【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 446 Thank you for giving them a home

“So you all know?” Lucci finally spoke, but turned his face away, because he vaguely remembered that he seemed to have told everything, including the decision he had thought about but had not yet said. “I’m sorry to tell you now and let you see me like that. I…”

"What do you see?" Ace interrupted quickly. "Pain? Or the wounds left from protecting your brothers? Then you really should apologize to us, because you shouldn't think of bearing it alone."

"That's not what I meant. I mean... Don't you think I'm useless? I can't do anything. Now I can't even solve this problem. In the end, I can only escape..."

"How is that possible!" Ace interrupted harshly, holding up the back of his head with one hand and pressing Lucci's depressed face to his shoulder. "Stop talking about yourself like that, idiot. I would rather face my grandfather than see you deny yourself like this."

"Lucci, you are not useless. You helped Ace, Luffy, and me." Sabo turned to Lucci, held his hand, and said in a gentle voice, "You are an excellent brother. The three of us need you, so you should never let yourself believe that you are not needed or wanted."

Sabo's words repeated in Lucci's mind and Lucci gripped his brother's hand tightly, closing his eyes tightly and burying his face into Ace's shoulder with a trembling voice, this was what he needed to hear and he was so grateful for his brother's presence and presence.

Ace could sense Lucci's mood change and pressed him into a suffocating hug.

"Stop blaming yourself, asshole," Ace grumbled. "You shouldn't blame yourself for something that shouldn't be a problem, and you shouldn't feel guilty about things you can't control."

"We are all sorry that we couldn't be with you at that time." Sabo said softly, "Let you bear it all alone."

"No, the only thing I'm thankful for is that you're not there." Lucci finally spoke softly, his body relaxing. He gently broke free from Ace's embrace and continued walking towards his father's room. "As long as you're safe, everything is worth it."

Ace pursed his lips, then cursed softly, "Idiot."

Lucci turned to look at Ace, knowing that he was still upset about what happened, and said softly, "Don't blame yourself for those things. You must also understand that it was not your fault."

Seeing Ace about to deny it, Lucci continued, "I know you. With your personality, after knowing everything, you must be blaming yourself for not being able to protect me and us. But like you said, it's not my fault, and it shouldn't be your fault either."

Ace was silent for a moment before answering, "I know. We were just weak kids back then."

"Well, we were just weak and stupid kids back then." Lucci looked down at his right wrist, which had a scar on it. He then looked up at Ace and Sabo with a grin on his face. "So, don't blame yourself for what happened to me, and don't worry about me. As long as you're safe, I'll be fine no matter what happens. That's all I care about."

Ace put his arm around Lucci's shoulders and said seriously, "This is what I want to tell you. As long as you are still by my side and alive, I will keep fighting."

"Me too. As long as you three are still alive, I can fight without hesitation!" Sabo gently held Lucci's right hand, also smiling, his voice soft. "I also want you to know that you will always have us, and we will always need you here. This is why we are brothers."

Ace grinned. He could feel the tension in Lucci's shoulders completely disappear. He then noticed that Lucci had been looking down, but there was a blush on his cheeks. He couldn't help but look at him curiously. "Lucci, are you blushing?"

"What!? I didn't!" Lucci retorted, blushing as he broke free from his brothers' hands and quickly walked away from his brothers' teasing, but a warm current surged uncontrollably in his heart. He should have known that he was no longer alone.

Looking at Lucci's flustered back, Ace and Sabo looked at each other, and a happy smile appeared on their faces. They both understood that their brother would no longer have any depressed thoughts.

……

Luffy quietly slipped out of the room. Although he wanted to climb up to the bow of the ship from the deck to take a look, there were too many people on the deck and too many people in the restaurant. When he slipped up to the deck, he had to look around to see if there was anyone with a pineapple head. If he was caught, he would definitely be forced to return to the infirmary again.

To be honest, he didn't want to do anything bad, but Luffy and his brothers were too nervous. He was fine. At this time, Luffy smelled a hint of food, so under the cover of night, he followed the aroma of food, successfully came below the deck, and smoothly entered the cabin.

"Luffy?" Whitebeard looked at Luffy who had sneaked in with some surprise. Where were his brothers? He didn't think Lucci and Ace would let his injured brother appear alone outside the infirmary. "Gulalala, little guy, did you sneak out?"

"Hey, Uncle Beard, can I have some of your food?" Luffy said as he grabbed a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

Whitebeard couldn't help but grin, he was becoming more and more interested in this kid "Of course, kid!"

"I'm not a child!" Luffy swallowed the meat in his mouth and said loudly and seriously, "Why do you all call me a child? I'm seventeen years old! My name is Luffy!"

Whitebeard couldn't help but laugh again "Your brothers are all my sons, aren't they? So you are my son too."

Luffy stuffed meat into his mouth while looking at the giant bearded uncle and said firmly, "Uncle Whitebeard, I will not call you daddy. You are not my captain. I am the captain of my own ship!"

Whitebeard let out a huge laugh, a cunning glint in his eyes "Luffy, you don't have to be my crew member, but I still want you to be my son."

"I don't need a father." Luffy tilted his head and added seriously, "I have Lucci, Ace, and Sabo, so I don't need a father."

"Gulalala, they are your brothers, but they are not your fathers. This is different." Whitebeard couldn't help but smile and said, "A father takes care of you and protects you from anyone who wants to hurt you."

"That's it." Luffy nodded, no longer paying attention to Whitebeard's question, and concentrating on finishing the food in front of him.

Whitebeard laughed again, and it seemed that he still had more to learn about his two young sons.

Luffy quickly finished all the food and looked up at Whitebeard. This time his expression changed. "Thank you again, Uncle Whitebeard."

Whitebeard looked at Luffy, whose aura suddenly changed, and blinked in confusion. He didn't think Luffy's thanks were for his food. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you thanking me for?"

"It's Ace and Lucci. I can see that you care a lot..." Luffy said with a smile, his voice very soft "Ace always doesn't want people to get close to him, do you know what I mean?"

Whitebeard nodded, it was indeed true, the young man had been very persistent at first, completely refusing their approach and not trusting any of them, the reason obviously being due to some past trauma or abandonment, it had taken him a long time to get his son to open up.

"Ace is sometimes stupid because his father—" Luffy said, then suddenly stopped and continued, "Ace always doubts himself and others... He never lets me get close to strangers... That's why..."

Luffy paused, looked up and looked directly into Whitebeard's eyes, and said seriously, "That's why I thank you, because you gave Ace a home, a place where he can be happy, nihehehe! He loves you very much!" Luffy smiled happily.