A short one-shot after finishing a 76,000 word story. It's creepy and a has graphic violence. Dark angst but happy ending. Enjoy~

"Ace, will you play with me?" a young boy asked, holding a ball in his small hands. Luffy was four and already getting into tons of trouble. Ace and Sabo did their best to keep him out of trouble, but it was near impossible. And it was almost impossible to say no to the boy. He was just too adorable to deny anything. It was that way for everyone in their small village.

Luffy would go around the small town and ask for people to play with him or draw with chalk Ace and Sabo bought. The adults and teenagers were the ones who couldn't resist. The other children didn't really play with the boy due to his size and his hugely over protective big brothers, who did anything and everything to make sure Luffy stayed happy.

"Okay, let me finish breakfast first," Ace replied. Sabo was at the desk writing his book. Ace was making eggs for breakfast in their small home at the edge of the village. It was a two bedroom house, but the three brothers shared a room and the other was for Luffy to play in. He had many toys that the two older brothers saved up for him.

After both of their parents passed away, Ace and Sabo were the only ones left to raise Luffy. For two years they had done okay. Luffy didn't remember their mom or dad, but at least that meant he couldn't miss them.

When Ace and Sabo went to work into the village, the neighbors would watch Luffy for much of the day while the brothers did their best to earn money to support their broken family. They owned the house, so that was helpful, but they still needed to be able to afford necessities, and the stray toy or book every once and awhile.

One day, Luffy was playing with the elderly neighbor next door, who lived the closest to the brothers' home. He was out in the front yard, with the elderly woman watching him play with a smile. He was playing with her old dog, tossing the ball for him to catch. After all, Ace had played with him but needed to go back to work.

The woman looked away for only a second, for everyone trusted each other in the small town. Those that lived there permanently, as it was a popular island with many tourists, all knew each other by name. She trusted that Luffy would be fine for just a moment while she fetched him another glass of lemonade.

When she returned, her dog was dead on the ground, and Luffy was gone, the ball popped and deflating rapidly.

No one found Luffy for four months. They were convinced the four year old was dead by then, as he was nowhere on the island, and they were sure he was kidnapped or something very bad had happened to him. His brothers were devastated, and Ace took to drinking and both of them lost their jobs.

The two turned to pickpocketing and robbing visitors and pirates to make ends meet as they couldn't get themselves together enough to go back and work. Then, they learned Luffy was still alive, but utterly unattainable. So, they did their best to use others to get their brother back. They couldn't afford to do it themselves and get killed. So, they bribed and paid for others to get themselves killed.

By Luffy himself.

-x-

"Will you play with me?" Luffy asked a scruffy looking man. The boy hadn't showered in months but was in almost pristine condition, despite the fact that he lived in the woods. His clothes were as clean as they had been a year ago. He was no older and no bigger than he had been the day he was stolen away. A day he didn't remember. He didn't remember most of his life.

Only his papa, who was the one to steal him away and use his charm for his own advantage. Luffy made eye contact with the newest visitor. That was his undoing. "Will you play with me?" Luffy asked again, his voice haunting and echoing in the pirate's ears. His vision faded until only the whites of his eyes were visible. He was lost.

Luffy had ensnared another victim to bring to his papa to play with on his way up the mountain and to his home, where he shared the space with the monster who had taken him and convinced him they were family. The man, lifeless now, a dead body, followed Luffy up the mountain, playing tag with him, though his movements were choppy and awkward. After all, all that was keeping him up and moving was the curse placed on Luffy.

Luffy had fun with him, like they were playing a real game. The boy didn't notice the man not breathing or making any sound, or looking what he was: dead. His eyes didn't faze the boy, since he was seeing them like this since he could remember. It was nothing odd or new. By the time they made it up the mountain, the curse had started to rot the moving corpse. He started to slow, and Luffy pouted, as they never played with him long.

He would make the man feel better by bringing him to his papa, who lived in the center of the mountain, never leaving during the day. Luffy was left alone all day, stationed at the entrance of the island, where most people appeared to play with him. He didn't know he was cursed to stand there and ensnare food for the monster. He thought he was doing it on his own will.

"Papa! I found a new friend!" Luffy called as the rotting and moving corpse followed him into the cave that was lit by unnatural red light coming from an unknown source. It was cold in there, but Luffy didn't feel pain or discomfort anymore. He was numbed from his body feeling anything negative.

"Luffy, would you like to introduce us? I'll make sure he feels better soon," the monster, a pitch black, humanoid creature with fangs and spikes along his limbs and forehead, said cheerily. His voice was haunting, but Luffy didn't notice it or his scary appearance. To him, it was a normal looking man.

"Kay," Luffy said, and recounted playing with the man. It was only tag, but to Luffy, that was better than nothing. He wished to play with someone more coordinated, but it didn't seem strange to him that most of his friends ended up slow and with jerking movements.

Luffy watched, unaware and unbothered, as the monster ate the dead body, blood everywhere. It was getting later, so Luffy was tired and wanted to go to bed. He went to his corner and laid on the pile of straw and fell asleep to the fleshy sound of skin tearing and being chewed. Sleep stole him easily.

-x-

Ace sat at home, counting the treasures and money he had stolen that day. It wasn't much, as this pirate crew hadn't been very big, but it was enough for a couple days worth of food. Sabo was out shopping for groceries, also scouting if any new pirate ships had docked. Pirates were the perfect prey. Ace and Sabo were both fairly strong, and pirates at the beginning of the Grand Line were mostly weak, but also didn't have much treasure.

Ace took the loot and hid it in the basement, behind the piece of wall the brothers had dug out to be a safe. The house was nestled in the forest, so it was hard for anyone to find them. People came looking for them all the time, but never found them. After Luffy was taken a year ago, and Ace and Sabo fell from grace, no one in the village had ratted them out. They all felt for the brothers, who had lost the rest of their family.

Sabo came home with some food, eyes hollow like they always were. He put the groceries away in the small fridge. "Another pirate went and never came back. We're just giving away money to dead people by now," Sabo said in a flat voice. Ace sighed.

"It's better than doing nothing. And better than us going ourselves, only to be killed by Lu," the freckled teen replied. "Any new pirates?" Sabo shook his head.

"I think people are starting to catch on that this place is bad news for pirates," Sabo said. Ace frowned, that could be very bad. No more people to bribe into going to the mountain island that housed the monster and his personal bait. There had only been one person to return from the island, and he had spoken of the creepy kid that made his mind go blank.

The man had only made it back by falling into the boat and floating away far enough for the spell to wear off. But that was only pure dumb luck. Everyone else fell for the boy's trap and died, going back to wherever the monster was. For a couple months, everyone started going to the island to prove there was nothing there, that it was just a prank. But, when no one ever returned, no one but unknowing people went.

The island used to be very popular and beautiful to go to before Luffy was stolen and the mountain was taken over by the monster. He feasted on anyone that went there and got close enough for Luffy to trap.

Ace and Sabo had no idea what had happened to Luffy, but they knew he'd never kill anyone on purpose. He was under a spell or curse or something, because he would never, ever, kill anyone for fun. And not so frequently. Also, did he not fear the monster? It didn't make sense other than something was done to him.

He was four, for goodness sake. He had to be scared of the walking dead bodies, or whatever he brought the bodies to. How was he living? Was he being fed? Was he hurt? Ace and Sabo never had those thoughts leave their minds. They haunted the two, day and night.

Sabo cooked the food and they ate dinner in silence, both hoping someone strong would appear for once and take out the monster and steal back their baby brother. It had been over a year and they'd made no progress in rescuing him. Only sacrificing weak pirates. They would do anything to get Luffy back, even if it meant they'd go to hell for what they'd done.

The two slept in the room that used to be empty, leaving the room Luffy had stayed in empty until they got the boy back. And they would, no matter what it took.

-x-

The next day, Ace was walking to the ports to buy some cheap fish with the stolen money that went towards necessities, when he saw a massive ship docked at the cliff on one side of the island. The ship was too big for any of the docks. It was huge. Ace grinned, but also felt uneasy. There had to be a lot of treasure on a ship that size.

He watched the ship for a few minutes, and saw some people come off of it. A lot of people. Could Ace or Sabo even safely get on? Well, it didn't matter. They had vowed to do anything to get Luffy back, and if that meant risking their necks, then sobeit. Ace bought the fish and went home, where Sabo was still sleeping. He'd had a nightmare and was awake most of the night.

Ace didn't wake him up, but made simple breakfast for himself, wondering about how it would go if he or Sabo tried to raid that ship. It would have to be one or the other. They couldn't both risk dying and leaving Luffy forever on that island or until the monster decided to eat him. Sabo woke up to the smell of eggs and came out, asking Ace wheat was wrong, as he had a nervous look.

"A very large pirate ship docked. There has to be a lot of treasure on that ship. One of us has to try," Ace explained, sitting at the rickety table and eating his food while Sabo began to make his own. He ate quickly, nervous but knowing he needed the food. Especially if he was going to raid that ship.

"You're nervous about it," Sabo observed.

Ace scoffed but didn't deny it. "Of course I am. A ship that big has to have some powerful people aboard. Maybe we could bribe them into going to the island. But, we don't have much money, so it probably wouldn't be tempting to a crew that big. I saw them getting off the ship; there were a lot of them."

Sabo hummed as he cooked. It would be better for one of them to try and bribe the pirates, instead of trying to steal from them and making them angry. But, Ace was right, they didn't have much money. Living this early in the Grand Line was inconvenient, and they wished the lived further in. Though, it was safer to be where weak pirates were. It was both bad and good.

Neither talked while they ate, and then got ready to go and scout out the ship. Sabo didn't know the size of it, and probably thought Ace was exaggerating. They brought some of the money not saved for bribery and went into town. They lived far from the busy part, so the walk was long.

When they passed their nearest neighbor, who they didn't blame anymore for Luffy's kidnapping, she told them, "You may not want to steal from those pirates, boys. They are the Whitebeards, one of the strongest crews out there," she explained kindly. She had known the two since they were young, so they would always be "boys" to her. They got over that a long time ago.

Ace and Sabo had heard the name, but not much about them. After all, they had never come to this island before. "What about bribing?" Ace asked.

Nyon replied, "They might be drawn to the challenge. Though be careful not to offend them. They may be known to be better than most pirates, but they are still pirates." Sabo thanked her for the warning and the two walked the rest of the way into town. Ace pointed out the ship once they got in sight of it. Sabo looked shocked. There had to be hundreds of pirates living on that.

There was no way they'd be able to steal anything from them. Sabo shared a glance with Ace, and both knew they had the same thought. Bribery it was. Or maybe not with these ones. Strong pirates would want a challenge, right? Well, they'd give them one.

"We have to find one of them, right? How do we do that?" Ace wondered. "I didn't get a good look at any of them for identifying." Sabo hummed.

"We'll just look around and listen in and try and find any pirates. You know they're usually really loud," the blonde brother replied. The two did so and wandered around. Not having jobs gave them lots of free time they dedicated to stealing and trying to save their poor brother. Soon, soon they'd save him. They had to! They couldn't go on like this any longer.

It didn't take long to find someone loud, and they turned the corner to see two men arguing. Another smaller man was looking at the vendor's food in front of him. The man looked uneasy as these rowdy men argued over the price of his food. Ace and Sabo watched from around the corner.

The two arguing both had strange hair. One was almost like a mop, or pineapple and the other had a pompadour. How long did it take to make your hair look like that? Both teens were suddenly reminded of giving knomies to Luffy in the bath. Their expressions fell for just a moment.

"C'mon, Marco, it's only a hundred berris," the pompadoured man complained.

"No," Marco replied. "Too expensive." The vendor was looking grumpy, but Ace and Sabo knew he never lowered the price, no matter how hard you tried to bargain. Sabo looked at Ace, and they both wondered if they were wrong, and these pirates were actually broke. Or if these were even the Whitebeards. Maybe they were just random visitors. But, there was only one pirate ship docked, as they left relatively quickly when one of their own was killed. They didn't care much or didn't want to risk going to the haunted island.

"Party pooper," the pompadoured man said angrily. His gaze then snapped to Ace and Sabo, hiding behind a corner with only their heads peeking out. When they noticed they'd been seen, they both pulled back quickly, hoping they wouldn't walk over.

"Hey, kids! Does this guy ever lower his price?" Ace and Sabo didn't know if they should respond, so they didn't. Neither knew that all three pirates still knew they were there. "This island is boring. Why did we choose to take a vacation? The Grand Line is boring, I miss the New World."

Ace and Sabo's eyes widened at hearing they were New World pirates. Meaning they were strong, but also dangerous. Ace was reluctant to do anything, but Sabo took the risk, and walked out of the corner and into view of the three pirates.

"If you're bored here, you could always visit the haunted mountain over there," Sabo said in a strong voice, not showing his nervousness about tricking powerful people. But, it caught all three's attention.

"Haunted mountain?" the smaller man asked curiously. Then he frowned. "I bet you're bullshitting us."

The vendor frowned, but knew that it was a good chance for the teens to get their brother back if powerful pirates went instead of the usual weaklings. "They're not lying. That island holds a monster that's killed thousands of people."

"Really?" the youngest ones asked, sounding intrigued. "Marco, Thatch, let's go see it." Ace came out from behind the corner to stand next to Sabo, both looking hopeful.

"We can tell everyone else about it and have a competition of who can kill the monster first," Marco said. He then turned to both teens, and asked for more details. The brothers shared a look, and Sabo nodded. They would tell them the truth, because this was a good chance.

Ace began. "There's some monster on that island that eats humans that visit. When you get there, whatever you do, don't interact with the boy. Don't touch him, or make eye contact with him. If you interact with him or show you know he's there, then you're dead. That's the most important thing to know: do not interact with him."

The three pirates looked confused and surprised. "There's a little boy? What the hell is he doing there and why hasnt he been eaten yet?" Thatch asked, almost sounding concerned. Ace and Sabo weren't used to pirates that cared about the boy.

"He's used as bait. He lived here a year ago, but was stolen because he was too cute, and he's used as a lure. We all think he's been cursed. If he asks for you to play with him, don't respond," Ace explained. Sabo nodded along.

Marco was frowning now, too. "He's alive? A human?" Ace and Sabo nodded. "What happens if we respond?"

"You'll fall into a trance and die. He'll lead your animated body up to the monster who will eat you. It's not the boy's fault, he didn't ask for this to happen, so don't hurt him. Ignore him, and once the monster is dead, try and bring him back home," Sabo responded. His voice was thick with emotion, but none of the pirates commented on it.

"That's really creepy and messed up. Well, we'll kill the monster and bring the boy back," Thatch vowed. Ace and Sabo's eyes grew misty, feeling hope for once, that they'd get their brother back safe and sound. And, if he's still cursed, then the two would find a way to break it and bring Luffy back to himself.

They would never tell him what he'd been doing for the last year. Killing people. Because he is the one that kills, the monster just eats. Luffy didn't choose to kill people. He just wanted to play. They hoped he wasn't really knowing what he was doing. The three pirates seemed to notice the two teens acting strange, but left without buying the expensive food and heading to their massive ship to tell the others that they had something fun to do.

-x-

"Haunted island?" Izo asked skeptically. "They're just messing with you." Some of the other commanders nodded, because after explaining the situation, the captain banned anyone but the strongest fifteen to go on that island for any reason. Many were disappointed while others thought the three pirates were joking or were lied to.

"I don't think so," Marco replied. Thatch and Haruta nodded, while Jozu said, "I heard about it, too. I dont think it's fake."

Izo was still skeptical. "Why are we even considering doing this if thousands of people have died from it? A homicidal little boy killing people and bringing their walking corpses to a monster. You have to admit it sounds like fiction."

Thatch frowned deeply. "I think those kids were related to the boy. So, it's not just for a challenge. How would you feel if one of us were stolen and used by a monster to kill people without meaning to? Wouldn't you want to rescue your loved one, too?" Izo had no answer, feeling bad now.

"I want to save him and bring him back to his family," Thatch said strongly. Haruta nodded, and Marco looked sad, too. "If none of you want to come, then fine. Us three will go ourselves." The others sighed.

"Fine, I'll come," Izo said. Jozu also volunteered, but the majority didn't want to go. Not because they were afraid, they just wouldn't find it fun. And they didn't sympathize with strangers like some of the commanders did. Mainly Thatch and Marco were the most sympathetic.

Not an hour later, Whitebeard was waving his five sons off nervously. The island gave off a bad vibe. They were using a small row boat. It fit them all, but it was one of the smaller mini ships. The haunted mountain island wasn't far from the main island and where the Moby Dick was stationed. Many of the crew were bummed they were unable to go.

Marco and Thatch rowed the little ship to the shore of the island. Most of it was cliffed, but one small shore was there, and it was seen to slope upwards into the island more. "Remember, no one look at the kid. Knock him out and grab him," Marco instructed.

It was the plan for Thatch to stay with the kid while the others went to the middle of the island to slay the monster keeping the boy captive and killing so many people. Izo was still skeptical until they all saw a small body standing at the shore. It was the kid. He was wearing shorts and a white shirt. The pirates could only imagine how cold he must be.

When they reached the shore, the pirates made sure to look ahead, straight ahead and not down to the height of the child. "Will you play with me?" he asked in a haunting voice. It was extremely creepy, and he gave off a terrifying feel, even if he was a tiny child.

"Hey, misters? Play with me," he whined when none of them answered him. Thatch had trouble not looking down at him in pity. He sounded so clueless about his situation. The kid grabbed Jozu's pant leg, and pulled on it.

It didn't click that any sort of physical response would doom him as well, so when he reacted by shaking the child off his pant leg, his eyes got misty and he looked down, making eye contact with the child. All sight of anything other than the kid left him, and he was about to take Luffy's hand.

"Jozu, no!" Marco shouted, grabbing the man and tossing him easily a few yards away, but kept his eyes off of the boy. Touching him would be bad, he felt, so he did the only option left, and unleashed conqueror's haki to knock the kid out, who fell down immediately. Jozu's eyes cleared up and he looked truly shaken.

Thatch didn't want to touch him, but stayed with him. He took off his jacket and laid it over the kid's face so he didn't risk making eye contact. A dark feeling swarmed the island, making the five men shiver with creepy chills going up their spines.

The boy began to convulse under the jacket, limbs shaking and flailing in an uncomfortable looking way. Thatch didn't know whether he should hold him down, and stood up, walking a couple feet away, thoroughly creeped out.

The kid was more disturbed than they had thought. "Marco, go kill the monster," Thatch said quietly. "Go!" he yelled as the boy's boyd stood up in an unnatural way, lifted up from the shoulders like he was pulled up by a string. A puppet.

He still had the jacket on his face, and Thatch shot forward, ripping off Izo's kimono on his way, as the man was watching in disturbed fascination. Thatch tore it to pieces and wrapped the fabric around the kid's body until he was tied up completely, arms and legs pressed together like a cocoon.

Marco, Jozu and Haruta had ran off to find the monster, wherever it was. Well, it was easy for those with haki to find it. He hoped they found him soon, as the boy started to thrash around, growling in a possessed way. His face was still covered, but he was clearly unhappy, angry.

"Izo, no!" Thatch yelled when Izo got his gun ready, pointing it at home. "Shooting him will be a direct response. I didn't touch him or look at him." Izo's hand was shaking, and he lowered the gun, looking extremely conflicted as the poor kid started thrashing around harder.

"Marco, hurry," Thatch mumbled.

-x-

Marco, Jozu and Haruta sprinted through the woods and up the slowly inclining mountain, running between trees to get to the target before the kid was either killed or one of their brothers were killed. No one wanted to kill the boy, but they would if it were to protect themselves. But, the three trusted Thatch and Izo to be smart.

The disturbing feeling the cloaked the island grew thicker the closer inland they got. It was disgusting feeling, like they were walking through a swamp. Haruta was beginning to regret doing this, but it was too late to stop now.

The three made it to the top of the mountain and saw that the feeling of the monster was inside a cave, that was dark except for red lights reflecting off of the walls. Haruta got out his sword, Jozu turned into diamond and Marco lit himself on fire with the blue phoenix flames. The thing was in there. The thing that had a little boy kill countless people and not even know it.

The three walked into the cave, met with the rancid smell of old and rotting meat. They assumed that the meat was human remains. Marco knew the scent of dead bodies and the cave reeked of it. There was a low growling coming from deeper in the cave and Marco quickened his pace. Wanting to get this over with and get back to Thatch and Izo, hoping the kid was still alive.

The monster wasn't what they'd been expecting. The three had been picturing some sort of animal, not a humanoid thing. It was entirely black, a face not visible, with spike-like horns protruding from multiple parts in its body.

"Leave," the monster snarled, a deep male sounding voice.

"Not until you let go of that kid," Marco replied with a strong voice, face looking angry. He rarely showed anger, but what this thing was doing was wrong. Taking that boy from his family and using him in such a way.

"Luffy is mine." Marco scowled. Luffy wasn't this monster's, he was those two poor teenagers' family. And Marco would bring him back to them.

"He's not yours, and we're taking him back. Since you refuse to cooperate, we'll just kill you," Marco said darkly. Before the monster could attack, Marco rushed him, digging his talons into the monster's neck and lifting it, swinging its body into the wall so hard the whole cave shook. But it was unhurt, and rushed Marco, biting into his shoulder with sharp fangs.

"Marco!" Haruta shouted after seeing blood. He sliced the monster's leg off, having coated the blade with haki. When Marco was released, he hissed at the unexpected pain, but the wound healed quickly. The monster howled in pain, but in response to it, his body grew larger until he was too big for the cave and was forced to be on all three of his limbs like an animal.

Jozu came next and slammed his diamond covered fist into its face, surprising it and destroying its mouth and teeth. Now it couldn't bite anymore. "You've just made our target bigger, you fool," Jozu growled, punching its chest and breaking one of the spikes protruding. It moaned in pain, and Haruta sliced its left arm off next.

Marco went after the face and gouged the eyes out. It released a wave of haki that threw the three pirates to the ground. "It's running!" Jozu shouted. Luckily, Marco was fast in his full phoenix form and flew after him, grabbing it around the chest with his talons, and spearing its head with his sharp and long beak.

Thrusting his beak into his head was absolutely revolting, but he did what he had to do, making sure not to open his beak at all, and coating it in armament haki to do more damage. The monster writhed in pain in his grip before the phoenix used his beak like a knife and sliced it's head off.

Black blood splattered on Marco's face, but it was dead. However, Jozu made sure of it by beating into its body so hard with his diamond fists that it turned to mush and broken bones. The presence disappeared from the island, and the swampy feeling that had been plaguing the pirates disappeared. They could finally breathe without their chests feeling constricted.

Marco flew to the nearest source of water he heard and dived in, wishing his face and mouth. He had almost thrown up with the brain matter that had been on his beak from attacking the monster's head. He thoroughly washed it off, gagging and then washing out his mouth with the running water.

He was back to normal human form and went back to his brothers, Jozu wiping the blood on his hands off on some grass and Haruta running his bloody sword along moss on a rock. "C'mon, let's go check on Thatch and Izo," Marco said, and the three ran back the way they came. The way back felt much shorter that their journey up. When they reached the shore, Thatch was holding the crying child. And since neither of them were dead, the curse or spell that had been over the poor boy was gone. The three pirates let out relieved sighs.

Izo was scowling at the ground, where his extremely expensive kimono was torn to pieces. Thatch had probably done that and he would have hell to pay once this was all over. "C'mon, shhh, why don't we go see your brothers? I'm sure they'll be happy to see you," Thatch said, always the one who was good with kids.

Luffy nodded and sniffled. "I wanna see Ace and Sabo!" he cried. "It's scary here!"

"I know, we'll go now," Thatch replied kindly. He smiled up at Marco, who was wearing a relieved smile, glad that it had worked. The six walked to the little boat and headed towards the main island, Luffy not looking back once at the scary place.

No one said anything but Thatch continued to rub his hand down the little boy's back. The man answered the question no one had asked but were all wondering. "He doesn't remember any of it." The other pirates looked relieved, and Luffy dozed off one the slow way back. It was getting darker out now, and by the time they docked at the island, it was night time and Thatch was carrying the boy, who had a thumb in his mouth and was shivering in the cold air. As were both Izo and Thatch since they'd lost their warm clothing.

When the pirates and little boy reached the shore, Luffy woke up and ran off, Thatch running after him, calling him to stop while the boy screamed out his brothers' names. "ACE! SABO!" he screeched, bare feet bloodied and hurting now that the curse was broken and he could feel pain and be injured.

Ace and Sabo weren't answering, and Luffy continued to run until Thatch caught up and picked the tiny child up. He heard the boy's stomach roar loudly. First came food. Thatch brought him to the nearest restaurant, and when the two entered, the place fell silent. After all, Luffy was supposed to be missing, trapped with whatever had taken him a year ago.

"It's over now," Thatch said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. An elderly woman rushed forward, taking Luffy into her arms and crying.

"Granny!" Luffy cried. "I wanna see Ace and Sabo!" The old woman ran her hand through Luffy's unexpectedly clean hair. Nobody but everybody wanted to know what had happened to him, but didn't ask. Would never ask and risk bringing memories back in the boy that he might not have. Hopefully didn't have.

Thatch was surprised that no one shunned him after what he'd been doing, even if it hadn't been on his own will. But no, everyone was genuinely happy to see him safe and sound. "First, we have to treat your feet," granny said kindly. Luffy wiggled his toes and winced, finally noticing he was injured.

"Kureha, help him," the old woman said to another old lady, who had a smile on her withered face. Everyone was surprised she made no demand for anything, and treated Luffy's cut feet. "Let's find your brothers," granny said once Luffy's little feet were bandaged and wrapped. Luffy sniffled, his runny nose still dripping down his face, and nodded.

Marco and the other three were there now, and walked with the old lady and Luffy to where Ace and Sabo were waiting. "Ace, Sabo!" Luffy screeched, wiggling him his captor's arms, but she didn't let him down and hurt his feet.

Ace and Sabo's heads both snapped to the voice, and tears fell out of their eyes as they sprinted as fast as they could to Luffy, and grabbed him in a bear hug, Luffy in Ace's tight grip and Sabo put his forehead against Luffy's, and the three all sobbed in their reunion.

In the middle of it, Luffy passed out. He was shivering, and Ace took off his jacket and wrapped it around the boy, sleeping soundly in his big brother's arms. Sabo turned to their pirate audience and bowed deeply, thanking them profusely, still sobbing.

"We're happy to have helped," Marco said, Thatch crying at the touching scene and head buried in Izo's shoulder, patting him awkwardly. "Keep him safe."

"Always," Ace said strongly.

"Forever," Sabo stated.

Luffy smiled in his sleep, unconsciously burrowing against his brother's chest closer. He was home. Their family may still be broken, but it was much wholer than it had been. Hopefully, Luffy would never remember what happened while he was gone. Ace and Sabo would never, ever bring it up.

The Whitebeard's left that island in a much better mood than they had arrived, even though a certain commander was furious about what happened to his kimono.

The End.