!" said Shanks, who had defeated the guard and took Luffy.
"Idiot, that's not Marco!" his crew shouted in unison.
"Marco is blue, this one is white," Beck Beckman pointed out.
"Shanks?" Luffy asked as he took his human form, breaking up the argument.
"Luffy?" Shanks said, perplexed.
"Yes! I mean no, because if it were, our promise would be broken," Luffy said with the face of a total liar.
Shanks laughed.
The Red-Haired Pirates took Luffy with them, making it clear that this would be an exception and wouldn't affect their promise. Luffy, once calm, began to recount what had happened.
"Slower, Luffy!" exclaimed Shanks.
Luffy slowed down, allowing Shanks to understand and make a decision.
"What do you say if these old friends take you back home?" Shanks suggested.
"Really?! I'll sail with you?!" Luffy said in surprise.
At this, Beck Beckman approached Shanks' ear and whispered, "Shanks, I know you want to take Luffy, but you don't know where to go..."
That's when Shanks remembered what had happened to Dawn Island, and how Luffy had been declared dead. The anger came and went when he looked at Luffy, alive.
"Luffy, where do you live now?" Shanks asked.
Luffy explained that he lived in the Calm Belt, to which Shanks ordered the ship's course to be changed to the Calm Belt.
"So, Luffy, who is this mom you keep talking about?" Someone of the crew asked. Everyone paid attention to Luffy's answer.
"She's very strong and has a better name than yours," Luffy said, laughing.
"Is that so?!" challenged the crew member.
"Yes, her name is..." Luffy said Palila's real name.
"Luffy, are you sure?!" Shanks asked, running to pick up Luffy.
"Captain, relax! You're going to make Luffy sick!" everyone shouted, seeing Shanks shaking Luffy.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone, Shishishi," Luffy said, half-worried and half-laughing.
"You don't understand!" responded a hysterical Shanks. "Luffy's mom is an old love of my captain."
"WHAAAAT?!"
Years ago when he was an apprentice on the Oro Jackson. Buggy had fallen ill, again.
—Captain, Buggy is sick!— Shanks shouted. —Shut up, Shanks!— Buggy yelled, trying to stop him, but it was useless, Crocus picked him up and took him to the infirmary.
—Red, are you sure you're not sick too?— Crocus asked Shanks. —Me? Of course not…— he tried to deny, only to fall to the floor. Buggy had infected him.
Both had high temperatures and had trouble sleeping.
—Roger, what are you doing here?! Let my patients rest!— Crocus scolded Roger for being in the infirmary in the middle of the night.
—Don't be so grumpy, Crocus!— Roger sat next to the beds where Shanks and Buggy lay.
—Alright, you can stay, just don't say I didn't warn you if you get sick,— Crocus warned as he left the room.
—Are you feeling better, Red?— Roger asked Shanks, who looked as red as Buggy's nose.
—I feEl grEAT,— Shanks could barely speak, the pain in his throat was unbearable.
—That doesn't sound great, how about a song?— Roger suggested, surprising both Shanks and Buggy.
"The wind blows south, south, south.
The wind blows south where the blue sea is.The wind blows south, south, south.
Blow my icy breeze, bring my love back to me, bring it back to me."
The next day they asked about the song.
—I learned it on my home island. Did I ever tell you about the person who almost took Rayleigh's place as second in command?— Roger said with a playful smile. —She went by the name Bell, but her real name is...
"You were an apprentice?!" Luffy asked, surprised. He thought Shanks had always been a captain.
"The wind blows south, south, south.
The wind blows south where the blue sea is.The wind blows south, south, south.
Blow my icy breeze, bring my love back to me, bring it back to me."
"Then are you going to tell us more about this first love?" Lucky Roo asked while devouring a whole piece of meat.
"Since Buggy and I found out about it, we started using it against him once he started dating lady Rouge," Shanks said, laughing.
"YOU'RE A DEMON!" they all said in unison.
"But it worked! And to my surprise, that first love turns out to be none other than Luffy's mom," Shanks said, pointing at Luffy. "I don't understand why it matters so much!" Luffy responded.
"To be honest, now I'm more curious about meeting your mother. It's not every day you meet the one who rejected the Pirate King," Shanks confessed.
—If you loved her so much, why did he let her go?— Shanks asked his captain.
—Because that's what you do when you love someone. You do what's best for them, and sometimes that's letting go,— Roger explained.
"They told me last night there were ships in the offing,"
— And how did you meet her, captain?— Shanks asked.
—On a cold night when the wind blew south, was the first time I heard a voice singing of love the way she did," Roger began to recount the day he went to the port on a freezing night.
"And I hurried down to the deep rolling sea. But my eye could not see it wherever might be it,"
—We became good friends and although I developed feelings beyond friendship, I understood she hadn't overcome her losses enough to let herself be loved again — Confessed Roger.
"The barque, that is bearing my love to me."
—I knew that even if I confessed my love, she wouldn't let herself be loved. Healing the soul takes time, and I don't have time…— Roger concluded. His sad look said it all. He didn't need to say it out loud to know he was referring to his inevitable death due to his illness.
"Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow the wind south o'er the bonny blue sea. Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, Blow bonnie breeze, my love to me."
—I know.— Shanks looked at the vast sea.
—I hope one day she can be happy again,— Roger revealed with a slight smile.
"I stood by the lighthouse the last time we parted. Till darkness came down o'er the deep rolling sea. And no longer I saw the bright barque of my love. Blow, bonny breeze and bring him to me."
"Captain, we're about to enter the Calm Belt!" his comrades warned.
Shanks prepared his sword in case a Sea King approached. "Let's return little Luffy to his mother!" declared Shanks with determination.
"Is it not sweet to hear the breeze singing,
As lightly it comes o'er the deep rolling sea?. But sweeter and dearer by far when is bringing, the barque of my true love in safety to me. Blow, bonny breeze and bring him to me."