c1 Windmill Village
This is a very small port town. It sits at the edge of Dawn Island, the peaceful place known as Foosha Village, famous in the East Blue for its windmill and the bar that the Red-Hair Pirates once frequented. A boy is sitting on the stone steps by the port. He is wearing black shorts, a red T-shirt and has blond hair.
The boy looked up at the sky. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the sea level, dyeing the sea orange-red, just like the evenings he often watched from the cliff where the local kids sometimes gathered to talk about pirates and Marines. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the familiar sea breeze at this moment.
"Lucci" a gentle voice came from behind.
He opened his eyes and turned to look at the person in front of him. She was wearing light blue trousers, an orange mesh top with black sleeves, and a yellow plaid headscarf wrapped around her green hair. It was Makino, the kind barmaid who had taken care of many children in the village since before the Red-Hair Pirates left.
"Hey, Makino, what's wrong?" Lucci looked at the person in front of him.
"Did you know Mr. Garp was coming over?" She covered her mouth and chuckled.
'Grandpa' he thought of the tall Marine and the iron fist that even pirates like Shanks had joked about before, and couldn't help but shudder. He remembered how the villagers once said "Garp's fist could shatter mountains," a phrase repeated proudly by the Hero of the Marines. "What is that old man doing here?" he said loudly.
"Lucci, how can you disrespect your lovely grandpa?" a rude shout came from the side.
Hearing this sound, his legs couldn't help but retreat. He immediately turned around to run back toward Makino's bar, but it was obvious that a faster fist one known throughout the East Blue as the "Fist of Love" stopped him and hit him on the head. He squatted down holding his head, and couldn't help but feel that sooner or later he would be killed by this crazy old man. "Grandpa, why did you hit me?" He asked with a painful face.
The Marine in front of him, the same one who had once dragged a young Monkey D. Luffy across the village while lecturing him about becoming a proud Marine, held something in one hand and inserted his little finger into his nostril with the other hand, saying with disdain, "Lucci, is this the attitude you have when you see your dear grandpa?"
Makino went forward to check on Lucci's condition and asked worriedly, "Lucci, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Sister Makino." Lucci rubbed his head and stood up.
"Grandpa, what's in your hand?" Lucci stared at the package in Garp's hand curiously.
"Lucci, come meet your brother," he held the child tightly, but at the same time he was very careful to prevent the child from falling with his movements, Garp said, reaching out to show Lucci the child. His arms were strong from years of chasing the Pirate King, yet gentle, like when he carried Luffy or Ace to Dadan's mountain hideout.
"Hey! Really?" Lucci asked curiously and excitedly. He stared at the baby in the package curiously. The child was so small and fragile. He poked his cheek curiously with his hand and watched him sleeping sweetly. He suddenly felt soft in his heart, thinking, 'Is this my brother? My family'
Lucci remembered what the children in the village had said before: "He is a monster, we should not play with him, and my mother secretly said that his father is a dangerous person and a criminal. We can't stay with him." Rumors in Foosha Village spread easily, especially after the days when pirates often visited the bar and when Garp brought strange children home without explaining anything.
This resulted in him always being alone, and he could only look at the sea alone, sitting where Luffy once sat dreaming of becoming a pirate. Even at home, he was always alone in his room at night. Even if he was scared, he had to be alone to comfort himself.
He didn't understand why they said his father was a criminal and an evil man. Ever since he could remember, the adults in Foosha Village whispered about wanted posters blowing in from the Goa Kingdom port, and sometimes he overheard Makino gently scolding the villagers for spreading rumors. He also didn't understand why his grandfather didn't let him talk to people in the village or go to the village, just like when Garp had once dragged a crying Ace to Mt. Colubo insisting that "a Marine must be strong, must not rely on others, must not be soft!" He couldn't figure it out.
But now he has a younger brother, he is no longer alone, he will protect him well. He wants to stay with him forever, because being alone is more terrible than pain, he doesn't want to enter that state again, he wants to protect him forever, protect him from being hurt, don't let him feel this painful loneliness, want him to be happy. It reminded him of how villagers once said that even the Red-Hair Pirates treated each other as family something he always wished he had.
"Lucci, you must take good care of your younger brother. His name is Monkey D. Luffy, and he will live with you from now on." Garp touched his head and said to him with a heavy face, the same expression he wore when he told Makino that "the life of these brats is a bit complicated," back when Ace first arrived at Dadan's hideout.
"Makino, please take good care of them for me. I have something to do recently and you may not see me for a long time." Garp laughed and waved his hand and walked towards the beach, his white cloak fluttering like when he returned from battles against the remnants of Roger's old crew.
"Mr. Garp" Makino looked confused, but nodded firmly. She had seen Garp leave like this before suddenly, without warning usually because a major pirate had been spotted somewhere in the East Blue.
"Lucci, take care of yourself and Luffy. I'm going back first. Next time we meet, call me grandpa," Garp said angrily and gestured with his fist in front of his chest.
"Got it, you old man!" Lucci shouted.
Garp laughed and jumped into the boat, just as recklessly as when he once leapt off Dadan's cliffside hut without hesitation, yelling that "a small fall like this is nothing to a Marine hero!"
"Hey! Lucci, let's take Luffy to the tavern and get him some food," said Makino, looking at the baby in her arms with a gentle face. She had carried babies before Luffy, Ace, and even local villagers' kids so the way she rocked him was almost second nature.
"Okay! Let's go!" Lucci shouted excitedly. He couldn't wait to run in front of Makino to explore the way for them, looking back at them from time to time, just like he used to watch the Red-Hair Pirates wander the village roads singing carefree songs.
Makino looked at him with a smile, she knew they would be a very close pair of brothers. She had witnessed bonds like that before Ace and Luffy, even before they could walk properly, would cling to each other stubbornly.
"Luffy, good boy." Makino held the baby and teased him while asking Lucci to help get the bottle. "Lucci, can you help your sister get the milk under the cabinet?"
"Oh." Lucci quickly handed the milk to Makino. Looking at the baby giggling in Makino's arms, his heart suddenly softened. He realized that from this moment on, he would give everything for Luffy. It hit him the same way it once hit Makino when she first fed Luffy as a newborn an overwhelming instinct to protect.
They will stick together every day from now on. Luffy will follow Lucci like a little duck, and Lucci will protect Luffy like a hen. Whether running around Foosha Village, chasing after Makino's apron, or watching the ships at the dock just like the day Shanks' flag once flew proudly above the bay they would be inseparable.
---