Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“He hasn’t changed at all, has he?” Shanks hummed lightly to his husband as he watched the carnage that was about to unfold at the auction house.

“What do you expect... He’s your son” Beck pointed out to his husband just as quietly, a small smirk on his lips at the affronted look on the red heads face.

“Why is he only my son when he’s caused trouble?” Shanks huffed, neither men were paying attention to the auction house even though they noticed a fishman getting a shot. The fact that a Fishman was actually on Sabaody and risking being killed or auctioned off to the Dragons, was a shock but it seemed like the guy knew Luffy and also the little mermaid that was the cause of Luffy’s righteous rage.

Shanks and the crew only ended up in Sabaody because they needed to check up on a few things in Paradise, and Sabaody was the best place to find out information on Marineford before they headed there to help Whitebeard save his son. Shanks knew that Whitebeard had a claim on the firefly, but Shanks felt that he had a bigger claim due to Luffy and his own link to Roger; he wasn’t impressed with the actions of Sengoku. Plus, it meant that Shanks could drink through the day at a bar far away from his Da while his men could enjoy the parks and whatever they wanted to do; the Red Force wasn’t really a rare sight near the island even though Shanks did his best to avoid his Da.

He’d been avoiding his Da as much as he could since they first bumped into each other after Shanks was seventeen and starting a crew of his own.

Rayleigh had only seen his eldest once before the loss of his arm and once more when Shanks had arrived to get the ship coated to get back into the New World after the year in the East; his Da was on one of his benders and it was Shakky that had scolded the young man until he told her about betting his arm on the future. Shanks wasn’t even sure if his Da remembered seeing him there.

Unfortunately, Shanks also knew that Ray was in the back of the auction house, probably trying to rob whoever bought him so he could pay off his debts. It wasn’t something new according to Shakky, something that Shanks kinda hated, but, he knew his Da had his own ways of grieving.

“Because he takes after you” Beck drawled easily in response.

The crew had only been on Dawn for close to a year, and yet they found a little ball of sunshine that broke through the walls that had surrounded their hearts for years. He had integrated himself into their lives, buried the roots deep into their hearts that would never be removed. If they could have taken Luffy onto the seas with them, they would have done so, they would have gotten permission from Makino first but they would have taken him onto the seas and kept him safe.

But, Shanks knew all the dangers of the seas, especially the seas in the New World. The Captain could never risk his son the way his father’s risked him and his brother on the seas of the New World.

Shanks had laughed himself sick when he suddenly had a call one evening, his brother reaching out for the first time in years; only to screech down the den den about his son causing chaos for him. The Red head had avoided Orange Town when they were in the East because he knew his brother wanted to avoid being linked to him, Buggy couldn’t bring himself to sail on the seas of the New World when he was without his family.

The elder Captain knew that Orange Town was his brother’s home base, a place that went along with the pirates being the ‘bad guys’ so they could test the merits of East Blue pirates that wanted to go into the Grandline considering Buggy was raised there and knew the dangers.

Buggy had spent an hour screeching about his son being a menace, about his blunt nature and how he had no self-preservation; but his brother also made sure to tell Shanks that his son was going to become a good man in the future and already had two crew mates that would be strong and steady for the boy even though one of them was a reluctant crew member. The clown had also, reluctantly, admitted that he had damaged their treasured hat before realising who was in front of him but Shanks had calmly reassured his brother that he didn’t hold that against him.

Their hat was a treasure for all that knew the significance for it, as well as Luffy and now Luffy’s crew, so Shanks knew it would be fixed as soon as if his son was able to find someone with nimble enough fingers.

“Says the one who razed half a town to the ground to find a man who’d injured me” Shanks drawled with a raised eyebrow, the scars over his eyes stretching a little; the scars that came from the very injury that caused Beck to raze a town to the ground.

Whitebeard was lucky that his son had managed to scurry back to the Moby before Beck had gotten his hands on him, and that was before the two were even married.

“Boss, he has your recklessness and Beck’s protective temper” Yasopp drawled from behind them before silence enveloped the entire auction house as a Celestial went flying across the room due to a punch from Luffy.

“I’m going to kill him” Shanks and Beck spoke in unison as their eyes focused on their son. Shanks’ tone was one of resignation while Beck was a growl of overprotective annoyance.

Panic erupted around them as the auction house was filled with shouts of fear and panic, the civilian’s and nobles suddenly started to clear out of the hall as trouble ensued.

A shout from above them drew the attention of the Akagami Kaizoku as another familiar figure fell through the roof and suddenly landed on another of the Celestial Dragons which made Yasopp face palm and groan his own ‘I’m going to kill him’, when the sniper realized his son was going to come under fire from the Celestials as well.

“Welcome to our world” Shanks and Beck spoke in unison, but neither of the trio made to move from their seats as they watched the Straw Hats hold their own until a familiar wave of haki washed over the final Celestial who wanted to shoot the little mermaid.

Shanks sighed as his Da appeared, he noticed Luffy gearing up for something, and with a look from his husband, he knew he needed to step in.

Rolling his shoulders, Shanks stood up and let out his own Haki. “Anchor. Enough.”

The whole auction house went silent, Shanks ignored the weight of his Da’s gaze upon him as Shanks removed his cloak followed by Beck and Yasopp who were the only two of his crew with him.

Shanks ignored the rookie near the doors who spluttered his name, his eyes focused on his son who had gone stiff at the sound of his voice. He noticed his son’s crew getting agitated that Luffy had frozen, but barely registered it as he stepped out onto the steps and began to move down to where his son was frozen.

“I think there’s been enough fighting” Shanks continued dryly, although Luffy and his own crew could easily note the stern note of finality in his voice. Luffy knew not to push against that tone, he’d done so once and Shanks had drilled it into the lad, for a week, why that was a bad idea.

Luffy had been grounded for the week, he hadn’t been allowed on the Force; hadn’t been allowed outside of Party’s Bar. He’d been stuck with an early bedtime which Shanks made sure was stuck to by tucking him into bed and staying with him until he was asleep. He’d also made Luffy do lines and chores every day until he learned that disobeying the Captain was a bad idea, especially if it would cause Luffy to be injured in the initial disobedience.

Beck was the one to notice how Luffy was shaking yet still not turning to face Shanks which made him sigh and move forward to knock his husband across the back of his head. The yelp that Shanks released made everyone stare at the two as Beck moved passed his husband to stand in front of his son.

With a small grin, he caught his son’s chin and made him look at him.

“You and the idiot really need to think over the wording of your promise, anchor. You don’t have to give the hat back yet, but you can still see and talk to each other.” Beck pointed out to the boy, the two idiots ran his words through their heads as well as the words of the promise before Luffy broke into his bright grin and snickered.

Luffy didn’t hesitate and threw his arms around Beck tightly.

Beck laughed softly and grinned brighter when he noticed the pout on his husband’s face.

“As much as I would love to rub this in Chief’s face longer, we should probably get outta this place before an admiral arrives” Beck pointed out and gave Luffy a stern look when the young Captain looked up at him with bright eyes, he was glad to note the light wince that assured Beck that the boy knew he’d gone too far with his temper. “Go, we’ll catch up and keep the worst off your back”

Luffy snickered his usual snickers before he shot up, calling for his crew to follow him as the mermaid was saved from her collar by Rayleigh and another crew member of their sons appeared with the keys for everyone else.

Beck noted that the other rookies left at the same time and sighed when he heard the sound of fighting outside the doors, but his focus moved to his husband who was watching Rayleigh closely.

“Red...” Rayleigh spoke carefully, the man was actually meeting Shanks sober for once and Beck wasn’t sure how his husband was going to take it.

Beck knew that Shanks had his issues with Rayleigh, knew that the man had fucked up in his grief over the loss of his husband and best friend; but Beck also knew that Shanks understood the grief, that he could forgive his father if the man actually apologised to him. Shanks had admitted that if he ever lost Beck, he would either follow him into the locker, or would end up drinking himself into oblivion like his father. The only thing he didn’t really agree with was his abandonment of him and Blue, he could never see himself abandoning Luffy to the clutches of the marines, bounty hunters and rival pirates alike.

It was also one of the reasons that he couldn’t bring himself to let Luffy sail with them at a young age. If Luffy had joined them then he would have had a Bounty at a younger age than Nico Robin. When Shanks had learned that Robin was now a Straw Hat, the man was extremely proud of his son because he knew how hard it was to be on the run for most of his life and Robin seemed to be happy now.

The three Akagami Kaizoku knew that they would be having talks with their sons over the Enies Lobby debacle.

“Sober for once I see” Shanks spoke up, a bitter lilt to his tone that had the other three men wince.

“Talk later... We need to go keep our son safe” Beck pointed out to his husband, ignoring the shocked look on Ray’s face. “I have a feeling they are going to be relentless, and we need to grab him and get to Marineford too”

Shanks winced lightly at the reminder of Marineford, he had a feeling that Luffy was going to be a part of the war even if he didn’t want him to be. From what Shanks had learned from Ace during their initial meet up and the time they’ve seen each other since his joining of Whitebeard, the boys were protective of each other so Luffy would do anything to save his big brother.

“We need to make sure Lu doesn’t try and destroy Impel Down like he did Enies Lobby” Shanks agreed with a small sigh and a nod of agreement before he hesitated. He gestured for his Da to follow them as he, Beck and Yasopp left the building. The four men were amused and impressed at the state of the marines after their fights with the rookies; Shanks and Rayleigh both released their haki to knock the rest out before they continued on after the Straw Hats.

“They’ll head to Shakky’s” Rayleigh decided to pipe up carefully.

Shanks glanced over his shoulder before nodding in gratitude for his father’s information, he hummed a sea shanty under his breath as they walked through the groves. The other three knew that Shanks did that so they didn’t have to walk in silence, but also because he didn’t want to talk either. Beck was fine walking in silence with just his husband’s humming, it meant that he could relax the panic that had risen when he thought over the fact that his son had not only declared war on the World Government, but, he had also now attacked the Celestial Dragons.

The Akagami Kaizoku trio weren’t surprised that they had arrived in the bar before Luffy and the others, they had a feeling that their anchor was probably distracted by something even though they needed to get somewhere safe. It only took ten minutes for the Straw Hats to arrive.

The moment Luffy spotted Shanks and Beck, he stiffened before shooting forward, clinging to the men tightly as he wrapped his arms around them both multiple times.

“Hey there anchor” Shanks chuckled in amusement as he managed to shift his arm free from the tight grip he had around him and knocked the hat back before running his fingers through the boys hair fondly.

“Mupondi Usopp!” Yasopp immediately scolded his son when he noticed his boy next to the Straw Hat navigator as the little reindeer ushered Hatchan somewhere where he could help him with his injuries

Usopp immediately squeaked in surprise and hid behind Sanji as Franky helped Zoro to sit down somewhere more comfortable than a bar stool considering he was still healing.

The rest of the crew looked at Usopp in surprise since they’d never heard his family name being used.

“Hm, such a fitting name” Robin commented curiously and smiled lightly when Yasopp’s stern scowl dropped as he glanced at the former runaway; he gave her a small smirk and nod of his head.

The rest of the crew looked at Robin curiously, except for Usopp who was still hiding from the stern looks of his father. He hadn’t seen the man in years so wasn’t used to stern attitudes around him except for Kaya’s parents and Merry before everything happened with Klahadore.

“Usopp may I question what languages are used in your home town?” Robin inquired curiously and Usopp eagerly accepted the distraction as he focused on their archaeologist as the people around them watched the young woman with the same amount of curiosity.

Shanks and Beck knew what was being discussed, as did Luffy since Yasopp had taught the lad some of this home language after the boy had heard him speak it on Dawn.

“It’s a mixture of different languages, I don’t really know the names of them; most of them are exclusive to the East Blue unless people migrated away and taught it elsewhere” Usopp informed Robin with a shaky smile. “But other than standard, I speak the language of the northern part of the Gecko Archipelago, it’s my paternal families language. Mama spoke some but she preferred to speak in standard since a lot of people moved to the Geko islands over the years and the languages became diverse”

“I’m guessing they moved to the Geko Islands because it was a large space of land in what is classed as the weakest sea?” Robin inquired further, smiling lightly as Usopp stopped hiding behind Sanji, the rest of the crew watching “Safer from pirates”

Nami, Zoro and Luffy all snickered at the last observation from Robin, especially when Usopp blushed and scowled weakly at the three who had been to his home and witnessed his usual call of pirates appearing on the island.

“Yeah... The village I lived in was a small one on the coast, it was one that mainly consisted of old families that had passed down through the years. But the languages were still pretty diverse” Usopp spoke carefully, his eyes flickering to watch his father just in case he started to scold him again

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but your family name translates to sniper in standard?”

Yasopp grinned at that and chuckled when Usopp blushed but nodded with his own grin.

While Yasopp was still terrified at meeting up with his son for the first time in years, he was proud of the boy and wanted nothing more than to pull him into a hug like Beck and Shanks were getting a chance to do with their own son.

“That’s pretty on the nose” Sanji commented and smirked as he flicked Usopp’s nose at the same time.

Usopp huffed and weakly slapped at his friends hand before he glanced over at his father, he observed him closely and noticed the fear, worry and hope in his eyes; with a sigh, he slipped away from his crew and wrapped his arms around the man.

Yasopp stiffened before he gripped onto his son and held him tight.

“I’m so sorry, muṱuku ” Yasopp whispered against his sons head, hurt washing over him as Usopp’s grip tightened; he knew he’d fucked up when he allowed his cowardice to overrule his decisions on staying away from Bacchina and his boy

“It’s okay baba” Usopp whispered back, his voice thick with emotion as he clung to the man he had missed from his life for years.

“Red... We can’t keep them here long, I sense Kizaru further in on the Archipelago” Rayleigh spoke up carefully to his son even though his eyes roamed over Luffy, noting the hat that the boy wore. His eyes went sad as he saw his husband in the teenage boy in front of him.

“Who are you old man?” Luffy spoke up bluntly which had his whole crew and his father’s face palming, while Ray snorted lightly as he looked over the boy properly.

“Anchor... Manners” Shanks sighed lightly as he rubbed his face tiredly, a small glare aimed at his father when the man chuckled “Remember my stories... This is Ray”

Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously as he thought through everything that Shanks had told him over the year that he had with them on Dawn. Only once or twice he remembered the name Ray being used, but he quickly remembered that Ray’s name was rarely used because Shanks usually called him Da. Luffy glanced between Shanks and Rayleigh before he glared at Ray and suddenly shot a punch at the man which shocked everyone.

“Monkey D. Luffy!” Shanks and Beck scolded in shock as Shakky started giggling behind the bar while Luffy ducked away from the two men and hid next to his first mate as he continued to glare at Rayleigh who was rubbing his jaw in shock; but also impressed.

“You left Pai and Tio Blue alone” Luffy growled lowly at Rayleigh and Shanks and Beck winced lightly at the one thing that Luffy hated. Being alone.

Shanks opened his mouth to continue scolding the boy before he froze when his brain caught up to him and he realized that Luffy had called him dad and had called Blue by a familial name too. He wondered if Buggy knew... He would need to ask his brother once his brother managed to get out of Impel Down with Crocodile, the former Warlord was an asshole but Shanks couldn’t fault his brother in wanting to break his long time love out of prison. If anyone could do it, it was Blue.

“And I will forever regret that I forgot to tell them to wait for me.” Rayleigh informed Luffy honestly as he rubbed his jaw, slightly impressed at the weight the young man had put behind the hit. He noticed his son stiffen and frowned lightly “I went back for you Red... I went with your Papa to where Garp was waiting, I came back for you and Blue but you’d left and I didn’t know where to find you. I tried until the execution... I couldn’t watch and ended up here. I can’t really remember the next couple of years”

“You were blackout for most of it” Shakky informed her husband in amusement. Theirs was an interesting marriage, they had known each other for years, while Roger had Rogue; Rayleigh had Shakky. It’s why Shakky was comfortable scolding Shanks when the boy had lost his arm and was still drinking and acting a fool.

Rayleigh sent his wife an amused glare before focusing back on his son as he got up from the floor. “I thought I’d told you to wait for me... Obviously with all the stress I’d forgotten. I’m sorry Red.”

Beck watched his husband carefully before he sighed and nudged the man forward gently, standing back as Shanks crumpled into his father’s arms as reality hit him. He and his brother had been alone, thought that they’d been abandoned by their Da while their Papa was due to be executed. They thought their Da no longer wanted them because their Papa was no longer there to be humoured.

Shanks muttered those very things to his Da as he broke down in his arms, the alone thirteen year old that was buried deep within him had come to the surface as his Da gripped onto him tightly.

Rayleigh stiffened at the words coming from Shanks but still continued to rock his son until Shanks managed to calm down. The moment Shanks calmed down, Rayleigh gave his son a swat which made him yelp and look at his Da in shock; something that caused Beck, Yasopp and Luffy to snicker in amusement as Shanks stared in surprise.

“If I ever hear that you thought I was humouring your Papa with taking you boys on, again, I will put you through the same training I put you through with your haki and double it in difficulty” Rayleigh warned his son, his voice a deep growl that had Shanks watching him wide eyed and wary “You’re lucky you’re too old for a proper licking Gol-Silvers Shanks”

Shanks but back a noise of protest as he quickly moved to hide behind his husband who chuckled but fondly hid his Captain.

“Gol?!” A mixture of voices repeated in shock, they Straw Hats all knew from Luffy that Gold Roger wasn’t the Pirate Kings name but was Gol D. Roger like Luffy was Monkey D. But none of them knew what the significance was, nor were they bothered by it much, they just knew that the ‘D’s’ they did know had massive appetites. But they all understood the significance of Shanks being called Gol-Silvers.

Shanks shuffled nervously and grinned, his eyes focusing on Luffy who was watching curiously. Luffy had been told stories of his adventures when he was a kid on the Oro, he just never realized that the boy wouldn’t tell his own crew about his link to the former Pirate King.

“Technically, through adoption, Lu is the grandson of the Pirate King” Shanks informed the Straw Hats who all turned their gazes to Luffy who snickered nervously and rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous shrug. “Although, we’ve never really confirmed the adoption thing with Lu so he can’t be blamed for not telling you”

Luffy rolled his eyes lightly at Shanks.

“Silly Pai, I started thinking of you and Da like that after Ace told me what a dad was” Luffy told Shanks bluntly and huffed lightly at the wide eyed look he was getting from his dad’s “If I’d known before you left what a dad was, I would have called you it sooner..”

“You didn’t know what a dad was?” Shakky couldn’t help but question, those who were on Water Seven with Luffy when Garp told him who his father was knew that Luffy didn’t really know much about dad’s considering he’d openly stated that he didn’t know he even had a dad.

Luffy shook his head at the question and grinned lightly as Zoro decided to shift his weight so that he was offering Luffy some support if he needed it. Luffy didn’t really care much anymore, he had Makino before Shanks and Beck came, then he had them for a year; but, then Garp took him to Mt. Colubo where he ended up with a Ma and brothers in Dadan, Ace and Sabo. When Sabo died, he still had Ace and then when Ace left he still had Dadan and Maki visiting.

Luffy had gotten lucky that he’d met Koby so soon, it meant that he wasn’t alone for too long and then he had Zoro which turned into Zoro and Nami and then Usopp and so on. Luffy was never alone if he had his crew by his side, they were his nakama.

“I only had ‘Kino until Pai and Da” Luffy shrugged lightly, ignoring the confused looks as to who ‘Kino was, “Then after Gramps found out about Pai, he took me to the mountain where Ace and-, where Ace was. With Ace came Ma but she don’t like to be called Ma cause she’s a scary bandit or whatever. Didn’t know I had a dad until Gramps told me on Water Seven”

Shanks and Beck shared a look between them, Shanks had known Garp since he was a toddler; the man was more or less his Uncle which was why he hadn’t been arrested after spending a year ‘corrupting’ Luffy. So Shanks knew who Garp’s only child was, he knew the only way Monkey D. Luffy could exist was through Dragon having a kid.

“Who is Gramps?” Rayleigh questioned, Shanks wasn’t surprised at the eerie calm that exuded from his Da.

Shanks just gave his father a deadpan look. “The alcohol is dulling your brain Da... His name is Monkey D. Luffy. There’s only two other Monkey D’s out there and one of them hides his name.”

Luffy blinked curiously as the links clicked rather quickly for him “You knew who my dad was?”

“I guessed, Anchor, I didn’t know for sure until your Gramps hunted me down after ‘corrupting’ you for a year” Shanks soothed him carefully, wanting to make sure his son knew that he didn’t get close to him just because of his family “Plus, your Da and I didn’t know your family name until months into meeting you, remember”

Luffy shrugged lightly, unbothered by it all as he shifted so he could practically curl up on Zoro; the first mate huffed fondly but shifted so he could wrap his arm around his Captain and keep him close.

“So, punch on sight with Garp for a while, sounds good” Rayleigh decided and smirked a little at the little cackle Luffy released. He eyed the sight in front of him before looking over to his son and raising an eyebrow, but Shanks just waved it off; he wasn’t sure about the relationship between Zoro and Luffy but he wasn’t going to ask until after everything was sorted.

Beck cleared his throat when he realized they’d gone way off topic from everything that had occurred in the auction house and there was still a possibility of the admiral tracking the Straw Hats down.

“Luffy, can you remember which grove your ship was docked? With everything that happened in the auction house, you won’t be able to return to it until the heat dies down... We can ask your Uncle Lime to hide it where the Force is right now” Beck stated, the rest of the crew stiffened at the idea of someone else sailing their Sunny, but they also grimaced at the reminder of the trouble they were currently in.

“Grove 41” Nami offered to Beck as Luffy tried to remember where the ship was, Zoro frowned and wanted to point out that it was Grove One, but he bit his lip at the look that Nami gave him that promised retribution if he spoke up.

Beck nodded in gratitude before he gave Yasopp a look to call Limejuice and the others to update them on what was going on with their nephew and his crew. Shanks and Beck shared a look before Shanks whined softly and gave his husband a wide eyed look so he didn’t have to be the one to break the bad news about Ace to Luffy; although, Shanks would probably end up accidentally making it worse so Beck accepted the responsibility.

Moving to kneel in front of his son, the rest of the crew watched him warily while Rayleigh watched Shanks because the look on his face spoke volumes. Something was wrong and it involved their family.

“Anchor... I have some bad news, but I need you to listen to me before you react” Beck told his son carefully but also sternly, he took out his pistol and held it in front of his son; ignoring how the crew all stiffened at the sight of a gun in front of their Captain even though he was made of rubber “Swear on my pistol that you will listen to me before running off”

Shanks would always use his hat as a way to get Luffy to keep a promise and for the boy to realize how important what they were talking about was. Beck would use his pistol, it was one of his treasures since it was a wedding gift from his husband the day they were bound together.

Luffy watched his Da carefully, scanning his face closely to see if he could find any idea on what was wrong but when he couldn’t; he sighed and nodded before he put his hand on the pistol that he knew his Da treasured “Promise...”

Beck glanced up and gave a beseeching look to Zoro in hopes that the young man would keep his arms wrapped around his Captain.

“It’s been released that Ace was captured by the marines” Beck told him carefully and quickly gripped his sons hands as Zoro wrapped his arm tighter around Luffy the moment the boy nearly let his instincts take over to go help his brother. Beck heard some of the Straw Hat crew behind him gasp and mutter denials, he heard a small whimper come from Nami but he kept his eyes on Luffy as tears began to well in his eyes “Anchor, you promised to listen” Beck reminded his son softly and his heart broke at the worry and hurt in his sons eyes “They’ve set an execution date... But they are doing this to draw out Whitebeard, you know who that is?”

“An Emperor like Pai” Luffy choked out, his breathing getting faster as he whimpered at the thought of losing his brother.

Zoro shifted Luffy into his lap with a wince as he pushed back the pain echoing through his body, he wrapped his arms around his Captain and breathed slow to try and get Luffy to follow his breathing. Something that Luffy struggled to do until Zoro placed his hand on Luffy’s heart and tapped in time of their breathing.

“Whitebeard cares about Ace, he’s going to end up going to war to save him” Beck told him both bluntly but also carefully “Your Pai already decided that we’re going to help, it’s why we’re on Sabaody in the first place. We need you to not do anything daft Lu...”

“You can come with us Anchor... But this war will be dangerous, it’s not a place for rookies.” Shanks informed his son bluntly, he glanced around at the crew that his son had gathered; a few of them had become rather scared (Nami, Usopp and Chopper), but the others had become determined to help their Captain.

“Ace is Luffy’s family. Means he’s ours too” Sanji informed Shanks bluntly, which surprised Shanks since it’s the first time he heard the blonde speak; his eyes roamed over the blonde and he grinned a little.

“Hey! You’re the little brat from the Baratie!” Shanks laughed lightly, his laugh getting brighter at the blush that covered Sanji’s cheeks. “Beck! Lu took on Old Zeff’s kid!”

Beck sighed in exasperation, but he smiled a little at he weak giggle that escaped from his son at the blush that was dusting his friends cheeks; even Zoro snorted in amusement at the look on Sanji’s face.

“I hope you asked Zeff, Lulu” Beck grumbled softly.

“The old man told him to come with us.” Luffy confirmed as his Pai started badgering Sanji about how Zeff was doing, Luffy heard him asking Sanji about certain dishes which resulted in Shanks getting more and more excited when Sanji confirmed that he knew each dish that Shanks asked him about “You can’t steal my cook, Pai. Sanji is mine. Just like Usopp is mine Tio Yas”

Yasopp laughed lightly at the looks on Usopp and Shanks’ faces from how possessive their Anchor was.

“I know Lulu” Yasopp promised his nephew with amusement in his voice, although, he did wrap his arms around Usopp and held him close as Beck moved to sit next to the two boys in front of him; wrapping an arm around Zoro without hesitation so that he could hold his son and also give his son the comfort his First Mate gave him.

“Ha! Lucky is going to love having you on the ship to trade recipes with” Shanks cackled which had Sanji stiffening with wide eyes, he remembered Lucky from when he was a brat with Zeff on a newly opened Baratie; Lucky was trained by Zeff too.

Luffy snickered lightly as he leaned against Zoro and his Da.

“Red...”

“If you want to come with us Da, you’re more than welcome to come.” Shanks chuckled softly before he grimaced and glanced over at Luffy.

Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously as he eyed Rayleigh carefully before he hummed “Old Man Ray... I think there’s something you might need to know” Luffy started and ignored the startled laugh from Shanks before he tried to cover his mouth to avoid the look from his Da at how Luffy had addressed him “Ace... His name is Portgas D. Ace”

Rayleigh stiffened as he figured out what Luffy was implying considering his son was also involved in the mission to get the young pirate from the scaffold, his eyes shot to Shanks who nodded lightly in confirmation, though he did have a look of guilt in his eyes at keeping the information from his Da.

“It wasn’t my information to tell” Shanks pointed out to his Da quietly while the rest of the bar were unaware of the importance of a name.

Rayleigh nodded lightly in understanding to Shanks before he turned to Luffy.

“He calls Newgate his Pops... I won’t change that” Rayleigh promised Luffy who grinned brightly at him and startled the old pirate by jumping out of the hold of his own first mate and Da and wrapping his arms around Rayleigh.

Rayleigh hesitated before he wrapped his arms around the boy and hugging him back lightly.

“So the plan...” Shanks started as he glanced around Shakky’s bar.

Chapter Text

“I didn’t expect to see you here brat” Whitebeard spoke the moment he spotted the Red Force surfacing beside the Moby at the meeting point for his crew and allies.

Shanks shrugged lightly with a small grin over at the old pirate “I have my own reasons to be invested-“ before Shanks could say anything else, there was a splash at the other side of the ship and a shout before another splash which resulted in Shanks groaning “He good?!”

“Always!” was called back as Whitebeard watched the younger Captain with confusion. His commanders were all handling their divisions and allies and Shanks had held in his haki so there was no need for his sons and daughters to be on deck so Whitebeard was greeting the younger man alone for the first time in some years.

“That’s the fourth time today” Shanks grumbled before he looked over at Whitebeard again and offered a sheepish grin “Permission to board Uncle Ed?”

Newgate startled at the old for of address from the red head, he carefully nodded as Shanks skywalked over to the deck of the main Moby. The fact that Shanks had called him Uncle wasn’t lost on the older Emperor, Shanks hadn’t called him that since the last time he’d seen the cabin brat alongside his brothers; before Roger had been lost to the the Locker. Watching the boy, he took a moment before he sent his own haki out and stiffened in surprise at the familiar signature of one of his chosen brothers; something that he never expected to sense since Rayleigh avoided leaving Sabaody ever since Roger died just like Blue avoided the New World.

“Fair warning, another Captain will probably appear suddenly, but he won’t mean any disrespect” Shanks warned Newgate as he touched down beside the man, he offered the large man a small, fond, smile until worry shot through him at the oxygen tube for his nose and the wires checking his heart rate “Are you going to be okay with the war old man?”

“I may be old, but I can still knock some sense into you brat” Whitebeard huffed in response with a raised eyebrow and smirked lightly at the light blush that rose up Red’s ears, the warning of another Captain appearing was lost to the irritation of his health being questioned. “Why are you here Red? This isn’t your fight”

“We may be opposing Emperors, but we’re still friends Uncle Ed” Shanks pointed out firmly with a glare that didn’t phase the older man “We’re still family. And Ace... I have my own reasons to help save him”

“He’s not his father” Whitebeard immediately scolded the younger Captain but was surprised at the deadpan look from Shanks.

“I know that” Shanks told him dryly, the desire to point out the multiple times he’d met Ace on the Moby and treated him normally was high, but, he kept himself in check so he didn’t irritate the elder Captain too much “I’ve known who he was since he entered the New World and I’ve only asked him to join me once, and that was before I noticed... Ace and I have a different link between us. And besides, the boy is a good one, he doesn’t deserve any of this; I’d help even if I didn’t know who he was born to”

“What link?”

Shanks opened his mouth to answer before he sighed and shifted his stance, bracing himself to the confusion of Newgate until a projectile suddenly appeared and crashed into the other Emperor. Said projectile turned out to be a wet Monkey D. Luffy who was snickering and clinging to Shanks.

“Whoa... He’s bigger than you said! Hey Ossan! Do you poop?”

“Luffy!” Shanks scolded exasperated, as he automatically shifted the younger Captain onto his hip even though the boy wasn’t seven anymore. Luffy was still small enough to fit against his side which worried Shanks a little but his son didn’t seem phased.

Whitebeard just blinked in surprise at the sudden appearance of one of the Worst Generation, who clung to his nephew like a koala; and randomly asked him if he poops and called him Ossan. Suddenly, Whitebeard burst into laughter, loud and joyful which caught the attention of many of his children as they realized Shanks had appeared on their ship. Marco was the first to move to his Pop’s side as he flew up to land on the man’s shoulder, ignoring the awed look from the kid on Shanks’ hip.

“Pops?” Marco hummed curiously as his eyes narrowed on the red head who looked embarrassed about something.

“You... You’re Ace’s little brother” Whitebeard managed to click together the pieces as he observed the youngster with the Straw Hat. He remembered, just before Ace took off in search of Blackbeard, a new Bounty poster had arrived which had Ace bouncing around in excitement until he got to show off his little brothers Bounty Poster proudly.

Luffy gave Whitebeard and the pretty bird a bright grin and nodded eagerly.

“This war isn’t for rookies” Whitebeard pointed out sternly to both the young Captain and Shanks.

“Pai told me that too, but Ace is my brother and I won’t let anyone tell me what to do to get him safe” Luffy told Whitebeard firmly, shocking Marco and Whitebeard with the paternal term that he used for Shanks. Although, Shanks just grinned proudly at the boy and knocked the hat back to ruffle his hair lightly.

“Anchor already has rules set in place for if he’s to join the fight” Shanks promised Whitebeard at the sharp look from his Uncle, he glanced over when he sensed his Da and chuckled at the fact that his Da was soaked like his son. Glancing down at Luffy, he raised an eyebrow at the boy “What did we tell you about going near the railing after your last fall into the sea?”

Luffy automatically pouted at the look from his Pai and tried to wriggle out of his hold but was held strong against the Captain in charge.

“Jiji was nearby...” Luffy tried but huffed lightly at the further raise of his Pai’s ‘eyebrow of doom’ “I wanted to see where we came up! Being underwater was cool but I missed the sky and you wouldn’t let me on top of Force without you even though I sit on Sunny all the time”

“Franky made you a cuff so you could sit on Sunny, Force doesn’t have one” Rayleigh drawled as he hopped over to the Moby without a word, he nodded with a smile to Newgate who watched him with worry. “Birdbrain’s finally gotten taller”

“Hey!” Marco protested defensively at the nickname from his Uncle even though it made his Pop’s chuckle “Pops!”

“It’s been a long time Rayleigh” Whitebeard greeted fondly as recognized the connection between Luffy being wet and Rayleigh jumping in to get the boy. Plus, the boy already called Shanks Pai, and had commented that his ‘Jiji’ was nearby which hopefully meant that Shanks had allowed Ray back into his life.

“Too long” Ray agreed carefully before he glanced around the deck of the Moby and managed to spot a few faces he remembered from when Whitebeard started collecting his sons. “I see the family has grown”

“As has yours brother” Whitebeard countered easily with a look to Luffy still clinging to Shanks.

Rayleigh just grinned in response while Shanks rolled his eyes and looked to his Uncle “I have two men in Impel Down, one of them is disguised as a marine, the other is a prisoner who’s trying to break someone else out already. They are going to try and get to Ace before Marineford... But if they can’t they’ll join us in fighting”

“Who?”

Shanks hesitated, glancing to his Da who wasn’t yet aware that his youngest son was in Impel Down.

“Blue... Croc was arrested after Lu beat him up and disassembled his operation on Alabasta” Shanks explained and grimaced at the sharp look he gained from Rayleigh and the curious look he gained from Luffy “Croc went too far, Blue agrees with that too but he can’t bring himself to leave him in Impel Down for it... He has a thing for the ass. One of my men was sent in the moment I found out Blue was there, they’ve been working together since but it’s been difficult”

“Tio Blue and Croco?” Luffy questioned curiously and Shanks was worried that Luffy would be annoyed that Crocodile was being released from prison but the boy just snickered lightly “That’s good... Otac has been there long enough”

Silence washed over the deck at Lufy’s statement but the boy didn’t even register it as he tried to wriggle out of the hold that Shanks had on him; he grinned when he managed to succeed because of Shanks’ shock and rocked on his heels when he landed on the deck. His eyes were darting around curiously and he went to move to look at the figurehead but was quickly grabbed by Sanji who had jumped over when he noticed everyone had stiffened after Luffy had spoken.

“Luf, you can’t go exploring without permission from the ships Captain, we shouldn’t have even set foot on deck without permission” Sanji reminded the younger boy who gave his friend a sheepish grin, the two of them moved their eyes up to where the others were still staring in shock and confusion. “What did you do Cap?”

“Otac?” Shanks repeated, his voice was tight as he tried to figure out what was going on; he knew the translation of the word because he’d heard Coyote use it when he was a brat. The word was always aimed at his Uncle who sat frozen in his chair since he hadn’t heard his home tongue in many years.

“Ah...” Sanji hummed in understanding as he rolled his eyes at the sheepish grin from Luffy “Just so you all know, Sir Crocodile was being manipulated by a devil fruit user, Alabasta was his decision not Croc’s; the bastard managed to run before the Marines could get him which resulted in Croc and us being blamed for it all...”

“Coyote managed to get their wish after all” Marco spoke up, awe and joy in his tone at the thought of his sibling managing to find a way to become their true self after so many years of feeling wrong.

This time it was Luffy and Sanji that were confused as they glanced around them when understanding appeared on many faces as well as happiness.

“Huh?” Luffy muttered and looked to Sanji for clarification but Sanji shrugged in response, not sure what they were on about; although, the blonde did assume that Coyote was Croc’s name before becoming Croc.

“Wait a minute...” Shanks shook his head before turning his attention to Luffy and then to his Da and Uncle. “Dragon and Coyote?! Since when?!”

Newgate snorted in amusement before he started laughing along with Rayleigh and Marco. Marco had always known that Coyote had a thing for the marine that had chased them both down one day when his sibling had taken him to an island to escape the busy nature of the Moby when he was younger; and that thing grew quite a bit whenever they bumped into the marine. Though, he only found out that it was Garp’s son after Garp had tracked his ‘brothers’ down for a fight when Dragon defected.

“Since always” Marco informed the other former cabin boy before he jumped down from his perch and allowed his wings to form so he could glide down to land in front of his apparent nephew. He gave an understanding nod to the blonde as the elder boy moved Luffy back behind him a little but still took in the young Captain in front of him “You’ve got a hectic family tree, kid, but you look a lot like your bearer apart from the height...”

“You can blame Garp for his height” Shanks huffed lightly as the shock dissipated and the moved to his son’s side, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and tugging him into his side “Maniac left him to fend for himself since he was three apart from occasional stays with the local barmaid. Then he got taken into a forest to live with bandits from the age of seven so you can imagine how that went...”

“He was also given a devil fruit at six” Sanji deadpanned and smirked at the insulted look he got from Shanks at the reminder “That, along with his D genetics means all his calories are used up quickly... It’s hell feeding him.”

“Tell me about it... Ace is hell too” A voice piped up which startled Shanks.

“Thatch!” Shanks exclaimed before he immediately moved to the fourth division commander and pulled him into a tight hug. Thatch was another one of the brats he remembered from when he was younger, before everything happened with his Papa.

“Thought you were lost to the locker lad” Rayleigh spoke up as Shanks released the shocked chef, Ray followed his sons way of thought and tugged the chef into a hug as well.

A number of the commanders had been with Whitebeard since before the last time Newgate and Roger met up, some of them longer, so Rayleigh knew quite a few of them and saw them as unruly nieces and nephews like his son was viewed by Newgate.

“Marco managed to get to me before I was lost” Thatch explained as he hugged the man back carefully, shock still running through him as he stepped back. “Ace doesn’t know yet though... Hopefully we can get to him before anything bad happens...”

Thatch turned his attention back to the blonde that he’d originally been talking to, taking him in curiously before his eyes lingered on the strange curl to his eyebrows; a curl he knew but couldn’t really place until it hit him like a ton of bricks. “Holy Shit...”

The exclamation from the chef had everyone looking at him in confusion and surprised, especially when they noticed where his attention was being drawn to. Sanji eyed the man in confusion as Luffy stepped in front of him to protect him if necessary.

“How the fuck is a Germa Prince a pirate?” Thatch questioned dumbfounded, something that set off the crew around him but Sanji froze and Luffy spotted the signs of a panic attack about to build in one of his best friends.

Luffy easily noted that apparently Sanji was a Prince, but all Luffy cared about was that Sanji was his. Luffy knew about Zeff and he knew about the Rock, but his best friend (other than Zoro) had never told them about his past outside of the Rock and Baratie and none of them cared because Sanji was their nakama and that was all that mattered. Carefully running his hands along Sanji’s arms to catch his wrists before Sanji could tug at his hair, Luffy tugged lightly so Sanji was leaned over and pressing his forehead against Luffy’s.

“Breathe Sanji” Luffy ordered softly, ignoring everything around them except for spotting Zoro getting helped across by Chopper when his crew had noticed something was wrong. Zoro moved across the deck to stand behind their cook and dropped a hand on his back gently to tap out a reassurance in morse code; the swordsman easily picking up what the hell was happening from the mutters around them “You’re mine. You’re past is just that... The past. It don’t matter to any of us what you were born, you’re my cook, the left hand of the future pirate king”

“Breathe swirly brows” Zoro muttered to his friend as he shifted to block most of the stares from landing on the two he protected completely “Lu’s right... We don’t care about your past. You’re a Straw Hat, that’s all that matters”

“Lu, why don’t you take Sanji back to the cabin while I talk through plans” Shanks suggested softly when he noticed Sanji calming down, his breathing was still a little rough but nothing the Straw Hats couldn’t ease by being together. Shanks also noted the guilt on Thatch’s face so the red-head knew that he would be trying to ease some guilt on that side too. Plus, they all still needed to recover from the shock of Luffy’s heritage.

Luffy nodded in agreement as he kept a hold of one of Sanji’s wrists, leading his cook back over to here a gangplank had been dropped between ships.

With a sharp whistle from Zoro, the rest of the Straw Hat crew seemed to emerge from the woodwork of the Red Force as Luffy led them through to the cabin where they had all been staying since leaving Sabaody two days previously. They had another twelve days until Ace was supposed to be executed so they’d planned to meet with Whitebeard because Luffy’s idea to break into Impel Down was shot down and they wanted to know what the old man planned as well. Plus, they were closer to Marineford where they were so they didn’t want to risk being too late to help. It was only a few hours between Impel Down and Marineford but that was when the currents were on their side in the triangle and they couldn’t risk losing hours or days because of the currents changing on them.

Nami and Robin had a small part of the room cordoned off, but since the hectic nature of Sabaody, the two women had found comfort in curling up with the boys instead of staying where they were. Thankfully, Shanks and Beck trusted the boys, even Sanji, especially since Brook preferred to stay on the deck with the freedom from the Florian Triangle.

Zoro moved to where they had blankets and pillows piled up for the colder nights and managed to arrange them against the wall for Sanji to sit before he was surrounded by his crew to reassure him that they were there. Luffy quickly moved to change out of his wet clothes before going back to the group as Sanji’s hands had found their way into his blonde locks; Luffy sighed and carefully caught his wrists again.

“Wanna talk about it ero-cook?” Zoro questioned with a small hum as the cooks breathing calmed down and Luffy hesitantly released his hold on Sanji’s wrist but still kept him close as he shifted to sit in the blonde’s lap so that Robin could move the other side of Sanji while Zoro was the other. Chopper and Nami were at Robin and Zoro’s feet respectively while Franky and Usopp sat on the floor opposite and Brook stood guard while leaning against the wall.

“Shut it mosshead” Sanji automatically quipped, his voice was weak and rough from the panic but he noted the small twitch of Zoro’s lips at the familiar banter between them.

“Sanji doesn’t need to talk if he doesn’t want to talk” Luffy informed the blonde softly as he leaned against his chest, taking in the familiar smell of spices and cigarettes while Robin ran her fingers through Luffy’s hair gently.

What no one but the Captain and the Archaeologist of the Straw Hats knew was that Robin had found out who her father was when she was researching about Dragon after Water Seven. It was also how Luffy had found out about Croc being his bearer, Croc still wasn’t aware that Luffy knew the truth. Luffy had been extremely excited when he found out that Robin was his big sister through his birth father, but neither of them had told anyone else yet since their relationship hadn’t changed at all.

Sanji sighed and seemed to relax into the affection that the group were giving him, Luffy being in his lap helped him considering he could focus on the strange combination that made up their Captain’s natural scent; sea salt, rubber and meat. Having Zoro beside him also reassured him since these two already knew his past through the accidental reveal from the chef on the Whitebeard crew.

If the man was from the North Blue, then he wasn’t surprised that he realized who Sanji was considering the telltale swirl of his eyebrows that most know from the North, and from the stupid comics that had been released too. Sanji wasn’t unaware of the character of Stealth Black and how he looked how Judge probably assumed Sanji would look like. It was also how Hongo and Lucky both connected his birth place, though thankfully neither of them had mentioned it besides asking if he ever missed the North Blue.

Hongo knew the dangers of the Germa Kingdom even though he was from a different island in that Blue. While Lucky had been raised near the calm belt but also trained by Zeff before joining Shanks so he barely remembered much about the maritime kingdom apart from the history behind it.

“Have any of you ever read the comic book series about Sora, warrior of the Seas? Or heard about the conquest of the four nations in North Blue?” Sanji questioned lightly, smiling a little at the confusion it caused amongst his crew; although, Luffy seemed excited by the idea of a comic series he could read; they all found that Luffy did like to read but only things that could catch his attention long enough. Comic series were his favourite because of the art work.

“A few of the comics but not the conquest thing” Franky confirmed and even Robin nodded lightly since she’d found some on her travels over the years and it was nice for her to escape reality from time to time with silly stories.

The series was mainly a North Blue and New World series but it did tend to appear in Paradise or the other Blues from time to time. Sanji knew about them because Zeff had collected them over the years as a keepsake from his home Blue. Judge’s actions in the North Blue is what resulted in the creation of the series and the rumours of Germa 66. Sanji had always been listening for bits of information while on the Baratie and went further with gathering whispers on every island they landed on.

“The comics are stories created by the marines of the North Blue, the villains of the series were depicted after the royal family of the Germa Kingdom which was a large part of the history in the North Blue. The villains became known as Germa 66, assassins and killers who were enhanced with speed, strength and many other things...” Sanji hesitated before he gripped onto Luffy a little tighter “...They were created around my family”

Silence blanketed the room, and if it wasn’t for the stern looks from Luffy and Zoro, they all knew that Nami, Usopp and Chopper would have overreacted to the information.

“You’re an assassin?” Robin questioned with humour, although, they all knew she was joking to try and lift the mood.

Sanji gave Robin a deadpan look, although, she noted the gratitude in his gaze as he glanced around them at their crew “Not an assassin... But a failure of a Prince according to the bastard that helped create me... My mom’s name was Sora which surprised me when I found out about the comic books. Judge decided to experiment on my brothers and me while we were still in mom, she hated it and ended up poisoning herself to try and protect us. The experiments didn’t work on me... But they did on my brothers and not long after my mom passed away, I was declared dead and locked away”

“How did you escape?” Zoro questioned lightly as he stayed leaning against the blonde to reassure him that he wasn’t alone.

“My sister... She never had the same experiments as us. She and mom were my only sources of comfort; my brother’s loved to hurt me, and she helped me escape but couldn’t come with me” Sanji spoke shakily as tears began to well up and fall slowly down his cheeks at the reminder of the loss of his mom and sister.

“Sanji is Sanji. Straw Hat chef and left hand of the Captain” Luffy spoke up with determination.

“The past is in the past” Nami continued from her Captain, knowing just how much the past can effect someone and how freeing it was to leave it behind you.

“As the Captain says, you’re ours now.” Robin finalised with a small hum as she continued to stroke Luffy’s hair lightly and smiled gently as Luffy glanced up at her with a fond grin.

“Oh... Another thing. Apparently Luffy’s family tree is hectic. I think Croc is family to someone on the Whitebeard crew because Lu slipped at calling Croc, Otac in front of them” Sanji informed the others and snorted at the looks that Luffy gained in response.

Luffy just snickered and curled against his small family as they all decided to stay in the cabin and chat while their three main protectors decided to nap.

Chapter Text

After a lot of arguing between Luffy, Shanks, Rayleigh and Whitebeard (who had been revealed as Luffy’s grandfather through his bearer); plans had appeared that included half of the Straw Hats dressing as marines and sneaking into Marineford to break apart plans from the inside.

Luffy had shocked everyone when he had told them all that he had been raised to be a marine by Garp, and those lessons had been knocked into him constantly so it wasn’t something he could forget. He’d even proven it when Haruta asked him to translate some marine codes which informed them that Garp was on the way to Marineford alongside many other big names. The list of names was helpful to the Whitebeard pirates, half of Haruta’s division decided that Luffy was one of theirs because of his ability to translate codes.

Shanks had finally conceded to allowing the espionage to go ahead as long as Luffy kept a den den on him at all times and for the group to have a couple of Whitebeards alongside them.

With great difficulty, Luffy had parted with his straw hat and left it with Robin who had promised to keep it safe while she stayed on the ship with Shanks and the others since she was too well known to join them in espionage. The other Straw Hats staying with the Akagami Kaizoku were Chopper, Franky and Brook since they were the ones who were the most memorable.

Usopp also decided to stay with the Akagami Kaizoku because it meant that he could remain in the crows nest and snipe who ever thought to cause trouble for his family when they ended up in the Bay. He’d managed to save Robin from a much larger distance than what he’d face between the Bay and the scaffold that was being built and observed from allies.

Procuring a marine ship was far too easy for the Whitebeard/Straw Hat group, especially with everything that was happening in Marineford; but the group had managed to arrive and integrate into the marines easily.

Luffy stuck with Sanji while Nami stuck with Zoro. It was reminiscent of the last marine base they managed to break into, but Sanji avoided the kitchens even though he wanted nothing more than to show them how to cook better and waste less.

Nami kept Zoro close so he wasn’t lost, keeping one of his katana’s attached to her belt as they began to gather as much information as they could. Somehow, Nami had found a file that contained information on something called a Pacifista and after relaying said information to the Whitebeards, they created a plan to find the communications room so they could set off any kind of self destruct button.

That move also revealed the wall that would have had the bay locked off and caused many lives to be lost.

“What in the seas are you doing here?” a voice hissed furiously as Luffy was suddenly gripped by the back of his collar and yanked backwards with a yelp. Sanji was immediately on edge before he froze when he turned on his heel and came face to face with a furious Garp The Fist and slightly scary second in command of Garp’s unit.

“Hey Gramps” Luffy squeaked nervously, his eyes flickering around to check that they weren’t caught out by anyone else, but thankfully there were only a few people who glanced over at them and it seemed to be a common occurrence for Garp to accost a young marine.

Garp growled furiously under his breath and carried his grandson, like a cub held by the scruff of their neck, through the corridors until he got to Bogards office; followed by his second command who had caught the collar of the blonde that was glaring at Garp.

Garp remembered him from Water Seven, Black Leg Sanji. He was also Zeff’s brat, Garp was surprised the boy never mentioned meeting him numerous times over the years.

Locking the door behind them, Garp shook his grandson a little before dropping him to his feet and towering over him with a stern glare that had Luffy shrinking in on himself and looking over to Sanji warily.

“Don’t you ‘Hey Gramps’ me Monkey D. Luffy. What are you doing here?!” Garp growled, somehow managing to keep his voice low so he didn’t bring any unneeded attention to the office. “Out of all the stupid ideas!”

“I can’t let Ace die Gramps” Luffy pleaded weakly, and Garp’s resolve was immediately broken by the tears that were already welling in his baby grandson’s eyes and the hurt look on his face.

Garp sighed heavily and ignored the soft cough of ‘pushover’ that came from his second in command. He dropped down to sit next to his grandson and pulled him into a tight hug as Luffy hesitantly wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

“This is dangerous Lulu” Garp pointed out to Luffy carefully as he cuddled his youngest close, never really doing so over the years until his heart broke when Sengoku told him about Ace and all Garp could think about was how little he’d hugged any of his grandsons since they were babies.

“There are plans upon plans for back up” Sanji spoke up from beside the man who seemed to relax the moment Garp was no longer mad “Lu remembers your lessons... We can’t let Ace die. Plus, it was either this or we head to Impel Down to break him out.”

Garp stiffened at the other option and growled low in his chest which had Luffy stiffening lightly and looking up at his grandfather hesitantly.

“I ever find out that you went to Impel Down while having a choice not to, the training I put you through as a child will look like nothing” Garp promised his grandson firmly and was glad to note how his grandson immediately nodded in understanding and acceptance of the warning. “You too, Eggplant”

Sanji stiffened at the familiar nickname that his Dad used for him, a blush growing darker on his cheeks at the reminder of the link between his Dad and Garp. He gave a short nod to the marine, ignoring the smirk on Bogard’s face, and sending a look to Luffy for time until he could explain.

Sighing lightly, Garp looked over to Bogard to see what his second thought about the situation that they were in. Ace was his eldest grandson, Garp’s heart was hurting at the choice he was facing with his freckled boy; but now there’s a chance that he could turn a blind eye to what was happening.

Bogard looked like he was in agreement that they were in a difficult situation but also seemed to relax slightly at the chance that they had a way for Ace to escape the scaffold. The second in command had heard every story about all three boys until it became two, he had been there for every rant and every proud monologue from his boss; and had even met Luffy on the rare occasion. He didn’t want the eldest to be killed just because of the blood that ran through his veins.

“you aren’t alone?” Luffy immediately shook his head to reassure his grandfather that he wasn’t alone in the headquarters so he had back up if he was caught “Keep away from the admirals as much as you can Lulu... Akainu will try and kill you on sight because he despises your birth father. Aokiji won’t do much but if he has to act then he will; whereas Kizaru is still slightly put out that you got away from Sabaody”

As Garp warned him about Kizaru, his voice started trailing off before he turned a stern glare onto his grandson who tried to hide behind his friend but was caught by Garp by the back of his collar again. He was dangling from his grandfathers grip with a small whine as he kicked his feet.

“You punched a Dragon” Garp deadpanned with narrowed eyes, leaving the statement open for his grandson to explain.

“He shot my friend” Luffy explained with a small pout on his lips “They kidnapped our mermaid friend Cami and tried to sell her, and another of our friends is a Fishman and they shot him... He was only with us to keep is safe, he wasn’t doing anything bad Gramps. I lost my temper but Pai and Da have reminded me how bad that is”

A scowl appeared at the mention of ‘Pai and Da’ but he was also grateful that the Akagami Captain had interfered to keep his grandson safe from the Pacifista’s and Kizaru. He also knew that Shanks was stern with his grandson after Woop Slap had told him about Luffy being grounded to Party’s Bar for a week with constant reminders on the rules about safety.

“I’ll be talking to those two about your consequences for that... Until then, keep your head down. Ace will be brought here in a week... Try and get someone on the list for escorts, if you can get someone on the scaffold with a key you’ll have a better chance” Garp decided to tell his grandson as he put him back on his feet “Maybe check out the control room too”

Luffy snickered lightly at the suggestions and knew his grandfather was choosing Ace while out of the eyes of the higher ups. Ace wouldn’t believe it but Luffy knew the truth.

“Vice Admiral” Sanji nodded as he opened the door and saluted respectfully which Luffy copied before they scuttled away from the office until they could find somewhere to crash from anxiety and relief mixing together “Fuck Lu...”

“I knew he wouldn’t let him die” Luffy grinned weakly but Sanji could tell that the meeting ruffled him a little. “Didn’t expect to see him here though... He usually spends his time in Marineford annoying his boss.”

“Maybe that’s where he was heading before he noticed you?” Sanji suggested lightly as the two of them slipped through the base once more; they had been forced to attend training drills every so often but neither of them were bothered by it because they’d managed to find out what Haki was and also learnt what some of the moves the marines used to move faster and such. Although, they hadn’t gotten the hang of much of it yet, but at least they weren’t lost among the waves without said knowledge.

“Maybe... Gramps always had a sense to where we would be hiding” Luffy hummed lightly as they carefully made their way through to the canteen, Luffy was itching for food but he knew to keep his cover; although, he also wasn’t getting the calories he needed. Maybe now his Gramps knew he was around, he could bother the man for some more food; although, that may end up with him in trouble for not eating properly. “Could have been using haki...”

“Maybe” Sanji agreed quietly as they gathered some food, a small expression of distaste slipping across his face before he could mask it. He wished he could cook for his Captain but it would make it too easy for him to be noticed. Following Luffy to one of the tables out of the way, he nodded lightly in relieved greeting at Nami and Zoro; noting how the rest of the table were all allies of theirs but acting like they weren’t.

“Gramps is here and saw me” Luffy informed Zoro bluntly, though he made sure that their allies heard him as well “Told us to check the control room, but we already have... He won’t tell. Ace will be here in a week...”

Sanji carefully slipped some extra food onto his Captain’s plate, something Nami and Zoro followed suit in doing considering they knew Luffy was eating far less than he should be.

“Nearly bumped into Koby and Helmeppo today” Zoro told Luffy just as bluntly, smiling a little at the bright grin that his Captain developed at the mention of their old friend “Koby seems to be showing the signs that Red told us about with Blue waking his observational Haki... I think he might be sensitive”

Luffy frowned at that, he didn’t want his friend to be hurting because of the loss of voices around him. It was bad enough for Luffy when the voices around him start quietening when they’re battling other pirates. Enies Lobby hurt his head a lot because of the amount of marines that were used as bait or shields.

“Hopefully intercepting works, or this plan works so there won’t be much fighting” Luffy muttered to his own crew before he started to slowly eat the food in front of him even though all he wanted to do was eat as quickly as he could. He gave his friends a look of gratitude when he noticed his plate had more food than it should have on it “M’gonna talk to Gramps later to get his snacks... Him knowing might be a good thing.”

“Just be careful” Nami ordered Luffy softly as she picked at he food in front of her, she hated the uniform she was wearing but being surrounded by marines and seeing habits that she knew her mom had was a little refreshing and made her feel closer to her saviour.

“Always am with you guys around” Luffy snickered gently and grinned at the look she gave him in return.

-

Moving through the hallways without being noticed was easy for Luffy, most of the people around him saw him as too small and too skinny to be of any use for jobs on the base; and some assumed he was younger than he was so they thought he was just some dumb recruit which meant they avoided him so they didn’t have to talk to him.

It helped him gather information about where people were going to be placed for the war.

The Admirals were stationed at the middle of the scaffold on throne like chairs so they would be able to see everything. The Vice-Admirals were all supposed to be at the base of the scaffold so that they could direct the rest of the marines.

The Captain’s and Lieutenants from off base were to be stationed throughout the plaza and the bay depending on their experience and rank. While those lower in rank were basically canon fodder for the pirates in Luffy’s eyes.

Luffy had found out that Smoker would be arriving in Marineford around the same time as Ace, having been called back from his tracking down of Luffy so that he could fight in the war. The guy who tried to catch Luffy after Skypia was also a Vice-Admiral so he would be called back too, although, Luffy hoped that neither of them would be hurt in the fights.

It was the Warlords that Luffy was more worried about.

The creepy zombie guy was still around but Nami had heard rumours that sea water could stop his zombies so they needed to try that at some point. Sanji had apparently gotten a lot of information on a flamingo guy who apparently had a base further in the New World that would need to be looked into; Sanji was worried it was something similar to Alabasta but without the devil fruit control. Zoro wanted to have another fight with Mihawk but also told Luffy that Ace was more important at this point in time and Zoro was still not one hundred percent after whatever had happened on Thriller Bark

It was Kuma, Boa Hancock and Blackbeard that were the worrisome ones but Luffy was hoping that they wouldn’t have to interact with them. Although, apparently Boa Hancock was like a daughter to his Jiji so maybe that would mean she’d be nice to him?

Glancing around to make sure there was no one suspicious around, Luffy knocked on the door to his Grandfathers office and stood to attention, waiting for him to answer when he heard grumblings from the other side. He smiled lightly as the door was opened and Garp froze in surprise, it only took half a minute for Garp to usher Luffy into the office before closing the door and hugging him tight; knocking the marine hat from his head as he did.

“I thought you weren’t going to be walking around alone” Garp scolded his grandson as Luffy wrapped his arms around his grandfather and accepted the rare affection from the man. “Where’s Blondie?”

“I’m hungry” Luffy admitted to him with a small pout, a little bit of amusement in his eyes at how worried his Gramps was about Sanji too. Sanji had told him about his Gramps and Old Zeff, while Luffy found it gross that his Gramps was in a relationship, he was happy that the chef and his Gramps seemed happy, even though they only saw each other a few times a year. “I didn’t want to bother my friends...”

“So you came to steal from me instead” Garp teased his grandson with a fond roll of his eyes before he led Luffy to his couch and rummaged through his snack box that was hidden to the side of it. He handed Luffy a large pile of high calorie snacks before ruffling his hair fondly, he would prefer his snack box depleting to his grandson starving himself for his big brothers safety.

“I can’t really tell the kitchen that I usually eat triple the amount that they give us, and I can’t keep letting my friends give me bits of theirs... You can replace your snacks” Luffy pointed out to his grandfather as he took a big bite out of one of the protein bars in his lap, using knowledge as an argument which would surprise any who’d met him without his brother around. “They know your appetite, telling them about mine will get me caught”

“It’s a wonder how people think you’re stupid” Garp mumbled to himself as he accepted his grandsons reasoning’s. Garp knew his youngest was dense, especially when something didn’t seem important, but Garp knew from experience that Luffy retained the information at a slower rate which meant that people thought he was ignoring them but really his mind was catching up with what it was gathering. Luffy was bad with knowledge and social cues but was extremely empathetic, it was what made him the kind of pirate that Garp didn’t care for hunting down.

“People think I’m stupid cause their words swim in my head too long so they think I’m not listening. But they don’t expect me to do things like hide as a marine for nearly two weeks to save my big brother” Luffy grinned lightly in response, he wasn’t unaware of how people saw him; he’d been underestimated his whole life by everyone but his Gramps and sometimes Ace. Garp was the same as him at times, just not as often. “Ace is more important than having fun... I can have fun when he’s safe.”

“As long as your fun doesn’t get you nearly killed” Garp drawled with a warning in his tone, a small smirk on his lips as Luffy paused briefly with his mouth full. Luffy swallowed what he had before he nodded in acceptance of the out that Garp was giving him “You get hurt too bad, I come after you. Got that Lulu...”

“Understood Gramps” Luffy grinned lightly, knowing his grandfather cared with his promise. “Have you been to see Ace yet?”

Garp blinked lightly at the question before he hummed lightly “Heading down there today, you want to come with me?”

Luffy stiffened at the offer, he wanted to immediately say yes so he could go with his grandfather and see his big brother so he knew that Ace was okay. But, it was a risky move even if he was going with his Gramps, and his Pai wouldn’t be impressed if he left Marineford with only his Gramps as backup.

“Pai would be mad...” Luffy sighed lightly and he knew that Garp understood his hesitation since Garp smiled softly.

When Dragon had contacted him sixteen years ago, he was confused, but when he arrived on the meeting point; his son had passed him the little baby who was already grinning brightly and babbling like there was no tomorrow even though he spoke no words. Dragon was unsure of leaving Luffy with him, but he couldn’t protect the boy anymore, not with the army growing in numbers and infamy; Garp had promised to keep him somewhere safe and while Luffy was alone with only Makino on Dawn, he was safe from those who would harm him just for his father’s name.

Dragon never wanted to bring a child into the world, he had told his father that bluntly, but he still loved the little ball of sunshine even if he could never be the father the boy needed him to be. Unfortunately, Coyote had been told by a marine spy that the babe had died in childbirth, his sons first love had been inconsolable but Dragon couldn’t do anything because he was on a mission at the time.

It was Kuma that found the spy, the buccaneer had gone against his usual morals and killed the woman before she could report Luffy’s existence; but by then Coyote had run to start their life anew.

Garp had later become so busy that the thought to inform his sons first love slipped his mind. And by the time he did think about it, Luffy had already claimed Red and Beckman as his own and Garp didn’t know if Crocodile needed to be put through that pain again.

“Hey Gramps... Did Smokey tell you about the fruit user behind Alabasta?” Luffy questioned his grandfather softly, hoping that his grandfather wouldn’t hate his Otac because of something out of their control. At the mention of his Gramps going to see Ace today, he stretched over to grab some paper and a pen so he could write a quick , reassuring note to Ace. And also ended up writing a little note for his Otac to let him know that Luffy knew everything and that help was coming. If Garp could get the notes to them then that was perfect but if he couldn’t things were still going to be okay.

“He did... But the higher ups won’t listen” Garp sighed lightly, a knock on the door caught his attention and Luffy’s eyes widened as he quickly searched for his hat; the moment he noticed the boy had his hat, he opened the door “What?!”

“Vice-Admiral, sir, your ship is ready for departure for Impel Down” The marine outside the door informed his commander, barely registering the cadet in the office with the man considering Garp had become very well known for taking on youngsters to train in the right kind of justice. Not the justice that was primarily based around the Elders and their wants.

“I’ll be down momentarily” Garp informed the man bluntly and shut the door on his face which made Luffy snicker lightly. Taking the notes from his grandson, he sighed fondly before giving him a tight hug, they only had four days left until Ace was due to be executed and Garp was starting to get antsy. “Be careful Lu... I can’t lose you too”

“I’ll be safe Gramps” Luffy promised firmly as he pulled away with a reassuring smile “I’ll keep Sanji safe too... Can’t let Old Man Zeff be upset with you”

At the blush on his grandfathers face, Luffy cackled and grabbed a couple more snacks bars before he slipped from the room so his grandfather couldn’t give him a ‘fist of love’ in response to his teasing.

Chapter Text

“According to reports from the Whitebeards, Blue got out of Impel Down with a large number of allies, including your Otac” Nami muttered to Luffy softly from where they were hidden in the bay “But they weren’t able to get Ace, missed him by a hair...”

The Straw Hats were still hidden away as marines, as were the allies that had been with them since they started the espionage mission. Everyone was surprised by Luffy’s ability to remain hidden and out of the spot light, everyone but the three Straw Hats that were with him. Zoro understood his Captain best out of all of them, he would have done the same with Kuina if he ever got the chance too, and Sanji and Nami both knew how much Ace meant to Luffy so they weren’t surprised by his focus on protecting the elder boy.

Luffy frowned at the information but sighed softly, he knew that it would have been too easy to get out of this war. Glancing behind him, he caught sight of his brother being led up the stairs; thankfully Sanji had managed to get positioned as an escort for his brother so they had a way of getting him unlocked when the right distraction happened.

A hush went over Marineford suddenly, Zoro sliding up beside Luffy and Nami as he carefully switched his katana from her belt and onto his. Zoro had been keeping an eye on Mihawk since the man appeared, even though he knew he still wasn’t healed enough to fight against him; the swordsman decided he could fight the war but not the warlord.

It wasn’t long until the rookies realized why the hush occurred as allied ships began to sail into the bay, leaving a large area at the forefront for the Moby to appear.

“Is it just me, or does everyone in my family like to be dramatic?” Luffy mumbled to Nami and Zoro, smiling a little at the snickers that they had to try and keep quiet. Luffy knew that his new found grandfather would use the large area to appear from underwater because it made a show, he also had a feeling that his Pai would appear beside them too.

And his feeling was correct as the Moby Dick appeared in the gap, with the Force alongside it which caused a panicked chatter to erupt around them.

“The allies?” Luffy asked Nami quietly, his eyes scanning for the Force and relaxing at the sight of Usopp and Yasopp in the crows nest together, Robin was standing side by side with his Da; while Brook and Franky were stood next to Chopper who was in his larger form. His Pai was stood proudly on figurehead of the Force with his Jiji Ray beside him.

The sight of Rayleigh caused even more muttering and some marines began to back away as if they could tell that the tide was already turning against them. Luffy could also hear that some of the marines had recognized his nakama but couldn’t find him, his left and right; not his navigator.

“Hatori and Rissa are in the control room to sort the code out when the fight begins” Nami assured her Captain, they’d learned that the Pacifista’s would be deadly for their allies should they be left alone; as would the wall that Sengoku had in store for them.

Hatori and Rissa were two of Haruta’s favourites because of how well they blend in and their expertise with coding so they’d offered to clear the control room, self destruct the Pacifista’s and then destroy the computers with a code so the wall can’t be used; then they would make their escape in the panic. That was the plan anyway, and hopefully with the appearance of his Pai and Jiji alongside his Grandpa, there was enough of a distraction for the two to set the plan off quickly and effectively.

As much as Luffy loved to fight, he was worried about his brother’s health and mentality considering how many people had appeared to fight for him. Ace already questioned his worth, he’d probably try to push everyone away so he could die and stop being trouble for them; something Luffy would punch the elder boy for if his thoughts were right.

“This isn’t your war Akagami No Shanks” Sengoku spoke up over the den den speaker.

Luffy glanced back at the scaffold and could barely make out the look of shocked confusion on his brother’s face, but he also noticed his Gramps sat beside him and Sanji and another stood beside him too.

“Tut tut, Fleet Admiral, you should really remember age before beauty in hierarchy” Shanks taunted and smirked over at Whitebeard who was scowling with a stern raise of an eyebrow for the comment “But , you’re completely wrong in your thought process. You know the links... You really should have questioned your decision on choosing Portgas D. Ace as your target.”

“Go-“ Sengoku started but shut his mouth with a clack at the wash of haki that hit as a warning from Shanks.

“Portgas D. Ace is not the best person for you to target Sengoku” Shanks growled out in warning, ignoring the looks of respect from his Da and Uncle due to his quick thinking of keeping Sengoku from announcing Ace’s parentage “He’s a boy, he follows his Pops’ orders. And you should really pay attention to the fact that he is the Second Division commander. Second Division is Navigation!. His bounty has barely risen since he joined his Pops, he has done nothing to earn this farce of an execution”

Luffy smirked a little before putting on a blank mask when he realized that his Pai was making a statement without even trying. Glancing back at his brother, he huffed a small noise of amusement at the slightly insulted look that he knew all too well; but Luffy remembered that the civilians were being shown the execution so were being shown how hypocritical the marines could be.

“You truly wish to start a war, end the lives of good men and women on both sides of this battle; all for a boy who’s only true crime is a life as a pirate where his list of sins include some vandalism, havoc and dine and dashing?” Shanks continued, his voice carrying across the bay which had many marines shuffling a little and had Luffy biting the inside of his cheek to keep from beaming proudly at his Pai’s smarts.

“Release my son, Fleet Admiral” Whitebeard ordered the man gruffly, a glare on his face as he watched the quintet on the top of the scaffold, thankfully he knew that one of the men up there belonged to his grandsons crew; so he wasn’t going to go too hard against them “Before I remind you all of exactly what I can do”

“I would do it anyway Captain Whitebeard” Shanks commented idly, his eyes never leaving the boy who would have been his brother in another life.

Whitebeard smirked at the suggestion before he flung his arms out, gripping onto air before allowing his Devil Fruit to unleash itself; his smirk grew as the tides around them began to sink and rise as a giant wave was created.

None of the pirates were surprised when Aokiji acted and froze the waves to keep them from crashing down.

“Lu?” Nami questioned lightly as she got her balance back from the tremors of the old man’s devil fruit.

“Sneak through, get to the crew” Luffy ordered her gently. Nami was a fighter when it was necessary, but Luffy hated putting his navigator into a position where she had to push past her fears and battle for her life. He would forever follow the call of adventure, but he would always make sure that his crew were safe as well. “Update them when you get there. Allies will probably join you... Do you want Zoro to come with you?”

Nami shook her head lightly, they all knew that Zoro couldn’t be sneaky; nor could he follow directions very well even if they were going in a straight line. The orange haired girl quickly slipped through the marines, acting like an eager private wanting to be a part of the battle that was to come. Luffy was right when he noticed a couple of marines following her lead and recognised them as allies.

“Where is your Captain, Nico Robin?” Sengoku called out over the den den, something that made the marines erupt into noise once more as they all questioned what the demon child was doing in a war. Although, many began to notice that Luffy was missing from the crew that was on the Red Force with Shanks.

“He’ll be making himself known shortly, I have no doubt” Robin informed Sengoku dryly as she made her way to stand slightly behind Shanks “You took a treasure of his, Fleet Admiral... Do you truly think that that was a good idea?”

Luffy noticed Zoro smirk slightly at the drawl of their Archeologist, but something stopped Luffy from grinning, his spine stiffened as a shiver ran through him and he knew he had to act before something bad happened.

Without hesitation, Luffy broke his disguise, he threw his arm back and then out, allowing his muscles to stretch until his hand was in the way of a bullet that was extremely close to hitting his sister. With a snarl, Luffy’s eyes followed the trajectory of where the bullet came from and he shot forward to punch the man unconscious with one hit.

An exasperated sigh echoed across the silence of the bay at the sudden appearance of the infamous rookie Captain dressed in marine clothes. Many of the marines around him recognised him from the past week around headquarters. The sigh came from Shanks, closely followed by a shout of his name from his brother; and Sengoku shouting at his Gramps.

Before any the marines could react to the presence of the rookie, a massive crack echoed from above them before a litany of yells grew louder.

“Jozu! Make a pool!” Marco called to his brother quickly as many of the pirates noted the Impel Down allies that they’d been expecting since news of Blue and Rockstar being in there, was released by Shanks.

Luffy took the momentary distraction as the go ahead to quickly switch some of his disguise with Zoro, including fake glasses and a bright bandana like Koby wore; while Zoro was still unnoticed amongst their enemies. As the Impel Down inmates fell, Luffy and Zoro skirted towards the plaza, making sure they could be in a position to help Sanji; especially since this distraction would work perfectly for Sanji to release his big brother.

“You got lucky there Cap” Zoro muttered as they moved a little quicker when the other marines around them started to move and register the fact that the tide was turning before a fight even begun.

Zoro shifted the both of them to move a different way when he noticed the Warlords beginning to make their own moves towards the pirates; he stuttered in his steps a little when Mihawk’s gaze zoned in on where he and Luffy were moving away from the battle and towards the scaffold. But, Zoro was relieved when the man looked away rather than calling their presence to attention.

“Wasn’t sure if Pai would notice the bullet before it hit Robin” Luffy mumbled back to Zoro when they stopped for a breather.

From what they could hear, some fighting had started behind them already, but it didn’t seem to be a large scale fight just yet; Luffy ignored it all as he zoned in on the scaffold, ignoring the sound of his brother’s voice as well, as he pleaded for the pirates to leave.

Although, Luffy noticed that Sengoku hadn’t told anyone Ace’s parentage yet.

“Lu... We need a distraction to get Ace away from the pavilion” Zoro commented as they got into a position where they could easily be left alone if they kept their heads down, there was no one around that would listen to two privates talking and Aokiji and Kizaru were the only two Admirals nearby. Aokiji would probably only start moving when he was required to, Kizaru was the worry.

“Maybe the explosions” Luffy muttered thoughtfully as he glanced around, looking for anything that could help them get out of Marineford. The bay and pavilion were places that Luffy hadn’t really checked around because of the number of people, he’d had previous encounters with, milling around. “...I can rocket us back.”

Zoro immediately grimaced but had to agree that using the devil fruit powers to get them back to the ship was the best solution.

“We’d need to be up a little higher for a straight target” Zoro pointed out to his Captain.

“Not if I shoot us up and find a way of getting us down... Birdie could catch us, or Otac, or Grandpa” Luffy countered distantly as he glanced around the area for the best point of shot; except, his time was running out when he heard Sengoku deciding to move up the execution. “Sanji Now!” Luffy shouted up to his chef as he and Zoro ran to below the scaffold without hesitation.

Shouts of surprise echoed around him and from above as Luffy spotted the best launching point, he didn’t register anything else until he felt the familiar heat of his beg brother and scent of his chef behind him. Throwing caution to the wind, Luffy threw back his arm before throwing it forward to latch onto a cannon on the walls top; he wrapped an arm around his big brother and best friends and let the stretch of the rubber pull, shooting the four of them off the ground and into the air.

Without thinking, Luffy wrapped himself around his best friends as they flew through the air to try to keep any bullets away from them; he was surprised when a blanket of sand wrapped around him and eased the hold he had on his best friends. Opening his eyes, Luffy grinned weakly at the exasperated look on his Otac’s face as the former warlord grabbed a hold of Sanji and Luffy while Marco flew up to meet the flying group and gripped onto Ace and Zoro to get them to safety.

With a grunt, Luffy hit the deck the Force and rolled a little with the force of the rocket that had sent him flying and ended up at the feet of his Pai and Jiji.

“Yo” Luffy greeted with a light snicker when his Pai just groaned in exasperation and helped up him up from the floor.

“Thank you for hosting my son for just over a week Fleet Admiral, though, I’m not really impressed with the weight he seems to have lost!” Shanks called out to the man, smirking at the strangled yell that escaped the man at the knowledge that Luffy had been under their noses far longer than they expected.

Luffy cackled lightly, his eyes glancing across the marines before he moved his gaze to his Grandpa’s ship where he grinned at the sight of his spy allies appearing, all of them were still in their uniform, as was Nami, Zoro, and Sanji who had appeared beside Beck and Robin.

“Your food sucks Seagull guy!” Luffy called out to the Fleet Admiral before he turned his gaze to Garp who was still sat where he had been positioned next to Ace “Sorry I didn’t come see you Gramps, didn’t really wanna be executed too!”

Garp’s choked laughter echoed around the pavilion and bay as Beck groaned lightly at Luffy’s humor. Though, they all knew that Luffy was covering his Grandfathers ass by giving him an alibi for not noticing Luffy was around Marineford.

Explosions echoed around the Bay and when Shanks looked behind the ships, he smirked at the sight of smoke and firing raging up behind them.

“Seems the card up your sleeve has been played Fleet Admiral” Shanks drawled out dryly as he caught Whitebeard, out of the corner of his eye, sitting Ace on his shoulder with Marco, the first mate keeping an arm around the youngest Whitebeard to keep him sat up in front of the marines. “Now, I believe we’re through here. Something you should think through Fleet Admiral... The Pirate King... He was my Pa, any and all sins of the father needing to be placed on the son should be on my shoulders”

Luffy cocked his head to the side curiously at the decision his Pai made to get everyone focused on him as the son of the Pirate King. He snickered as he moved back to lean against his Pai’s legs

“And do you claim Straw Hat as your own?” Sengoku questioned the Akagami Kaizoku Captain, a question that caused Shanks to become a little wary.

Shanks rested his remaining hand upon his son’s head lightly, and ran his fingers through the raven locks that he hadn’t seen in over a week. How he managed to last ten years without seeing the boy, he doesn’t know.

“More like he claimed me” Shanks shrugged, not even bothered to hide the connection between himself and the boy; any who knew of Shanks, knew that the Straw hat Luffy wore was his old hat.

“And how does his birth father, the Revolutionary Dragon, feel about that?” Sengoku bit out, something that made everyone on the two main ships stiffen in response too.

Shanks hummed lightly, his eyes glancing down at Luffy who just looked up and shrugged in response; the seventeen-year-old didn’t seem to care about the truth getting out.

“Dragon has never been a dad” Shanks informed Sengoku bluntly “If he has issues with me claiming his son, then he can take it up with me at a later date. Now then... If you’ll excuse us, we’ll be leaving now”

Spattered snickers were heard at Shanks’ obvious dismissal of the marines, everyone on the ship knew that Shanks wasn’t someone to cross. The man may only have one arm, but his haki and swordplay was still strong enough to destroy Marineford if he desired to.

With a crack of his Dragon Fruit, Whitebeard easily destroyed the ice that was encompassing the ships and saluted Sengoku lazily as the Moby began to sink once more. Followed quickly by the Red Force.

“Otac!” Luffy grinned the moment the ship was below the water, though, he didn’t move to where the other Fruit user stood; just in case Crocodile didn’t want to be touched.

Crocodile seemed to hesitate before he strode forward and tugged Luffy up into his arms, holding him close as he hid his head against the raven locks that they shared; Luffy didn’t hesitate to hold him close and wrapped his arms around his bearer, ignoring the tears that were dripping onto his scalp.

Chapter Text

“How the fuck did you, of all people, manage to remain hidden in Marineford?” Ace questioned his little brother in disbelief when they crews finally managed to find an  island in the calm belt where they could relax and recover.

Thankfully there was no loss of life in the war on the pirates side because of the plans that had been created; and because of Shanks being a primary distraction, with Luffy being another distraction as he hid around the area.

They remained underwater for two days, staying hidden to the marines so they could head to the Calm Belt without issues arising.

In those two days, Crocodile and Luffy had easily built a small relation between them that was more Uncle and nephew than parent and child; something they were all fine with because Crocodile didn’t know id he could ever manage to be a parent while Luffy already had two in Shanks and Beck. Not only had Luffy managed to build a relation with Crocodile, but also one with Buggy who had berated him loudly but empathetically about Luffy’s actions since meeting him in East Blue.

Luffy found his Uncles worry warming but also amusing, yet he stood still and accepted the, over the top, scoldings.

In those two days, Robin had made an offhand comment about getting stronger, especially with Haki after coming so close to having a bullet in her head. Something that had also caused her to remain close to Luffy the moment she was able to.

Her closeness to the Captain resulted in the admittance of their shared father, and the comment about getting stronger resulted in Rayleigh suggesting two years of training for the small crew. Something Luffy hesitated about, but realized that it was a good idea even if he was terrified of being separated from his crew.

“People are idiots and don’t look closely” Luffy shrugged as he sat in his big brothers lap, accepting the arms that were wrapped around his middle as his brother clung to him like a teddy bear. Ace had been on edge since the moment their Gramps had handed him a note that was written in a familiar scrawl, he was not letting his brother go if he could help it. “Sanji helped, so did Zoro, Nami, Tori and Ris...”

At the mention of his crew brother and sister, Ace glanced over to the two in question and gave them a nod of gratitude.

“Gramps gave me some food too, so I wasn’t too hungry” Luffy shrugged “I needed to help save Ace... Saving Ace means doing anything and everything I can. Nearly went to Impel Down”

Ace stiffened at the admission before he tightened his grip on his brother and his his head against the boys shoulder, soaking his vest with silent tears as Luffy rested his head against Ace’s.

“Ace is one of mine, even if on a different ship. Ace will always be important to me, always be one of mine no matter what” Luffy promised his brother quietly, something that made his big brother stiffen a little but only noticeable to Luffy considering he was sat in his brother’s lap. “Robin told the truth Ace... The marines took one of my treasures. I took you back”

“Luffy.... Thank you” Ace whispered against his brother’s shoulder “Thank you for loving me”

“Silly Ace” Luffy snickered just as quietly as the rest of the pirate crews partied and conversed around them, none of them were bothered by the conversation occurring between the two brothers since they’d already witnessed Luffy clinging to the logia and nearly cutting his oxygen off the moment the brothers were reunited. “I always will”