Mae.writes

Chapter 9: The start of the end

Word Count: 2.7k

Contents: Luffy X Traumatised!DevilFruitUser!Reader. Long&SlowBurn. Fluff. Angst. Eventual Romance&Smut. Strawhat Crew X Reader. SPOILER WARNINGS. Character Building&Growth. Long Read, Several Chapters.

Content Warning: Mention of Abuse. Brutal+Violent scenes targeted towards and against reader. Traumatic Events. Death of close ones. (Let me know if I’ve missed any!)

⬅️ Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ➡️

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

Chapter Summary: This is a short one, I was struggling with the story line being interesting so have decided to take a turn in the story. This is the last chapter following the exact plot of the anime.

The remainder of the day was relatively calm. You had found out that the shouting that woke you up earlier was because an enemy had decided to attack. Apparently his ship got dragged away, leaving the captain on the sunny. Inside of a barrel that was chained up.

You didn’t question it, similar things had happened before with Ace so it didn’t seem that weird.

The light that the sky had emitted was long gone now, not because it was late at night but because you had sunk so far down that it couldn’t possibly reach you anymore. The only thing lighting up the ships were a few flood lights Franky had set up along the deck, as well a few small wall lamps.

The crew had returned to doing crew stuff shortly after the jellyfish disappeared. You remained by the railing. Pondering thoughts and feelings. It’s all there really was to do.

Even though you were now a part of the crew you still didn’t well.. fit in. You didn’t have a role yet.

You had spent the last hour or so trying to figure out a good role for yourself amongst the crew, you still hadn’t come up with anything realistic before a voice dragged you out of your thoughts.

“"WHO'S HUNGRY?!" Sanji appeared dramatically from the kitchen. "A feast for our new crewmate!"

The reaction was immediate. Footsteps thundered across the deck as everyone raced towards the dining room with impressive speed. You found yourself being ushered along after Robin gave you a welcoming gesture.

Inside, you took a seat between Robin and Nami. The smell hit you instantly. Luffy had always claimed Sanji was the greatest cook in the world. For once, he might have been underselling it. The table was covered in food. Your eyes flickered between each perfectly made dish that was infront of you, Fish, chicken, stews, vegetables, fruits. The colours and aromas blended together into something that looked more like artwork than dinner. It was impressive.

You carefully served yourself a reasonable portion before Luffy had the chance to inhale everything.

A small cluster of grapes remained untouched on the edge of your plate.

You deliberately left them there. The perfect final bite. Almost nothing was better than a firm, juicy green grape. They were one of the fruits you missed the most over the last two years.

Conversation flowed naturally around the table as everyone ate. Stories about where they had spent the last two years, who they met were all shared. Banter filled arguments started after almost every 5th sentence.

Everything felt strangely normal, you didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable. Even though considering it was your first night on board you probably should have been.

Eventually, people began finishing their meals. Then everyone finished, Everyone except you.

The downside of being a slow eater was always finishing last. Apparently there was now a second downside. You felt it before you saw it, a very intense stare. You slowly lifted your gaze from your plate, narrowing your eyes as they reached Luffy’s. He was watching, specifically your grapes.

The entire room seemed to understand what was happening before you did. Nami sighed. Zoro smirked. Robin quietly turned the page of her book. You reached for one of the grapes. A hand shot across the table. Your fingers missed by milliseconds. You looked up. Luffy's hand was now full of your grapes. His grin stretched from ear to ear.

The crew looked between the two of you. Your expressions could not have been more different. This idiot. Without warning, Luffy jumped backwards. Still clutching the grapes. Clearly preparing his escape.You stood. He stood. The room fell silent.

A standoff. You pointed suddenly towards the opposite side of the table.

"Oh my god. Food." Got him.

Luffy's head snapped around instantly. "WHERE?!"

In the brief moment his attention shifted, your hand darted forward. Success. You stole a single grape. Crunch. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

The look on Luffy's face suggested you'd just declared war. Good. You wanted the rest back. Luffy immediately raised his arm high above his head, holding the remaining grapes well out of reach. You narrowed your eyes. He narrowed his. The crew watched in fascination. Then simultaneously You both moved. Within seconds you were chasing him around the table. The dining room erupted into laughter.

"What is happening?" Chopper asked.

"I think this is normal for them," Robin replied calmly.

Luffy darted around chairs. You followed. He laughed whilst you threatened him with complete violence and gore. The chase continued onto the deck. The rest of the crew quickly followed, Nobody wanted to miss this.

Around the Sunny the pursuit continued. Luffy occasionally dangled a grape in front of his face as if he was about to eat it. Every time, your determination intensified. Eventually he made a mistake. He slowed down. You launched yourself at him. The tackle sent both of you crashing onto the deck. A direct hit.

Luffy hit the ground with a loud grunt. You immediately pinned him beneath your weight. Straddling him with an overly evil smug on your face.

Granted, if he actually wanted to escape, he could probably throw you across the ship with one finger. Thankfully, he seemed far more interested in protecting the grapes.

You grinned. His face immediately paled. He knew that grin.

"Oh no."

Your hands moved. Straight for his sides.

"No no no no!”

Too late. You attacked mercilessly. Luffy exploded into laughter. The kind of uncontrollable laughter that made breathing difficult. Tears formed in his eyes as his grip weakened. Victory. You snatched the remaining grapes from his hand and immediately shoved them into your mouth.

Perfect. Every single one. You continued tickling him for a few more seconds just out of spite. Then finally stood. Dusting yourself off with all the dignity of someone who definitely hadn't just wrestled their captain for fruit.

Behind you, Luffy remained sprawled across the deck. Gasping for air. Recovering from what was apparently his greatest weakness.

The crew looked somewhere between shocked and amused. You simply walked past them as though nothing unusual had happened.

"Sanji."

The cook appeared instantly. "Yes, my beautiful star lady?!"

"Could I get something warm to drink?"

His eyes practically transformed into hearts. "OF COURSE!" He spun towards the kitchen with enough force to generate wind. You smiled slightly and leaned against the railing.

Behind you, Luffy finally sat up. "You fight dirty."

You took a sip from the warm drink Sanji had somehow already prepared. "Should've protected the grapes better." You shrugged with a cold smirk still on your face.

The crew burst into laughter.

ZORO’s POV

Zoro sat leaning against the mast as usual. The ship had finally gone quiet.

His gaze drifted across the deck until it landed on you, asleep against the railing. You looked surprisingly peaceful. There was still a faintly smug expression lingering on your face from your victory over Luffy earlier.

Zoro couldn't deny he was impressed. He'd known Luffy longer than anyone aboard the ship and even he hadn't known the idiot had a ticklish spot.

The swordsman let out a small huff and looked back towards the dark ocean surrounding them. A movement caught the corner of his eye. Luffy.

That wasn't unusual. The captain often spent hours awake after everyone else had gone to sleep, sitting on the Sunny's lion figurehead and staring into the distance.

What was unusual was watching him stop beside you. Without a word, he carefully draped a blanket over your shoulders. Carefully. Zoro wasn't sure he'd ever seen Luffy do anything carefully.

Afterwards, the captain climbed onto the figurehead and settled into his usual position. Every few minutes his eyes would drift towards you. Then back to the ocean. Then back to you.

Eventually Zoro pushed himself off the mast. "You know you stare at her, right?" The words left before he'd fully decided to say them. A few seconds passed.

"Who?"

Zoro immediately regretted starting the conversation. A deep sigh escaped him. "Who do you think, Luffy?"

As expected, Luffy's head instantly turned towards you. His gaze lingered for a few moments before returning to Zoro. "Oh." He shrugged. "What about her?"

The question was completely genuine. That was somehow worse.

"Nothing." Zoro folded his arms. "Just wondering."

Luffy nodded. The conversation died. For about three minutes. Zoro had already shut his eyes, expecting nothing but silence.

"Wondering what?"

His eyes flickered open. Of course. "You spent two years together."

"Yeah." Luffy's gaze drifted towards you before returning to the ocean.

"That's a long time."

"Yeah." The response reminded Zoro that no amount of training would ever fix how simple Luffy could be.

He let out another sigh. "Longer than you've spent with most of us."

Luffy's expression shifted slightly. Thinking. Not much. Just enough for Zoro to notice. His gaze drifted back towards you.

"Are you worried about her?"

The answer came instantly. "No." Too instantly, way too instantly.

Zoro smirked. "Really?"

This time Luffy hesitated. His eyes returned to you. The blanket he'd draped over your shoulders. The railing. The way you slept. The exact same way you slept against the rocks over the last two years.

"No." A pause. "Not worried."

Zoro raised an eyebrow.

Luffy continued. "I just like knowing where she is."

The words hung in the air. Neither of them seemed prepared for how honest that answer sounded. Luffy looked completely unaware. Zoro wasn’t.

"Why?"

A shrug. "I dunno."

"Try."

The captain leaned back. Actually thinking. The silence stretched for almost a minute. His gaze flickered towards you again.

"There was this time during training." His voice was quieter now. "Rayleigh wanted to teach us independence or something."

Zoro listened. Giving him time.

"I don't remember how long we were separated." Luffy scratched the back of his neck. "It felt forever though." His gaze moved, fixed on the ocean. "I don't remember feeling bad."

Zoro frowned. "No?"

Luffy shook his head. "Not bad."

A pause. "Just weird."

The answer surprised both of them. Luffy blinked. As if hearing himself say it for the first time.

"Weird?" Zoro repeated.

Luffy nodded slowly. "Yeah."

His eyes drifted back towards you again. "When I saw her again..." He stopped. Searching for words. Something he had never been particularly good at.

"I felt..." He paused. "...myself again." Silence settled between them. The distant creaking of the Sunny echoed softly through the water.

"I dunno." Luffy scratched his cheek awkwardly, "Everything just felt normal again."

Zoro stared at him. The idiot had somehow explained everything without understanding any of it."Normal."

"Yeah."

"You got separated for months and that's all you've got?"

Luffy frowned. "What?"

"Normal."

The captain nodded. "That's what I said."

Zoro rubbed a hand over his face. Unbelievable. Luffy leaned forward slightly. Still trying to explain. Taking in Zoro’s annoyed expression as confusion rather than annoyance.

"If you're eating a pizza..."

Zoro immediately groaned. Of course food was involved.

"...and somebody takes a slice."

The swordsman looked back at him.

Luffy continued. "The pizza's still good." A shrug. "You can still eat it." Another shrug. "But you know something's missing."

For the first time that night, Zoro had absolutely nothing to say.

Luffy looked towards you again. Then back at the ocean. "When she's around..." He scratched the back of his neck. "...it feels like the whole pizza again."

Silence. A very long silence. Before Zoro laughed. Actually laughed. The sound surprised both of them.

Luffy blinked. "What?"

"You have absolutely no idea how that sounded, do you?"

"Huh?"

Zoro shook his head. "Go to sleep, Captain."

Luffy narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You started this conversation."

"And I regret it."

Luffy grinned. Zoro shook his head again. Then, after a moment "Just make sure she knows."

Luffy frowned. "Knows what?"

The swordsman sighed. Of course. "Exactly." Without another word he turned and walked away. Leaving Luffy alone on the figurehead, staring out into the ocean. And every few minutes… Still checking to make sure you were there.

END OF ZOROS POV

The following morning started with a massive THUD!

The Sunny lurched violently beneath your feet.

You were standing before you were even fully awake, years of training forcing your body into motion before your mind could catch up. Your eyes immediately scanned for the source of the impact.

When you finally spotted it, your breath caught slightly. "Is that a fucking kraken?!"

Zoro's voice drifted down from somewhere above. "Sure looks like it."

As if offended by the observation, the giant octopus slammed another tentacle into the Sunny. THUD!

The ship rocked even harder this time. You grabbed the railing to steady yourself as footsteps erupted across the deck. Crew members appeared from every direction, drawn by the commotion.

Luffy's eyes lit up instantly. Of course they did. To everyone else, a giant sea monster was a problem. To Luffy, it was entertainment.

Within minutes, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji had launched themselves outside the ship's protective bubble, each enclosed within their own smaller bubble.

You joined the rest of the crew at the edge of the deck, watching the three idiots immediately start attacking the enormous creature.

Tentacles flew, water churned, Sanji kicked, Zoro sliced, Luffy laughed, Business as usual.

Then something strange happened. One of Zoro's attacks cut through a tentacle and a large shark suddenly slipped free. The shark wasn't attacking. It wasn't even aggressive. If anything, it looked grateful. You blinked. The shark was wearing a shirt. A fucking shirt.

The shark circled the three men briefly before lowering its head slightly, almost like it was thanking them. Then it disappeared into the darkness below. Silence settled across the Sunny with a tense confusion.

"What..." Usopp started.

"...was that?" Chopper finished.

Nobody had an answer. Before anyone could properly process what they'd just witnessed, the ocean itself seemed to shift.

The water around the Sunny suddenly surged. The ship tilted sharply. A powerful current wrapped around the vessel and dragged it downward. Fast. Very fast. The crew grabbed onto whatever they could. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji weren't so lucky. The current caught them immediately, sending all three hurtling into the darkness alongside the rushing water.

The Sunny followed shortly after. For several long moments there was nothing but chaos.

Water flushing past, pressure building inside the bubble as it got much harder to inhale. The speed of everything that shifted around the ship made everything worse. Then.. within an instant the ship settled, everyone getting crushed into the ship flooring as if they had just fallen.

You released your grip on the railing and took a steadying breath. The first thing you noticed was that the three idiots were gone. No Luffy. No Zoro. No Sanji.

You looked around the deck. Everyone else seemed to be searching as well. Then you noticed their expressions. Their eyes spread wide open, their faces removed of any colour.

Nobody was looking for the missing trio anymore. They were all staring directly behind you. You turned slowly, Your stomach dropped.

A massive creature loomed before the Sunny. Its enormous eyes stared directly at the ship. Directly at you. You blinked. It didn't move. You took a cautious step backwards. The creature raised one enormous claw. The entire ship seemed to freeze. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. You were trapped inside a bubble thousands of metres beneath the ocean.

You couldn’t do anything that would pop the bubble, dammit no stars. The claw swung. Your eyes darted around desperately. Think. Think. Think. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

You looked back towards the creature, bracing yourself for the bubble to burst…

"GOOD BOY!" You froze, That voice. You looked up.

Luffy. Sanji. Zoro. All three of them sat together inside a single bubble. Luffy and Sanji were enthusiastically waving. Zoro looked like he was considering murder.

The giant creature from before was gone. But now another one had emerged. The kraken.

Your eyes moved from the creature. To Luffy. Who was thanking the kraken. The kraken itself looked proud. The realization slowly settled in. They hadn't defeated the kraken. They'd befriended it. And their new friend just saved your asses.

Of course they had. You stared for a few seconds longer before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Yeah." You folded your arms. "That's somehow worse."

I apologise how long it’s been, iv been stuck with motivation as to why iv decided to adjust the story line a bit. For those who love relationship dynamics and character building your going to love the rest of this fan fic, for those waiting for smut its coming 😉

Chapter 8: your new family

Word Count:

Contents: Luffy X Traumatised!DevilFruitUser!Reader. Long&SlowBurn. Fluff. Angst. Eventual Romance&Smut. Strawhat Crew X Reader. SPOILER WARNINGS. Character Building&Growth. Long Read, Several Chapters.

Content Warning: Mention of Abuse. Brutal+Violent scenes targeted towards and against reader. Traumatic Events. Death of close ones. (Let me know if I’ve missed any!)

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

Chapters:

Chpt1 | Chpt2 | Chpt3 | Chpt4 | Chpt5 | Chpt6 | Chpt7 | Chpt 8 | Chpt 9 |

Chapter Summary: Your journey to Fish-man Island begins. You meet a few of the crew members, Luffy feels a new emotion, you find your new home aboard the Sunny.

It was only then that realisation hit. You were still underneath Luffy’s arm, it was almost like he forgot you were there. Everything that had happened in the last 30minutes was a complete blur. You had just been dangling around, head banging on Luffy’s side, entire body being shaken around. The painful ache in your body began to creep back. The painful pounding in your head was what took you over the edge for the second time. You closed your eyes once more, hanging limp in Luffy’s arms. Darkness quickly stole you away.

Luffy's POV

Everything had gone perfectly. He was finally,

FINALLY, Back on the Sunny, His entire crew was here. The giant bubble surrounding the ship drifted lower and lower as they descended, revealing an incredible view of the ocean around them. Luffy leaned over the railing with a grin. The adventure was finally starting again.

"Hey, Luffy." Zoro's voice cut through his excitement.

Luffy looked over. Zoro was pointing at him. Specifically… At his right arm.

"Hm?" Luffy followed the direction of the finger. He looked behind him as if Zoro was pointing directly through him. The rest of the crew actually followed Zoro’s point. Silence.

"Luffy!" Nami's voice echoed across the deck. "We talked about kidnapping people!"

Luffy blinked. Kidnapping? What was she.. He looked down, ooh right, you. You were still tucked under his arm. Oops.

"WAIT SHE'S UNCONSCIOUS?!" Chopper immediately launched himself across the deck. "Luffy put her down right now!"

"She's finnnne." Luffy waved his free hand dismissively. "She's been through worse." He paused as a grin spread across his face. "Prolly saw the stars too early." He chuckled at the inside joke.

Nobody laughed.

"That's not funny!" Chopper screamed.

"What makes you say that?" Zoro asked.

Luffy shrugged. "Oh. She's my partner."

Silence.

The entire crew froze, Nami blinked. Sanji blinked. Usopp blinked. Robin raised an eyebrow.

"PARTNER?!" Nami nearly fell over. "YOU GOT MARRIED?!" Sanji looked ready to die.

Luffy visibly recoiled. "Ew." He pointed at her. "Like a training partner."

A collective sigh of relief swept across the ship. Except Sanji who had already started recovering from cardiac arrest.

"She's been training with me and Rayleigh for the last two years."

That immediately got everyone's attention. Chopper had already stolen you from Luffy's grasp and carried you into the infirmary. As he carefully brushed your hair away from your face, Zoro paused.

"Oh." Everyone turned.

"You know her?"

Zoro nodded. "Alabasta." His expression grew more thoughtful. "Ace's right-hand girl."

The atmosphere shifted slightly. Recognition spread across several faces.

"Wait." Usopp pointed. "THAT Ace?"

"Yeah." Zoro nodded. "That Ace." The room became noticeably quieter.

"How's she doing, Chopper?" Nami asked.

The doctor examined you for another moment before nodding. "Fine." Everyone relaxed. "Probably passed out from lack of oxygen, or too much blood rushing to her head. Depends how long she’s been dangling beside Luffy" Chopper shot Luffy an annoyed look. "And she'll probably wake up with painful whiplash."

"Oops."

"Luffy!"

Before anyone could continue, Chopper pointed dramatically at the door. "OUT."

"What?"

"OUT."

"But"

"OUT!" Within seconds every Straw Hat found themselves pushed outside. Including Luffy. The door slammed shut. Click. Then silence. The crew stared at the closed door. Then at Luffy.

Finally, Robin smiled. "So."

Luffy tilted his head. "Hm?"

"Who exactly is your partner?"

Luffy thought about it. The entire crew waited.

"Shes super cool" Silence.

Usopp stared. Nami stared. Sanji stared. Robin smiled patiently. Luffy smiled back.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING!" Usopp screamed.

Luffy blinked. "Oh." He thought harder. "She's really strong."

"That still doesn't explain anything!" Nami snapped.

"She punches monsters."

"LUFFY."

"She's got stars."

"STARS?"

"Yeah."

The crew looked increasingly concerned.

"Is he having a stroke?" Franky asked.

"I think he's trying his best." Robin answered.

Robin slowly closed the distance between her and Luffy placing her hand against his shoulder.

“Now Luffy, who is she,” she paused, giving Luffy a friendly smile, “to you.”

Silence filled the deck again as Luffy began thinking one eyebrow slightly raised and he brought his hand to his chin.

“Hmm.”

“Take your time.” Robin replied, sensing the anticipation of the rest of the crew.

“Well, she’s important.”

Franky and Usopp's jaws dropped instantly, shocked by how Luffy just responded to the question.

“She trained with me, she fought with me, and she stayed.” His tone was so natural as he shrugged to the rest of the crew. Who still remained frozen in shock.

“So.. she trained with you for two years?” Robin the only one who remained calm enough to question him further.

Luffy nodded, “she’s really strong, stronger than me!”

“Bullshit” Zoro snapped out of his own frozen state and mumbled under his breath

“Okay maybe not.. but definitely stronger than you!” Luffy gave Zoro a menacing smirk knowing he had just stirred him up.

Nami sighed, already regretting asking.

"So what happens now, Luffy?"

"What do you mean?"

Nami pointed towards the infirmary. "Her."

Luffy followed her finger. "Oh." His face immediately brightened. "She's staying." The answer came so quickly that several members of the crew blinked.

Nami blinked twice. "Staying where?"

"With us."

"On the Sunny?"

"Yeah."

"You've already decided that?"

Now Luffy looked genuinely confused. "Well yeah."

The crew exchanged glances. Sanji lit another cigarette.

Usopp pointed dramatically. "You can't just decide that by yourself!"

"Why not?"

"Because that's not how this works!"

Luffy tilted his head. The silence stretched. "She's important." The words were simple. Matter-of-fact. Like he was stating the colour of the sky. Nobody immediately responded.

Luffy scratched his cheek. "She trained with me." He held up a finger. "She fought with me." A second finger. "When stuff got bad, she stayed." A third. His grin softened slightly. "Even when she didn't have to."

The deck grew a little quieter.

Robin watched him carefully. "And?"

Luffy blinked. "And what?"

Robin smiled. "Why does that mean she belongs here?"

Luffy stared at her for a moment. Then shrugged. "Because she does." The answer came so naturally that nobody could argue with it. To Luffy, it wasn't really a question. It never had been.

Zoro leaned back against the railing. "Sounds about right."

"YOU ARE NOT HELPING!" Usopp screamed.

Luffy ignored him. "Besides." The crew looked back towards him. Luffy grinned. "Rayleigh already told me."

That got everyone's attention. Nami folded her arms. "Told you what?"

Luffy thought about it. For a surprisingly long time. The crew waited..

And waited..

And waited..

Til finally Luffy stuck his finger up in the sky "Oh!" His fist hit his palm.

"He said if I found someone I'd trust with my life..." He pointed towards the infirmary. "...don't let them go."

Silence. The entire crew froze. Even Robin looked surprised. For once, nobody had a joke. Nobody had a complaint. Nobody had an argument.

Then Luffy ruined the moment. "He might've said something else too." The crew collectively groaned.

Nami's eye twitched. "LUFFY."

"What?"

"What was the rest of it?" Luffy stared at the ceiling. Thinking, thinking hard, thinking very hard.

"Somethingg bouttt Roger anddd ...I forgot."

The entire ship exploded.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU START WITH THAT?!"

"THAT WAS THE IMPORTANT PART!"

"I KNEW IT!"

"I'M GONNA THROW HIM OVERBOARD!"

Luffy laughed so hard he almost fell over the railing.

Meanwhile, inside the infirmary, completely unaware of the chaos she had caused, you slept through all of it.

End of Luffy’s POV

You woke up to shouting coming from somewhere above you. Slowly blinking your eyes open, the first thing you saw was wood.

A wooden ceiling, no stars, no clouds, not even any trees. You immediately pushed yourself upright. The movement sent a sharp ache through your neck.

"Oww..." Your hand instinctively rubbed at the sore muscles as your eyes scanned the room.

A bed, a large desk filled with paper and files, several cabinets and shelves, some filled with different medical equipment, others filled with equipment that looked like it belonged to some crazy scientist, you were inside an infirmary.

The shouting that had woken you up outside stopped. Your continued your scan, on a small table next to the bed, a fresh cup of water. You picked it up cautiously letting the water spiral around as you sniffed it, you paused, then looked at the water, it looked normal which only made it more suspicious. You slowly placed it back down. Not today.

You shifted again in the bed letting your legs dangle. You took a moment to think.

Last thing you remembered was… Luffy running, Rayleigh smile, the pacifistas, the sunny.. The sunny. Your eyes widened slightly right, the sunny. You stood up carefully the floor creaked beneath your feet making you freeze a slight sway below you. A ship, of course.

You felt strangely nervous, more nervous then any of the sea kings Rayleigh had thrown at you over the last two years. You had spent them wondering what came after it all.. and now you were standing in it.

A recognizable laugh echoed from somewhere above, Luffy, the tension in your shoulders eased slightly. At least something familiar. You slowly walked towards the infirmary door, your hand rested on the handle hesitantly, what were you even doing, why were you in an unknown ship’s infirmary.

The handle suddenly flew downwards. The door burst open. And a tiny reindeer crashed directly into your stomach. Both of you hit the floor. Hard.

"Oww!"

"AHHH!"

You blinked. The reindeer blinked. The reindeer pointed at you.

"YOU'RE AWAKE!" The entire ship went silent. A second later

"She's awake?!" Footsteps. Lots of footsteps. Your eyes widened.

"Oh no."

The door exploded open. You barely had time to stand before half the crew came piling into the infirmary.

"She's awake!"

"I told you she was awake!"

"Move, I can't see!"

"You're the one standing in the doorway!"

You stared. As each of their eyes found yours, complete silence.

"HI!" Usopp waved enthusiastically.

"Welcome to the Sunny!" Franky threw both arms into the air. "SUPER!"

You blinked confused, Franky didn’t move from his pose. He was still smiling, still.. waiting. Sunny is the name of the ship, of course.

“…Thank you?”

“YES!” Franky pointed triumphantly. “She gets it.”

“No she doesn’t” Nami sighed, placing her palm to her face.

A blond man suddenly appeared directly in front you. You had no idea where he’d come from. It was almost impossible to not kick him out of pure instincts. Luffy learned never to surprise attack from the front. Always ended up in a painful grunt for him. But you had managed to contain yourself this time considering your head was still aching quite a bit.

“My beautiful lady, how stunning you are,” he knelt down on one knee, grabbing your hand and giving it a gentle kiss. “How are you feeling? Cold? Hungry? Thirsty? Do you require assistance? Food? A blanket? More food?”

His words got faster as he continued, you stepped back instinctively a little concerned. A hand suddenly grabbed the back of his shirt tugging him away.

“Sanji, you're scaring her.” Robin smiled, hand still tight against Sanji's shirt.

“No, I’m not, I would never scare a woman as gorgeous as her!”

You were definitely a little scared

The reindeer climbed up on the bed. “Dizziness?”

“A little”

“Headache?”

“Pounding in my right ear.”

“Nausea?”

“No”

Chopper nodded in a serious way, you couldn’t deny how cute the little reindeer looked. “Good.. minor concussion and it appears your right ear drum has burst.”

You stared at him for a moment not really sure what to say or do.

He continued rather professionally, “That means no bright lights for the next 48hours, no running or bouncing and keep your ear out of any water.” He climbed down off the bed midway through his talk and scrummaged through a draw. By the time his lecture was over he handed you a small rubber blob.

“Shove it in your ear, Not too far..” it was clear he had been on the ship a while considering he felt the need to be very direct. You nodded to him with a slight chuckle at your own thoughts.

You glanced around the room, everyone seemed normal, well as normal as pirates could be. Your gaze landed on Zoro, you gave him a small nod, Alabaster, he returned the nod with clear recognition.

As you continued glancing around the room the realisation hit. “Where’s Luffy?” Your voice remained calm although slightly worried.

The room went silent, as they looked amongst each other, then sighed, each person simultaneously. Nami rubbed her head, Sanji drew a cigarette from his pocket, Usopp looked exhausted. You became slightly more concerned

“What happened?” Nobody answered, instead they all gazed up at the ceiling, as if they were collectively praying. A loud crash echoed from above the deck followed by,

“LUFFY!”

Then another loud crash

“THATS THE LAST OF EM.”

A pause then “oops”

The entire room gave a defeated sigh.

“Ah,” you nodded confidently, “He’s fine.”

Everyone immediately looked at you, you looked back, “what..?”

“You understood all that?” Usopp asked, a surprised expression glued to his face.

“Of course,” another crash roared through the ship. “He’s definitely fine.”

For some reason that seemed to reassure everyone

“Good enough for me.” Zoro shrugged

As they all left the room one by one chattering amongst themselves. You expected complaints, or at least more questions about why you were on their ship. Which you were glad they didn’t ask, you didn’t really know either. You sat back down on the bed letting the calmness of the atmosphere settle around you.

It was then you noticed Robin sitting down, legs folded over each other on a chair towards the corner of the room. Neither of you spoke for a while, the silence wasn’t awkward though, just quiet

“You’ve changed.”

The comment caught you off guard. As your eyes found hers she smiled.

“Since Alabaster”

A small laugh escaped you, “so have you.”

“Thats true,” Robin replied with a small laugh under her breath.

A moment of silence returned, comfortable.

“You spent 2 years with Rayleigh and Luffy right?” You nodded, “I can imagine that was… exhausting”

you laughed, a genuine one, “that’s one way of putting it.”

The conversation that followed felt natural, like catching up with a friend after a long time. You talked about training, the monsters, the stories around the campfire. Robin asked questions and laughed every now and then. Her gaze eventually drifted towards the door.

“The captain seems fond of you.”

You nearly choked. Robin looked way too pleased with herself. “Not like that.” You scratched your neck trying to act normal as you realised the clarification came way too quick.

“I didn’t say anything.” Robin laughed with her smile widening.

You buried your face in your hands, trying to hide the warmth building in your cheeks. The laughter that followed was soft, not mocking, just amused.

“I’ll let you settle in” you gave her a gentle nod as you watched her stand and move towards the door. “You know..” you looked back up “you're the first person who’s met the reunited Strawhats before we met each other again.”

You blinked, Robin smiled softly “I think that’s rather special.” She closed the door behind her.

You had no idea what she meant, you ended up deciding it was one of her smart abbreviations she made, designed just to confuse people.

Eventually, you built up the courage to leave the infirmary. You were still a little hesitant, but staring at the same four walls was starting to drive you insane.

As you stepped outside, a set of stairs immediately caught your attention. Curiosity got the better of you, and you followed them upward.

The sight that greeted you made you stop.

The entire ship was encased in a giant bubble, drifting through the ocean floor. Fish of every shape and colour swam past the transparent barrier, and shafts of sunlight filtered down through the water above.

It was incredible. Before you could properly take it all in, a familiar voice appeared beside you.

"You're out! Come on, let me show you my workshop!" Usopp sounded far too excited.

Before you could respond, he was already leading the way, rambling about inventions, gadgets, and stories that were very clearly made up.

He eventually stopped outside a door and pushed it open. You followed a few steps behind, taking in the room. Workshop was definitely a generous description.

It was obviously his bedroom that had slowly evolved into a workshop over time.

Tools covered every available surface. Strange mechanisms sat half-finished on shelves. Blueprints were scattered across the desk. Usopp dropped into a chair and proudly gestured towards the long workbench.

"I'm currently finishing a new and improved weapon for Nami!" He held up a long staff-like weapon for a brief moment before carefully setting it back down.

"I know Luffy said you're pretty strong but..." He turned away from the desk to face you, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "If you ever want me to make you a weapon or something... even some kind of gadget..."

His voice became slightly hesitant near the end. His expression didn't. It practically screamed please give me a project. You thought for a moment.

"Uhm..." The fact that you were actually considering it seemed to make him even happier.

You gestured towards the small black holster strapped to your thigh. Without your cloak covering it, the dagger was impossible to miss.

Rayleigh had returned all of your belongings during the trip to Sabaody. Everything except the cloak. Well...

You still had the cloak. You just couldn't bring yourself to wear it anymore.

"One of my advantages was always the element of surprise." You looked back up at him. Hoping he was smarter than Luffy. Thankfully, he was.

His face lit up instantly. "Hold that thought!"

Usopp practically launched himself out of his chair and stuck his head through the doorway.

"FRANKY!" Within seconds, heavy metallic footsteps thundered through the corridor. Franky appeared in the doorway without hesitation.

Usopp gave him a massive grin before turning back towards you. "Continue. Continue."

You pointed towards the holster again. "Well... it's not exactly hidden anymore. Which means it's kind of lost the whole surprise factor."

Franky immediately nodded. Usopp had already started scribbling notes across a piece of paper.

"Any weaknesses?" Franky asked, placing a tiny hand against his chin. You stared at the miniature hand protruding from the much larger arm.

"What do you mean?"

"Weaknesses." Franky shrugged. "Usopp and Nami don’t got any special abilities. No Devil Fruit. No Haki. That was their weakness."

Usopp nodded enthusiastically. "So we fixed it."

His tone somehow managed to sound both self-pitying and proud at the same time.

You thought about it for a long moment. Nothing obvious came to mind. Franky noticed immediately.

"Don't think too hard about it." His tone remained casual. "We'll just ask Luffy."

You immediately regretted not thinking of an answer. Franky suddenly clapped his hands together.

"NOW!" He grabbed your arm. "A SUPER TOUR!"

Before Usopp could protest, Franky had already dragged you out of the room. The next hour was complete chaos. Franky showed you almost every inch of the Sunny. The grass-covered deck that still somehow felt impossible. The tree growing from the middle of the ship. Even more impossible. The aquarium that was INSIDE the ship. The kitchen. The soldier dock systems.

Countless hidden mechanisms that were very clearly weapons despite Franky's insistence that they were "features." By the end of it, your head was spinning. Franky proudly threw both arms into the air.

"This baby!" He slapped the deck beneath his feet. "Built entirely by these hands!"

You looked around the Sunny once more. Honestly...

It was pretty impressive. Maybe a little insane. But definitely impressive. Eventually, Franky wandered off in search of Luffy, leaving you free to explore the Sunny on your own.

As you wandered across the deck, you spotted Nami relaxing against the railing, watching the ocean beyond the bubble.

You hesitated before approaching her.

"Hey... Nami, right?"

Your sudden appearance made her jump slightly. "Oh!" She relaxed almost immediately. "Yeah. What's up?"

"This might be a bit much to ask..." Nami's smile shifted into mild concern. You looked down at your clothes. The shirt was worn thin. Parts of it were still torn from countless incidents on the island. Your shorts weren't much better.

"I haven't had a proper shower or a change of clothes in over two years." Your hand instinctively rubbed the back of your neck. Saying it out loud sounded significantly worse.

"I was supposed to get some stuff in Sabaody, but..." You sighed. "Luffy happened."

To your surprise, Nami's expression immediately brightened. "Oh, we are absolutely going shopping when we reach Fish-Man Island."

Before you could respond, she grabbed your wrist. "C'mon." A few minutes later she had dragged you below deck. "This is my room."

She gestured around. "And the bathroom is through there." She pointed towards a door near the far wall.

"It's shared with Robin. Her room's on the other side." Nami paused. "There aren't any locks on the doors." She looked slightly awkward. As if worried that might bother you.

You smiled warmly. "Luffy trusts you guys." You shrugged. "So I do too."

The concern immediately vanished from her face. "Good." She moved towards a dresser. "Anything specific you like wearing?"

The simple question caught you off guard. You thought about the clothes you'd worn while sailing with Ace. Dark colours. Long coats. Heavy fabrics. Clothes that belonged to a different life.

Standing aboard the Sunny, surrounded by bright colours and even brighter personalities, those clothes suddenly felt distant.

Nami noticed immediately. "A new look for a new start." A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Trust me."

Before you could object, she pushed you towards the bathroom. The door clicked shut behind you. You stared at it. Then at the shower. A real shower. The realization hit harder than expected. Without hesitation, you stripped off the old clothes and stepped beneath the warm water.

A sigh escaped you almost instantly. The temperature was perfect. The pressure was perfect. Everything was perfect. You had showered plenty over the past two years. But most of those involved freezing water, rivers, rainstorms, or whatever Rayleigh considered acceptable.

This was different. You stood there far longer than necessary, letting the water wash away two years of island life. Eventually you reached for the shampoo.

The feeling of actually washing your hair, almost made you emotional. After fighting a losing battle against several stubborn knots, you switched to a conditioner. Much better. One by one the tangles disappeared beneath your fingers.

You were halfway through rinsing the conditioner from your hair when..

BANG.

A door flew open somewhere outside. "Nami! You've gotta see this! It's awesome! Where is she?!"

Luffy. Of course.

"Nami, you can't just hide her.” The bathroom door burst open. The excited energy hit the room before he did. Luffy practically launched himself through the doorway, one hand already raised as he pointed somewhere behind him.

"Come look! There's this giant fish and then this other fish and..” The rest of the sentence died. Instantly.

You turned towards him automatically, hands still buried in your hair. The steam hanging in the room seemed to freeze. So did Luffy. For a moment neither of you moved. His grin vanished. Not slowly. Instantly.

Like somebody had wiped it from his face. His eyes locked onto yours. The excitement and the urgency mixed with the need to drag you somewhere immediately. Gone.

His mouth remained slightly open as though the rest of the sentence had simply disappeared. You blinked. Luffy didn't.

Something about that felt wrong. Usually his attention bounced between a hundred different things at once. Now it wasn't moving at all. His gaze remained fixed. Almost distant, Like.. his brain had completely forgotten what it had been doing.

You frowned slightly. "Luffy?"

Nothing. Not even a blink. The steam drifted lazily between you. His eyes finally shifted. Slowly. Almost absentmindedly. From your face, down passing your neck, stopping just below your shoulders.

The colour immediately drained from him. "Oh."

You stared waiting for him to continue. He didn't, his eyes remained fixed to below your shoulders. His brain visibly restarting.

His eyes shot back upwards so quickly it almost looked painful. Then immediately dropped again. Then back up, then somewhere off to the side. Glancing anywhere except directly at you.

You suddenly became very aware of the fact that you were standing completely naked beneath the shower.

Oh.

OH.

You spun around so fast you nearly slipped. Both arms immediately crossed over yourself. The movement finally seemed to snap Luffy back to reality. He stumbled backwards half a step. His face looked completely blank. Not calm. Blank.

Like every thought in his head had crashed into each other at once. You glanced over your shoulder. He was still staring, you caught his gaze flicker uncontrollably between you and everything, anything else as if his gaze kept on accidentally finding your body.

You noticed him swallow. Loudly. His gaze dropped towards the floor. Then immediately rose again, repeating the action several times. The poor idiot looked like he was fighting for his life. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d seen Luffy struggle this way. Contemplating if you ever had.

"Yes, Luffy?"

His entire body twitched, his hands flew down hiding his crotch as if he needed to pee. "Oh." A pause. "Uh." Silence.

You watched him attempt to gather together whatever remained of his thoughts. "I..." Nothing. His brain quit again. You waited.

Luffy raised one hand away from his crotch pointing vaguely behind himself. "The thing."

"The thing?" Your eyebrows furrowed

"The outside thing."

Very helpful. "What thing?"

"The cool thing." His hand waved wildly.

"The fish.?”

"The fish! Yeah." Silence. You stared at him. He stared somewhere near the ceiling. Luffy himself wasn’t too sure what was coming over him, there was some sort of feeling inside him that he had never felt before. He had gotten hard before, and saw plenty of naked girls. Accidentally of course, but those two things never crossed paths at the same time, not until now that is. His mind was completely blank as he tried to process this random new emotion. You weren't entirely convinced he even knew where he was anymore. Eventually he nodded to himself. As though he'd completed an incredibly difficult task.

"You should come see it." Then he turned. And left. Very quickly. Almost suspiciously quickly. The bathroom door slammed against the wall as he disappeared. Silence returned.

You stared at the open doorway. Then slowly looked back at the shower. "...Huh.".

A moment later Nami cautiously peeked around the corner. "You found the towels?"

"Yeah."

"What was that?"

You looked over your shoulder. "What was what?"

Nami stared. Then pointed at the still-open door. "That."

Realization slowly dawned on you. "Oh." You shrugged. "Accidentally flashed him."

Nami blinked. "You say that like it's normal."

"It wasn't intentional."

"That's not the part I'm talking about."

You frowned. Now confused yourself.

"He looked like somebody punched him."

You thought about it. Then shrugged again. "I figured he'd seen naked women before."

Nami paused. "...He has." Now she looked significantly more confused. "In fact, I've never seen him react like that."

A grin slowly appeared on her face. One that immediately made you suspicious.

You pointed at her. "Don't."

"I'm not saying anything."

"You are absolutely thinking something."

Nami's grin widened. "I put some clothes on the bed." She immediately turned around. "Get dressed and come outside."

"You changed the subject."

"I absolutely did."

"Nami."

"I'm leaving now."

And with that, she disappeared before you could continue the argument.

You stared at the closed door for a moment before letting out a long sigh. Straw Hats were weird. And why was everyone being so nice?

If some random girl had suddenly appeared aboard Whitebeard's ship, there would've been questions. Confusion. At least a few threats.

Nobody here seemed remotely bothered. You shook the thought away and turned towards the bed. Nami had left an outfit folded neatly on top of it. It was actually kind of cute.

A pair of short blue denim shorts sat beneath a fitted long-sleeved white shirt. The colours were brighter than anything you would've chosen yourself, but somehow they worked.

After two years on an island, it felt strange wearing something that wasn't stained, torn, or held together by pure stubbornness. You caught your reflection in the mirror and paused. The training had changed you more than you'd realised.

Your legs were toned from years of running across the island. Your waist looked smaller than you remembered. The muscles in your arms and stomach were subtle, but visible beneath the fabric. The shirt fit well. Maybe a little too well.

The neckline dipped lower than you would've chosen yourself exposing far too much cleavage, but at least the sleeves covered your arms. You decided that was a victory.

After getting dressed, you made your way back towards the deck, your hair still damp and your feet bare from sheer laziness.

The moment you stepped outside, you understood why Luffy had wanted to drag you up here.

The entire crew.. well, almost the entire crew was gathered along the railing. Luffy was nowhere to be seen.

Beyond the bubble surrounding the Sunny, dozens of glowing jellyfish drifted through the ocean. Their bodies shimmered with shades of blue and purple, casting soft reflections across the deck.

It was beautiful. You didn't join the others immediately. Instead, you moved to the opposite side of the ship and leaned against the railing, letting yourself enjoy the view.

The crew continued talking amongst themselves. You tried not to eavesdrop. You failed almost instantly.

"So where's she gonna sleep?" Usopp asked. "It's not like we have spare rooms lying around."

"She can stay with me anytime!" Sanji immediately volunteered.

"No." The response came from every woman on the ship simultaneously.

"We could clear out one of the storage rooms," Chopper suggested.

"Way too small," Franky replied.

A familiar voice cut through the discussion. "Luffy said she's staying." Zoro shrugged. "So she's staying." The conversation immediately stopped. "As for where she sleeps..." He glanced towards Franky. "We've got our own shipwright, don't we?"

Wait. You blinked. Luffy said I was staying? You hadn't spoken about that. Not once. The ocean seemed quieter suddenly. The voices around you faded.

A memory surfaced. Rayleigh. Sitting beside you on the beach. Watching the waves. His voice clearer now than it had been before.

“If you left tonight... what would you miss What would you look for first?”

That stubborn old man. A laugh almost escaped you. He hadn't been asking what. He'd been asking who.

Within an hour of arriving at Sabaody, you'd panicked because you couldn't find someone. You'd searched the crowds. Called his name. Used Observation Haki trying to locate him. A smile slowly formed.

"Luffy." The name slipped from your lips before you realised you'd spoken out loud. Barely outloud. You could barely call it a whisper.

"Huh?"

Your head snapped up. Luffy was standing several metres away holding enough food to feed a small village. The entire crew looked between the two of you. You hadn't even noticed him return.

"What happened?" Luffy asked. You stared.

He stared back. Completely oblivious. Of course. The idiot had somehow heard a single quiet mumble from halfway across the deck. Yet probably couldn't remember what he'd eaten yesterday.

Before you could answer, he wandered over and hopped onto the railing beside you, crossing his legs without a single concern for gravity.

"Oh yeah." He pointed at you. "Robin said I gotta ask you something."

You blinked. "What?"

Luffy folded his arms. "I told her I'd already decided months ago." He looked mildly offended. "But apparently that's not how it works."

The crew collectively sighed. You were beginning to understand why. Luffy looked directly at you.

"So." A pause. "You wanna come with us?" The question was so casual it almost didn't register. He tilted his head. "It'd be weird if you didn't."

You stared at him. He stared back. Completely serious. No grand speech. No dramatic invitation. No conditions. No hesitation. As if he'd already accepted the answer long ago. As if the only person who hadn't figured it out yet was you.

The realization hit all at once. For two years you'd worried about what came next. Where you'd go. What your future looked like. Whether you belonged anywhere at all.

Meanwhile, Luffy had apparently solved the problem months ago. Without telling you. A laugh burst from your chest. Then another. Soon you were laughing so hard your sides hurt.

Luffy looked increasingly confused. "What?"

You shook your head. Still laughing. Nothing. Nothing at all. You were just finally catching up. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you could practically hear Rayleigh laughing too.

Chapter 7: The Not so unknown Future.

Word count: 4.3k

Contents: Luffy X Traumatised!DevilFruitUser!Reader. Long&SlowBurn. Fluff. Angst. Eventual Romance&Smut. Strawhat Crew X Reader. SPOILER WARNINGS. Character Building&Growth. Long Read, Several Chapters.

Content Warning: Mention of Abuse. Brutal+Violent scenes targeted towards and against reader. Traumatic Events. Death of close ones. (Let me know if I’ve missed any!)

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

Chapters:

Chpt1 | Chpt2 | Chpt3 | Chpt4 | Chpt5 | Chpt 6 | Chpt 7 | Chpt 8 (Coming Soon) |

Chapter Summary: FILLER CHAPTER Your final goodbye to Rayleigh. As well as a rushed goodbye from Sabaody. Maybe you’re glad it all turned out to be a one big blur.

If you are wanting to get to the action feel free to skip out on this chapter, it’s a very specific Cannon Event chapter almost identical to the original. If you skip you will miss the offical goodbye of Rayleigh.

Sabaody was loud. That was the first thing you noticed. Not the giant mangroves stretching impossibly high into the sky. Not the bubbles drifting through the air. Not the hundreds of ships docked around the islands. The noise. After two years of nothing but monsters, waves and Luffy's snoring, the sound of civilization hit like a cannonball. People. Hundreds of them, talking, laughing, arguing, trading, simply living.

The small boat bumped gently against the dock. Luffy was gone before it had fully stopped moving. "WE'RE HERE!"

You watched him sprint down the dock with enough excitement to power the entire island. Some things never changed. A familiar sigh escaped beside you.

"You'd think he'd never seen people before." Rayleigh chuckled whilst stepping off the boat, You followed.

The wooden dock felt strange beneath your feet. Solid, Yet unfamiliar. Two years on an island had a way of making the rest of the world feel unreal. For a moment you simply stood there, Watching, listening. The scent of food drifted through the air. Laughter echoed from nearby shops. A bubble floated lazily past your face.

The world had kept moving while you were gone. You weren't sure why that surprised you.

"Stargazer." Rayleigh's voice pulled you from your thoughts.

You turned to face him, The old pirate smiled. Not the smile of a teacher, not the smile of a mentor. The smile of someone saying goodbye.

"You should probably go catch him."

You followed his gaze. Luffy was already halfway down the street arguing with a food vendor. You couldn't hear what was being said but judging by the vendor's expression… Luffy was definitely the problem. A laugh escaped you.

"And remember." Rayleigh folded his arms. "I won't be far." You looked back at him. "There's a certain old friend I'd like to visit while we're here." A knowing smile crossed his face.

For a moment neither of you spoke. The island breeze drifted between you. The harbor buzzed with life. You felt the mixture of anxiety and excitement building inside you. No turning back now. Rayleigh's words from the beach replayed in your mind.

If worse comes to worse, I won’t leave til you find your fuel.

A small smile tugged at your lips. You took a step forward. Then stopped. "Hey, Rayleigh?"

"Hm?"

Before you could overthink it, your body moved. You wrapped your arms around him, tightly. The old pirate froze completely. You couldn't help the laugh that escaped you. For a man who had fought alongside the Pirate King… He seemed remarkably unprepared for a hug. A moment later his arms wrapped around you in return, his grip was firm, a comforting squeeze.

"Thank you." Your voice came out quieter than intended. "For everything."

The old pirate was silent for a moment. Then his grip tightened slightly. "You did all the hard work yourself, kid."

You shook your head immediately. "No."

A small chuckle rumbled from his chest. When he finally pulled away, his smile had softened. "If you ever lose your way..." He paused. "...look up."

Your breath caught slightly. Rayleigh laughed.

"Not because I'll be there." He pointed towards the sky. "Because the stars always are."

The warmth in your cheeks returned instantly. "You planned that one, didn't you?"

"Absolutely."

You rolled your eyes. The old pirate looked far too pleased with himself. Then his expression softened once more. "Proud of you, Stargazer."

The words hit harder than expected. After being with him for the last two years it was apparent he had become the closest thing you’d have as a father figure. You opened your mouth, then closed it, and smiled. A real one "Thanks, old man."

Rayleigh laughed. You turned before he could see how much the words meant. He probably already knew. You took a deep breath then started walking, not towards the island, not towards the still unknown future, towards Luffy.

The idiot was now trying to explain why taking sample food wasn’t technically stealing. You sighed, some things really never change.

"OI, LUFFY! WAIT!"

His head snapped around instantly. A massive grin spread across his face and without hesitation within a blink of an eye he had started running in the opposite direction, you ran after him.

You finally caught up to him as he stopped suddenly leaving a trail of dust behind him as he skidded. His eyes fixed on a large hotdog stand. “Luff.” You tried to stop him far too late. He ran directly up to the stand grabbing a hotdog shoving into his face.

“Tastes so gooood.” Luffy let food spill from his mouth as he talked.

You immediately ran over to the clearly agitated owner of the stand. “Shit, I’m so sorry, here.”

You handed over enough berries for four hotdogs before quickly grabbing three more from the stand and shoving them into Luffy’s hands. “Luffy, you can’t just go about stealing. You’re already a wanted man. You’re meant to be keeping your head down.”

You sighed as he looked at you with a mouth stuffed full of hotdogs and simply shrugged. Grabbing his arm, you dragged him into a nearby clothing store. Half of you couldn’t wait to get changed out of the overly revealing white tank top and denim shorts. The other half knew Luffy needed fixing first. Your gaze drifted through the store before landing on a prank shop across the street. Perfect.

“Luffy, find something different to wear. Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be right back.” You immediately regretted those words the moment they left your mouth. Leaving Luffy alone was rarely a good idea. Still, you hurried across the street. After a few minutes of searching, you found exactly what you wanted. You placed a simple pair of glasses with a fake beard and mustache on the counter.

“Buying a present for your little brother?” the cashier asked cheerfully.

You smiled. “Yeah. Something like that.”

The moment the receipt touched your hand, you were already heading back. As soon as you stepped inside the clothing store, your eyes found Luffy. His grin widened instantly. That was never a good sign. Slowly, he pulled something from behind his back and shoved it into your face. You stared. What the fuck. A massive coat. Brown and white. Huge hood. Far too noticeable. Far too Luffy. You sighed. He stared at you, still grinning, rather hopeful.

You shifted your gaze between Luffy and the massive fugly coat he held. Pick your battles right? You sighed again. “Fine.”

His smile somehow grew wider. After paying for the coat and helping him throw on the ridiculous disguise, you handed him a quarter of the berries Rayleigh had given you and an oversized bag.

“Use the berries wisely. Fill the bag with supplies.”

Luffy looked down at the money. Then at the bag, Then back at you. “Aye aye, captain.” His free hand instantly shot into a salute.

You rolled your eyes. Rayleigh had specifically given you the money because he didn’t trust Luffy with it. After five minutes in Sabaody, you were beginning to understand why. “Try not to get caught.”

“No promises.”

You groaned. Then let him wander off. Trusting him wasn't the right word. Hoping was probably more accurate. Hoping the next time you found him, he'd have a bag full of supplies. Instead of a bag full of problems.

As you walked a fair distance behind Luffy you couldn’t help but take in the blissful atmosphere of where you now stood. The noise of the island surrounded you as you continued walking. The children laughed, and the parents chased after them, Merchants called from their stalls, Pirates tried.. and failed.. to look inconspicuous, Marines patrolled the streets in pairs, Musicians played cheerful songs while children danced nearby, Normal people, Doing normal things, Things you hadn’t seen in two years, The sight was strangely comforting.

A small ball suddenly rolled to your feet. You looked down, Then up, A group of children froze nervously, You smiled and gently rolled it back. Their faces lit up instantly, The giggling returned, You couldn’t help smiling. Children always managed to break through your guard, one of your many flaws. You continued through the crowd, Couples, Families, Workers, Pirates, Marines. Everyone blended together into one giant moving mass. A bubble drifted lazily past your face. You watched it for a moment. Then kept walking. The noise no longer felt overwhelming, just different.

A sudden thought crossed your mind, You should probably check on Luffy. You glanced around casually. Expecting to see a giant grin, or a giant problem, a giant bag maybe? Nothing. You paused, Your eyes searched again, Still nothing, The smile on your face faded.

“Luffy?” The name left your mouth quietly, No response, You took a few more steps, Scanning the nearby streets, Food stalls, Shops, Crowds, Nothing. The people around you suddenly felt closer, louder. Your heartbeat quickened. You could feel yourself getting warmer. Not because something was wrong but because you didn’t know if something was wrong.

“Luffy?” A little louder this time. Still nothing, You stopped. The realization hit harder than expected.

You hadn’t lost him once in two years. Not during storms, not during training, not during fights. And now.. Gone. You forced yourself to inhale. Observation Haki, Right, Use your Haki. Your eyes closed. Instantly thousands of voices flooded your mind. Thousands of heartbeats. Thousands of emotions. Too many. Way too many. Fuck. You pushed further. Searching. Scanning, tracking, Nothing.

Fuck. The panic began to rise. You opened your eyes, dropping the Haki immediately. The overwhelming noise vanished.

A hand suddenly landed on your shoulder. You jumped, turning in an instant. “Woah, calm down, Gazer.”

Relief hit you so hard your knees almost gave out. There he was. You smiled for a moment before realising what he had just called you. Your brows immediately furrowed as your arms crossed. Gazer? Had he really just stolen Rayleigh's nickname and shortened it?

"What?!" He blinked as you glared at him.

"Idiot." You let out a sigh.

"An idiot who's got a bag full of supplies." A confident grin instantly returned to his face. You looked behind him. Holy shit.

He actually did have a bag full of supplies, or at least what you hoped were supplies. The thing was enormous, hanging off his back like he was preparing to move house rather than buy a few necessities.

As if the universe itself was reminding you there was absolutely no way to hide Monkey D. Luffy. Pick your battles.. you reminded yourself as you let a deep exhale escape you as you turned around.

You walked alongside him, mostly to avoid being hit by the oversized bag whenever he inevitably forgot it existed. The two of you continued through Sabaody while you remained quiet, still trying to adjust to the atmosphere of the island.

As you walked, Luffy suddenly spoke. "Oops, didn't see ya there, sorry bout that, See ya."

You continued forward for a few more steps before a growling voice echoed behind you.

"GET BACK HERE."

Your breath hitched immediately. He was talking to Luffy. Both of you stopped. Instinctively, you took a step backwards, anticipating Luffy spinning around and accidentally knocking you unconscious with the giant bag. Surprisingly, he stayed exactly where he was. You remained just behind him, still well within arm's reach. Then again, everywhere was arm's reach when it came to Luffy. The thought made you smile despite yourself. Turning around, you finally got a good look at what had stopped him. Your expression immediately fell.

Uh… Fat Luffy? A large man stood in front of you, dressed almost identically to Luffy. Same red vest. Same blue shorts. Same straw hat. You blinked. Then blinked again. Surely you were hallucinating. A mumble escaped your lips as you watched the man dust himself off standing up.

"Not good... not laying low." Unfortunately, The large man started stomping towards Luffy, a gun already in his hand.

You took a slow breath, forcing yourself to remain calm while preparing for whatever happened next. The man cocked the gun and pressed it directly against Luffy's cheek. The gun itself didn't worry you. A bullet wasn't doing anything to Luffy. What worried you was attention.

Monkey D. Luffy getting recognised moments before reuniting with his crew.

You could practically see the newspaper headline already.

The raspy voice returned. "So whaddaya gotta say for yourself?"

He spoke with a noticeable lisp. "You can't tell me you didn't know who I was when ya crashed in ta me." Every word that came out of his mouth somehow made him more unpleasant.

You continued watching as the fake Straw Hat rambled on about reputation, respect, and other nonsense. Your attention drifted back to Luffy. Keep it cool, Luffy. His teeth were clenched tightly as he stared at the man's moving mouth. You recognised that expression.

He was trying. Trying very hard. You felt your own frustration beginning to build.

"But you can make it up to me... by kneeling. Beg for your life and I might feel generous." The ugly bastard chuckled.

You could hear the growl building in Luffy's throat despite his efforts to suppress it. At this point, even you wanted to kick the man. Several nearby onlookers began pleading with Luffy.

"Just apologise."

"Don't make things worse."

You barely heard them. Instead, your gaze wandered back to the fake Luffy. The resemblance was honestly ridiculous. Same red vest. Same blue shorts. Same scar beneath his eye. Just… Several sizes larger. You had to fight back a laugh at the contrast. Your eyes drifted back to the real Luffy.

The fake Straw Hat had now casually rested an elbow on top of Luffy's oversized brown-and-white coat hood, scruffing it around as if he owned the place. Your eye twitched. That coat had only survived ten minutes.

Whilst what appeared to be his crew, all somehow just as ugly as him, chuckled amongst themselves, you felt your fists clench. Your nails dug into your palms as you fought the urge to do something stupid.

“Now, if you don’t wanna be our personal punching bag, you’d best ask forgiveness. Kneel! Get down in the dirt!” The one wearing a ridiculous mask barked at Luffy.

Another with bright blue spiked hair immediately jumped in. “Forget your pride, otherwise you're gonna end up throwin' your life away. After all, our captain's trigger finger can be a little twitchy.”

Your nails dug deeper. Half of you was worried about your own reaction. The other half was worried about Luffy's.

“All right, look, I’m sorry.” You blinked. Luffy sounded completely calm. “Now I got somewhere to be.”

He gave a small nod in your direction before turning away. For a second you were actually impressed. You hesitated instead of following Luffy’s lead, something wasn’t right. Then you noticed the giant bag still strapped to his back. Oh.

As Luffy walked away, the oversized bag swung behind him and smacked directly into the fake Straw Hat, shoving him backwards. There it is. You almost laughed. The feeling that something was wrong immediately vanished. Of course that was what felt off. A year ago you might have missed it. Two years ago you definitely would have. Now your Observation Haki picked up on things without you even thinking about it. Rayleigh would probably be insufferably proud. The fake captain staggered backwards before immediately shoving his gun against..

your head.. what?! You let out a small squeak as you failed to miss any warning signs. Your body tensed as you froze not wanting to do anything stupid. You had no idea how quick these guys' reflexes were. And you certainly aren't bulletproof.

You shifted your focus ever so slightly to Luffy who was now also frozen in place. You can tell his heartbeat was rising. He met your eyes as he looked over his shoulder.

“Gonna beg now? I got ya beauty.” His sweat dripping body being that close to you, mixed with his voice had you forcing down a gag.

Luffy didn’t respond, he remained still, his fist now clenched similar to yours earlier. You the fake straw hat let out an angry huff.

The gun fired. Before you could move, a familiar pressure washed across the area. Heavy, Overwhelming, Instant. THUD! One after another, the fake crew collapsed. The fake captain hit the ground face first.

Silence. You stared, then slowly turned your head towards Luffy. His expression hadn't changed. You struggled to hold back a laugh.

“Just like training.” A smirk tugged at his lips.

The battle between you and your laugh was quickly lost as it burst past your lips. . “Yeah.” Just like training. The two of you continued walking as though nothing had happened. Which, considering the last two years, was probably accurate. After what felt like an hour of wandering through Sabaody, a familiar feeling brushed against your senses. Danger. Not strong. Not immediate. But enough to make you notice. You nudged Luffy with your elbow. He glanced over. Your eyes said enough. Luffy nodded once. Then immediately ruined the subtlety.

“Oh, it's you guys! Zoro! Sanji!”

You looked up. Your eye twitched. The two men standing ahead of you wore cheap wigs and oversized costumes that looked like they'd been assembled by a drunk child. One had bright green hair. The other blonde. You looked at them. Then at Luffy. Then back at them. No. Absolutely not. You'd only met the crew once, but even you knew these weren't them. Still, you kept quiet. Luffy seemed convinced. Against your better judgement, you followed. The further you walked, the worse the feeling became. Eventually the streets opened into a large gathering. Pirates filled the area. Cheering, Shouting and Swinging swords around. Your eyes immediately found the fake Straw Hat standing on a raised platform, arms crossed and grinning like an idiot. Dumbass

You couldn't hear everything he was saying. You didn't need to. The danger in your chest grew stronger. Instinctively, you stepped a little closer to Luffy. His gaze flickered towards you instantly. He noticed. Of course he noticed. As the crowns continued with war cries, a sudden movement drew your attention. Marines. Dozens of them. They quickly surrounded the crowd. You were much much shorter then the majority of the pirates before you, you could barely see anything. Purely relying on your Observation Haki. Then a gunshot. Chaos erupted. Pirates charged. Marines charged. Screams filled the air. Steel clashed. Bodies collided.

You and Luffy remained exactly where you were. Watching, a marine suddenly flew through the air covered in mud. You blinked. The marine disappeared. Your eyes followed the trail back. The mud was connected to a man. A man made of mud. You stared for a second.

What a weird start to the day. As you pondered about the beginning of your day Luffy's arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you firmly against him. Your confusion lasted exactly one second. His grip was tighter than normal. Almost protective. Slightly intimate. You looked up. Your stomach dropped. Luffy had gone pale. Completely pale. The ground rumbled beneath your feet. A sharp crackling sound echoed across the grove. You followed Luffy's gaze. A blinding light flashed amongst the crowd.

BOOM!. A loud explosion ripped through the air, sending dozens of pirates flying in every direction. The blast wave tore through the crowd like a hurricane. Luffy's voice immediately caught your attention.

"Pacifistas." His voice was low, Angry.

You heard distant voices somewhere behind you, but before you could focus on them, Luffy's entire demeanor shifted. "That fat gross guy was pretending to be me? Sanji and Zoro?"

A relieved sigh escaped you as colour finally returned to his face. "Fakes too, Luffy."

For a moment he simply stared. Then his shoulders relaxed. "Wow, this is blowin' my mind. We gotta get outta here." For once, you both agreed immediately.

His grip loosened and he started walking again, keeping you noticeably closer than before. The freedom lasted all of five seconds. A familiar surge of danger shot through your body.

"Luff.." Before you could finish, his arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you upwards. The ground beneath your feet vanished. BOOM! A massive explosion erupted exactly where the two of you had been standing moments earlier.

"That was close!" Luffy sounded entirely too cheerful for someone who had almost been blown up. His grip loosened as he adjusted his hat. The oversized coat and giant bag he'd been wearing weren't nearly as lucky, tumbling awkwardly onto the platform beside you.

"You almost blew up all my lunches! What did food ever do to you?!"

You couldn't help rolling your eyes. Typical Luffy. Below you, marines scrambled into position. One of them, larger than the others and apparently familiar with Luffy, barked out an order.

"PX-05! FIRE!"

The ground vibrated beneath your feet. That same mechanical charging sound echoed through the air. You watched the giant robotic men open their mouths simultaneously. Several lasers shot directly towards Luffy. He didn't even bother moving properly. His head tilted. One laser missed. Then another. Then another. "That all?"

You sighed. Definitely typical Luffy. His arm stretched out to the side. You already knew what was coming.

"Second Gear." The words slipped quietly from your mouth as steam began rising from his body.

His skin darkened slightly. His muscles tightened. The Pacifista opened its mouth again, charging another laser much faster than before. Luffy disappeared. The beam shot through empty air. Only then did your instincts scream. Danger. You twisted sideways on pure reflex as a stray laser passed where your head had been moments before. I really have to stop focusing on Luffy. It was the second time today that you were almost killed because you were too busy eyeing Luffy down. When you looked back up, Luffy was staring at the machine. Furious.

"You almost hit her!" The ground cracked beneath him. His fist came crashing down. The impact drove the Pacifista deep into the earth. A crater exploded beneath it.

"GUM-GUM... JET PISTOL!"

The machine sparked violently before erupting into a massive explosion. The shockwave rushed over you. Then silence. Luffy landed beside you, one hand holding onto his hat. He flashed you a grin. The same grin he'd worn a thousand times on the island. You tried to return the smile, before you could he had scooped you up, followed by the oversized bag.

"Oi! Luffy!” You yelled as vision flew around too late. you were tucked beneath one arm alongside the supplies. Apparently you ranked somewhere between lunch and emergency provisions. Luffy launched himself away laughing. The wind whipped through your hair as buildings blurred past. With each jump you felt your head smashing against Luffy’s side and the hurried wind. “Dizzyyy”. You mumbled whilst hitting Luffy on his leg. He didn’t respond, making you question if he even heard you. Before you had time to yell at him a familiar voice spoke from somewhere below you.

"LUFFY!" You looked down. Two men were sprinting towards you. Green hair. Blond hair. Swords. Cigarettes. Actual Zoro and Sanji. Finally, A few words were exchanged that you barely managed to follow as Luffy continued moving.

"You're number nine by the way," Zoro said, pointing at him.

"No body cares, would you give up on that!" Sanji immediately yelled back.

Apparently some things never changed. Sanji quickly informed Luffy that everyone was already waiting at the Sunny.

The Sunny?

You made a mental note to figure out what that was later. Currently you were far more concerned with the fact that you were still dangling horizontally under Luffy's arm. The island became a blur. People, Buildings, Shops, Bubbles. Everything rushed past. The dizzying atmosphere caused a painful pounding headache with his bounce and swing Luffy performed. You closed your eyes trying to orient yourself. Then suddenly.. Luffy skidded to a complete stop. Making your neck whip backwards. That's gonna hurt later. You didn't need to see his face to know exactly what expression he was making.

"RAYLEIGH!" The name echoed across the grove. You lifted your head, as much as possible in your overly embarrassing position. The old pirate stood atop a nearby hill overlooking the chaos below. His gaze immediately shifted from Luffy to you. The amused smile that followed told you everything. He was absolutely enjoying your current predicament.

"I came to check on you two," Rayleigh called down with a chuckle. "But it seems you have this under control." His eyes lingered on the way you were helplessly hanging from Luffy's arm.

"In fact, you're even stronger than I thought."

Luffy grinned.

"Finally time to see your friends. You've been waiting long enough."

"Thank you, Rayleigh! For real! You've done so much for me these past two years!"

Luffy practically screamed the words despite the fact Rayleigh could clearly hear him.

The old pirate laughed. "No need to get sappy on me. Just go."

Then Luffy inhaled deeply. You immediately closed your eyes. Here we go again.

"I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates! You hear me?!"

Rayleigh's smile widened. That alone was enough to answer enough. Luffy took off running again. Faster than before. You continued flopping around helplessly under his arm. Your eyes once again clenched closed trying to focus on anything but the relentless pounding in your head. As the distance between you and Rayleigh grew larger, Rayleigh's final words carried across the wind. You managed to pick up his words through the wind whipping passed your ears.

"Let nothing stop you from reaching the top!"

For some reason, the words felt meant for both of you. "He definitely spent hours thinking of that one." You laughed. Calmed your pounding head instantly by his words. Though it didn’t last long before Dizzyness came thundering back.

"Uh-uh." Luffy chuckled. Still running. Still grinning. Still charging headfirst towards the future, almost completely forgetting that you were in fact a living person not an emergency ration.

Next Chapter will be posted within hours of this one to make up for this Filler. Do you guys want Filler chapters like this or prefer large skips of events and content?

Chapter 6: Fuel for your dream is like Wind in your sails.

Word Count:

Contents: Luffy X Traumatised!DevilFruitUser!Reader. Long&SlowBurn. Fluff. Angst. Eventual Romance&Smut. Strawhat Crew X Reader. SPOILER WARNINGS. Character Building&Growth. Long Read, Several Chapters.

Content Warning: Mention of Abuse. Brutal+Violent scenes targeted towards and against reader. Traumatic Events. Death of close ones. (Let me know if I’ve missed any!)

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

Chapters:

Chpt1 | Chpt2 | Chpt3 | Chpt4 | Chpt5 | Chpt6 | Chpt7 | Chpt8 |

Chapter Summary: Rayleigh is forced to accept a new kind of training, one that was never meant for you or Luffy. A dream emerges with no sight of fuel, anxiety growing as you spend the final day on the island.

RAYLEIGHS POV

The days seemed to blend together. Wake up, Train, Fail, Sleep. Or at least attempt to. The routine repeated itself so many times that the stargazer stopped counting the days entirely. Rayleigh would arrive each morning just as the stars disappeared.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Then the same lesson would begin.

"Hit me." The answer never changed.

Miss. Miss. Miss.

"Again." The word had become more familiar than her own name.

At first she had treated the training like a challenge, Something to overcome, Something to solve. Every night she sat by the fire creating new plans, New attacks, New combinations, New ways to catch the old pirate off guard. Every morning Rayleigh dismantled them effortlessly.

By the second month she stopped creating plans.

By the third she stopped believing there was a solution.

The island itself had begun to feel different now, Colder, Larger, Emptier. The silence that once felt peaceful now felt suffocating, Even the stars seemed quieter.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the island, Luffy wasn't doing much better. The boy still trained, Still ate, a decreasing amount. Still fought, with weakening haki. But the energy that normally surrounded him had dulled. Stories ended halfway through. Conversations were held with nobody. Several times Rayleigh caught him talking before remembering he was alone.

One afternoon Rayleigh watched Luffy launch himself at a target, a simple exercise, One the boy had mastered months ago. Luffy missed, entirely, his fist flew right past the target as it barely dodged with a single step. The beast itself was thrown back by the way the boy had missed. Although enemies a few of the abnormally sized beasts had become to enjoy the fights that were used as training.

The old pirate frowned, Luffy frowned harder. "Again."

By the fourth month both had started going backwards, Not physically, Mentally, Emotionally. The confidence they'd built over two years seemed thinner somehow, as though something fundamental had been removed.

Neither complained. Neither understood what was happening. Neither realised the other was experiencing the exact same thing. Rayleigh did. And every day he became more concerned.

The fifth month was when Rayleigh stopped believing the problem would fix itself.

The old pirate sat alone overlooking the ocean. Watching the waves crash against the rocks. Thinking. What was he doing wrong?

He had trained pirates before, Many pirates, Strong pirates, Weak pirates, Idiots, Geniuses, People who listened, People who didn't.

Never once had he watched a student move backwards.

The stargazer should have improved, Instead she had become hesitant, Distracted, Exhausted.

Luffy should have improved, Instead he had become reckless, Impatient, Unfocused.

The separation was supposed to force independence. Instead it was breaking something.

Rayleigh found himself replaying every lesson he had taught, Every decision he had thought, Every conversation he had spoken, Searching for the mistake. Where was it, where was the mistake, what is causing this situation.. this mistake.

One evening he watched the stargazer swing, Miss. Again, Miss, Again, Miss. The frustration on her face looked familiar. Not because she'd shown it before, but because Roger had, years ago. Whenever he couldn't understand something. The thought made Rayleigh pause.

Roger, the old pirate, closed his eyes. Remembering, Remembering stories, Remembering laughter.

Remembering a drunken captain staring up at the stars and speaking about bonds nobody could explain. "The strongest bonds aren't made by blood, Rayleigh."

The words echoed through his memory, Shared dreams, Shared pain, Shared freedom.

Rayleigh opened his eyes. A long sigh escaped him. "No." The answer felt ridiculous, impossible. Yet every piece of evidence pointed towards it.

Maybe, just maybe the problem wasn't the training. The problem wasn't them. The problem… Might be him. For months he had tried teaching them how to stand alone. How to fight alone. How to live alone.

What if that was the wrong lesson? The thought lingered, refusing to disappear. The next morning Rayleigh made a decision.

One final test. If Roger was wrong, everything would continue as normal. If Roger was right… The old pirate wasn't entirely sure what he would do.

"Stargazer."

The girl looked up from the fire, eyes empty. The stars that used to fill her eyes hidden away.

“Meet me at the old training ground by noon.” Was all he said as he already started to walk back in the same direction he did almost every second night.

"Luffy."

The boy stopped mid bite, as he chewed his breakfast.

"Meet me at the old training ground after you finish your meal."

The old training ground hadn't changed, The same dirt, The same trees, The same broken rocks from countless fights. Only the people standing within it felt different.

Luffy arrived first. He had stopped before the meat stock finished, extremely unlike him as if he was anticipating something. Immediately sitting on the ground. Immediately complaining, immediately asking where his lunch was hiding. Rayleigh found the behaviour strangely reassuring.

Several minutes later another presence entered the clearing. The stargazer. The moment she stepped into the clearing, Luffy's head snapped towards her. The same happened in reverse. Neither seemed surprised to see the other. Neither said much.

"Hey."

"Hey."

That was it. Yet something shifted. Immediately. The old pirate noticed it before either of them. The tension that had become normal over the past months vanished. The exhaustion seemed lighter. The atmosphere itself felt different. More alive.

The realization made Rayleigh uncomfortable. "Right." The old pirate stood. Crossing his arms. "Hit me."

Both groaned. Simultaneously. Rayleigh ignored it. Luffy moved first, A punch. Rayleigh stepped aside. The stargazer followed, A kick. Rayleigh leaned backwards.

Miss. Miss. Just like always. Good. The old pirate relaxed slightly. Perhaps he had been overthinking things. Luffy attacked again. The stargazer moved at the same time. Something felt different. Not stronger. Not faster. Different. The air around him tightened. Not enough to hurt. Not enough to restrict him. just enough to notice. A strange pressure wrapped around his chest. His next breath caught unexpectedly. For the first time in years, Rayleigh found himself aware of his own breathing.

Rayleigh stepped left to avoid Luffy. Only to realise the stargazer had already adjusted. He shifted backwards. Luffy changed direction. His eyes narrowed. The movements weren't faster. They weren't stronger. Yet somehow every adjustment he made was already being answered. Not individually. Together. For a brief moment, the old pirate found himself reacting. Not predicting. Reacting. A fist brushed his shoulder. Rayleigh froze. Silence.

The strange pressure vanished. Just as suddenly as it had appeared. His lungs expanded fully once again. The sensation gone before he could properly understand it.

Luffy blinked. The stargazer blinked. Rayleigh slowly lowered his gaze. The fabric of his shirt had shifted. A faint mark sat on his shoulder. The two younger pirates looked at each other. Then back at him.

"...Did we get him?" The old pirate said nothing. "Rayleigh?" Concern began to creep onto both of their faces. Why wasn't he saying anything?

Because for the first time in months, he wasn't thinking about the attack. He was thinking about everything that came before it. The sleepless nights. The frustration. The failed lessons. The regression. The silence.

How the stars that sparkled in your eyes had slowly disappeared with each month.

How Luffy’s goal of becoming the king of the pirates was said out loud less and less. The way Rayleigh felt as both of their sparks slowly disintegrated in front of him and had caused him to rethink everything. And how quickly it had reappeared the moment they saw each other. The moment they stood beside one another. The moment the island felt alive again. His mind replayed the exchange. Again. And again. And again. Searching for the answer. The attacks hadn't changed. The speed hadn't changed. The strength hadn't changed. So what did?

The pressure against his lungs returned to his thoughts. That impossible feeling. Like standing before a creature far larger than himself. Like something unseen had briefly wrapped itself around the clearing. Watching. Waiting. Rayleigh frowned, no, that wasn't possible. The air couldn't do that. The atmosphere itself couldn't change. There was no Haki technique he knew capable of creating such a sensation. No Devil Fruit ability either. Yet he had felt it.

The old pirate stared at the two confused faces standing before him. A childish idiot. And a stargazer who still looked half asleep. Neither seemed aware that anything unusual had happened. Which somehow made it even more unsettling.

For months Rayleigh had searched for an answer. A flaw in their technique, a weakness in their Haki, a mistake in their training. There wasn't one. The answer had been standing in front of him the entire time. The lesson had never belonged to them. It belonged to him.

By the time Rayleigh had snapped out of his thoughts Luffy was already celebrating. Running around the clearing shouting about finally hitting the old man. He moved his gaze to you. The stargazer looked confused. As if she couldn't understand why Rayleigh had gone silent, concern still written all over her face. Neither understood. Rayleigh smiled, A genuine smile, The first in months.

"You two are impossible." The statement only confused them more. But made the concern distant itself. Not worried.. still confused.

Roger's voice echoed through his memory. "The strongest bonds aren't made by blood, Rayleigh." Shared dreams, Shared pain, Shared freedom. For years Rayleigh had assumed Roger was speaking philosophically. Like he often did after too much sake. Now he wondered if the old fool had understood something long before him. The old pirate looked between the two of them.

One swinging around trees, yelling in celebration, with a massive grin over his face. The other with a small closed smile pretending to not be watching him. Months apart, Both became weaker, One hour together, Everything returned. No. Roger wasn't entirely right. The strongest bonds weren't forged by blood. But they also weren't forged by freedom, Or dreams, Or pain, Those things only lit the fire. Trust was what kept it burning.

A laugh escaped Rayleigh. Small and Quiet, Almost disbelieving. For months he had tried teaching them how to stand alone. Only to discover their greatest strength came from standing together. "You stubborn old fool." The words escaped before he could stop them.

Luffy looked around. "Who?"

Rayleigh laughed. "An old friend."

END OF RAYLEIGHS POV

The separation ended that day. Neither you nor Luffy fully understood why. Rayleigh never explained. The old pirate simply stopped sending either of you away. And strangely… That was enough. The following weeks felt different. Lighter. Sleep returned, Not immediately, Not perfectly, But it returned. The nights that had once stretched endlessly now disappeared in the blink of an eye. You found yourself waking up rested again. Luffy stopped waking during the night. Stopped wandering around camp. Stopped staring into the forest as if he'd forgotten something important. The campfire returned too. Not the fire itself. The conversations. The endless stories. The pointless arguments. The races through the forest. The complaints. The laughter. The sparkle in your eyes grew with each night, the stars eventually shining as bright as before, glistening. Luffy’s dream he stopped hiding, saying it after every victory, saying it at least once throughout the campfire stories. His spirits had lifted. The island felt alive again. Training improved almost immediately. Not because either of you suddenly became stronger. Because you could focus again.

One afternoon Rayleigh watched as the two of you sparred. Luffy launched himself forward. You stepped aside. Grabbed his arm. Used his momentum against him. THUD! Luffy crashed into the dirt. The silence lasted exactly one second.

"You cheated."

You stared at him. "No."

"Yeah."

"No."

"Yeah."

Rayleigh sighed. The argument continued for another twenty minutes. The old pirate smiled into his tea. For the first time in months. Everything felt normal. The weeks passed. Then months. Time slipped through their fingers once again. The seasons changed. Storms came and went. The monsters became easier. The training became harder. The island slowly stopped feeling like a place they had been sent. And started feeling like home again.

One morning Rayleigh found himself watching the two of them from a distance. Neither noticed him. Both too busy arguing over breakfast. The old pirate smiled. Roger would've liked this.

The announcement came without warning. Which was exactly how Rayleigh liked doing things. The three of you sat around the campfire. The same campfire. The same clearing. The same island. The only difference was the people sitting around it.

"You've finished." The words were so casual that neither of you reacted.

Luffy continued eating. You continued staring into the fire. A moment passed. Then another.

Luffy blinked. "Huh?"

Rayleigh laughed. "Your training." The old pirate gestured between the two of you. ”It's finished."

The silence that followed felt strange. For years everything had revolved around training. Getting stronger, Learning, Surviving. Now there was nothing left. No next lesson, No next monster, No next goal. The realization settled heavily around the campfire.

"You mean..." Luffy sat up. "We're going back?"

Rayleigh smiled. “You're going home."

You couldn't help but grin at Luffy's reaction, even though your stomach was twisting itself into knots. "You're going home." The words replayed in your mind. Home. The conversation continued around the campfire. Luffy was already celebrating. Rayleigh was smiling into his tea. The atmosphere was warm, happy. You should have been happy too, instead, anxiety began to crawl beneath your skin. You forced yourself to smile, forced yourself to laugh, forced yourself to stay present. But eventually it became too much. Quietly, you excused yourself, Neither of them stopped you. You weren't sure if they hadn't noticed… Or if they had.

Your feet carried you towards the beach without thinking. The same beach where you had first arrived two years ago. The same beach where your training had begun. You lowered yourself onto the sand. Pulling your knees against your chest. Wrapping your arms tightly around trying to ground yourself. The waves rolled in and out, steady and calm. Unlike your thoughts.

Where was your home? Why weren't you happy? You had just completed two years of training. You had survived, You had grown stronger, You should have felt proud, Instead, your chest felt tight, Your breathing felt shallow. Tears burned behind your eyes, You blinked them away, Not here, Not now. That would be stupid.

But what were you supposed to do now? Luffy had somewhere to go. A crew was waiting for him. Friends, No, Family. He had a ship, A dream, A destination, A future.

A tear slipped free despite your efforts. Your voice came out as little more than a whisper. Unable to keep them inside.

"What am I supposed to do?" The words disappeared into the wind. "Where do I even go?" You stared down at the sand. "Even if I wanted to go back to the Whitebeard Pirates..." Your throat tightened. "It wouldn't be the same." The thing that had fueled you was gone. Gone for over two years. Would the crew even still be together? Would there even be a crew left? You laughed bitterly. "I don't have a ship." Another tear. "I don't have a family." Another. "I don't even have a dream." Your hands clenched. "Why don't I have a dream?"

A familiar presence settled next to you. You jumped, quickly wiping your face. Rayleigh sat down beside you as though he'd been invited. His arm rested gently across your shoulders. You leaned into it without thinking. The realization made you huff out a small laugh. Two years ago you would've punched him. "You heard everything, didn't you?" Your voice was quiet.

"Even the things you didn't say." Rayleigh chuckled. The sound was soft, Comforting. For a moment neither of you spoke. The waves filled the silence.

Then Rayleigh spoke again. "You said you don't have a dream." Your smile disappeared instantly. "So tell me." His voice remained calm. "What did?" You frowned. "What fueled it?"

The question hit harder than expected. You opened your mouth, closed it, opened it again. "I..." Nothing came out. Rayleigh waited patiently. "Ace." The answer slipped free before you could stop it. "Ace did." Your gaze dropped. "He was my dream."

"No." The response was immediate, firm and certain. You blinked. "He wasn't."

You stared at him. "He was the reason I kept moving."

"That's different." Rayleigh squeezed your shoulder gently. "A dream is where you're trying to go." His gaze drifted towards the ocean. "Fuel is what helps you get there." The words settled heavily. "Ace wasn't your destination." A small smile appeared. "He was the wind in your sails, so tell me, where were you sailing too?”

You swallowed hard. "I..." Rayleigh remained silent. Waiting for you to answer his previous question.

"When I was younger..." Your voice was quiet. Small. “I used to look up to the stars whenever things got bad, because no matter what happened,” You lifted your eyes to the darkening sky. “No matter where I was, they were always there, they always came back.” A shaky breath escaped you. “I used to spend hours looking for one, a special star, a star that would follow me no matter where I went.” Your gaze moved back down to your lap. “A star that I could always see, a star that could guide me, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find one that stayed, they all eventually got replaced and covered with darkness.”

Another sigh escaped you as you let your words free. “There wasn’t one. So.. I wanted to become one. I wanted people to look up and feel something, a star that could guide you no matter where you were.”

You looked back up to Rayleigh leaving a moment of silence as you thought your next words carefully.

“But I think that's changed.” The old pirate raised an eyebrow but remained silent.”I don’t want to just guide people anymore, I don’t want them to look up and only feel.” You felt yourself gulp breaking the sentence. “Something. I want them to feel what I feel right now.” You scanned Rayleigh's face, his eyebrow still raised.

“I want someone who’s scared to look up and feel safe, I want someone who’s lost to feel a path, I want someone who’s alone to feel like they're not.” You laughed softly,

“I want to create and become a star that gives people that same kind of comfort you do.”

For the first time all evening, Rayleigh looked genuinely caught off guard.

You continued before he could interrupt. “Not because it tells people where to go, or what to do, but.. Because it reminds them that wherever they’re going, whoever and whatever they’re up against.. that they’ll be okay, I want to leave behind my own constellation, that tells people they’ll never be alone as long as it shines, and it always will.”

The old pirate was quiet for a long moment. Then a smile slowly appeared beneath his beard. "That's a far better dream than the one you started with, Stargazer."

The squeeze on your shoulder intensified pulling you in closer. Rayleigh sighed.“ You really are one of a kind.” He continued before you could gather up a response.

“Ace fueled your dream, now the fuel has run out.” He paused for a moment as he felt you tense back up. “Fuel can run out, but a dream? A dream can’t.” He paused as he felt your gaze back on him, your eyebrows had furrowed at his words. “A real dream doesn’t change. But fuel?”

Silence followed as you waited in anticipation for him to fill his unfinished sentence. He didn’t, only making your eyebrows furrow more, a small crease lined between them. He watched your expression as your mind was filled with relentless thoughts and questions you didn’t have answers to yet.

His palm raised to his forehead as he sighed. “When was the last time you felt the fuel burn?” He paused as he looked directly at you. A soft and comforting tone returned. “When was the last time you hesitated?”

You could feel your heartbeat start to increase as the intensity in his questions grew. The silence he left between each one not helping your wandering mind. He shifted his gaze out to where the dark sky cut off the sea. His questions make you more and more restless. They were so simple. Why did you have to think so hard? What was he trying to say? Even more questions spiralled through the wind.

“When was the last time you felt yourself hiding your feelings.”

Before you could comprehend any of the other questions you felt yourself pick up on one instantly, having a response. “Tonight” You knew what he meant, you still couldn’t stop the childish response leaving you.

Rayleigh picked up on your surprised expression as he realised you couldn’t hold back the banter. “You call that hiding your feelings?.. I followed you for a reason” a small amused gruff escaped him.

He finally seemed to take a deep breath in, clearly preparing himself for the final question.You felt your whole body tense as he took another breath in, his demeanor instantly shifted, still comforting, still reassuring but serious.

“If you left tonight, what would you miss? What would you look for first?”

You didn’t respond to his question. He didn’t force it either, he simply held you for a while til you managed to completely calm your anxiety. It was still there but you didn’t feel like collapsing in a pool of your own tears anymore.

“If worse comes to worse, I won’t leave til you find your fuel.” His words soothed your thoughts even more.

Eventually returning to the campsite. When you returned you felt a sudden surge of panic. Rayleigh must have felt it rolling off you as he quickly broke the silence. “Oh, I sent Luffy off for some very specific flowers.” Your gaze lifted to Rayleighs.”He won’t be back for a while.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you realised what Rayleigh meant. Poor Luffy. You rested down on your rock, unnaturally grateful that Luffy wasn’t there. It allowed you to think, without any distractions. You let the questions from earlier replay. One question after another. Many memories resurfaced. The questions finally had an answer, so why were you still confused, why did nothing connect.

“Hey, what's wrong?” Luffy's voice cut through your thoughts, you lifted your site to watch him running quickly over to you. Placing a hand on your curled up knee.

You didn’t realise you had your tears freely flow, You blinked whilst staring at Luffy with almost begging eyes. Please don’t push me, Please don’t push me. I'll collapse again.

"Hungry?" You shook your head. But glad he got the hint.

"Cold?"

A smile appeared on your face. "A little."

The tension instantly left his shoulders. Without hesitation he dropped beside you. Throwing an arm around your shoulders. Pulling you closer. This was new. You had expected him to use your shoulder as a pillow, Not this. His warmth wrapped around you instantly, Comfortable, Safe, Familiar. Within minutes his breathing slowed, Then came the soft snoring. You laughed quietly. The stars above were beautiful. As beautiful as they'd always been. Sleep found you quickly that night. One thing replaying throughout your dreams. ‘If worse comes to worse, I won’t leave til you find your fuel.’

The following morning arrived quicker than expected. You took a deep inhale trying to capture the last air of the island before you stepped onto the smallish boat. The boat cut smoothly through the ocean. The island growing smaller with every passing minute. Luffy stood at the front. Excited as ever. Blabbering about how much his crew must have changed, and how excited he was to show them how strong he had become. You sat closer to the middle. Watching the horizon. Watching the past slowly disappear and the unknown future coming closer and closer.

Rayleigh remained silent. Content simply watching. Then finally. After almost a week. The islands appeared. Sabaody.

The old pirate smiled. "Well." He stood. Brushing off his coat. "This is where I leave you."

Neither of you spoke immediately. The islands grew larger. Closer. More real. The training was over. The waiting was over. The next chapter of your lives sat directly ahead. And for the first time in two years. The future no longer felt distant. It felt close enough to touch.

Let me know how you liked the POVs, the Poll was so close so I have decided I’ll mix in both POVs and dialogue!

LUFFY X READER Is coming along very nicely.

I will be posting them tonight, or tomorrow morning. One last question before I can continue is…

This will help me massively, after all I want to write something which you guys enjoy reading!!

I would greatly appreciate a repost! Helps me get the question out a lot quicker which means I can start writing the next chapters sooner!!

Chapter 5: The Change

Word Count: 4k

Contents: Luffy X Traumatised!DevilFruitUser!Reader. Long&SlowBurn. Fluff. Angst. Eventual Romance&Smut. Strawhat Crew X Reader. SPOILER WARNINGS. Character Building&Growth. Long Read, Several Chapters.

Content Warning: Mention of Abuse. Brutal+Violent scenes targeted towards and against reader. Traumatic Events. Death of close ones. (Let me know if I’ve missed any!)

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

⬅️ Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ➡️

Chapter Summary: Something changes in Rayleigh's eyes, something that cannot be called a coincidence anymore. It's coming up to the end of their training together. Rayleigh decides to test his theory.

The old campfire crackled softly. You, Luffy, and Rayleigh sat in the same places you had a year ago. A whole year. The thought still felt strange. Somewhere along the way you had stopped counting the days. Time had slipped by so naturally that it was difficult to believe an entire year had passed. A year without Ace. A year with Rayleigh. A year with Luffy. The silence around the fire wasn't uncomfortable. It was thoughtful. Peaceful.

Rayleigh's voice eventually broke it."For the first month on this island, you wouldn't sit within ten metres of either of us." His gaze settled on you. Your shoulders immediately tensed. "You disappeared every chance you got." The fire crackled softly between his words. "You refused to talk about Ace." Your eyes lowered slightly. "You refused to use your Devil Fruit." A long breath escaped the old pirate. His expression softened. "And you never smiled." Silence settled over the camp.

"You didn't." Luffy's voice was quiet. You looked up. He was staring at you. Not teasing, not joking, simply remembering. "You never smiled." The words seemed to leave his mouth before he realised he'd spoken.

Your chest tightened. If Luffy remembered... Then it must have mattered. Luffy forgot most things.  

Rayleigh's attention shifted. "And you."

Luffy immediately pointed at himself. "Me?"

"You couldn't sit still for more than thirty seconds."

A laugh escaped you before you could stop it. "He still can't."

"True." Rayleigh nodded immediately.

"I so can!" Luffy crossed his arms defensively.

The action only made both of you laugh harder. For a moment the atmosphere became light again. Comfortable. Then the laughter faded. Rayleigh leaned back against the log behind him. "You were angry." His gaze settled on you. Then shifted."You both were." The firelight danced across his face. "Now look at yourselves." Neither of you spoke. "You argue like siblings."

"No we don't."

"Yeah we don't."

The replies came instantly. Simultaneously.

Rayleigh burst into laughter. You looked toward Luffy. Luffy looked toward you. Both are equally confused.

"You did it again."

"What?"

"What?"

Again.

The exact same tone, the exact same expression, Rayleigh laughed even harder. "You see?" Neither of you did.

Which only seemed to make it funnier. Eventually the old pirate shook his head and wiped a tear from his eye. "A year ago, neither of you could bear the thought of the future." His voice became quieter. Thoughtful. "You spent every day looking behind you." The fire crackled softly. "Now..." A small smile appeared. "Now you've stopped counting the days."

Silence followed. Neither you nor Luffy had a response. Because he was right. Somewhere between the monsters, the training, the campfires, the arguments. the laughter. The island had stopped feeling like a prison. And somehow... It had become home.

For a while, none of you spoke. Eventually Rayleigh shifted against his log and let out a tired groan. "We're sleeping here tonight." His words sounded half-asleep already. Before either of you could respond, the old pirate rolled onto his side and promptly fell asleep.

You stared at him for a moment. Then stood, instinctively, your feet carried you toward the same rock you had chosen on your very first night. The same rock Rayleigh had just reminded you about. At least ten metres from the fire, ten metres from Luffy, ten metres from everyone. The cold breeze bit at your bare arms. You sat down and pulled your knees closer to your chest. The campfire felt much smaller from here. Much weaker. Another gust of wind swept across the clearing. You shivered. Your eyes wandered toward the fire. Rayleigh was already asleep. Luffy lay on the opposite side, stretched out comfortably beside the flames, warm, comfortable. You looked away. Then another icy breeze hit. Your resolve immediately weakened.

"You comin' over here or are ya gonna freeze to death?"

You blinked. Luffy had lifted his head slightly. One eye open. Looking directly at you. His hand lazily gestured toward the empty space beside him. You didn't even hesitate. The moment the invitation was offered, you accepted it. Crossing the distance, you lay down beside him, making sure he remained closest to the fire.

You didn't want him regretting the offer later, besides... Between the fire and the ridiculous amount of heat Luffy somehow generated, you'd be fine. You closed your eyes, then froze, A familiar warmth settled against your chest, your heartbeat immediately sped up. This was different. usually Luffy moved closer. usually Luffy stole your shoulder. Usually Luffy ended up using you as a pillow. You had never been the one to move first. Before you could think too much about it, Luffy suddenly shifted. An arm wrapped around your waist, you barely had time to react before he rolled, the world tilted. Then stopped. You found yourself closer to the fire. Lying on your side. Luffy pressed comfortably against your back. His arm remained loosely around your waist. Not trapping you, just holding you there.

"Your body's freezing." His voice was soft, sleepy. You felt his breath brush against the back of your neck. Goosebumps instantly spread across your skin. A few seconds later, Snoring, right on schedule.

A small smile tugged at your lips, of course. Not long after, your eyes closed. Thousands of stars filled the sky above, waiting, calling. Yet for the first time in a long while, they didn't feel like the thing filling the empty space inside your chest. Luffy's warmth had taken their place. And with that comforting thought, sleep finally found you.

You woke up later than normal, Luffy was still wrapped around you, as you gaze around the campsite you noticed something. Rayleigh was gone, a small surge of panic immediately built in your chest. Rayleigh never disappeared, not without saying something. Carefully, you lifted Luffy's arm from around your waist and slipped out from underneath him. Following the faint footprints left in the damp earth, you made your way through the forest.

You found him sitting alone on the beach, watching the ocean, the waves rolled in and out peacefully. Rayleigh didn't look at you, he had already sensed your arrival. "No training today."

Your eyebrows lifted slightly. "No training?"

"No training." You stared at him suspiciously. A day without training felt almost impossible, almost wrong. Rayleigh simply smiled. For once, neither of you argued. A break felt like a holiday.

When you returned to camp, Luffy was already awake. He was sitting beside the fire, looking far less relaxed than normal, his arms wrapped aorund his legs that were pulled upwards to his chin, it reminded you of a scared child. The moment he spotted the two of you, relief visibly washed across his face.

You couldn't help but smile. "No training today."

Luffy blinked, then blinked again. "Really?" You nodded. A grin immediately split across his face.

The rest of the day felt strange. Not because anything happened but because nothing did. Rayleigh followed along quietly as you and Luffy wandered through the island, Fishing, Exploring, arguing over absolutely nothing. The old pirate spent most of the day watching, observing. You assumed he was enjoying the break as much as the two of you were.

A sudden tug pulled at Luffy's fishing rod. The idiot wasn't paying attention, he'd become distracted by some strange animal wandering through the trees. Without thinking, you grabbed the rod before it could disappear into the water, slowly reeling it in. By the time Luffy finally looked back, a fish was dangling from the line.

"Huh." He stared at the fish. Then at you. "How'd that happen?"

A smirk tugged at your lips, you shrugged. Luffy accepted that answer immediately.

As the sun began to set, you packed up your things, two fishing rods, a bucket full of fish, another bucket full of bait. Far too much to carry comfortably, you could barely see your own feet beneath everything which became a problem, fast. Your foot slipped, everything flew upwards, the world tilted. You closed your eyes, waiting for the impact. It never came, a familiar arm wrapped around your waist. Luffy had caught you before you hit the ground. The buckets, the rods, the fish, everything was still falling. Without thinking, you flicked your fingers upward. A soft constellation burst into existence above you. The falling objects landed harmlessly against the glowing stars, floating for a moment before gently settling onto the ground. Luffy stared. You stared. Then both of you looked at the fish.

"That would've sucked."

"Yeah." A very intelligent conversation. Luffy stood up and immediately grabbed both buckets. You collected the remaining gear, you continued the walk back to camp. Neither of you thought anything of it. 

Rayleigh did, from where he stood further back, his gaze lingered on the two of you. Thoughtful, curious, almost concerned. As you continued walking you noticed Rayleighs presence getting smaller with each step. You looked back for a moment to see him idle, not moving, almost frozen. "You okay?"

The old pirate blinked,  then smiled. "Just thinking." And with that, he continued walking.

For the next week, every morning started the same. With Rayleigh saying, "No training Today." The week passed surprisingly fast.

At first, neither you nor Luffy had known what to do with yourselves. Years of training had turned waking up sore and exhausted into a normal part of life. Having nowhere to be and nothing trying to kill you felt strangely unnatural. Not that either of you complained. The days became filled with fishing, exploring, racing each other through the forest, and arguing over things neither of you could remember an hour later.

Rayleigh rarely joined in, instead, he watched. Sometimes from the campfire, sometimes from a nearby tree, sometimes from so far away you only knew he was there because Observation Haki picked up his presence. The old pirate seemed content simply observing. The longer the week went on, the stranger that became. Still, you didn't think much of it. The week ended the same way it began. Peacefully.

You woke to the familiar sound of crackling fire, the sky was still dark, the stars barely visible above the trees. Rayleigh was already awake, sitting beside the fire, waiting. Luffy was still asleep. For once, you sat down beside the old pirate. The warmth of the fire immediately chased away the morning chill. For a while, nobody spoke.

Then Rayleigh finally broke the silence. "Break's over."

You sighed. Luffy groaned without even opening his eyes. 

The old pirate chuckled. "Training starts again today." That part wasn't surprising, what came next was.

"Luffy, stay here." 

One eye opened. "Huh?"

Rayleigh stood. His gaze shifted toward you. "Stargazer." The nickname pulled your attention away from the stars overhead. "With me." You frowned, that was unusual. Normally training involved all three of you. Neither you nor Luffy ever questioned him. Rayleigh had always had strange methods, this was probably another one. At least that's what you told yourself.

The further you walked, the quieter the island became. The familiar sounds of camp slowly disappeared behind you, no crackling fire, no complaints about breakfast, no loud voice shouting about becoming King of the Pirates, Just silence. Hours passed, the sun climbed overhead. Then slowly began to descend. By the time Rayleigh finally stopped, the sky was already beginning to darken. You stared at the small clearing in front of you, a pile of logs, a water source nearby, enough space for shelter, a campsite.

"Build."

You looked at Rayleigh. "Build?"

"A camp." The old pirate folded his arms. "You know how."

You did. That wasn't the problem. The problem was you couldn't figure out why. By the time night arrived, a fire crackled in the centre of the clearing. A shelter stood nearby. Crude, but functional. You sat beside the flames, proud of your work despite your confusion. 

Rayleigh nodded approvingly. Then turned away. "You'll be staying here for a while."

Your stomach dropped. "What?" The question escaped before you could stop it.

Rayleigh paused. Only briefly. "I'll return tomorrow morning." The old pirate looked toward the dark forest ahead, then back at you. "Get some sleep." And with that, he left. Leaving you alone with the fire. Alone with the silence. Alone with thoughts you suddenly wished weren't so loud.

Night fell, the campsite felt wrong. You sat beside the fire you had built yourself, staring into the flames. The fire crackled, the trees swayed, the stars filled the sky. everything looked normal. Yet something felt off. You couldn't put your finger on it. The silence felt heavier somehow. The forest felt bigger, colder. You frowned and shifted closer to the fire, still cold.

You eventually lay down. Closing your eyes, waiting, nothing. You opened one eye, then the other. The stars were still there. The fire was still burning. You sighed. Maybe you just weren't tired. Hours passed, still awake.

You sat up, annoyed. The stars usually helped. Looking at them normally settled your mind. Tonight they didn't, not even a little. You glared upwards. The stars glared back, unhelpful, pitiful. By the time the sky began to lighten, you had managed maybe an hour of sleep, maybe, you weren't entirely sure.

Day one. Rayleigh was already waiting. "Morning." You looked horrible. You knew it. Rayleigh knew it. The old pirate was simply polite enough not to say it.

"Morning."

"Sleep well?"

You narrowed your eyes. "No."

The training began immediately. "Hit me." You groaned. Rayleigh smiled. The entire day followed the same pattern.

Punch. Miss. Kick. Miss. Devil Fruit. Miss. Everything missed. "Again." The same word repeated after every failed attempt. Hours later Rayleigh finally left. You remained in the clearing. Staring at the spot where he'd been standing. Annoyed. Exhausted. Frustrated.

Night came. Even though you were completed drained from the day of relentless training. Sleep didn't.

Day two. The second day was worse.

Day three. The third day somehow managed to be even worse. You found yourself doing strange things. Walking back to the edge of the forest. Listening, waiting, for what? You weren't sure. You kept expecting to hear something, a laugh, a complaint, some ridiculous argument about food, nothing came.

Day four. By the fourth day, you had started talking aloud. Mostly to yourself. Sometimes to the stars. Once to a tree. The tree wasn't very conversational.

Day five. The fifth day was when Rayleigh finally decided to say something. "You look terrible."

You stared at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

You swung. He dodged.

"Again."

You swung harder. He dodged again.

"Again."

A vein twitched in your forehead. "You're enjoying this."

"A little."

You hated him.

Day seven. Day seven arrived. You were waiting in the clearing before Rayleigh got there. The old pirate stopped. Looking you over. Dark circles, messy hair, half-asleep expression. The appearance of somebody being slowly tortured.

"You're not sleeping." It wasn't a question.

You shrugged. "Been busy." A complete lie. You stopped trying to come up with new strategies three nights ago.

"Stargazer." Rayleigh sighed under his breath. The nickname sounded strangely disappointed.

The training continued. You felt slower, more predictable, everything felt off, like your body wasn't working properly.

Day ten. Failed.

Day fourteen. Failed.

Day twenty-one. Failed.

The frustration continued growing. The exhaustion continued growing. And the worst part? You still hadn't figured out why.

Far away on the opposite side of the island… Luffy wasn’t having it any easier.

Rayleigh’s POV - 

Rayleigh found himself waking early and wandering toward the beach.

The old pirate settled himself on the sand, listening to the steady rhythm of the waves. A week-long break had been on his mind for some time now. Both of them had made it past the one-year mark. A reward seemed appropriate.

He sensed your presence before your footsteps reached him.The conversation was short. Simple. No training. For once neither of you argued.

The first day of the break was uneventful. At least it should have been. Rayleigh spent most of it observing from afar. Watching. Listening. The same way he always did. The two of you fell back into your usual routine almost immediately. Arguments. Competitions. Laughter. The kind of nonsense that only made sense to the people involved. Several times he found himself smiling despite himself. The island felt lighter when the two of you were together.

Fishing had been his suggestion. After a year of surviving almost entirely on meat and whatever fruit happened to be growing nearby, a change seemed necessary. Neither of you had ever fished before. Which made the results surprisingly impressive. Eight fish by sunset. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Rayleigh watched from the shade of a nearby tree. A tug pulled at one of the fishing lines. Luffy didn't notice. The boy had become distracted by some strange creature climbing through the forest canopy. Before the rod could disappear into the ocean, you leaned over and caught it. Slowly reeling the fish in. 

Luffy only looked back once the fish was already dangling in the air. "Huh." The old pirate chuckled quietly. She just saved his dinner.

The rest of the trip continued normally. Or what had become normal. That was the problem. As the sun began to set, both of you packed up your equipment. Two rods. Two buckets. Far too much for one person to comfortably carry. Rayleigh watched you gather everything anyway. The old pirate sighed. "That won't end well."

Your foot slipped. The buckets flew into the sky The rods followed. For a split second everything seemed suspended in the air. Rayleigh's gaze shifted toward where you would land. Only You never did. Luffy had already caught you. As if he'd expected it. As if he'd known.

The old pirate frowned. Then your Devil Fruit activated. A soft constellation bloomed overhead. The falling equipment landed harmlessly amongst the stars. Floating. Settling. Safe.

Neither of you reacted. Not really. Luffy simply picked up the buckets. You picked up the rods. Then continued walking. As if nothing unusual had happened. As if the entire sequence was perfectly ordinary.

Rayleigh remained where he stood. Watching. Thinking. The fish. The fall. The constellation. The catch. One incident meant nothing. Two could be coincidence. Three...  He thought back to the day he forced you both to collect sticks adding countless more coincidences. The thought made him uncomfortable.

His gaze lingered on the two figures walking ahead. Luffy carrying both buckets. You carrying the rods. Neither speaking. Neither looking at the other. Yet somehow moving as if they already knew what the other would do. Comfortable. Relaxed. Natural. Far too natural. 

"It can't be coincidence." The words escaped under his breath. Not anymore. He'd seen too many examples. Most troubling of all, neither of you seemed aware of it. The synchronization only appeared when your guards were down. When you stopped thinking. When you were simply... Yourselves. For the first time in months, Rayleigh found himself wondering if he should test his theory. And for the first time in months... He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

Rayleigh had expected resistance, questions, arguments, at the very least a complaint. Instead, the stargazer had simply nodded and begun building, that should have reassured him. It didn't.

The old pirate returned to the original campsite shortly before midnight. Luffy was awake. Not unusual. The boy often stayed awake talking long after he had fallen asleep. What was unusual was the silence, no stories, no complaints, no impossible dreams being shouted into the night sky. Just silence. Luffy sat beside the fire poking it with a stick, the flames jumped, the boy sighed, poked it again. Sighed again.

Rayleigh sat down opposite him. "Can't sleep?"

Luffy shrugged. "Not tired." A lie. A terrible lie. The boy looked exhausted.

Interesting. 

Day One. The following day confirmed nothing, it all appeared normal. Apart from slightly concerning atmosphere that appeared to surrounded both of them during training. 

Day Two. The second day confirmed very little.

Day Three. The third day made Rayleigh uncomfortable. The stargazer was slower. Not physically, mentally, her attacks had become predictable, hesitant. The confidence she had spent that last year rebuilding seemed thinner somehow, not gone. Just... Distant. Worse still, she wasn't sleeping. Rayleigh could see it in her eyes, the dark circles, the delayed reactions, the frustration growing beneath the surface.

"You're distracted."

Her fist stopped mid-swing. "No I'm not."

"You're proving my point." The glare he received was almost worth the risk. Almost.

Meanwhile, Luffy wasn't doing much better. The boy still trained, still fought, still ate enough food to feed a small village. But something was off. He was quieter, not silent. Nothing short of death would accomplish that, but quieter. He stopped talking halfway through stories, lost focus during meals. Sometimes found himself staring into the forest for no apparent reason. Waiting, for what? Rayleigh wasn't entirely sure. Though he suspected he knew.

By the end of the first week, the old pirate stopped pretending the changes weren't there. The evidence had become impossible to ignore. Separate them, both deteriorated, not dramatically, not enough for either of them to notice, but enough for him to see.

The second week was worse. The stargazer stopped sleeping altogether. Luffy started waking during the night. Both became increasingly irritated, increasingly distracted, increasingly predictable.

The connection wasn't making them stronger, at least not directly. It was stabilising them, grounding them. without either one realising it.

One evening, after leaving the stargazer's camp, Rayleigh climbed one of the island's cliffs. From there he could see both campsites. Tiny fires burning in the darkness. Miles apart. Yet somehow they felt connected. The old pirate folded his arms, thinking, remembering. 

Roger. There had been a night years ago. Long before the Pirate King. Long before Laugh Tale. Just another evening aboard the Oro Jackson. The crew had been celebrating some ridiculous victory Roger had insisted was worth three days of drinking. Everyone had eventually passed out. Everyone except Roger. And Rayleigh. The two had sat beneath the stars sharing a bottle of sake. Roger had been unusually quiet. Thoughtful, the kind of thoughtful that usually meant he was about to say something absurd. 

"Rayleigh."  "Hm?" "You ever wonder if some people are meant to meet?"  Rayleigh remembered laughing."That's not very pirate-like."  Roger laughed too. Then shook his head. "Not fate." His gaze remained fixed on the stars. "Something else."

Roger spoke for hours that night. Stories he claimed he'd heard during their travels. Ancient stories. Stories older than the World Government. Older than the Great Age of Pirates.

Stories about people whose wills became so intertwined that separating them was like tearing apart two halves of the same thing. People who could cross oceans and still feel when something was wrong. People who fought better together than they ever could apart. People who understood each other without words.

Rayleigh remembered dismissing most of it as drunken nonsense. Roger was many things. Sensible wasn't always one of them. Yet one sentence had always remained with him. Even after all these years.

"The strongest bonds aren't made by blood, Rayleigh." "They're forged by shared dreams." "Shared pain." "Shared freedom."

At the time, Rayleigh hadn't understood. Maybe Roger hadn't either. Now he wasn't so sure. Now he was watching two people slowly unravel simply because they weren't near each other. Neither understood why. Neither even realised it was happening. Yet every day the evidence became harder to ignore.

Another memory surfaced. A smaller one. One he hadn't thought about in years. Later that same night, after far too much sake, Roger had started rambling about some ancient legend he'd found amusing. Something about the Sun and the Stars. Two powers said to mirror one another. One bringing freedom. The other guiding those lost in darkness. Ancient texts claimed they were never meant to exist at the same time. That whenever one appeared, the other belonged to a different era. A different generation. A different age entirely. Rayleigh remembered laughing. Even Roger had struggled to keep a straight face.

"Sounds dramatic." "Right?" Roger had laughed. "Imagine being unlucky enough for that to happen." 

The memory made a small smile tug at Rayleigh's lips. Ancient stories. Nothing more. The world was full of impossible legends. Most of them were nonsense. His gaze drifted toward the distant campfires. One flickered softly. The other answered moments later. The smile faded.

No. The old pirate shook his head. There was no point dwelling on stories like that. The stargazer possessed a Devil Fruit connected to stars. That was all. And Luffy... Luffy was simply Luffy. A childish, strong-minded rubber boy.

The thought was dismissed almost immediately. Filed away beside every other ridiculous tale Roger had ever told him. Yet as Rayleigh continued staring at the two distant campfires, he found himself wondering if his captain had been right about one thing. Not the Sun. Not the Stars. But the bond. And for the first time since Roger's death... He wasn’t sure what to think.

Chapters:

Chpt1 | Chpt2 | Chpt3 | Chpt4 | Chpt5 | Chpt6 | Chpt7 | Chpt8 |

Chapter 4: Stopped Counting

Word Count: 3.5k

Includes: Luffy X Traumatised/Devilfruituser Reader, Long and slow burn. Fluff, Eventual angst, possibly Romance and Smut. Eventual Strawhats x Reader. Brutal and violent scenes targeted both towards and against reader. Death of close ones. Traumatic events. Character building.

————————————————————————————————

⬅️ Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ➡️

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

Chapter Summary: Between training, campfires, and endless arguments over food, you and Luffy have settled into a life neither expected to find. But when Rayleigh declares a rare day off, the old pirate finds himself reflecting on just how much the two have changed and noticing things neither of them can see. Sometimes the biggest changes happen so slowly you forget they happened at all.

It was coming up to a year of intense training. Neither of you noticed. The entire thing had become normal. The random monsters Rayleigh threw at you, the lectures he drilled into your heads, the countless nights spent by the campfire talking about everything and nothing. 

The three of you had become family. No more awkwardness. No more unspoken secrets. Just freedom. You and Luffy had even started sparring against each other on some days instead of training against monsters. Rayleigh claimed it was a good way to get the competitive nature out of your systems so you could focus on learning rather than simply trying to beat each other.

You slowly walked down the dirt path winding through the forest.

One silent step after another. Fresh air filled your lungs as you focused your senses. Your eyes followed the forest walls, searching the shadows for anything that didn't belong. You let your hearing wander through the silence, turning it into sound. Bushes rustling in the wind. Faint crickets hidden amongst the trees. The countless creatures living within the forest going about their day. With each breath, individual scents became easier to distinguish. Smoke from the distant campsite. Salt carried inland by the sea breeze. Fish.

You lowered yourself onto one knee and pressed a hand against the dirt beneath your feet. Feeling and Listening. Waiting for vibrations. Waiting for movement. Waiting for anything unusual. Nothing. No metallic taste of adrenaline. No blood. No danger. Just calm.

A weak breeze wrapped around your back, pushing your torn tank top forward slightly. The bushes surrounding you became angry. Small creatures scattered deeper into the forest. Something Scared them. Disturbed dust particles drifted into your mouth, stealing away the last traces of moisture. As the breeze grew stronger a familiar scent hit you. You remained still and focused your gaze. A shadow flickered through your peripheral vision. A confident smirk formed across your lips.

Found you.

In one swift movement you pushed yourself upright. You knew he was coming. Not yet... The vibrations beneath your feet strengthened. Not yet... Closer. Not yettt... Now. You stepped aside and stuck your foot directly into the path where you had been standing moments earlier.

THUD.

"Damnit!" Luffy's voice echoed through the forest as he crashed face-first into the dirt.

You immediately burst into laughter. As you watch Luffy slowly push himself upright, brushing dust and leaves from his clothes. There was no reason to hold back your laughter anymore. Not with Luffy. Not with Rayleigh.

You stretched your hand fowards pointing towards Luffy mocking him, with your eyes now closed as your laugh scared the birds that rested nerby. You felt yourself begin to catch your breath and opened your eyes. Only for that breath to be taken away again. Millimetres away from your face was a wide childish grin and a pair of dark brown eyes.

"Oh no"

WHACK.

The back of your head smacked against the ground before you could react.

THUMP.

A small pained grunt escaped your mouth as Luffy’s head face planted itself into your chest from tackling you to the ground.

“Ouch” Luffy mumbled as he used his arms to lift his head and shoulders.

“At Least you were my cushion.” Luffy said smile getting wider. Your eyebrows furrowed as you glared at luffy, you felt your left eye twitch as you opened your mouth seconds away from retaliating when Rayliegh's amused voice drifted through the clearing.

"Good job, Luffy."

Both of your heads turned toward him.

"Taking advantage of your opponent when they're vulnerable might be the only way you'll ever beat a difficult enemy."

Your jaw dropped as you instantly looked back up at Luffy. He was now basically sitting ontop of you waving his pointed finger. "Rayleigh said I'm smart."

You fixed your expression quickly "He didn't say that"

Luffy's grin stretched into a smug smirk, clearly proud of himself as he placed both hands on his hips. "He basicallllyy did."

You stared at him for a moment before rolling your eyes. "Get off me." You shoved him away with a grunt.

Luffy rolled off dramatically, acting as though you'd launched him halfway across the island. You could hear Rayleigh chuckling under his breath as he took another sip of tea. Slowly pushing yourself upright, you brushed the dirt from your clothes. Tiny brown marks stained your tank top and shorts. By the time you looked up, Rayleigh had already started walking back toward the campsite. You glanced over at Luffy. He was busy fixing his straw hat, carefully placing it back atop his messy black hair. A smile immediately found its way onto your face. "Hey, Straw Hat."

Luffy looked up instantly. Curiosity written all over his face. "What?"

You waited until he was fully paying attention. "First one back to camp gets the biggest piece of meat." You took off before even finishing the sentence, running as fast as your legs would let you. 

"What?!" Luffy froze. "HEY! NO FAIR!" His voice echoed through the forest as he immediately gave chase.

You reached the campsite first. Barely. Bending forward, hands planted firmly on your knees, you struggled to catch your breath. A few seconds later Luffy stumbled into the clearing and collapsed into the exact same position beside you. Both of you panting. Both exhausted.

"You cheated," Luffy gasped between breaths.

You slowly lifted your head. A smug grin spread across your face. "No." You paused dramatically. "I simply took advantage of my opponent's vulnerability." Luffy's eyes widened. Your grin grew. It was almost identical to the one he'd given you earlier.

Rayleigh, who had been sitting beside the fire the entire time, watched the exchange with open amusement. His gaze shifted between the two of you. "You two could be twins." He chuckled.  

You immediately turned toward him. "What?"

Luffy immediately turned too. "What?"

You both blinked. Then slowly looked at each other. 'He looks just as confused as me... good' Then back at Rayleigh. Rayleigh laughed even harder. "See?"

It was apparent neither of you understood what was so funny. Which only seemed to make it worse. "You made the same face," Rayleigh explained with a disappointed sigh. You looked at Luffy again. Luffy looked at you. A brief silence followed, looking back at Rayleigh. "...No we didn't."

"Yeah you did."

The same sound from two different mouths. "Nuh-uh.” You crossed your arms in defiance.

Rayleigh nearly dropped his tea as he laughed even louder. Your breath suddenly caught in your throat as you looked back over at Luffy who was now also looking at you. You slowly lowered your gaze to find his arms. 'Fuck' Crossed over each other. You Instantly flung your hands to your sides to differ from him.

'He must of been copying me, probably trying to get back at me for winning the race.' You thought to yourself whilst munching down on the biggest piece of meat you rightfully earned. After you finished eating and cleaning up, you headed toward your usual spot.

The large rock sat overlooking most of the island. What had once been hard stone was now covered by a poorly made blanket. Luffy's blanket. You had complained once about the rock hurting your back. The next morning the blanket had appeared. Crooked. Poorly stitched. Questionable in quality. But surprisingly comfortable. Least he could do after using you as a pillow almost every night.

You settled against the rock with a content sigh. For the first time all day, everything was quiet. No monsters. No training. No Rayleigh lectures. Just the sound of the ocean in the distance. The peace lasted roughly ten seconds.

THUMP.

Luffy dropped onto the rock beside you. His usual spot. Well… His usual spot when he wasn't using your shoulder or lap as a pillow. You tilted your head back and looked toward the night sky. Immediately your mood dropped. Dark clouds stretched endlessly overhead, swallowing almost every star. A disappointed sigh escaped your lips.

"You good?"

You glanced sideways.

Luffy had turned his entire body to face you. Concern written plainly across his face. You simply shrugged and looked back toward the clouds. Luffy followed your gaze upward. A brief silence settled between you. Then warmth. The familiar weight of Luffy's head resting against your shoulder. You didn't even need to look anymore. You already knew what he was doing it stopped being awkward a while ago, now just comfortable.

"Don't worry."His voice came out softer than usual. "They're just hiding." He shifted slightly, trying to find the most comfortable position possible. "Not gone." Another small adjustment. "Your laugh prolly scared 'em away."

A small smile tugged at your lips. You stayed silent. Not because you didn't appreciate the attempt. But because you knew whatever you said next would go unheard. Once Luffy got comfortable, there was no saving the conversation.

‘Three.’

‘Two.’

‘One.’

A graspy snore escaped Luffy. Right on schedule. You shook your head, amused that you predicted him so well. The stars were hidden, ‘But not gone’ Luffy’s words replayed in your head filling the space that was empty and missing the stars. You closed your eyes and rested your head against Luffy’s listening to the familiar sound of his snoring. It was almost comforting.. Almost. Sleep found you not long after.

You woke up before Rayleigh and Luffy, as usual. The warmth radiating from Luffy made the cold morning a little more bearable, but eventually you had to get up. Carefully, you lifted his head from your shoulder and rested it against the rock behind him. Luffy grunted. Then immediately fell back asleep. You adjusted your clothes, stretched your stiff shoulders, and headed into the forest. Finding dry firewood had become a pain lately. The cold weather left almost everything damp by morning. By the time you returned to camp with a small bundle tucked under your arm, both Rayleigh and Luffy were awake. You tossed the wood into the fire before settling down beside it, eagerly holding your hands toward the warmth. "What's training looking like today, Rayleigh?"

The old pirate hummed thoughtfully. You frowned. Why was he thinking about it?

After a moment, Rayleigh finally spoke. "Let's take a break today."

You blinked. Luffy blinked.

"We shall do something fun."

Silence followed.

A few hours later, Rayleigh had dragged both of you deep into the forest. No paths. No clearings. No landmarks. Just trees. Endless trees. You looked around suspiciously. "This doesn't feel very fun."

"It isn't," Luffy agreed immediately.

Rayleigh ignored both complaints. "First, gather firewood."

Luffy's jaw dropped. "That's not fun!" "Yeah," you groaned. "You said this was going to be fun."

Rayleigh crossed his arms and patiently waited for the whining to stop. A smug smile slowly appeared on his face. "Whoever gathers the most gets first pick at dinner."

The complaints died instantly. You and Luffy exchanged a glance. Then looked at Rayleigh. Then back at each other. And ran. You sprinted into the forest, already searching for the driest areas. Footsteps thundered behind you. Luffy. Of course. Your eyes caught a patch of sunlight breaking through the trees to your left. Dry ground. Perfect. You changed direction immediately. "Shit." Your foot slid on a damp leaf. The world tilted. You threw your arms up instinctively as you fell forward.

SWISH. Something yanked the back of your shirt. Hard. Instead of hitting the ground, you were suddenly moving forward. Fast. Very fast. You blinked. Luffy's legs were running beside you. Your arms and legs dangled uselessly in the air as he continued sprinting while holding your tank top. "Luffy!"

"What?"

"You can't just" RIP. The fabric gave up. You immediately face-planted into the dirt. For several seconds, neither of you moved. Then you rolled onto your back, slightly winded. Luffy stood above you holding a torn strip of white fabric. His grin slowly faded. Then became a much smaller, much guiltier smile. He quietly dropped the evidence.

"I saved you." The guilty smile vanished. The cheeky grin returned. He held out a hand. You stared at it. Then at him. Then back at the hand. Eventually you accepted the help. "You tore my shirt."

"I saved you."

"You tore my shirt."

"I saved you."

You rolled your eyes. The torn fabric wasn't exactly surprising. Half your clothes had suffered similar fates over the last year. You tucked it into your pocket and got back to work. Luffy had already begun collecting sticks. Lots of sticks. You watched for a moment before a grin slowly spread across your face. The wood shimmered slightly. Wet. Every single piece. Typical Luffy. Part of you wanted to tell him. The other part wanted to win. You stayed quiet.

Eventually both piles became respectable. You placed another branch onto your stack before catching a glimpse of Luffy's face. You instantly knew that look. He's so readable. Pretending to search for more wood, you waited. Sure enough Luffy slowly drifted toward your pile. His hand reached out. SMACK. You slapped it away.

"Ouch!" Luffy recoiled dramatically.

"What was that for?!"

You simply stared at him. The answer slowly worked its way through his head.

"...Oh." He huffed and stomped away. You returned to gathering wood, unwilling to give him even the smallest advantage. A moment later, you bent down to grab another branch. Something flew through the air. Without looking, you caught it. A stick. You glanced toward Luffy. Then casually tossed it onto his pile. By now there was no way he was winning anyway.

"Alright, that's enough." Rayleigh's voice drifted through the trees. "Bring the wood back to camp."

You looked down at your pile. Then looked again. Your pile was huge. Much larger than you'd realised. You swallowed. Slowly crouching down, you wrapped both arms around the stack as if trying to hug it. You squeezed tighter. And tighter. And tighter.

...You blinked. "Uhm." Confusion crept onto your face.

"What are you waiting for, slowpoke?" Luffy called from ahead.You looked up.Then froze. Luffy was carrying two separate piles of wood. One under each stretched out arm. Completely unbothered. A smile tugged at your lips. Of course he was. Shaking your head, you abandoned any attempt at dignity and hurried after him.

RAYLEIGHS POV

Rayleigh followed at a leisurely pace through the forest. Far enough behind that neither of them would notice. Close enough to observe. The original task had been simple. Collect firewood. Though if either of them had stopped to think about it for more than five seconds, they would have realised gathering dry wood after weeks of rain was hardly a day off. Not that they ever questioned him anymore.

Well...

Not successfully. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. His gaze shifted ahead. As expected, Luffy had followed her. Strange. Most competitors would have immediately split up to cover more ground. Luffy had barely hesitated before chasing after her instead. Rayleigh watched as she suddenly changed direction. Then slipped.

"Down she goes."

The observation barely left his mind before it happened. One moment she was upright. The next she was falling. Rayleigh blinked. Then frowned. She had vanished. His gaze shifted forward. Luffy was still running. One arm raised slightly. Holding something. A torn strip of white fabric fluttered in the wind.

"...Good catch."

The amusement returned. Perhaps following her hadn't been such a foolish decision after all. The two continued gathering wood. Or attempting to. Luffy's pile steadily grew. Mostly because he seemed incapable of distinguishing between dry wood and wet wood. Rayleigh resisted the urge to intervene. Some lessons learned themselves. Others required a headache. A familiar sigh escaped him. The boy was certainly a headache. Then Luffy lingered near her pile. Too long. Rayleigh narrowed his eyes.

"Hes up to something."

Before he could call out, he noticed her. She wasn't looking at him. Wasn't even facing him. Yet somehow she already knew. The moment Luffy reached toward her pile. SMACK. His hand was sent away instantly. Rayleigh chuckled. Smart girl. Luffy stormed off muttering complaints. She ignored every single one. As expected.

The piles continued growing. Luffy had already lost. Neither seemed willing to admit it. Then something else caught Rayleigh's attention. Luffy tossed a stick behind him. Absentmindedly. Not even looking. Rayleigh's eyes followed its path. The girl caught it without turning. Without hesitation. Without thought. Then casually tossed it onto Luffy's pile. The old pirate's smile faded. Not entirely. Just enough.

"Odd." His Observation Haki had been active the entire time. Neither of them had used theirs. At least not consciously. Yet that wasn't the first strange thing he'd seen today. Or this week. Or this month. Luffy had caught her before she hit the ground. Before she'd even realised she was falling. She knew he intended to steal from her pile before he'd moved. Now she'd caught a stick she never should have seen. And somehow knew exactly where it belonged.

Coincidences happened. But not this often. Not between the same two people. Rayleigh folded his arms. His gaze remained fixed on the pair. For a moment neither spoke. Neither looked at the other. Yet somehow they continued moving around each other effortlessly. Like they'd done it a thousand times before.

"...Interesting."

That was all he said. But for the first time that day, the old pirate found himself paying closer attention to the connection that was forming in front of him.

END OF RAYLEIGHS POV

The firewood had been stacked underneath a large palm leaf to prevent the wetness of the night. Dinner had been eaten. Luffy was currently arguing that wet wood was still wood. Rayleigh had stopped listening several minutes ago.

"Come on." The old pirate stood from the campfire abruptly.

You looked up. "Where?"

"Walk." That was all the explanation he gave. You frowned. Luffy groaned. Neither of you moved. Rayleigh simply started walking. You both felt the wave of defeat wash over you as neither of you had learned how to argue with Rayleigh successfully. 

You followed Rayleigh a few paces behind shoulder to shoulder with Luffy. You both remained silent with a mix of tiredness and uncertainty. 

The first stop was a beach. Nothing special, The Moon and stars reflected off the pitchblack water. A small smile growing on your face, as it always did when the stars were visible. The sand was soft. The close sound of waves crashing. Every now and then you would feel a rock beneath your feet.  You stared at it for a moment forcing your eyes to adjust to the darkness of the night. Then realization hit. The beach, this beach this was were you first arrived. Where Rayleigh had first found you. 

You glanced towards him expecting him to say something. Though Rayleigh didn’t stop, didn’t even look back. Just simply continued walking, so you followed.

The second stop wasn’t to far away. It was further into the forest away from the beach. A clearing. Luffy immediately laughed. "Oh! This place!"

You stood in the very clearing that Rayleigh had first thrown giant animals at you. Were Luffy was stuck for a good amount of time. You remembered spending hours watching him get launched into trees. Luffy remembered it differently. "It wasn't that bad."

You looked at him nudging him harshly with your shoulder "You cried." 

"I DID NOT." he replied as he regained his balance

"You absolutely did." Rayleigh chuckled and continued walking.

The next stop was seemed to be further then the last. It was another clearing, much smaller, quieter. You blinked  Your steps slowed. You knew this one. The place where you first used your Devil Fruit again. The place Rayleigh had stood in front of you and told you to stop being afraid. Your hand unconsciously brushed against your palm. The old pirate noticed. Still he said nothing. Still he kept walking.

Then came the cliff. Luffy immediately pointed towards the closest side of the cliff.

"Oh! This is where I fell."

"You were thrown."

"I fell."

"You were thrown."

"I fell."

"You were definitely thrown."

Luffy ignored you. You glanced over at Rayeligh wanting him to defend you. Rayleigh looked suspiciously innocent but continued walking.

The final stop was another clearing much smaller, round. Your eyes followed the round shape of the tiny clearing. A burnt pile of sticks lay directly in the middle. ‘There’s no way.’  It was barely recognizable now. The sight made your chest tighten. You remembered this one too. The first night you talked about Ace. Really talked about him. Not the pirate. Not the commander. Just Ace. The person. The silence that followed felt different. Heavier. Softer.

Rayleigh finally stopped walking. For the first time all day he turned toward the two of you. "Do either of you know what today is?"

"No."

"Nope." The answers came instantly.

Rayleigh sighed. Of course they didn’t. "A year."

Silence. Luffy blinked. You blinked. Neither of you said anything.

"A whole year." His gaze shifted between the two of you. "You know, when we started this..." A small smile appeared. "...I wasn't entirely convinced either of you would survive me."

I apologise for the lengthy wait for Chapter 4 all I can say is you WONT want to miss this chapter. finally starting to finish up the training arc!!

If you have any other suggestions or comments don’t be afraid to comment! Chapter 4 will be posted Tomorrow!!!

Chapter 3: A not so peaceful peaceful

Request: Open

Word Count: 3.5k

Chapter1 | Chapter2 | Chapter3 | Chapter4

Includes: Luffy X Traumatised/Devilfruit user Reader, Long and slow burn. Eventual fluff, angst, possibly Romance and Smut. Eventual Strawhats x Reader. Brutal and violent scenes targeted both towards and against reader. Death of close ones. Traumatic events. Character building

——————————————————————

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother

Chapter Summary: Under Rayleigh’s guidance your strength and confidence grow. The island has become to peaceful for Rayleighs likings. Something clicks as a battle emerges.

Eat.

Get beaten up.

Get annoyed by Luffy.

Eat.

Train.

Get lectured by Rayleigh.

Eat.

Star into stars.

Sleep.

Repeat.

Life on the island had become almost peaceful.

Which was exactly why Rayleigh decided to ruin it.

The storm hit without warning. Just a sudden burst of winds and unwelcomed energy. The sky turned black as if the stars had been stolen. Rain slammed against the island causing the trees to whale in distress. Waves crashed against the cliffs hard enough to shake the ground. Harder than ever before. And somewhere in the middle of it all— A roar so loud it echoed through the darkness.

A Sea King. Not an ordinary one. Massive. Ancient. Angry. Hungry.

The island was mad any peaceful feelings disappeared with each gust of harsh wind.

"You two handle it."

Rayleigh sat beneath a large and sturdy wooden shelter you and Luffy, mainly you built to help fight off the cold as the nights had become almost unbearably chilled. Drinking some nature based tea.

Luffy stared. Eyes wide open

You stared. A nervous sparkle in your eyes.

The Sea King roared again making the island shake uncontrollably.

"YOU WANT US TO FIGHT THAT?"

Both you and Luffy looked at each other blankly before returning your gazes to Rayleigh.

Rayleigh sipped his tea. Calm as ever, a large smirk growing as he ignored the looks he was receiving.

"Correct."

The start of the fight was a complete disaster. Rain and wind blowing around making it almost impossible to keep both eyes open.

Luffy rushed in, eyes stupidly closed as he ran directly into the horribly large sea beasts mouth. You watched as the large jaw snapped shut.

GULP

That idiot really just ran into its mouth.

You forced a large inhale as you contemplated the small amount of intelligence you once credited Luffy.

As you exhale your hand rose extending to your pointer finger towards the creature's mouth, before the exhale reached the end a large beam flashed.

Instantly the creature's pain-filled scream echoed through the forest with an explosive amount of wind attached.

“ uck, I would NOT recommend goin in there, it smells like shit”.

You watched as the familiar face casually walked out of the massive hole that was now burning into the creature's cheek like what he did was planned.

You felt your eyes roll,

“Do”…

Luffy walked off the creature's mouth to just launch directly back in.

“ I was going to say don’t do that again!” You screamed as Luffy beat you before the sentence could surface.

You could hear Luffy try to respond but unable to pick up anything he actually said as his words were turned into mumbled noises from inside the sea king.

A sudden jolt in the sea king sent you back a step, followed by another and another. You could see the sea king begin to look confused whilst it painfully turned and twirled around one jolt after another.

Another large scream breaks the Forrest’s walls as the sea king screeches, mouth now wide open.

Another massive scream filling the forest as you call out Luffy’s name almost as confused as the sea king.

you watch Luffy catapult himself out of the sea king's mouth screaming just as loud filling the forest with a total for 3 horrifying screams.

Nobody knew what was happening. Not you, not the sea king and most definitely not Luffy.

The fight remained a complete disaster

You watch from a distance as Luffy flies through the air after launching from the sea kings mouth, his arms begin wrapping around a nearby tree as he begins to move faster and faster around the tree.

‘He's not gonna launch himself right back in right… he hasn’t even touched the ground yet’

Your thoughts spiraling around with Luffy’s body.

Just as quick as he launched out of the sea kings mouth he had launched himself straight back towards it. You took a quick glance at the sea king causing your head to bounce back as you noticed the beasts claw stretched out and eyes closed in on Luffy’s figure hurdling towards.

Without a second thought a scream left your lips causing Luffy’s head to turn in your direction, confused.

“LUFFY LEFT NOW”

Luffy’s eyes didn’t find your figure but he’s body seemed to automatically move following your directions.

As his body swung left the large claw narrowly missed Luffy’s entire body whipping the air with an echoing sound.

Luffy landing on the ground with a huge but soft thud.

You froze staring at Luffy.

Luffy froze staring at you.

The beast froze staring at the empty air that his paw had swiped at.

‘Did he really just listen to me’ something you were sure wasn’t possible

A loud chesty laugh broke the silence.

“Aha, AGAIN!” Rayleigh laughed.

You ignored his childish laughter as you glanced over at the now pissed sea king.

Luffy still wasn't moving as the sea king quickly closed the small amount of distance between them. You felt your feet begin to move, your gaze shifted from the sea king back to Luffy.

You stopped. The heart beat that was elevated from the fight instantly returned to a rhythmic pace, a sudden surge of calm as if a plan had formed as your eyes met his. Luffy’s eyes had remained fixed on yours giving you a look that spoke a thousand words, you nodded once. Luffy’s expressionless stare turned slowly to a wild wide grin. The sea king took another swing as it darted closer to Luffy.

‘Your hand raised and pointed right’ as the beast swung left, missing his target who had moved just in time.

Luffy’s eyes still fixed on yours completely unphased by the air brushing past him from the failed swing, Luffy’s already wild grin somehow became more feral.

‘Your finger now pointed upwards’

Simple, easy, direct your instructions seemed to be read just in time as the beast swung its right paw at Luffy’s legs attempting to hack him down, Luffy following your instructions perfectly.

Jumping up into the air higher than you expected and landing down to the left bending his knees as he landed instantly springing himself upwards high above you and the sea king.

“GUM GUM…”

THUD

The brutal sound of Luffy’s fist hitting the sea king's head rang loudly as the sea beast was sent down leaving a crater in the hard surface of the island

After you felt the sudden dust cloud settle your gaze fixed back to Luffy who had only just landed after his punch. You watched as the first thing he did after landing wasn’t celebrate it wasn’t boast or show off,

It wasn't to do something stupid and go back to the beast instantly..

it was look up, directly at you with the same eyes that spoke a million words minutes before. This time his eyes filled with acknowledgment, you understood. He understood.

Something clicked

Not Haki

Not devil fruits

Trust.

It was like you had stopped fighting next to each other for just a moment and instead fought with each other. Words no longer needed, plans were something unheard of.

Luffy turned facing towards the beast once again back towards you.

Luffy launched himself skyward, not expecting the sea king to have caught on.

You felt your body clench as your eyes were forced to the sea king's movements as if he had a sudden revolution.

He was now darting directly towards you without a second's notice. You felt a typical sting of cuts ravaging throughout your body as you let out a small welp of pain. As you stood back up to see the beast not relenting and milliseconds away from you not giving enough time to react before thrown again.

The sensation of having your body thrown at such force that it went straight through one of the large trees was like no other. Your arms ached, your torso stung a concerning amount, your head pounding as your eyes remained closed tensely as you began to fight with your thoughts.

“JUST BREATHE”

Rayleigh's voice yelled from where he sat afar watching the fight unroll. Becoming slightly concerned.

“BE CONFIDENT, DONT BE SCARED”

The words cut deeper than your wound on the torso which was now bleeding everywhere. They repeated in your head over and over

“Be confident, don’t be afraid, be confident don’t be afraid be confident don’t be afraid”.

Your eyes opened wide at the sound of the beast thundering towards for the third time and the warning Luffy had screamed while re launching himself.

‘Confident confident confident’

It replayed in your head, the sea king still coming at you at great speed. You stood, body shaking from a mix of adrenaline and pain. You felt a force forming throughout your body as you watched Luffy come down attempting to punch the beast again in hopes of helping you but failing and getting himself sent back further as the sea king's tail smashed against Luffy’s chest.

Your mind now silent at the impact as your gaze intensified and was now directed at the sea king.

You could feel the warm liquid flowing down your side and the ache in each of your limbs as you forced yourself to stay standing. The pounding in your head endless. You should of broken you would of broken but for the first time since Ace died you felt free. The spark inside you didn’t just trust you, but right now you trusted it back.

As the sea king narrowed in, your arm rose the golden and silver flames taking no time to shine bright as the freedom inside you could fuel much more than just one starry attack, the star in your hand now furious as it grew with each growing step of the monstrous fury in front of you.

3 more steps

2 more steps

1 more step

“STELLA HEAT” the words left your mouth in a tone even Rayleigh had never heard before.

The star in your hand burst as the golden flame rapidly moved towards the sea king, small bright shooting stars making the sea kings eyes try to track each one afraid of the unknown.

Rayleigh had begun running towards you trying to beat the foreseeable attack that he didn’t want you to receive. As he finally reached a distance he could see your face clearly, he began to slow.

His eyes fixed on yours

That expression,

that freedom

It was the same thing Ace had once described

“So that’s the look Ace always talked about”

A distant mumble came from Rayleigh as he said his thoughts aloud.

You didn’t take notice of the words and instead remained entranced. ‘The distraction’ a thought that made it difficult to hold back a small smirk

As you watched the beast's eye dart around frantically trying to keep track of your shooting stars, you heard Luffy’s yelling close in. You knew it was time with the freeing look still on your face, You flicked your fingers a tiny silver star creeped towards the eyes of the distracted beast.

Pop the sound echoed across the island, a flash as bright as the sun had just burst in front of the beast's face causing his eye lids to shut hard in pain, meaning he wouldn’t be able to dodge the next attack. You began to walk slightly away from the impact zone.

“GUM GUMMMM GIGANTIC GATTLING”

Perfect timing, Luffy was still flying through the air as massive inflated fists came firing towards the blind sea King. Fist after Fist after Fist. You watched as the sea king got buried further and further with each punch until there was nothing but a large hole visible.

The island's harsh winds stopped, the clouds that made the island sky black began to fade, the waves crashing hell into the rocks calmed, the island returned to its original peaceful nature.

That night as you sat by the fire

Treating the large wound on the torso which turned out to be where the beast's claws dug into you before the throw.

After you secured the bandage around your torso, and packing away the few medical supplies you had used you made way over to Luffy.

Rayleigh was already half way through one his typical lectures

"...and that's exactly why you should know how to patch yourself up."

Luffy looked thoroughly uninterested.

You simply extended your hand. Rayleigh paused. For a moment his gaze lingered on you. Then he handed over the bandages.

No questions asked.

No teasing remark.

Just quiet trust.

As you began to finish up what Rayleigh had started Luffy spoke.

“That was fun”

Was all Luffy said with a massive grin on his face.

As you looked up you couldn’t help a loud laugh escaping your amused mouth.

A sound that surprised both you, Luffy and Rayleigh as it rang through the forest, quickly accompanied by another blissful laugh coming from Luffy.

The laughter slowly faded. Not because either of you wanted it to. Simply because neither of you could breathe.

Your side hurt. Luffy's leg hurt. The giant bruise beginning to form across his chest definitely hurt. Yet neither of you stopped grinning.

The atmosphere surrounding you seemed more cheerful than normal as if reacting to your happy presence.

Rayleigh watched from beside the fire. Quiet.

Observing.

Thinking.

The flames reflected in his glasses as his gaze shifted between the two of you. Something had changed. Neither of you noticed it.

Rayleigh did.

A sudden break in the silence

“You laugh weird."

The words came out of nowhere. You blinked.

"What?"

"You laugh weird."

"That's literally the same thing you just said."

Luffy shrugged. Edges of his mouth turned downwards into a knowing frown.

"You don't do it much."

Silence.

Your fingers froze against the bandage.

Luffy had already returned to staring into the fire. As if he hadn't just casually dropped something that hit harder than any Sea King.

Because he was right. You didn't laugh much anymore. Even when you did laugh it wasn’t… real.

Not really.

Not like before.

“A strange thing happened today."

Rayleigh's voice broke the silence, Again after seeing the sudden change in your demeanor.

You immediately regretted making eye contact. Luffy looked completely unbothered.

"What?" He asked as he lifted his head to face Rayleigh.

"You listened."

"Huh?"

You didn’t need to look at Luffy to tell his eyebrows had raised and the typical dumbfounded look he always had when confused had been plastered back onto his face.

"You listened to her."

Luffy blinked. Still confused. Like Rayleigh had asked why the sky was blue.

"Yeah…?” Luffy eventually said as his response sounded more like a question, clearly still trying to comprehend what Rayleigh had said but wanting to give an answer.

"..."

"..."

Rayleigh stared.

You stared.

Luffy stared back.

"What?"

‘Classic Luffy, still completely lost’

“Why?" You answered his question with another question, your gaze stayed on Luffy’s face which was only slightly visible as you still remained at his feet after treating the wound.

Luffy tilted his head. The same dumbfounded look still plastered on his face.

"You told me where to go."

"That doesn't answer the question." You almost immediately regretted your rebuttal as you watched Luffy’s face turn into a small grin failing to hide his amusement as he continued.

"It does."

"No it doesn't."

"It does."

"No-"

"It does."

You rubbed your face with a sigh.

‘Why do I keep falling into his childish games’

Luffy grinned. Victorious.

Not like there was meant to be a winner in the first place.

"I knew you wouldn't get me hit."

The words were simple. Matter-of-fact.

Like saying water was wet.

Like saying food tasted good.

The conversation ended there. For Luffy it was obvious. For you it wasn't.

You couldn’t help but wonder how on earth the roles shifted so quickly.

you were now confused.

Rayleigh's smile faded slightly.

“Luffy, go get some firewood. The fire's burning low.”

“But that's—”

You knew what Luffy was going to say. That was your job.

You watched Luffy's eyes meet Rayleigh's as he stopped mid-sentence. As readable as ever, he sulked as he walked away to collect firewood. Even after all this growth, arguing with Rayleigh was still out of the question.

Rayleigh only ever sent Luffy away when he needed you to hear something. Not wanted. Needed.

Your gaze shifted from Luffy's disappearing figure to Rayleigh's face, which now wore a comforting smile.

“I knew somebody else who trusted like that.”

Your body stiffened immediately.

You knew exactly who he meant.

“Ace.”

Silence.

The crackling fire suddenly sounded much louder, confirming that the firewood was simply an excuse.

“You know, after Ace's stubbornness about me being part of his father's crew wore off, he would talk about you nonstop.”

You felt yourself tense, your heart rate beginning to climb as you anticipated a serious and emotional conversation.

“Always complaints, one after another.”

Rayleigh's tone caught you off guard.

“He complained about me?”

Your voice was soft but carried a hint of annoyance and surprise.

“There was always something with you.”

Rayleigh sighed dramatically.

“One week he'd come looking for medical supplies because you'd picked a fight over food, of all things, with someone twice your size.”

He held up a finger.

“The next week he'd be complaining because you'd somehow stolen a Marine ship.”

Your eyes widened as the emotions from that day resurfaced immediately.

“I borrowed it.”

Rayleigh gave an amused smirk, tilting his head slightly as if he knew it was a lie just as much as you did.

“You sank it.”

“Okay, but that part really wasn't my fault.”

You replied guiltily, accepting that Rayleigh was far too good at reading your thoughts.

Rayleigh ignored you.

A second finger joined the first.

“Then there was the pirate captain incident.”

You immediately groaned.

“No.”

You felt your face grow warm.

“Oh yes.”

A third finger joined the others.

“'She threatened a pirate captain with a spoon.'”

“It was sharp,” you interrupted defensively.

“It was a spoon.”

You mumbled under your breath, correcting Rayleigh.

“It was a spork.”

Rayleigh shook his head.

“Every conversation started the same way.”

His voice shifted slightly as he imitated Ace.

“'Rayleigh, she's going to get herself killed.'”

Then another voice.

“'Rayleigh, she doesn't think.'”

And another.

“'Rayleigh, she's impossible.'”

A smile tugged at your lips despite yourself. You couldn't help enjoying the fact that you had apparently been such a pain in his ass.

“Then came the knife wound.”

Rayleigh pointed at you.

“Now that one was special.”

You immediately knew where this was going.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Rayleigh.”

“Uh-huh.”

You buried your face deep in your hands, attempting to hide the clear embarrassment on your face.

Rayleigh cleared his throat before continuing.

“'She stepped in front of some giant idiot swinging his knife around.'”

He paused.

“'She got cut.'”

Another pause.

“'Didn't flinch. Didn't even look at the cut.'”

Another.

“'She did look directly at us and run, though.'”

A grin spread across Rayleigh's face.

“'I found her behind the mast in an empty barrel. She noticed me and ran.'”

He shook his head.

“'Fast, though. I'll give her that. Managed to outrun half the crew before she tripped over the same barrel she'd been hiding in.'”

Rayleigh exhaled loudly, returning to his normal voice.

“That's when he came rushing over to me asking if I had any tape and bandages. I didn't question him at the time—I never did. I didn't really care for his typical shenanigans.”

A chuckle escaped him.

“But the way he ran back with that tape waving above his head like it was some priceless treasure made me curious.”

“Rayleigh, don't.”

You pleaded, not wanting to hear the end of his story.

Of your story.

Rayleigh looked far too pleased with himself.

“He had to tape you against the mast just so you couldn't run. Not only that, but the entire crew had to help bandage you while you complained.”

Rayleigh finally let out a laugh loud enough to echo through the trees.

You heard footsteps approaching quickly as Luffy returned, wood in hand.

He clearly wanted to know what had made Rayleigh laugh so loudly.

You both ignored him.

“The funniest thing about it all was that he never complained when you were around.”

Rayleigh's smile softened.

“Only after.”

The fire crackled.

“His complaints often felt less like complaints and more like worries.”

There was a brief pause as Luffy looked confused and you took in his words before Rayleigh continued.

“For someone who complained that much...”

Rayleigh let out a quiet laugh disguised as a sigh.

“He sure spent a lot of time talking about you.”

You looked away, your cheeks still warm from embarrassment.

Silence spread between you.

“Maybe he was just making sure I stayed out of trouble.”

Your words and your thoughts were complete opposites.

You knew Ace could never keep you out of trouble.

Rayleigh laughed.

“If that were true, he would've stopped talking after the first week.”

'He really can read minds,' you thought to yourself as you watched Rayleigh settle into a sleeping position.

“Don't stay up too late, you two. Training isn't over yet.”

Feel free to use anything i post ❤️✨ happily taking requests if your in need to a specific character!!

Chapter 2: Strength grows with bonds

Requests status: Open

Word Count: 3.6k

Includes: Luffy X Traumatised/Devilfruit user Reader, Long and slow burn. Eventual fluff, angst, possibly Romance and Smut. Eventual Strawhats x Reader. Brutal and violent scenes targeted both towards and against reader. Death of close ones. Traumatic events. Character building

——————————————————————

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

⬅️ Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ➡️

I will let you guys know if the chapter is more of a filler and can be skipped/isn’t as important although be warned you may miss information that could still be important. This story will be long and therefore filler chapters are NECESSARY.

Chapter Summary: Training continues, your strength and confidence grows alongside your bonds with Rayleigh and Ace’s little brother. FILLER CHAPTER.

Normally, you would just listen quietly until sleep claimed him.

But tonight was different.

You felt a little less... heavy.

Like the weight that had been hanging from your shoulders for years had finally loosened its grip.

As Luffy talked and talked about his crew, you found yourself actually wanting to hear more. Something didn't make sense to you.

Why was Luffy here training with Rayleigh instead of training alongside his crew?

"Hey, Straw Hat."

The words slipped out during a brief pause in his rambling.

You rotated slightly on your rock so you were facing him.

"Where's your crew now?"

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The fire continued crackling, but the energy around Luffy shifted.

He sat up slowly, crossing his legs and lowering his head. The complete opposite of how he'd been only moments ago.

"We..." he hesitated.

"We got separated."

His hands rested in his lap. You watched his shoulders rise and fall with a long and heavy breath. Blackened messy hair blocking view of his eyes.

"When we got separated..." another pause, "that's when I heard about Ace."

Your chest tightened immediately. At the sudden mention of Ace. Feeling your hands begin to shake.

"I was alone."

His voice became quieter. Softer.

"But I still had to try..."

Another breath.

"...for Ace."

You had never seen Luffy like this. You'd only ever known the loud version, The determined version, The reckless, smiling, chaotic version.

When Ace died, you hadn't been watching Luffy Nor his reaction, You had only been watching Ace.

You quickly shook your head, forcing the memory away before it could drag you back into that day. And before all those horrible pictures flickered through your mind.

"I still don't want to believe he's gone."

The words left your mouth before you could stop them. A small sigh escaped you as you failed to swallow the memories.

"He talked about you..."

You looked over at Luffy. He was still staring down at his hands.

"...a lot."

For once, Luffy didn't interrupt.

Didn't joke.

Didn't smile.

Just listened.

But somehow that hurt you more. You felt your heart break as you watched him sitting there. Bowed head as if ashamed, crossed legged almost timid, hands slowly moved around in his lap as if he was anxiously awaiting news.

This wasn't the future King of the Pirates.

This was just a little brother who missed the comfort, the support, the love of his big brother. You couldn’t bear looking at him in this state. You stood slowly and walked over to the fire. Then sat down beside him. Close enough that he knew you were there. Not close enough to invade his space. You had no idea how to comfort people. Never had. Never one of those things that you needed, til now. But you tried anyway.

"He was really proud of you, y'know."

You said hesitantly not wanting to push boundaries. You struggled to keep your voice from cracking as you continued.

"I remember the first time he got your bounty poster."

A soft huff you often used when amused escaped you despite yourself.

"He came running across the ship and practically shoved it in my face. Kept asking me if I knew who it was."

Your smile grew slightly as to fight off the tears as you continued to recall your memory.

"Then he started screaming, 'THAT'S MY LITTLE BROTHER!'"

You paused, swallowing around the lump forming in your throat.

"He spent the next week carrying that poster around everywhere, it was at breakfast, lunch, dinner, all and any snack breaks or meetings."

Another soft huff holding back a smile on your face from the fond memory.

"He showed it to literally anyone who would listen, even those who didn’t"

Your eyes drifted toward the fire.

"He was so proud of you, Luffy."

Silence followed. Then you noticed his shoulders shaking. From the corner of your eye. You took a slight glance over to see small drops falling into his hands.

Tears.

You froze. It broke more than you expected, you had seen people cry before hell you’ve made people cry before, but this.. the never ending ball of laughter you had started to know… crying?

You still had no idea what to do. Part of you considered waking Rayleigh. But something stopped you. Instead, you carefully closed the remaining distance and placed an arm around his shoulders. Just enough so he knew he wasn't alone.

To your surprise, Luffy immediately leaned into you. Like he'd been waiting for someone to do exactly that. The tension in his body eased slightly, still shivering. You tightened your hold without thinking. Squeezing him into you more letting yourself be his anchor he so desperately craved not minding that his head rests squishing your boob slightly. You knew Luffy's mind was completely innocent in that nature.

He didn't say anything. Neither did you. It was clear what was needed. The only sound was the crackling fire and echoing crickets that filled the forest walls. After several long minutes, Luffy finally spoke.

"I couldn't save him."

His voice cracked. Your already shattered heart shattered into more pieces

"I couldn't save Ace."

You felt your chest ache. A breath becoming caught in your throat

"I couldn't save my crew either."

A sniffle.

"I was alone."

Another.

"I was lost."

You squeezed him gently in acknowledgement. You understood that feeling better than most. The silence stretched on. Eventually, the trembling within your hold stopped. Then came slower breaths. Then softer ones. Then—

A quiet snore. You looked down. Luffy had fallen asleep against you. A small smile found its way onto your face. You didn't mind. If anything, you felt strangely honoured by how much he trusted you. Though a part of you still felt guilty for bringing it all up in the first place.

Morning arrived with birdsong. Your entire body ached. You blinked awake and immediately regretted falling asleep sitting upright against a log. As you rolled your neck, memories of the night before resurfaced.

You looked down. Luffy was still asleep. Peaceful and calm, the pain you saw in his face the night before was gone. At some point during the night, he'd shifted completely.

His head now rested comfortably in your lap. You stared at him. Then sighed. You decided not to wake him. Not today. The guilt from last night still lingered. And you enjoyed his warmth as the morning was a tad cold. Instead, you looked up at the sky.

"Boring."

The word escaped under your breath. Not a single star. Just endless blue. No matter how beautiful others found it, daytime skies could never compare to the night.

After a moment of thought, you carefully lifted your hands. Making sure you made no sudden movements that could wake Luffy.

You closed your eyes. Took a deep breath. Then another. The familiar warmth returned. The gentle buzzing. The quiet crackling. When you opened your eyes, starlight danced between your fingers. You smiled softly, a small sigh of relief as you recounted the afternoon before. Slowly moving your hands through the air, you experimented with different motions and combinations.

Tiny galaxies formed. Constellations drifted through the clearing. Silver mist swirled around you. Stars shimmered and sparkled as if pieces of the night sky had been brought down to earth.

Completely lost in your own peaceful creation, you failed to notice that both Rayleigh and Luffy had woken up. Completely lost of time.

Rayleigh awoke and a pleased smile grew on his face as he stood and watched quietly.

Luffy awoke completely confused, between temporarily forgetting what happened last night and the magical view surrounding him.

His eyes darted between the stars, the sky, and you. As if trying to figure out whether it was still nighttime.

As he blinked between you the blue sky and the stars trying to force his eyes to focus and wake up. After what felt like 100 hard and pressed blinks Luffy could see clearly, his gaze falling on your face. A faint smile still lingered there.

"WOAH!"

The shout made you jump. Luffy practically launched himself out of your lap.

"SO YOU CAN SMILE?!"

The constellations immediately vanished.

"LIKE A REAL ONE?!"

You stared at him blankly. Then let out a long sigh. Luffy was definitely back to normal

————————-

you rubbed your eyes.

"There it is," you muttered.

Luffy tilted his head.

"There what is?"

"The annoying version of you."

"HEY!"

His dramatic outrage echoed through the clearing immediately. For a brief moment, everything felt normal again. You almost preferred it that way. Almost. Luffy continued staring at you with wide eyes and a cheeky grin.

"You can actually smile."

You frowned slightly.

"I've smiled before."

"No you haven't."

"I definitely have."

"Nope."

You pointed at him. Falling into his childish argument. Truthfully, you were glad that he was focusing on your smile rather than the stars that had surrounded him as sunlight provided its presence.

You gave him a cocky look crossing your arms, still acting as childish as ever.

"I smiled yesterday."

"That wasn't a smile." Luffy huffed in annoyance at you winning the argument.

"Then what was it?" You remained confident as ever.

"It was like..." Luffy scrunched up his face trying to think. "Like when somebody accidentally drops food and tries to pretend they're happy about it."

Your eye twitched. Eyebrows furrowed and mouth gaped open for less than a second as you absorbed the comment in complete and utter disbelief

‘How has this man survived to adulthood’

Was all you could think before fixing your facial expressions completely dumbfounded.

"That doesn't even make sense."

"It does in my head." Luffy stated now with his same old typical Grin on his face.

Rayleigh burst out laughing watching the childish argument unfold. You groaned quietly and dropped your face into your hands. For some reason, that only made Luffy laugh harder.

The rest of the morning passed surprisingly peacefully. Luffy returned to his training. You continued experimenting with your powers whenever Rayleigh wasn't actively trying to beat Haki into you. He had officially given you freedom to train your power and confidence with Haki. Sort of. Luffy remained banned from his devil fruit abilities while forced to focus on haki and stamina.

Days became weeks.

Weeks became months.

And somewhere along the way, things changed. Not dramatically. Not suddenly. Things you would expect as two people trained alongside each other for months on end. Just little things.

Luffy sitting beside you without asking. Like he was no longer slightly scared of you.

Handing you food before taking his own.

Saving a seat for you beside the fire. Though there was nobody else who could take it.

Falling asleep closer and closer each night as the nights got colder until one evening you looked down and realised he'd somehow ended up using your shoulder as a pillow.

It was never anything romantic—at least, not that you noticed. Luffy wasn't the type to think that way. It was simpler than that.

He treated your presence the same way he treated a warm campfire, a favourite spot on the Sunny, or a place he knew he could sleep without worry. Almost how Ace used to.

Comfortable.

Safe.

Somewhere he didn't need to keep his guard up. So if he felt tired, he'd lean against you without a second thought. If he woke up in the middle of the night, he'd somehow end up a little closer than before. And if anyone asked why, he'd probably just shrug and say, "Cause it's comfy." Somehow, that answer would be completely honest.

It was almost like he let his walls down or, maybe you had let your walls down it was unclear.

Neither of you acknowledged it.

The same way neither of you acknowledged how often he searched for you first whenever something happened. Or how often your eyes automatically found him in return.

One evening, after another exhausting day of training, you sat atop your usual rock watching the stars. The night sky stretched endlessly above you with little clouds, a perfect view of the sparkling suns millions of miles away. Quiet.

Peaceful.

Safe.

You heard footsteps approaching before Luffy suddenly dropped down beside you. Not gracefully. More like a sack of potatoes. You didn't even look at him. He was never one for grace.

"You're gonna fall off that rock one day." Luffy said as he broke the peaceful silence.

"I won't." You said in a sigh as he brought you back from the heaven your mind has gone to.

"You said that last time."

you had grown accustomed to Luffy’s responses, always expecting the childish behaviour and the constant rebuttal and confidence he spoke endlessly.

"I was pushed." You snared

"You tripped."

"Details." You said as you knew he was right for once.

Silence settled between you comfortably.

"Do you miss him?"

Your breath caught. For a moment, neither of you moved. You already knew who he meant.

Ace.

Luffy stared up at the stars. Not looking at you. Not forcing you to answer. Just asking. Clearly a question he had been pondering about for a while by the way his voice hesitated.

You took a deep breath letting the air fill your lungs and with the exhale.

"...Every day."

Your voice barely rose above a whisper not wanting it to crack. Luffy nodded slowly.

"Me too."

The answer came immediately. No hesitation. No pretending. Just truth. You swallowed hard. As you reminded yourself of the past.

"I keep thinking..." you began quietly, "if I'd been stronger..."

Luffy immediately shook his head.

"No."

The response was firm. You looked over at him. A little stunned at the sudden break of the whispering.

"No?"

"No."

His gaze remained fixed on the stars. As you continued to stare.

"If it worked like that..."

A sad smile tugged at his lips. As if he was trying to hide a deeper emotion. He was.

"...then I'd hate myself forever."

Silence followed. Because neither of you had an answer to that. The only sounds were the waves crashing against the shore far below and the wind moving through the trees.

“You’d known Ace for a while right? Like even before Alabasta?” Luffy asked, still looking into the endless above him.

You hesitated as you recalled the painful but happy memory.

“He’d used to say I was his first adventure, I guess it’s because he ran into me before anyone else”

“Kinda like me and Zoro” Luffy said softly

“Kinda” you said, putting a confused look onto luffys moonlit face.

It was on an island close to where he lived. I was inside a massive building which was roaring with flames and smoke. Apparently Ace ran in after someone mentioned there were still people trapped inside."

Your gaze turned to the endless void above you as the memory resurfaced.

"I remember feeling dizzy. The smoke was so thick I could barely breathe, barely think."

A small huff escaped you as you felt that lung stinging pain again.

"Most people were running away from the building."

You paused. Holding back a slightly amused giggle that pressured your sealed lips

"Ace wasn't."

Luffy sat quietly beside you, listening still looking up into the night sky. It didn't hurt this time, it felt different, the air surrounding him not tense and broken as the last time, instead comforting and calm.

"As soon as he heard there were people still inside, he ran straight through the front door."

Your fingers tightened slightly around the stick you were holding.

"The stupid idiot."

A tiny smile flickered across your face before disappearing again.

The crackling of the campfire filled the silence.

"I couldn’t leave although I was able.. I still had friends in there."

You paused briefly, hoping Luffy wouldn't notice your choice of words.

Friends. Not family. Friends.

"The upper floors."

You swallowed hard as the picture of the spiralling staircase encased in flames filled your mind vivid and unrelenting.

"I'd spent years looking after them."

The memory became clearer the more you spoke.

"The smoke got worse the higher I climbed. Everything burned. Walls, floors, doors. The whole building sounded like it was screaming."

You closed your eyes.

"Ace caught up to me somewhere on the stairs."

Immediately you could hear his voice again. As you replayed the scene.

'Are you insane?! The stairs are gonna collapse!'

A small smirk briefly appeared barely visible.

"He grabbed my arm and tried pulling me back down."

You looked towards Luffy before back up at the stars.

"I stared at him until he loosened his grip."

Luffy remained silent just listening to you.

"He should've known better."

You voice becoming intense but still a whisper

"Then I ran."

Your expression darkened.

"The hallway outside their room was completely covered in flames. The walls were burning. The ceiling was falling apart." You took a slow breath.

"But I couldn't stop." The memory of the key felt almost physical in your hand.

"I'd grabbed it on the way up." Your voice softened once again. "When I opened the door..."

You paused. "They were all huddled together."

Small.

Terrified.

Crying.

Still trapped.

Your chest tightened. "They thought nobody was coming." The words came out barely audible as you choked on your own words.

"I unlocked every chain as fast as I could."

You looked down back into the fire.

"They were all crying so hard they could barely stand."

A shaky breath escaped you.

"I shoved every single one of them toward the door and told them to run."

The flames crackled louder. As your stare unwillingly intensified.

Neither of you noticed the slight change in the wind, it no longer took a direction more a centre.

"They listened."

A small smile appeared.

"For once."

Luffy laughed softly as you continued.

"They got two flights down before I followed."

"Why didn't you leave with them?" Luffy asked.

You shrugged.

"There were other rooms."

Luffy groaned as if the story you told was make believe and you could just change the story.

"Of course there were."

"I wanted to make sure nobody else was trapped."

The memory became sharp again. Painfully sharp. Stare was still intensifying as it tried to burn holes into the firepit.

This time Luffy noticed the strange tensions of the surrounding area, he noticed the firepit was crackling a little too loud.

He noticed the wind pushing against him gently from all directions.

He noticed the dust and wood chips that lined the campsite flooring was moving around as if each piece was stuck in its very own tornado.

His gaze moved from the stars as he felt the adjustments in the atmosphere, now intently staring at the tree branches that stood above him. He remained quiet but indecisive as he continued to listen to your voice.

"I was only a few steps behind them when the staircase collapsed."

The words made Luffy straighten immediately, no not the words, the tone.

"The entire thing just..."

You brought your hands together.

"Crack."

A long silence followed. The atmosphere that had seemed alive merely seconds ago was dead again, the fires crackling returned to its almost silent state, the wind fell now only a gentle breeze. The dust and wood chips falling back down to the ground as if you had just told them to play dead. Luffy tensing at the odd timing.

"I don't remember falling."

Your stared eased into the fire.

"I just remember waking up underneath the rubble."

Your hand unconsciously moved toward your leg.

"My leg was trapped."

Another pause.

"And then I saw him."

Luffy's eyes widened slightly.

"Ace?"

You nodded.

"He was buried further up."

For a moment, your voice became softer.

"He wasn't moving."

The image still haunted you.

Dust. Smoke. Silence. And Ace lying completely still.

"I thought he was dead."

The confession hung heavily in the air.

"But then..."

The frown on your face rose as it returned to a straight line. Your tone changed no longer tense

"I noticed four tiny hands sticking out from under his shirt."

Luffy blinked. Then immediately burst out laughing realising his brothers stupidity and bravery.

"You've gotta be kidding."

"I wish I was."

A small smile grew, unable to hold it back due to the amusement you felt of Ace’s actions.

"He'd found two babies somewhere in the building."

You shook your head.

"Instead of leaving, he stuffed them inside his shirt and kept looking for more people."

"Sounds like Ace."

"It does."

The smile faded again.

"I dragged him the rest of the way."

Luffy stared.

"...You dragged Ace?"

"He wasn't exactly helping."

Your glance finally broke from the stars above to Luffy’s big brown eyes as he now stared directly into yours.

"My leg was broken."

Now Luffy looked horrified.

"YOUR LEG WAS BROKEN?!"

"Yes."

"And you dragged Ace?!"

"Yes."

"That's insane!"

"You would've done the same thing."

Luffy opened his mouth. Then closed it.

"...Yeah."

The two of you sat in silence for a moment.

"I got him outside just before the building collapsed."

Your gaze drifted upward toward the stars.

"I passed out almost immediately afterward."

A small laugh escaped you.

"When I woke up a few days later everyone kept calling me a hero."

Your smile became fond.

"I thought it was ridiculous."

"Why?" Luffy asked.

You looked toward him again.

"Because I wasn't the one who ran into a burning building to save people."

The fire reflected softly in your eyes.

"I just happened to save the idiot who did."

Eventually, Luffy yawned loudly.

Then flopped sideways onto the rock.

His head landed directly in your lap.

You stared down at him.

"...Seriously?"

"Comfy."

"Move."

"No."

You sighed. But you didn't push him away. And for the first time in a very long time...

The ache left by Ace's absence didn't feel quite so unbearable. It was still there. It probably always would be. But sitting beneath the stars with Ace's little brother asleep in your lap—

You thought maybe, just maybe—

You were finally starting to heal.

———————————————————————

If anyone has any tips on how skip sections of times better than how I have share 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Chapter 1: How is starts

Requests currently open no rules(accepting 3 more)

Includes: Luffy X Traumatised/Devilfruit user Reader, Long and slow burn. Eventual fluff, angst, possibly Romance and Smut. Eventual Strawhats x Reader. Brutal and violent scenes targeted both towards and against reader. Death of close ones. Traumatic events. Character building

————————————

Summary: From being Ace’s right hand girl, to meeting Monkey ‘D Luffy for the first time in Alabasta, Then watching everything that was once important to you vanish mercilessly infront of you. You find yourself on a strange journey you never expected standing alongside none other than Ace’s brother.

⬅️ Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ➡️

———————————

It felt strange seeing him again after all this time.

The last time you’d seen Monkey D. Luffy had been in Alabasta. Back when Ace was still alive.

Even now, the memory lingered faintly in your mind. Not the image of him stuffing his face beside Ace while laughing loud enough for the entire street to hear—but the moment Ace had actually introduced the two of you.

⸻

“Aight, and who’s that?”

You remembered Luffy pointing directly at you from across the street.

You stood half-hidden behind Ace, arms crossed beneath your long black coat, the fabric concealing most of your appearance.

Ace barely glanced back.

“Oh, that’s Y/N. She’s my right-hand girl.”

And then he just…

kept walking.

Leaving you standing directly in Luffy’s line of sight.

Luffy stared openly at you, completely unbothered by how unsettling most people found your silence. His face stretched into an easy grin, bright and warm and entirely too genuine.

You stared back blankly.

No smile.

No greeting.

Nothing.

Luffy tilted his head immediately, confusion written all over his face.

“Oi, Luffy! You comin’? I’m starvin’!” Ace yelled from several paces ahead.

Luffy snapped his attention away from you and bolted after him without hesitation.

You stayed still for a moment longer, waiting for the Straw Hats to pass. The green-haired swordsman glanced at you as he walked by, his hand resting lazily near one of his blades.

Then he gave a small nod.

You nodded back.

Only after the rest of the crew moved ahead did you finally begin walking behind them all.

You preferred it there.

If anyone attacked, the weaker members in the middle would always be targeted first.

Which meant you’d get to fight first.

⸻

The next time you saw Luffy was on the worst day of your life.

The day Ace died.

Even now, the memory made something sharp twist in your chest.

You remembered the fire.

The screaming.

The blood.

The desperation in White-beard, and Luffy.

And perhaps the most vivid memory of that day Ace collapsing.

That day shattered something inside you completely.

After the war, you disappeared.

You didn’t return to the Whitebeard Pirates.Didn’t attend Ace’s funeral.Didn’t stay long enough for anyone to stop you.

Whatever light had still existed inside you died alongside him.

So you hollowed yourself out and vanished from the world.

Until you met Rayleigh.

⸻

“Tell me, Y/N… what will you do now?”

The question hit harder than any blade ever could.

You stared at him blankly.

“I…”

Nothing came out after that.

No lie.No fake answer.No practiced response to satisfy him.

Just silence.

Rayleigh watched you quietly for a long moment before sighing.

“I’ll be leaving soon.”

Your head snapped toward him instantly.

“What? Why? Where?”

The questions escaped too fast, almost panicked.

Rayleigh chuckled softly.

“Now, now. Let me finish.”

He placed a hand on your shoulder, steady and grounding.

“I’ll be taking someone under my wing. Training him. Guiding him.”

There was a pause before he continued.

“And I want you to come with us.”

Your brows furrowed slightly.

“You’re strong, Y/N. But more than that… you have potential.” His gaze sharpened. “The kind that reminds me of my old captain.”

You didn’t need him to explain further.

Gold Roger.

You stared at him silently for several seconds before giving a slow nod. That’s all you needed to do for Rayleigh to understand.

And somehow, just like that, you ended up stranded on a wild island in the middle of nowhere—

Training beside Monkey D. Luffy.

⸻

You sat near the fire quietly, watching meat roast over the flames while Luffy stared at it with enough focus to rival Observation Haki itself.

Drool nearly dripped from his mouth.

You looked away.

Too late.

“Whaddya starin’ at?”

You blinked, caught off guard.

Luffy was staring directly at you now, cheeks puffed out with food.

You shrugged lightly and turned your attention back toward the fire.

Truthfully, you weren’t sure why you kept looking at him.

Maybe it was because he reminded you of Ace.

There couldn’t be any other explanation.

…Right?

⸻

You didn’t remember falling asleep that first night.

But you definitely remembered Rayleigh waking you up.

“TRAINING STARTS NOW!”

You groaned into the dirt.

“Rayleigh… what about breakfast?”

The childish complaint slipped out before you could stop it.

Rayleigh laughed loudly.

“No time!”

A small frown tugged at your lips—the closest thing to expression most people ever got from you.

Training began immediately.

For the first few days, you and Luffy trained separately. Rayleigh taught the two of you the fundamentals of Haki the exact same way:

By withholding the thing you loved most.

Food.

You weren’t allowed to eat until you succeeded.

Cruel.

Effective.

Every day followed the same pattern:Wake up.Learn something new.Get beaten into the ground trying to master it.

Days turned into weeks.

Weeks turned into a month.

And little by little, you grew stronger.

⸻

“Mornin’, Rayleigh.”

You’d started waking before him now purely so you’d have time to eat breakfast.

Rayleigh cracked one eye open lazily.

“Y/N… today you’ll start training with Luffy. Go wake him up for me.”

You froze slightly.

Then sighed.

Unfortunately, questioning Rayleigh never worked.

So you made your way toward Luffy.

He slept peacefully beneath a tree, completely unaware of the chaos he caused simply by existing.

That strange feeling returned again.

The one you couldn’t explain.

Why was it so hard to look away?

Why did being near him feel so familiar?

You nudged him lightly with your foot.

Nothing.

A harder shove.

Still nothing.

Then finally, with growing irritation, you kicked him directly in the stomach.

Luffy shot upward with a groan.

“Too early…”

You immediately recomposed yourself.

“Rayleigh wants you awake. You’re training with me today.”

You turned before he could respond.

But behind you, you heard movement so sudden and energetic that you already knew he was grinning.

⸻

“I tried waking Luffy up,” you told Rayleigh flatly. “Dunno if it worked.”

Rayleigh only smiled.

Then pointed behind you.

You turned just in time to see Luffy sprinting toward you at terrifying speed.

“You both understand Haki now,” Rayleigh said once Luffy finally stopped beside you. “So it’s time to use it properly.”

Your eyebrow twitched upward slightly.

Rayleigh snapped his fingers.

Two massive beasts emerged from the trees.

“Fight.”

Was all he said before stepping to the side.

Luffy immediately groaned.

“Rayleighhhh, I already know Hakiii!”

“Oh?” Rayleigh smiled. “Then you won’t mind hunting your own food from now on.”

Silence.

Then both you and Luffy stepped forward instantly. The threat of lack of food scaring you both more than the beasts ahead.

⸻

You rolled your shoulders, lowering into a fighting stance.

Normally, you preferred using your blade, but Rayleigh had confiscated it weeks ago to force you into hand-to-hand combat.

You inhaled slowly.

Raised your arm.

The beast slammed into you before you could finish.

Pain exploded through your ribs as you were launched backward into a tree hard enough to leave a crater in the bark.

Your lungs emptied instantly.

You peeled yourself off the tree with a quiet groan.

Then—

THUMP.

You turned your head.

Luffy was embedded in the tree beside yours.

“…Dammit,” he muttered.

You stared at him for a moment.

Then snorted softly before you could stop yourself.

Luffy blinked.

“…Did you almost laugh?”

Your face immediately returned to normal.

“No.”

“LIAR.”

⸻

That night, after hours of being thrown around by oversized monsters, you sat beside the fire while Luffy devoured enough meat to feed a village.

The stars stretched endlessly overhead.

You liked nights like this.

The stars were the only thing that ever quieted your mind.

Luffy talked endlessly beside you, rambling about adventures and food and becoming Pirate King.

You didn’t mind listening.

He spoke enough for both of you.

Eventually, his voice faded as sleep overtook him.

You stayed awake long after.

And when dawn finally began swallowing the stars, your eyes slowly closed.

——————-

The next few months continued the same.

Getting thrown around by savagely large beasts.

Rayleigh telling you off.

Nights spent eating, bandaging, listening, watching and eventually sleeping.

——————

Your breathing slowed.

A deep inhale.

Then an equally slow exhale.

Eyes closed, you stood completely still, waiting.

Waiting to feel something.

A movement.

A noise

A spark

SWISH

Two massive claws tore through the air from opposite sides, rushing toward you fast enough to crush your body between them.

“Y/N!”

Luffy’s voice rang out sharply behind you.

You didn’t move.

Not until the very last second.

Your eyes remained closed as your body reacted instinctively, sensing the attacks before they landed. You leapt upward just as the beasts’ hands collided beneath you with a deafening BOOM, the impact echoing through the entire forest.

You landed lightly atop their joined fists.

Then your eyes opened.

Your gaze locked onto the nearest beast.

Your arm darkened instantly, silver-black Haki coating your fist as you drove a punch directly into its jaw.

The crack echoed loudly.

The massive creature was sent flying backward, crashing through several trees before finally hitting the ground.

You flipped backward off the beast’s hands, landing smoothly in the dirt.

Only then did you notice the silence.

Rayleigh and Luffy were both staring at you.

Wide-eyed.

Speechless.

Luffy’s jaw had practically hit the floor.

Then Rayleigh burst into laughter.

“HAH! Perfect!” he shouted proudly. “Observation Haki and Armament Haki in one clean movement! I taught you well!”

A small smirk tugged at your lips before you quickly lifted a hand to scratch your nose, hiding it almost immediately.

Still—

Luffy noticed.

“Y/N,” Rayleigh continued, still grinning, “you can take the rest of the day off.”

Then he pointed toward Luffy.

“You, keep going.”

Luffy groaned loudly, finally snapping back to reality after what felt like several straight minutes of staring at you.

“Huh?! Why does she get a break?!”

“Because she listened.”

“That’s not fair!”

⸻

Night arrived quickly.

The fire crackled softly while meat roasted above the flames, and before long Rayleigh had already fallen asleep nearby.

Luffy suddenly held a large piece of meat toward you.

Over the past week, the two of you had fallen into an odd sort of routine.

You gathered the firewood.Luffy kept the fire alive.

Luffy cooked the meat—poorly.

And every thirty seconds he’d ask:

“Is it done yet?”

“How bout now?”

“Now?”

The second you finally approved it, he’d grab it barehanded, immediately burn himself, then yelp loud enough to scare birds out of nearby trees.

Trying not to smirk at it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Tonight was no different.

Luffy slid the first cooked piece toward you before immediately throwing another slab onto the fire for himself.

You accepted it quietly.

No words needed.

After eating, you leaned back against your usual rock while Luffy rambled beside the fire about pirates, adventures, meat, becoming Pirate King, and whatever else crossed his mind.

It was always the same stories.

And somehow…

You never got tired of hearing them.

Eventually his voice faded as sleep overtook him mid-sentence.

Like always.

⸻

“Luffy. Wake up.”

You kicked him lightly in the side.

Honestly, there was no other effective way to wake him up anymore.

A long groan escaped him.

“Agaaaain…?”

You were quickly learning that Luffy was absolutely not a morning person.

⸻

As Luffy returned to training against the beasts, Rayleigh pulled you aside separately.

“Alright, Y/N,” he said. “Time to start combining your Haki with your own abilities.”

You froze slightly.

Your abilities.

You almost never used them.

At least—not openly.

Not since Ace died.

The power of the Star Star Devil Fruit wasn’t something you liked showing people. Most of the time you kept it buried deep enough that others forgot you even possessed a Devil Fruit at all.

“Y/N?”

Rayleigh’s voice pulled you from your thoughts.

“You alright?”

You nodded quickly.

“…Yeah.”

Truthfully, you were relieved Luffy wouldn’t be there for this.

You didn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of him.

…No.

That wasn’t it.

You just didn’t want him seeing your powers.

…Right?

Your brows furrowed slightly at your own thoughts.

You shook your head once, earning a curious glance from Rayleigh as he guided you deeper into the forest toward a new training area.

The further you walked, the quieter the island became.

And somewhere deep in your chest a knot forming—

An old fear began waking up again.

You had told Rayleigh about your powers shortly after meeting him. He knew everything—the Hoshi Hoshi no Mi, the abilities it granted, the way your emotions affected it.

More importantly—

He knew you had stopped using it.

After Ace died, you had buried those powers so deeply that sometimes you forgot you’d even eaten the fruit at all.

Rayleigh stopped walking once you reached a large clearing hidden deep within the forest. The trees here were massive, their tops blocking most of the sunlight overhead. Quiet.

Isolated.

Safe.

You stayed near the edge of the clearing while Rayleigh moved toward the center.

Then he turned toward you and held out his hand.

No pressure.No orders.

Just a small closed-eye smile.

The gesture gave you the tiniest bit of reassurance.

“…What exactly am I meant to do?” you asked quietly.

Rayleigh chuckled.

“Use your power.”

“That’s helpful.”

“It is,” he replied easily.

You frowned slightly.

Rayleigh opened one eye toward you.

“You’re thinking too much.”

Of course you were.

You always were.

Slowly, you stepped forward into the clearing. Your heartbeat felt unnaturally loud in your ears the closer you got to the center. You felt your forehead start to sweat as you took a breath.

Your hands curled tightly at your sides.

It had been so long.

What if you couldn’t control it anymore?

What if it hurt someone?

What if—

“Y/N.”

Rayleigh’s voice cut cleanly through your thoughts snapping you back to reality.

“Your power is not something to fear.”

Your gaze lowered.

“…Easy for you to say.”

For a moment, neither of you spoke.

Then Rayleigh sighed softly.

“You remind me too much of him sometimes.”

Your brows furrowed slightly.

“My captain carried the weight of his strength the same way.” Rayleigh crossed his arms. “Strong people often fear themselves more than others do.”

You stared at the ground silently.

“…I don’t even know where to start anymore.”

Rayleigh smiled faintly.

“Then start small.”

A long silence followed before you finally lifted one trembling hand in front of yourself.

Nothing happened at first.

Your chest tightened immediately.

See? You forgot—

Then—You felt ita small burning sensation building up inside you, making your heart beat louder and mind start racing. You hesitantly look up at your still trembling hand outstretched infront of you.

A faint glow flickered against your fingertips.

Tiny.

Barely noticeable.

Like the distant shine of a dying star.

Rayleigh’s smile widened slightly.

“There it is.”

Your eyes stayed fixed on your hand as the glow slowly strengthened, golden-white light spreading gently across your skin. Heat followed soon after—not burning, but warm enough to make the air shimmer faintly around your fingers.

It felt familiar.

Too familiar.

You swallowed hard. Mind still racing.

“Stellar Heat,” you whispered softly.

Golden flames bloomed carefully around your hand.

Not wild.Not destructive.

Controlled.

The fire danced silently against your skin, white at its center and gold around the edges, almost identical to starlight itself.

Your eyes widened slightly.

You still remembered.

For the first time in years, your power answered you willingly.

A strange mix of relief and fear twisted in your stomach.

Rayleigh watched quietly without interrupting for moment.

“Good,” he said softly. “Now maintain it.”

You nodded slightly, focusing harder. Mind getting harder to block out.

The flames grew brighter.

Too bright. You felt your heart beat start to rise.

The ground beneath your feet cracked suddenly as heat burst outward violently, scorching the nearby grass black in seconds.

You flinched immediately, the fire vanishing from your hand.

Your breathing sharpened. Heart rate increased from an already concerning high rhythm

“…Sorry.”

Rayleigh laughed.

“Why’re you apologizing? That’s progress.”

You stared at the burnt ground. You could feel the emptiness begin to rebuild inside. Something you subconsciously did to protect yourself.

“It lost control.”

“No,” Rayleigh corrected calmly. “You lost confidence.”

Your brows pulled together. Pushing down the emptiness you felt building.

“The moment you panicked, your power reacted.” Rayleigh tapped the side of his head. “Your Devil Fruit is deeply connected to your emotions. Suppress yourself, and the power becomes unstable.

You hated how accurate that sounded.

Rayleigh stepped closer before suddenly flicking your forehead hard enough to make you stumble backward. And completely change the direction of your racing thoughts.

“Ow—”

“Again.”

You glared at him slightly.

“Again,” he repeated with a grin.

You sighed quietly before lifting your hand once more.

This time, you closed your eyes.

Not to shut the world out-

But to feel it.

The warmth.The movement.The energy beneath your skin.

Slowly, the light returned.

Softer now.

Steadier.

Small constellations flickered faintly around your fingertips like glowing embers drifting through the air.

Rayleigh nodded approvingly.

“That’s it.”

For the first time in years—

It felt… different.

Like it trusted you to control it again.

Like it had finally become part of you once more.

“I’d better go make sure Luffy hasn’t gotten himself killed,” Rayleigh said with a chuckle, already turning back toward the forest.

You watched him leave quietly.

You knew you didn’t have to continue training. Rayleigh was already satisfied with your progress for the day.

But something inside you still flickered.

A strange feeling.

Bright.Restless.Almost excited.

It screamed to be released.

You slowly stepped back toward the center of the clearing, the sensation in your chest growing stronger with every step.

“Okay…” you muttered under your breath. “Confident. I can do that.”

You rolled your shoulders back, forcing yourself to relax.

Then you closed your eyes.

Instead of fighting the feeling this time, you focused on it.

Your breathing steadied.

Slow inhale.

Slow exhale.

You concentrated on the sensation moving through your body, following it carefully as it drifted toward your hands.

Both arms lifted slowly in front of you.

You let instinct guide you.

At first, there was only warmth.

Then—

A strange tingling sensation sparked across your palms.

Different from before.

Sharper.

Almost electric.

Tiny crackling noises began to echo softly through the clearing, causing your eyes to snap open.

Your breath caught.

Your hands were glowing.

Small glittering sparks drifted weightlessly around your fingers like living stardust.

You slowly turned one palm upward toward the sky.

A faint silver mist spilled from your fingertips before vanishing moments later.

Your heartbeat quickened instantly.

“Confident,” you repeated aloud, firmer this time.

Carefully, you moved your hand through the air.

And froze.

A glowing trail followed behind your fingertips.

Your eyes widened.

Beautiful constellations stretched through the clearing as your movements continued, galaxies of silver-blue mist swirling weightlessly around you while tiny stars flickered within them like scattered diamonds.

You stared in complete disbelief.

This wasn’t destructive.

Wasn’t violent.

It was…

Beautiful.

A real smile slowly spread across your face before you even realized it was happening.

Not forced.Not small.

Real.

As you moved both hands through the air, entire constellations bloomed around you, stardust drifting through the clearing like a living night sky. The mist wrapped around your body gently, glowing brighter each time your excitement grew.

And for once—

Your power didn’t feel heavy.

It felt peaceful.

You laughed softly under your breath as you continued moving, completely mesmerized by the stars dancing around your fingertips.

Time disappeared.

By the time you finally stopped, your chest hurt from laughing quietly to yourself and your cheeks ached strangely.

“…Damn,” you muttered, rubbing at your face lightly. “My cheeks hurt.”

“You know,” a familiar voice said softly from behind you, “that look suits you.”

You froze instantly.

Slowly turning around, you found Rayleigh leaning against a tree nearby.

Watching you.

Your face immediately warmed.

“The smile, I mean,” he clarified with a small grin.

You looked away quickly, embarrassed by how easily he’d caught you.

Rayleigh pushed himself off the tree and walked closer.

“You know,” he began calmly, “many Devil Fruits develop alongside their users. Sometimes they adapt to the person holding them.”

You listened quietly.

“With someone as emotionally restrained as you…” his smile softened slightly, “it seems your fruit found its own way to calm you.”

Your brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

Rayleigh looked toward the fading constellations still drifting through the clearing.

“It means,” he said gently, “you don’t need to be afraid of yourself anymore.”

The words hit harder than you expected.

For once, you didn’t know how to respond.

Rayleigh simply gestured for you to follow him back.

The walk was mostly silent.

Honestly, you were grateful for it.

⸻

That night, the usual routine returned quickly.

Rayleigh rambled endlessly about the strengths and weaknesses the two of you still needed to work on before eventually falling asleep halfway through his own lecture.

Luffy kept talking beside the fire as always.

Pirates.

Adventure.

Food.

His crew.

Always his crew

———————

- REQUESTED STORY + IDEA

Requests: Open (accepting 3 more ideas)

Rules : None! Your wish is my command!!

Subjects : Currently a strong one piece writer although happy to explore other fanfics if requested!