Chapter Text
The base was enjoying one of those rare peaceful mornings.
There were no alarms echoing through the corridors, no urgent reports, no enemy ships appearing on the horizon. For the first time in many days, the Revolutionary Army's headquarters simply seemed to breathe.
Dragon sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his gaze fixed on the small bundle nestled safely in his wife's arms.
Luffy was sleeping soundly.
He was only a month old, and yet he had already managed to confront the most dangerous man in the world with a dilemma that no battle had ever been capable of creating.
The Revolutionary leader's mind was in complete turmoil.
He and Wani had reached a decision even before their son was born. As painful as it was, Luffy could not grow up among the Revolutionaries.
That was no life for a child.
It was a world of hideouts, false identities, hurried goodbyes, and silent wars fought from the shadows. A world where every familiar face could become a target, and every sunrise carried the possibility that there would never be another.
Neither of them wanted that for their son.
More than anything, they wanted Luffy to grow up free.
Free to choose his own path.
If one day he wanted to sail the seas as a pirate, then it would be because he chose to. If he preferred to wear the Marines' uniform, no one would tell him he was betraying his family.
If he chose to fight for the Revolution, then it would be because his own heart had led him there, not because he had been born surrounded by its banners.
Dragon would never allow his son to inherit a war he had never chosen. Even so, they both knew perfectly well that a child bearing the "D." in his name was unlikely to have a peaceful life for very long.
"Stop making that face. You're going to scare our son." Wani rolled her eyes as she adjusted little Luffy in her arms. The baby let out a tiny grumble before drifting right back to sleep. "What are you thinking about?"
Dragon let out a quiet sigh.
"Our future." His gaze remained on his son. "What else could I possibly be thinking about while looking at the two of you?"
For a brief moment, a tired smile softened his features.
It didn't last.
Wani noticed.
"I thought we'd already made our decision. Once he puts on a little more weight, you'll take him to your father."
Dragon didn't answer.
The silence was answer enough.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Are you changing your mind?"
It took him several seconds before he spoke.
"I just..." Dragon slowly ran a hand over his face, as though he could somehow sort through thoughts that even he couldn't fully understand. His eyes returned to little Luffy, peacefully asleep in Wani's arms. "I've been remembering my childhood with the old man."
His voice came out softer than he had intended.
"And wondering..." He hesitated for a moment. "...If that's really how I wanted my son to grow up."
Wani stayed silent for a few moments.
She knew Dragon well enough to recognize that whenever he began revisiting the past, it meant an important decision was about to change.
"I remember what you told me about your childhood..." She finally said, absentmindedly stroking the baby's back. "You were raised by the people on your island. You spent days asking when your father would come back from another mission."
Dragon let out a quiet snort.
"Yeah..."
"Then you enlisted in the Marines when you were fifteen."
"Because I thought that if I wore the same uniform..." Dragon smiled without any real amusement. "...Maybe I'd finally get to spend more time with him."
His smile vanished almost immediately.
"Only to desert at seventeen." His dark eyes drifted toward the window. "Because I just couldn't keep going."
His voice remained calm, but the weight behind it was impossible to hide.
"Every single day I watched islands being crushed. People treated as though they were disposable. Children starving while officers toasted each other in luxurious halls..." He took a deep breath. "And I was expected to pretend that was justice."
Silence settled over the room.
Dragon rested his elbows on his knees.
"That was when I realized..."
He paused.
"...That no matter how much I loved my father, I could never walk the same path he did."
Wani watched her husband for a few moments before sighing.
"You know I've never liked this idea from the very beginning."
Dragon looked up.
"I'm selfish." She smiled to herself, making no attempt to deny it. "I want to raise my cub." She leaned forward slightly, bringing her face closer to Luffy's. "I want to be here when he learns to speak. I want to watch him take his first steps."
A small smile curved her lips as her slender fingers gently wrapped around the baby's tiny hand.
"And when he wakes up frightened in the middle of the night..." She looked at Dragon. "...I want him to be looking for us."
Dragon felt something tighten painfully in his chest.
Because those were memories he had never shared with his father.
No memory of Garp putting him to bed.
None of a bedtime conversation.
None of a hug after a nightmare.
His father always came back.
But he never stayed.
"Dragon..." Wani's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "I know our little cub wouldn't truly be free growing up here." She rested one hand on her husband's shoulder. "But the freedom your father can offer... Is it really worth it?"
Dragon didn't answer.
"Is it worth growing up alone?"
The silence was answer enough.
Wani looked back down at Luffy.
"I'll admit..." A small, shy smile, almost embarrassed, appeared on her lips. "I was afraid of raising him."
Dragon turned toward her, surprised.
"The seas know I've never exactly been... Mother material." She let out a quiet laugh at her own remark. "I've spent most of my life fighting, running, surviving. I never imagined I'd have a baby in my arms."
Dragon chuckled softly.
The first genuine laugh of the morning.
"But I'll do my best." Her golden eyes met his. "Because he deserves parents."
Dragon looked back at his son.
With the utmost care, he brushed his fingers through the few black strands beginning to grow on the baby's head. Luffy made a tiny face in his sleep, as though complaining about being disturbed, before relaxing again.
An unconscious smile escaped Dragon's lips.
"...You've always known how to convince me, haven't you?"
Wani arched an eyebrow, wearing that smug smile he knew so well.
"Of course." She leaned in just enough to answer with absolute certainty. "Getting you to fold is one of my greatest talents as your wife."
Dragon let out a quiet laugh and shook his head.
"That's unfair."
"Not at all."
The smile slowly faded from her lips.
Dragon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the silence fill the room for a few moments.
"...You know we can't just announce to the rest of the base that we have a son."
Wani nodded.
"I know."
"Even though I trust most of the people here..." Dragon opened his eyes again. "...We both know better than anyone that all it takes is one traitor." His voice remained calm. "To turn Luffy into a target."
Throughout the entire pregnancy, they had taken every possible precaution. Only a handful of commanders even knew that Wani was expecting a child. Everyone else at the base believed she had simply been sent on a particularly long mission.
Wani looked down at the sleeping baby once more.
"I know..."
A sigh escaped her.
"It's going to get a lot harder once he starts running around the base." A small smile tugged at her lips. "Knowing this little brat, that'll probably happen sooner than we expect."
Dragon let out a quiet chuckle.
"We won't be able to hide him forever."
Wani absentmindedly stroked Luffy's tiny hand. "And I don't want to." Her voice grew firm. "I don't want to pretend he isn't my son. I don't want to act like I don't care."
She lifted her eyes to Dragon.
"We'll figure something out." A confident smile appeared on her lips. "We always do."
Dragon held her gaze for a few seconds.
It was precisely one of the things he admired most about Wani.
Even when everything seemed to be falling apart, she always found a way forward.
But then Wani's expression changed.
Her smile disappeared.
The warmth vanished from her golden eyes, leaving them cold, sharp... Predatory.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees.
"And if..." Her voice came out low, dangerously calm, "...Someone dares betray us." Her fingers tightened slightly around the cloth wrapped around Luffy. "If anyone tries to use our son against us..."
Dragon knew that look.
It was the same expression Wani wore before turning a battlefield into a desert. The same one that made seasoned Marines hesitate before drawing their swords.
"...I'll kill them."
There was no anger.
Only a promise.
Dragon remained silent for a moment.
Then he reached out and intertwined his fingers with hers.
"No."
Those golden eyes turned toward him.
"We'll kill them."
A small, dangerously satisfied smile spread across Wani's face.
"That's more like it."
Luffy let out a tiny sleepy grumble, completely oblivious to the fact that the two people holding him had just casually promised to wage war against anyone who dared threaten him.
When Luffy turned five, the little family's life changed forever.
Dragon had been right.
All it took was one traitor.
A single Revolutionary, tempted by the promise of amnesty and a fortune offered by the World Government, revealed the location of one of the Revolutionary Army's temporary bases. The attack came swiftly, precisely, and brutally.
For the first time, someone tried to capture Luffy.
The Revolutionaries won the battle, but the price they paid was steep.
When one of the Marines broke through the defensive line and charged straight toward Luffy, Wani did not hesitate for even a single second.
She stepped in front of the attack.
She protected her son.
And left one of her hands behind on that battlefield.
The image never left Luffy's memory.
The blood.
The scream.
The expression of pain she tried to hide until the very last moment so he wouldn't be frightened.
Dragon killed the man responsible.
But no amount of vengeance was enough to erase what had happened that day.
Luffy changed.
He smiled less.
He became quieter.
The curious eyes of a child were still there, but now they always seemed to be watching the adults around him, as though he needed to make sure they were all still alive.
Dragon noticed.
Wani noticed.
The entire base noticed.
It was during that time that Shanks returned.
The redhead had known Dragon since long before the Revolution really existed, and he had crossed paths with Wani several times during the years she had sailed alongside the Whitebeard Pirates. When he learned about the attack on the base, he didn't think twice before offering his help.
Thanks to his contacts and influence across the seas, Shanks managed to divert the World Government's attention, covering their tracks, spreading false information, and ensuring that Luffy's existence remained hidden.
While Dragon and Wani built a new base and strengthened its defenses, Shanks simply spent his afternoons with Luffy.
He told stories.
Talked about the absurd islands he had visited.
About Roger and Rayleigh's endless arguments.
About Buggy running away from anything that looked even remotely dangerous.
Luffy listened with wide, sparkling eyes.
He asked dozens of questions. He interrupted stories before they ended because he wanted to guess what happened next.
And, for the first time since the attack, he laughed freely again.
A loud, carefree, infectious laugh.
Shanks smiled the moment he heard that sound.
It didn't take long for the rest of the Red Hair Pirates to grow fond of the boy as well.
It was hard not to like Luffy.
He would show up aboard the Red Force without warning, ask everyone their names for the third time because he'd forgotten them five minutes earlier, steal pieces of meat from the galley while the cook pretended not to notice, and somehow turn every simple task into an adventure.
Shanks never minded.
If anything, he encouraged it the most.
The boy's laughter echoed across the deck as he scrambled over the Red Force with the agility of a little monkey.
Even Beckman had already given up on complaining.
"You're raising a little menace."
"He's a kid, Beck. Let him have fun."
It was during one of those little adventures that everything went wrong.
Luffy disappeared for a few minutes.
No one found it unusual.
He was probably hiding inside a barrel or trying to convince someone to give him more meat.
Then the boy came back.
Holding a strange-looking fruit.
Half of it had already been eaten.
"Shanks!" Luffy made such a dramatic face that it drew laughter from several crew members. "This fruit tastes really bad! Why were you keeping it?"
"What are you talking about, Anchor? What fru..."
The redhead froze.
His smile disappeared the instant his eyes landed on the remaining half of the fruit in the boy's hand.
For a second, the world seemed to stop.
"...Luffy."
The boy blinked innocently.
Shanks went pale.
"LUFFY!!"
In a single leap, he crossed the deck and snatched the rest of the fruit from the boy's hands before he could decide to take another bite.
"Luffy!" His voice was an impossible mix of horror and disbelief. "You ate this?!"
"I did!" He answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "But it was awful! I never want to eat another fruit like that again."
Shanks didn't even have time to reply.
He simply grabbed Luffy's cheek and pulled. The skin stretched far more than it ever should have.
Luffy's eyes went wide.
"Eeeeh?!" He grabbed both of his cheeks with his hands. "Shanks! My face is all weird!"
"That was a Devil Fruit, Luffy!" Shanks practically shouted, clutching both hands to his head. "Didn't your parents ever tell you not to go around eating anything you find?!"
Luffy puffed out his cheeks. "Not really..." He scratched the back of his head. "They tell me not to eat food from strangers."
Shanks yanked his hat off and ran both hands through his hair, utterly defeated.
"Wani's going to rip my head off..." He paced back and forth across the deck. "She's going to say I'm irresponsible." A few more steps. "That I left a Devil Fruit lying around unsupervised."
"That's because you are irresponsible." Beckman's calm voice came from right behind him. "I told you to keep that fruit locked away."
Shanks slowly turned around.
"Did I say it or not?"
"...You did."
"Then deal with the consequences." Benn gave the captain a light pat on the shoulder before walking over to Luffy. "Come here, Sunshine."
He effortlessly lifted the boy into his arms.
Luffy was still stretching his own cheeks, completely fascinated.
"Look, Benn! I'm made of rubber now!"
"I can see that."
"This is so cool!"
"I imagine it is."
"Do you think I can stretch my arms too?"
"You'll find out later."
"Right now?"
"No." The first mate started walking toward the galley. "Let's get you something to eat."
"Again?"
"Weren't you hungry?"
"I'm always hungry!"
"I figured."
As the two disappeared down the corridor, Benn threw one last glance over his shoulder at Shanks.
"In the meantime..." A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "...You can start rehearsing how you're planning to explain this to Dragon and Wani."
Shanks stood perfectly still.
The rest of the crew watched in silence.
Lucky Roux was the first to break the tension.
"Captain..."
"Hm?"
"What kind of flowers do you prefer?"
"Flowers?"
"For your funeral."
Laughter exploded across the deck.
Shanks simply closed his eyes and covered his face with one hand.
"...I hate every single one of you."
.
One conversation, several threats, and a surprisingly small number of murder attempts from Wani later. The time had finally come for the Red Hair Pirates to return to sea.
Shanks had already spent months alongside the Revolutionaries. Staying any longer would begin to raise far too many questions, both from the Marines and the World Government itself.
It was time to leave.
While the rest of the crew finished preparing to set sail, Shanks found Luffy sitting at the edge of the makeshift dock outside the base, his feet swinging idly over the water.
The boy stared quietly at the sea.
"What's wrong, Anchor?"
Luffy looked up and smiled.
"You're leaving already..."
"Unfortunately." Shanks sat down beside him. "But I promise we'll see each other again."
For a while, they simply watched the waves crash against the rocks.
Then the redhead spoke again.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!"
"What do you want to do when you grow up?"
Luffy didn't answer right away.
He frowned thoughtfully.
"Hmm... I want to go out there."
Shanks smiled.
"Go out there?"
"Yeah!" The boy's eyes lit up. "I want to visit all the islands you told me about! I want to meet new people, eat different foods, see giant animals, swim..." He paused. "...Well, I guess I can't really do that anymore."
They both laughed.
Luffy continued.
"I also want to help Mom and Dad." He wrapped his arms around his knees. "Because I don't think anyone deserves to live in fear..." The wind sent a few black strands dancing across his face. "And nobody deserves to be alone either."
His voice was simple.
Innocent.
The kind of innocence only a child could possess.
"If I can make the people I love smile... And protect them too... I think that'll be enough."
Shanks fell silent.
For one impossibly brief moment, he could have sworn he was hearing Roger again. Not the same words, but the same spirit. The same freedom that refused to be caged.
Quietly, he reached up and slowly removed the old straw hat from his own head.
His eyes lingered on it for a few moments. That hat had crossed seas, storms, laughter, and tears. It had once belonged to the greatest pirate he had ever known, and for a few years, it had belonged to him as well.
But now...
It was time for it to continue its journey once more.
With gentle care, he placed the hat atop Luffy's head.
It was much too large, slipping down until it nearly covered the boy's eyes.
Luffy quickly adjusted it with both hands.
"This hat..." Shanks began with a smile. "...Once belonged to an extraordinary man."
Luffy looked up at him.
"Then he entrusted it to me." The redhead ruffled the boy's hair. "And now..." His hand rested atop the straw hat. "...I'm entrusting it to you."
Luffy carefully held onto the brim and grinned from ear to ear.
"You got it!"
Shanks stood up.
And for the first time since Roger had placed that hat upon his own head, Shanks knew with absolute certainty that the old straw hat would continue carrying exactly what it had always existed to carry.
Freedom.
The years passed almost without anyone noticing.
Luffy grew up among Revolutionary bases scattered across the Four Seas, witnessing kingdoms being liberated, secret operations, and endless voyages. He took part in training, learned strategy, helped with smaller missions once he was old enough, but he always had the freedom to say no. If he ever chose to fight for the Revolution, it would be because it was what he wanted, not because it was a legacy forced upon him by his parents.
It was during those years that he gained a brother.
Sabo.
Rescued by Dragon when he was still a child on the verge of death, the boy found a new home among the Revolutionaries. He and Luffy practically grew up together, training, fighting, pulling pranks on Ivankov, and causing enough headaches to make Dragon and Wani question their life choices on a daily basis.
Now, at seventeen, Luffy sat atop one of the cliffs surrounding the base, the old straw hat shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched the sea stretch endlessly toward the horizon.
He seemed... Distant.
Thoughtful.
"I know that look."
Luffy didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
Sabo walked over with his hands tucked into his pockets and sat beside him.
"Before you say anything..." He pointed a finger at his brother. "...I'm telling you right now, I'm not helping with any pranks."
Luffy pulled a face.
"But I didn't even say anything."
"Exactly. It's when you're quiet that I worry the most."
Luffy laughed.
"Relax. It's not that."
Sabo raised an eyebrow.
"Then what is it?"
Silence returned for a few moments.
The wind stirred the brim of the straw hat.
"I think..." Luffy began slowly. "...It's time for me to go."
Sabo turned fully toward him.
"Go?"
"Leave the base." Luffy kept his eyes on the horizon. "I want to see the world on my own... Visit places the Revolution hasn't reached yet, meet new people." A peaceful smile appeared on his lips. "I want to live my own adventure all the way to the end."
Sabo remained silent.
It wasn't exactly a surprise.
"So you're going to become a pirate?"
Luffy shrugged.
"Maybe. I don't really care about the name. It'll depend on what the Marines decide to call me in the newspapers."
They both laughed.
After a few moments, Luffy spoke again.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll even find the One Piece."
Sabo raised an eyebrow.
"So you want to become the Pirate King?"
Luffy immediately shook his head.
"No." The answer came without the slightest hesitation. "Whoever wants that title can have it." He rested his arms on his knees. "But I keep wondering... What did Roger find on Laugh Tale?"
Sabo silently watched his brother.
"A man like him..." Luffy smiled toward the horizon. "...What could possibly have been waiting there to make him laugh the way Shanks described in his stories?" His fingers absentmindedly brushed the brim of the old straw hat. "I want to find out what the greatest treasure was for a man who seemed to have already conquered the entire world."
Sabo smiled to himself.
"You really are your parents' son."
Luffy tilted his head.
"Huh?"
"You don't want power." Sabo lightly punched his brother's shoulder. "You just want to see the world."
Luffy smiled.
"Yeah." He sprang to his feet, stretching both arms above his head. "And I don't think I can do that by staying in the same place forever."
Sabo watched him.
"So you've already decided?"
"I have."
"And where are you starting? From here? Some specific island in the New World?"
Luffy shook his head.
"No." A mischievous grin spread across his face. "I'm starting from the beginning."
"...What do you mean?"
"I'm going to Dawn Island."
Sabo frowned.
"Dawn? You're going to cross half the world just to go back to the East Blue?"
"I am!" he answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Everyone says the Grand Line is where the greatest adventures happen. But I don't want to start in the middle of the journey!"
"You don't?"
Luffy put his hands on his hips and looked toward the horizon.
"If I start from here, I'll miss half the trip. I want to sail across the East Blue, visit those islands, make friends, get into trouble..." His smile only grew wider. "I want to experience everything from the very beginning. Besides, Dawn Island is where Dad was born... And where we found you! There have to be some interesting things there!"
Sabo snorted.
"That sounds exactly like the kind of logic you'd come up with." He shook his head in surrender. "Have you told Mom and Dad yet?"
"...Not yet."
"Luffy."
"I was going to!"
"When?"
"After I was already on a ship?"
Sabo dragged a hand down his face.
"You were seriously planning to tell them you were leaving... After you'd already left?"
"That way they wouldn't be able to stop me."
"They'd never try."
Luffy fell silent for a moment.
He knew it was true. Dragon and Wani had spent their entire lives fighting so that he could do exactly this.
Choose his own path.
Sabo smiled.
"Then go."
Luffy looked up.
"...And afterward, tell me if the journey was worth it."
Luffy burst into laughter.
"You got it!"
The wind blew hard, making the old straw hat sway atop his head.
Luffy reached up to hold the brim in place before it could be carried away.
Somewhere beyond that horizon, perhaps he would find the greatest treasure left behind by the man who had once inspired Shanks.
Or perhaps he would find something even more valuable.
Or simply something unexpected.
In the end, it didn't really matter.
He simply wanted to sail, see the world, and discover whatever the sea chose to place in his path.