Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

English is not my first language, but this chapter was betaread by DemonicWhispers! I seriously can't thank her enough, she's simply awesome like that :) But she's only a temporal Betareader till I find a permanent one for this story. It's not easy to find a good Beta, so if anyone who will read this story would like to help me, please write me a PM. I don't ask much, only to have time for betawork and communication with me.

Chapter 1

"Dragon-san, I brought a report from the Barnacle Island."

Revolutionary Dragon lifted his eyes from the other papers he was already reading to look at the man with shoulder-long blond hair who just entered his office. "Let me see it," he urged, reaching for the report. He quickly skimmed through the text. A smirk tugged the corners of his mouth. "They did it," Dragon exhaled. "Finally, things are moving forward."

"Congratulations, Dragon-san!" the revolutionist cheered. "With this, the Barnacle Island is as good as ours!"

Dragon's eyes snapped back at the man in front of his desk. "One victory does not win a war, Cyrus," he said seriously, but his voice was suddenly drowned in loud slurps and munching coming from the back of the room behind him. Cyrus chuckled, while Dragon only sighed. "Luffy," he called, "be careful, don't choke on your food."

"Iw hwon'ht!" came an eager answer, followed by another loud slurp.

"And don't talk with your mouth full of–" Dragon cut himself off as he realized that there actually was nothing edible in his office. He jumped on his feet, spinning around to look at his daughter. "Luffy, what are you–" Dragon's eyes widened as he stared at the half-eaten thing in his six years old girl's palms. It was a black colored, carambola shaped fruit with bright red pulp.

"Hwe thastwe ih a bwit wherhd," Luffy slurred around a mouthful of fruit. She gulped down the bit in her mouth and grinned brightly at her father with a juice dripping from her chin. "I think it's rotten!" the girl declared, proud of herself that she'd managed to figure it out. Despite her own conclusion, Luffy threw the last piece of fruit in her mouth and happily chewed on it.

"S-sir? Isn't that a Devil Fruit?" Cyrus stuttered out, glancing at his boss uncertain.

Dragon heaved a heavy sigh and pinched a bridge of his nose. "Yes," he confirmed. "Yes, it is." It was his own fault. He should have locked that chest with a newly acquired Devil Fruit. Luffy was often whiling her free time in his office when her father was in the base, and Dragon knew about her incurable curiosity and enormous appetite. It couldn't be helped now. It was a bit early, but Dragon had planned to give her daughter an option to eat a Devil Fruit when she was older.

Luffy was staring at the spot next to her father. Her eyes widened in wonder. "W-who are you?" she stammered out.

Dragon frowned, glancing at the empty space beside him.

"Mom?" Luffy asked in disbelief. "But dad said my mom died years ago."

"Dragon-san?" the revolutionary whispered to his boss. "What kind of fruit did she eat?"

"It was still unknown," the man replied, observing the little girl with a troubled scowl on his face. "Cyrus, did you have a good look at that fruit before Luffy ate it?"

"Yes, sir."

The black-haired girl knitted her brows in confusion. "What do you mean it's true that you're already dead?" she continued her strange conversation with a thin air.

"Collecting information about that specific Devil Fruit is now your top priority, Cyrus," Dragon ordered. "Use any means necessary. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the man answered with a firm nod and promptly left the room to start his task.

"Dad, is she telling the truth?" Luffy turned to her father and fixed him with an inquisitive stare. "Is she really my mom?"

"Luffy… I can't see anyone here but us two."

The girl blinked owlishly several times, then her gaze shifted to the side again. "But she's right there… I'm not lying!"

Dragon came closer and picked his daughter up. "I believe you, but maybe it'd be better if you wouldn't talk with whoever you're seeing. At least until I'm sure it's safe for you."

Luffy hugged her father's neck so that she could keep her eyes on the same empty spot. "Mom looks so sad…" she muttered. "Don't be sad, mom."

"Luffy!" Dragon scolded her.

The kid was silent for a bit before she giggled. "Shishishishi, okay, I can do that!" Luffy leaned back so that she could look at her dad's face. She put her hands on his cheeks, cleared her throat, and recited with a serious expression, "From small beginnings come great things," and then pecked him on the nose.

Dragon stiffened. As he stared at his little girl, memories of a similar black-haired beauty flooded into his mind. The way she smiled and tucked stray strands over her ear, the way her eyes sparkled when she'd found something interesting, the way she leaned closer with warm hands on his cheeks and always whispered those words before giving him a passionate kiss.

Dragon pressed Luffy tightly to his chest so that she wouldn't see wetness in his eyes. There was no one else in the room, so he wasn't concerned about letting his masks slip. Especially experiencing such a familiar gesture that he thought would never experience ever again. "That is your mother," Dragon admitted quietly. His embrace heightened as the fact that Luffy was seeing and talking with her dead mother finally fully sunk into his mind.

Luffy communicated with a ghost. His little girl had gained an ability to see dead people.

There probably were a lot of ghosts with unfinished business wandering around the mortal plane. Dragon was sure that not all of them were friendly; that there were bound to be malicious spirits among them. He wondered what else that Devil Fruit allowed its users to do, but either way, his little girl's life had become so much harder. "I'm sorry, Luffy," Dragon said.

"Mom said the same," Luffy informed. "I don't understand."

"You will, our little sunshine, you will."

"Cyrus, you look tired," Dragon commented as the man almost staggered into his office with a pile of papers in his arms.

The blonde smiled, even though it seemed that it cost him a lot of strength to do so. "This information was more important than several hours of my beauty sleep," he retorted, offering documents to his boss. "It's everything I could find about Luffy-chan's Devil Fruit."

Dragon grabbed papers and immediately skimmed through the text. A severe scowl found its way onto his features. "So, she really can see ghosts…" he muttered. It was almost two weeks from the day the youngest Monkey ate the Devil Fruit, and most of that time she spent talking with her dead mother which started to concern not only Dragon but other members of the Revolutionary army too. Dragon flipped the page and suddenly froze as he read what was written. "This is…" he trailed off, lifting his eyes to look at Cyrus. "Is this information really correct?"

The revolutionary sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. According to my sources, the last user of this fruit was driven to madness by it, and he killed himself leaving his own country in bloody ruins."

Dragon glared at the paper before tossing it onto his desk. He leaned back and run over his face with his hands. Suddenly, the World's Most Wanted Man felt so tired and helpless. "Ability to see future at the cost of your own sanity… If the World Government get news of this, they will definitely want to get their hands on this fruit." Dragon's eyes glinted dangerously, and all of a sudden his expression turned fierce. "And I won't let them have my daughter."

"Of course not, sir!" Cyrus exclaimed. "You can count on all of us! We'll give our lives to keep our little princess safe!"

Dragon smirked at his comrade's words. Luffy had an incredible ability to charm pretty much everyone she ever met.

Suddenly they heard a sound of wings flapping. That was the only warning before a black blur burst into the room through an open window and smashed into Dragon's chest as he turned around to look at it. Small hands wrapped around the man's neck as Luffy snuggled in as close as possible. Her pure black feathered wings, attached to her shoulder blades, and a bird-like tail, protruding from under the bottom edge of the red, open back t-shirt, slightly quivered together with silent sobs which escaped her mouth.

"Luffy, what's wrong?" Dragon asked, ignoring sharp talons from Luffy's bird-like legs, stabbing into his sides. He started to stroke his little girl's short hair, carefully avoiding black bone half-mask with two holes for eyes and a beak-like nose at the side of her head. It always appeared there, once Luffy used a half-transformation. She was yet to shift into her Devil Fruit's full form.

"Mom is leaving…" Luffy sniffled.

Dragon glanced at Cyrus, but he was already at the door. He gave a quick bow before leaving the two Monkeys alone.

"What do you mean she is leaving?" Dragon inquired with an unexpectedly soft voice, trying to soothe the distressed child.

"She's saying that she can't stay any longer because she's already fulfilled her wish and that… that..."

"That it was time for her to move on?"

"Yeah…" Luffy tightened her embrace. "Will you leave too, dad?"

"Of course not!" he denied forcefully. "I would never leave my little canary alone."

"Promise?"

Dragon smiled. "Promise."

Suddenly Luffy frowned as she repeated her dad's words in her head. "What's a canary?" she asked, leaning back to look at his face.

"Canaries are little, cute birds. Just like you."

"What? No!" Luffy seemed mortified by an idea. She flapped her big black wings in agitation. "I don't want to be a cute bird! I want to be a cool one!" Then she snapped her head to the side. "Mom! You don't need to agree with him!"

Dragon chuckled. He and his wife always easily agreed with each other. Remembering that the ghost of his beloved one was leaving, Dragon's smile faltered. He gazed around his office in a vain attempt to see her one more time.

Luffy felt a shift in her father's mood, and she hugged him again. "Don't be sad, dad," she said, forgetting the fact that just a moment ago she was crying over the same thing. "Mom is leaving, but I'm here." The girl looked at the same side and answered someone only she could see and hear, "Don't worry, mom, we'll be okay. I'll train even harder and I'll grow stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and even stronger than that! And then I'll protect dad, I promise!" She giggled after a short pause. "Shishishishi, that's right! I'll protect my friends and nakama, too!"

"Oh, so you want to protect me?" Dragon asked, amused by such a heart-warming proclamation of his daughter.

Luffy grinned at him, spreading her wings to their full length to appear bigger than she actually was. "Of course! One day I'm gonna be stronger than you!" Suddenly her stomach let out a loud growl, and she giggled sheepishly.

"You need to eat a lot to become stronger than me. And not only meat, but vegetables, too," Dragon scolded her. "Cooks were complaining that you were neglecting it."

Luffy crunched her face in disgust. "I don't like those green thingies, but if it helps… I-I can do it!" she declared, determination sparkling in her obsidian eyes.

Dragon chuckled again, standing from his seat. "Well then, let's go and see what we can find in the kitchen," he said, eliciting a cheerful 'Yay!' from his little girl. Before leaving, he glanced at Cyrus' report, reading the name of her Devil Fruit for the last time.

Mythical Zoan type Bird-Bird Devil Fruit, Model: Soul Raven.

Luffy was true to her words to train harder and get stronger. Dragon and the training teachers of the Revolutionary army were impressed by the little girl's efforts and stubbornness. Not even the bruises adorning her skin stopped Luffy from fulfilling her promise to her dead mother. Dragon was really proud of his little canary.

While Luffy got hang of half-transformation, she was yet to transform fully, even after a year. No one understood why she wasn't able to do it. Although, Dragon suspected that it had something to do with the fruit's precognition powers. It couldn't have been a skill easy to learn and control.

Despite Luffy's charming and cheerful personality, other children in training started to avoid and shun her because of her unrivaled strength and also her quirk to often talk with thin air. They knew that behind it was the power of the Devil Fruit, but the fact that she was seeing ghosts didn't become less scary to them. Because of that, the youngest Monkey spent more and more time with her invisible friends or flying around high up in the sky where, according to her, she could be completely alone.

Luffy was slowly pulling away from the life in the base. Several times Dragon found his daughter curled up into a ball with her hands clamped tightly on her ears. At a question what was wrong, she always answered, "Dead people are saying bad things."

That Dragon was worried was an understatement. All the personnel at the base started to get worried, and more than once they came to their boss to ask about the little princess, sometimes even trying to give advice for him.

Following one of their advice, Dragon prepared to take his daughter out for a vacation outside of the Aerule Island where the Revolution's main base was located. Luffy spent seven years there, not seeing anything else but Aerule's Great Plains with the mountains surrounding it from the Northwest and forest from the Southwest. It was time for the little raven to see the world.

Dragon was walking across the garden to pick his daughter up from the training grounds where she had her morning practice. Suddenly all the chirping birds in the trees fell silent, and a tangible tension filled the air. Dragon felt his hair standing on end, and it was NOT a good feeling. The tension grew with every step he took to get closer to the training yard, buzzing in all surroundings like an ill omen. Until it finally snapped.

A scream echoed from beyond the garden's fence, causing Dragon's fatherly instincts go into overload.

It was Luffy's scream.

In a blink of an eye, he was in the yard, quickly sweeping the area with his sharp gaze for an immediate threat. There was nothing dangerous around.

Several teachers were standing at the edge of the wide empty training ground, a bunch of kids flocking to them, looking scared and unsure of what was happening. They all stared at the small hunched figure in the middle - Luffy. Cyrus was crouching beside her, speaking something silently, but his voice was drowned by a girl's heartbreaking wail.

"What happened?" Dragon asked, quickly making his way towards his daughter.

Cyrus jumped to his feet, startled. "Dragon-san," he said, relief crossing his features, "we were training and-" he got cut off as Dragon stopped next to Luffy, and she whipped her head up so fast that it was a mystery how she didn't break her neck.

"Daaaaaad..!" Luffy cried out. Everyone saw the black wings appearing, and a split second later the half-transformed child was already squeezing her father in a tight hug, sobbing relentlessly into his shoulder.

Dragon rubbed soothing circles on the girl's back while frowning at such display of despair. He fixed Cyrus with a pointed stare, giving him a silent order to continue an explanation.

"Luffy achieved her full transformation today," the man recalled. "The form has the second pair of eyes, but they were closed. She tried to open them, and…" he trailed off, motioning to the distressed child in the boss' arms. After a pause, the blonde added in a whisper, "I think those are the eyes to peek into the future."

Dragon's scowl deepened. He turned around to leave the training ground, waving at Cyrus to follow him. When they passed the garden's gate, far away to be out of earshot of everyone else, the commander of revolutionists gave all attention to his daughter who hadn't calmed down in a slightest. "Luffy," he called softly, "tell me, what have you seen?"

"Th-there was… fire… and-and blood… a-and darkness... It was scary... A-a man… a dark, dark man..." Luffy stammered in between her uncontrollable sobs. "And th-then... a-another man… red… so much r-red… and… and… h-he was kill-killing people I cared about!" Luffy exclaimed, her childish voice raw with pain and grief. With every word from the girl Dragon's and Cyrus' faces grew more concerned and confused. "Dad… don't die… d-don't leave me alone… I don't want to be alone, dad..." Luffy whispered, clinging to her father for dear life.

"I won't," Dragon promised in haste. "I won't leave my little canary alone. Never."

"She opened those eyes just a tiny bit…" Cyrus muttered. "I don't even want to think what would happen with Luffy-chan if she opened them fully."

"She would be overwhelmed with madness," Dragon stated. "Luffy, can you promise me to keep those eyes closed from now on?"

The girl simply nodded, not even lifting her head from her father's shoulder or easing her death grip on him.

It took more than a week for Luffy to bounce back from the incident with her precognition powers. It helped that she was in the middle of the open sea as she seemed mesmerized by the never-ending blue, surrounding them from all sides. Also, it helped that there were no ghosts on the ship.

The little raven liked to glide around the vessel together with the seagulls who were accompanying them. The crew always got near heart attacks when she suddenly swooped from the sky and gracefully landed on deck, or jumped from the highest point of the main mast, sprouting her wings only at the last moment before smashing into the deck.

Their destination was a tropical summer island in the middle of the Grand Line. The Revolutionary army had a small base there in a village by the name of Highcliff for information gathering purpose, and that's where Dragon brought Luffy for a vacation. Cyrus took a ship and its crew for a mission nearby, leaving father and daughter alone for a while.

"Ne, ne, dad, what's that place you want to show me?" Luffy asked eagerly, skipping several steps forward to stride in front of her father. She turned around and started to walk backward.

"Luffy, be careful, don't fall down," Dragon said.

They had just left the army's base and now were walking up the street through Highcliff's market. It was full of people, and the air buzzed from the chorus of their voices.

A pout appeared on the black-haired girl's face. "I'll be alright, dad. I'm a tough warrior after all!"

The man smiled. "You look more like a little canary to me," he teased.

"I'm a raven! Ravens are way cooler than canaries!" Luffy exclaimed, frustrated. "And they eat meat while canaries do not! I want to eat my meat!"

Dragon simply chuckled at his daughter's logic. Suddenly Luffy bumped into a small cart, filled with apples. An old woman who was pushing the cart yelped as the weight of the child shoved it to the side, ripping the handle from her grip. The cart toppled over and all the fruits spilled into the street, rolling into every direction. Several people fell down, stepping on the apples, causing even bigger chaos to erupt in the market.

"Look where you're going, you little urchin!" screamed the old woman, her voice dripping with venom.

Luffy backed away from her, startled by her aggressive tone. Dragon stepped in front of his daughter, between her and the cart's owner.

"Do not talk with my daughter like that," he growled out, glaring at the woman. "She didn't do that on purpose."

The old hag glared right back at him, not intimidated by a tall, tattooed stranger at all. "I don't care if she did it on purpose or not, she ruined my items for sale!" she retorted. "You're a father, you pay for it!"

Dragon slid his hand under his cloak and pulled out a bag of beli. He poured some into his palm and offered to the cart's owner.

The woman eyed the money, then crossed her arms in front of her and defiantly cocked her chin up. "Too little," she declared.

While Dragon argued with the old hag, Luffy heard someone calling her.

"Hey, little girl, come here."

She turned to look into an alley. There was a smiling middle-aged man waving to her. One of the dead people. Luffy glanced back at her father and then strolled towards the ghost.

"Hello," she greeted politely.

"Hello," the man greeted back, his smile growing wider. "I have something interesting to show you, come with me."

Luffy frowned. "But dad told me-"

"Don't you want to see what I have to show you? It's very interesting. I promise."

"I do…" The little raven didn't like the way this ghost was smiling at her, but she really wanted to see that interesting thing he was talking about.

"It's not far," the man assured her, before flickering out of existence and appearing further down the alley. "Come with me."

Luffy glanced one more time at her father who still was busy with the old hag. "Okay!" she exclaimed cheerily, skipping after the ghost.

"You said it's not far…" whined Luffy as she climbed uphill, glancing over her shoulder. "I can't even see the village anymore…"

"It's not far anymore, I promise." The man's ghost flashed his usual smile. "It's worth the trouble, believe me."

Luffy heaved a sigh, feeling a tiredness settling in her body, and continued scaling the hill. At the top, she finally stopped and looked around in awe. It was a top of the highest sea cliff, so she could see far into the ocean. The blue surface sparkled like gemstones against the sun, and the seagulls darted around squealing happily. The wind was a bit harsh, though, and the girl had to use all her strength just to keep on her feet.

"Come further," the man urged her.

Luffy looked down at the cliff. It had a slope going towards the water down below, probably caused by a landslide sometime in the past. The ghost was standing on the slope and waved to her to step forward.

"But…" the girl doubted. "It doesn't look safe."

"It's okay. Come."

Luffy carefully put a foot on the slope and grinned when she hadn't slipped up. She made several more steps.

"Come, come."

Suddenly the little raven lost her balance. With a panicked scream, she tumbled forward, sliding down the slope. The small stones and rock shards left small, bleeding bruises all over her body.

The man's ghost let out a loud, cruel laugh as Luffy desperately tried to catch anything and stop her descent into the seawater below. "It really was worth the trouble! I hate kids! Even after death, I could get rid of at least of one of you demons!" he shouted in glee.

The black wings sprouted from Luffy's back as she transformed into her fruit's half-form. With the help of talons as sharp as knives, she managed to slow the slide and push herself into the air. The raven caught a glimpse of the ghost sneering hatefully at her before a strong wind unexpectedly grabbed her and tossed aside. She clenched her teeth in pain as the feeling of her wings almost being ripped off surged through her.

Luffy was not strong enough to fight against that kind of wind. It carried her through the air and then suddenly swatted the little raven into the rocky cliff. Pain pierced her head and the left side of her face. Luffy barely registered the warm liquid spreading on her skin and getting into her eye as she fell down, unable to hold her wings out anymore.

The water was cold. It was the first thing Luffy thought when she smashed into the sea. The second thing she noticed was that sea surface was as beautiful looking from underwater as it was from above. The third thing that came to her mind was that she was going to die.

A thought crossed her tired mind as Luffy sunk deeper and deeper into the dark abyss, 'Dad will be sad.'

A/N

Before anyone will start complaining about my Devil Fruit, I want to say that this fruit is based on various myths and legends from different cultures about crows and ravens. If there will be any interest in it, I can tell more in later chapters.

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of yet another story of mine! Please, tell me what you think about it x)