Luffy x Neko!Reader Warm

Chapter 53: Firefist's Warrior Ceremony

"(Y/N)? Dear? Are you nearly finished?"

You stopped mid arm-movement, claws out to emphasise the Great and Terrible Danger you'd been in, and looked at Kuzan's amused expression. "What? This is serious! I could have died!"

"Mmhmm."

"Multiple times!"

"Yes, but you're here now. Could you maybe skip through the next part?"

Tail lashing, you huffed and sat back, shifting to accommodate your wide stomach. "You want me to skip over my LIFE... Okay, fine, I see your point. Alright, so we ended up saving Luffy and everyone else on the island because once we beat Moria, everyone's shadows returned. Brook joined our crew and we headed out again. Eventually we make it to this Archipelago and-"

"Sabaody."

"Bless you."

"No, that- that's the name of the archipelago, dear."

".... oh. Okay, so we made it to the um, Saboday? Archipelago and... Okay, this isn't easy to condense, so how about I tell you later and just skip to the end. This big guy showed up and he had paws-"

"That would be Bartholomew."

"Okay, mister I Know Everything Always, damn... So Bartholomew showed up and ended up throwing us all around, I guess. He was very polite about it though. Anyway, he patted me on the head and I went flying. And, just before, he'd asked me where I'd want to go if I could just take a vacation from life. And I guess I kinda thought, it would be nice to just hang out with my kinda-dad, Kuzan, for a while. Guess that's how I ended up here." You shifted uncomfortably on your perch, a rather stout table in Kuzan's- also known as Admiral Aokiji- room.

After slamming full force into the naval base, gone full Big Cat to protect your unborn kits, you'd lain, dazed, in a paw-print crater until Kuzan had nudged you awake. Shrinking to the size of a particularly large Maine Coon, you'd managed to fake being just a housecat while keeping enough space for your kits to grow, but now, after regaling Kuzan on the details of your life, you were swiftly approaching your due date. It was the first time you'd ever wished your kind had the same long pregnancy period as a human.

A warm hand laid between your ears and you started up a rusty purr. "Hey." Glancing up, you tried to take some comfort in Kuzan's familiar face. "I saved you once. I can do it again."

"I know, Kuzan. I'm just scared of what'll happen if..." You looked down at yourself again, tail wrapped around your torso. "What happens if we're all separated when... I want my kits to know their papa. I want them to know Usopp and Sanji and Robin and-" You couldn't continue. You broke down crying, claws sunk deep into wood, and Kuzan sat up on the table beside you, wrapping one arm around your shoulders and tugging you close.

"It'll be alright. It will... Look, there's something I haven't told you, because I knew you'd go running off if I did. But it's dangerous. For more than just you."

"Wh-What?" Hiccoughing from tears, you wiped your cheeks dry and looked up at him with still-wet eyes. "What is it? What's happening out there?"

He hesitated and in that brief silence you could feel it- the sheer force of pity and grief he felt for you. His voice was soft, like he thought speaking too loudly would shatter you entirely. "They got him, (Nickname). They've got Ace."

And just like that, everything fell apart. Color bled from the world, sound faded to the agonised murmur of a planet dying, all you could truly hear was the twisted pound of your own heart as it cried your brother's name. "...Ace?"