Luffy raced through the jungle, dodging trees and fighting back the horrible wave of loneliness. He remembered what Rayleigh said about hiding his presence and worked to focus his energy as he ran, not even noticing the humandrills that fell to his presence. He only slowed as he came out onto the beach and saw the Red Force ahead of him. A wave of nostalgia took his breath away and there was nothing he wanted more, than to board and hide away in his dad's cabin. But this wasn't his ship and you don't board someone else's ship without permission.

So instead Luffy wearily sunk down on the sand and curled his arms around his legs. He didn't even know why he was so upset. He'd always known that Shanks wouldn't be there forever and that was a good thing. As future King of the Pirates, he didn't want any help or favouritism from his emperor father. But he'd expected more warning before his dad left again. More time with his family, more of a struggle to leave him. But apparently Shanks was ready to leave him again. Apparently the regret was all on Luffy's side.

Seas, how selfish could he be? His dad had dropped everything to come save his brother, and then gave up on any chance of secrecy to save him. He was an emperor… he had territory and allies to protect. There were friends and parties and adventures to have. Of course he was tired of spending weeks on an isolated island with him, laying around while he 'healed'. It was boring… only having his dad around made it worth it.

"Luffy?" Came a hesitant voice and Luffy quickly wiped at his cheeks before looking up at Yasopp standing on the ship. "Hey kiddo. Thought that was you. What are you doing out here?" Luffy shook his head and went to head back but Yasopp called out. "Hey! Why don't you come on board and keep me company for a bit. Benn put me on guard duty for pranking Snake earlier and I could use some entertainment."

Luffy hesitated but he wasn't quite ready to go back and face everyone again so he latched his arms onto the railing and flung himself onto the ship. He could feel Yasopp's gaze and knew the sniper would pick up on the signs of recent crying. The man tutted and then disappeared below deck. A few minutes later he reappeared and tossed Luffy a bag of chocolate. "Bonk Punch always has a stash of these but I figured you could use them more."

Luffy smiled gratefully and happily unwrapped some. "What was your prank?" He asked as he chomped down on a chocolate caramel. Yasopp began talking, telling him about his latest pranks, about their most recent challengers, about his new ammo and Luffy felt some of his tension disappear. It was nice to sit and listen to stories again but it also felt wrong. "Do you hate me for losing Usopp?" He interrupted, longing for the familiar presence of HIS sniper.

"Of course not Anchor. I know he's out there somewhere fighting to make it back to you. My boy is strong. Besides its not your fault. Usopp knew what the life of a pirate entails and he chose to take those risks. It's in his blood. He is capable of making his own choices and I gave up any right to judge them."

"Why didn't you ever go back for him?"

"Luffy, " Yasopp said softly. "Hey, look at me bud." Yasopp said, squatting down in front of him and guiding his head up. "I loved Usopp and his mother. I tried really hard to be the man they needed but the truth is, I was a lousy husband and father. Theres no excuse for it. All my love for them and I was still miserable in that little town. Banchina knew it too. She pushed me to join Shanks. Said that if I didn't, resentment would destroy our relationship anyways. So I left, and only visited when we were in the area. It was meant to be temporary, but then a couple years later she told me about a man she met and loved. She said that he wanted to be a father to Usopp and that she was happy. So I stayed away. Left my role of husband and father and for the first time I was free to live the life I wanted with no regrets."

"But- how do you just leave and not come back?"

"I'm a pirate… I'm selfish." Yasopp swallowed. "It's not easy for any of us to leave the ones we love behind. But sometimes it's the best way to keep them safe - like Captain and you. Me, I'm just a coward. I thought of visiting Usopp but I couldn't bring myself to go back and see her with someone new. Besides he had a new father and I would have only brought him problems. Or at least that is what I told myself. Turns out, she lied to me so that I wouldn't be divided anymore. But I didn't learn that until news went out about your crew. Now Usopp must hate me."

"Usopp doesn't hate you but he does miss you. I don't think he ever knew why you didn't come back. He doesn't want to let you down. He's always talking about how he has to be better so that he can be just like you. I think he is scared that you will hate him or be disappointed. But he's wrong." Luffy said adamantly. "Usopp is the best. He's creative, funny and even though he is scared, he fights for his friends. You were wrong to leave him. He deserved to have someone fight fo him. Even if there was another dad. HE deserved all the love."

Luffy started his speech staring down Yasopp, but by the end he had drifted off to the railing and looked out to the sea. Yasopp hesitated and then stepped up to the kid.

"You're right. He did deserve that and so did you."

Luffy laughed. "No, it's ok. I'm one of the people that everyone leaves. I'm good on my own."

Yasopp grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn and look at him. "No Luffy. Captain hated to leave you, knowing that he wouldn't be able to come back to the East for a long time. It killed him and Benn to not see you but we were trying to keep you safe. The marines were starting to take notice of us… and has this whole escapade has shown, we do not do stealthy well."

"Anchor." Came the pained whisper from behind them and Luffy stiffened, eyes widening at the sight of Shanks. Yasopp nodded at his captain and retreated to the stern of the ship to give them privacy.

"I'm so sorry Anchor. I'm sorry that you've ever been in a place where you doubted how people feel about you. This is really important so I need you to listen to me, ok?" He paused and waited til Luffy nodded. "You are my son and I love you." He laced his voice with his haki and let it cover the shaky boy in front of him. Luffy winced and tried to turn away but he gripped his chin firmly but gently. "You are loved by my whole crew, by your crew, by your brother and grandpa and you are so loved by me and your pa. My biggest regret in life is that I couldn't be there while you grew up. Yas was right when he said that we had to leave you. Seas, I think the crew was ready to mutiny dealing with us and our depression in the months after leaving. The first time you called us on the Den Den saved us. Telling us about new friends and adventures. You gave us a reason for celebrating after months of gloom. I wish I could have brought you with us but your safety has always been our top priority. The life of a pirate is hard and it's dangerous."

"You're leaving again." Luffy whispered.

"Not for ever. Just long enough to go, check out the island and make sure it works for your training. Then we'll be back here with you."

"Not for long though. You're going back to New World."

"Anchor, you say the word and we bring you with us. Hell we will collect your whole crew and you can be trained by us. We may not have people that specialize in each of your crew's skills set but we are able to teach you the basics and we would keep you safe." Shanks said seriously. "You could stay with us as long as you wanted."

"I'm going to be king of the pirates." Luffy said shaking his head. "I can't be part of your crew. We're going to do it on our own."

Shanks smiled sadly and placed the dangling hat back on his head. "Yeah you are. And we're going to be waiting for you when you're done. And this time you're not going to be alone. You'll have your Grandpa to teach you and we're going to stay in contact with the Den Den. And hey what's a couple more years after a decade of waiting?"

Luffy wrapped himself around Shanks tightly. "Just wait Dad. Couple more years and I'm gonna come and take you down."

"I can't wait… but don't think I'm going to go easy on you. Your dad's pretty tough you know and I've got a reputation to uphold."

"Pa would say your reputation could only be improved." Luffy said sniffing and Shanks laughed.