Chapter 50: Epilogue

"-and once the great earthquake and tsunamis finally calmed it was found that the age of the pirates had come to a violent end." The voice of a young woman with green hair captured the attention of the young kids in the room with her. "The once terrible pirates were found to be the only ones left to be able to help the world recover as the headquarters to the former wold government was completely destroyed and had sank to the ocean floor with the noble island of Mary Geoise; ruined which can still be seen today." She held up a picture for the class to see. Oh's and ah's echoed in the room. She was about to continue when the bell rang. "Remember class, tomorrow your project on pirates good or bad is due!" She quickly yelled as all of the children ran out of the room. That is, all but one.

Walking over to the black haired boy she knelt down to him and smiled. "Luffy."

Chocolate brown eyes looked up at her from his sketch book. The gold and red flecks in his eyes seemed to sparkle in the late afternoon sunlight. "Yes, Miss 'Kino?"

Makino chuckled at the little boy. Luffy had been an orphan most of his life. She'd been his teacher since kindergarten and had watched him grow up lonely. His eyes had always been sad, that is until he'd been unofficially adopted by two brothers. The older boys were two grades ahead of him and he usually waited for them to come get him after class. "Are your brother's coming today?"

The boy nodded. "Uh-huh. 'Bo and Ace have practice. So I'm to stay in the gym until they'd done." He told her proudly.

She giggled. "Oh? Do they now?" She asked knowing the real reason he wanted to go to the gym. "Are you sure that's not because Mister Benn is teaching inside today?"

"Shishishi." Luffy giggled his strange laugh at her. "Maybe."

Benn Beckman was the new gym teacher in town. He and his partner, Benn Shanks, were very nice men. A thorough background check by the principal of Goa Elementary, had found no discrepancies in the older man's background. Beckman had been a gym teacher for twenty years before marrying his partner of four years only a year ago. They had one child that was Luffy's age; Uta. She and Luffy had hit it off and both of Luffy's brothers had begun to become very protective of the little girl just like they were of Luffy. As for Shanks, from what Luffy had told her, he was an unpublished writer and helped in his best friend's bakery to make money until he was published. Luffy loved his stories of ancient gods doing battle with demons. She supposed it was better that he spent time with responsible people than at the group home he and the other two boys lived in.

"How about I walk you to the gym?" She asked knowing the little boy might end up getting attacked by the school bullies if he was left alone.

His grin blinded her. "Okay." He agreed.

The walk down the hall was quiet as Luffy and Makino walked towards the gym. She did notice him stiffen once but when she turned to see who it was, she wasn't too surprised at seeing Marshall Teach standing with his four friends. "Boys," her voice was strong and full of authority. "If you have an extracurricular class go to it, otherwise take your things and leave." The boys were quick to leave, afraid of what the female teacher would do if they didn't.

"Shishishi." Luffy laughed as he took her hand. "Miss 'Kino is brave."

She blushed. "Oh that's nonsense." She shook her head as they came to the gym. "Now be good."

"I will!" He yelled as he opened the door and ran inside. Luffy's face lit up when he saw Uta. His red and white haired friend was in special classes that were for smart people. She also had music class after school, except for two days a week; today being one of them. "Uta!" He ran up to her and gave the girl a hug.

"L-Luffy!" She exclaimed as she was hugged tightly by her friend.

Out of the corner of room Beckman watched his quiet daughter was being hugged by the loud and obnoxious boy that he and Shanks had come to adore. It broke their hearts to find out that he was an orphan along with his two brothers. Which is why they had quietly begun to an investigation on the three boys and what they'd found out made them cry. Luffy's father and grandfather had both died when he'd been four in an accident. The boy had no memory of his mother. He had been at the Whitebeard Foster home ever since. Sabo had been given up by his parents who were both rich but had decided that the boy was unworthy of their time or effort. Then there was Ace. Shanks had nearly cried when he'd read the boy's file. Reason being, Ace was his half brother whom both he and Buggy, his older brother, had thought died when both of their parents had been killed in a rollover crash. Shanks was already trying to gain custody of Ace now and with one boy came two more.

Beckman chuckled. They couldn't wait for the paperwork to go through! The case worker had seemed enthusiastic to finally find a placement for all three boys. "They're thick as thieves." She had warned the two men. "Don't try to come in between them. You'll get the gremlins they can become."

They'd already witnessed that when the three boys had walked Uta home to their flat above Lucky's bakery one day. The two oldest ones had been covered in blood and dirt. Luffy had laughed at their worry as Uta had just looked annoyed. Later Uta had told them what had happened. Apparently a boy named Eustass Kid and his friend Killer (what kind of name was that?) had ambushed the three boys. Luffy had protected Uta while Sabo and Ace knocked out the two older boys.

Luckily Beckman's long time friend, Hongo and his husband, Limejuice, were at the house visiting when the children had showed up. The long time doctor and paramedic had taken one look at the boys and their training kicked in. Shanks had laughed as the two young boys had gotten annoyed from all the attention.

"Luffy!" Beckman waved the boy over to him so Uta could practice her vocals. He watched the boy place his book bag by Uta before bouncing over to him.

"Yeah, Beck?" Luffy answered before quickly correcting himself. "I-I mean Mr. Benn."

Beckman chuckled. "I've decided that I finally know how to harness all that energy of yours."

"Really?!" Luffy practically bounced with excitement.

Beckman pulled out from the bag he was carrying several sports magazines. On the front were pictures of two men. One was older with scars on his face and the other had what look like tribal tattoos on his face. "That's my Papa and Gigi!" Luffy cried out with joy before his lower lip quivered and tears began to form in his eyes. Luffy looked up at Beckman sadly. "Why are they on this magazine?" He asked.

"This is a World Wrestling Championship magazine that talks about your Father and Grandfather being the world's best at boxing." He explained as he opened the magazine to show Luffy the pictures inside. He pointed to one where Luffy was in between the two men. He couldn't have been any older than three. "You were at every single one of your father's matches." He showed the images to the boy, along with the full length articles about his father and grandfather's careers. "I think wrestling is in your blood and I am putting a team together." He grinned at the boy. "Would you like to try out?"

The smile Luffy gave was so bright that it sparkled. "SURE!" He yelled out joyously.

Just then the doors to the gym opened revealing a blonde boy with a black left eye and dark haired boy with a bandage wrapped hand. The two walked into the gym with their heads hung low. Beckman stood and rushed over to them. He inspected the eye of the blonde before looking the other boy over. "Who was it this time?" He asked.

Both boys grinned. "Teach." The said in unison.

Beckman groaned as he ran a hand over his eyes. These two. He thought. "Uta, Luffy, grab your things; you boys are coming to stay with us for a few days."

"Does Mr. Edward's know?" Ace asked. Edward Newgate, owner of the Whitebeard Group homes, was a friend of the Benn family. He knew Beckman and Shanks were filing for adoption of the three boys and was hoping to expedite the process in the courts. Ace was also very much afraid of the older boys that Edward himself had adopted; Edward Marco being the eldest.

"Yes, he knows." Beckman assured him which gained a deep sigh of relief from the ten year old boy.

It took less than a half hour to get home, but on the way Luffy had shown both of his brothers the magazine with his father and grandfather in it. The boys were instantly enraptured by the articles and pictures. It left them with so many questions about the sport, all of which Beckman tried to answer.

Arriving at the bakery, the group was hit by the scent of freshly baked breads and sweet donuts. "Zoro!" Luffy screamed as soon as Luffy spotted the green haired boy.

A dark haired man turned towards the ruckus. "Mihawk." Beckman greeted his brother-in-law.

"There's been a development." Mihawk's tone told the older man that something bad was on its way.

"Which one?" Beckman asked a pit of anxiety forming in his belly. Mihawk owned an investigation agency. He and Buggy were partners, both at home and in business.

Mihawk's eyes turned towards Luffy. "The youngest." He stated as both Zoro and his sister Perona kept the other kids distracted.

A tall man with slicked black hair, a fine suit and a cigar in hand could be seen talking to Shanks. The man looked heartbroken and close to tears. "Crocodile?" Beckman asked gaining a nod from Mihawk.

"A year ago he joined our agency and has been a great help." Mihawk's explained. "He also came with some emotional baggage."

"Do I need to know?" Beckman asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"He's Luffy's mother." Mihawk's answered. "Long story short. After the boy was born, he signed a non disclosure to stay out of the kids life in order to get the money for a sex change by a doctor named Ivankov." Mihawk's explained quietly. "When news of Dragon and Garp's death reach him, he began looking for Luffy but had no luck until he happened to see the pictures on Buggy's desk a week ago."

This was a nightmare. Beckman felt sick. Just as they were going to gain their sons, one was about to be torn away from them. It just had to be our Anchor too. He thought as he turned away to regain his composure.

"Beck?" Shanks' voice was strong, no wobbling from emotional distress. Turning he knew his husband could see how distressed he was. The red head waved his hand at him to come towards him. He wordlessly obeyed. Once he was next to Shanks, his husband reached up and touched his cheek. "It's okay. Croc here doesn't want to take Luffy away from us."

"What?" Beckman's eyes turned towards the other man. Buggy sat behind Crocodile with his arms across his chess.

"Your husband is right." Crocodile assured him. "The only thing I want is a relationship with my son as his uncle."

"Uncle?" Beck asked, raising a brow at Buggy whose face was red and for once not from his makeup.

"Yes. I am the third in the relationship between Blue Buggy and Silvers Mihawk." Crocodile announce with a cheshire grin on his face.

"Good for you, Buggy." Beckman congratulated the blue haired man.

"Yeah, yeah." Buggy waved him off like it wasn't a big deal; but the grin on his face told Beck otherwise.

Later that night, with all four children in bed, Beck sat on his shared bed with Shanks who was in their shared bathroom. "That was a close one today." He stated. "Crocodile could've laid claim and there wouldn't have been anything we could've done."

"I know." Shanks answered as he came into the bedroom with a pair of red flannel pants on. "I was so scared when Blue brought him in today and broke the news." He walked over to Beckman. "He's given us control over when or if Luffy should ever know."

Beck looked up into Shanks' grey eyes. "Not until he's a teen. He wouldn't understand." He told his husband.

"Agreed." Shanks said shocked that they'd agree so quickly on that. He leaned down to kiss his husband when a knock at the door stopped him.

"Shanks?" Luffy's voice caused both men to groan.

"Yes Anchor?" Shanks answered.

"Can I come in?" The boys voice was tentative with uncertainty lacing it.

"Of course." Shanks answered, immediately the energy infused it came rushing into the room. Bouncing over to Shanks he held out his sketch book. "Oh? You've got a drawing for me to see?" He went to open it.

"No." Luffy grinned. "It's a story."

"Oh! A story?" Shanks sat on the bed with Beck looking over his shoulder at the detailed pictures.

"It's a story about a boy!" Luffy stated as he opened the book. The first image was of two boys and an oddly shaped fruit in between them. "This boy gains rubber powers from a fruit. He fights bad guys and helps the weak. He then fights a demon and becomes the Pirate King!"

Shanks' eyes widened. The story sounded familiar, but where had he heard it before? He turned each page and found himself enraptured by the images of strange human-like creatures, devil fruits that granted people powers, pirates fighting marines and a crew who started out weak but grew with each experience. He then came to the last page of a boy with white wispy hair holding the fruit and speaking to the dark haired boy.

"Was the adventure fun?" He asked the boy.

Grinning widely the boy answered. "The bestest!"

Shanks looked at Luffy and found himself feeling emotional. Why? He couldn't understand but it was as if his very soul was crying. He reach out with his arms towards Luffy and pulled him into his chest. After a moment of silence he spoke. "Anchor, we have something we need to tell you." He smiled at the little boy joyfully. Yes, this was what was meant to be. This was their son and now they would tell him he'd never be alone again.

M-Angel: I am a bit emotional now. This was the longest story I've done in a long time. I hope everyone enjoy it. Thank-you for your comments and letting me bounce ideas off of some of you. I hope you join me for the next stories I come up with!