Story Title: Saving A Child
Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Genres: Family/Hurt comfort/Angst
Main Character(s): Luffy, Trafalgar, Ace
Summary: Luffy was adopted by Gol D. Roger after his father died; his new family treats him horribly and he becomes desperate to find someone who loves him. Luffy fights to break away from them and to form a new family out of the strangest people with the biggest hearts. Child!Luffy

Words: 3,415

Monkey D. Luffy is at the fragile age of three when he finds himself alone in a world where even the strongest people struggle to survive.

His parents died.

Nobody tells him why or how it happened, but it did, and he has to understand that they were dead and that they were never, ever coming back. They weren't stars in the sky, they weren't the sunflowers growing in the front of their house, and they weren't passing clouds that watched over him. They were two rotting bodies in a grave.

When Luffy understands this, he cries. The thought of his two parents being burried together is the only thing that cheers him up, if only a little.

With his parents dead, Luffy doesn't really have anywhere else to go. He doesn't have any distant relatives that were willing to take him in, and he was far, far too young to live on his own. The only option was to be placed in an orphanage so he could be adopted by a bunch of strangers that he didn't know anything about.

At least, this was the plan until a family friend steps up to take him in instead.

They were still strangers, but they were strangers who were friends with his parents. It wasn't much of a surprise to him when he realizes how friendly they are; they were nice people, and so Luffy liked them.

Despite this, they tended to disappear a lot. Luffy didn't try to understand where they went, why they had to go, or even why he wasn't allowed to go with them. In the end he just decides that they have busy lives, and it would be rude of him to disturb whatever routine they followed.

Luffy wasn't anywhere near old enough to be left alone to take care of himself, so the family would do this amazing thing called 'hiring a babysitter.' Luffy knows full well that he's not a baby, but he thinks of it as a considerate action anyway. 'They're so nice,' He thinks, because they're using their money to take care of him. With that, he decides that he wants to be more helpful too.

The babysitter is nice.

She looked familiar. Her long black hair made him think of his mother; he remembers how much he loved to play with it, and he remembers the way it would dance along with her as she moved to one place to another.

She had very kind eyes, but they had a bit of mystery behind them. Luffy liked that whenever he talked to her about anything, she would always listen even if she didn't understand a thing that was coming out of his mouth.

Luffy comes to love this woman like a mother; it was like a natural attraction. Or maybe, Luffy was just desperate for love. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

This woman's name is Robin. Luffy mispronounces it as 'Ro-in.' Most of the time 'RoRo' is the first thing that comes out of his mouth when he sees her.

Robin liked to read him books. They were fun little stories that were easy for him to understand, and sometimes she even made up her own stories to tell them. Luffy's favorites were ones with pirates or knights or superheros.

Robin was the only person to take the time to explain every little thing that Luffy didn't understand; she would teach him new words, help him write, and even play fun games with him.

Briefly, Luffy wonders if it would be okay to call her 'Mama.'

Out of everyone else that lives in the family, Luffy sees Robin the most. He didn't really know everyone else; they were all distant faces whose names he couldn't remember, and voices that sounded terribly dislocated.

While Robin remembers every name and nickname she's given him in an instant, these shaded faces would trip and stumble over his name and even forget how old he was.

Robin's the only one who cares.

No one else does; it's far too obvious to Luffy's big innocent eyes to notice this. These people that he lived with were nice and all, but they didn't care for him in the least bit. He saw the way they talked to each other; they way they treated each other and how they went about the day smiling and laughing with one another until it died out when they saw him and then everything felt weird.

In the end, ignorance is bliss. He only pays attention to Robin.

Though as time passes, things being to become harder and harder to ignore. Luffy begins to realize just what kind of people he was living with; three faces- a man, a woman, and a boy. They were all strangers.

Luffy doesn't understand why he doesn't get any presents on this holiday called Christmas, or why they forget to set his plate at the dinner table, or even how they seem to constantly forget his name.

All in all, Luffy is okay. Then his special day comes by and passes, forgotten and treated as if it were just any other normal day that doesn't really matter to anyone.

They forget his birthday, all three of them.

Luffy's just four years and one day old when he runs away for the first time. The weather wasn't nice; the sky was dark, and the rain was almost like hail. The thunder nearly rumbles the ground when it goes off, and Luffy jumps every time he hears it. Lightning, Luffy thinks, is really scary too.

He throws his fears to the wind, and runs anyway.

He runs and runs and runs as far as his tiny little legs will take him; he gets tired, slows down, and stops at his favorite place. The park just a couple of blocks away from his house. He slips, looses his balance, and falls flat on his face.

It doesn't take long for the tears to come after that. He cries for a lot of things that night. He cries because the people who were supposed to be his family, doesn't care about him.

He cries because he's no longer the special little boy mommy and daddy used to tell him he was.

He cries, because he knows how useless his tears are.

Luffy's not really sure about how long he's been lying there; covered in mud and rain water and grass, and maybe even a leaf or two. It's hard to care right now because he feels so cold that his lips have already turned blue, his skin is pale, and he doesn't dare move an inch.

At least, he doesn't until a warm hand touches his wet hair in a way that reminds him of Robin. When he thinks of Robin, he thinks of mommy. When he thinks of mommy, it makes him happy.

He wipes his blotchy, red eyes and stares up at the darkened figure who had appeared beside him without making so much as a sound. Luffy recognizes him immediately; it's Robin's cousin. He's got a frown on his face and so much worry and care in his eyes that Luffy wants to cry, but tears will do him nothing.

"Hey, kiddo." The young man says. His lean body towers over Luffy even as he crouches down besides him, shielding an already soaked Luffy from the rain. "You know, the park isn't too safe right now. How about we head home instead of hanging out here?"

A bit childishly, Luffy shakes his head and fixes his gaze on the ground. He looks a bit guilty, and maybe a little bit upset at himself for acting so stubborn. "It's not home, not Luffy's home. They, they forgot Luffy's birthday."

The boy's eyebrows crease, he puts a hand on the back of his head. "It was yesterday, right?" Luffy nods with wide eyes; how had he known that his birthday was yesterday? "That means it's not to late to celebrate, so how about next weekend the two of us go out to eat and then we can celebrate at my house."

"REALLY?!" Luffy's voice trembles with hope and excitement; there's so much of it that it's hard to miss. It makes Law want to hurt the people who made such a good kid, but nonetheless, he nods to assure Luffy he's telling the truth.

Luffy looks like he's going to start crying again, so Law holds his arms out. "Of course. Would I lie to you?"

The four year old buries himself into Law's open embrace without a second thought.

Luffy realizes that he loves two people in this world.

Their names are Robin and Law.

oOo

Sometimes Luffy likes to pretend that he's actually a part of the family.

He likes to pretend that it's mommy tucking him into bed, wishing him a goodnight, and then closing the door instead of slamming it shut. Then he pretends that Daddy gives him a kiss on his forehead after whispering something silly in his ear. Instead, Luffy tucks himself in. The woman in this house turns the lights out and leaves him in darkness without a word, and the man slams the door shut. Luffy doesn't like it.

Yet despite this, the tears and the nightmares don't stop. No one seems to notice until he screams out for help or some form of comfort in the middle of the night, or if he cries so loud that it burns his throat and makes him shake; but even then, he only gets yelled at.

"It's the middle of the night, be quiet!"
"Go to bed, brat"
"Shut up already!"

Luffy was kind of used to this; but sometimes the slam of the door startles him, and other times he doesn't cover his ears long enough to avoid hearing a long sigh that proves just how annoying he was.

Yeah, he was annoying.

Luffy wonders if Robin and Law think that way too.

He thinks to himself a lot while going about his day. He pretends a lot too; like how he pretends it's not important when they forget to set his place at the table, forget to call him down for a meal, and forget that they have a forth mouth to feed. He pretends it's not important, but it doesn't work.

Things get worse. They start leaving him home more and more; all three of them. They go places that they never really mention to him, and it's always with different babysitters instead of Robin. Robin's busy, he tells himself. She has school and work and life to deal with. Luffy understands.

The teenager; the boy with freckles all over his face and a laugh so loud that it resembles his father's, must be very important. Ace is always getting new presents and toys and games and so many things to fill up his room with, that Luffy wonders how it's even possible to fit it all in one place.

Luffy doesn't get a thing. His room is a void of anything and everything; just a simple room with white walls, a bed with white sheets, and a dresser in the corner. That's all.

Sometimes whenever Luffy tugs at Rouge's pant leg and asks for a piece of candy or a toy or anything else that Ace gets on a daily basis, he feels greedy. Sometimes he just wants a hug or a pat on the head or a simple 'Good morning,' but that seems to be too much to ask too.

"You greedy, greedy child." They say, and he puts his head down and believes them.

He's greedy.

Spoiled.

What a horrible child he must be.

"Hey, what was that kid's name again?"

"Who knows..."

Luffy doesn't have another breakdown until his fith birthday comes and goes. He goes to the same park under the same conditions. In all honesty, he had tried. He had tried to indulge in the illusion of happiness, but it was gone now. Shattered into a million, billion, trillion pieces; all too tiny to be put together again.

He wonders if it was foolish to think that one day, one day they'd treat him like he was part of the family. Like he was their youngest son that needed to be loved and cared for just as everyone else.

Yeah, he thinks. It was foolish. Dumb, stupid, and everything in between.

They never liked him, and honestly he didn't like them. He couldn't even call them 'mom' or 'dad' without cringing. It felt wrong, and now he understood why. This family was a trio; two parents and and one child. They were a happy closely bonded family and he was a stranger trying to intrude.

They were strangers.

Mommy and Daddy always told him to stay away from strangers, and now here he was living with three.

It's a little scary, actually.

oOo

"Idiot." A teenager exclaims to himself, angrily running his hands through his hair as he stomps around the house. It's twelve in the afternoon; just ten minutes after Nico Robin had visited their house with a sickly looking Luffy in her arms.

Ace doesn't even remember when Luffy left, so there was no telling how long the brat's been gone for. In addition to that, the kid left all by himself without permission.

In Ace's eyes, Luffy was a selfish child. Always asking for thing and always causing problems for the family; it was annoying, but for some reason it bothered him. It bothered Ace that he didn't even know his adopted little brother was gone in the first place. Ace wants to blame it on the fact that Garp was visiting, but when he puts more thought into it he realizes that it's something else.

He doesn't really know much about Luffy.

Right now all he knew was that Luffy was an annoying, clingy little boy who couldn't do a thing on his own. Though now that he thinks about it, he realizes that there's a lot of mystery shrouding the kid. There were simple questions that Ace didn't know the answer to.

Questions like what Luffy's favorite color was, how long he's lived with them, what kind of things did he like, or even if he had any friends or not. He didn't know the answer to a single one of the questions that ran through his mind, and it's awful because... Because...

Realization is sickening.

It's because Ace knew absolutely noting about the child who was supposed to be his little brother; only now did he realize how wrong that was.

A loud thud from Luffy's bedroom brings Ace out of his thoughts, and he's thankful for it. Briefly. Until a door slams shut and Ace can only eagerly press his ear against the wall in an attempt to eavesdrop.

"Is there something wrong with your tiny little head? Are you really that much of an idiot? Do you have any idea how much money it would've cost if they had to take you to the hospital?" One the other side of the wall, Luffy keeps his head down and his toes pointing inward. Gramps was scary looking, and it only got worse when he yelled.

His eyes water, but he wouldn't cry. Not in front of someone who hated his very being, despite how he was supposed to be part of the family. Sometimes Luffy wondered if Gramps blamed him for the death of his parents.

If that wasn't it, then what could it be? Luffy wanted to know why Garp seemed to hate him so much, but he doesn't have a very good memory of the man at all so maybe he always hated Luffy. He lowers his head even more and hopes that his headache would stop increasing with every second this man yelled at him.

"You should be thankful! Without Roger, you wouldn't even have a roof over your head or a bed to sleep in or even food to eat! Yet you think you belong here!" Garp was getting louder and louder by the second, but Luffy still hasn't said a word.

That, however, didn't mean that he wasn't thinking. Something just clicked inside of his steadily maturing mind and it gave him an idea. If he didn't belong here, then maybe it would be better if he just found somewhere he did belong.

It would be a place where he'd have a family and lots and lots of friends who loved him and play with him, and make him feel warm inside just like mommy and daddy did. The corners of his lips twitch at the very thought, but his face remains absolutely blank as he stares at the angry man who Luffy had blocked out completely.

The child can't help but sigh from relief when Garp is finally, finally gone. The door slams shut and it feels like the entire house shakes when he does. Once Luffy's alone, he lets the tears pool in his eyes and fall down his cheeks.

If he's alone, then it's okay to cry.

But then he's not alone. There's a curious, concerned, and slightly guilty voice that speaks up from the door that had just been slammed. Not expecting another visitor, Luffy hides his face and relentlessly wipes the tears out of his eyes until they're all gone.

"Are you..." Ace starts; his gaze shifts awkwardly around the empty room but there's nothing that catches his attention, he returns his gaze onto the red faced child in the middle of the room. "Are you okay?"

It was hard to talk to Luffy; Ace wasn't sure how to approach this matter, he's had a little brother for nearly two years now and yet he's never really treated this kid like he was part of the family. He was never really good with kids in the first place. Especially crying ones.

"Yeah." A dull, monotone, emoitonless voice comes out of the child's mouth. His eyes are sad and he looks absolutely miserable, but there's not a time that Ace ever remembers Luffy looking happy. Does he even know how to smile?

"Why did you leave this morning."

"I didn't." Luffy replies automatically. "I left last n-ni-night." He moves his arm to cover his mouth; the poor kid breaks out into a fit of coughs, and it's then that Ace notices his brother's pale complexion and reddened face. "At nine."

First of all, why would Luffy want to leave the house at nine? Second of all, how did he get out of the house? Through the window? If he had tried to go pass his parents, then surely he would've been sent back to his room and scoulded because going out at nine isn't the brightest idea.

"How did you get out?"

Luffy shrugs his shoulders, but only manages to get one brief sentence out before toppling over, unconcious.

Both wide eyed and sick to his stomach; Ace stares at his brother's unconcious body, and his last words play over and over again in his head.

"I walked right past you."

A/N: So. Many. Erros. ( ﾟДﾟ)／ぁぁぁ

Let me know if I left any grammer mistakes, erros, etc.

Thanks for reading! Leave a reivew!

~Crimsy