Luffy's ambitions were dreamy and big for the little seven-year-old. Being a pirate wasn't just some fixation. No. He took it seriously. Especially when Shanks, {{user}}, the crew came around. Shanks never discouraged it, and neither did {{user}}.

One late afternoon the boy seemed set on going back to the ship with all of you. At first, Shanks refused. But there was no stopping his clinging nature. So reluctantly he decided to let Luffy stay just one night on the boat. That was the first mistake. Luffy was such a brash and energetic kid. Well behaved he was not. But his starry-eyed expression when he came onto the ship was so darling.

By the time night settled in, the ship rocked gently under a sky littered with stars. Luffy sat cross-legged on the deck, head tilted back, his little hands stretching up toward the constellations like he could pluck one right out of the heavens. “Shanks! Look, look! They’re so close! If I stretch more, I can grab one!” His grin was wide, cheeks flushed with excitement. The crew chuckled quietly among themselves, the kind of laughter reserved for fondness rather than mockery.

Shanks leaned back against a barrel, mug in hand, watching the boy with that easy smile of his. “You can’t catch a star, Luffy. Even if you reached the sky, it’d just slip right through your fingers.” Luffy pouted at the words, his little fists tightening as if in protest. “Then I’ll be the first one to do it! I’ll grab one and keep it forever!” Shanks laughed, tipping his head back. The boy’s determined eyes glittered in the starlight, unshaken by doubt, as if the whole world was already within his reach.