Baby on Board

Fifteen Years Later

15 years later

A seventeen year old boy ran through the streets of the rich town near his own home, heading across the island to the town he had grown up a lot of his life in. His two brothers followed him, running ahead of him through the jungle that they had spent the majority of their lives in. Their adoptive father, though he wanted them to call him "grandfather", had brought them to this island. He had long since left them with others to grow up, but they didn't mind. As long as the three were together and free, they were happy.

Luffy stretched his arms and rocketed himself through the trees, trying to outrun his brothers, Ace and Sabo, but failing. He felt he'd never beat them sometimes. But he was going to be the king of all pirates, so he had to be good enough to do so eventually.

They ran to the little village, forgotten by the rest of the island, populated by many windmills. They headed to the docks because Luffy had seen a pirate ship from their hideout in the trees. The other two followed him because they hated leaving Luffy by himself, since that's how they'd found him. Even though he was older now and fend for himself just fine, they never wanted him to feel alone, even a little bit. Though he had fully recovered from his sickness thanks to his Devil Fruit, they still saw him as the fragile little boy that he no longer was. Luffy didn't like that, but he knew it'd never change.

The three stood at the docks, watching an odd group of pirates exit the ship. The ship was odd as well. You don't really associate pirates with a lion's head, and the ship was colorful. Luffy loved it.

"What?! It's you people!" Ace unexpectedly shouted, shocked and suddenly very angry.

The crew on the Thousand Sunny were now all adults, though they still pirated like teenagers. They still loved adventure, and always would no matter how old they grew. They were on their way back to the grand line after visiting some of the crew's family in the East Blue. They had just left Nami's hometown and were docking in the sleepy Windmill village for supplies. They had not forgotten about Luffy, and often wondered where he was now. He'd be older now, since 15 years had passed. Would they ever see him again, and recognize him if they did?

They were talking and joking as they walked up the docks, until they heard: "What?! It's you people!"

They turned to the source of the shout and saw three teenagers. Two of them were obviously older teens, with one shorter black haired teenager with a straw hat. He and the older blond haired teen looked at the person who shouted in confusion. He knew these people?

"You know them?" Sabo asked.

"They're the people who ditched Luffy when he was sick!" Ace said angrily.

"What?!" Luffy and Sabo shouted. Ace was still furious with them. He would never forget the weeks where Luffy would scream and cry in his sleep, thinking he was all alone again. Twice he'd been abandoned. But Luffy didn't remember these people.

"Wait, they're the people on my blocks? Whoa! Look, a walking skeleton!" Luffy exclaimed, not really caring about the fact they left him. He didn't remember it and it had led to him being found by Ace and Sabo. "I was on a pirate ship when I was a baby?!" Luffy shouted in excitement. "Why did you never tell me?!"

Ace continued to glare at the shocked adults. "Because they abandoned you! Why would I tell you that? They left you while you were sick for three years!"

"Heeh... But they brought me to the hospital right? And then to you and Sabo," Luffy reasoned, trying to calm Ace down.

"Well... yeah. But still," Ace said, sounding a bit lame. "They just ditched you, no note, no goodbye, nothing."

Meanwhile the crew were staring at the boys in shock, finally recognizing the middle one. He still had messy black hair and wide brown eyes, now with a scar under his left one. That was Luffy. The same baby they'd found floating in a barrel all those years ago. Grins broke out of each person's face.

"Come have dinner with us," a few of them said at the same time, all smiling.

Sanji would bake Luffy an apple pie that wasn't the size of a cupcake; Brook would play music for him; Nami and Robin would tell him what it had been like when he was on the ship; Zoro would see how strong he was now, or if he was still a little crybaby; Franky and Usopp would make him something; and Chopper would check him over, wanting to see if there was still anything wrong with Luffy (since he could now cure every sickness in the world) and then they would enjoy each other's company, including Luffy's two brothers. They would also explain themselves to Ace, since he was still so angry.

"Sure!" Luffy shouted, excited to meet pirates other than Shanks' crew. It sounded like it'd be an interesting dinner. No, Luffy would turn it into a party. A party with his second family he didn't remember.

~The End