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Garp had belonged to the sea longer than he’d been of any land, but he couldn’t deny that returning to Dawn always felt like a homecoming. Here were the beaches where he’d learned how to walk and swim. His first words had been screamed into this wind. If Garp had to claim a homeport, and unofficially, he all but had, it would be this one.
Which was also the precise reason why he was displeased that the Red-Haired Brat had made a stop here. Dawn was relatively peaceful and safe, which made for good security for a secret as grand as Luffy, but that worked only as long as nobody was paying any attention to it. The most beautiful Kingdom in East Blue wasn’t known for harboring any criminals but those of their own making, and those tended to stay on Dawn.
Roger’s brat had brought too much attention to the Kingdom and the small village built on this island. Garp could only be glad that when the brat had messed up, had saved Luffy’s life, the crew of the Oro Jackson had been wise enough to avoid showing up as loudly and publicly as they usually did but had quickly whisked the brat away again.
The fact that Luffy had gone off speaking excitedly about pirates, nearly worshipping the ground Red Hair had walked on, wasn’t exactly beneficial either.
Garp had meant to let the brat grow up free of worries, raise him to become a marine so, unlike Roger’s youngest brat, his mere existence didn’t warrant a bounty before he had even reached his tenth birthday.
With a heavy sigh, Garp stepped off his boat. A week ago, he’d left his marine vessel in the capable hands of his Captain. Bogart was a reliable guy and kept it running well while Garp took off time to check in on his grandson. He hadn’t seen Luffy in a while. Garp would have liked to come back earlier, but the New World hadn’t been particularly kind last year. Big Mom continued expanding her territory, Kaido’s army grew every day, and after Red Hair’s injury, his crew and Roger had pretty much cut off their territory from the rest of the world.
The marines had needed him more than the little secret hidden away on Dawn.
Even if Dadan wasn’t the best babysitter available, seas knew what other criminal ideas Luffy would pick up under her hands, but Garp trusted her with his life – and even more, with that of his grandson.
He’d be fine.
And after this visit – Garp had set two weeks aside – Luffy would be a little stronger too and not as defenseless. Maybe once the whole situation in the New World had calmed down again, and Garp wouldn’t be deployed so far away, Luffy could return to Foosha. At least, so Garp thought wryly, Luffy couldn’t be shot at anymore. So there went execution by gunfire.
“Garp! Back finally?”
Makino greeted him at the pier. Her hair was tied back as usual and though she was smiling, Garp could see the anger she was hiding. The girl had barely been twelve when he’d come to Dawn with Luffy. As the only older child not already busy learning a trade, she’d taken it upon herself to watch over him. She had not been very pleased with Garp whisking Luffy away, even if it was meant only for a short while.
“Yes, gotta check on the brat!”
“I see,” Makino replied. “Come back for dinner with him, alright? I’ll make his favorite.”
The other fishermen were very pointedly not looking at them in a way suggesting they were listening to every word, wanting to see who’d win the passive argument between Barmaid and Vice Admiral. Foosha always did take caring for its children seriously, and though Garp was risking much for Luffy already, some hardships couldn’t be forgiven, no matter how well-intended.
A heart of gold could sink you like a stone around the neck, after all.
Garp didn’t linger on the fact that the voice whispering this in his ear sounded just like his son. Stupid Dragon. If he weren’t causing such waves, Garp wouldn’t have to hide Luffy away in the first place.
“Understood,” Garp told Makino, flashing her an honest grin.
His reply was satisfaction enough as Makino returned to her shopping, haggling for the price of the fish just reared in. Garp passed by Woodslap’s house, raising a hand in greeting and earning a glare in retribution. He probably did deserve it, but that didn’t make it sting any less. Not even up the mountain yet, and Garp was already exhausted.
For all that this was marked down as a vacation, it didn’t much feel like one. At least the trek through the jungle was surprisingly relaxing. He couldn’t sense any of the large predators and thus could actually enjoy the nice weather. The first days of summer were Dawn’s best season, always bringing warmth without the oppressive heat making it hard to breathe. Garp was glad he’d decided to trade his uniform for civvies before. Walking to Dadan’s in a proper suit was nothing short of a nightmare.
The trip didn’t take too long, although it had been unimaginably tedious the last time he’d made it, dragging a screaming Luffy with him, and soon Garp spotted the bandits, assembled around the house, discussing among themselves.
He counted the same number as last time, saw the same faces too, Dadan ordering the men around.
Luffy was not among them.
“Dadan!” Garp thundered loudly. “Where is my grandson?”
The woman in question halted in the middle of barking her instructions and turned to look at Garp, angry defiance on her soured face.
“Your brat’s run off again!” she shouted. “Constantly skipping his chores. Pah!”
“And you’re not keeping him in check?”
“He’s alive; what more do you want?” Dadan shot back, freezing the very next second, recalling that he had all the power in this situation. On the good days, Garp imagined Dadan knew he wouldn’t turn her in for her petty thievery. She’d been stealing peaches from his garden even before Dragon had introduced her as his friend, and Garp hadn’t really stopped her then either, though it had been well within his right.
He had all the strength and justifications, and none of it was enough to keep his grandson safe.
It wasn’t like Garp wasn’t painfully aware of it.
“Where did he run off to then?”
“West,” Dadan said. “Towards Gray Terminal.”
Of fucking course, Luffy did. The boy had a sixth sense for danger and always headed straight for it. Someday Garp would teach him better before another person had the chance to make it a lesson that stuck and bled.
“If I don’t find him by sundown, we’ll have trouble!” Garp called out, fist raised, as he headed into the direction of the trash heap. Gray Terminal, Goa Kingdom’s greatest slight.
Garp could only hope that Luffy hadn’t gotten himself into any serious trouble. He left the brat with the bandits so he wouldn’t be in the public’s eye, and the kid immediately rushed somewhere even worse.
They’d be having a very long talk after this.
Maybe the boy was old enough to understand the reasons for these restrictions. Garp hadn’t wanted to tell Luffy about Dragon before, convinced that Luffy wouldn’t comprehend what it meant that his father was even more feared than the Pirate King, and unwilling to elaborate on his own failures.
He had to get the boy to see some reason. Luffy was not at fault for Dragon’s crime and ought to grow up without a bounty on his head.
The walk further away from the bandits Garp towards Gray Terminal was far less pleasant than the previous one. At first, Garp thought it was his imagination, being unsettled by a part of the jungle he hadn’t seen in a while. But then, Garp started spotting odd marks. If he weren’t paying so much attention to finding Luffy, who was much too small to run through this forest unsupervised with an out-of-control devil fruit, damn it, he wouldn’t have noticed them at all. Some of the marks looked like plants and trees cut during fights or hunting. He knew for a fact that this wasn’t the bandits’ handiwork. They tended to go up north, the furthest away from the Kingdom and Foosha.
Had the people from the Terminal finally become desperate enough that they headed into the forest? That didn’t bode well for the state of this Kingdom or the security of Foosha.
“—bo!”
Well, that certainly hadn’t been an animal. It was the same young voice Garp heard screaming in terror in his nightmares. He stretched out his Haki, took a step forward, and caught his unruly grandson.
“Wh— Help!”
“Brat!” Garp shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Eh?” Luffy craned up his head, the angle unnaturally wide. It would take some getting used to for Garp not to wince at Luffy’s changed body movements. “Gramps? What are you doing here?”
“Checking up on you! And what do I see? Dadan tells me you’ve been skipping on chores!”
Luffy pulled a face. “Chores are for bandits. I’m gonna be Pirate King! Pirates don’t do bandit chores!”
You’d think that seeing Roger would have ensured the brat thought the Pirate King was a useless good for nothing.
“You’re not going to be a pirate! You’ll be a marine!”
“No!” Luffy shouted back. “I’m gonna be a pirate and you can’t make me!”
Luffy severely underestimated just how far Garp would go to keep him safe. “You will listen to what I say or—”
Garp interrupted his speech as suddenly another small creature jumped out of the forest, clearly set to attack him. Garp easily sidestepped the assault, confused because all the weaker animals knew better than to attack him and the larger ones wouldn’t be so freaking small.
“Wait!” Luffy called. “Don’t go attacking! Gramps isn’t gonna hurt me!”
As it turned out, the creature wasn’t an animal at all but a small human child, one his brat obviously knew. They held up an iron pipe, grip and footwork better than Garp would have expected for a kid of their age. Luffy wiggled out of his hold to rush to the other kid’s side, looking, for once, strangely concerned.
“Luffy, who is that?” Garp asked.
The boy pressed to Luffy’s side looked downright awful. A big ugly scar ran from just under his left eye to his neck, prominent in a way that said recent and poorly healed. His clothes were a mess, though not that dissimilar from Luffy’s dirty rags, and the skittish look in his eyes promised worry.
“This is Sabo!” Luffy said cheerily, seemingly unaware of the ticking time bomb next to him. “We’re brothers now! Sabo, Sabo, this is my Gramps! He’s a marine, so he sucks, but he’s super strong!”
This Sabo wasn’t much taller than Luffy, and he was so very skinny. He still hadn’t let go of his pipe, as if preparing to fight Garp to death if need be - and all that for the boy clinging to him now.
This was already a mess and Garp hadn’t even been here for a day. What were the chances that Luffy would find some half-feral kid from Gray Terminal to grow attached to? Oh, who was he kidding? If anyone managed to find a friend as hurt as that, it would be Luffy.
“Sabo, huh?” Garp repeated and promptly smacked Luffy’s head. “Brat, how dare you not tell me I have a new grandson!?”
While Luffy whined and protested childishly, Sabo twitched, eyes not leaving Garp’s fist. Yeah, kid definitely hadn’t reacted well to the slightest display of violence. So much for using this vacation to teach Luffy how to fight.
“Alright, brats! We’re going to Foosha for a meal!”
“Foosha? So no bandits? Is Makino gonna cook? Gramps, her cooking is way better than Dadan’s—” Luffy kept on chatting, climbing all over Garp with just one hand. The other one, arm stretched long, held onto the silent Sabo, who was watching them with wide eyes.
Was the kid mute? He hadn’t said a word since crashing onto the scene. It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The kids in Gray Terminal were always off the worst and abandoned too often because their disabilities were too much of a burden on their families.
“Yes, Makino said she’ll make your favorites. But only if you behave, bathe, and put on a nice shirt.”
“But Gramps, I don’t have any nice shirts!” Luffy protested worriedly. “And Sabo doesn’t either!”
“Is nobody keeping you clothed? What am I paying Dadan even for? And you, brat? Anyone watching you?”
It took Sabo a moment to realize Garp was speaking to him.
“… No.”
So the brat could talk. Good. That was one less thing Garp had to worry about then. The kid also, very obviously, was not too happy with the sudden change of plans. His nervous shuffling wasn’t exactly subtle, though it was probably less obvious than Garp’s would have been at that age.
“So, what were you two up to?” Garp asked conversationally.
“Hunting!” Luffy replied. “Sabo and I are training so we’ll be super strong. Oh, and cause Sabo can’t go to the Terminal right now cause the pirates are pissed at us.”
The pirates are pissed at us.
Why couldn’t Dragon have continued serving in the marine’s medical department and been a normal law-abiding person who wasn’t a threat to the World Government’s fragile balance?
“And why are the pirates pissed at you?”
“We’re not telling!” Luffy said, speaking for the two of them. Garp wondered whether Luffy’s naturally chatty being always took up as much space when he was alone with Sabo or if Sabo’s silence could be attributed to Garp’s presence.
“But well, if you’re causing problems for pirates, you’re halfway on the road to becoming good marines!” Garp laughed.
Luffy only pouted and Sabo’s lips twitched with the hint of a smile. Garp counted it as a minor success.
“Nooo, we’re gonna be pirates, Gramps! I already told you!”
“Brat, what will the people say? I’m a Vice Admiral, my grandson can’t be a pirate!”
And as promptly as it had appeared, did Sabo’s smile vanish, replaced with cold anger. The kid was an emotional rollercoaster and Garp was sure it would only get messier from here on. Not even five minutes in Garp’s presence and the kid was already a wreck. He probably hadn’t been socializing with anyone but Luffy in a while, which didn’t exactly bode well.
“But pirates are free, Gramps, “Luffy continued, softer this time. “Freer than anyone else in the world. I wanna be free and so does Sabo.”
That Garp could understand, at least. There was a reason why he still traveled the seas and didn’t just stay behind the desk – the fact that he was one of the few marines Roger let even within a couple miles of his own ship was probably another factor. Not a single marine but him had even been on the Oro Jackson since Ace’s birth.
“You’re still a kid, Luffy. You’ve got time,” Garp relented. “You, Sabo, how old are you?”
“Ten,” the kid answered, eyeing Garp with suspicion.
“Ten, huh.” Garp had assumed the kid was about the same age as Luffy, small as he was. “That makes you three years older than Luffy. You’re keeping good watch of him?”
Sabo gave him a funny look as if questioning whether he’d really heard the words Garp had just said. “Of course.” So it was a matter of fact for him already. Well, if that all didn’t spell out budding codependence.
Lovely, this certainly wasn’t something Garp had considered a possible issue when leaving Luffy here. Deciding to think about solutions for that at a later date, Garp nodded. “Good. Now then, my name is Monkey D. Garp. Luffy’s my grandson. You have my thanks for taking care of him, he’s a bit handful.”
“That’s just cause you have big hands, Gramps, “ Luffy muttered. “I’m not so handful for Makino.”
The odd but fitting description had Garp grinning. “No, you’re not. Anyway, we’ll go to Foosha for a meal. Are you gonna come too, brat?”
“You have to!” Luffy insisted immediately, most likely sensing his friend’s distress. “Makino makes the best food and the beach is so much prettier than the one at the Terminal and the people are super nice!”
“And we’ll grab some new clothes for you brats as well. Those clothes of yours are held together by falling apart stitches only.”
“That’s the most boring part, Gramps,” Luffy groaned. “C’mon Sabo, it’ll be fun. A new adventure! You can add Foosha to your map of dawn later.”
Hesitantly, the boy nodded. He still didn’t put away his pipe, but at least it only lingered at his side now and wasn’t raised in arms.
“Let’s go then,” Garp ordered. Luffy remained on his back, his one hand tightening in Garp’s shirt. Garp raised his brow at Sabo. “Do you need to be carried as well?”
Sabo shook his head. “No, I can walk on my own.”
“Good.”
He hadn’t expected the kid to accept right away but wasn’t going to look head straight for a distracted Sea King. Two weeks wouldn’t be enough to get much information on the kid, but they’d have to do. He’d just keep a close eye on this Sabo and figure out what had happened to the kid and how exactly meeting Luffy had gone down.
And the pirate business. Garp would definitely deal with the pirate business, maybe when the kids were distracted.
But that had time still. The sun was already high in the sky and Sabo’s legs were not as long as Garp’s. They shouldn’t be late to Makino’s meal or she’d truly be upset with him and Garp honestly couldn’t afford to fall even lower in her graces. One grandson on his back, the other one at his side, the began trekking down to Foosha again.