Dragon's Heart [One Piece]

Chapter Eighteen

~Dragon's POV~

I promised myself to make more time for Lily. Every 6 months I spent two weeks with her on her island. It was never enough; it would never be enough. Things had changed drastically after my father took Luffy away to raise him. Lily had changed. That radiant light of life and vitality within her, had dulled. She was quiet and withdrawn, always lost in thought, no doubt day dreaming about our son and what life would have been like if she had power over her visions. It had been a few years since I'd seen her smile, not since Luffy was here with her.

She rarely ate. I feared if she kept this up, she'd wither away to nothing. That beautiful lively girl I'd fallen in love with, was nothing more than a shell of her former self. I'd broken the person I treasured above all else. Nothing I did or said could fix the damage that had already been done. She spent most of her time sleeping, or trying to force herself into having visions of our son. When she wasn't sleeping, she took walks around the small island to find places to hide and cry alone.

"No!" Lily suddenly shrieked from the living room where she'd fallen asleep.

I nearly dropped the blanket in my hands that I'd gone to get to cover her with and sprinted to her side. "Lily? What's wrong?"

She was sitting upright on the couch, breathing heavily and looking distraught as if she'd just had a horrible nightmare. Her dull golden flecked green eyes were filled with tears. "You have to go!"

"What? I just got here." I placed the blanket around her shoulders, she was shivering.

"Now!" She tried to swat me away, but she didn't have the strength or energy due to her recent hunger strike.

"What's wrong?" I asked her worried.

"Our son is in danger! You have to save him!" She cried.

"Luffy?" I panicked.

"No, the other one!" She choked.

I stared at her for a moment before remembering once before when she told me Luffy would have two older brothers, who we'd apparently adopted without my knowing. "Alright, please calm down, I don't want you to get so worked up you make yourself sick." I placed my hand atop her head. "Where is he?"

I glanced out across the sparkling clear blue waters surrounding Lily's small island paradise, though I was sure she saw it as more of a pretty cage. My mind had drifted to the night she'd sent me to find Sabo. Things improved after that, Lily was able to smile and laugh again. I brought Sabo to her often over the years. It did them both good. Sabo needed a mother figure in his life and Lily needed a son to dote on. Though I'd managed to save his life in time, he'd been injured and had lost his memories as a result. He didn't remember his two brothers and couldn't share his knowledge of them with Lily as she had hoped he would.

Sabo, now a young man of twenty, leaned over the edge of the railing looking out at the bright crystal-clear waters with a smile. He still hadn't regained his memories of his brothers though Lily tried to jog them at every turn by casually mentioning Ace and Luffy from her visions of what they were getting up to in the world. It didn't seem to be helping. He just believed they were stories she made up to entertain him.

I noticed smoke dwindling up through the chimney of her cottage and smiled in anticipation of the feast that would be laid out for us. Though I never gave her notice when I'd be showing up, she was always ready. Part of me wondered if it was because of her ability to see the future or if she heartbreakingly prepared for our arrival every day only to be let down more often than not. I shook my head to rid myself of the horrid thought and prayed she didn't get her hopes up like that every day.