Chapter Text
“My wealth and treasure? It can be yours if you want it! Search for it! I left everything in that one place, at the end of the Seas!”
Dragon watched in silence as the man who was called the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, spoke his last words. He was simply standing there, face hidden by his almost-new green coat, as the World Government killed the one captain, the one pirate, who went against everything that the Five Elders had decided and saw what the last island of the Grand Line held in its unexplored, forbidden shores. He did nothing when he heard the freest man of the world’s head rolling on the floor, his last laugh still echoing in the city that saw him grow up until he left to the Sea, never to return again until this fateful day.
“All for Justice,” he thought sourly, before disappearing without a trace in a silent gust of wind.
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Days later, Dragon cradled an unbelievably small child in his large hand, the kid far too little for him to even dare hold him in his arms like he saw so many parents do with their children.
His son was already two years old, and yet he was still so tiny .
Luffy slowly blinked at him, his big deep-brown eyes full of wonder and curiosity. When he smiled, his eyes turned into small crescent moons with the sheer strength of his expression, and Dragon couldn’t help but ask himself once again if the blinding light he could see slightly bleeding out from his beautiful, amazing, perfect child was really there, or if he was just imagining it all.
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Luffy had been shot at. His first reason to get up and fight everydays, his little Sun, his son , had been shot at .
He hadn’t been touched, of course, not under his care. But he could have , and that alone would have been enough reasons for Dragon to stand tall and take down the whole World with his Will only, if he wasn’t working on doing just that already.
His still-new organization, the Freedom Fighters –a group of people who were willing to fight the World Government for their Freedom– were attacked by a fleet of Navy ships. The Marines shot senselessly into their boat as soon as one of them recognised him on the deck, as he was trying to get Luffy to hide back inside of the ship with the others. The child was running around while laughing, not realizing the danger they were in, and Dragon had been trying to catch him without hurting or scaring him.
Then, all he could hear was the bullets flying in their direction, one of them barely missing Luffy’s head by an inch- and he saw red.
Next thing he knew, he was holding his son tightly in his arms, shielding him with his large body as he let a storm sink the entire fleet of Blue Seagulls before they dared to get too bold and actually hurt his dearest treasure.
Luffy had been completely motionless in his hold the whole time, not seeing but still hearing as the Marine’s terrified screams reached his too-young ears, and feeling their numerous weak Voices suddenly disappear all at once to the weather’s fury.
And then, not for the first time, Dragon realized that he couldn’t keep his baby with him forever. Not if he wanted to burn down the World Government. Not unless he wanted to see his little Sun get seriously injured- or worse .
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“C’mon Luffy! Throw the ball back at me! It’s in the game’s rules! We can’t play if you just keep it to yourself the whole time!”
Dragon watched in silence as little Makino, the seven years old daughter of two of his old acquaintances from Foosha –both of them being the current owners of the village’s best and only bar–, played with his little Sun. He was simply sitting there, drinking the glass of alcohol given to him by the girl’s mother, who had a slightly tense but understanding smile on her lips and a pitying look in her eyes. He did nothing when he heard the small sigh that Makino’s father let out when she pouted a bit with that selfish mindset that kids often have, when she realized that she would have to share her room with a little boy that she had yet to learn how to care about.
“All for Freedom,” he thought determinedly, lovingly cuddling his little Sun to his heart with both of his arms one last time, before disappearing without a trace in a silent gust of wind.