【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Shanks woke up in the dark at night, looked at Ben leaning against the door smoking, and wanted to sit up.

Ben saw Shanks wake up and went over to help him onto the bed.

"Ben, how's Luffy?" Shanks asked while enduring the pain in his arm.

"Luffy is fine, he just cried all afternoon. He was coaxed to sleep by his brother not long ago, and he is still sleeping now." Ben said while smoking a cigarette.

"Brother?" Shanks asked doubtfully.

"There are three boys. I only know that one of them is called Lucci and he should be his brother. I don't know the names of the other two yet," Ben said.

"Knock knock knock" Sabo knocked on the door in front. Ace and Lucci were standing behind Sabo waiting.

"Hello! Excuse me, Captain, are you awake?" Sabo took off his hat and asked Ben politely.

"Already awake," Ben said, opening the door to let them in.

Sabo, Ace and Luffy walked to Shanks' bed and bowed to him, "Captain, thank you for saving Luffy."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I managed to save Luffy," Shanks said with a smile.

"Are you Luffy's brothers?" Shanks looked at them curiously.

"Yes, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet." Sabo scratched his head embarrassedly.

"My name is Sabo, the one with black hair is Ace, and the one with golden hair is Lucci," Sabo introduced to Shanks.

"No last name?" Shanks asked puzzledly.

Lucci and Ace Sabo looked at each other.

After a while, Lucci stood up and said, "My full name is Monkey D. Lucci."

"Portgas D. Ace" Ace said while holding the pipe.

"Sabo, but Sabo doesn't have a last name," Sabo said to Shanks with a smile.

Shanks looked at Ace and felt that he was familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was.

"Shanks!!" Luffy rushed in and jumped onto the bed, grabbing Shanks' clothes and crying loudly.

"Luffy!" Lucci looked at Luffy rushing in in surprise.

"Okay! Luffy, I'm fine, don't worry." Shanks said while touching Luffy's hair.

"I'm sorry! Woo...wawawa...Shanks your arm!!" Luffy cried loudly at Shanks.

"Okay, okay, I'm fine! It's just a hand, I'm glad you're okay, Luffy." Shanks touched Luffy's back and comforted him.

Soon Luffy cried himself to sleep, and Lucci reached out to take Luffy off Shanks. Shanks waved his hand to stop Lucci, "He must be frightened today, let him sleep here tonight." Shanks used his other hand to cover Luffy with the blanket.

Sabo and Luciace looked at each other and said, "Then we will go back first. Captain, take good care of your injuries."

"Hahaha! Just call me Shanks," Shanks said to them with a smile.

Lucci, Ace, and Sabo smiled broadly at Shanks.

"Thank you again for saving Luffy, he is my important brother" Lucci bowed again.

Shanks waved his hand, and they returned to their room to rest.

For the next two days, Luffy stayed by Shanks' side and didn't want to leave. At night, looking at Shanks sleeping on the bed, Luffy stood by with a pillow in his arms, poked Shanks' face and whispered "Shanks!" After a while, Shanks rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at Luffy, "What's wrong, Luffy, can't you sleep?"

"Shanks, I want to sleep with you," little Luffy whispered.

"Okay, come in." Shanks pulled back the quilt and let Lu Fei come up.

When Shanks was about to fall asleep, "Shanks, how many days are you going to stay here? Will you come back after this voyage?" Luffy grabbed Shanks' clothes and asked softly.

"It's time to set sail once your wounds are healed. We've been staying in town for a long time," said Shanks, touching Luffy's hair.

"Shanks am I evil?"

Shanks paused as he was ruffling Luffy's hair. "Why do you say that?" Shanks asked, lifting his face.

"That's what the kids in the village said. They said I was an evil monster and they didn't want to play with me," Luffy said with tears in his eyes.

Shanks looked Luffy in the eyes and said "Do you think you are evil?"

"No"

"Then you are not evil. You are what you think you are. You are not a monster. You are just stronger than others." Shanks said to Luffy with a smile, then hugged Luffy tightly, patting his back gently to coax him to sleep.

Ace stood behind the door and listened to the conversation inside. After a moment of silence, he turned around and left. Ace walked to the deck and looked at the dark ocean in silence. He never thought that Luffy, who was happy every day, would hear such words, and no one had ever answered like Shanks did.

The next day when Luffy was not around, Ace walked up to Shanks and after a moment of silence, he lowered his head and asked, "What do you think would happen if Roger had a child?"

"It will be hard for him, but no matter whose child he is, he is still himself. Everyone is a child of the sea," Shanks said to Ace with a smile.

"So do you think he should live?"

"No matter whose child he is, he has the right to live and no one can deny his existence!" Shanks looked at Ace and said.

Ace lowered his head and ran out quickly.

Sabo and Lucci watched Ace run out from Shanks' door. Sabo looked at Ace's back and noticed that his expression was not right, so he said to Lucci, "I'll go check it out," and followed Ace.

Lucci looked at the backs of Ace and Sabo walking away, and after thinking for a while, he turned his head and walked towards Shanks' room.

"Shanks, how do you feel?" Lucci asked Shanks with a smile.

"Much better. If Ben hadn't stopped me from drinking, I would have gotten better faster," Shanks said with a smile as he drank the drink in his hand.

"What is your relationship with Monkey D. Garp?" Shanks asked curiously.

"Uh! Garp is my grandpa," Lucci said with a smile, touching his head.

"It seems that my guess was right," Shanks said with a smile.

"Shanks, I want to ask you something about devil fruits. I ate a strange fruit some time ago. Luffy told me how it felt when he ate a devil fruit. I think I ate the same thing. Do you know what this is?" Luffy took out the devil fruit he had drawn and showed it to Shanks.

"I don't think I've seen this before. I don't know much about devil fruits, but there should be a devil fruit encyclopedia somewhere. You can check it out!" Shanks said to Lucci.

"Okay, thank you Shanks! And thank you for taking care of Luffy some time ago. I'll go back first," Lucci said to Shanks with a smile.

Shanks shook his head as he watched Luffy leave. Really, his personality is completely opposite to Luffy's.

……

A few days later, Shanks' injury was almost healed, and they were ready to set sail tomorrow morning. They would not return to Windmill Village after this voyage. Before setting sail, Shanks spent one last day with Luffy.

The next morning, at the Windmill Village Pier

"Shanks, after you go out to sea this time, are you really never going back to town?" Luffy asked Shanks.

"That's right. We've stayed here for a long time and now we have to say goodbye! You must be sad, Luffy!" Shanks said to Luffy with a smile.

"Well, although I'm a little sad, I won't force you to take me with you. I decided to become a pirate based on my own strength!" Luffy said happily to Shanks.

"I won't take you there anyway," Shanks said playfully, sticking his tongue out at Luffy, "You can't be a pirate."

"I can do it!! One day, I will be able to gather partners stronger than you!! Then I will find the biggest treasure in the world, and I will become the Pirate King!!!" Luffy shouted firmly.

"Hehe... Want to surpass us? Well..." Shanks said as he took off his hat with a smile, "Then I'll leave this hat with you for now! This is a hat that I cherish very much." Shanks said as he put the hat heavily on Luffy's head.

Luffy clenched his fists and shed silent tears.

"You must return him to me in the future, when you become an excellent pirate," Shanks looked back at Luffy and said with a smile.

Lucci stepped forward and placed his hands on Luffy's shoulders, while Ace and Sabo stood beside Luffy and watched.

"That boy is going to be great," Ben said to Shanks.

"Yes! Because he looks exactly like me when I was a kid!" Shanks said with a smile.

"Weigh the anchor! Hoist the sail! Set sail!!"