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The day of his 17th birthday, Portgas D Ace set sail from his home, Dawn Island. He left his remaining brother Monkey D Luffy, 13 at the time, behind knowing that he'll be safe even without him here.
When they were young, when their other brother was still alive, they promised to leave Dawn after their 17th birthday to become captain of their own pirate crew. When Sabo died, they kept their promise and trained harder. Ace promised Luffy to not die and never leave him alone, he promised him again before he left.
He's 18 now, once captain of the Spade pirates and currently a member of the Yonko Whitebeard's crew. He accepted the Yonko's offer and became his son two months ago. He won't say it out loud but he's happy, more than he has been for the last 8 years. He has a family, not just a baby brother and an absent grandpa but a real family with a loving father and many siblings that love him even after he told them who his biological father is.
Today was a good day, the sea was calm and the sun shone brightly. A perfect day to laze around on the deck, so that's what he was doing until one of his many siblings let out a gasp, loud enough to attract the attention of everyone on deck. The sibling in question, Inari, has just received the newspaper from the news coo and had only read the first page when he let out the gasp.
His shocked face drew the attention of Whitebeard "Son ? What's the matter ?"
Inari raises his head slowly, opening and closing his mouth a few times but never saying anything. Finally, he clears his throat "Oyagi... The World Government ordered a new Buster Call not long ago"
"a Buster Call ? What for ?"
"apparently, they received news that the son of the Revolutionary Dragon was living on the island and ordered its destruction for keeping the information secret and raising the kid. It's disgusting, the even added a picture of the boy"
Ace, who sat up while they were talking, blanched, his guts churning in unease. Marco next to him noticed "Ace ? You okay ?" he asks, drawing the attention of others
"Wh-what's the name of the island ?" he stutters, fears in his voice
"it says... Dawn Island. It's in the East Blue"
Fears confirmed, Ace runs to the railing and promptly throws up. He's white as a sheet and trembling as Marco forces him to sit up and gives him a cup of water "Ace ?"
"no..." the teen mutters under his breath
"Son ?" Whitebeard stands up to kneel next to him "What is it ? Do you know someone who lived there ?" Ace nods with tears in his eyes "who ?"
He licks his lips then takes a deep breath "I-I told you I was raised in East Blue right ?"
"you did"
"I di-didn't tell you what island even when Thatch insisted 'cause I had to pro-protect someone" the teen stays quiet for a moment " I was raised on Dawn Island"
The revelation is like a bomb was dropped on the crew, all chatter comes to a stop and only the sound of the waves against the hull prove that the world didn't stop spinning. The pirates look between them in a mix of sadness, pity and confusion, what can they say to a teen whose island has been decimated ?
"oh... I'm sorry son" the sadness is heavy in his voice
"that's not even the worst of it" Ace chuckles bitterly, tears falling on his cheeks "the reason for the Buster Call ? He's my fucking brother. And you know how old he was ? Fourteen, he was only fourteen...!" Whitebeard takes him in his arms and hugs him tightly. This makes Ace fall apart completely, losing himself in his grief. His tears turn into sobs then into wails. He weeps for a brother lost too soon, for a kid who'll never get to realize his dream, for someone as bright as the sun killed because of fear and hatred.
He cries for a long time
Akagami no Shanks is the youngest pirate to ever become Yonko. At 35, he is not about to quit his position anytime soon. He isn't one for needless bloodshed but is ready to kill at any time. He is a lot like his old Captain, ready to kill but not without reason. Thinking of his old Captain makes him think about his Anchor, his son in all but blood he met 8 years ago in that little village in East Blue.
At the time, he didn't realize what he was feeling for the boy, too young to think about it. A boy with dreams so similar to Captain Roger that he knows the boy will realize them against all odds.
He remembers how he met him as if it was yesterday. His crew just docked at Foosha, a little village on Dawn Island not many travel to, they were looking for a bar to restock and buy a drink at the same time. There, a little boy, no older than 6, was sitting at the bar. The kid introduced himself as Monkey D Luffy and was immediately amazed by the stories of their adventures.
Of course Shanks knew who he was related to, he has fought against his grandfather more time than he can count. The red haired man has know Monkey D Garp since he was a kid on Gol D Roger's ship and even met his son, Monkey D Dragon a few time growing up. So it was obvious Shanks recognized the features of the boy even without knowing his name.
It didn't stop him from getting attached to Luffy.
The boy was always smiling brighter than the sun and always wanted to hear "cool" pirates adventures. According to Ben, his second, the day Luffy stabbed himself under the eye to prove something to Shanks is the day Shanks got a son. Shanks thinks it's the day he rescued Luffy from Higuma and the Sea King. In the end, he doesn't care. Why should he ? What difference does it make to know when he got a son when he loves him with all his heart ?
The day Ben came to him with the newspaper, tears in his yes, Shanks knew something bad happened. Not many things can make his first mate cry. This is the day he learnt of his son's death and also the day he swore to avenge his son and declared war on the World Government.
This is the day he became a feared Yonko instead of a kind one.
Dragon knows he isn't a good father. He never pretended to be. He isn't a good father but it doesn't stop him from loving his son. If he could, he would've raised his son himself but as the public enemy number one, he couldn't because it would have put his son in danger. So he did what was best for Luffy and gave him to his father to be raised safely.
There isn't a day when he doesn't think about his son. The last time he saw him was when Luffy was 7, when Tenryubitos decided to visit Goa Kingdom and when he rescued Sabo. He didn't approach Luffy, just observed him from afar and vanished before Luffy could see him.
The information about the Buster Call came too late.
The Warships were already in East Blue, the Revolutionary Army and him were too far from Dawn Island to save the people of the island. Dragon was too late.
He was too late to save his son.
When he docked on the island, the flames of the Buster Call were no more than embers nearly dead. Everywhere he looked, he saw corpses of innocent people, killed by a corrupt government. There was only destruction left on Dawn, no matter where you looked. And he did, he searched Fooshia, Dadan's hut and even High Town.
He didn't find his son until two days after they docked. He went to a cliff near Dadan's hut on Mount Corvo only to discover Luffy buried under a pile of burned and broken trees, his hat stuck under a rock not far from him but far away enough from the burned woods as if Luffy had time to throw it as to not damage it.
With the help of a black hand, Luffy was easily recovered from under the pile and safely tucked into his arms. Alone with only the body of his son as witness, the World's Worst Criminal cried. He cried for his son, who'll never get a chance to grow up, for the only thing left to him by his Rosa that he was supposed to protect but couldn't, he cried for the loss of an innocent life for the crimes of his father.
He came down from the cliff with his son in his arms and tears on his face.
He buries his son next to his wife.
The next time he attacked the Government, he was more vicious than ever. As he will be for a long time.
He became even more feared but not many blamed him, none of the pirates did, they would have done the same if their families were murdered because of their crimes.
He dedicated his life to the Marine.
He arrested his best friend for the Marine.
He wasn't present in his son's life so he could dedicate his life to the Marine.
He was forced to cut ties with his son for the Marine.
He rarely saw his grandson because he is dedicated to the Marine.
He did everything because the Marine asked him to.
So when Sengoku ordered him to stay at MarineFord for no reason, he didn't question it and stayed like a good marine.
He got the news days after the attack occurred. He was informed by his son of the Buster Call on the island, not by Sengoku, not even by a random soldier, by his criminal son.
Dragon was crying when he called and soon, he was too.
He confronted Sengoku, someone he once called a friend.
He entered the office as a Vice Admiral.
He left it as a traitor.
Luffy is hunting in the forest of Mount Corvo when the first cannon is fired. He is alone like every day since Ace left, he was impatient to reach his 17th birthday and finally start his pirate crew. He has to be strong to become captain so he spends days in the forest without going back to Dadan to train his body.
Today wasn't supposed to be different and it wasn't until the afternoon when the cannon fired. Before long, cannonballs were raining on the island as if they were raindrops.
He can hear the cries and the screams of the people, the sounds of falling buildings.
He can smell the burning trees and vegetation.
He runs amidst the trees and tries to go to the cliff where Ace promised to never leave him alone.
He can see it, he'll know what is happening !
He will never know what is happening.
Before he can reach the ends of the forest, a cannonball lands a few meters behind him and explodes.
The explosion uprooted many trees and set them on fire. The ones that weren't touched by the explosion catch fire as well, the fire is too strong and too big to leave them untouched.
Luffy is knocked forward by the explosion and hits his head hard against a tree trunk. The next explosion uproots the other trees and before he can move, they land on him, knocking his breath away and burning him. His screams of pain are lost to the wind to join the many screams of the people of the island. He manages to free an arm and with the little strength he has left, he throws his precious hat away. His dad gave it to him, he will not let it burn even if he's dying.
The worst, Luffy thinks when the screams and shoots stop, is that he knows he's dying but he isn't dead yet. The sky is dark now, he's been stuck under the trees for a few hours already.
His ribs are broken, he feels them touching the trunks and piercing his organs the longer he stays under the weight of the trees.
"heh..." he chuckles weakly "maybe... if I di-" he's interrupted by a wet cough, blood slipping out of his lips "if I didn't eat... my devil fruit... I'd be dead al-" he's interrupted by another cough, more blood slipping out "I'd be dead already... not... slowly dying" he's coughing more blood, he doesn't thinks it's normal, maybe a rib punctured his lung.
Luffy smiles when he sees the sun rising, he knows deep in his bones that it'll be the last thing he sees before seeing Sabo again.
"I'm sorry dad..." he whispers, breathless "I won't... be able to... give your hat... back" he has to take a longer breath "Ace... it seems... I'm the one... breaking your promise... 'm sorry"
His last thought is about what happened and that he'll never know why or how.
Around the world, when Monkey D Luffy took his final breath, people felt a sense of doom.
Animals howled in sync.
The seas still.
The world stopped turning for a second.