To Raise a Vampire

A Big Scare

The moment Luffy woke up, he remembered his dream. For some reason, the last couple of days he had remembered all of his dreams. They were all fun, and the last one was helpful. He hadn't flown in the dream, but maybe he could make his own wings now! His dream version did, after all.

He noticed that Ace was still in the room, but awake and at the edge of their bed, reading a book in his own fire light. Sabo wasn't in the room, or anyone else either. Luffy slowly and sneakily crawled to the end of the bed and jumped on Ace, shouting, "Boo!"

Ace had heard the rustling of the blankets and slight creaking of the bed and knew what Luffy was doing, so, when the boy pounced, Ace pretended to be shocked and jumped. Luffy erupted into giggles. "I got you!" he cheered. Ace smiled at him fondly and ruffled his hair. "Guess what? I had a dream about making wings."

Ace reclined against the foot of the bed and patted his lap for Luffy to come and sit. "I saw your dream, like Sabo did last night. It's very interesting," the older brother said. "Do you like remembering your dreams?" Luffy nodded, and exclaimed that they were fun and now he gets to share them with Ace and Sabo.

"Do you wanna remember yours? I wanna see Ace and Sabo's dreams!" he gushed, throwing his hands wide. Ace frowned softly.

"I don't think you would wanna see my dreams, Lu. I have bad ones sometimes. It wouldn't be fun for anyone to see," he said honestly. Luffy looked at him sadly. He never liked seeing other people sad, especially Ace or Sabo.

"I will chase them away," the vampire child said with conviction, sounding especially determined. Ace smile softly, and whispered, "You already do, Luffy." Luffy smiled at this, glad he could help his favorite people ever. "You're the best thing to ever happen to us." Ace hugged Luffy close. "Love you."

Luffy hugged Ace back with a smile. "Ace and Sabo are the best. I love you, too," the boy replied.

Ace suddenly felt strange. Tired and droopy. He wondered if it was Luffy doing something, but he wouldn't know what. Another new power? To make him fall asleep? But Ace didn't want to fall asleep. He was the only one in the room to supervise Luffy. Sabo and the others had left half an hour ago to talk to the pirates about maybe sharing some duties, as the Spades who weren't supervising Luffy were feeling quite useless and like freeloaders.

The world around Ace blurred and sound started to disappear, and he couldn't focus on what Luffy was babbling about anymore, before he finally slumped to the side, hitting the wooden floor hard. If he wasn't a logia, it probably would have hurt.

Luffy hit the floor with an "Oof" when he fell with Ace. The big brother's arm cushioned Luffy's head, so he didn't feel any pain. "Ace?" the boy asked. When Ace didn't reply, just stayed still, Luffy tried shaking him awake, but Ace continued to sleep. So, Luffy started wailing and sobbing extremely loudly, shouting Ace's name in panic and fear. He didn't register the light snores in his panic. Ace just collapsed and wouldn't wake up.

-x-

Haruta was walking through the halls, heading to the bathhouse, when he heard screaming and crying. Only one voice would sound so high and loud. Luffy was crying. At first, he thought that one of his brothers would help him, but then he heard the boy shouting his brother's name, and Haruta sped down the hall and to the Spades' room. He opened the door to see Luffy kneeling next to an unconscious Ace.

"Ace!" Luffy cried, before turning to the door and shouting. "Haru, save Ace!" Haruta didn't wait to ask any questions, just scooped the human up easily and sprinted down the halls and to the infirmary, Luffy just barely able to keep up. Haruta was sure Ace was asleep, but too deeply to be normal.