IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
I do not give anyone permission to upload this story or any of my stories to other websites. The only sites where I publish my stories are fanfictionnet and Ao3. If I have any wish to see them somewhere else, I'll do it myself. So, if anyone will notice my stories on websites other than the two mentioned earlier, please, send me a message about it. I might not own One Piece characters or the amazing world Oda had created, but I do own the time and effort I put into my stories.

Proofread by The Patient One!

Warnings: implied suicide/suicide attempt scene

Chapter 26. The Town of the Beginning and the End

Five teenagers stood before the entrance arch, staring at the plate attached to the top that proclaimed the town's name in carved letters.

Loguetown was big, bustling, and seemed to be much more developed than the villages and towns any of them had visited before. Buildings that stood several stories tall towered everywhere, and between them were paved streets packed with people of all sorts.

Luffy's gaze flickered here and there, a wide grin slowly growing on his face. He felt excited. "I want to see it," he declared suddenly, catching his crew's attention. "The view the Pirate King saw before his death, the place where the Great Pirate Age started. See ya later!" And with that, he took off.

"Hey! We haven't decided on—huh?" Usopp blinked when he couldn't see the straw-hatted teen anymore. One moment he could still spot him and the next he vanished completely out of sight. He scratched his head. His captain had surprisingly low presence when he really wanted to. He shrugged, banishing the thought out of his mind as not worth the trouble. "Well, I'm gonna go buy some equipment for my upcoming great adventures!"

Sanji's nostrils flared, sniffing all the delicious smell of the food and perfume in the air. "I bet there are a lot of good places to stock up on food," he said. A moment later, he murmured something under his breath, too quiet to hear in the noise, but if the giggle that followed was any indication, it was definitely something lewd.

"I need to go to a weapon store," Zoro admitted grimly, glancing down at his single katana. "Santoryu won't work with just one sword."

Nami's face lit up with an overly honest and innocent grin. "Oh? You don't have any money, right? I can lend you some." Her voice, on the contrary, was way too smug and suave to be remotely virtuous. "With interest, that is."

Zoro grimaced at being the target of that sly, business-like attitude. Unfortunately, he had no real choice in the matter. "Tch," he grunted. "Fine."

"Wonderful!" The navigator clapped her hands in glee. She reached for the pouch of beli, but noticed the other two males already starting to wander off on their own. "Sanji-kun, wait! I'm coming with you!" she immediately called out, hurrying to catch up with the cook.

And that left the swordsman behind without his promised money. "Oi!"

"Pick out your swords first, send me the bill!" Nami yelled to him over her shoulder.

Soon, Zoro was the only one left standing at the entrance. "Damn witch…" he grumbled under his breath. He scratched his head, thinking on what to do now, but then just shrugged. "I guess I'll go and look around."

Sanji put a new cigarette into his mouth and shot a fleeting look at their lovely navigator, walking right next to him. They were strolling without saying a word for a while now. "What's wrong, Nami-san?" he asked.

"Ah? Nothing! I just—" the girl floundered. After a moment, she sighed and fixed the cook with an intense stare. "Did Luffy tell you what happened to him?"

Sanji's finger hesitated on the ignition mechanism of his lighter. "Not exactly," he replied as he flicked it. The fire flared up without a problem and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He half expected it to not work again. "But I can guess what happened to him. Not in details, but..."

When he trailed off, Nami furrowed her brow. Seeing that her nakama wasn't going to continue, she quietly asked, "It's something similar to my situation, isn't it?"

The blond blew the smoke out, observing how it dispersed in the air. He offered no comment this time.

The thief drew her own conclusions from his silence. "Maybe something even worse…" she whispered, crossing her arms and rubbing them lightly to stave off the sudden chilly feeling that prickled her skin.

"Don't think too much about it. As Luffy himself said, the past doesn't matter on this ship," Sanji reminded softly.

Nami responded in a half-hearted hum, her mind obviously lingering somewhere else.

"Do you know what he said when you ran away from Baratie?"

The navigator looked at him, confused. "No. What?"

The blond flashed a lopsided grin. "We stick together no matter what. If one of us needs help, the rest of us help them. No questions asked."

Nami smiled, then chuckled. "That sounds like something Luffy would say," she admitted quietly. After a few moments, her expression hardened as she seemingly reached some kind of decision. "So, all we should do is just support him when he needs us. No questions asked."

"Yep," Sanji agreed easily.

The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt so much better now. "Alright, I'm off!" she exclaimed as she waved her hand at the cook, jogging away. "Thanks, Sanji-kun!"

"Eh? W-Wait! Nami—" Sanji watched their lovely navigator scampering away like a beautiful fairy she was and he looked absolutely crestfallen by her sudden departure. "—swan…?"

Unsurprisingly, Luffy got himself lost.

Of course, if he had simply followed the main road, he would have reached the square pretty fast. To him, though, going in a straight line seemed a very boring idea when he had the whole town to explore! So, with only the final destination in mind but without any knowledge how to reach it, the eager future Pirate King roamed around Loguetown.

After wondering side-streets and back alleys for quite some time, Luffy came upon a rundown bar where he met a cool old man and heard some exciting stories about Gold Roger from him. It fanned the flames of his thirst for adventure to the unimaginable heights and, with some directions from the old bar owner, he finally arrived at the town square.

And so, there he was, standing tall on top of the execution platform. "So, this is the place where the greatest pirate in history was put to death," he said, taking in the sight of Loguetown spread out before him. "And the place where the Great Pirate Age began…"

Luffy closed his eyes, feeling the breeze caressing his face and the sun on his skin. Slowly, the noise and buzz of the crowd fell away as he breathed deep. Tales claimed that the Pirate King died smiling even when the blades pierced his heart. The teen could almost hear the ghostly laughter, a mere mockery in the face of death itself and a challenge against the whole world.

A vicious grin stretched under the straw hat.

The Eternal Pirate King, huh?

"Hey, you! On the platform! Get down from there this instant!"

Luffy blinked, jolted out of his reverie by a loud, crude yelling. He looked around, then down. A man in a uniform was glaring up at him from down below, a megaphone in one hand.

"Who? Me?" the straw-hatted boy questioned, pointing at himself.

"Yes, you! Get down right now!"

"…Why?"

"That's a historic landmark that belongs to the World Government! So get down from there imm—rggghhh!" The man's screaming was cut short by a spiky iron mace smashing into his face and sending him flying.

A beautiful young woman in a cloak with heart design and white cowboy hat propped the mace against her shoulder. "It's been a while, Straw Hat Luffy," she said, her lips curving into an alluring smile as she looked straight at the teen on the platform. "I've been looking all over for you!"

Luffy's eyes narrowed. Her presence seemed somewhat familiar, but he failed to recall it. Probably someone insignificant, he concluded.

"Don't tell me, you've forgotten my face?" the woman asked. "So cold! After all, you were the first man to ever hit me." She rubbed her exposed stomach, her soft and provocative voice suggesting that it wasn't a bad thing. "The way you handled me so roughly… It left me breathless."

The rubber boy's eyes suddenly widened. "Ah! I remember!"

"Of course! How could you forget the most beautiful pers—"

"Baby Whale!"

In an instant, Alvida's face darkened and a pulsating vein popped on her forehead as Luffy's carefree laughter echoed throughout the entire plaza. She harrumphed, composing herself, and forced back a smile on her face. "You're still as cheeky as ever, I see," she stated magnanimously. "You said that the baby whales were cute, so I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yeah, okay," Luffy dismissed her, not really listening what she was saying, his entire focus now on someone else behind her. "Oh, hey!" he exclaimed. "It's you! Uh, what was the name…?" He trailed off, frowning. "Booger? No, Baboon? It's not Buffoon either… Oh, right!" Luffy's fist hit his open palm once he figured it out. "Bunny!"

"BUNNY?!" the cloaked figure in the crowd roared. "Who are you calling Bunny?! You flashy idiot, you haven't changed at all!" He ripped the cloak off and threw it down, stomping it with his foot like a child throwing a tantrum. When his frustration subsided, he straightened up, putting his hands on his hips, and laughed maliciously, his big, red nose turned to the cloudy sky. "It's me! The great pirate, Buggy-sama!"

The group behind him followed his example and tore off their cloaks, revealing the rest of the clowns in a wide variety of shapes and colors, armed with pistols and swords.

"Buggy the Clown!"

"The, the pirates?!"

"It's the Buggy Pirates! RUN!"

It set off the chain reaction as the screaming mass of terrified people was suddenly spurred into fleeing the plaza. Not all the civilians were lucky—some were rounded up by the pirates in order to be witnesses in whatever Buggy was planning.

"Ever since that day, nothing but thoughts of your death filled my mind, Straw Hat!" Buggy proclaimed to Luffy who was standing there on the platform, not a single sign of concern seen on his face. The clown bit down an irritated growl and instead let a gleeful grin slip on his lips as he observed his second mate appearing covertly behind the boy. "And today is the day I'd flashily kill you!"

Luffy's head suddenly snapped up, his features rippling with surprise when his mystery power notified him about a presence he had never even considered of meeting here.

Cabaji stumbled forward when the boy unexpectedly sidestepped his attempt to trap him; the boy who, to all intents and purposes, should have been oblivious to his sneak attack from behind and was clearly distracted by something else.

Not sparing the acrobat even a single glance, Luffy kicked him in the ass, sending him flying off of the scaffold. Black eyes stayed glued to the roof of the building across the plaza where he could barely make out a silhouette of the person hidden in the shadows.

The sun was gone now and only heavy clouds loomed in the leaden sky, every shade of grey and black bearing down on the town of the beginning and the end. The wind started to pick up too, howling between the buildings. The distant rumble of thunder went unnoticed by everyone through all the chaos.

For Luffy, the only thing he cared about at this moment was that shadowy figure, the rest of the world receding into a muted, colorless background. His heart raced, his eyes shone, and his whole being vibrated in excitement.

He was here! The person who took him away from all the suffering and torment, who ignored the rules of the self-proclaimed gods, who saved him.

The memory of his savior's presence was foggy and fragmented, but Luffy was certain that it was him. He didn't know why, but he felt an overwhelming urge to tell that person, to show him that he was fine now, that those monsters were unable to fully break him.

Meanwhile, Buggy had climbed the execution platform. "Gyahahahaha!" he cackled like a madman, brandishing his sword. "Pirate Monkey D. Luffy, for laughing at me and pissing me off, I sentence you to a flashy death! Just keep standing frozen in fear like that!"

"WAIT!"

Buggy paused, turning towards the yelling. The civilians quickly parted, stepping out of the way of two running men. The Buggy Pirates tried to obstruct Zoro and Sanji, but the two plowed straight through them.

Luffy sucked air into his lungs, as much as possible.

"Gyahahahaha!" Buggy laughed again. "You're just in time to witness the last moment of your captain!" he exclaimed and swung the blade at the Straw Hat's unguarded neck.

And at that exact moment, Luffy opened his mouth wide, but it wasn't just a simple shout that came out, but a thunderous roar, equaling the storm in its strength.

"I'LL BECOME THE PIRATE KING!"

His voice, so unbelievably loud and clear, overpowered every other sound in the vicinity. As its echoes reverberated in everyone's ears, the time seemed to slow down to the snail's pace.

Zoro and Sanji felt their blood freeze in their veins as they watched a perfectly D-shaped grin spread across their captain's face. Desperate cries hitched inside their throats. They could only watch helplessly as the rubber idiot made no move to avoid what obviously was a lethal strike.

Buggy's sword was a mere inch from his neck when a spark of electricity flickered around its blade.

A bolt of white-hot lightning broke the graphite sky. Like an omnipotent heavenly whip, it cleaved the air and forked down straight into the execution platform, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.

Everyone's sight vanished in a brilliant ball of light. The people standing near the scaffold got knocked down on the ground. Fortunately, no one got hurt, saved by the fact that the lightning struck the spot so high above their heads.

The execution stand, however, was beyond help; flames ignited from the lightning licked at every corner, wrecking its stability and leaving it to collapse in on itself, falling to pieces.

Luffy's straw hat floated down together with the first drops of rain and landed gently on the ground. An unscathed scrawny arm picked it up and pushed it down on the disheveled mop of black hair where it belonged. "Stupid lightning startled me," Luffy stated in a tone that did nothing to hide his annoyance.

Eyes wide as plates, jaw hanging open, absolutely flabbergasted witnesses—civilian, Marine, and pirate alike—could do nothing more than gape, shocked into senselessness by the sheer absurdity of the scene. None paid any attention to the gradually worsening downpour.

"Sta-startled you?" someone stammered out.

"It should have done more than just startle you!" another screeched, pointing at the charred form of Buggy.

"Really?" The teen glanced at the miserably twitching and convulsing clown and shrugged, unconcerned. "I got lucky, shishishishi!"

"H-Hey, do you believe in God?" Sanji asked Zoro who seemed equally shell-shocked.

The swordsman exhaled, "No" as he sheathed his katana. The odd feeling of numbness in his muscles after the lightning strike so close made him uncomfortable. "We're not out of trouble just yet. Oi, Luf—!"

The rubber boy zipped past the two with a warning, "Lots of hostiles incoming!" and the order, "Time to leave!"

A group of Marines rushed off the street that the three young pirates were aiming for and lined up in an effort to block their retreat path. The last thing they saw was a wicked smirk under the straw hat before an outstretched leg swatted them all out of the way like flies.

"Bye, Bunny! Bye, Baby Whale!" Luffy yelled over his shoulder, waving his goodbyes to the fellow pirate captains. Continuing to run past the groaning Marine grunts, he broke into laughter, practically oozing out liquefied joy and contentment.

In any other situation, Sanji would have raised an eyebrow at that. As it was, he was in the middle of a mad dash and rather upset with the younger male, leading him to instead shout at him.

"Why are you in such a good mood, Luffy?! You almost died, you dipshit!"

"That's because…" Luffy's smile threatened to split his face in two. "…I finally met him!"

The cook glimpsed at Zoro. The latter's expression showed only confusion, so he asked, "Who?!"

However, this time instead of giving an answer, the boy burst into another bout of delighted giggles. "Oh, right!" he suddenly exclaimed. "What about Nami and Usopp?"

"They went back to secure Going Merry," Sanji informed, begrudgingly allowing the change in topic. "Nami-san told us to return to the ship as fast as possible. If we don't hurry, we won't be able to get off this island!"

Zoro glanced at the sky. "It's getting worse way too quickly… What kind of storm—?"

"Roronoa Zoro!"

Three pirates looked up ahead to see a very, very upset dark-haired woman with a sword standing in their way.

"An enemy, huh." Luffy winded his arm back for a punch, but stopped when his ears registered his nakama's sword being pulled out of its sheath.

"To think that you were Roronoa Zoro! And a pirate at that, too!" the Marine woman screamed. "You were just toying with me!"

"You bastard!" Sanji yelled in outrage. "What did you do to that lady?!"

Zoro growled at the accusations. "You've never said you were a Marine either!"

"Wado Ichimonji," she uttered as she unsheathed her own katana and shifted into an offensive stance, "I will never allow such a magnificent blade to stay in the hands of a criminal like you!"

Two opposing sword masters clashed, glaring at each other as the storm continued to rage above their heads. Tashigi had stalled the man's strike, but her weapon shivered under the brutality of his compelling strength, causing her to clench her teeth in the unfairness of it all.

"Go on ahead," Zoro said to his comrades, at the same time reaching for the second katana.

Luffy and Sanji skirted around, but then the youngest skidded to a halt and turned around. "No," he declared firmly as he crossed his arms, obviously pouting. "You'll just get yourself lost if we leave you and I'm not going to the Grand Line without one of us!"

The cook barked out a laugh at that.

Zoro twitched. Momentarily forgetting his showdown with the Marine woman, he faced his two crewmates and opened his mouth to give them his piece of mind about being accused of getting lost—which was absolutely untrue!—but Luffy held one finger up.

"One minute, Zoro."

And that was that.

"Aye, aye," the swordsman grumbled, shifting his attention back to the fight. He bared his teeth into a savage grin. "Well, you heard my Captain," he said as he pulled out the second blade and smashed it into the woman's sword.

Tashigi parried and instantly counterattacked. Unfortunately, under the flurry of the pirate's attacks, each swing carrying the same overwhelming amount of force, and within the set time of one minute, she was overpowered, disarmed, and pinned to the wall with a blade to her neck.

"Don't you dare hurt a lady, you shitty swordsman!" Sanji screamed, held in place by Luffy's steely grip on his shoulder.

Zoro stared at her face for a moment, then, without a word, stepped back and sheathed his swords, turning to walk away as he did.

The woman's surprise lasted for a few more seconds before she snarled at his back, "Why don't you kill me?!" That brought no reaction from the pirate. "Is it because I'm a woman?!"

Now, that had rooted Zoro to the ground, though he didn't turn to face her.

Tashigi gritted her teeth in an infuriating frustration. "Women are supposed to be weaker than men, but it's humiliating to have someone go easy on you on a serious duel! Of course, someone like you would never understand what wishing to be born a man would fee—"

"Shut up!" Zoro shouted, his already stretched thin patience finally snapping. He spun on his heel and rounded on the Marine who jerked back at the volume of his voice. "It's your damn face that bothers me, not your gender!"

"Wha…?"

"You look exactly like my friend who died years ago! And now you go spouting the same bullshit she did! Stop copying her, you rip-off!"

"I've never heard anything so childish in my entire life! I've always lived by being me and only me! I have no idea who this friend of yours even is! Aren't she copying me?!"

Luffy scratched his head as two opponents kept screaming at each other. His attempt to call Zoro bore no fruit. Sanji also was eager to jump in if how much he struggled under his grip was any indication. What was the captain supposed to do in this kind of strange situation?

"I wondered what held you for so long."

Everyone looked at the direction the new voice came from. There stood a muscular, white-haired man with two cigars hanging out of his mouth, many more strapped to his marine jacket, and a jitte attached to his back.

"I'm Captain Smoker of the Marines Headquarters," the new guy introduced himself. "Straw Hat Luffy, you're under arrest."

"Mmm, no thanks," the boy replied absent-mindedly. "Zoro, we should go!"

Such unmistakable dismissal made a tiny tic mark pop on Smoker's forehead. He thrust his both arms forward, bellowing, "I won't allow you to set sail from this island!"

Luffy's eyes widened when the man's arms turned into plumes of white smoke. He immediately jumped backward, trying to avoid being enclosed by it. The smoke kept coming, forcing him to retreat even further.

Sanji darted towards the Marine and kicked at his chest. However, the attack went harmlessly right through the latter's body as it transformed into smoke that soon converged around his leg, trapping it. The blond muttered a confused, "What the…" before he was flung into the nearest building.

A sword slash cut Smoker's body in two only for the lower part turn into smoke. "Out of my way!" he yelled, punching Zoro to his face and sending him flying into the opposite direction than Sanji.

Luffy slid into the stop, eyes fixed solely on Smoker, tracking his every movement. He paid no mind to a cry of, "Prepare yourself!" from behind, swaying slightly to the side at the last possible second. Tashigi's sword whizzed an inch from his arm and hit the cobblestone with a sharp ding. Still not sparing her a single glimpse, the teen stomped on the blade, eliciting a surprised squeal when it got ripped from her hands. Then he grabbed the woman by the collar of her jacket and, with no trouble whatsoever, hurled her at the quickly approaching Smoker.

The Marine Captain bit down on his cigars, watching how the young pirate disappeared from sight the moment he threw his protégé at him. A curse slipped from his mouth as he maneuvered to catch her.

"Thank… Thank you, Smoker-san," Tashigi murmured as she was put back on her own two feet, feeling a bit unsteady.

"Stay out of the way, Tashigi."

"Y-Yes, Sir…"

Luffy appeared next to his two nakama who were already ready to rejoin the fight after gathering themselves from the previous failure. "He's a Logia, you can't really do anything against him," he explained as if knowing what they were thinking. "I'll stall him and then find an opportunity to escape."

"Devil Fruit?" Zoro questioned, gripping his katana's handle so hard that his knuckles turned white. He hated this debilitating feeling of powerlessness.

Luffy nodded, then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Go," he ordered, his tone leaving no space for protest. Not waiting for their responses, he stretched his arm behind him, twisting it around in the process. "Gomu Gomu no…" he muttered as he shot from his spot like a bullet.

Smoker met him half-way, propelled forward by his smoke to give him the greater momentum. "Don't be so coc—!"

"Rifle!"

The man's words died in his throat as Luffy's full-powered punch connected with his stomach and, to the absolute shock of everyone around, launched the seemingly untouchable Logia user into the building and through its wall.

Sanji swore under his breath, "Damn…"

Zoro tapped the blond on his shoulder. "Let's go." They both ran away without further delay.

In the ruins of the wall, Smoker heaved himself up with a groan, feeling a sharp pain searing through his abdomen. Spitting bloody saliva, he wiped his mouth with a back of his hand and took a few moments to reassess the boy's abilities. Be it the fact that he could overpass his Devil Fruit's intangibility or the sheer force behind that punch, it certainly took him by surprise.

A Haki user in the East Blue sounded like a bad joke, but it seemed that he was the one getting cocky, not the kid. He didn't even try to put his guard up against Luffy's attack. What a stupid mistake that turned out to be.

Deciding not to underestimate his foe anymore, Smoker grabbed his jitte and leaped back into the street.

Luffy sidestepped the jab of the jitte. The moment its tip almost brushed across his exposed skin, he felt his hair standing up on the back of his neck. He distanced himself from the Marine in a flash, narrowing his eyes at that weapon of his. "A very nasty stick you've got there, Smokey," he hissed, a surprising amount of venom counting each word.

Smoker smirked. "It's the end of the road for you, Straw Hat."

Two enemies glared at each other, tense and ready. Luffy said nothing more, his hand reaching behind his back. He was about to pull his metal Bo staff when a bolt of lightning flashed above their heads, illuminating the surrounding and blinding them for a split second.

Suddenly, there was a dark, tall, cloaked figure standing between them. Their eyes widened at the same time. But while Smoker's reaction was one of complete surprise and bewilderment, Luffy's face lit up with boundless joy.

"It's you…" he whispered before immediately taking a deep bow. "Thank you!"

After four long years of suffering and humiliation, after being called 'it' like he was lower than a human being, after forced to kneel and bow to those self-proclaimed gods every day, Luffy promised himself to never ever lower his head to anyone. There was only one exception to this rule.

Gratitude.

And even this bow of immense gratitude was not enough to express just how thankful he felt to this person.

"No need to thank me."

The man's voice was low and rough, but Luffy could detect the softness and warmth underlying it. There was an undeniable trace of sadness and guilt too, though the reason behind those emotions eluded him.

The teen straightened up, wanting to see the face of his savor. But there was a sudden weight on his head and his straw hat was gently pushed down on his eyes, obstructing the view.

"Run along now," the stranger said, "and give the world your answer."

Right then, a powerful squall swept the street, howling and whistling, carrying the debris, people, and other stuff with it. Luffy didn't quite manage to keep his footing either. He yelped when the wind lifted him up and hurled him down the road.

The bizarre phenomenon ended as abruptly as it started. Smoker and the cloaked man were the only ones remaining on the scene.

"Dragon!" Smoker snarled. "Why did you help him escape?!"

Dragon was still gazing to the direction where the boy disappeared, his back turned to the angry Marine Captain. 'Good to see you still smiling, Luffy,' he thought as he raised his head, letting the rain wash his tattooed face. 'The Pirate King? Perfect!' His loud mocking laughter echoed throughout the Loguetown's silent streets.

When Dragon finally deigned a glance at Smoker, another lightning jagged across the dark sky, followed hotly by its cracking boom. The light it provided was enough to reveal a fierce grin under his hood.

"Who are we to stand between the man and his dream?"

Dragon scowled at the Celestial Dragon's vessel in the distance. "Seems that it's just drifting around in the ocean without anyone controlling it," he shared his worries.

"It certainly looks like it," Ivankov agreed as he joined his leader at the bow.

"Something feels wrong."

"Dragon-san!" One of his men ran to him and passed him the binoculars. "You must really see this yourself."

The man's scowl deepened as he brought the binoculars to his eyes.

Bodies lay strewn around the deck in various positions, but there was no blood or any other indication of a battle taking place there. Everyone seemed just to collapse where they stood.

Dragon lowered the binoculars and turned to give the order to the crew, "Get ready to board the ship!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"What is happening, Dragon?" the okama questioned. "Why are we suddenly hunting down the Celestial Dragon?"

"Don't ask me such unnecessary questions, Ivankov."

His curiosity denied, Ivankov let out a hum of indignation, closely watching his friend with a sideways gaze. He had been acting strangely for the past few years, investing a lot of time and effort in gathering the information about something. What precisely it was remained a secret even now. It baffled his comrades to no end.

While Emporio Ivankov was busy pondering on his friend's slightly suspicious investment, their ship approached the other vessel, but apart occasional creaks of the wood, there was no activity on it whatsoever.

Dragon boarded the ship first, looking around. There was a peculiar feeling penetrating the surroundings, a certain buzz in the air, a familiar tingly sensation on his skin. Similarly to the storm producing a clean, crisp air in its wake, all these were clear signs of one thing and one thing only.

"Conqueror's Haki," Dragon said before anyone could even confirm that the people here were just knocked out and not dead.

The revolutionaries shared a startled glance. "An awakened conqueror on this ship?" someone wondered loudly.

Dragon's eyes roamed around and finally landed on a man in a thick white suit. His expression hardened. "Search the ship," he commanded, tearing his eyes from the unconscious noble. "Inform me if any of the lifeboats are missing."

"Um… What are we looking for exactly?"

The guy who asked cringed under his leader's sharp gaze. "A boy," Dragon replied. "Twelve years old, black hair, a small scar under his eye. He's… a slave."

Ivankov's eyes narrowed at the barely perceptible hesitation in the man's voice, but he chose not to comment in the end. At least, for now.

A few minutes ticked by, people scurrying around the deathly silent ship, searching. They unconsciously gave their leader a wide berth every time someone needed to go past him.

"Found him!"

Dragon moved before the speaker even finished his sentence. He halted, letting others drag the boxes out of the way, and then crouched down.

When he saw the boy, his heart skipped a beat and his blood ran cold.

Luffy was so small, Dragon's brains registered first. So skinny and sickly pale, eyes unfocused, every part of his being radiating fear. And then, suddenly, that fear vanished completely, replaced by the infinite determination.

"You're not going to have me…" the boy whispered as he raised the sword to his neck.

Dragon lunged forward to stop him. "No, Luffy, STOP!"

He was one second too late. The blood gushed out in a fountain, instantly dying everything around in crimson. Dragon ripped his cloak off and pressed on the wound. "Inform the medics! Find the keys!" he bellowed and his men quickly scattered to execute his orders. "Iva!"

The okama understood what he was asked for. His fingers turned into syringes that he stabbed into the boy's side, pumping him with healing hormones. It wasn't capable of repairing the wound directly, but even the slightest boost of the body's natural healing capabilities in this situation greatly improved the child's chance of survival.

Someone brought the keys. The sea prism stone collar was finally removed and thrown aside. Dragon scooped the kid into his arms and rushed him into the infirmary where doctors were already waiting on standby. Being pushed aside, he observed the medics fussing around the boy. His gaze lingered on Luffy's tiny face, the scar under his eye now abnormally juxtaposed against his white as a sheet skin.

Dragon closed his eyes and exited the room.

On the passageway, he stopped, seemingly lost and not knowing what to do. He glanced down at his hands.

Hands covered in the blood of his child.

"Dragon?"

The man looked up at Ivankov. Wordlessly, he walked to the opposite wall, leaned against it, and slid down to sit on the floor, still staring blankly at his bloody hands.

The okama frowned. It was the first time he had seen the great leader of the Revolutionary Army acting like that. "You can't let your men see you like that," he admonished, though there was no real bite in his tone. And because he had already shooed everyone away, there was no one around to witness this anyway. He had said that only to get some kind of reaction from his friend.

To his dismay, there was none.

"Who is he?"

The silence stretched on. Ivankov huffed, thinking that he wouldn't get an answer this time either, but then Dragon spoke.

"He's my son."

"Oh. So, he's your son. I see," the okama nodded, happy to finally get some justification for his friend's strange actions. "That explains why you've reacted like that. It's perfectly underst—" Here his voice hitched, eyes growing impossibly wide. He blinked. "Y-Y-Your son?!" he shrieked, stumbling back until he hit the wall. "You have a son?!"

No reply came. Ivankov mulled over this new piece of information, unable to pick his jaw up from the floor.

After a while, Dragon scrubbed his face with the back of his hand and sighed. "Can you give an order to the crew in my stead, Iva?" he asked, feeling so tired, tired to the bone, tired more than he had ever felt before. "I have to stay here for the moment Luffy inevitably needs the blood transfusion."

His weary voice snapped Ivankov out of his shocked daze. "Yes, of course," he replied as he gathered his wits about him.

"Tell them to rescue the rest of the slaves."

"And everyone else?"

"…The Grand Line is a dangerous place. Ships and their passengers go missing every day."

"Understood."

"Capture the noble for now," Dragon said as he stared at the closed door in front of him, dark eyes brimming with barely restrained fury. "I have something to tell him."

Ivankov smirked and left.

…

Several weeks later, Dragon stood on the thick branch of a tree, hidden in shadows, and observed the young boy sunbathing in the grassy field below.

Dragon remembered how terrified and absolutely unresponsive Luffy was when he awoke from his coma. Every action, every voice scared him. But just after two days in this place, his son seemed so much healthier in body, mind, and spirit, a content smile never leaving his face. And it always grew a bit brighter, a bit happier every time he looked at the older boy sitting nearby who kept watching him like a mother hawk.

Dragon's lips curled into a small grin. Bringing Luffy back here was definitely the right decision.

The next instant, the tree was already empty.

Luffy flew along the street with a cheerful, "Wheeee!" He spied his nakama running in the distance, yet to be hit by the squall, and called out, "Hey, Zoro! Sanji!"

The moment two males turned around, the wind and Luffy with it slammed into them, sending all three soaring. The gale finally exhausted itself and they crashed to the ground in one big heap, conveniently near the place where they anchored Going Merry.

"You shitty rubber…" Sanji groaned, pushing the giggling captain off of him.

"You damn cook," Zoro growled from under him, effortlessly shoving them both to the side.

"Guys!" Usopp shrieked from the ship. "This rope won't hold for much longer!"

Sanji was up on his feet in an instant, waving wildly, "We're back, Nami-swan!"

"Hurry up and get on board!" Nami yelled, anxious. "We're setting sail immediately!"

"Roger that!" the three pirates chorused, rushing to board their ship.

The rain was still coming down strong, bright snakes of lightning dancing across the black sky, followed by the heaven shaking thunder, but they got lucky. The tailwind brought them straight to the right current that picked their little vessel and carried them further from the island and closer to their destination.

The crew was just starting to relax after all the ordeal, then a massive gust of wind hit the ship and they all latched onto whatever was nearby to avoid being thrown into the ravaging sea. The wind suddenly ceased and something—no, someone—crash-landed into Nami's mikan groove.

"W-W-What is that?!" Usopp squeaked, hiding behind Zoro who already fingered the handle of his katana, ready to draw it at the moment's notice.

Sanji chewed on his cigarette nervously. "An enemy attack?"

"At a time like this?!" Nami panicked.

All their focus was on the unknown person, so they never noticed the expression that settled on Luffy's features.

The pirates stilled when their unexpected guest sat up, brushing his fingers through his wavy blond hair in an attempt to get it under some control. "That was a new experience, alright," he muttered as he climbed out, unfolding his form to its full height. He patted himself off, tugged his long black overcoat up, smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt, and fixed his cravat. Then he reached into the orchard and first pulled a long lead pipe that he slid into a special loop on his back and next picked a top hat with goggles wrapped around it.

Only when the hat was secured on his head, the man turned to the pirates. "Hi!" he greeted them with the most charismatic and disarming smile they had ever seen. "Do you mind if I hitch a ride?"

Next Chapter: The Stranger on the Dawn Island (Part III)

A/N

What can I say? I just love fatherly Dragon. And no matter how awesome and badass he is, ultimately, he's still just a human.

But that was a very good question at the very end: do you mind?

Also, about the next chapter: it's the last part of the Dawn flashback mini-arc, so please bear with me for one more chapter.