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The night was cold but clear. Kids ran up and down the street with glee. On Halloween night, parents walked their kids to each house on each street in a little village by the shore called Foosha. A little six-year-old boy with black hair and skin as tan as the golden sand sat at the beach watching kids and their parents walk past, hand in hand, smiling. He could've asked a random villager to take him, but he decided against it, seeing as the villagers are either passing out treats or walking their kids around. He sighed, drawing in the sand, still watching the families.
"Luffy. Didn't you want to trick or treat?" He jumped at the sudden voice beside him. Looking over, he saw a red-haired man.
"Oh, Shanks, I didn't know you came back!" Luffy smiled brightly. "I don't; that's for kids, and I'm not a kid!" Luffy jumped up with his fists in the air. Shanks shook his head fondly.
"Well, if you say so, Anchor. You coming to the bar?" Shanks tilted his head to look at the boy, noting that he was only in shorts and a thin sweater with his signature sandals. "Aren't you cold?" Luffy looked down at himself.
"Gah! It's cold!" Luffy began to shiver. Shanks huffed a laugh.
"Idiot. Come on." He bent down to pick up Luffy.
"Hey Shanks, have you ever celebrated Halloween?"
"Only on my captain's ship. Me and Buggy always got candy from the crew, and if we made it to an island on Halloween, we walked around for more treats." Shanks smiled with a distanced look. "We always ate too much candy. Everyone on the crew hated us for being on a sugar high whenever we came back to the ship." Luffy giggled as Shanks chuckled.
"Then what happened?" Luffy asked, laying his head on Shanks' shoulder. He hummed.
"Well, after our sugar rush, we ended up crashing after running into our captain."
"Shishishi, silly Shanks, silly Buggy." Luffy yawned. "Your crew sounds fun. I wish I could've met them." Luffy yawned again. "I wish I could go trick or treating with Gramps." He rubbed his eye. "Gramps usually takes me; he promised he would this year, but he never came. I miss him. Oh! But don't tell him I said that." The boy smiled softly.
"Hm, well, I can always take you. But since you're tired, I guess not." The older man shrugged his shoulders.
"Wait, Shanks, can we? I wanna go! I can stay awake! Please please!" Luffy started squirming with sparkles in his eyes. "Can we Shanks, please?" He barked a laugh and put Luffy down.
"Of course we can Anchor. Come on, let's go to the bar and get you something to hold the candy.
After getting a bag from Makino, he took Luffy to get candy from each house they walked to. It was nice to see Anchor smile a real smile than the forced one earlier. Shanks held his hand, listening to Luffy talk about imaginary adventures and how he wishes to be on the sea, free like the birds in the sky, and to have plenty of Nakama. By the end of the boy's story, Luffy has been slurring and slowing down. Shanks picked up Luffy and put him on his shoulders.
"Anchor, I think it's time to take you to Makino." He heard Luffy grumble.
"I don't wanna." Just then, soft snores came from the boy as his head leaned on the straw hat atop Shanks' head. He walked to the bar and headed upstairs to Luffy's room. Tucking the child in, moving a piece of hair off his face.
"Goodnight Anchor. But I'm afraid this is the last you will see of me." The man looked toward the full moon streaming through the window. His eyes glinted with a deep red shine as he disappeared through thin air. The wind whispered across the sand by the shore. "Till we meet again."