Shanks sipped on his coffee as he watched the chaos in front of him. Oh seas, there were three of the bottomless pits now and for all of Sabo's manners, the boy ate just as viciously as his brothers. In fact, witnessing this meal was enough to assuage any doubts he had about their relationship.
Robin had wisely carried off a couple plates to the other side of the deck with Perona and Benn while Zoro threw himself into the melee. Shanks had grabbed an apple and his coffee and backed away to a safe distance with a laughing Lucky.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up." Shanks said wryly.
Lucky snorted. "Have you seen your face, Cap?"
"Unfortunately. Seems the brats found a permanent marker. I'm just glad Luffy was around to keep it appropriate. Seas knows what you jerks would have written on me."
"Oh yeah this is going to give Yasopp ideas for the future. I particularly enjoy the mama bear."
Shanks swore revenge on his traitorous first mate before changing the subject. "Thanks for having this ready for us so early Lucky but I hope you hid some for the crew after." Shanks winced as Ace slammed a knife into the table, right between Sabo's outstretched fingers.
Lucky chortled. "Don't worry, I was prepared for the monsters. Though there is a couple more than I was expecting."
"You and me both, Benn almost had a coronary last night when we found them. Actually, hey boys, how about the explanation now? How did these two find you."
Ace and Luffy looked at each other and then shrugged. "Don't know." They said simultaneously.
Shanks faltered for a second. "What do you mean you don't know? Two people show up on the island you're hiding on and you don't question how?"
"It's Sabo and Robin." Luffy said distractedly, trying to grab some bacon from Sabo's plate. "They just know stuff."
"Ace? Zoro?" Shanks questioned desperately hoping for some sanity.
"Doesn't matter. Luffy was happy to see them and he trusts Sabo." Zoro said easily, blocking Ace from Luffy's plate.
Ace blushed. "They only got here last night. I did ask but then I got distracted by mini Luffy. Then Lu got all weepy about seeing him and we kind of just crashed."
"Perona?"
"Horohorohoro… who cares about them. Luffy was so adorable."
Shanks thunked his head against the wall. "See Benn! I was not being dramatic. We're lucky they survived here alone."
Benn winced and looked desperately at the kids for some sign that they were joking. He tried to decide if he should scold them or move on when the Den Den began to ring.
Benn went to pick it up when it disappeared into familiar stretched out arms. "Lu-" He started to interject when the boy answered.
"Monkey D. Luffy, I'm gonna be King of the Pirates.."
Benn facepalmed and Shanks went back to smacking his head against the wall.
"You idiot! That's not Mihawk's secure Den Den!" Ace yelled, smacking Luffy's head and grabbing the snail.
"Oh seas. You are both still idiots. They can hear you! Give the snail to Benn before you get us all killed." Sabo glared at his brothers who sheepishly passed the snail over to Benn.
"When we are done talking I want you all to go run 3 laps of the island." Rayleigh said dryly on the other end and Benn thanked the seas while Shanks sighed in relief. "I also expect a lecture on secrecy and Den Den protocol. If I was an enemy I would know that not only were Luffy and Ace on your ship but also that they had at least, spent time at Mihawk's island.
"Right boys, you heard Rayleigh." Shanks stated.
"Oh Red, I said all of you."
"Oh come on! I didn't do anything." Shanks whined.
"Exactly brat. You just sat there while they did something stupid. Now pass the snail back to the kids."
Luffy beamed as he shot over to his pa. "Hey Papa Ray! I beat all the others at hide and seek yesterday! And I managed to dodge five balls in a row with my haki! And Robin is here!"
"Thats great Luffy. I'm glad to hear you guys are training. How about the others?"
"Mihawk gave me a bunch of drills to do while he was gone. But I beat all the humandrills who would do drills with me." Zoro complained. "And none of these guys are any good with a sword."
Rayleigh was silent for a second. "What do you mean while he was gone? Where did Mihawk go?"
"He was called in by the navy." Ace said quietly and Rayleigh fought back a smile. Ace was finally allowing some interaction without any prompting. A second later his words sunk in and Rayleigh felt a wave of panic.
"He left you guys! What was he thinking?"
"You guys are all acting like we barely survived. You do know that I practically raised Luffy on my own when I was 10? And Luffy has been alone or captain of his own crew since he was 14? We do have some survival instincts." Ace reminded them.
"Barely. I don't know how you survived and that was before you guys managed to make enemies with the strongest people in the world." Shanks said glumly. "Anyways Pa, we're back now and everything seems ok. Oh your grandkids did somehow sneak two new brats in."
"You collected more strays! I will have to warn Whitebeard that you're coming for his role if this keeps up. Now tell me about my new grandkids! Are they staying for training?"
"Sorry Pa, I don't think either is in need of a new parent and they aren't hanging out for long. One of them is part of Anchor's crew and the other is his big brother, who he hasn't seen for a decade."
"Nope, too late. I've decided they're mine now. Which reminds me. Give Luffy the phone. Luffy, I've got a surprise for you."
"Wow a surprise! What is it? Is it meat?" Luffy said already drooling.
"You've just had breakfast Anchor." Benn scolded fondly.
"Well its not meat but I think you'll enjoy it anyways."
"Luffy! I was so scared! Are you okay? Rayleigh said you were injured!"
"CHOPPER!" Wailed Luffy.
"I should have been there to fix your injuries! I'm your doctor and you got hurt." Chopper whimpered.
"No Chopper! It's my fault you weren't there. I let us get separated and didn't protect us." Luffy insisted. "But I'm going to find everyone and we're all going to get so strong that no one will be able to split us apart ever again. I'm training every day."
"Luffy! You better be listening to the doctor. You need to heal first. I want to talk to the doctor!" Came the demand from the suddenly stern reindeer.
Zoro had quietly moved beside Luffy and smiled at the scolding from their youngest member. "Don't worry Chopper. We were both sufficiently warned about overdoing it. Seriously. We were on bed rest for forever. But the doctor says we're good to go now."
"Zoro! You two actually listened to the doctor? Now I really need to talk to him."
"Shishishi. Well Dad and Pa and uncle Hawky were really mean about it. And Hongo is scary when he gets mad. But we missed you!"
"That doesn't make me happy at all, you big dummies. And I can be scary too, just you wait! You'll follow my orders when I'm around." Chopper squealed, making the two smile.
"Where did you end up Chopper? Are you safe?" Luffy asked, leading Chopper to talk about stupid humans trying to eat him and befriending giant birds. Luffy interrupted at this point. "What! Giant birds! Get one for our crew! That would be sooo awesome." Which led to Robin lecturing him on wild animals.
Eventually they had to say goodbye to their little doctor who decided to stay on his island to continue learning but they promised to get him in contact with Hongo soon. After they hung up Luffy glumly cuddled up with Benn. Perona studied him for a moment before joining them and shoving her beloved Kumashi doll in his arms. "Here hold this and don't wreck it! And don't think you are getting to hold it cause I care! I just don't want to put it down on this dirty deck okay?" Luffy beamed, squeezing the toy tightly and wishing he was snuggling with his fluffy doctor instead.