To Raise a Vampire

The Feelings of Hope

I hope that dark previous chapter didn't make anyone stop reading! I had to add some angst, it wouldn't be a story by me if it didn't have a bad dream and a dash of angst. But now we know the history of Luffy's birth. Been going through some hard times right now, so your reviews always mean a lot to me, especially now. Enjoy~

Sabo woke from the flashback dream when the room suddenly grew extremely cold. He opened his eyes slowly to see the room was full of snow, drifting from the ceiling and onto the white floor. Luffy didn't seem bothered, and Ace didn't either as it was impossible for him to get cold. But, the rest of the Spades who had filtered in felt it and a couple woke up. Sabo shivered, but looked at the room in awe. He reached down from the bed and into the snow that should not be there. It was cold and wet and solid, making sabo incredulous that it was an illusion. A dream, as Luffy was still asleep.

Thankfully, the dream was short, and soon the snow disappeared, taking the chill with it. Sabo shared eye contact with Jojo and Aggie 68, who just shrugged it off and went back to bed. Sabo decided he'd stay up longer and see if anymore dreams happened. By the time the next one hit, he was the only one awake.

The second was much more pleasant, even though the snow had been pretty. The room was once again transformed, with an illusion of Luffy and Ace hunting for the puppies, with Marco then appearing, only he looked different in Luffy's dream. He was taller and the blue fire wings were coming out of his back instead of enveloping his arms. He picked Lu up and tossed him in the air, with the real Luffy making a little giggle in his sleep. Puppies ran around happily, playing with Ace and pawing at Marco's legs to get to Lu.

It looked like Luffy had taken a liking to Marco. And knowing Luffy like he did, Sabo knew that Luffy would everything to try and impress Marco. When Jojo had come, even though Luffy had been three, the boy had gotten into the fridge a few times and insisted to whoever was awake with him that he'd cook Jojo a yummy meal for once. And when he was praised by the chef, Luffy was extremely happy and pleased with himself, even though it always ended up being Ace or Sabo who cooked the meal for their much-appreciated chef.

Sabo thought silently about what Whitebeard had said earlier. How would the pirates feel if they knew what had happened to their mother? Would they shun Ace for what he'd done, both to their mom and the vampire? Well, they would never learn. It wasn't as if Ace or Sabo would tell them about it, as they were the only ones who knew about the whole ordeal.

But... why now? They had only come onto the ship less than a week ago, and the captain thought he knew all of them enough by then to want to recruit them? Sabo wished that he and Ace were able to trust that easily. But no, after hiding Luffy away inside for two years, and having their mom betrayed twice by the same man even before he attempted to forcibly change her, trusting wasn't easy unless you gave off an extremely good impression, like Deuce had.

Sabo eventually fell back asleep after he was sure no more dreams would occur. Luffy's powers sure were fascinating. Sabo would do what Whitebeard suggested, as it was a good idea to get on top of this quickly before something bad might happen. Luffy had an amazing imagination, but that didn't mean it was only limited to good things. Everyone had their share of nightmares. Ace and Sabo knew that especially. Luffy rarely had bad dreams, which the brothers were very grateful for.

Luffy was first of the brothers to wake up that night, and looked to the side to see Ace drooling onto his pillow and Sabo laying on his back with his mouth wide open and breathing loudly. Luffy shuffled to the side and climbed up onto Sabo's chest and laid down. Sabo woke up, but didn't give it away. But, when Sabo suddenly moved his hands and tickled them ruthlessly up and down Luffy's back, the boy erupted into giggles, waking Ace and the other two Spades in the room.