Not for the first time, and certainly not the last, Gold D. Lucy stared down at her daughter, and let out a deep sigh. "What have you done this time, Lu?"

The five year old beamed wildly, as she scratched her neck and scrunched up her nose, thereby spreading the bright paints even further. "Having fun, mama! Do you wanna join?"

Lucy couldn't help the soft smile as she took in Luffy's bright smile, and wide eyes. "Where's Kiyoshi-san?" She questioned, as she knelt down and started clearing away the mess. The younger commander was supposedly on Luffy-duty but apparently—

"Needed a quick break, he said," Luffy chirped, skipping over to the sink and scrubbing her hands.

The metal door creaked open, and Lucy rolled her eyes when Kiyoshi slinked back in sheepishly. "Off for another cig break, Kiyoshi?"

"Sorry, sorry," he murmured, voice raspy. "I was only gone a few mins, right Lu-chan?"

Luffy squealed happily as he swung her in the air, and Kiyoshi let out a chuckle. "Little monkey is what you are."

Lucy looked up at the two, and gave a mock-glare, "Oh, really? This happens every time if I'm not mistaken."

Kiyoshi grinned, long hair being pulled as Luffy readjusted herself on his back. "It's fine, Luffy's a big girl, she can handle herself for a few minutes."

"Yep, yep!"

"Let's go the the mess, Lucy-san, food's getting served." Lucy winced in pain and gently massaged her head, and Kiyoshi hurried over to her side. "You alright?"

"Yes..." Grey eyes slowly opened, and she shook her head at their worried expressions. "It's fine, I'm fine."

Kiyoshi gave her a once over, his concern not fading but he held out a hand to balance her, making sure to keep Luffy still on his back. "If you're sure, boss. Don't worry about the mess, I'll sort it out later."

It was later on at night when Dragon finally returned back to the still base, he left his drowsy commander in the tender care of the medical wing, and quietly entered Luffy's room. A gentle smile replaced his frown, and he carefully closed the door behind him.

The revolutionary leader entered the opposite room, and his a small huff of laughter escaped him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you wait up, hm?"

Lucy smiled up at him from, placing her pen down and loudly stretching as she stood up from the small desk. "Dragon," she murmured, eyes alight with happiness. "You returned home in one piece."

"I can't break a promise to my wife now, can I?" Dragon quirked a grin, leaning over and placing a soft peck on her lips.

Lucy laughed, and dragged him towards their bed. "How's Natsumi and Keita?"

"Keita's got a few scratches, nothing permanent, but Natsumi's got a broken arm. Three weeks rest." Dragon glanced over at his wife, scanning her almost clinically. "How's your head?"

Ever since she was young, Lucy had been getting frequent migraines. The pain was a part of her daily life, and Lucy's eyes were distance as she remembered how frequently her brother used to take care of her when they were younger. She binked, and smiled at her husband. "Not too bad. I think this set of medication is better. They're less frequent now."

Tense shoulders relaxed, and a smile softened his harsh features. "That's good. I just want to see you and Luffy healthy and happy."

Natsumi whistled as she strolled through the wide corridor, mindful of her healing injury. "I wonder who I hear…"

A soft giggle came from up ahead, and the commander grinned, "A giggle right here!"

"Natsumi-san!" Luffy protested, as she was unveiled from her hiding spot. "Not fair! I want to play again!"

Natsumi chuckled, "Later, Lu. Don't you want to say goodbye to Dragon-san?"

Grey eyes gleamed in mischief, "Have you seen him today?"

Purple eyes narrowed in response, "Noo… Luffy what did you do?"

"Come, come, let's go to the docks!" Luffy grabbed the commander's healthy arm, and dragged her away.

"Luffy! If you've pranked him again, you're going to get in trouble again!" The older woman scolded, but Luffy giggled and mimed zipping her mouth shut. Natsumi squinted as the sun invaded her eyes, and looked on the massive courtyard. Fellow revolutionists were milling about, everyone moving in tandem. A group of men and women were off to one side training with swords. Natsumi's smile widened as she spotted a tall figure jogging closer

"Lu-chan!"

Luffy glanced up at the man, beaming. "Keita-san!" She let go of Natsumi's hand and jumped towards the green eyed commander, "You're leaving too?"

Keita twirled her around, her ponytails spinning freely. "Yep! We're just getting ready to set off now!"

Luffy eyed the ship as the two commanders caught up, and ran off when she spotted a scowling figure, ignoring the commanders protests.

"-that should have already been prepared days ago, Kazue." Luffy heard him say as she crept onboard. She skipped past Takeshi-san, who gave her a small nod, and just as she was about to jump on her dad's back, the man turned his cloak billowing behind him.

"Luffy," he greeted her suspiciously, scanning her closely as if checking whether she had any mischief planned.

"Hiya!" Luffy returned, but her grin instantly warped into a pout as she spotted his hands. "Aw, you took off all the pretty red."

Dragon's eyebrow twitched, and a frown slowly came over his face as his commanders climbed on board, holding in laughter. "You didn't really expect me to keep on the…" He paused, and his eyebrow twitched as he noticed the crowd gathering. "The nail polish, did you?"

"But it was really pretty! It matched your tattoo!"

Unable to hold it in any longer his commanders burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, boss! I thought the nails really suited you!"

"Yeah, yeah! Really showed off your inner bloodlust!" Keita laughed.

"The marines would have been shivering in fear had they seen them!" Rei added, waving to Luffy.

"Right?!" Luffy agreed waving back, a massive grin upon her face as she spotted the slight upturn of her dad's mouth.

Dragon harrumphed impatiently, "Yes, yes you bunch of clowns. Ready the final preparations, we're leaving in 5!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Dragon knelt down to his daughter, and offered her a genuine smile. "We won't be as long this time, Luffy. Don't get up to too much trouble while I'm away."

Her nose scrunched up in faux-hurt. "But dad, I don't!"

Dragon let out a rough chuckle, "If only." He placed a soft kiss on her head, and stood up. "Run along now, Natsumi will take you back to base. Take care of your mum, okay"

Luffy hugged his leg tightly, sniffling. "You take care, too, dad. Mama and I are gonna miss you."

Dragon watched her with soft eyes as their ship sailed away. It was a bittersweet feeling everytime he left, and he could only be grateful that he had such a wonderful family.

The whole island was in lock down, alarms blaring and people shouting. Luffy let out a terrified whimper, as the door banged shut. "Mama! Please come back! Don't leave me!"

Natsumi dragged her towards the opposite side of the entrance, "Come on, Luffy. You have to calm down! Lucy-san's in charge now, we can't weigh her down."

"But I can help!" Luffy cried. "Mama's not feeling well, dad said I have to take care of her!

Natsumi hugged her young charge, "Dragon-san will understand, okay? We have to make sure you're safe, you'll be an easy target. Don't worry, Lucy-san's a strong fighter."

"But, but, we have to do something!"

"I'm injured, and you're just a child! We can't do anything!" Natsumi instinctively replied, and immediately cursed when Luffy flinched. "Sorry, I'm sorry. The stress is just getting to me"

Luffy crawled off the commander's lap, and sat beside her. They sat in silence, the alarms still faintly heard even through the thick walls. "What's a buster call?" The young girl finally asked, minutes later.

"Oh, Luffy," Natsumi murmured, and thought of how to answer. "I don't know," she lied through her teeth, in the end, but how could she tell the younger girl exactly what a buster call was? The commander didn't believe in the gods, she never had, but at this moment she prayed to all of them that they would keep everyone on this island safe.

Please, oh please .

Minutes later, but Luffy stood up and paced across the cramped bunker. Natsumi tiredly watched her, her arm twitching in pain from where it had been banged and jostled against.

"What's all this crap?" Lufy snapped, in a corner surrounded by boxes.

"Language, Lu," purple eyes squinted in the poor lighting, but she couldn't make heads or tails of what the younger girl was doing.

"Eugh, that tastes horrible." Natsumi heard her spit out something, and she shot up in alarm. "Luffy, what are you doing? What did you eat?"

Luffy handed her a peculiar fruit, and carried on rummaging through stuff. "I'm looking for stuff to help mum! We're going to be let out soon, and then we have to help everyone!"

Natsumi's eyes widened in panic as she examined the object in her hands, her heartbeat running fast. Oh no, please don't let this be what I think it is. "Luffy! Did you swallow any of this?!"

Luffy nodded distractedly, "Yeah, but I spat out most of it! It tastes disgusting!"

Oh, this was bad. So bad. Dragon-san was going to kill her.

Luffy gave up on the boxes, and curiously started back at the commander's collapsed form. "Natsumi-san, what's wrong?"

"Oh, you idiot child!" Natsumi groaned. "You ate a devil fruit!"

"No, I didn't!"

"What is this?!" Natsumi shoved the bitten fruit in Luffy's sight. "What do you call this? Oh, this is all my fault! I'm sure this is the fruit that went missing a couple months back!"

"Wow, that's so cool!" Gray eyes twinkled in delight, and she prattled on excitedly, crisis temporarily forgotten. "So I'll have a power like Rei-san's? That's awesome! Which power am I gonna get? Can I choose? Ooh, I know! I want to breathe fire!"

Natsumi blocked out the raven's ramblings and let out a deep sigh. What could she do now? The devil fruit had already been bitten by Luffy, and not even making her vomit it out would stop the powers from appearing. She really hoped this power was worth the amount of trouble she'd get in by Dragon-san. If they even survived the night.

It was hours later, and Natsumi felt her hope drain bit by bit every time the ground would shake and the unmistakable sound of a cannon would ring out. She clutched the snoozing girl tighter to her side, but she suddenly shot up when the lock grated against the rusty iron. Why were they opening the door when the battle was still ongoing? Or—was it enemies? She prayed that it was not, but might it be? She shook Luffy awake, one hand clasped over her mouth, and hid behind the shambled boxes. She had no guns, no swords, nothing. They had been in too much of a hurry when the alarms started blaring, and now she had nothing to protect them with. Fuck.

The final lock slammed open, and Natsumi tensed even further, as Luffy silently protested, tears growing in her eyes.

"Natsumi! Natsumi, get out here!"

The commander's breathe rushed out, and she relaxed in relief. It was Rei. She let Luffy go, and rushed towards her friends side, and then froze. "Lucy-san…"

Blood dripped to the floor, and Natsumi felt nausea rushing through her. This couldn't be. Her fellow commander placed Lucy on the bench, and Natsumi spotted the bloody wound on her side. She rushed to action at Rei's whispering pleads, ripping of a massive piece of her cloak and wrapping it around the older woman's stomach. "Come on, we can't let you lose any more blood."

Lucy let out a gurgle of blood, face tense with pain. "I've lost too much already, Natsumi. I only have a few minutes left… I just—" Painstaking coughs broker her off, and blood dribbled down her chin.. "I just want to see Luffy…"

She wanted to protest, she really did. She wanted to fight against the older woman's pleads, and try her best to heal her. But. But a vital organ had been hit, she could tell that instantly. They all knew she only had minutes left. Natumi beckoned the sobbing girl closer, trying to hold back tears herself.

"Mama!" She whimpered, hugging her mum's side closely. "We have to get you better! We have to get a doctor!"

Natsumi looked away from the dreadful sight and turned towards her friend. "What's happening above ground?"

Rei steadied herself, and gazed right into Natsumi's eyes. "It's over, we've lost!" She sobbed, and Natsumi instinctively put an arm around her. "There were too many of them! We're one of the last few survivors."

Her breath hitched, and though she knew this was the expected outcome, it still felt like a dagger to the heart. Most of their strongest fighters weren't here and the marines obviously knew to target them when their leader wasn't even here.

"I tried saving so many, me and Lucy-san held off a few of the Vice-Admirals, but we weren't enough. We didn't have enough manpower or ammo"

Natsumi faced her leader again, and her heart wilted at the sight. This was the woman who had brought her in when she had nowhere to go, and no will to live. The woman who had taught her to fight, and introduced her to the army. And now, here she was, on her deathbed and Natsumi couldn't do anything to help her.

"Luffy, you know I love you, right? I love you so- so much!" She coughed halfway through, blood running down her chin and tears falling freely but all the while she had a huge smile on her face. "You were the best thing to ever happen to your dad and I!"

Luffy nodded, snot and tears mingling. "Mm, I know!"

"Be safe, Luffy! Become strong… Just remember that I…"

"Mama...?" Luffy grasped her mother's clammy arm, crying.

Lucy's eyes were warm with love, despite the pain she was going through. "I will always be proud of you, no matter what…" she finished, her smile was frozen in place, and Luffy sobbed loudly and unabashedly.

Natsumi hugged the younger girl closer to her whispering soft prayers under her breath. She knelt closer to her mentor, and carefully closed her eyes. Luffy sobbed into her neck, and Rei fell to her knees. Natsumi glanced between them, and felt tears of her own fall. It was all hopeless! All their friends, all their nakama, their mentor! Their lives had been taken in an instant, how truly unfair this world was. She rubbed the sobbing girls' back, and knelt her face onto her head. Oh, how she wished this was all an ugly nightmare.