Chapter 2: Strength grows with bonds
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.
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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?
The words slipped out during a brief pause in his rambling.
You rotated slightly on your rock so you were facing him.
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.
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.
His voice became quieter. Softer.
"But I still had to try..."
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.
You looked over at Luffy. He was still staring down at his hands.
For once, Luffy didn't interrupt.
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.
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.
His voice cracked. Your already shattered heart shattered into more pieces
You felt your chest ache. A breath becoming caught in your throat
"I couldn't save my crew either."
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.
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.
The shout made you jump. Luffy practically launched himself out of your lap.
The constellations immediately vanished.
You stared at him blankly. Then let out a long sigh. Luffy was definitely back to normal
"There it is," you muttered.
"The annoying version of you."
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 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.
"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.
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.
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.
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
"Details." You said as you knew he was right for once.
Silence settled between you comfortably.
Your breath caught. For a moment, neither of you moved. You already knew who he meant.
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.
Your voice barely rose above a whisper not wanting it to crack. Luffy nodded slowly.
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.
The response was firm. You looked over at him. A little stunned at the sudden break of the whispering.
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
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.
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.
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."
"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
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."
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.
Luffy laughed softly as you continued.
"They got two flights down before I followed."
"Why didn't you leave with them?" Luffy asked.
"There were other rooms."
Luffy groaned as if the story you told was make believe and you could just change the story.
"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.
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.
Luffy's eyes widened slightly.
"He was buried further up."
For a moment, your voice became softer.
The image still haunted you.
Dust. Smoke. Silence. And Ace lying completely still.
The confession hung heavily in the air.
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."
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."
"Instead of leaving, he stuffed them inside his shirt and kept looking for more people."
"I dragged him the rest of the way."
"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.
Now Luffy looked horrified.
"You would've done the same thing."
Luffy opened his mouth. Then closed it.
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."
"I thought it was ridiculous."
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 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 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Next Chapter already half written!
