Chapter Text
Time continued to flow on as easily as it could for a crew of pirates and four kids. The recovery after the Whitebeard incident, as the kids had taken to calling it, was a fucking bitch. Broken ribs were hard enough on their own for Ace and Sabo, add in Ace’s ankle and wrist and the boy was pricklier than a porcupine. He snarled and growled at everyone, including Luffy and Sabo, especially Luffy and Sabo.
Luffy had curled up in Shanks’ lap a few days after parting ways from the Whitebeards. Ace had just finished another round of vitriol directed at everyone in the infirmary, including Luffy, and it had shanken the boy, his voice was so quiet and timid, so unlike himself, as he whispered his fears and guilt.
“It’s my fault, Dad,” Luffy hid his face in Shanks’ shirt. “It’s my fault Ace is so hurt, all of them are hurt.”
“Anchor, Luffy, you know that isn’t true, don’t you?” Shanks had tried to soothe his youngest.
Luffy shook his head. “It is true, Dad. If I could have defended myself better they wouldn’t have gotten hurt. At least not hurt as bad.”
Shanks couldn’t argue that, it was true that the boys went out of their way to protect the youngest, taking hits that would have missed them otherwise. “You know they don’t blame you though, right? Those brothers of yours would do anything and everything for you,” Shanks ran his hand down Luffy’s back.
“But I don’t want them to protect me! I want to be strong enough to protect them! Torao too!” Luffy argued.
Shanks couldn’t help but smile, “Then we will work together. We’ll help you get stronger, all four of you. After all, you’re supposed to beat me some day, aren’t you?”
Shanks laughed as Luffy agreed, tension breaking under the excitement for the future.
After that, Ace was a lot more careful not to take out his frustrations about being laid up on Luffy. Shanks was sure Sabo had heard, knew the boy was nearby when they had the conversation, but he hadn’t expected Ace to take it to heart. They were all a bit more careful around the youngest, not in a patronizing way, though, they were very careful about that. They were trying to treat him more like the almost 9-year-old he was, and less like a baby, Shanks thought, not that he would ever truly get away from being the baby brother.
0808
Shanks used the fact that his middle two children were a bit too laid up to run wild to start Haki training the same way he and Blue had started. They had been around Sabo and Ace’s age when they started anyways.
He sat cross legged in the middle of the deck, all four boys in front of him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he noticed how much the younger three really looked like blood relatives with the red dye. Luffy and Ace had already looked similar in some ways, the same darker skin tone, the freckles that dusted their cheeks, and their dark hair made most see them as biological siblings anyways. Now with the dye darkening his hair, Sabo could really be added to them. His skin had darkened from noble white to a permanent tan from years in the sun, both in the Gray Terminal and now on the Red Force, the sun damage freckles just added credibility to them. Sabo even had the dark eyes to match Luffy.
Law was the odd one out of them, not that he seemed to mind, though. The white patches on his skin had finally recovered, for the most part, now just barely paler than his natural bronze tone, though with his preference to stay in the infirmary and out of the sun he was still just barely darker than Sabo. This made him a stark contrast to the others, not to mention his sharp golden eyes to Ace’s bright silver. To look at them, one would think that Law was their complete counterpoint, calm where they oozed excitement, book smart where they were instinct based creatures, cold where they were warm. Law seemed like the introvert to their extroverts. But that was only until you got to know him. Law may always seem calm, but there was a storm behind his eyes, and once something caught his attention, he threw himself into the need to know everything about it. He may have actually been the most learned of the boys, but his gut was rarely wrong and he wasn’t afraid to argue for it. And though many saw Law’s sharp gaze and prickly demeanor and assumed that the teen was as cold as the Northern winters, but they didn’t get to see the way Law lit up when he found a new medical book, the way he and Hongo would talk for hours about how to be a better doctor, or the way he melted into cuddling with the younger boys or Shanks. He was very much the introvert to the ASL trio’s pure extroverted energy, and while he wasn’t afraid to use that sharp tongue, or Devil Fruit, to protect his boundaries, it was clear to everyone that he loved the brothers. Shanks personally thought he had an extra soft spot for Luffy, not that it wasn’t a common sentiment for everyone who had met the rubber boy.
“Alright, I am going to start teaching you about something called Haki,” Shanks started, getting their attention. “Haki is an extension of your deepest self, your Will, if you want to think of it that way. There are three ways that this can be manifested, most people can use the first two if trained, but the third can only be accessed by a select few.”
Shanks was pleased to see that he had the rapt attention of all of them, even some of the crew lingered nearby to hear what their captain was explaining.
“The first one is using your Will to reach out to those around you. You can use this for several reasons, you can use this to get a feel of those you’re fighting to anticipate their movements, you can also use Observation Haki to reach out to those around you. I can reach out now and find every person on this ship and tell you how they’re feeling. Once you awaken yours, you can generally tell when someone else is reaching out for you, not always though. You can also wrap your Haki around yourself to hide your presence.”
Shanks paused for a moment to let that information sink in. Shanks was sure if he had let them, Law and Sabo would have been taking notes.
“The second way is to take your Will and wrap it around a part of yourself or something you’re holding to make it stronger. Armament Haki is just that, adding armor to yourself, in a lot of ways. It is a way to protect yourself, but it also helps make your attacks stronger, not to mention it’s the only thing that can hit a Logia Devil Fruit, outside of Seastone. Using the two together can make someone an incredibly dangerous fighter, but it won’t make you invincible, so the three of you will work on training both of those as well as normal combat training while Ace and I work on the third one together.”
“Me?” Ace gasped, mouth open. “What do you mean?”
Shanks smiled. “The third kind is called Conquer’s Haki, it’s the ability to exert your Will over others. It is very rare, and even harder to activate, but Ace has used it once already.”
Ace just stared at him blankly.
“The night of the fire on Dawn,” Shanks started, “right before I got to you. Someone was about to hurt Luffy.”
Ace blinked in recognition. “I was so mad. I was furious and desperate, all I could think about was getting those dicks out of the way so I could get to Luffy and then…” Ace trailed off.
Shanks nodded, “You activated your Haki, knocked most of them out and gave me time to get to you.”
“I had forgotten about that,” Ace murmured, staring at Shanks in shock.
“Now just because you’ve used it once doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to do it again. You were under a lot of stress, I doubt you even remember even subconsciously how you did it. But since we know you can, we should be able to figure it out,” Shanks grinned. Shanks saw how the other boys looked at Ace, Law and Sabo with twin looks of grudging respect while Luffy just looked at his brother in awe. Ace was a bit pink in the cheeks, a bit of a pleased flush mixed with the embarrassment of having his brother’s attention.
“Now,” Shanks pulled their attention back, “this is how we're going to start. I need you all to close your eyes, focus on just the sound of my voice and the sun on your skin. Let everything else blow away on the wind until it’s just us.” He waited a moment, watching them breathe and waiting for Luffy’s fidgeting to settle. He knew this would be the hardest part, it was for him and Blue too.
“Once your mind is nice and quiet, as quiet as it can be,” Shanks amended, knowing Law’s head was never truly quiet, “start looking into yourself. Look for the flame that makes up who you are, what drives you closer to your dreams. Don’t chase it, just let yourself be drawn to it, the warmth that is your Will. Once you find it, let it warm you from the inside out, and picture it extending past you until it envelops the five of us.”
Shanks kept his own Observation active as he led them through the meditation, ribbons wrapped around his boys. He could feel the sparks of their Haki attempting to flare up. He could sense the wings Law reached out with, soft with downy feathers and awkward with their inexperience. Ace and Sabo, so alike in so many ways, both breathed life into small embers that were sure to expand into warm bonfires someday, but for now they flickered weakly in the wind. And Luffy, their little ball of energy, Shanks could feel the barely there rays of a sunrise before it was covered by a cloud.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Shanks said, voice loud enough that it startled the four boys. “That was a pretty impressive start. We’ll start doing this every morning for a little bit longer every time. Once you have a base in Observation, we can start trying to work on Armament.”
“But we didn’t do it,” Sabo scowled.
“No, but the more frustrated you get, the harder it is to get a grasp of it. That’s why we’ll start slow and easy,” Shanks smiled, getting up to ruffle Sabo’s hair. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you did better on your first try than I did.”
That sent the younger three into excited chatter, questions and comments overlapping until it was just a cacophony of noise that made Shanks laugh and Law grumble. Shanks sent them off to start on their chores, still smiling.
After so long on the seas, Shanks had an almost constant level of Observation active. The ship was rarely not visible in his mind's eye, his crew all familiar lights. Therefore the flashes of his children's Haki flickering to life throughout the day didn’t escape his notice.
“Can you feel them, Beck?” Shanks asked after dinner, standing with his first mate at the railing.
“Hard not to,” Beckman responded. To anyone else the reply would have sounded annoyed, but Shanks could hear the pride under it.
So their morning routine changed a bit. Every morning, Shanks would lead them through the meditation, generally out on deck if the weather was nice, but sometimes they ended up in the mess hall or the infirmary, depending on where was less populated. It took several weeks of Shanks guiding them and them practicing on their own before one of them saw .
Shanks wanted to be surprised that it was Luffy, but between his almost need to be the best, his absolute focus when he knew it was important, and his already perceptive nature it seemed almost inevitable.
Luffy had been hanging off of Law’s back, one of his favorite places, on deck. The doctor had been talking to one of the riggers about an injury and Shanks had thought Luffy was asleep. It certainly wasn’t uncommon for him, everyone knew that Luffy hated being on his own, so he would often just pick a member of his family and nap on them while they continued doing whatever they were before. Shanks was just about to go over and grab his youngest, he needed to go talk to Building Snake about their next course anyways and could move Luffy inside, when the boy jerked his head up with a gasp of awe.
Shanks knew why immediately, breath caught in his throat as he felt like the sun came out from behind the clouds. His own Haki, always active at a low level, reached out the warmth almost on instinct. He only got the warning of Luffy jerking his head around to look at him before he was catching the rubber boy like it was second nature.
“Everyone is so bright ,” Luffy murmured, awed.
Shanks clutched the boy close, pride spilling over into his Haki and he was sure Luffy could tell. “They are, the ones you love show up especially bright,” Shanks whispered back. As quickly as it had appeared, Luffy’s Haki faded and Shanks could only laugh at the frustrated look Luffy made. “It takes a lot of practice to keep it active, but you did it!”
Luffy grinned at him in joy and Shanks couldn’t help but smile. He wondered, briefly, if Roger had felt the same way the first time he activated his Haki.
Luffy’s success really lit a fire under the other boys, it became more and more likely to see them sitting and focusing any time they had even a moment of down time. Within days Shanks could feel the feathered wings of Law’s soul brush against his cheek. Never to be out done, the twin flames of Ace and Sabo flared to life almost simultaneously, souls too bright to ever be put out.
Now the training could start in earnest.
0808
The party thrown for Luffy’s 9th birthday in May was a bit subdued, they were on a long stretch between islands fighting a terrible headwind and pesky marines. They had promised to make it up to the youngest at the next island with a huge feast and an adventure into the forest to let the boys run off some energy without causing issues.
Shanks stretched his Haki over the island from where he was sitting on the beach with Beckman, delighting in feeling his kids respond in kind. The day had been peaceful, the spring island was warm enough for them to all laze about but not so hot that they felt that was their only option. Beckman was sitting on a fallen log by the fire pit while Shanks sat on the ground between his legs, almost dozing as his lover ran his fingers through his red hair. Shanks allowed himself to float in the haze of peace, this half of the island was uninhabited, Beckman and a couple other crew members had gone over to the small village to assure them that the pirates weren’t here to cause trouble and would stick to the other side of the island, his children weren’t causing problems themselves, Shanks could still feel them in his Haki, and Beckman was scratching his scalp in a way that always turned him to putty.
Shanks allowed himself the relaxation, teasing Beckman that he was a single father of 4 and thus deserved the break just to watch his first mate roll his eyes and tug on his hair teasingly.
Everything was perfect, until it wasn't.
At the very edge of his Haki Shanks could feel a ship coming towards them. The ship felt like a storm with a being of lightning at its center. Between one breath and the next, Shanks went from a house cat lounging in the sun, to a tiger, crouched and ready to pounce. His Haki flared out and he felt the boys respond, both with a flare of their own and by rushing to join the adults. By the time the ship came into view they were all on high alert. Shanks stood with Ace, Sabo, and Luffy behind him. Law stood on his left, hands tight around the hilt of his odachi while Beckman stood to his right, rifle slung over his shoulder.
By the time the ship reached the shore, the whole crew was fanned out around them, posed to act, but not initiating a threat.
“Akagmi no Shanks, you are a hard man to hunt down,” a man with a voice like thunder said from the bow of the ship. The man was tall and broad, face shadowed by a dark green cloak.
“Well, if I had known I was being looked for I might have slowed down,” Shanks grin was downright predatory. Shanks could see the Chief of Staff, Ivankov, in their feminine form, “Especially if I had known it was the Revolutionary Army.”
He could feel Sabo lean around his legs at the address, he was sure the boy would be interested in talking with them as long as they were here peacefully.
“I believe you have my son, Red Hair,” The man responded, even the jump down to the beach didn’t dislodge the hood from covering his eyes. All four boys took a half step closer to Shanks.
“I think you’re mistaken. These are my children, none of whom have been stolen from anywhere,” Shanks eyed the man dangerously. He held onto his Haki by a thread, eyes dark.
The man finally removed his hood and Shanks realized he was face to face with Monkey D. Dragon. Shanks barely bit back a snarl as he looked at the man who seemed to be here to take his son away.
“Wait a second,” Sabo gasped, leaning around Shanks’ legs. “He was there that night!”
“What are you talking about, Shade?” Beckman asked.
Sabo looked between Shanks and Dragon. “He was there the night the Gray Terminal burned! I ran into him on my way to Makino’s. He tried to help me up and offered to take me somewhere but I told him I had somewhere to be,” Sabo explained.
“So, you are telling me you do not have Monkey D. Luffy on your ship?” Dragon accused. Luffy stiffened behind him.
Shanks stood taller, he may be shorter than the Revolutionary leader, but he could feel his Haki wrapped around him. “I do not have anyone with the surname Monkey on my ship. And even if I did, I vowed to the Sea that these are my children. A vow spoken in front of Vice Admiral Garp, so by the Sea and the government these are my sons, and you will not take them from me,” Shanks voice dropped into a snarl, eyes not leaving the man in front of him.
He could see the uncomfortable shifting of the revolutionaries on the ship out of the corner of his eye, but his focus was on the man staring at him with a blank expression.
Shanks was only pulled out of his staring match when there was a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Luffy looking nervous, but determined.
“I think it’s okay, Dad,” he said quietly.
Shanks leaned down to pick him up, holding him tightly to his chest. “What do you mean, Anchor?”
Luffy wiggled until he could meet Shanks’ eyes. “I don’t think he’s here to take me away, not now anyways.”
Shanks looked between his youngest and the man standing a good distance away. “Are you sure?”
Luffy nodded and Shanks sighed in defeat. He set Luffy down and looked over at Law, who nodded, letting go of the sword with one hand to prepare for a Room if needed.
Luffy walked forward several steps, but he was careful to stay close enough that he could be easily reached. “My name is Benn D. Luffy, and this is my family,” Luffy introduced.
“Benn?” Dragon questioned, he walked towards the boy and Shanks tried not to lunge.
Luffy nodded. “Shanks is my dad, but since Shanks doesn’t have a last name I decided to use Beckman’s.”
Shanks may not have been able to see Luffy’s face, but he could tell by the slight squirm in Dragon’s face that his son was eyeing him up. The critical look that seemed so out of place on his jovial face that pierced you to your core.
“I’m sure you had good reasons, but you left me alone. Shanks makes sure I’m not alone, he takes care of me and has taught me lots. You can be family, but you can’t be my dad because Shanks is my dad. You seem cool though!”
Shanks felt the anxiety he didn’t even realize he had released in a sigh. He didn’t realize how afraid he was of Luffy wanting to go with his biological father until the situation was dropped on him.
Luffy stretched his arms and rocketed himself back into Shanks arm, his brothers relaxing their stances slightly as he was back in range.
“I–,” Shanks saw the Revolutionary leader struggle to find words. “I see, I suppose I was mistaken.”
“Dragon-boy,” Ivankov called, but Dragon just shook his head and started walking back to his ship.
Shanks cursed at himself and mentally accused the boys for making him soft. “Dragon, wait.”
The Revolutionary gave him an unimpressed look over his shoulder, no doubt thinking Shanks wanted to brag.
“I’m sure the Revs don’t get a lot of downtime. It’s a beautiful day and we’ve promised Luffy a feast for his birthday. Why don’t you stick around for a bit?” Shanks offered. He could hear Beckman grumbling beside him, but Luffy just looked up with stars in his eyes.
“Yeah!” Luffy called. “That would be so cool!”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Beckman gumbled as Dragon looked back to his ship.
“Do I ever?” Shanks asked with a cheeky grin.
“No,” Beckman answered, rolling his eyes at Shanks' gasp of outrage.
“If we would not be intruding, we will stay,” Dragon answered after a short conversation with his chief of staff.
“Yosh!” Luffy crowed before throwing himself out of Shanks’ arm and into Sabo’s. He was already chattering a mile a minute as his older brother rolled his eyes and stalked off with the other red-heads.
0808
Hours later, Shanks was once again sitting by the fire pit, fire now blazing, as his crew and the Revolutionaries mingled together. He had seen Sabo bouncing from person to person, Shanks was sure his little anarchist heart would be full to bursting after today and that he would have to keep a close leash on him at the next few islands if he didn’t want full on revolutionary wars. He could see Law and Ivankov deep in conversation, likely about the effect of hormones. If Shanks had to guess, he’d bet that Law would have a full notebook full of theories by the end of the night. Shanks also noticed Ace distracting Luffy off to the side. Shanks had noticed that every time Luffy tried to go near the Revolutionaries, one of his brothers would appear by his side, pulling his attention elsewhere. As much as they were enjoying the company of the Revs, they didn’t trust them. And Shanks couldn’t blame them, his own Haki had been on high alert since he first noticed the ship. As such, he wasn’t surprised when Dragon sat on the log beside him, eyes locked onto the flames.
“I never wanted to leave Luffy,” Dragon said after several minutes.
Shanks doesn’t look over at him. “Like Luffy said, and like I told your father, you may have your reasons, but your intent doesn’t change the outcome.”
“Was he really that unhappy?” Dragon murmured.
Shanks let the question sit for a moment, flaring his Haki again to find his kids. Luffy had joined Law with Ivankov, both brushing back against him in acknowledgment. Ace and Sabo were talking to someone in what seemed to be recognition, Haki bright and bold as ever. Shanks also did a headcount of his crew, making sure they were all close at hand.
“When I met Luffy,” Shanks started, “he was six and his only friend was Makino. He was so excited when we showed up, adults who were willing to pay attention to him, who listened to him. We stayed there for almost a full year, it was actually my fault he ate the Gum Gum Fruit, but he attached to us so hard because we showed that we loved him. In that year, do you know how many adults tried to check on him when he was off wandering the jungles of Dawn by himself?”
He waited a moment to see if Dragon would respond before continuing. “It was just us. No one else in Foosha bothered and Makino was too busy. The poor girl cried when we asked her why she was the only one looking out for him. I guess Garp had told them that Luffy was going to grow up to be a marine and so he needed to learn to be strong on his own, no one but Makino was allowed to help him. Good thing I’m a pirate and I don’t follow marine orders, huh,” Shanks gave Dragon a dark smirk, noticing the look of horror on his face.
“When we left Garp took him up to the mountain bandits, I think Ace said her name was Dadan. Said Maki was too soft on him–”
“He was seven! ” Dragon said, outrage clear.
“Ace had been there since he was a newborn,” Shanks responded, watching Dragon out of the corner of his eye. “That’s where the three met. Ace and Sabo tried to kill Luffy at first, Luffy latches on and doesn’t let go, and he’s more than a bit of a crier, they didn’t like that. By the time they started warming up to him, Luffy was getting tortured on their behalf.” Shanks ignored the sharp intake of breath. “Kid has abandonment issues to the point he would rather be beaten with spiked gloves than risk losing those boys. After that they told me they stole the bandit’s sake and drank it to become brothers. They lived in a treehouse they made themselves and hunted for their own food. They generally managed to sneak down to Makino’s about once a month to call me.”
Shanks looked over to where he knew Luffy was, he had found a beetle and was studying it intently. Ace was not too far away, leaned against a tree with his frankly lurid hat tipped over his eyes. To anyone just glancing at him, it would look like the boy was asleep, but Shanks knew better. Law and Hongo were a little further up the beach, talking to what looked like the medical officer for the Revs. Shanks only knew where Sabo was because of how familiar he was with the boy, he had taken the lessons on hiding his Haki better than anyone Shanks had ever seen. He would bet every bit of treasure they had that the Revs would be chomping at the bit for him in a few years when they realized that the Red Devil Shade had been sitting behind Dragon the Revolutionary for the last five minutes and no one caught it.
“Their stories are theirs to share, it’s not my place to tell you Ace, Sabo, or Law’s past, though I’m sure with your network you have some ideas. I am only telling you Luffy’s because you are his father,” Shanks stopped there for a moment. He debated on what to say for a time, Dragon quiet, absorbing what he had been told.
Finally Shanks whipped his arm out, catching Sabo around the waist and making the boy squawk in alarm as Shanks pulled him into his lap.
“What the–” Dragon gasped in surprise as Sabo grumbled.
“You know you can’t hide from me, Sabs,” Shanks laughed.
“Yeah, but I hid from him,” Sabo sassed back, pointing a thumb over to Dragon.
“How long have you been using Haki?” Dragon asked, unnerved.
“A couple months,” Sabo responded, tone flippant but grin sharp.
“You’re not joining the Revs,” Shanks cut in, making Sabo glare at him. “You’re twelve, we agreed you aren’t leaving for another five years.”
“I don’t even know that I would want to join the Revs,” Sabo scoffed, glaring at Dragon.
“Doesn’t matter, I am not talking about you leaving right now, you’ll break my heart,” Shanks responded, throwing his arm over his face in a dramatic effect. While Sabo was rolling his eyes, Shanks attacked his side, tickling him to make his son yelp and giggle, squirming his way out of Shanks lap.
“Go get your brothers, it’s time for you four to get ready for bed,” Shanks told him, letting the boy go.
“Dad,” Sabo groaned.
“Go on, it’s past Luffy’s bedtime and it looks like Law has reached the end of his social battery. You’d be doing him a favor,” Shanks tried to bargain.
Sabo’s eyes glinted at the idea of the older boy owing him a favor. He nodded and turned on his heel.
“Luf, come on, it’s time to head in. I promised I’d finish that book for you,” Sabo called.
Luffy whined but joined Sabo anyways, wrapping his limbs around him so he didn’t have to walk. Ace and Law had both joined them, Law looking quietly relieved to be leaving the mingling group and Shanks could feel Ace’s Haki finally die down a bit as they moved back to familiar territory.
Luffy dropped off of Sabo in a way that made the whole group stop and see what had gotten the youngest’s attention. Luffy turned and ran to give Shanks a hug, which in of itself isn’t unusual, but the force in which Shanks was wrapped up was.
“What’s up, Anchor?” Shanks asked concerned.
Luffy was quiet for long enough that the other boys came over to check and for Shanks’ worry to ratchet up several notches.
Luffy squeezed Shanks again before turning his head to look at Dragon.
“Thank you for checking on me, but I’m happy here. We’re all happy here. Dad makes sure we know that we’re not alone and that we are safe and loved. That’s all we ever wanted,” Luffy told his father.
“Luffy–” Dragon started but was cut off when Luffy shook his head.
“Shanks is my dad, and I’m staying with him until I can be a captain myself.”
Dragon’s frame relaxed in a way Shanks hadn’t seen yet and he smiled gently at Luffy. “Of course. Thank you for reassuring me.”
Luffy grinned at him, gave Shanks one last hug, and then took off towards the Red Force, leaving his brothers to chase after him with shouts and threats. Shanks could only smile as he watched the force of nature both men called their son run off.